Love & Electrik signed to TREMENDOUS RECORDS
L&E are the second band this week to be featured on our blog sporting the elusive keytar, and the third I’ve seen this week! This only confirms popular theories….
They have just signed to Tremendous Records, are blazing new pathways with their sexy 80s electro/freestyle/slap funk sounds out of Vancouver, BC and have opened for the likes of Chromeo, Amanda Blank and more.
Check out their ridiculously funky, and almost as good, revisitations of Phil Collins “In The Air Tonight” or Prince/Vanity’s “Nasty Girl”, on their myspace. Or, listen to their first single, Sex Video.
Here’s a little in-joke for all you adverphiles out there
At The MMVA's Gift Lounge
For those who don’t know, a “Gift Lounge” is a room created for celebrities who attend awards shows, galas and such. These are a wacky concept and are generally a PR push for brands who cough up fat wads of cash for the opportunity to flog their goods at someone with star power.
Sounds fab huh? To really break it down, the set up is just like that of a trade show with reps from each label showing off their goods except instead of just looking and taking a flyer or leaflet, the stars get to take the products home with them.
Brands at the Lounge were not all glitz and flakey glam. I saw a really interesting product called the Buddha Board. It’s a re-usable canvas that lets you draw on it with an asian calligraphy pen. Instead of using ink, you dip it in water and paint away. The image evaporates after 5 minutes or so. This is the kind of innovative shit I love to see. Check out their site, it’s got a nice interactive example of what the product can do. http://www.buddhaboard.com/
New Era was representing as well, and I saw their rep hustlin hard as she chased down mmva’s hip-hop winner, Karl Wolf, with a bloods style Jays cap to match his outfit.
I saw a bunch of different performers in the Lounge, but the highlight of experience was getting a chance to stand within 5 feet of Tiny Tiny Tila Tequila!!! I’ve had encounters with celebs but this one had me giggling like a school girl. Unfortunately photography was not allowed and I didn’t want to press my luck with an interview request, besides, who knows what madness might come out my mouth. I shamefully admit to have watched every contrived episode of her first show, but when they came out with a second season I was baffled and felt betrayed. How much true love does this collagen injected vietnamese space alien have to give around? Can she do it, especially with a 3rd season in the works?
Here’s a pic of her hugging a handbag by a company called Cha Cha. Note table in background which was about hip height for most.
Also in attendance was Lady “Rocket Tits” Gaga, who’s pyrotechnic poom poom’s blinded the Much Music audience for the finale of her show and earned her this new nickname.. She’s seen here rockin’ two (!) pairs of Jil Sanders shades.
Amazing Baby @ The Phoenix
Three signs that you are going to see a good show. a) customers forking over wads of cash and weed to scalpers to get in. 2) women in line asking if you are on the guest list, BEGGING to let them in with you c) dudes getting kicked out AT the door, trying to con their way in with fake, or already ripped tickets. Yes, this was the madness that I faced as I entered the Phoenix this balmy summer eve. Not to mention the shenanigans of local celebrity homeless crack-head/aspiring mayoral candidate, Kevin Clark who claimed to take ownership of his farts, demanding we pay him for having eaten/inhaled them..errr yahhh.
Brooklyn’s Amazing Baby take the stage about 20 minutes after their call time. Lead guitarist decked in classic chunky Kurt Cobaine orange and yellow striped tee shirt and chin length dirty blonde cut with lead bassist rocking an In Utero tee, headbangin his way all through the set. Nirvana throwbacks all the way. Baby’s performance was won over with their most melodic songs in the repertoire. The band is either working on perfecting live versions of the layer blending, washed-out psychedelia beautifully featured on the cd, or maybe they felt it wasnt what the crowd was looking for, as they were, after all, opening for Phoenix, the current French kings of indie pop hooks. Lead singer thrusted his mic stand in the air multiple times like a glorious knight saluting his king, pleasing the audience with his catchy 70s folk meets glam rock tracks like Supreme Being, Headdress, and Bayonets.
Speaking of the album, you can stream their entire latest release “Rewild” through their extremely friendly and awesome website/blog here, or you can check them out at myspace and get the straight goods that you would expect.
