The New Pornographers | Top 15 Songs

I feel kinda cheap, because I've only just gotten into The New Pornographers, but I have to say they're already one of my favorite bands ever. I've told many already that out of their 40+ song catalogue, there's only a handful I actually don't like, and their Mass Romantic and Twin Cinema albums are safely nestled in my list of all-time favorites.

Unfortunately, these guys never tour with the full complement of performers, because as a side project and "supergroup," the individual parts are so busy with their own primary musical ventures that they don't have the time to get on the road together. Add that to the fact that they haven't put anything out for two years, and count on the chance they probably won't ever again, I'm pretty bummed that I got in on the phenonmen that is The New Pornographers so late.

All that aside however, there's still room to celebrate the absolute musical genius that is this band. Again, it's very hard for me to attach a genre to their music, because there's bits of folk, rock, pop, twee and damn near everything between that goes into every one of their four musical trips disguised as albums. In a tip of the hat to that, my Top 15 includes at least one song from each of those compilations, and not just out of necessity; The New Pornographers may have had one of the best debut albums ever with Mass Romantic, but the quality surely didn't stop after that, and every album has a slew of hits you can listen to again and again.

Just a couple notes before I get started on the list.

- The band evidently writes all the songs and only then decides who sings the vocals. When you consider that any of these brilliantly-written and eternally-poignant lyrics could have been sung by either the likes of Neko Case, AC Newman or Dan Bejar, it just adds to the happenstance aspect that goes to make The New Pornographers such a pleasant breath of fresh air and innovation.

- The New Pornographers have an astonishing knack for crafting almost perfect gems of songs. Nothing is too short, nothing is too long, and there's rarely ever a lull in a song let alone a full album. It's a shame more groups don't follow their example - but then again, they wouldn't be so special if everyone was as capable as they were.

- I'm not posting links to any of the songs in case I get another one of those annoying crackdowns/post deletes, but the majority should be easily accessible on hypem, and even moreso at your local record store. On to the list:

15. | "All For Swinging You Around" | Electric Version | With all the above being said, I do list Electric Version as my least favorite of the four NP albums. I don't know why that is, but they just didn't showcase all the same things on Electric Version that made me fall in love with their unique brand of music on the other three releases. That's not to say there isn't still good music; there most certainly is, and "All For Swinging You Around" is one of those highlights. Neko Case's voice is (as usual) put to good use, and the song starts with a flourish reminiscent of The Weakerthans' more upbeat numbers. A stranger track in that the chorus is where the music actually lets up a bit and gives you a rest to digest what's going on, but no less a great song.

14. | "My Rights Versus Yours" | Challengers | Challengers overall for me was a bit of a slower album, and a little more mature-sounding, so "My Rights Versus Yours" reflects that a little bit. As opposed to the previous tune, this one begins slowly and builds with the chugging guitar going at it bit-by-bit, the "oohs" picking up in the background, and Neko joining in to sing with who I think is AC Newman (I say that because I'm pretty sure Dan Bejar's voice is a little weirder - a bit nuanced and even lispy). There's a yearning to "My Rights Versus Yours" and almost a melancholy that's not there with the more excited-sounding Pornographers' tunes.

13. | "The Body Says No" | Mass Romantic | Part of this entire list, let alone the order I'm placing these songs in, is a bit haphazard. It's hard to say which of The New Pornographers' songs are really that much better than any of the others, so in going through my iTunes library, I picked the titles I knew I loved the most, and then threw them into a playlist of their own. I'm pretty sure I know what the top of the list is going to come out like, but in a testament to the overall quality of their work, "The Body Says No" could easily be in someone else's Top 5. It's insanely catchy (I've went entire days repeating "man, can you beliiiiieve?/that she didn't need meeee/any more than I, needed her too?"), inexplicably meshing given all of its differing instrumentation, and as up-and-down of a journey as the band can give you.

12. | "Sing Me Spanish Techno" | Twin Cinema | Never judge a song by its title. Even though the Pornographers are one of the very few "indie" bands that actually titles their songs based on actual lyrics in the songs (I'm looking at you Fall Out Boy/Panic At The Disco), I thought this track would be an exception. Go figure, it's not, and as one of the myriad hooks in "Sing Me Spanish Techno," it strangely works. In reference to those hooks though, there's everything from "listening too long/to one song" to the guitar itself providing rhythms that just latch onto your brain and won't let go. An easy example of how the group can craft something so likeable out of something so seemingly benign.

11. | "Challengers" | Challengers | One of the more restrained NP songs out there, Neko Case puts on probably her most underrated performance as a member of the group. Whereas she's usually yelping and eccentric (all in a good and likeable way of course), "Challengers" provides her with a chance to flex the more mellow pipes she went on to showcase in this year's acclaimed Middle Cyclone, her most recent solo effort. "Nah-nah-nah"s and "oohs" abound here, and the track is stripped down to a bit of guitar and an uncharacteristic lack of percussion, but the vocals more than make up for that void. It's heartfelt, and would've been the perfect album-ending number had they chosen to place it as such. Not just for Challengers, but if you listen closely enough, maybe even The New Pornographers career together as well.

10. | "The Fake Headlines" | Mass Romantic | As probably the third New Pornographers song I'd ever heard, I was suprised at how much this song spoke to me. And as one of the few in their catalogue with a false ending, it wasn't just the words themselves that appealed to me. As the shortest of these 15 tunes at 2:46, it does leave you wanting a little bit more - not desiring a little more, because its satiating enough - meaning you wouldn't mind it going a little longer. It's straightforward while still giving off the heartfelt vibe of someone left to linger in their sorrow. Though instead of wallowing in that sorrow, he decides to write "the catchiest words I could find." If only every break-up sounded so good.

9. | "Mutiny, I Promise You" | Challengers | This on the other hand was one of the first two songs I'd heard by NP - I can't say definitively which was the actual first one, but this could've been it. Though the rest of the song may not be quite as engaging as that chorus, the echoing going on once the latter hits makes me reminisce about elementary music class, and the guitar blasting away back there is as good as any modern rock song's. When it slows down for a moment around the 2:30 mark, it comes back and hits you at full-steam within a matter of seconds, and reprises itself with a new vigour. Though the lyrics may be a tad on the ridiculous side, it's certainly more fun to decipher into your own meaning than other more sparsely worded odes to abstraction.

8. | "All The Old Showstoppers" | Challengers | For as much as I didn't think I liked Challengers in context with the other NP albums, it's got just as many tracks on here as Twin Cinema - but that may be because it wouldn't make sense to create a Top 15 of just Twin Cinema and Mass Romantic tracks (just kidding, it's all great). There's a rustic quality to "All The Old Showstoppers" that harkens back to a traveling band at a country fair (maybe it's that jangling guitar), seemingly only lacking someone playing that classic jug. Though there's persevering reference to "numbers" throughout, there's everything else from princesses to paupers to grab your attention and make for a fun little jaunt through that yearly tri-country affair.

7. | "The Laws Have Changed" | Electric Version | As much as I love Neko Case and her otherworldy vocals, a surprising number of songs on my Top 15 don't feature her predominantly. I guess that speaks to the great balance of The New Pornographers, and proves that they're so multi-faceted that it doesn't really matter who's singing those lyrics, as mentioned at the outset of this list. Neko and AC split the duties on this one to my knowledge, and do a swimming job of it. Not only that, but AC's vocals seem to be drowned a bit, while Neko's are presented naked and without filter, a further testament to the myriad ways in which NP can present their perfectly crafted musical pieces.

6. | "Twin Cinema" | Twin Cinema | The title track does well to set the mood for a great NP album, all in a concise 2:59. The pitchy guitar right off the bat, the louder-than-usual percussion, and impassioned vocals all make their debut, laying down a tone that's carried out well throughout the rest of the compilation. There's a rare breakdown just about halfway through, where the singing and instruments both slow it down a tad, but don't let that fool you - they're right back at it in a minute, setting the table perfectly for probably the most critically acclaimed album offering from The New Pornographers.

5. | "The Bleeding Heart Show" | Twin Cinema | This is where it starts to get really hard, and the order starts to matter that much more. "The Bleeding Heart Show" hints strongly at how Challengers ended up being mood-wise, but it was a departure at that time for Twin Cinema I'd say. It's got a bit of that heartstring-tugging feeling that's so prominent on NP's final album, but which isn't really there on the more upbeat and outright fun Twin Cinema. Then at exactly 2:40 in, the whole song switches it up on you, and comes around with the most damned triumphant showing from not only The New Pornographers, but possibly any song within the last 10 years (since everyone seems to fond of doing those decade-ending lists right about now). It's no wonder the University of Phoenix uses "The Bleeding Heart Show" in their ads; I'd go to university in freakin' Chechnya if they blasted this song on campus every morning. For as much as I may have written, you really just have to hear this one. It's uplifting, moving, and everything you'd be pleasantly suprised to find out The New Pornographers are too.

