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October 21st, 2011

New Canadiana :: Various Artists – Dad Jamz

From the soft-rock epoch of Jesse Locke:
From concept to cassette, Dad Jamz is a gas. This cheeky comp finds the bands of the Bart Records and Revolution Winter clan tackling FM staples of the late ’70s – early ‘80s soft-rock epoch with varying results of ridiculousness. Amidst choice picks from Queen, Kansas, Motörhead and Dire Straits (Slates’ “Walk of Life” is a standout), label flagship Stalwart Sons crowd surf Kiss/Argent’s “God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You” with original lyrics across seven guitar-squealing minutes. Gyre Spire and Spindle deserve props for taking on Kim Mitchell’s perpetually unhip anti-drinking anthem “Go For Soda”, while Auld Beak clearly have love for Bruce Cockburn deep down. Polina’s straight-faced Rush cover is a winner, and WC fave Sans AIDS could make even Bachman and Cummings shed a tear.

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Auld Bleak – Lovers in a Dangerous Time

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Sans AIDS – These Eyes

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Polina – Fly by Night

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Categoria!! cassette :: New Canadiana :: Provincial | 4 Comments »

May 11th, 2011

Festivities :: Ghost Throats [Edmonton, May 13-15]

From the ethereal choral of Aaron Levin:
There is an unusually wild Post-Hardcore scene thriving in Alberta. Untamed teenaged beasts running rampant with empty lungs and fists full of camaraderie. A singularity festering within our western abandon. It all culminates in an annual festival aptly named Ghost Throats. Organized by some familiar names within the Weird Canada cosmos (Kevin Stebner (Bart Records), Andrew Benson (Crippled Children), and Cecil Frena (GOBBLE GOBBLE)), the festival veers from the pop pantheon and remains harshly fringe, obliterating audiences with condensed signals of sound and idea.

Date: Friday, May 13th through Sunday, May 15th, 2011.
Location: Alberta Avenue Community Hall (9210 118 Avenue Northwest)
Price: $10 per day or $20 for a 3-day advance pass
All Ages Welcome (!!!)

Friday May 13, 2011

Crippled Children (Edmonton, AB)
Todos Caerán (Edmonton, AB)
Brain Fever (Calgary, AB)
Auld Beak (Saskatoon, SK)
Book of Caverns (Edmonton, AB)
La Maladresse (Levis, QC)

Saturday May 14, 2011

Slowhand (Edmonton, AB)
Coalspur (St Alberta, AB)
Monkey (Calgary, AB)
Flint (Edmonton, AB)
Watcher (Victoria, BC)
Stalwart Sons (Calgary, AB)
White Ribs (Nanaimo, BC)
Damages (Vancouver, BC)

Sunday May 15, 2011

Mahria (Edmonton, AB)
Maus (Edmonton, AB)
GSTS (Abbotsford, BC)
Wolfgoat (Edmonton, AB)
Cope (Edmonton, AB)
Tempest (Vancouver, BC)

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Categoria!! alberta :: Promotions | 1 Comment »

January 31st, 2011

New Canadiana :: Auld Beak – 4 Songs

From the sprawling horros of Aaron Levin:
The genre forgery at Bart Records continues to astound. Gripping from the nest that birthed 90s radicalia, Saskatoon’s Auld Beak seamlessly blend their sinusoids into a hurly burly of 90s catch, screaming intimacy, and post-hardcore guitar wizardry. The result is bewildering and addictive, driving you to spend hours hopelessly picking apart their orthogonal streams. Definitely something brewing at Bart Records HQ (see Stalwart Sons). Strange currents indeed!

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Auld Beak – G.B.H.

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Auld Beak – Cat Song

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Categoria!! cassette :: New Canadiana :: saskatchewan | No Comments »

November 25th, 2010

New Canadiana :: Sans AIDS – Loaners

Sans AIDS
Loaners
(Bart Records)
Edmonton, AB
::web/sounds::


From the stoop of Aaron Levin:
Sans AIDS continues to explore the gnarled fringes of our pop continuum, welding their aggro-pop catch into the grey matter lurking behind our ears. Waves of frenetic tremolo glint off the trademark bass drones and sultry tom-snare combos, combing their complex pop sensibilities into prom-worthy anti-glam. Loaners shines with a rusty glare, twisting your aural signals into the deep nostalgia hiding behind every mirror.

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Sans AIDS – Stoop

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Sans AIDS – Goblins

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Categoria!! alberta :: cassette :: New Canadiana | 2 Comments »

September 15th, 2010

New Canadiana :: Stalwart Sons – Burn Daylights Like Torches

Stalwart Sons
Burn Daylights Like Torches
(Revolution Winter)
Calgary, AB
::web/sounds::


From the burnt prairedom of Aaron Levin:
Strange currents of prairie hard-rock percolate this hooking jaunt through hardcore’s progressive pastures. Don’t let them convince you otherwise: Burn Daylights Like Torches is a phenomenal rock record fit for turntables of all dimensions. They maintain their uncanny can-rock hookery through bails of crushing guitar riffs and agropop vocals, readying your inner 90s-teen for summer streams of melodic bass and jazz drummery. It’s the perfect answer to Halifax and Montreal’s wave of mathrock tompoppery and the only reverberations in this context imbued with Alberta’s pastoral identity. GRIPORBEGRIPPED.

