Hollerado wins $250,000 in Ottawa's Live 88.5 FM Big Money Shot

The fantastic and deserving Hollerado walked away with a quarter of a million dollars last Friday night, after winning the Live 88.5 FM Big Money Shot. Not content to rest on their laurels, they left a few hours later to tour China! Here's the tour schedule in case you're over there or know someone who is...

Dec. 1 Beijing, China @ Mao
Dec. 2 Tianjin, China @ Nic
Dec. 4 Qingdao, China @ Redstar
Dec. 5 Nanjing, China @ Castle
Dec. 6 Shanghai, China @ Yuyintang
Dec. 8 Wuhan, China @ Vox
Dec. 10 Changsha, China @ 4698
Dec. 11 Chongquing, China @ Nut Club
Dec. 12 Chengdu, China @ Little Bar
Dec. 15 Guilin, China @ Kaya
Dec. 16 Yangshua, China @ Reggae Bar
Dec. 17 Guangzhou, China @ 191 Space
Dec. 18 Shenzen, China @ Base Bar
Dec. 19 Hong Kong, China @ TBA
Dec. 22 Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
Dec. 29 Manotick, ON @ Kelly's Bar

Hopefully they put the money towards recording a new record, since I've nearly played out my copy of "Album in a Bag", their great 10 song release that comes in a handy zip-loc bag with a photocopied track listing. Hollerado has a great sense of humor which is evident in the design of almost everything they do, including their fab website, which I recommend you check out at www.hollerado.com

They'll be keeping a blog of their Chinese tour for Exclaim! which you can check out here.

Finally, they released a new song in Mandarin prior to the tour, also available at Exclaim! by visiting this link. It's called "Dragon, Dragon, Tiger, Goat" and has a slightly Cake-ish feel to it. If you speak Mandarin, please let me know what the hell they are singing about.

Congrats to a most deserving and original act!

The Manvils Drop a Heavy Hammer

Saturday night saw the return of The Manvils to the Slice in Lethbridge, AB, bringing along a whole new set of material drawn from their recently released self-titled album. Produced by the illustrious Ryan Dahle (Age of Electric/Limblifter), the eleven-song record clocks in at a trim thirty five minutes, something they were conscious of throughout the recording process. “We didn’t ever think that having almost every song clocking in under three minutes would be a possibility in Manvil world,” recounts guitarist/vocalist Mikey Manville. “It’s exciting to see what we’ve done on the record by really thinking about each aspect of the song.”

“Ryan didn’t ever tell us what to do, he just questioned why we were doing what we were doing,” says bassist Greg Buhr. “It was never him coming in and going, ‘So this is the kind of record I want to make for you’. We would come to a consensus as a group on either shortening or lengthening parts, but he really forced us to carefully consider the structures of the songs,” agrees drummer Jay Koenderman. The group had a busy summer, opening for Bif Naked on a cross-Canada tour, and then returning home to Vancouver to play the main stage of the massive Virgin Festival alongside Sonic Youth, Ben Harper, De La Soul and Metric. “The set blew by so fast,” recalls Koenderman, “the next thing you know, it’s over and we’re like – so now what? Don’t get me wrong, we really love playing shows like this here [the Slice], but when your trying to make a career as a musician and you get handed something like that, it just shows you what is possible.”

Their set was preceded by the amazing slide guitar blues sound of Sandbag Records label-mate Rich Hope, who looked like the ghosts of Buddy Holly and James Dean combined. His heavy guitar work was complemented only by a drummer, but didn’t leave you wanting more, since he added simplified bass grooves in addition to his wicked soloing to keep the bottom end chunking along. The crowd loved it, but Hope had to nearly pull them onto the dance floor because the nearly capacity crowd was stuck in their seats for most of the set. Dirty rockabilly blues from an amazing guitarist to watch for.

