HOW TO NXNE - NOW Magazine

NXNE festivAl guide
Essential
shows
TRUST at Wrongbar (1279 Queen West),
tonight (thursday, June 17), 2 am, and
Friday (June 18), 9 pm. $15 or NXNE
wristband/pass. nxne.com.
Trust have only been a band for five
months, but the duo’s spooky, artinfused
synth experiments have
already made them a hit with tastemakers
lurking in the grittier corners
of toronto’s lively elec-
tronic scene.
Featuring percussionist
Maya Postepski (who also
drums for katie stelmanis and
performs solo as Princess century)
and synth player/vocalist Robert
Alfons, trust name-drops everyone
from outsider vhs music-video
queen Jan terri to the unsettling
kraut-pop of Malaria! and the Real
Mccoy’s early-90s hi-NRG as inspirations
shaping their sound and perfor-
synth
pop
mance style.
Postepski says she wants their end
product to sound like “crying on the
dance floor,” accomplished through
“demon growls and arpeggiators.”
their dark, danceable sound is
working out for them. so far they’ve
convinced local DJ and former crystal
castles manager Mikey apples to
manage them, and that’s already
resulted in a pretty big second
gig; trust opened for local
buzz band Parallels at their
super-packed record release
party at Wrongbar back in
February.
While the duo has only a few
songs posted on their Myspace page,
they’re readying two 12-inch vinyl singles
for release over the summer, one
of which will feature a remix by l.a.
chillwave magicians Nite Jewel.
they’re going to be big, trust us.
JORDAN BIMM
Where the critics will be friday
MICHAEL HOLLETT
BENJAMIN BOLES
JORDAN BIMM
CARLA gILLIS
JASON KELLER
ANDREW RENNIE
RICHARD
TRAPUNSKI
8 pm 9 pm 10 pm 11 pm 12 am 1 am 2 am 3 am
Nive Nielson &
The Deer
Children
silver Dollar
Mathemagic
Gladstone
hotel
The Futureless
Neutral
lounge
Mathemagic
Gladstone
hotel
Brutal Knights
horseshoe
tavern
Brutal Knights
horseshoe
tavern
Brutal Knights
horseshoe
tavern
222s
horseshoe
tavern
ghost Bees
Gladstone
hotel
KATIE STELMANIS at Wrongbar (1279
Queen West), Friday (June 18), 10 pm. $15
or NXNE wristband/pass. nxne.com.
Many things about Katie Stelmanis
are tba right now.
The buzzed-about Toronto
electro nic artist with the big
voice, orchestral leanings and
dramatic melodies (and
videos) has a full-length album
80 per cent in the can, set for release
in early winter. So which label is
behind it?
“I don’t think I can say that yet,” says
Stelmanis, freshly returned from the
gym. “I’ll just say tba.”
Has she settled on a title?
“Nope,” she says. “The name is
SILJE NES at Whippersnapper (578a college),
Friday (June 18), 10 pm. $15 or
NXNE wristband/pass. nxne.com.
Stop Die
comfort zone
The
Polymorphines
Rancho Relaxo
The Weirdies
the shop
Sloan (9:30)
yonge-Dundas
square
Soft Copy
the Garrison
No one will ever accuse Silje Nes of
being uninventive.
the Norwegian singer/songwriter
does it all. she plays piano, guitar, cello,
xylophone, trumpet, recorder and
drums and landed herself a record deal
after sending a demo to Fatcat, the
esteemed Uk label that puts out sigur
Rós and Black Dice.
Naturally, she also home-produces
indie
pop
AA Bondy
the Great hall Wavves
lee’s Palace
Timber Timbre
Gladstone
hotel
Boys Who Say
No
silver Dollar
Katie
Stelmanis
Wrongbar
AA Bondy
Gladstone
hotel
Timber Timbre
Gladstone
hotel
Timber Timbre
Gladstone
hotel
Best Coast
the Garrison
Wavves
lee’s Palace
Wavves
lee’s Palace
John Doe &
Exene
Cervenka
the Great hall
Wavves
lee’s Palace
DD/MM/yyyy
Gladstone
hotel
Man or
Astroman?
horseshoe
tavern
Big Freedia
Wrongbar
The Two
Koreas
comfort zone
Evening
Hymns
Dakota tavern
Man or
Astroman?
horseshoe
tavern
Big Freedia
Wrongbar
Japandroids
lee’s Palace
usually the very last thing I think of.”
One certainty is her upcoming
three-song 12-inch single, tentatively
titled The Beat And The Pulse. It comes
out in August on One Big Silence, the
new 12-inch-vinyl-only label set
up by Fucked Up’s Mike halie-
chuk, who’s said his goal is to
document Toronto’s vibrant
electronic music scene.
“When Mike started the
label, he was like, ‘I want to make
a scene in Toronto,’” explains Stelmanis.
“I was like, ‘You can’t really do
that.’ I felt like he was fabricating one.
But now that things have really started
moving, I do feel like part of it.”
Stelmanis cites as examples Diamond
Rings, whose Show Me Your
her own music – serene folk tempered
with experimental flourishes like the
ticking of a distant typewriter or
the sound of a bleating sheep
submerged deep in the mix.
“Basically, I just use
things that are around. I also
have this video camera that I
pick up sounds from,” she explains
softly from her place in Berlin,
where she’s awaiting a FedEx package
containing a visa that will allow
her to tour the U.s. with fellow multiinstrumentalist
DM stith.
