Tuesday, January 13, 2009
police and thieves
So, as Jonny mentioned in the comments a couple of posts back, the ER show this past Saturday was, in addition to being their 2nd anniversary, also the last show in the space. I was asked not to make a big deal out of that fact, which is why I didn't post it on the main page after he kindly commented about it.
Unfortunately, the cops weren't as pysched about the party as the loads of people who showed up.
I made it down around 11:30pm and had missed No Gold, which was a bummer. Although, it wasn't as disappointing as finding out that they announced that it would be their last time performing together. I talked to Liam briefly and he mentioned other projects to come though.
I did catch White Owl and Sex Negatives before the place got shut down. It was disappointing that so many other great bands didn't get a chance to do their thing there one more time, but it was great that Justin, who took the lead in keeping the place running for the last two years, had one more go behind the kit that night.
A big thank you to him, the bands, and everyone else who made the ER what it was: one of my favourite places to see live music in this city.
Ryan Walter Wagner has a couple of much nicer pics up on his flickr.
Speaking of Ryan, his new band Tight Solid, which also features Burnside (ex-Treacherous Machete), is playing the Balmoral on the 17th with the Best Revenge, and Elton Bong.
The same day (from midnight that morning to midnight on the 18th), tune into CiTR for 24 Hours of Radio Art, which is a full day of sound collage, audio experimentation, and noise. For more, check the Facebook event page here.
On Sunday, Grace Gallery hosts the release of the book "Fifty One Ways to Make New Friends." In addition to the book release, the evening also features a collaborative performance from Andy Dixon and Basketball's Luka Rogers. Andy describes it as a cross between Basketball and Secret Mommy. Door and bar proceeds go to the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre.
On January 23rd, Centre A Gallery is home to Up With Hope, featuring Corbin Murdoch & the Nautical Miles and Shindig runners-up, the Sappers. All the proceeds go to the Up with Hope Project.
Low Decibel Festival goes down at the Shed on January 31st. The evening features over 20 acts doing two songs each without the aid of any electricity, not even batteries, and not even for microphones. Show starts at 7pm, so get there early if you plan on going. Check the full line-up here.
Cadence Weapon is at the Biltmore on February 28th with Thunderheist. Seeing as it's a Saturday, I'd imagine it's part of Glory Days.
Bonnie Prince Billy is at the Vogue on March 25th.
Acid Mother's Temple is at the Biltmore on April 7th.
And, Lions in the Street have a new EP up for download from their website for the increasingly popular price point of "whatever you want."
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
oh my lungs, i'll wear 'em out
New Mohawk Lodge video for "Wear 'Em Out" by none other than Andy Dixon.
And a great article in Exclaim about some of my very favourite things about Vancouver. My first inclination was to say, "I wish I'd thought of pitching this first," but Josiah Hughes did a much better job than I would have: Strange Brew: Vancouver's Weird Punk Scene Invents Itself.
Today we celebrate Vancouver. Tomorrow, when I have more time, we bitch about it (well, I do. You can do whatever you want). Also, a GZA recap, which will probably also be celebratory in nature.
now playing: Mohawk Lodge - Hard Times
Monday, June 16, 2008
don't panic
I was going to start off by saying that the Emergency Room Compilation, Vol. 1 is the most important collection of local underground music since "X"... but I can't really think of another truly notable document of Vancouver music other than this one that sort of slipped under the radar a few years ago (and that one included some acts that had very deservedly become relatively well known already).
While it's certainly not exhaustive, the LP is a snapshot of some of the most exciting things going on musically in this city that, largely, have yet to be noticed outside of the Lower Mainland. Plus, it shines a light on the locale that doesn't just serve as your primary place to see these bands play, but also as a practice space/recording studio/and hangout for many of the artists involved.
It's also one of my favourite places to see a show.
On Saturday, the eight bands on the comp all played the DIY space to celebrate the record's release.
I actually thought I was going to be late, but in typical ER fashion, despite the lengthy bill, Nu Sensae was just getting ready to go on when I arrived at midnight. The place was packed, so I didn't snap any pics of them (or that many in general), but my "photography" leaves much to be desired anyhow.
Daniel and Andrea were awesome, as per usual.
Petroleum By-Products were up next, but I actually missed them, when I stepped out for a bit (everyone played pretty short sets, due to the number of bands).
This was second time that I've seen Vapid, and while I thought they were pretty good the first time, I wasn't dying to see them again. They were great on Saturday though, and I'm looking forward to checking them out again soon now.
Sick Buildings were amazing. I'm bummed that I missed them at Wolf Eyes, as their "set" was completely different at Pat's (it involved eight people amongst the crowd blowing on rape whistles while Josh Rose fired sampled whistles back at them).
I knew Josh ran Run Down Sun, but beyond that, I only recognized him as the very polite, soft spoken guy at Zulu, so it was a bit of a surprise to see him looking rather surly on stage and then spitting out, "I call myself Sick Buildlings... this is the last harsh noise set I'm going to do, so consider yourselves lucky."
