Easy Targets / Postcards / The Hoa Hoa's / Volcano @ Rancho Relaxo

Under normal circumstances, the four band lineup has become something that I do not look forward to as much as I once did. My attention span and irritability level after 10pm is not what it used to be, and the thought of attending a late show with a bill of more than two bands just seems like too daunting a task sometimes. It also often results in me becoming a bit of a harsher critic by the time I get to bands three and four simply because by that point of the evening I've become a grumpy old man.

However, an evening that was billed as The Fallout Party, which took place last Friday night, was a quadruped of sorts that I was more than willing to support, since four outstanding examples of truly euphoric psych rock were joining forces to create a symbiotic "excursion of weightless significance" at our very own Rancho Relaxo. I just knew this was going to be a good one.

Kicking off the evening was Volcano, and, as far as I know, this was their very first live performance. I'm quite familiar with the work of lead vocalist Chris Hobson through his other project The Space Between Things, and when I sampled his Volcano output on the myspace page, I became very curious as to how the material would translate live. While it's true this project comes across as a bit more streamlined than the TSBT material, it still contains a fair measure of jumbled cacophony to facilitate a "how are they going to do that?" thought in my head. Still, even the mildly muffled sound system of the Rancho couldn't hide the beauty of the sounds that this band created together. It was certainly a subdued performance in terms of stage presence and banter and whatnot, but in terms of musical artistry, the band literally sucks you into its drone with a mesmerizing mix of epic space jams and lo-fi psychedelic freak outs. Their last two songs were significant highlights; beginning with an extensive instrumental number that reminded me a little bit of Atom Heart Mother-era Floyd before quietly segueing into their last song, an upbeat rocker with a Keith Richards-like riff that was about as infectious as it gets.

The biggest selling point for me was the last minute inclusion of The Hoa Hoa's into the evening's lineup. It has already been duly noted that they're one of my favorite bands in the city, but despite all of my best intentions, I had never actually gotten around to seeing them live. Yes, embarrassing, I know. Now that I have though, I have to say that my confusion as to their lack of popularity and buzz is now even more mind boggling. I'm willing to accept that they're recorded material may not be everybody's thing, especially if you're not a fan of the whole psych-rock universe. But I refuse to believe that it's possible to leave a Hoa Hoa's show without being completely blown away, regardless of your genre of choice. The reason that I say this is because their performance is tailor made for music lovers, as well as lovers of the live experience, plain and simple. The band exudes an amazing amount of energy on the stage, and the songs translate with excellence as the Manchester beat got the crowd dancing from start to finish. They showcased several songs from the new album, and I think that, as much as I love their older stuff, the newer material boasts a greater intensity that sounds so good live. I loved their performance, and I think that it's safe to say that they are one of the best live bands in the city right now. On the downside, this made things pretty difficult for any band that was put in the unfortunate position of having to follow them.

Postcards (from Montreal) were up next, and of all of the bands that performed that night, the buzz surrounding them seemed to be the greatest. They've built up a strong reputation within the community as a forerunner in the Canadian shoegaze/psych movement, placing emphasis on keeping their sounds artistic, genuine and as lo-fi as possible. As far as I can tell, their EP is only available on cassette, which is either extremely cool or extremely annoying, depending on your outlook. The fact is that their melodic brand of dreamy, slightly Smiths-ish pop music probably suits the hiss and crackle of a car stereo cassette deck warmly, and they displayed their low key sound to a crowd whose enthusiasm seemed oddly disproportionate to the laid back vibe on stage. The audience was jumping around and dancing spasmodically, which was bizarre considering the subtle tones that was emanating off of the stage. Performance-wise, the band was a significant step down from the energetic whomp of The Hoa Hoa's, and it would have been nice to see them get into what they were doing a little bit more. Material-wise however, the band was right on par with everyone else, and I really enjoyed their unique blend of subtle jangle guitar tones and 60's Phil Spector-ish pop melodies.

The evening ended with our very own Easy Targets, who pumped the enthusiasm back up to an indisputable high. There were a couple of familiar faces in the band that I recognized, most notably Jeremiah Knight who played with Volcano at the beginning of the night, and Clint Scrivener, who's in another one of the best live bands in Toronto, namely Pick A Piper (not to mention the work he's done with Caribou). While the other bands of the evening I would describe as firmly rooted in 60's psychedelia, with hints of 80's rave culture and 90's shoegaze, Easy Targets sounded to me to be more the other way around, steeped moreso in 90's melodic noise rock such as Sonic Youth or even early Teenage Fanclub, while still including traces of some of the aforementioned past genres. Boasting easily the largest band of the evening (I think there were six of them) they ended the evening in a celebratory mode that raised the level of euphoria to an appropriate height for an evening so jam packed with music.

I left the evening completely satisfied, which, as I mentioned at the outset, is a pretty amazing feat for such a huge lineup. The fact that all of the bands complemented each other so well allowed the night to flow seamlessly, and listening to Stone Roses on my iPod as I walked home seemed like the perfect nightcap for me. Needless to say, I've been on a steady diet of psych-rock since then, and it's become apparent to me that I need to go to more shows like this.

