Percussion, precession and perfection from this new Stockholm-based act.
And obviously, I love the name.
Remix: Four Tet take on J.T.'s "Suit & Tie"
This track has been stuck in my head the past couple of days. This remix kicks it all up a notch.
#SXSW update
It's day three at SXSW and I'm some how still alive. Lots has been going on. For example, I met Grumpy Cat! If you wanna know what else I've been up to here's a list of twitter accounts I've been covering the fest for...
- @nxne
- @nxnei
- @intelcanada
and of course @katekillet
Lurk it up and see what I'm up too!
xo kate
music video of the day: "Green Garden" by Laura Mvula
I really must get my hands on a copy of her debut record Sing To The Moon already. Her voice. Those light bouncy beats. Love me some Brit soul. I'm totally clapping along.
Live: Music in the Barns Chamber Ensemble at the Academy of Lions
Friday March 1st, the Canadian Music Centre’s New Music in New Places and Music in the Barns came together to celebrate the work of three Canadian contemporary composers. Nestled into the alt gym/health cafe/venue Academy of Lions, we popped over to class up our weekend and soak in some strings. Both the opening piece (Rose Botlon’s The Coming of Sobs for String Quartet) and closing (Scott Godin’s “all that is solid melts into air” for String Quintet) were stunning in their own right, but it was Richard Reed Parry’s Quartet for Heart and Breath that had us melting.
Parry, who many may know as the dashing tall ginger from Arcade Fire, has written a piece in which the performers literally breathe new life into it each time. While all of the notes and cues are written in the score, the composition’s rhythms and tempos are based upon the quartet’s breath and heartbeat. With each musician wearing a stethoscope (like a DJ wears headphones), the quartet quite frankly listens to their heart. Gushy beautiful stuff right? Yeah. We totally agree.
music video of the day: "Closer" by Lulu James
First heard this track last week via Annie Mac. It's simple yet striking stuff. Good steady groove with just the right amount of 80s influence. Reminds me a tad of The Gossip. Beth Ditto and Lulu James collaboration anyone? I wish. I'm interested to see how this new babe on the block develops.... Either way, I'm digging it.
a perfect flight filled Thursday track
"Reverse Skydiving" by Hot Natured featuring Anabel Englund. Blasting it in the airport as I wait for my next flight.
Live: Major Lazer “Free The Universe” at Toronto’s Sound Academy
Thursday February 28th, Major Lazer brought both the month to a close, and kicked off their Free The Universeworld tour in Toronto with one hell of a party. Diplo returned to our city (once again, clearly crushing on us hard) joined by Jillionaire, Walshy Fire and a duo of bad ass dancing babes. Starting off the show with a count down from 30, the energy of the sold out crowd was electric.
Once the curtain fell, the set moved a mile a minute with confetti cannons going off at every drop and vuvuzelas being thrown and blown. Diplo not only crowd surfed, but stepped up his Flaming Lips game by hopping into a hamster ball and rolling onto/with the audience. Midway through the show, the Major Lazer crew attempted to get the audience to meme it up Harlem Shake style, but no one could stay still.
Noting everyone’s dance enthusiasm, Walshy Fire pulled a group of ladies on stage to show off their bubble butts and encouraged them to express themselves. Not wanting to play gender favs, Walshy then pulled one lucky man on stage who was promptly undressed and danced upon. Between blasting their own hits, they snuck in tunes ranging from Nirvana, House Of Pain and local favourite Drake, each track receiving mad love. From the looks of yesterday morning’s tweets, we weren’t the only ones having a good time…
TORONTO SHOOK UP THE UNIVERSE
— MAJOR LAZER (@majorlazer) March 1, 2013
Toronto was conplete madness! thank u it feels like our second home! instagr.am/p/WT6EFKKMpG/
— dıpןo (@diplo) March 1, 2013
Off to SXSW...
In the Toronto airport, about to board my plane.
See you on the other side Austin.
