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Back in November of 2008, I had a chance to hear Melanie Fiona’s album sampler. At the time she was selected by Kanye West, personally, to open for him during his European Tour, what made this shocking was that she had never had an album released and her single wasn’t in heavy rotation…yet. But hey when you have ?uestlove and Jay-Z vouching for you and showing up to your showcase, not having an album out, doesn’t seem all that important. Fast forward months later and her single Give It To Me Right is getting mad spins as well as having the likes of Talib Kweli, Raekwon and Busta Rhymes on the remixed versions. We were able to catch up with Melanie for a quick interview.

Killahbeez: Hi Melanie, thanks for taking the time in doing this interview. Why don’t you start by introducing yourself for folks out there that aren’t familiar with your style of music?

Melanie Fiona: Melanie Fiona…singer/songwriter/supergirl. My debut album is releasing this spring through SRC Universal Motown Records. My single Give it to Me Right is currently being added to radio and is available on iTunes. At the risk of putting myself in a box, I’ll call my music pop soul.

KB: I’m a fellow Canadian and I read that you are also from Canada, Toronto to be exact. Toronto is quite well known for the different communities it has in the city and essentially a true melting pot, has this influenced your music?

MF: Canadians Rock!!! Toronto is definitely one of the most culturally diverse cities I have ever seen. Growing up in a Caribbean household, and interacting with so many different types of cultures really influenced the music I do. I knew I wanted to make music for all kinds of people, and you hear that in the songs. Some songs reflect my culture… so they might have a reggae/calypso feel. Others might have licks of hip hop, r&b, pop, rock… I think there’s something on there for everyone.

KB: Yeah that definitely comes through on the sampler that I was given. You mentioned your debut album, which is called The Bridge, is slated to be released in the Spring. Could you talk about what people can expect to hear as well as the album name?

MF: The album is called The Bridge. I feel like it bridges the gap between genres of music, ethnicities, age groups, and genders. People can definitely expect to hear soulful music with live instrumentation, and memorable and relatable stories.

KB: Speaking of memorable. The lead single Give It To Me Right is hella sexy and empowering for women, was that the focus of writing this song?

MF: Thank you! It is very empowering…I feel so strong every time I sing or perform that song. It was written by a super talented songwriter and producer on the album, Andrea Martin. She knows me very well, professionally and personally, it’s a real reflection of the type of woman I am. I feel like there should be no shame in expressing what you want, and not settling for the things you don’t. I feel proud to know that it will empower people…not just women, but everyone who feels the same.

KB: Keeping with Give It To Me Right, the song is sampled from the Zombies Time Of the Season, how was that sample or record introduced to you to be used for Give It To Me Right?

MF: Well I was already a fan of that song from time! It’s a classic! When we started working on the music for the album, we knew we wanted to pay tribute to the ‘old’ by putting a ‘new’ spin on it. That sample is familiar and easy to vibe with… it was the perfect fit for the lyrics.

KB: You recently came off of the Glow in the Dark Tour with Kanye West over in Europe. What was that experience like and how did that opportunity to work with Kanye come about?

MF: It was amazing! Kanye and I had never met before the tour. My management presented my music to him when he was looking for his opening acts. He really liked the music and gave me the opportunity. It was unbelievable. Here I am this unknown artist, with no music out, and I’m opening for Kanye!!! I learned so much from the tour, and from watching him perform night after night. He’s one of the best I’ve seen. It was such an honour cause he’s one of my favourite artists as well.

KB: Did he give you any guidance or tips?

MF: The best advice he gave me was “Whatever you gotta do to make people remember you, do it. Don’t be afraid to do it.” Priceless words of wisdom!

KB: Definitely. And a man true to his words. So is Mr. West doing any work on The Bridge?

MF: Maybe on album 2 or a future remix…[Laughter]. I would love to work with him!

KB: In addition to that tour, you also recently did a showcase in New York and had dudes like ?uestlove and Jay-Z out to show support. Did you know they were there? How’d that make you feel that you had that kind of support from fellow peers?

MF: Man! It was really overwhelming when I found out they were in the building. I’m signed to Jay-Z’s management company so it was a really honour to have his support that night. And ?uest is not only a great friend but an artist and musician I have admired for years. It was one of the happiest nights of my life….There was so much love in the room that night.

KB: Wow. That’s pretty awesome. So taking this on a tangent. What 5 albums can’t you live without?

MF: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Legend- Bob Marley
Portrait of a Legend- Sam Cooke
Full Moon- Brandy
The Best of Sade- Sade

KB: And your musical influences?

MF: Those are most of the influences with the exceptions of other greats like Whitney Houston and India Arie.

KB: Changing topics to fashion. What are some of your favorite pieces / pieces you couldn’t live without?

MF: As for staples in fashion, I’d have to have wicked pair of high heels, a fresh pair of kicks, a comfy hoodie, leggings and a dress that makes me feel like a woman! But my favourite article right now in my closet are my Tory Burtch leather knee boots.

KB: Any particular designer that you love to follow?

MF: Not one in particular, but any that can marry vintage and current…my style is something old and something new.

KB: Ahhh…similar to your music. Well this concludes the interview. Any closing comments for folks out there on why they should pick up The Bridge?

