It was destined to be a triple CD release party presented by Runway Records. Unfortunately, Shadow of the Gods had to pull out of their two back to back shows for medical reasons. My heart goes out to the members of the band and I hope everything is well. So, stepping up to bat for them would be Year of the Rat, and they hit a home run.
I promised the boys I wouldn't copy and paste my review from the night before with just a venue name change. I couldn't anyway, because this night was an improvement on what was witnessed at the Fort Street Cafe. A lot can be attributed to Logan’s Pub. First, the stage is bigger and the band could channel their energy to the full extent of its measures. Second, there is simply more equipment. I forgot to mention that at the Fort Street Cafe, guitarist Michael Sanderson didn't have a microphone. Back up vocals are very important in displaying and exploring dynamics. Gladly, Logan’s has more microphones than you could shake a stick at [if you are into that kind of thing]. Samuel Coll and Sanderson's vox compliment eachother much like salt does to pepper. Coll is a lower than average register, which some people have unfairly wrote off as Joy Division. I would say Coll puts more passion into his vocals than Curtis did. Of course, Ryan Stringer thumped his bass strings through several effect pedals without being distracting. He has definitely found the right balance. New drummer Tylor McNeil is still learning the ropes in his second show with the band, but does he ever hit hard. He was wailing the drums tonight. Another additional missing link was Samuel Coll's use of the vocoder. It brought a Kid A essence to their set. Remember when I said the band pledged to retire their cover of Zombie? Well, jokes on them. The guy beside me was shouting for it. Practically begging for it. When I broke the bad news, he was crushed, only to have his heart light back up when the group launched into the mentioned gem [for the last time?]. I can't say much about these guys than I already have. Not sick of them yet. Props for the drum solo.
Then we switched over to Handsome Distraction after being introduced by the same guy who was heartbroken/repaired by the Cranberries cover. I'm not too sure if he just wandered up on stage, but the guys in the band didn't cause a fuss. Devin Perfect on rhythm guitar/vocals never missed a note as the sweat beamed off his skin. If the man wasn't singing, he was doing a mix between hopping and jumping, which may just be the Devin Perfect signature rock move. Bryan Reiber, with stylish hat, beat his drums with precision [as always] and is one of the finest guys that can sing behind a kit. Bassist Chris Weaver was fun to watch because he makes it look easy. Out of all the band, he seems to be the most stoic. It's not a negative slag against the man. The important thing is he doesn't look bored. Corey Scheiding, lead guitar, always has a smile on his face. You may mistake him for the Matthew McConaughey. He's just on stage doing leads and having a good time. Like, if North Korea launched a nuclear missile, he'd still be cool with it. It might have been where I'm standing, but I found it hard to hear Perfect's guitar [and he hates when people say that after a gig]. I asked around, and people said they heard it alright. So, either I was just in a bad spot or I'm technically the male Helen Keller. A sweet moment was when the band wished Sarah Butcher a happy birthday complete with traditional song. The set was pretty solid, but I think they were a tad....and I mean like a SMIDGE better when I saw them at V-Lounge. That all comes down to opinion. I guess that's why I write reviews.
It was time to get dirty with headliners, Sons of Nova. Of course, they were here to perform some news tracks off Night at the Boneyard. From the get go of Oh Yeah [IWFU], you know what you are getting into. We are talking down and dirty sleazy stoner rock with progressive elements. You will find yourself singing along to some of the most ridiculous lyrics you have ever heard. It's quite a satisfying encounter singing "I wanna fuck you" or learning that women can also get hard ons. You have the roughness of Aram Heinze on bass. I sensed a lot of Lemmy from Motorhead tonight. Dude also busts a rad bass solo. I think there should be more bass solos in rock n' roll. The only thing missing from Sons of Nova's set is a drum solo. For the first two bands, there was plenty of dancing. That was over when Sons of Nova hit the stage. It got pretty crazy to the point I was not really sure what people were doing. Jumping against each other and just letting go, basically. Codine Vandal amazed the crowd with his command of the guitar. You can tell he always has fun over there. The guitar tone is very much Josh Homme but his voice is pretty different. Like, a lot of artists just copy other people's tones or quirks. I don't find that with Vandal. On the other side of the stage was Rex Gielfeldt, who I had never seen sing back up before and I liked the added dynamic of it. The only problem with three mics is it makes for more banter on stage when people crave for the group to kick into the next rocker. Adam Griffiths was going through drum sticks like a termite infestation. It seemed like after every song he was throwing remnants of wood to the side of the stage. I've seen him play better than tonight, but the dude's human...at least I think he is. I can't say enough about new tune It's On. A drugged out Walk This Way with a heavy set of balls. It's sure to get the party started. There was a contest during their set to give away a free shirt. Two guys got up on stage and it was their task to give their best pick up line. "How you doin'?" started things off and the crowd weren't impressed. I forgot what the other guy said, but it wasn't good enough either. So, they brought some ladies up on stage. Finally, we had a winner with the ol' "party in the pants" line. I've always been a fan of "Is that a mirror in your pants? Because I see myself lathering my dick in peanut butter and skullfucking your corpse". I mean, if any girl goes for that, you know she's the one!
It was a very loose performance. The guys are pretty comfortable playing as a band. I would say the prior bands performed better, but Sons of Nova had the most fun and so did the crowd.
It was another successful Runway Presents. Runway Studios is slowly [but surely] taking over Victoria, and I hope you all attend the next one at The Fort Street Cafe. The band and I will be performing with Madd/Love and Secondhand Habit. It promises to put hair on your chest. If you are a woman, it promises to put hair on your breasts. Until next time, Victoria.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Radtrux/Year of the Rat/Made in Bangs @ The Fort Street Cafe [Jan.9,2011]
There were two choices tonight. Synapse was playing at the V-Lounge. They are a former Zone band of the month. I hear they are pretty good, but I decided that I was much more in the mood for electro weirdness. Made in Bangs has always been a band on my radar, and it was time to see what their live show represented.
Before all that, we had Radtrux. This a band that borrows a lot from Death From Above 1979 to the point you could almost call them a tribute act. With Darren Spears on drums and Pat Cousineau on bass, their set ignited with their opening tune. If Death From Above 1979 had ever put out a second album, this would be it. Cousineau had Jesse Keeler's bass tone perfectly. That's when the covers started. Radtrux launched into Romantic Rights. I was psyched...but I don't know if it was the nerves or stage rust but Spears was struggling to remember the lyrics to the point of not singing at all. The music was there, but to put a dead stop on the vocals is a serious issue. It's better to improvise than to not sing at all. Most people won't even know the difference. After Romantic Rights, they launched into Black History Month. It set the tone for the rest of the set. As much as I like Death From Above 1979, they played too much of it! I think the final count was four songs from them. I really wanted to hear originals or maybe a new spin on a song broken down to just drum and bass. Their own songs had an Iron Maiden twist on the DFA 1979 format. It definitely struck me as a bit of power metal. Cousineau took over vocals for their finale, which they said was just for fun: Motorhead's Ace of Spades. His voice overpowered the microphone as he yelled out the lyrics, but that's the kind of stuff I want to hear. If you are going to have the DFA 1979 sound, you don't want to be confused as a tribute act. I also think the vocals weren't as strong as they could be and that maybe a third member would be an idea.