Let the adventure begin!
music video of the day: "White Noise" by Disclosure ft. AlunaGeorge
I cannot stop loving this song. As I pack and prepare for SXSW I can't help but play this on repeat to keep my energy going. Fun fact? Those abandon buildings Mr. Smooth Security man in dancing in? Those are old historic Detroit techno spots.
Live: Wild Belle + Toro Y Moi at Lee’s Palace
Sunday February 17th Lee’s Palace was over-packed like a vacation suitcase for the sold out Toro Y Moi show. Obviously we couldn’t miss out, especially with an opener as rad as Wild Belle.
The Chicago brother/sister act took on their first Toronto show like champs. Made-up of big brother/rad sax player/over all cool dude Elliot Bergman and his little sister/stunning songstress/huge babe Natalie, they wooed the crowd with their smooth reggae pop jams such as ”Keep You“. Wild Belle’s debut album Isles drops March 12th via Columbia Records. Until then, we recommend you enjoy their music video for “It’s Too Late“.
Once we were all warmed up, the groove machine that is Chaz Bundick, known as Toro Y Moi took the stage. With many a bright light, Bundick and his band quickly kicked the dance party into full gear. Focusing on his latest and more pop-centric album Anything in Return and sprinkling old gems such as “Talamak” and “New Beat” the set was a hip shaker from start to finish. Have you watched his video for “Say That” yet? You know how subtle yet fantastic it is? That about sums up the set.
For photos and more check out my post at Sidewalk Hustle.
New business cards...
I'm pretty pleased.
Think people will get it?
music video of the day: "Ingenue" by Atoms For Peace
Can Thom Yorke just be dancing in every video? That would be lovely thanks. Ugh. The matching outfits. The contemporary movement. I'm so into all of it.
Live: Wavelength 13
This past weekend the beautiful weirdness that is Wavelength was celebrated with their 13th anniversary festival. Running from February 14-17th and jam packed with eccentric Canadian indie talent, we trudged through the Toronto snow to check out two of the four nights.First up on Friday the 15th was Braids side project and Montreal tropic-synth-pop duo Blue Hawaii at Black Box. While the songs Blue Hawaii have released so far have had a quieter calm vibe (see sunrise stunner “Try To Be”), the 11pm set was much louder than expected. The airy light vocals of Raphaelle Standell-Preston combined with Agro’s quick mixing made for a dance inducing showcase of what may be to come off their debut LPUntogether, due out 3/5 via Arbutus.
Later that same evening Toronto born/Montreal based woodland wunderkin Airick Woodhead aka Doldrums lit-up the night with some electric experimental excellence. After a tech issue or two, the set got rolling around 1:30am which is a great time for a glitch pop dance party. The short but sweet set highlighted tracks off the upcoming Doldrums debut LP Lesser Evil. Also on Arbutus Records, Lesser Evil drops February 26th but you canstream/enjoy it right now in its entirety on Pitchfork. You can also catch ‘em touring all over North America this spring.
The next day, Saturday February 16th, we marched to the Great Hall for a much more chill night, both in tone and temperature. Arriving just in time for Evening Hymns both the up and downstairs of the venue were packed with people settled in for a cozy night of indie rock. With a mix of songs off both the debut album Spirit Guides and recent release Spectral Dusk, frontman/bearded boy Jonas Bonnetta lead his six-piece line-up in an emotion filled folk set.
Closing things up was long-time Toronto locals Do Make Say Think and thanks to some rock n’roll naps, the 1am time slot didn’t put a damper on their energy at all. With a discography that spans from 1998 to 2009, the (near 90 min long) set featured both old classics and newer favourites from instrumental post-rockers. A 2:30am encore brought our adventure to an end, and we scamped back home through the snow, our hearts now warm with Wavelength love.
music video of the day: "First Days of Something" by Young Dreams
Sigh. So stunning. Those small moments in between. Needless to say, I'm pretty head over heels for Young Dreams, both the band and the concept of the name.
