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February 9th, 2012

New Canadiana :: Lantern – I Don’t Know b/w Out of Our Heads

Lantern - I Don’t Know b/w Out of Our Heads
From the cosmic murk of Simon Frank:
Cheaper than a leather jacket but equally effective at scaring your parents, Lantern’s new single takes them to new levels of speaker-blowing oblivion. “I Don’t Know” resurfaces from this summer’s tape on Night People, jabbed with adrenaline by drummer Sophie White’s Maclise-via-hambone beat. But B-side “Out of Our Heads” is the true highlight—nearly five minutes of relentless bass-as-extra-tom-tom, high pitched smears of sneers, and a final solo of celestial murk. For Cuban heels only.

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Lantern – I Don’t Know

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Categoria!! 7" :: New Canadiana :: nova scotia :: quebec | No Comments »

September 8th, 2011

Imprint :: Electric Voice

Matt Samways is a young upstart from Truro, the so-called ‘hub’ of Nova Scotia. Before touching the age of 20 he led the pitiless doom punk of Pig, started the Electric Voice imprint, and played sideman to Scribbler and the Friendly Dimension. He has once again departed on another musical continuum with his latest project, Transfixed, a more sinister and contemplative vision of the futuristic isolation and robotic vocals of Kraftwerk and Gary Numan.

Electric Voice is not exclusive to the regional talent of the 902, but has entertained releases from across Canada, with ambitions to release music from around the globe. Up next is a 12” from Jeff & Jane Hudson, who were part of the New York No Wave movement during the late ’70s and early ’80s, arguably one of the greatest incubators for creative music of all genres, ever. Matt kindly took the time to answer some questions.

Zachary Fairbrother
Contributor
Weird Canada // Lantern
http://weirdcanada.com // http://lantern.bandcamp.com

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Transfixed – Coaxial Mirage

What inspired you to start a label?
It was conceived as a vanity label in 2008 with a partner I was collaborating with at the time, who actually titled the label. It was suggested by a peer that we began documenting our releases to enhance professionalism. We had no intentions of channeling anything other than our own material. As our group was disbanding a personal desire to continue the archive still existed. My friends are all making extremely good music and I can’t suppress supporting it materialize.
Since Pig split, you’ve devoted much of your attention to Electric Voice. Are you taking a break from music or do you prefer running label?
I wasn’t really interested in performing or releasing my own music at the time, but I wanted to keep contributing to the physical production of it. I hold a strong value in the aesthetic of sound and its presentation, and the idea of being able to manipulate it is appealing to me. About a year ago I started receiving funding from the Government of Nova Scotia via the Emerging Business Music Program on behalf of Electric Voice. That defiantly provided me with a lot of motivation to get the label off the ground and start working outside the current community in Halifax and Montreal. Though I am becoming passionate about the label, I am a musician first and still focus on writing and recording with aspirations of touring the material. Putting a lot of energy into the label in turn benefits my musical endeavors.
Transfixed is quite a departure from your previous musical adventures. How is it related/un-related to other projects?
The formation of Transfixed was completely organic. It is a collaborative project between myself, Ian Phillips and a number of rotating musicians. We had no intentions of forming a group when we first started playing together, but when we discovered that the house we had been jamming in was previously owned by Ian’s grandparents in the early ’60s, and that his grandfather grew up in the house, we decided to channel our time spent there with Transfixed. It has become an interesting and rapidly progressing project that there’s no reason to stop. Our ideas are constantly abstracting themselves and moving faster than we create the music. It’s exciting and with the lack of expectation we have become more prolific than any other project I’ve been involved with.

With my other projects/collaborations there has been a lot more premeditation on the sounds and how they should be presented. It becomes tough when a collective of people share the same visions without matching the logistics. The extrasensory parts of music can be difficult to communicate. I also work with Troy Richter and the Friendly Dimension in molding his sounds.

Synthesizers or guitars?
Guitars that sound like synthesizers. I think the combination can be a masterful force when properly conducted. I am ultimately a guitar player, but I’ve been spending a lot of time learning the keyboard. For the last few months I’ve hardly touched my guitar.
You hitchhike between Truro and Halifax. It seems like hitchhiking is a fading activity. Do you enjoy it, and do you have any good stories? Have you met some interesting people? Where is the farthest you’ve hitched?
It’s never really been something I enjoyed, but it’s done out of necessity. When I cannot afford to be bussing back and forth, it’s usually my only means to get to practices/gatherings, as all of the bands I play in are based in Halifax. I live back and forth from Halifax and Truro, which are about an hour’s drive apart. Truro is very isolated and is a great environment to work in, though can be compromising with my schedule.

I’ve only been hitching through Nova Scotia and Newfoundland for the last five years. I’ve been consistently traveling this way and have never encountered any trouble. Dress nice with a clean appearance. A lot of mothers have picked me up, also on- and off-duty police officers. The only questionable encounter was a lady who spoke in a thick rural Nova Scotian tongue. She picked my friend and I up in the dark and was drinking Faxe 10 (strong beer). She had what looked like 3-4 empty cans on the floor of her side of the car. It was a little unsetting but she was considerably collected and coherent. She had a bizarre way of twisting her words together that was oddly poetic.

