Straight choices
GUITARS AND GUFFAWS
Fringe-goers are already familiar with the one-of-a-kind guitar-playing and acting chops of Chase Padgett, whose won the 2013 Pick of the Fringe and the Georgia Straight Critics’ Choice Award. Now he’s back with part of the yearlong Fringe Presents series, and it highlights one of his other skills: live comedy. In fact, he performs regularly at the Curious Comedy Theatre in his hometown of Portland, Oregon. If you love the guitar or you just want a laugh, head to Granville Island’s Studio 1398 from Thursday to Saturday (April 20 to 22) for an evening of music and characters. Added bonus: Chase will be part of the Fringe Cabaret: After Dark—a late-night, 10 p.m. show on the last evening, with fellow Fringe alumni Jeff Leard, Ingrid Hansen, David C. Jones, Mark Hughes, and more.
6 Guitars Funny Music Weirdo,
Hold Lock EP (Farris Wheel)
A master of producing tech 2
house tracks with rolling onebar loops, Karsten Sollors has a special expertise in making his music sonically gripping. Dropping sounds and melodies in and out, and understanding exactly when to muzzle or unleash accented rhythms, the producer and DJ has built his brand around subtle variations.
Sollors’s music, then, is about patience—a technique that the Vancouver-born Chicago resident has perfected on his latest EP, Hold Lock.
Freshly appointed to a new monthly residency on England’s This Is Electric radio show, and slated next week to play on London-based label Anjunadeep’s stage at the Spring Awakening Festival, it’s unsurprising
A Girl Wants EP (Leap4rog)
The ability to sound simultaneously 2 raw and polished is a rare skill. Vancouver producer Queensyze makes it look easy.
A staple of the local underground scene, Queensyze—or Jennifer Roworth, to her friends—wears many hats, including composing original music for film, remixing for video games, and filling floors as a DJ by playing her own electronic tracks. All three elements help compose her latest EP, A Girl Wants.
Opening the record with a driving four-on-the-floor kick drum, light hi-hats, and a siren-esque synth, the title track builds rapidly and kicks up a gear as the five-note descending bass riff explodes into the song. A composition that wouldn’t seem out of place in a peak-time set at an international festival, “A Girl Wants” is propelled by dark bass frequencies and artfully echoed vocal samples, banging out a relentless dance-floorpacking rhythm.
“Forget About Him” cools the mood while maintaining the same tempo, combining soft minor pads with a simple house beat. With the lead synth sound recalling much of the music popular on live Twitch streams, the track highlights Queensyze’s aptitude for writing for video games, while still maintaining a strong after-hours club vibe.
The final song, “A Good Time”, is both punchy and ambient, marrying expansive washes of sound with aggressive snare hits, and a rich, acid-tinged melody. The most underground-sounding of the trio, “A Good Time” is a rolling and powerful composition that steers listeners with strikingly placed spoken vocals, entering the same terrain as her careerhighlight hit “Gotta Get Up”, which broke the Top 10 on Traxsource.
On the strength of this EP, she might well do it again.
> KATE WILSON