Year of the Rat has been a band I have seen numerous times. In fact, I also saw them the following night [stay tuned for that review]. There was a new addition to Samuel Coll's set-up. A nice new Korg keyboard. What's great about this is now the band can play without the benefit of a laptop. If you haven't seen the band before, they used to have pre-recorded bits that sometimes would work or sometimes they would malfunction. Now that Sam has the benefit of two separate keyboards, the band is free to feel the music. That's not all that was new this time around. New drummer Tylor McNeil shined during his first show that stepped up the complexity of the group's beats. He is still learning, but I am excited to hear what the band has come to be in six months times. As for the other band members, there isn't much to say. They've achieved flawless accuracy and no one can say a bad word about their stage presence. They dress well, which promotes a professional look. Even on a small stage like the Fort Street Cafe, they put their hearts into it. They played favourites like Harder Than Knowing, Every Night a Vampire and what was said to be their last performance of The Cranberries' "Zombie". Yes, they told the crowd that it was time for a new cover, but that's easier said than done. More on that in the next review. Seriously, though, the band is air tight. Check them out; they will grow on you like a fungus.
When I took a look at Made in Bangs, I was quick to dismiss them as hipsters. Daniel Becker [keyboardist/vocals] was supporting tight red pants and haircut that would make Flock of Seagulls blush. Shane Steinke [guitarist/vocalist] was clad in a wooly sweater that either contained moose or caribous on it. Taylor Byers [drums] had on a wolverine t-shirt and a red bandana. I didn't know what to expect, because they came across as an experimental Vampire Weekend. The first song saw Becker break away from his keyboard to blow on a horn at intervals. Why? I guess, "why not?" is the method of Made in Bangs. Though, as the set went on, I found a very talented band that may have seemed weird in the beginning, but once you get over the shock, they are a breath of fresh oxygen. Becker and Steinke traded vocal duties. I wouldn't pick one over the other. They both had their own quirks. At one point in the set, Becker did some sort of shimmy. Byers wasn't a kind of drummer that shows off. He sticks to the beat and leaves no room for error. A highlight for me was their unique take on Radiohead's "The National Anthem", though I was surprised not a lot of people recognized it. By having no bassist, the keyboard acts as the low end as well as high end. I'm not sure how to properly describe Made in Bangs but if you like bands such as The Unicorns or XX, you will probably dig on Made in Bangs.
All in all, after a sketchy start of the story, the night turned around. I'm sure if Radtrux practice more, they will match the caliber of Year of the Rat and Made in Bangs. I cannot say enough how great an establishment Fort Street Cafe is and it may be the best place to get local beer in the city.
Before all that, we had Radtrux. This a band that borrows a lot from Death From Above 1979 to the point you could almost call them a tribute act. With Darren Spears on drums and Pat Cousineau on bass, their set ignited with their opening tune. If Death From Above 1979 had ever put out a second album, this would be it. Cousineau had Jesse Keeler's bass tone perfectly. That's when the covers started. Radtrux launched into Romantic Rights. I was psyched...but I don't know if it was the nerves or stage rust but Spears was struggling to remember the lyrics to the point of not singing at all. The music was there, but to put a dead stop on the vocals is a serious issue. It's better to improvise than to not sing at all. Most people won't even know the difference. After Romantic Rights, they launched into Black History Month. It set the tone for the rest of the set. As much as I like Death From Above 1979, they played too much of it! I think the final count was four songs from them. I really wanted to hear originals or maybe a new spin on a song broken down to just drum and bass. Their own songs had an Iron Maiden twist on the DFA 1979 format. It definitely struck me as a bit of power metal. Cousineau took over vocals for their finale, which they said was just for fun: Motorhead's Ace of Spades. His voice overpowered the microphone as he yelled out the lyrics, but that's the kind of stuff I want to hear. If you are going to have the DFA 1979 sound, you don't want to be confused as a tribute act. I also think the vocals weren't as strong as they could be and that maybe a third member would be an idea.
Year of the Rat has been a band I have seen numerous times. In fact, I also saw them the following night [stay tuned for that review]. There was a new addition to Samuel Coll's set-up. A nice new Korg keyboard. What's great about this is now the band can play without the benefit of a laptop. If you haven't seen the band before, they used to have pre-recorded bits that sometimes would work or sometimes they would malfunction. Now that Sam has the benefit of two separate keyboards, the band is free to feel the music. That's not all that was new this time around. New drummer Tylor McNeil shined during his first show that stepped up the complexity of the group's beats. He is still learning, but I am excited to hear what the band has come to be in six months times. As for the other band members, there isn't much to say. They've achieved flawless accuracy and no one can say a bad word about their stage presence. They dress well, which promotes a professional look. Even on a small stage like the Fort Street Cafe, they put their hearts into it. They played favourites like Harder Than Knowing, Every Night a Vampire and what was said to be their last performance of The Cranberries' "Zombie". Yes, they told the crowd that it was time for a new cover, but that's easier said than done. More on that in the next review. Seriously, though, the band is air tight. Check them out; they will grow on you like a fungus.
When I took a look at Made in Bangs, I was quick to dismiss them as hipsters. Daniel Becker [keyboardist/vocals] was supporting tight red pants and haircut that would make Flock of Seagulls blush. Shane Steinke [guitarist/vocalist] was clad in a wooly sweater that either contained moose or caribous on it. Taylor Byers [drums] had on a wolverine t-shirt and a red bandana. I didn't know what to expect, because they came across as an experimental Vampire Weekend. The first song saw Becker break away from his keyboard to blow on a horn at intervals. Why? I guess, "why not?" is the method of Made in Bangs. Though, as the set went on, I found a very talented band that may have seemed weird in the beginning, but once you get over the shock, they are a breath of fresh oxygen. Becker and Steinke traded vocal duties. I wouldn't pick one over the other. They both had their own quirks. At one point in the set, Becker did some sort of shimmy. Byers wasn't a kind of drummer that shows off. He sticks to the beat and leaves no room for error. A highlight for me was their unique take on Radiohead's "The National Anthem", though I was surprised not a lot of people recognized it. By having no bassist, the keyboard acts as the low end as well as high end. I'm not sure how to properly describe Made in Bangs but if you like bands such as The Unicorns or XX, you will probably dig on Made in Bangs.
All in all, after a sketchy start of the story, the night turned around. I'm sure if Radtrux practice more, they will match the caliber of Year of the Rat and Made in Bangs. I cannot say enough how great an establishment Fort Street Cafe is and it may be the best place to get local beer in the city.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Sea-Sekshun - Tidal Cut
Sea-Sekshun are a local Victoria band that describe themselves as Ska-punge [a mix of ska/punk/grunge]. There's Jake Sunstrum on guitar/vocals. Tyler Swagar on bass. Ross Hobbs 2nd guitar. Tom Gracie rounds out the band on drums. If I'm not mistaken, Tidal Cut is their first EP which is produced by David Fraelic of Saul/Dead Eyes Open fame. Well, as much fame as you can get while keeping moderately known in BC.
Flyers comes across as a Metallica tinged grunge rocker. The sound is crisp and Sunstrum's snarl is very aided by Fraelic's skin tight production. It does have potential to be a single. That is, if we are ready for a grunge revival, which seems like Victoria is on track for. Many have attempted the Kurt Cobain and failed. In saying that, there were predictions Victoria could be the next Seattle. That prediction was made ages ago. We'll have to get out of the shadows of Vancouver in order to do that. With bands like The New Colors around, who knows what can happen.
