BeatRoute Magazine BC Edition - October 2019

OCTOBER 2019 • FREE
CHARLI
XCX
POP'S
PARTY
QUEEN
STACKS
THE
GUESTLIST

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Contents
BEATROUTE
BEATROUTE
BEAT
ROUTE
BR
BRLIVE
BRYYZ
Music
4
7
21
23
28
The Guide
Toronto Raptors DJ,
4Korners, dishes on his top
tracks for ballin’.
Concert Previews
Big Thief, Chastity, Dead
Soft, KOKOKO!, nêhiyawak,
One True Pairing, Iggy Pop
and more.
The Playlist
All the singles we can’t stop
listening to this month.
Album Reviews
Angel Olsen, Refused,
Wilco, FKA twigs, Prefab
Sprout, Kacy & Clayton and
more.
Live Reviews
Lizzo’s Cuz I Love You tour
really is Good Ss Hell, while
Leikeli47 brings her masked
flavour to heat up Westward
Music Festival and
more online at beatroute.ca.
Cover Story
22
Charli XCX
From underground raves to
the top of the pops, Charli
XCX is a star on her own
terms
Screen Time
40 New Bruce Springsteen concert
doc Western Stars brings the
late-career album masterpiece
to the screen while Renee
Zellweger shines in a career
defining role as Judy Garland.
LifeStyle
35
36
38
That’s Dope
THC oil has recently hit the market
and it is not lost on celebrity
cannabis aficionados.
Travel
Iceland Airwaves is Reykjavík’s
hottest annual music party. We
tap into some crucial insight
before visiting the land of fire
and ice.
Style
Rising R&B star Zsela is about to
hit the road with Cat Power. We
met up with her in NYC before
she took off to find out how style
informs her soothing sounds.
Tonye
Aganaba:
An Artist to
Watch,
page 17
LIZ ROSA
Joji, Sept. 13, 2019 at the Queen
Elizabeth Theatre for Westward Music
Festival. Check out our review of this
show and more at beatroute.ca
YVR
41
43
45
46
YVR Agenda
Acclaimed American photographer
Cindy Sherman is celebrated
for her ability to evoke and
manipulate the power of appearances
in this 170+ retrospective
at the VAG.
John Fluevog:
Vancouver’s coveted rock and
roll shoe designer celebrates 50
years of unique soles for unique
souls.
Chutzpah! Festival
Jewish performing arts festival
welcomes artists from around the
world in a celebration of cultural
and creative diversity.
Plus The BeatRoute Cheat
Sheet brings you the essential
shows for October in Vancouver.
DARROLE PALMER
OCTOBER 2019 BEATROUTE 3

UpFront
OCTOBER
Champion Sound:
4Korners
4Korners has been the official DJ for the
Toronto Raptors since 2005—way before they
were the NBA Champions. Now, 4Korners
regularly plays to more than 20,000 fans per
night at the Raptors home court. We asked him
for his top tracks to hype up fans and players
as we close in on the 2019/2020 tip-off.
JAY ROCK - Win
This was our battle cry all season; I dropped
it as the guys touched the court every night.
This is my way of saying, “We’re NOT the polite
Canadians here to play nice. We’re here to do
one thing: “WIN!”
SHOWTEK - featuring We Are Loud
and Sonny WIlson - Booyah
I don’t care who you are—you hear this come
on during a game you’re gonna get charged
up! One of the guys from Showtek told me
they made the song to be played at football
(soccer) games in Holland which explains that
arena energy.
4KORNERS, Natra, Kyngz
and DJ Overule - I Want More
One of the best parts of being both a DJ/producer
is that I get to play my own music. During
the playoffs I got together with a few talented
artists and made this record. It’s the right vibe
for the stadium: hard, bass heavy and is about
wanting the most out of life.
BLUR - Song 2
This one has been a staple for me for years. It’s
one of those records that everyone knows and
when it’s played at the right moment will have
the entire country yelling “WOO HOO!” I rock
this at BIG moments and we had a lot of those
this season.
DRAKE - Started From The Bottom
This is an OBVIOUS one, but how could I not?
It’s been meaningful to us (as we have) moved
past the “happy to be here” stage and locked
in on building a winning legacy. Skip ahead to
this season and it was like a prophecy: WE THE
CHAMPS! I played this in Jurassic Park with
Drake on stage after we won the CHIP WIT DA
DIP—That’s poetry!
BEATROUTE
Publisher
Julia Rambeau Smith
Editor in Chief
Glenn Alderson
Creative Director
Troy Beyer
Managing Editors
Josephine Cruz
Melissa Vincent
Contributing Editors
Sebastian Buzzalino
Dayna Mahannah
Contributors
Ben Boddez • Jodi Brak
Jessica D’Angelo • Karina Espinosa
Natalie Harman
Courtney Heffernan • Kate Killet
Christine Leonard • Cam Lindsay
Maggie McPhee •
David McPherson • Pat Mullen
Jennie Orton • Johnny Papan
Tory Rosso • Yasmine Shemesh
Graeme Wiggins • Daniel Wilson
Contributing Photographers
Lindsey Blane • @alienyeux
Alexander Antonijevic
Megan-Magdalena Bourne
Michael Buisha • Dustin Condren
Aiden Cullen
Michaela De Cantis Wong
Jabari Flemings • Annie Forrest
Luke Gilford • Sheva Kafai
Kate Killet • Shervin Lainez
Devon Little • Levi Manchak
Alec Marchant • Liz Rosa
Diego Villarreal • John Warwick
Alex Wasspi • Tsutomu Yabuuchi
Coordinator (Live Music)
Darrole Palmer
Advertising Inquiries
Glenn Alderson
glenn@beatroute.ca
778-888-1120
Distribution
BeatRoute is distributed in
Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary,
Edmonton, Winnipeg,
Saskatoon and Toronto
Contact Us
2405 East Hastings St.
Vancouver, BC
V5K 1Y8
e-mail:
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@beatroutemedia
@beatroutemedia
beatroutemedia
beatroute.ca

Upcoming Shows
CORNELIUS
OCTOBER 2
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OCTOBER 5
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10
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17
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MUSiC
BIG
THIEF
Brooklyn folk-rockers’ less-is-more
sound approaches perfection
By MAGGIE MCPHEE
F
ate does not smile upon the initial
attempt at an interview with
Big Thief frontwoman Adrianne
Lenker. What starts as technological
difficulties — navigating her Brooklyn
apartment for a clear signal — escalates when a
balcony window pops out of its frame and falls
on her girlfriend’s head.
When she calls back later in the day after
making sure no harm had been done, Lenker
uses the incident as a point of departure to
discuss the intention behind Two Hands, the
Brooklyn-based indie-folk outfit’s second album
of 2019. “The earth is like a body, like a
vessel. It’s our truest home just like our bodies
are homes. And if I get a cut or if I hit my head,”
she says with a laugh, “I’m suddenly aware of
all this fragility,‘oh it’s the only body I’ve got,
I better take care of this precious being.’ That’s
Earth.”
It takes a disarmingly short amount of time on
the phone for Lenker to ease into the philosophical.
She’s discerning in a way that would cause
whiplash if not for her humility. Lenker precedes
every point with “I wonder if” and punctuates
her insight with laughter and nearly audible
shrugs. Long silences elapse as she gathers her
thoughts, and when she does speak the words
emanate from a deeply thoughtful place.
Big Thief’s open-heartedness and commitment
to surviving “as an organism, as one entity,”
has led them to a remarkable place: not
only will they have released U.F.O.F. and Two
Hands just six months shy of each other, but
the two projects coalesce into a broader meta-
CONTINUED ON PG. 8 k
DUSTIN CONDREN
OCTOBER 2019 BEATROUTE 7

MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS
MUSiC CONCERT PREVIEWS
October 24
to Nove m ber 24
SANDRA BERNHARD Quick Sand! (USA) “observational comedy with style,
and right on the political” – The New Yorker “musicality to die for…” Los Angeles Times
Vogue Theatre | Thursday October 31 | 8pm
GARY LUCAS (USA) world-renowned guitarist/composer accompanies iconic
films Frankenstein and Spanish Dracula "One of the best and most original
guitarists in America...a modern guitar miracle" – Rolling Stone
Norman Rothstein Theatre
Wednesday October 30 | 7pm – Frankenstein | 9pm – Spanish Dracula
RAMI KLEINSTEIN (Israel) award-winning singer, pianist and composer.
“One of Israel’s most acclaimed pop stars” – The Times of Israel
Norman Rothstein Theatre | Sunday October 27 | 7:30pm
GUY MINTUS TRIO (Israel/USA) combining “Arabic maqam, Jewish folk
song, Eastern European dance rhythms and, especially, classic hard bop, with
such ebullient grace that you’d think they all originated in the very same place.”
– The New York Times
Norman Rothstein Theatre | Sunday October 29 | 8pm
GEOFF BERNER, TJ Dawe & Friends (Canada) new klezmer musical,
The Trombonik Returns to New Chelm and CD release party of Geoff’s
new album Grand Hotel Cosmopolis
Wise Hall | Friday November 1 | doors 7:15pm 19+
YEMEN BLUES – HALLEL (Israel/USA) Yemen Blues is “Quite simply, it’s one
of the most exciting bands in world music” – Time Out Chicago
Rickshaw Theatre | Saturday November 9 | doors 7:15pm 19+
AvevA (Israel) Ethiopian-Israeli singer/songwriter is “A truly
unique voice comes along that needs to be heard by everyone” – TimeOut
BC’s Leila Neverland with Mountain Sound opens!
Rickshaw Theatre | Saturday
November 14 | doors 7:15pm 19+
Jewish Community Centre
of Greater Vancouver
Tickets 604.257.5145
CHUTZPAHFESTIVAL.COM
BIG
THIEF
k CONTINUED FROM PG. 7
physical inquiry. The two records,
nicknamed “the celestial twin” and
“the earth twin,” wonder about individuality
and collectivity in an
era marked by acute isolation and
helplessness.
If U.F.O.F. (Unidentified Flying
Object Friend) wanted to venture
into the cosmos to befriend “the
BIG THIEF
Wednesday, Oct. 16
Phoenix Concert Theatre
(Toronto)
Friday, Oct. 25
The Vogue Theatre
(Vancouver)
other,” then Two Hands redirects that gaze
earthward and inward. Two Hands is grounding:
“Maybe to realize that there is no other,
maybe to dissolve that feeling,” she says.
Lenker wrote fervently over the last two
years during two back-to-back world tours.
After a demo session in Topanga Canyon last
year resulted in 40 or 50 songs, the band realized
they enough for multiple records. But a
double album “would’ve been too dense, specifically
with this material,” Lenker explains.
“So we decided to make two albums.”
“[U.F.O.F.] started imaging as more ethereal,
celestial, and cosmic. [On Two Hands] we
wanted to be like bones and blood and very
human. It felt ambitious but it all made a lot of
sense once we got into it.”
Big Thief leaned on the opposing natural
environments of the Pacific Northwest rainforest
and the New Mexico desert to guide the
sonic differences between both albums. Their
U.F.O.F. sessions in the middle of a forest outside
Seattle “just flowed,” the lush greenery
and plentiful oxygen translating into the soft,
airy sounds on the album.
Less than a week later, the foursome evaporated
that fluidity under the scorching El
Paso sun. They grew “wily” in the 105-degree
weather. “We needed to shake off the desert
dust, to push through it.” They needed to fight.
Creating in such a hot and barren climate
Tix: $23.50 - $30, ticketfly.com
birthed songs that sound burnt to a
crisp. After a few failed sessions,
the band experimented by placing
their instruments as close together
as possible.
All but two songs feature live
vocal takes so that Lenker’s voice
hovers, suspended in the dry air,
clear and vulnerable. Krivchenia’s
muted percussions and Meek’s guitar are
evoke the feeling of cracked clay earth.
With Two Hands, Big Thief has tapped into
the vulnerability, immediacy, and universality
of the corporeal realm to craft an intensely political
record without using political language.
Lenker writes about the human body — the
most immediate and relatable thing — to bring
listeners into a shared sense of grief for our
disconnection to each other and to the earth,
while also pleading with us to refocus our energy
into our “immediate surroundings.”
“I think we can all feel the wounds of the
earth and the wounds we impose upon each
other. It’s very easy to distract from that feeling,
but if you’re really tuned in there’s just
this giant aching throbbing pain that anyone
could feel.”
For her, most pain is ancestral and inherited
by each generation but we still have agency to
change it by “working with that energy and
transforming it through many, many, many
acts of love over time.”
She wonders what would happen if everyone
poured love into themselves, worked on
their relationship with their grandmothers, and
“grew a little garden.”
“If everyone turned inwardly and worked
on that microcosm, we would then have a big,
beautiful peaceful macrocosm. It would just be
contagious.” ,
MICHAEL BUISHA
8 BEATROUTE OCTOBER 2019

