andPOP » NXNE

Catch Band of Skulls In Concert And On The New Moon Soundtrack

Ilan Mester — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:30:52 +0000

If you haven’t heard of “Band of Skulls,” you will very soon. These UK rockers had the first ever global iTunes “Single of the Week” back in April for their debut song “I Know What I am,” and they just keep taking the rock world by storm.

The trio were voted Best Live Band at Toronto’s NXNE festival in June and are fresh off Lollapalooza. Twi-hards may already know “Band of Skulls” has been confirmed to be included alongside Radiohead and Muse in the upcoming “New Moon” Soundtrack, out in November.

The alternative rockers will be touring across Canada throughout September in support of their debut album “Baby Darling Doll Face Honey,” currently available in Canada. Canadian tour stops include Vancouver (Sept. 3), Calgary (Sept. 4), Edmonton (Sept. 5), Ottawa (Sept. 7), Montreal (Sept. 9) and Toronto (Sept. 11).

In the meantime, check out the video for the uber catchy “I Know What I Am.”

http://www.mtv.ca/music/video_content.jhtml?id=1619417

andPOP’s NXNE Recap

andPOP Staff — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:49:18 +0000

Every year, Toronto’s North by Northeast festival—three days in June packed with hundreds of bands spread out over dozens of small and mid-sized venues across town—proves a tricky balancing act. Big name international acts, the teenagers who practice in the basement around the corner and everyone in between compete for the attention of indie kids and (too many) industry types. We here at andPOP couldn’t cover it all, but we’ve carefully sifted through an exhausting three days of venue hopping to bring you NXNE’s best. Here’s who made noise:

THE WET SECRETS (Thursday, Horseshoe Tavern, 10pm)
This Alberta export lays on the shtick like sweet crude—matching marching band outfits, a two-girl brass section that’s also part ’60s doo-wop duo, and a tidy pile of nonsensical novelty songs. But while so many “funny” bands fail to properly execute musical humour, simply stumbling into insipidity, the Wet Secrets prove they’ve got the talent to back up the wack. Stand-out tracks like “Grow Your Own Fucking Moustache, Asshole” and “It’s Hard to Meet Somebody (Living as a Disembodied Head)” have hipster party anthem potential. Their second album, “Rock Fantasy,” is
currently available from Six Shooter.

CLAIRE JENKINS AVEC BAND (Thursday, Savannah Room, 11pm)
Easily brushing off jetlag after a recent return from Australia, Claire Jenkins and the unfailing charm of her performance made for one of the more unique festival slots. Equal parts carnival side-show, gypsy jam and French-Canadian high school musical, Jenkins and her band (including accordion and upright bass) can be roughly described as “country cabaret” with theatrics—say, a nautical opening with Jenkins piloting an imaginary ship or a track that has her air boxing in big red gloves. A spot-on cover of Barbara’s “Gare de Lyon” was a festival highlight. Their independently released album “Crow’s Nest/ Nid de Pie” is available from CD Baby.

THESE NEW PURITANS (Thursday, Reverb, 1am)
Given the hype pouring out of the UK and the cred of headlining NME’s showcase, the Reverb was oddly empty for the Canadian debut of These New Puritans. Could it be that the incessant hawking of “next big things” could be leaving us all a little immune to British hype? No matter—the band isn’t completely undeserving. While their songs borrow heavily from The Fall and Public Image Ltd., this is one band with the attitude and confidence to credibly attempt a transatlantic leap. Their debut full-length, “Beat Pyramid,” is out on Domino.

SEMI-PRECIOUS WEAPONS (Friday, Velvet Underground, 10pm)
Though it was a bit early in the evening for a heady dose of NYC glam-rock, word around the festival was that this set was not to be missed. Ego-laden and filled with debauchery (both from the stage and the crowd), Semi-Precious Weapons served this town a glittery bitch-slap. This is not something I’d ever want to listen to without the accompanying visual spectacle, but for the 45-minutes that front-man Justin Tranter preened around on stage, Semi-Precious Weapons came across as the hottest act on the planet. Their debut album, “We Love You,” is set for independent release this summer.

WILL CURRIE AND THE COUNTRY FRENCH (Friday, Drake Underground, 12am)
Though fresh off a stint opening up for Sloan, Will Currie at al. look more like they just came off the battle of the bands circuit. The appearance, however, would betray their quality. Currie pieces together upbeat piano tracks that go down easy, reimagining Ben Folds with a little less bombast but way more sincerity. As for the Country French, they’re a competent set of young backers that will surely benefit from a few more years in front of an audience. Though the group didn’t fully connect this time around, they’re among the most promising of the young talent at NXNE. “A Great Stage,” their debut release, is currently out on Sloan’s Murderecords.

