Festival Season: Osheaga - Day 2

Day 2 in Montreal was overwhelming to the point where we're only collecting our thoughts over a week later, now that's journalism. Day 2 was the Georges St. Pierre to Day 1's Jon Fitch, or pick your analogy where Day 2 is much, much better. For the record, we caught The Black Keys and Gogol Bordello, though neither for long enough to make any worthwhile commentary here.

The Kills - 4:00-4:45
Grade: B

I’m not too familiar with this UK/US duo, despite having heard their name thrown about in all sorts of publications for several years now. With three full lengths under their belt, The Kills were consistent in their loud but minimal garage jams. They have a definite aesthetic appeal, not trendy really, just a refreshing “we could give two (choice expletive deleted) what you think of us or this song,” which was a pleasant way to start our day after missing Jamie Lidell’s soulful stylings for some Peel Pub $6 pitchers.

The Weakerthans - 4:15-5:00

Grade : C+

The Winnipeg post-punk veterans rocked the Mountain Stage in the late afternoon on Monday. For me, the music was overshadowed by lead man John K. Samson's actions about 'insufficient' set time, highlighted by a seemingly passionate exchange with an Osheaga staffer who I saw yelling from stage left. Despite the organizer's finest efforts to dissuade Samson, he decided that the Weakerthans needed more time on stage then what they were allotted, and the band played on. The songs were done well; it was a standard Weakerthans set. Advice for group for future time-crunched sets; avoid unnecessary (and boring) tangents about "the great game of curling", and you won't have these kind of issues.

MGMT - 5:30-6:15
Grade: B

Adorned with an oversized tie dyed t-shirt and an arsenal of beloved tracks to sing, Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT led the group in a relatively impressive performance at the Meg Stage. For a band surrounded by a great deal of hype, I found that MGMT came on stage with a refreshing level of modesty. Not too much chatter, just straight up psychedelic hipster indie rock. "Electric Feel" and "Kids" were favorites.

Duffy - 6:45-7:45
Grade: N/A

It was difficult to get a good look at the Welsh vixen from our spot on the grass, but I let my imagination roam. Duffy sounded confident and powerful enough to confirm her press package, though I can’t say she really caught our attention all that much. Where the day previous Sharon Jones barked bold statements and dared you not to pay attention, Duffy approached her set with slightly less bravado and we only stayed for a few songs. Hard to rate this performance based on our attention span at the moment.

The Go! Team – 7:00-8:00
Grade: B+

Ninja and crew took the stage with some authority, albeit some of the samples remained as simply playback to accompany live instruments. This wasn’t the case for every track, and I won’t try and make the argument that their songs should be, or are easily converted into fully fleshed out live tracks. Minor gripes aside, songs like “Grip Like a Vice” and “The Power is On” were catchy as they are on record and the band moved around the stage with the youthful energy they channel so well in song. As a big fan of both of their LP’s, I have no complaints about their live showing. They’re as charismatic as Benny Hinn and Randy Savage put together.

Broken Social Scene - 8:00-9:00

Grade: A

The evening BSS set was one of the most anticipated performances of the day for me. At Osheaga, the ever-changing live version of BSS consisted of its regular core (Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning, Andrew Whiteman of Apostle of Hustle, as well as Amy Millan of Stars, Liam O'Neil from the Stills. And I am sure there were others participating who I did not recognize as well…it is BSS after all. Highlights of the set include "7/4 Shoreline", "Diary Of a 17 Year Old Girl" and "Ibi Dreams of Pavement." Each song built on the next during the set, setting a gorgeous stage for the set's climax; a brilliant and powerfully enhanced version of "Pavement" played as the second last song. However, BSS's finale (an extended version of the already 9:55 minute "It's All Gonna Break") spotlighted Kevin Drew entirely too much, and it took away from the sets momentum in a very unfortunate way. Overall I was surprised by Drew's leadership/dictatorship on stage. Away from his vocal dominance, he presented himself akin to an overzealous high school band conductor, as he waved performers onstage when they had chosen to step aside, introduced members as if they were his own, and acted generally like he was the shit. Truthfully, the set reminded me of eating a cookie with too many chocolate chips in it. It was delicious, but at many points I just wanted to taste the sweet sweet cookie without being bombarded by cheap Kevin Drew cocoa bite after bite.

CSS – 8:30-9:30
Grade: A

The Brazilians, much like The Go! Team before them, brought a pretty bombastic, super-fun-happy-hour kind of set that worked perfectly in the dying light of the evening. Lead singer Lovefoxxx (parents lucked out she didn’t become an adult contemporary Jann Arden type, and yes I know it's a stage name) was pretty wild on stage in her technicolour bodysuit, with tons of running around and that cute Portuguese/Japanese/German/Whatever accent singing “Off the Hook,” “Let’s Make Love,” and new cuts like “Left Behind.” Cansei de Ser Sexy did not disappoint, and along with the Go! Team, buttered up the crowd real nice for the Meg Stage headliners and their bonafied lovin.