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Stalwart Sons – In Dust

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Stalwart Sons – Canadian Railroad Epitaph

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Categoria!! 12" :: alberta :: New Canadiana | 2 Comments »

July 28th, 2010

Music :: Gyre Spire & Spindle – Nuggets

Gyre Spire & Spindle
Nuggets
(Bart Records)
Edmonton, AB
::web/sounds::


From the spindly gyrations of James Goddard:
While we’re on the topic of Bart Records, can I mention the tragically short-lived Gyre, Spire & Spindle? Technically savvy and hyper-literate, they’re a fitting realization of the fables their name conjures. The recipe was simple: one folkie turned post-hardcore screamstress, several journey-men Edmonton musicians, and a penchant for pairing words. Simmer in a large, black, cauldron. Serves up one brain-melting five-song cassette. Nuggets is proof that once upon a time there was Gyre, Spire & Spindle. Grip it while it lasts.

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Gyre, Spyre & Spindle – Wishy Washy

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Gyre Spyre & Spindle – Splishy Splashy

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Categoria!! alberta :: cassette :: New Canadiana | No Comments »

July 16th, 2010

Review :: Fuck The Tundra – Grin Diesel

Fuck The Tundra
Grin Diesel
(Bart Records)
Edmonton, AB
::web/sounds::


From the teen steamings of Jesse Locke:
Midway through their final set at the Bart Records showcase for Sled Island 2010, Fuck the Tundra’s hyperactive frontman pushed the crowd back, tucked to his toes and hucked a massive flat ground back flip. That gymnastic feat was impressive enough, yet it was still overshadowed by a pitch-perfect performance of all six songs from their debut cassette, one of this year’s most jaw dropping releases. Throughout Grin Diesel’s succinct 16 minutes, the quartet tears into 31G-style post-hardcore with pulse quickening drum fills, spidery dueling guitars and mathematical change-ups, all peppered with their bizarre sense of humor. Most surprising is the serenely summery yet still mathy instrumental “Eliminator Boat Duel,” an ear-pleasing interlude amidst the chronicles of ridiculous.

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Fuck The Tundra – Gintro

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Fuck The Tundra – Eliminator Boat Duel

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Categoria!! alberta :: cassette :: New Canadiana | 2 Comments »

June 16th, 2010

Review :: Todos Caerán – Todos Caerán

Todos Caerán
Todos Caerán
(Bart Records)
Edmonton, AB
::web/sounds::


From the mid-90s emo nostalgia of Paul Lawton:
When I randomly checked Todos Caerán a few weeks back, I felt four things. 1) Shame: in not running from something labeled “emo/hardcore.” 2) Confusion: for thinking I had long left my emo/hardcore days once it started getting co-opted by Vans Warped Tour and mall-punks. 3) Nostalgia: the first wave of mid-90′s proto-emo bands in Alberta – a welcome respite from the glut of Fat Records wannabes droning on for many boring hours in half-empty community halls. They came as a reaction to the forms that were readily being co-opted. Moss Icon, Portraits of Past, Frail, Angel Hair were a way out, and though it didn’t last very long, it was really great while it did. 4) Inspiration: the best emo/hardcore bands, like Todos Caerán, inspire. Despite already playing in 100 bands, I want to start another group in this vein. I want to play shows with Todos Caerán, go on awful tours, and soak in the idealism that is at work here. Todos Caerán’s first cassette just gets it so right. I can’t wait to hear more.

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Todos Caerán – Comfort in Chaos

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Todos Caerán – The Futility of Fight of Flight

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Categoria!! alberta :: cassette :: New Canadiana | No Comments »

April 5th, 2010

Review :: North of America – 12345678910

North of America
12345678910
(Bart Records)
Halifax, NS
::web/sounds::


From the North of America fanboydom of Jesse Locke:
Other than the guy from Japan who flew to Montreal for their final farewell show a few months back, Bart Records founder Kevin Stebner is quite likely the biggest North of America fan on the planet. Standing next to Stebs at said gig, I was regaled with anecdotes and factoids regarding the members’ current day-jobs, how he caught them live in Europe and just how stupidly excited he is to have now released a rarities compilation from his all-time favourite band. Along with other comp tracks and the previously unearthed jam “Hot Work,” side A is culled from the same sessions that produced NoA’s swan-song LP Brothers, Sisters (a serious tour de force if you’ve never had the pleasure). From the pulverizing guitar-work and clockwork-calculated percussion of barn burners “Beyonce”, “Hate The Player” and “We Had To Call Your Parents” to the slower tempo heart-on-sleever “I Like Everything This Much” and curious electronic interlude “Let’s Get Glitch,” 12345678910 is veritable Mana for Maritime math-rock devotees. Somebody update the wikipedia…

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North of America – Let’s Get Glitch

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North of America – Hate The Player

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North of America – I Like Everything This Much

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Categoria!! cassette :: New Canadiana :: nova scotia | 3 Comments »

February 23rd, 2010

Review :: Grown-Ups – I Can’t Win

Grown-Ups
I Can’t Win
(Bart Records)
Calgary, AB
::web/sounds::


From the post-pubescent sludge of Jesse Locke:
From The Cramps (radical) to Mates of State (barf) to the Plastic Ono Band (radical barfing), musical married couples are nothing new. However, what sets thee Grown-Ups’ Sara and Josiah Hughes apart is that they’re cuter than a pair of bulldogs on snowboards that know how to turn up the rock and turn down the suck. Joined by third member/producer Darrell on “dad guitar” (nice Conchords reference, guys), they’ve now teamed with the almighty Bart for tape release number two. Eight songs of angry punk sludge that sound just as pitted as their debut but now with more Crazy Horse guitar solos (see: opener “Meat”) and Art Brut-esque motivational meta-songs (see: “Start A Band!”). This is the soundtrack for the skateboarding video game you invented in your brain. The musical equivalent of a cherry-coke slurpee with a stolen chocolate bar tucked in the cup. The creepy-lovable cover photo rules too, but I really just wish it was a drawing of Odie crossed with Jughead.

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Grown-Ups – Meat

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Grown-Ups – Start A Band!

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Categoria!! alberta :: cassette :: New Canadiana | 1 Comment »

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