COURTNEY WING (Saturday, Clinton’s, 9pm)
Montreal’s Courtney Wing is known for his expansive musicality, including enough instruments, techniques and vocal styles on his records to span several cultures and musical genres. With this arsenal, he creates folky, climactic pop that’s often heavy on the string section. For his NXNE performance, Wing brought along a contingent of opera singers, lending even more drama and soulfulness to his orchestral material. If previews from his upcoming album are any indication, Wing may soon establish himself as something of a Canadian answer to Sufjan Stevens. “Bouquet of Might and Fury” is due out this fall from MapleMusic.

MONOTONIX (Saturday, Sneaky Dee’s, 12am)
This gang of crazed Israelis played every night of the festival, culminating in a soon-to-be-legendary display of pure abandon at Sneaky Dee’s. Lasting all of twenty minutes, the set lacked any of the usual concert accoutrements such as a stage, a separation of band and audience, and even discernable songs. Instead, the impossibly packed and sweat-soaked audience was treated to a mid-crowd instrument set-up; it didn’t last long. The band (while playing!) spent their time touring the venue from above—surfing on the hands of enthralled watchers or dangling from the ceiling—or throwing about all manner of detritus and booze. Their current EP, “Body Language,” is out on Drag City. But really, this is a band meant to be seen. They’ll make a return stop at Sneaky Dee’s in Toronto on July 7.

NXNE Blog: From the Eye’s of a Publicist

andPOP Staff — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 14:23:36 +0000

Well, all the Ts have been crossed and the Is have been dotted. I’ve been working as a publicist for NXNE since March and I just sent out my last press release today. What a cool experience it has been.

It started out kind of slowly, just compiling contact lists of media from around the world but it ended with me hanging out with Tom Verlaine and Stewart Copeland. Also got to meet Steve Diggle from Buzzcocks.

The ball really got rolling on Wednesday, June 7, when I met with Toronto Mayor David Miller and brought him out for our Nathan Phillips Square event. We had a couple of bands play a free noon-hour concert at city hall, and the mayor came out to say a few words about the festival. He’s a pretty nice guy and very sharp.

Later that evening, I went to the NXNE opening party at the Palais Royale. The old Toronto landmark has just been re-opened and it was really beautiful. It was a great night, with over 1,000 people in attendance, including several rock bands and other celebrities. Just sat on the patio outside, which is on the water, and soaked it all in.

On Thursday, I had to head over to the Holiday Inn for media registration. There were a few headaches with people saying they had been approved for media accreditation but we didn’t have a record of them. Anyway it all worked out and other than that everything was cool. I just spent the day setting up interviews for various media and hanging out with people.

On Friday, Television came into town to perform at the Phoenix, and Tom Verlaine was slated for a celebrity interview. He and I hung out back of the Holiday Inn for a bit and had a smoke together. He’s nice, but kind of quiet and shy. But I had seen Television in Tokyo a few years back so we talked about that show, and how he likes playing in Japan because the audiences are very respectful. He also talked about experiences that The Beatles and David Bowie had while playing there.

On Friday night, I went to the Phoenix and shot photos of the performance for the festival. After Television, went and caught a couple of other bands, including El Dog from Glasgow; they got a mediocre review in some local media, but I thought they were pretty good.

On Saturday my job was to handle all the media that were slated for interviews with Stewart Copeland, which was cool cause I got to hang out a lot with Stewart. He’s a down-to-earth guy, very bright and funny. We talked about all the places he’d been in the world but how he hadn’t really gotten to see much of them because he was always on tour. He said he had been to Toronto before but had only experienced it from hotel rooms. We also shared a smoke and shot the shit. Apparently he’s a fan of Big Love; it’s a show on HBO. Do you know it?

On Saturday night it was off to the Buzzcocks to shoot them, and then afterwards whisked Stewart over to the Royal Cinema for the Canadian debut of his documentary about the Police, “Everybody Stares: The Police Inside Out.” People were lined up outside, it was very cool and everyone was really excited that he was there in the flesh. After that, I hooked up with some friends and we caught a couple of shows.

If you haven’t been to NXNE, you really have to go next year. It’s a great event. Well, see ya!

North by Northeast 2006 Takes Over Toronto

andPOP Staff — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 19:07:11 +0000

North by Northeast is huge. I’m talking size-of-Canada big. But instead of endless kilometers of rocky wilderness and rolling prairies, it’s filled with scraggly musicians, overeager photographers and a few too many pompous industry reps.

The primary part of the Toronto festival took place over three days (June 8-10). More than 400 bands played in 33 different venues, in addition to conferences, celebrity interviews, workshops and film screenings. And here I am, one lowly andPOP writer, entrusted with documenting NXNE 2006.

