My writing can now be found at
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A music site covering kick-ass Toronto and area bands.
NXNE festival withdrawal - lo fi pics 9:08 PM
Dance - rock -dance around the clock - I covered Toronto's premiere 4-day music festival (aside from Canadian music week - same thing, different month) and am weening off eating and breathing music 24/7.Highlights:
Once a superfan of the Wu Tang Clan, I thought I'd sit in on GZA interview with Fab 5 Freddy: Memorable was the half-minute during with GZA, the cerebral emcee, broke out into versus from "Auto Bio" off 2002's Legend of the Liquid Sword. Fab 5 grinned with satisfaction, "See, that’s almost spoken word, like literary prose, yet always street, always on the corner."
And being "street" doesn't isn't necessarily being "murderer or gangsta".
Citing Blondie's foray into rap on 1981's "Rapture" as an example, both Freddy and GZA agreed the key to hip hop is being true to one's own style.
"Only one in every hundred rhyme in their own voice — others imitate," said GZA. "Can you imagine bein' at a party and realizing there's 200 other people with the same outfit you got on? That’s what hip hop is now."
Fab 5 Freddy mentioned he's a fan of local (in terms of Canadian) retro rocker King Khan. Former Montrealler King Khan is a fan of (besides Vice, apparently) my new obsession Red Mass, because they as well are influenced by gospel-inspired performances, but most likely because they can one-up him in the stage lunacy front. Judging from their Silver Dollar gigs, Red Mass are fans of capes, maquiage (make-up), post-set guitar destruction, impromptu speaker-hugging, and dressing in drag - and spitting on photogs. I am a fan of them. Will there be a meeting of the minds, will hip hop ever meet 70s inspired garage punk? The seed has been planted.
I also sat in on Warren Kinsella interviewing a cracked-out Danny Fields (ex-Ramones manager and Lou Reed-and-in-turn-andy-warhol groupy). Refer to punk history bible Please Kill Me by Legs McNeil to understand why maybe the punk scene, the strip, the whatever, must be cool for like three youthful years until you fuck over your body and mind, Iggy Pop being the only exception - at least the body part. Fields could barely look Kinsella in the eye, but was warm and witty to certain audience members. He has no time for bullshitting, clearly, and tells the truth unless, as he mentioned, he's saving some of it (i.e. sex stories) for his posthumous auto-biography. Also he confirmed, as I suspected, that the MC5 back in their 70s Detroit heyday were truly a machismo bunch running a living set-up that saw women cooking for their men but not allowed to sit at the table - definitely not a commune. More like a frat house.
Anyways, I saw a some hard punk and electronic performances, but alas no metal I could find worth seeing. I remember during CMW in March, Montreal's Priestess were buzzing, but nothing like that here.
I met a few disappointed artists (ex: Labasheeda of Norway) who came all the way to Canada to play for an empty dive bar staff and the lone goth punk who dropped in because he thought it was psytrance night. Got a kiss on the cheek from some pimps called Ninjasonics. Totally inspired by the beauty of the blond singer of Golden Triangle and Toronto's Little Girls were a tad nervous but look like they have a post-punk joy division-inspired chance.
Some other reviews:
Japanther, Matt n Kim @ Wrongbar, YSP WSD! @ elmo, Red Mass, etc.
New York dance-punks Japanther revved up the at-capacity crowd into a pit Friday. Great energy comparable to a metal show using cassette tape samples to amplifiy the sludgeyness. As the drummer and tape beat weaned in and out of sink near the end, technicalities didn't seem to bother anyone, as one patron noted, "they are, after all, singing into telephones".
Matt and Kim took the stage around 1a.m. According to Matt, Kim had been vomiting all day only to discover the magic cure-all – Pepto-Bismol and Budweiser — which judging from her fixed grin and later stage dive seemed to work in her favour. Mixing originals with casio versions of everything from Dead Pres' "Hip Hop" to Europe's "Final Countdown", the couple got everyone moving, or as one festival-goer put so elegantly "that totally made up for a day's worth of shitty bands. I was dancing like a 17-year-old again!"
Vancouver's You Say Party, We Say Die! risked their set at the El Mocambo by unveiling tracks off their upcoming album, set for September release. Their usual fast-paced dance punk was slightly more mellow, and was I the only one who heard a touch of Crystal Waters-esque 90's dance. The crowd seemed to dig the new stuff, though the mood dulled a bit when the bassist suggested everyone go out and buy the album, as opposed to downloading it for free, because it is "the right thing to do". Gulp.
Kinetic Stereokids @ NeutralToronto's Little Girls @ Sneaky Dees
Labasheeda (of amsterdam) @neutralSedatives (of Ottawa) @ silver dollar.
These guys were my surprise discovery, rocked it hard until buddy broke his strings and they all stormed off the stage with a few songs left to go.
Red Mass @ Teen Anger singer's party. See future post for my interview with Choyce.
Black Lips members with King Khan and BBQ, aka The Almighty Defenders @ Amsterdam brewery
sign of the times 9:10 PM
The bible of drum and bass, UK's Knowledge magazine is ditching its print version, going strictly online. KMag newsIt's been around since '94, the height of mainstream DnB and jungle. I have a soft spot for it as it was the first magazine in which I ever got a byline.
I guess it's just too expensive to print relative to revenues, which I suspect are down, not just due to the economy. Judging from the once-bustling Toronto scene, DnB ain't what it used to be. On with dubstep and other breakbeat hybrids, and hopefully a stellar new website.
