Streaming Audio Killed the Video Star: A critical glance at Myspace band The Paper Cranes
I think that if I ever somehow progress to the point where I have even a fraction of the amount of talent similar to that of musical legends from the past, I'd genuinely die happily. And this is essentially what Victoria band The Paper Cranes have successfully managed. Having gained exactly a fraction of musical talent inspired by the likes of The Cure's first album as well as by The Cure's second album, The Paper Cranes are nothing short of a musical melting pot of influences: from the Robert Smith-like tormented love lyrics, to the Robert Smith-like melodic yelp vocals combined (bizarrely) with an occasional change of pace in the form of Dexy's Midnight Runners-like rollicking background instrumentation as seen in the song "I'll Love You Until My Veins Explode ...". If The Paper Cranes do set themselves apart from New Wave past or present in any way it's in its subtleties. And these are almost entirely based within the vocal composition made up primarily through the slight flexibility of tempo and occasionally well-placed vocal lilts. Unfortunately these subtleties are too few and far between to make them anything more than a vaguely successful addition to the slew of New Wave mimickers. In any case, they will be holding a show on Auguest 17th at Richards on Richards.
Alternative opinion: the paper cranes make the beatles sound like a pile of horse shit. -Jean Roux - Insound.com
A gold star for anyone who can name Canada's apparent cultural saviour.
If you've guessed Facebook then you can begin to pat yourself on the back whilst simultaneously weeping in an insular pit of despair for all mankind. In a half-hazard guess, CBC has decided that Facebook populism is the way to the hearts of its younger audience as its past audience slowly becomes cretinous with age. Ah, yes Facebook: long the lodestar in credibility. Did I mention this involves a user uprising of anti-abortionist hackers yet? Don't worry, I'll get to that.
Entitled "The Great Canadian Wish List", this is CBC's attempt to further toy with the concept of direct audience interaction. The idea is fairly simple: in celebration of Canada's 140th birthday, users are invited to create and vote their wish for Canada's future. It's essentially a thunderdome experiment in Canadian ethics: most of these 'wishes' revolve around tuition fees, abortion and the environment. Two men enter, one man leaves.
I generally look forward to the advent of cultural progress. History has proven its advantages: Blobs of single-celled protoplasm evolved in to field mice and Chopin, Pangaea split to become the continents, cinema has reached its peak of existence. These are all truly wonderful advancements for human civilisation. But as CBC transforms from pure national media to its own Facebook group I can't help but wring my hands in quibbling reservation. Here's the kicker: take note CBC's user warning on its Facebook group.
ALERT!!! As you know, this is an experimental, ever-evolving project. We're always trying to make the site better--but sometimes we run into glitches. The latest glitch, it seems, is that people have figured out how to hack the site and cheat to up the number of supporters for their wishes. Facebook is working on the problem, and they know the proper number of supporters for each wish. Those numbers will be restored as soon as possible (today, June 22nd).
What are they referring to? The current top five Great Canadian wishes are: 1. Abolish abortion in Canada 2. I wish that Canada would remain pro-choice 3. For a spiritual revival in our nation 4. Restore the tradition definition of marriage 5. I wish tuition fees would be either lowered or eliminated
To summarise: Eh?
The list, leading many to wonder what in the hell Canada's conservative right are up to, as well as raises one other particular question. Is Canada genuinely this split between left and right ideals as the Great Canadian Wish List seems to imply? Is there some thread of truth to this Facebook poll?
136857600 Minutes of Silence: Re-Visiting the Lost Work of John Cage
Here is a comprehensive list of the similarities between John Cage and I:
1. On Wednesday night I accidentally left my jacket in the open corridor of my workplace. Noticing it was missing, I made my way back in to the building and retrieved it.
Comparatively, while serving on the Dance Faculty at Mills College John Cage composed the accompanying music for the graduation thesis of dance instructor Elfrid Ide entitled "Dance Music for Elfrid Ide". Following its first and only performance in 1941, "Dance Music for Elfrid Ide" was lost until May of this year when someone noticed it was gone, made their way back to Mills College archives and retrieved it. In this sense that I am truly following in the glittering legacy of John Cage.
