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Making Films and Making Family: Rhayne Vermette on Ste. Anne
Content Warning: Mentions Indigenous children’s unmarked graves and residential schools
In the opening sequence of Ste. Anne, a lone figure slowly makes her way across a prairie field at dusk. A train whistles in the distance. It’s fall, and foreboding storm clouds have gathered just above the horizon.
We learn that this is Renée (played by filmmaker Rhayne Vermette herself), a Métis woman whose family hasn’t seen or heard from her in four years, including her young daughter Athene (Isabelle d’Eschambault).
Now, without a word of warning or explanation, she has decided to come home.
Weighty and at times conflicted visions of home form the heart of Vermette’s spell-binding and intensely personal debut feature, which won the Amplify Voices award for Best Canadian Film at TIFF in 2021. Shot on 16mm in Vermette’s home province of Manitoba, with a cast of all non-professional actors including several members of her own family, the film sensitively explores the tumultuous aftermath of Renée’s unexpected return, blending fact and fiction, dreams and reality, in the manner of a story altered and embellished over the course of its many tellings and retellings.
Vermette calls the film “Paris, Texas rewritten into Treaty 1.” The comparison is not merely thematic: Ste. Anne takes the unconventional approach of borrowing directly from the acclaimed 1984 Wim Wenders feature in many aspects of its script, cinematography, and plot. “It was just an exercise,” Vermette says of her choice to scatter the film with references to Wenders’ masterpiece, explaining that much of her early work involved “taking other people’s films and cutting them up.”
The divergences outnumber the similarities between the two films, however: where the central figures of Paris, Texas are marked by their loneliness and alienation from one another, Ste. Anne portrays a family’s struggle against the odds to reconnect.
Vermette’s path to filmmaking began while she was pursuing an ill-fated pre-Master’s in Architecture at the University of Manitoba. Though she ended up dropping out with only a few months left of the program, it was there that she stumbled onto stop-motion animation by making simple paper models and photographing them, then putting the photographs together.
Over the subsequent decade, Vermette came to develop her distinctive filmmaking style, making experimental and largely non-narrative shorts marked by hand-drawn animation, with fast-paced and discordant sound and visuals. She has previously referenced producers Madlib and J Dilla as the biggest influences on her editing style, a lineage evident in the rhythmic, driving energy exuded by her work.
The seeds of Ste. Anne were planted while Vermette was doing research for a potential documentary on the former Métis fringe settlement known as “Rooster Town,” which was annexed by the city of Winnipeg in the 1950s to build a suburban mall and high school. Its families, many of whom had lived there for decades, were evicted without compensation and dispersed across the city. While she eventually decided not to pursue the project, feeling that it wasn’t her story to tell, the experiences of the families she had interviewed resonated deeply with what she knew of her own family’s struggle, especially that of her father and his siblings. She began writing the script for Ste. Anne, interweaving these histories with the story of Renée: “It’s autobiographical in sort of a weird, mythological sense,” Vermette says.
Speaking of her upbringing, Vermette says that most people don’t have a unified conception of who the Métis are as a nation, including some Métis people themselves: “The Vermettes, we never sat down and were like, ‘What does this mean for us to be Métis folk?’ It’s just like, ‘We’re fucking Métis,’ right?” These questions of identity and self-definition served as a jumping off point for the exploration that takes place in Ste. Anne – questions which are intentionally left open-ended, challenging the viewer to look beyond familiar tropes which ultimately provide only a limited view of modern Indigeneity.
Certain scenes illustrate the vital urgency of Vermette’s work with clarity. In one vignette, a group of women go trick-or-treating on Halloween, dressed in nuns’ habits with eerie white masks obscuring their faces. The grandmother (played by Métis elder Dolorès Gosselin) jokes, “There’s nothing scarier than a nun!” The line has taken on a particularly heavy significance in the wake of the past year’s discoveries of Indigenous children’s unmarked graves at the sites of several former Church-run residential schools across the country, despite having been written long before the news had broken. The light tone of the grandmother’s comment also speaks to Vermette’s desire, as she says, “to address some past things, but not dwell on them…it was my way of sort of like, having it there as a symbol, and then moving on and moving beyond it.”
But Vermette and, by extension, Ste. Anne underscore that the Métis experience is not just one of dislocation and loss – it’s one of kinship, of community, of unbreakable ties between family, both biological and chosen. “Ste. Anne is a film about reconnecting, and it actually legit was,” she says with a laugh. “I was so strongly connected to the Vermettes before, but I think that [now] we are even more bonded.”
On set, though Vermette is credited as director, she says that roles were fluid and non-hierarchical – there were multiple cinematographers, for example, and everyone was paid the same amount. Her crew, comprised almost entirely of Indigenous women, also became family in a way. “I always wanted a sister, and it’s like, through Ste. Anne I have so many sisters now,” she says.
For Vermette, the choice to work with family and close friends, wasn’t a secondary consideration but an integral part of the production process, and therefore of the film itself.
“Every film is about its making, I think, and that’s especially true of Ste. Anne.”
Ste. Anne is now available to stream on The Criterion Channel.
Metal My Movie: Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban
HEAVY METAL BOOK CLUB: Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion
Songs about getting reckless, getting wasted, and getting naked tend to fall in and out of fashion frequently, but for the better part of a decade, they absolutely dominated the airwaves. The hair was high, the clothes were tight, and the dudes looked like ladies, because hard rock ruled, the supply never ran dry, and it seemed like the party would never end. Of course, it did, as all good times do, and no matter how many bands have tried, a true hair metal revival has always been perpetually around the corner, and also forever out of reach. What that era left behind is a legion of true believers, semi-regular airplay in strip clubs and sports stadiums, and the stories. Holy shit, the stories.
