BeatRoute Magazine BC Edition December 2018
BeatRoute Magazine is a monthly arts and entertainment paper with a predominant focus on music – local, independent or otherwise. The paper started in June 2004 and continues to provide a healthy dose of perversity while exercising rock ‘n’ roll ethics. Currently BeatRoute’s AB edition is distributed in Calgary, Edmonton (by S*A*R*G*E), Banff and Canmore. The BC edition is distributed in Vancouver, Victoria and Nanaimo. BeatRoute (AB) Mission PO 23045 Calgary, AB T2S 3A8 E. editor@beatroute.ca BeatRoute (BC) #202 – 2405 E Hastings Vancouver, BC V5K 1Y8 P. 778-888-1120
BeatRoute Magazine is a monthly arts and entertainment paper with a predominant focus on music – local, independent or otherwise. The paper started in June 2004 and continues to provide a healthy dose of perversity while exercising rock ‘n’ roll ethics.
Currently BeatRoute’s AB edition is distributed in Calgary, Edmonton (by S*A*R*G*E), Banff and Canmore. The BC edition is distributed in Vancouver, Victoria and Nanaimo. BeatRoute (AB) Mission PO 23045 Calgary, AB T2S 3A8 E. editor@beatroute.ca BeatRoute (BC) #202 – 2405 E Hastings Vancouver, BC V5K 1Y8 P. 778-888-1120
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Best of <strong>2018</strong> | Top 25 Local Releases<br />
By Glenn Alderson, Lyndon Chiang, Esmée Colbourne, Heath Fenton, Keir Nicoll, Jennie Orton, Mitch Ray, Daniel Robichaud, Graeme Wiggins, Mat Wilkins, Jordan Yeager<br />
Art d’Ecco<br />
Trespasser (Paperbag Records)<br />
There’s a playfulness, an almost<br />
frustrated energy of rebellion mixed<br />
with bedroom eyes nihilism on<br />
Trespasser. Whether it’s the relentless<br />
earworm that is “Never Tell,” or the<br />
Orbison croon behind “Mary,” this<br />
is an album that is addictive in its<br />
all-encompassing expanse. Trespasser<br />
is a dance floor flooded by the smoke<br />
machine where you can almost pretend<br />
you’re the only one there; like John<br />
Travolta before he sold his soul. (JO)<br />
I M U R<br />
Thirty33 (Independent)<br />
I M U R’s third studio album is both<br />
a continuation of the group’s dark,<br />
introspective electro-R&B and a step<br />
towards the light. Where I M U R has<br />
always made songs that are raw and<br />
vulnerable – this project is no exception<br />
– they continue to push forward with a<br />
positive perspective. (JY)<br />
Mathew V<br />
The Fifth (604 Records)<br />
Perhaps it’s in the high caliber emotive<br />
vocal performances, maybe the<br />
songwriting or the glossy production<br />
but this album proves that we have a<br />
big name pop star on the loose in our<br />
town. (QT)<br />
Humans<br />
Going Late (Haven Sounds)<br />
Humans deliver a mature and informed<br />
take on electronic music with breathy<br />
vocals, pulsating percussion and airy,<br />
spaced out mixes, inciting you to stay<br />
up all night and dance. (KN)<br />
ACDATYOUNGN*GGA –<br />
((MEmyself&ihatepeople))<br />
(((ihatepeople))/Opposition)<br />
Vancouver rap music sometimes comes<br />
across as slightly behind the times.<br />
ACDATYOUNGN*GGA is working<br />
to lead the charge in changing that<br />
reputation with a seven-song EP (a<br />
format having it’s moment) of hook<br />
laden, pulsing rap music that fits with<br />
the finest off of the Rap Caviar playlist.<br />
(GW)<br />
Baptists – Beacon Of Faith<br />
(Southern Lord)<br />
Baptists’ third fully is their most evolved<br />
release yet. Not many bands can<br />
strike that balance of unhinged and<br />
technical without losing some of each,<br />
but this screams of a band that has full<br />
confidence in who they are and what<br />
they’re capable of. (MR)<br />
ACTORS – It Will Come To You<br />
(Artoffact Records)<br />
A linchpin figure of the local scene<br />
releases their best to date. Music for<br />
dark nights, sunny days, time alone or<br />
with the ones you love, this album is the<br />
pinnacle of intersecting tastes. (QT)<br />
We Are the City – At Night<br />
(Light Organ)<br />
Polished west coast idols We Are The<br />
City are back at it with a collection<br />
of their best beats yet. Dreamy, their<br />
open-air ambiance has become fuzzier<br />
and thorny. This is a gripping album<br />
worthy of many listens. (EC)<br />
Malcolm Jack - Mirror Moon<br />
(Independent)<br />
With Capital 6 and Dada Plan, Jack<br />
elevated Vancouver’s indie psych scene<br />
for years, but Mirror Moon saw him<br />
transition from lo-fi troubadour to<br />
progressive Americana folk mindblower.<br />
His lyrics are cerebral as ever,<br />
propelling him to a musical plateau as<br />
slick as Dan Mangan or Calexico. (AR)<br />
Jo Passed – Their Prime (Royal<br />
Mountain)<br />
More lyrical than Jo Passed’s earlier<br />
work, Their Prime shifts into melodic<br />
dream pop while staying true to their<br />
