Sled Island Day 1: Lorrie Matheson, Wild Choir, Deerhoof

It's that time of year again; the week or so at the end of June that every semi-cultured person in Calgary prays for all year, and the memory of which they then hold onto with both hands during the ensuing horrors of Stampede.

This is the fourth annual Sled Island Music, Film, and Art Festival in Calgary, and possibly its most mature incarnation yet, will well-rounded and incredible lineups in all three areas of interest. The festival has always been great from its very first year, but it seems to finally be settling into its most fully developed and finalized form this year.

And if the kick-off show is any indication, we're in for an absolutely incredible four days.

As anyone who's read WHYH's Sled Island coverage before would know, our favourite venue of the fest is probably Central United Church. Sure, the usual Christian accommodations leave much to be desired in the form of physical (or spinal) comfort; at least there were cushions this year.

No, Central United shines because it has that natural advantage that a sandstone/wood church will have over many a modern club/pub/venue: considered (and excellent) acoustics. Also, the strange combination of independent/avant-garde/rock music and an atmosphere designed to give a feeling of "sacredness" result in a feeling that whatever you witness there will be special.

Last night is no exception; in fact, it currently vies for one of the top spots on my list of all-time greatest shows I've ever had the good fortune of witnessing.

Lorrie Matheson opened the evening, starting strong and not letting up. For those unfamiliar with him, he's a local singing/songwriting institution, with a great lyrics, and excellent rock/bluesy/psych-at-times sound...he describes himself as Western Swing, Shoegazer, and New Wave all rolled into one. As this plethora of genre comparisons might indicate, trying to pin down an exact description of his music is perhaps a futile quest.

Nest came Wild Choir (formerly known as Georgiana Starlington), a Brooklyn group with an interesting 50's-vibe garage rock/surf rhythm vibe and an excellent drummer; I found myself looking at him most of the time, truthfully, which was probably an excellent set-up for what was to come.

See, we were all having a decent time, and then Deerhoof appeared and blasted all previous comparisons, bands, experiences, and expectations out of the water and into the oblivion of outer space.

There are very few bands of which I can say their live show has fully taken all my expectation and thoroughly surpassed every single one with cute Japanese vocals, jaw-dropping start-stop-on-a-dime instrumental proficiency, and possibly the most demonically possessed drummer I have ever seen play (and you may remember, I have some experience with possessed drummers). Recorded material does them no justice, can never describe just how absolutely unbelievable Deerhoof is live. They were bigger than the room, bigger than the audience, bigger than the festival itself.

After about three songs, Greg Saunier stood up from the drum kit he had been pounding into oblivion and proceeded to tell us that we were an incredible audience, in an endearingly awkward and hilarious/rambling manner, ending with "I just realized the number of people I was addressing, and suddenly got stage fright; you'll notice that when I get stage fright, I tend to express myself in a condensed way." Satomi Matsuzaki, not to be outdone, proceeded to be as adorable and endearing as an incredibly small, charming, and energetic female bassist/singer executing the occasional Para-Para routine can possibly be.

And just when we all believed the band couldn't possibly amaze us any more, they all switched instruments and proceeded to further amaze us with their versatility and talent.

Other bands are lucky to have one member with the effortless charisma that every single member of Deerhoof seems to have in spades. Not many bands could get away with playing not only one, but TWO cover songs in their set, let alone classic songs like "Pinhead" by The Ramones and "Going Up the Country" by Canned Heat, let alone with such aplomb. Or pulling out the grand piano in the church for the encore...

In the end, we just went to eat something and grab a drink at the Unicorn, because we felt it just wouldn't be fair to whichever band we saw next to hold them to that kind of comparison.

All in all, an excellent night; I can only hope that more surprises like this are to come.

~Ju


Lorrie Matheson
On Myspace Music
On The Web

Wild Choir
On Myspace Music

Deerhoof
On Myspace Music
On Kill Rock Stars

[Live] Okkervil River

Walking into Central United Church last Thursday, I couldn’t help but be overcome with a sense of pride. For a city that, three years ago didn’t even have one half-decent indie music festival, Calgary has matured quite a bit musically. As we shuffled into a pew near the back of the church, I paused to reflect on how lucky I felt. Okkervil River (THE Okkervil River) was playing this tiny little venue in my almost culturally devoid city. For a moment I considered kneeling and saying a prayer (God bless you Zak Pashak. God bless your children. God bless your children’s children.) but instead I decided to take advantage of my situation and watch The Consonant C play the end of their set. After a couple more opening bands, (all of which Ju has already covered, so I won’t bore you with my impressions) Okkervil took the stage.

A month ago, if you’d asked me whether or not I thought a church was an ideal local for a band like Okkervil River to play, I probably would have said something along the lines of “I’d rather watch them play in a bar.” However, if at any point in my life I’d actually said that, then I would now be forced to devote the next forty years of my life to discovering a way to travel back in time so that I could kick myself in the nads.

Okkervil’s set began with their latest single, “The President’s Dead” and from there on in they played every damn one of their songs that I wanted to hear live. From the epically soaring song “The Latest Toughs” to the introspective suicide tune “John Allyn Smith Sails” and finally finishing with the spaghetti western themed “Westfall”. Will Sheff’s voice rang out across the chapel and perhaps it was just the setting but the band’s performance seemed to take on a hallowed air.

I’ve heard Okkervil River described as a great many things in my time. People have affixed them with the labels of Indie, Folk, Country, Alternative Country, and straight up Rock. At one point I would probably have affixed them with a label myself, but after seeing them play live, I can honestly say that none of the above labels can even begin to describe their sound. Not to mention the fact that Will Sheff’s lyrics are beyond poetic. Their weight live transcends anything that you could hear in a recording, making these Austen, Texas darlings a must-see.