If you've read Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain (and if you haven't, you should), then you'll be familiar with the format of Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock's Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. Told through collected snippets of interviews with the musicians, managers, publicists, music execs, photographers and creatives that made the 80s hard rock and hair metal scene a reality, this book is full of stories, told straight from the horse's mouth.
Unfortunately, those who, like me, came seeking sex and scandal, might find themselves somewhat disappointed. Yes, the sleaze and seediness of the scene is an undercurrent of the book, however, some of the best (or perhaps worst, depending on your perspective) stories don't really appear here. When Mötley Crüe's eye-watering, but excellent, autobiography The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band was published in 2001, this was a very different world. The interviewees in this book seem all too aware that, given its publication in 2021, many of their stories would get the protagonists cancelled, if not outright indicted. While some bad behavior is named, explained, and even correctly shamed, this is not the filthy tell-all for which you might be hoping.
Sex and drugs take a backseat to business deals in this book, which is fitting for an era in which investors and pencil pushers rushed into the music industry ready to profit. At some points, the book reads like a long discussion panel between very well-off men in their 50s and 60s about the choices they made that made them rich, despite having blown through the GDP of a small country on overblown music videos and recording sessions. Ultimately, what emerges is a comprehensive, if a tiny bit dry, chronology of a scene, and this is what I appreciated about it the most.
While some of the threads it weaves together are a bit snarled, by the end of the book you can pick out the whole picture. Young men, some still in their teens, flocked to one street in Los Angeles (or, to a lesser extent, New Jersey) with the goal of getting a record deal and getting laid (not necessarily in that order). They gigged and promoted relentlessly, hopped in and out of each other's bands, and some of them ended up richer than they could ever imagine, while the rest still play state fairs and club shows on the weekend for a respectable income. Around them, the music industry machine assumed that the incredible amounts of money generated by these acts would last forever, and the signings got increasingly indiscriminate, and the money thrown at the bands more ludicrous. By the time Nirvana's Nevermind altered the course of music history, some of those bands were dropped from labels owing half a million dollars in advances that would never be recouped. In some ways, the story of the hair metal era is the canary in the coal mine of music industry greed as a whole. Of course, it would become much easier to blame Napster a decade later. Despite all this, the popularity of the genre persists, and while the many young bands of today inspired by this scene have yet to break through in any meaningful way, lightning sometimes strikes twice, and only time will tell.
Over its dense 500+ pages, I was fascinated by how women are both simultaneously omnipresent and somehow invisible throughout the stories told in the book. Though the role of women as the backbone of contemporary music fandom and consumption is being increasingly explored in rock criticism, nowhere is this clearer than in the hair metal era. Hundreds of unnamed female fans fed hungry musicians, cleaned their apartments, and in some cases outright bankrolled the development of bands that have gone on to sell millions of records. Mötley Crüe, Guns N' Roses, and Poison, to name just a few, relied on the love and free labour of their fans to launch their careers and become household names. While some of these women do get recognition, notably Vicky Hamilton, whose impact on that entire era easily eclipses every other player in the book, I was left wanting a parallel book with the stories of all the groupies, girlfriends, fans, and hangers-on that made these men gods.
In 2009, VH1 released a documentary called Do It For The Band: The Women of the Sunset Strip. Though only one excerpt exists online, it hints at what could be, and that's what I'll leave you with here. (Incidentally, if anyone out there happens to have the full doc, please PLEASE get in touch!)
Read previous installments of Angelica's Heavy Metal Book Club here:
SEBASTIAN BACH: 18 & LIFE ON SKID ROW
“WHAT DOES THIS BUTTON DO?” BRUCE DICKINSON: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Angelica hosts BVST every Wednesday at 7 - 9 PM on CJLO. Tune in for the best (& worst) rock'n'roll, country, punk & metal!
Radio Lantern: Your Guide Through 15 Metal Subgenres
Everyone has to start somewhere! Whether you just found out AC/DC existed or you can’t wrap your head around what the hell Kawaii metal really is, this little guide might help you understand the difference between the following 15 metal subgenres and maybe help you expand your playlist a little.
I’m not a metal scholar but I’d like to think I know a bit about the genre after doing The Iron Club for 4 years while working with all different kinds of metalheads and DJs. With the hope that this guide can be used to break the ice with your longtime crush or make friends with some Russian soldiers in the future nuclear wasteland, let's get right to it!
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Heavy Metal
The original of all. First appearing in the late 1960s (where its appellation was used as a synonym of “hard rock”) and popularized in the 1970s and 1980s, the genre can be recognized by its long and complex guitar solos, the use of distortion and power chords and controversial dark lyrics. A few fun facts for you; hard rock gave us some of the most talented guitarists of all time like Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen) and Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath), amongst others. While also giving us the headbanging and the il cornuto aka the devil horns, it is responsible for metalheads being called this way.
My song suggestions
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Iron Maiden - “Number of the Beast”
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Judas Priest - “Breaking the Law”
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Saxon - “Wheels of Steel”
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Glam Metal
Born in the 1980s, this heavy metal subgenre featured a lot of hair sprayed backcombed hair and lots of showy spandex/leather pants. Sound-wise, it can be recognized by catchy hooks and guitar riffs, shredding and power ballads, while the genre’s lyrics are known for talking about love and other non-PG stuff. Fun fact for you, the genre was known for its intense lifestyle of heavy partying, drugs and girls that the media were all too pleased to report on. Even though it might be slightly romanticized, you can watch The Dirt to get a gist of what I mean.