KOKOKO!
CONGOLESE COLLECTIVE'S RAW PARTY SOUND FLIES IN THE FACE OF EVERYTHING
YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW ABOUT AFRICAN MUSIC
By DANIEL WILSON
W
hen most Western audiences
think of music from Africa,
two artists usually come to
mind: Nigerian rebel Afrobeat
singer and composer Fela
Kuti, and Ghanaian Juju guitarist King
Sunny Ade. While these artists are easily
among the most recognizable (and iconic)
artists to emerge from Africa, they represent
only a small fraction of the musical
landscape in the world’s second largest
continent.
From villages in Niger to metropolitan
urban sprawls like Nairobi and Lagos, an
entire generation of artists have sprung up
to create cross-genre music that refuses
to be bogged down by convention. And
by forfeiting the established rules of what
audiences expect from African musicians,
they’re developing alternative music
influenced by the continent’s sprawling
geography and distinct cultures.
KOKOKO! is a part of this new wave of
“African Alternative.” Since the group’s
inception in 2016, the Congolese band has
garnered international attention and acclaim
for crafting off-kilter soundscapes,
and for their unparalleled live performances.
Known for their signature yellow
jumpsuits, over the phone from Spain
that the band’s “electronicist” and “metal”
percussionist Xavier Thomas described,
the outfits as “a way to stand out in the
busyness of Kinshasa.”
Their sound is an elaborate fusion of
electronic dance, post-punk, rap, and
traditional Congolese musical genres,
and the band has used Lingala (one of
the many languages spoken in the Congo
Region) terms like “tekno kintueni” and
“xx” to describe their style. A defining
trait of the band’s music is the way they
play with form - to construct a wholly
unique soundscape. KOKOKO! play on
unorthodox DIY instruments made from
everything from bits of sheet metal, plastic
detergent bottles, and most famously, a
one-stringed guitar.
“It has been challenging at times convincing
customs officers and officials at
airports that we are just carrying instruments
and nothing dangerous,” he laughs.
Figuring out how to move between
space has been a core element of the
band since their beginning. While a majority
of the group resides permanently
in The Democratic Republic of Congo,
Thomas splits his time between Kinshasa
and Europe.
“It was difficult when we first started
playing together because of technological
barriers to communication,” he
explained. “Eventually things settled into a
rhythm. We now send each other ideas via
WhatsApp or share ideas with each other
while touring that we will then flesh out
when we get back to Kinshasa.”
As a proudly international band, Canada
is an exciting and important tour stop for
them. “The Congolese community is very
strong in Montreal and Toronto and they
have been asking us for a while when we
are going to play in those cities,” Thomas
says. While they’re in North America,
KOKOKO! hope they can meet another
famous Congolian—Serge Ibaka, the superstar
defender on the Toronto Raptors.
“I mean, if any of your readers know him,’’
Thomas said laughing, “Maybe they could
pass it along.” ,

MUSiC CONCERT PREVIEW
LEVI MANCHAK
nêhiyawak
Indigenous trio nêhiyawak join the resistance on debut LP By SEBASTIAN BUZZALINO
I
t seems fitting that when
BeatRoute connected with
Matthew Cardinal, bassist and
synth player for the band nêhiyawak,
they were recovering
from a severe thunderstorm that
had rained out their set at Supercrawl
in Hamilton, Ontario.
“They had to close down the
stages and there was lightning
everywhere,” he says. “Luckily, they
were able to get everything going
in time for Buffy Sainte-Marie.”
That nêhiyawak were caught up
in such forces of nature suits the
thunderous and atmospheric indie
rock. Rounded out by Kris Harper
on vocals and guitars, and Marek
Tyler on drums, the trio from amiskwaciy
in Treaty 6 Territory (current
day Edmonton) weaves together
intricate soundscapes chiming with
jangly guitars, modulated synths,
and swelling rhythms. It’s the sound
of prairies nêhiyawak
sighing, of Friday, Oct. 4
mountains Aviary (Edmonton)
uprising, Saturday, Oct. 5
of rivers King Eddy (Calgary))
racing and Tix: $12, showclix.com
skies splitting
open, all devoted to investigating
their land, history, and heritage.
Combining contemporary indie
songwriting and traditional methods
of storytelling, nêhiyawak are
part of a renaissance of Indigenous
artists from across Canada using
their music to unravel the legacies
of colonialism.
“The subject matter is pretty
important for me — it’s pretty
intense,” explains Cardinal. “It’s
inspired by the Idle No More
moments, the Sixties Scoop, the
displacement of Indigenous people
in general.”
Their debut full-length, nipiy,
which translates to “water,” is a
spirited expression of resistance.
Bookended with odes to kisiskâciwanisîpiy
(North Saskatchewan
River), the flow and rhythm of water
is a central part of the album’s
identity, and nêhiyawak leverage
their teachings that come from
water as a lens to raise awareness
for the themes they tackle.
“If people can hear our music
and learn from that, and then reach
out to other people, that’s all we
could ask for,” says Cardinal. “It’s
cool to be part of all these Indigenous
musicians who are gaining
some traction, and getting our
stories out.”
nipiy is out October 24
on Arts & Crafts
10 BEATROUTE OCTOBER 2019

Upcoming S hows
LEO DAN
OCTOBER 4
DOORS: 7PM
19+
OCT
6
JIDENNA: 85 TO
AFRICA TOUR
DOORS: 7PM
ALL AGES
PUP
OCTOBER 8-9
DOORS: 7PM
ALL AGES
HOBO
JOHNSON
& THE
LOVEMAKERS
DOORS: 7PM
ALL AGES
OCT
10
ANDREW BIRD
DOORS: 7PM
ALL AGES
OCT
17
ON THE
BENCH
OCTOBER 19
DOORS: 7PM
ALL AGES
MATT MAYS
OCTOBER 23
DOORS: 7PM
ALL AGES
OCT
25
BIG
THIEF
DOORS: 8PM
ALL AGES
TIFFANY
YOUNG
OCTOBER 27
DOORS: 7PM
ALL AGES
NATASHA
BEDINGFIELD
DOORS: 7PM
ALL AGES
OCT
28
OCT
29
DANNY
BROWN
DOORS: 7PM
ALL AGES
OCT
30
CANNIBAL
CORPSE
DOORS: 7PM
ALL AGES
OCT
31
SANDRA
BERNHARD:
QUICK SAND
DOORS: 7:15PM
ALL AGES
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@THEVOGUETHEATRE
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JABARI FLEMINGS
MUSiC CONCERT PREVIEWS
CHASTITY
Brandon Williams made a protest album from
the heart of the suburbs By COURTNEY HEFFERNAN
B
randon Williams has
an ambivalent relationship
to his hometown
in southern Ontario.
It serves as both the
inspiration behind his music, and
place that’s a subject to criticism.
“The finance minister under
Stephen Harper, Jim Flaherty,
lived 300 metres away from me,”
Williams says from an airy loft in
Toronto’s Junction, where he’s
been working with director Justin
Singer on a video accompaniment
for Chastity’s forthcoming
album, Home Made Satan. “He
had a massive sprawling property
among these average to small
one-car garage type of homes. It
was this privilege on the hill, and
then the rest of us. It’s just this
weird...” he pauses, reflecting.
“It’s Whitby, you know?”
On Chastity’s debut album,
Death Lust (2018), Williams
leveled his criticism of organized
religion and unravelled the
experience of losing faith with
unrelenting intensity.
On his sophomore album,
Home Made Satan, he presents
a scathing criticism of far-right
politics. He talks about exposing
racists and the KKK in Ontario
(“Spirit Meetup”) and about
misogyny and hostility towards
marginalized people (“The Girls
I Know Don’t Think So”). While
he contrasts the American
Dream with “elected fascists”
(“Flames”), throughout Home
Made Satan he plants his narrative
close to home to criticize
inequality in Canadian society.
12 BEATROUTE OCTOBER 2019
“Home Made Satan is about
continuing to fight for your life,
about defending other vulnerable
lives,” says Williams in an
Instagram post in advance of the
album release.
In the video for “The Girls I
Know Don’t Think So,” Charlotte
Nurse – an activist
and friend of Williams’
– and Holden Wednesday, Oct. 30
CHASTITY
Abraham, son of
The Great Hall (Toronto)
Fucked Up vocalist
Friday, Nov. 8
Damian Abrahams,
The Rec Room (Calgary)
carry signs that say,
Saturday, Nov. 9
“Black Trans Lives
The Rec Room (Edmonton)
Matter.” It’s a message
Nurse selected
Thursday, Nov. 14
and Williams endorses.
“It’s a voice that Friday, Nov. 15
The Biltmore Cabaret (Van.)
matters to me,” Williams
explains. When
Lucky Bar (Victoria)
asked if he found it
challenging to write lyrics as an
ally, he says, “No, not at all… To
me it feels inevitable.”
For Williams, naming the album
was crucial to its narrative. It was
an intentional decision to call it
Home Made Satan, rather than
Homemade Satan. “I wanted
to emphasize the home,” he
explains. “It’s an album about
seclusion, and just hatching a
million different fears.”
“I think it happens in America
a lot, and I think it happens in
Canada. It’s how these nasty
people get elected. I just wanted
to emphasize home and where
some of this shit gets birthed.”
While Home Made Satan is
more effortlessly melodic than the
deftly discordant Death Lust, it
has in common unflinching lyrics.
Like Chastity’s debut, Home Made
Satan is a concept album. The
album’s protagonist is an unnamed
young boy growing up in Whitby.
Much of the character was
inspired by is own upbringing with
some flexibility. “I’ve given myself
some liberty to say things,” he
admits. “On ‘I Still Feel the Same’
I say, ‘Bring your Parliament / to
my subdivision / we’ll rip them limb
from limb / I’m talking Andrew,
Justin.’
Of the shift in focus on Chastity’s
albums from religion to
politics, Williams says, “I think a
political record was inevitable.” After
touring through North America
and Europe behind Death Lust last
year, Williams realized that once
his music had reached cities as
far as London and Berlin, he felt
responsible for using it as a political
and social vehicle.“Using this
platform for the greater good was
needed. I just felt compelled.”
Now a year after he first penned
the open letter to Ontario Premier
Doug Ford about his decision to
drop the bottom floor price on
alcohol, he’s frustrated that while
Whitby Brewery has recently
opened in Whitby’s downtown,
the town still doesn’t have a music
venue. “I just worry about Whitby
and the Durham region,” he
reflects. “Durham’s got 500,000
people. Why doesn’t it have
something? It’s a threat to the
community, really, and a threat to
young people engaging with each
other and becoming socialized,
cool people. I’m not saying it can’t
happen without a venue but I think
a venue helps.”
It’s not surprising that Williams
would be such a vocal advocate
for places to people to collectivize.
Ultimately, he wants to make
music that would have resonated
with him as a teenager growing
up in the periphery of big cities.
“I want to do an outskirts tour. I
want to do a tour of only playing
places like Whitby,” he says. “I
can’t picture the day that Chastity
will lose that outskirts feeling
because it’s what we are. It’s what
the project is.
“I’ve said before that there’s
thousands of Whitbys and millions
of skid kids. I was one of them. I
am one of them. I’m from one of
those places and I think there is
a voice there; I’m just singing the
neighbourhood song.” ,

