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DJ Danielle's Pop Montreal Diary (part 2)

-Tonstartssbandht

On September 23rd I dragged my weary bum out of my apartment to see some of my most highly-anticipated acts of the PopMontreal festival. I started off the night at the newly-opened Royal Phoenix, all the way up on the corner of Bernard and St. Laurent. I had been hearing good things about the venue through the grapevine for a while, so I was excited to see how it faired as a location for PopMontreal. Psychic Handshake, a label that has been burgeoning since its inception in 2003, was hosting a showcase of acts on their label. I wasn’t able to stay for the entire show but did catch two acts.

The first was a group of sweaty guys from New Jersey under the moniker Liquor Store. I can’t honestly say they were really my thing. There were three guitars, a bass, and a drummer in the lineup and their sound made me think of what the guys from Fubar would sound like if they formed a band. The tracks were loud and the singer’s wide-eyed attempt to look freaky was a little distracting. That being said, their drummer could keep the beat, to be sure, and the band was technically tight. If you’re looking for something you can scream to, check this band out. Next up was the “secret guest” of the night, local experimental artist Tonstartssbandht. Nice contrast to the last band, if you ask me. I had heard of Tonstartssbandht through the fantastic blog www.weirdcanada.com and was excited when I learned they would be playing. It was difficult to see the stage from where I was standing, but I think only one of the members of the duo were playing. It sounded as if he was playing an electric sitar and singing through various loop pedals and filters. As soon as he started, I was transported onto an incredibly trippy plane of existence. The beats were abstract, making me think of Steve Reich, but they were never quite being allowed to fall into time. The soundscapes created were awe-inspiring, raw, and dirty. I think my jaw must have dropped and remained there for a lot of the set. Tonstartssbandht, in my opinion, could be the future of dance music if people could only learn to dance to their beats.

With that abstract dance feel in my bones, I biked down to Club Lambi to catch the thing I was most excited about this year: Death Grips. I was happy to find that Death Grips were being preceded by an equally hardcore grime band from Houston called B L A C K I E. The atmosphere in Lambi was palpable; people were sweating, screaming, and crowd-surfing, and everybody on stage was down to their boxers. They brought Houston with them, it seemed. I have always loved Lambi because every time I’ve gone the owners keep telling everybody to turn it up. This was the case for Death Grips. It suited the music well; Zach Hill, the drummer from Hella, absolutely killed the beats with what sounded like a quadruple-kick pedal. The air was thrumming, the floor shook in time, the place was packed, and the crowd went bananas. It was everything I wanted it to be and so much more, and I think I am right in saying that everyone there felt the same way. Their albums Exmilitary and Black Google are free for download online. I imagine with the response they got they’ll be back soon.

-Danielle J hosts Runny Noise every Thursday from 10pm-12am

News October 4th 2011

Produced By Dominique Daoust

Read By Luciana Gravotta

Articles By: Michael Lemieux, Brandon Judd, Niki Mohrdar and Nikita Smith

Quebec Activists Want Safe Injection Site Too

homelessActivists across the country are advocating for safe injection sites after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of allowing it under provincial jurisdiction.

A group of Quebec activists want the government to open a supervised drug injection site in multiple locations throughout the province. 

They hope by doing so they will stop the spread of disease caused by used needles.

Montreal currently has a needle exchange program where people can go to inject their drugs under the supervision of medical professionals.

But renovations and distance from downtown has warranted criticism of the Saint-Roch facility.

Quebec Health Minister Yves Belduc said in May that the province would look into more sites if the Supreme Court made this ruling.

Nobel Laureate Dies

Dr. Ralph Steinman of Rockefeller University speaks during a news conference in Albany, N.Y., April 24, 2009. (AP / Mike Groll)

One of the winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in medicine died Friday.

Dr. Ralph Steinman, a Montreal born scientist, was announced as one of the recipients three days after his death.

The decision comes as a surprise. The Nobel foundation does not give prizes to deceased scientists. However since he died after being chosen for the award, the prize is allowed. 

He was honoured with the award for his work on dendritic cells. Cells key to fighting infections and cancer.

He was 68 and working at Rockefeller University. He died of pancreatic cancer.

The award was shared with an American and French scientist.

 

Daniel Paillé Announces Bloc Leadership Bid

Paillé in 2009Daniel Paillé entered the Bloc Quebecois leadership race last night. The former Parti Quebecois Cabinet Minister won a seat for the Bloc in 2009. But he was unseated this year by a member of the NDP. The 61-year old initially ruled out running for the job. But he changed his mind after party members asked him to reconsider.

Paillé served previously as the public-contracts watchdog for the Harper government. He harshly criticized them for spending too heavily on polls.

There are now three candidates vying for Gilles Duceppe’s old post.