On June 22nd this John Cage composition will receive its North American premiere at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Broadcast rehearsal is open to the public from 10pm to 11:45 with its live recording being held at midnight.
Since the dawn of time, man has looked to the stars and wondered: Where have I come from? He has calculated the existence of galaxy clusters unlike his own. He has deconstructed the elements of the universe down to the smallest atom. Later he would ask more significant questions. For instance, “Has this milk gone off?”, “Did I miss my stop?” and “if the universe is not a single, unending pit of despair and cruelty which depravedly tears away all of my happiness then why has it conspired to cancel Hot Chip's upcoming concert on June 19th?”
Apparently due to scheduling conflicts with another concert in Glastonbury, Hot Chip have been forced to cancel their appearance at the Commodore. Glastonbury? Really? Glastonbury whose claim to fame is literally juggler Haggis McLeod? Yes, they also have their impressive outdoor festival on their vast green English fields but guess what you’re missing out on in Vancouver, guys? Ceilings and rooms heated at a reasonable temperature. Try finding that outdoors in high quantity.
So it goes. So let us all just pause for a moment of silence in memory of the concert that never was as I wipe a single tear from my eye.
Once upon a time, when the secrets of musical craft were the voraciously guarded property of elite groups of academics, the common man had no hope of mastering its arcane intricacies. Years of study was required to obtain even the most poor and incoherent knowledge. But today all of that has changed! A poor, incoherent knowledge of music is available to anyone: DJ’s, the French, petite teenage girls.
It is through this now universal ability to not only create but produce significant amounts of music with little to no understanding of what in the world you are doing that Uffie was given the ability to burst in to musical existence. From the line-up of France's up-and-coming empire of electronica, Ed Banger Records, she rose as something halfway between a 1980's break dancing montage and electropop twee. But the true success of Uffie is not so much her ability to make likeable variations of rap, dance and electronica so much as her actual conception as an artist. That is an important distinction to make. Musically, Uffie is nothing more than a slight interpretation of Daft Punk. The stand out aspect of Uffie is Uffie herself.
At eighteen she came from a sordid background having traveled to and from Miami and Japan only to have befriended producers somehow along the way. Far more indie brat than musical prodigy, through a string of accidents Uffie was coaxed in to the role of vocalist for a number of singles produced by Ed Banger label mates Feadz and Mr. Oizo, only to be soon after added to the catalogue of bands pieced together on Ed Rec Vol. II, an Ed Banger Records label compilation. And it is this seeming immaculate musical conception of the club kid who became reigning princess of France’s underground dance scene that vaults her forward not as catchy post-Daft Punk era electronica but as what electronica fails to be more often than not: music with a human face. Her singing is rawly punched out, not polished. She overly articulates her phrasings and riddles the lyrics with a kind of awkward girlishness and occasional British accent.
But this aspect of her music is a very temporary thing. It's grown from the unprofessional nervousness of someone very new in her career and this will all but disappear by the time her first album is released. If the true successful element of Uffie is her charming naiveté to music then its decay is inevitable. It seems to be a pretentious right of way to find these diamonds in the rough, to only later wince at them in disgust when they reach mainstream success. But in the case of Uffie, because the caliber of her work is inseparable from her current state as an artist any artistic growth will be its death knell
Here's the good news: If you thought the current Vancouver music scene was wholly unidentifiable, you can now go back to feeling safe in the knowledge that you are right. What’s the bad news? The current Vancouver music scene is pretty much wholly unidentifiable. With the advent of Canada’s “indie Mecca’ status within recent years, bands have been streaming continuously out of the country’s centre, leaving a certain musical ethos in their wake. Cities around Canada are now slowly attempting to construct an individual and distinct regional Sound. Sadly, where areas like Toronto and Montreal are producing internationally renowned acts such as Broken Social Scene, The Arcade Fire and Stars, Vancouver in particular has been lagging vastly behind as exemplified by its significant lack of recognisable band. While Vancouver indie groups such as You Say Party! We Say Die! are making their particular genre of DIY dance punk acknowledged nationally, this is still an all too rare occurrence. Unfortunately, corporate-backed festivals which attempt to aid the growth of Vancouver music are in reality hindering the organic growth of Vancouver’s booming and diverse underground scene whilst acting as musical farms which attempt to groom select genres of music. Fostering the talents of only a fraction of genres within a surging, eclectic music scene undeniably limits the industry's ability for creative growth which is, of course, a problem for Vancouver's more experimental bands. Larissa Loyva of Vancouver bands P;ano and Kellarissa sums up Vancouver’s musical state matter-of-factly, saying “More boundary pushing, please. I’ll try to hold up my end.”