My song suggestions
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Warrant - “Cherry Pie”
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Mötley Crüe - “Dr. Feelgood”
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Quiet Riot - “Cum On Feel The Noize”
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Death Metal
Now, we are getting to the heavier stuff, or for me, Hunter’s territory. Thanks to Newcastle’s Venom that gave us the bases for death metal, black metal and thrash metal in the early 1980s with Welcome to Hell (1981) and Black Metal (1982), the genre features the use of death growls instead of clean vocals, abrupt tempos led by the use of double kicks and blast beats on drums as well as fast distorted and low-tuned guitars. Death metal is the genre that will make your parents wonder if you are a devil worshiper, as religion, politics, science fiction and Lovecraftian horror are all part of the lyrical themes the genre uses.
My song suggestions
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Obituary - “Body Bag”
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Death - “Zombie Ritual”
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Cannibal Corpse - “Hammer Smashed Face”
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Black Metal
Another one of Hunter’s favorites, black metal was created in the mid 1980s with the “first wave” as bands like Venom, Bathory and Celtic Frost pioneered the genre that can be recognized by its fast tempos, the dark and heavy atmosphere of the songs as well as their unconventional structure and a vocal style that could sound like a shriek of a ghoul singing about Satanism, religion and paganism. In the 1990s, the “second wave” spawned out of Norway, as bands like Mayhem, Darkthrone and Burzum brought us the signature crappy recording sound that the genre is known for and beloved by fans. Fun fact time! Black metal performers often paint their faces to look like a distorted version of KISS and use some scene names, like Cronos, Euronymous or Lady Gaga. This genre is also the reason your family is certain that you worship the devil and that you’re in need of an exorcism when you sing in the shower.
My song suggestions
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Bathory - “Hades”
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Darkthrone - “Quintessence”
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Mayhem - “Chainsaw Gutsfuck”
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Thrash Metal
Created in the early 1980s, this genre is a fusion of heavy metal with the fast paced and aggressive style of hardcore punk. Aggressive greasy rhythm guitar, fast percussion and highly technical shredding solos accompanied by anti-establishment lyrics characterize the genre, which only became commercially successful in the mid 1980s. The number four seems to be very important for the genre, as the most successful bands of certain regions are often dubbed “The Big Fours”: there is an American one (Metallica, Megadeath, Slayer, Anthrax), a German one (Kreator, Destruction, Sodom, Tankard), and a Canadian one (Voivod, Sacrifice, Razor, Annihilator). Thrash metal is the basis of a lot of other subgenres like hardcore, metalcore, grindcore, groove metal, crossover thrash and thrashcore. Fun fact, the genre might be the reason why we popularized stage diving and mosh pits during concerts.
My song suggestions
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Metallica - “The Four Horsemen”
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Demolition Hammer - “Epidemic of Violence”
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Tankard - “Die with a Beer in Your Hand”
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Doom Metal
From the hare to the tortoise, this genre is much slower than the others, featuring low-tuned guitars and the use of heavy distortion creating a bleak and heavy atmosphere. When put together with heavy lyrical themes (suffering, depression, grief, anger, etc), the genre’s goal is to communicate a sense of impending doom. Finding its origin in the early 1970s and in the early Black Sabbath, certain bands write about drugs and their effects, which is known as stoner doom metal. You might want to put some of that on next time you decide that you’re in the mood for grass and shrooms.
My song suggestions
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Acid Witch - “Swamp Spells”
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Candlemass - “Under the Oak”
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Black Sabbath - “Electric Funeral”
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Folk Metal
Probably the easiest genre to figure out by itself, folk metal mixes traditional folk instruments with elements of heavy metal, sometimes adding some traditional singing styles. In the early 1990s, European bands like Skyclad and Cruachan pioneered the genre in its early days, inspiring bands across Europe and around the world to do the same. Principal lyrical themes usually deal with fantasy, mythology, paganism, history, and nature, which often define folk metal’s own subgenres like pirate metal, medieval metal, viking metal and celtic metal.
My song suggestions
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Finntroll - “Trollhammaren”
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Japanese Folk Metal - “Omatsuri Sawagi”
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Ensiferum - “Wanderer”
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Power Metal
Ever wanted to kick some ass and then have coïtus with dragons? You might have channeled the essence of power metal at one point… Created in the 1980s, this genre is a mix of heavy metal and speed metal often backed with a more symphonical track, making it faster and more uplifting than other genres. With lyrical themes ranging from fantasy to camaraderie, war and death or combining all of them, power metal bands seem to seek to create battle anthems to fuel soldiers’ spirits on the battlefield with their strong choruses, the resulting songs being very theatrical and emotionally charged.
My song suggestions
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Sabaton - “The Last Stand”
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Powerwolf - “We Drink Your Blood”
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Beast In Black - “Blind and Frozen”
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Progressive Metal
Prog metal might be the best genre for your neurodivergent ADHD brain. In the mid 1980s, someone decided to mix the aggressive sound of heavy metal and the musical exploration and “big brain” part of progressive rock together to make this baby. Often mixed with other subgenres, this genre can be recognized by its unconventional harmonies and the use of syncopation, all interpreted by extremely technical performers. You can also recognize the genre by meeting up with some TOOL fans, as they will tell you how big of a brain you must have to understand how great it is to wait 13 years for a new album.