You seem like an ambitious young man. What are your dreams for the Electric Voice Label?

I don’t class my visions with the label as dreams, because I don’t think they are anything we can’t achieve. The people I surround myself with are individually gifted at what they do. Thankfully all of the resources are presented, making it simple to have a pragmatic sense of work. I certainly am young; therefore I am not looking to execute the foundation process in short time. I will keep experimenting with formats and presentation, and try not to exhaust our resources. In time I will spend time refining the label and as expected with any small business or hobby, sustainability is key.

What other labels do you find inspiring and/or really dig and why?
To those who know me this may sound biased because Brett is a good friend, but I really like what he has done with Campaign For Infinity. He has released some of my favourite cassettes in the last few years (notable: Teenage Panzerkorps, Horrid Red, Grand Trine, Rape Faction). I also have a lot of respect for Darcy Spidle and Divorce Records, as it was a prominent influence of my origins in the community of Halifax. He is really passionate about what he does and it shows in his work. OBEY Convention is a festival he puts on every year or so and is the highlight of the year in Halifax, in my opinion. I am happy to be helping him with the festival in 2012.

I have some collaborative release coming out with Danish label Skrot Up as well as works with Montreal’s Hobo Cult. Some other notable active labels: Bruised Tongue, Captured Tracks, Dark Entries Records, FLA Tapes & Records and Arbutus Records. I also really dig the consistency in the aesthetic of labels like Sacred Bones and Night People.

Electric Voice Discography (to date)

  • EV001
  • ::
  • Albino Slug II
  • –
  • EP
  • (Cassette, 2008)
  • EV002
  • ::
  • Pig
  • –
  • Everything Isn’t EP
  • (CD-R, 2009)
  • EV003
  • ::
  • Vacuum
  • –
  • Tormented Bear EP
  • (Cassette, 2009)
  • EV004
  • ::
  • Pig
  • –
  • Elbow Witch
  • (Cassette, 2009)
  • EV005
  • ::
  • Church Hammer
  • –
  • Vol. I
  • (Cassette, 2010)
  • EV006
  • ::
  • Church Hammer
  • –
  • Vol. II
  • (Cassette, 2010)
  • EV007
  • ::
  • Church Hammer/Vacuum
  • –
  • Split
  • (Cassette, 2010)
  • EV008
  • ::
  • Pig
  • –
  • I’ve seen the future and it’s no place for me Compilation
  • (Cassette, 2010)
  • EV009
  • ::
  • Various Artists
  • Electric Voice Compilation Vol I
  • (Cassette, 2010)
  • EV010
  • ::
  • Milksnake
  • –
  • EP
  • (Cassette, 2010)
  • EV011
  • ::
  • Friendly Dimension
  • –
  • Live: In the Pleasant Horrors of Space EP
  • (Cass., 2010)
  • EV012
  • ::
  • Lantern
  • –
  • Deliver me from Nowhere
  • (Cassette, 2010)
  • EV013
  • ::
  • Gigas
  • –
  • Tied Down to the Ones You Love LP
  • (Cassette, 2010)
  • EV014
  • ::
  • Friendly Dimension
  • –
  • Bath Tub EP
  • (Cassette, 2011)
  • EV015
  • ::
  • Duzheknew
  • –
  • LOL HELL EP
  • (Cancelled)
  • EV016
  • ::
  • Wicked Crafts
  • –
  • “No Cure” EP
  • (Cass. (split w/ Campaign for Infinity, 2011)
  • EV017
  • ::
  • U.S. Girls
  • –
  • EP
  • (7″, 2011)
  • EV018
  • ::
  • The Friendly Dimension // 30 Year Old City Hex
  • –
  • “Poltergeist City”
  • (Cass., 2011)
  • EV019
  • ::
  • Babysitter
  • –
  • “Paul’s Cab” Single
  • (Cassette, 2011)
  • EV020
  • ::
  • Monroeville Music Center
  • –
  • Les Defauts des Fabrication EP
  • (Cassette, 2011)
  • EV021
  • ::
  • Milksnake
  • –
  • Lenny Bruce EP
  • (Cassette, 2011)
  • EV022
  • ::
  • Membrain
  • –
  • EP
  • (Cassette, 2011)
  • EV023
  • ::
  • Lantern // The Ether
  • –
  • Split
  • (Cassette, 2011)
  • EV024
  • ::
  • Play Guitar
  • –
  • Single
  • (Cassette, split release w/ Craft Singles, 2011)
  • EV025
  • ::
  • Grand Trine
  • –
  • Single
  • (Cassette, split release w/ Craft Singles, 2011)
  • EV026
  • ::
  • Bad Vibrations
  • –
  • Single
  • (Cassette, split release w/ Craft Singles, 2011)
  • EV027
  • ::
  • Transfixed
  • –
  • Single
  • (Cassette, split release w/ Craft Singles, 2011)
  • EV028
  • ::
  • Crosss
  • –
  • Single
  • (Cassette, split release w/ Craft Singles, 2011)
  • EV029
  • ::
  • Bloodhouse
  • –
  • Single
  • (Cassette, split release w/ Craft Singles, 2011)
  • EV030
  • ::
  • Hand Cream // Crosss
  • –
  • Split
  • (Cassette, 2011)
  • EV031
  • ::
  • Passion Party
  • –
  • EP
  • (Cassette, 2011)
  • EV032
  • ::
  • Cat Bag // Transfixed
  • –
  • Bunker // Body Language
  • (12″ w/ Claire Dragon, 2011)
  • EV033
  • ::
  • Rape Faction // Chevalier Avant Garde
  • –
  • Split
  • (Cassette, 2011)
  • EV034
  • ::
  • Various Artists
  • Electric Voice Compilation Vol. II
  • (12″ Cassette, 2011)
  • EV035
  • ::
  • Jeff & Jane Hudson
  • –
  • In My Car // Computer Jungle (+ Club mixes)
  • (12″, 2011)
  • EV036
  • ::
  • Visual works by Jacqueline Lachance
  • (VHS, 2012)

