Destroyer w/Andre Ethier @ The Horseshoe

Penciling myself in for a show on the night of Toronto's annual city wide art festival may not be the greatest example of "thinking ahead" but if you're going to do it, then it may as well be with the likes of Andre Ethier and Dan Bejar, who are currently a couple of the most interesting songwriters around, in my opinion.

Despite the rabid amounts of praise I've hurled in the direction of the former vocalist for The Deadly Snakes, this is actually only the second time that I've ever seen Andre Ethier perform live. His combination of introspective lyrical folk and progressive barrelhouse jams has made both On Blue Fog and Born Of Blue Fog a couple of CD's that I always keep nearby. There are a lot of artists that I enjoy seeing on the live stage, but in recent months I actually found myself craving his live show. This is why, as much as I enjoy the headliner, it was Andre Ethier that turned this gig into a must-see for me.

For this show, Ethier chose to focus on some of his more upbeat and rockier material. This was no doubt emphasized by the fact that he had accompanying him a few members of Steamboat, who are a local rock band who boast some very talented musicians, some of whom I've seen accompany acts as diverse as Henri Faberge and The Hylozoists. This performance was basically one soul stirring jam after another, with Ethier's relaxed yet mercurial moans wafting through the air in a way that conjured up images of Lou Reed. His set contained many of his own songs as well as a few evenly placed covers. There were way too many highlights to mention, but it's hard not to focus on just how cool the song Cop Killer sounds with full band accompaniment on a live stage.

Photos: Andre Ethier @ The Horseshoe on flickr
Myspace: Andre Ethier
Video: Little Saddy on youtube
Video: Live @ Soundscapes on youtube
Download: By The Stables mp3

Destroyer's Dan Bejar is an interesting character to say the least. From his daunting presence to his bizarre lyrical whimsy, Destroyer has carved himself a niche that is currently unmatched. I've been obsessed with his latest 2 song EP entitled Bay of Pigs, which has a sound that is definitely still Bejar at his best, while still managing to tread in formerly unchartered territory. The 13 minute title track for example, is an ambient disco raveup of epic proportions that just may be my favorite song of the year. As soon as he stepped onstage equipped with only a guitar, a glass of scotch and two bottles of beer, it became obvious that the chances of him playing the new song with all of its electronic elements was highly unlikely, although I wouldn't put it past him to find a way. He didn't.

Instead, he played several stripped down versions of songs spanning the length of his career, which meant that there were songs that I recognized from his last two (pre-Bay of Pigs) albums, as well as some older cuts that I was unfamiliar with. I personally found it hard to take my eyes off of him while he performed. There's just something very intoxicating about the coupling of his Shakespearean vocal accompanied with the strumming of a lone guitar. Because his lyrics are so detailed and unique, I personally find it next to impossible to memorize them, but judging by the way the audience sang along, it became clear that I may be the only one who feels this way. The audience's participation led to some pretty interesting moments, including their singing of the la-la-la's during European Oils. However, as great a performance as it was, I must admit that hearing that many solo acoustic numbers in a row was causing my ever-active mind to wander a little bit. Perhaps anticipating that this may be the case for many, Bejar proceeded to call the members of Steamboat back to the stage to rock with him, leading to a couple of full band numbers that were absolutely outstanding. The indisputable highlight was hearing Rubies, which culminated in an epic jam that was filled out with some incredible sax playing by Joseph Shabason (of Toronto's Everything All The Time). For the encore, Bejar came back out and performed a couple more solo numbers including my fave, Painter In Your Pocket, which I was starting to worry wouldn't make the cut for the night.

Despite a couple of brief lagging moments, the show overall was immensely satisfying, which means that I didn't have to leave the Horseshoe overly disturbed that I scheduled a show on Nuit Blanche day. Still, this didn't make it any easier to hook up with my usual cast of art loving peers afterwards. More on that story later....