Iggy Pop: An intimate look at the godfather of
punk and how making jazz records is the most
punk rock thing he’s ever done By JOHNNY PAPAN
A decade ago, when Iggy Pop announced
that his 2009 album, Préliminaires,
would replace his traditional
distorted and thrashing guitars for
the sensually smooth vibrations of a
jazz ensemble, fans were perplexed.
Iggy had flooded his sweaty warehouse
mosh pits with the rain of a
1950s film-noir taking place in New
York City. Préliminaires transformed
him into a psychedelically enhanced
Acid-Sinatra of sorts.
The Ballroom-dance escapades
were a drastic change of pace for
the once stage-diving, self-mutilating,
cock-flashing godfather of punk,
yet it might have been one of the
most punk-rock moves of his career.
People so-often confuse “punk” as
simply a music genre, whereas Iggy
confirms it’s much more than that
— Punk is a way of life, a matter of
doing shit your own way.
His newest record, Free, is the third
of his jazz installments. Iggy describes
it as an album “that happened to him,
and he let it happen.” The record’s
A-side is a self-reflective narrative of
crumbling relationships, loneliness,
the price of individuality and societal
commentary, while the B-side wraps
you within a darkened musical space
odyssey. He calls it an exploration of
the dark side of the soul.
“In that first track, all the guy
wants is to be free,” he explains. “He
feels like he should be free, but you’re
never really free. At the end of the
track he can visualize how beautiful
being free would be.
“There are a host of bureaucracies
that you become entangled with
by the time you’re 72,” he chuckles.
“I wanted to loosen up the bureaucracies
held over my life a little bit.
There’s music bureaucracy, there’s a
financial bureaucracy. There are social
bureaucracies, personal. The way
you spend your time and your personal
life, that sort of thing.”
Free was recorded fresh off of
touring his Post Pop Depression album,
which he produced with Josh
Homme from Queens of the Stone
Age. Pop felt the experience rid him
of a chronic insecurity that “dogged”
him for years. This statement comes
as a bit of a shock, considering he
built his entire career on not giving
a fuck.
It comes as no surprise that the
blend of an oversaturated market of
artists adjusting to changing appetites
for new music, and the introduction
of streaming culture continues
to make it exhausting to be
an artist. Even Iggy Pop, a pioneer
of one of the most influential movements
to help shape the modern
world, grew anxious and insecure
about his ability to keep up.
“The music business is a numbers
business,” he explains. “My numbers
started off very, very tiny. Then
they grew up to small. Then they got
from the small side to mid-league up
through till I was about 50.
“And then in my early 50s something
happened when the century
changed. All of a sudden, all the
various numbers—the attendance
at gigs, the size of building, the size
of stages, record sales—they were
starting to shrink.”
Premiering on Epix this past
March, Pop executive produced
the four-part documentary series,
Punk, which shines a light on the
movement’s key figures, history, and
meaning. Over its run time, it features
interviews with Iggy Pop, Kathleen
Hanna, Johnny Rotten, Henry
Rollins, Dave Grohl and more, concluding
with shining the spotlight on
this generation’s new wave of punk
rockers.
In a way, punk today is much like
it was when it first started in the late
60s and early 70s — a secret of the
underground, a haven for building a
DIY community.
“To be honest with you, I don’t
know of any legitimate rock anymore
that isn’t punk,” Iggy says. “The only
rock worth calling itself rock anymore
is actually punk. I’d say punk
is the future of rock. I know the the
large industry giant-forces are trying
to exhume rock again, pushing this
awful stuff but the only real, only legitimate
rockers around anymore are
the punks. It’s going to take over.”
As one of the most prolific artists
in the history of rock and roll,
Iggy Pop’s lengthy career has been a
wild ride. He’s had highs and lows,
and may have finally found peace
of mind. Pop concludes with, what
he says, is the greatest lesson he’s
learned over the last 50 years in the
music business. A message for the
artists of today:
“Never give up on the audience,”
he says. “If they’re not giving you what
you want, don’t give up. I’ve done that
before, when I was very young, and
I always regretted that. Other than
that, I would say always imagine: If
you like something, somebody else
will too. If you just keep at it, somebody
will eventually like it even if they
might not at first. Don’t be cynical. Go
for the heart of the matter, that’s what
I would say.” ,
Iggy Pop’s Free is available now via
Caroline International/Loma Vista
Recordings
OCTOBER 2019 BEATROUTE 13

MEGAN-MAGDALENA
DEAD
SOFT
14 BEATROUTE OCTOBER 2019

B.C.'s Dead Soft find quiet
in the chaos with a zen
approach to life and music
By DAYNA MAHANNAH
A
ladder rattles noisily in the
back of the white Chevy Express
van, which doubles as a
work vehicle when not hauling
band equipment around on
tour. At night, only the van’s
headlights illuminate a single,
deserted road encased by
the surrounding forest.
“We call this the tunnel,” Nathaniel
Epp’s voice reaches through the rattle as
he drives. It’s the end of another day on
Gabriola Island for grunge band
DEAD SOFT
Dead Soft, where Epp (vocalist/
guitarist) and Keeley Rochon
Saturday, Oct. 12
(bassist/vocalist) work their The Astoria (Vancouver)
respective jobs as a landscaper Thursday, Oct. 17
and cashier at the tiny island’s The Palomino Smokehouse
(Calgary))
only grocery store. “Now I know
everyone on Gabriola,” Rochon
Friday, Oct. 18
laughs. “It’s nice getting to
Sewing Machine Factory
(Edmonton)
know the community a bit
Friday, Oct. 25
more. People here are so different.
It’s a different pace of life.”
The Beguiling (Toronto)
It’s been two years since the
musicians escaped the claustrophobic rental
market of Vancouver and moved to an island
of 4000 people off the coast of BC. It’s
even smaller than their hometown of Prince
Rupert, where the two met in high school
and played DIY shows with their own bands.
In 2011, Epp and Rochon formed Dead Soft
while living in Victoria, before making the
move to the big city. “All my life, Vancouver
was like, the place,” Epp says. “I never saw
anything past Vancouver.”
Parking in a gravel driveway next to old
touring vans, the couple lead the way to a
small cabin overlooking the Pacific ocean.
Inside, it’s picturesque and snug, allegedly
built in the 1970s by “some crazy hippy
guy.” The walls are wood-paneled in wood,
covered by a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf and
collection of vinyl. Plants, quirky jars, and
cameras decorate the room. The fridge is
plastered with uniformly styled US state
magnets collected at various gas stations on
past tours.
Rochon recounts their first Vancouver
gig alongside Vancouver band Woolworm,
which landed Dead Soft on the inside of
the city’s “insular” music scene. They spent
seven years working day jobs, funneling
their earnings into the band and struggling
in Canada’s most expensive city to establish
a music career. It paid off. “Vancouver made
our band,” Rochon says. But the city eventually
lost its glitter — they were unhappy.
“It’s kinda funny because it’s partly because
of the band that it was hard to survive.” Epp
loads the fireplace with wood from a stash
outside. “Moving to Gabriola was purely for
ourselves. We were like, whatever, we’ll make
it work or we won’t.” Curled up in an armchair,
Keeley lights up — “And it did work!”
Last year Dead Soft signed with indie
label Arts & Crafts, which boasts a
roster of international artists including
Feist, Dan Mangan, and Broken Social
Scene (who Dead Soft opened for at
SXSW 2019). The three-piece band
(drummer Alex Smith lives in Abbotsford)
will tour North America this fall to
promote their debut album, Big Blue.
Named after the dusk sky glow only
visible without light pollution, the record
hits notes of aggressive melancholy and
dark humour clinging to upbeat melodic
rock riffs.
The unconventional move away from
a music epicentre has meant more
travel — to the city to rehearse with the
rest of the band or to work — and much
more quiet. Last winter, a
storm blacked out most of
the island for six days. Without
electricity or running water,
the two kept their food
in coolers outside and filled
jugs from the creek. Rochon
powered through a portion
of her book collection and
Epp whittled a bird feeder.
“It was awesome.” Gabriola
Island’s scenic retreat
affords the musicians both
time and freedom to focus
on their art. “Not having a neighbour
upstairs that tortures me makes a pretty
big fucking difference to my world,” Epp
says, perched next to the record player.
Just out of sight from the porch window
is a studio shed filled with old Dead Soft
posters, instruments, and recording
equipment.
Within the quiet stirs the chaos
that an upcoming tour and new album
inhabit. Yet touring holds a sense of
normalcy the musicians look forward
to — suffering and all. “It’s about being
willing to quit your job and give up all of
your creature comforts to be immensely
uncomfortable. You have to have
a sense of humour about it,” Rochon
insists, glowing in the orange light of
the room. “You have to be like, ‘I feel like
shit right now. This is hilarious! I’m so
overtired that I’m weeping and laughing
at the same time.’” Epp nods earnestly.
“If you’re all about security and comfort
and doing what makes the most sense,
then it’s not something you should do.”
He is met with gales of laughter by
Rochon.
It’s the same attitude that has landed
them in the serenity and subtle seclusion
of this little island — a dicey place
for building a musical career. Epp and
Rochon have assessed the risks and are
willing to work through them. “You can’t
get hung up on being in a certain place
or in a certain scene.” Epp has taken to
“burping” a jar of homemade sauerkraut.
“Things that really matter aren’t where
you appear. It’s what you do.” Indeed,
when the power goes out, Dead Soft will
be just fine. ,
OCTOBER 2019 BEATROUTE 15