MF: I just really want to say thank you to everyone whose shown support. I really do this, not just for myself, but (also) for what I think you want to hear. When the album drops, GO GET IT!!! I promise you will not be disappointed…. It’s just good, classic, timeless music. Much Love!

KB: thanks again.

MF: Thanks for the interview!

Check out more of my interviews at www.killahbeez.com and follow me on Twitter, @Killahbeez.

• For more information on Melanie Fiona visit her MySpace page

I don’t know if Bishop Allen took the time to pay actor and Toronto native Michael Cera a visit on their recent mini-tour which brought them through Canada, but it would have been appropriate.  After all, it was largely on the strength of an appearance in his semi-hit film from last Fall, Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, that the Brooklyn band were able to fill the mid-size club with eager new fans despite the snowstorm brewing outside. Which is not to say that the band couldn’t have drawn a crowd of that size based solely on their musical merits, but a little Hollywood boost never hurts.

Their tourmate for this short jaunt was one Andy Herod, performing under the moniker of Electric Owls.  Herod has his own star-crossed past, having formerly been involved with actress Michelle Williams in her Dawson’s Creek days and having written an album about the dissolution of that relationship with his last band, The Comas.  While his new project didn’t have quite the same backstory, Herod was still able to deliver some sharp pop songs both in solo acoustic format and accompanied by laptop arrangements.

The middle set was given to local newcomers Hooded Fang, who didn’t have a cinematic connection but a literary one – their name comes from the classic Mordecai Richler children’s book. And childlike whimsy was a key component of their set, replete with instrument switching and singalong melodies.  They did exhibit the lack of focus that one would expect for an act as wet behind the ears as they, but there were enough flashes of genuine inspiration to mark them as a band to watch as they grow.

Not that it need take years to become a truly accomplished pop band – Bishop Allen has done it in just two albums.  2007’s The Broken String, which compiled the highlights of their ambitious 12 EPs in one year project the year before, is a nearly perfect collection of literate power pop. Rich in lyrical imagery and unrelenting in melodic hookery, it’s the sort of record that deserves and demands your attention. The band were technically road-testing material from their forthcoming record Grr…, due out in March, but were savvy enough to get the new songs – as great as they sounded – out of the way so as to dive right into the old favourites.  Gems like Rain and Like Castanets were well-received but, unsurprisingly, it was main set-closer Middle Management – aka the Nick & Norah song and their most irresistibly power pop-tacular number – that got folks dancing.

More photos on Chromewaves

One has to wonder if there’s a scoreboard in Land Of Talk’s Montreal rehearsal space wherein they keep a running tally of all the great and awful things that have happened to the band.  In the ‘pro’ column, you’d find achievements like ‘got one of the big stories of 2008 – Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon – to produce debut full-length in Some Are Lakes’, ‘toured North America as support for Broken Social Scene’ and ‘lead singer Liz Powell joined Broken Social Scene’.  But in the ‘con’ column, you’d find setbacks like ‘went through three drummers in a year and a half’, ‘lost bassist to The Dears’, ‘had to cancel entire Fall 2008 tour because of lost voice’ and most recently, ‘have to go on hiatus because of need for surgery on Powell’s throat’.  Cursed?  Maybe just a little.

But last Thursday night at the Horseshoe in Toronto, the middle date of an ultra-brief southern Ontario tour before the aforementioned hiatus, there was no curse – only triumph.  Accompanying them for the three dates were two more Montreal acts – Little Scream, who was far more compelling and unsettling than the ‘girl with an acoustic guitar’ descriptor might imply, and Zeroes, who combined the creative restlessness of Wire with a deep sense of groove and danceability.  Both excellent warm-ups, but the packed house hadn’t trekked out to the ‘Shoe in the middle of a bitter cold snap just to warm up.  They were there for some explosiveness, and Land Of Talk delivered.

It’s a bit cliché to suggest they were playing like it was their last gig, but it wasn’t far off.  While Some Are Lakes showcased the band’s range and developed their softer side, the live show channeled the white-hot intensity and aggression of Applause Cheer Boo Hiss and applied it to all the material, new and old.  Powell certainly didn’t sing like she was under doctor’s orders to preserve her voice – her distinctively yearning rasp sounded marvelous overtop her spidery guitar parts and the driving foundation laid down by drummer Andrew Barr and bassist Joe Yarmush.  Though both were relatively new to the band – Yarmush having only joined in the last couple months – they locked together like they’d been together for an age.

Land Of Talk have always been good live, but this show brought them to another level entirely, obviously more than ready to take their place amongst the best new bands in Canada – whenever they come back from hiatus, that is.

• MySpace
• more photos from the show

Bringing along a so-called “buzz band” on tour with you can be a double-edged sword.  On one hand, the extra attention and attendance their presence will bring can only benefit the show’s profile and success.  But on the other hand, if people are only coming out for the support act, it can be embarrassing for the headliner to end up playing for a smaller crowd than their tourmates.  Case in point, last week’s visit from Sweden’s Love Is All at the venerable Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto.  Though they’d just followed up “Nine Times That Same Song”, the album that made them a band du jour in 2005 with the arguably superior “A Hundred Things Keep Me Up at Night”, almost all of the advance press about the show focused on the undercard for the night, Brooklyn’s Crystal Stilts.  Their primitive Joy Division-meets-Velvets-meet-Spector drone pop is very much in vogue and the extra gossip angle of their drummer Frankie Rose having left equally buzzy New York outfit Vivian Girls under less than amicable circumstances was irresistible to local music scribes.