Because I (sadly) have no superhuman powers, my day-by-day writings will only give you a teasing taste of what this massive event has to offer. Hopefully, for those of you in Toronto, you managed to check out some NXNE performances yourself. And for those of you in the rest of the country, great independent music is never too hard to find. Get out and support it.

Here’s how things went down in my North by Northeast 2006 experience:

Day One ? Thursday, June 8

I started off the festival with a visit to the first-ever NXNE Industry Town Hall. The event was held at a swanky club/lounge called the State Theatre, which is pretty much the classiest venue used by NXNE (a good thing, if you ask me). It brought together representatives from all facets of the music business with artists like Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies and Prevail of Swollen Members. The theme of the Town Hall was a discussion of how the Canadian music industry might look in 2010. Some pretty interesting topics came up, and some pretty funny jokes were made. Check out andPOP’s full coverage of the event.

After a few hours of down-time, I headed out to commence three days of club coverage. And what better place to start than at everyone’s favourite Portuguese-restaurant-turned-indie-hotspot, The Boat? This nautical-themed venue on the second floor of a Kensington Market building was made to look like a ship’s lower deck, complete with mirrored portholes and walls curved like a hull. Tonight it was hosting the MapleMusic showcase.

First on the bill was Born Ruffians of Midland, ON. Known for starting off their performances in a huddle, the young band delivered a rousing set of meandering foot-stompers that hit somewhere between Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and local rockers Tangiers. The Ruffians definitely have a solid sound, but need to develop a consistently energetic stage presence; a strong start and finish is all well and good, but audiences can get lost if you turn down the heat in the middle.

I quickly departed The Boat and bicycled through Chinatown towards Queen Street’s Horseshoe Tavern. Taking the stage as I arrived was Victoria, BC’s Jets Overhead. Their blend of dream-pop and classic rock was quite listenable, but the high amount of musically unsuitable rock posturing from the band’s front-man made them fairly unwatchable.

With the rest of the night’s lineup at the ‘Shoe looking less than stellar, I returned to The Boat and settled in for good. First up was killthelights, a five-piece group from Montreal and Toronto. Their distinctly ’80s-influenced sound has great urgency and depth, coming across like a less flamboyant Stellastarr*. The fact that they’d sold out of copies of their debut CD, “winter asthmatics,” suggests this band has a bright future (despite their name).

Next up was a set from The Adam Brown, one of the most hotly anticipated acts of the night at any venue. This Montreal band doesn’t just create soulful, country-inspired guitar rock ? they bring a party along with it. The drum riser was less than a foot off the ground, but their guitarist was launching himself off of it; their bassist was often either dancing with the crowd or playing on his knees; and front-man Adam Brown actually played a Flying V like a lap slide guitar. Definitely a strong performance from this band, who hopefully retain their live energy on disc.

Closing out the night was Guelph, ON-based insane-o outfit We’re Marching On. The last time I saw this band play, it was to a packed basement at a house show here in Toronto. In a proper venue, though, without kids pounding the ceiling in time to the music and singing at the tops of their lungs, something gets lost between band and audience. They still play wild, rambunctious, nonsensical indie songs, but without a fully co-operative audience, their energy seems somewhat isolated. Still, this is a band to be experienced, and hopefully new audiences will soon start joining in.

Day Two ? Friday, June 9

Not only does NXNE showcase up-and-coming performers, it also gives attendees the chance to check out more established acts on the same bills. Tonight, I set out to see Amy Millan (of the Broken Social Scene and Stars) headline at the Reverb. The next day, she’d be playing a sold out show at the much-larger Mod Club Theatre, so I wanted to catch her performance while I could. Needless to say, many other music lovers in the city had the same plan.

I got to the venue early and grabbed a decent spot, as the room was already filling quickly. I’d missed the first act of the evening, but arrived in time to catch Melissa McClelland’s performance. She sounds a bit like Patti Smith, but wielding an acoustic guitar in a dress and heels. Despite some decent songwriting, though, McClelland’s lounge-rock sound isn’t quite unique enough to be memorable.

The next timeslot was filled by singer-songwriter Jason Falkner, formerly of psychedelia-tinged indie groups Jellyfish and the Three O’Clock. He’s a captivating storyteller with a poppy yet mature, and sometimes bluesy, sound. His acoustic set was very well received, with a number of audience members cheering song intros and singing along. Falkner’s definitely broken away from his former bands, and has clearly forged a solid solo career for himself over the past 10 or so years.

However, the evening’s acoustic theme was soon put on hold by Toronto’s Femme Generation. With keyboards, cowbells and party favours, the band played an enjoyably loud collection of tracks with a distinct Talking Heads influence. By the end of their set, they were splayed out in a confetti-covered heap, keyboards overturned and guitars buzzing. It was a welcome jolt to a laidback evening from one of the city’s liveliest acts.