4. | "Slow Descent Into Alcoholism" | Mass Romantic | It's quirky, it's fast-paced, it's about drinking. I could just finish this particular review with that singular blurb, but it deserves so much more. The vocals are dragged out in the catchiest of ways, there's the triad of choruses that NP does so well, I'm pretty sure there's some brass involved, and the harmony between the male and female singing is an underrated aspect that makes this ditty one of my favorite. Around 2:40 (again?) the song takes on a bit of a different flair, but this time becomes only more fervent and the instrumentation that much crunchier, before it stops for a split-second and proceeds to blow up in your ears. The vocals start to lean to the visceral side, and then it's over just as quick with a few "uh-huh"s. Uh-huh indeed.

3. | "Mass Romantic" | Mass Romantic | Who does great title tracks? The New Pornographers obviously do. "Mass Romantic" is like the mission statement for their careers. It's a bit unconventional, it's unmistakably Neko Case, the lyrics are as non-sensical and fun as they get, and the instruments are banged out in a garage band-ish way The Strokes popularized around the same time, albeit in a decidedly more lacksadasical and lo-fi way. "Mass Romantic" is bursting with exhuberance, and if there's any better track to get you in the mood for a good listening session with one of Canada's best supergroups (we do tend to have a lot), there may not be a better place to start than their first - discographically speaking that is.

2. | "Use It" | Twin Cinema | I lied earlier. "Use It" is in fact the first New Pornographers I remember hearing. As the theme song for the first few seasons of CBC Televison's The Hour pop culture show, I'd been unwittingly listening to one of the band's best tracks night in and night out, rapt by the feverish drumming, poignant piano and ever-so-distinct guitar. When "use it toniiii-iiii-iiiight" closed out the show's intro, little did I know just how great the rest of NP's songs were - I just knew that that song was some damn catchy. Unfortunately, I never really acted on those feelings until this summer, but I can say without hesitation that I was incredibly dumb to wait this long. Even when a friend played NP's stuff for me last summer, I kept going back to "Use It" over and over again. I think back then I thought they were almost too diverse and "all over the place" for me, but as my tastes have solidified a bit, and my thirst for Canadian music increased, I've had the hindsight to dive into a great catalogue that features "Use It" as one of its best tracks. By the way - any song that states "two sips from the cup of human kindness/and I'm shitfaced" in a totally un-ironic way, definitely has my stamp of approval.

1. | "Letter From An Occupant" | Mass Romantic | A brief riff, and you jump right into possibly the best Neko Case vocal performance ever. She has a brilliantly unique voice and delivery, and nowhere is it showcased any better than on "Letter From An Occupant." There's a shrill and campy quality to it that would make most other artists cringe to reach, let alone showcasing it on a song so well-crafted as this. I'm sure many listeners may even cringe at the quirkiness of Neko's voice here, but for anyone who truly likes her or any of the Pornographer's work, "Letter From An Occupant" has to be the epitome of the band firing on all cylinders. There's a bubbling guitar line through the break of the song, pinpoint drumming throughout, and even the infrequent and faint exclamations you can hear in the background sound so authentic you'd think it was those in the studio at the time whooping at how well the whole piece coalesces. There's virtually no weak points, and I'll be damned if this tune doesn't stick in your head for more than a day or two. As the best New Pornographers tune, you should expect no less.

this was one of the more normal photos of Camera Obscura

When I say "endearing Scottish pop music" what do you think of? I wouldn't blame you if you just drew a complete blank, but Camera Obscura, a group from Glasgow, probably has the market cornered. My Maudlin Career is their fourth proper-length album, and though it's been out for a bit and I've heard bits and pieces of it, I've really fallen in love with "French Navy."

Camera Obscura - French Navy

It receives a bit of airplay on CBC Radio 2, but it's far from anything you'd hear on any mainstream radio station. Sadly, there's not a very good reason for that, other than the fact there's no decent radio stations anywhere east of Montreal here in Canada. This is the kind of pop music that would thrive on a channel like that, full of shiny and lush instrumentation, picturesque lyrics, and the lead singer's flighty and extremely distinct voice.

The song screams "sunny day" to me, and when the chorus picks up, you can't help but imagine yourself standing in a grassy field, the girl of your dreams running into your arms. Why in the world much of modern radio insists on playing air-headed pop and empty, same-riffing rock when there's such evocative music out there is really beyond me. But thank God for the internet: where "endearing Scottish pop music" happens.

Arkells - Jackson Square album review

First things first. I'm breaking down this album old-school: track by track. Secondly, to give a bit of perspective on the band, I always tell people that Arkells sound like The Trews...if The Trews were better. Basically, they take all that catchy, in-your-face, two-guitar, bass, drums and keyboard assault, and subtract all the cock-rock and dumb lyrics. The final product ends up being a really pleasing and almost cathartic experience in modern "indie rock" music.

These guys have been playing shows all over Canada recently, and it's only a matter of time before they blow up on the national scene. Their live shows are packed with energy, and they play great sets full of songs off Jackson Square, along with some improvisations and crowd-involving gimmicks that just add to the fun that accompanies catching these guys in concert. On to the album though:

"Deadlines" | As inauspicious of an album-starter as you could pick. The slow drumming build-up, a few crashes, all the instruments coming in, and then Max's voice giving a little intro of what it's like to work the corporate life. This song actually sets the theme pretty well for the album, as it's a very working-class band putting together a very working-class album. "Deadlines" is fast and short, but if it doesn't pump you up for the rest of the album, you might want to check your pulse.

"Pullin' Punches" | This one picks up right where "Deadlines" trails off, albeit with a much happier tilt. "Pullin' Punches" is a bit of a heartfelt rocker, a little ode to that truthful girl in your life, with a hint of sympathy in there for all she's been through. There's a few good break-downs of the song, a lot of pacing changes, and a sense of urgency throughout - which sums up Arkells pretty well in fact. This is a group that performs with a sense of urgency, like they know the spotlight could fade any minute, and they make the best of it while they can. Of course, that could also be because the last time I saw them, they only had a half-hour to belt out their set...

"Oh, The Boss Is Coming" | OTBIC veers off a darker road, but keeps that same fast pace and worker's mentality set out before it. This song is probably lead singer Max Kerman's most impassioned vocal performance, with his yelps and throaty singing conveying perfectly the very literal anxiousness of an office worker who's probably not up to much, and is constantly looking over their shoulder to make sure the boss isn't catching them doing so. OTBIC is one Arkells have taken and extended a bit live, with Max leading a neat call-and-response with the audience during the "punching in/punching out" lines.

"Ballad of Hugo Chavez" | I may have mentioned "Ballad" on here before, but it's certainly one of the stand-out tracks on Jackson Square. Arkells aren't one of those groups that put obscure names to their songs for art's sake; this is quite literally a lyrical re-telling of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez's trials and tribulations preceding his rise to power...all told over the scat of a saxophone and pop-y piano chords. Again, I'm a sucker for piano, so this song can do no wrong by me - and between the "hey hey hey!"s and "in the niii-iiight/of the sun"s that establish the catchiest chorus these guys have, I don't see how it ever could.

"Tragic Flaw" | It's a debut album, so there's gonna be some filler in Jackson Square, but thankfully, they built the album so that it comes in after four rousing jams. Some people might like this song a little more than I do, but it just doesn't do anything for me. It's a bit of a downer in some parts, but what it does the worst is pander to a lot of what's out there already on the radio, in terms of Canadian rock groups who are trying just a tad too hard to make it. It still has some of the signature Arkells melodies, but it's certainly nothing special.

"No Champagne Socialist" | Still continuing the worker trend of the album, NCS starts with a great harmonica blast, and then slows down for Max to set the scene: "let the record show, it's 1964/in the city of New York." Another sympathetic song, but this time for the guy trying to live on "both sides of the track" - a well-to-do Jewish kid who doesn't want the same life his family's had for so long. You'd think the subject matter would certainly curtail the tune from being played at concerts with any amount of success, but between the impassioned harmonica playing, the well-done southern rock (these guys know their rock, and don't just stick to one kind of it), and the awesome guitar solo closing the song out, "No Champagne Socialist" is kind of Arkells' ace in the hole.

"Abigail" | I guess this is how a rock ballad like "Tragic Flaw" should've been done. Which is really saying something for Arkells - they may make mistakes as a young group, but within the span of one song, they've already corrected it. The instrumentality of all their tunes really keeps them going, even when the lyrics are busy painting a story or telling a cautionary tale. "Abigail" tinges with sorrow for a girl who doesn't quite understand why the guy in her life does the things he does, and may be feeling a little lost, as evidenced by "where did all the good plans go?" Add to the mix a bit of a heartstring-tugging go at the guitar, and Arkells save yet another sappy tune from coming off all too emo and self-pleasing. I can't really recall them playing "Abigail" live, but they certainly have the tools to turn it into something concert-worthy, even in its present form.