Chromeo – 10:00-11:00
Grade: A++

It was epic. A huge crowd chanted in unison when the lights went down. They chanted loud. They even chanted in tune.

CHROME EEE OOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOO!

CHROME EEE OOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOO!

CHROME EEE OOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Then Boom! The lights came up, and the music started. There was a fancy footwork epidemic spreading rapidly throughout the crowd. Tenderonis everywhere were grinding up on their man lovers. Kitschy dance music was played, and it had never been played better before. Chromeo's set at Osheaga stole the show. The well-traveled dance masters played an unbelievable set in front of a huge hometown crowd, dropping nothing but pure hotness. And best of all, they seemed genuinely happy to be playing at home. If BTA had an achievement award for perfection, Chromeo would be its first and only recipient.

Osheaga, we hardly knew ye. Until next year, hopefully headlined by Chromeo.

- mca & BA

Festival Season: Pemberton Wrap-Up

As I sat on a bus in the traffic in between Whistler and Pemberton, in what major media outlets would later call ‘ a logistical nightmare’, and behind a pickup truck full of shirtless ‘bro’s’, heckling those that took their chances walking, I wondered if this town would still be standing in three days. As I cursed the woman at the media check-in who assured me that the festival grounds were a ten minute walk, I began to realize just how much of a nightmare this could potentially be. Staff and concert goers alike were equally lost in the confusion. So we took it upon ourselves to track down a campsite and settled in a fairly open area at the back of the campgrounds, away from the dust bowls and refugee style tent city area. Well, we had already missed most of the acts of the first day, so drinking seemed like the best way to get down to work. The gracious liquor companies, who saved us from the overpriced beer tents, were more than accommodating to the media. Although I’m not sure I’d say the same for Joe-concert goer. Lines to get into the 19+ areas spanned two or three hours, resulting in some spectacular fence scaling and dashing techniques. I wondered if that’s what the U.S and Mexican border looked like. As I stepped into one of the closed off areas, I found myself surrounded by the seemingly musically challenged and would be Hunter S. Thompson’s. They ranged from fashion magazines to those breakfast radio hosts who make you want to shoot yourself in the face rather than have a cheery start to your morning. All of them going apes shit over seeing the Tragically Hip and Sam Roberts…again! When I mentioned that I was looking forward to covering the likes of Chromeo and MSTRKRFT, I was met more often than not with blank stares. Don’t get me wrong, there were journalists around that border lined hipster-dome, and I don’t expect everyone to be a huge fan of this new indie-electrio dance wave that has been taking the blog world by storm. Hey, I myself am pretty down with Sam Roberts. But is it too much to ask that these people have a general awareness of the new Canadian talent coming up around them? Well maybe not you, hot fashion zine girl, but the music people! Apparently, the answer is yes. That’s cool man, go and sing along to ‘My music at work’. I watched the guy in front of me tip our server with our other national currency, giving me a smile and saying, “It’s gonzo baby”. Better make that two rum and cokes.

I can’t say too much about Chromeo that hasn’t been said about every other performance we’ve seen of them. The sea of people demonstrating their fancy footwork can testify that the boys blew the roof off the tent that night with their own special blend of synth-dance pop that they do so well. Though I will say that it wasn’t as intimate as other shows they have played as they were set up behind what was seemingly an unmovable DJ booth, and separated a few more feet by a security fence. It didn’t seem to phase the dancing though.

The next morning consisted of trying to find some food we could afford, and a line that we could tolerate. We found neither, so we hitchhiked to Pemberton. Someone had spray painted ‘DIRT’ in massive letters right across the four stalls near our campsite. I decided that was a good indication to wait until we got into town. The day consisted of avoiding dust clouds, rum, and the occasional game of hacky sack with neighbors in the camp ground while waiting for the music to begin. Organizers had however begun to pick up the slack from yesterday. Security was tighter, things were getting cleaned, and things seemed a bit more controlled. Mates of State showed they could hit those harmonies and fill the place with sound by means of just the two of them and the occasional help of some strings. The Flaming Lips should play a show where they don’t have massive bubbles floating around and crazy shit blowing up on stage. Where absolutely nothing happens. That would be really unexpected, and would probably mess with the drug-riddled kids even worse. MSTRKRFT took control of the dance party that night, which had been completely charged up by a day of some quality DJ sets. JFK and Al-P kept their usual company of crown royale and cigarettes as they threw down their set. Was that a shout out sample from Ghostface on the intro?



