Now you see them, now you don't: Our top shows for 2012

The title of this post became eerily prophetic when, one sentence away from completing it, a fateful ctrl-z erased every word. So here it is, plucked from the recesses of our memory. As we look forward to Hannah Georgas (a top show from 2010) at the Pike Room on Jan. 31, we look back on the best shows (in alphabetical order) we saw in 2012... and a few we didn't.

Now you see them...

Boxer The Horse: We saw a lot of great shows at NXNE; this PEI band's set was a standout, note-perfect and perfectly crafted.

Cadence Weapon: Canadian hip hop doesn't get any better than Cadence Weapon. With songs like "You Can't Stop The Machine," his Polaris short-listed album Hope in Dirt City should be Detroit's theme album. Too bad Detroit was lined up to see Flying Lotus, unfortunately booked the same night at Majestic.


















 catl.: They gave us the blues three times last year, and we loved it every time. We'll miss them while they rest, recreate and regroup.

Delhi 2 Dublin: "Where else are you going to see a kick-ass fiddle player rocking out with a kilt-wearing Korean flanked by two bouncing Bhangra percussionists and a vocalist who looks like he would be at home in a Bollywood music video?" Like Cadence Weapon, they deserved a much bigger audience than they got.

Duchess Says: The best show we almost didn't see. N2D has never seen S2W dance so much. Or drag a lead singer across the floor.

Dusted / The Walkervilles: Two very different bands, one evening of great music. Dusted's "Into the Atmosphere" was so beautiful it gave us goosebumps.

Gentleman Reg: Reg Vermue has been an essential part of CBC Radio 3 for us since we started listening, whether as a solo artist or a member/contributor to bands like The Hidden Cameras and The Constantines. A genuine gentleman, and a genuine talent.

















English Words / Molly Rankin / Crissi Cochrane: English words can't express how much we enjoyed this show. All people we love. The Words' Red Potion definitely has us under its spell.

Parlovr / Hooded Fang: The best less is more show. Everyone had gone up north for the 4th of July weekend, so we practically had the bands to ourselves. Loved the stripped-down Hooded Fang, with Daniel barefooted at the mic. And loved hearing Kook Soul live. One of 2012's most overlooked albums, in our opinion, even if it did make the Polaris long list.

MAZ: Best show by a band we'd never heard of before, at London's Home County Music & Art Festival. Celtic + jazz + banjo (Jayme Stone). Yes, please.

Royal Canoe: If we had to pick a #1 show of 2012, it would be Royal Canoe. Our show review pretty much says it all, but to sum up, they "beautifully straddle (or paddle, as the case may be), the line between adventurous music and music that is eminently satisfying to both the ear and the brain."

Now you don't...

Shows get canceled. Bands play the same night as other bands. Sometimes we just can't make it. These five shows were the ones we were most sorry to miss last year. Here's to second chances.

• METZ
• Hot Panda
• The Tom Fun Orchestra
• Ten Kens
• Al Tuck

Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images

NXNE 2012, Day 3 (Jun. 15): We catch some air

One of the great things about CBC Radio 3 is the opportunities for interaction, with the hosts, bands and live radio in general. We're not just talking about the blog, although that's an integral part of the R3 experience. You don't have to be on the blog to put your name in the hat for the Listener Co-Host Initiative with Craig Norris, or call in to Trivia Tuesday with Grant Lawrence.

Taping a show with Radio 3 in conjunction with NXNE has become something of a tradition. A small group of bloggers that included musicians Jody Glenham and The Mountains & The Trees recorded with Craig Norris at NXNE in 2010; last year, we taped a Breakfast Club with Vish Khanna. This year, Craig Norris hosted listeners who were on board Tracks on Tracks. And on Fri., Jun. 15, N2DS2W put Radio 3 host Pete Morey on the spot with Montreal's Parlovr over his mispronunciation of the band's name (say "parlour," not "par-lover").

Radio 3 bloggers CDNz1 and Zoot Aloors named Pete's show.

 Although not new to CBC-- Morey's worked on a variety of programs including GO! with Brent Bambury, Q with Jian Gomeshi and Radio 2 Morning--he's relatively new to Radio 3, and doing a great job holding down the fort as a weekend host and filling in other time slots.

Many thanks to CBC Radio 3 and Pete for giving us another great NXNE experience to cherish.

Listen to the show: 



Blog post:  http://music.cbc.ca/#/Radio3/blogs/2012/6/Pete-Morey-meets-the-hardcore-R3-super-fans-gets-his-ass-kicked-by-Parlovr


Sorry. No photos by: Russ Gordon/N2D Images

Show Alert: Join us in the Parlovr

Thurs., Jun. 28
Parlovr, Hooded Fang and Goose Hut
Magic Stick Lounge, Detroit

Montreal's Parlovr pop back into Detroit with their Pop Off Tour, supported by Hooded Fang (Toronto) and quirky Goose Hut, also from Montreal. Parlovr have already popped off a 2012 Polaris long list nomination for their new album, Kook Soul. Here's our show review from last year; we're big fans of their original alt rock.