Photos: My shots of the Fallout Party @ Rancho Relaxo are on flickr
Myspace: Easy Targets
Myspace: Postcards
Myspace: The Hoa Hoa's
Myspace: Volcano

Night of a Thousand Furry Toys - Richard Wright: 1943 - 2008

Monday September 15th saw the passing of one of my all time favourite musicians: Richard Wright; the keyboardist and part founder of Pink Floyd. We haven't heard too much from the Floyd over the last few years, but their influence is undeniable. This goes for the world of rock 'n roll, psych, prog, ambient and indie music, as well as my own personal musical tastes. I don't hear artists name dropping Floyd the way they once did, but one could make a very convincing argument that Flaming Lips, Spiritualized, The Verve and especially Radiohead may not have been able to express their musical diversity if it wasn't for bands like Pink Floyd.

I know that a lot of people who read my blog actually fall into the significantly younger than me category, so a brief mention on why the Floyd is so important to me may not be entirely out of order. The fact is that, although their most popular works would be the era ranging from 1971's Meddle to 1979's The Wall, the band went through some significant style changes prior to and following those years. It is these metamorphoses that make the band so special to me. Sure, the progressive rock mid years may be the more easily pleasurable on the ears, but oftentimes the willingness to challenge your eardrums is what weilds the greater results. These days I find myself pulling out the early psychedelic works of Piper At The Gates of Dawn (1967) and Saucerful Of Secrets (1968) with much more frequency than their more accessible albums, and, in a strange way they almost seem to hold up better these days. At one time I thought that More (1969), Ummagumma (1969) and Atom Heart Mother (1970)were utterly unlistenable, but now I see that there is gold in them hills. Rick Wright's contributions to the opening suite on that last album is immeasurable in its beauty, particularly the subtle organ work that accompanies the Mother Fore choir section of this adventurous piece. And while we're talking about challenge and adventure, Wright's four part Sysyphus from Ummagumma may be one of the most challenging compositions ever committed to vinyl, and although I've learned to absorb it, I've also cleared many a room trying to introduce it to others. That's the beauty of Pink Floyd's music. While it's true that they are easily one of the most successful bands of all time, one can always find portions of their repertoire that the majority are unlikely to embrace. However, when one puts forth the effort to do so, it becomes like a personal gem, your own little secret, shared with very few others. There are only a handful of artists, past and present, that have made such a personal conncection with me, and although it's with a measure of sadness that the Richard Wright incarnation of Pink Floyd will never play together again, I'm looking forward to hearing their music continue a tradition of inspiration in the other bands that I come across.

Here is some video footage of Pink Floyd performing one of Richard Wright's greatest compositions, The Great Gig In The Sky from Dark Side of the Moon.

Myspace: Richard Wright
Myspace: Pink Floyd

Photo of Richard Wright and Syd Barrett: Rex Features

Michio Kurihara - Sunset Notes

Michio Kurihara has already done enough this year. His releases with Boris and Ghost have been more than enough in the realm of quality releases that he certainly deserves a break. However, his first solo release "Sunset Notes" has put him well above and beyond the call of duty. Technically, in other parts of the Earth, the CD was released in 2005 but he has finally brought it to North American shores this year. The album is so inspirational that it's almost difficult to listen to anything else once it's finished. It begins with two tracks of fuzzed-out guitar psychedelia, possibly fooling the listener into believing that, while his axe-chops are very impressive, the CD will likely glide comfortably into this particular niche. However, even Michio knows that Joe Satriani is, like, soooooo 1986. (Although it should be noted that even Joe never sounded as fresh and vital as Michio does on those first two tracks.) The CD shifts into mellower territory with songs like "Wind Waltzes" and "The Wind's Twelve Quarters," featuring the vocal talents of Ai Aso, which provides us with a slightly 60's beat vibe that reminds me of Claudine Longet, the girl who sang "Nothing To Lose" in Peter Sellers' "The Party." The CD then moves on with Crimson-esque prog (Pendulum On A G-String,) Dick Dale-like surf guitar (Twilight Mystery of A Russian Cowboy,) and "A Boat of Courage" which is the album closing epic to eclipse all other album closing epics. The song builds and builds before reaching its abrupt end, leaving you definitely wanting more. Michio Kurihara has waited 20+ years to finally release a solo album, let's hope he puts out another one soon.

Download:
Do Deep-Sea Fish Dream Of Electric Moles? mp3

Purchase "Sunset Notes" on damonandnaomi.com
Michio does not seem to have his own myspace page, but the album has been released on indie label 20-20-20 which does have a myspace page where you can hear the excellent "Twilight Mystery of a Russian Cowboy."

Sky Parade

I’ve recently stumbled across an amazing band that delivers the most captivating psychedelic 60’s-style rock that I’ve heard in a long time. They’re called Sky Parade and I don’t believe that there is any possible way to dislike this band. Lead vocalist Tommy Dietrick was also in Brian Jonestown Massacre and it’s definitely in a similar vein of high energy retro rock ‘n roll revivalism. I don’t yet have their new album “Love Is Forever” but from what I’ve heard, this is a band that could certainly develop into being one of my favourites. Just sampling the songs they have posted on their myspace page sets me in a “my mind is blown” state of mind. You’ve got to hear the song “Free My Love” which is a must for fans of the aforementioned BJM as well as Stone Roses, Love and Rockets or The Verve. Apparently, their first album “Fire In The Sky” was relatively successful for an indie release. After hearing what I’ve heard recently, it’s unfortunate that I didn’t get to know this band sooner but I’m looking forward to hearing them even more in the future.

Listen to their music on myspace.
Purchase their album on CDbaby.com
Watch the video for “Losing Control” on youtube.

Photo appears over at Melanie Leigh.com