Pop Montreal 2011 review + pictures!

Pop Montreal 2011 began two weeks ago tonight, so it is about time I am finally writing my review!

Part of the reason I am so slow in writing my review is that it was very hectic, being out to shows late every night, and working a day job, so I took some time to recover if you will. Okay, and there was procrastination in there too.

Rebekah Higgs at Pop Montreal 2011

This year marked the tenth anniversary of Pop Montreal, what started as a few friends putting on some shows. And it really culminated with the free Arcade Fire show where the free festival shows are held annually (recent years saw Stevie Wonder, Ben Harper, and just this past summer, The B-52s. Somewhere between 80 000 and 100 000 showed up for the Arcade Fire show. Of course many had to watch from surrounding screens, myself included, although I watched Kid Koala from the side of the giant stage. I did not pay too much attention to Karkwa, as I really do not know them, and only watched about 20 minutes of Arcade Fire on the screens, as I took off to see Rebekah Higgs, along with openers Dinah Thorpe and Mussaver at Cagibi.

Presently I am listening to Grass Widow‘s latest album, Past Time. Grass Widow being a great example of a pleasant discovery. I did not know them before the night before the show. They were the final opening band for The Raincoats. And the highlight of that show for me. The Raincoats were good, but I am not too into them, and not to be age-ist, but they are showing their age a bit. I of course do like a lot of aging musicians!

Ben Caplan at Pop Montreal 2011

My festival really started off with Charlotte Cornfield, a local indie/folk singer who I knew by name, but had never seen her perform. She played at the Ukranian Federation, a sit-down venue, kind of as it sounds, a theatre, but not a really old one with nice architecture, but instead kind of a dull church feel/meets hall space. Not bad for a mellow show though, although, seeing tUnE-yArDs there was not the best. Charlotte put on a nice set, she was happy to play there, as she said she saw Arcade Fire there a few years earlier at Pop Montreal! Next was Lindi Ortega, a bit more country/bluegrass, although a bit more of a commercial feel (oh, and not at all bad looking!) Not bad though!

After Charlotte and Lindi, I ended up at an industrial loft space, that someone actually lives in! Ah, Pop Montreal! Good spot for the particular show! In this case it seems like it was Charlotte Cornfield who organised it with a few of her favourite bands, including Ben Caplan, and Donlands and Mortimer.

Dinah Thorpe at Pop Montreal 2011

The aforementioned Rebekah Higgs show was very nice, save for the curfew, which had Rebekah only doing a few songs lasting 20 minutes at the most! Dinah Thorpe from Toronto who played prior was very good, and another nice Pop find. As per her MySpace, she is “acoustic / alternative / electro.” Indeed a nice mix, and one song, from her latest album, 12, called “Song for Dolly.” Of course for Dolly Parton. Her album is called 12, as she created a song every month for 12 months, a 12 song cycle as she puts it. Montreal’s own Mussaver opened the show, think Joanna Newsom, however with an accordion!

What I liked about this year’s Pop was how there was no huge acts (aside from Arcade Fire, they have proved themselves musically, but they are more big in the underground circles), for example, last year Macy Gray played Pop Montreal. Although, that was a co-presentation with the big concert promoters here. Many small acts I knew, and many I did not. I saw many I knew, and many I did not, yet I still missed some I knew, and some I did not. For example, I missed Emma-Lee, who I knew somewhat, but had never seen her perform, and I missed Dominique Young Unique, who I read about checking out artists playing Pop. Think Lil Mama meets Nicki Minaj for a not so accurate comparison!

Kid Sister at Pop Montreal 2011!

Friday night I saw Kid Sister, it was a club set, so way too short, and she played at least a couple mixtape tracks, which were good, but I did not know too well. After a few songs she disappeared, leaving her DJ to entertain the crowd. She returned with the very crowd pleasing “Right Hand Hi!” I was happy to catch that one live. The club it was at was apparently voted #1 in Montreal in several categories by readers of the free weekly entertainment publication the Mirror. I also vote it well in not starting on time! Kid Sister started well over an hour late (as Pop publishes the set times for benefit of those Pop hopping from show to show). Before she went on I was able to catch about 20 minutes of Ohbijou, and missed Azealia Banks in the process.

