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Oh Katakombes... how I love you. It's easily one of my favorite venues in this city, and perhaps one of the best that I've ever been to. So, I'm always super happy when I get to see shows there (most recently, Derelict). This time, the show was decisively not metal though, and featured William Control and Toronto's The Birthday Massacre.

Let me start out by saying that, full disclosure, I didn't want to see either of these bands perform. I was under the impression that Aesthetic Perfection, who I find much more interesting was going to be opening, but they got booked to do shows in Europe, so I went to see these two.

First up was William Control, a band consisting of a bassist and a singer... and I guess a computer too, because without that band member, there wouldn't be much going on. 

Now, let me be clear, that sounds like a complaint, but it isn't. My complaint is that aside from doing a bunch of microphone spinning, the lead singer did nothing but sing, which isn't a problem if there are other things going on on stage. Really, it was like performing at its absolute laziest. There were keyboard parts, there were vocals with effects, all of which came through ye ol' laptop. Honestly, it's not hard to play a keyboard for a few notes or to throw an effect pedal on your microphone. There was even a part that the lead singer was LIP SYNCING with. Lazy. Honestly, the bassist should go join a real band, which I think he desperately wants to do.

Next, and finally, was the Birthday Massacre. Truth be told, the music from this band has not been something I generally look forward to when I see that they have an album coming out. Most of their works have been kind of boring, but this last effort, Hide and Seek, was actually somewhat interesting, so I decided to go see what a live show from them would offer.

Honestly, it was kind of what I should have expected. All of their newer material caught my ear and made me pay attention, while their older stuff made my mind wander to basically anything else in the room. It wasn't that it was bad, just uninteresting. 

I kind of feel for The Birthday Massacre because they really are a band without a place. Not heavy enough to be Evanescence, not light enough to appeal to fans of Florence and the Machine, and not catchy enough to get the attention of anyone who likes Metric. They kind of exist as their own entity, which for music is kind of perfect if you're an entity that has something unique to bring to the table. I will say though, that their keyboardist should be raking in money since he's the only thing that gives this band somewhat of an identity, and for that I give him a lot of props.

Leaving the show, I guess I had fun, but I'm not sure if I'd care to do it again, and if I did, I'd only go to see the Birthday Massacre. If nothing else, I would get to go to Katakombes. Oh Katakombes... how I love you.

--Andrew Wixq hosts Grade A Explosives, Sundays 4-6pm

Two unions are challenging a mining company in court, in light of foreign employment for a northern B.C. mining project.

According to the Globae & Mail, the challenged company, HD Mining, obtained temporary foreign worker permits for the project. The course case shows that HD Mining will employ 201 Chinese miners using the work permits. The case also reveals the long-term plans for the project.

While the project intends to transfer to a fully Canadian workforce, this transition will take at least 14 years to complete. In the meantime, the company does not plan to hire any Canadian miners within the next 4 years. And after four years, they will shift work to Canadians, at a rate of about 10 percent of the workforce per year.

The plan also explains that the foreign workers will help with initial construction demands for the project, and that HD Mining will set up a training school to assist the transition to a Canadian workforce.

Flickr Photo by: hushed_Iavinia

STORY WRITTEN BY: Patrick Miller

Missing sixteen year old girl CJ Morningstar Fowler was found dead in Kamloops December fifth.

Fowler was a member of the Gitanmaax First Nation. Her death is suspected to be murder.

Wednesday her parents as well as the First Nation's leaders addressed the deepening issue of missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada.

According to newswire.ca, Aboriginal women in Canada are three point five times more likely to be subjects of violence.

In light of Fowler's death, First Nations leaders including Shawn A-in-chut Atleo, Chief of the Assembly of First Nations have made the continuing call to the Federal government for a National Public Commission of Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous women and girls.

This National Inquiry would review police procedures of investigations into missing indigenous women, and well as ensure hearings, and examination of socio-cultural affects associated with Indigenous Women and girls. 

President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, Stewart Philllip, stated the Canada has "failed to meet its international legal obligations to respect, protect and fulfill the fundamental human rights of indigenous women".