But talk is just that, and when it comes down to it, the show is the thing.  And in that department, Love Is All had nothing to worry about.  To call the Crystal Stilts live experience underwhelming is something of an understatement.  Playing standing, Moe Tucker style, Rose ably kept the backbeat while guitarist JB Townsend contributed simple, twangy guitar lines but singer Brad Hargett utterly failed to engage as a frontman.  Standing in shadow with eyes closed, the monotone vocal approach that may have been mysterious and compelling on record just sounded lost and bored on stage.  Exacerbating matters was the sea of reverb in which he was submerged – again, effective on record but crippling in performance.

Love Is All, conversely, exceeded all expectations in delivering a raucous barrage of utterly dancey and jaggy New Wave coated with pure pop sugar.  While their recorded works are a study in sonic anarchy, their live show came served with a surprising amount of tightness and polish without losing any of their manic edge – no mean feat.  Frontwoman Josephine Olausson set the tone, abusing keyboard and cowbell whilst hollering and yelping gleefully through oughta-be hits like “Wishing Well” and a wonderfully unhinged cover of Flock Of Seagulls’ “I Ran”. Though their set barely clocked in at 40 minutes, the Gothenburg quintet didn’t let up for a second and no matter what had gone before, there would be no calling this night a disappointment.  Sure, maybe it helps to bring a hip up-and-comer along on tour to get tongues wagging, but when it comes down to it, Love Is All you need.

Though Winnipeg can legitimately claim to have been where he began his musical journey, Neil Young was born in Toronto. So whenever he comes back for a show – or shows, as one date is never enough to meet demand – it’s a special occasion. Memories of his intimate, three-night stand at Massey Hall last year are still fresh in most fans’ mind, but last week he was back yet again for two dates at the considerably larger Air Canada Centre with Wilco and Everest in tow. With his long-awaited “Archives” set still to see the light of day, there wasn’t any particular reason for Young to be on the road, but then he doesn’t need a reason. He’s Neil Young.

Los Angeles quintet Everest are recent signees to Young’s Vapor Records label, and they treated those who lined up hours in advance of doors to get a spot up front to a set of genteel, country rock with just enough of an edge to keep ones attention. Pleasant enough for passing the time, but it wasn’t until Wilco took the stage that things really got started.

While a bands on a multi-night engagements might opt to keep sets consistent so as to be able to put their best foot forward for different audiences, that wasn’t an option for Wilco – drummer Glenn Kotche was absent for the second show due to prior commitments to the Kronos Quartet in New York City, so his bandmates were forced to rejig things considerably from night one. Whereas the first performance leaned heavily on their recent works and the set wasn’t much removed from their recent tours, the second really mixed things up thanks to a rotation of three guest drummers who were allowed to pick what songs they wanted to play. The result was a heady blend of rarely-aired songs, including a glorious suite from “Being There” that had long-time fans in seventh heaven. It’s rare that being down a man can incite a band to raise their game even higher than their usual high standard, but Wilco did it and it was one for the books.

But even with that, there was no question that the nights belonged to Young. Leading his descriptively-named Electric Band through a two hour excursion through his expansive songbook, the set was essentially split into thirds. The first block featured the pure rock side of things, highlighted by extended jams of “Hey Hey, My My”, “Powderfinger” and “Cortez The Killer”, before quieting down for an acoustic set featuring some of his most-revered compositions, like “Heart Of Gold” and “Needle And The Damage Done”. It was then time to turn the volume back up, first with a trio of new songs and then wrapping up with an epic double-shot of “Cowgirl In The Sand” and “Rockin’ In The Free World”. And then for an encore, a cover of “A Day In The Life” with the orchestral finale of the Beatles’ original replaced by Young’s feedbacking guitar abuse. Unbelievable stuff, and even though both nights were structured almost identically, seeing it all a second time did nothing to diminish the sense of awe at Young’s performance. It’s called classic rock for a reason – because it is.

Check out more photos on Chromewaves

Heard about Lady Gaga’s Toronto gig in support of Virgin Mobile Canada’s RE*Generation program? Well here’s a brilliant video diary the guys at Virgin Mobile shot during the day - culminating in a VIP view of the gig.

The RE*Generation program, introduced in the spring of 2008 in Canada, is Virgin Mobile and Virgin Unite’s effort to empower a generation to help its own by bringing together organizations that care about Canada’s at-risk and homeless youth and connecting them with people who want to help.

Electro-popster Lady GaGa performed at a benefit concert in Toronto last Sunday in support of Virgin Mobile Canada’s RE*Generation program. RE*Generation has raised $300,000 for Canadian programs that support at-risk and homeless youth.

The RE*Generation program, introduced in the spring of 2008 in Canada, is Virgin Mobile and Virgin Unite’s effort to empower a generation to help its own by bringing together organizations that care about Canada’s at-risk and homeless youth and connecting them with people who want to help.

“Youth homelessness is a serious issue in Canada and one that we can’t afford to ignore. There are tens of thousands of young people living on the streets in Canada. Many have experienced physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, violence and substance abuse, mental illness and family instability,” said Andrew Black, President and Chief Executive Officer, Virgin Mobile Canada. “Virgin Mobile and Virgin Unite want to help make a difference and we want to inspire our customers and other Canadians to do the same. RE*Generation gives them a place to direct that passion, connect with agencies so that they can make a difference and inspire everyone they know to make a change in the lives of youth that need it the most.”

