CONCERT REVIEWS: The Black Angels Commodore, Vancouver BC, May 14The Black Angels went down smooth. Guitarist Christian Bland came out wearing a shirt that had "FUZZ" written in huge letters, and that's precisely what they delivered. From the slow-burning opening number, they launched into the organ-driven "I Hear Colors (Chromaesthesia)" trip-tacular from their...Read More
IMPROV & AVANT-GARDE REVIEWS: Jaga Jazzist Live With Britten SinfoniaJaga Jazzist have always had an immersive sound, and it's grown in grandiosity over the years. This majesty is elegantly enhanced in their collaboration with the renowned Britten Sinfonia, and feels more natural than the Metropole Orkest's mesmerizing take on Basement Jaxx (released in 2011)....Read More
CONCERT REVIEWS: Kurt Vile / The Fresh & Onlys Biltmore, Vancouver BC, May 11Starting off a tad slow, the Fresh & Onlys of San Francisco were a touch on the messy side early. Clad in button-up plaid, Tim Cohen's voice came off less tuneful than on record, but the band tightened up as they went along. By the time they played a punchier version of "Love & Kindness" from their...Read More
CONCERT REVIEWS: Bonobo Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver BC, April 30Simon Green, the man behind Bonobo — a long-time staple of the Ninja Tune catalogue — simply said a hello to Vancouver as he started into the thumb-piano driven "Cirrus" from his newly released album The North Borders. With Green standing behind a laptop and midi controllers, he...Read More
INTERVIEWS: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the DarkChances are you've heard of, if not intensively listened to, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark in your life. Even if you haven't directed listened to "If You Leave" (from the John Hughes classic Pretty In Pink) or one of their dozen odd silver, gold and platinum studio albums, you've...Read More
CONCERT REVIEWS: Angel Olsen Media Club, Vancouver BC, April 21Angel Olsen is unquestionably on her way up. The Chicago-based singer-songwriter had a fairly minimal set-up this evening — herself, with just a guitar and a couple pedals fronting a rhythm section and a cellist — but the effect struck deep. From the opening sounds of "Miranda," from...Read More
CONCERT REVIEWS: The Men Biltmore, Vancouver BC April 19The Men may have a lot of influences, as evidenced by their four varied albums that draw on country, punk and rock, but if their live show is any indication, they still have a long way to go in channelling those influences effectively. All four men standing, save drummer Rich Samis, took turns...Read More
NEWS: OMD's Paul Humphreys Discusses a Return to Dysfunction for 'English Electric'Bands such as LCD Soundsystem, La Roux, Death Cab for Cutie, and the XX have all noted the effect of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark on their music. So it was good news indeed when, in 2010, core members Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys got back together with Malcolm Holmes and Martin Cooper,...Read More
POP & ROCK REVIEWS: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark English ElectricFrom the opening synth stab and blonking chime of the "Please Remain Seated" intro, which sets the table for a modulated feminine voice to inform the listener that the future they anticipated has been cancelled, it's clear that the 12th studio album in the Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark...Read More
CONCERT REVIEWS: Alt-J Commodore, Vancouver BC, April 7The sold-out crowd was seething with anticipation by the time ∆ (aka Alt-J) took the stage. Keyboardist Gus Unger-Hamilton came out hand-signing the band's symbol, while drummer Thom Green sat at his kit in a conspicuous Nardwuar t-shirt. Unger-Hamilton later explained what a great time...Read More
CONCERT REVIEWS: Jamie Lidell Fortune Sound, Vancouver BC, April 2Jamie Lidell may be spending most of his time in the U.S. these days, but the electro-soul singer still has all of his English eccentricities. His banter was oddly conversational, almost stream-of-consciousness throughout his set. Early on, after polling the crowd to find what Vancouver was the...Read More
