Static Zine has a team of six writers/photographers/thought collectors roaming the streets of Toronto for NXNE. We will not be posting concert reviews. You don’t need to read any more of those. We will be posting our experiences: what we find, what we see and what we hear. There will be reports from Jessica, Melody, Aviva, Carmel, Yahlehly and Michelle.

Keep up to date with our photos on our Facebook page.

WEDNESDAY’S RECAP

THURSDAY’S RECAP

Aviva//

Bass Drum of Death. Photo by Aviva Cohen.

Bass Drum of Death. Photo by Aviva Cohen.

Prince Innocence. Photo by Aviva Cohen.

Prince Innocence. Photo by Aviva Cohen.

DIIV. Photo by Aviva Cohen.

DIIV. Photo by Aviva Cohen.

DIIV. Photo by Aviva Cohen.

The Men. Photo by Aviva Cohen.

The Men. Photo by Aviva Cohen.

The Men. Photo by Aviva Cohen.

The Men. Photo by Aviva Cohen.

Oberhofer. Photo by Aviva Cohen.

Friends. Photo by Aviva Cohen.

Friends. Photo by Aviva Cohen.

Melody//

Theme: Re-visiting the old

I often try to catch bands I’ve never seen before at festivals because, well, why not? Unless I’m obsessed with a band, I want to utilize my time at festivals experiencing as many new acts as possible. But, for some reason, I found myself catching five repeat performances last night and, you know what, it was the best night so far.

To start off our Friday, Jessica and I found ourselves in a stranger’s apartment for an intimate show from Snowblink, Jason Collett and The Happiness Project. Even though I’ve seen two of the three bands, I wasn’t going to say no to seeing bands play in a living room, in my face. It was a small gathering so the atmosphere at first was a bit intimidating but as soon as the music started, it felt like we were part of a fam jam. Sixteen year old Melody could’ve died happy at that point; I grew up admiring Arts & Crafts Records so much that it was surreal being at a show like this. Snowblink and Jason Collett both tested out new songs from their upcoming albums, a pleasant treat that has now given me a reason to be excited for fall releases. And then there was The Happiness Project. The last time I saw Charles Spearin’s project was three years ago at the Music Gallery and I had completely forgotten how magical their music was. Even if you’re not a fan of instrumental music, you can most definitely appreciate the art behind what The Happiness Project does. And above all, it stays true to its band name and just simply makes you feel happy inside. It might’ve been sweltering hot outside but all we felt was warm, fuzzy love inside. This was a blast from the past that tore my heart out and wrapped it in a blanket. And The Happiness Project’s Julie Penner plays a violin made from my heartstrings.

Then, I was off to the POP Montreal showcase at the Silver Dollar for a packed bill of poppy goodness. Having already seen Hooded Fang, Parlovr and Bleached before, I already knew what to expect – lots of dancing, lots of fun and lots of pop. There weren’t many bands that I was super-psyched for, going into NXNE. Sure, bands that I was excited to see and interested in seeing but no one I was psssssyched for – except for Parlovr. It’s been a couple of years since I last saw them play in Montreal but since then they’ve released a new album and, my gosh, that album is IT. That’s THE album. As evidenced by their Polaris Long List nomination, Parlovr has finally honed in all that potential and crammed it all into an album that’s full of energy, heartbreak and gold. I squealed – literally – in anticipation of that set and if you know me, you know that I rarely dance and scream like that at a show. I’m usually the asshole who has her arms crossed and looks miserable. Parlovr performs miracles.

Sometimes in the midst of an overwhelming festival filled with unknown bands, a night spent with familiar faces is just what you need.

Carmel//

Day 3 of NXNE slackened a bit for me. By the time I finished work and was ready to show-hop again, there were very little options for daytime events. Either they had already finished or were just about to. (My luck with day shows hasn’t been so great, so far.)

Naturally, a Redbull was downed. The Friday line-up at Lee’s won me over when I was planning my schedule, so I planted myself there all night. Too bad Aviva and I missed 2:54. Oh, well. Life goes on. Arrived just in time for DIIV’s set.

