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Concert Review: Nicolas Jaar
Nicolas Jaar is an electronic music producer, whose vast experimentations make him difficult to categorize anymore concretely than that. He is of Chilean heritage, a detail which is pronounced in his musical style. Latin rhythms and his own Spanish lyrics often feature, but only to intersect with Eno-esque ambience, Villalobos-inspired techno and microhouse, downtempo dance music, and hints of dubstep. His releases are gorgeous and intricate, masterfully woven together from disparate fragments. The compositions feature exquisite piano stylings, scattered percussion, glitches and scratchy silence, an industrial noise-flavored saxophone, occasional beats, and Jaar’s own stunning baritone voice, soaked in heavy reverb. Silence holds as much weight as any musical element; careful listening is met with reward.
Jaar began his career as somewhat of a prodigy, releasing several impressive singles and remixes starting at age 18, followed by the critically acclaimed Space is Only Noise at age 21, while he was still a student at Brown University. He has since become something of a leftfield international celebrity, as evidenced by the sold-out show at L'Olympia - the lineup spilled out onto Rue Sainte-Catherine, rounded the corner, and extended down almost to René-Lévesque. Security was intense that night, retaining control over the swaths of very down-to-party concert-goers with full pat-down searches. In my brief pass through security I witnessed more than one flask sacrificed to the garbage cans before my eyes.
The crowd inside was restless and tightly packed. The group in front of me performed their own concert version of manspreading, making sure to carve out enough space for any anticipated fist-pumping in advance of Jaar’s arrival. When our enigmatic star finally appeared, he was veiled in smoke. A glimmering sample of trickling water pierced the air, announcing the dawn of what would be a two-and-a-half-hour set. Ephemeral sounds bloomed and wilted, gently unfolding. Jaar made clever use of the spacing between speakers, allowing scattered bits of sound to stream in, then intermingle.
When his deep velvet voice first penetrated the room, the audience erupted into adoring applause. But Jaar did far from pander to their appetite; the music didn’t become danceable until at least twenty minutes in, and even then, it wasn’t sustained. Bursts of rhythm alternated with patches of ambient static. Some people’s patience wore thin, and by the time he played “Space Is Only Noise If You Can See,” he had lost maybe half of the crowd. Each time that he teased at the party having finally begun, it cut was short with offerings of artful abstraction. To be honest, I’m not quite sure what we were expecting; this is exactly how he structures his albums.
The benefit of an album however is that the listener controls their exposure to it; you can choose to be in an environment and a headspace that is conducive to absorbing complex musical ideas. I would cherish the chance to see Nicolas Jaar play a smaller venue, or a seated concert. His elegant canvasses of sound only become richer with focus, and the privilege of watching such a cunning craftsman produce in real-time should not be overlooked.
In author Heidi Julavitzs’s recent memoir The Folded Clock, she explains the reasoning for travelling to see a certain 15th century fresco, painted by someone called Piero della Francesca: “because Piero was big on math and so, behind his expressive faces there is not emotion but the math of an emotion.” Nicolas Jaar’s set felt like the math of music; meticulous and intelligent, containing all the requisite elements, deserving of your devoted focus, but ultimately too difficult to be enjoyable for any more than a small minority.
Concert Review: Soulfly @ Foufounes Électriques with Lody Kong, Noisem and Cannabis Corpse
Soulfly frontman Max Cavalera has recently been revisiting albums of his past. Last year, he toured the world with his brother Iggor, playing Sepultura’s 1996 album Roots in its entirety. Earlier this year, Max announced that he would be revisiting Point Blank by Nailbomb. Back in 1994, Max formed Nailbomb as a side project with Alex Newport (Fudge Tunnel). The project was short lived; they recorded only one album and performed live only once. Although Newport was not able to join Soulfly for the 2017 tour, Max brought along his two sons, Zyon (on drums) and Igor Jr. (on sample machine and backup vocals). Ever the family man.
The show at Foufounes Électriques opened relatively early with Lody Kong, Zyon and Igor’s respective band. Noisem followed, swinging their dreadlocks to and fro to the rhythm of the blast beats. However, I was most excited to see Cannabis Corpse, fronted by “Landphil” Hall of other Richmond, Virginia thrash acts like Municipal Waste and Iron Reagan. They mostly played tracks from their newest release Left Hand Pass, taking the time before each song to emphasize the song titles with marijuana-themed puns. At one point, their roadie jumped into the pit wearing a weed-nugget costume.
I listened to a lot of Soulfly during my Nu Metal phase in high school, yet I only recently did the research on Max Cavalera and learned how he influenced extreme metal with his previous work in Sepultura. Max is a metal legend in his own respect, and the second he stepped on stage, a sense of awe washed over the audience. I never knew of the existence of Nailbomb until I saw the poster for this show, but the audience seemed to know every word off Point Blank. Max looked like he was having a blast the entire time, whether he smiling admiringly at Igor Jr. while he was singing, or playing air drums along with his son Zyon.
Three intermissions were taken between songs where members stepped offstage, either for lead guitarist Marc Rizzo to shred a solo, or to play out an extended noise sample. Samples play a big part in Point Blank in setting up the chaotic tone of the album, like the repeating line “hate is reality” in the song “World of Shit.” There were times where I questioned whether Max’s guitar was even plugged in; I didn’t hear sound corresponding to what he was strumming. I wasn’t the only one wondering this as other concert-goers echoed the same question in the post-show cigarette-break recap. Regardless, to be graced by the presence of Max Cavalera and to be served a rare sonic delicacy that is Nailbomb’s Point Blank, the least I can do to show my appreciation is to raise my devil horns salute high above my head.
RIDM Ticket Contest!