My song suggestions
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TOOL - “Invincible”
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Haken - “Prosthetic”
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Sleep Token - “Hypnosis”
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Hardcore
I know this one isn’t technically “metal” but if you have seen an hardcore punk show before, you know how crazy it is to see people almost breaking their necks while stage diving. Having influenced a lot of other subgenres like thrash metal and any “core” genre ever, hardcore’s fast and aggressive sounds with some primal intonations put more emphasis on rhythm than melody. In more simple words, chugga-chugga guitar, fast drums and angry white guy screaming on stage against the establishment, commercialism, anything too mainstream, or their personal problems. I went to a Knocked Loose show back when live performances were a thing and it's still one of craziest things I have ever seen in my life. 10/10 would recommend it to everyone.
My song suggestions
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Knocked Loose - “Belleville”
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Hatebreed - “Destroy Everything”
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Bane - “Some Came Running”
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Metalcore
We are now entering my territory, as metalcore is the genre I adore and won’t shut up about. In the early 1990s, some hardcore punk band decided to use a more melodic approach to their music, earning the humorous nickname of “metallic handcore” amongst their purebread peers, which soon translated to the modern appelation. Borrowing sounds and techniques from both thrash metal and hardcore, the genre is known for its slow build ups leading to crazy breakdowns, during which the crowd goes in a frenzy, letting it all out in a moshpit (which are usually less intense than the ones you can see at hardcore shows, but still). I could give you so many suggestions, it pains me to only choose 3 songs…
My song suggestions
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Parkway Drive - “Deliver Me”
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Currents - “Poverty of Self”
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Crystal Lake - “Apollo”
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Deathcore
From metalcore, deathcore is, in my opinion, the logical evolution. As the genre appeared in the late 1990s, a little while after metalcore became a thing, it uses the musical components of death metal and adds metalcore’s breakdowns to it, often resulting in short but brutal songs. The vocalists of the genre are often put into the spotlight, as their personal use of the death growl is the centerpiece of records most of the time. I will never forget going to see Thy Art Is Murder live, seeing frontman Chris “CJ” McMahon show up on stage completely wasted, throw up in the middle of his set, slip on his own gut meal, get back up and finish it all with style.
My song suggestions
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Slaughter to Prevail - “Demolisher”
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Whitechapel - “Third Depth”
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Fit For An Autopsy - “No Man Is Without Fear”
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Grindcore
Do you like the sounds of a fork on a chalkboard mixed with a saw cutting wood while someone is breaking twigs in your ears ASMR style? Depending on your answer, grindcore might be for you. First appearing in the mid 1980s, the genre mixed elements of heavy metal and hardcore punk to a certain extreme, creating a very aggressive and abrasive sound, sometimes condensed in mere 30-second songs. Lyrical themes go from politics to slaughterhouse materials, and the listener may go through them all while listening to a five minute long record.
My song suggestions
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Napalm Death - “Cesspits”
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Pig Destroyer - “Gravedancer”
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Wormrot - “Outworn”
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Nu Metal
Nu metal happened when people decided to throw a lot of “metal convention” out of the window and added rap, DJing, or even Donald Duck to some classical elements. Created in the early 1990s, the genre brought a lot of people into metal with its creativity and accessibility (or not being too loud and heavy since you have some rapping parts in some songs, I guess). Though, the oversaturation of bands and the nu metal environment being more about the excesses of its performers than their music led to the rise of metalcore in the beginning of the 2000s. When I said it’s an accessible genre, I meant that it’s still a bit weird to me that my pop-head girlfriend knows “Break Stuff” by Limp Bizkit by heart.
My song suggestions
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Linkin Park - “In the End”
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System Of A Down - “Sugar”
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Slipknot - “Spit It Out”
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Kawaii Metal
Finishing on a lighter note, kawaii metal was created in the early 2010s by a lovely Japanese band called BABYMETAL. Just like Japan does best, this genre mixes some parts of heavy metal with some other parts of J-pop, the result being a couple of cute girls dancing and singing on a stage accompanied by some darkly dressed musicians that often produce the deeper back vocals needed in certain songs. There are two ways you get into this genre; either you are a “weeb” so it’s not that far off your alley or you start listening to it ironically and you get addicted. Might as well embrace your weeb-ness and dance along!
My song suggestions
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DEADLIFT LOLITA - “Pump Up JAPAN”
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BABYMETAL, F.HERO - “PA PA YA!!”
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BiSH - “IDOL is SHiT”
JP co-hosts The Iron Club, your weekly dose of handbanging and moshpit-worthy tunes as well as other numerous surprises from the realm of the underground, which airs every Sunday from 9:00 - 11:00 p.m.
Metal My Movie: Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage
Viewer Discretion is advised before viewing. This documentary deals with assault and violence. Find out more information here.
It is Metal March on CJLO 1690AM. Once again Metal My Movie is back, where we take a look at a movie and give it the metal treatment it deserves.
The original Woodstock festival took place from Aug. 15-18, 1969 – held by its fundamental philosophical notions of peace, love, and freedom of expression, all while listening to music. 30 years later right before the turn of the millennium, another Woodstock festival took place. The promoters of the festival wanted to relive the magic of the original Woodstock and bring it to a new audience to experience, however it was far from the original experience of the core philosophy. The festival, known as Woodstock 99, would come to be known as a disaster music festival – captured in last year’s HBO Music Box series. For this first Metal My Movie segment we will explore the changing shifts of musical acts featured at the Woodstock 99 festival and how this correlates to the shifts in societal norms as seen in the documentary Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage from director Garret Price.