A La Ska is a complete 180. It's a very fun song, and it's short. Tyler Swagar's voice is hard to pin point. It kind of passes you by. Suddenly it's over and you aren't too sure what has happened. It's such a wild card on the disc, it doesn't really have a point. I really enjoyed this song live and I have nothing against multiple singers, but it doesn't mesh with the disc. The song before contained no ska nor really any punk. It was almost all grunge. This one has ska and punk, but no grunge. Do I hate the song? No. If Sea-Sekshun wanted their EP to sound like a compilation of different bands, then they succeeded rather than presenting themselves as a cohesive band.
Cue-Kay starts with drums reminiscent of Tea Party's Temptation. The riff sounds a bit like L7's "Pretend That We're Dead" also. It's more in the vein of what the band represents. It has the same grunge sound as Flyers, but more in an Incesticide kind of fashion. It's nice to listen to, but it doesn't stick out. The way the drum mics are hooked up, it's quite powerful. You can almost feel the bass drum pump into your skull. You definitely understand its place on the disc and its purpose. Everything must have a purpose, afterall.
Her Story would be the ballad? Gone is the snarl. Sunstrum's voice sounds great on record. Better than it did live when I saw the band open for Weak Patrol. The song has that Green Day American Idiot vibe. The chorus is hooky. Could do well as a follow up single to Flyers. The back up vocals really do well to highlight the melody. Also, the best solo on the EP. It will definitely come as a shocker to the listener. Much like A La Ska, it's an awkward cut. You find yourself questioning if it is the same band or not. Unlike A La Ska, though, this is the difference between an alright one and something I would describe as ear candy. I just wish there was more bridging the gap. The EP comes across as a kid with ADHD that needs his Ritalin. On the upside, the band has shown what they are capable of. I can't help but feel they are trying too much at once. Trying to re-invent the wheel. This song has no grunge. No punk. No ska. It's pop rock. So, what exactly is Sea-Sekshun? A walking talking mixtape? This would make a better demo, than an EP. To show to labels what they can do.
I also felt like I wanted to hear more of the bass. I found the album to be fairly mid-level. Fairly equal. Nothing seemed to pop out. It sounded great, that's for sure. The vocals soared. All in all, I'd say it was a good listen. They've done something they should be proud of. The jigsaw isn't into place quite yet, and I hope they find the road they want to travel with it. Again, who are Sea-Sekshun? Because I've just listened to three versions of the same band clashing with eachother.
3/5
Flyers comes across as a Metallica tinged grunge rocker. The sound is crisp and Sunstrum's snarl is very aided by Fraelic's skin tight production. It does have potential to be a single. That is, if we are ready for a grunge revival, which seems like Victoria is on track for. Many have attempted the Kurt Cobain and failed. In saying that, there were predictions Victoria could be the next Seattle. That prediction was made ages ago. We'll have to get out of the shadows of Vancouver in order to do that. With bands like The New Colors around, who knows what can happen.
A La Ska is a complete 180. It's a very fun song, and it's short. Tyler Swagar's voice is hard to pin point. It kind of passes you by. Suddenly it's over and you aren't too sure what has happened. It's such a wild card on the disc, it doesn't really have a point. I really enjoyed this song live and I have nothing against multiple singers, but it doesn't mesh with the disc. The song before contained no ska nor really any punk. It was almost all grunge. This one has ska and punk, but no grunge. Do I hate the song? No. If Sea-Sekshun wanted their EP to sound like a compilation of different bands, then they succeeded rather than presenting themselves as a cohesive band.
Cue-Kay starts with drums reminiscent of Tea Party's Temptation. The riff sounds a bit like L7's "Pretend That We're Dead" also. It's more in the vein of what the band represents. It has the same grunge sound as Flyers, but more in an Incesticide kind of fashion. It's nice to listen to, but it doesn't stick out. The way the drum mics are hooked up, it's quite powerful. You can almost feel the bass drum pump into your skull. You definitely understand its place on the disc and its purpose. Everything must have a purpose, afterall.
Her Story would be the ballad? Gone is the snarl. Sunstrum's voice sounds great on record. Better than it did live when I saw the band open for Weak Patrol. The song has that Green Day American Idiot vibe. The chorus is hooky. Could do well as a follow up single to Flyers. The back up vocals really do well to highlight the melody. Also, the best solo on the EP. It will definitely come as a shocker to the listener. Much like A La Ska, it's an awkward cut. You find yourself questioning if it is the same band or not. Unlike A La Ska, though, this is the difference between an alright one and something I would describe as ear candy. I just wish there was more bridging the gap. The EP comes across as a kid with ADHD that needs his Ritalin. On the upside, the band has shown what they are capable of. I can't help but feel they are trying too much at once. Trying to re-invent the wheel. This song has no grunge. No punk. No ska. It's pop rock. So, what exactly is Sea-Sekshun? A walking talking mixtape? This would make a better demo, than an EP. To show to labels what they can do.
I also felt like I wanted to hear more of the bass. I found the album to be fairly mid-level. Fairly equal. Nothing seemed to pop out. It sounded great, that's for sure. The vocals soared. All in all, I'd say it was a good listen. They've done something they should be proud of. The jigsaw isn't into place quite yet, and I hope they find the road they want to travel with it. Again, who are Sea-Sekshun? Because I've just listened to three versions of the same band clashing with eachother.
3/5
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Crash Assassin/Handsome Distraction/Sea-Sekshun & Weak Patrol @ V-Lounge [Dec.10th]
Tonight was Master Joda's final night of charity rock shows for the Mustard Seed. It's been quite a successful run. You may have seen coverage on Chek TV. It's great to see bands out there not doing it for the money. Well, I suppose they were all doing it for the money. Money for the Mustard Seed....
It was a bit bare by the time Crash Assassin took the stage. This is a young band that boasts 8 albums of original material written by Yukon Deighton. He sings and plays guitar in the band. Mackenzie Barry is on drums and New Colors bassist Catalina Deighton completes the line up. The sound resembles that garage rock revival that appeared in the early 2000s. There is never a reliance on distortion. It's just straight ahead rock n' roll. Cat Deighton bounced around the stage much like the female version of Krist Novoselic. Though, it seemed like she was the only one who was having fun during the set. Barry perched behind the drums in a state of absolute concentration, despite making a few mistakes. Yukon Deighton has the voice, and demonstrated that he can pull off some Wolfmother-like riffs amongst his frenzy of power chords. Most of the songs are quite dark and the lyrics come across very stream of consciousness. There is also a fair bit of grunge flavours that seep in the music. They closed their set with ultra-happy "Lemon", which was completely different from their prior songs [maybe too much]. I think this band has a lot of potential, but that will come with age. This is a fine wine that just needs a little more time in the cellar. The band needs to show more energy on stage. Perhaps some back up vocals?
It was time to be handsomely distracted by Handsome Distraction, whatever that means. The first time I saw Handsome Distraction was at the Cambie in Esquimalt about two years ago. They didn't even have a bassist. With switches in the line up, we now have Devin Perfect on vocals/guitar, Corey Scheiding on lead guitar, Chris Weaver on bass and Bryan Reiber on drums. From the get go, the band sweats professionalism. They are very tight. Perfect achieved some heavenly [and hellish] guitar tones from his pedals, though it was Scheiding that wowed us with his prowess for licks. For only being his first show with the band, he made it look easy. Another great thing about this band is that everyone lends their voices, all the while, Perfect is the main singer. It just adds a lot of dimension to the songs. Reiber is also an incredible singer behind the kit and he is always crisp with his drumming. Does this guy even make mistakes? Chris Weaver was more the screamer. I'm not sure if screaming suits this kind of band. It was better when Weaver stuck to singing. Perfect also let out a few shrieks during the set...but I think the band's music is more set for clean vocals. The sound reminds me of the commercial accessibility to current day Kings of Leon in the way that the chorus come across as anthems. Though, the music is more upfront like that of The Thermals or Hollerado. It never gets too heavy, but the riffs do pack a punch. Perfect talks a bit too much. I'm glad he mentioned the Mustard Seed, but he almost talked after every song. Less talk, more rock! Keep an eye on this band. Even though they had cartoons playing in the background, they refused to be upstaged by Optimus Prime.