The Manvils opened up with some rockers from their new album, including “Strange Disaster”, “Good Luck Club” and “Turpentine”, the latter of which they managed to get actor John Savage (The Deer Hunter) to appear in the video for. They played for well over an hour and showcased how the skills of each individual played make this band such a great sounding unit together. Buhr’s precise and intricate bass lines brought more depth to the songs when seen live, and his harmony vocals added another fantastic layer on top. The super-tight drumming of Koenderman’s beats was the glue, solidly holding together the songs, while also adding some pounding fills, reminiscent of Keith Moon in style, while his thick beard and haircut made me think of John Entwhistle – The Who have certainly influenced him in multiple ways. The songs written by Manville are dynamic and interesting, just like his guitar playing and singing, which was also let loose on a few guitar solos.

Keep your eyes on these guys, as they continue their steady climb upwards. Like AC/DC said – it’s a long way to the top if you want to rock n’ roll. Check below for more info about their video premiere party shows.

THE MANVILS ALBUM + VIDEO PREMIERE FOR THE SINGLE “TURPENTINE” FEAT. JOHN SAVAGE OF THE DEER HUNTER

*VANCOUVER PREMIERE I
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15th @ VENUE (881 Granville St.)
w/ THE BRITISH COLUMBIANS & THE CAPITALS. DOORS 8pm

*TORONTO PREMIERE II
HALLOWEEN MASSACRE - FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30th @ THE HORSESHOE TAVERN (370 Queen St. W)
w/ KC ROBERTS & SCATTERHEART. DOORS 9pm

Sounds of Saskatchewan in the Attic

Mike Spencer, owner of Mike’s Geometrics, a geological surveying firm primarily working for those in the construction industry, loves music. You can tell this by the fact that a significant portion of the space in his office is set aside to host concerts. Not your typical office building. He began by booking “house gig” type shows in March and has now done almost ten since then. This past Sunday saw the Saskatchewan invasion of The Deep Dark Woods and Little Miss Higgins for a night of great blues, roots and folk music in Lethbridge.

The Geomatic Attic isn’t your average music venue, of course, being located in the upstairs of a business. But what it lacks in day to day activity it more than makes up for in its atmosphere and friendliness. Although you can’t just walk up to the door off the street (tickets are sold on an advance sale only basis to those on the venue email list), if you’re interested in the shows happening there, you will be included. “The main focus right now is to book really high quality acts. The average person on the street might not necessarily know the groups, but those who come and listen to the music always walk away going ‘Wow, that was amazing!’” says Spencer. With a different format that works for those who aren’t into the bar scene (shows actually start at 8pm), and most concerts being booked on less popular nights of the week in order to draw acts needing to fill their schedules in, a community has developed around the Geomatic Attic. “Artists who have played here have begun telling their friends in other groups about us, and that’s all we’ve needed to maintain getting good bands in here on a regular basis.” Spencer says their mailing list is over 300 people, and almost all of the shows to date have sold out.

For the amount of time Spencer has invested into this venture, he’s ironically not a musician himself. “I was just always one of those guys trying to keep up with all the good music coming out when I was growing up in the 70’s. In the independent scene now it’s amazing to hear of all the groups that are constantly coming out who are flying under the radar of popular radio.” With very diverse interests, he’s interested in bringing in as many different genres of performers that are suitable for the space. “We want to make it so people have a voice in what groups we do have play here. I try to really talk to people and see what they’re thoughts are, in order that they have some trust in me that even if they don’t know the group that’s coming; they know it’s going to be something special,” says Spencer.