As we mentioned yesterday, Keys N Krates are going to be doing their thing this Friday at Wrong Bar out in Toronto. Well, get ready folks, cus they’re about to drop a new jam, I haven’t even heard yet and I’ve seen them a million times, something brand new for them ears so it should be a huge show. This is their remix of A Tribe Called Quests “Award Tour”, but renamed “City of Awards” for the remix. Pretty freeeeesh!

On the same night that arguably the current biggest brand in Canadian indie rock – that’s Broken Social Scene if you were wondering – were putting on the first of two sold-out hometown shows at the cavernous and generally awful Sound Academy, a lineup that could well represent the next wave of great Canadian artists were putting on a night to remember at the much cozier quarters of Lee’s Palace.  And while The Acorn, Ohbijou and The Rural Alberta Advantage have thus far achieved different levels of fame, they all share the talent and potential to be this country’s next great musical ambassadors.

The Rural Alberta Advantage – RAA to their friends – have long been on of Toronto’s best-kept secrets, but lately word has finally been getting out.  The trio blends the very best aspects of Neutral Milk Hotel, Yo La Tengo and Sufjan Stevens to create simply assembled but brilliantly crafted folk songs spun out of the bittersweet recollections of songwriter Nils Edenloff, who moved from the prairie province to Ontario in the wake of a heartbreak.  Playing to perhaps their largest audience yet, the RAA rose to the occasion by putting on a joyous and raucous performance, all clattering percussion, frantic acoustic guitars and sweet and strident harmonies, that would set the bar for the evening quite high.

Ohbijou and The Acorn were entering the home stretch of a joint North American tour and though the former technically had hometown advantage at this stop over the Ottawa-based Acorn, they deferred the headlining slot to the visitors.  The beguiling chamber pop of their debut “Swift Feet For Troubling Times” had garnered them a goodly amount of attention across the country since its release two years ago, and with the release of its follow-up “Beacon” set for next March, it was the perfect opportunity to showcase new songs and old favourites to the faithful. Led by sisters Casey and Jennifer Mecija, the six-piece were augmented at points by a trumpeter and Acorn singer Rolf Klausener in crafting a set that was the aural equivalent of snuggling up under a warm, comfy duvet.

Which left it to The Acorn to cap it all off.  Since their last headlining appearance in Toronto almost exactly a year previous, their latest album “Glory Hope Mountain” had earned them rave reviews in the US and the UK as well as at home, and the band had toured relentlessly in support.  Though bolstered by a second drummer, the first portion of their set was relatively sedate, focusing more on recreating the thoughtful folk atmospherics of the record.  But as things progressed, particularly when the sublime pop of their “Blankets” and “Tin Fist” EPs were visited, they got more boisterous and things culminated in a glorious encore of “Low Gravity”, assisted on stage by the whole of Ohbijou.

It’s tempting to be selfish and wish that none of the bands would get bigger than they are now, and thus continue to play in as wonderful bills such as this.  But the fact is, if there’s any sort of cosmic justice, all are destined for bigger and better things and so fans can just be thankful they were able to see them like this, back in the day, and hope that it’ll still be a little while at least before they have to trek down to the Sound Academy to see them perform.

Check out more photos on Chromewaves

This is for all the music heads out in Toronto: on December 5th Keys N Krates have a huge show in their hometown of Toronto at Wrong Bar. Be sure to catch this live remix show because if you haven’t yet, then you are seriously behind. Nick Catchdubs from Brooklyn, New York will also be in the house mixing it up on the 1’s and 2’s as well.

Keys N Krates Feat. Nick Catchdubs (Fool’s Gold) & Le Pants Optional Friday Dec. 5th, 2008 Wrong Bar - 1279 Queen St. W (Toronto) Doors 10pm Cover $15 before 12am. Should be a huge show. Come out and show some love and support.

Check out this video interview that we did with DJ JR.Flo from Keys N Krates.

Winter showed up this week and smacked Toronto across the face.  Sure, in a month or two the idea of having to contend with a centimeter or two of snow and temperatures just a few degrees below freezing will seem like a tropical vacation, but for the first dose of real cold for the season, we’re allowed to complain.  And while staying indoors and waiting it out would normally be the recommended course of action, the opportunity to see both M83 and School Of Seven Bells at the Opera House was too tempting to pass up.

For M83, it would mark the electro-pop outfit’s second return to the city in just over six months and for School Of Seven Bells, their first.  The trio, made up of Benjamin Curtis formerly of Secret Machines and Claudia and Alley Deheza, formerly of On!Air!Library, was touring in support of their just-released Alpinisms, a wonderfully woozy blend of shoegaze textures, folk harmonies and electronic precision.  To reproduce the range of sounds on the record, the band – playing without a live drummer – relied heavily on a bed of pre-recorded backing tracks and while that usually makes for a sub-par experience, the strength of the Deheza twins’ voices and Curtis’ intense guitar riffing did much to compensate.  There’s little doubt that their performance would benefit even more from a proper live rhythm section, but if they choose to continue on in this configuration they’re still more than worth seeing, and more importantly, hearing.