We have a break to announce that 1500 had been raised for the Mustard Seed. That number, later in the night, became 1800. Someone from the Mustard Seed does a speech. I don't think he's much for public speaking, but he thanks Master Joda, the V-Lounge and the bands. Applause ensues. They take a group photo with all the bands involved that were present that night.
Sea-Sekshun is up next. They call themselves Ska-punge. That is ska/punk/grunge. I think that label is misleading, and I really believe no band should try to create their own genres. Leave it to the people to brand it. Grunge was coined by a journalist, and the rest is history. Really this band's songs are divided into grunge, ska-punk or ballad. The three aren't really combined. The band is fronted by Jake Sunstrum on guitar. I will give him props on his guitar work. For such a young talent, he can solo quite well. There were some volume issues during the set, which was unfortunate. Tyler Swagar could be early contender for bass god. You could almost pin him for a look-a-like of local Zone DJ Jon Williams. His vocal contributions to set highlight "A La Ska" was an injection of fun that serves the band well. Ross Hobbs held it down at the other side of the stage as rhythm guitarist. He definitely has the look. Tom Gracie was on drums borrowing the kit from Weak Patrol. He was a bit too infatuated with the cow bell. It should have been used sparingly. The band was at their best doing ska punk. You could get the idea that they could play ska in their sleep. This can't be said for the grunge part. Not that it was bad. It just doesn't come across as strongly when Sunstrum goes for the Cobain slur. Same can be said for the quieter songs. His voice just doesn't carry. It's more fitted to submitting a verbal onslaught. The good thing is this is another young band that was playing tonight and they have all the right connections to make sure they are successful in the future while honing exactly what ska-punge is supposed to sound like. Their set was cut short due to things running behind. They don't seem too happy about it.
Suddenly the place is packed with people wearing Weak Patrol shirts. It's for a good reason. I always kicked myself for coming near the end of their opening set a month ago. Well, here they were again in their army inspired uniforms. Didn't take long for the place to erupt with the band's high energy indie rock. I still follow my "New Pornographers fronted by Jello Biafra" statement. It's hard to imagine how this band doesn't get tired. Frontman Caleb Kennedy strums his acoustic guitar harder than anyone I've ever seen and sweat seemed to shake from his flailing body. Carling Battistuzzi is always jumping around, swinging her hair. She has such a rock voice to her, but not in a way that would be non-accessible to the listener. Willis Schneider just gets the job done everytime I see him. He isn't much for putting on a show. He allows the others in the band to do so. Jaime Nolan had a bit of trouble getting the engine started as he stumbled through the first initial lead bits. He laughs it off. Dekan Delaney puts on a clinic each time. Really, this has to be one of the top acts in Victoria. Not only are they consistent with well crafted indie rock with classic influences, they have the shirts, they have the CDs, the uniforms [as stated] and they even have an animated background that spans the whole concert. Each song is handled with gusto. Highlights included a huge band dance off during a drum solo by Delaney, which was neat. Another was Nolan's use of the wah-wah pedal during one tune that reminded me of black exploitation films. I resisted the need to pimp walk across the dance floor. Unfortunately, they were also cut short even though they brought most of the crowd in so that the hoochies and guidos could spend the last half hour shaking it to Lady Gaga. Still, they ended it on a high note with an Ennio Morricone inspired number that started with Delaney whistling backed by Kennedy's chugging guitar. This is a song you need to hear, especially with the climax sing-along that gets me everytime.
All in all, the night had it's ups and downs. I would definitely recommend both Handsome Distraction and Weak Patrol to anyone looking to catch some local music. These bands are going to blow you away. It's always great to keep in mind all the bands that put in their efforts to make these charity concerts successful. So, pat yourself on the back, Victoria. 1800 is nothing to scoff at.
It was a bit bare by the time Crash Assassin took the stage. This is a young band that boasts 8 albums of original material written by Yukon Deighton. He sings and plays guitar in the band. Mackenzie Barry is on drums and New Colors bassist Catalina Deighton completes the line up. The sound resembles that garage rock revival that appeared in the early 2000s. There is never a reliance on distortion. It's just straight ahead rock n' roll. Cat Deighton bounced around the stage much like the female version of Krist Novoselic. Though, it seemed like she was the only one who was having fun during the set. Barry perched behind the drums in a state of absolute concentration, despite making a few mistakes. Yukon Deighton has the voice, and demonstrated that he can pull off some Wolfmother-like riffs amongst his frenzy of power chords. Most of the songs are quite dark and the lyrics come across very stream of consciousness. There is also a fair bit of grunge flavours that seep in the music. They closed their set with ultra-happy "Lemon", which was completely different from their prior songs [maybe too much]. I think this band has a lot of potential, but that will come with age. This is a fine wine that just needs a little more time in the cellar. The band needs to show more energy on stage. Perhaps some back up vocals?
It was time to be handsomely distracted by Handsome Distraction, whatever that means. The first time I saw Handsome Distraction was at the Cambie in Esquimalt about two years ago. They didn't even have a bassist. With switches in the line up, we now have Devin Perfect on vocals/guitar, Corey Scheiding on lead guitar, Chris Weaver on bass and Bryan Reiber on drums. From the get go, the band sweats professionalism. They are very tight. Perfect achieved some heavenly [and hellish] guitar tones from his pedals, though it was Scheiding that wowed us with his prowess for licks. For only being his first show with the band, he made it look easy. Another great thing about this band is that everyone lends their voices, all the while, Perfect is the main singer. It just adds a lot of dimension to the songs. Reiber is also an incredible singer behind the kit and he is always crisp with his drumming. Does this guy even make mistakes? Chris Weaver was more the screamer. I'm not sure if screaming suits this kind of band. It was better when Weaver stuck to singing. Perfect also let out a few shrieks during the set...but I think the band's music is more set for clean vocals. The sound reminds me of the commercial accessibility to current day Kings of Leon in the way that the chorus come across as anthems. Though, the music is more upfront like that of The Thermals or Hollerado. It never gets too heavy, but the riffs do pack a punch. Perfect talks a bit too much. I'm glad he mentioned the Mustard Seed, but he almost talked after every song. Less talk, more rock! Keep an eye on this band. Even though they had cartoons playing in the background, they refused to be upstaged by Optimus Prime.
We have a break to announce that 1500 had been raised for the Mustard Seed. That number, later in the night, became 1800. Someone from the Mustard Seed does a speech. I don't think he's much for public speaking, but he thanks Master Joda, the V-Lounge and the bands. Applause ensues. They take a group photo with all the bands involved that were present that night.
