Toronto - WTF IS WITH THIS WEATHER! Its March. There should not be snow on the ground. I am starting to feel like those people in the Day After Tommorrow. It’s cold. Its wet. Its miserable. All these people coming here for Canadian Music Week are never going to come back. Unless they are from other parts of Canada, then I guess it just feels like home.

Even the crappy weather was not enough to stop me from attending the free Lightspeed Champion show last night at the Horseshoe. If I had to pay for the show though…. So yea, NME approved Lightspeed Champion played a free show last night at the Horseshoe. The weather was crappy outside, but I was warmed up by a nice batch of Duff wings, which left my tongue without any feeling. Luckily, I did not go for Death wings, like the people I was with did. Actually, if I had eaten death wings, I could have probably put a match by my ass and light a fire pretty easily and warm the hell up.

The crowd was rather small considering how much hype this guy has been getting lately. However, I don’t really know whats real hype, and what is ‘internet’ hype. I guess considering the weather, this was an okay crowd. Dev Hynes, the lead singer, came out with a violinist at around 9:35. Which pleased me since I was not in a mood for a late show. Thats all this band was, Dev, wearing the finest rat hair hat he could find and a sweater his grandma probably gave him, and his buddy, the violinist. Despite the lack of drums, bass and everything else though, they proceeded to play about 6 or 7 songs, including a cover of the Strokes - Heart in a Cage.

How did the music sound? it was quite good. His album is very stripped down anyways, and relies much on catchy choruses and melodies. This setup was very fitting for him I think. Also, the dude is hilarious. He had no setlist, made a bunch of jokes and told some good stories. Its refreshing to see someone on stage who seems like someone you’d joke around with at a bar or something. For example, he introduced a song about prostitution, saying its from a view of a prostitute. He then said, its not a song about like condoning prostitution and hes not trying to make a statement or anything, finishing with the words ‘im not that deep’. Fuck man, me neither.

So whats the verdict? its a free show. So thats an automatic 3 stars in my book. Combine that with decent tunes and good showsmanship, I think its a 4 star show, -0.5 stars for the weather

3.5/5

Toronto - Immaculate Machine. I always confuse this band with another band called the Secret Machines. It also reminds me of the Immaculate Reception by Pittsburgh Steeler (holla!) Franco Harris back in the seventies. And Micro Machines, which I only had a few of growing up in the dark and barren ghettos of Edmonton. You must be asking yourself now - what? well, lemme tell you what.

The Immaculate Machine are band from Victoria, British Columbia. They are on the Vancouver label Mint Records, also responsible for the New Pornographers and Young and Sexy. You might recognize one of the members, Kathryn Calder, who is also a member of the New Pornographers, and is the niece of A.C. Newman. Nepotism at its best. No, seriously, the Immaculate Machine excel in that type of music you expect from the BC community. You know the type - soaring chorus, guitars, collaborations, a general ‘we live in an area that doesn’t have snow year round’ vibe to it. They released an album called Fable sometime last year, and it is a pretty good album. The video game, I enjoyed too. But that is entirely unrelated, besides the namesake. I really have to become less literal with my posts.

The Immaculate Machine are playing Thursday 8:30 at the Horseshoe as part of the CHART Annual showcase at CMW. Other notable acts on this bill include Katie Stelmanis and Plants and Animals, two acts that Wade has already written about on this blog. You should go check it out.

Note: Immaculate Machine has an in-store session at Soundscapes (where else..really) at 5 pm on Thursday. So do that, go to Duffs or Utopia after then, I dunno, check out other shows on Thursday.

Here is a tune off their 2007 album.

 

 Immaculate Machine - Dear Confessor: Play Now