Photo by jamradiojam

Can you feel it? Can you feel the excitement in the air? The Wolfe Island Music Fest is less than two weeks away. One of this year’s biggest acts is, without a doubt, Apostle of Hustle who previously graced the WIMF stage in 2005. Having witnessed the extraordinary talent that is Andrew Whiteman and crew up close and personal at the Grad Club on the first date of his residency there at the beginning of the year, I am looking forward to their performance in this rather different setting. The Cuban-inspired sound is big - especially if they bring along both amazing percussionists that figured prominently in my enjoyment the Grad Club show (see “Fast Pony…”, “Haul Away,” or pretty much any other track, to be instantly convinced) - and I think that while it was amazing with the intimate scale of the Grad Club show, it will take on a whole other life outdoors.

The January show was fantastic for a number of reasons. One is that I was exceptionally close to the band - so it was a pretty intimate experience. Another is that they played a great deal of material off their then-unreleased, amazing, sophomore record “National Anthem of Nowhere”. Also, for the residency in Kingston and in Toronto at the Rivoli, AoH asked fans to submit songs that they would like to see covered. I don’t know what they played at other shows but here they played a rather wonderful cover of Sarah Harmer’s “Coffee Stain” (and you all know how I feel about Sarah Harmer). While I wanted, but was unable, to go to all the shows, I am more than content with having seen this one, which would have been pretty tough to top.

Apostle of Hustle, Grad Club, Kingston, 27 January 2007

1. old songs to start it off (talk)
2. Folkloric Feel
3. My Sword Hand’s Anger
4. rock hudson (talk)
5. A Rent Boy Goes Down
6. nope, that’s it (talk)
7. Kings and Queens
8. song about the suburbs (talk)
9. National Anthem of Nowhere
10. Chances Are
11. to avoid these types of requests (talk)
12. Fast Pony For Victor Jara
13. the spirit is there even if the words are only half there (talk)
14. Coffee Stain (Sarah Harmer cover)
15. anyone been locked in a dungeon of an ocean-going vessel? (talk)
16. Haul Away
17. Baby, You’re In Luck
18. Animal Fat
19. evil wind (talk)
20. ¡Rafaga!
21. i learned everything i know about the bible by listening to Sly Stone records (talk)
22. Justine, Beckoning
23. his parents are here (talk)
24. encore intro (talk)
25. Sleepwalking Ballad
26. not as much fun (talk)
27. The Naked & Alone

Get both the outstanding AoH albums from Arts & Crafts and get your Wolfe Island Music Fest tickets to see Apostle of Hustle and 12 other amazing acts in one of the loveliest places around on August 10th and 11th.

Weeping Tile, one of my all-time favourite bands, are reuniting for the Wolfe Island Music Fest. This as you might imagine, is quite exciting news. While they officially broke-up in or around 1998, the Weeping Tile crew still like to get together and play the odd show such as the Salvation Army Benefit. In this yearly tradition (see my write-up on the Weeping Tile set from 2004 - here), a whole slew of bands get together for a good cause (give generously!) and a great deal of fun is had by all. For the Winter Relief Shows, they play some old favs and break out a bunch of covers - because nuthin’ says xmas like the Ramones. I am really looking forward to seeing Weeping Tile on the festival stage and you should be too as it will be a real treat. To get you in the mood I bring you the Winter Relief set from this past December. Enjoy!

Weeping Tile, Salvation Army Winter Relief Benefit, Grad Club, Kingston, 21 December 2006

1. intro (talk)
2. UFO Rosie
3. I’m wearing wool (talk)
4. Took it All
5. never hear the same version (talk)
6. Caught me on the Camera (title?)
7. false visa (talk)
8. Weakened State
9. switcheroo (talk)
10. Just What I Needed (The Cars cover)
11. Motor Away (Guided By Voices cover)
12. Teenage FBI (Guided By Voices cover)
13. anybody here like Christmas? (talk)
14. Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight) (The Ramones cover)
15. give up the love (talk)
16. Hey Ya! (Outkast cover)
17. we should do this next year (talk)
18. Cold Snap

Pick up Weeping Tile’s cds from Sarah Harmer’s website (click ‘Online Store’) and don’t forget your Wolfe Island Music Fest tickets.

photo courtesy of Jalapeño taken at the Bowery Ballroom, NY, 15 November 2006

I know I’m running a bit behind, but it is the summer and I am feeling strangely compelled *not* to spend my weekends in front of the computer. And, looking ahead to getting outside for another weekend of awesomeness, here is my second post on bands playing the Wolfe Island Music Fest, happening on August 10-11.

Spiral Beach wowed me when I saw them at the Winter City Festival in February. They played on an outdoor stage in one of the coldest days of the winter to a rather tiny crowd. They didn’t let the (very real) fear of getting frostbite on their extremities stop them from absolutely commanding the stage, playing an extremely energetic set of mostly new material, some of which will appear on their new album that will be released in the not-so-distant future (as you will see, I again had to guess at the names of songs. I’m almost certainly way off with my titles so if you happen to know the proper names feel free to drop me a comment). Their music filled with great hooks, fantastic lyrical juxtapositions sung by multiple vocalists, and is punctuated with odd breaks, changes in pace, and outright spazzy moments. All of this is brought together to form a unique sound (it is rather spooky– a result of the keyboards used, methinks) which they deliver with exuberance both on their album and live. Their songs translated very well onstage and, in addition to sounding great, they were clearly having fun, interacting with each other and with the audience (including some dancing costumed performers on stilts in the Square who fit right in). Based on my experience in Toronto, I am confident that they will be one of the most memorable acts at WIMF this year.