Sea-Sekshun is up next. They call themselves Ska-punge. That is ska/punk/grunge. I think that label is misleading, and I really believe no band should try to create their own genres. Leave it to the people to brand it. Grunge was coined by a journalist, and the rest is history. Really this band's songs are divided into grunge, ska-punk or ballad. The three aren't really combined. The band is fronted by Jake Sunstrum on guitar. I will give him props on his guitar work. For such a young talent, he can solo quite well. There were some volume issues during the set, which was unfortunate. Tyler Swagar could be early contender for bass god. You could almost pin him for a look-a-like of local Zone DJ Jon Williams. His vocal contributions to set highlight "A La Ska" was an injection of fun that serves the band well. Ross Hobbs held it down at the other side of the stage as rhythm guitarist. He definitely has the look. Tom Gracie was on drums borrowing the kit from Weak Patrol. He was a bit too infatuated with the cow bell. It should have been used sparingly. The band was at their best doing ska punk. You could get the idea that they could play ska in their sleep. This can't be said for the grunge part. Not that it was bad. It just doesn't come across as strongly when Sunstrum goes for the Cobain slur. Same can be said for the quieter songs. His voice just doesn't carry. It's more fitted to submitting a verbal onslaught. The good thing is this is another young band that was playing tonight and they have all the right connections to make sure they are successful in the future while honing exactly what ska-punge is supposed to sound like. Their set was cut short due to things running behind. They don't seem too happy about it.
Suddenly the place is packed with people wearing Weak Patrol shirts. It's for a good reason. I always kicked myself for coming near the end of their opening set a month ago. Well, here they were again in their army inspired uniforms. Didn't take long for the place to erupt with the band's high energy indie rock. I still follow my "New Pornographers fronted by Jello Biafra" statement. It's hard to imagine how this band doesn't get tired. Frontman Caleb Kennedy strums his acoustic guitar harder than anyone I've ever seen and sweat seemed to shake from his flailing body. Carling Battistuzzi is always jumping around, swinging her hair. She has such a rock voice to her, but not in a way that would be non-accessible to the listener. Willis Schneider just gets the job done everytime I see him. He isn't much for putting on a show. He allows the others in the band to do so. Jaime Nolan had a bit of trouble getting the engine started as he stumbled through the first initial lead bits. He laughs it off. Dekan Delaney puts on a clinic each time. Really, this has to be one of the top acts in Victoria. Not only are they consistent with well crafted indie rock with classic influences, they have the shirts, they have the CDs, the uniforms [as stated] and they even have an animated background that spans the whole concert. Each song is handled with gusto. Highlights included a huge band dance off during a drum solo by Delaney, which was neat. Another was Nolan's use of the wah-wah pedal during one tune that reminded me of black exploitation films. I resisted the need to pimp walk across the dance floor. Unfortunately, they were also cut short even though they brought most of the crowd in so that the hoochies and guidos could spend the last half hour shaking it to Lady Gaga. Still, they ended it on a high note with an Ennio Morricone inspired number that started with Delaney whistling backed by Kennedy's chugging guitar. This is a song you need to hear, especially with the climax sing-along that gets me everytime.
All in all, the night had it's ups and downs. I would definitely recommend both Handsome Distraction and Weak Patrol to anyone looking to catch some local music. These bands are going to blow you away. It's always great to keep in mind all the bands that put in their efforts to make these charity concerts successful. So, pat yourself on the back, Victoria. 1800 is nothing to scoff at.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Mighty Power/Sons of Nova/Moss Rock @ The V-Lounge [Nov.25th]
Christmas is a hard time for most. There are those out there that aren't as fortunate, and that's why Master Joda's series of shows this holiday season is such a blessing. All donations upon entry go to The Mustard Seed, though it seemed for this Thursday night, charity couldn't compete with Zone Band of the Month. Not that I am saying the Zone is evil. It was just a fair bit of bad timing. Even with a sparse attendance, the show must go on and there was no reason not to have a good time.
Opening the night was Mighty Power. They had an 80's punk ethic with a nice leaning of funky riffs by vocalist/guitarist Miles Lyndan. Things were a bit shaky to begin with and the group was nervous. Drummer Ian Anderson shuffled along as Mighty Power found their groove. This was the first show with the group for bassist Pedro Java, but kudos to him, because he fit right in. A note for note cover of the Raconteurs "Steady As She Goes" was some nice ear candy, though they did little to improve or ruin it. Their performance got better as time went on and I really enjoyed Lyndan's use of jazzy funk chords, but there's something lacking vocally for this band in all areas. Miles Lyndan has a good voice. It's the melody and the lyrics that need some buffering. During one song, he sings about how there are bigfoots and smallfoots. I get the reference, but when you sing "The bigfoot steps on the smallfoot and the smallfoot says 'Ouch!'"...it lacks mature lyricism. I would also like to hear Pedro Java harmonize with Lyndan. There is a lot of room that could compliment the vocals. Lyndan was very excited to be on stage, which is great. I like how the band was getting into the music, and feeling it in their bones. It's when that excitedness creeped into Lyndan's banter when you wish he would catch his breath. At times, he didn't even know what he was trying to say. Sometimes the music does the talking just fine, and I thought they succeeded in warming up the small crowd tonight at the V-Lounge.
A bit more people were coming in as Sons of Nova were setting up. I've seen the band a couple times and each show they crank it up a notch. The group kicked things off with "It's On", which will be off their new record. It's like if you combined the heavy rock of Black Sabbath with the swagger of Aerosmith and pushed it into a tar pit. The vocals are shared between bassist Aram Heinze [who is more gruff/in your face] and guitarist Codine Vandal [who has a more clean sound]. Vandal has come a long way as a singer. It's great to see this band where they are at now. They could easily headline and bring in a crowd. They even started the first and only mosh pit of the night. Another highlight was a Kyuss cover, but no one in the crowd [including me] seemed very familiar with it. They mixed new material with a few classics from their humble beginnings, though I do miss City Limits and End of the Line. 2nd guitarist Rex Gielfeldt did a great job beefing up the riffs when Vandal would bust into a solo. Speaking of solos, Heinze amazed the crowd with a bass solo as well. Not to mention Adam Griffiths, who was drumming up a sweat and battling with the stage smoke machine. Sons of Nova definitely have found their sound. It's an endless barrage of stoner riffs that get straight to the point. Most of their song content is sexual. Whether it's about getting a hard on or how they are going to "turn you out". Hopefully they expand their inspirations with the next batch of songs to see what else they are capable of.
Last but not least was Moss Rock. They had promised the first 100 people in the door would receive free paintball passes. It's a shame that didn't work out for them. All of those thoughts were nullified once they bust into my personal favourite "Cop". Nate Ripley was on fire tonight as he put his heart and soul into his performance. Lots of the songs, since they are a three piece, follow the formula where the first verse features little or no guitar. This was his time to croon and wave his hands dramatically. He was also sporting quite a furry guitar strap. That's the thing with this band. They don't take themselves too seriously. The three microphones were less about back up vocals and more about making people laugh. Bassist Jeff Bauman was a giant on stage, pounding away at his bass in something you'd call a power stance. Drummer Bryan Reiber, who also does duty for Handsome Distraction, was crisp at every moment. For someone who just uses a single kick, it's amazing how much he can accomplish. The songs are catchy as hell. This is a band that doesn't limit themselves or set parameters. They played a country song. They played a slow song. They entered into some psychedelia. Some riffs may have even fit in Sons of Nova's set. It was this time of the night when a group of guidos with their orange skinned arm candy bustled into the club expecting some fist pumping excitement. The men weren't so keen on this rock n' roll. One exclaimed to his girl "Come on, let's get out of here. I wanna hear some MUSIC!". The girls were, instead, caught in the Moss Rock web and the band's slick rhythm's got them dancing [although, they wouldn't stay till the end]. Things got pretty ugly when Ripley broke a string. Suddenly they didn't know what to do to fill the time it took for Nate to get the string on. Luckily, the sound guy advised them to do a bass and drum solo, which was pretty cool. There were also some really awful jokes. REALLY AWFUL. If there is anything this band needs to work on, it's banter. They are at there best just being themselves. It's when they have to answer to the crowd when things tend to stall. Bauman's banter seemed to originate from a totally different concert than he was at, like if he was playing for Slayer. Other than that, this band should be a lot more popular than they are right now. They were the only band this night that were asked for an encore, where they premiered a work in progress that didn't even have lyrics. The loose jamming worked for the song and it went over well. It's tough to top Cop, and I felt that it was a great way to ignite the crowd, but it would serve better to cap off the night.