"Heart Of The City" | Probably not one of my favorite tracks off Jackson Square. A little too earnest and lyrically stuttering for my liking. It also veers off the path the rest of the album sets out, meaning it's a bit abstract and doesn't really follow the story-telling/workforce/down-trodden girl routine the rest of the album touts. "Heart Of The City" wouldn't be so bad if I actually knew what singer Max Kerman's trying to get at in the big picture, and also if the rest of the band was able to elevate the song to the level something with this kind of title deserves.

"I'm Not The Sun" | These few songs right here point out I guess, the, uh, "Tragic Flaw" of Jackson Square (sorry). Whereas most albums would just be hitting their stride around the mid-point, it becomes clear right about here that Arkells did that with the first half of the album, and sadly the second half suffers for that. "I'm Not The Sun" is too much of a slow-burner, coming down to a level even Kings Of Leon on painkillers might feel is a tad too lethargic. For anyone familiar with Only By The Night, this is Arkells' version of "Closer" or "Cold Desert," those largely instrumental and emotive jaunts into territory best reserved for groups who know how to do that better (think Coldplay). Otherwise, KoL and Arkells should just stick to the straightforward rock that got them to where they are in the first place.

"The Choir" | By this point, it's like they're slapping you in the face. You were really pumped up by the first half of the album, waiting to see where these rising stars were going to take it next...then they slow it down for "I'm Not The Sun" and keep it at that pace yet again. Max just sounds sad and forlorn here, and the track really only moves in fits and bursts. The sappy-sounding chorus is a zone Arkells should stay out of, and the church-and-death tinged lyrics don't do them much justice either. There may be great intention behind this song, but the execution is sadly lacking.

"John Lennon" | Just as it's all becoming a bit too much to bear, one of my favorite tracks of 2009 shows up to save the album. Like a lot of the songs I like the most, it's sometimes hard to put into words what it is that makes me love it so much. There's a bit of saxophone jumping in and adding the right amount of diversity, there's the rousing "I'm John Lennon/in '67" chorus, the persistent keyboard stabs, the pick-it-up-and-rock-it-out interludes, the slow-it-down "I'm so lost...and I live just around the corner!" right before the chorus, and the side-to-side sway of the band during the chorus itself. "John Lennon" is full of everything that's right about Arkells, and has the most diverse presentation of their skills on Jackson Square. In concert, the false ending is that much better, the actual ending is the high point of their shows, and Max looks like he's possibly having the most fun of anyone up there relaying the story of a drunken night on the town.

"Blueprint" | This along with "John Lennon" really dispells the bad taste in your mouth coming from the middle third of the album. Again, I don't think they play it live (probably because the sax is featured a little more prominently here, and they don't tour with a sax player) but there's no reason they couldn't. The stadium-rock ready chorus of "No I ain't/gonna fear/the new year!" and the chugging band behind Max make for a most optimistic end to a great debut album. With the catchy choruses, great musicianship, and attention-grabbing concerts they have going for them, Arkells certainly have no reason to fear anything, let alone a new year for the boys to prove themselves to rock fans all over Canada.

Arkells on MySpace

Jackson Square on Amazon

fun game: do they make music that sounds like what they look like?

I had a rough night yesterday, so no song was posted, but "Shout" by The Points would have been it. Disclaimer: this isn't usually the kind of music I like nor listen to. But there was just something about this song that really hit a chord with me.

It's plain and simple rock music, with some shouted lyrics, a lot of distortion, feverish drumming, a chugging guitar keeping everything in line...and then two minutes in, everything calms down, you get a "Seven Nation Army"-ish march going on, and suddenly all the instruments, from the drums to the guitar to the singer's voice take their own places in the song. It's a bit of an evolution, as it all goes from being a jock-rock jumble, to a head-bobbing slow burner. The step-downs on the guitar are the real hit at this point in the song.

The Points - Shout

At around the 4:15 mark, the song seems to slow to an end, but the beauty of this 5:43 rocker is that it picks right back up when you start thinking it's going to fade away. There's nothing better than when a song is already something great, and then you remember every time you hear it, "oh yeah, there's another minute or two left." Sometimes that can be an annoying feeling, especially if you get one of those seven-minute long remixes of songs you already like that are ruined by pointless beeps and synths for a deadzone of like two or three minutes. "Shout" definitely doesn't suffer from that.

I've been way too tired all week, and busy with my last summer course, so I haven't really been able to post much. I have been reading pitchfork every day though for their Top 500 Songs of the 00's, and it's a really, really good read for anyone interested. I was surprised at how mainstream they got towards the top, and also at the fact that I knew so many of the 500 picks. Anyways, good thing to check out (especially when I'm being slow like this).

As a means of an update, I'm hoping to get a lot of my album reviews done over the next week. I'll probably start with the Arkells, and then see if I can't get the Sunset Rubdown and The Most Serene Republic ones done. I've been listening to all of them pretty consistently, but I'll have to do it a little more thoroughly to get a good review of each done.

I also just bought Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains' first album (he's half of the now-defunct but much-beloved Death From Above 1979 - the other half went off and formed MSTRKRFT) and I'm getting Lightning Dust's album Infinite Light sometime next week, so I'll probably have some quick reviews of those ones too.

I would post a song right now, but my uploader is conking out, so I'll have to do it later today.

whoa

I've never really said I was a music-only blog - I'm only fashioned as such. Above is a long-term forecast from MSW for the waves around Cow Bay in Nova Scotia, where I like to surf. I'm posting this as much as a point of interest as for my own personal memento that I can come back to later if I want.

The five star ratings mean it's "classic surf," so I can only hope the forecast stays the way it is until the weekend comes around. The waves are being generated by Hurricane Bill, and can only be descrbied as "epic" if they hold up. Here's hoping. I'll try and put pics up if I'm not in the water those days.

when you're behind, it's good to...

...catchup

In anticpation of Pitchfork putting out an expansive remembering of the last decade that was in music (including a 4-day roll out of the Top 500 Songs of the 2000's) I've undertaken both a personal and music-related project to try and immerse myself in music I would've missed because I was either:

a.) too young to appreciate [I was in grade 6 when Radiohead's Kid A came out]

b.) too stupid to appreciate [my aforementioned affinity for rap music for most of my teens]

c.) too lazy to appreciate [hearing bits and pieces of great albums, but never bothering to delve deeper]

d.) too weirded out by names to appreciate [The New Pornographers...I can be forgiven I think]

e.) all of the above for the balance of 7.5 years

Among my choice listening over the next few days and weeks will be Radiohead's Kid A - widely regarded as one of the best albums in recent memory, if not ever - and OK Computer, which may not have been quite as highly regarded, but that I wanted to get a feel for anyways. Given that aside from a few quick cuts, all my musical Radiohead knowledge stems from In Rainbows, I figured I'd do myself a favor and get a bit of a back-education on what some think is the greatest group since The Beatles. I just finished my first go-through of Kid A, and it's certainly something I'll have to give a lot of more listens to before I can give a real good opinion on it.

Another category of listening is Arcade Fire's Funeral, which falls into category c. I've heard "Rebellion (Lies)" and enjoyed it greatly on mainstream radio, and there's two other tracks I'd heard after that, but I never really bothered to get into the rest of the album. When I started doing a bit of reseach recently and seeing Funeral pop up on "Top of the 00's" lists everywhere, as well as being in the Top 5 or 10 of most lists for the year it came out, I figured it was time I went through Arcade Fire's acclaimed disc. After about two full listens of it today, my one-man jury (a judge?) is still out on it.

Fitting into both category d and a more personal reason, I made it a point this week to listen to the entire discography of The New Pornographers. In a way, this whole undertaking can actually be traced back prior to Pitchfork, and to PrettyMuchAmazing's listing of TNP's Mass Romantic as one of the top albums of the 00's over a week ago. Because 1.) I have a friend who is a huge fan, and I couldn't even tell her the name of which album it was that PMA named as the best, and 2.) it's practically my duty as a Canadian to check out The New Pornographers in some way, it was a two-fold thing for me. Let me tell you though, I've been far from disappointed. Mass Romantic itself may be one of my favorite albums ever already, and the entirety of TNP's catalogue has already made an inespacibly indelible impression on me in such a short time.

To expand on The New Pornographers a little bit while I'm here, there's some music that I find transcendant - that which I can't really attach a genre or a "this is why I like it" to. Most of Joel Plaskett's work I find to be like that, and The New Pornographers have joined his likes in my books. I just hear their music, I like it, I can't tell you why, and I look forward to hearing it over and over again. It's that easy, and that's how music you really love should be. It's also how real love should be...but that's neither here nor there.

