A Local Guide To Rifflandia
Rifflandia features many Victoria & Vancouver bands worth checking out… if you’re a home-grown type & really want to support the lil’ guys, here’s a heads up on some of the local bands that are involved…
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Featured releases
Lindstrøm - Where You Go I Go Too
(Smalltown Supersound) CD
Hans Peter Lindstrøm’s splash on the scene was a glitter-washed one; 2005’s still-brilliant “I Feel Space” announced the space-disco revival that he has since spearheaded with frequent collaborator Prins Thomas. Where You Go I Go Too is closer to the pair’s self-titled release on Eskimo from 2006 – Lindstrøm opens up a Pandora’s box of tropicalia, Italo-lounge & 80’s cocaine-epic-osity, all throbbing, bobbing & spilling over round, mid-tempo drums. The lengthy 30 minute title track spends equal time grooving & meandering – it’s too indulgent for most – but for anyone wanting a bit of a twinkling, sun-soaked journey, Hans Peter is your man.
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A Brief Guide To Rifflandia
August 29-31 — Rifflandia — this festival features over 50 bands playing through the August long weekend at a bunch of Vic’s prominent live venues. There are some cool bands making their way to the island for this party – we thought we’d run through a couple of the best.
NEW ADDITIONS: 1900s & HOWLIN’ RAIN!!!
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Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual
(We Are Free) CD
From the world of the frenetic Baltimore scene (Dan Deacon, Video Hippos, Ecstatic Sunshine) comes another crew, this time with two guitars, no bass & lots of fucking energy. On their second album Ice Cream Spiritual, Ponytail create an erratic train running with high-freted guitar work, rolling drums & the artistic flamboyance of lead vocalist Molly Seigel, who sounds like something between a hyperactive parrot & a wild boar in heat. The record’s turbo fluster of crayon-coloured-craze certainly will leave those involved with a heart beat per minute that would worry a physician. The sound of punk-infused paint colour aimed at the art gallery: yes, please.
Wire - Object 47
(Pink Flag) CD
Object 47 is just that; it’s the 47th “thing” that UK former-post-punkers Wire have released. Since their unbelievably influential opening salvo of releases (Pink Flag, Chairs Missing & 154), the London band has basically written the textbook on how to be a non-compromising, academic art-rock band. Object 47 ain’t gonna blow the socks off anyone (except maybe me), but it’s startling that these 50-somethings are still pumping out music with texture, urgency & a keen sense of structure & melody. Despite original guitarist Bruce Gilbert having officially left the band, Wire’s brilliant mastery of tone & texture is splattered all over this. Opener “One Of Us” could be a lost New Order gem from their classic period if it weren’t for the bassline being, well, bassy & ballsy. It drives the tune pretty much to the dancefloor, with a wide-screen chorus about dissolving relationships. That transition from verse to chorus, the “opening up” of a track, is what gives spirit to much of the rest of 47, especially on “Mekon Headman” (sung by bassist Graham Lewis) & “Perspex Icon”, both of which pit contrasting lyrical & melodic hues against each other. Object 47 isn’t retro; it’s un-modern… but ain’t that refreshing nowadays?
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archive: Wire's classic albums
Wire are mindblowingly amazing. Learn about them here.
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Women - Women
(Flemish Eye) CD & LP
It sounds like it was recorded on a four track, and it plausibly was as bedroom-recording-mastermind Chad Vangaalen was the one that did it. The lads that compile Women – two of which are members of Calgarian co-patriots Azeda Booth (debut album out July 22 on Absolutely Kosher!) – throw together glistening harmonies as divided by drills and drones. With emphasis on pedals, distortion and a fuzz box; at times they allude the air of the Dischord catalogue, as on “January 8th”; before they catch the flipside of the coin like a walk home from a summer barbecue, as per “Black Rice.” Through interchanges of clamour and clarity; Women seem to be another element into what might be introducing Calgary, AB as the home of a blooming music scene, indeed.
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Melvins - Nude With Boots
(Ipecac) CD
Melvins’ re-invention of sorts on 2006’s (A) Senile Animal was a welcome return to the riff-tastic prolificacy of their 90’s major label heyday. Joined again by Jared & Cody of Big Business, Nude With Boots, like (A) Senile Animal, sounds re-invigorated & shows the accessible Melvins that you don’t have to work to enjoy. The proof here is in the double drum kit-laced pudding (two drum kits people!!!); from the thick, chugging layers of “The Smiling Cobra” to the near-jovial catchiness of the title track, Buzz & Dale seem as relevant as ever… bottom line: Melvins kick major ass & don’t even care about taking numbers… the riffs are that good. I don’t even know what that means, but this album is awesome.
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archive: Melvins' mid-90's trifecta of riff-premacy!
Nude With Boots is a crushing reminder of how amazing Melvins are. Entering their 25th year as a band, they are still indignant of anything other than their own creative pursuit.
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Sigur Rós - Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
(XL) CD, 2LP coming soon
Sigur Rós’ whimsical first single “Goobledigook” primarily introduces Með as a turn for the group. With the bouncy march of a Panda Bear bass drum & Birgisson’s coos in English(!), the track treds in the same water as Animal Collective or Adem. English, Icelandic or Hopelandic, the vocals are still as evocative as they were on ( ). Meanwhile, the album slowly parts from its glockenspiels & xylophones to retreat back to the traditional symphonic prolifia that has marked Sigur Rós as the kings of a genre one might call “Icelandia”. Once again, there are nods to both Constellation records and philharmonic orchestras as they greet the album’s many pocketed crescendos. With equal doses of experimentation & the familiar soundscapes that have embraced our headphones on many winter walks; the whole thing might just be evoking enough to bring you to the Croatian Cultural Center by the time they play Vancouver in October.
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