Something special was indeed on display with the show Sunday, as the charming sounds of Little Miss Higgins started the show off in style. Her style is heavily influenced by the sounds of artists like Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, but also more blues and jazz artists like Billie Holiday. “Back in the 90’s my friends were listening to a lot of Nirvana and Pearl Jam and I like that stuff too, but I found it too aggressive. Where are the melodies? So that’s what attracted me to that old blues and jazz,” Higgins remembers. Of course, there wasn’t a great deal of other artists playing in a similar vein to Little Miss Higgins, who worked on her own developing her style of writing and playing. “I had to kind of go-it-alone for awhile there, before I could get out on my own.” Higgins made her way all over Western Canada after high school, attending theatre schools in both Red Deer and Victoria. After putting together a touring play and taking it to Regina, she found herself wondering what to do next after the run ended. “I thought why don’t I just stay here on the prairies, and I love it – I’m a total prairie girl,” tells Higgins. After working on getting into the Regina folk scene and meeting her partner Foy Taylor, they decided to move to the bustling metropolis of Nokomis, Saskatchewan – population 400. “It’s nice and cheap, there’s high-speed internet and telephone, so we can do a lot of work from there. We have a garden and a big old funky house that’s just a great place where we can just be and write music.”

With her 2008 album, Junction City, earning her the award for Outstanding Blues Album at the Western Canadian Music Awards; as well as a Juno nomination for Blues Album of the Year, she’s looking to expand upon her success with an upcoming record to be released spring of 2010. If the set she played Sunday is proof, she’ll be just fine. As a guitarist, Higgins is an inspiration; demonstrating gender makes no difference in picking fast, melodic rockabilly licks with precision. Over great tunes of her own including “Pig Meat Strut” and “Silvertone Swing” she lit her fretboard up, and did the same over a classic Memphis Minnie tune, “Killer Diller”. Foy Taylor did a great job of backing her up and throwing some slick licks in too, while stomping a mic’ed up wooden box to keep a thumping beat going. Top notch effort from a compact combo, which is always nice to see: how just two people can invest enough passion into the songs that really brings them to life.



I was once again completely stunned by the Deep Dark Woods, who started their set with the magical “All the Money I Had is Gone”. They create such deeply emotional soundscapes that it makes your whole body tingle. Evoking the most powerful work of groups like Dylan and The Band, but not replicating them, they put their own spin on the genre some may call Americana. They recently also picked up a WCMA award, taking honours for Best Roots Group/Duo Recording for their fantastic 2009 release Winter Hours. Playing a great selection of brand new material as well, their upcoming record should be even stronger than the last. One of their best skills is their talent for letting songs breathe, not rushing through them, but slowly building things and allowing themselves to jam out for certain sections to let the individual talents of each member truly shine; which they did to great effect on “Nancy” and “The Gallows”. Frontman Ryan Boldt’s great writing skills give the band songs with the kind of timeless chord progressions that you want to never end.

All seven of them took to the stage up for a final encore, including Little Miss Higgins hilarious “Bargain Store Panties” before closing things out. To get more info about the Geomatic Attic and the great line-up of bands booked up until years end, visit mikesgeo.ca and click on Geomatic Attic.

Photos by Melissa Genttner.

WINNERS: Western Canadian Music Awards and the Polaris Prize

Sunday and Monday nights were jam-packed with performances and awards being handed out with both the Western Canadian Music Awards and the Polaris Prize taking place. First was the WCMA’s, happening in Brandon, Manitoba this year. It may have had something to do with the location of this year’s festival, but Manitoba artists walked away with a number of awards; including Independent Album of the Year (a personal favourite of mine, The Waking Eyes with their album Holding On To Whatever It Is beat out popular Albertans Shout Out Out Out Out) and Songwriter of the Year; with Romi Mayes and her album Achin’ In Yer Bones beating out Calgary’s Chad VanGaalen and his stellar Soft Airplanes record.

Mayes also took home Roots Solo Recording of the Year, while Roots Duo/Group Recording of the Year went to The Deep Dark Woods for Winter Hours, who you can catch here in Lethbridge at the Geomatic Attic on Sunday, October 4th with Little Miss Higgins (two great Saskatchewan bands for one price!). Manitoban artists also won Aboriginal Recording of the Year (Eagle & Hawk – Sirensong), Blues Recording of the Year (Big Dave McLean ‐ Got 'Em from the Bottom), and Country recording of the Year (Doc Walker ‐ Beautiful Life).