hen celebrated UK art-rockers Wild
Beasts called it a day in February
2018, it didn’t signal an end to the
music, but instead a new beginning.
After 16 years, five acclaimed fulllengths
(including 2009’s Mercury
Prize-nominated Two Dancers), and
a farewell live album, the four members
of Wild Beasts parted on good
terms and went their separate ways.
“It was about as nice as break-ups
get,” admits Tom Fleming, the former
bassist/vocalist. “It was still a breakup
but inevitably we are still friends.
We’ve been through too much together.
We came from nowhere and
did this thing as a unit. There is far
too much water under the bridge for
that bond to break.”
This past May, Wild Beasts vocalist
Hayden Thorpe released his solo
debut album, Diviner, an album that
satiated fans eager to hear what came
next from the individual members.
And now comes One True Pairing,
the solo project of Fleming, whose
husky baritone complemented Thorpe’s
theatrical countertenor.
Fleming is fully aware of how both
Wild Beasts vocalists releasing solo
albums within months of each other
will garner comparisons. While each
album recalls their old band, One True
Pairing sounds quite different from Diviner.
Fleming believes the two records
will give fans a glimpse into how different
they were as songwriters.
“It’s going to become obvious who
did what in the band when you hear
the two records side by side,” Fleming
says. “Even I was surprised by
Hayden’s record. There were things I
recognized and things that surprised
me. I am aware that we are on the
same label, and the albums are out
in the same year, so inevitably people
will draw conclusions to that.”
Although he briefly considered
forming a new band, Fleming grew
impatient and decided to do it solo.
In addition, he chose not to use his
real name, which was his attempt
to avoid any singer-songwriter trappings.
Instead he christened the project
One True Pairing, a term “taken
ONE
TRUE
PAIRING
Tom Fleming rises from the ashes
of Wild Beasts with love songs
for American music
By CAM LINDSAY
JENNA FOXTON
from internet fan fiction, where you
write the perfect relationship you always
wished existed.”
“I really wanted to resist the ‘this
is a solo project from a guy that was
in a band,’ sort of feel,” he says. “I
wanted it to have a fresh impetus and
a reason to exist. I really like titles
and names, so I wanted one that I
could play with that gives me an opportunity
to change things about it.
The name is kind of sincere and kind
of ironic by turn, depending on what
I’m trying to get across.”
Written after the demise of Wild
Beasts, Fleming’s self-titled debut
album offers a his complete vision
as the lone songwriter, musician and
producer. Aside from working alongside
co-producer Ben Hillier (Depeche
Mode, Blur), Fleming wrote
and performed every note of the
album himself - a task that became
more daunting as he went along.
“It was both liberating and much
more of a challenge than working
with collaborators,” he admits.
“There is some terror that comes
from being able to do whatever you
want. I guess I can do anything and
call it a record, but what do I actually
want to write about? It was liberating,
but there was a second big learning
curve involved.”
One True Pairing is a self-described
“neo-heartland rock” album, paying
homage to the working-class music
of 80s period Bruce Springsteen,
Tom Petty and Don Henley. A collection
of songs about hope and despair
that integrate warm, bubbling synths
and charging guitar riffs, Fleming felt
a connection to a very specific American
kind of music, despite his English
roots.
“A lot of British music is a refraction
of American music,” he explains.
“There is a romanticism to the music.
I wanted it to be, in some ways,
a love song to that kind of music.
Those rich synth sounds and big
voices. A lot of the concerns in that
music, for example the loss of youth
and loss of positivity in ‘Boys of Summer,’
or Springsteen’s singing about
shit, small towns, was totally relatable
to the British experience. Once
you start getting into that you realize
that Joy Division and Public Image
had something similar to say about
[those themes]. You come up with
these connections, mostly at arm’s
length. You do understand it, but just
differently.” ,
One True Pairing is available now via
Domino Recording Co.
16 BEATROUTE OCTOBER 2019

Artist to Watch
TONYE AGANABA
BELIEVES ALL LIFE
EXPERIENCES ARE A GIFT –
BOTH GOOD AND BAD
By YASMINE SHEMESH
C
urled up on the couch in
their living room, Tonye
Aganaba is gushing over
Star Trek. The multidisciplinary
artist insists the
sci-fi series was ahead of its time in terms of
social progressiveness: it had African American
women in visible and authoritative roles;
it was one of the first to air an interracial kiss;
an episode featured a same-sex kiss. For
Aganaba, a gender-fluid person of colour, the
representation is powerful and important.
Across Aganaba’s living room walls are their
paintings—each one portraying a woman from
the shoulders up. Painting is something that
helps with their fine motor skills, the deterioration
of which was an early symptom of the
Multiple Sclerosis they were diagnosed with in
2015.
“The disease that I have been…gifted,” Aganaba
grins, cradling a mug of coffee, “attacks
a couple of things. One, it attacks my memory.
Two, it attacks my energy levels. And, three,
it is triggered by anxiety. My body just short
circuits and behaves in ways that are not easy
to deal with. But I find that the more I stay connected
to a regular practice of being in front
of a canvas or being behind an instrument or
singing, the less neurological incidents I have.
The difference between me painting and not
painting is like — if I don't do that, I'll have to
take medication, basically, to get the same kind
of effect.”
The paintings will be displayed in a collaborative
exhibition—Aganaba’s first—#AfroScience,
held at the Cheeky Proletariat. “I suffer
from imposter syndrome, massively,” they
laugh. “I think that anyone can be anything and,
by doing an art show, it makes me an artist.”
Aganaba is being modest, because the paintings
are beautiful and captivating. Proceeds of
any sales will go towards Give Thanks Day—an
annual music, art, and community-driven project
they’re involved with and reference often.
The exhibition also serves as a preview for their
new album, Something Comfortable, before its
release at the end of the month.
The album is a triumph, both sonically and
spiritually. Aganaba describes it as their life’s
work: “It's the thing I'm most proud of. It’s the
thing that I know I will stand by forever.” Their
husband, Aaron Hamblin—who quickly pops into
the room to kiss Aganaba’s forehead—produced
and engineered it. He’s also the subject of “Make
This House a Home,” one of the standout tracks,
that was written while he was away tree planting
and Aganaba was missing him.
When looking at their life thus far, Aganaba
believes things happen for a reason. Without
the diagnosis, they would have never learned to
paint. They would have never said yes to having
that dinner with their now-husband. They would
have never moved to the coast and made this
record.
“We make decisions every day,” Aganaba
says. “I believe that there are things that are
just meant to be. But we decide. I'm grateful for
where I’m at and I'm grateful for the fact that,
so far, I wake up every day and I decide that I
want to take a step forward towards being the
kind of person that I want to be.”
Tonye Aganaba performs Thursday, Oct. 26 at the
Fox Cabaret. #AfroScience runs October 1-31, 2019
at The Cheeky Proletariat.
LIZ ROSA
OCTOBER 2019 BEATROUTE 17

18 BEATROUTE OCTOBER 2019
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By KARINA ESPINOSA
S
tart Hill, Essex is not unlike any
of the countless other hamlets
peppered throughout the English
countryside. It sits just outside of
the market town of Bishop’s Stortford,
where most of the 40,000 residents make the
hour-long commute into London each day. There’s
not much here: a couple of car rental places that service
the nearby Stansted Airport; bed and breakfasts;
and nondescript houses nestled among towering
trees. And it was in a bedroom of one of these nondescript
homes that 14-year-old Charlotte Aitchison,
who the world now knows as Charli XCX, found herself
dreaming of more.
“I was 14, staring at MySpace and wishing I had a
cooler life,” she says over the phone from her home
in Los Angeles the day before her 27th birthday. “I
was listening to some artists on Ed Banger Records
[Justice, Cassius] and I thought, ‘Shit, I want a crew
like that to create with!’” She started songwriting and
posting her demos to MySpace, and it didn’t take long
before she was getting booked to perform at warehouse
raves around East London. Because she was
so young, Aitchison used to bring her parents along
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OCTOBER 2019 BEATROUTE 19

