Joey McCallum

Music

Psychedelic Rock and Roll is what A Devil’s Din is all about.

After performing with numerous local bands like the Mongrels, Test Pilot, and The Mother Funkers, ace keyboardist and longtime underground musician David Lines finally took the reins and formed his own project: A Devil’s Din.

With this new project, Lines’s freedom to explore his eclectic, yet exotic, musings leaves him boundless.

One Day All This Will Be Yours comes together with the aid of Colin Burnett’s mighty drumming (from the Mongrels and punk band Bliss), along with guitarist-turned-bassist Mikael ”Titanium Hand” Tobias (whom David had previously worked with in skyhook), and lead guitarist Chuck Doucet, with his dingy blues bars and concert hall skills.

After playing local venues and honing their musical talents, they began recording the debut album One Day All This Will Be Yours with Adrian Popovitch at the Mountain City Studios (Sam Roberts, Priestess) in 2009, and then continued production at Studio L’Amour. The album was produced by David Lines, mixed by Rod Shearer, and mastered by Ryan Morey.

One Day All This Will Be Yours is a psychedelic rock album with moments reminiscent of Syd Barrett, John Lennon, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, and The Pixies – all brought together with lush hypnotizing melodies, true to their collection of   influences.

The slow rhythm and groovy melodic keys on “She Sings a Silent Hollow” is relaxing, and has that everything’s-gonna-be-okay feeling within it’s sorrowful lyrics.

“Stand A Chance” starts us off with a catchy guitar riff and a bouncy, headbobbing beat that gets you moving, really getting your groove going before mellowing out near the end.

I especially liked “Wargasm”, with it’s creepy energetic approach, screeching progression, spiralling guitar and drum solos. The album as a whole is an unwinding, thoughtful passage through darker times, bringing on a tranquility perfect for those bad times that we’d prefer to forget. The screaming guitars and lush melodies are an especially satisfying touch. For those into the good old smoothness of Bowie, the cheery lightheartedness of The Pixies, and a dark side of Sabbath, this is definitely an album to check out!

A Devil’s DIN is playing June 2nd at CFC and will be having an in-store listening party and mini-concert at Sound Central (4486 Coloniale) on Sunday June 19th to celebrate the release of One Day All This Will Be Yours. The party starts at at 3 pm.

All photos Courtesy of A Devil’s DIN

CultureThe Lemonade Stand

JazzyBlues Creations…..no this is not a band. Although artistically, its creations could very well compare to the random fun and deep characteristic feeling of Jazz and the cool smoothness of the Blues.

Founded by local Montreal artisan, Stephanie Lavoie Trottier, who has worked with many different mediums such as painting, collage, and recently, candle and soap making. Stephanie’s fun business-like, nature loving, hippie personality shines well through her artwork.

Using a handmade process from the comfort of her own kitchen, Stephanie creates works of art, sculpting different types of waxes and integrating strong refreshing and therapeutic scents into decorative candles ready to be set alight. She uses both paraffin wax and palm wax. Parrafin wax, her most common ingredient, is a byproduct of the oil refinement industry and has a clean burn which goes straight through the candle, leaving the edges intact and making much less of a mess. Meanwhile palm wax has a much more cleaner and faster burn. It will melt the wax in its entirety and is also completely biodegradable.

Among her vast assortment of styles are pyramid shaped single, double, and tri-color multi-scented designs. She also has cute cupcake-shaped, almost edible models, and classy café lattés and sheik martinis for those interested in the more “fancy” side of life. She’s even gone so far as to add sweet and creative designs using natural products and integrating her collage experience to form her “chunky” variations. Each candle, of course, has it’s own particular name, such as luscious lavender and green tea mint.

Her therapeutic bath salts come in many invigorating scents including camomile and sea salt which helps to freshen and soften the skin while giving off a delicacy of aromas for an enlightening experience. All of the salts are delicately placed in old fashioned glass containers which can be easily be kept afterwards.