The insularity of Vancouver has been one of the primary difficulties influencing the city’s musical development. The distance between sizable population centres complicates not only the possibility for touring (the nearest major city is 13 hours away) but also the ability to gain influence from other regions and develop musically through diverse exposure. I spoke with the band The Yesterdais who acknowledged the effect of Vancouver’s musical stalemate, “We feel its lacking real creative energy, inspiring and influential artists. There [are] too many unconscious musicians, people and bands [that] are defined by one sound. We don’t feel apart of any scene, because we’re too open too a variety of sounds and instruments outside of the normal fast paced guitar driven rock.” Music Waste organiser Cameron Reed echoed this sentiment, “Every scene ebbs and flows…The problem today is [Vancouver’s] lack of decent venues.” The combination of the geographic confinement of Vancouver and the general disregard of underground bands by big-industry makes regional music festivals a must for up and coming bands.
Enter the Vancouver music festival Music Waste. A brief synopsis: Beginning in 1994 as a response to the business-minded ethics of the corporate backed New Music West festival, Music Waste was created with a very specific creed in mind. Firstly it would avoid the corporate entanglements of New Music West, creating low-cost shows (a maximum of five dollars per show) in easily accessible area. Secondly, it would champion the city’s less approachable, more underground bands in an attempt to help them gain a degree of recognisability on the Vancouver scene. And thirdly it would have no criterial discrimination over bands. In setting up a secondary program, “Go Your Own Waste”, Music Waste now has the ability to promote virtually any band. Go Your Own Waste functions as a net for bands which were not able to get direct aid from Music Waste itself due to the limited available room within the festival. This program functions by adding the band to Music Waste’s advertising roster, leaving the set-up of a gig to the group themselves. In this sense, this grassroots festival acknowledges the diversity Vancouver’s underground and indie market whilst creating a communal environment to present them in. Music Waste Organisers Cameron Reed and Sarah Cordingley explained to me that the festival’s ethos is based on “making and listening to music that has character. It's about musicians doing it for the love of art, without taking Themselves too seriously or being rock stars.”
Music Waste runs from June 7th to 10th all across Vancouver’s Eastside. Multi-passes for all shows are available at Zulu, Scratch, Red Cat, Audiopile, Limelight. Here’s a taste of what to expect from a few of the bands:
Kellarissa:
Kellarissa meets somewhere between a kind of quirky do-it-yourself electro and a playful merry-go-round composition. This is Larissa Loyva’s one man show which is in her own words “Vocals on vocals on keyboards.” And that’s right on the money. An organ-heavy beat provides the background for her layered vocals and occasional faux-retro VOX interludes. You can catch her on June 7th at The Royal Unicorn Cabaret.
The Yesterdais:
A time-capsuled 1960’s throwback band, The Yesterdais are impressively loyal to their decade of choice. Featuring the raw guitar fuzz of a vintage garage band combined with tuneful pop aesthetic. Really lovely stuff. They can be seen on June 7th at Pat’s Pub, along with Yukon, The Bloggers and The SSRI’s.
The Choir Practice:
If Langley School Music Project had grown up to make indie a’cappella, if The Polyphonic Spree decided against the cult-like 1960’s sunshine theatrics in turn for school gymnasium sweetness and then you’d have The Choir Practice. The Choir Practice, who are of all things a choir, pronounce themselves to be a “[re-appropriation of] shoe gazing introspective indie songs into a choral format. They’ll be providing a sugar candied pop sing-along of weaving call and reply vocals and hand claps on June 8th at Hoko’s Sushi.
Ghost House:
With angular guitar, post punk gestures and nods of acknowledgement to math rock syncopated rhythms; musical composition is this band’s strong point. Ghost House is, if anything, a kaleidoscope of great modern rock ideas fit together in to song after song. They are playing on June 9th at Hoko’s Sushi.