In the end, you win some and you lose some. There are plenty more opportunities to catch one of these shows and make a donation to the Mustard Seed. The show is well worth the minimum five dollars.
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| Mighty Power - Photo by Master Joda Promtions |
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| SON - Picture by Master Joda Promotions |
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| Moss Rock - Picture Courtesy of Master Joda Pormotions |
In the end, you win some and you lose some. There are plenty more opportunities to catch one of these shows and make a donation to the Mustard Seed. The show is well worth the minimum five dollars.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Bosma, Coll, Linguanti, Jackson and Brown @ The Fort Street Cafe [Nov 16th]
Runway Studios presented us with a very special acoustic night at the Fort Street Cafe with many artists from local Victoria bands. The turn out was great and the atmosphere was quite welcoming.
Ciara Brown is an ex-member of the New Colors, and she was accompanied by Scawt Polachuk of the current New Colors. Isn't that nice? Things started off great with a cover of The Pixies "Where is my mind?". Once they kicked off Bush's "Glycerin", you would wager a guess we were going to have ourselves a cover extravaganza! Most of the covers were old alternative/grunge tunes from the early 90's. There was an original, and it was fairly in line with the others that were presented. It would be nice to hear more originals. Something that speaks from the heart. Despite a misstep during Pearl Jam's Black, it was a great set. Her voice brought an angelic quality to a lot of the dark material in the lyrics.
Some guy named Stinky Jackson played. He was an asshole, and everyone threw bottles of piss at the stage.
Next up was Gio Linguanti, and he brought a hip hop/reggae/rock flavour to the set. Two people actually danced! I would compare it to an artist like KO. He also plays in a band called Liquid Tuesdaze, which is much different from his solo work. Speaking with all honesty, what he presented was a much more concise sound than his band's catalogue, which suffers from a lack of focus. All of Gio's songs flowed together. I should also mention that he is theatrical in his set. His stage set-up included candles, vanilla scented incense and a lamp. During one song's introduction, he read a passage from a book. It seemed like a bit of a momentum killer to me, but the people that came to see him were into it. Not that I'm opposed to reading a book during a gig, it just seemed to drag. What do I know anyway?
Samuel Coll. The myth. The legend. The moustache. Good on him for his Movember ways. He played some non-Year of the Rat material for us and it was well fitted to the venue. I especially like him breaking out a cover of "Oh, Comely" by Neutral Milk Hotel. Although he told me he'd be playing his own stuff tonight, he did lay down a Year of the Rat goodie for us. Coll has a very distinctive voice. It took a while for me to warm up to it, but this is coming from someone who has seen Year of the Rat play more than once. For some people it is a bit of a hurdle to access his music. For anyone who hasn't heard Coll belt it out, it's in the same vein as Ian Curtis but not as bored. If you are having trouble, give it a chance. You shall be rewarded.
Closing the night out was David Bosma. He had a piano player with him and it really rounded out the sound. It was nothing too abrasive. Quite calming, but enough to keep one's interest. There's nothing bad I can say about this guy. A veteran of the local Victoria scene, it was fairly evident why he was headlining tonight. Consistent songwriting, a pleasant voice and pure musicianship prevails. Jack Weyler commanded the piano with vigour. The piano itself sounded just a tad out of tune, bringing a honky-tonk element to the proceedings. Still, the group was tight, so it didn't matter.
For all those who were there, thanks for coming on a Tuesday after a long weekend. For those who weren't, there are various youtube videos from Ciara Brown and DT Jackson [but he should bury his head in shame for playing such horrible sounding tripe].
Ciara Brown is an ex-member of the New Colors, and she was accompanied by Scawt Polachuk of the current New Colors. Isn't that nice? Things started off great with a cover of The Pixies "Where is my mind?". Once they kicked off Bush's "Glycerin", you would wager a guess we were going to have ourselves a cover extravaganza! Most of the covers were old alternative/grunge tunes from the early 90's. There was an original, and it was fairly in line with the others that were presented. It would be nice to hear more originals. Something that speaks from the heart. Despite a misstep during Pearl Jam's Black, it was a great set. Her voice brought an angelic quality to a lot of the dark material in the lyrics.
Some guy named Stinky Jackson played. He was an asshole, and everyone threw bottles of piss at the stage.
Next up was Gio Linguanti, and he brought a hip hop/reggae/rock flavour to the set. Two people actually danced! I would compare it to an artist like KO. He also plays in a band called Liquid Tuesdaze, which is much different from his solo work. Speaking with all honesty, what he presented was a much more concise sound than his band's catalogue, which suffers from a lack of focus. All of Gio's songs flowed together. I should also mention that he is theatrical in his set. His stage set-up included candles, vanilla scented incense and a lamp. During one song's introduction, he read a passage from a book. It seemed like a bit of a momentum killer to me, but the people that came to see him were into it. Not that I'm opposed to reading a book during a gig, it just seemed to drag. What do I know anyway?
Samuel Coll. The myth. The legend. The moustache. Good on him for his Movember ways. He played some non-Year of the Rat material for us and it was well fitted to the venue. I especially like him breaking out a cover of "Oh, Comely" by Neutral Milk Hotel. Although he told me he'd be playing his own stuff tonight, he did lay down a Year of the Rat goodie for us. Coll has a very distinctive voice. It took a while for me to warm up to it, but this is coming from someone who has seen Year of the Rat play more than once. For some people it is a bit of a hurdle to access his music. For anyone who hasn't heard Coll belt it out, it's in the same vein as Ian Curtis but not as bored. If you are having trouble, give it a chance. You shall be rewarded.
Closing the night out was David Bosma. He had a piano player with him and it really rounded out the sound. It was nothing too abrasive. Quite calming, but enough to keep one's interest. There's nothing bad I can say about this guy. A veteran of the local Victoria scene, it was fairly evident why he was headlining tonight. Consistent songwriting, a pleasant voice and pure musicianship prevails. Jack Weyler commanded the piano with vigour. The piano itself sounded just a tad out of tune, bringing a honky-tonk element to the proceedings. Still, the group was tight, so it didn't matter.
For all those who were there, thanks for coming on a Tuesday after a long weekend. For those who weren't, there are various youtube videos from Ciara Brown and DT Jackson [but he should bury his head in shame for playing such horrible sounding tripe].
The acceptance of lip-synching and auto-tune in modern society
From the invention of television, there has been that eager tension to put on the best performance. Through variety TV shows like The Ed Sullivan Show, there was no question that it could make or break a career. Somewhere down the line, someone decided that the best way to have an artist portray themselves was to pretend to sing. Even further down that dotted line, another idea was that you could take beautiful people and dub them over with different ugly people. Image was key. Now in today's world, you don't need talent, just as long as you have a pitch corrector.