We caught Hooded Fang at NXNE 2011, as part of the CBC Radio 3 showcase. In that incarnation they delivered listener favourites like "Tosta Mista" and "Promised Land," from the album Tosta Mista, characterized by a retro indie pop sound that sounds like it would be best coming from a car radio on a summer's night. The lineup has changed considerably since then; we're looking forward to seeing the results.

Goose Hut is new to us, but we like what we've heard so far. From their Tumblr:

"Goose Hut started out in the summer of 2011 in Montreal... quickly morphed into a band playing tunes tailored towards live performance: fun, hook-laden, and driven by an old-school punk rock attitude. There's an underlying sombre tone to the lyrics, but having those themes juxtaposed with relentlessly energetic music makes for an explosive combination."You can get their four-track EP, throw it at your dads house, for NYOP at their Bandcamp page.

Handsome Furs Cannot Get, Stopped

The first half of 2012 has been a sad year for music, as we've lost several great artists, and bands as well, including Edmonton's The Wheat Pool. Regretfully, you can now add Montreal's Handsome Furs to the list, who for reasons yet to be revealed, recently announced the band's dissolution. From their website:

"With a heavy heart the time has come to let all of you know that Handsome Furs are no more. The most important thing that needs to be said right now is how extremely grateful we are to all the fans all over the world that showered us with love and support over the years. Thank you for everything! It's been an incredible 6 years and we owe it all to you."
xoxo
HF

In addition to making a lot of much-loved great music, Handsome Furs toured and played in places few bands venture to, and supported bands in countries where simply playing could result in arrest. Alexei recorded those in experiences in their tour journals. We highly recommend spending some time reading them. Here are our own fond memories of Handsome Furs' show at PJ's Lager House in Detroit last summer.

Thanks, Dan and Alexei, and we wish you the best in the future.

Hello, North By

We were always surprised when we asked bands if they were playing at N-X-N-E and they gave us a blank look. Then we would clarify: "North by North East," and the light would dawn.

Well, it finally dawned on us. Nobody says S-X-S-W. They say "South by." Apparently, the same holds true for North by. Now if we can only get out of the habit of referring to it as N-X-N-E.

However you pronounce it, we have a special affinity for this music/film/interactive extravaganza in Toronto. N2DS2W was born on the drive home from NXNE 2010; we did this at NXNE in 2011. So we're looking forward to NXNE 2012, scheduled for Jun. 11-17: more music, more Radio 3 bloggers and this year, we're attending some of the interactive sessions.

While the schedule isn't up yet for the interactive sessions, NXNE has released an initial list of performers. Canadian indie bands include those listed below; Hollerado will definitely be at the top of our list. Other bands we know are performing, but not yet listed, that we're excited to see: Vancouver's Brasstronaut, Montreal's Parlovr and Windsor's The Unquiet Dead. Stay tuned as more details are released.

MATTHEW GOOD
PURITY RING
METZ
PLANTS AND ANIMALS
ANDRE WILLIAMS & THE SADIES
BRAN VAN 3000
WE WERE LOVERS
EIGHT AND A HALF
MAC DEMARCO
ODONIS ODONIS
YAMANTAKA//SONIC TITAN
PHEDRE
HOLLERADO
CATL 

The Unquiet Dead ~ Parlovr

Three days. Three shows. Saturday with Parlovr. 

Parlovr

The Unquiet Dead

Our Top Shows of 2011

Notice something conspicuously absent in that title? The number 10.

Out of the 108 bands/performers we saw in 2011, we couldn't choose just 10. Because it's our blog and we'll do what we want to, here is our list, in chronological order, of our top shows from last year. Our criteria: it just had to be an experience that for whatever reason-- musically, emotionally, artistically-- was particularly memorable out of all the great shows we saw. Truly, we are continually amazed by the talent that's out there in Canadian indie. Note: since we did a Top Ten list for NXNE, we did not include any of those shows here.

Jenny Omnichord, Wax Mannequin

Les Jupes, Wheat Pool

The Rural Alberta Advantage

(wh)y.m.e.(??), Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, Rich Aucoin, Gobble Gobble (now Born Gold)

My Son the Hurricane, D-Sisive (with Muneshine)

Hey Rosetta!

Fucked Up

Parlovr, Handsome Furs

Great Lake Swimmers

The Besnard Lakes, Malajube

We Are The City, Said The Whale

Will Currie & the Country French, Library Voices

Shred Kelly

Field Assembly, The Locusts Have No King, Sunparlour Players, The Sadies

Danny Michel

Show review: Beeps in Wolves' Clothing, Part 2

Beeps in Wolves' Clothing, Part 1

Dan Boeckner, Handsome Furs

Alexei Perry, Handsome Furs

Montreal's Handsome Furs-- Dan Boeckner, Wolf Parade bandmate of Spencer Krug, and wife Alexei Perry-- had hoped to end the evening with 1 a.m. fireworks outside of PJ's Lager House in Detroit's Corktown. But prudence prevailed and we had to settle for the aural pyrotechnics the Furs and Parlovr delivered earlier that night on Sat., Jul. 30. (The aforementioned fireworks were part of a glorious display over the shores of Lake Huron later on in the summer.)