Check them out this fall on their tour for their new album, The Stand-Ins, available September 9th in the USA and Canada and on October 13th in the UK and Europe.
09-12 Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck
09-13 Omaha, NE - Slowdown
09-14 Madison, WI - Barrymore Theater
09-15 Fargo, ND - Aquarium
09-17 Seattle, WA - The Showbox
09-18 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richards on Richards
09-19 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
09-21 San Francisco, CA - Treasure Island Festival
09-23 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre
09-24 Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up Tavern
09-26 El Paso, TX - The Blue Iguana
09-26-28 Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Music Festival
09-30 New Orleans, LA - The Republic
10-1 Birmingham, AL - Matthew's Bar & Grill
10-2 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
10-4 Richmond, VA - The National
10-6 New York, NY - Webster Hall
10-7 New York, NY - Webster Hall
10-8 Northampton, MA - Pearl Street Nightclub
10-9 Millvale, PA - Mr. Smalls Theatre
10-10 Buffalo, NY - Tralf Music Hall
10-11 Montreal, QC - Les Saints
10-12 Toronto, ON - Phoenix

~Phil

[Live] Sled Island: Consonant C, Mother Mother, Chad Vangaalen

How to describe it the atmosphere inside Central United Church, a sandstone building right on the C-train line, where the Consonant C are in the middle of their opening set. The church is smaller, but beautiful, in no way diminished by the sketchier area that the surrounding buildings have become. There is thrumming, a sense of anticipation; coupled with the sound coming from the church itself, it's almost tangible.

We slip into a pew; late, but glad to have made it to the sounds of beautiful harmonies and an intriguing assembly of instruments. The Consonant C only play four more songs before dashing off, but their set is endearing and bright-eyed in the best sense of the words. Their music also makes it clear as to why the venue was chosen: the acoustics are wonderful. We could probably have heard the bands without any amplification at all.

Next is another local band Racoon; containing Dillon Whitfield, of Jane Vain fame (at least locally, anyway ^^;), they are definitely noisier and more rock-oriented than the Consonant C; after a solid set, they call on several friends from the wings (a few of which the savvy Calgarian music fan might recognize from several other excellent local bands) to do an endlessly enjoyable finale that leaves the audience in a state of excitement even after the last hand-claps and percussive beats have faded.

After some delay, the stage is then graced by the wonderful Mother Mother; the band jumps right into things, working up enthusiasm and energy with songs "Dirty Town" and "Touch Up" from their debut album of the same name. Something of a surprise is the number of new songs played; when coupled with their announcement of the forthcoming sophomore album O My Heart, however, the move makes sense. Overall, while some fans might be disappointed at not getting to hear specific favourites played live, the set is energetic, at times funny ("We've never played in a church before," guitarist Ryan Guldemond states matter-of-factly, "we thought it would be more...spiritual somehow. Not that that wasn't criticism...*after the audience chuckle at the sharp comment* Sorry, it was meant positively. Oh well...we're going to hell."), and incredibly enjoyable on the whole.

It was at this point that we faced a terrible decision: Okkervil River were to follow Mother Mother. Yes, the excellent Okkervil River, playing in a small and intimate venue like Central United Church. However, at the same time, Chad Vangaalen, local artist-musician superhero and champion of the home-made drum machine, was slated to play a set at the Telus World of Science, in the big domed theatre on the top floor. For those unfamiliar with the structure of this building, let me describe it as such: the enormous dome is a screen, and Chad would be projecting his animations during his performance.

In the end, two of us opted to see Chad and catch Okkervil at Lollapalooza, while the rest stayed on to watch them. So we hopped on the C-train and made it to the Science Centre in time to catch the tail end of Portico's set, while getting decent seats for Chad's performance.

And what a performance it was. As always, Chad is incredibly funny and charming to watch, infusing his performance with an air of unstudied humanism that is lost to many more staid artists. His offbeat personality is just as much a part of the show as his excellent songs; the instruments and setup are incredibly homemade and precarious, containing a perticular delight that I can only compare with looking at the impossible physics and angles of structures in a Tim Burton film. Chad taks odds and ends- a sound sample taken from under train tracks at a downtown bridge, a strangely uneven beat on his home-constructed, prototype drum machine ("I haven't had time to work on it, so the prototype has sort of become...well, it is what it is, I guess," he apologizes in his easygoing way), a scrap of melody, the pick of a banjo or strum of a mini-guitar - and weaves them into what could almost be described as faery gold. A child-like magic that can't be described or communicated with words or even recording, because it has everything to do with being there, with the moment as it happens.

As to the animations, they seem at first strange and above all, random. Chad even plays it off, saying with some degree of surprise, "I'm really happy that you guys made it out to the show tonight, especially with so many other good bands playing. Instead, you get to watch me and this stoner video..." With a little bit of his usual self-depreciating humour, he even turns minor sound problems into a part of the performance ("Sorry about this...damn, I totally had this all planned out in my basement, and here it's all falling apart. Apparently, I'm half the man I am in my basement onstage.")

When the music's playing, however, the bizarre animations seem to fall into place, fitting into the greater performance as flawlessly as the other odds and ends that find a home under the greater mantle of Chad's musical and artistic genius. The fact that several of the songs that he plays can't be found on either of his recorded albums speaks to his endless and awe-inspiring creativity, without question making him one of Calgary's brightest artistic and musical talents.

~Ju


The Consonant C
On Myspace Music
On New Music Canada

Racoon
On Myspace Music

Mother Mother
On Myspace Music
On the Web

Chad Vangaalen
On Myspace Music
On Flemish Eye Records