The first time I had my audio innocence shattered was when I learned a band from Los Angeles named the Monkees didn't play their own instruments. Well, this is a half truth. Yes, they were hired as actors and although they did not contribute anything but vocals until 1967, they were fully functioning musicians. Problem was, at the conception of the show, no one played drums. The producers decided Davy Jones would be the frontman, Michael Nesmith on guitar, Peter Tork on bass and the unlucky Micky Dolenz on drums. For their first two albums, session musicians filled in for the boys and they had no creative input for the music. Though, the guys did tour without the use of trickery. Their show matched the oddball humour of A Hard Day's Night, and the public were eating it up. The band fought for their need to express themselves after many behind the scene arguments with the show's producers wrote and record an album called Headquarters, which reached #1 for one week in 1967. Unfortunately, that's when, instead of fighting with the producers, they started fighting amongst themselves about direction. The show was ultimately cancelled in 1968, though the band continued to release music. The problem with this is it's still happening with people like Miley Cyrus or whatever Disney and Nickalodeon is pushing down our kid's throats. The end result is always the same: The artist tries to redefine themselves by being the polar opposite of the sugar coated image that made them popular, usually through sexually explicit lyrics and imagery.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScXXaBu1Ing
When we were not all singing and dancing with our tambourines, there was also a focus on pure image in the punk scene. In 1975, the UK brought us The Sex Pistols. Johnny Rotten on vocals, Steve Jones on guitar, Paul Cook on drums and Glen Matlock on bass. Matlock eventually left the band due to a mutual agreement, but the myth was he was kicked out for liking The Beatles. That's when Rotten spotted Sid Vicious. Although he had very little musical talent, he had the look and the edge Johnny was looking for. They put him on bass, but he was, indeed, terrible. He only played on one track on Nevermind the Bullocks for the song "Bodies" and even that was overdubbed. Matlock was brought back in behind the scenes. I even heard stories that someone would play bass behind a curtain during their shows. Issues arose when Sid got all strung out on Heroin and would attack fans. Rotten has said that Vicious had a thirst for fame. In the end, he murdered his girlfriend and then later committed suicide, but there will always be controversy that he would have been too high at the time to kill Nancy Spungen. This would be a case of having the bad boy image blow up in one's face. Yet we love it, don't we? We love when Bert McCracken of The Used excessively drops the f-bomb on live television or Mike Patton of Faith No More exposes himself. We want these people to shock us. Controversy can only fuel album sales. Just don't speak out against god, war or the president.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgWDYlGvyZk
Milli Vanilli was a pop duo formed in Germany in 1988. It was fronted by Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus, but they didn't actually sing at all like our past two stories. In 1990, their grammy for 2 X 2 was revoked when it was discovered their records were not the voices of Morvan or Pilatus. No, these two guys were model/dancers Frank Farian [The Mastermind] found in a Munich club. The duo had several hits, but even during their tours, they used pre-recorded vocals. It bit them in the ass in 1989 when during a performance for MTV, the vocals began to skip. The duo tried to play it off, but the damage was done. They were nothing but puppets on a string. Milli Vanilli tried to redeem themselves, like The Monkees, by releasing albums with their own voices but without much success. Rob Pilatus died of a drug overdose on April 2, 1998 right before their Back and in the Attack promotional tour. It makes me think, these guys are living the high life. All they do is get on stage and pretend to sing, while the real talent that has backed them since the beginning don't get the credit they deserve. Would you take anyone seriously if someone boasted they wrote for Milli Vanilli? No, the connotation will always be that they were fake and talentless. Here is their crowning glory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udS5qBrBFqE
It's still good to know a public display of lip-sync fail can ruin a career. Need I say more about Ashlee Simpson? Yes, I'm sure it must be very hard to follow in the shadow of your more talented sister. In October 2004, she was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. Her first song went without problems, but when they started the second song, the vocals for the first song played instead. The band did there best to cover it up and after some amazing redneck jiggery, Simpson exited the stage. At the end of the show, she had the lady balls to say that her band started playing the wrong song! Then it was her drummer pressed the wrong button. Poor Ashlee had acid reflux and "was not advised to sing". So, basically, it was any fault but her own. Though, even after this display, she did put out another album. I guess the lucky thing was that even though she was helped through the writing process, there weren't any grammies to take away from her.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rt318_cEsw
Yet, for some odd reason, we've embraced lip syncing during concerts. It's one thing to screw up on live TV, but when you have big name artists touring to a vocal track, that's gotta be the biggest farce of it all. What are we paying for? Don't give me no shit that the show is so elaborate that an artist can't sing and dance at the same time. Why dance at all? Musicians is a term for people that produce music. Daily we are losing that term to sham entertainers who provide nothing but skimpy outfits and gyrations not uncommon in your local strip club. The show's focus is never about the music in the pop world. It resembles more of a Broadway extravaganza or Cirque de Soleil. My personal favourite offender is Britney Spears. It's hard to pick an exact moment that is her worst lip-syncing disaster, but unlike Simpsons, it hasn't seemed to have affected Spears at all. We should all remember a horrid moment at the MTV Video Music Awards where she "performed" Gimme More. The best parts were the shots of the various celebrities in the audience all with shocked facial expressions. Yet, even after a performance so mind numbingly bad [which, I think she blamed on cold medication], her album still rose to the top in Canada and #2 in the US. Even during her concerts, there are instances that she is NOT singing. Does the audience boo? Does the audience get up and ask for a refund? No, we just seemingly sit there and ignore it. Are we that fucking dense? Watch as a fan wanders up on stage and she yells at him to sit down. She must be speaking in tongues!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqfwYo1K1g8
Alas, the finale moment. Where you do nothing to hide the fact you can't sing and you openly use something called "auto-tune". It's right there in the title folks. T-Pain uses auto-tune. Kanye uses auto-tune. There is so much modulation on Ke$ha's voice she sounds like an alien, but don't worry, they can get away with it because auto-tune is totally trendy right now, like OMG. What message are we sending young inspiring musicians? You don't need to be talented. You just need the look. You just need the attitude. It's all backed up by the studios and music television nor radio do little to change that. Ever since the invention of Pro-Tools, it's not about playing the song until you get it right. Hell, you can stumble through a take and that can be that. Leave it in the hands of the producers to cut it up, correct the pitch and shine it up for release. Sorry, Lil Wayne is not a singer, and he will never be the new Jimi Hendrix. There's a lot of people that state rap is dead or that it's a fragment of its old self. That's true, but that doesn't mean Timbaland has to start swooning us in a duet with Chad Kroeger of Nickelback. I wish there was some way we could gather all the auto-tune devices and just have a massive fire, like the way they used to burn Beatles albums. We've accepted lip syncing and we've accepted voice modulation. The kind of stuff that would ruin your career back in the 60's if someone felt you weren't genuine. To prove anyone can use auto-tune, here's Antoine Dodson live on the BET awards
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke_ft98rDN8&feature=related
What can we do? Well, we need to support the artists out there that are writing and performing their own material without cheating. This accounts for CD/MP3 and vinyl sales. This accounts for concerts. Why is it so many great artists get dropped from their labels due to lack of album sales, when the mongoloids reach the top of the castle? It's all in the hands of the consumer. I like to think Victoria has pretty good taste. I hope you have enjoyed this little article. I'd love to hear what you think about it. Other than that, I'll see you at show soon!
