Milk Coffee Bar on Friday, March 30th…
This Friday night the city’s best all-ages venue, Milk Coffee Bar (68 University Ave. W.), will be holding a show for the record books.
Coming off of two shows at Canadian Music Week, Toronto’s indie-pop favourites Paint will be making a stop in town. A concoction of The Smiths and a solidified My Bloody Valentine, this is a group that seems more reminiscent of 80’s British alternative rock than the genre’s American counterparts. There is, however, a definite dash of modernity to their sound.
The band’s most recent album, Where We Are Today, was recorded by Ian Smith at Catherine North Studios, where other artists like Gord Downie and Feist have recorded. A collection of moving songs presented in an open, un-assaulting way that makes for a pleasurable listening experience, the live show is sure to be great.
Milk patrons will also have the chance to hear from Katlina and The Gracious, who are currently touring with Paint. This is a group sincere in it’s love for music, and
that really shows through in the songs. Katlina started off in metal bands before finding her voice in acoustic-based stylings, and the outcome is simply tremendous. Rich and authentic vocals in songs that draw you in and hold you tight for the duration, this is a set that fans of Crissi Cochrane and Tony Coates won’t want to miss.
There are local bands on this bill as well, Windsor’s very own clash or Foo Fighters and SUM 41, State of Us will be showing off their stuff, as well as Bleach. This is a local band that doesn’t get nearly enough credit. Classic rock style vocals and an overall sound of what Billy Talent would be if they knew how to rock like only kids from Windsor can.
Catch Paint, Katlina and The Gracious, State of Us, and Bleach at Milk Coffee Bar (68 University Ave. W.) on Friday, March 30th at 9 pm. Admission is $5 at the door and all ages are welcome.
CJAM TOP 30!!! March 19th – 25th // 2012!
* – indicates Canadian Content
1 SAID THE WHALE* – Little Mountain (Hidden Pony)
2 THE WOODEN SKY* – Every Child A Daughter, Every Moon A Sun (Black Box)
3 THE FAMINES* – The Complete Collected Singles (Mammoth Cave)
4 LIJADU SISTERS – Mother Africa (Knitting Factory)
5 VARIOUS – Putumayo Presents: Brazilian Beat (Putumayo)
6 KETAMINES* – Spaced Out (Southpaw)
7 BEND SINISTER* – On My Mind (File Under: Music (FU:M))
8 TV FREAKS* – TV Freaks (Self-Released)
9 ELFIN SADDLE* – Devastates (Constellation)
10 GRIMES* – Visions (Arbutus)
11 THE REAL MCKENZIES* – Westwinds (Stomp)
12 DUBMATIX* – Clash of the Titans (Renegade)
13 VOLTAIRE TWINS – Romulus (Self-Released)
14 THE EX-GIRLFRIENDS CLUB – Boo Hoo Hoo (Bolt)
15 YOUNG LIARS* – Homesick Future (Nettwerk)
16 BALKAN BEAT BOX – Give (Nat Geo)
17 LANA DEL REY – Born To Die (Stranger)
18 THE BLACK SEEDS – Dust & Dirt (Easy Star)
19 A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS – Onwards To The Wall (Dead Oceans)
20 BABY EAGLE & THE PROUD MOTHERS* – Bone Soldiers (You’ve Changed)
21 TIA BRAZDA* – Cabin Fever…And Other Recordings (Rebeluck)
22 ISLANDS* – A Sleep & A Forgetting (Anti-)
23 THE SPOOKY BUT NICE* – The Spooky But Nice (Self-Released)
24 ROCOCODE* – Guns Sex & Glory (Head In The Sand)
25 THE RAMBLIN’ AMBASSADORS* – Ramble On (Mint)
26 THE TOURE-RAICHEL COLLECTIVE – The Tel Aviv Session (Cumbancha)
27 BRONX CHEERLEADER* – Real Punks Don’t Sing About Girls (Yummy)
28 WINTERMITTS* – Oceans (Self-Released)
29 KAMI THOMPSON – Love Lies (Warner (WEA))
30 VARIOUS – Istanbul 70: Psych, Disco, Folk Classics (Nublu)
More Info?: www.earshot-omline.com
CD Review: Hypsteria – The Grand Pineapplestein
Giving grief to hipsters is one of the internet’s favourite things at the moment, ragging on everything from fashion sense, to taste in music, to an Alanis Morisette-esque understanding of the word “ironic”. There is a new band taking a stand against this bashing by actually understanding what ironic means, and using it to show people how ridiculous they’re being. This project is looking to make a point; “who cares about what “stereotype” you fit under as long as you enjoy yourself while doing it”. They plan on doing this by creating an obscure genre of music, recording a CD, burying it, so as it be literally “underground”, and having a jolly good time throughout it all.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the fathers of Hawaiigrind, Hypsteria, and their new EP, The Grand Pineapplestein.