And if School Of Seven Bells need any advice on how to adapt electronic music for live performance, they need not look any further than their tourmates.  M83 were a textbook example of how to turn something inherently synthetic, in this case the ’80s-worshipping anthems of Anthony Gonzalez, and make it into a wholly organic and engrossing experience on stage.  Fronting a four-piece band including keyboardist/vocalist Morgan Kibby, an essential part of their latest record Saturday=Youth, Gonzalez alternated between keys and guitar in reconstructing the monolithic walls of sound that defines M83.  While they reached back a few times to the thick, synth-driven instrumentals of Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts, the prevailing tone of the show was more in line with the gleaming pop of their last two records.  Unabashedly dramatic, unafraid to wear their influences on their sleeves and unashamed to come off just a little cheesy when necessary, for 90 minutes M83 put on a show that was as big and grand as their galactic namesake.  And then, when that tour of the universe was over, it was back out into the bitter cold.  Stupid Winter.

Earlier this summer I had an opportunity to catch Thunderheist at the Virgin Music Festival out in Toronto, except for one thing, I was busy reviewing and taking photos of another act, a small group by the name of MGMT. So suffice to say I was a bit bummed, but then was totally stoked again when I ran into Thunderheist in the backstage tent area, where the good peoples of Bacardi were serving us lots of free booze. I immediately jumped at the chance for an introduction. During this meeting of the minds, Isis performed a freestyle with my online magazine name, Killahbeez, that went on for a good minute at least and drawing a crowd. Then we were on stage dancing during MSTRKRFT’s set. Definitely one of the dopest highlights of that weekend. So when I heard they were finally hitting the West Coast I was giddy like a 12-year-old schoolgirl.

The evening started off with the ½ Alive DJ crew which consists of: Tyler Fedchuk, My! Gay! Husband! and Tony X. These guys held it down and warmed the crowd up nicely as everyone was shaking it to their sets. They dropped some old school and I mean like Planet Rock type old school, hip-hop, New Order, MGMT and Breakbot’s remix of Pnau to name a few tracks.

Just shortly after 12:30, Isis made her way to the stage first and shortly after Grahm aka Grahmzilla joined her. Immediately the crowd was wildin’ pretty hard, those at the front, this includes yours truly, were getting squished against the stage. It was all worth it once the first track, “Bubblegum”, dropped. The energy that Isis had was pretty incredible and throughout the night she would maintain this frenetic pace. Showing some love to the crowd she at one point pulled a girl up on stage to dance with her, this said girl from the audience went buckwild and as she left the stage basically tripped over a chord and almost did a face plant onto the floor, luckily she was caught by a whole lot of people. Throughout the night both Grahm and Isis dove into the crowd to do a little surfing, very cool that they were keeping it mad real like that with the fans in the house.

Also in the house for the night was director That Go and model Ana B, whom were both involved in the video / visual delight for the song “Jerk It”. During the song “Jerk It”, which was the last jam of the evening, Isis pulled Ana up on stage and the crowd went wild, then home girl basically threw Ana to the wolves for some crowd surfing, all of it was pretty hilarious to watch.

Thunderheist went on to perform jams that any fan would recognize, hitting “Horny”, “Little Booty Girl”, “Peer Pressure” and “Sueos Dulces”. At one point during the evening Grahm threw on MSTRKRFT’s song “Bounce” and asked if everyone recognized the voice. Of course! It was Isis. She went on to let everyone know that they had her do the track and never gave her any credit or form of payment, pretty wack considering both crews are from Toronto and that song blew up.

The performance was high energy and had yours truly and everyone else from the looks of it, sweating like a mofo. Grahm providing the ill beats while Isis slayed the mic all night long and provided some comedic relief, commenting on how unsexy she felt with the amount of sweat coming off of her and randomly making comments like “OBAMA BITCH!”. The show was great and the audience was dope as you could tell everyone was there to shake their asses to some good music, I would definitely have to recommend that all music heads experience a Thunderheist show as they bring the muthafuckin’ heat. Much love to Tyler Fedchuk and the ½ Alive crew for hooking Killahbeez up with some tickets for a wicked show. Check out their website for upcoming shows and info: www.halfalive.ca. Stay tuned to the first quarter of the new year, as Thunderheist will have some goodies dropping.

If you like this review vote for me here.

For pictures of the event hit up my flickr page here.

One.

DT
www.killahbeez.com

On November 6th and 7th, Keys N Krates played to a packed house in Vancouver and then in Victoria. For those of you that have been reading the blog for a minute now, you know we’ve been talking about Keys N Krates quite a bit. For those that aren’t in the know, Keys N Krates are a live remix band, yeah that’s right a LIVE REMIX BAND, live drums with Adam Tune, live synths with Matisse and Jr. Flo on the turntables breaking down the samples. In the midst of their busy schedule we were able to catch up with one of the members, DJ Jr. Flo, for a quick one on one interview.

For upcoming tour information hit up their MySpace page: www.myspace.com/keysnkrates

If you liked this interview please help me out and vote for me here: music.virgin.com

Special thanks to AJK and the video editor extrodinaire Gordon Wong.