Stephanie arranges her products in gift baskets and each one can be tailored to your specific designs, including color texture and scent.   She will be having her first presentation sale at Riverview Elementary on Saturday April 30th and will also be participating in the Verdun Wellington Sidewalk sale on July 4th as a member of the Circuits des Arts et de Culture de Verdun.   This would be a great chance for you to meet with the artisan herself get a good look at her products and perhaps have an opportunity to enlighten her with some ideas for her to fine tune some of her products to your distinct taste.

All photos courtesy of Jazzy Blues Creations

ArtsMusic

Saturday night I had an absolutely awesome time at the packed Divan Orange, and was witness to some excellent quality sound, amazing talent, great courage, bravery, and tons of mind-blowing fun. I even managed to relax a bit; all in one alcohol loaded night.

Folly and the Hunter opened the night off with a delightfully acoustic performance. Their pleasant blend of American styled folk rock was a great star. Right from the first note, the band had us sitting back and enjoying our surroundings, with the singer’s gentle voice reaching pitches so high and clear that it’s quality reminded me a bit of Freddy Mercury (he even had the moustache to go along) and an enjoyable simplicity that had me captivated.  

I was especially impressed with the song Folly. Even though we were in a bar, it sounded more like we were at an outdoor concert, right in front of the stage. A small ”wow” slipped through my lips during the song. The six string ukulele that the singer used for the song was a special treat. Chatting with band members after the show I discovered that this was only their third live performance, which once again made “wow” roll of my lips.   Look for their debut album Residents due to be released soon.

Up next was….well….I’m not even sure how to describe what Youjsh put me through that night. Awesome!! Amazing!! Original!!! All three an understatement. It’s hard to put their music into words. Using classical and jazz instruments, and pumping them full of college energy, with a touch of rebellious attitude is already a feat in itself, but to do it with so much fun is just….once again lost for words. I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting or even close to ready for Youjsh‘s unique awesomeness that night. A nice simple catchy intro of trumpet, clarinet, and piano, accelerating and exploding literally into a mosh pit, then breaking down into a jazzy classical groove and still keeping that almost funky punky energy with incomprehensible randomness had me completely blown away. I myself was trying to get in on the moshing, but holding back for fear of spilling my beer, which was just going down at record speed at that point.

Apart from the extreme awesomeness of these ex-McGill student’s music, they even had an amusing comedy theme going, reciting the titles of their song’s which are all named after their good friend Steve Day such as  On a clear day you can see forever but Steve Day can’t hear shit or Don’t you think she’s a bit young for you Steve Day and We’re Gonna Party Like it’s Steve Day’s Birthday. Every song is a trip through so many different great emotions, and definitely FUN, leaving you happy and cheering for more.

The crowd even asked for an encore, which they humbly tried to decline, but wasn’t happening, we were just too Youjsh thirsty, and we got our encore and continued rocking?? (not sure how to put it) the Divan Orange for another Steve Day entitled Masterpiece. I obviously picked up one of their albums, I Can’t Believe Steve Day is OK With This EP, after a small struggle which I literally had to almost fight with two hot chicks to get at the last two copies. Of course being the gentleman I am, even after an almost keg-worthy drinking bout, I surrendered them to the ladies, and thankfully the band had a few more copies hidden.

Youjsh are a MUST SEE band. Whatever type of music you’re into, I guarantee you ‘ll have a great, awesome time, and come back for more. There’re playing at Casa on Tuesday the 30th with the Belle Game, mark it on your calendar, and get yourself ready for some drinking, dancing and one heck of a great time.

Olenka and the Autumn Lovers put on a brave performance following Youjsh, and overcame a difficult crowd to deal with. While her performance was excellent and up to par with her reputation, after a couple songs she realized that there was no way she was getting through to this crowd. They were loud, talking to each other, busy mingling with others, and just plain not paying attention even though Olenka was putting on a great performance. It could be almost comparable to Avril Lavigne stepping on stage after Metallica; While Avril and Metallica have absolutely nothing in common with the bands playing that night (guess it’s not the best example), you get the point that; it would be pretty hard for people to settle down and get into the next performer’s vibe.