Both bands are seasoned globetrotting performers-- CNN filmed Handsome Furs' travels through Vietnam, China and Thailand for the series Indie Asia-- but sometimes Detroit's reputation precedes it. Not the one that makes us cringe, the one we're proud of:  a city home to legendary musical history, talent and innovation. For bands that get this, no matter where in the world they've been, playing Detroit has some significance to it. Which explains Parlovr's earnest query to N2D after their set-- "How did we do? Was it okay?"

Louis Jackson, Parlovr

It was more than okay. From the first note it was all zeal, appeal and everything between "Hell, Heaven" from Louis Jackson (vox, guitar), Alex Cooper (vox, keyboard, guitar) and Jeremy MacCuish (drums). Like the band's name, there's a slightly-skewed element to the "Speech Bubble/Thought Cloud" of their alt-rock that keeps it interesting, whether it's fuzzy, dissonant hooks, time signature changes, suspenseful phrasing and/or vocals that range from plaintive to piercing within a few measures. With only one full-length self-titled album to date, this Montreal band is just getting started. We've heard what's to come, and it's pretty darn okay.

Alex Cooper, Parlovr

Jeremy MacCuish, Parlovr

What does it take to get a 20-to-30 something crowd to loosen up? If Handsome Furs' catchy, often anthemic electronic pop/rock and Perry's possessed-by-the-music performance at the keyboards couldn't get them dancing, we don't know what would. It may be possible to resist the club beats and evocative riffs with your feet, but the subject matter of much of their catalog, from the 2007 debut Plague Park, 2009's Face Control to this year's Sound Kapital, makes Handsome Furs as enduring as entertaining. Their observations on cultural landscapes and incongruities are well worth exploring, whether through lyrics or Perry's journals on their website.

Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images

Show Review: Beeps in Wolves' Clothing (Part 1)

Yeah, we blew it when we didn't go. But who knew Wolf Parade would announce they were going on indefinite hiatus only four days after they played the Crofoot last November?

As fate would have it, we did end up seeing Wolf Parade this summer. Sort of. Well, two members of Wolf Parade, and their personal projects that helped precipitate the WP hiatus: Moonface (Spencer Krug) with Flow Child and Phantasmagoria on Jul. 15 and Handsome Furs (Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry) with Parlovr on Jul. 30, at PJ's Lager House.

Phantasmagoria

Flow Child

Except for Parlovr, all of these artists, either solo acts or duos, rely on a variety of computer-driven electronics for their sound, with quite different results. Flow Child (Montreal) was the most abstract, presenting improvisational compositions reflective of his stage name. Detroit-based Phantasmagoria (Lianna Vanicelli and Christopher Jarvis) easily earned this year's "best band we'd never heard of" nod. Their sound is generally spare, combining both space-odyssey and tribal elements, tempered with appealing vocals, harmony and melodies. They've been playing a lot around Detroit; we definitely recommend checking them out.

Spencer Krug's wiki is like reading a who's who of Canadian indie. So it didn't surprise us to discover that the gentleman providing percussion was Mike Bigelow, most recently the bassist with Wintersleep. "I started the tour solo, but it just wasn't working," said Krug. Solo if you don't count the stark white screen at the front of the stage that ran a video for the entire set of a lone, somewhat autistic man (wearing a Detroit Tigers cap!) dancing languidly.














"Like eating a small, heavy piece of cheesecake" is how Krug describes his second EP (although it clocks in at 37 minutes) as Moonface, Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I'd Hoped. Yes, the music is dense, but there's nothing ponderous about these baroque journeys. Why? We'll let Krug tell you (from his artist profile on Jagjaguwar):
















"You see, I have a little dude who lives inside me that loves pop music, and he sometimes finds his way into my hands. When this happens, my fingers move toward the catchiest melodies they can, like bees to flowers with the most pollen. It can't be helped. The little pop-dude inside me turns a few notes into a melody and I say, 'Okay, that's nice little dude, a little poppy maybe, but nice, maybe we can use that once, somewhere in the song.' And he says, 'But wouldn't you rather hear it over and over again? Maybe throw it in a few times now, and then a few times again towards the end of the song? And maybe that 'drone' in your left hand would sound better if you moved it up and down the keyboard a little bit.' But then I say, 'Come on little dude, I'm no fool, that's just a chord progression you're trying to get out of me.' Next thing you know we'll be repeating it over and over again, the melody will be a hook, and I'll have made another random half-pop song... It's music played with an organ, organ beats, organ beeps and bloops, and some digital drums. Music based on layers and loops, the hypnotizing sound of a leslie speaker, and the onslaught of melody." Listen.

Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images

Show Alert: Handsome Furs w/ Parlovr

Sat. July 30  @ PJ's Lager House

Montreal's Handsome Furs (Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry) began as an idea in the winter of 2005. Fast forward to the summer of 2011 when the electronic pop duo return to Detroit at PJ's Lager House in support of their third full-length release Sound Kapital.

Montreal music scene mates Parlovr open, building anticipation for their upcoming release Kook Soul.

Listen to the new song here.



Photos: Unknown, but thank you very much.