SXSW Preview: Tahiti 80

Posted on February 21, 2011 by Ricky in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

Toronto – With the recent popularity of Phoenix and some valerie bands, it would only seem natural for more French electro pop acts to come out of the woodworks. One of those bands that is enjoying a bit of a renaissance is Tahiti 80. If that name sounds familiar to you, that’s because Tahiti 80 was around when French electro pop bands first started invading the shores of America in early 2000s. Their single Heartbeat made them many fans in that era, as the effortless playful summer tones of that song was a nice contrast to all the other music that was popular at the time. You have probably heard this song. If not the original, then the popular Cornelius remix that exists.

Tahiti 80 – Heartbeat by Hipstersw/kids

Since that time, the band has released four more albums but were unable to obtain similar success on the rugged shores of America. The new infusion of French talent in recent years has once again opened the doors for Tahiti 80 to try to reclaim what once was theirs, if for only a fleeting moment.

The Past, The Present, and The Possible is Tahiti 80’s new album. Their sixth effort, the album is filled with electro laden, hooked fill indie pop tracks that brings in a nice warm current to the winter time air. I don’t know what it is about French bands, maybe it’s the wine, maybe it’s the cuisine. All their music sounds so effortless and fun. Tahiti 80s new album is no exception. While it’s easy to compare this band to current French pop kings Phoenix, one has to remember that these bands have basically been around for the same amount of time. Luckily for us, Tahiti 80 is touring North America this year and you can make these comparisons yourself!

Tahiti 80 will be playing SXSW. Here are their scheduled times:

03/16, SXSW: Official Showcase @ 512 Rooftop
03/17, SXSW: Trumer Pills Afternoon Social @ Klub Krucial (1:30pm)
03/17, SXSW: BUREX Party Brush Square (5:00pm)

They have other dates. None of which is Toronto, sadly. Since I’m so nice I called up all these clubs and got the set times for you.

03/09 CHICAGO, IL The Abbey (11:30pm)
03/10 NEW YORK, NY Mercury Lounge (11:00pm)
03/12 SAN DIEGO, CA Bar Pink (10:30pm)
03/13 SAN FRANCISCO, CA Rickshaw Stop (10:45pm)
03/14 LOS ANGELES, CA Troubadour (10:00pm)

Here is a video for their new single

Darlin’ (Adam & Eve Song) from Tahiti 80 on Vimeo.

CMW / SXSW Preview: Austra

Posted on February 17, 2011 by Ricky in Canadian Music Week, South By Southwest | Leave a comment

Toronto – Watching the The Wedge last night, I was fully introduced to Austra, a new band featuring talented singer Katie Stelmanis. The song played was called Beat & The Pulse. The song was very appropriately named, as it had a ridiculously dirty beat that instantly captured my attention. Combined with Katie’s tremendous, sometimes haunting vocal work, this is one mesmerizing tune. The video captured the essense of the song nicely, coming across as a mix of a risqué American Apparel commercial (pointed out by Melody from Singing Lamb) and a scene from those illegal night clubs in Eastern Europe. You can watch the video here.

Austra’s debut album Feel It Break comes out May 17th on Paper Bag Records in Canada and on Domino Records everywhere else.

They will be playing at the Wrongbar on March 10th for Canadian Music Fest

The event page for that show is here

Their official showcase at SXSW will be March 17th, Emo’s Main Room, at 9:00 PM, although I suspect they’ll be playing 5 or 6 other shows like every band who makes it down there.

Austra – Beat & The Pulse (Extended Version) by DominoRecordCo

SXSW Preview: The Dears

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Ricky in Music, South By Southwest | Leave a comment

Toronto – Between Paul Giamatti blessing the city at the Golden Globes, Karkwa winning the Polaris and little known local band Arcade Fire (who?) winning the record of the year at the Grammies, you can say that the city of Montreal has had a pretty good recent run. FINALLY, they are getting some international attention for what I can only assume is a pretty decent arts and music scene. Of course, anyone who knows anything about Canadian music will have known that this has been the case for a long time. One of my first introductions to Montreal bands was The Dears, a band I first saw all the way back in March of 2003, right about the time No Cities Left was released. I didn’t know anything about the band at the time, as I was still deeply entrenched in the “only will listen to UK stuff” phase, but my friend Nick was able to drag me out to this affair on the promise of a few free beers. They played in front of maybe 30 people at the Power Planet, a small bar in the heart of the University of Alberta campus. I was impressed by the aura of drama surrounding their sound, as well as Murray Lightburn’s ability to just belt it. I picked up that album after the show and was impressed at their orchestral dark take on lovey pop music. It was almost like a UK band. Anyone listening to Canadian music at the time was probably in love with the single Lost in the Plot.