Let us start by examining “Hawaiigrind”, as it is likely most readers will not be familiar with the term. The principle instrument in this operation is the ukulele, and when it is accompanied by mucus-covered vocals, like you’ll find in the fourteen-second opening track, Being Dead is Gay (Especially If You’re Seth Putnam).
The album’s title track is an instrumental one, all uke, that starts off with the sort of playing you might hear from your kid brother’s “metal” band, but on a tiny guitar-like thing, which makes it infinitely more amusing. Sixteen seconds of silence later, we’re into a cheery and simple chord progression that has me swaying side to side before I knew what was happening, or could check to make sure that no one was around.
Let’s put this out there now. This is not the best recording you’ve ever heard. And that’s the point. On their Facebook page, the band themselves made a spectacular comment regarding the quality of the EP;
So don’t get all up in arms about how bad it sounds. The band is perfectly aware of this.
Moving on to the third track, Piss and Wine, we’ve got a parody of a Green Day song. Focus on the lyrics and you’re sure to giggle. I won’t even spoil it by putting any of them here, just go listen to it.
On A Stupid Cliché you can hear that the ukulele is being played fairly well, which makes for an odd contrast with the lyrics about masturbation, but also points out that this isn’t just someone with no talent trying to make fun of himself for a bit of attention. He could play better music if he so chose, but this is way more fun.
The last track is not so much a song. Windsor PSA is a false public service announcement, facetiously encouraging artists, musicians, club owners, and the community at large to give up any ideas that Windsor’s arts community has a chance, and to go melt brains on sitcoms and action movies instead.
All in all the EP is worth the listen, if only for the entertainment value. Let’s give it an oversized scarf with a paisley shirt, discussing how much George Clooney was really the best Batman. So go ahead and download the whole thing from their Bandcamp Page.
Windsor Salt (Revisited)
After a record-breaking-warm winter it’s pretty hard to tell where the winter is ending and the spring is beginning. Salt of the Chief Cornerstone has recently returned to Rose City from the City of Angels and they seem to have brought the golden Californian Sun back home with them. This season starts now. This spring warmly welcomes the band Salt of the Chief Cornerstone back to Windsor.
Salt of the Chief Cornerstone is a well-balanced experimental two-man progressive rock powerhouse band, with no vocals and no bass guitar, but more sound than a band of ten men, five times the size of the two of them. Hearing the technical guitar riffs and intricate drumbeats is like listening to your favorite song on your iPod at full volume, while experiencing turbulence during a flight landing at LAX, in a seat between a crying baby-holding mother and a man who’s cell phone won’t stop ringing, and the pilot has decided to air every radio station between Detroit and L.A. at the same time over the intercom. Only somehow they orchestrate this cacophony into a fine-tuned symphonic composition. If I had to describe the sound in one word: Loud.
The bands two members, Brandon (guitar) and Iven (drums), met in New York City, at Times Square on New Years Eve, 2002-2003, although coincidentally they both had their roots planted in Windsor, Ontario. And little did they know it at the time but this little happenstance at such a memorable time and place was to mark the start of a hard and sobering journey together to the center of all young aspiring musicians dreams.