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to her gigs. “I was very much alone in
my musical journey when I was younger.
All my friends were at school while
I was going to raves—with my parents,
which wasn’t very cool but whatever,” she
laughs.
Fast forward to present day and Charli
XCX is firmly positioned as a multidisciplinary
artist on the cutting edge of
pop music, regularly creating some of
the most exciting, danceable music today.
She’s penned hits for Iggy Azalea,
will.i.am, Shawn Mendes and Camilla Cabello.
She’s made The F Word and Me, a
documentary about women in the music
industry; has released two experimental
pop mixtapes; and has launched her own
label, Vroom Vroom Recordings, to support
the sound she’s become known for.
Despite her extensive—and ever-evolving—résumé,
Aitchison is refreshingly
modest when it comes to her achievements,
and has never lost the quiet determination
that has taken her from Start
Hill all the way to the top of the pops.
“I love proving people wrong. It’s one
of my favourite hobbies,” she says. “I
think I’ve always been considered an underdog
in music and I think that’s probably
been emphasized more because I’m a
woman. But I think the way that I make
music, and how it sounds, has cast me as
different.”
After she began to carve out her place
in the music industry in the early 2010s,
signing to Asylum Records and clocking
credits with such established acts at Icona
Pop, Aitchison eventually found the
kind of artistic community she always
sought—her own Ed Banger-esque crew
to create with. Even as she matured into
a solo musician, her forward-thinking
sound has been fueled by her relationships
with other artists who shared her
vision. “Collaboration is exciting for me,”
she says. “I have an ego—of course, as artists,
we all do—but I also don’t need to
be front and centre in every
single thing I do.”
A staunch feminist, Aitchison
says she loves being able
to support and learn from
other women, and her musical
output is proof of that.
Her most recent album,
CHARLI XCX
Saturday, Oct. 5
The Commodore Ballroom
(Vancouver)
Monday, Oct. 14
Rebel (Toronto)
Tix: $35, ticketmaster.ca
Charli (released on September 13), boasts
an impressive roster of female powerhouses:
Lizzo, Sky Ferreira, and HAIM are
just some of the guest contributors.
Her most memorable working experience,
however, was creating the the
song “Gone” with Héloïse Letissier of
Christine and the Queens. “It was an
Collaboration is exciting
for me. I have an ego—of
course, as artists, we all
do—but I also don’t need
to be front and centre in
every single thing I do.”
amazing process from start to finish,” she
remembers. “Working with Chris was so
fluid and easy. She makes me feel so good
about myself, not only as an artist but
also as a person.”
In the video for the track,
Aitchison is a self-determined,
leather-clad siren
dancing on top of a car.
She’s an image of power,
control, and an unmistakable
cool—a swagger she
says was inspired by her
collaborator. “People think I’m extremely
confident—and I am, in some ways—but
I’m also insecure,” she says. “I generally
hate doing photo shoots and music videos,
but I had so much fun shooting the
‘Gone’ video with Chris. She’s so uniquely
her and confident in what she does that
it kind of rubs off on you.”
While she’s at the top of her game
delivering dancefloor-ready beats and
pushing the envelope of pop, experience
and maturity has also allowed Aitchison
to get in touch with a more vulnerable
side. Like everyone else, she battles
against imposter syndrome. “The life
and the world I live in is such a roller
coaster, and my emotional state is constantly
up and down,” she describes.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m on top of the
world and I absolutely love myself, and
other times I wake up in the morning
and I hate myself—I feel alone and isolated
and not good enough.”
The delicate dance between these
two extremes of emotion might just
be Aitchison’s special sauce, and she’s
laying it on thick as she moves to the
next stage of her already-accomplished
career. While many artists choose to
self-title their first album, naming her
third album after herself is an intentional
choice: Charli is both a coming-out
party and a rebirth; the product of a settled
and seasoned artist, who is reframing
what it means to be a pop star.
“I’m aware that every artist in the history
of artists has said that one album in
their career is the most personal they’ve
ever made. But I sincerely feel that this
is the case for me,” she finishes. “I’m not
afraid to talk about my emotions anymore.
It’s incredibly liberating.” ,
QUEEN OF COLLAB
Charli XCX is pop’s reigning Queen of the Collab.
Here are four artists featured on her latest album
who are all musical trailblazers in their own right.
TROYE SIVAN
Australian Troye Sivan
belongs to the Internet
generation, having come
of age behind a camera
as a popular YouTuber.
Since then, the LGBTQ+
spokesperson has grown
into a fully-fledged
popstar with newfound
poise. His sophomore
album, Bloom, is a record
that celebrates love, sex,
and being comfortable in
one’s skin.
YAEJI
Known for her celestial
take on electronic music,
Yaeji has quickly cemented
herself as one of the
most prominent DJs of
the underground scene.
Her signature track,
“Raingurl,” is a baseheavy
bop that combines
languages, cultures, and
genres to convey her
unique experience as a
Korean-American woman.
BIG FREEDIA
Big Freedia, the undisputed
“Queen of
Bounce,” single-handedly
brought New Orleans’
bounce music to an international
platform. Her
influence in the mainstream
is far-reaching,
having collaborated with
the likes of Beyoncé and
Drake. In spite of these
associations, Freedia
continues to shake,
twerk, and bounce on
her own, all the way to
the top.
LIZZO
In an industry that almost
demands a meticulously
crafted image, Lizzo has
never been afraid to be
anyone but herself. The
singer-rapper-flautist
made waves last April
with her major label
release, Cuz I Love You,
a genre-blending work
that eschews pop clichés
while promoting the importance
of self-love.
20 BEATROUTE OCTOBER 2019

The Playlist:
BEATROUTE
BEATROUTE
BEAT
ROUTE
BR
BRLIVE
BRYYZ
1 2
10 songs in heavy rotation at the BR offices right now
5 7
9
4
1
FKA Twigs
holy terrain (Ft. Future)
The experimental alt-pop songstress
links up with some unusually
big names in Future, Skrillex and
Jack Antonoff for a more structured,
trap-influenced track. Twigs’
baroque, operatic vocals are still
as beautiful as ever as she wishes
for a man who is ready to enter her
god-like aura.
2
Rex Orange County
10/10
Rex predicts the review scores of
his upcoming album with a lead
single that sees him optimistically
looking towards a future of
self-improvement. Packed with
vibrant and uplifting synths, this will
immediately put a smile on your
face (and maybe motivate you to
clean your house or something).
3 Halsey
Graveyard
After releasing a couple of standalone
tracks, Halsey’s official lead
single from her upcoming album
starts with quiet acoustic strumming
before steadily building to an
explosive chorus featuring some
pretty heavy percussion. With
producer-of-the-moment Louis Bell
behind the boards, another massive
hit is all but guaranteed.
Sean Leon
4 SORRY
Don’t let the title fool you—this
track is all about just how sorry the
Toronto rapper isn’t. A bombastic
flex track of the highest calibre,
Sean Leon is on top of the world as
he emphasizes just how fantastic
every single aspect of his life is.
Walk down the street listening to
this one and pretend you’re this
cool.
5
Charlotte Day Wilson
Mountains
This mesmerizing track
opens to the sound
of trickling water and
a gospel choir that
ultimately settles into a
groove as a call-andresponse
to Wilson’s
rich alto tone. Daniel
Caesar takes up a role
on the backing vocals as
Wilson delivers emotional
lyrics, comparing loneliness
to being lost
in the wilderness.
3
6
Alicia Keys & Miguel
Show Me Love
Two of the most soulful and boundless
voices in the game team up for
a collaboration that is unexpected
and yet completely perfect. A sensual
slow jam over R&B legend Raphael
Saadiq’s acoustic noodling,
these two are just as effective in
an intense lower register than their
usual vocal acrobatics.
7 Wilco
Everyone Hides
Eleven albums in and Wilco
is still going strong.
Jeff Tweedy’s breezy
falsetto complements
an upbeat and cheery
folk instrumental
interspersed with the
odd crunchy guitar
work. The music video,
where the band takes the
title literally and plays a
massive game of hide-andseek
around Chicago, is
just as charming.
8
Alessia Cara
Rooting For You
Inspired by Tyra Banks’
legendary Top Model tirade,
Alessia Cara steps out of her
calmer alt-R&B comfort zone
into a bouncy synthpop soundscape.
She still has ample
space to flex some of those
impressive vocal runs as she
recounts a summer romance
gone wrong. Spoiler alert: She
was really rooting for him.
9 Slowthai &
Denzel Curry
Psycho
Could horror-movie rap be the new
wave? One of the UK’s most rapidly
ascendant artists drops the politics
for a second and links up with one of
the only people who can legitimately
match his screaming, distorted vocal
presence on the mic. The two lay
down some punishing verses over
high-pitched violins straight from a
slasher film.
10 JPEGMAFIA
Beta Male Strategies
The provocative and boundary-pushing
rapper for the Internet age
unleashes his official manifesto against
people who come at him through the
anonymity of Twitter, but won’t say
it to his face. Issuing threats over a
couple of disorienting beat switches
and a roaring guitar, Peggy ultimately
predicts his own cancellation.
OCTOBER 2019 BEATROUTE 21

UPCOMING SHOWS
REWIND FRIDAY
OCTOBER 4
DOORS: 10:30PM
19+
OCT
8
BLEACHED with
DUDE YORK & NECKING
DOORS: 7PM
19+
WHITE REAPER
with THE DIRTY NIL
OCTOBER 10
DOORS: 7PM
19+
NASHVILLE PUSSY with
DON JAMIESON
DOORS: 7PM
19+
OCT
12
NITE MOVES 4 YEAR
OCT
BDAY with CAN I LIVE
DOORS: 10:30PM
12
19+
PETE YORN
OCTOBER 16
DOORS: 7PM
19+
MATING RITUAL with
AAN & GLASS FOREST
OCTOBER 18
DOORS: 7PM
19+
OCT
19
BYE FELICIA
DEAD IDOLS DRAG
DOORS: 10:30PM
19+
JORDAN RAKEI with
SAM WILLIS
OCTOBER 25
DOORS: 7PM
19+
THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS
with ORBIT SERVICE
DOORS: 7PM
19+
OCT
28
SWITCH HALLOWEEN
DOORS: 10:30PM
19+
NIGHTMARE ON
KINGSWAY
DOORS: 10:30PM
19+
HALLOWQUEEN
BYE FELICIA HALLOWEEN
DOORS: 10:30PM
19+
/BILTMORECABARET
@BILTMORECABARET
@BILTMORECABARET
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT BILTMORECABARET.COM
22 BEATROUTE SEPTEMBER 2019

Reviews
ALBUM
Album Review
ANGEL OLSEN
All Mirrors
Jagjaguwar
After the overwhelming success of
her three wildly acclaimed albums, it
makes sense that Angel Olsen might
depart from the pillars of mendaciously-crafted
folk pop for something teeming
with fresh ambition and a towering
with a new objective: figuring out how
translate vulnerability into power.
Gone is is silver tinsel hair and
playful roller rink messing around that
adorned the video for her 2016 hit
single, “Shut Up Kiss Me.” In its place,
Olsen’s refreshed persona ventures
into the bold and exquisite world of
60s noir — an imposing figure draped
in a long black dress with a wind-swept
vail that follows her lead as she methodically
whirls across a stark white
backdrop. Such is the mood swing
from her first video featur- ing the title
track on All Mirrors.
The segue into the album’s sonic
texture is also a strange, dramatic mix
of strings that swoop and swell, anchored
by synthesized keys and electronic
drums. These competing and
complementary forces collide with the
dreamy, icy elegance of gothic black
and white cinema, creating a surreal
sci-fi soundscape. What’s truly compelling
about All Mirrors is its commanding
presence that travels deep into a
cavalcade of imaginary dimensions. It’s
a bold cinematic experience.
Along with a distinct outer-limits
look and sound that dominates Olson’s
current creative space, she weaves
and careens through lengthy, entangled
ballads exploring the mechanics
of a complicated heart which effectively
doubles as a summation of the
postmodern condition.
Best Song: What Is It
Brad Simm
OCTOBER 2019 BEATROUTE 23
CAMERON MCCOOL