Albertans weren’t left empty handed though, with Classical Recording of the Year going to Windrose Trio for Path of Contact, featuring the U of A’s Jeff Campbell, and Jazz recording of the Year awarded to Jerrold Dubyk for The Maverick. Urban Recording of the Year also went to Edmonton’s Krystle Dos Santos for her self-titled effort. Unfortunately, the awards of Pop Recording and Rock Recording of the Year awards went to the undeserving, generic sounding Marianas Trench and Theory of a Deadman, respectively, when there were many better bands to pick from in those categories.

The big money was handed out on Monday night though, with the prestigious Polaris Music Prize being awarded in Toronto. The Polaris Prize is selected solely on artistic merit without any regard for sales history, genre or label affiliation and is decided by a jury of music journalists, bloggers, broadcasters and other Canuck-savvy music types. Any album that is at least eight songs or thirty minutes long is eligible for the prize as long as it was released within the past year. The jury made a bold statement this year by selecting the most controversial band of the ten-band short list, awarding the $20,000 prize to Fucked Up, a hardcore punk rock band from Toronto. Definitely deserving of the award, their album The Chemistry of Common Life was much talked about and is certainly worth your time to give it a listen if you haven’t heard it already. Other nominees on the short list this year included Metric, K’Naan and Chad VanGaalen among others, and all ten nominees performed during the gala on Monday night. If you want to see the show for yourself, Much Music is running an edited version of the awards this Saturday night at 9pm EST and again at midnight. A great way to watch some new Canadian bands you might not have known already and catch an awesome performance by the winners.

Corb Lund Named Roots Artist of the Year at CCMA's

Corb Lund was honoured at this years' Candaian Country Music Awards Gala Dinner and Awards with Roots Artist of the Year. This marks the sixth straight year Corb has been given this honour. The award was handed out on September 11th in Vancouver, BC.

Don't miss out on your chance to see Corb perform live as he travels across the US and Canada promoting his new album, 'Losin' Lately Gambler'. Corb will kick off the US leg of his "Losin' Lately Gambler' tour on September 23rd in Burleson, TX and the Canadian leg on October 15th in Summerside, PEI. Be sure and check the tour section of his website to see if he will be in a town near you. Tickets for select shows are now on sale in the store at www.corblund.com

Corb's new album hits stores September 22nd in Canada and September 29th in the US.

White Cowbell Oklahoma's 10th Anniversary Tour

I managed to get a quick email interview with Clem C. Clemsen, frontman of the infamous White Cowbell Oklahoma while they are on the road in support of their newest album Bombardero. They are celebrating their tenth year together and still going strong. Here's what he had to say...




You're celebrating your 10th anniversary as a band with this current tour - are you guys getting old and washed up or just hitting your prime?

Clem: White Cowbell Oklahoma have been a prime side of beef for many years. Our powers of brown magic and unprecedented rock n roll delivery excellence are matched by none. Our goal to enslave all and use the world for our own bidding gets closer to fruition every year. And the tour is slaying Canada town by town. Look on Google Earth for the craters we're leaving in our wake.


What have been the best and worst shows in the past decade?

Every White Cowbell Oklahoma show is unmatched by any other pasttime. Even fucking pales in comparison to even a small WCO performance. The band has played with Iron Maiden to 40,000 Dutch people and also played to a handful of people one night in Lethbridge. Either way, all present were hypnotized, amazed, astounded, on their knees in a state of rock n roll wonder


What prompted you to record a cover of Edgar Winter's Frankenstein on the new album and are you planning to do more in the future?

White Cowbell Oklahoma enjoy albino rock. WCO also embraced a prog-heavy sound on the new Bombardero album. Still some twang and southern rock, but a lot of 70s psychedelic wizardry too. Edgar Winter is the ultimate rock n roll magician, so we thought it would a good idea. We also wanted to show everyone how easy it is to play all those complicated notes when you're White Cowbell Oklahoma.