Since that time, the band has changed dramatically. With a revolving door of musicians, the bands encountered some difficult album releases. 2011 marks the release of the fifth album band the band, an album titled Degeneration Street. The album marks the return of members of Patrick Krief, Rob Benvie and Roberto Arquila, three members who had left prior to the release of Missiles. Given Murray Lightburns’ well known volatile personality, I very much imagined the scene where Murray brings his pals back in for this album to be like this:

Murray would then turn around, see Patrick, Rob and Roberto there and exclaim “You guys are here! you guys are here!” followed by the three saying “We were always here, Murray. We’ll always be here”. A group hug would happen before they retire to Murray’s loft and spend the afternoon listening to Morrissey albums.

Degeneration Street is the band’s fifth album. Upon initial listening – it’s good. It eschews the weaker elements of the Dears (lack of focus, indulgence) and focuses on the best elements of The Dears – grandiose dramatic pop powered by Murray Lightburn’s soulful voice, which somehow treads the thin line between desperation and hope. The album sounds tighter and richer then all previous efforts. My friend Dwayne has been quite insistent that this album will be The Dears comeback album, and after an initial listen, I would have to agree. Mired in difficulties with previous releases, Degeneration Street appears to be a large step forward for this band.

Of course, you can decide for yourself check out The Dears in person at SXSW, where the band will be playing various shows, including the Dangerbird showcase on March 18th.

For those of you in Toronto, the Dears will be involved in some sort of chat tonight with music journalist Jon Dekel at the Drake. Facebook event here

They also made a homemade video for their song Omega Dog, it’s posted on this site called “you” tube. Check it out here

Here are some tour dates, I guess

March 4th Sugar Victoria, BC
March 5th The Venue Vancouver, BC
March 7th Crocodile Café Seattle, WA
March 9th Slim’s San Francisco, CA
March 10th The Troubadour Los Angeles, CA
March 17th SXSW Austin, TX
March 18th Dangerbird Records Showcase Austin, TX
March 19th SXSW Austin, TX
March 20th SXSW Austin, TX

Oh yeah, hate to whore it out like this, but feel free to vote for us as your favorite Canadian music based blog for CBC Radio 3’s Searchlight poll here.

Concert Review: Lee Konitz with The Brian Dickinson Trio, Feb 11, Glenn Gould Studio

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Paul in Concerts | Leave a comment

Toronto – I’m generally not one for making New Year’s resolutions, but this year, inspired after reading Alex Ross’ Listen to This, I decided that I would take it upon myself to expand my musical horizons somewhat, digging a bit deeper into genres such as classical and jazz.  So when the opportunity arose to check out Lee Konitz in a concert presented by The Jazz Performance and Education Centre (JPEC), I gladly took it.  Konitz is a jazz legend.  He’s been playing since the ’40s and has collaborated with many of the greats of the genre, most famously on Miles Davis’ Birth Of The Cool. 

Konitz was backed up on this occasion by the talented Brian Dickinson Trio.  the interplay between the musicians was pretty impressive.  Drummer Barry Romberg was especially entertaining to watch, but each player had their moments.  In fact, on the second song, Konitz left the stage and the trio did a number on their own. 

Konitz is an interesting performer to watch.  Casually dressed and wearing sunglasses, he didn’t say too much, but addressed the crowd on a few occasions.  He told stories about his songs, such as “Thingin,” a tune based on “All The things You Are,” which he described as “thievery in good spirit.”  “I put a little melody on top of it.  I didn’t tell Jerome Kern I was going to do that.”  He further demonstrated his sense of humour by referring to the trio as “my colleagues … they know their names,” before holding his hand up to his mouth as if to let the audience in on the secret that he forgot their names.  If he did in fact forget their names, that’s probably forgivable, as they did form a bond as performers that night, improvising through various numbers.  Konitz even included the audience in on the act, inviting everyone to sing a note along with the band during one number.  I guess everyone at the Glenn Gould Studio that night can now add their names to the long list of Lee Konitz’s collaborators.

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