Rewind back to my first year of high school when I initially met Iven in ninth grade music class. Although it might as well have been math class because even at that time this thirteen-year-old Middle Eastern percussionist prodigy was already timing beats to his music mathematically. Music was his language; his mother tongue. He spoke in beats. His rhythms were carefully calculated equations that none of the other kids could add up, and it would be a matter of time before he would meet any other musicians that could. People with such talent are almost as rare as cowardly lions, and for that reason, I imagine, Salt Chief has chosen to remain a duo. This pair is so tight with each other that it’s easy to forget, or fail to notice, that there are no bass or vocals. When Brandon straps on his guitar and Iven sits down behind his drum kit the sheer volume of the sonic boom alone is enough to blast the skin off of the back of any unsuspecting lion, coward or not. It might as well be rifles these guys are holding, and anything within earshot had better best beware.
I last saw them locally in December 2008 at the Coach & Horses, a going away bash so to speak, a bon voyage, and the dream was so vivid you could feel it. I remember sitting with Iven at the bar getting drunk on cheap beer and bad air while he described all my own hopes and dreams right back to me from a barstool. I had heard it all before. Hollywood. The Big Show. As a musician it was what I always wanted; what I thought everybody always wanted, only Iven was actually making this dream his reality. Freshly graduated from the University of Windsor, this young man was finally ready to set off in the direction of his life aspirations; to put his best foot forward over the line of the unknown, and cross over into the land of uncertainty. Brandon had already established contacts in the City of Angels in the past and those connections alone were all that they needed to drop everything and follow their dreams to sunny Southern California – the entertainment capital of the world.
They had followed their dreams all the way to what seemed like the end of the yellow brick road but turned out to be just another milestone. After all, now that they were where they wanted to be they still had an awfully high ladder to climb to the top of the mainstream music industry food chain. One after another they conquered club after club on the sunset strip, starting with Key Club and Cat Club before moving on to headline shows at the Viper Room, where River Phoenix passed on, and the Whisky a Go-Go, where such bands as Led Zeppelin and the Doors were discovered. Keep in mind that these two ordinary fellows I’m talking about are from Windsor. Two guys who have had such people as Glenn Danzig, Billy Corgan and Dave Lombardo in the audience… watching them! From little old, lonely old Windsor. The city of broken hopes and shattered dreams.
Now fast forward to September 2011, when Salt of the Chief Cornerstone returned back to Canada after their two year stint in Tinsel Town, and played their first homecoming show at FM Lounge, making them the only band that I have ever seen on all three levels of the old Fish Market Complex. Two years had gone by since I had last seen them, but this show felt as if it were the very next day. You would imagine that after returning from the Emerald City these men would be changed, perhaps unrecognizable even, but I was relieved to see these two comfortable guys, average men, unchanged. Salt Chief is not about image or gimmicks. No major theatrics or pyrotechnics. Aside from the illuminated drum kit Iven must have picked up in California, visually speaking, there’s not much worth mentioning. They are the kind of band that is just as good to watch with your eyes closed. They are about the music, about the sound. They don’t have to look like a typical rock band. They’re beyond that. They don’t dress-up, they have no tricks up their sleeves. They don’t have long hair or tattoos and are definitely more likely to be found shopping at Old Navy than hot topic. They still have no singer, and it’s still almost unnoticeable. Lyrics are unnecessary when the music speaks for itself. And these two boys, who claim to be influenced by silence, happen to have a hell of a lot to say. A single song alone speaks thousands more words than an average picture, and if measured in decibels than these guys are easily the wonderful wizards of Windsor.
I don’t know too many Windsorites, or any at all, who can say that they’ve ever stepped foot inside such legendary venues as the Viper Room or Whisky’s, or even been to Hollywood for that matter, let alone to actually have been the headlining act on stage at any one of these places. These are two of the most ambition driven musicians I’ve ever been lucky enough to come in contact with. They’ve worked hard. They’ve put in their time and their dues have been paid. But no matter how far we go to chase our dreams we can’t escape the grim truth: there’s no place like home. And so after two years of living by the ocean, Salt of the Chief Cornerstone set their minds on a new mission: clicking their heels together and returning back to Canada with newfound courage, passion and wisdom to “…redevelop the face of [their] business and write a new and exciting chapter in [their] legacy. Taking the time to restructure and engineer a whole new stage performance, as well as, develop new sounds while having [their] team of experts customize new and improved signature series instruments.”