Anyways, once Pitchfork's lists come out, I may have some feedback about them. I'll personally be better equipped to respond to the individual songs lists than the albums, as I've always been more of that kind of music listener, but hopefully I'll be able to offer at least a bit of perspective or criticism as to some of the choices. Or I may just simply appreciate the opinions of people who've vested much more time and interest in something I'm hoping to do the same with. Until then though...

Sunday Night Spotlight | No. 1

this seat is reserved for remixes

On my Top 15 of 2009 post, I listed Skream's remix of La Roux's "In For The Kill" as one of my favorite tracks of the year so far. Lost in my earlier filled-out-and-deleted post was the explanation of how truly epicly Skream's remix transformed La Roux's original. I'm a fan of her work as it is, enjoying her set at Osheaga, and I'm especially fond of "Bulletproof," the tune she closed her Montreal show to a few weeks ago.

So with that in mind, I approached the Nacey remix of "Bulletproof" on hypem with some hesitation - something common for remixes, as I usually don't like my favorite songs to be messed with. Nothing ruins a good track like some "up-and-coming" fart adding some deep bass and synth stabs to something that didn't need any re-working in the first place, not to mention dragging the track out to boredom-inducing lengths of 6 to 7 minutes. Add to that the fact that I've grown increasingly dubious of the top 20 on hypem and its tendency to overpopularize crappy dancefloor electro (as chosen by hypem member's number of "favorites" on a certain track), as well as my unfamiliarity with Nacey, and I didn't think this remix had much a hope.

La Roux - Bulletproof (Nacey Remix)

Imagine my surprise when I ended up with a song that was not only 5 seconds shorter than the original but...wait for it...better than Skream's above remix of "In For The Kill." The original "Bulletproof" is everything in a nutshell concerning La Roux's sound: it bleeds the 80's, brings her voice to the forefront (and she has decent pipes, especially for an electro-pop singer), throws in more than a fair share of keyboards and synths, and doesn't really do much for you on a deeper level lyrically.

Nacey's remix on the other hand starts off with the vast soundfulness of a church, and fills that with strings and a few repeated and haunting piano and keyboard chords. While keeping La Roux's original cadence, Nacey puts her voice a little further back on the track, and lets the strings and piano take over until a great beat drops in around 1:20 in. The percussion picks up at that point and you're treated to finger snaps, ambient wooshes and an overall epic sound that manages to be more immediate than the "In For The Kill" remix, as well as more focused and forward than that reworking. Add in the great strings solo at around 2:40, just to punctuate the antiquated feel of an orchestra in a church here, and I'm not really sure if this wouldn't surely nudge "In For The Kill" out of my Top 15 for the year.

an electro-rap duo from Toronto and Montreal? how could you go wrong

So this post serves two reasons. First of all, I'm really loving this song right now. And secondly, I'm really loving Yahoo Media Player. I keep trying to find new ways to make playing the music I post on here easier for everyone, and this is the latest and possibly the coolest. It stays at the bottom of the window no matter what (that little grey play button in the left-hand corner), and all you have to do is either click the links in the posts, or you can check out the full playlist to the right. I may have to sort out a few bugs while I have it for the first little while, but hopefully it's for the better.

Getting onnnn though. Thunderheist. I've gotta give The Coast props first of all, for putting these guys on the cover of their great paper back when school was in session...so like March or April of this year. (Yes I'm late. I was late for my own graduation. I was late so many times they once fired me from a job. I'm late a lot.) But since then I've heard them played everywhere from house parties to on CBC Radio 3 Sessions.

The duo is made up of producer Graham Zilla and rapper Isis, who's been featured on tracks by the likes of MSTRKRFT. They manage to marry throbbing, bass-heavy, dancefloor-ready electro with Isis' sometimes-raunchy, usually-well-delivered, always-catchy flows, and come out with something both inventive and easily accessible. I've maintained on here before that I hate rap, but this stuff is in a class of its own, and I've always at least appreciated hip-hop.

So at worst, call this an exception:

Thunderheist - Do The Right Thing

at best, call it your new jam.

More Thunderheist:

- Myspace

- Thunderheist on Amazon

- CBC Radio 3 artist page

Best Songs of 2009? let's try it again

Unfortunately, I added two or three too many links to my post yesterday listing the Top 15 songs of 2009, and it was taken down by the site's host.

It's such a big pain to rewrite it and I'm so peeved by the takedown that I'm not gonna bother posting it all again, though I will post my actual list of songs, just so they can be compared later on to my longer and more filled-out year-end list.

(and because evidently posting the same damn songs on hypem.com doesn't necessitate blog posts being taken down, head over there and search for the songs in this list - all but Japandroids and Handsome Furs should be on there for your listening pleasure)

15. Groove Armada - Drop The Tough (Twelves Remix)

14. Arkells - John Lennon

13. Handsome Furs - All We Want Baby, Is Everything

12. The Bloody Beetroots ft. Steve Aoki - Warp 1.9

11. La Roux - In For The Kill (Skream Remix)

10. Little Boots - New In Town (Emil & Friends Remix)

9. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Don't Haunt This Place

8. Japandroids - Sovereignty

7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll

6. Phoenix - Lisztomania

5. Grizzly Bear - While You Wait For The Others

4. Dirty Projectors - Stillness Is The Move

3. Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks

2. Bon Iver - Blood Bank

1. Animal Collective - My Girls

I'd also offer all 15 for download again, but I'm sure that got me in trouble yesterday too. In the meantime, I still suggest checking out hypem for the above songs.

Day 2 of Osheaga in pictures

Busy/hectic week, but I'm only seven days removed from the actual festival. So this would make for like, amazing time if it was 1899.

Anyways, again: in order that I actually saw them, and pictures courtesy of osheaga.com and the photographers who took them.

Arkells

lead singer Max Kerman

the boys from Hamilton

Amazing Baby

...the boys from Brooklyn - notice the orange/Orange amps

and the orange guitarist...and his see-through guitar I mentioned!

"yes, yes I did go to music school for this instrument"

Arctic Monkeys

people were just smoking that much weed

great lightshow, though given the lack of headliners I watched, Coldplay and YYY's probably had better

lead singer Alex Turner

Crystal Castles

you'd get the impression it was just Alice Glass from these

World's Best Haircut?

...yes, yes it is

how to correctly use your microphone as an instrument

Day 2 Recap and Review of Osheaga

"I will kill you if you try to steal it"

I think there's been more time between this review and the actual shows this time around compared to the first day, so I'll try to remember as much as possible. I was completely wiped yesterday as we pulled an all-nighter after Osheaga so as to not miss our 6:45am flight the next morning. I can't tell you how weird it was and what kind of whirlwind it felt like. I came home Monday morning still thinking it was Sunday, and feeling like it was Sunday night. Just totally surreal, and the constant on-and-off napping between 3am and 3pm certainly didn't help anything coalesce.

I woke up around 1pm on Sunday, after everyone had already left for combinations of shopping and breakfasts. Eventually everyone was back for 3pm and we were able to make it outta the house in time for the 4:45pm acts. Unfortunately though, that meant missing The Ting Tings, as well as BEAST, who we felt like checking out too. No harm, no foul though, given how the rest of the day turned out.

Decked in shorts for the hot weather, a hoodie for the rain, and a t-shirt just to stay cool, I was pretty much ready for anything - until we got there and saw people walking back from the more forest-y stages (MEG and Kia) just covered in mud. And guess who decided to bring only one pair of shoes with him to Montreal? It didn't help that the weather couldn't make its mind up either - it rained heavily all morning, let up when we headed to the subway and the festival, got hot and cleared up for a little while, then the skies opened up and poured down on us just prior to The Arctic Monkeys' set. I dunno who was more disoriented after the weekend: me, or the weather forecast.

So as we walked in to the gates of Osheaga, we could hear "That's Not My Name" blasting over the speakers, signaling the end of that show. Making our way over to Vampire Weekend, we settled in far right...a little too far for my liking. Between the jaunty afro-pop I knew VW would pump out, the general laid-back nature of the headliners' crowds (and I was set to see a lot of acts on the headlining stages that day), and the text I received from my friend saying he was heading over to see Arkells, I got outta there before Vampire Weekend could even hit a chorus.

Arkells

These guys already blew me away with their Halifax Virgin Fest set, so I knew what to expect. Part of the reason actually that I initially wanted to see Vampire Weekend was that I knew what I'd be getting with Arkells: they only have one full disc out, so you're not gonna get much variance in their set lists. But given the brand of hard-charging rock and insanely-catchy hooks they showcase, I knew watching them again certainly wouldn't be a let-down.

The good thing about the Kia stage during the two-day festival was that it was never packed...sadly in some cases, as a lot of great up-and-coming acts (Woodhands, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Arkells, Winter Gloves, Hollerado, Amazing Baby) were being showcased on that very stage. That being said, it was easy to get up on the raised platform and secure a great view of the performers there.