MUSIC / VIDEO: Bill Baird "Go to Mexico" (video)Austin psych-pop composer Bill Baird has been on the edge of glory for years now. His indie rock band Sound Team had some buzz going for them in the first half of the noughties until they signed a deal with Capitol Records, who promptly mismanaged the outfit into extinction. His next, more soloist project, Sunset released seven or so psychedelic-pop albums based on grandiose concepts like an imagined film and a music-video album. ...Watch Now
INTERVIEWS: Ellen AllienLISm was originally created by BPitch boss Ellen Allien as a collaborative dance piece, performed as "Drama per Musica" under the direction of Alexander Roccoli and Séverine Rième. The piece starts on light, processed flutes transitioning to a repeating guitar figure and abstract sounds in...Read More
MUSIC / VIDEO: Sole "People Piss Me Off" (Prod. by Loden)The late prophet Bill Hicks used to joke about forming a People Who Hate People Party ("Come to our meeting! 'Are you gonna be there?' Yeah. 'Then I ain't fucking coming.' But you're our strongest member! 'Fuck you!' That's what I'm talking about, you asshole!"). Well, if such a party were logistically possible, it would now have a theme song. ...Read More
CONCERT REVIEWS: Unknown Mortal Orchestra / Foxygen Media Club, Vancouver, BC, March 23The style of California's Foxygen is clearly well informed. They can blast through all manner of '60s psych rock at will, framed in the fast and loose, distorted, lo-fi garage sensibilities employed by the likes of Ty Segall and White Fence. While the band, founded by singer Sam France and...Read More
CONCERT REVIEWS: Veronica Falls / Brilliant Colors Media Club, Vancouver, BC, March 22They may be called Brilliant Colors, but the San Francisco outfit's set this evening was neither brilliant nor colourful. To their credit, they had propulsive energy in attempting to bring their indie noise-pop compositions to life, but a couple things hamstrung any potential musical gains from...Read More
MUSIC / VIDEO: William Ryan Fritch "The Cost, the Value of Health"Oakland, CA resident William Ryan Fritch is a multi-instrumentalist composer. He has recorded a couple albums under the name Vieo Abiungo and as part of Skyrider in the Sole and the Skyrider Band hip-hop project, as well as eponymous albums for Asthmatic Kitty and Lost Tribe Sound. Performing on...Read More
POP & ROCK REVIEWS: Fol Chen The False AlarmsA collective from the Los Angeles-area led by producers Samuel Bing and Julian Wass, Fol Chen have spent a few years honing an electronic tickle trunk sound marked by field recording manipulation, pop beats and vocals both sonically and lyrically warped. The sound is something they call "opera...Read More
DANCE & ELECTRONIC REVIEWS: Karl Bartos Off the RecordKarl Bartos was a member of Kraftwerk from 1975 to 1990, during the creation of such influential albums as Radio-Activity, The Man-Machine and Computer World. Ever-striving for more during this period, Bartos worked on a secret acoustic diary free from the confines of the...Read More
The Black Angels went down smooth. Guitarist Christian Bland came out wearing a shirt that had "FUZZ" written in huge letters, and that's precisely what they delivered. From the slow-burning opening number, they launched into the organ-driven "I Hear Colors (Chromaesthesia)" trip-tacular from their...Read More
Jaga Jazzist have always had an immersive sound, and it's grown in grandiosity over the years. This majesty is elegantly enhanced in their collaboration with the renowned Britten Sinfonia, and feels more natural than the Metropole Orkest's mesmerizing take on Basement Jaxx (released in 2011)....Read More
Starting off a tad slow, the Fresh & Onlys of San Francisco were a touch on the messy side early. Clad in button-up plaid, Tim Cohen's voice came off less tuneful than on record, but the band tightened up as they went along. By the time they played a punchier version of "Love & Kindness" from their...Read More
Simon Green, the man behind Bonobo — a long-time staple of the Ninja Tune catalogue — simply said a hello to Vancouver as he started into the thumb-piano driven "Cirrus" from his newly released album The North Borders. With Green standing behind a laptop and midi controllers, he...Read More
Chances are you've heard of, if not intensively listened to, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark in your life. Even if you haven't directed listened to "If You Leave" (from the John Hughes classic Pretty In Pink) or one of their dozen odd silver, gold and platinum studio albums, you've...Read More