The Chief Cornerstone has come back home and just in time for spring. ‘Tis the season to salt your senses. So if your plan is to go see Salt of the Chief Cornerstone in their hometown then you’ll have to catch them before 2013, when they plan to kick off a European tour. And if you do end up catching them remember to pack yourself a pair of earplugs and a bulletproof vest, and best to leave the elderly, pregnant, hearing sensitive, and those with heart conditions at home.
Spring is here,
The sun is out,
The time is right,
Just add salt.
-James Westfall
Originally published in Salt by the U of W EUSA’s, ISSN: 1911-6446
CJAM TOP 30!!! March 12th-18th // 2012!
* – Indicates Canadian Content
1 TEENAGE KICKS* – Be On My Side (Self-Released)
2 THE WOODEN SKY* – Every Child A Daughter, Every Moon A Sun (Black Box)
3 CEREMONY – Zoo (Matador)
4 THE DIODES* – Action/Reaction (Bongo Beat)
5 DUBMATIX* – Clash of the Titans (Renegade)
6 THE HOOP* – Panda Boy (Self-Released)
7 ISLANDS* – A Sleep & A Forgetting (Anti-)
8 SAID THE WHALE* – Little Mountain (Hidden Pony)
9 EUCALYPTUS* – Eeeeeuuucaaaaaaallyyypppptus (Blocks Recording Club)
10 TRUST* – TRST (Arts & Crafts)
11 LEONARD COHEN* – Old Ideas (Sony)
12 BEND SINISTER* – On My Mind (File Under: Music (FU:M))
13 THE FAMINES* – The Complete Collected Singles (Mammoth Cave)
14 GRIMES* – Visions (Arbutus)
15 OLD MAN LUEDECKE & LAKE OF STEW* – Sing All About It (Self-Released)
16 BALKAN BEAT BOX – Give (Nat Geo)
17 VARIOUS – Istanbul 70: Psych, Disco, Folk Classics (Nublu)
18 THE MARK INSIDE* – Nothing To Admit (Sony)
19 HUNX – Hairdresser Blues (Hardly Art)
20 ROCOCODE* – Guns Sex & Glory (Head In The Sand)
21 MAZ* – Telescope (Self-Released)
22 THE BLUE STONES* – Special Edition (Self-Released)
23 CRAIG PEDERSEN QUARTET* – Days Like Today (Self-Released)
24 RODRIGO Y GABRIELLA AND C.U.B.A. – Area 52 (ATO)
25 PARADISE ANIMALS – Paradise Animals (Self-Released)
26 JOSEPH EDGAR* – IN T E R ST ICES (Cirque De Soleil Musique)
27 KETAMINES* – Spaced Out (Southpaw)
28 COUSINS* – The Palm At The End Of The Mind (Saved By Vinyl)
29 FRED EAGLESMITH* – 6 Volts (Self-Released)
30 JOHN SOUTHWORTH AND ANDREW DOWNING* – Easterween (Sud De Valeur)
More Info?: www.earshot-online.com
CJAM TOP 30!!! March 5th-11th // 2012!