Bloodgroup
Bloodgroup are from Iceland. It’s very cold up there I hear, but they will heat you up with with day-glo electro-pop excitement. They’ve been getting love from the likes of industry shakers NME, and have appeared on various CMJ compilations
If this smokin’ pic isn’t enough to convince you, check out the video below from the Roskilde Festival; the crowd is going ape shit. We can only hope for a similar performance. They’ll be in town for NXNE, performing June 18 at The Musebox Showcase along with Norwegian cousins Pirate Love, You Say Party, We Say Die!, Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head, Green Go, and Language Arts. Alert to all nightstalkers, you can also snag them at Neutral on Saturday where they’ll perform at 3 am.
Cut Off Your Hands @ The Legendary Horseshoe
Note guitarist Jono Lee (far left) rocking Monotonix!
It was a short and blistering set delivered by the pretty boy buzz band decked in hipster-tight pants and fluorescent pink, green and yellow printed t shirts. Not that there’s anything wrong with a rock band looking pretty, as long as they are willing to get messy, which they were. All four members of the band were literally dripping with sweat a few songs in to their set. Front man Nick Johnston was even thrashing around on the ground at one point, slamming his fists on the stage throwing a mini temper tantrum, and then popping back up grappling the mic like his life depended on it.
Cut Off Your Hands have a winning sound that borrows equally from The Cure as much as contemporary pop sensations like Franz Ferdinand, or The Strokes. They are equipped with a standard four man guitar/bass/drums/vocalist set up with all members assisting in backup vocals.
Aside from wanting to be rock stars, they understand the business of pop songs, as I found myself humming their little ditties to myself unexpectedly the next morning. Their current album is called You And I, and was produced by Bernard Butler (formerly of Suede, now known for Duffy). They are from New Zealand, and no, they sound nothing like Flight Of the Conchords. Be s
ure to check out Happy As Can Be, their joyful ode to all that is joyful, posted below. It can’t not put you in a good mood :)
In terms of the show, it was good, bouncy fun, despite the stodgy old industry farts in the mid/back sections who came to take a looky. I just wished the band could have stuck around a little longer than 40 minutes. Lots of bang in there,but maybe not worth the buck.
Cut off Your Hands – Happy As Can Be
Rajni Perera
Local Toronto artist and friend Rajni Perera will be featuring some of her work this friday march 20th at “1000 for $10 (each)”, a group show with the premise of cheap art that anyone can afford, and for $10 a piece they are delivering on that.
Rajni is very talented and has had a couple of shows in town. Her work is largely acrylic but she plays with many different styles. Recently she did a fantastic cover for Telemite’s new EP that I can’t stop staring at:
“I’ve found you Ms New Booty” is another great piece done with acrylic on canvas diptych:
The “can of whoop-ass” is one of my favorites. Acrylic on the underside of a tabletop:
The show’s at *Hotshot Gallery in Kensington Market (181 Augusta Ave) and the reception starts at 8pm. There will be work from other up and coming artists including Yvon Julie, Ryan Solski, Anam Ahmed, Lisa Ng, Dan Rocca and more. The exhibition will be open to the public until march 25th, make sure you check it out and support local talent.
Tremendous Records
Chris Taylor, founder of Last Gang Records has just pubically announced the release of a new striclty online/digital label, TREMENDOUS Records. The label will be handled by Grandtheft, aka Aaron Waisglass, of the Team Canada DJ’s.
“The label’s focus will be new, forward-thinking club/rock music. In the current climate of a global economic downturn, very evident within the music industry, it seems odd perhaps, to be starting a new label. Not when the label is intent on acting as a breeding ground for new talent; essentially TREMENDOUS is a well-run home for developing artists who are on the brink of breaking through to commercial success.”
Tremendous’s first release comes from the Danish electro/dance group, the Wong Boys, with the track, ‘Git UR Fuk On.’ Check out the DJ_ILLO_-_Git_Ur_Fuk_On_Remix.mp3 by Team Canada’s own DJ Illo or the music vid below.