(On a side note...it kind of amazed my friends and I how generally short those attending Osheaga were. At a lot of shows I've been to, you're lucky if you're a few rows back and aren't blocked by two or three people taller than you - and I'm six feet. At Osheaga, I felt like I was that tall guy getting into other people's ways, seeing as I almost never had my view of the acts obstructed by anyone taller than myself. Great for me...I dunno about anyone behind me though.)

One thing I noticed during the show was that aside from the rather large fellow with equally large sideburns, I may have been the biggest Arkells fan in attendance. I thought these guys might be a bit bigger Canada-wide, and it seemed like they might've had a better reception at Virgin Fest, so I'm attributing the lack of concert-goers to either the bigger draw of Vampire Weekend, or the fact they may not be quite as big in Quebec as they are in the rest of the country.

All that aside, they put on another great performance. There was the same intensity between bandmates, generally the same set list, some of the same gimmicks (getting everyone to finger-snap at one point, starting the "hey, hey, hey" chant before "The Ballad of Hugo Chavez," and the call-and-crowd-response of "punchin' in," "punchin' out" at the mid-point of show-closer "Oh, The Boss Is Coming.") and all the same lively rock featured on their stellar debut Jackson Square (review's coming soon) - though much less facial hair this time around, as the majority of the guys had either trimmed or completely shaved off their epic beards I'd seen them with a month before. Musta got itchy.

Off their extended rock-outs, clever improvs for (both!) times lead singer Max Kerman's mic became unplugged, and spirited chemistry between the quintet, it was a great start to the day for me. That's not even to mention the new song the group debuted, which I imagine is gonna be called "Country Boy" judging by the performance. It only reinforced the already-great songwriting coming from this Hamilton group, whose songs always seem to tell an interesting story. It's rock with substance.

Amazing Baby

...which is exactly what Amazing Baby isn't. Killing a half-hour between twin half-hour sets, we came back as this funny-looking troupe took the stage for one hell of a strange set. They were one of the few non-female-fronted groups at Osheaga with a lead singer bereft of an instrument - just him, his Von Zipper shades, and shirt un-buttoned halfway. (In trying to research the lead singer's actual name, I came upon old standby Wikipedia...which should slap a "citation needed" tag on Amazing Baby's page. Criticisms of being more concerned with their fashion than music should certainly be cited if it's gonna be included at all.)

Anyways, with that above sentence in mind, yes they had cool shades, and yes their guitarist had a translucent axe (rare as fuck evidently, seeing as Google Images doesn't even have a picture approaching what this thing looked like...pics up tomorrow though hopefully so you can actually see), but these guys put on a good show either way.

Back to their frontman though, he of no instrument. When you're swinging the mic around during songs cause you have nothing else to do during instrumental breaks, maybe it's time to learn guitar or something and add to the wall of sound these guys are capable of putting out. The incumbent guitarist definitely knew how to shred however, more focused on churning out a good tune than anyone else I'd seen to that point on the weekend. Judging from his horrible haircut, pubescent mustache, and ill-fitting tie-dye orange shirt, that see-through guitar of his might be the only thing he's focused on in life. Whoever wrote the Wikipedia entry on these guys definitely wasn't at the show on Sunday to judge their "sense of fashion."

But on the other hand, maybe that page is right. I mean, my first three paragraphs on Amazing Baby have barely mentioned the music. Maybe that makes sense. Pitchfork described them (quite positively) as basically ripping off groups like Led Zepplin, and not having a great sense of direction. On stage, they seemed a bit similar. Not much stood out about their set, other than they played really loudly, and you couldn't even make out any lyrics.

They're good enough on their instruments (those who actually played them in the group...okay, I kid, he was an alright guy) to make up for that fact, but they were certainly in the right place playing the Kia tent, where the vocals were by far the worst of anywhere at Osheaga - like, show after show, and evidently, day after day...no one even bothered to fix it it seemed. They had a few good tracks; one self-described and out-of-the-ordinary "thrasher" tune that went over well with some insanely-dancing fellows near the front, and "Bayonets" was definitely a stand-out, but given the fact I just spent five minutes looking up the difference between that song and their other single "Headdress," I'm not sure how these guys plan to be very memorable.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the show, but not even near the same way I did Arkells. This was just raw music being played loudly, albeit well. But that's all it was, nothing deeper, nothing "more." I'm still gonna get new album Rewild, just because I was intrigued at the very least, so look out for a possible review of that in the future for a more definitive look at Amazing Baby.

Rufus Wainright

We had time to kill after Amazing Baby's half-hour set, and settled down on a friend's blanket in view of Rufus Wainright's solo show on the secondary headlining stage. I mean, I personally like the guy's songs, and think he's a good performer (obviously he's doing something right to get top-billing at Osheaga), but the people I was with were just eviscerating the poor guy.

Yeah, he did seem real flighty towards the end, saying he had a bit more time to play than he thought, and sending an awkward well-wish to ailing Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, but the actual music still seemed solid. I certainly can't do an actual review though, as this was my "Elbow moment" for the day: an act I heard, but definitely didn't watch or even really pay attention to. Aside from "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk," I couldn't even tell you what else he played.

The Decemberists

Sike. Same kinda thing as Rufus and Elbow, but this time we were staking out our spot at the other main stage in anticpation of The Arctic Monkeys. Other than what we saw on the sole big screen and a few glimpses I caught of the impeccably dressed group performing opposite us, all I can tell you is that I recognised a few strands of "The Rake's Song." So...

The Pre-Arctic Monkeys Staking-Out-Our-Spot, Chillin, and Getting Wet Experience

...would be more appropriate. Though we got there before The Decemberists even began their set, we were still at least 10 if not 20 rows back from the stage, and that was more than an hour before the show. People were obviously quite dedicated. During the wait, our own little crowd did everything from bat around some beach balls, to start "Arc-tic Mon-keys" chants...during The Decemberists set.

I certainly didn't condone that, and even jokingly told off my sister when she started to get in on it. Unfortunately, the girl in front of us didn't know it was a joke, and whipped around quite quickly when she heard me yell "don't do that!" That was a fun thing to explain away, though it does make for good conversation. I at least know now the offended girl was from Ottawa. Yay? Anyways, the lesson is...have some respect for the other people performing. They have their fans, and your show isn't even on yet.

During our wait, the sky started to cloud over, and just let loose on us for a good 15 minutes. Luckily, our friend bought an umbrella earlier, and just about every fourth person in the crowd whipped theirs out too. Unfortunately, that made for a lot of collateral dripping, and not quite complete coverage for everyone. So I ended up with one arm completely soaked, a slightly moist hood, and a completely dry everything else. Yay. Miraculously however, the rain stopped right before Arctic Monkeys came out. God/Mother Nature has good timing.

The Arctic Monkeys

This is one of those bands I say I know of, and that I can say whether I like or not (I do), but I don't really know a ton of their stuff. I have two or three of their tunes, and know a good deal more from before, but it was just a matter of "they were the best people playing." I wasn't gonna watch Tiga, and though I don't mind Heartless Bastards, I wasn't gonna skip Arctic Monkeys' hour-and-fifteen-minute show for their much shorter half-hour set.

I hadn't seen any night-time shows on the main stages, so it was definitely a different experience for me. Great light show, expansive stage, a pretty loving crowd - it was all pretty tight, and I was excited for it. The one thing I noticed right off the bat was that Alex Turner's voice was very true live compared to the recorded version, so that was refreshing. And of course the vocals were much better on that Budweiser main stage than Kia's sorry excuse of a tent of a stage.

The second thing I noticed was the guitar work on their songs. Bands out of England seem to have this great way of playing and twisting their chords in uniquely expressive ways, giving a real feel to the songs that's seemingly lacking in some alternative music on this side of the pond. If you don't believe me, just think of Bloc Party and Muse aside from the boys in Monkeys. I'm telling you though, there were licks that sounded just downright evil. And I think it's great that they can do that - balance those hellish sounding guitar strums with Alex's night-on-the-town lyrics and eager cadence.

For some reason though, Arctic Monkeys slowed it down not once, but twice, with Alex even addressing the crowd and asking their permission if he could keep it at that lagging pace for at least one more. Of course we cheered and obliged him, but it was weird coming from a group that seems to operate much better at high energy. Another strange quirk was that they would announce the names of most of the songs before actually playing them, sometimes even saying what album it was off of. Next to no one else did at Osheaga, especially the other well-established acts.

Finally, there seemed to be a lot of finagling with the songs. They had a distinct style in the delivery, in the same vein The Stills did the day before. Each song would build and build and build to a crescendo, then they'd throw the false ending at you, elicit a big cheer, then jump right back into it and finish the tune off. It's good, and it keeps the crowd engaged, but when you do it song after song after song, it gets quite predictable and boring. There was also the fact that I could barely ever figure out when a song was actually done; The Arctic Monkeys are one of those bands that continue to tune and strum in between all their songs, so there was never really a sense of closure until they announced what they'd be playing next.

