The Paint Movement - Our Eurythmy

It's becoming more and more obvious that Nevado Records and I are entirely on the same wavelength when it comes to music. Besides being headed by former members of my crush of 2007, the now defunct Reily, their label now boasts an impressive roster that includes Bass Lions, Elephant, Yukon Blonde and Fox Jaws. These are all bands that I feel quite strongly about. In fact, they are some of the best bands I know. So when they contacted me about their latest signing, a band from Mississauga called The Paint Movement, I really had no reason to doubt their judgment. Upon hearing the advance release of their upcoming full length entitled Our Eurythmy, all I could think was 'wow!'

On the first few songs, they wear their influences pretty heartily on their sleeves. When those influences are Broken Social Scene and the like, this is a good thing. The songs plow ahead with the same sense of triumph, displaying a full sound that is completely intoxicating. It's on track three however, when things start getting really interesting. Right from the get-go, the horns are featured quite prominently on this release, but it's on this song called Knock Knock where you start to recognize that their influences come from another very unique territory. The amalgamation of jazz and rock music was very common in the late 60's and early to mid 70's, as showcased by bands like Chicago, Blood Sweat and Tears and, most notably, Steely Dan. However, by the time the new wave 80's came around, jazz must have been considered to be too pretentious and scattered to mix with the country, rockabilly and punk influences of the college rock scene at the time. But as we all know, what comes around, goes around, and it looks like The Paint Movement are working hard to make their brand of lush sounding jazz-tinged indie rock a viable force on the music scene. Some of the highlights are the aforementioned Knock Knock, whose infectious saxophone sneaks up on you so as not to be too much of a shock to the system for those who are not used to hearing it in a modern rock song. The bongos also add to the full sound, as the song continues to build to lilting heights. Eternity Seems To Live Here is a masterful post-rock instrumental piece, that strikes a unique balance between grungy feedback and orchestral swirls. Howl At The Moon allows Kevin Kralick's voice to take center stage, which displays a subtlety that allows the song's lyrical intensity to shine through, while benefiting from the female vocal accompaniment. If Kevin Drew singing lead for the early stages of the Chicago Transit Authority is an idea that you've never contemplated before, then I've Got The Ghost is sure to be an interesting musical journey for you as it starts out sounding like your basic indie pop song before it goes off on an ethereal progressive tangent. And Groovy Bones is the penultimate brass rock comeback that we've all unknowingly been waiting for. This song is huge, with its big band horn section duking it out with a hyperactive percussive assault before exploding into a fusion of jazz, funk and progressive rock.

The Paint Movement contains elements of several bands from the past and present, but from what I've heard, there is not a current band, indie or otherwise, that has a sound like theirs. To say that they're presenting us with something new may be a bit unrealistic, but it's admirable to encounter a band that is exposing a long forgotten sound that was motivational in the past, and can continue to be so today.

The Paint Movement are playing The Silver Dollar on Feb 27th, and The Boat on March 15th.

Myspace: The Paint Movement
Download: Knock Knock mp3


Other stuff:
I recently contributed some of my photos to a very comprehensive article about Brooklyn's Chairlift up on hubpages.com. They're opening for Peter Bjorn and John at The Phoenix on April 25th. [Myspace: Chairlift]

Ingrid Michaelson has a new video for her song Breakable up on vimeo. [Myspace: Ingrid Michaelson]

I may have missed my chance to see Blitzen Trapper's sold out show at The Horseshoe on Saturday night (Feb 21st) but buzz girl Alela Diane, who will be opening the show for them, will be playing a free in-store at Soundscapes at 6:30pm. [Myspaces: Alela Diane, Blitzen Trapper]

Also doing the in-store thing is Ben Kweller, who will be playing Sonic Boom at 3pm on Sunday, February 22nd before hitting The Mod Club later that evening. [Myspace: Ben Kweller]

Brendan Canning is celebrating the release of his new video for Love Is New at Lounge 88 (12 Clinton St) on February 19th. Apparently the video is inspired by John Travolta's opening credit sequence from Saturday Night Fever, which sounds hilarious. The video is not yet online, but here's a link to the Travolta original. [Myspace: Brendan Canning]

Nuit Blanche 2008

I thought I'd stray from the topic of music just this once since I think my blog is just as much about Toronto as it is about the rock and/or roll. Last Saturday was the 3rd annual Scotiabank Nuit Blanche all night contemporary art festival, and as usual it was an opportunity for the city to display its community spirit and show us what it's made of.

Every year when the festival takes place, I'm left with a bit of a catch 22 since my circle of adventurous friends (who wants to come) seems to grow exponentially with each passing year. And as the group gets larger, the opportunity to see more things gets smaller. However, if I were to make a choice, friends always win out over art, and Nuit Blanche for me is an opportunity to hang out with some of the people that I don't get to see as often, as well as others that I see all the time. Like every year, we all met at the Red Room on Spadina at around 5:30pm so we could plan out our attack on the city.