Allie Hughes played O Patro Vys Saturday night as the last openers for the all-girl Weezer cover band Sheezer! She is presently working on her debut album. And I say it is one to look forward to, as she has a nice vocal range, hitting some high operatic like notes!

Before seeing Allie Hughes, and catching most of By Divine Right, I saw Laura Marling. I am not a huge fan, but she definitely impressed! Her voice definitely had the audience getting their socks blown off (as opener Alessi’s Ark put it!), despite her mellow folk!

The closing party was nice, with Think About Life playing their last show ever, a very energetic party-like show!

Merrill Garbus, tUnE-yArDs symposium at Pop Montreal 2011

The tUnE-yArDs set was of course nice, especially after having seen Merrill Garbus doing a symposium that afternoon, talking about her influences, that include being obsessed with singing styles from around the world (Korean Pansori for one), and applying them to her music. And looking to the future how she would like to evolve away from the looping pedal.

Caitlin Rose/Johnny Flynn Montreal May 27, 2011 show review

Caitlin Rose was opening for Johnny Flynn, who I did not know prior to the show. I went to see Caitlin Rose. I did stick around for Johnny Flynn though. Turns out he is English, and alongside his group play a blend of folk/indie folk and (as Wikipedia says) bluegrass. It kind of reminded me of folk from around the 1970s, which I am far from an expert at. It was pretty good, although not what I would regularly listen to.

The show took place at Il Motore, a venue I had not been to before, and as I Tweeted, it seemed like it was made out of a converted space, such as an old store, or mini warehouse, as it is really in an area that is unassuming as far as music venues are concerned. On a main street that in its immediate surroundings is somewhat more industrial than business orientated.

Opening was of course Caitlin Rose. I am not sure how many people were there for her specifically, however there was a good number of people watching her, and that seemed interested in her set, even if they did not know her songs. Even I did not know them all, as I have not listened to her music extensively, yet.

Caitlin Rose is of course American, having been born in Nashville. Her band members (including Caitlin herself) are fairly young, but play their respective instruments quite well.

Her set was short, probably just around 40 minutes. She played “Own Side”, “New York”, “For the Rabbits”, and “Shanghai Cigarettes” from her debut album Own Side Now. The latter was a very good live version that was quite up-tempo. Likely she also played more from Own Side Now as well. Her set closed with a couple of covers, the second to last being Fleetwood Mac’s “That’s Alright”. She seemed a little shy in front of the french speaking Montreal crowd, yet still seemed to express herself here and there. For instance, that she did not know how to speak french, and she could not perform the Fleetwood Mac song in french! Much of the set was very mellow, but very nice live nonetheless.

Somthing I noticed was the range of her voice is quite good, and is very well suited for her genre. That being proper country, more like Patsy Cline, who she has covered (“Three Cigarettes (In An Ashtray)”).

All in all a very nice set for an opener! Hopefully she will headline on a future tour and play Montreal again.

Norah Jones – …Featuring Norah Jones album review

Definitely an interesting concept for a release. One that features a vast number of tracks Norah Jones has collaborated on. These are of course mostly all other artists songs, that feature Norah Jones as a guest performer.

Right off the bat, I’d love to see this compilation done for Esthero. There was a time around the early 2000s, when she was doing nothing but collaborating with other artists (Black Eyed Peas’ “Weekends”, Nelly Furtado’s “I Feel You”, and even the Blue Man Group’s “White Rabbit” to name a few). Esthero’s voice lends itself very well as a featured performer, of course solo too! The same goes for Nelly Furtado. Also Macy Gray. However I can’t really see it happened for Esthero, as she does not have the Norah Jones star power.

The compilation album starts off with The Little Willies, which is a group featuring Norah Jones. So with that in mind, it really focuses on her musical style. In this case jazz with a country feel to it.

As it is a compilation album, artists she was featured with range from the Foo Fighters, to Q-Tip, to Herbie Hancock, to Willie Nelson, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Therefore the genres found within are quite varied.