(Editor’s Note: Certain titles from this discography were not released by Electric Voice proper. As history’s nature is to continually re-write itself, so, too, shall we gaze pastward at Matt’s creative efforts and understand his temporal stream within the vision of Electric Voice.)

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Categoria!! Imprint :: Interviews :: New Canadiana :: nova scotia | 9 Comments »

May 30th, 2011

Wyrd MTL :: Realities Emerge on Monday June 20, 2011!

From the eastern travels of Aaron Levin:
We’re proud to officially announce the eastern expansion of the Wyrd cosmos. Thanks to the exceptionally hard-work of Jesse Locke, Gabriel de Jasmin, and Suoni Per Il Popolo, Wyrd MTL will invade Montreal on Monday June 20, 2011. The format and philosophy remain pure; a double-stage frenzy of fringe adjectives will blaze through an evening stacked with over ten performers. With a secondary stage built specifically for Wyrd MTL, the folks at La Sala Rossa have gone the extra-extra mile and are housing a “MEGA BAZARR” of merch featuring visual art, purveyors of printed matter and Canada’s finest record labels. There is also tell of a taco truck hitting the pavement at 7pm. Full line-up and set-times below! For further information, visit here.

8:00 :: HEADACHES (Toronto, ON)
– Cortex dream jams from the cyborg mind of Landon Speers
– why we love them: here.

8:30 :: SHORTPANTS ROMANCE (Montreal, QC)
– Blitzkrieg garage punk and femme fatale charms
– why we love them: here.

9:00 :: ULTRATHIN (Montreal, QC)
– Scab-blasting noise-rock from three skinny dudes
– why we love them: here.

9:30 :: THE FRIENDLY DIMENSION (Halifax, NS)
– The black holy vortex into total freak-rock oblivion
– why we love them: here.

10:00 :: MAN MADE HILL (Toronto, ON)
– Dungeon dwelling one-man funk machine
– why we love them: here.

10:30 :: HOBO EXPANDING CULT BAND (Montreal, QC)
– A one-off collaboration from Hobo Cubes, Femminieli, JLK, Sundrips, Element Kuuda and more!
– why we love them: here.

11:00 :: DREAMCATCHER (Montreal, QC)
– Mind-smudging experimental spookery
– why we love them: here.

11:30 :: LANTERN (Montreal // Halifax // Philadelphia)
– Psych-blues freak-outs from the Zachary Fairbrother smoke ring
– why we love them: here.

12:00 :: DIRTY BEACHES (Vancouver, BC)
– Film noir nomad riding on a lonely highway
– why we love them: here.

12:30 :: D’EON (Montreal, QC)
– Terry meets Teddy Riley on a g-funk rollercoaster
– why we love them: here.

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Categoria!! Wyrd | 4 Comments »

April 21st, 2011

Inferred Views :: Wolf Edwards of Iskra and the University of Victoria

Wolf Edwards is a composer and former stand-in instructor at the University of Victoria. His music is physical, violent, it disturbs, it instigates, and transcends. It is spectral and glistening – sheets or razor sharp sounds, clashing and colliding around your body, it is like being trapped in a birth of star. Perhaps Wolf’s aggressive approach is in-forced by his background and involvement in other forms of extreme music. Wolf started out playing hardcore punk and currently plays guitar for super heavy anarchist hardcore band Iskra. Wolf has been featured in Dusted Reviews as a part of their “Composers that Matter” series and this year he will be releasing a record of his string music. Wolf, being a very busy man, kindly took the time to answer some questions.

Zachary Fairbrother
Weird Canada
www.weirdcanada.com

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Wolf Edwards – Irons

/////////////// WOLF EDWARD INFERRED VIEWS ///////////////

Zachary
::
How did you find yourself on two such divergent musical paths? How did one lead to the other and how are they related?
Wolf
::
I was a punk rocker at Ucluelet Secondary School in the 1980s. It was during that time that I taught myself electric guitar by listening to Black Flag and Crass. I was also toiling in the largest fish factory on the West Coast of Vancouver Island: Ucluelet Seafood Producers with the rest of my family. I don’t know if you’ve worked in factories, but I’ll tell you that the environment was intolerable. My bandmates and I hated the blatent racism, homophobia, and sexism that was constant in the workplace. Add to that a violent disregard for the environment or any kind of intellectual stimulation and, for us, the factory was an embodiment of everything we came to hate. Our band left Ucluelet for Victoria. I spent the next eight or so years playing in Anarchist bands. We lived in poverty, and played music.

