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By Mikey B - The Lonesome Strangers - 09/10/2006

Arts & Crafts are really starting to clean up around here.

The Toronto-based label that boasts fine acts such as Broken Social Scene, Feist and Stars have acquired yet another stellar band for their growing stable of goodness, the Parisian foursome known as Phoenix.

Word-of-mouth spreads pretty quickly, so once their third studio album (after 2004’s Alphabetical and 2000’s United) had hit the shelves, people were already hearing about that great new French band that signed on to A&C. The album It’s Never Been Like That came out in mid-June and has been on most indie hipsters’ hot lists since then. The first two albums flew fairly low on the indie rock radar, garnering a moderate hit when “Too Young” made its way on the Kevin Shields-inspired Lost in Translation soundtrack. Since then, their sound had sort of evolved into a mish-mash between disco-fused pop and dreamy indie rock. On their latest offering though, the hooks are more evident and the sound now has a semblance to the clean-cut pop of Supergrass and the Strokes. Phoenix, like most other indie contemporaries, might not be groundbreaking, however they do stand out from the rest of the herd of hipsters that have been swarming the music scene as of late.

The crowd was relatively large at 9pm for openers La Rocca, who treated the early birds to a brief fantastic set of heartfelt Britpop straight from the Emerald Isles. Their melodies come off as happy at times, mixed with the sound of the downtrodden vocalist crooning away passionately. It sure as hell isn’t the Smiths, but the formula seems to stick well with these guys.

Shortly thereafter, Phoenix hit the stage and kicked things off with “Napoleon Says” and “Long Distance Call” from their most recent release. Songs from earlier albums such as “Run Run Run” and “If I Ever Feel Better” were thrown in for good measure, and although eight of the 13 songs played were from the new album, this didn’t seem to bother anyone. By now, most people have gotten used to the fact that the live experience is a combined marketing ploy to sell any new album. Sure, most fans will usually complain and beg for the “older stuff” but the truth is, these relatively low-key bands thrive on the new album, the hype and the word-of-mouth, even if they’ve been around for upwards of five years. In this case, the new album is their best, so by show time, there’s no need to dig into the back catalogue, cover songs or provide generic concert-filler.

For the most part, the show stood at around the same high-octane level, with much of the material having a steady upbeat sensation to them. No real ballads or in-between chit-chat, just a lot of straightforward indie rock. My personal highlight of the show was when “Consolation Prize” was played and at the same time, the seven-foot giant obstructing my view moved to the side. The show closed with "North" and "Sometimes In The Fall", both again from the new album.

Now what strikes me odd is that as an objective listener to Phoenix, they really don’t come off sounding like a French band. In the first line of the song "Napoleon Says”, lead man Thomas Mars asks us if “you know your French well?”. Of course, here in "La Belle Pro Express”, we know a little but even the most discerning of Québécois ears wouldn’t be able to pick up even the slightest accent from these guys. The French sound, if any, is completely whitewashed amidst a slew of catchy pop melodies, and that doesn’t bother me in the slightest.

Leave the French to Stereolab and Indochine, they know what they’re doing.

[Tune in to The Lonesome Strangers every Wednesday from 3pm to 5pm.]

By Jo Satana - 09/10/2006

Sunday September 10 2006 was a special night for concert-goers as the who's who of Montreal’s underground shined their goatees and straightened their favorite pair of boots to kick heels with the elite over at Spectrum for a night of Metal magic. Practically the entire CJLO Loud Rock roster -- freelancers as well! -- came to welcome Mastodon as they thundered through our fair city in support of their new album Blood Mountain (Warner), bringing Boston hardcore punkers Converge and L.A. socialites The Bronx along with them.

Now let me take this opportunity to dispel a common myth about the CJLO crew: we might look cool, calm and composed on the outside, but we are like ducks, baby, and its all frantic below the water. The goal: to ensure timely arrival to the show through carpooling -- to show that we are environmentally conscientious -- while also taking the time for a nice pre-concert cocktail. The result: two stressful hours of heated back-and-forth and childish name-calling resulted in absolutely no initiative to carpool and we all completely missed The Bronx’s set, but having already caught them at a previous venue, I wasn’t too disappointed. In retrospect, our tardiness was mainly due to the fact that we took the time to be properly fed and "hydrated", accompanied by occasional moments of panic catalyzed by the realization that we might miss Converge’s set (apparently a must-see in some people’s books but not really my opinion -- see below). Also factoring in was a leisurely discussion which touched poignant topics such as the use of safety pins to keep T-shirts from falling apart, the opportunistic view that is awarded to the attentive when chicks are putting on their boots and the phenomenon of Cat-Scratch Fever where women, obviously through the transmission of an airborne virus found in cat claws, can’t fight off the urge to attack another female and rip off their clothes.