The first time I had my audio innocence shattered was when I learned a band from Los Angeles named the Monkees didn't play their own instruments. Well, this is a half truth. Yes, they were hired as actors and although they did not contribute anything but vocals until 1967, they were fully functioning musicians. Problem was, at the conception of the show, no one played drums. The producers decided Davy Jones would be the frontman, Michael Nesmith on guitar, Peter Tork on bass and the unlucky Micky Dolenz on drums. For their first two albums, session musicians filled in for the boys and they had no creative input for the music. Though, the guys did tour without the use of trickery. Their show matched the oddball humour of A Hard Day's Night, and the public were eating it up. The band fought for their need to express themselves after many behind the scene arguments with the show's producers wrote and record an album called Headquarters, which reached #1 for one week in 1967. Unfortunately, that's when, instead of fighting with the producers, they started fighting amongst themselves about direction. The show was ultimately cancelled in 1968, though the band continued to release music. The problem with this is it's still happening with people like Miley Cyrus or whatever Disney and Nickalodeon is pushing down our kid's throats. The end result is always the same: The artist tries to redefine themselves by being the polar opposite of the sugar coated image that made them popular, usually through sexually explicit lyrics and imagery.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScXXaBu1Ing
When we were not all singing and dancing with our tambourines, there was also a focus on pure image in the punk scene. In 1975, the UK brought us The Sex Pistols. Johnny Rotten on vocals, Steve Jones on guitar, Paul Cook on drums and Glen Matlock on bass. Matlock eventually left the band due to a mutual agreement, but the myth was he was kicked out for liking The Beatles. That's when Rotten spotted Sid Vicious. Although he had very little musical talent, he had the look and the edge Johnny was looking for. They put him on bass, but he was, indeed, terrible. He only played on one track on Nevermind the Bullocks for the song "Bodies" and even that was overdubbed. Matlock was brought back in behind the scenes. I even heard stories that someone would play bass behind a curtain during their shows. Issues arose when Sid got all strung out on Heroin and would attack fans. Rotten has said that Vicious had a thirst for fame. In the end, he murdered his girlfriend and then later committed suicide, but there will always be controversy that he would have been too high at the time to kill Nancy Spungen. This would be a case of having the bad boy image blow up in one's face. Yet we love it, don't we? We love when Bert McCracken of The Used excessively drops the f-bomb on live television or Mike Patton of Faith No More exposes himself. We want these people to shock us. Controversy can only fuel album sales. Just don't speak out against god, war or the president.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgWDYlGvyZk
Milli Vanilli was a pop duo formed in Germany in 1988. It was fronted by Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus, but they didn't actually sing at all like our past two stories. In 1990, their grammy for 2 X 2 was revoked when it was discovered their records were not the voices of Morvan or Pilatus. No, these two guys were model/dancers Frank Farian [The Mastermind] found in a Munich club. The duo had several hits, but even during their tours, they used pre-recorded vocals. It bit them in the ass in 1989 when during a performance for MTV, the vocals began to skip. The duo tried to play it off, but the damage was done. They were nothing but puppets on a string. Milli Vanilli tried to redeem themselves, like The Monkees, by releasing albums with their own voices but without much success. Rob Pilatus died of a drug overdose on April 2, 1998 right before their Back and in the Attack promotional tour. It makes me think, these guys are living the high life. All they do is get on stage and pretend to sing, while the real talent that has backed them since the beginning don't get the credit they deserve. Would you take anyone seriously if someone boasted they wrote for Milli Vanilli? No, the connotation will always be that they were fake and talentless. Here is their crowning glory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udS5qBrBFqE
It's still good to know a public display of lip-sync fail can ruin a career. Need I say more about Ashlee Simpson? Yes, I'm sure it must be very hard to follow in the shadow of your more talented sister. In October 2004, she was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. Her first song went without problems, but when they started the second song, the vocals for the first song played instead. The band did there best to cover it up and after some amazing redneck jiggery, Simpson exited the stage. At the end of the show, she had the lady balls to say that her band started playing the wrong song! Then it was her drummer pressed the wrong button. Poor Ashlee had acid reflux and "was not advised to sing". So, basically, it was any fault but her own. Though, even after this display, she did put out another album. I guess the lucky thing was that even though she was helped through the writing process, there weren't any grammies to take away from her.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rt318_cEsw
Yet, for some odd reason, we've embraced lip syncing during concerts. It's one thing to screw up on live TV, but when you have big name artists touring to a vocal track, that's gotta be the biggest farce of it all. What are we paying for? Don't give me no shit that the show is so elaborate that an artist can't sing and dance at the same time. Why dance at all? Musicians is a term for people that produce music. Daily we are losing that term to sham entertainers who provide nothing but skimpy outfits and gyrations not uncommon in your local strip club. The show's focus is never about the music in the pop world. It resembles more of a Broadway extravaganza or Cirque de Soleil. My personal favourite offender is Britney Spears. It's hard to pick an exact moment that is her worst lip-syncing disaster, but unlike Simpsons, it hasn't seemed to have affected Spears at all. We should all remember a horrid moment at the MTV Video Music Awards where she "performed" Gimme More. The best parts were the shots of the various celebrities in the audience all with shocked facial expressions. Yet, even after a performance so mind numbingly bad [which, I think she blamed on cold medication], her album still rose to the top in Canada and #2 in the US. Even during her concerts, there are instances that she is NOT singing. Does the audience boo? Does the audience get up and ask for a refund? No, we just seemingly sit there and ignore it. Are we that fucking dense? Watch as a fan wanders up on stage and she yells at him to sit down. She must be speaking in tongues!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqfwYo1K1g8
Alas, the finale moment. Where you do nothing to hide the fact you can't sing and you openly use something called "auto-tune". It's right there in the title folks. T-Pain uses auto-tune. Kanye uses auto-tune. There is so much modulation on Ke$ha's voice she sounds like an alien, but don't worry, they can get away with it because auto-tune is totally trendy right now, like OMG. What message are we sending young inspiring musicians? You don't need to be talented. You just need the look. You just need the attitude. It's all backed up by the studios and music television nor radio do little to change that. Ever since the invention of Pro-Tools, it's not about playing the song until you get it right. Hell, you can stumble through a take and that can be that. Leave it in the hands of the producers to cut it up, correct the pitch and shine it up for release. Sorry, Lil Wayne is not a singer, and he will never be the new Jimi Hendrix. There's a lot of people that state rap is dead or that it's a fragment of its old self. That's true, but that doesn't mean Timbaland has to start swooning us in a duet with Chad Kroeger of Nickelback. I wish there was some way we could gather all the auto-tune devices and just have a massive fire, like the way they used to burn Beatles albums. We've accepted lip syncing and we've accepted voice modulation. The kind of stuff that would ruin your career back in the 60's if someone felt you weren't genuine. To prove anyone can use auto-tune, here's Antoine Dodson live on the BET awards
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke_ft98rDN8&feature=related
What can we do? Well, we need to support the artists out there that are writing and performing their own material without cheating. This accounts for CD/MP3 and vinyl sales. This accounts for concerts. Why is it so many great artists get dropped from their labels due to lack of album sales, when the mongoloids reach the top of the castle? It's all in the hands of the consumer. I like to think Victoria has pretty good taste. I hope you have enjoyed this little article. I'd love to hear what you think about it. Other than that, I'll see you at show soon!
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