I was on Social Assistance at the time and, around 1993, was forced to take one of their many forced job programs. Such programs, rather than assist, were generally designed to degrade and humilate. It was at this time that I lived near a Conservatory of Music. Having played electric guitar in various bands for a number of years, I, on a whim, entered and inquired about classic guitar lessons. When I heard the cost, I told the receptionist that there was no way I could afford such lessons. She promptly informed me that I could apply for student loans and take a few courses. Since the welfare program was giving me a hard time, I decided to enroll. My family being poor, I was able to aquistion the loans necessary for the courses. I took theory, classic guitar, music history, and sight singing.

While studying guitar, my teacher, Alexander Dunn, who was a student of Pepe Reomero, noticed my interest in certain twentieth century compositions that I had been playing. The music was not very good, but I was never-the-less more interested in modern music, as well as that of the 15th century and Baroque, much more than the Romantic and Classical. Alex informed me that the “modern” music I was playing on guitar, Leo Brouwer, and Toru Takemitsu, was not the most challenging and that I should, in fact, check out the leading composers of the era. He introduced me to his old composition teacher’s music with whom he’d studied with at UCSD. This composer was non other than the great Brian Ferneyhough. I was immediately attracted to the energy, and life, of the music. I went to the Conservatory library and there discovered Stockhausen, Xenakis, and Cage. After that, there was no going back, so to speak. I fell in love with the music of the 1940s on. After a few months of listening, I decided that I must write music. The guitar repertoire, with the exception of a few works, left me unimpressed. I left behind the idea of becoming a guitar performer. I told this to Mr. Dunn. He informed me that if I wanted to make any headway with music composition that I’d better think about enrolling in the University, which I did the following year.
Ever since then I’ve written, and performed, what one might call “extreme” music, while at the same time written what one might call “classical” music. For me, neither title fits. The music I play with my band ISKRA is, in many ways, more “classical” than that which I write for acoustic instruments.

Zachary
::
Do you think that in the end punk/hardcore and rigorous experimental music are different means to the same end?
Wolf
::
I can’t say because I don’t think about “the end.” I am extremely dedicated to both, and prefer to work through them, on my own terms, without any end goal in mind. I try, in both fields, to simply do my best. To write better. If I reached some kind of “end” then I think I would no longer need to write.

I never mix the two different genres. For me, this post-modern idea of pastiche is far to simple and contrived. Personally, I would much rather push the limits of both, but on their own terms. Different things need to be done within each musical sphere. They are not the same language.

Zachary
::
Are your approaches to composing for other instruments grounded in the sounds of punk and hardcore musics? It terms of the use of noise, dissonance, rhythms, extended techniques, or else?
Al
::
No. I never think about punk when writing classical music. Ironically, the music I write for my band is more “classical” than my “classical!” That is, in ISKRA, I write tonal music, mostly in sonata form. There are of course elements that cross over, mostly because they both deal with sound. Distortion, for example. One could say that I use distortion in my classical music. In reality this so-called “distortion” is simply complex sounds. That is, there are many frequencies present.
Zachary
::
Being in an anarchist hardcore band on one hand and a composer on the other seem on the surface contradictory; one is thought of as being a communal democratic process while the other is associated with emperical tendencies. Can you talk about your approach?
Wolf
::
I don’t believe that one is “democratic” and one is “emperical.” I suppose one can think of it this way, but I do not. Obviously it depends on how one views the process of making music as well as how one approaches the process. First of all, I don’t see the composer ias being a tyrant, telling people what to do and so on. When a composer writes a chart, s/he needs a community to ensure the piece happens. When I walk into a room full of experienced, and talented, musicians, I am not there to be a dictator, I am there to make music with them. To bring music to life. We work together and great things happen. It is a communal effort. I am sure some composers have a different outlook, but, as I am an anarchist, that is how I view the musical process. The band is the same thing. The group gets together and brings the compositions to life. We work out alternate ideas, find the rhythms we want, and make the songs happen. So these two worlds are not contradictory, so far as process goes. They are seemingly contradictory, however, in terms of their historical root. Anarchist punk/metal is rooted in working class revolt to a status quo system that, in reality, doesn’t work. Classical music is rooted in an aristocratic tradition, or at least that’s what most people think. That is the apparent opposition. Times have changed, however, and now we can have someone like me who works in both worlds.
Zachary
::
I have read that your politics influence your music in terms of form and architecture. I am curious to your methods, could you speak about them?
Wolf
::
The music I make is mediated through a political, or anti-political, lens(depending on what one thinks when reviewing the word “politic”). I work with crumbling foundations, and open experimentation. Multiple possibilities are present at every stage of my work. I work without law. As well, the laws of our society have no place in my creative process. I work with sound only. My sounds are alive. They communicate with me. I work with them to create a labyrinth of communications. In my music, the sounds are interactive. In fact the sounds write the music. I am a type of medium that listens to what the sounds require. There is no clear method, but I am fully conscious at every moment. The real “performance” is happening for me in each moment of the creative act. I don’t work from sketches for fear of, as Feldman once said, “pushing the sounds around.” The piece is the sketch and vice-versa.
Zachary
::
I noticed that the Quasar Sax Quartet will be playing a piece of yours this year. Can you speak a bit about it and any other projects you have coming up.
Wolf
::
The Quasar have performed my piece ISKRA about 12 times all over the world. Now we are working together on an octet that will be performed by the Quasar and Arte(Switzerland). I will go with the group to Europe and work with both quartets. In addition, the Quasar just performed in a work I wrote for Walter Boudreau and the SMCQ entitled IRONS. This piece was for saxophone quartet, amplified strings, contrabassoon, and six percussionists. I’m also writing a piece for an instrument invented by Montreal composer Jean-Francoise Laporte, which will be premiered in May. Aside from that, I have a record coming out of all my string music to date.
Zachary
::
Lastly, any other Canadian Composers Weird Canadians should know about?
Wolf
::
Yes, you should know about Mark Molnar from Ottawa, and Charles-Antoine Frechette from Montreal. These are great composers who also work with sounds, not systems. They are original, intelligent, and uncompromising sound artists.