‘Rock & Roll Means Well’ – it certainly seems like a benign enough sentiment. But put in the context of a tour featuring two of the premier guitar bands in America right now, the sprawling Southern rock monsters of Athens, Georgia’s Drive-By Truckers and the boozed-up barstool poetry of Brookyn, New York’s Hold Steady, and you’d have a bill that’d be better advertised as Rock & Roll Means Well But If You Find You’ve Lost Your Hearing Due To Exposure To Extended Guitar Solos Or Your Hands Are Frozen In Three-Finger Devil Salutes Then Sorry But It Can’t Be Helped.  But that probably wouldn’t fit on the marquee.

In the interests of fairness, the bands were alternating headline slots as they toured across America, and for their stop in Toronto at the Phoenix, the only Canadian destination on the itinerary, it was the Drive-By Truckers who would be closing things out.  And so it was the Hold Steady, unofficial title-holders of ;Best Bar Band In America’, kicked things off.  Though an imbalanced mix buried Craig Finn’s non-stop stream of lyrical verbiage at times, his manic stage presence couldn’t be suppressed.  Finn was a dervish of clapping, pointing and mugging as he bounded about the stage, recreating the colourful cast of partiers, drunks and druggies who inhabit the Hold Steady’s universe while his bandmates riffed and rocked behind him.  The pacing of the set could have been better – cramming 18 songs into just an hour fifteen didn’t leave much time for anything slower or much in the way of Finn’s always entertaining banter – but that’s a minor complaint against being served that much fist-pumping, anthemic, ‘whoa-whoa’-ing rock.  To follow that up, the Truckers had their work cut out for them.

But you don’t spend 12 years as a relentlessly touring band without learning how to work a crowd, and the Truckers were more than equal to the task.  Put another way, while the Hold Steady were on-stage drinking beer, the Drive-By Truckers each had a 40 of Jack Daniels.  Led by co-frontmen Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, they didn’t try to match the Hold Steady for sheer energy – that’d have been folly – but instead used the breadth and depth of their songwriting, steeped in Southern gothic tradition, to maximum impact.  That, and massive guitar solos.  Not for nothing had the Phoenix stage been configured to allow the performers to step forward into the audience, something that both Hood and Cooley took full advantage of.  With the longer set time afforded to the headliner, they were able to pace things better and build to their scorching finale of Hell No, I Ain’t Happy but, of course, that wasn’t it.  After a short break, they returned with a well-lubricated Craig Finn in tow and closed things out with a devastating rendition of the unofficial theme song of the tour, Let There Be Rock from their 2001 opus Southern Rock Opera, and finally a cover of Jim Carroll’s People Who Died that there would be no topping.

Rock and roll may mean well, but that doesn’t mean it won’t kick your ass.

When the NME last week declared Alice Glass, maniacal frontwoman for the Nintendo-fi electro-punk duo Crystal Castles, to be the ‘Coolest Person In The World’, you might have thought it’d be cause for if not celebration then at least some hometown pride back in Toronto, from whence she and co-conspirator Ethan Kath hail.  After all, the famous Canadian inferiority complex usually dictates that only when our exports gain recognition abroad can we actually speak of them as successes.

Crystal Castles’ relationship with their hometown, however, is somewhat more complex.  Take an informal poll of the Hogtown shutter-shade cognoscenti and you’re just as likely to find someone who’d scoff at the notion that Glass is remotely “cool” as agree wholeheartedly with the NME’s assessment.  Part of this, surely, is simple hipster contrarianism – anyone from your area code who’s gone on to international acclaim is obviously too mainstream to be worthy of their attention, let alone adoration.  But also part of that is some genuine disdain for the controversies that followed the duo on their rise to the top.

Allegations arose this past Spring that they had appropriated the work – without consent or renumeration – of English artist Trevor Brown for t-shirts and a single cover, indignant outrage was the general response from a local indie scene with a strong DIY aesthetic and sense of community.  And when they were accused a few months later of sampling the work of other electronic artists in violation of the Creative Commons license under which they were made available, that was just more fuel to the fire.  Both situations have since been resolved but the controversies didn’t do much for their reputation, particularly for those who would have been looking for a legitimate reason to dislike the act who had gotten so big, so fast.

So while Crystal Castles are like unto golden gods in other parts of the world – particularly the US and the UK – they’re not necessarily held in proportionate regard at home, either.  Case in point their self-titled debut, so hailed in other territories, rather conspicuously failed to garner a nomination for this year’s Polaris Music Prize, awarded to the Canadian album of the ‘highest artistic integrity’.  Did the nation’s music critics simply fail to see the merits in the record that those elsewhere did, or was there more to it?  Perhaps some backlash to the duo’s decidedly un-Canadian, prickly public personas?  Either way, while certainly not persona non grata, it’s hard to imagine Glass topping any such ‘cool’ list in Canada.  But considering the absolutely rabid response they got from a couple thousand fans at a free show at Toronto’s Harbourfront this past Summer – the only time I’ve experienced the band’s famously insane live spectacle - it’s probably safe to say that neither the bands nor those who love them give a damn.

Britney Spears won the Act of 2008 and the the Album Of The Year awards at last night’s MTV Europe Awards at the Echo Arena in Liverpool - proudly sponsored by none other than Virgin Trains. Those world conquering MTV types took the train to Liverpool this year as the city celebrates being European Capital Of Culture 2008. And which most famous Scouser took home the Ultimate Legend Award? Why Sir Paul of McCartney of course. How fitting. And God-like person Bono was even on hand to present the award. With such royalty in attendance it seemed a shame that princess of pop Ms Spears wasn’t on hand to receive her two awards - maybe she was a bit busy with other stuff in the US - you know, family commitments and all that…

Luckily the lovely Pink (or is that P!nk?) made an effort to show up, pick up an award for most addictive track (So What?), start a pillow fight with a bunch of audience members and then shower everyone in feathers. Presumably she heeded the good advice to leave the barrel of tar at home.