After our meal, we headed off to the show. Like I mentioned previously, we arrived right at the end of The Bronx’s set. Like the good concert-goers that we are, the next half-hour was spent perusing the merch tables and catching up with fellow collegues/peers as literally everyone from the scene was present and in attendance. Converge took the stage at a timely 8:30 and hardcore madness did in fact ensue. While I must admit that I am unfamiliar with Converge’s catalogue of "classics" and having never seen them live, I decided to mentally prepare myself by checking out the zany two-step dances the kids were doing. Hehe, it sort of looks like moshing -- but not really. Again, before ripping me a new one for my ignorance, I am aware of the huge following (proportionally) that Converge has here in Montreal and I am well-versed in the new-wave of hardcore (which I initially thought started and ended with Hatebreed). I’m glad to see that the kids are coming out to these shows, and it is in fact appreciated that I was able to witness a mixed bill like this one -- a not-so-rare occurrence anymore, but nonetheless refreshing. However, I’m not going to hide the fact that I wasn’t really digging the performance and I’ll leave it to a volunteer with more experience points in this field to fill in the gaps for this part of the review.

Moving forward, there is always a palpable tension in the air when something incredibly satisfying is about to happen: from that tingling sensation you get just before orgasm to the slow trickle of saliva down your chin before a nice meal, we are attuned, as a species, to sense the coming of something special. That is exactly how I felt the moment before Mastodon took the stage. Prior to that instant, thoughts were circling my head about the rumors concerning the band's future: supposedly Warner, after inking the deal with Mastodon, were little impressed with the end product and the band apparently has a lot to prove to a company that cares very little. My theory is that a band’s best way to sell itself when label security is in question is always the success of the supporting live show and not the new album release itself, since record moguls rarely know anything about their public and ticket sales are a better representation of the fan base rather then record sales.

Simply put, Mastodon killed. Any doubt I may have had -- especially after having listened to a streaming version of the new album, a body of work that is a little too easy to get into -- quickly vanished only to be replaced with a strong nod of the head in acknowledgement of that moment when everything comes together as if the pieces where custom fit to assemble. That’s what witnessing Mastodon is like (cheese factor definitely intended). They blew through their set for a crushing hour and a half and left no prisoners. The band is living proof that Metal is still a progressive genre that translates well into a live show, pleasing old Voivoders and speedheads alike. What should be noted about their set, having just seen them perform as the supporting act for Slayer this summer, is that they take risks. The crux of their music relies on complex and precise time changes; the fact that they pulled off every song flawlessly is an attestation to their technical prowess and with little rest between songs, their endurance as well. What I was most impressed with was how effortless they seemed to do it all; anyone who knows anything about how sound is produced was in full attention as it was clear that night that Mastodon is not just some studio band, which is normally the case for prog rockers.

In terms of set list, they basically perused both Remission and Leviathan enough to satisfy the crowd while at the same time, peppering their set with new classics from the just-released Blood Mountain. The show started and by the first few songs, we were treated with "March of the Fire Ants" and the set finished with "Hearts Alive" -- two songs that in my book best describe the entity as it is: a band whose output kicks you in the head as much as it nourishes it.

Mastodon is the sound of Metal for the 21st century; bow your head in shame if you missed this one. Now go clean your room or something.

[Jo "Can I watch you put on your boots?" Satana is a freelance perv.]

By Johnny Suck - Turn Down the Suck - 07/03/2005

Sounds of the Underground was supposed to be THE summer festival for those of us who aren’t into Warped Tour and who aren’t visited by Ozzfest. It had loads of potential but, unfortunately, it failed. The festival would have been able to overcome any single problem, however there were several issues that teamed up to bring it down. First of all, Stade Uniprix is an awful venue. The show was indoors, in what felt like an airplane hangar. There was almost zero atmosphere and the sound was atrocious. Even the best bands were difficult to enjoy due to the sound and the worst bands were rendered unlistenable. Having a concert at Uniprix is as ridiculous an idea as playing tennis at Metropolis.

That the show started three hours late did not help matters. The show was supposed to begin at 1:00 and run until 11:00. Having 16 bands in 10 hours is pretty tight, squeezing them all into 7 hours was a mess. The first bunch of bands were playing 15-20 minute sets and headliners were on for no more than 45 minutes. When a band that you don’t care for is playing, a 15-minute set is a good thing. When High on Fire plays for only 15 minutes, it is a disaster. The reason why it started so late was not clear -- rumour was that several bands and the sound guys were held up at the border. Whatever the reason, standing around in a giant hangar without even any background music for a couple of hours before the show is pretty anti-climatic. Any enthusiasm that I was feeling before the show -- and, yes, I actually was pretty excited when I got there -- was replaced by my usual apathy during the three-hour delay.