The campgrounds were not as hectic in the early morning hours as I had anticipated, but they were not without character. As one burly dude stumbled around and slumped down on the ground next to me, he mentioned how he didn’t want to see ACDC because they were “fucking head bangers”. It was an appropriate thing to say, as they were not playing at the festival, or anywhere at the time for that matter. He then went on about slitting throats and hobbits or something and proceeded to pass out on top of one of our tents. It was easier to move the tent rather than the guy, and let the medics take care of it.




The final day saw plenty of tired faces as well as those still ready to take in some of the biggest acts of the festival. Vampire Weekend started off the afternoon right, and I really enjoyed the first live performance I’ve seen of them. The airy upbeat sound of ‘Oxford Comma’, and ‘Walcott’ really got fans and new listeners alike bouncing around and set a great mood for the day. I attributed the non-existent encore to the fact that they had played their entire album. The crowd grew restless as N.E.R.D was delayed due to the continuing traffic chaos. When they finally did arrive, they came Chad-less. The guys blamed traffic but this is their second Canadian appearance where he hasn’t shown up. Hmmm I don’t know, but even Jay-Z was telling the crowd that our border security needs to mellow out a bit. Pharell made the best of it by getting as many women on stage as possible, and performing as long as they would allow. I think it was evident to everybody which girl was going to get the backstage tour. And Speaking of Hova, he got the crowd throwing them diamonds up into the night sky. If you’ve seen any footage of Glastonbury, it was pretty much, well, exactly that performance, minus that great rendition of ‘Wonder wall’. I almost forgot, Coldplay was there too.



All in all, it was a pretty good few days up in the mountains. Logistically, yes, there were a number of issues, but that’s to be expected in a festivals inaugural year. Losing MGMT and Brazillian Girls definitely hurt though. With them on the lineup it would’ve been a fairly good balance between the lesser-known acts and the superstars to appease the varying tastes. Pemberton festival has a future, and it is almost definite that it will happen again in 2009. My hope is that it continues to support up and coming artists and gives Canadians the chance to hear something that wasn’t on the top 40 that week. Only time will tell if Pemberton will fall amongst the ranks of the elite festivals, or winds up being a predictable affair with acts you may remember from the 1990’s.

…There was also Guitar Hero and a giant robot spider thing which surely only has one reason to exist. And that is to destroy the human race.

- Matty B.


Surkin ft. Chromeo - Chrome Knight

Festival Season - Contest: Roger's Picnic, July 20th - Toronto

It's always been a dream of mine to curate a music festival. Though I haven't yet had the chance, I can't help but think that REMG and Embrace Productions created this year's Roger's Picnic with me in mind. And now, to make matters even better, Embrace is coughing up a pair of passes to the one-day festival to one lucky faithful BTA reader.

Admittedly, I've never been a City & Colour fan, who is the listed headliner in 2008. However, I can look past such things when the rest of the lineup boasts such glory as Cat Power, Chromeo, Tokyo Police Club, Dizzee Rascal, Animal Collective, and others. Despite these draws, the two bands I'm most looking forward to are Vampire Weekend and Born Ruffians, both of whom I wallowed in sorrow when I couldn't snag tickets to their Toronto shows earlier this year.

Vampire Weekend's only Toronto stop to-date was at a packed Horseshoe Tavern; because I couldn't get tickets, I held a wallowing party at my apartment while the show was going on across town for anyone else who was in the same boat as I. It was a bittersweet evening to say the least.

Likewise, Born Ruffians, whose debut LP Red, Yellow, and Blue is taking rank on the "top played" in my iTunes over the past few months, sold out Lee's Palace before I could grab a ticket. To rub it in, the reviews from the show were ridiculously positive.

Needless to say, I shant be missing this valuable opportunity to correct two of my biggest mistakes of 2008 in one shot at Fort York on July 20th. If you, too, want to be checking out all the action, send us an email with the subject line "Roger and Me are going on a Picnic". Do so before Noon on July 18th, as that's when the winner will be chosen.

Vampire Weekend - The Kids Don't Stand a Chance
Born Ruffians - Little Garcon
Cat Power - Theme From New York, New York

- bbbykmbrly.

Stellar lineup for Rogers Picnic in July

Tokyo Police Club, Cat Power, Dizzee Rascal, Vampire Weekend, City and Colour, Born Ruffians, Animal Collective, The Carps, and Chromeo all for under $50? Ummm, yes please.

The Rogers Picnic takes place in Toronto on July 20th and surprisingly, tickets are still available. Alternatively, if you're broke (or just really cheap) Exclaim! are giving away a pair of tickets here.

Born Ruffians - Hummingbird
Vampire Weekend - I Stand Corrected
Tokyo Police Club - Juno

- a.m.p.m.

Live: Chromeo in Ottawa

For those who know Ottawa, you'll agree Capital Music Hall isn't the most special of venues. It has little to offer in the way of uniqueness, and the grossly overpriced beer doesn't help matters much. However, when Chromeo rolled into town Friday, the place exploded...honestly the best show at Capital in a good while...