30 Seconds To Mars also picked up 2 awards (Rock Out and Video Star), Kanye West was crowned Ultimate Urban and Lil Wayne was the Artists Choice. The Killers also treated us to a performance of their very Giorgio Moroder-sounding single - Human, Kid Rock managed to squeeze two numbers in for the price of one with a mash up of new So Hot and old All Summer Long and bootylicious Beyonce belted out her newie If I Were A Boy. Jared Leto had the crowd standing to attention for a certain Barack Obama while Kanye and Estelle performed American Boy to the President-Elect’s giant mugshot on a big screen. Watch Kanye & Estelle’s performance.

Okay, okay, enough already. We know you Americans are now once again officially the greatest people on the planet ever after 8 years of shame - never more delightfully represented by spoon-wielding Katy Perry in a sequined Barack Obama tshirt - and we really, really love you but what about the rest of us!? Yes okay thank you for the nod in the direction of McCartney, but what about some of our slightly more, uh… hip acts? Come on the European voters - spread the love around a bit…

The Ting Tings and Duffy kept it up for the Brits by performing That’s Not My Name and Mercy, Marks & Spencers’ man band Take That debuted their new single Greatest Day while Liverpool locals The Wombats did a brilliant cover of our Olympic Games representative and MTV award loser Leona Lewis’ Bleeding Love. That’s more like it.

So did we win any awards? Err, well - yes. And which esteemed Brit act took the honour of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with McCartney to showcase the best of what this country has to offer right now? Who did legions of ‘the kids’ vote for as Best Act Ever? Rick Astley. Rick bloody-rolling-Astley. I ask you. Did this have something to do with the democratic but slightly cheeky power of the world wide interweb? Unfortunately Rick wasn’t around to collect his gong but MTV pulled a cracker and got the lovely and gorgeous Perez Hilton - star of Virgin Radio 999 in Toronto - to take it in hand and keep warm for him.

MTV Europe Awards - you have been Rick Rolled. It could only happen here. Oh thank heavens for a slice of Perez and Virgin Train back home to the Old Smoke.

Though Toronto has a number of clubs that can lay claim to a long and storied history, few have the cachet of the El Mocambo. Located near the top of Chinatown, it’s been around for over sixty years, but its reputation was made forever in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s when it played host to club gigs by The Rolling Stones as well as early shows by the likes of U2, Elvis Costello & The Attractions and The Police.

There’s a lot of history caked into the walls of that building, or there would be if it hadn’t been gutted and renovated at the start of this decade. But still, the famous neon palm tree sign that watched over all those legendary acts coming and going remains.

It’s too early to say if the Toronto debut of London’s Rumble Strips will be one of those rare gigs spoken of in hushed tones many years into the future, but it did have one thing in common with a lot of shows that are – no one was there. Not counting the club staff, there couldn’t have been more than two dozen punters in attendance. Even the band’s support act, Birdmonster out of San Francisco, wasn’t there on account of having been denied entry to Canada at the border. Recipe for a lousy gig? Maybe for some, but not The Rumble Strips.

Led by charismatic frontman Charlie Waller, the Strips put on a barreling show mixing up highlights from their debut “Girls & Weather” with some newer material that might herald a less boisterous direction for the five-piece. Which would be a bit of a shame, since they do boisterous so well. Their retro, working-class soul-pop is built on a superb foundation of horns, harmonies and Waller’s massive voice, which recalls Freddie Mercury at its most soaring yet still works implausibly well with the band’s everyman anthems. Songs like “Time”, “Motorcycle” and “Girls And Boys In Love” which, by rights, should have been delivered to a packed, drunken pub of fans singing lustily along rather than a handful of fans who obviously wanted to do exactly that but were probably self-conscious about being the only ones to do so. Sometimes you just need a mob.

But the audience wasn’t shy about calling the band back for an encore, which they obliged with a cover of Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back In Town” before decamping for Montreal. Here’s hoping that the next time these boys are back in town, there’s a bigger, more drunken crowd waiting for them.

And Oasis. Though the band have certainly had their share of notorious gigs (or pre-gigs or post-gigs) over the years, this is definitely one that will live in infamy. It should have been memorable, but for different reasons. Early tastes of their new record “Dig Out Your Soul” had people saying it was their best work since their glory days of the mid-‘90s. The media circus that followed the Gallagher brothers for years seemed to have subsided and while they certainly still gave good quote, people seemed much more inclined to actually talk about the music. And no matter what the haters said, the fact was that their songs had not only persisted through the years, but become undeniable classics. Oasis may well be as good as they’ve always said they were. In other words, the perfect headliners for V Fest.