Anyways, again, I'm nit-picking, because I did enjoy the show. I was conscious that I was watching a performance the entire time however, which was kind of a bummer. You know you're having a great time when you're ignoring everything else and you become totally immersed by the act in front of you - it's quite possible that during the Monkeys' set, I was already planning what I'd be doing the rest of the night, and figuring out how to best pull my all-nighter. Head bobbing up and down the entire time of course, but still.

"I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" was certainly their best number, and had me moving and shaking the whole song. Other than that though, everything was like 6/10, 7/10 for me. Definitely better for those around me I'd think, but given how long they've been around, and the fact they haven't completely caught on and stuck with me yet, they probably weren't gonna do much in those 60 or so minutes to convince me otherwise. I say only 60 because we all left the set about 15 minutes early to get to our respective spots at our own weekend-closing shows. Everyone else headed to the adjoining stage to catch Yeah Yeah Yeahs, while I trekked alone to see...

Crystal Castles (say it with an epic movie voice-over voice...it makes the entire transition ten times cooler)

So yeah, Crystal Castles, who I was pumped beyond belief to finally catch live. This duo of Alice Glass and Ethan Kath have slowly grown on me more and more as the year's went on, picking up a great song by them here and there, until I had five or six absolute bangers by them that I'll probably never, ever get sick of. It was like a complete 180 for me going from Arctic Monkeys to Crystal Castles.

With the former, I didn't really care where we were standing, as long as I got up pretty close. For CC, I was there at least 45 minutes early, and after trekking through the whole day's worth of churned-up mud (I swear to God the stuff was at least 5 or 6 inches deep...only by the grace of God was I walking slow enough that my shoe got caught in the mud twice and I didn't take that dreaded extra step to leave my sock covered in regrettable muck), was able to secure not only a third-row spot, just left of dead-center, but with some gentle manoeuvering, a perch on the mud-less platform extending for a few feet in front of the stage. I was set.

Disappointingly, it didn't seem like the band nor its techs were. Watching them labour for a solid 40 minutes (we were getting antsy) on all the electronic equipment necessary for Ethan to craft a show worthy of their festival-closing spot was nerve-racking, as at one point, all four or five techs on stage crowded around one box and just started shaking their heads. There was one false alarm when a shaggy-haired and bearded guy with glasses came out, and in my fervor, I mistakenly thought he was Ethan. It didn't help that he was lazily smoking on a cigarette, only came out about half an hour after everyone else was already setting up, danced around a bit, and then played a few beats on the drums.

Anyway, my angst about the show was well-founded, knowing that they've skipped out on shows before when they've deemed the acoustics not up to par. The sight of all those techs looking worried was certainly not reassuring, and as the 9:45pm start time came and went, I wasn't the only one getting anxious. The lights would dim at some points, and the crowd would start cheering a bit, but given that the between-set music was still going, I don't know why they got excited. Eventually, the main tech up there grabbed the mic, took centre stage, and had us all cheering again for one reason or another. He just looked down at us and "said, don't cheer, I don't have good news."

By that point, I was mortified. Yeah Yeah Yeah's were already well into their set, and I was not ready to make the trek over, let alone find my firmly entrenched friends and sister, who had "sick" spots 10 or 15 rows back from the stage. The tech continued by thankfully telling us the set was not actually canceled, but that somehow, the duo had flown into Ottawa instead of Montreal, and was now driving the distance between. They were gonna be there, just later.

So again, we whittled away the time. I talked to some people, threw some guy's plastic bottle of beer he snuck in up and over my head to the rest of the crowd (he didn't want it anyways, I wasn't just being a dick), and actually had a good time listening to the between-set tunes, which the tech told us to relax and enjoy, as they were off his own iPod. To this hour, he played a really catchy and interesting instrumental electronic/dance/techno tune that I recognized, and even hummed yesterday, but that's been able to escape me all evening. Not even a perusing of Cut Copy and Hercules And Love Affair's myspace pages provided me with any relief, as I thought them the likely culprits. So if you were in Montreal, at Osheaga, on Sunday night, at Crystal Castles, standing right behind a guy in a navy hoodie bobbing his head to the catchy song coming out of the speakers, and you somehow know what it was...for the love of God, tell me. It's been killing me.

Anyway, the lights go off again, but this time, something strange happens: the music cuts out too. Could it be? Is it...the (real) Ethan Kath running out, grabbing the microphone, telling us they were there, and then manning his arsenal of synthesizers, effects buttons and whatever other 8-bit, sample-manipulating devices were stacked on top of that one poor table? Yes, yes it was. After him came out tour drummer Christopher Robin (until now I haven't mentioned how strange I thought it was that such an electro-heavy group like Crystal Castles had a live drum set...they make drum machines literally for that purpose...Kanye West made an entire album with that machine), and a few seconds later, from the depths of the backstage curtain, crawling along the stage floor like an incarnation of their "Black Panther," NME's Coolest Person of 2008...Alice Mothaeffin' Glass.

Now from there it's all a little blurry. I was so completely taken by the music and Alice's absolutely inexplicable, manical, possessed and outright awesome performance that I can't really give you specifics. I know a few things, more or less out of order, which I will put into list form for my enjoyment, and for your clarity:

• Alice grabbed a quart of Smirnoff vodka, took a swig of it, then passed it to the crowd, while walking back to the stage and chanting into her voice-altering microphone "share...share...share it"
• I don't actually know where Alice got the quart from...all I remember is looking at her one minute, then looking at her the next, and seeing the quart
• at one point, she rolled around the stage for a solid five minutes
• I now know why the cleaned the stage before the show
• during that time, she grated the mircophone against the stage's surface to make noises, and when she wasn't doing that, she put it up to the on-stage speakers just to generate feedback for the music
• she came down to crowd level, was held aloft by two guys from security, and started basically convulsing and yelping out lyrics at the same time, oblivious to those holding her, oblivous to the touch of dozens of fans groping for a piece of her, oblivious to everything but the music around her

...so if that doesn't give you an idea of the show, I don't know what will. Crystal Castles is equal parts calm (Ethan) and utter chaos (Alice). There's a few other points I have to make about her. She literally looks possessed on stage. She shrieks into the mic, and when she's not...she's yelling into it. Her eyes look absolutely dead. Like, they say eyes are the window to the soul. She's 1.) dead inside, 2.) has tinted eye windows, or 3.) actually did sell her soul to the devil, and is quite literally soul-less. Those are the only three explanations by the way.

She just seems completely unfazed by anything and everything around her. And to make that even stranger, whenever she walked up to Ethan for a whispered word into the ear about something, she held herself with unbecoming poise and sanity for someone who'd just been seizing on the stage and yelling near-gibberish. A conundrum of a woman if I've ever seen one. Other than singing, all I recall her saying was something about their flight from New York getting messed up, and her being glad to be in Montreal (I possibly made the second part up, she might not have even said that much.)

In regards to her vocals though, it was a wonder that you could even hear her really. I'm not sure if the microphone was broken, or if it was just the way Crystal Castles likes their shows mixed, but you could NOT hear any lyrics other than when Alice was just shrieking them at the top of her lungs. The broken mic was certainly a possiblity though. On top of everything else, Alice would just on to the drum set and start smashing the mouthpiece on the cymbals like it was a drumstick on a rope. It made perfect sense now why one of the techs repeatedly wrapped the poor mic in generous amounts of duct tape, so as to not let the cord rip out mid-set.

Now this all might sound like one complete shit-show of an act. Just an absolute mess. And it's funny, because it probably was. Ethan and Christopher did hold it together quite admirably though, and somehow Alice's tamer side let shine through that there might have been some calculation and awareness to her madness. The one thing I didn't get though was the guy beside me, he of the thrown beer. He was there with his girlfriend, he was certainly younger than me, but still 16-18, and seemed alright...until the show started and people started dancing and going crazy.

I already described the crowds in Montreal as being great. But this was the first time I'd ever felt even the hint of a push in the back. When Alice came down, everyone was pushing from behind to try and get closer to her. I frankly didn't mind at all, as long as they didnt' knock me off into the mud, and as that didn't happen, I was hunky-dory. Girlfriend-guy though was not faring so well. Someone was dancing aggressively beside me, and I didn't mind at all, but seemingly thi guy had had enough. He reached across me, grabbed him mid-jump, and told him to "just relax." Seeing the absurdity in front of me, I scoffed at his gall for trying to tell this equally young guy to "just relax" during easily the most electric show of my concert-going life. Dance on man.