Most tracks are indeed featuring Norah Jones, however there are three tracks that are Norah Jones’ songs that feature other guests (“Bull Rider” featuring Sasha Dobson, “Loretta” featuring Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, and “Creepin’ In” featuring Dolly Parton.).

The aforementioned “Bull Rider” is a very good track on its own. Sasha Dobson has been involved in the jazz scene in New York for several years now, and has a couple of albums under her belt. She has also worked with Norah Jones in the past on various side projects. And most recently, she is providing percussion, guitar and vocal harmonies on Norah Jones’ tour promoting The Fall. On “Bull Rider”, their voices work very well together on a country tinged bluegrass track.

The track with OutKast, or Andre 3000 to be more specific, “Take Off Your Cool”, is originally from his portion of Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. It finds Andre 3000 toning down his vocals so as to better suit Norah. Not that she could not manage on a standard OutKast track. Whereas one of the other hip hop tracks, “Life Is Better”, Q-Tip has Norah Jones doing the chorus in a more hip hop style, even if the track is fairly laid back, as Q-Tip still raps in the track. Norah does a quite a good job on this track, but to draw from earlier in this review, this is the sort of guest spot where Esthero shines. It is much more in the vein of a smooth hip hop track, not unlike something Guru would have done for the Jazzmatazz series. Similar for the Talib Kweli track, “Soon The New Day”, as it is another mellow track, but does not find Norah straying from her normal vocal style. The latter two are good mellow bouncing hip hop tracks on their own.

“Loretta”, a live track which features Gillian Welch & David Rawlings would not feel out of place on a Norah Jones release. As also would be the case with “Bull Rider”. Of course “Creepin’ In” featuring Dolly Parton is from Norah’s second album, Feels Like Home, but definitely a worthy addition to this compilation.

Individually many tracks work very well on their own, as a compilation, well it is just that, a compilation so genre run a wide gamut. The tracks do seem to be well organised though, making for a decent listen from start to finish. It has been said before numerous times, for numerous releases, and I will reiterate it here. I’d mostly recommend this for fans of Norah Jones. Non fans would probably be better off choosing from one of her four solo albums.

Shut up and Sing film review

Of course, Shut Up and Sing is the 2006 Dixie Chicks documentary film centering on what Natalie Maines said at a London concert just as the Iraq war was just about to start. The exact quote being:

“Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.”

And when Natalie uttered the last part, she followed it with a sort of laughing smile.

What I most enjoyed about the film was not so much about the controversy, as I was well aware of it, and all of the consequences, but instead the behind the scenes of writing and recording their album to follow the controversy, Taking the Long Way. Prior to Natalie exercising her right to free speech, the film was going to be a general documentary following the band around.

The first behind the scenes look of the making of Taking the Long Way takes place early on when the film jumps to 2005 after looking at all the controversy, and some of the effects, and trying to remedy and address the issue, via the Entertainment Weekly photoshoot, and a Diane Sawyer interview.

Said first scene is of the Chicks and Dan Wilson working on the track “The Long Way Around”. Before being finalised, Natalie can be seen singing “I hit the highway, with two sisters in a pink R.V.” which would eventually become “I hit the highway, in a pink RV with stars on the ceiling”. Natalie then comes up with the lyric “wouldn’t kiss all the asses that they told me to”. The line “gave a lot of blow jobs” did not make it in immediately before “wouldn’t kiss…” for some reason! Emily came up with “fought with a stranger”. Footage of Natalie recording can be seen, some that made the final master, and some that did not.

Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded the drums on the album, so he notes how the Chili Peppers write their own stuff, originating from a jam session, be it a drum beat or a bass line.

Natalie is seen recording “Lubbock or Leave it”, which then segues into the next scene, going to play it for Rick Rubin (the man!) at what is likely his house. It was nice to see Natalie singing with emotion, as that is how it sounds on the final product, or seeing her sing live.

Rick Rubin comments on an early version of “Voice Inside My Head” that he thinks it is more ordinary right off the bat. The fact that he is not emotional attached to the tracks seems to be why the Chicks like him, thus getting an honest opinion. He also says how the chords and melodies are strong.