You can now stream their debut LP Between Places. Let me know what you think!
Live: Purity Ring at the Phoenix in Toronto
Friday February 1st, Purity Ring brought their North American tour to a close, with a sold out show in Toronto. The Montreal dark darling duo was joined by Brooklyn electronic art collective Young Magic. They opened the show and set the smooth synthy tone for the night. If you’ve yet to check out their debut album Melt, give it a listen and smolder away.
After the fitting opening act (and some very loud bass heavy hip-hop between sets), Purity Ring took the stage surrounded by glowing orbs. Front woman and all around adorable babe Megan James commanded the crowd in the cutest way possible. Decked out in an all black long dress, she sang like an angel and lurked around the stage with a lantern, hitting a giant light-up drum. Think cool future witch. Meanwhile, Corin Roddick grooved out on his collection of lightbulb lantern-eqsue synths. Together, they had the crowd going crazy. Even Megan James’ 91 year-old aunt made it out – a fact James announced before kicking into a Solja Boy cover. The night as well as the tour came to a close with the beloved and oddly romantic “Fineshine” – Cut open my sternum and pull my little ribs around you? Yes please. Happily.
For photos and more check out my post at Sidewalk Hustle.
Live: Christopher Owens at the Mod Club in Toronto
Friday January 18th the former Girls frontman Christopher Owens brought his new solo album Lysandre to the MOD Club. With not a word of banter, the messy haired heartbreaker took the stage. An interesting act simply on his own, Owens was joined by a backing band which featured a saxophone/flutiest and two modelesque twin like (very Urban Outfitters-y) backup-singers.
A much more personal project than Girls, Owens’s Lysandre tells the tale of falling in love on tour, and the romantic yet messy results. When he spoke to Pitchfork last fall, Owens discussed how this record was one he needed to get out of his system. It’s all very personal, vulnerable and honest, as was the show. Once the short set came to an end, Owens closed up the night’s encore with some covers including some Cat Stevens and Bob Dylan. In the end, no banter was needed, the songs say all we needed to know.
Live: Miguel at the Kool Haus in Toronto
If you’re not already turned onto the man with the sultry R&B voice who goes simply by Miguel, get all up on it already. Tuesday evening he had the Kool Haus packed. Even with the venue upgrade up from the Guvernment, the lines still went around the block. Ever seen a bottle service line-up for a concert? That happened, and rightfully so. You gotta do it up for a Miguel show.
While the LA entertainer was running late for his set (it takes time to look so fresh) the room was nonetheless filled with hype. A couple was brought up onstage by the MC of the night who declared them to be contest winners. In reality it was all a set up for this dude to propose to his girlfriend. She said yes! We cheered! A badass chic DJ spun tracks such as Ginuwine’s “Pony” & we all sang along as we waited for the main event.
Finally Miguel took the stage. Man can that guy can preform! Jumping around? Check. Slick dance moves? Check. Floor work? Very sexual floor work? You bet. “By now you can probably tell that I’m a bit of a freak” Miguel shyly smiled, before stripping of his shirt and singing “Pussy Is Mine“. While his release of this year Kaleidoscope Dream was a focus, we were also treated us to some tracks off of his 2010 debut All I Want Is You. Often testing the audience to see if they truly did know his old songs, the female centric crowd passed with flying colours screaming-a-long at the top of their lungs to every word.
It’s no wonder he has 5 Grammy noms under his belt. No wonder “Adorn” is all over every songs of 2012 blog round-up. No wonder he keeps getting called “the new Prince“. Miguel’s smooth and sexy songs are a sure thing.
music video of the day: "Heaven" by Trust
Trust in Torontonian Trust.
music video of the day: "A Little Messed Up" by Yacht Club
I just want to make it very clear that "Do you want to do for ice-cream?" is never a stupid question, despite this song's lyrics. You can catch Yacht Club live tonight at the Piston. Creep on my friends. Creep on.