BeatRoute Magazine AB Edition March 2019

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MUSiC ALBUM REVIEWS HAWKSLEY WORKMAN Median Age Wasteland Isadora Records The business of making music has long been child’s play for singer-songwriter Hawksley Workman. From polishing the glam-pop pole with “Stripteaze” to warming the hearth of humanity with “Almost a Full Moon” the multi-talented instrumentalist and author has successfully encapsulated the modern Canadian experience while panhandling his way into the hearts and record collections of rock and folk music fans around the globe. Sizing up personal demons on his self-exploratory 16th studio album, Median Age Wasteland, Workman (who turns 44 this month) applies his careful yet ebullient craft to tracks like the equally luminous and humourous “Lazy” and the small town summer ditty “Battlefords.” As ever, soaring vocals and cafe corner guitar rambles ease any sense of awkwardness as the true north troubadour dives headlong into another library of unabashedly innocent and sentimentalized moments. “Birds in Train Stations”, cigarettes, lucid dreams, bingo cards and cars perched on blocks are all fair game as the obtuse and observant “Skinny Wolf” catalogues his impressionistic adventures. Elevating the mundane, he readily points out “Nobody really asked for this,” but by the time you’ve reached your 40s it’s not so much about getting what you want, but rather claiming what you need. Christine Leonard HELADO NEGRO This Is How You Smile RVNG Intl. Roberto Carlos Lange’s—known on stage as Helado Negro—recent album This Is How You Smile is just the boost of vitality we need in these confusing times. Fringing on lo-fi, experimental pop and aural indie acoustic rock, the new work doesn’t over or under stay its welcome. The rejuvenating opening track “Please Won’t Please” moves at a steady clip, set with a steady drum clip and glimmers its way to climax full of clarity and organic joy. The album harkens back to Helado Negro’s Private Energy work and remains consistently ethereal and aurally pleasing. Lange’s song writing on the song “Fantasma Vaga” is some of his best work yet, utilizing his calming voice and young Latin pride with vocals in Spanish. The instrumentation is hallucinatory and exploratory, relying on an array of whirring instruments that are impossible to label. And yet, the track remains as one of the most digestible on the album. Indeed, at first listen songs like “Pais Nublado” and “Two Lucky” sounds like a Devendra Banhart track and that’s because Helado Negro’s sound is on par with the freak folk maestro. In all, This Is How You Smile is tranquil and addictive and demands your full attention. Stephan Boissonneault AMERICAN FOOTBALL LP3 Polyvinyl Records American Football released their self-titled debut album in 1999 and split up shortly afterwards. The album didn’t receive much attention at the time but it amassed a cult following over the next 15 years. Following up on their long-awaited 2016 sophomore, the Midwest emo pioneers make a lateral move with their direction on LP3, even delving into shoegaze territory. The opening track, “Silhouettes,” is moody and atmospheric with rich layers of guitar and Mike Kinsella’s echoing vocals, while “Heir Apparent” has dreamy volume swells. LP3 also features some unique guest vocalists, including Paramore’s Hayley Williams on “Uncomfortably Numb.” Kinsella and Williams display beautiful vocal chemistry against a backdrop of plucking harmonics, trumpet and calming waves of tremolo picked ambient guitar. One of the most rewarding moments on the album is when “Doom in Full Bloom” reaches its climax with its repeating, slightly overdriven arpeggio that builds into a breathtaking crescendo. American Football take a bold step in a developed direction on LP3. They still maintain the confessional lyrics, twinkly guitar and unconventional time signatures they’re known for, but at the same time, they’ve expanded their range of sound. Robann Kerr AVEY TARE Cows on Hourglass Pond Domino David Portner’s third studio album as Avey Tare is so textured and diverse it feels like a sonic interpretation of a topographic map. Delving back to the Mayan era and forward into a robot-filled future, this map somehow spans all of space and time. Cows on Hourglass Pond does so with humility—not claiming to understand the universe but boldly venturing into it nonetheless. The opening track greets the listener, “Welcome to the Goodside,” then unravels into echoes asking: “what is? is? is? is? I can’t even find it on the map.” The ensuing songs see Portner grapple, both with this unanswerable question and across landscapes that can never lead him to an answer. Cows on Hourglass Pond honours the act of curiosity. Portner builds his layered, elliptical sounds into worlds sprinkled with rays of luminous guitar and populated with transient samples. In constant kaleidoscopic metamorphosis, sounds once earthy turn celestial. On “Our Little Chapter,” sparkly synths pulse and recede like waves as Portner reminisces on the undoing of a relationship. Cows on Hourglass Pond calls on the vastness of the universes to wonder about personal things, inviting listeners to try it out too. Maggie McPhee ANDREW BIRD My Finest Work Yet Loma Vista As hard as it may be to imagine Andrew Bird exceeding his already