File under: // // // // // // // //
Categoria!! british columbia :: Interviews :: New Canadiana | 6 Comments »

March 23rd, 2011

Wyrd MTL :: Official Announcement!!!

This month, Montreal’s seminal experimental music festival Suoni Per Il Popolo announced a partial lineup for 2011, including the first wave of WYRD MTL. Today, we open the floodgates for a full announcement, including information on the MEGA MERCH BAZAAR.

Much like our daily operation and its Western Canadian festival counterparts, this year’s inauguration of Wyrd’s expansion into Montreal will spotlight a coast-spanning cross-section of the Northernly subterranean. Over the course of a single jam-packed evening, 11 artists will bounce back and forth between the main stage and a special floor stage built specifically for this show. The infamous Grumman Taco Truck will be on-site all night after doors open at 7 pm, so come early and chow down on the best tacos in town!

WYRD MTL will also include a MEGA MERCH BAZAAR featuring visual art, purveyors of printed matter and Canada’s finest record labels. These will include Arbutus, Divorce, Fixture, Scotch Tapes, Bruised Tongue, Campaign For Infinity, Fluorescent Friends, Electric Voice, Hobo Cult, Fadeaway Tapes, Los Discos Enfantasmos, They Live We Sleep, Vintage Violence, Totally Disconnected, Planet of the Tapes, Dream Sequence and many more TBA.

p.s. Keep your eyes peeled for the announcement of TWO MORE SURPRISE ARTISTS in the coming weeks!

///// français /////

La semaine dernière, le festival de musique expérimentale Suoni Per Il Popolo a lancé sa programmation partielle pour l’édition de 2011, incluant une brève mention à propos du WYRD MTL. Aujourd’hui, nous levons le voile sur la programmation entière de l’événement, incluant le MEGA BAZAAR. Dans l’esprit de weirdcanada.com et des WYRD FEST de la côte pacifique, cette édition inaugurale montréalaise mettra l’accent sur un éventail de sonorités underground nordiques, d’un océan à l’autre. Le WYRD MTL, c’est onze artistes qui se succéderont en un soir seulement, alternant entre la scène principale et une scène de parterre spécialement conçue pour l’événement. De plus, l’excellente taqueria ambulante Grumman sera aussi sur place toute la soirée, dès l’ouverture des portes à 19h. Arrivez tôt et profitez des meilleurs tacos en ville !

p.s. Gardez les yeux ouverts pour DEUX AUTRES ARTISTES incontournables qui seront annoncés d’ici les prochaines semaines.

/////////////////// WYRD MTL ///////////////////

Weird Canada et Suoni Per Il Popolo

… présentent…

WYRD MTL
June 20, 2011
La Sala Rossa
Montréal, QC

D’EON (Montreal, QC)
—> Terry meets Teddy Riley on a g-funk rollercoaster

Lantern (Montreal/Halifax/Philadelphia)
—> Psych-blues freak-outs from the Zachary Fairbrother smoke ring

Dreamcatcher (Montreal, QC)
—> Mind-smudging experimental spookery

Duzheknew (Halifax, NS)
—> Jittery pop charisma and fourth world whirligigs

Ultrathin (Montreal, QC)
—> Scab-blasting noise-rock from three skinny dudes

Feral Children (Saskatoon, SK)
—> Lysergic bounce to the ounce and full-throated croons

Hobo Expanding Cult Band (Montreal, QC)
—> A one-off collaboration from Hobo Cubes, Femminieli, JLK, Sundrips, Element Kuuda and more

Headaches (Toronto, ON)
—> Cortex dream jams from the cyborg mind of Landon Speers

Shortpants Romance (Montreal, QC)
—> Blitzkrieg garage punk and femme fatale charms

Rob Feulner (Montreal, QC)
—> Will be providing his signature VHS warped visuals throughout the show.