But the guy didn't stop. Two minutes later, he was still dancing, and this time buddy did the same thing, and though I didn't hear specifics, I saw him put up one finger and go "one more time." Thankfully, nothing came of it, or I was going to step in, but if you're third row at a show, you should probably know what you're getting in to - and if not, then shut up, or stay home.

The show almost ended abruptly, with Ethan walking across the stage to a collapsed Alice and yelling "what the fuck?! they cut the sound!? - let's do one more song!" to the raucous cheer of those in the crowd. If anyone thought it was planned or staged, I certainly don't think so, especially with the trouble the band had already went through just to get there. Add that to the fact that Crystal Castles don't exactly seem the gimmicky type.

So one more song, and the best musical day of my life was done. I was off-the-rocker amped up afterwards, excited just to be alive, and so thankful for having seen Crystal Castles work their electronic magic. You'll notice I didn't name songs, and that's because: hell if I know what they played. I heard snippets of the songs I loved, and otherwise, they did their thing, and I happilly obliged. It was only afterwards that something (I actually forget now) was thrown into the crowd as a memento, and then the set list ripped off the stage by a tech and thrown to the people in front of me.

I've never been one at all to lug around a camera and take pictures as keepsakes to remember anything by, let alone concerts. Eager however to savour some memory of the awe-inspiring show, I asked the teens in front of me (in French of course) whether or not their friend had got the set list. Though they understood me, I repeated it in English, and asked if I could take a picture of it, just as my own personal thing. The girl turned around and proclaimed the above caption I wrote under her picture, to which I quickly responded "oh wow, I swear to God I'd never do that, I just want a pic," to which she kindly agreed.

To sum up that insane Crystal Castles show that night, I'm going to Einstein of all people. I've read he once said "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." In that way, Alice Glass probably does do the same thing during every show, but she knows damn well what the result is gonna be. People are gonna love it - and that night, I was happy to be one of them.

Day 1 in pictures

Figured it might be good to put up some visuals to my words. The pics are in the same order as the review, so from the first show I saw to the last.

Not my own photos, they're via Osheaga and property of the actual photographers.

La Roux

this is the MEG stage, where I spent a good chunk of my time and saw my favorite acts.

an actual pic of that hair she was rocking

Eagles of Death Metal

Dick McGee. Not his real name, but certainly not my favorite person there

Dick plays guitar too

...this is not Josh Homme as I found out later

The Stills

the all-red combo

the all-blue combo

...and give it up for the both of them

The Rural Alberta Advantage

the ever-cute Amy, and their drummer (also of Woodhands)

lead singer Nils...though I wanna call him Jason, cause he looks like Jason Statham of "The Transporter" fame

Lykke Li

the woman knows how to work a drumstick

the perfect dusk show

kudos to the photographer, as this shot is just perfect

Girl Talk

...though no girls are actually in Girl Talk - that's Greg of GT on the left with the dancers who were brought up for the entirety of the show

he has a penchant for getting more and more undressed as the show goes along, so this is early on

Woodhands

yes, they're as geeky as they look, but hell can they perform

eager is one way to put it

Osheaga Day 1 Recap and Review

I’m alive. If by any chance my eardrums aren’t or something. Day 1 of Osheaga was certainly a whirlwind of stages, poutine, heat, beautiful Montreal women…and some music somewhere in between all that.

The first thing I noticed was the subway. When you hold a festival on an island, and the majority of concert goers probably can’t drive to the island, you get a ridiculously packed subway, like I experienced on the solo trip there, and to an even greater extent on my trip off the island with a friend.

The second thing worth mentioning, and which ties into the above, is how incredibly polite and well-behaved people here are. We discussed it at the end of the day, and one of us saw maybe one person who had drank too much. It was a crush of at least 3000 people waiting to get on to the subway at the end of the night…and not a shove or an unkind word to be heard – French or English.

The same goes for the shows themselves. Save for the one couple who decided to seemingly conceive their baby in front of me during Girl Talk, everyone kept to their own space, there was no shoving from behind you, no crowd surfing over the top of you, and no one bumping into you from dancing beside you. Maybe it’s the sheer amount of jackass teenagers who get drunk and think they can crowd surf like in the movies in Nova Scotia, but the crowds are infinitely better overall in Montreal.

That doesn’t mean there was a lack of spirit in any way though. They clapped just as heard and were just as “in” to the concerts as I’d seen anyone. It was a shame that no one did any encores because of the tight scheduling, but everyone sure cheered like there was the possibility. Acts from La Roux to Woodhands were thanking the crowd, with Dan Werb from the latter group even going “…and I’m not fucking kidding when I say that, I love you guys!”

The day itself was just oppressive. Not a cloud to be seen until maybe 5 or 6pm. Guys walked around shirtless, girls had bikinis on, people were sweating like pigs. If anyone was selling sunscreen, they were the smartest merchant on the island. The sun wasn’t just beating down, there was enough humidity in the air to make the so-called 26 degrees feel upwards of 30 and then some. Of course, even that couldn’t stop throngs of people (including myself) from forming two long lines in anticipation for the fries/gravy/curds treat of poutine.

The stages were laid out in quite a fashion for their part. Give the organizers their credit, they knew how to run a festival. The two main stages were right beside each other, so that as soon as one act finished, the other could come right on, and the crowd would just have to shift side-to-side. There was another stage across a bridge and a bit deeper into the woods, and this was for up-and-coming acts. Smart idea, because this venue was covered by a tent and put the crowd on eye-level with the performers due to a raised platform for the concert goers.

You felt much closer to the band, and it was a great way to get acquainted with the newer acts at the festival, who yesterday included PARLOVR, The Rural Alberta Advantage, and Woodhands among them. The final and furthest stage was another intimate venue nestled in between trees, and this one was actually the exclusive stage of the MEG Festival for Osheaga. Luckily, it happened most of the groups I wanted to see were at that stage, so I didn’t have to do too much running between the four venues.

So now that I’ve set out the scene, why not get to the reviews of the acts themselves? We started the day in the comfort of the shade, pouring over the schedule so we could set our own. And it went as such:

La Roux

Funniest part of the day? La Roux’s tech was doing the mic check, the usual “1, 2. 1,2.” Then after a few minutes he beckoned us “1,2. La Roux!” 1,2. La Roux!” We had no problem obliging him, and when the red-headed songstress came out later, she said it was probably the funniest thing that had happened on her own tour…which she followed up by saying we probably thought they were losers if that was it.

La Roux isn’t just her though, and it’s not even a duo like I thought. It’s the familiar exotically-coiffed lead singer, a short-shorts and oversized tank-top dressed, comb-over-haired (all circa 1993) keyboardist, a bearded and slightly normal-looking synth/effects/keyboards guy, and another baggy-shirted, glasses-that-made-her-look-bug-eyed girl in the back playing…you guessed it, keyboards – though to her credit, she provided some decent back-up vocals. La Roux for her part was dressed in obscenely bright tights, a vest my mom may have worn in the 80’s, a polka-dotted (if my memory serves me correctly) baggy blouse, and round, Ozzy Osbourne-y spectacles.

Everything was fine actually, except for those shades. Of all the kinds of glasses, she chose those ones. They aged her like 40 years, made her look bug-eyed in a worse way than the other girl’s glasses, and just overall weren’t a good look for her. I felt like a granny had gotten a perm and started belting 80’s-era electro pop as my Osheaga opening act.

Thankfully though, given her “how the hell did she manage to make that look like that?” hairdo (the pic isn't from Osheaga, and doesn't even do her hair at the festival justice), there were enough distractions to go around. And oh yeah, she did some singing too. I have to admit, the lyrics all seemed overly simple and reflective of past broken relationships – kinda like the stuff I write when I’m feeling lonely on a Saturday night at 2am. We looked close in age, but I imagine she has a better manager and song-writing team than I do.

The jangly keyboards and synth stabs certainly masked over the lyrical deficiencies, and she played all her popular hits, with gusto at that. “Quicksand,” “Colourless Colour,” “In For The Kill” (sadly, not the epic Skream remix, but why would she anyways?), and closing the set with my personal favourite, “Bulletproof.” Good show to get us going and a little bit pumped for the rest of the day to come.

Eagles of Death Metal

I convinced my friends not to head to K’Naan, and that turned out to be a huge mistake (more on that later). I was hyped for Eagles of Death Metal, mainly because of their standout track “Wannabe In L.A.” Turns out that’s about the only thing that stood out about them. The lead singer had all the aura and on-stage antics of a big-time rock star, but certainly not the pipes. He glossed over some words, and the show even felt too quiet of all things. It’s a rock show – much better you’re too loud than too quiet.

