June 30th, 2010
From the teen steamings of Jesse Locke:
Inside its shiny wrapping paper and tiny Ziploc bag, this split cassette from two of Toronto’s weirdest offers a veritable smorgasbord of smeared sonic exploration. Side A finds Doom Tickler phreeking the beat with goosepimply processed vocals pitched somewhere between Black Dice, black metal and Sméagol. Of their four songs, “School Jungle Mud Pool” is the standout, with its demon-possessed singsong melody, squelching synths and jackhammer rhythms resulting in the most hellish Acid House since Love’s Secret Domain. Spectral Forum, meanwhile, jam-pack the flip with 10 wildly varying selections. From the watery miasma of “Mystic Pointe Mississauga” to the spacey grooves of “Corpse Made of Lint”, dubby ice- cream truck ditty “Heavy Metal Homeroom” and upbeat Moroder-nodding finale “Here 2 Eternity,” it’s all too easy to get lost in the steam.
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Spectral Forum – Here 2 Eternity
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Doom Tickler – School Jungle Mud Pool
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Spectral Forum – Mystic Pointe Mississauga
File under: dance // electronic // experimental // jesse locke // leslie predy // loop // moroder // weird
Categoria!! New Canadiana :: compact disc :: ontario | 3 Comments »
June 18th, 2010
From the summery low-life of Aaron Levin:
Arbutus Records is at the centre of a monstrous pop vortex. Sean Nicholas Savage, Silly Kissers, Braids, Pop Winds, Grimes, and now Montreal’s Blue Hawaii showcase the breadth of avant-pop nuances circulating in their sphere of electromagnetic influence. Every burnout needs a soundtrack to escape the sun; a reason to ride the swashes of summery circuitry and gluey harmonies that crest upon Blooming Summer‘s self-referential manifesto. With Blooming Summer they will reach a chromatic zenith and swim in a stew of summer evenings and midnight exotica. So can you. GRIP.
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Blue Hawaii – Blue Gowns
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Blue Hawaii – Dream Electrixra
File under: aaron levin // arbutus records // braids // dance // electronic // mellow // summer
Categoria!! New Canadiana :: cassette :: quebec | 2 Comments »
April 19th, 2010
From the chromatic waves of Aaron Levin:
Peril loiters around their underground vision, embracing our maligned audience with unprecedented density. Step sequencers set the pace, with a brooding, low-end urgency driving COSMETICS’ minimal masquerade. Soft Skin pulses like a beacon within some distorted gothic crepuscule; leather, skin, and twilight transmute into anthems of superficial warrants and synthetic indulgence while traces of italo disco and minimal synth dance beneath Aja’s reverberated whispers. Possibly the sexiest underground synth record I’ve heard.
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COSMETICS – Soft Skin
File under: aaron levin // captured tracks // dance // italo disco // minimal synth // synth
Categoria!! 7" :: New Canadiana :: british columbia | 1 Comment »
April 9th, 2010
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Pastoralia
Across Living Room Floors
(Self Released)
Halifax, NS
::web/sounds::
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From the tuesday-night pasta of James Goddard:
I once had the good fortune to go drinking with underwater welders. I was left with the distinct impression that were I fonder of Whitesnake submarine metal-working might have been the life for me. Pastoralia, like underwater welding, is a strange combination of things; clown makeup, throw-back samples, and choreographed dance sequences all blended seamlessly with a power-pop trio. Mitchell Wiebe‘s vocals float disaffectedly over thalassic bass lines and discarded C&C Music Factory beats. What Pastoralia do may be more akin to making collages out of US Weekly in a wading pool than actual under-water welding, but isn’t that just a matter of scale?
