Crissi Cochrane - DRIVE ALL NIGHT Music Video


DRIVE ALL NIGHT was shot during several beautiful days in August, with director Gavin Michael Booth and producer Marie Jeannette. As this is a song inspired by and recorded with Mike Hargreaves, it seemed natural that he should be a part of the picture. We opened our doors (and our closets) and shot many scenes in our apartment, preserving this little place in time, and all the hours I have spent flying solo. We borrowed a 1977 Westfalia VW Bus to use as Mike's touring van in the video, honouring his many days (months? years?) spent traveling with his music. I'm so very excited to share this story with you at Rino's, where we shot several scenes of the video.

Here is the video.


Show Alert: an interview with Krief


Sat., Sep. 22
Phog Lounge ~ Windsor
With The Exotic Pets 

What do you know about Krief?

You probably know he's Patrick Krief, virtuoso guitarist for The Dears for almost 10 years. You may know his other band was Black Diamond Bay, now Krief. You may have heard he released  his first full-length album as Krief, Hundred Thousand Pieces, earlier this year. (You can stream all 10 tracks on his CBC Radio 3 profile page.)

What does Krief think you know? "I don't know what people know," says Krief, in an interview from Regina. "They've probably heard all sorts of rumours, crazy shit that's completely false. I'm a very simple person. It's easy to define what makes me happy."

Those things include good food, a good night's sleep, exercise, and of course, making music. The struggles and self-doubt that come with making a living at making music are a main theme of Hundred Thousand Pieces. "It barely scrapes the surface of how hard it is," says Krief. Does it ultimately deliver a message of hope? "The fact that I'm out here touring" is a pretty good indication, he says. "I didn't pack it in and go the other way."

Lucky for listeners, because Hundred Thousand Pieces (Pirates Blend) is beautifully crafted, heartfelt musical art. "One of the things that has been the biggest success, is that everything the album has been acknowledged for, the lyrics, the arrangements, is what I hoped would be acknowledged," says Krief.

Although Hundred Thousand Pieces was largely a DIY project-- Krief plays drums, piano, keys, bass, guitar and percussion on the album-- he's touring with a full band, composed of Roberto Piccioni on keys, Denis Paquin on drums, Jakub Zapotoczny on bass and Vincent Pelletier on guitar.

This is Krief's second show at the Phog; they were last there in April. What brings Krief back to Windsor? "We had a great time," he says. "It's always an easy room to fill, and it has a good vibe when it's full. The level we're at, we're perfect for Phog."




Show Alert: Delhi 2 Dublin



Tues., Sep. 18
Blind Pig - Ann Arbor
18+ - $12

Celtic music blends well with other genres. We loved the Celtic and jazz fusion of MAZ at London's Home County Folk Festival this summer. But one of the happiest collisions of Celtic with another culture would have to be Delhi 2 Dublin. They're touring in support of their latest album, Turn Up The Stereo. The hard copy is only available in Canada (the international release date is Jan. 2013). You can get the digital album until the end of September.
From their Radio 3 profile:

"The Vancouver-based band was born out of a live collaboration put together in 2006 for a one-off performance piece at a club night called Delhi to Dublin. The group was so well-received that requests for additional performances led to the official formation of Delhi 2 Dublin. 'Not being able to fit into any specific genre allows the band to create whatever we like and not be judged for it. Our audience expects nothing less.'"

Listen: "Tabla Boy," from Turn Up The Stereo

NXNE 2012 Day 4, part 2: the finale, finally


Like the picnic, this year's final night at NXNE lacked some of the surreality (is that a word?) of 2011-- there was no drunken dallying the alley in the wee hours of the morning while Jian Ghomeshi tried to figure out how to jump start a car. But the evening's slate of music, a solid lineup of great Canadian indie rock, blues and pop, surely needed no jump to get started.


Our home base for the evening was the Sirius XM / CBC Radio 3 Showcase at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, beginning with Special Guest. That band gets around a lot, almost as much as the mysterious TBD. In this case, Special Guest sounded a lot like Kelowna's Yukon Blonde. They also sounded a lot like they were still riding high on Tiger Talk landing on the 2012 Polaris Prize long list. We've seen this band five times now, and they never fail to deliver on their harmony-laden pop rock with a 60s vibe. Recent addition Matt Kelly from Treelines (on pedal steel and guitar) fits the band to a T.