STORY WRITTEN BY: HANNAH BESSEAU 

The music geeks at CJLO 1690 AM pick who they think are going to make a significant impact on music in 2013.

Part 1 by CJLO Magazine Editor and Twee Time DJ Stephanie Dee

The Adam Brown (Montreal)

West-island kid Adam Brown released Even the Skies Are Blue way back in 2003, got a band together, and toured around Canada until 2007; but things seemed to stop so suddenly after Shawn Petsche (of WIBI fame) moved away to Alberta and Marc-André Grondin became a big movie star. Oh, but did you know that the music never ceased? A few impromptu shows popped up during this long "hiatus", and Adam and friends have been shedding blood, sweat, and tears recording in and out of studio ever since. Now here's the good news: it all wrapped up on November 20th, and now we must pull our resources together to get this unnamed The Adam Brown album released in 2013. Who's with me?

Bleeding Rainbow (Philadelphia)

The tracks "Pink Ruff", "Drift Away", and "Waking Dream" from Bleeding Rainbow's forthcoming album Yeah Right (due in January 2013) have already surfaced online, and it's apparent that these Philly kids have really been working out the Reading Rainbow kinks. Their sound has evolved leaps and bounds from their humble, lo-fi indie-pop slash dreamy slash minimal beginnings into something more rich and polished. The really good move: Sarah Everton is off the drums and high on vocals. That, plus the addition of two new members, is just what the band needs to go from opening (most recently for A Place to Bury Strangers) to headlining in 2013.

C T Z N S H P (Montreal)

C T Z N S H P has received quite a lot of attention from local indie-circles this year—playing festivals like POP Montreal, the CMJ Music Marathon, and most recently M pour/for Montreal—but life requires more than just being in the right place at the right time, or chance meetings with the right people. Jesse, Scott, and Florent are comrades with enough musical talent, integrity, and feeling to reach far beyond the same old bill at the same old venue playing for the same old friends. Check out a preview from the upcoming debut album Doom Love on bandcamp, and keep your eyes and ears open for more in early 2013.

DIIV (Brooklyn, New York)

Their debut album Oshin hit the CJLO charts for quite a while this summer, but I was completely clueless about DIIV until I saw them at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in October. Thanks, Knitting Factory, for rejecting my CMJ badge at the King Tuff show, otherwise I never would have seen these Brooklyn natives rock out. During the show all I could think was, "Wow, this is serious. They are gifted!" The band performs so effortlessly, it's as if Zach, Devin, Andrew, and Colby could play their instruments long before they even learned to walk. I have a really good feeling that in 2013, music by DIIV is going to be playing on the iPods of everyone else who is still clueless about them, and if another album surfaces… GET READY FOR THE EXPLOSION. Nirvana-style.

Allie Hanlon (Ottawa)

You may know her as the drummer from the Ottawa garage-band The White Wires. Maybe you caught her back in 2011 banging the skins for Nobunny, or opening for JEFF The Brotherhood as her alter-ego Peach Kelli Pop. Perhaps you've even seen the video for Peach Kelli Pop's super-catchy tune "Do the Eggroll"? Heck, there's even a freaking President's Choice Rockin' Peach Bliss cheesecake that bears her image! Seriously, if you haven't heard of Allie Hanlon yet, it's time that you climb out of that mainstream cave of yours and listen to some indie-pop. Allie is constantly touring Canada and the United States as Peach Kelli Pop or playing drums in various other bands, and she just released a new self-titled album at the end of November (currently distributed by Bachelor Records in Europe, and soon to be released on Burger Records in the US). So if you like indie-pop and garage tunes, be sure to check out this rad chick on December 20th when The White Wires play L'Escogriffe. Next year, when she becomes very popular in Europe, you can tell everyone you discovered Allie Hanlon first. That's some great indie-cred right there, huh?

Nubians (Montreal)

I first caught these guys when they opened for White Lung at Casa del Popolo back in July, and let me tell you: Nubians has one sick drummer. Check out their raw and loud self-titled punk rock album on bandcamp, and stay tuned because they're going to do a guest spot on Twee Time in 2013. Sam from the band sent me the following message: "I think I speak for all of us in saying we would be majorly stoked to do a guest-host. We all have a lot of records and a lot to say".

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