The third and most important problem was the group of bands that were playing. The individual bands themselves weren’t really the problem, it was more the sum of the bands that didn’t work. The roster was too far skewed towards hardcore/metalcore to be interesting. Or, maybe, you could say that there were too many non-hardcore/metalcore bands who were out of place at what was essentially a hardcore festival. Here’s a run through of the bands:

• The Red Chord was the first band of the afternoon, taking the stage a little before 4:00. They had the difficult task of warming up a crowd that had long gone cold. I liked them simply because they were something. After three hours of an empty stage, any band is welcome.

• Devil Driver was lucky to be on second. Had they played later in the day, they would have easily been lost in the pack.

• I think I enjoyed A Life Once Lost’s performance, but unfortunately I can’t remember a single thing about it. I guess I couldn’t have enjoyed it that much.

• The biggest disappointment of the afternoon was High On Fire’s set. Not because it wasn’t good, but because it was only three-songs long. They played “Cometh Down Hessian”, “Nemesis”, “Devilution”, and then it was over. It ended when it should have just been getting started.

• Madball was a pretty good band to be part of the tour. They didn’t seem out of place (like Clutch) but they managed to sound unique among so many bands (unlike Chimaira). Sounds would have been a stronger festival with more bands like them.

• Strapping Young Lad dished out the heaviest set of the day. Also notable was that they were the only band besides Gwar to have anything to say besides “how you doing Montreal?”, “let’s get this pit going”, and “go buy our merch”. Entertaining and original banter does count for something.

• Of all the bands, Throwdown had the biggest and most enthusiastic crowd. It was odd that they were on so early when they should have been one of the headliners. The crowd started to thin after they had played.

• Norma Jean’s set was pretty intense, but was difficult to enjoy. I didn’t buy their performance as being entirely natural, and if a band doesn’t seem genuine they lose considerable appeal.

• Every Time I Die, Chimaira, Poison The Well and Unearth all did a good job of blending in with each other.

• Despite being the first band to have decent sound, Clutch were poorly received. This wasn’t surprising given how much they differ from the dominant style of the tour. A quick look around the room told you that 90% of the people there weren’t Clutch fans. Still, they played the second-best set of the day.

• Wondering whose set was the best? Here are some hints: two large blood cannons, a Nazi-Pope, the beheading of George W. Bush, and an alien bathing in the blood shooting out from his gigantic, horned penis. Gwar provided some much-needed entertainment for what would otherwise have been a pretty dry affair, and their music wasn’t bad either.

• I’m not fan of Lamb of God (gasp!) and wasn’t expecting much from them, but surprisingly I enjoyed their set quite a bit. Maybe they are worthy of some of the hype after all.

• For whatever reason, Montreal was the only city where Lamb of God wasn’t headlining. Instead it was Opeth who had that honour. They also had the honour of playing to the smallest crowd of the day because by that time, most people -- including myself -- had left.

• Full Blown Chaos, All That Remains, and From Autumn To Ashes were on the bill but did not play.

The Sounds of the Underground lineup looked promising on paper, but didn’t work in the end. There simply wasn’t enough variety among the bands. When there are only three or four bands on a bill, it is perfectly fine if they all play the same or similar styles of music. When there are 16 bands and 10-12 of them sound similar, it can get a little tiring. The other major problems (Stade Uniprix, starting late) were unique to this particular date, but the band roster is a problem of the entire tour. Hopefully, it is a problem that will be fixed for future editions of Sounds of the Underground , assuming it is successful enough to continue, which I hope it is.

[Tune into Turn Down the Suck Mondays from 1:30-3:00pm]

By Lisa S - Unsystem-Addict - 08/05/2006

Regarding the venue -- I'd never previously been to Le National and I must say this was one of the best things about the Gary Numan show for me. I like that the floor is on a slope, so you can see the stage well over the crowd anywhere you happen to stand. However, this feature was not necessarily necessary for the Numan show in particular, as there were far less people there than I had expected. That said, it was not packed at all and everyone had lots of room to themselves to move about as they pleased, though despite the room not many people were really dancing.

