by Nash Bussieres

D-Sisive is probably my favourite thing about Canadian music right now. He’s as profound as he is prolific, and his story is honest and all-too relatable for so many people. I caught his at the Annex Wreckroom on Friday as part of the Funk Resistance party. After saying late last year that he was calling it quits, I was really saddened at the prospect of never getting to see him live again. Playing with KC Roberts and the Live Revolution as a backing band, the show was something amazing to behold. I really wish he spent more time on stage as he didn’t seem to go through many songs (was it a full set? it seemed so short). That might just be due to the fact that I’m a pseudo-super-fan and wanted him to play like, a million tunes. Hip-Hop backed by full brass and funk ensembles always makes for a great show, and this was no different. D-Sisive proved that he’s fully deserving of everything he’s ever asked for. Continue Reading

by Nash Bussieres

I’m pretty stoked I can now say that I’ve seen Sweatshop Union. They were one of the first groups that introduced me to hip hop when I was a pre-teen and served as a good counterbalance to all the Eminem that my friends would start listening to in the next few years. Having only ever been to The Painted Lady once before, all I really remembered about it was that it was small. Like, really small. I had no idea how a hip hop collective would be able to perform in such a tight space, but they made it work really well. The entire crowd (“crowd” is being used loosely, the venue could only hold like, 30 people max) was bouncing up and down to the set and, unlike most bands I saw this week, SU actually managed to get a commendable amount of audience participation. The Union still knows how to command a stage, even more than a decade after its formation.
Sweatshop Union- Makeshift Kingdom

by Nash Bussieres

I’ve seen Animal Faces more times than I have fingers to count on and, if I’m being quite honest, recent shows have left me wanting something different from them. That’s why I’m so excited about their split with Solids that came out yesterday. Their first song on the release, “Give In,” is an instrumental piece that revolves around an electric guitar melody drowning in verb and chorus atop heavily resonant synth and minimal drums. The most incredible thing about the track is the fact that there are sleigh bells in it but it doesn’t sound wintery. What is this black magic? I didn’t know that was possible. The second track, “Hold On,” sounds a lot more like Stalwart Sons or Daylight playing in an empty stadium: emotive, energetic and with an impossible feeling of distance.

This was my first listen to Solids. Their contribution to the split is a great companion piece to the two AF tracks. It is as energetic as “Hold On” but also incorporates a lot of the emptiness felt in “Give In” simultaneously. I’m a fan. Will listen to more.

Animal Faces seems to get a lot of credit just for being Animal Faces, but it is definitely well earned on this new split.

by Nash Bussieres

Rating:

Release Date: January 22, 2013
Label: Normaltown

Daniel Romano‘s Come Cry With Me is an album that I, admittedly, probably wouldn’t have listened to if it weren’t for the fact that I used to listen to a lot of Attack in Black, the punk/indie/aggro-whatever band he used to be the frontman of. I’m not particularly well versed in country music (something I should probably fix soon) and because of this I’m not sure if the songs (and especially the album title) are either deadpan satire of the genre as a whole or an honest (read: fabricated) attempt to be young Willie Nelson 2.0. Continue Reading

by Nash Bussieres

White Lung is really cool. So many things about them scream “1980s” (The Smiths-esque guitar runs, the confident/aggressive female vocals, the 80s style punk production) but they don’t sound dated at all. Like, at all. There’s something intangibly “new” sounding about them despite the fact they might as well have just recently hopped off the Delorean with Marty McFly. “Two of You” combines these elements to make something really interesting and energetic. It proves that its possible to borrow from the past without stealing from it.

by Nash Bussieres

Elephant Stone are back championing their brand of reverb-laden pop with their new 7-inch Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin. The A-side features the eponymous track while the B-Side showcases “Strangers,” one of the strongest songs from their Glass Box EP that they put out almost half a decade ago (fun fact: that EP was the first vinyl I bought for myself) . “Love the Sinner…” sounds like it would have fit right at  home on The Glass Box EP, borrowing heavily from 60s/70s pop structures.
Elephant Stone- Love the Sinner, Hate The Sin

by Nash Bussieres

Stalwart Sons is one of my favourite Canadian acts at the moment. Their entire label is pretty fantastic and you’d be doing yourself a massive disservice by not acknowledging the existence of one of the hardest working and consistently spectacular mini-labels Canada has to offer.

The easiest way to describe Stalwart Sons is Canada’s answer to early Hot Water Music. The vocal similarities and bass tone between their new release and HWM’s “Fuel For the Hate Game” are unmistakeable, but that by no means is a bad thing. This is not one of the myriad bands trying to copy HWM and doing things that were relevant only a decade ago, this is a band that is 100% comfortable with their sound and just happen to sound similar to another band. Nothing sounds half-assed; everything on the album is a fully flushed out song with its own life and personality. Stalwart Sons play second fiddle to no one.