DIEMONDS
Diemonds are the scrappiest 80’s metal revival band to emerge from Toronto’s sleazy streets in this modern day of 2008.
They are lead by the incredible, unstoppable, ultra-dedicated front-woman Miss Priya Panda, backed C.C. Diemond, Cuzo and Alan “The Yeti”. Priya owes her success in large part to her work ethic which is pretty simple, “Everything in life that does not help Diemonds, sucks” The band is entirely self funded and self made, save for a bit of help from her friends, like local celebrity indie artist and illustrator, Dennis Chow, who lends his designs to their t-shirts and album art.
The years of hard work and dedication are starting to paying off. With the launch of their first sizzling, EP “In The Rough”, they’ve garnered some hot press from local papers like The Star, Eye, and Now magazine. To preview or purchase the album, ,you can visit out their myspace at http://www.myspace.com/diemonds
What to expect at a Diemonds show? Their last gig at Lee’s Palace (along side veterans Grim Skunk and White Cowbell Oaklahoma) included wailing, screeching, high kicks, Motley Crue gear, foaming beer volcanoes, and lots more wailing from the hot-as-fuck Priya Panda.
If you missed them at Lee’s Palace, or Clinton’s last Wednesday (from which they were banned!!!!) or at Black Betty’s for the Christmas party with live Strippers, you can still check them out on Jan. 16 where they are performing live in Toronto at the Legendary Horseshoe at Queen & Spadina, with Dean Lickyer (fresh offa MuchMusic’s Disband), Drunkula, Birthday Boys and Left of Zero. Price is $7.00
Soul Power
A couple of Motown/soul/rare groove mixtapes have come across my radar recently.
Hawthorne Radio, an exceptionally well crafted mix, integrating actual retro radio ads, brought to you by Mayer Hawthorne of Stone’s Throw Records. The podcast, found here.
Mayer is also playing in Toronto tonight at Wrongbar, as part of Stones Throw Move.
I recently received this mixtape as well from a guy who goes by ‘The Purist’ from Brixton claiming 15,000 downloads. I’m a tad skeptical, the art direction is not all that clever, but his track selection is bang on Find it here, at The Purist or check out his myspace.
Rudely Interrupted
Tonight, I went to check out an indie rock group at Sneaky Dees that came all the way from Australia. They are called Rudely Interrupted. They’re kind of a special band, made up of special people. They’re actually on tour thanks to the United Nations who allowed them to come play at the International Day for Persons living with a Disability. All of the bands members, save for one, is a person with a disability (Blindness, Deafness, Aspergers, Autism, Down Syndrome or a combination thereof), e.g., lead singer, Rory Burnside, who was born without eyes and has Aspergers. This is really quite a feat, and brought back memories of the old cartoon, Quads, where each character had his own sort of disability/superpower.
They come together amazingly well, and pull off a poppy Joy Division sound, with Rory, perched on a stool with his guitar and twitchy Ian Curtis mannerisms. Don’t Break My Heart really sums up the sound quite well, I cant get enough of the haunting chorus [Don’t break my heart, don’t break my heart (malfunction, malfunction)] and throbbing guitars. Other songs get a bit sillier than Joy Division though (e.g. My Zits), while their cover of Modern English’s ‘Melt For You’ couldn’t have been any better. The on stage banter got pretty cheeseball with some jokes thrown in like, “Knock, knock, who’s there? Madam. Madam who? Ma damn foot is stuck in the door!” I groaned inwardly but, cheered still. You really can’t knock these guys for trying. I know that activists for people with disabilities might think, “Oh no, we can’t have them be paraded and toured around like some kind of twee freak show,” but they were nothing of the sort.
These guys rock out and swill their beer like anyone else. I can’t see how this group is about anything other than self-empowerment. Their chemistry was also like any other band I have seen before, guitarists chatting with each other mid song on stage, the banter, the stage acts and goofing around. Major points go to Connie Kirkpatrick, affectionately known as Connie the ‘human metronome’ who is legally blind and has Down Syndrome. Her ability to grab rhythms with her impeccable timing has enabled Connie to play and record multiple instruments; she rocked the stage harder than anyone. Do check them out their myspace or their site linked above.