We slipped out of the Shoe to put our Little Foot Long Foot in the door down at the Bovine Sex Club. This venue (and its website, for that matter) looks like a garage sale exploded, but Little Foot Long Foot attacked their set of bluesy rock with single-minded intent. Once the Toronto trio-- Joan Smith on vocals and guitar, Caitlin Dacey on keys and Isaac Klein at the kit-- turned on the energy they didn't turn it off, from start to finish.














Then it was back to the Shoe to close out NXNE the way we started last year's Saturday night: with catl. Despite the departure their drummer/manager last year, the title of their latest album, Soon This Will All Be Gone, has been anything but prophetic. catl. (Jamie Fleming), Sarah Kirkpatrick and Andrew Mosynski (of the Deadly Snakes) put on one heck of a show, proving juke joint rhythm and blues never go out of style. Take a swim in the Mississippi Delta with catl. this Thurs., Sep. 13 in Detroit at PJ's Lager House.





















Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images

And Soon They Will All Be Here


Toronto, ON's catl bring their dirty blues swamp boogie sound to PJ's Lager House this Thursday, Sept. 13. Oh, this is not the first time that catl have been to Detroit, (they recorded 60% of their latest album Soon This Will All Be Gone here with Jim Diamond at Ghetto Recorders) but this will be their first ever public live performance in the Motor City.

catl are also included in this month's Mitten Movie Project – Independent Shorts - Main Art Theatre, Royal Oak, MI - 9/11/2011 7:30 p.m. Pre-sale tickets $8 by e-mailing mangilc@yahoo.com, Door $10
“GOLD TOOTH SHINE” by catl [music video] – Directed by Brett Van Dyke (05:51) (Ontario) (2012)



Listen and read more: http://music.cbc.ca/#/artists/catl
http://www.n2ds2w.com/2012/04/working-blue-n2ds2w-special-edition.html 
http://www.n2dmediagroup.com/catl.htm




















Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images

PHOG PHEST 4


Tickets only $15 ~ http://phoglounge.com

Cellos (Windsor)
www.cellos.bandcamp.com

Club Thunderbolt (Windsor)
www.clubthunderbolt.com

Cobra & Vulture (Montreal)
http://music.cbc.ca/artists/Cobra-Vulture

Gypsy Chief Goliath (Windsor)
www.reverbnation.com/gypsychiefgoliath

James O-L and the Villains (Windsor)
http://music.cbc.ca/#/artists/James-O-L-and-the-Villains

Learning (Windsor)
www.wearelearning.bandcamp.com

New Country Rehab (Toronto)
www.newcountryrehab.com

Rural Alberta Advantage (HEADLINER from Toronto)
http://music.cbc.ca/#/artists/The-Rural-Alberta-Advantage

The Unquiet Dead (Windsor)
www.music.cbc.ca/artists/the-unquiet-dead

Vultures? (Windsor)
www.facebook.com/groups/vultures.canada/


With a special 90-minute opening set by Jam Space Academy bands:
9 Volt, 24 Sussex, Arcadia, Jinx, Lawless, Lost Weekend, Tremors
www.jamspacewindsor.com/JamSpaceAcademy.php

Show review: Duchess Says drop it and go


There are some shows that make you drop everything and go. Monday night at 9:30 we had the grill on, pork chops ready, and a big bowl of cole slaw with sesame vinaigrette when we found out Montreal's Duchess Says had booked a last minute show at PJ's Lager House (or "Larger" House, as their Facebook post read).



So we did what any sensible people with a job to go to in the morning would do. We grilled, grabbed a bite and headed down to Corktown for some Francophone electronic punk rock. We're sure Bob the Budgie approved-- Duchess Says worships at the altar of the Church of Budgerigars.

















It was well worth the lack of sleep. We didn't think anyone could top Damien Abraham of Fucked Up in the theatrical audience interaction department, but lead singer Annie-Claude did. She spent more time off the stage than on, getting up close and personal with the crowd, the floor, and entwining everyone with the microphone cord and her fierce vocals. Backed by the equally fierce Simon Says on drums and Philippe on bass and guitar, Ismael on the keyboard puts the "electronic" in their punk, and gives the band their distinct sound.












Listen: "Narcisse" from their 2011 release, In a Fung Day T!

Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images