Angel Olsen is unquestionably on her way up. The Chicago-based singer-songwriter had a fairly minimal set-up this evening — herself, with just a guitar and a couple pedals fronting a rhythm section and a cellist — but the effect struck deep. From the opening sounds of "Miranda," from...Read More
The Men may have a lot of influences, as evidenced by their four varied albums that draw on country, punk and rock, but if their live show is any indication, they still have a long way to go in channelling those influences effectively. All four men standing, save drummer Rich Samis, took turns...Read More
From the opening synth stab and blonking chime of the "Please Remain Seated" intro, which sets the table for a modulated feminine voice to inform the listener that the future they anticipated has been cancelled, it's clear that the 12th studio album in the Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark...Read More
The sold-out crowd was seething with anticipation by the time ∆ (aka Alt-J) took the stage. Keyboardist Gus Unger-Hamilton came out hand-signing the band's symbol, while drummer Thom Green sat at his kit in a conspicuous Nardwuar t-shirt. Unger-Hamilton later explained what a great time...Read More
Blue-eyed soul singer AM and multi-instrumentalist funk beatsmith Shawn Lee have joined forces again. But the duo are changing pace a bit from their critically lauded 2011 debut Celestial Electric with their new album La Musique Numerique, which is set to be released on May 7 via...Read More
Jamie Lidell may be spending most of his time in the U.S. these days, but the electro-soul singer still has all of his English eccentricities. His banter was oddly conversational, almost stream-of-consciousness throughout his set. Early on, after polling the crowd to find what Vancouver was the...Read More
Austin psych-pop composer Bill Baird has been on the edge of glory for years now. His indie rock band Sound Team had some buzz going for them in the first half of the noughties until they signed a deal with Capitol Records, who promptly mismanaged the outfit into extinction. His next, more soloist project, Sunset released seven or so psychedelic-pop albums based on grandiose concepts like an imagined film and a music-video album. ...Watch Now
LISm was originally created by BPitch boss Ellen Allien as a collaborative dance piece, performed as "Drama per Musica" under the direction of Alexander Roccoli and Séverine Rième. The piece starts on light, processed flutes transitioning to a repeating guitar figure and abstract sounds in...Read More
The late prophet Bill Hicks used to joke about forming a People Who Hate People Party ("Come to our meeting! 'Are you gonna be there?' Yeah. 'Then I ain't fucking coming.' But you're our strongest member! 'Fuck you!' That's what I'm talking about, you asshole!"). Well, if such a party were logistically possible, it would now have a theme song. ...Read More
The style of California's Foxygen is clearly well informed. They can blast through all manner of '60s psych rock at will, framed in the fast and loose, distorted, lo-fi garage sensibilities employed by the likes of Ty Segall and White Fence. While the band, founded by singer Sam France and...Read More
They may be called Brilliant Colors, but the San Francisco outfit's set this evening was neither brilliant nor colourful. To their credit, they had propulsive energy in attempting to bring their indie noise-pop compositions to life, but a couple things hamstrung any potential musical gains from...Read More
Oakland, CA resident William Ryan Fritch is a multi-instrumentalist composer. He has recorded a couple albums under the name Vieo Abiungo and as part of Skyrider in the Sole and the Skyrider Band hip-hop project, as well as eponymous albums for Asthmatic Kitty and Lost Tribe Sound. Performing on...Read More
A collective from the Los Angeles-area led by producers Samuel Bing and Julian Wass, Fol Chen have spent a few years honing an electronic tickle trunk sound marked by field recording manipulation, pop beats and vocals both sonically and lyrically warped. The sound is something they call "opera...Read More
Karl Bartos was a member of Kraftwerk from 1975 to 1990, during the creation of such influential albums as Radio-Activity, The Man-Machine and Computer World. Ever-striving for more during this period, Bartos worked on a secret acoustic diary free from the confines of the...Read More