MUSiC ALBUM REVIEWS
Interview
DANNY BROWN
uknowhatimsayin¿
Warp Records
JOHN WARWICK
PREFAB
SPROUT'S
FRONTMAN
PADDY
McALOON
STILL
MAKING
MUSIC...
ON AN
ATARI?
By GLENN ALDERSON
Paddy McAloon is tinkering in his
Northern England studio trying
to emulate the sounds of a guitar
using an Atari Computer when he
answers the phone.
The 62-year-old songwriter is
often credited as one of pop-rock’s
greatest songwriters for his masterful
work with his band Prefab
Sprout, but due to his worsening
tinnitus, the sound of an actual
guitar—or any amplified musical
instrument—causes him immense
discomfort.
“Listening is not quite the
pleasure that it was. I only have so
many hours in a day where I can
work before my tinnitus just exhausts
me,” he says in a thick English
accent. “I play the guitar but
sometimes when I’m working on a
song I use what I call a ‘fake guitar,’
where I program the Atari to sound
like a guitar part. It’s tedious and
boring and I’m probably old enough
to know better, but sometimes I get
carried away doing it.”
McAloon is optimistically working
on the long-awaited Prefab Sprout
record, Femme Mythologiques, and
the band’s first new music since
2003’s experimental rollercoaster
of a concept album, I Trawl the
Megahertz. Originally released
as a solo album, Megahertz was
inspired by the shortwave radio
shows he would listen to while at
home recovering from a detached
retina. Earlier this year, Sony Music
Paddy McAloon
reissued the album under the Prefab
Sprout name as it was originally
intended.
Prefab Sprout rose to fame
in the late 70s and early 80s
with their unique brand of new
wave-inspired outsider pop music
that often got lumped into the new
wave movement, but stood tall
above the rest thanks to production
from Thomas Dolby on their
breakout album, Steve McQueen.
They experienced great success
in the UK—and mildly in North
America—with pop hits such as
“Cars And Girls” and “The King
Of Rock And Roll,” cementing the
band as innovators in the evolving
landscape of pop rock.
With a nod to prosperity and
everything that once was, the band
is celebrating reissues of their first
three albums: their debut, Swoon,
which introduced the world to
McAloon’s idiosyncratic songwriting
with subtle male-female harmonies
courtesy of bandmate Wendy
Smith; Jordan: The Comeback, an
overly-conscious but pleasantly
confident sophomore album; and
their earnest third album, From
Langley Park To Memphis.
But McAloon however is not interested
in looking back, only forward.
For him, creating ensures he doesn’t
get left behind as a footnote in the
music history books. In fact, he’s
infamously known for his archive of
unfinished material that he’s barricaded
parts of his studio with.
“I’ve got a grand piano that I
can’t get near because of the piles
of songs I’ve written since the year
2000. It’s kind of hidden behind
this wall of packed boxes full of
music, which is a great tragedy,
really.”
McAloon has been teasing his
archive of unfinished material
for decades but assures those
recordings aren’t anywhere close
to being released.
“It’s not a like a Prince or Frank
Zappa situation where there are a
bunch of finished records waiting
to go. It’s more like I’ve written
songs for an album and they’re on
cassettes. I’ve got the paperwork,
the chord charts, but very few
are finished. I can’t just reach out
to a shelf and play you an entire
unreleased album, but I can find
you the box.”
For now, fans can enjoy the
band’s back catalogue while
McAloon remains hard at work,
committed to replicating that
perfect guitar sound for his next
offering using his Atari computer.
The new song he’s speaking about
is called “Mary Magdalene Blues.”
“It’s got a strummy mildly funky
guitar part. I’m nearly finished it
actually. This afternoon I may have
it finished and then I will commit it
to tape.”
Best Track: Cars and Girls (From
Langley Park To Memphis)
It’s been three years since Danny
Brown released Atrocity Exhibition—the
album he famously spent
$70,000 of his own money on
samples for. While the Detroit
native may be making different
financial decisions with his fifth
album, uknowhatimsayin¿, one
thing remains the same: even after
over a decade in the game, he’s still
one of the most inventive and fun
rappers there is.
uknowhatimsayin¿ features executive
production by none other than
Q-Tip, who also produced the majority
of the beats. The influence of
the ATCQ pioneer is strong on the
warm, sample-driven beats: tracks
like “Theme Song” and “Change
Up” could be lifted directly from the
Native Tongues heyday with their
jazzy vintage vibe. The laid-back,
classic feel combined with Brown’s
contemporary flows results in an
era-bending mash-up we could only
have dared to dream of.
Additional production contributions
from the likes of Flying Lotus
and experimental jazz duo Standing
on the Corner add layers to the
sonic palette. The wide-ranging
features from JPEGMAFIA, Run
The Jewels, Blood Orange and Nigerian
spoken word artist Obongjayar
are the perfect complement
to Brown’s chameleonic character
throughout.
“I’m livin’ my best life,” Brown
boasts on the song of the same
name, and we wholeheartedly
agree.
Best Track: 3 Tearz
Josephine Cruz
24 BEATROUTE OCTOBER 2019

TEGAN AND SARA
HEY, I’M JUST LIKE YOU
THE NEW ALBUM
OUT NOW
THE BOOK OUT NOW

MUSiC ALBUM REVIEWS
FKA TWIGS
MAGDALENE
Young Turks
KACY & CLAYTON
Carrying On
New West Records
REFUSED
War Music
Spinefarm Records
WILCO
Ode to Joy
dBPM Records
CITY AND COLOUR
A Pill for Loneliness
Still Records
Tahliah “FKA twigs” Barnett conjures
images of a far-away planet
where cats purr melodies and you
can see music swirling through the
air like puffs of gossamer in the
wind.
The long-awaited follow-up to
LP1 offers her signature, ethereal
vocals paired with otherworldly,
emotional elements and goosebump-evoking
notes.
Smoky and silky, MAGDALENE
turns feminism on a dime in the
title track, about the “creature of
desire” when she sings: “A woman’s
work / a woman’s prerogative / a
woman’s time to embrace she must
put herself first.”
Rapper Future joins on the Hip
Hop anthem, “Holy Terrain,” adding
a modern twist on what’s bound to
become a classic release. Pitting
sweet, tinkling pianos against
coarse, rasping synths, the avantpop
album is the equivalent of a
robust glass of Cabernet and dark
chocolate in a candlelit bubble
bath.
Gloucestershire-born Barnett—
who reportedly got her nickname
from her penchant for cracking
her joints loudly—channels Kate
Bush’s strange lyrical style in tracks
that smack of heretics, conjuring
the hotly-debated Mary Magdalene,
who was either a prostitute
befriended by Jesus Christ himself,
his wife — or both.
Best Track: Cellophane
Kasia Gorski
Were the world a fair place, Saskatchewan
duo Kacy & Clayton
would be filling stadiums and rolling
fields at outdoor stages with their
traditional folk songs.
On their fifth album, Carrying
On, there’s a quiet, stoic strength in
singer Kacy Anderson and guitarist
Clayton Linthicum’s songwriting as
each musician plays off the other
to form a sum so much greater
than its parts. Anderson’s angelic
voice soars with a gossamer
quality that belies her young age,
while Linthicum plays the guitar
like he’s reading poetry, equal parts
virtuosic and melodic.
Carrying On stumbles open with
a drum roll on “The Forty-Ninth
Parallel,” which quickly sees Kacy
& Clayton luxuriously stretch into
their comfort zone with a lilting
rhythm and understated arrangement
that feels as airy and delicate
as an autumnal prairie sunset.
Immaculately produced by Wilco’s
Jeff Tweedy, each instrument and
vocal line has ample space to
shine on its own, coming together
in a seamless whole that feels
effortless.
Indeed, Anderson and Linthicum
are at the top of their game on
this record in part because of the
space afforded to each of them to
play traditional folk in an English
tradition that sounds almost too
good to be true.
Best Track: Carrying On
Sebastian Buzzalino
When The Shape of Punk to
Come came out in 1998 it was a
daring new sound for hardcore, a
blast of energy that messed with
genre conventions and took things
to a new level for angry guitar rock.
Following a 15-year hiatus, their
long awaited follow up, Freedom
(2015), didn’t quite deliver on that
same energy. There were new
sounds and experiments but something
as missing. War Music however,
sees Refused toning down the
experimentation, but bringing that
vital energy back into the mix.
Frontman Dennis Lyxzén has said
War Music is an album that would
“make more sense” for fans of The
Shape of Punk to Come and he isn’t
wrong. The anger is once again
palpable and the album has an explosive
quality that Refused proudly
wore on their sleeves back in the
day. A little less daring in some
ways with slick production taking a
bit of the edge off, but the grooves
are there and Lyxzén tackles some
great anti-capitalist themes.
While War Music isn’t as
genre-defying, it’s still nice to see a
band quoting Marx and screaming
“blood red until I’m fucking dead”
like they mean it.
Best Track: Blood Red
Graeme Wiggins
The title of Wilco’s eleventh record,
Ode to Joy is a bit deceiving, given
its downcast thematic content. But
the Chicago six-piece aren’t seeking
to make a record that’s hopeful,
or that radiates sunshine, and that’s
perfectly okay—the tracks are reflective
of the times, and it’s Wilco’s
call to stay afloat despite them.
Minimalism is present throughout,
with drums being the constant
unifying thread within the album.
Are they a subtle nod to protests
or revolution? Yes, but a restrained
one. Wilco doesn’t have to shout
to the rooftops about everything
wrong in the world because we
know well enough—we’re living it.
Ode to Joy starts off slow but
kicks up after “Everyone Hides” and
stays melodically upbeat. Led by
frontman Jeff Tweedy, the group
takes a stripped-back approach
to songs that split open to reveal
lyrics splayed out over acoustic
instruments. This is perfectly
captured on “Hold Me Anyway” and
“Love is Everywhere (Beware).” It’s
endearing, but there’s a desire for a
deeper exploration.
It’s an album with a message, but
by no means the next great American
record. And that’s kind of the
point. The songs lean less towards
politically charged commentary
on American life, instead weighing
more heavily on finding moments of
happiness when all seems lost.
Best Track: Hold Me Anyway
Natalie Harmsen
Dallas Green’s unmistakably
haunting vocals take center stage
on his sixth LP with 11 new songs
that release all his emotions with a
slow burn.
With sweeping melodies and
introspective lyricism, A Pill for
Loneliness is a step forward into
new musical territory for City and
Colour. The album is a departure
from the folksier, plaid-shirt-anda-guitar
vibe fans have come to
expect from Green on previous
albums. Although it strays into new
ground, it still serves up more of the
best Green has to offer.
As always, Green navigates the
uncertainty of relationships expertly,
and while the overall tone is
melancholy, there are breathtaking
moments where he finds some light
in the darkness. He does so delicately,
striking a balance of asking
difficult questions while pondering
familiar themes of despair and restlessness.
He knows we’re living in
turbulent times, and that consciousness
translates with every whisper
and guitar riff.
There’s still familiarity and
Green plays with it comfortably,
like putting on an old sweater. He
returns to his rock and roll roots
on a few guitar-driven tracks such
as “Imagination” but overall, it’s a
record that soars due to experimentation
thanks to tranquil synths
and reverberating piano that reside
throughout.
Best Track: Astronaut
Natalie Harmsen
26 BEATROUTE OCTOBER 2019

