Music Review

Montreal’s greatest dual-vocalist rock group of all-time, Wolf Parade, found international success during their short but explosive run. Their Sub Pop debut, Apologies to The Queen Mary, was a critically acclaimed album that put Montreal on the map as a prominent indie scene. Recently, a site called WolfParade.nonstuff.com has put up a free bootleg for download titled "Rostraver Ice Garden 10-8-2004" which is a live set that was recorded while the band was on tour supporting Modest Mouse and The Walkmen. Although the website holds no official ties to the band, you can find numerous bootlegs, pictures, playlists and an abundance of material from Wolf Parade affiliates such as Sunset Rubdown, Handsome Furs and Moonface.

In terms of a bootleg, the quality of "Rostraver Ice Garden" is amazing. Not only can you hear the fans ramble on in to conversations with guitarist Dan Boeckner (who mentions more than once that he is beyond drunk), but the sound of the band’s music is crisp and clear as day. If there is anything a Wolf Parade fan knows, it is that when you see the band live it is always an unpredictable experience (besides the fact that they always have technical problems with their creative instruments). Spencer Krug and former member Hadji Bakara specialize in improvisation, adding sounds and electronic parts to the songs that aren’t apparent on record. This also happens on this live album, many times.

The performance includes excellent renditions of forgotten Wolf Parade classics such as “Disco Sheets” and “Killing Armies”, tracks that were not performed live during the latter years of the band’s existence. The album opens with an energy-fuelled “Day In The Life”, a cover from Boeckner’s former band, Atlas Strategic. Some exceptional numbers from Apologies To The Queen Mary are highly enjoyable, including the single “Shine A Light” and the highly contagious “Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts”. You can tell by the performance that the band really got into their groove quickly and that was something quite special about these early Wolf Parade shows. There was no sound-check for this performance and these early Wolf Parade shows were primarily based on fun rather than trying to impress under pressure. This live album is exactly that: a whole lot of fun. It reminds Wolf Parade fans that the shows were about positive energy and there was no pressure that the band needed to live up to. It did not matter if the band sounded a little off or the vocals sounded strange; it was part of the act.

The most depressing part about this free offering is that we may not see this band reunite for quite a while. Take this as a gift, think about what Wolf Parade meant to you (because they meant a lot to yours truly) and have fun remembering it.

-Alex Giardini

Rah Rah, A seven-piece indie band from Regina, Saskatchewan, released their sophomore album Breaking Hearts in June of 2010. The band first gained notice in 2008 with their debut album, Going Steady, a combination of quirky indie rock guitar driven duets reminiscent of Immaculate Machine and The New Pornographers. Produced by Plants and Animals' Kees Dekker, Breaking Hearts delivers a mix of catchy upbeat numbers and melodic ballads that establish the band as a prominent player on the Canadian indie music scene.

“Arrow” kicks of Breaking Hearts with catchy guitar driven riffs and chanting choruses, drawing the listener in from the first track. It's buzzing guitar driven tracks like this, “Henry” and “Hurt You Bad” that seem like a progressive continuation of Going Steady. Yet what marks Rah Rah’s departure from their debut is the album’s ballads in which clean guitar, piano and synth are accompanied by vocal clarity to achieve an emotional crescendo. Themes of love, loss and change ring clear on tracks like “Ghosts” with lyrics such as “I once held you close in that bedroom full of ghosts - Pressing sobbing shuttered eyes, trembling legs and loosened thighs”.

Despite the album’s newfound sophistication, Rah Rah’s quirky nature still shines through on tracks such as “Communist Man”, a ditty about a love affair with a commie, or “Joey,” a ballad about a fictional narrative surrounding Joey Ramone. While nothing may scream as loud as tracks such as “Fuck Nafta”, Breaking Hearts seems less a cry for attention and more a selection of carefully crafted intertwined melodies and harmonies.

Around the last third of the album, the songs begin to drag. “What About Love” is sung in a vulnerable, almost whiny voice and the moaning choruses begin to sound grating. “Lightning” and “Waltz” are pleasant to the ear but lack the lustre and catchiness of the earlier tracks on the album. Yet the album manages to bring it back with the title track, a rock anthem sung by numerous band members with soaring choruses that claim “I’m still in love with you.” With an album that infuses old soul with modern themes, gripping ballads  with upbeat numbers, and the familiarity of Going Steady with progressive new material, Breaking Hearts ensures we are still, most definitely, in love with Rah Rah.

-Emma Wolno

Walking down Sainte-Catherine towards Metropolis on a Tuesday evening in unpleasant weather doesn’t do much to psych someone up for a concert. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I got to the venue to see a bustle of people eager to see Amos Lee. Not knowing much about Amos Lee, I was still a little skeptical and hadn't fully made my mind up yet about his music.

