Category Archives: under review

Sightlines

Our Demands   (Alarum Records)

by Chris Yee

Sightlines - Our Demands

 
Remember the burble and murk of Internet music streams back in the RealPlayer days? Remember cramming into tiny rooms to see folks play cramped, grotty music? Sightlines do.

  To wit, Sightlines recently put out a cover of the New Fever’s “Our Demands” as a digital single – on floppy disk. The New Fever was a short lived project of then-d.b.s. frontman and future Hive Creative Labs founder Jesse Gander. Beyond that pedigree, it had a personal resonance for Sightlines guitarist and vocalist Eric Axen, who chose “Our Demands” as Sightlines’ contribution to a compilation album of local band covers.
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Tariq

Moonwalker   (Headless Owl Records)

by Angela Yen

Tariq - Moonwalker

 
If Vancouver group Brasstronaut had a control panel, one switch would be for ambient synth, a knob for rhythmic acoustic guitars and a dial for pulsating bass. On Brasstronaut guitarist Tariq Hussain’s solo EP, Moonwalker, he employs that same control panel, but cranks down the keyboards and echo, and tunes-in a more stripped down folky arrangement. The result is a crafty blend of spaced-out synthesizers hovering in the background with some knee slapping beats, acoustic picking guitars and vocals hanging on the folk-pop side of things.

  Opening track, “Annalee” is a classic ode about a girl with country storytelling lyrics with a twist of synths fluttering around. A nice moment in the track is the little call-in-response outro between Hussain’s wooing, and the responding keyboard mimicking his vocals. In second track, “Leaving Song” there’s another touch of Hussain’s clever songwriting as he sings, “Howling at the moon” while the tender howls of the backup vocals, provided by Leah Abramson and Jody Glenham, respond. On the track Hussain’s voice enters the atmosphere like it’s calling down to ground control before breaking down to a moody hitchhiker’s anthem.
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OK Vancouver OK

Food. Shelter. Water.   (Kingfisher Bluez)

by Robert Catherall

OK Vancouver OK - Food Shelter Water

 
No less than sixty faces stare back at you from the cover of tireless local mainstay OK Vancouver OK’s Food. Shelter. Water., a lo-fi hymn of social change and sleepy introspection that, stripped of its instrumental embellishments, reads like an urban Gary Snyder for our times. His charming renditions of escaping to the wilderness, blended with overtones of anti-capitalism shine through in the outspoken yet optimistic conviction of his songwriting. But don’t expect the usual one man and a 4-track affair you’ve come to love Jeff Johnson for on his tenth release.
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Malcolm Jack

I'm My Own Bewitchment   (Independent)

by Slavko Bucifal

Malcolm Jack - Im My Own Bewitchment

 
Malcolm Jack’s ‘70s-inspired folk-pop first solo effort is by no means a debut for the songwriter. Jack has been a major part of the Vancouver indie music scene over the past few years, playing in Capitol 6, Twin River, and Sun Wizard (all on Light Organ Records). But his solo effort, I’m My Own Bewitchment, might just be his finest 31-and-a-half minutes to date. Even if the record is shrouded in mystery.

  Released independently, I’m My Own Bewitchment comes with an illustrated book of sketches and lyrics – a limited edition ‘zine – though trying to find one online has proven unsuccessful (and likely intentional). Be that as it may, the journey to obtain this gem is well worth the investment. Almost immediately after ultra psychedelic dream-like opener “Violet Tiger” peaks the senses, the album becomes familiar and comfortable, sort of like an old pair of jeans.
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Cascadia

Level Trust EP   (Independent)

by James Olson

Cascadia - Level Trust

 
Cascadia’s sound is a beautiful paradox of noisy, chaotic sludge rock counterbalanced by wistful if melancholic dream pop. Their latest release Level Trust plays with these contradictions throughout its four tracks, showcasing the strengths of the band’s multi-faceted sound.

  “Josie” showcases their tight grip on dynamics as a charging punky intro gives way to light, understated verses complemented by Sasha Langford’s airy vocals. A seesawing outro concludes this track, highlighting aggressive buzzsaw guitar work. Track two, “Yours,” speeds along with throbbing, thick-as-a-brick bass lines and rapid fire high-hat rattling on an up tempo verse. Langford’s vocals soar over the instrumental ruckus, deftly contrasting melody with madness.
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Ulrich Schnauss

A Long Way to Fall   (PIAS)

by Tristan Koster

Print

 
It’s unfortunately easy to write stuff off as: “You’d like it, if you’re into that.” The bad news is that A Long Way to Fall is exactly that. The good news is that you might still like it. It’s a change in direction from other works that Schnauss has released under his own name (the last was an EP entitled Stars in 2008), but the German artist has been busy in the meantime with his litany of remixes, collaborations, and things produced. So Schnauss’ work is constantly changing anyway, and the number of genres he’s been assigned to is astounding: synth-pop ambient, and shoegaze, to name a few.
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Various Artists

Vancouver Pop Alliance Compilation - Volume 3
(CiTR and Mint Records)

by Josefa Cameron

CiTR and Mint Records - Vancouver Pop Alliance Vol 3

 
If you missed the release of the third volume of Mint Records/CiTR’s Pop Alliance and the Fundrive finale at Chapel Arts on March 8, you missed out on one good night. Masterfully compiled by Duncan McHugh and Shena Yoshida, the album has 14 fresh Vancouver- and Victoria-based bands, featuring a colourful array of nuovo disco, stoner rock, gypsy pop, and garage fuzz.

  A precious “1-2-3-4 Get Fucked” by Movieland kickstarts the solid track list. The surf-y girl group mimics a less intricate Bleached, with calm vocals and driving fuzz. And during Peace’s “Your Hand In Mine,” it’s easy to imagine a heartbroken teenage boy, styling a Bowie lightning bolt across his moonlit face.
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Rec Centre

Times A Billion   (Independent)

by Max Wainwright

Rec Centre - Times A Billion

 
The bedroom recording project medium has been around long enough that it deserves its own genre, one often typified by hushed vocals, digital reverbs, electro flourishes, drum machines, and pensive lyrics. It could be yet another example of form influencing content. The process of composing, arranging, and performing in near solitude at a computer is conducive to these brooding and textural sounds.

  Enter the Vancouver-based Rec Center, featuring Alex Hudson at the helm. Rec Center’s full-length debut, Times A Billion, is easily categorized as bedroom-pop (all the songs are worked around electronic drum samples from a Roland TR-707). However, at every other turn, it fights against this and aims towards anthemic pop. Times A Billion is a fitting title for the resulting expansive and ambitious tone of these songs.
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Joyce Island

Joyce Island EP   (Independent)

by Robert Catherall

 
On her debut, Joyce Island, songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist Lisa Joyce assumes the confident swagger of Tom Petty-styled Americana before drenching it in blossoming female vocals that triumphantly stand their ground against a series of troubled experiences. Backed by the driving guitar of Mikey Manville (of the Manvils) and rhythmic confidence of Chris Jaggers and Flavio Cirillo, Joyce leads the quartet from heavy blues psychedelia to modern traditionals.
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Hooves

Dear Nevada EP   (Independent)

by Penny Clark

Hooves - Dear Nevada

 
Hooves’ first EP, Dear Nevada, is required listening for the edgier kids in high school. The ones whose younger siblings might overhear Hooves playing in the bedroom next door and dip-dye their Barbies in glitter glue along to it. If bands were people, Hooves would be Madonna and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ youngest sister.
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