KIM GORDON
No Home Record
Matador
REUBEN & THE DARK
Un|Love
Arts & Crafts
When Kim Gordon sings about
the 47-inch flat screen TV, the
Andy Warhol prints, Times Square
photoshoots, and her super host
on “Airbnb,” the tone of her voice
is dripping with disdain. Ah, it’s
wonderful to hear fresh criticism of
the American Way and a full-frontal
refusal to not be bubble wrapped in
its deliciously good life.
No Home Record, Gordon’s first
s olo recording, ventures straight
into a self-reflective state-of-mind
that slams contemporary life
against a wall of art. But what else
would you expect from a visual
artist, which Gordon also is. As the
title suggests, she’s addressing
the vacancy of living in her own
country. She’s at home, yet alienated
— there’s no home to be found.
Welcome to Trumpland, a true sign
of the times.
Gordon’s voice has faded. Her
choppy one-liners and phrases that
rip with instant recognition ooze
with whip-smart wonder. With her
finger on the trigger, you know
exactly what she means by the
defiant, “Murdered Out.”
Discordant pop — blissful when
they got it right — was Sonic
Youth’s trademark. While No Home
Record is definitely Gordon’s own
oeuvre d’art, she also has fulfilled
the promise of where it all might
have gone.
Best Track: Airbnb
Brad Simm
Interview
Reuben Bullock
opens up about
the power of
vulnerability
on Un|Love
Vulnerability through artistic practice
is largely about opening up
spaces: within the artist to explore
difficult or repressed emotions,
and within the audience to move
through the work with empathy
and openness. The best works that
arise from opening up have the
capacity to challange the type of
harmful narratives that have historically
made sensitivity a flaw — like
the idea of cis-hetero men prioritizing
their emotional well-being.
This is the place that Reuben
Bullock was coming from when
he began work on Un|Love, his
third full-length via Arts & Crafts.
As an indie-folk singer-songwriter,
Bullock is no stranger to writing
heart-wrenching songs with an
optimist core, and is a firm believer
that things can get better by going
through the process of feeling and
dealing with his emotions. But,
as he says over the phone from
Montreal, the album sprung from
darkness.
“This record came from a place
of some real suffering. For a lot
of the songs, I tried to turn that
suffering into something soothing.
The whole core of [my current
songs] feel super vulnerable,” he
says. “Un|Love was the result of
hundreds of words with the prefix,
‘Un,’ before them and I became
obsessed with how it confused the
definition of the word.”
Bullock filled
notebook pages
with words that
were destabilized
by the
addition of the
prefix. Perhaps unwittingly,
separating
the prefix from the
word with a vertical
line opened up a more
postmodern approach
for his vulnerability: he
wasn’t just interested
in inverting or negating
the original feeling, both
of which would maintain
the binary dynamic, but
rather had a higher ambition. By
providing space for his vulnerability
to run free, he aimed to allow the
audience the space to explore their
own pressure points through his
work. On Instagram, Bullock put
the call out to his fans to respond
to the idea of “Un|Love” and interrogate
the area between words
and feelings.
“I wanted to start conversations
about how other people feel these
emotions. I have a real curiosity
of what that title brought out in
people: was it something dark and
painful, was it love and beautiful, or
something in between?
“A lot of people reacted to the
two polar sides. They reacted to
the pain of the word [‘love’]. A lot
of people felt like it challenged the
word: they thought it was a positive
thing in the sense of unlearning old
ideas and [developing] stronger
form of love.”
At the core of his music, Bullock's
primary concern is that people
are reacting at all to the things
that dig at them. “I’m constantly
challenging myself,” he says. “I
just started
realizing that
the audience
is amazing
and they really
hold us in a place
where we can do
what we want to do:
just to dig deep and put
out the things I’m going
through, sing about stuff
that matters to me, create
lyrics that are more intentionally
thoughtful than they
have been in the past.” In
short, it’s about opening
up new spaces for
emotions and letting
those run free as a
form of therapy — about
the intersection of audience
and music as liberation.
Sebastian Buzzalino
SHEVA KAFAI
OCTOBER 2019 BEATROUTE 27

Live
MUSiC
Toronto
LIZZO
September 19, 2019
Budweiser Stage
“She is the mother I never had. She is
the sister everybody would want. She
is the friend that everybody deserves.”
That now-memed quote comes from
none other than Oprah, talking about
her idol Barbara Walters, but it may as
well be about Lizzo. We were blessed
enough to catch the “Juice”-y singer
on the Toronto stop of her Cuz I Love
You Too tour, and we can safely say, to
borrow Oprah’s words, we “don’t know a
better person.”
Originally set to play Toronto’s Rebel,
a 2,500 capacity venue, Lizzo was adorably
emotional about the show being
upgraded to the much larger venue due
to demand: Over 15,000 adoring fans
packed the Budweiser Stage—not bad
for an artist who just earlier this year
played a 1,500 person venue (the Danforth)
and didn’t sell it out.
Along with her dancers, The Big Girls,
and the talented DJ Sophia Eris, Lizzo
served on-point choreography and
never missed a beat. She addressed
the crowd in between songs, reminding
them that they shouldn’t reduce selflove
to spa days and mimosas; and that
despite many fans calling her a “hero,”
that we’re all our own hero and she is
just the soundtrack.
To close the night she donned a wedding
veil and sunglasses for the record
breaking “Truth Hurts”—a reference to
the 2017 music video where she marries
herself—and threw a bouquet in the
crowd. She brought out Sasha Flute
and showed off her jazz flute skills. But
the devoted crowd still cheered for
more and after long, loud applause and
chants of her name, Lizzo returned to
the stage for an encore of “Juice.”
Indeed, the evening was “Good As
Hell” and Lizzo is, without a shadow of
doubt, 100 per cent that bitch.
Kate Killet
KATE KILLET

Vancouver
LEIKELI47
Thursday, September 12
The Vogue Theatre
DARROLE PALMER
If you didn’t know anything about
Leikeli47 before attending her
show, her coming on stage in a full
face mask, with all black sweat
suit might not have prepared you
for the positivity and energy that
this show would eventually provide.
Her first few songs, opening with
“Wash % Set” might have had fairly
minimal beats but her energy more
than made up for it, immediately
driving the crowd (a delightfully
mixed crowd for a rap show) into a
dance frenzy.
The party never let up. For “Post
That” from her most recent album
Acrylic, she grabbed people from
the crowd, initially an adorable
young man who vogued wonderfully,
followed by his friends as well.
The party did not relent despite
the stage guests all requiring selfies
with their new queen.
She played an energetic set
from both her albums with “Girl
Blunt” clearly a fan favourite coming
towards the end of the set. Her
connection to and love of her fans
was obvious and made for a wonderfully
love-filled vibe. She had a
great dancer join her on stage for
the last few songs and his voguing
was spectacular and just added to
the energy of the evening. Ending
the set with crowd favourite “Money”
made a late show on a thursday
night seem totally worthwhile.
Graeme Wiggins
WED, NOV 6, 2019, 8PM | ORPHEUM
RUFUS
WAINWRIGHT
WITH THE VANCOUVER SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Praised by the New York Times for his “genuine originality,” Rufus Wainwright has
established himself as one of the great male vocalists and songwriters of his generation.
The New York-born, Montréal-raised singer songwriter joins the VSO for a night of song,
featuring his greatest hits alongside fresh new gems.
BUY TODAY! myVSO.ca/rufus 604.876.3434
OCTOBER 2019 BEATROUTE 29