Air Canada Apologizes for Racist Memo

Air Canada has apologized after a memo stating that crew would no longer use downtown hotels in Winnipeg for layovers was deemed racist.

Aboriginal leader Derek Napinak called out the airline for its negative portrayal of the First Nations community.

The memo stated that downtown hotels in Winnipeg would no longer be used due to the fact that some of the hotels where located in places where there had been cases of public intoxication. The memo continued that police had noted that these areas were vulnerable to crimes of violence and oppurtunity.

These hotels however, are being used by 1,000 people from rural Manitoba displaced by the flood that affected the province last spring. Many of these people are from First Nations communities.

Nepinak stated that linking the aboriginal families staying at these hotels as a security risk is irresponsible and ignorant on the part of Air Canada. He stated that that viloence in downtown Winnipeg happened long before the displaced families arrived.

Air Canada apologized for the memo, stating that inferences had been drawn, and that it never meant to insult any individual or group.

Pop Montreal: Ford & Lopatin + Sleep Over + d'Eon + CFCF

I arrived before the show to check out the venue, which is a very cool open space, and had been decorated for ArtPop. There were some interesting installations including a pile of spectrographs and radio equipment, as well as a stage setup featuring taxidermied wolves, and an owl, lit with a black light. The open space and big sound made it a great venue for the show that was about to take place.

First to take the stage was CFCF. He played in front of a backdrop of perfectly cheap and cheesy looking new age visuals which brought to mind a time when the internet was a baby and the soft synth, bell pads and pan flutes samples on display would be more likely to be found on an Enya or Kitaro record than at a show for the cool kids. He played a set with peaks and valleys, anchored by rumbling bass, booming electronic drums and woven pan flute and bell. This recent resurgence of interest in new age soundscapes has been anchored by fellow local artist, and next to play, d'Eon.

His show was a looser affair where miscued samples abounded, but once the songs got going we were brought into his world of chiming bell pads, strange pummeling rave-like rhythms, screams and weird RnB. His music got the quiet crowd moving a little more, and people were excited to hear songs like "Transparency," with its catchy vocals and banging 90's hip-hop on ecstasy inspired beats.

The show took a different direction when Sleep ∞ Over came on. Their set took on a slower pace and had a more enveloping sound, drawing from some similar influences as d'Eon with a distinctly RnB feel mixed with late 80's dream pop and shoegaze. The band rolled through newer sounding arrangements of songs like "Casual Diamond" and "Romantic Streams," which were only recognizable once I heard the familiar vocal melodies buried beneath the synth wash and echo. The set had a great druggy quality to it that brought you into the world of Sleep ∞ Over's haunting melodies and darkly beautiful synthesizer music. It was definitely far too brief, though.

Last to play was the great duo of Joel Ford and Daniel Lopatin. The show started out with some drifting ambient synth, reminiscent of Lopatin's solo work as Oneohtrix Point Never, but once the beat dropped you were transported into the 1980's, complete with boom-bap drum machine, which brought to mind the early years of hip-hops golden era, and glistening poppy synth. The music hit hard and each sample was perfectly placed as they ran through songs off their new record, Channel Pressure. The performance ran a lot like the record, with more contemplative moments between songs, and pure 80's pop bliss bursting throughout. A definite highlight of a great weekend, and a fantastic way to end a very interesting show.

-Marshall V hosts Fear Of Music every Thursday night from Midnight to 1am

Cancer Awareness Group to Use Lennon and Ono’s Bed-in Room

Breast Cancer Montreal will use the room of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1969 bed-in for a campaign. They will occupy the room in the Queen Elizabeth hotel Thursday morning.

The group is asking for mandatory labeling of products that can cause cancer. They want warning labels on products with links to cancer like cosmetics and processed foods. They hope to get enough signatures from the public for a petition.

Lennon and Ono famously stayed in the hotel room for seven days to protest the Vietnam war. They recorded “Give Peace a Chance” during their stay.

A Breast for Cancer member says they are doing this to give prevention a chance.

Occupy Wall Street Comes to Canada

The old Toronto Stock Exchange under the new Ernst & Young Tower Flickr: gingermaddy

Rallies of protest against the global financial system in cities across the United-States have spread to Canada.

Occupy Toronto organisers expect hundreds of people to show up at the intersection of Bay and King streets on October 15. They will prepare for a march for the week after the Toronto Stock Exchange opens.

Canadian protests are also being organised in Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary, Victoria, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, according to the Occupy Together website.

To learn more or join the protests being arranged in Montreal check out the Facebook page.

By: Greg Wilson

October 3rd 2011

Produced By Melissa Mulligan

Read By Sarah Deshaies

Articles By: Joel Balsam, Esther Viragh, Audrey Folliot

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