The original Woodstock had more musicians that were all about the foundations of peace, love and freedom. More times than not, the most radical inclination was political or societal in nature. Think about Jimi Hendrix playing “The Star Spangled Banner'' on electric guitar as the counterculture radical move of the time. Wyclef Jean would reenact this moment at Woodstock 99 but many would not get the reference having not been there at the original festival. Woodstock 94, another rendition of the classic festival name, brought the grunge movement with bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam to the forefront without any problems and it was music with meaning for the times. The late ‘90s had some spectrums of music including the boy bands on one side and another side being nu metal. However, the music that was promoted at Woodstock 99 was more aggressive, misogynistic, and misguided towards the young male audience goers in attendance.
Looking at the festival’s lineup, there were only three big female acts billed among the three days – one per day. Woodstock 99 was slated as a nu metal festival as seen from the Saturday night lineup. Following the only female artist billed on Saturday night, Alanis Morissette, bands such as Limp Bizkit, Rage Against the Machine and Metallica played back to back.
The shifting nature of the bands billed at Woodstock 99 was met by a cultural response. We can take a look at how MTV was received at the festival. Most of the male attendees that were there for the nu metal scene did not like the presence of a channel. They felt MTV had sold out to cater to their little sisters with the emergence of the boy bands. This can be seen through The Offspring frontman Dexter Holland’s visual statement, who opened his set by breaking Backstreet Boys mannequins on stage with a plastic baseball bat. However, this would only be the beginning of the violence seen at Woodstock 99.
The original Woodtock festival had something to say about the political establishment at the time though this cultural festival that criticized the government. In contrast, Woodstock 99 saw Kid Rock saunter on stage in a full white fur coat and cane before going into his hit song "Bawitdaba." The counter political ideologies of the original festival were mismatched with the same toxicity found in the songs played at Woodstock 99, something that especially shined through when Kid Rock stated during his set that “Monica Lewinsky is a motherfucking hoe and Bill Clinton is a goddam pimp.”
Taking a look at Limp Bizkit’s two hit songs that frontman Fred Durst decided to perform, “Nookie” and “Break Stuff,” further reveals how the situation unraveled. During “Break Stuff,” he said, "Don't let anybody get hurt. But I don't think you should mellow out. That's what Alanis Morissette had you motherfuckers do. If someone falls, pick 'em up.”
A few songs later, Limp Bizkit were leading into another one of their hit songs, “Nookie,” which is a euphemism for sex. Before leading into the song, he said to the audience, "So for that sake, I want to let everybody know that I'm doing all this shit for the nookie." Halfway through the song, he continued speaking to the audience. "We already let all the negative energy out. It’s time to reach down and bring that positive energy to this motherfucker. It's time to let yourself go right now, 'cause there are no motherfuckin’ rules out there,” as a way of encouraging the audience to let themselves go with no rules of conduct.
Limp Bizkit disregarded the stage management’s advice to settle the crowd, creating an unsafe environment for the female audience members amongst the male audience members. Durst’s messages about sex and letting energy out with no rules put the female members of the audience in more danger, given the rowdy crowd.
The true escalation of the festival however would come Sunday night when the riots and looting started. The sign that the festival was out of control was when a fire was started and stage management told Anthony Kiedis from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to take control and tell the audience to disperse to make way for the fire trucks. Instead, the band retook the stage for an encore performance cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire,” stoking the audience and the flames into more of a frenzy.
Woodstock 99 on many levels is seen as a failure, as after Sunday night’s escalation into fire, riots, and looting, members of the New York State Troopers were called in to peacefully disperse the crowd. The biggest irony is that some of the members of the non-violent group PAX handed out candles in a symbol of peace that would later lead to the fire destruction caused on Sunday night. There would be in the weeks to come many more horror stories to emerge from the festival, as it was revealed that some of the female attendees were assaulted, receiving little help from security or the musical acts.
The Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage documentary explores perfectly where the metal/rock fusion of the nu metal music scene went wrong in promoting ideologies of aggressive violence and misogynistic toxicity. The music and festival community eventually had to look back after the dawn of the millennium to create a better scene in the future. Despite this, today the nu metal scene still deals with the case of recent abuse allegations against Marilyn Manson that will be seen later this March in Evan Rachel Wood’s new documentary Phoenix Rising. Clearly, there still needs to be changes to the scene towards a positive direction.
Next week Metal My Movie takes a look at Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban, as the film series celebrates its 20th anniversary. Got a movie you feel should get the Metal My Movie treatment? E-mail us @ atmovies@cjlo.com. Remi hosts At The Movies alongside regular co-host Danny every Tuesday morning from 8:00 - 9:00 a.m. only on CJLO 1690AM.
The 6th Edition of Metal March Is Back and Louder Than Ever!
Ho ho ho! It's Metal March time again! Gather round children as we tell tales of yelling voices, blast beat drums, and shredding guitars during this the loudest month at CJLO! When we started Metal March six years ago, we wanted to be able to celebrate not just loud music but also the contribution that loud music has made to the culture at large and how Montreal and CJLO have played into that, and this year is no different.
Yes, sadly we are in year number two of a pandemic that is either already over, never even happened, or is still raging onward depending who you ask, and so Metal March here at CJLO is once again an online affair. BOOOOOOOO!!!! But we still have stuff for you to check out. YAAAAYYYY!!! But we won't get to see your lovely faces. BOOOOO!!!! But none of us will have to put on pants. YAAAAAAYYYY!!!
First, let's mention the obvious, which is that all your favourite CJLO shows will be "loudening up" their content during the month so you can potentially find some bands you might know that relate to what they play. Your favorite hip hop show might throw in a trap metal track. Your bedroom pop show might get some dark ambient stuff. Your indie rock staple might throw on some post-punk for you to check out. All to try to spotlight some of the heavier aspects of what they play and potentially introduce you to your new favourite band.
