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Hosted by: Nathaniel Mayer-Heft

Stories: John Toohey, Milos Kovacevic, Kalina LaFramboise

Produced by John Toohey

Tune in to Champions of the Local Scene Wednesday, March 12th at 6 PM for a live session and interview with up-and-coming Montreal act The Nostalgia Factory!

The Nostalgia Factory, the moniker used by 21-year-old Montreal musician/composer Jessie-Jamz Ozaeta, is a solo project that started as a hobby, but later evolved into a more serious and personal journey of self-discovery. "I like to describe much of my music as cinematic and instrumental because I find my strong point musically is providing textures of sound that they can be interpreted both sonically and visually." Jessie has experimented with many genres, recording music ranging from metal, ambient/drone, folk, instrumental hip hop, post-rock, and shoegaze. His work includes a concept album based on Dante's Inferno, summer, autumn, and winter (that's SO Montreal!), and the score for the short film entitled A Collection of Failed Love Stories (2013), directed by Concordia film student Terry Chiu.  

Dust off those leather chaps, it's the '80s again. Last month saw the vinyl re-issue of Chapel's first and only full album Satan's Rock 'n' Roll (originally released in summer, 2012), which seems like an appropriate opportunity to look at the album itself, as some of us might have missed it the first time around *cough*.

Hailing from the distant paradise of Vancouver, these committed thrashinators disgorge a by-the-books brew of what I like to call the "new oldschool", the sort of thing that would drive blind taste-testers mad. We sure love our labels in this scene, and bands like Chapel and Toxic Holocaust love to sh*t all over that. Hey! This is some groovy rocky black metal, still moist with the touch of NWOBHM! Oh wait, this came out last year, file under retro thrash. Thrash, thrash, thrash. Get ready to read that word a lot.

At this point you're probably thinking "who cares if you have to check the date to even know the genre, what's the f*cking MUSIC like, ya dipsh*t?" To which I would reply with an exasperated fart noise.

See, I like Chapel, and I like this album. It is speaking my language, "totes my jam" and so on. The problem lies in the fact that I like it because I also like Venom and Motörhead, who were doing the exact same thing 30 years ago. Aye, there's the rub. As much as I'm of a mind that too much of a good thing is an awesome thing, one might dare call Chapel derivative if one were a perceptive asshole. With a title track consisting of a lively mishmash of references (if not direct quotes) to the aforementioned pioneers of the genre, one might safely call it homage... maybe? 

I'm over-thinking this. 

Satan's Rock 'n' Roll is the product of a blind, seething love for all that is leather and hell, if not any impetus to improve on the formula, but what do you want? Thrash is as thrash does, or some such equally vapid platitude. If you want innovation, that's what prog is for. My gut and boots recommend this band, because somebody has to be Venom, and they sure aren't stepping up these days (2011 was forever ago, shut up). If Chapel ever come out east, you can bet your sweet buns I'll be there, and if you're tired of listening to the same dozen or so albums over and over again, and want something new but by no means different, boy do I have more of the same for you!

--DJ Spacepirate hosts Burnt Offerings, Sundays 6-8PM

Want to see Jay Malinowski & The Deadcoast in Montreal on April 5th? Want to win tickets to said show? You can either tweet or post to the station using the hashtag #MeetMeAtTheGate and we will enter you in a draw! SWEET ACTION JACKSON!