SIX ACTS WORTH CATCHING IN RICHMOND >>>
The Richmond World Festival isn’t strictly about the music. After all, on-site attractions will include over 50 food trucks, a culinary stage with cooking demonstrations, a digital carnival featuring the latest in immersive technology and digital art, and an extensive artisan market. But in the event you are showing up just for the music, here are six don’t-miss acts.
DIRTY RADIO
Why you’ve got to see them: For those who like their radio-friendly R&B a little, well, dirty, the gritty and upbeat synth-pop of this Vancouver trio will prove infectious. Formed in 2010 as a vehicle for frontman Farshad “Shadi” Edalat to showcase his buttery vocals, DIRTY RADIO soon became a bona fide three-piece, completed by drummer and production master Zachary “Waspy” Forbes and keyboardist Anthony “Tonez” Dolhai. Showing that it knows how to amass an Internet following, the group traded releasing full albums for one-off singles in 2015, seeing a huge boost in its online engagement and bookings across the country. Those future-bass creations caught the ear of Diplo, who tapped the hometown boys to work with Sleepy Tom for a release on his label Mad Decent, and Young Franco—whose collaboration with the band on “Drop Your Love” has racked up more than a million Soundcloud streams. A critical darling with and without collaborators, DIRTY RADIO has been nominated for numerous Western Canadian Music Awards, courtesy of the group’s intense release schedule and high-energy stage performances. Given that the band makes a point of not playing too many hometown gigs, it’s more than worth checking out their set. Killer track: Last year’s single “Curious” marries clicky, arpeggiated synths to fizzling ’80s string pads to create an upbeat, summery backing for Edalat’s versatile vocals.
> KATE WILSON BUCKMAN COE
Why you’ve got to see him: It goes without saying that the world is a totally angry and scarily intolerant place right now. You’ve got neonazis proudly marching through the streets on both sides of the border, and a simple goal like owning a house in Vancouver is a completely fantastical pipe dream. Luckily, not everyone has given up on making the world a better place: enter Vancouver singer-songwriter and all-round decent human being Buckman Coe. It’s one thing to sing lines like “I believe in humankind/i believe in human kindness,” which the socially conscious singerguitarist does in “False Flags” off 2015’s Malama Ka ‘Aina. The brilliance of Coe is that he comes across as an artist who actually means it. Past outings like
Feet positioned the Vancouverite as a man with a complete fixation on the sun-faded sounds of ’70s Southern California. Despite a Hawaiian-sounding title (which translates roughly to “respect the land”), Malama Ka ‘Aina finds Coe seemingly obsessed with Kingston back when Bob Marley and Peter Tosh were reggae’s reigning kings. Close your eyes during “Courage” or “Jah People” and you’ll be transported to a world where the only thing that makes a cold Red Stripe better is a plate of jerk chicken and Jamaican rice. Killer track: “Malama Ka ‘Aina”, where Coe sings in both