Showing posts with label Windsor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Windsor. Show all posts
Mark your calendar: Go North Music Festival, July 14
St. Joseph Island, Ontario is a long way from Detroit and Windsor. But when we heard about the Go North Music Festival and saw this year's lineup, we knew N2DS2W had to go north on Sat., July 14 to support it. Stay tuned as we highlight Go North's sophomore appearance on the summer music festival scene in the coming weeks.
Left on the dial
A little more than a year ago, the CBC geoblocked the Internet stream of our faded but still beloved Radio 3 and the blog ceased to be. The determined folks over at ourbasement.ca have been doing a fine job of keeping us informed about Canadian indie, but what about a radio replacement?
No surprise, it's taken more than one radio station to replace Radio 3. "Replace" is the wrong word, because nothing will replace it. But S2W has assembled a listening roster that gets him through the work day. In the car-- after canceling Sirius XM because of their horrendous business practices-- N2D has been mostly tuned in to Windsor's CJAM (99.1 FM). Favourite shows? Indie Guitar Swing and Steel Belted Radio.
S2W's recommendations:
Although we've listed frequencies where available, all stations are available via digitally.
CFCR 90.5 FM - Saskatoon Community Radio (shout out to former host Kathy Gallant, an R3 pal)
CiTR 101.9 FM - University of British Columbia
CKCU 93.1 FM - Ottawa
CKUA Radio Network (different frequencies throughout Alberta) - Edmonton
No surprise, it's taken more than one radio station to replace Radio 3. "Replace" is the wrong word, because nothing will replace it. But S2W has assembled a listening roster that gets him through the work day. In the car-- after canceling Sirius XM because of their horrendous business practices-- N2D has been mostly tuned in to Windsor's CJAM (99.1 FM). Favourite shows? Indie Guitar Swing and Steel Belted Radio.
S2W's recommendations:
Although we've listed frequencies where available, all stations are available via digitally.
CFCR 90.5 FM - Saskatoon Community Radio (shout out to former host Kathy Gallant, an R3 pal)
CFRU 93.3 FM - Campus and Community Radio in Guelph
- Favourite show: Weird Waves
- Tune in to former CBC Radio 3 host Vish Khanna's Kreative Kontrol on Wednesdays from noon to 2 p.m. ET.
CKCU 93.1 FM - Ottawa
- Favorite shows: Friday Morning Cartunes, Dylan Hunter's Music for Pinheads, Auditory Hallucinations, Candyshop
CKUA Radio Network (different frequencies throughout Alberta) - Edmonton
- Fact: CKUA has been around longer than CBC
- Favourite show: Mid-Morning Mojo with Baba (11 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET)
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| We got to meet Baba on a trip to Edmonton in March to see The Wheat Pool five-year reunion show. |
CKXU 88.3 FM - University of Lethbridge, Alberta
- Where you can hear the syndicated !earshot Top 20
KEXP 90.3 FM - Seattle
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| Inside CKUA, Edmonton |
It's Phate that it's eight
Lucier's doing a slow reveal of bands. So far in addition to local talent, out-of-towners include The Pack A.D. We know of another but won't spoil the surprise. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door.
(This year's Phog Phest poster is by Alain Rocha)
Meet us in the Basement
Looking for a place online to get the latest Canadian indie music news and talk Canadian indie music with Canadian indie music fans?
Head downstairs to ourbasement.ca. Thanks to some passionate and talented folks from the former CBC Radio 3 blog, you can read great articles that aren't insert-a-number-here clickbait lists. You can also drop in on the blog and chat about your favourite Canadian indie bands, the show you saw last night and other topics. You'll find the blog on the most recent post.
Why Our Basement? Before CBC Music launched the latest blogless site (that left N2DS2W with hundreds of broken links), and before the one it replaced, there was the site bloggers fondly call the basement (thanks Wayback Machine!). The basement years were some of the best for CBC Radio 3 bloggers, and R3 itself.