Spiral Beach, Winter City Festival, Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto, 3 February 2007

1. swallowing the diamonds (title?)
2. New Clouds, Hot Clouds
3. want you back (title?)
4. she’ll never make it to sleep (title?)
5. pedestrian (title?)
6. Philosophy Is My Cat
7. I don’t call it a waste of time (title?) (Update: Thanks to Kyle for letting me know this track is called ‘Rocket Fuel’)
8. you’re dancing on the ceiling (title?) (Update2: Thanks to Sarah and Asas for letting me know this track is called ‘Kind of Beast’)
9. you don’t have an alter ego? (talk)
10. Monster Boy (Update 3: this track is actually called “Made of Stone” - thanks Edward)
11. i have an important announcement (talk)
12. what’s it going to come to (title?) (Update2: This track is called ‘Man Moon’)

Here is a short video clip of the final song recorded by familyfriend1.

Get Spiral Beach’s self-titled cd from the band and be sure to get your Wolfe Island Music Fest tickets.

Holy Smokes! It is just a shade over one month until the Wolfe Island Music Fest and I am really, really getting excited for it - and you should be too. Why you ask? Well, here are thirteen reasons why, aka the lineup:

Friday August 10th – 8:30pm

Hootenanny Review
featuring
Jenny Whitely
Luther Wright
Julie Fader
Jim Bryson

Saturday, August 11th – gates –12pm

Wolf Parade
Holy Fuck
Apostle of Hustle
Weeping Tile
Born Ruffians
Spiral Beach
Basia Bulat
The Ride Theory
Nich Worby

That’s a lot of talent. It’s gonna be rad and if you are not there and you are anywhere near Kingston in August then prepare to be mercilessly mocked by me from here on out for your foolishness. In order to get you all stirred up into a state of frothy excitement I will be featuring the bands playing the festival from now until then and to start off we have Born Ruffians who last visited Kingston in March.

photo by Roboppy taken at the Bowery Ballroom, 30 January 2007.

Energetic, jangly, frantic and exceptionally tight, Born Ruffians offered a fantastic set of angular hooks, distinctively yelped vocals, and spot-on drumming. I was worried that their sound - which worked great on their six-song ep - might get tiresome in a headlining spot, but I had nothing to fear as they gave us an hour long set which never failed to keep my interest. They have fun playing with tempo and rhythm, and both in and in-between songs as things kept changing from fast to slow, soft to loud, and back again. The vocal acrobatics on display were a real treat, as Luke LaLonde showed real range, passionately delivering his lyrics and the nonsense ‘hey heys” and “ohh ohhs” that punctuated the songs. To top off a set chock full of new songs (which, as you will see, I could only take a wild guess at the titles of most of them) which will appear on their full-length due out in the fall, they were really chatty and personable. They were very comfortable onstage and seemed to be having fun interacting with the audience as well as playing. With their energy and their hooks, I have no doubt that they are going to slay at Wolfe Island.

Born Ruffians, Grad Club, Kingston, 24 March 2007

1. they’re not very nice, but they’re amazing (talk)
2. foxes mate for life (title?)
3. Kurt Vonnegut
4. no duct tape, eh (talk)
5. 05 (title?)
6. who goes out on a saturday night with a roll of duct tape? (talk)
7. I’m One of Those Girls
8. you just stand there with your fingers crossed (talk)
9. in a mirror I can see her (title?)
10. four people (talk)
11. I still can’t sleep (title?)
12. apologize to those directly beside the speakers (talk)
13. Merry Little Fancy Things
14. pretty girls (title?)
15. I get to play the harmonica on this one (talk)
16. love song in my head (title?)
17. Hedonistic Me
18. drinking and singing and taking their clothes off (talk)
19. This Sentence Will Ruin/Save Your Life
20. I just wanted to go (talk)
21. Red Elephant
22. we’re coming back to Kingston for sure (talk)
23. the sun is shining but we stay inside (title?)

You’re gonna want to pick up the self-titled ep. It is released by Warp Records but I can’t see it listed on their store page (seriously, that is one crazy-to-navigate webpage) so go to your friendly neighbourhood independent record shop and save yourself a few bucks in shipping. You can get a couple of 7″ singles from Rough Trade, who are awesome and will send stuff outside the UK at reasonable prices so don’t let the international shipping scare you off (I’ve ordered from them and a single will run you about $10CDN with shipping etc. and, seriously, that is a good deal).

Photo from the BL show at Zaphod’s in Ottawa on June 20th, part of the Capital Idea! Festival, courtesy of the Mocking Music photo pool.

It was one of those ‘Where did this band come from?’ situations. The Besnard Lakes just seemed to appear out of nowhere, bringing a set of amazing psych-rock and a smoke machine with them. I was blown away by their live show and, since seeing them, they’ve released “Are the Dark Horse” to widespread critical acclaim and now everyone everywhere is digging them.  As far as I’m concerned, with their swirling, brooding, epic songs featuring great vocal harmonies and space-rock guitars, it’s hard not to dig what they’re doing. I had more to say about The Besnard Lakes, but since it is rather late I’m gonna stop there and the music speak for itself. I hope you all had a fantastic Canada Day.

The Besnard Lakes, Grad Club, Kingston, 27 January 2007

1. And You Lied To Me

2. Ride the Rails
3. lovely (talk)

4. Because Tonight

5. Disaster

6. you can even drink the fog juice (talk)
7. For Agent 13
8. On Bedford and Grand
9. Devastation
Get The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse from Outside (Can.) or Jagjaguwar (elsewhere).