And then he did what was, quite frankly, the most "punk rock" thing that you could do at a noisy, avant garde, punk rock show, and jumped into a monologue about a plane ride, keeping things going long enough to illicit a fair amount of groans, calls of "you suck," and "play some fucking music," before leaving the story hanging with "and then she said..." and launching into the sickest, nastiest sounding "music" I've heard in ages. The contrast made the latter half of the performance sound even more powerful.
I sincerely hope that the "last harsh noise set" admission was just stage banter, and if not, I hope he reconsiders. If you're a fan of this type of thing, and you see "Sick Buildings" on a show poster, do yourself a favour and get your ass to wherever Josh is playing.
White Lung were nothing out of the ordinary for them, meaning they were great. Hopefully, we get some more recorded output out of them soon, because the songs seem to be coming at a fairly rapid clip.
Twin Crystals continue to get better every time I see them, and considering that they started out pretty goddamn good, that's saying quite a bit. They sounded amazing and Jesse was full of energy to the point where I thought he might knock out a ceiling panel or two with his guitar.
You probably know what I'm going ot say about Mutators, so I'll leave it at that (it was 4am already, so I bailed before Defektors).
But here's a Mutators update. Their was a mastering problem with their full-length, so the 28th won't be an LP release party. It will be a tour fundraiser though. So go down and check out one of Vancouver's best bands before they head out on tour for the rest of the Summer.
Oh, and if you didn't pick up a copy on Saturday, you can get your hands on the ER comp at Scratch (and I presume also Zulu and RedCat) now.
This Friday, Octoberman, Katie Stelmanis, and Chris-a-riffic are at Grace Gallery. This show was originally scheduled for Astoria, as you may or may not recall. And it's worth noting, since galleries usually don't have such restrictions, that this one is licensed and therefore 19+. Sorry kids.
This Saturday, DD/MM/YYYY are at the Cobalt with JPNDRDS, No Gold, and the SSRIs.
Also this Saturday, Basketball plays a Saturday edition of Friendship at the Astoria.
Forest City Lovers are at Little Mountain Studios with Aaron Beckum on June 26th.
And last, but definitely not least (not even close), Spiritualized are at the Commodore on September 13th. Tix are on sale Friday at 10am. Shit yes! (thanks Brian)
now playing: My Bloody Valentine - live in London, 06-18-2008
police and thieves
So, as Jonny mentioned in the comments a couple of posts back, the ER show this past Saturday was, in addition to being their 2nd anniversary, also the last show in the space. I was asked not to make a big deal out of that fact, which is why I didn't post it on the main page after he kindly commented about it.
Unfortunately, the cops weren't as pysched about the party as the loads of people who showed up.
I made it down around 11:30pm and had missed No Gold, which was a bummer. Although, it wasn't as disappointing as finding out that they announced that it would be their last time performing together. I talked to Liam briefly and he mentioned other projects to come though.
I did catch White Owl and Sex Negatives before the place got shut down. It was disappointing that so many other great bands didn't get a chance to do their thing there one more time, but it was great that Justin, who took the lead in keeping the place running for the last two years, had one more go behind the kit that night.
A big thank you to him, the bands, and everyone else who made the ER what it was: one of my favourite places to see live music in this city.
Ryan Walter Wagner has a couple of much nicer pics up on his flickr.
Speaking of Ryan, his new band Tight Solid, which also features Burnside (ex-Treacherous Machete), is playing the Balmoral on the 17th with the Best Revenge, and Elton Bong.
The same day (from midnight that morning to midnight on the 18th), tune into CiTR for 24 Hours of Radio Art, which is a full day of sound collage, audio experimentation, and noise. For more, check the Facebook event page here.
On Sunday, Grace Gallery hosts the release of the book "Fifty One Ways to Make New Friends." In addition to the book release, the evening also features a collaborative performance from Andy Dixon and Basketball's Luka Rogers. Andy describes it as a cross between Basketball and Secret Mommy. Door and bar proceeds go to the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre.
On January 23rd, Centre A Gallery is home to Up With Hope, featuring Corbin Murdoch & the Nautical Miles and Shindig runners-up, the Sappers. All the proceeds go to the Up with Hope Project.
Low Decibel Festival goes down at the Shed on January 31st. The evening features over 20 acts doing two songs each without the aid of any electricity, not even batteries, and not even for microphones. Show starts at 7pm, so get there early if you plan on going. Check the full line-up here.
Cadence Weapon is at the Biltmore on February 28th with Thunderheist. Seeing as it's a Saturday, I'd imagine it's part of Glory Days.
Bonnie Prince Billy is at the Vogue on March 25th.
Acid Mother's Temple is at the Biltmore on April 7th.
And, Lions in the Street have a new EP up for download from their website for the increasingly popular price point of "whatever you want."
Labels: no gold, sex negatives, show announcements, show recaps, the emergency room, white owl
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
oh my lungs, i'll wear 'em out
Two quick things:
New Mohawk Lodge video for "Wear 'Em Out" by none other than Andy Dixon.