So stop by ourbasement.ca and take a look around. Keep an eye out for the wild raccoon and leave a cookie for him.
Head downstairs to ourbasement.ca. Thanks to some passionate and talented folks from the former CBC Radio 3 blog, you can read great articles that aren't insert-a-number-here clickbait lists. You can also drop in on the blog and chat about your favourite Canadian indie bands, the show you saw last night and other topics. You'll find the blog on the most recent post.
Why Our Basement? Before CBC Music launched the latest blogless site (that left N2DS2W with hundreds of broken links), and before the one it replaced, there was the site bloggers fondly call the basement (thanks Wayback Machine!). The basement years were some of the best for CBC Radio 3 bloggers, and R3 itself.
#FOR3VER
Today, we did something we never dreamed: We removed the CBC Radio 3 logo from N2DS2W.
If you haven't been following along, CBC Music recently launched a new site. It doesn't include the Radio 3 blog. All our playlists and profiles are gone. It doesn't include an Internet stream for Radio 3 outside of Canada. The CBC Music app also doesn't work outside of Canada.
Although we don't post as often as we used to, we are still actively attending shows and doing what we've always done: Support Canadian indie music and musicians in Windsor and Detroit. Which is now more than we can say about Radio 3.
You can still listen to Radio 3 Classic on Sirius XM channel 162. You can also read the many eloquent, and not so eloquent comments from the so callously dismissed Radio 3 blog community on the CBC Radio 3 Facebook page.
#FOR3VER
If you haven't been following along, CBC Music recently launched a new site. It doesn't include the Radio 3 blog. All our playlists and profiles are gone. It doesn't include an Internet stream for Radio 3 outside of Canada. The CBC Music app also doesn't work outside of Canada.
Although we don't post as often as we used to, we are still actively attending shows and doing what we've always done: Support Canadian indie music and musicians in Windsor and Detroit. Which is now more than we can say about Radio 3.
You can still listen to Radio 3 Classic on Sirius XM channel 162. You can also read the many eloquent, and not so eloquent comments from the so callously dismissed Radio 3 blog community on the CBC Radio 3 Facebook page.
#FOR3VER
Show Review: PKEW PKEW PKEW are a barrel of fun
Elections. Mass shootings. Police shootings. Refugees. Global warming. Man, life is serious business these days. When you need to take a break from all that seriousness, there's nothing like music. Especially if it's the irreverent, incisive punk music of Toronto's PKEW PKEW PKEW (gunshots).
We went off-schedule to see one of their shows in Toronto during NXNE in 2013 and never forgot how much fun they were. When we saw them booked at Phog Lounge last week on a Thursday, we didn't care about the sleep we were going to lose.
The PKEWs-- David Laino, Ryan McKinley, Emmett O'Reilly and Mike Warne-- play punk songs firmly rooted in the old school style and tradition: fast, short and with the added plus of some solid vocals. They're also firmly testosterone-in-cheek, skewering the Peter Pans ("Mid-20s Skateboarder," "Glory Days"), the Darwin Award nominees ("We're Gonna Do It Anyway") and the assholes ("Asshole Pandemic"). Look for a new album sometime this year. If you live in the east/southeast U.S., watch for them opening for PUP this June.
Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images
N2DS2W Year in Review 2015
The shows, music and moments we'll remember most from 2015, plus some of our favourite albums.
January: Elliott BROOD (The Ark) surprises our unsuspecting daughter with birthday wishes at her first Canadian indie show. Album pick released this month: Viet Cong, Viet Cong (shortlisted for the Polaris Prize).
March: CBC Radio 3 takes all live hosts off the air. We take the day off work to mourn with a devastated R3 blog community and say goodbye to Grant, Lana and R3 as we knew it. Album pick release this month: Hayden, Hey Love.