The Numan crowd was entirely unthreatening; I had been concerned about going alone to such a 'goth' show, because goths tend to travel in pairs or groups -- because when you're that much of an insecure outcast, you can use all the social support you can get. However, my concern was unfounded, as there were few to no hardcore, judgmental or pretentious goths there. In fact, being at the show reminded me of the age-old fate of most goths, which involves having to severely normal out at some point in their lives; this was made painfully apparent by those present at the Numan show, especially in comparison to the sparse dressed-to-the-nines fans (mostly younger) that were there.

On the openers -- I arrived at the show for 9pm, and things started right on time. The opening act New Skin played until 9:30, and the 30 minutes couldn't have gone by slower in my opinion. All the songs sounded too similar and there wasn't a singular moment worth noting in their entire set. They announced that they have an album coming out soon and no doubt this has to do with the current trend of pseudo-gothic scenesterism. New Skin couldn't look, let alone sound, stylish or serious about songwriting. In my notes I referred to them as somewhat contrived goth-rock that didn't really rock, at its worst. There was nothing to write home about other than the girl had a British accent. This may sound harsh -- and I suppose it doesn't help that the lead singer looked just like this particularly evil girl I knew in high school -- but I had also gotten my hopes up that Numan might have acquired some really great up-and-coming industrial or synth pop outfit from the UK for his Jagged tour, but alas, twas not to be so.

As for Numan's performance itself -- the best thing about his performance was no doubt the fact that he was not at all hindered by the fact that he's grown rather old and less in-shape than in the past. I must note this, because I also saw Depeche Mode recently and must say that Dave Gahan is in prime tip-top sexy-shape, as if the 80's never ended and his body remains in peak form. Gary Numan performed in a youthful manner also; his moves were confident and serious, despite the fact I found myself almost cracking up several times. And no, it wasn't me laughing at him for getting wrinkly and gaining a belly, it was me laughing because he was so expressive and I thought it was amazing how into his 'stage persona' he was, regardless of his altered physical state. What was most amusing in particular was that he was making monster faces and gestures, lurching around on the stage in a serious manner, dancing in some weird 80's goth ways -- which somehow managed to work for him. Some of his moves were quite akin to his old-school moves, as I had been watching some live footage of his performances in the 80's. However, in his youth these faces and gestures were more robotic, and the creepiness was tinged with a strong sexual energy. This didn't translate to Numan on stage in the now, but I was quite pleased with him for trying to stick with his strange suave movements from before, whether they came out distorted or not.

The other reason I felt the need to look at some older footage of Numan's performances was that some of his moves on stage were severely Trent-Reznor-ized: taking a stance, grabbing the mic and leaning into it agressively. I wanted to get to the bottom of things and see if Numan's moves were his own that Trent Reznor had been influenced by, or if Numan had lifted them from the contemporary Reznor himself -- which seems to indeed be the case. Numan of course has admitted to being influnced by Nine Inch Nails, and to being flattered that Reznor has much respect for his work. He would have to admit this after working with an ex-NIN drummer and producing an album that could very easily be mistaken for a NIN side project.

This would bring me to the one complaint I had about the show: the majority of the set was comprised of Numan's latest album Jagged. I would have to say that I was pleasantly surprised when I first gave the album a listen. However, it is hard to get past the fact that it sounds almost exactly like Nine Inch Nails, save for Numan's vocals, which may I add are filtered in ways they haven't been previously to sound more NIN-esque. I had a feeling that Numan would be alternating between songs off the new album and his older works. However, he ended up playing far more new songs, and it got confusing while doing this review because they allllllll sounded exactly the same(!). To my surprise, much of the crowd was quite-quite into the new songs, and from this I could only conclude that as odd as it sounds, perhaps some of these older Gary Numan fans have never really heard any Nine Inch Nails or developing industrial-esque music in the past 10 years. I concluded this, because if I hadn't ever heard The Fragile, I would have been really impressed with Numan's Jagged songs as well.

Show highlights for me included:

• Seeing an older industrialist Numan still give it his all with no shame.
• The neato dot matrix-like bars of light displays -- very retro. The Strokes had the same lights on their tour, but Numan was using more Nine Inch Nail-esque colour schemes: turquoise and white and such.
• It was great when Numan played "Metal", "Down In The Park", "Are Friends Electric" and "Cars". These songs sounded so great in fact, I really wish he'd played more of the oldies (does that make me a jerk?). Personally I would have loved to have heard "Me! I Disconnect From You", "I Die... You Die", and "We Take Mystery To Bed".

Kudos to artists that made great music in the 80's still giving it their all, making new music and world-touring. Retro may be over, but it sure as heck isn't dead.

[Tune in to Unsystem Addict Saturdays from 6pm to 8pm.

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