First off, Metropolis is quite spectacular. As you first walk in, the interior design makes you step back to take it all in. It’s no wonder Pollstar regularly rates Metropolis one of the 100 best concert venues in the world. It complemented the performance significantly, in terms of simple ambiance.

Throughout the performance, I don’t think there was one person that was not fully encapsulated by Amons Lee's music. He's figured out a concept that has eluded many others in popular music today: simplicity, in its most organic form. As he did his set, there were no extravagant light shows, or any clutter of instrumentation and effects. There was himself backed by a simple, but very solid, rhythm section, which did a great job of framing his main talent as a singer-songwriter. His stage presence could be looked at in two ways. On the one hand, he didn’t seem to exude much effort. On the other hand, he took advantage of the music he was playing. It seemed like he becomes fully taken back by his music, and that’s what ends up moving him. You could say it's more of a spiritual performance than one that is fabricated for the pleasure of an audience. This kind of performance, in my opinion, is harder to reach than one that his fabricated, and in the end it is much more applauded by the audience.

Amos Lee's smooth vocal delivery and organic sounds are something many have come to identify him with. With his good looks and vocal ability, he could have easily been swept up into a mainstream bubble of music. However, I, along with many others, am very happy that he’s chosen the road that may be harder to travel on, but for which he won't be forgotten.

-Rex Elroy Clifford Bell hosts Rex's Barn Sessions on Tuesdays from 2-4pm

Well, after three days of amazing shows and breathtaking visual artwork, there was no stopping or slowing down for the weekend! Mutek still had loads of great artists lined up for Saturday and Sunday’s events. Saturday was indeed a busy day with Piknic Électronik at l’Île-Sainte-Hélène, Designer_Mix at the Société Des Arts Technologiques and Nocturnes 4 at Metropolis. I was looking forward to seeing Canada’s own Deadbeat premiere his new show with German visual artist Lillevan at the SAT. Meanwhile at Metropolis, things were gearing up to be a long night with Nocturne 4 lasting until five o’clock in the morning. So anyone who was willing to pull an all-nighter was more then welcome.

Designer_Mix

I started the evening at La Société des Arts Technologiques (SAT) where Designer_Mix was being held. The event was a collaboration between Le Bureau du Design de Montréal and the SAT; it highlighted the designation of Buenos Aires (Argentina), Berlin (Germany) and Montréal as the first three UNESCO Cities of Design. For the occasion, artists from each city were invited to perform. Argentina’s Sol Del Rio started the evening, bringing her audio-visual talent for the first time to Montréal. Her ambient, minimalist and sometimes moody sound, blended well with her visual artwork that was projected on the walls surrounding the stage. Plus, an omnipresent cube behind the stage added an extra element to the already stunning visual aspect of the show.

Second up was adopted Montrealer Deadbeat bringing us his minimal dub sound with his new show alongside  Lillevan. Deadbeat’s deep sounding dub was a perfect match to Lillevan’s dark, black and white visuals that were the theme pretty much throughout their set. The duo looked at ease with each other, which was reflected in the both artist’s work. Their set slowly built speed and intensity as it when on. Sadly, I missed the final minutes of the set and the rest of the evening; the reason: it was time to head over and host The Letter B. I missed Pole, a German artist who was marking his return to Mutek for the first time in six years, and Argentina’s Chancha Via Circuito.

Nocturne 4

After hosting The Letter B, I returned to Metropolis for Nocturne 4. By the time I arrived, I had unfortunately missed Stephen Beaupré with the Banjo Consortium, which I heard was awesome. I arrived, half way, into Four Tet's electro-jazz set. Then came the Austrian trio, Elektro Guzzi, a live-electronic act composed of Bernhard Hammer, Jakob Schneidewind and Bernhard Breuer. I didn’t know what to expect of the trio since I had not seen any turntables or mixers; there was only a drum set, a guitar and a bunch of guitar pedals on the floor. Their performance was impressive; they managed to create the kind of amazing techno set you’d expected to hear with usual DJing equipment with only the instruments on-stage. The last act of the night was James Holden. He was, in my opinion, the must see act of the event, even if he started his set a three o’clock in the morning. It was well worth it. He delivered an energy packed performance that kept the large crowd dancing the rest of the night.

Designer_Mix, an adventure into the creative minds of the artists, and Nocturne 4, one long party; after all that was done and the sun was rising, I could not have asked for more.

-Alex Menjivar hosts The Letter B on Saturdays from Midnight-1am