And things started out well enough. Taking the stage to a recording of “F**king In The Bushes” and huge, HUGE roars of approval, the band kicked off appropriately with “Rock’N’Roll Star” and burned through a set heavy with the hits. They’re no fools, they know the fans will abide a smattering of new material – and to be fair, the new songs stood up quite well – but unsurprisingly, the biggest cheers were for the likes of “The Masterplan”, “Cigarettes And Alcohol” and “Slide Away”. And “Morning Glory”. Since “Morning Glory” is one of my favourite Oasis songs, I think I had my eyes closed or was perhaps watching the giant video screen. Whatever I was doing, it wasn’t watching the stage at the precise moment that the music abruptly stopped and when I did finally focus on the action, a certain interloper was already being restrained by security and Liam Gallagher was backpedaling away from him. Noel was nowhere to be seen, which made sense since he was doubled over the stage monitor in front of him. So no, while I was there, I didn’t actually see the attack on the elder Gallagher though thanks to the wonder of YouTube, I’ve seen thousands of shaky, blurry clips of the incident.By rights, the band could have called it quits right there. The tens of thousands of fans in attendance certainly seemed to expect as much, their collective breaths held as the stage sat vacant. But after a few minutes, a festival rep came onstage and announced the gig would resume in a five and again, huge roars of approval. And it was the assailed, Noel Gallagher, who would return first to perform solo readings of “The Importance Of Being Idle” and “Wonderwall” before being rejoined by the band for the remainder of the set, finishing up with the signature closing cover of The Beatles’ “I Am The Walrus”.

Considering how serious Gallagher’s injuries have now been revealed to be, it’s remarkable that he came back to close things out even if the momentum had largely been lost and the set abbreviated (a “Champagne Supernova” collaboration with Paul Weller was sadly scratched). Of course, the on-stage bodycheck has turned out to be the gift that keeps on giving with all subsequent North American dates and a handful of European appearances cancelled while Gallagher recovers from his injuries. But for those of us who continue to be the last ones to have seen Oasis perform, it was a gig and a festival to remember, for good and for ill.

One thing that struck me during the first day of the Toronto Virgin Festival was just how utterly testosterone-saturated the lineup was. While past years offered some sense of balance between the “boys with guitars” acts and female-fronted performers, this year’s roster was resolutely bloke-heavy. One notable exception was Scotland’s Sons & Daughters, who were the only act with enough appeal to get me over to the second stage on this Sunday. Released at the start of the year, their latest album, “This Gift”, is a blisteringly good record that injects a solid dose of glam into their previous gothic rockabilly-punk recipe, and having already seen them twice this year I knew they’d put on a great show.

Regular bassist Alidh Lennon was absent from this tour, having stayed behind in Scotland preparing to drop a son or daughter of her own. This left singer Adele Bethel to carry the “daughters” part of the band on her own, a task she and her wonderfully garish neon pink stockings were more than up for. As always, Bethel was a fierce frontwoman – equal parts alluring and fearsome, unapologetically confrontational and absolutely mesmerizing. As she prowled the stage, wielding her tambourine like a deadly weapon, her pompadoured guitarist, co-vocalist and foil Scott Paterson fired off lines of twang and fuzz from his Burns guitar. Compared to the decidedly polished performances of most of the other performers of the weekend, the band were a bracingly abrasive change of pace.

The assembled crowd was modest, seemingly a mix of the converted and the curious, but whichever camp you fell into, the band didn’t care. If you were within earshot, your ass was fair game and they were going to kick it. Mixing up the rawer material from their first two albums “Love The Cup” and “The Repulsion Box” with that from the relatively more polished – but still prickly – “This Gift”, it’s hard to imagine that anyone caught in their musical line of fire wasn’t completely won over, but I say that as one who was already a fan.

Apparently someone really liked seeing the reunited Smashing Pumpkins close out last year’s Virgin Festival in Toronto, because for this year’s edition they did the next best thing to bring Corgan and company back – they got the Silversun Pickups. Though some bands might bristle at being tarred with the “sounds just like” brush, it’s fairly evident that the Los Angeles quartet have no problem with the comparisons. After all, one could do far worse than to pick up where an enormously successful band left off, even if said band has recently returned from inactivity and is attempting to do the same.

One has to wonder if head Pickup Brian Aubert is fully conscious of how much Corgan he channels. Everything from his guitar tone (Fender run through banks of Big Muff fuzz, thank you very much), his vocals (high and nasal, natch) to his body language (tall, lanky and just so slouchy) are simply Corgan. He should simply shave his head and be done with it.

But what he hasn’t quite mastered is the art of writing songs like Corgan. Though “Zeitgeist” is best forgotten, whether you like them or not it’s hard to argue that the first incarnation of the Pumpkins wrote some stone cold classic songs that were the perfect blend of pop, metal and psychedelia. The Pickups’ debut “Carnavas” manages to emulate the Pumpkins style but not the substance and as such, most of their material just comes off sounding samey.

But that doesn’t mean that the band is without their charms. In addition to Aubert’s guitar heroics, Christopher Guanlao is an unbelievably enthusiastic drummer, hair whipping all over as he pounded his kit into submission like a young Matt Chamberlain and bassist Nikki Monninger, frequently bouncing up and down and almost always with a grin on her face, certainly seemed to be having a better time onstage than, say, D’Arcy Wretzky ever did. Keyboardist Joe Lester, with his fedora, beard and checked shirt, just looked out of place.

So while the Silversun Pickups don’t necessarily do much for me – I was over the Smashing Pumpkins by 1995 – from the roars of approval they got from the audience, there’s obviously a grunge revival on the way. Or maybe it’s already here.