Victoria, BC-based Shapes and Sizes is one of the few art-pop acts that doesn’t need to go out of its way to constantly shake up its songwriting. With all three members democratically pumping out tracks, the band’s sound falls in between speedy-punk, improv-screeching, and mathematically perplexing riffage. “Alone/Alive” is proof of this.
Lindstrom & Prins Thomas Reinterpretations
Adorned with block-print owls, frogs, squirrels, and fish, the cover of Norwegian nerds Lindstrom and Prins Thomas’ latest disc practically screams “stoner disco.” Like a backwoods camping soundtrack for VW bus club kids, the album is a collection of alternate mixes, 12″ versions, edits, and jammy retro-house, replete with vintage drum sequencers and live bass noodling. But if you take this trip, bring two weeks’ extra rations-“Nummer Fire En” clocks in at 21 minutes, “Turkish Delight” at 10 and change. Prog-folk influenced “Vrang Og Vanskelig” conjures forest gnome visions, while the cheese-organ-saturated “Feel PM” drifts dangerously into Love Boat waters. Overall, Reinterpretations sounds like Norse disko-goes-lite rock: familiar and soothing, but too limp to fuck with.
XLR8R’s MUTEK Montreal 2007 Wrap-up
This year, XLR8R decided to tackle Montreal a little differently. Rather than just report back on the greatness of MUTEK’s eighth installment, we chose to poke around the city’s sound-specific hot spots, too. Here’s what we saw, starting with number one.
MUTEK
Elektra, Jazz Fest, Pop Montreal… You’d be hard pressed to find a weekend in Montreal without some type of music or arts event going on. (Hell, even DJ Assault was playing the Just For Laughs venue. Hilarious, huh?) In its eighth consecutive year, MUTEK has become the crème de la crème of digital arts festivals in North America, and over the course of five days in May/June proved itself again with stellar performances from the likes of Kalabrese, Bubblyfish, Gui Boratto, Pantha Du Prince, Matthew Dear, and tons of other experimenters from all manner of styles. Holding court at Metropolis, Hotel Godin, Parc Jean-Drapeau, Ex-Centris, and SAT, Mutek offers not only a taste of tons of different music, but a damn good tour around Montreal’s finest venues as well.
Glomag
o.blaat
Just for Laughs’ marquee
Piknic Électronik
The Piknic epitomizes the laid-back vibe of Montreal, especially on MUTEK weekend when techno and house’s heaviest hitters bring their stuff to Île Ste-Hélène’s Parc Jean-Drapeau, where they drop bass under a sun-drenched Alexander Calder stabile. Fortunately for Montrealers, it happens nearly every weekend in the summer. For our visit, Sutekh and Wighnomy Brothers rocked the place like no other.
Digitaline
Ambivalent and Pheek
Partiers at Piknic Électronik
SAT and SAT [Galerie]
Not only the venue for some of MUTEK’s hottest events, including this year’s dub throwdown with Kode9, The Spaceape, Shackleton, Rhythm & Sound, and Paul St. Hilaire, The Society for Arts and Technology’s new space also houses a gallery, where multimedia artists host their works. This September, check out curator tobias c. van Veen’s collection of audio works from the Upgrade International network featuring hellothisisalex, Alexis O’Hara, onetoofreefor, and more. (Check out tobias c. van Veen’s MUTEK video clips below.)
SAT: Society for Arts and Technology
Kode9
Spaceape
Silophone
The “sonic inhabitation” of Silo No. 5 (an abandoned grain silo in an OId Montreal industrial park), the Silophone was created by multimedia artists [The User] in 1999 as a way of transforming the landmark by combining sound, architecture, and communication technology–and picking up one magnificently long echo tail. Today, anyone can send and reverberate messages through the Silophone via telephone, internet, or a mic-and-speaker-based concrete structure on the waterfront.
Silophone’s mic-and-speaker structure in Old Montreal
The Silophone echo chamber, Silo #5
Murmure
If you see these giant green Murmure ears around town, call the phone number on the sign and catch weird tales and encounters from the sites’ past inhabitants, neighbors, and visitors. This one, at St-Laurent Blvd. and Ste-Catherine St., tells the story of life on one of the city’s most interesting intersections. Other spots include the SAT and Hotel Godin, and all the stories (along with a site map) are archived on the web.
A Murmure Ear
Sound Domes
It doesn’t look like much from the outside (or the inside), but the Bar Salon Midway, right next to the SAT, is a karaoke dive with an unwitting twist. If you can catch the place on an off night (ie. when no one is singing “Mustang Sally”), have your friend sit beneath one of the recessed domes in the ceiling and talk back and forth normally; it’ll sound like you’re whispering in each other’s ears. Kinda freaky when you hit the sweet spot. Similar sound domes can be found in the Square-Victoria Metro station but they have a bigger, echoing effect.