Photos: Destroyer @ The Horseshoe on flickr
Stream: Bay of Pigs at Stereogum
Video: Painter In Your Pocket (live @ Cat's Cradle in Carborro, NC) on youtube
Download: Dark Leaves Form A Thread mp3
Download: It's Gonna Take An Airplane mp3

Hooded Fang, Steamboat, Little Girls & Green Go @ Sonic Boom

Yesterday Sonic Boom hosted a pretty full afternoon/evening of free music in honour of International Record Store Day and although I wasn't able to stay for the whole thing, I did catch the first four bands. In the spirit of musical appreciation, diversity was the order of the day with all of the bands bringing something unique to the table.

My vote for most improved band goes to Hooded Fang, whom I have now seen three times in only a few months. I always liked them, but this show really emphasized the fact that they have really progressed from being just another cute amateur local indie act. Their professionalism was very apparent this time around and I was actually surprised at how tight their musicianship has become. The last couple of times that I saw them, I was full of suggestions as to how they can improve, but now I'm beginning to think that they're at a point where, if they want to reach similar levels of success as Los Campesinos! or Architecture in Helsinki, it may actually be within their grasp.

Myspace: Hooded Fang

Speaking of tight musicianship, Steamboat was on next. This band boasts a classic sound that, while not particularly new, is nicely settled in a soulful R&B territory that is not ventured too often these days. The band had garnered some buzz last summer when they shared the stage at The Tranzac with some pretty heavy local hitters like Andre Ethier, Sandro Perri and Alex Lukashevsky, to name a few. Matt McLaren's gruff yet distinguished vocals were impossible to ignore and Steamboat's brand of jammy rootsy soul reminded me more than a little bit of The Band. Besides their original material, they even pulled out an old reggae cover. I think it was a John Holt song, if memory serves me correctly. What I do remember is that it sounded great. At four songs, their set served as more of a preview to what the full show must be like, but it was entertaining enough to make me curious to hear some more.

Steamboat plays The Tranzac with Sandro Perri and Mantler on April 25th
Myspace: Steamboat

In keeping with the "now for something completely different" theme of the evening, Little Girls hit the stage next with a sound that was sure to break everyone's concentration, as well as perhaps a couple of eardrums too. Never before has the description of noise-pop been more apt since this band was definitely noisy. Apparently this was the band's very first show, so understandably the sound was still a little bit rough, but I thought there was some definite potential hidden beneath that ginormous wall of sound. Josh McIntyre had an otherworldly stage presence that was as arresting as it was jarring. And although I thought that the sound system unfortunately buried the melodies a little bit, a sampling of the material on their myspace page indicates that not only are the melodies there, but they are actually very strong. Rumour has it that there has been some significant interest in Little Girls, and it'll be interesting to see where that interest takes them.

Little Girls are playing Rancho Relaxo with The Bitters on May 1st.
Myspace: Little Girls

At that point, hunger was dictating that I should probably think about leaving soon, but more than a few people have been encouraging me to see Green Go, so I told my gut to shut up for just a few minutes and decided to stick around to see if these guys are really all that buzz worthy. As some of you may know, dance music tends to miss me more than it hits me, so based on certain descriptions, I really haven't spent any time with Green Go's upcoming release Borders, even though I've had it in my digital mailbox for a few days now. To my surprise however, this groovy synth-heavy band from Guelph had the ability to crank the excitement pretty frickin' high while in the basement of this record store, which leaves me in complete awe as to what they must be able to accomplish on an actual dance floor. I think part of what makes these guys so appealing to me is the fact that, while their shouty electro funk is certainly designed for summoning up one's inner groove thang, their use of all the standard instrumentation ensures that they do so with an organic rock 'n roll heart. I've listened to their debut a couple of times since seeing this show and the vibe of their live show is not lost on their recorded output. Very impressive.

Green Go is having their CD release party at Wrongbar on April 30th.
Myspace: Green Go

All of my photos of Record Store Day @ Sonic Boom are on flickr.