fuzzy, jam band roots. This is a grown<br />
up exploration of fear and transition<br />
interwoven with tasty feedback. (EC)<br />
WTCHDR - Failed Ambition<br />
(Independent)<br />
Vitriolic honesty is the ingredient that<br />
sticks out here. Add in some frantic<br />
rhythmic assaults and some big, fat,<br />
spine-curving beatdown riffs and<br />
you’ll have some very bitter, very tasty<br />
lemonade. (DR)<br />
Rich Hope – I Come Alive<br />
(Planned Obsolescence)<br />
One of Vancouver’s finest delivers a slab<br />
of soulful wax chock full of swagger and<br />
bluesy rock ’n’ roll. Playful and sinister,<br />
I’m All Yours will make you cut a rug,<br />
peel your tires and rob a bank with<br />
nothing but a smile. (DR)<br />
Phono Pony – Monkey Paw<br />
(Independent)<br />
This quirky multi-dimensional duo<br />
has cracked the code with this spaced<br />
out collection of polished college<br />
rock. Monkey Paw has a healthy mix<br />
of garage, blues, electronic and pop,<br />
making for a truly unique musical<br />
experience. (GA)<br />
Autogramm - What R U<br />
Waiting 4? (Nevado Records)<br />
Synth heavy power pop played with<br />
conviction, Autogramm have delievered<br />
an album full of driving hooks and<br />
sensible melodies. These old-timers are<br />
making a new sound that’s sure to get<br />
you moving. (GA)<br />
Brass – For Everyone (Never<br />
Go Home)<br />
Think of “Coral” – a mild anesthetic –<br />
and “Blue Pt. 2” – a heavy sedative – as<br />
the medically required bookends to the<br />
willfully reckless, manic jaunt that is<br />
For Everyone. Beware the dangerously<br />
contagious energy within from these<br />
punks! (DR)<br />
Bored Decor - The Colour Red<br />
(Independent)<br />
With their debut LP The Colour Red,<br />
Bored Decor serves up a heaping<br />
helping of energetic glam punk. Drums<br />
crash, guitars hiss and scream, and<br />
keyboards pound out frenetic melodies<br />
along politically charged, new-wavestyle<br />
vocals. (MW)<br />
Parlour Panther – Hot Magic<br />
(Independent)<br />
This queer soul rock trio’s goal with Hot<br />
Magic was an album that was to deliver<br />
a declaration of love of being true to<br />
one’s self and it succeeds. Their lyrics are<br />
bold and the vocal delivery captivating.<br />
They’ve really put themselves in that<br />
rarified spot of creating something<br />
uniquely their own — inspirational and<br />
sexy. (GW)<br />
Junk – Audio Heroin (Junk<br />
Music)<br />
Wit, wordplay and big beats round<br />
out this impressive offering from Junk.<br />
The young rapper has got a flow that<br />
stands tall on its own but he’s also<br />
invited some big names along for the<br />
ride, including CyHi The Prynce. Audio<br />
Heroin is Junk living his truth on his<br />
best offering to date. (GA)<br />
Kellarissa - Ocean Electro<br />
(Mint Records)<br />
Larissa Loyva has one of the strongest<br />
voices in Canadian music, and she put<br />
it to good use on her third solo album.<br />
Ocean Electro hammered home the<br />
weight of her progressive lyrics with<br />
dynamic, driving synth-pop. (AR)<br />
We Hunt Buffalo - Head<br />
Smashed In (Fuzzorama)<br />
Just reading the title, we knew what we<br />
were in for with this one. The hardhitting,<br />
bluesy, psychedelic sludge this<br />
power trio mustered on their third<br />
album could just about fill a tar pit or<br />
explode a Mastodon’s heart. (AR)<br />
The Prettys – Tapas<br />
(Independent)<br />
Back at the table with Tapas, The<br />
Prettys waste no time getting into it,<br />
serving up a generous helping of garage<br />
pop bangers that demand your full<br />
attention, right up until the last course.<br />
Lié - Hounds (Mint Records)<br />
Hostile and very aggressive, Hounds is<br />
the album equivalent of walking down<br />
a street on a crisp, cold night ready to<br />
incite violence. (EC)<br />
La Chinga - Beyond the Sky<br />
(Small Stone)<br />
This skuz jamming power trio has<br />
been injecting pure ‘70s stadium rawk<br />
in their veins since 2012, and they<br />
practically overdosed on their third<br />
album, Beyond the Sky. Where Greta<br />
Van Fleet are merely boys, La Chinga<br />
proved their manhood. (AR)<br />
Ruby Karinto – Ruby Karinto<br />
(Hozac)<br />
Ruby Karinto’s Self-Titled LP is raw,<br />
dissonant, and weirdly addictive. A<br />
crazy collection of analog synth leads,<br />
bilingual Japanese-English vocals, over<br />
a garage rock rhythm section. The type<br />
of stuff Siri and Alexa would make love<br />
to. (LC)<br />
Process – Structural Fatigue<br />
(Independent)<br />
This long awaited debut is an<br />
unexpected headbutt to extreme metal.<br />
With a refreshing take and a unique<br />
stamp on the genre, Process makes<br />
punishment fun and brutal. (HF)<br />
24<br />
<strong>December</strong> <strong>2018</strong>