This year became a game of Nuit Blanche Survivor as our group of 20+ eventually whittled away into the night, ending at 5:30am with only me, my wife and two of our good friends left fighting to stay awake. As expected we had a number of "what the?" moments, but we did see a few cool things. There was Michel de Broin's Overflow, which was a waterfall from a third story window, as well as the all night mascot dance-a-thon at Lamport Stadium. I was hoping to meet Yoko Ono at the Imagine Peace exhibit but apparently the rumours that she would be there proved to be just that: rumours. Probably my favourite exhibit was Tom Bendsten's Conversation #2 (pictured above) which was an elaborate colour coordinated fort made entirely of books. It was pretty cool. However, like I said, with such a big group, there were many things that I didn't get to see. We missed out on Fujiwara Takahiro's Into the Blue at the Eaton Centre, as well as the Stereoscope interactive light installation at City Hall. I also would've liked to see the recyclable plastic waterfall at the Ontario Power Generation Building. But ultimately bathroom breaks and filling our bizarre midnight culinary cravings had to take priority and I for one, am far from disappointed. Many people like to make fun of our fair city of Toronto, but personally I love it, and I'd take the opportunity to roam the streets with my friends into the wee hours of the night anytime, if the opportunity presented itself. Looking forward to next year...

My Photos: Nuit Blanche 2008
More photos of Nuit Blanche: Flickr Pool

More news:
Chairlift (whom I saw open for MGMT) are coming back in town to play The Horsehoe on October 25th and they're opening for Yeasayer. Tix are $13.50 adv; $15 at the door.

Myspace: Chairlift
Myspace: Yeasayer

Darren Gaines and the Key Party have put a track called Nightshade up on their myspace page. It's from their upcoming album called My Blacks Don't Match.

Myspace: Darren Gaines and the Key Party

Margot and the Nuclear So and So's have just released two new albums entitled Animal and Not Animal. They are both streaming in their entirety on Spinner.

Myspace: Margot and the Nuclear So and So's

That's all I got time for today, gotta run to work. Bye.

MGMT w/Chairlift @ The Mod Club

It's been a while since I've been this taken aback by a live show. It was awesome, but very unexpected in the sense that I was expecting it to be a sort of electronica infused dance party. But this was a rawk show baby, pure and simple!

The opening act was a decent little indie pop band called Chairlift. They are from Brooklyn, New York and they specialize in some fairly straight forward, non controversial synth pop. The band is comprised of Caroline Polachek (vocals, synths), Aaron Pfenning (guitars) and Patrick Wimberly (drums). Their set started off sort of moody and subdued, not to mention also a little bit trippy. As the show continued, their sound built up to a more conventional level. Caroline's voice is very unique, at times reminding me a bit of Regina Spektor, although the style is totally different. By the end of the set, she was shaking maracas and clinking on the cowbell causing the band to morph from perhaps an Au Revoir Simone vibe to more of an 80's Swing Out Sister sort of sound. Fun.

Photos: My pics of Chairlift @ The Mod Club on flickr
Myspace: Chairlift
Download: Evident Utensil (MGMT Remix) mp3
Video: At My Side youtube

It was obvious that the buzz surrounding MGMT had become an established fact. The Mod Club was packed and this was, in fact, a sold out show. The gaggle of American Apparel girls at the front of the stage screaming their admiration for Van Wyngarden was testament to the fact that they've obviously won over the MTV crowd, and they were certainly prepared to seize this moment. I've heard conflicting reports on MGMT's live show, so I was approaching this one with my enthusiasm tossed in with a hint of trepidation. That's why seeing the band assault the stage with a barrage of electric guitars was a very pleasant surprise. It also seemed to make the pre-show classic rock soundtrack make a little bit more sense. (Foghat at an electronic show?!?!) Saying that they 'assaulted' the stage was, I suppose, a bit of a stretch, since they opened with Weekend Wars, a bit of a subdued opener. But as the show progressed, the sounds just got louder, and they rocked it hard, culminating in a fist pounding in the air romp through their hit single Time To Pretend. The show took another surprising turn when it became time to end their main set. "This is our last song but don't worry, it's 15 minutes long." I thought this was maybe an attempt at witty banter, but seeing as they kept the jokes to a minimum, letting the music do the talking, I should have realized that this was actually a straight forward comment pertaining to the length of their last song. When you show up expecting disco, a 15 minute prog masterpiece is definitely a bit of a shocker. Prog is an ugly word to some, but I eat that stuff up with a spoon. I was beyond satisfied. For the encore, they did a couple more songs, including the obvious crowd favorite Kids, which finally showed them doing what I was expecting all along. The instruments were put down, a couple of buttons were pressed on the synths, and Van, along with Ben Goldwasser, paraded across the stage with mikes in hand, doing what they do. Chairlift even hopped on stage for the party. They're playing at least three different festivals this summer so I have a feeling that their subsequent returns to Toronto are just going to get bigger and bigger, which means that I likely won't be going out of my way to see them again, but thankfully this was a show to remember.

Photos: My MGMT pics @ The Mod Club are on flickr
Myspace: MGMT
Video: Time To Pretend on youtube