I was excited to hear that Australian alternative dance trio Rüfüs du Sol (known simply as Rüfüs back in their home country) was coming to Vancouver while still in the process of writing their follow-up album to their fantastic debut album Atlas. It was at the Venue Nightclub; while I’m not usually one to frequent nightclubs, especially on a weeknight, I still love to dance myself away to some quality live electronic music shows.
It sounds like the start of a bad joke, doesn't it? A Kraut-Chinaman and a Canadian ginger walk into a nightclub to catch a concert… except that me and Trevor didn't walk into a nightclub, we walked into Alexander Gastown, and performing that night was Thundercat. And though he smiled like a tomcat with a toothache, there was nothing remotely funny about his prodigy.
I walk into The Biltmore, I sit down, and I drink my beer. I am here to see Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld. I strike up a conversation with a fellow that has seen them in Boston on this tour. From the Polaris Prize nomination of this new album out on Constellation, Never Were The Way She Was, there is a certain excitement to this show. He tells me that the Boston show was not attended en masse by the Boston public. It also helps that Sarah Neufeld is the violinist for Arcade Fire too.
I fell in love with Madeon’s music the moment I first heard the emerging 21-year-old French electronic producer’s debut album Adventure. Everything sounded fresh and immediately danceable. The moment I saw him performing in a YouTube video from the early stages of his career, laying together 39 (!) little song samples into an amazing house-influenced dance-pop mashup track “Pop Culture”, I knew when he came to Vancouver I had to see him perform live.
To celebrate their 12th Anniversary at 90.1 FM CJSF is throwing a huge party: On October 3 from 8pm -2am. CJSF is take-over at the Astoria Pub for the third straight year with some of Vancouver's most exciting musicians. Guests include Adrian Teacher and the Subs, Mi’ens, Supermoon, MALK, Ace Martens and TV Ugly.
I’m walking into this concert knowing three things about Circuit des Yeux: she is a woman, she is signed to Thrill Jockey, and she plays instruments and sings. I hadn’t heard one single note of music from her, but Thrill Jockey is my stamp of quality. I could have of easily of listened to the album, but I chose not, not until I bought it, as something resonated with the album artwork and the name. I just knew I would enjoy it. And I did. A powerful live experience would serve as my introduction to Circuit des Yeux.
From Britain with Love, a musical extravaganza that originally showcased on April 2nd, 2015 at The Kay Meek Centre, had its second performance tonight at The Vancouver East Cultural Center. Featuring Vancouver-based jazz songstress Amanda Wood, this multimedia “tribute to the British Invasion celebrat[es] the torch and diva singers across the pond from the 60s to today” in which Wood belts out some of the musical hits of the UK’s musical greats, exhibiting musical flair and stylistic grace. In the end, we are transported across time and space.
For 38 years running, the Vancouver Folk Music Festival marks the middle of summer for the fair city, and yet this 2015 edition of the hippy/hipster mainstay at Jericho Beach Park felt extra luminous. Amazing weather (if you like it real hot and dusty) and 60 artists from 15 countries made this the most schizoid cross-cultural yet relaxingly accessible urban festival of the year
The second Next Music From Tokyo concert I attended was in fact the seventh installment of the highly popular concert series in Vancouver. Organized by Toronto-based Steven Tanaka, NMFT brings several Japanese indie musicians perform in a night each year in select Canadian cities. Having lived outside of Japan for a long time, I don’t have a particularly extensive knowledge of Japanese bands; the concert series was a way for me to get familiar with the Japanese indie music scene.
There’s something about dreamy vocals paired with waves of distortion and bass. If there is a band that loosely prescribes to a shoegaze aesthetic, I’m usually there. It triggers this automatic comparison to 90s greats like My Bloody Valentine or Mazzy Star, two bands that propel me immediately into summer mode. So when Montreal gazers No Joy enlisted the help of locals Gang Signs and Village, I knew how I was going to spend my Thursday.