April: We finally see METZ (The Loving Touch). Some hardcore screaming vocal noise rock bands make us flip the dial, but the musical craftsmanship and visceral intensity of METZ just make us flip. Album picks released this month: LeE HARVeY OsMOND, Beautiful Scars; Rodney DeCroo, Campfires on the Moon.
May: Rodney DeCroo (Phog Lounge), backed by the amazing Ida Nilsen (Great Aunt Ida), and Mark Haney on double bass, wows us with his poignant and personal music. Album pick released this month: METZ, II.
June: The day before leaving for NXNE, Hayden and Bahamas (The Ark) deliver one of our top shows of 2015, just as we predicted in our show alert.
July: N2DS2W celebrates five years. Happy birthday to us.
August: Thanks to our good friend John Struman, we meet a Detroit band we love: Nigel & The Dropout (Phog Lounge). And once again, the Festival of Good Things (Sarnia), this year headlined by Shred Kelly and Sunparlour Players, proves to be the perfect way to end the summer.
September: Seven is a lucky number as Phog Phest 7 proves the perfect way to start the fall. Grand Analog makes the world go round, The Sadies deliver a blistering set and Wintersleep are glorious.
October: We see our first matinee show at Phog Lounge featuring Megan Hamilton and a flock of kids attacking plates of fries like sparrows. Hamilton's new album, Forty Warm Streams to Lead Your Wings is a thing of beauty, with songs that make you feel like you've known them all your life.
November: Our hip kid has to explain a Ghettosocks (Phog Lounge, with Swamp Thing) Adventure Time reference that still has us singing Bacon Pancakes. Album pick released this month: Library Voices, Lovish.
December: We see Born Ruffians sans costumes for the first time (they really like playing Detroit on Devil's Night) and Young Rival in shiny costumes. They don't need the gimmick; their new album Interior Light shines bright enough.
Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images
January: Elliott BROOD (The Ark) surprises our unsuspecting daughter with birthday wishes at her first Canadian indie show. Album pick released this month: Viet Cong, Viet Cong (shortlisted for the Polaris Prize).
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| Stephen Pitkin |
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| Mark Sasso and the birthday girl |
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| Casey Laforet, N2D and the birthday girl |
March: CBC Radio 3 takes all live hosts off the air. We take the day off work to mourn with a devastated R3 blog community and say goodbye to Grant, Lana and R3 as we knew it. Album pick release this month: Hayden, Hey Love.
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| Image and design: Mr. FussyFont |
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| METZ |
April: We finally see METZ (The Loving Touch). Some hardcore screaming vocal noise rock bands make us flip the dial, but the musical craftsmanship and visceral intensity of METZ just make us flip. Album picks released this month: LeE HARVeY OsMOND, Beautiful Scars; Rodney DeCroo, Campfires on the Moon.
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| Design: Kali Malinka Photography: Angela Fama |
May: Rodney DeCroo (Phog Lounge), backed by the amazing Ida Nilsen (Great Aunt Ida), and Mark Haney on double bass, wows us with his poignant and personal music. Album pick released this month: METZ, II.
June: The day before leaving for NXNE, Hayden and Bahamas (The Ark) deliver one of our top shows of 2015, just as we predicted in our show alert.
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| Hayden |
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| Bahamas |
July: N2DS2W celebrates five years. Happy birthday to us.
August: Thanks to our good friend John Struman, we meet a Detroit band we love: Nigel & The Dropout (Phog Lounge). And once again, the Festival of Good Things (Sarnia), this year headlined by Shred Kelly and Sunparlour Players, proves to be the perfect way to end the summer.
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| Nigel & The Dropout |
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| Andrew Penner, Sunparlour Players |
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| Michael "Rosie" Rosenthal, Sunparlour Players |
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| Ty West, Shred Kelly |
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| Ian Page Shiner and Tim Newton, Shred Kelly |
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| Jordan Vlasshaert and Sage McBride, Shred Kelly |
September: Seven is a lucky number as Phog Phest 7 proves the perfect way to start the fall. Grand Analog makes the world go round, The Sadies deliver a blistering set and Wintersleep are glorious.