* Indicates Canadian Content
1 GRIMES* – Visions (Arbutus)
2 BEND SINISTER* – On My Mind (File Under: Music (FU:M))
3 ROSE COUSINS*
We Have Made a Spark (Self-Released)
4 KATHLEEN EDWARDS* – Voyageur (Rounder)
5 GOLDFRAPP – The Singles (Astralwerks)
6 YOUNG LIARS* – Homesick Future (Nettwerk)
7 THE WOODEN SKY* – Every Child A Daughter, Every Moon A Sun (Black Box)
8 THE BLUE STONES* – Special Edition (Self-Released)
9 TOPANGA* – Oceans (Royal Mountain)
10 TRUST* – TRST (Arts & Crafts)
11 B.A. JOHNSTON* – Hi Dudes (Mammoth Cave)
12 THE ELWINS* – And I Thank You (Self-Released)
13 SAID THE WHALE* – Little Mountain (Hidden Pony)
14 GOTYE – Making Mirrors (Universal)
15 VARIOUS – Please, Please, Please: A Tribute To The Smiths (American Laundromat)
16 LIJADU SISTERS – Danger (KF)
17 DALE MURRAY* – Dream Mountain Dream (Come Undone)
18 THE JUST BARELYS* – Mad Bits (Dead Bum)
19 ERIN PASSMORE* – Downtown (Hidden Pony)
20 CURSIVE – I Am Gemini (Saddle Creek)
21 BALOJI – Kinshasa Succursale (Crammed Discs)
22 LEONARD COHEN* – Old Ideas (Sony)
23 THE SCHOMBERG FAIR* – Mercy (Self-Released)
24 PROFESSOR UNDRESSOR* – A Tin Box (Self-Released)
25 MATI ZUNDEL – Amazonico Gravitante (Waxploitation)
26 MELLEEFRESH VS. DEADMAU5* – At Play (Play)
27 GOSSLING – If You Can’t Whistle (Self-Released)
28 ANI DIFRANCO – ¿Which Side Are You On? (Righteous Babe)
29 JEAN-CLAUDE VANNIER – Electro Rapide (B-Music/Finders Keepers)
30 THE JEZABELS – Prisoner (Dine Alone)
More Info?: www.earshot-online.com
CD Review: The Hoop – Panda Boy
The Hoop is an eccentric Windsor based group fronted by Joe LaBine (guitar/piano/vocals). The band started playing together in 2011 at the University of Windsor for the Diwali festival. The Hoop features the talents of many local and even international musicians, as their lineup has been through many changes.
The Hoopʼs debut album, Panda Boy, has a defining sound that is based around simple instrumentation and song structure. The simplicity is actually contradicted by the amount of personality, song structure and story telling that the record has. The ability to make something simple sound absolutely huge is The Hoop’s use of a full range of not so obvious instruments including organ, piano, synthesizers, and brass.
Despite only being a band for just over a year The Hoop is incredibly tight and in the pocket on this record. The album starts off with a groovy instrumental tune called In Through the Outro (probably a Led Zeppelin reference that Iʼll let slide). The song is crafted effectively by giving the listener a good idea of what else is about to come.
Once the album progresses you get to hear how the vocals tie into the rest of the music and youʼll find that everything fits and works together really nicely. The writing in all of the songs are far from being considered amateur. It sort of reminds me of a blend of recent MGMT, old Joy Division, and Modest Mouse. The vocals and the percussion are my favorite aspects of the record.
The Hoop have not made their music available online and wholeheartedly believe in only releasing physical copies of their art, which I can definitely respect. If youʼre looking for their music I would recommend contacting the band, going to one of their shows or shopping for it at Dr. Disc Records.
Panda Boy is definitely one of my new favorite local full length albums of 2012 so far and gets 8 out of 10 pick up line panda jokes that didnʼt make it in this review.
Windsor Rock Wall: A Tribute To Our City’s Musical History
For the last four days Tom Lucier, the proprietor of Phog Lounge, has been working tirelessly at SB Contemporary Art (1017 Church St.) completing a project started months ago in the front entrance of his bar.
The idea is to show how interconnected the music community in the city is, by connecting musicians to every band they’ve ever played a live show with. The project outgrew it’s space at Phog, which is why it moved to the gallery this week, where it could be expanded further as people brought in their lists to add.
Tracing the actual lines proves difficult at times, the interconnectivity so dense that it might as well just be scribbles. But that just helps to reflect even more what this project
is all about; the music scene in our city is a huge entity, made up of all these bands, not
commanded by one or two. Take a step back and everything blurs together, it becomes difficult to discern one form the next, because in essence, it is all the same. Just people playing music for the love of it. It seems like lately there are those forgetting what the underlying purpose is behind the bands, but hopefully projects like this help them to remember.