impressive discography, My Finest Work Yet lives up to its name. On the album art, Bird re-imagines a famous image of the French Revolution, The Death Of Marat, wherein the radical journalist Jean-Paul Marat is lying dead, murdered in his bath. Jacques-Louis David’s work is touted as the first modernist painting for the way it blends the personal and the political. Similarly, Bird is employing his artistry on this latest collection of songs to comment on the world at large. A past columnist for the New York Times, Bird transmutes the world he lives in, fuelled by his eloquent compositions and profound storytelling abilities. The album leads with single “Sisyphus,” highlighting his signature whistle as leading accompaniment. Elements of folk and jazz carry him through familiar guitar and piano-laden territory, making this a relatable yet refreshing ride. Folksy melodies with beautiful vocal harmonies are heard throughout as Bird offers upbeat anthems that contrast his tortured words. Bird paints in broad but effective strokes, which is ultimately what makes every piece of music he releases a masterpiece in its own right. Sarah Allen. 34 BEATROUTE MARCH <strong>2019</strong>
WEEZER Weezer (The Black Album) Atlantic Records Fresh off the high from their surprise January release of refreshingly non-ironic covers that was the Teal Album, one might go into Weezer’s newest release expecting the same level of refreshment and self-awareness. One will be disappointed. Weezer fans would be better served going in with no expectations at all. After all, there’s been no roadmap for their creative direction since Pinkerton and their adult life spent in Los Angeles has driven them headfirst into background noise territory. The Black Album starts with a thrusting ode to the gig economy with “Can’t Knock the Hustle,” an admittedly fun song to listen to. From there are a series of fairly harmless odes to the Beach Boys without innovation. Songs run the gamut from mildly catchy ditties like “Zombie Bastards” to completely forgettable offerings like “The Prince Who Wanted Everything” and “Byzantine.” But it’s in the radio noise tracks like “High as a Kite” and “California Snow” where you might start to formulate theories in your mind about some greater joke Weezer is telling that you’re just not in on. But no matter how much digging through the band’s colour-coded discography you do, there’s no narrative present to explain the band’s official fade to black. Jennie Orton STEVE EARLE & THE DUKES Guy New West Records Guy Clark certainly had a way with hooks. Steve Earle & The Dukes put every swing in Clark’s words on Guy, their tribute to the folk legend, with tasty drums and big bass that shuffle in time with Earle’s phrasing. There’s a dance to be had in Clark’s songs, and a lived in story in every one of his lines. Clark was a master heartbreaker and “Desperadoes Waitin’ On A Train” stands nearly alone in that regard; the story of the bonds between youth and mentors with no detail in hiding. In “The brown tobacco stains all down his chin” or “Wondering ‘Lord has every well I drilled gone dry,” Clark is unflinching in the colours he uses, painting a window into how hard men live and grow old. The deathbed handshake of “Come on Jack, that son of a bitch is comin’” brings the heartache to a gentle close. Earle sings Clark’s songs ragged, feeling like one live shot of songs he’s known for 50 years. His voice provides a close up with the weariness of his own 64 years, being the last of three good friends who spent their years trying to write the best songs in the style they pioneered. Mike Dunn 3404 5 Avenue NE ∙ (403) 245-3725 calgaryeast@long-mcquade.com LONG & McQUADE FREE CLINICS DURING MARCH A series of free career-enhancing clinics specifically tailored to the needs of musicians, songwriters, producers and home studio enthusiasts. At all Long & McQuade locations, including: 225 58 Avenue SE ∙ (403) 244-5555 calgary@long-mcquade.com 10 Royal Vista Drive NW ∙ (587) 794-3195 calgarynorthlessons@long-mcquade.com MARCH <strong>2019</strong> BEATROUTE 35
Page 1 and 2: FREE MARCH 2019 blood and the loomi
Page 3 and 4: Contents Mariachi Ghost at the Bloc
Page 5: Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra 22 +
Page 8 and 9: That's Dope TOP 5 WOMEN IN CANNABIS
Page 11 and 12: MUSiC Concert Preview 36? Taylor Co
Page 13 and 14: ELECTROPUNK TREVOR HATTER REFLECT O
Page 15 and 16: WORLD METAL GETTIN’ SKUNKED 30 ye
Page 17 and 18: INDIE ROCK FELLING THE LOVE Calvin
Page 19 and 20: MUSiC CONCERT PREVIEWS INDIE ROCK C
Page 21 and 22: SOMETHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT Homes
Page 23 and 24: MUSiC CONCERT PREVIEWS FUNKY FANGS
Page 25 and 26: Life of the party Toronto punks cha
Page 27 and 28: CJSW Presents: ALL-AGES @ McHUGH HO
Page 29 and 30: F IS FOR FAILURE Sharing the roller
Page 31 and 32: Reviews MUSiC Album Review JENNY LE
Page 33: EX HEX It’s Real Merge Records Ma
Page 37 and 38: Matt Mays Andrew Combs SATURDAY NIG
Page 39 and 40: THIS MONTH IN FILM WOMAN AT WAR Mar
Page 41 and 42: SPRING HAS SPRUNG! (TELL YOUR PANTS
Page 43 and 44: CITRUS PHOTOGRAPHY ARTs THEATRE •
Page 45 and 46: Horoscopes MESSAGES FROM THE STARS:
Page 47 and 48: PINBALL TOURNAMENT MARCH 9 TH $15 E

BeatRoute Magazine AB Edition March 2019

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