The boys that split their downtime between Montreal and New York came to deliver. While yours truly doesn't offer a whole lot in terms of fancy footwork, I, like most there didn't really give a shit about impressions. That's the thing about Chromeo that fans can agree on, it seems like a terribly contrived fad band to some, all about fashion and recycled trends mashed together, but if you let go of the cynicism and listen to the music, it's brilliant. On record they deliver simple, effective lovers funk - as they call it, and in person it's the soundtrack to a wild party.

Over the course of the night Chromeo played pretty much the entirety of both She's in Control and Fancy Footwork, with three encores...that's right 3. Though the entire set was great, the highlights were definitely "Momma's Boy," "Rage!," "Tenderoni," and "Mercury Tears," dedicated to those who were with them from the start. All in all a crazy show, if these boys roll through your town you best be there. Thanks Bonita for the photos...

Chromeo - Momma's Boy
Chromeo - Tenderoni
Chromeo - Rage!

- B.A.

Pemberton Festival 2008

We are t-minus 127 days until the first ever Pemberton festival, located at the base of Mount Currie, about 30 minutes from Whistler, BC. This 3-day long event is sure to provide a bit of musical bliss for everyone in attendance, and hopefully becomes an annual affair. The headliners for this festival are sure to attract the masses, with the likes of Jay-Z, Coldplay, Nine Inch Nails, and Tom Petty taking the main stage. But surprisingly, check out who else is showing up for the shindig: MGMT, Vampire Weekend, MSTRKRFT, Interpol, Chromeo, and Wintersleep, just to name a few of the bands that we often rant and rave about. You would be crazy not to show up! BTA will be there to cover the action and hopefully get a chance to talk to some of these guys during the festival. Tickets go on sale March 28th, and I wouldn't sit around thinking about going or not because they are sure to go fast, even with the hefty price tag of $290.00. Make sure to also look into camp site passes or other accommodations as well. Check the official site for the full line up and details. See you there!

Matty B.

Remix Sunday - Feist Attack!

Here I present three top notch remixes of some already fantastic Feist tunes from her not so recent release, The Reminder (if you didn't already know it came out in May...). Needless to say, it got a lot of play time this past summer and these mixes worked overtime. So if you didn't hear them grab them post haste.

Feist - 1234 (Van She Technologic Remix) [zShare]

Feist - My Moon My Man (Boyz Noize Remix) [zShare]

Feist - Sea Lion Woman (Chromeo Remix) [zShare]

Word.

-A.W.

Ah Oui, Comme Ca

These guys claim to be the only successful Arab-Jew combination in history. Chromeo, aka Dave 1 and Pee Thugg, produce music that is a blend of electro dance beats, synthesizers, guitar and Daft Punk-styled vocoder. I thought they were ridiculous the first time I heard 'Needy Girl', from debut album She's In Control. It was then that I realized that over the top dance music is exactly what they are going for. It's shameless and some of the most danceable stuff I've heard in ages. The Vice Records duo is set to follow their solid debut with Fancy Footwork this spring. The title track was released/leaked a while back and shows some serious potential for the follow-up disc; I particularly like the Michael Jackson throwback intro and the song itself is just as good as anything they've put out so far.

Chromeo - Fancy Footwork

-Andrew W

Capture the Flag

Boston by way of Brooklyn's Nurse and Soldier make music after putting in the nine to five at their respective day jobs. With a little more exposure, who knows, maybe they'd need to find part time work to supplement being a full time band. Regardless if their fortune changes, I'm glad I stumbled upon their work. "Green Tea" is a sparse track with few discernible lyrics. Whatever is being said stays relatively incomprehensible, as its buried deep beneath the slow-cycling lounge instrumentation. The band sounds completely different on "Capture the Flag," as the two vocalists harmonize over the sound of pulsating bleeps and drenched guitars.

Nurse and Soldier - Green Tea
Nurse and Soldier - Capture the Flag

Another newly discovered act for this side of Atlantic (Andrew M may have heard more buzz across the pond) is France's Joakim, whose sound is tricky to dismiss into just one existing genre. New single "Lonely Hearts" has been described around the web as house, indie, electronica and numerous other things that don't really give any clear indication of what to expect. My first inclination was to draw comparisons to Hot Chip and a late 80's style of monotonous vocal pitch...listen and judge for yourself. His label Versatile Records cites him as "a major figure of French modern electronic music" who is both "multi talented and well-cultivated." His sound is certainly refined and meticulously shaped, making the latter description most appropriate.

Joakim - Lonely Hearts

The Exclaim! Spring Fling tour rolls through Ottawa tonight and Bridging the Atlantic will be attending in full force...we'll be sure to post a review with photos of Chromeo's fancy footwork and clear guitars...

- Brad