And, the metal DJs will be getting in on the action for International Women's Week at CJLO, which kicked off on March 1 as well. The metal shows this first week of the month will be showcasing women in loud music, but not in the Revolver Magazine "Hottest Women in Metal" kind of way, more in the "Hey these kick ass musicians kick ass and are also women" kind of way. As an example, you could tune in to Grade A Explosives this Sunday from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. to hear an interview with the vocal powerhouse from Toronto, SATE. Check out the program grid so you can properly mark your calendars.
Speaking of your favourite DJs from your favourite loudest shows, the hosts of such esteemed programs as BVST (Wednesdays 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.), Sewer Spewer (Mondays noon - 1:00 p.m.), The Noisy Loft (Sundays 8:00 - 9:00 p.m.), and The Iron Club (Sundays 9:00 - 11:00 p.m.), will be writing articles for the CJLO Magazine under the banner of "Metal Mondays." This month, among the other articles, you'll be able to read another "Metal Book Club" article, an article about black metal in China, as well as general reviews of albums, so be sure to check back to this website for more pieces as they come up.
Next, we have some album retrospectives that will be happening during the course of the month. Fun fact: did you know Iron Maiden's Number of the Beast turns 40 years old March 22? Well, it does, and that's not the only classic album that has an anniversary this year. Venom's Black Metal is also 40 years old. Killswitch Engage's Alive or Just Breathing is 20 years old. How about Body Count's debut self-titled record? It's 30 years old and on March 10th no less, and members of CJLO want to talk about these records. Stayed tuned to our social media to hear what albums will be discussed and where you can hear the hot / cold / lukewarm takes that will presented for you to agree / disagree / yell loudly at your preferred listening device.
What's that? You're in a sad state because the music industry is dominated by an unethical business model? Well... honestly that's not new, but the cause of it is COUGH Spotify COUGH. Well, fear not, because once again this year you can help yourself AND bands with our latest edition of the "Band Advent Calendar," where we at CJLO highlight bands and send you over to their Bandcamp where a record will be "Pay What You Can," which means you could have an album for free, or you could be an altruist and kick the band some money. Or you can download one album for free and then buy another. The possibilities are endless... until you reach the end of the possibilities of course. On the docket today is the self-titled album from Winnipeg’s Vagina Witchcraft. Make sure to follow CJLO’s Facebook page for more free albums!
Speaking of the music industry, do you know the Polaris Music Prize? Do you notice that the short list doesn't really have loud things on it very often? Are you curious what the deal with that is? Well, join CJLO for a discussion with Polaris jurors to get some insight on how the prize is determined and maybe find out where all the loud albums go each year during the whittling down process. Be on the lookout for a date and time coming up.
So, to sum it up: loud music and topics throughout the whole month on CJLO's social media, website, and of course on our airwaves. Keep a look out for this as well as any other announcements about programming, special events, and all things loud.
As always, stay heavy, and stay safe.
At The Movies Interview with Quebecois Filmmaker Philippe Grégoire
The Director's Influence presents a conversation with Quebecois filmmaker Philippe Grégoire about his new film Le bruit des moteurs (The Noise of Engines). Among other things, Remi and Grégoire discuss the personal nature of the project and the integral role that sound design plays in the film. Le bruit des moteurs is playing in select cities across Quebec and at Cinema Beaubien as of Feb. 25. Bon cinéma!
At The Movies (with Iconic Sounds) can be heard every Tuesday morning from 8:00 - 9:00 a.m. only on CJLO1690AM.
The Unorthodox Romance of Julia Daigle and Un singe sur l'épaule
“I hope it's going to make people dream. Because I dreamt a lot about that project,” said Julia Daigle, skittish about whether that was too pretentious a statement to make about her recent album, Un singe sur l'épaule.
The Montreal singer-songwriter need not worry. Listening to the record feels like stepping into a bewitching dreamscape, untethered from modern musical tropes. The effect is altogether reminiscent of Kate Bush, a creative North Star for Daigle and another artist that draws you into her world on her own terms.
“She was someone I mentioned in my very first meeting with Dominic [Vanchensteing],” Daigle said of Bush, while referencing her primary collaborator on Un singe sur l'épaule. “And so we met and we had a couple drinks and we just talked and because we were strangers at that point, we needed a key word to just open our imagination.”
The word they came up with: “medieval.” It’s a totally accurate description; thanks to old-fashioned instrumentation that includes banjo, farfisa, mandolin, baglama, and bouzouki, Un singe sur l'épaule echoes music from the depths of time. Mixed with the non-traditional structure many of the LP’s songs take, the album is a lot different from the art-drenched pop music Daigle makes as one half of local duo Paupière. “It was probably the biggest challenge I had musically to not have a pop format,” Daigle said. “I'm used to thinking about chorus and verse, like kind of a recipe.”
As with many solo albums from artists part of a group, Un singe sur l'épaule is a personal record for Daigle. “It's more like a journal,” she said of the album. “It's very coded, in the sense that I don't talk directly about some things that I've been through or experienced, but it is very, very personal to me.” Daigle explained that in contrast with her new material, with Paupière, “I write more like stories with characters that are not me, or [anybody] I know. It's just things that I imagined.”
