As irrelevant as it may seem, the first thing that struck me when Teenage Fanclub took the stage was their age. They looked like a band made up of your friends' dads. Not that it matters, but certainly most of the working bands, especially those frequenting smaller venues like The Rickshaw are made up of young people.
When I heard that Two Door Cinema Club would be headlining in Vancouver, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia. Like many fans who played the band’s first two albums Tourist History and Beacon
Every once in a while, I’ll hear a song in a totally unexpected environment that immediately grasps my full attention, and demands that I discover where it came from, so that I can listen to everything else ever created by that artist. This was how I came to love Joel Plaskett. It was Summer 2007. I was moseying around a Foot Locker in the sweaty depths of the Eaton Centre in Toronto, looking for a fresh pair of kicks, when I heard “Fashionable People” filling up the room with its peppy, infectious verses and hooks.
Entering the doors of Biltmore Cabaret, little did I expect it to be so cozy and people so friendly. Laughter and talks were heard from every corner. Occupying the biggest booth was the most-wanted band of the evening, The Courtneys, were selling their cool merchandise: pins, t-shirts and hoodies.
Cherry Glazerr has quickly become a staple in the garage/punk scene, so it is no surprise that their February 7th show at the Cobalt Hotel drew a sold out crowd. The young band is currently on tour to support their latest album Apocalypstick , which was released in January of this year.
My introduction to White Lies came from watching the 2014 indie film, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, where, in one of my personal favorite scenes, the two main characters come to a prolonged—but artfully poignant—slow embrace to the sound of “Death” playing on vinyl. The music works perfectly in this key moment of the film, and plays into its themes as though it were written for that very purpose. It is a transfixing bit of cinematography, and truly beautiful.
When I walked into Vancouver’s Rickshaw back in February, I wasn’t sure what to expect. You are never sure what you are going to get with the Black Lips, but one thing I knew for sure was that I was about to see for the third time one of the best rock shows out there. In previous experiences, I have watched the Black Lips exhibit behavior that you could only expect from bands like the Sex Pistols: lighting things on fire, making out on stage, and stripping naked for example.
Multimedia artist Paul Miller, or DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid, has come a long way from his initial involvement with the Soundlab Collective in New York City in the mid-90's to his later multimedia projects Rebirth Of A Nation, and his current collaboration with the Vancouver Art Gallery on its latest exhibition Mashup: The Birth Of Modern Culture.
Shigeto’s latest EP, Intermission, came to me at the right time. It was just around the time I founded my electronic music show, PulsarSounds (Saturdays from 7-8:30pm), and I just knew his music was right up my alley: ambient instrumentals with significant experimental and jazz influences. Impressed with the well-produced and fascinatingly crafted EP, I took the chance to review his show at the Imperial on East Hastings.
CJSF 90.1 FM and The Jazz Spectrum are pleased to announce that Tara Kannangara is this year's winner of the 2016 Julian Award of Excellence for Emerging Canadian Jazz Artists for her album "Some Version of Truth".
Runnerup is Gray Matter for their album "Footsteps". Congratulations to Tara, Gray Matter and all the nominees!
To hear the best in Canadian jazz tune in to The Jazz Spectrum Wednesdays from 5:30-7 PM and hear the first hour Sundays at 8 PM.
