B.C. music scene is alive and well
KEEPING IN TUNE: There are plenty of strong releases and live shows coming in the next few weeks
After a few days of vacation, The Garage threw the doors open again and discovered there had been a lot of activity in B.C. music in its absence.
No less than three albums were released on Sept. 9 including Dani and Lizzy’s Work Of Heart, Bear Mountain’s Badu, which at times is an electro-pop reappraisal of the Sound Of Philadelphia, and the Devin Townsend Project’s Transcendence. Lead off track, Stormbending has a sweep to it that almost is orchestral. True to Townsend’s roots, the song is heavy but also typically overlaps into progressive rock.
The duo that is Mu has recorded a version of Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill. Mu has taken an electronic pop approach, laying down a percolating percussion bed.
Rapper Baba Brinkman might have started in Vancouver but his global travel has shaped a hip-hop personality who is as theatrical as provocative. The Rap Guide To Climate Change is Brinkman’s latest in a series of rap guides. Although due out on Sept. 30, it already has a five month tenure off-Broadway.
For years if anybody wanted to hear No Fun’s records — if they could get them at all — they had to get cassettes. That changed this year when No Fun converted its cassette output to compact disc. Going even further, No Fun’s David M has made its 1894 tape available on Soundcloud and Spotify. Revisiting the album is a reminder of how simple and effective the songs are. Not only is David M cynically funny but he’s a good songwriter. Try Be Like Us.
Want to be in a music video? Marianas Trench is shooting a video for the Who Do You Love Tuesday at three locations. Presumably Marianas Trench wants crowd scenes as no audition is necessary.
Just show up. The locations and time to be there are: The SPCA at 1205 East 7th at 12:30 p.m.; Magee Secondary School (6360 Moore, 4 p.m.) and Langley School Of Fine Arts (9046 Trattle, 4 p.m.). The band has contributed money or gear to each and there will be some performance.
On the subject of video, Rodney DeCroo made his Stupid Boy In An Ugly Town that was scripted and filmed by the Templeton Secondary School after hours film program. With the help of crowdfunding, the video was completed and will be screened at the Cultch on Sept. 24. The event is free and DeCroo’s band, The Wise Blood, will perform.
True to its interest in B.C. history, Tiller’s Folly has released a new song, Coleman’s ‘High Cut’ Plough.
Mecca Normal always has been about more than music so it’s no surprise that Jean Smith, one half of the band, has sold half the 160 paintings in her $100 Painting series. For 100 bucks a Smith original can be yours. David Lester, the guitar-playing half, is completing his latest graphic novel. Collectively, the duo is preparing another album.
The Pack A.D. is getting good feedback on its Positive Thinking LP. The latest video from the album is Yes, I Know, a straight forward rock song not too far removed from garage-punk. The duo will be at Fortune Sound Club, Nov. 26.
The Tourist Company is at the Fox Cabaret on Nov. 26, about a month after the release of its CD, Apollo, Oct. 21.
Christie Grace releases her third album, Golden Thread, Sept. 17, with a launching gig at Pyatt Hall at the VSO. It’s an optimistic blend of smooth jazz, light pop and easy soul.
Next in the Cap Global Roots series, Paul Pigat teams up again with El Twanguero, Oct. 15, at the Bluehold Financial Centre Of The Performing Arts. The merging of Pigat’s rockabilly style with the Latin-influenced Twanguero will be less pretentious than the name of the venue.
Pigat’s alter ego, Cousin Harley, is at Blue Frog, Sept. 24.
Meanwhile, back at Blueshore, Iranian flamenco singer Farnaz Ohadi releases her Bird Dance, Oct. 1
The CD might have been an afterthought. At its gig to launch Applebine, Big EviL distributed the sheet music for the album first. Self-described as Avant-garde Funk, Big EviL’s sound is dominated by sax and there is more jazz in the arrangements than anything avant-garde. It is progressive, though.
He’s better known in Europe than at home. Michael Fiedman releases his fourth album, Random Acts Of Tuning, Sept. 22 at WISE Hall.
Kele Fleming reports that her first single from the album no static, Ekolik has been well-received as a stream. Fleming will be at the Cultch, Oct. 15, with collaborator, Ron Yamauchi.
She’s still in high school but already has accumulated plaudits in the Fraser Valley and with CBC’s Searchlight competition. Now Alexis Lynn is recording an EP with blues guitarist James Buddy Rogers at the helm.
Jesse Mac Cormack’s EP, After The Glory, is out Sept. 16, preceded by the video of Never Enough.
A reunion, of sorts, takes place when John Kosrud’s Hard Rubber Orchestra teams up with Rene Lassier to perform his We Will See, Oct. 1 at the Milton Wong Experimental Centre.
Another new single from Miss Quincy. The plaintive 16 Horses is a letter to Justin Trudeau to honour one of his election promises — to quash the proposal for the Site C Damn that would flood the Peace River Valley and have a catastrophic effect on the people who live there.
Jpnsgrls is at the Light Organ Studio Oct. 23, preceded by Divorce, a chunky, crusty rocker with an unforgettable hook: “Oh my God, oh my God, Oh my God.”
Bryan Adams’s now legendary concert at Wembley, England, has been released as Wembley 1996 Live.
Joshua Hyslop and Twin Bandit are going out on tour in Europe with Australia’s Paper Kites. Hyslop and Twin Bandit have collaborated on Stolen Dance. Single should be out now, tour starts in Hamburg, Sept. 13.
CD of the week
The blues has a shape that means not much can be done if you want to change it from within.
So what makes a good blues album better is subtlety. Getting the right weight, the tone, the feel.
Subtlety. It’s what makes Bill Johnson’s Cold Outside better than the average blues album. Fronting what essentially is a trio, Johnson acquits himself well on guitar and sings with an understanding of the character he is playing.
There is slyness a la Louis Jordan in Nine Dollar Bill, humour a la Chuck Berry in Makes A Fella Nervous, a few one-liners in the otherwise sombre title track, funk a la Albert King in Angry Guitar and, generally, a believability in his delivery.
Gigs
The Blues Guitar Bash (the blues as played by a variety of guitarists) are at the Edgewater Casino on Sept. 16.
Sweet Pea Swing Band and Brickhouse kicks off the fall/winter season at the Evergreen Cultural Centre on Sept. 16.
Dino DiNicol rises again on Sept. 17 at the Deep Cove Brewery.
Lindsay Mitchell’s Zimmermen presents an evening of Dylan songs by the respected guitarist’s band, Sept. 22 at the Cascades Casino.
Jim Byrnes’ Birthday Bash on Sept. 23 at the Rickshaw Theatre.
We Hunt Buffalo performs Sept. 24 at the Fortune Sound Club.
Crosstown Bus, rejuvenated ‘60s band, plays the Columbia Theatre on Sept. 24.
Petunia And The Vipers performs Sept. 24 at the Rickshaw Theatre.
Caroline Mark Trio plays Bozzini’s on Sept. 30.
Ladies Sing The Blues hits Edgewater Casino on Oct. 7.
Prism performs at the Cascades Casino on Oct. 20.
Hannah Georgas hits the Commodore on Nov. 2.
Barry Greenfield plays the Roundhouse on Nov. 18,