While she’s foremost a soloist, for
trippy
folk
Mudhoney
horseshoe
tavern
PS I Love you
lee’s Palace
84.85
Drake hotel
PS I Love you
lee’s Palace
Mudhoney
horseshoe
tavern
Mudhoney
horseshoe
tavern
Mudhoney
horseshoe
tavern
Special guest
Bovine sex
club
Special guest
Bovine sex
club
NOW DJ’s
Gladstone
hotel
Special guest
Bovine sex
club
NOW DJ’s
Gladstone
hotel
Huoratron
Wrongbar
Women
silver Dollar
Murder Ford
Monument
silver Dollar
Murder Ford
Monument
silver Dollar
DJ Ed Lover
Drake hotel
DJ Ed Lover
Drake hotel
The Cheap
Speakers
Rancho Relaxo
Stuff 12-inch launches the label at the
Friday (June 18) NXNE showcase, and
Trust (also on the bill), her drummer,
Maya Postepski’s, new band.
“Because I didn’t know many people
[making electronic music], I was kind of
on my own figuring out the programs
and the basics of MIDI. With more people
to collaborate with now, I’m learning
so much more, even just in the last six
or seven months.”
That collaboration extends to the
Katie Stelmanis project, which is now a
four-person band that includes the
aforementioned Postepski plus bassist
Dorian Wolf and guitarist Carmen Elle.
The lineup additions, which debuted at
SXSW, prompted Stelmanis to switch to
a band name, Private Life – an effort
that was ultimately thwarted.
“I feel like ‘Katie Stelmanis’ doesn’t in
any way describe what my music
sounds like. It tends to be a description
of what it doesn’t sound like; I’ve shown
up at a ton of gigs where peo ple assumed
I was a solo girl on piano.
“But two months into owning [the
name], a friend pointed out a band with
the same name that released a record
on Warner in 1989. My friend managed
to get hold of an email address and then
asked if we could share. We were
basically told no.”
A new name is, unsurprisingly, tba.
“We’re in the process of thinking of
one right now.” CARLA gILLIS
her NXNE show at Whippersnapper Nes
will be accompanied by two musicians
and a loop pedal, owen Pallett-style,
to create a lush sonic tapestry be-
neath her restrained, whisperquiet
vocals.
since the release of her 2007
debut, ames Room, expectations
for her upcoming second album,
Optiks (FatCat), have been high. although
the record’s september release
date is fast approaching, she’s still figuring
it out.
“I don’t really know what it is yet. It’s
still a work in progress.” JASON RICHARDS
COLD CAVE DJ set at the Garrison (1197
Dundas West), Friday (June 18), 1 am. and
live set at lee’s Palace (529 Bloor West),
saturday (June 19), 1 am. Both $15 or
NXNE wristband/pass. nxne.com.
Cold Cave return to NXNE with a hotnew-thing
aura surrounding Love
Comes Close (Matador), their noisy
synth-pop debut album.
SLOAN at yonge-Dundas square, Friday
(June 18), 9:30 pm. Free. nxne.com.
the members of Sloan are already kicking
around ideas for next February,
which marks the 20th anniversary of
their first show. (super-fan trivia: it
took place at the Nova scotia college
of art and Design in halifax.)
“I’d like to play some older albums
front to back in a concert setting,”
says guitarist/vocalist
Jay Ferguson. “Twice Removed?
One Chord To Another?
Perhaps a bit trendy
these days, but it’s something
I’ve wanted to do for a while.
“Maybe the 20th anniversary is the
right time to relearn Lemonzinger. Actually,
scratch that. The lyrics are total
trash. Good riff, though.”
In the meantime, the Toronto-based
But Wes Eisold, the brain behind the
Manhattan-based band’s hooks, actually
has a long history as a singer and
lyricist in hardcore punk bands. he formerly
fronted the loud, guitar-driven
american Nightmare, Give Up the
Ghost and some Girls, among other
bands.
“I wanted to start my own band
where I would write all of the music
indie pop legends are keeping busy
with releases – B-Sides Win, a new collection
of bonus tracks, extras and Bsides,
and last November’s Hit & Run
EP are available from the band’s digital
store. And let’s not forget fatherhood.
Last week, bassist Chris Murphy welcomed
a new son into the world.
Then there’s Sloan’s free Yonge-
Dundas Square show during NXNE.
Besides squeezing in a rehearsal
with the new dad and checking
out Iggy & the Stooges Saturday
night, what do they have
planned for their show?
“Hit after hit after hit followed
by an obscure album
track to allow people to go purchase
a hot dog or jeans, and then
back to the hits,” jokes Ferguson. “It’ll
be good. Under the stars. And billboards.
I miss Licks restaurant on that
corner.” CARLA gILLIS
and there would be no confusion or
compromise,” says Eisold about his
stylistic switch from hardcore to cold
cave’s art-damaged electro. “this is
how it sounds.”
“I hardly trust anyone who wasn’t
involved in hardcore at some point in
their life.”
the trust issues stem in part from a
well-publicized incident in 2007 when
pop-punk poster children Fall out Boy
admitted they plagiarized Eisold’s
lyrics on two of their biggest-selling
records.
Eisold’s writing extends outside the
world of music. he operates heartworm
Press, an independent publishing
house in Manhattan, and has published
Deathbeds, a book of poetry and
prose.
For now, though, he’s focused on
music, touring and tightening up the
four-piece’s live performances. Following
the summer shows, he plans to
hibernate in order to focus on cold
cave’s next record.
“last month we made the transformation
from being better on record
to being better live,” Eisold says. “I’m
very pleased with this.” JORDAN BIMM
68 june 17-23 2010 NOW NOW june 17-23 2010 69
power
pop
electro
pop