Bar Salon Midway
ATSA/FRAG
Montreal is huge into self-guided audio tours, and they’re practically all government sponsored to some degree. Action Terroriste Socialement Acceptable, the artist group known as ATSA, creates urban interventions–via podcasts and signs posted at sites–that examine the ways in which neighborhoods’ landscapes change over the years. Their latest FRAG (for “cultural fragment”) runs through “The Main” along St-Laurent Blvd between Mont-Royal and Sherbrooke Streets.
A FRAG near the SAT
More MUTEK Awesomeness
Writer, artist, filmmaker, and friend to XLR8R, Tobias c. Van Veen was seen just about everywhere in Montreal with camera in hand, capturing some excellent festival footage and interviews. Find him and his work at Quadrant Crossing.
Cobblestone Jazz and The Mole live at Metropolis
Orac’s Randy Jones interviewed
Broke (a.k.a. Matias Aguayo and Marcus Rossknecht) interviewed
Bubble Metropolis Podcast Mix # 2
ML Tronik (a.k.a. Monty Luke) is one badass San Francisco DJ and promoter. Moreover, he’s responsible for lacing dance fanatics with all of the latest crucial techno cuts in his “Bubble Metropolis” column, which appears in each issue of XLR8R.
For his second installment of the “Bubble Metropolis Podcast Mix,” ML Tronik guides you through cuts from his Issue 108 column–complete with smashers from Tim Xavier, Carl Craig, and Chris Liebing. Listen to this at night to get nice and sweaty.
Download this podcast using iTunes (recommended), or with an RSS reader of your choice.
Tracklisting:
Microthol “Acid Bosons (Marco Passarani Remix)” (Trust)
Urban Tribe “Quantum Encryption” (Trust)
Rene Breitbarth “Graveyard Swing 1” (Neo Pren)
Ralph Silwinski “Freak & Muscle” (Morris Audio Citysport Edition)
Barada “Scanning Slowly” (Morris Audio)
Tim Xavier “Deception De Real (Par Grindvik Remix)” (Clink)
Chic Miniature “Kimono” (Musique Risquee)
*BONUS CUT* Paranoid Boyz “Paranoid (Dub)” (Mothership)
*BONUS CUT* Chris Liebing “D” (CLR)
*BONUS CUT* Miro Pajic “Help! I’m in Berlin” (Klickhaus)
Scan 7 “You Have The Right (Aaron Carl Remix)” (Cratesavers)
Carl Craig “At Les (Live In Paris)” (Planet E)
Boy Void
Daily Download: Mochipet “Justin Timberlake Core”
Mochipet has taken the imaginary corpse of Timbaland, shot it full of PCP, brought it back to life, and created “Justin Timberlake Core.” Using enough gnarly rave synths, anarchic kicks, and Scream 4-esque distortion to deafen a young horse, Mochipet is on road to breakcore heaven.
Download this song as an MP3, or preview a week’s worth of tracks at the XLR8R Podcast. Subscribe using iTunes, or with an RSS reader of your choice.
Mochipet “Justin Timberlake Core”
Mochipet has taken the imaginary corpse of Timbaland, shot it full of PCP, brought it back to life, and created “Justin Timberlake Core.” Using enough gnarly rave synths, anarchic kicks, and Scream 4-esque distortion to deafen a young horse, Mochipet is on road to breakcore heaven.
Various Artists Riddim Rider Vol. 22: Old Pirate
For this installment of the one-rhythm series, producer Harvel “Gadaffi” Smith-whose Summer Bounce and Sweat riddims have appeared on similar compilations-reworks Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” as an instrumental backing track for Sizzla, Capleton, and various up-and-coming reggae artists. The result is a tepid, monotonous affair that doesn’t come close to the spirit of the original. Gadaffi’s beat is bland, and sounds like a commercial produced for the Jamaica Tourism Board. Especially disappointing is Gyptian’s effort, which sounds about as soulful as Michael Bolton impersonating Tuff Gong. Only Gadaffi’s next generation (I-Kay, Mystic Man, Smoke, J-Lee) even comes close to catching the fire of Jamaica’s beloved ambassador.
On the Spot: Soul Skate ’07
XLR8R TV’s Brianna Pope heads to the best party at this year’s Detroit Electronic Music Festival-Soul Skate ’07-to get the real dirt on Detroit rollerskating. The reclusive, legendary Detroit DJ/producer Kenny Dixon, Jr. (a.k.a. Moodymann) hosted the night, which brought out not only loyal Detroit music fans, but also lifelong Motown skaters who don’t mess around when it comes to serious roller parties. Rock, skate, roll, bounce!