I didn’t get to bug very many people for pocket investigations, sadly. So this will be a short (but a good) one:

Yahleyly, Static Zine: hair tie, lipstick, melted lolly that was actually stuck to the fabric of her pocket (we struggled in the girls’ washroom to pull it out and failed quite miserably; I’m sure we raised some awkwardness in the air for the people around us, but whatevz), ticket stubs/receipts, transit pass, and a necklace

Brad Oberhofer: random papers, one of which included the name of a girl from a deli he ate earlier that day (he invited her to the show; she gave him free coffee — win-win), some change (Brad collects lucky pennies from everywhere), and krazy glue to protect his fingers while playing ze guitar

yahlehly//

four hours of disturbed sleep took me from early friday morning to late friday morning
to restore energy levels i tried a sbs lunch & a shop for more sensible shoes
though the sandwich was delish, none of it could save me. the only thing for it was to return home & do some pre-game napping.
‘course, once at home sleep wouldn’t come. so i watched russell brand on graham norton

then the thought of bitondo’s got me out bed
on my way to pizza i heard my soul brother buck 65 playing a bbq party
little piece of heaven

friday at n.x was more about testing out bands than any other night
the city was crawling with buzz bands so the sport of the night was distinguishing the hype from the real deal

ultimately i’d like you to go figure it out yourself, i’m no music critic
not publicly anyway
so, quickly, here goes my responses

peter kernel - rude, tight & nicely crafted, impressed
diiv - alright, not awe-inspiring but good fun
friends - you know in that episode of girls where she goes home to smalltown, tells everyone ‘i live in new york now’ & is repeatedly met by blank stares of uh-huh, &…  
well, friends are from new york
& if you’re not watching girls, great. neither am i
oberhofer - melody was right, they were worth checking out
also, they make real nice intros & outros
john maus - definitely was not sitting in the right place for this, next to the amps.
but i figure it sounded just like the album versions but blasted, since the music came entirely from a laptop w/ john maus shouting in fits along with it. as performance art speaking to themes of rage, oppression, possibly working class adversity, it does its job. often, he reminded me of robert longo’s men in the cities series, which can’t be a bad thing. but i wasn’t up for performance art.
zulu winter - only caught one song before i had to quit. going to try & catch them today.

also caught a bit of comedy at the monarch on my way home, but it was a sad scene.

listened to these new puritans while recapping & now have a horrific craving to see them
if only they were touring

Jessica//

Though I feel like my days of being a music journalist or at least being known as one is kind of a thing of the past, sometimes I still get invited to cool things that I take advantage of, of course. (And hey, I’m writing about it here…) This case is the Arts & Crafts house show Melody and I went to yesterday. I got an email invite to this house show, and I didn’t think much past the “hell yes.” We walk into an apartment on Spadina just ten minutes away from me and it is gorgeous. It is Snowblink’s apartment. Everyone’s drinking beer on the sunsoaked patio, and everyone seems to be a seasoned Arts & Crafts affiliate. Melody and I found Rochelle and Andrew and our social anxieties were calmed.

Snowblink

Snowblink’s apartment is two floors. Their previous upstairs tenant got booted, so they took it over and made it all nice. I often wonder when I’m in nice apartments how much money decorations cost and how they knew where to get, in this case, all their old bells, shells, shelves and oils. Daniella handed fans out as everyone entered that living room before they played, saying it gets hot in there. I was just glad to have something to play with! Anyways, the new Snowblink songs are amazing. When you think of their music, you think of what their apartment ultimately looks like, all seafoam green, opaque blues, shells, bells and then the beach, waves and even somehow a forest somewhere near there. Beaches can be by forests, right? They spent their time playing new material, and I was just lost in their fresh air in a hot apartment. Their album comes out in September, and I can tell you it will be g.o.o.d.

Jason Collett

Jason Collett took over next, playing in the middle of a large doorframe. He’s so tall, the space seemed filled with his presence. Collett became visibly emotional through his set, as he later explained that it was because it was the first time he was playing these new songs for the public. They’re darker songs than he’s known for putting out, more political, socially aware, observing human nature and not feeling so good about it. Album also out in September. It was a bring-to-earth-er of a set, and Collett’s talent is immense. I just even enjoy the way he sees thing and finds ways to write about them.

The Happiness Project

After he played, we went downstairs to see The Happiness Project. Their album came out years ago, and yet this is still a thing and boy am I glad for it. The five of them spaced in an L-shape around the room, while on the other side there was a bed full of children and family, and the rest of us took up the other wall by the floor. The air was so full of love during their set, it almost brought me to tears. Happiness is love! Happiness is love! They envelop Charles Spearin’s interviews with friends, family and neighbours and find the music in the tone of their voices. It’s pure magic, is what it is is what it is. It’s like flying a kite, really. There’s a kite, and then there’s the kite in the sky. My heart melted a million times over when Spearin’s daughter stood up and sang her part of when she didn’t want butter on a sandwich. She beamed with pride, resisted herself from hugging her daddy and shone like a star. I left that house with the warmest feeling tingling all over me. I wonder what a song of the tone of my voice would sound like. All of a sudden I felt my body moving with sound, all of a sudden I felt my body moving with sound….

