Video: CELLOS – Toronto

Windsor (and some would argue SouthWestern Ontarioʼs) hardest rocking band CELLOS have been busy lately. When they arenʼt blowing the helpless and unsuspecting minds of Windsorʼs downtown music scene at their usual go-to venues, such as Phog, Villains, Dugout, FM and Coach theyʼre in the studio making quality sounding recordings, pressing really cool vinyl, and now making some kick-ass music videos.

CELLOS used the song Toronto for this music video, which is definitely one of my favorite tracks off their forthcoming debut album entitled Bomb Shelter. Toronto plays off the metaphor that cities can consume you and the music really makes that metaphor believable because of CELLOSʼ signature heavy noise rock style.

The first screen of the music video starts off with a vintage ʻcoming attractionsʼ opening as if you were watching movie trailers from the 1960s. The video then gets right into the soon to be continuous opening riff and a really cool time lapse shot of the city of Toronto at night. The video then progresses into a series of live footage clips of the band playing at different venues in Windsor. Toronto was produced and shot well, the videographer really captures the image that the song portrays by editing noise and grain overtop of the footage. The rest of the video is basically just more clips of the band playing live, save for a bowling ball plowing through an old television set that has been set on fire (random, maybe. Awesome, definitely).

As fun as it was to see CELLOS playing at various venues in Windsor I found it kind of distracting to see the guitarist and vocalist Kyle with and without a full beard. My only other criticism is that it would have been cool to see footage of CELLOS actually playing in Toronto.

Overall I thought this song and video was great and I think itʼs safe to say that you can expect much more from CELLOS as they continue to progress. I give it 8 out of 10 sweltering bowling pins.

– Nick

Video: Perpetuate – Above and Beyond

Slow-mo wind mills, a blazing light show, and an awesome song have all come together in the form of Perpetuate’s music video for the song Above and Beyond from their self titled album, which was released last year.

The band had a hell of a time bringing this one to life, writing and re-writing, shooting and re-shooting… But all good things come at a price.

Here, we have the collusion of Spectre Sound’s Glenn Fricker, Adam Marz of Marz Media Productions, and the band themselves. What we’re given is an epic performance video with closeups on fretboards and faces, a video that really allows viewers to see the band in action. A great choice for those unable to actually catch the band live, this allows an insight into their always-impressive performances. Only now they’ll be expected to travel with insane light shows at all times.

Congratulations to the band and all other involved parties, this is one of the best local videos I’ve seen this year.

Video: Meters to Miles – Recession

Meters to Miles is a Windsor-based indie-pop band that has been playing since 2007. Recently, they released a music video to the song Recession.

The song’s subject matter is one you can surely guess, but the tone is a bit surprising.  The bitterness of someone who has just been laid off is certainly there, but the song is nonetheless very danceable. Ignoring the fact that the lyrics are about how the rent can’t be paid, I can see this one being put into regular rotation at The Loop’s Indie Dance Night.

Adding the video to the song, things become more amusing, while still being cause for thought. The focus is on an astronaut who has been laid off, now trying to cope with the monotony that is everyday life on earth. Yes, seeing a man in a spacesuit play Dance Dance Revolution is awesome, but the premise of the video does still drive home the fact that it isn’t just factory workers losing their jobs these days; everyone is affected by economic struggle.

New Music Video: The Blue Stones – Vain Vixens

Once again Windsor’s premiere blues rock band, The Blue Stones have teamed up with director Gavin Booth of Mimetic Entertainment to create a music video, this time for the track Vain Vixens, originally released on their self-titled EP, and once again available on their new Special Edition full length

The live performance portions of the video were shot at Villains Beastro (256 Pelissier Ave.) where music lovers were invited to come out dressed in their best 50’s style gear. This nostalgic feeling coupled with the black and white in which the video is presented makes for another hit from this combination of band and director.

Sexy and exciting, The Blue Stones have done well with this song and video, and the best of luck to them as they go to dominate Canadian Music Week in Toronto next month.

 

Video: The Blue Stones team up with Gavin Booth and iPhone

Local garage rockers The Blue Stones released their debut video yesterday, shot by local film maker/video producer Gavin Michael Booth. Booth has been on a bit of a hot streak of late, with recent videos by The Afters, Inoke Errati and many others finding viral success on the internet. Well this latest one may have created the most amount of buzz to date. Because apart from the band themselves, the star of the video are two iPhone 4’s in what is believed to be the first video to use FaceTime technology (for those who don’t have iPhones or are unfamiliar, FaceTime is video conferencing/calling).

It’s already been picked up by many internet technology blogs like The Next Web, Jailbreak Movies, and The Unoffical Apple Weblog, as well as entertainment websites like The Rock 100.7 FM’s official site, OurWindsor.ca and EntertainmentWindsor.