Tom Lucier of Phog Lounge
CD Review: Diesel Junkies – Diesel Junkies EP
Sometimes I feel like bands that fall under the category of “hard rock/alternative” are exactly what I expect them to be. Generic, chugging riffs and an overall mediocre sound that’s homogenized and ready for repetitive radio play. Eventually they fall into obscurity and stay hidden under the shadow of their 1990s predecessors.
However, I like Diesel Junkies. I’ve seen them play live a few times and enjoyed it. I even managed to sit through their cover of a Mariah Carey Christmas song, a feat which relatively few bands could accomplish. This is why I didn’t mind reviewing their latest EP, which is 4 songs of alt-rock goodness.
As I noted before, I find that a lot of alternative rock tends to be boring and generic. While the Diesel Junkies generally play ballsy rock riffs most of the time, they make things more interesting by incorporating different styles without getting overly experimental. Aside from the obligatory slow-jam “In My Arms,” all of the songs have subtle elements of other genres. For example, “Becoming” starts off with a really funky intro and eventually turns into a latin-esque breakdown with shakers and a pretty cool guitar solo. There’s definitely some southern rock influence throughout the EP too. Straying away from the usual alternative structure (Verse, chorus, guitar solo. Lather, rinse, repeat) also helps the Diesel Junkies stand out a bit among their peers.
The only bigger criticisms I have of the album are related to technical issues. It was a bit heavy on the bass when I listened to it through my laptop, but for all I know a bass-heavy sound could have been what they were looking for. Another technical complaint is that the vocals are a bit muddy at times and occasionally slightly overpowered by the music. Other than that, the album is crisp and professional sounding. An easy addition to any rock radio station’s rotation.
I think the Diesel Junkies EP definitely has potential to get some decent airplay. It’s pretty solid, with my personal favourite track being the opener “Right on the Money.” I give it a full tank of diesel, until my car breaks down and I realize that it doesn’t run on diesel.
- Adam D’Andrea
Tune in to CJAM 99.1 FM on Wednesday, March 7th from 5:30 until 6 pm, when Diesel Junkies will join Lauren Hedges on The Windsor Scene for an hour and a half of live performances, interviews, and background on their new release.
CJAM TOP 30!!! February 27th – March 4th // 2012!
* Indicates Canadian Content
1 THE WOODEN SKY* – Every Child A Daughter, Every Moon A Sun (Black Box)
2 BABY EAGLE & THE PROUD MOTHERS* – Bone Soldiers (You’ve Changed)
3 SAID THE WHALE* – Little Mountain (Hidden Pony)
4 PLANTS AND ANIMALS* – The End of That (Secret City)
5 JOHN K. SAMSON* – Provincial (Anti-)
6 THE ELWINS* – And I Thank You (Self-Released)
7 VARIOUS* – Urbnet Certified Vol 1 (Urbnet)
8 B.A. JOHNSTON* – Hi Dudes (Mammoth Cave)
9 MELLEEFRESH VS. DEADMAU5* – At Play (Play)
10 BEND SINISTER* – On My Mind (FU: M)
11 THE BLUE STONES* – Special Edition (Self-Released)
12 ISLANDS* – A Sleep & A Forgetting (Anti-)
13 GRIMES* – Visions (Arbutus)
14 THE STRUMBELLAS* – My Father & The Hunter (Self-Released)
15 COWPUNCHER* – Call Me When You’re Single (Self-Released)
16 COUSINS* – The Palm At The End Of The Mind (Saved By Vinyl)
17 BRONX CHEERLEADER* – Real Punks Don’t Sing About Girls (Yummy)
18 BAHAMAS* – Barchords (Brushfire)
19 VARIOUS* – Nardwuar The Human Serviette & The Evaporators present… Busy Doing Nothing! (Mint)
20 PUNCH BROTHERS – Who’s Feeling Young Now? (Nonesuch)
21 DUBMATIX* – Clash of the Titans (Renegade)
22 BLEATING HEARTS* – Bleating Hearts (Self-Released)
23 TRUST* – TRST (Arts & Crafts)
24 THE HYPNOTICS* – Static Fuzz Radio (New Values)
25 THE MARK INSIDE* – Nothing To Admit (Sony)
26 BALOJI – Kinshasa Succursale (Crammed Discs)
27 WOODPIGEON* – For Paolo (Boompa)
28 OF MONTREAL – Paralytic Stalks (Polyvinyl)
29 THE FAMINES* – The Complete Collected Singles (Mammoth Cave)
30 THE HOOP* – Panda Boy (Self-Released)
More Info?: www.earshot-online.com
Emerging Artist: Tony Coates Brings A New Sound To Windsor’s Venues
In a music scene that is already quite diverse, it’s great when someone can bring a unique game to the table. Tony Coates is an artist who has done just that.