Olenka managed to pull off something I haven’t seen before though; she asked her fellow band members to take a small break, and using her powerful voice and her acoustic guitar, she appealed to the energy of the crowd, reeling them in with songs like Werewolf, which seemed to catch their attention, before managing to take control of the crowd, inviting her band members back on stage and putting on a great show like she had intended, and made an exceptional performance of the song Odessa I’ll be writing an album review on her most recent release And Now We Sing, later on this week, where I’ll be going a little more into detail on their politically inspired colourful music, be sure to check it out.

 

For more photos by Kaelin Toomey from the show visit us on facebook.

Folly and the Hunter photo courtsey of flickr and Youjsh from maisonneuve.

ArtsMusic


With the hockey game on, the Griffintown Bar was somewhat empty on Thursday night, however that didn’t stop the bands from putting on a fantastic show!

The bar’s entrance was covered with a bright red curtain that left a touch of intrigue upon entering. The inside bore a bluesy atmosphere, bright artistic decorations, an open kitchen, and what has to be the biggest TV screen I’ve ever seen in my life! It was nearly the size of a cinema screen.

The show started off with the beautiful and talented artist Vanwho (Vanessa Boivin Drolet). Her touching voice and meaningful lyrics carried me to a place close to the heart. Her music was soft, gentle, and had a friendly personality. Many of her songs were about the   pursuit of inner beauty and meaning in life. She even had a sweet display of decorative lights set up to complement her performance.

She started her set with Voilacité,   a song that opened my heart and made me smile . It’s hard to actually choose which song was my favorite – Your Way , and Positivity particularly stood out, while Assez and What if We; both equally heartwarming and showed off her talent on the acoustic guitar with cleanly played riffs and picking.

Her set offered a personal touch, as she chatted and joked with the crowd. She even gave the older folks and the bar owner a nice treat when she covered Neil Young’s My My Hey Hey; a sing-along perfectly attuned to the atmosphere in the bar. This girl has a rare talent, something we see too little of these days; truth, depth and inner beauty, and a contagious curiosity for life.

Her songs are already playing at clubs like  Club Soda , l’Abreuvoir and Le St-Ciboire. Hopefully we’ll get to hear them on the radio soon.

The Next set was Pi. Straight off the first chord, Pi’s rugged gypsyish grinding swagger had us up and bouncing in our seats, bobbing our heads, tapping our hands and feet–even yelling and singing along to their catchy rough’n tough sandpaper vocals and vibrant constantly changing progressive blues rhythms. Pi and the Steady Swagger‘s music is more than just unique, its vigorous energy.   The fast tempo of the music got us going strong, energizing the club with a touch of Quebec culture, only to unsuspectingly break it down into a blended blues/jazz whiskey and malt. This had to be one of the most enjoyable and entertaining shows I’ve been to in a while.

The highlight of their performance for me were their songs Big Fat Radiant Sun, Fire and Whiskey and Everybody Drink getting the crowd cheering along, raising and clanging our glasses. These guys were so much fun to watch thumping on the double bass and Pi’s rhythm getting us moving with their swaggered flow, and those rough grimy punk-esque vocals and guitar really grinding it in making it absolutely impossible not to have a great time (and get to drinking more than usual).These guys are a must see for anyone, absolutely anyone, who likes having fun, drinking, and good music all thrown together with a great performance.

The DGB ended the show with a high energy acoustic set. One thing for sure is that the Greer brothers really know how to rock it! Aggressively playing without going too far,these guys are just having fun. Talking with them before the show had me laughing pretty hard. These guys must have downed a few bottles of whiskey before the show, and I’m impressed they were still able to play well and put on a good performance. They opened strong with Perfect Crime, where the younger Greer really showed off his voice, and kept it going right to the end and even paying homage to their fuel for the show, and the bar, with the song Alcohol.   The DGB had a full merch table set up, with copies of their albums including their most recent, Victory Song,   and plenty of T-shirts and stickers all at great prices that you could only find at a show.

It was a great performance from all three bands. Although most of the city was at or watching the hockey game, I had a great time, and even picked myself up a copy of Vanwho’s album Dans Ton Salon that helped ease the pain of the alcohol induced hangover the next morning.

ArtsArts & TheatricsCultureVisual Arts

The Inkvasion has begun! Local Verdun graphic artist Carolyne Trudeau (aka Chainsaw Girl) is invading our urban style one drop of ink at a time, under the guise of her newly founded company Urban Inkvasion.