Gavin Michael Booth also uploaded the latest webisode of his internet series “How Many Days?” – a project where he’s chronicling how many days in takes to meet his film making inspirations – that shows a behind the scenes look at how the video was built.

With the recent viral runaway hit “You, I’m From Windsor Dude” recently trending all over, this is sure to be the next Windsor internet hit. With the recent success of their EP release party, the Blue Stones could be on their way to being the next must-see act from the Rose City.

You can catch The Blue Stones playing live this Saturday at Phog Lounge (157 University Ave. West) as the local support for Toronto’s Decade of Sleep.

Rebecca Black is so last Friday. Windsor’s Jarrett Sorko goes viral

By now many of you have seen this video – it got a whopping 4000 hits on its first day on YouTube. It’s by a local Windsorite named Jarrett Sorko and it’s for a hip-pop song called “Yo, I’m From Windsor (Dude)”, a tongue-in-cheek rap seemingly directed to our American neighbours about what it’s like being from Windsor.

It’s not as annoying as Rebecca Black’s days of the week atrocity, but I do think his dreams of getting this song on a major radio station may be a bit grandiose. The production is unfortunately lacking the proper “smoothness” for major radio play (although I think CJAM could play it). And I must say, considering that it’s the Windsor Zene’s mandate to promote all the great musical happenings throughout the city, we have to take some offence to the lines regarding “nothing to do” if you under or over 19.

But in all fairness, it’s fun to see people having fun with music and not taking it – or themselves – too seriously and simply making something to entertain. And if you’ve been on Facebook at all the past few days, you’ve probably seen one of your friends post this (perhaps even yourself), making this one of Windsor’s first viral YouTube stars. And while the future of his musical career is certainly not guaranteed, I’m sure he’s already got enough notoriety to get a gig at one of the venues in town.

In case you haven’t seen it, here it is, in all its glory.

MicLordz & Sauce Funky + Cypress Hill’s Sen Dog = Awesome

Last month we told you about MicLordz & Sauce Funky‘s DVD filming show that was going to be a launching pad for them going on tour with a hip hop legend. Well, the filming party was a huge success and they’re now on the road with Sen Dog, one of the MC’s for the legendary hip hop outfit, Cypress Hill.

Sen Dog himself has recently released a video showing that MLSF are doing more than just opening up the shows, they’re now joining Sen Dog as part of it. This clip shows Sen Dog introducing the clip from a recent show in Sandusky, Ohio, where he performed “How I Could Just Kill A Man” with the entire MLSF crew. The song was Cypress Hill’s debut single from 1991 and was also covered by Rage Against The Machine on their covers album, Renegades, and performed live alongside Cypress Hill.

 

VIDEOS: Neverending White Lights & J-Diggz and Woods of Ypres

Okay, it’s not all three of them together, but it is two videos that are both gaining some steam.

Neverending White Lights, the huge national sensation created by Windsorite Daniel Victor, has been storming Canadian music charts, from mainstream radio to MuchMusic to multiple Juno nominations, ever since the release of his debut album, Act I: Goodbye Friends of the Heavenly Bodies, and it’s smash single “The Grace” (featuring Alexisonfire and City and Colour voice Dallas Green). A talented producer and soundscape engineer, as well as a multi-instrumentalist, Victor’s talent has allowed him to collaborate with some big names musically despite his independent approach to releasing his own music. His first two albums drew guest performances from such artists as Green, Jimmy Gnecco (Ours), Rob Dickenson (Catherine Wheel), and Melissa Auf Der Maur (Hole, Smashing Pumpkins). His latest collaboration with Toronto hip-hop MC J-Diggz, the song “This Time”, has resulted in a recent #1 single on MuchMusic. They reunited the other day at MuchMusic studios the other night to perform in front of a studio audience to celebrate the achievement.

Dave Gold’s path has been quite a bit different with his black metal project Woods of Ypres. A native of Sault Ste. Marie, Gold spent many years in Windsor and formed this metal colossus in the cold of its scene and on the stages of the legendary Coach & Horses – the name itself even stems from Ypres Park in Windsor. He’s taken Woods of Ypres across North America and metal magazines around the globe have continuously praised Gold for his approach to black metal and his continuing journey to push WoY forward without compromising his/its own legacy. The latest Woods’ record, Woods of Ypres IV: The Green Album, is being released on Earache Records and a video for the track, “I Was Buried At Mt. Pleasant Cemetary”, has recently been released. Definitely one of the most sombre (and low key) songs Woods has released, but a token to Gold’s ability to create something so melodic and epic without compromising any of its heaviness.