It’s true that Daigle avoids a confessional lyrical approach. The whole heart-on-your-sleeve thing isn’t much to her liking. But Daigle is a devotee of romanticism as a movement, as she explained about "Sur la haute colline," a song off Un singe sur l'épaule that adapts its lyrics from the work of the same name by Quebec poet René Chopin. It’s one of collaborator Vanchensteing’s favourite poems, one he sent her after a session thinking it could be a song.
“It's very romantic, but not in the romance [sense], like people falling in love,” Daigle said. “Just romanticism in general – the pain of living, and beauty […] the vision of time that is different. I just think it was very touching, because the words are still as beautiful now as they were when he wrote it. I think it's timeless, his art [and] his creation in general.”
The dichotomy between Daigle’s romanticism and her avoidance of traditional romance even extends to her never having written about the most quintessential song topic: love. “I actually never wrote a love song in my life, like in Paupière or in this project,” Daigle admitted. “There's many forms of love, but romantic songs, it's not my thing.
“Maybe someday I'm going to write a love song for someone, but it just never happened,” Daigle later added. “I have songs about friendship or passion – passion for your art, passion for living… But, yeah, it's not my thing.”
One of the most romantic-sounding songs is the only other track on Un singe sur l'épaule not written by Daigle, and again is not romantic in the lovey-dovey sense. Backed by longing saxophone and pillowy synths, "Nanette" is based on Nanette Workman, an American-born singer who in the ‘60s ran in the same circles as artists like The Rolling Stones. She also made it big in Quebec by singing in French, impressive considering it wasn’t her native language. Before she shot to fame, however, Workman was in New York City, trying to get into the prestigious Juilliard School and ending up as an understudy on Broadway.
“[Vanchensteing] read her biography that she wrote,” Daigle said, “and that’s just a part of her life that he thought was very beautiful, and he just made a song for fun.” Inspired by Vanchensteing’s inspiration from Workman’s love of her early years in NYC, Daigle compared her approach on “Nanette” to that of an actress inhabiting a role.
“When [Vanchensteing] showed me the song, I just loved it so much,” Daigle said. “It was very magical. I think we only did four or five takes for that one for the vocals, and [in] one shot, which is very rare for me. Because I often search for a long time for the tone, for the good intention that I want. But this one, I felt like I was possessed or something, [from] the strong feelings that [Workman] probably did have.”
It speaks to the power of art that it can transcend time, becoming relevant to each new generation that comes into contact with it, much like the poems of Chopin or the story of Workman did for Daigle. It’s no surprise why artists hope their own creations become timeless, but not necessarily for any narcissistic reasons, according to Daigle.
“It's kind of like dreaming of being like a superhero in a way,” Daigle said, “but not in a megalomaniac way of thinking. It’s just because you've been traveling through other artists before, so for sure you dream of giving back and making other people travel through you.
“I think it takes a lot of courage to expose yourself and show your work. And, you know, sometimes you discover something and you're like, ‘Thank you’ (laughs).”
Un singe sur l'épaule is out now (Lisbon Lux Records)
Photo credit: David Cannon
Alex Viger-Collins is the host of Ashes to Ashes, your home for modern pop in all its forms, every Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.
CJLO Year End Top 2021
CJLO’s Top Played “Loud” Artists of 2021
Well, 2021 was quite a year wasn't it? It's a good thing we're in 2022 now, which we all know will be totally different from 2021 and isn't just an arbitrary number we've assigned based on our observations of us rotating around the sun. No, 2022 has already come in and solved all the problems that were left over from the last year.
But before we banish 2021 to the trash bin of history, I thought it might be fun to give you the list of the top played loud artists who released new material in the last year. What does "loud" mean? Well, it's become kind of a catchall term in college/community radio to describe music that, as all of our mothers knew before us, forces us to take drugs, commit murder, and return library books overdue. So, of course this encompasses metal, but also punk, and noisy rock bands.
Before we start, I just feel I should point out that all of the bands that get played are selected by the DJs on shows themselves. CJLO doesn't have a playlist of bands DJs must play, and despite all of big tech's efforts, humans aren't algorithms, so each of these bands was selected by a real person who played it on their show for other real people to hear. I know this seems like a weird thing to mention, but it's worth pointing out that the DJs at CJLO work hard to try to construct shows they think that you'll enjoy and because of that, to me, I think these bands should feel even prouder about their work.
With that out of the way, perhaps it's best to add a bit of context to this through some factoids, so here's some of that:
- CJLO was sent roughly 2,000 records from bands who released EPs or LPs during the course of the year. It was, to put it mildly, a lot, and that doesn't even factor in the stuff released in 2020 that was sent during 2021.
- Of those, DJs on shows played 452 bands, so roughly 25% of all albums sent to us. For all you bands reading, I'm not saying college radio will definitely play you if you send your record, but a 25% chance is infinitely better than your chances of being played on a corporate radio station. Not saying... Just saying.
- Of these 452 bands, 171 were from Canada, thus making the total CanCon on the list 37.83 per cent, well above the 35 per cent required by our license. Please take note, CRTC.
- 61 of those bands were from right here in the province of Quebec because CJLO likes to try and bring you the best from your local scene. That means that 13.5 per cent of the list was Quebec bands or groups.
- This is probably a good time to mention that if you're in a band and want something played on CJLO, feel free to send an email to md-metal@cjlo.com and you might be on next year's list.
- And finally, the most common words in band names this year were "black," "sun," and "wolf"/"wolves." This breaks the two year running tradition of "dead" or "death" being in the top three. Perhaps this tells us that metal bands are maturing and able to get more creative with their band names, or more likely that there will be twice as many mentions next year.