Using innocent T-shirts as her method of distribution of her dark and macabre, touching, blood-spattered artwork, Carolyne is spreading her pleasure of chainsaws, gas masks, tommy guns and Rorschach paintings throughout the city. Grasping our senses with definitive colour contrasts, ink splatters and blotches with intricately detailed ominous smoke trails, it grabs our attention and captivates our senses, giving these normally grim or shocking ingredients a life of their own, intent on infecting us with their darkened beauteous allure, and spreading like a virus throughout the city.

Originally from Trois Rivieres, Carolyne studied Graphic Arts at College Ahuntsic graduating in 2008. After a few years of working small contracts here and there she quickly realized she didn’t enjoy the aspect of working as a graphic artist for others; she found it difficult to associate her name and work, using others directives and guidelines. The idea of starting her own company, where she could have the freedom to use her own designs, was then formed and grew from there.

In 2010 she received her first big contract for the visuals in Patrick Senécal’s La Reine Rouge directed by Oliver Sabino. She also participated in the original teaser for La Reine Rouge as an extra dead body, taking the entire film crew in for two weeks, and even replacing the photographer for a day. La Reine Rouge holds a special place in her heart and a year later, she is still working strong on the film, continuing to give it her all.

It wasn’t until early 2011 that she started taking steps towards her goal of freedom and entrepreneurship, creating Urban Inkvasion, a t-shirt design enterprise, as a method of publicity for her artwork.

The idea for Urban Inkvasion all started on facebook, where she posted black and white pictures on her wall, which immediately garnered her a lot attention and numerous inspiring comments. Deciding to embrace this dark approach, and increase the quality of her work, she began having high quality photoshoots in her living room, where she’d incorporate her now trademark accessories, like machine guns, caution tapes, chainsaw’s, and gas masks. The photoshoots were a great success and the   accessories added to her somber concept drawing even more attention, and positive encouraging comments.

Friends and fans have generously baptized her with the nickname The Chainsaw Girl, which she has happily embraced. Carolyne continued her photoshoots, further pushing her striking concept, now adding ominous smoke trails and ink blotches to her already popular style, creating a distinctness which can only be attributed to The Chainsaw Girl. Realizing that printing her designs on a shirt would be a simple process for her and a perfect way of advertising and displaying her art, Urban Inkvasion was born, changing the way we view bloody chainsaws and the grim, and scary forever.

To be a part of the inkvasion and order a shirt to begin infecting the people around you, you can contact The Chainsaw Girl herself at urban.inkvasion [at] gmail [dot] com or on her Urban Inkvasion facebook page.

All photos courtesy of Urban Inkvasion.

Music

Come have a piece of the pi with some swagger on it, discover the beauty of Vanwho and get down and dirty with the DGB Thursday April 21st at the Griffintown Café.

Pi and The Steady Swagger are a trio from Montreal which started as a solo project by guitarist and lead vocalist PI, who made a name for himself being well received in bars and pubs across Quebec, France and Belgium. The band blends some folk rock, with a gypsy jazzy style and just a touch of some punk rock that keeps it fun and energized.

Their sound and songs vary from happy and fun to dark and heavy, reminding   me a bit of Les Colocs with the bouncy double bass, mixed with some old school punk rock. Pi’s rough and tough vocals just add to the fun. I would call it Quebec gypsy jazz rock. Definitely a   band to see if you’re into lively peppy performances and a bit of headbanging.

Vanwho (Vanoue Boivin Drolet) is a native french Quebecois   singer that has been writing music (French and English) since 2006; after opening for Marc-Etienne Mongrain in 2008 she has been traveling Quebec gaining recognition and for the past few months her songs have been playing at Club-Soda, L’Abreuvoir, and Le Lac St-Ciboire.

She has   soothingly tender yet strong vocals that are overlapped with soft picking and sweet strums, gives off a pleasant and satisfying sensation. Her demo song Your Way has that 90’s alternative sound to it, catchy and fun to sing along to, without all the dirty grunge.