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Pastoralia – Daddy Daughter Dance
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Pastoralia – Fuschia of Architecture
File under: dance // electro // james goddard // pop
Categoria!! New Canadiana :: compact disc :: nova scotia | 1 Comment »
December 8th, 2009
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Holzkopf
Sober Materials #1
(Self Released)
Vancouver, BC
::web/sounds::
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From the closeted-bourgeoise life-stylings of Aaron Levin:
I once thought it would be incredibly ingenious to put Holzkopf in a box and carry him around with me. His adorable ponytails popping out of my JanSport backpack as I dithered about my daily duties (pretentious white-man stuff like buying whole-wheat bagels and reading Trotsky). And then, when things go awry in my white-picket-world, out pops Holzkopf with his busted drum machine, hand-manipulated Walkman, karaoke microphone, and array of pedals, ready to pulverize whatever gentrified fear stands before me. But! Now that Holzkopf has compiled his improvised dungeon dancery onto a CDR, I can get down to his body-destroying beats without leaving my suburb. Holzkopf’s sound and performance are unparalleled in North America (please to find me another pedal-mashing drum-machine hooligan), so we at Weird Canada are happy to celebrate any record documenting Holzkopf’s strange travels. Tracks on this disc were compiled from Holzkopf’s European tour and a few vinyl and cdr releases (on the labels: Little Fury Things, Wintage, and Panospria). Let the shredding begin!
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Holzkopf – draw blood
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Holzkopf – pissing next to me and preaching
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Holzkopf – state trooper
File under: dance // electronic // noise
Categoria!! New Canadiana :: british columbia :: compact disc | 4 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 »
July 15th, 2009
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GOBBLE GOBBLE
Neon Graveyard
(Bart Records)
Edmonton, AB
::web/sounds::
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There is nothing you can do to prepare for the body-vibrato-inducing onslaught of the 32-bit gravitron-pop that comprises GOBBLE GOBBLE. When I was 16 I saw Carrot Top live in Las Vegas with my mom; we sat next to Steven Speilberg’s brother and were told not to look at him. The whole time I was listening to The Jackson 5 on cassette and thinking about seeing Ed Tempelton as we drove through Huntington Beach. The sum of all these experiences (summer, confusion, pop, skateboarding, absurdity, humanity, my mom, and Carrot Top) is my only point of comparison to the aural space-scape of GOBBLE GOBBLE’s debut. For those of you who are not me, Neon Graveyard is like a combination of Dan Deacon and the new Dirty Projectors; experimental pedal pushing meets 91.7 The Bounce FM pop sensibilities. It’s incredibly lasting and rewarding after multiple listens (unlike Carrot Top). The live show is a different entity in itself; brain-altering displays of fluorescence with wine-bottle percussion, fiber optics, and a lot of dancing. GOBBLE GOBBLE for president.
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GOBBLE GOBBLE – Meteor Eschat
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GOBBLE GOBBLE – o Sacred Dandruff
File under: 32-bit // dance // electronic // hyper // pop
Categoria!! New Canadiana :: alberta :: cassette | 4 Comments »
July 4th, 2009
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Holzköpf
Fat in the Sun b/w I’d be a Fool (Isolation Dub)
(nOnCapable)
Vancouver, BC
::web/sounds::
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The heaviest dance music on earth is composed live with pedals and samplers by this dual-pony-tailed Vancouverite performing under the elusive Holzköpf moniker. Originally from Saskatoon, Holzköpf’s ghetto-techno took years to craft into its current state (spending some time in Edmonton in the process); a blend of harsh noise, lo-fi, and improvised tech. It’s really something you need to see and hear live, but this two-track CDR contains the best recordings I’ve heard of his work to date (for his dancey stuff). Layers of distorted tape-squeal hover above truncations of drum loops programmed on the fly by Holzköpf as he takes the mic and screams into DIY-fischerprice-dom. The reggie-fused I’d Be A Fool (Isolation Dub) is a definite favorite. Does it get any better than a no-bit quantized dancehall riff?
The MP3s I’ve posted are super low-quality (96kbs) as the files were too big. You should support Holzköpf on his Canadian tour and pick up a CD when he comes to your town! He is definitely one of the best live performances I’ve ever seen!
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Holzköpf – I’d Be A Fool (Isolation Dub)
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Holzk̦pf РFat In The Sun
File under: awesome // dance // lo-fi // noise // pony-tail
Categoria!! New Canadiana :: british columbia :: compact disc | 2 Comments »