Who are some of the most influential artists, past and present, on your writing and playing?

We enjoy the caveman idiocy of KISS, and the regal minimalism of ZZ Top, but also like the nosebleed maximalism of Frank Zappa. We've since purchased them all. Gene Simmons works for us.

What is your preferred poison?

Strychnine -- it's poisonous and sometimes comes with the LSD. Gives you some amusing shakes.

What shifted your style towards the more psychedelic influence on the new album?

WCO had been going to Europe so many times, where people tend to applaud guitar solos rather than fire and tits. We also wanted to revisit our acid-chewing youth, when we first embraced Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix and Hawkwind.

How has the band changed having fewer members?

White Cowbell Oklahoma have changed from a nine-piece to a six-piece -- a sextet! Being a sextet sounds cooler and it's also more efficient for rock n roll delivery and hotel lobby call. We're a six-pointed throwing star of rock.

Thanks a bunch. Bow down and rock!
Clem

WCO will be playing here in Lethbridge tomorrow night (Sept 14) at the Slice. Here's the rest of their tour dates.

Mon Sep 14 - The Slice, Lethbridge AB
Wed Sep 16 - Wild Bill's, Banff AB
Thu Sep 17 - The Gateway - SAIT, Calgary AB (public show)
Fri Sep 18 - The Gaslight, Regina SK
Sat Sep 19 - Royal Albert, Winnipeg MB
Sun Sep 20 - Rock House, Thunder Bay ON
Fri Sep 25 - The Industry, Sarnia ON (w/ Bobnoxious!)
Mon Oct 19 - Paramount, Moncton NB
Fri Oct 23 - Distortion, St. John's NF
Sat Oct 24 - Distortion, St. John's NF
Mon Oct 26 - Baba's Lounge, Charlottetown PEI
Thu Oct 29 - Mavericks, Ottawa ON
Fri Oct 30 - L'Esco, Montreal QC
Fri Dec 18 - 10th Anniversary Show - Lee's Palace, Toronto ON

*Check local listings as details may change*

The Neighbours Won't Mind If You Listen To Immaculate Machine

Lethbridge’s first great indie-rock show of the semester started the night before classes did this year, with Immaculate Machine coming down to Henotic last Tuesday and the Square Waves as the opening act.

Warming things up with their synth-heavy sound to a growing crowd, the Square Waves greased everyone’s ears nicely. Jeff King fronts this group and he displayed some fierce energy in doing so, his passionate vocalization captivating many in attendance. According to their website, they were originally conceived as a “Kraftwerk garage band” and that is definitely a fitting descriptor, with thumping beats, piercing electronic keys/samplers and just enough of a rock edge to bring it all together for a solidly enjoyable set.

Kicking off their set with “Don’t Build the Bridge” – the same song that opens their new album, High on Jackson Hill – Immaculate Machine immediately wowed with leader Brooke Gallupe’s vocals being complemented by Brooke Wilken’s stunning high harmonies and a stirring guitar freak-out section. They followed with “Only Love You for Your Car” which they recently released an awesome video for that’s very reminiscent of Mad Max, but with bicycles. Bringing out some older material from 2007’s Fables, “Come on Sea Legs” had the three-part harmonies in full effect and is just an amazingly written song, with chord changes that grab you by the throat and jerk you around. They slowly got a few people actually up and dancing with more new material, including “He’s A Biter” and “Neighbours Won’t Mind”, jamming out the latter extensively with Gallupe showing he can solo just as well as he can write and sing. Getting to the end of their set, they were coached back for a two-song encore, closing the night with “So Cynical” from their 2005 album Ones and Zeros. They head off for a European tour in a couple weeks; so until they return you can check them out at www.immaculatemachine.com to get your fill.