Father Maines, Lloyd Maines, played pedal steel guitar, among other instruments on the album, and he is shown doing his stuff, making it look easy as he states. He is recording for “Favorite Year”, a track which Sheryl Crow helped pen, and he asks at one point if it sounds too country.

Also, the emotional side of the film is portrayed well, showing them with their families. Emily at the time was very pregnant, about to give birth to what would be twins. Emily talks on infertility, which actually became a song on the album, “So Hard”. Earlier it is noted how making the album is really their therapy, and I feel that definitely comes across as such.

There is also snippets of Dixie Chicks history, as well as fallout from the controversy, and how that affected what would become the Accidents & Accusations Tour in support of Taking the Long Way.

I find it humourous how the American poster for the movie (pictured on the left) photoshops silver burlap sacks (or something!) on the Chicks. The same thing happened on the DVD cover. The execs must have said “they have offended enough people, no need to offend a few more!”

All in all, a pretty good film, with a good portion of the human element while highlighting the music making process. Definitely worth a watch for those that have not seen it already. Seems Google Video has the whole film up, so it can be watched for free online here, of course not the best quality, but it does the job.

Music Video of the Day recap week 2 (Aug. 27 – Sept. 2)

Music Video of the Day recap number two, August 27 to September 2.

One of the bands I grew up listening to was The Presidents of the United States of America. Upon hearing “Lump” I was a fan. I purchased The Presidents of the United States of America on cassette! I never listened to II extensively, yet it does contain some sweet tracks. “Volcano” being one of them! Expect a blog post from me about them on September 12.

Presidents of the United States of America – Volcano (#8)

I’m pretty sure “Movies” was the first song I heard from Alien Ant Farm. And of course a little later, their sweet cover of “Smooth Criminal”. This song was just in my head a few days before posting for some reason.

Alien Ant Farm’s awesome track “Movies” from ANThology (#9)

Audioslave have numerous videos/songs worth posting but I chose “Your Time Has Come” as it is a good example of a great song from the superb Out of Exile that saw the band come into their own, and is probably their finest of their three releases.

Audioslave’s Your Time Has Come (#10)

I had another Dixie Chicks video I thought of posting (another time!), but chose this. The debut single from their excellent country/bluegrass Home.

Dixie Chicks – Long Time Gone. (#11)

Great song. Enough said!

Queens of the Stone Age’s Little Sister (#12)

Sweet mellow, acoustic and percussion-less track from Californication. Californication spelled the start of a new era in the Peppers existence, the return of John Frusciante on guitar, and a new sound.

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Road Trippin’ #13 Not vevo!

Fefe Dobson rules. She is talented as it is, add songwriting (she helped pen “Start All Over” for Miley Cyrus), and generally great songs all around. Her new one “Ghost” has a slightly different feel in that it has some beats starting it off, but comes through again! It will be released on her new album Joy, hopefully October 5 as Amazon has shown. That will be a year delay as it is. Her second album Sunday Love never saw a proper release (although it is out there), so it has been a long time coming for a new record from Fefe, seven years to be precise!

Fefe Dobson’s latest, Ghost! #14 vevo

Until next week, keep checking out the Music Video of the Day on my Twitter!

Taking the Long Way

It has been just over 53 weeks since Taking the Long Way was released, and I still highly recommend it. No longer is it as fresh in my mind, but I still give it rotation every now and then. It was nominated for 5 Grammys and deservedly won in all categories it was nominated for. Rick Rubin won producer of the year for his work on the album, among others.
I ‘ve been a Dixie Chicks fan since Fly was released in 1999. I probably heard them before that, and probably liked them, but “Ready to Run” is what I really remember. Then when “Long Time Gone” was released as a single, I was an even bigger fan, as that song, and the album, Home, is a great country/bluegrass album. In fact, the first time I heard “Not Ready to Make Nice” I was a little disappointed, as Home was so good.

Once the controversy began, and followed them around, I appreciated them all the more.

I had the chance to catch them on the Accidents and Accusations tour, and I am glad I did, as it was a killer show. Playing their own instruments, and lip sync free. And Natalie has one heck of a voice. So there isn’t too much else I’ll add for the moment, aside from give Taking the Long Way a listen, and then check out their previous albums!