The single Positivity is a step more towards the bright side leaving you high spirited. A catchy sound, pleasing vocals, in both English and French, Vanwho is a name we’ll be hearing a lot of. I’m definitely looking forward to this performance.

The DGB are a high energy Canadian Rock and roll band whose roots are highly distinguishable from 90’s grunge bands such as Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, 70’s Led zeppelin, the Who, and some stoner rock Soundgarden and Kyuss. DGB started with the Greer brothers in 2001 as an artsy more lyrically oriented project before taking on a new direction feeding their need for loud rock and roll and appreciation for pop. Their fifth album Victory Song was released in 2009. For those that like 90’s grunge sound with progression and feeling, DGB are sure to please.

Griffintown Café
1964, rue Notre-Dame O,
Free admission and good food
Show starts at 8:00 don’t be late!

Photos from band facebook pages and Griffintown cafe photo from tbarbieri.wordpress.com.

ArtsMusic

Hailing from Montreal, Sunfields started off as a solo project from Jason Kent who has been visiting England for years. Their first album which was completed in Spring 2010 began three years earlier during the Fall of of 2007 just north of London.

Longtime friend and guitarist Phil burns, who played with Kent in a previous band joined, along with Drummer Chris Wise, and Bassist Cliff Roberts. Fender Rhodes and James Watkins are only a couple to mention among many other artists that contributed to the Place in the Sun album. The album is full of different original instruments from mellotrons and mandolins right on through to saxophones, trombones, and vibraphones, which are just an example of the diversity of sounds used on this album.

Palace in the Sun starts off with a happy vibrant melodious track, Skin and Bones, using a head bobbing foot-tapping beat.   Their classic soft rock rhythm and country/jazz feel is felt throughout in every song right to the end of the album. The choppy pianos, background clapping and raspy vocals complement the bluesy tough sounding guitar and Kent’s vocals add nicely on their single City, which can also be heard in their video.

Palace’s harmonica intro calms you down a bit before raising your heart with inspiring vocals. With beautiful bright colors painted into an archaic portrait on a canvass with a dark background, the artwork for Palace is fresh and pleasant, and matches the album perfectly. Palace took me on an enjoyable journey through touching memories, all the while warming me with a sense of freedom that stays close to home yet still down to earth.

Palace in the Sun in a whole is a pleasant music journey in the sun through soft caressing fields. It gives you a nice blend of old classic rock smoothed out with a wide variety of original sounds for an uplifting experience. A good album altogether, great for that desire to sit back and relax in the sun.

Sunfields also recently played at CFC with Michou and ForgetTheBox was there! Check out our show review too.

Photo by Chris Zacchia

ArtsMusic

After a long winter that although was mild and nice, Michou kicked off the spring season along with local indie bands Sunfield’s and Honheehonhee.

Before the show even started members from Honheehonhee were having fun dancing around  comically and brightening up the nick-named ”bat cave”. Don’t get me wrong though, the CFC may seem small in size, but it more than makes up for it with a great sound; The stone walls make for excellent acoustics and the lighting although a little low adds a kind of creepy atmosphere centering more attention on the stage and the bands and the back room is large with comfy couches that I’m sure a lot of bands would really enjoy.

It was surprising to see the bassist for Honheehonhee actually drinking a tall glass of water instead of beer or liquor after their ”warm up” dance, which shows their interest in putting on a good performance instead of just getting wasted. And   a good performance they did put on.   Electrifying even. The entire set was energy packed, with slick foot movement and classic punk/rock style stage presence, they really had us out of our seats and moving. Their woo-hoo synth style pop sound is fun, and cute, with a primal feel to it. At one point the bass and guitarist traded instruments which I thought was a nice touch.   The two songs I enjoyed the most were their single’s A is for Animals, and the closing song shouts which can both be found on their websites.

Check them out at L’Escro with The Balconies May 14th before the release of their new album Shouts in June.

Up next was Sunfields who put on a somewhat improvised show. After starting up with their single city, the band kept their soft classic rock feel flowing right till the end.   The lead singer/guitarist used three different guitars during the set. At one point, the strap to his guitar kept falling off and he still managed to play all the way through the song which was impressive.   They ended the show with an original mashup that had never been played before and did a good job, starting smooth and finishing with an energetic finale. I’ll be reviewing their latest album Palace in the Sun later on next week.