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| Grand Analog (Odario Williams) |
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| Sean Dean, The Sadies |
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| Mike Belitsky, The Sadies |
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| Dallas Good, The Sadies |
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| Travis Good, The Sadies |
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| Loel Campbell, Wintersleep |
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| Paul Murphy, Wintersleep |
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| Wintersleep |
October: We see our first matinee show at Phog Lounge featuring Megan Hamilton and a flock of kids attacking plates of fries like sparrows. Hamilton's new album, Forty Warm Streams to Lead Your Wings is a thing of beauty, with songs that make you feel like you've known them all your life.
November: Our hip kid has to explain a Ghettosocks (Phog Lounge, with Swamp Thing) Adventure Time reference that still has us singing Bacon Pancakes. Album pick released this month: Library Voices, Lovish.
December: We see Born Ruffians sans costumes for the first time (they really like playing Detroit on Devil's Night) and Young Rival in shiny costumes. They don't need the gimmick; their new album Interior Light shines bright enough.
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| Noah Fralick, Young Rival |
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| Aron D'alesio, Young Rival |
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| John Smith, Young Rival |
Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images
Phog Phest 7 re-embraces the great outdoors
After two years behind doors-- mostly the Capitol Theatre-- this Saturday, Sep. 19 Windsor's Phog Lounge tells the Phest to go outside and play. In the true spirit of N2DS2W, The Crofoot in Pontiac has stepped in as co-host of a bill with something for everyone: Windsor favourites, Detroit's Ponyshow and George Morris (formerly of The Satin Peaches) and the Gypsy Chorus, Grand Analog for the hip, The Sadies for the rock and country roots and indie veterans Wintersleep. See ya there.
NXNE 2015 Highlights
There were some lowlights at NXNE this year. The wi-fi at The Hub was terrible and our favourite hotel replaced all their coffeemakers with Keurigs. We know, #firstworldproblems. But there were highlights, like...
Language Arts at the Mod Club Theatre: A complete delight. From Kristin Cudmore's off-beat, adorable stage banter to her vocal delivery and wonderkind words, Language Arts is an imaginative standout in alt pop-rock.
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| Wall animations at Lee's Palace |
It was hard leaving Lee's, especially after seeing Diana, Rolf Klaussner (The Acorn), Nils Edenloff (Rural Alberta Advantage) and knowing more great performers were to come. But it was worth it for...
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Nancy Pants at the Silver Dollar: Nancy Pants-- Ohara Hale (vocals), Adam Waito (Adam & the Amethysts, bass) and Jeremy MacCuish (Parlovr, Cobra and Vulture, drums)-- don't deserve labels, because they're much better and far less elemental than that. Yes, they can do great pop and garage rock, but there is some real creative talent here and it shows. Fingers crossed for a second album. We also liked:Comet Control, a psych rock reboot of Quest for Fire that include former members Chad Ross and Andrew Moszynski.
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Ben Caplan and the Casual Smokers and catl.: Sorry, Odonis Odonis. We just couldn't resist the CBC Music showcase at The Hub and a chance to see Nova Scotia's other shaggy rocker. Caplan is a singer-songwriter first, but his big voice, eclectic mix of styles and generous scoring take it far beyond the ordinary. Caplan and the Casual delivered a grandiose set complete with a brass section literally plucked from busking on the streets of Toronto.
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| Grant Lawrence, one of the CBC Music showcase hosts. |
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After being aurally accosted by a disaffected Iceage, we more than welcomed the aural assault of catl. The duo has more than made up for fewer members by turning up the volume and intensity. Although the bluesy Mississippi Delta-inspired jams have morphed into more scorching rock and roll, the roots are still there.
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Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images
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