===> tickets here <===

File under: // // // // // // // // // // // //
Categoria!! Wyrd | 4 Comments »

February 21st, 2011

Inferred Views :: Al Bjornaa of Scotch Tapes

Scotch Tapes has quickly become Canada’s premier cassette label, pumping out thousands of tapes to brilliant minds all around the world. In addition to the plethora of magnetic strips crafted in the ghettos of rural Ontario, Scotch Tapes has been capturing Toronto’s burgeoning underground punk scene via plastic lathe-cut brilliance in a collaborative series with Young Guv‘s Ben Cook. In 2011, they embarked on yet-another lathe-series with Montreal’s No Vacation. As 2011 began with the redesign of Scotch Tapes’ rather hilarious website and their subsequent world domination, we decided to link Zacharay Fairbrother with Scotch Tapes founder and sole-proprietor Al Bjornaa for a featured chat about his rural adventuring.

Aaron Levin
Weird Canada
www.weirdcanada.com

/////////////// AL BJORNAA INFERRED VIEWS ///////////////

Zachary
::
I’m into how landscapes and environment influence people’s creativity. Why do you base your label where you do [Batchawana Bay]? How do the often cosmopolitan sounds play out in your environment?
Al
::
I base Scotch out of Batchawana Bay because it’s close to my family. I have lived all over the country but this has always been home. There have been some health issues in the Bjornaa family the past few years and its been nice to be able to help out. We run a family fishing business and I have had to take a larger role in that. Plus it’s a beautiful area. I live on the beach! The north shore of Lake Superior is my favourite place on Earth.

I have always been a huge music fan. Both of my parents love music. Although their tastes may differ from mine, they passed on a passion for good music. Most of the people who live in my area think the music I release sounds like a “badger caught in a wood chipper” but most people from the area think its cool that I run a record label in such a small place. Whenever I go for coffee or breakfast at the local diner, everyone always asks how the label is doing.

Zachary
::
I have heard of your beach shows. I hope you will you be doing more of this. Who has played? What was your favorite?
Al
::
I haven’t done an actual beach show in ages but I have had a lot of bands pass through here and hang out for a day or two. Its a tough area to get a decent show. I mean I could likely set up a show in Sault Ste. Marie (which is notorious for TERRIBLE shows) or they can hang out here for a night, have some drinks, go swimming and get a good meal. I am hoping that this year with a new space, I can host more bands and maybe do some recordings and send them back on the road with a new tape or lathe. Some of the best times I’ve had drinking/ hanging out/ recording have been with Play Guitar, The Famines, Dirty Beaches, Grown-Ups, Gobble Gobble, Nobunny… There are tons. I am hoping to make Batchawana Bay a “must-stop” for bands touring Canada. Not to play shows but to have a great day off mid-tour where they can do laundry, relax, jump in the lake, maybe practice some new stuff they have been working on. 2011 is already getting booked up at Casa de Al with Bucketseat stopping here in March.
Zachary
::
I see that your label is doing some collaborative splits how did this come about?
Al
::
Yeah. I wanted to work with a few cool labels. I have a lathe series coming out with No Vacation Records (Brett Wagg from Pink Noise/ Campaign For Infinity) Brett basically just asked if I would be interested and since I love the music he puts out, I was totally in. I also put out a 7″ with No Clear Records from Florida. I imagine if any label contacted me and I liked the band, I would probably be interested. I know that Ben Cook (Fucked Up, Young Guv, etc) and I have a few co-releases lined up for his new label, Marvelous Music, as well. We will be co-releasing the Roommates LP this summer/ fall.
Zachary
::
I see you have a vast list of upcoming releases. Are all these going to happen??!
Al
::
You bet your sweet buttocks! In the first two years of Scotch, I released almost 200 tapes. I take the label very seriously. Its become more than a hobby. It’s basically a second full-time job. I plan on putting out about 70 tapes, 30 lathes and 10 vinyl releases in 2011. There are times when I get tired and need a break… and those are the times where I just take like 2-3 weeks off, don’t check emails and basically disappear. But when I do that, I normally come back with 4-5 releases at once.
Zachary
::
What is up with the lathe series? Does the type of Lathe reflect the artist?
Al
::
Well… I have two series going. There is the Scotch/ Young Guv series. Ben Cook [of Young Guv] records all the bands that share his jam space and then we release a song or two from them. So far, I have put flexis out for Huckleberry Friends, Tropics, Bruised Knees & Lonely Wholesome with Actual Water, Dentata, Wyrd Visions and I think 2 more to come. The other series is the aforementioned series with No Vacation. There are some pretty killer bands scheduled for that like FNU Ronnies and Factums (who I LOVE!) The type of lathe really doesn’t come into play. I mean the one I did for We All Inherit The Moon HAD to be a square plexiglass lathe because of the ideas they had for the art but most bands don’t really care that much. They just think lathes are fun.
Zachary
::
Do you think there is a Canadian Sound? And what from your perspective are the sounds of the different scenes within Canada?
Al
::
I don’t think there is a specific Canadian sound. It’s such a vast area geographically that it’s tough to narrow down one sound. I think Vancouver has a great weirdo punk scene with bands like Shearing Pinx, Nu Sensae, Twin Crystals, etc. who really have their own genre that isn’t like anything else in the country. When you move into the prairies you have bands like Myelin Sheaths, Fist City, Grown-Ups, Moby Dicks… sort of that heavy garage punk stuff. They all totally feed off of each other. Ontario is sort of weird. Toronto is just starting to get a good scene again. I think the bands that Ben and I are releasing on the lathe series are going to get big really fast this year. That jam space is oooozing talent. Montreal always has a great scene. I think that city spawns some of the most creative and unique artists. And the whole Halifax scene… that city reminds me of Portland, Oregon. EVERYONE is in a band and creates visual art and silkscreens t-shirts and makes zines and drinks good beer if they can afford it but will drink shit if that’s all they have and dresses cool without thinking they dress cool. One of my absolute favourite cities on the planet!
Zachary
::
What has got you most excited about 2011?
Al
::
SUMMER! I hate winter more than anything! That and doing this interview for Weird Canada! Thanks, Zach…