RIDM (Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal) is Quebec’s only film festival dedicated to documentaries, presenting the best reality-based films, including the works of established directors and new talents alike. Make sure to check out the 20th edition between November 9th and 19th.
We’ve got six tickets to RIDM and we wanna give them to you guys. Interested in getting your hands on a pair for you and a friend?
All you have to do is email us at promo@cjlo.com with your full name and “RIDM Festival” in the subject line! Good luck!
Mello G on The Anatomy of Caribbean Music
Roderick « Mello G » Thomas will be on the Anatomy of Caribbean Music Saturday, Oct 28th at 8pm!
Imagine a deep soulful voice with a reggae flavour, sometimes a reminder of Barry White, with a touch of a jazzy saxophone; it’s reggae/soul as you never heard before.
Tune in at cjlo.com or at 1690am
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His first album “I am Bless” was released in 2010 with House of Reggae Records. July 7th 2017 marks the release of The Journey Continues, 5 songs of pure reggae, Dancehall, roots and rub-a-dub pleasure, produced by Paul Cargnello, and available in digital platforms around the world. Mello G is eager to meet his fans again and reggae music lovers on the stage where he is at his best.
CJLO presents: The Link Magazine Launch Party
CJLO and The Link Magazine have organized a panel discussion and evening of great music to celebrate The Link's November Mag Launch!
Enjoy music curated by our Head Music Director, Omar Husain, featuring performances from Slight (MTL), Blessed (VAN) and AIM LOW (MTL).
Join us on Friday, November 10th at Casa del Popolo. Doors are at 8:00pm, panel starts at 8:30pm and music begins at 9:30pm.
You can find the Facebook event and weekly updates, HERE.
Au Contraire Film Festival Kicks Off!
Tonight the Au Contraire Film Festival kicks off! Last week Remi had the opportunity to interview Vincent Sabella about the premier of his film Elizabeth Blue, which is premiering tonight at 7 PM located at Musée McCord Museum. The festival showcases an array of films that deal with the topic of shinning a light on mental health, The 5th edition of the festival runs from the 24th - 25th of October.
Listen to Remi's interview on At The Movies (Tuesdays from 8-9am), HERE.
Giveaway - Thor: Ragnarock
We're giving away 2 pairs of tickets to an advance screening of Thor: Ragnarok on Nov 1st at Cineplex Banque Scotia
1st way to win is to e-mail promo@cjlo.com with your full name!
2nd way to win is to tune into Franklin Armstrong Collective's #GeektastiqCypha on Wed, Oct 25th at 9pm and phone-in your answer to the following question at 9:39pm
"The new Thor movie Thor: Ragnarok is a hybrid of two Marvel comic stories that have been mix together. What are the two stories?"
Sinkane on The Pressure Drop
Tune in to The Pressure Drop show on Monday 23rd October from 5pm to catch their interview with Ahmed Gallab, band leader of the one and only Sinkane ahead of their show at Bar le Ritz on Tuesday, October 24th.
The album Life and Livin’ It has been described as; “brimming with optimism, hope, and hooks that won't leave your head” by NPR, and “the sort of galloping, alternative dance music you hope LCD Soundsystem are still capable of” by The Guardian. This is feel-good music for trying times, celebrating what makes life good without ignoring what makes it hard.
Tune in from 5pm at cjlo.com
Concert Review: GoldLink @ L'Astral
After weeks and weeks of playing songs of his latest LP At What Cost, and falling in love with GoldLink's unique sound, I came to expect not a show, but a house party from the D.C rapper. Luckily for me and the sold-out crowd at L’Astral, he came through.
Naturally, it wouldn’t be a house party without a few friends coming along for the ride. Masego came through as the opener with enough energy to single-handedly power the entire building. To make things even more interesting, he not only played the saxophone while his instrumentals played in the background, but he even brought his keyboard and beat machine on stage and recreated a few beats from scratch. Masego wasted no opportunity to dedicate his set to the ladies in attendance. He had his DJ play some of his favorite slow jams, making us all miss the early 2000s in the process. He danced and sang along to songs like “Slow Motion” by Juvenile, or “Glamorous” by Fergie. Masego even paid homage to the King of Pop by performing his best impersonation of Michael Jackson, and yes, the “Thriller” jacket came out.
By the time Masego got of the stage, everyone was ready for the man of the hour to hit the stage. GoldLink came out to “Hands on Your Knees,” a song that embodies the party vibe GoldLink captures in his music and is possibly the greatest intro he could ever use. He started off his set with “Dark Skin Women,” “Some Girl,” and “Rough Soul,” solidifying the notion that the show was very much dedicated to women. “Spectrum” was followed by “Meditation,” a record that will forever preserve the love GoldLink will receive from the Montreal crowd as it was produced by hometown hero Kaytranada.
Halfway through his set, I came to an important realization: more people were dancing rather than holding their phones up towards the stage. That simple fact is proof that the 24-year-old was successful in creating the house party vibe I was expecting. GoldLink took it step further by playing some of his favorite songs as well. Usher’s “You Ain’t Gotta Call” had everyone feeling nostalgic, while Waka Flocka's “Grove St. Party” got people dancing again. He followed the club banger with his own track, “We Will Never Die,” reminding everyone how aggressive his songs can be. He didn’t stick to that sound for long however, as he followed it up with “Her Side Story” and “Late Night,” bringing Mesago out again in the process.
Of course, GoldLink could not leave the building without playing his biggest record ever. “Crew” was played not once, but twice. The rapper went on to explain that Kaytranada was supposed to be in attendance, but was unfortunately in Miami. Regardless, I speak for everyone when I say GoldLink put on a an excellent show, worthy of the thunderous round of applause he received as he departed.
Image credit: Billboard.
Worst Case Scenario on Grade A Explosives
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