The Indecent sign major deal with Warner Bros. – with a Windsor connection

The Indecent is not a Windsor band. I don’t think they’ve ever even played in Windsor before. But this band that features a set of New York City triplets (all of whom are 17 years old) just signed a major record deal with Warner Bros. And by that, I mean with the parent company, not a little subsidiary that will simply get distribution by Warner. No, they’re getting the Big Time treatment (or as Orson Wells said in The Muppet Movie, the “Rich & Famous Contract”).

So why are they being reported on in The Windsor Zene then, you ask?

Because the fourth member – the only one who doesn’t share a similar DNA pattern – is Windsor drummer Nicholas Burrows. Check that last name. Sound familiar? That’s because he’s the teenage son of Windsor rock and roll veteran Jeff Burrows, he of Tea Party (and more recently) Crash Karma fame (as well as popular rock jock on The Rock 100.7 FM in Windsor).

How did this happen?

Well when they were shopping demos, it was the ear of producer Stuart Chatwood who decided to take them in and polish their sound. Only problem was, the trio didn’t have a reliable drummer. Luckily Chatwood had an ace in his sleeve. You see, Chatwood was also a member of The Tea Party. Yes, that Stuart Chatwood. As in the former bassist in The Tea Party. So he called up his old partner in crime Mr. Burrows, who just happened to have spawned his own young percussionist.

So now young Nicholas Burrows is the drummer in one of the hottest industry indie buzz bands in recent memory (don’t worry, not a lot of people have heard of them outside the industry…yet), and are about to release their debut album on Warner Bros. Records. For reals.

Their sound is definitely inspired by the grunge era of the early ’90s (before it was watered down and went from Nirvana and Mudhoney to Candlebox and Gin Blossoms) and their sound is definitely more of a tribute to their own tastes and appreciations rather than simply trying to tap into something that will fire nostalgia triggers. These kids seem to be the real deal. They write and perform their own music and seem to have more edge and rock and roll sincerity than Avril Lavigne or Sum 41 showed when they first appeared on the scene as youngsters.

Here’s their latest single, “Lucky Ones” – give ‘er a listen. And if Jeff Burrows has any say in the matter, I would assume we get at least one show from them in Windsor before they’re thrown on a major tour. In which case, Detroit may be our only chance to catch them so close to Nick’s home town.

Sat. Feb. 12: MicLordz & Sauce Funky DVD shoot at U. of W. CAW Centre

Several years ago, MicLordz were a straight up hip-hop duo. Their shows did moderately well in a hip hop scene that has long been overlooked (and sometimes grossly misbooked or promoted) and even became one of the first acts to cross over into venues traditionally “non-hip hop” (such as the famed and never forgotten Avalon Front). But despite the limited success of their CD, Family Tree, there was something missing. Enter funk jam band Sauce Funky and the rest is musical history. Since the combos united and became simply MicLordz & Sauce Funky, the sky has been the limit for this explosive live act. At times combining the energy and excitement of bands like House of Pain and Rage Against The Machine, MLSF almost sound like a permanent hip-hop/funk metal hybrid, as if they were constantly creating their own Judgment Night soundtrack. Musically, it’s got more guts and gusto than Kid Rock, and MC’s Boots and AlerG spit barbs back and forth more like a Super Hero duo than enemies. This is a tight knit group of guys who are putting it all on the line – the heart and soul, their careers, their own money – to make it.

So far they’re doing just that.

They’ve toured throughout the entire country of Canada and much of the United States, either fueled on their own ambition (and I’m sure a few credit cards) or as part of a tour, most recently as the support for Psychopathic Records recording artists Twiztid. This offered them a great deal of North American exposure to a rabid fan base of Juggalos across the nation. Working inside a cult following will create a great base for them to jump off of and it seems like it has already provided that leap. After this small home stand, they’re packing up and hitting the road again, this time in support of Sen Dog, the legendary hip hip MC from one of the rap/rock creators Cypress Hill.

But before they head off into the sunset with their ammunition, the boys are returning to the scene of many of their crimes to record their first ever live performance DVD. The University of Windsor’s CAW Centre (on campus) will provide the back drop this Saturday as MLSF return the good will that U. of Windsor crowds have been showing the past few years in helping these guys achieve their dreams of making it in this fickle music industry.

Tickets for the show are $10 and are available at  the UWSA offices or via the various band members. Doors are at 7:30pm, with the show to start shortly thereafter.

Opening the show will be the pop-punk sounds of The Classix, the metal/rap hybrid of Central Slang, as well as local hip hop artist Jay Braaks.

MicLordz & Sauce Funky DVD Shoot Party with special guests The Classix, Central Slang and Jay Braaks, University of Windor CAW Student Centre, Saturday February 12th, 7:30pm, $10, Licensed/All-Ages Event