And a great article in Exclaim about some of my very favourite things about Vancouver. My first inclination was to say, "I wish I'd thought of pitching this first," but Josiah Hughes did a much better job than I would have: Strange Brew: Vancouver's Weird Punk Scene Invents Itself.
Today we celebrate Vancouver. Tomorrow, when I have more time, we bitch about it (well, I do. You can do whatever you want). Also, a GZA recap, which will probably also be celebratory in nature.
now playing: Mohawk Lodge - Hard Times
Labels: mohawk lodge, the emergency room
Monday, June 16, 2008
don't panic
I was going to start off by saying that the Emergency Room Compilation, Vol. 1 is the most important collection of local underground music since "X"... but I can't really think of another truly notable document of Vancouver music other than this one that sort of slipped under the radar a few years ago (and that one included some acts that had very deservedly become relatively well known already).
While it's certainly not exhaustive, the LP is a snapshot of some of the most exciting things going on musically in this city that, largely, have yet to be noticed outside of the Lower Mainland. Plus, it shines a light on the locale that doesn't just serve as your primary place to see these bands play, but also as a practice space/recording studio/and hangout for many of the artists involved.
It's also one of my favourite places to see a show.
On Saturday, the eight bands on the comp all played the DIY space to celebrate the record's release.
I actually thought I was going to be late, but in typical ER fashion, despite the lengthy bill, Nu Sensae was just getting ready to go on when I arrived at midnight. The place was packed, so I didn't snap any pics of them (or that many in general), but my "photography" leaves much to be desired anyhow.
Daniel and Andrea were awesome, as per usual.
Petroleum By-Products were up next, but I actually missed them, when I stepped out for a bit (everyone played pretty short sets, due to the number of bands).
This was second time that I've seen Vapid, and while I thought they were pretty good the first time, I wasn't dying to see them again. They were great on Saturday though, and I'm looking forward to checking them out again soon now.
Sick Buildings were amazing. I'm bummed that I missed them at Wolf Eyes, as their "set" was completely different at Pat's (it involved eight people amongst the crowd blowing on rape whistles while Josh Rose fired sampled whistles back at them).
I knew Josh ran Run Down Sun, but beyond that, I only recognized him as the very polite, soft spoken guy at Zulu, so it was a bit of a surprise to see him looking rather surly on stage and then spitting out, "I call myself Sick Buildlings... this is the last harsh noise set I'm going to do, so consider yourselves lucky."
And then he did what was, quite frankly, the most "punk rock" thing that you could do at a noisy, avant garde, punk rock show, and jumped into a monologue about a plane ride, keeping things going long enough to illicit a fair amount of groans, calls of "you suck," and "play some fucking music," before leaving the story hanging with "and then she said..." and launching into the sickest, nastiest sounding "music" I've heard in ages. The contrast made the latter half of the performance sound even more powerful.
I sincerely hope that the "last harsh noise set" admission was just stage banter, and if not, I hope he reconsiders. If you're a fan of this type of thing, and you see "Sick Buildings" on a show poster, do yourself a favour and get your ass to wherever Josh is playing.
White Lung were nothing out of the ordinary for them, meaning they were great. Hopefully, we get some more recorded output out of them soon, because the songs seem to be coming at a fairly rapid clip.
Twin Crystals continue to get better every time I see them, and considering that they started out pretty goddamn good, that's saying quite a bit. They sounded amazing and Jesse was full of energy to the point where I thought he might knock out a ceiling panel or two with his guitar.
You probably know what I'm going ot say about Mutators, so I'll leave it at that (it was 4am already, so I bailed before Defektors).
But here's a Mutators update. Their was a mastering problem with their full-length, so the 28th won't be an LP release party. It will be a tour fundraiser though. So go down and check out one of Vancouver's best bands before they head out on tour for the rest of the Summer.
Oh, and if you didn't pick up a copy on Saturday, you can get your hands on the ER comp at Scratch (and I presume also Zulu and RedCat) now.
This Friday, Octoberman, Katie Stelmanis, and Chris-a-riffic are at Grace Gallery. This show was originally scheduled for Astoria, as you may or may not recall. And it's worth noting, since galleries usually don't have such restrictions, that this one is licensed and therefore 19+. Sorry kids.
This Saturday, DD/MM/YYYY are at the Cobalt with JPNDRDS, No Gold, and the SSRIs.
Also this Saturday, Basketball plays a Saturday edition of Friendship at the Astoria.
Forest City Lovers are at Little Mountain Studios with Aaron Beckum on June 26th.
And last, but definitely not least (not even close), Spiritualized are at the Commodore on September 13th. Tix are on sale Friday at 10am. Shit yes! (thanks Brian)
now playing: My Bloody Valentine - live in London, 06-18-2008
Labels: mutators, nu sensae, petroleum by-products, show announcements, show recaps, sick buildings, the emergency room, twin crystals, vapid, white lung