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Categoria!! Interviews :: New Canadiana :: ontario | 5 Comments »

February 1st, 2011

New Canadiana :: Lantern – Deliver Me From Nowhere…

De l’amour fraternel de Gabriel Jasmin:
Lantern, c’est le duo Zachary Fairbrother et Emily Robb, deux expatriés canadiens partis vers la Ville de l’Amour Fraternel. Mais pardieu, brisons-nous vraiment les règles de Weird Canada ? Oui, peut-être, mais ils ont encore leur passeports canadiens. Aussi faut-il savoir que cette première cassette est trop savoureuse pour rester silencieux. Six compositions qui empruntent au folk et au vieux blues américain, où l’on passe de la solitude désolante à l’harmonica jusqu’au fuzz-wah anéantissant de << Crude Vessels of Sound >>. Carburant à la guitare, c’est un beau retour aux sources du proto-punk et du blues sauce psychédélique, cover de Hasil Adkins inclus.

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Lantern – Crude Vessels of Sound

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Lantern – Let’s Take a Trip

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Categoria!! cassette :: New Canadiana :: nova scotia :: quebec | 2 Comments »

September 17th, 2010

New Canadiana :: Ryan Kirk – Microtonal Freewaves

Ryan Kirk
Microtonal Freewaves
(Divorce Records)
Halifax, NS
::web/sounds::


From the mind-splintered-like-a-prism of Zachary Fairbrother:
Ryan Kirk is a graduate of the Dalhousie University Composition Program. He regularly plays with The Ether and OmmaCobba, and has collaborated with fellow 902 weird folker Gown. As part of the Divorce Records FreeWave series, Kirk sees his first release drifting from his earlier drone explorations (See Wargaz) into the further regions of modality, timbre, and tuning. Microtonal Freewaves plays with the ideas of tuning ala minimalist composers like La Monte Young and mainlines it with neo-folk stylings, producing an audible trace akin to the spots on blue cheese. The opening track “Weekends” starts with a beautiful field recording of the Nova Scotian landscape, setting the album’s tone with a lone slide guitar. Juxtaposed with these are excerpts of his saxophone quartet and piece for bowed strings, both being beautiful sheets of spectral harmonics. The album clocks in at just below 22 minutes but definitely feels like you’ve traveled a long way when it’s finished. Recommend listening straight through. In solitude. Absolutely NO computer speakers!

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Ryan Kirk – Heterodynous for Saxophone Quartet [Excerpt]

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Ryan Kirk – Weekends

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Categoria!! compact disc :: New Canadiana :: nova scotia | 2 Comments »

September 9th, 2010

New Canadiana :: Zachary Fairbrother – Zachary Fairbrother 1.0

Zachary Fairbrother
Zachary Fairbrother 1.0
(Numbers Station)
Montreal, QC
::web/sounds::


From the long tones of Aaron Levin:
With an unruly vocabulary for the avant-garde, the wild long-hair behind Omon Ra / Omon Ra II rips through your consciousness with six streams of free jazz, orchestral minimalism, and prepared minutiae. The unwieldy compositions are performed on-or-by everything (Arp2600, Dalhousie Brass Quintet, Saxophones, mixers, prepared piano, etc.) and mutate wildly in timbre; “Origins”‘ dense, synthetic dark-age scorches a sinusoidal path for the blissfully organic sequences; hear the strangely poppy Brass Quintet devastate “Prisms” and segue into the harrowing minimalia of “Long Tones and Lose Change.” It’s all a sharp reminder that underground reverberations are still produced in the dusty corners of academia. Bsc GRIP.

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Zachary Fairbrother – Origins

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Zachary Fairbrother – Long Tones and Lose Change

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Zachary Fairbrother – Prisms

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Categoria!! cassette :: New Canadiana :: quebec | 6 Comments »

February 1st, 2010

Interview :: Broken Deer

Interview with: Lindsay Dobbin
From: Broken Deer
(conducted by: Zachary Fairbrother)
Whitehorse, YK
::web/sounds::

Broken Deer is the avant-folk project of Lindsay Dobbin, formerly of Halifax were she played drums with Play Guitar and drone-weirdos Oh, Beautiful! Majestic! Eagle! Lindsay recently relocated to the glorious nature of the Yukon, wherein Broken Deer has become more ethereal, strange, and gnostic. She kindly took the time to answer some questions.