As soon as Michou started their set, the stage and the entire venue was instantly brightened with their happy atmosphere.   The entire band was so full of life and energy that you just couldn’t help moving and smiling and just being happy.   The whole band was in perfect sync without missing a single note. Their single Growing Younger especially lit up the venue getting everyone there feeling a little more youthful.   Every instrument was clean and clear and you could almost feel the balloons from their video when they played eavesdropping fill the room. The singers vocals were just as sweet and even more touching live with their vibrant stage presence that was happy and bouncy. You could tell that they really enjoy playing their music and making people smile. I don’t think there was a single unhappy face in the club the entire set.

Their acoustic song Celebrate Love had the crowd singing along reminiscent of a scene from Across the Universe. Before and after the show I had fun chatting with the band members who were very friendly and more than happy to talk about some of their road trip stories and music influences when they were younger. I was even lucky enough to get an interview with the singer and bassist Mike and Ryan after the show. I have to admit I that even though I was looking forward to seeing them, I ended up having a lot more fun than I expected. Michou really lived up to their Artist of the Year Award, and their name, seeing as I will Mich them while they’re on tour and look forward to them coming back.

Also make sure to grab some merch from them. Their Montreal merch table was full of hilarious promo items like t-shirts that said, “Happy we met Michou” and “It’s nice to Michou”.

Make sure to check out the music and grab a copy of Celebrate Love.

For more photos of the night check out our FB page! (Michou, Sunfeilds)

Photos by: Chris Zacchia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc2iBfPc0V8

ArtsMusic

Spring is finally here, and to raise our spirits comes Michou making their second stop on a five show tour, at the CFC (18+) with Sunfields and A Is For Animal.

The Windsor folk rock group are fresh from winning a$25,0000 prize for Artist Of The Year at this year’s Verge Music Awards. Along with the release of their new EP  Celebrate love, they have much to celebrate!

Since the release of their first EP Medea in 2007, Michou has been gaining ground with their sweet and fresh melodies. It’s hard not to smile, or feel a little more youthful, when listening to their single Growing Younger. Using beautiful and cheerful sounding instruments like xylophones and trumpets, and sweetly picked guitars with marching band drum rolls that magically flow together for a happy uplifting pleasant sound; It’s sure to put a smile on your face and brighten up your day.

Michou‘s first studio album  Mishkin was released in 2008, followed by a collection of three limited edition acoustic songs for their EP Roseships with indie label Empire Recordings (Winnipeg, MB). Their Sophomore album  Cardona was released Feb. 16, 2010 through itunes Canada. A perfect way to let old man winter know he’s out of season, and remind Summer know how much we Michou.

Sunfields‘ bob your head relaxed sound is a talented blend of psychedelic acoustic guitar, choppy piano, jazzy organs, harmonica and some good ol’ soft rock beats, and a nice smooth rhythm coated with singer Jason Kent’s serene vocals and heartwarming lyrics. Their first album, which began as a solo-project by singer Jason Kent started in the fall of 2007 in a small cottage some sixty miles north of London, England. It was then completed in their own home studio in Montreal and released in the spring of 2010 by Field Recordings. A great way for those looking to relax, have a good time, and ‘’forget the box” of the city.

Honheehonhee‘s buzzy synth sound is eager for affection, drawing their roots from their favourite local bands. This five man band goes for more of a pop filled sound with variety and catchy riffs, using raucous, sometimes shrill sounding guitars, punchy pounding drums, a throbbing base, clean synths and high clear vocals, for a genuinely unique sound. Their fans are greatly anticipating their forthcoming record  shouts, set to be released in June. This is a great opportunity to see an exciting blooming band in their early stages and encourage them to flourish.

The kick off to this spring event is Thursday, March 31, at the CFC (18+), at 6388 St. Hubert

Show starts at 8:30
Tickets are 8$ in advance 10$ at the door
Come enjoy yourselves and support some great rising indie bands. A fun time and smiles are sure for everyone.

Photo Coutesy of The Take media By Matt Barnes.