And so, with all of that out of the way, here's the top 201 loud bands played on CJLO that released something new in the past year. Why 201? Because the last two were tied, so deal with it. Congrats to all these bands, and we hope to hear more from them in the near future.
Bands in red are Canadian. Bands in blue are from Quebec.
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CANCER BATS
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AIM LOW
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SPECTRAL WOUND
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SUDDEN WAVES
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TUNIC
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SCARE
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FUCK TOUTE
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PORTRAYAL OF GUILT
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FRVITS
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SWARM OF SPHERES
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WHITE COWBELL OKLAHOMA
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DEVIN TOWNSEND
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OLDE
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VAGINA WITCHCRAFT
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EVERY TIME I DIE
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HARAKIRI FOR THE SKY
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THE HISTORY OF FLYING OBJECTS
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CLICPOW
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EX DEO
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CULTED
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WEEDIAN: A TRIP TO CANADA
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GRALE
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KATO
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68
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SEUM
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BIRMANI
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CELL PRESS
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MAUDIIR
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ANTI-GOD HAND
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THREE EYES LEFT
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KARLOFF
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SLEEP TOKEN
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CONFINED TO OBLIVION
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DANKO JONES
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THE BRONX
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SPIRITBOX
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A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH
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AS WE SUFFER
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GORLVSH / THE LISTENER
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CONVERGE & CHELSEA WOLFE
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EYEHATEGOD
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AGE OF WOLVES
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NADJA
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SATE
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ALTERED DEAD
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YAUTJA
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THE JAILBIRDS
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DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA
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RVBBER VVITCH
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THE DAMN TRUTH
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MARES OF THRACE
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ARCHITECTS
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EVIL
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ROB ZOMBIE
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SANDVEISS
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THE ARMED
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GWAR
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FOXOR
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MOTORHEAD
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DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979
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DEAD SENTRY
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DEADWOLFF
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SIGIL
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WANDERER
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FRACTURE
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ERDVE
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NOISE UNIT
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ANDREW WK
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JOEY CHAOS AND THE GHOSTS
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TONY RUST AND THE MUDHORSES
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MALACODA
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SOILWORK
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BASTERDS
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BLEEDING OUT
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LOCKED IN
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VITRAIL
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BLACK CLOTHES
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BEASTWOOD
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MONSTER MAGNET
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THE PICTUREBOOKS
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BLOODY HAMMERS
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COFFINS
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FRONTLINE ASSEMBLY
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SANDSTORM
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MONOLORD
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PLAGUE WEAVER
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BLACK SABBATH
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FULLUM
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ZAO
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AUGUST BURNS RED
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FEAR FACTORY
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ANTIOCH
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ARCHAIC EARTH
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AUTUMN KINGS
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TRISTWOOD
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SERMON OF FLAMES
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BONEYARD
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FULL OF HELL
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DA BEUMB PROJECT
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SUN BELOW
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BACKXWASH
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LORDI
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NERVOSA
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THE DESIGN ABSTRACT
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CIRITH UNGOL
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BONE TOWER
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MIDNIGHT GALLOWS
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HATEBREED
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TRAUMA LANE
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UNCLE WOE
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HEAD OF JEDDORE
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NEKER
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AT THE GATES
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GRAND COLLAPSE
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LLNN
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HARD CHARGER
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ELECTRIC HYDRA
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RUFF MAJIK
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NORDICWINTER
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ISCHEMIC
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BRIDGE BURNER
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SLASHDANCE
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BETWEEN THE BURIED AN ME
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DISCARDED SELF
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APHRODITE
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FLAMING SIDEBURNS
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ATREYU
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THUNDERMOTHER
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THE MIGHTY ONE
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ECLIPSER
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MAMA DOOM
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CUESTACK
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LAMB OF GOD
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WORMWITCH
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SHOTGUN SAWYER
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MASTIFF
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CARCAJOU
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DOOMED AND STONED IN CANADA VOL 2
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THE AGONIST
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LUTHARO
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HALLOWS DIE
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KNIVAD
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A SCENT LIKE WOLVES
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AUTOCATALYTICA
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LUCIFER
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TIMO ELLIS
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DARKTHRONE
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HAUNT
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DARK TRANQUILITY
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HOWLING GODS
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DIVIDE AND DISSOLVE
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BOOZEWA
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RIVERS OF NIHIL
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OUTRE-TOMBE
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GREEN DESERT WATER
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HANDS OF DESPAIR
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SODOM
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ZEBADIAH CROWE
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VIKING QUEEN
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PIG
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TIGERS ON OPIUM
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CEVIN KEY
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HO CHI MINH
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VARJA
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GASPARD
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WITHIN NOSTALGIA
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WARCALL
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SHOW ME THE BODY
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ODD CIRCUS
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CANNIBAL CORPSE
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BLACK SPELL
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THE LION'S DAUGHTER
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GOJIRA
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ARTILLARY
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FUCK THE FACTS
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APE VERMIN
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T-TOPS
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DEATHCHANT
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HIVERNA
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KING WOMAN
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WILDSTREET
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ANAHATA
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EUTHANIZED
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MONTEZUMA'S REVENGE
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SHADOW OF CORVUS
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LESOTHO
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COMET CONTROL
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IRON MAIDEN
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ZACK OAKLEY
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MINISTRY
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WAGE WAR
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THE BODY AND BIG BRAVE
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UNTO OTHERS
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UNREQVITED
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GREEN LUNG
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THE METALLICA BLACKLIST
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ESCAPE TO WEIRD MOUNTAIN
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SINNER
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HELLOWEEN
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GAYLORD
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TRAPPIST / CONNOISSEUR
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