Zachary Fairbrother
Avant-Lard / Weird Canada
avantlard.blogspot.com / weirdcanada.com

/////////////// BROKEN DEER INTERVIEW ///////////////

Z. = Zachary Fairbrother (Avant-Lard // Weird Canada)
L. = Lindsay Dobbin (Broken Deer)

Z. :: Not only are you a musician but you are a visual artist as well. Is there a common thread that ties your different approaches of art all together? Even within your music you explore styles that are sonically very different from one another. How do all these different aesthetics, fit you, as one artist?
L. :: I’m a very young artist. I don’t mean “I’m only 26, and that’s younger than the majority of the population.” No. I mean that I’m still discovering what subjects and mediums interest me. It’s all still fresh. Art, and I include music in that, has always been a process of discovery for me. When I moved to the Yukon over a year ago, I didn’t bring any instruments with me, only a hand-held tape recorder. I remained open to whatever came into my life. Surprisingly, the first thing that transpired was working with the land. I spent five months on a Yukon homestead, digging potatoes, raising animals, horseback riding, eating. Afterward, I took care of a friend’s house and they owned an upright piano. I had rarely played the piano, but that’s what was there. I began playing, figuring sounds. New Broken Deer songs like “White Woman” came from that experience. I strongly feel that playing that instrument was a similar process to interacting with the land. It was a means of grounding — connecting to the unspoken stories in that particular place. So, in short, I think the aesthetic tie in my art is the process, less than a subject matter or medium. And the process is me interacting with a particular place, and all the materials it offers – whether they be a kazoo, crayons, wool or soil – with the intention of finding some truth. I really hope I have that fresh approach my whole life, and not get stuck in a routine. I think an artist can always discover different worlds, transform as a person but create work that is consistent with who they are, even if it be superficially different.
Z. :: Your music has a sense of timelessness. You have the ability to create a sound outside genres and trends while remaining very idiosyncratic. Your voice, instrumentation, and aesthetic point to a day gone by, while your recordings and compositional techniques sometimes point ahead. Do you think of Broken Deer as ancient or modern?
L. :: I don’t think of Broken Deer being exclusively ancient or modern. Like you say, the music or sound is not really associated with any particular movement. And I feel that Broken Deer is not entirely music. There are songs, of course, but I place more emphasis on the process of recording. Recording is this private way for me to not only document what I’m doing, but to find sounds that speak from my dreams, different parts of my body, the landscape. Consequently, I don’t think these sounds do well blasting through laptop speakers, on the go or during the day. I think the sounds are best represented as close as you can get them, in a dark space – but these things seem to be lacking in our mass modern culture. That is, the spiritual practice of listening and spending time in dark spaces. I really think sensory overload through sounds, visuals and artificial light is directly connected to our loss of wonderment.
Z. :: You seemed to be very influenced by nature. You came from a small town, before moving to a small city, and then further embarked into the isolation of the Yukon where you worked with sled dogs and homesteaded. How does nature emanate itself inside your art?
L. :: The emanation of nature is obvious, sure, because I often incorporate field recordings into my compositions. But the influence runs deeper than mimicking or representing. I’ve always felt strongly impacted by the natural world in a very visceral way. Yes, there are beautiful splendors to witness, but for me it’s more about a sense of always being able to take my place in the landscape. Now I could be talking about the surrounding environment, or my own inner territory. The two don’t seem separate to me. Like sound, nature is felt in its movements. Things grow. Decay. Die. But, as the Black Eyed-Peas say, “The energy never dies” (although I’m sure they got that from somewhere). I feel very connected to these things, and my sound work is a means for me to play and engage in the slow, sustained process of pulling storied threads from the land and weaving something beautiful.
Z. :: Tell us a little about the music/art scene in Whitehorse.
L. :: There’s a strong music and arts scene here in Whitehorse. It’s small, and teetering more on the traditional side, but there is space for more “alternative” ventures. I’ve found that people are really supportive of others as individuals, and are really open to whatever you have to contribute. I think that’s really important. The amount of territorial arts funding helps, too, and makes it possible for artists to focus on their practice full-time.
Z. :: How do you get the sounds that you do? Some of the music sounds as if it’s recorded through a cell phone, with blips and glitches of a lo-grade digital mic. But instead of sounding cold and thin it comes across as warm and deep. The lo-fi grain of your music is very characteristic, why do you prefer the lo-fi sound?
L. :: I play! Around! Also, I mostly record analogue, using a little hand-held tape recorder. Instead of interacting with the recorder solely as an input device, I employ its shape and physicality. For example, I recorded the drum beat for a new song, “Ivory Tower”, by hitting the recorder. The same goes for the tape itself. I’ve often recorded on tapes with material already present, which leads to unexpected blips, drones. I feel like I’m sculpting rather than recording, and sound is the material. I prefer the lo-fi recording process because of the interaction and element of surprise it provides. I prefer the sound itself because it’s the sound of my analogue and earthbound childhood.
Z. :: It is the year 2010, how do you see things and how do you hear the future of Broken Deer?
L. :: To celebrate this month’s new moon, three friends and I went out into the middle of a huge, snow-covered horse pasture. It was dark-dark. We decided that we’d play a game where we’d walk away from each other in the four directions. After many, many paces, we’d close our eyes, turn around, and walk our way back to the center, with no visual aids. We found each other. Then we lit a sparkler. This is how I see 2010

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Categoria!! Interviews :: New Canadiana :: yukon | 2 Comments »

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