He started off making his rounds of the open mic nights less than two years ago, and although he still visits those quite often, he has begun booking gigs of his own as well.
Tony’s style of acoustic guitar based hip-hop and soul helps him transcend genre barriers and find fans from every niche in the city’s scene.
From his first demo release in January 2011 it has been clear that right here is a guy with some talent for writing songs. His newest release, a demo version of his Soulful Noise EP is a collection of some of the things he was written, showcasing his ability to put his strong emotions into words, and to make you feel as he does through his songs.
Songs that always get your feet moving, the conglomeration of rap, blues, and indie rock makes for an appealing mixture when coupled with Tony’s rich, dynamic, and passionate voice. Particularly recommended are Breathe You In and The Truth.
In addition to his collections of originals, Tony frequently posts videos of himself covering artists liek LMFAO, Lil Wayne, and Carly Rae Jepsen.
Tony has a number of shows coming up, including March 16th at Milk Coffee Bar (68 University Ave. W.), and he has just been added as the opener for the This Is War album release show at FM Lounge (156 Chatham St. W., main level) on March 3rd.
Download the latest Tony Coates music from his Bandcamp Page, and follow him on Facebook.
CJAM Jammy Voting Has Begun!
Every year about this time, Windsor-Detroit’s campus-community radio station, CJAM 99.1 FM honours it’s most popular shows and hosts, by holding a voting session where listeners are invited to show some love for their favourites. The annual Jammies.
This year’s wards ceremony will be happening in early April, and in preparation the voting has already begun. Shows are broken down into categories like best ethno-cultural, electronic/urban, talk, roots/blues/country, music variety, special interest,indie/alternative/rock/punk/hard rock, spoken word, and the best new show that has started since last year’s awards. There is also the place to vote for your favourite on-air personality, local live venue, and local act.
When voting, remember that in order for it to count, you must enter your name, email address, and vote in at least three categories.
Results will be tabulated and announced at a ceremony in April, from which point on winners will have gloating rights for the next year.
So follow this link for the chance to show your local radio programmers how much you care.
CD Review: Ozone Crutch – Atmospheres EP
This week I have the pleasure of reviewing Ozone Crutch’s Atmospheres. Clocking in at just under 6 minutes, Atmospheres was over and done with before I could finish my usual pre-review writing finger-stretching exercises. By the time I could formulate a couple of thoughts on the album, it was done. That being said, I’ll keep this one fairly short and sweet.
When I chose to review an EP from a band called Ozone Crutch, I pretty much knew what I was getting myself into. I figured it would be fairly balls-to-the-wall, and I knew I wasn’t about to hear a 90 minute long rock opera. The hilarious cover only verified these thoughts and assumptions. They kinda sound like Motorhead with an irreverent sense of humour. It’s basically heavy garage-style punk with raspy vocals and some breakdowns thrown in here and there. It’s fun and energetic, so I definitely got a kick out of it. I can only assume (although I could be wrong) that the music was written for the purpose of playing fun live shows and lollin’ it up while doing so. Ozone Crutch isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel here.
The lyrics are, for the most part, completely nonsensical. However, it was nice of Ozone Crutch to include the worlds to all three songs on the back cover. This way we can sing along to lines such as “Lars Ulrich, critically acclaimed. My head hurts, god damn cat. Chasin’ tubes on my mountain bike.” Pretty awesome stuff.
Overall, Atmospheres was a quick and entertaining listen. I’m not even really sure what to rate it. Let’s just give it 3 tallboys of PBR and that sweet white headband the one guy’s wearing on the cover.
- Adam D’Andrea