He interacted with the audience a bit, but the only really highlight of the show was his guitar duel with his bandmate from opposite sides of the large headlining stage. Maybe two of the songs they played actually stood out for me, and no one else I was with was particularly impressed with Eagles of Death Metal either. I’m pretty tall too, so I could see a fair bit of the crowd in front of me (we were a bit late so got spots a bit further back), and I could tell none of them were too into it either – no telltale headbobbing or hands in the air. Lacklustre show overall, and I certainly wouldn’t want to watch them in the future.

Sidenote? Queens of the Stone Age frontman and Eagles of Death Metal drummer Josh Homme wasn't even there for the show. Boo.

(up til now, this post was written on Sunday morning…it’s now Monday morning, and in terms of Saturday, my memory could be a bit spotty, but I’ll try...I mean, just reading back through it, I see things I wrote that happened, that I'd forgotten until I read them. Whoa.)

Elbow
I’m not counting it as seeing them, because we just kinda chilled on the grass and didn’t even look towards the stage, although we could hear them playing. No one seemed too high on them anyways, given their plodding, epic, ballad-y rock. When I described them as Coldplay, but slower, to my friends, that was kinda the nail in the coffin. And this was to people who liked Coldplay, so go figure.

The Stills

Headed over to see these guys at the MEG stage, and got there a few minutes before they actually came on. And come on they did, the two lead guitarists (who I erroneously thought were brothers, given their similar looks) dressed in nurse/orderly-looking get-ups. One was rocking the red jeans and red t-shirt, the other with the same thing in blue. I’m not gonna lie, it felt like we were watching the All-Hospital Talent Show of Montreal for about 45 minutes. The one weak attempt they made at explaining the shirts didn’t make much sense either, so let’s just leave that part alone.

I’ve of course heard of The Stills, but aside from single “Being Here,” I can’t say I really knew too much of their stuff. That didn’t stop me from enjoying it though. They have quite the brand of tune – soaring, psychedelic, cresting, synthy, atmospheric rock. Every song had a distinct build-up and crescendo without fail. That kind of act can start to grate on you after a bit, especially when you start to see it coming, but there was enough variety between light-heartedness and heaviness in the songs that you didn’t really mind it too much. At one point they even brought out a special guest to play a weird-looking set of “Turkish” drums, and that was just another interesting element to their show.

Nothing other than “Being Here” really stood out for me honestly, but they were more than a good filler. They were also the reason for the earlier K’Naan mention. After convincing my friends not to head to the latter’s show, The Stills made not one, but two mentions of how awesome of a show the Somalian-Canadian put on. No specifics, but you get the feeling he made a lasting and indelible impression on the band, let alone the crowd who took him in. Even my sister texted me saying it had been “ridiculous.”

The Rural Alberta Advantage

Now the only real problem with The Stills was that they cut into this group. By the time I was done at the MEG stage and headed over to the Kia stage featuring The RAA, they were about three songs away from the end of their set. Luckily I caught much-hyped (and deservedly-so) single “Don’t Haunt This Place,” plus the outstanding closer “Edmonton,” so it wasn’t all bad news, especially considering the set itself was a curt half-hour.

Amy from the group may have been the highlight of my day if she wasn’t upstaged by Lykke Li just 15 minutes later. I mean, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a cuter girl in a band. Just inexplicably cute and pretty. I wanted to make her my girlfriend. My friend said she made him want to be a better person. All-around great person. Which made it so much worse when mid-song she knocked her keyboard off the stand, was rendered helpless, and then by the time she got it back up, had seemingly broke the thing.

The song went along fine, with only a bit of a piano loop missing from it, but our eyes were trained on Amy and her keyboard problems. All that aside though, The RAA put on a great show, and I only wish I was able to see more of it. You can tell that even though they’ve got the requisite Pitchfork-induced hype and great reviews all ‘round, they’re still a small-time band at heart, trying to make it just like everyone else. They let us know they had merchandise for sale, and lobbied for our Galaxie vote for them.

Lykke Li

Li Lykke (say lukey, not licky) Timotej Zachrisson. The 23-year old Swedish goddess of a singer. First of all, it wasn’t funny enough that her backing band was doing it’s mic check in Swedish, and taking too long to do that as it was. She came on as the sun was starting to go down, and played about as perfect a dusk show as you could get. Unfortunately Osheaga’s site doesn’t have pics from her performance up yet (if they’re going to at all), but the woman is gorgeous. She came out in a black ruffly number, complete with even-more-ruffled black boa, with mouth instruments jangling from a silver necklace, short skirt barely clearing her waist, and black, flowery nylons covering the rest of her legs. She was just oozing sex.

Though the above may read more like a stripper’s profile than that of an amazingly talented singer, I apologize. But you just had to be there. Even the girls we were with admitted to having a big girl-crush on Lykke after her performance. As the sole vocalist, and not wielding anything but a sole drumstick to randomly smash a stand-alone cymbal with, she was about as polarizing a front-woman as you can imagine. For her young age, she was as confident and laid-back as anyone I’d seen all day. Just completely in command, all the while with a laissez-faire attitude that didn’t seem to indicate as much.

I’m real familiar with her catalogue, and even more so with the numerous remixes of her blog-friendly music. The delicateness of her voice translates perfectly to the stage, and everyone hung on her every word. From asking us whether or not she could play a new song, to imploring us to “light up a J” to the same tune, there was nothing Lykke could ask that we weren’t ready to do for her. I know I myself stood there just rapt by her performance, tunnel-vision on what she’d or sing next.

And that’s the thing about Lykke, she’s unpredictable. I’ve seen footage of her breaking into Rick Ross tunes in small venues overseas, but little did I know she’d randomly jump into a very spirited and faithful (and I mean right down to the very lyrics) rendition of Lil’ Wayne’s “A Milli.” The girl has a secret love for rap, and it definitely showed through during her show. She even threw us for a loop after that with A Tribe Called Quest’s “Can I Kick It?” but we most certainly obliged her. She’s eclectic, dynamic, gorgeous, and talented. I really don’t know what more you could ask for, so Lykke was certainly the highlight of my Saturday at Osheaga.

Girl Talk

After that of course, I stuck around to get a good spot at the same MEG stage for Girl Talk’s headlining act. Of course, all my friends and even my sister skipped out to see Coldplay headlining at the main stage, but I was ready to “get my dance on” with what I hoped was to be a large and raucous crowd. Standing around beforehand, I ended up talking to three or four guys from Australia who were up in North America on a road trip, and had seen Girl Talk five times already, including a stopover in Barcelona during Spain’s spring break. I can only venture a guess at how insane that show was. For a guy in front of us, he even let her girlfriend wander off to Coldplay so he could catch GT.

Given all the good word and the better vibes coming from the crowd, I was expecting something big. Truth be told, I was let down. First off, Girl Talk is one guy, Greg Gillis (really, that's him...click it again...it's still him). He had two square laptops set up on a table, two subwoofers beside those, and a white screen in behind him for his on-the-fly powerpoint and special effects show. So between the fact that he came out in basically sweatpants, a white tee, and a sweatshirt, that his voice was about as geeky as they come, and typing up his own crowd directions to display on-screen as he went, I knew something was up. I mean, I already knew this impression of GT, but his music was undeniably catchy in any instance. That I couldn’t argue.

So basically every Girl Talk track starts with a big bass line, a rock or hip-hop riff, and the same thing for the vocals. A three-part concoction that at the conclusion of the show covered everything from AC/DC to Journey to Outkast to God-know’s-what musically. To put it lightly, it was quite a mix. To put it the other way, to the untrained and unready ear, it was a clusterfuck of 30-second snippets of every popular song in the last 20+ years. And another way? Imagine the last two years you’ve been going clubbing (and I say two because that’s as long as I’ve been doing it) and then combine all those nights into one show about an hour and a half long…and that’s Girl Talk. Get it?

I mean, this was complete with dancers hand-picked from the festival’s crowd, just dancing non-stop on stage the entire time. Given some of the deadheads and the over-abundance of guys I was standing around, there was nowhere more I wanted to be more than on that stage, dancing with the half-naked girls (yes, that’s more than three sexualized references in a day’s worth of shows at a festival…it was that kind of day, alright?).

After that show anyways, which was overall not only forgettable but also regrettable given how epic everyone said Coldplay was, I was ready to end the night on a better note. So enter…

Woodhands

Wow. I didn’t think they could make up for Girl Talk’s let-down, but they certainly tried their damnedest. I only caught about three of their songs, but I lucked out in the same way I did with The RAA (same stage too...and get this, I just found out they both have the same drummer? huh), and saw the duo play an extremely spirited trio of their hit “Dancer” (nicely extended), the tail end of a song in which they got an earlier performer from the day (Gentleman Reg) to feature on vocals, and then a huge number that just kept going and going until they left the crowd in a frenzy and wanting more. I’ll keep this review short and to the point, just like their set. They were great, high-energy electro-rock, and definitely worth a look if you have the chance.

So that sums up Day 1 of Osheaga. Check back later for Day 2.