January 22nd, 2010
From the compiled danglings of Jesse Locke:
The Comp of Hope starts off with a serious wallop: the 1-2-3 whirligig of Vancouver’s Damages, Nova Scotia’s Minivan Halen (snagging the prize for Best New Band Name) and Toronto’s Place Hands, three groups with distinct yet equally imposing approaches to the post- / proto- / avant- / eff-it-let’s-just-get-rowdy hardcore continuum. Bart Records founder Kevin Stebner seems to favour the tuff gnarl stuff, with seven of the comp’s 10 acts setting their phasers to beatdown. From the spazzy attack of Abbotsford’s GSTS! to the rastafried “turbo jamz” of Edmonton’s Slates, Missisauga’s Whiskey Priest and unfuckwithable label faves Gift Eaters closing it off, this cassette could provide the perfect aggro soundtrack for any hesher’s backyard mini-ramp sesh. The softer side of weird Canadiana is also represented with the Strokes-meet-a-blown-out-Casio addictiveness of Swwords (the former project of this very site’s founder), Montreal’s math-pop dangereux duo Special Noise and a live jam from the inimitable dd/mm/yyyy. Another top-notch tape release from Bart, with awesome foldout liner art (front & back) from Calgary’s Heather Kai Smith.
[Levin's Note: This has the most links of any review on Weird Canada. Which means you get to virtually travel across Canada, all thanks to Bart Records. Benjoy!]
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Special Noise – Fitness
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Minivan Halen – Epic
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SLATES – blooloend
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swwords – The Hit
File under: bart records // compilation // experimental // hardcore // math-pop // pop // punk // rock
Categoria!! New Canadiana :: alberta :: british columbia :: cassette :: manitoba :: nova scotia :: ontario :: quebec :: saskatchewan | 1 Comment »
September 25th, 2009
Saskatoon is Canada’s secret cultural hot-spot. The last time I was in Saskatoon I yelled at Herbie Hancock from afar, found one of the rarest Canadian psych records for $3 (Christmas on Paragon), made-out with a Lesbian, and stumbled upon picture sleeves from one of Canada’s best garage 7″s (The Witness Inc. – Not You Girl). My fondness with Saskatoon continued when I met Feral Children and seems to grow with each Weird Canada submission from the city. Thus, it comes with no surprise that I stumble upon another creative genius conjuring soundscapes in their Saskatoon basement. Poler Bear’s ambient canvasses are captivating in every way they shouldn’t be; fluxes of multi-instrumental blankets forming pop structures and catchy wisps too slow and wavering for radio pop but too structured to bear the avant-garde moniker. Most of the songs are built around narratives from Canada’s landscape: water, people, television, and birds; all playing a role in shaping Poler Bear’s soundtrack. It’s mellow and soothing and time seems to slip away every time I listen. Hopefully my next trip to Saskatoon will feature more artifacts of Canada’s underground, including Poler Bear.
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Poler Bear – Parachute
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Poler Bear – Ships Don’t Soar With Stone Sails
File under: ambient // experimental // mellow
Categoria!! New Canadiana :: compact disc :: saskatchewan | 3 Comments »
July 22nd, 2009
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Caves / Stephen Cooley
Caves / Stephen Cooley
(Jazz Farm?)
Saskatoon, SK
::web/sounds::
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Weightless jet-streams of chords soak every minute of this odd split cassette from Saskatoon that clocks in at an astonishing 90 minutes. Caves projects his shoegazing kite along these contorted winds to produce pop-scapes that stretch our emotional imagination. On the flip, Stephen Cooley scales it back to traditional ambient themes that seem to weave between the reverberated vocal echoes and field recordings. Both Caves and Stephen Cooley are quite active in the Saskatoon scene, playing in a number of weird projects (Lion Stab, The Foggy Motions, A Gentle Forest, etc.) I look forward to more from these SK basement weirdos.
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Caves – No Birds in the Sky
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Stephen Cooley – Maxwell’s Demon
File under: ambient // shoegaze // soundscapes
Categoria!! New Canadiana :: cassette :: saskatchewan | No Comments »
July 17th, 2009
Feral Children is the 2009 electronic Tim Buckley; a forward-thinking, genre-hybridization of trends existing in the ethers of our musical consciousness. Where Tim Buckley channeled jazz, folk, and psychedelia to produce “emotional bellowing from the depths of a drug vortex” (dr. lloyd – waxidermy), Feral Children interpolates the fluxes of psychedelic-pop brewing on the borders of electronic music. His new songs are poppier, thicker, and voluminous; yet they conjure the same looping-pedal+drum-machine pop-lysergia present on his first album – now with more low-end, more psych, and more dance. It’s a welcomed progression we rarely see on sophomore albums. A+++++++, fast shipping, will listen again.
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Feral Children – Safe Language
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Feral Children – Your Head Inside My Voice
File under: dance // pop // psych
Categoria!! New Canadiana :: compact disc :: saskatchewan | 2 Comments »
June 3rd, 2009
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Feral Children
Hits and Improv
(Self Released)
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
::web/sounds::
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Viewing the Feral Children spectacle is a truly singular experience; emotional bellowing from the bottoms of a psychedelic vortex. Creating detailed lysergic textures on the fly with the usage of a looping pedal and sampler whilst strumming his uniquely tuned, de-strung guitar. This album got heavy play while I was finishing my thesis, putting out a record, and working full-time. I managed to avoid dropping acid but the album was a certified trip each time I took a break from hell to listen. Highly recommended. A top release from 2008.
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File under: drum machine // psych // wasted
Categoria!! New Canadiana :: compact disc :: saskatchewan | 1 Comment »