Sushi, sushi, sushi commenced. Then it was to the Silver Dollar. We caught the last song or two of Goose Hut, and I enjoyed their quirkiness, mental note to look em up later. After their set, giving Jeremy of Parlovr a zine, we realized I forgot to add Parlovr to the mixtape page in the back of the zine, and that I’m the hugest idiot ever. So hey, Parlovr’s on our mixtape and I love them.

Hooded Fang

Anyways, then it was Hooded Fang. I’ve actually avoided seeing them for a long time now. I saw them a few years ago when they played their first album, and I didn’t enjoy their live presence because it was so sloppy. But last year’s Tosta Mista was so great, and I didn’t want to spoil my love for it by seeing a band I didn’t like as much live. But I put my feet forward in this case, and realized that what people have been saying about them being better is true. There is only four of them now, for one thing, so they’re more concise. However. they played their songs so fast like they just wanted to get through with them already, which I understand since they’ve clearly been playing these songs nonstop for over a year. But it didn’t help the experience. I did enjoy the pulsing energy and watching how the band has melded into this thing where they all dress in a way that doesn’t match the music but the music has become even better, and I’m curious about their new material, that’s even more garage-y. In any case, I’m glad I got myself to see them again and I’ll have this memory too.

EVERYBODY AHHH

Parlovr

Parlovr

Then it was Parlovr! I saw them just in March playing CMW, but when they played their new material then, nobody really knew it. This time, we’ve all been entranced by the Kool Soul, Melody can prove it. Their energy is amazing, rocking right through from A to B, even starting us off by getting the whole crowd to scream. They’re stress relievers, life beginners, and proof that things can push through to the land of all-the-better. Though Kool Soul’s material is not the comfy-est of subject matters, it’s actually something a lot of people can relate to and want to scream and dance to because that’s just how we roll. Their set was so much fun, they are firecrackers to say the least. And the hair, oh the hair.

So yesterday was the day I decided to try and bike around. Little Italy festival was a deterrent and then I realized it was Friday night so all the crazy people were out and zombie-fied, so that was a bit of a frazzled journey, but felt good to do it. But then of course both of my potential midnight destinations were solid full by the time I got there. So no Yamantaka//Sonic Titan or Rah Rah (so different from each other!) for me, and I was le sads. I couldn’t get down too much though after such an amazing evening, but it is always a bummer when you can’t get in to see bands you have been looking forward to seeing!

Now I must fret on my shoewear and wear for today’s test of standing at Yonge & Dundas for 6 hours in the harsh sun.

Michelle//

I found out that I didn’t get two out of the three jobs I interviewed for since I wrote my last post and so, like a good Irish Catholic, I wanted to drown my sorrows in a sea of liquor. After my friend Eileen finished work for the day, we headed over to an industry only parking lot party presented by Jägermeister, which resembled what I imagine a rockabilly theme park would look like. This ‘Boneyard BBQ’ boasted that Sebastien Grainger would be DJing, but we couldn’t actually tell if he was and to be honest, we didn’t really care once there was free beer in our hands.

Eileen

Aside from the complimentary eats and drinks, this party went above and beyond in the free swag department, providing haircuts and tattoos to those who were willing to consent to Sailor Jerry using their photo for future promotional purposes. I wasn’t feeling subversive enough to partake in these activities so I went home with a pair of Jägermeister boxer shorts instead, because I live a double life as a frat boy.

The allure of free shit is so intoxicating that people will basically do anything to get something for nothing. Sensing the inherent desperation in the party-goers, an impromptu limbo competition broke out for concert tickets. Here’s of the guys from Poor Young Things got low, Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz style.

When Eileen tried her hand at the limbo, she inadvertently flashed her panties to a crowd of bystanders and for that, won us two tickets to see Face to Face that evening at the Sound Academy. We contemplated taking a cab down to Toronto’s arguably worst music venue to see a band that I only knew from the Vagrant Records: Another Year On The Streets compilations I had listened to as a teenager but opted instead to lose track of time ranting about class inequality over more beer.

Being the official 90s Correspondent for Static Zine is a huge cross to bear. While my fellow writers were out seeing whatever cutting edge band it is that the young people like today, I went to go see the Smoking Popes. You may or may not recall an underrated alt-anthem called ‘Need You Around’ that garnered popularity from being featured in the classic 1995 comedy, Clueless. Afterwards Smoking Popes failed to generate any other buzzworthy singles and so many people forgot about them, which was definitely the case last night. There were under 50 people in attendance at the Great Hall which lead to me sitting in the corner and sulking on the band’s behalf. When they played ‘Need You Around’ I shed a tear and on my commute home, continued shedding both tears and my uterine lining.