But I was also just fine with Amy Millan bringing things back down. With a new solo album, the Montreal-based singer is finally able to fully display her songwriting skills and strong voice. Millan’s acoustic performance revealed her new country-ish sound, which perfectly compliments the liquor-and-lovin’ subject matter she seems to favour. A highlight of the evening came when she was joined onstage by fellow Social Scene member Kevin Drew for a sing-a-long. If you enjoy Millan’s work with BSS or Stars, her new album (”Honey from the Tombs”) is definitely a disc to check out.

Though I was already content with seeing a couple great bands tonight, I trekked north to the Comfort Zone to check out one of the most talked about performers of the festival: King Khan & His Shrines. As an indication of their draw, the band had performances booked on all three nights of the festival. I soon found out why. Led by Khan, an Indian soul machine originally from Montreal, the Berlin, Germany-based group blasted through an hour and fifteen minutes (including an encore) of crazed, funky R&B delight. With a horn section and a go-go dancer/cheerleader, King Khan put on the best show of the festival hands-down. I just hope the man starts to spend some more time in Canada so I can experience this insanity again!

Day Three ? Saturday, June 10

One of the great things about this festival is that much of the action takes place in a fairly central core area. Tonight, the last night of NXNE, I took advantage of that situation by splitting my time between three different venues, all within a 30-second walk of one another.

I began my evening at the El Mocambo, which was hosting the showcase by Rogers, NXNE’s primary corporate sponsor. What a depressing schmoozefest. It seemed as though much of the audience was more interested in booze and prominently displaying their delegate passes than actually watching any bands.

Because of a late arrival, I only caught the last couple songs from the night’s first act, Clothes Make the Man. The Toronto-based group played some fairly straightforward guitar-driven rock, with rough vocals and good energy. From what I saw, they’re a tight band, but the sound is absolutely nothing new.

In search of something a little bit different, I headed over to the Comfort Zone hoping to stumble across a surprise as pleasant as last night’s King Khan performance. I was quickly disappointed once Pride Tiger took the stage. Hailing from Vancouver, this incredibly derivative heavy rock band played Sabbath and Zeppelin-inspired tunes with shoddy, tired guitar solos and grating volume. It was the only time throughout the three days that I left in the middle of a performance.

When I took a quick jaunt around the corner to The Bagel, I found that “something different” I was looking for earlier ? though that didn’t mean it was actually good. The band playing was Dayton, OH’s My Latex Brain. Two-thirds of the middle-aged trio looked like they’d just come out of their basement after a long D&D session, while the other member (and front-man) looked like The Used’s Bert McCracken plus twenty years or so. Their blend of prog-speed-metal ? with annoying, indiscernible vocals ? was atrocious. And, unfortunately, they lacked any hint of the irony needed to even make this performance amusing.

Next up was fellow Ohioans, Mr. Gnome. The two piece act from Cleveland features a drummer and a tiny, fragile-looking girl on guitars and vocals who sounds nothing like she appears. They come across like a lo-fi Tool, with long, trippy epics and low, dark vocals. Having listened to a couple of their album tracks before the show, it’s clear that the band greatly benefits from the inherently forgiving nature of studio recording; their performance was quite raw (a bad sound mix didn’t help either), but with more work, Mr. Gnome will hopefully begin to convey their talent in a live setting.

I headed back to the El Mocambo in time for a performance by the elusive Noah’s Arkweld. Fronted by mastering engineer extraordinaire and former hHead member Noah Mintz, the band plays sporadically and with a constantly rotating lineup. Tonight, guests in Mintz’s band included ex-hHead partner and current Broken Social Scene member Brendan Canning, singer-songwriter Howie Beck, and Can-folk hero Hayden. Despite the logistical mess of changing musicians between songs like the cast of a play, Mintz pulled off some captivating performances of his largely acoustic-based indie rock. Also notable was a lyrically-minimal, electro-heavy track featuring Mintz and local band The Exchanges. There are few things funnier than a set of unkempt rockers randomly plunking away at synthesizers and drum machines.

The last performance of the evening (and, for me, the festival) went to the Burning Brides from Philadelphia, PA. Their intense, riff-laden stoner rock puts them in the company of groups like Queens of the Stone Age or Screaming Trees. With an imposing presence, guitarist/vocalist Dimitri Coats and bassist Melanie Campbell aggressively take up any empty room on the stage. Add in the band’s crushing volume and you’ve got an engaging yet commanding hard rock performance. It was a great end to three days of venue-hopping and nearly non-stop music (some good, some not). And not even the stubborn ringing in my ears can keep me from getting some sorely needed sleep tonight.