Screen Time
THE
BEAUTIFUL
MADNESS
OF A
STORYTELLER
With the documentary Once Were Brothers, a Scorsese soundtrack and a new album Sinematic,
iconic Canadian songwriter Robbie Robertson has a late-in-life creative spurt By DAVID MCPHERSON
A
s a member of Ronnie Hawkins
backing band The Hawks,
Robbie Robertson cut his musical
chops playing places along
Yonge Street such as Le Coq
d’Or and Friar’s Tavern; these
fabled bars exist today only as
heritage plaques. Robertson and his Hawks’
mates later became The Band, releasing the
seminal debut Music From Big Pink in 1968.
As leader of this roots-rock group, Robertson
wrote many storied songs such as “The
Weight,” “The Night they Drove Old Dixie
Down,” and “Up on Cripple Creek.”
Sixty-seven years later, the Toronto-born
songwriter is still telling stories and still writing
songs. The chills still come. He is still curious.
And, that’s the key. As long as he has
ideas, and follows the threads down whatever
path they take, there are songs and stories
waiting for him somewhere along that road.
This month the 76-year-old returns with
a few more stories: a new album (Sinematic),
his first batch of original songs since 2011, and
a new documentary based on his 2016 memoir
“Testimony” (Once Were Brothers) — the
opening night gala selection at this year’s
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
Robertson also wrote the score for his pal
Martin Scorsese’s new film: The Irishman,
which arrives next month. If that output is
not enough, he lets on in the course of our
30-minute conversation that he is also working
on a follow up to Testimony.
“I’ve never done anything like this before,”
says Robertson of this outpouring of creativity.
“It all just came to the surface at once.
I’m still looking at it and scratching my head.
Where did this stuff come from? In some cases
I know; in other cases it’s mysterious.”
If you had to sum up Robertson’s life into
two words, the title of one of his songs on
Sinematic works just fine: “Beautiful Madness.”
Turn on the news, darkness lurks.
Look around you, beauty abounds. You can’t
help but be affected by all of the colours and
moods the days of our lives present.
As one of Canada’s most revered songwriters,
Robertson has always found a way
to weave all of these shades into his storied
songs. It all began during childhood summer
days spent with his mother at the Six Nations
of the Grand River — Canada’s largest reserve
in Ohsweken, Ontario. Here is where
his love of the arts, and music was first kindled.
Robertson listened to the sacred myths
told by the elders. He listened to the beats
of the drums and the plucking of homemade
guitar strings as his relatives played and sang
storied songs like Lefty Frizzell’s “The Long
Black Veil.” These simple rhythms gave him
chills he still feels. By the age of nine most
kids are just figuring out whom they wanted
to play with at recess. Not Robertson. The
songwriter knew his destiny: when he grew
up he was going to be a storyteller.
While some places where the ideas and
stories hide are a mystery, the art of catching
these thoughts and assembling them into a
song still comes naturally to Robertson.
Most often they come from reading movie
scripts, watching films, and then everything
“I’ve never done anything
like this before. It all just
came to the surface at once.
I’m still looking at it and
scratching my head. Where
did this stuff come from? In
some cases I know; in other
cases it’s mysterious.”
connects, resulting in something beautiful. “I
don’t’ make records to go out and do a tour
and have new songs to play,” he explains. “I’m
in a different line of work. It all connects with
the visuals.”
This time the visuals came in the form of
the script for The Irishman and in working on
the Once Were Brothers documentary. Writing
for movies, Robertson explains, starts with
reading the script. “I imagine what kind of
mood and what colours come to mind and it
slowly starts to take shape.”
On Scorsese’ latest flick, Robertson says
he’s never seen anything like it. “It’s got a
different feel. It’s a different take on this
gangster world, so the music needed to have
that different feel as well.” On the TIFF gala
film — the first time a Canadian-made documentary
opened the festival — it’s a tale of
a hometown hero, inspired by Testimony. It
brings to the screen Robertson’s musical journey
and incredible life story.
Robertson’s life is like a movie; it was not
hard to translate this tale to the big screen.
Read his autobiographical deep dive and you
see the cinematic similarities everywhere.
There is triumph. There is tragedy. There is
darkness and light. And, there is a soundtrack
that always played throughout his 76 years
and counting: from the Scarborough Bluffs to
the Hollywood Nights.
30 BEATROUTE OCTOBER 2019

This year experience the potential
of the circular economy.
“I thought in the past if I didn’t get so distracted
early on with music and rock and roll,
I probably would have ended up in movie
land,” Robertson jokes. Today he resides in
Los Angeles; so, in a roundabout way, his musical
explorations led him to a career in Hollywood
eventually.
Film grabbed hold of Robertson at a young
age. He never let go. These days, he feels nostalgic
for the golden age of movies;
he thinks some of that magical
world is slipping away.
“I remember as a kid, you
would go to a movie and
you would get completely
lost in a world you never
imagined going to,” Robertson
concludes. “You sat in the
dark, watched a movie and you
were right in the movie with
the characters. It was
such a wonderful
feeling. Today,
movies have become
more like
roller coaster
rides. A sacrifice
is being made
for extraordinary
filmmaking.” ,
ROBBIE ROBERTSON
RR SINEMATIC Cover.jpg
Sinematic
Universal Music
Sinematic is Robbie Robertson’s sixth
solo record and his first batch of original
songs since How to Become Clairvoyant
(2011). Recorded at The Village,
the famed studio in West LA, Robertson
is joined on this 13-song collection by a
variety of collaborators from Van Morrison
(who duets on the first single “I
Hear You Paint Houses”) to J.S. Ondara,
Glen Hansard, and singer-songwriter
Citizen Cope.
Storied songs abound. The title of
the disc is a fine example of wordplay;
“cinematic” refers to anything to do with
the world of films. Here, sin is substituted
to reflect the world we live in where
darkness dwells and evil simmers, waiting
for us to take them for a ride. Many
of the songs speak of this underbelly
of society.
Cinema is a world Robertson knows
well. It’s a medium he’s dabbled in ever
since his relationship with his seminal
group of musical brothers (The Band)
disbanded, following the memorable
last concert captured by his long-time
friend Martin Scorsese in The Last
Waltz.
“Once Were Brothers” is a cathartic
farewell to his old mates in The Band,
part nostalgia, part moving on, part
wondering what the hell went wrong.
Robertson croons: “Once Were Brothers/Brothers
no More/We lost our way/
After the war.” Another highlight, “Dead
End Kid” speaks of Robertson’s triumph
over all the doubters, who thought
he would go nowhere. He defied
the odds and this song is one
of the most personal on the
record. A pair of instrumentals
(“Wandering Souls” and
“Remembrance”) showcase
Robertson’s gorgeous guitar
playing, which, like all the
songs on Sinematic, and like a
masterpiece of cinema, leave
you wanting more.
Saturday, November 2, 2019 • 7-11pm
Designers, Drinks and Discussion!
Tickets at museumofvancouver.ca
1100 Chestnut Street • Vancouver B.C. • 604-736-4431
FRIGHT NIGHTS
WHERE SCREAMS COME TRUE
SELECT
NIGHTS OCT 4-31
OCTOBER 2019 BEATROUTE 31

32 BEATROUTE OCTOBER 2019

Screen Time
THE BOSS
OF THE BIG
SCREEN
New Bruce Springsten
concert doc Western
Stars brings the late-career
album masterpiece
to the screen By PAT MULLEN
I
n a year full of nostalgic Baby
Boomer music docs, it’s a joy
to watch a legend like Bruce
Springsteen reinvent himself.
Western Stars, which opens this
month after debuting at TIFF in
September, brings the Boss’s album
of the same name to the big screen.
This concert doc bears the soul of its
creator.
Western Stars, the album, is a
late-career masterpiece for Springsteen
that enlivens his abilities as a
storyteller with the heart and soul of
country music. It’s an elegiac collection
full of metaphors of open roads,
cowboy boots, and heartaches. The
music of Western Stars is tailor-made
for the movies with its rich imagery
and country twang that pulls at heartstrings
without hitting false notes.
Western Stars, the film, features
the lone concert of the album,
which Springsteen performed in his
100-year-old barn. Accompanied by a
30-piece orchestra and his wife Patti
Scialfa, Springsteen plays the album
for his closest friends. The result is
a front row ticket to the most intimate
Springsteen show one could
see.
The songs play out in full with
Springsteen reflecting on the music
between tracks. These interviews
and monologues evoke a musician’s
asides performed between songs at
a concert. Instead of simply standing
there and talking as the band
catches its breath, Springsteen
moves away from the stage, outside
the barn, and into the Wild
West. Images evoke the movies of
John Ford with Springsteen’s tales
of cowboys and rugged roads. The
staging of the candid moments is
intermittently cheesy, like a shot of
Springsteen in his old truck as he
talks to the camera with a grin that
says, “Howdy, partner!” but they’re
fair reflections of a life well lived.
These interludes provide intimate
glimpses into Springsteen’s life as
home movies reveal moments with
Patti and their kids as Springsteen
savours the journey that’s brought
him to the creative crossroads of
Western Stars.
Springsteen unpacks the significance
of the songs while reflecting
on his life that’s gone by, noting
how the role of the car has changed
but that the open road remains a
songwriter’s strongest metaphor
for freedom. His reflections on bygone
Hollywood stars whose cowboy
boots have been laid to rest makes
the performance of the film’s title
track extra poignant. Here is Springsteen
stripped and vulnerable. At 70,
he knows it’s a blessing to don his
boots at the beginning of a new day.
Watching Springsteen confront his
age and put his fears of loneliness
and legacy into song, the film becomes
as moving as it is entertaining.
The buy-it-the-minute-you-hear-it
soundtrack is fuller and richer than
the album. The sweeping orchestration
widens the scope of the music
and lends it extra gravity as the
notes reverberate in the acoustics of
Springsteen’s hallowed barn, a warmly
inviting setting for the concert.
The film is lushly shot and mixed
beautifully to let the music take advantage
of the theatrical experience.
Pulling double-duty as performer
and director, working with long-time
collaborator Thom Zimny, Springsteen
proves himself a boss on both
sides of the camera. Springsteen
looks forward when many stars of
his generation have their eyes in
the rear-view mirror. Western Stars
speaks to Springsteen’s reinvention
as an artist as he conquers another
frontier.
Western Stars hits theatres
October 25.
A Star Reborn
In Judy, Renée Zellweger delivers a noteperfect
performance as Judy Garland
By PAT MULLEN
T
he
forecast for 2020 predicts the gayest Oscars
yet. After Taron Egerton wowed us as Elton John in
Rocketman, Renée Zellweger delivers a note-perfect
performance as Judy Garland in Judy. Wager
good money on the stars taking home matching
Oscars for portraying these queer icons.
Judy is Zellweger’s comeback. After being the “it girl”
of the early 2000s with hits like Bridget Jones’s Diary,
Chicago, and Cold Mountain, Zellweger’s stock vanished.
Star persona and performance blur in this portrait of an
actor struggling to understand her purpose when the spotlight’s
gone. Zellweger is heartbreakingly good in realizing
Garland’s vulnerability.
Judy focuses on the final year of Garland’s life. At 46,
roughly Zellweger’s age during her slump, Garland is off
to London for a string of concerts. Broke, blacklisted,
and fighting a custody battle, Garland is at rock bottom
offering show-stopping numbers one night and drunken
embarrassments the next.
Flashbacks to Garland’s work on The Wizard of Oz,
toiling under the tyrannical and controlling producer Louis
B. Mayer, the film portrays Garland as a woman who was
never allowed to control her own life. But where Garland’s
pain was overcome by alcoholism and drug abuse, Zellweger
channels her agony and loneliness into life-saving,
transformative art.
Using her trademark pouty lips and sad, shimmering
eyes, Zellweger doesn’t disappear within the character.
While her resemblance to Garland is uncanny, this is very
much a Renée Zellweger performance. It pays tribute to an
icon while reminding us of another’s worth.
It’s not all pain and heartache, though. Judy rings with
the joie de vivre that continues to endear Garland to audiences.
Zellweger performs Garland’s signature tunes in
knockout numbers. Recording all the songs live, Zellweger’s
vocals capture Garland at her highest and lowest. A
star is reborn with Zellweger’s career-best performance
in Judy.
Judy is playing in select theatres now.
OCTOBER 2019 BEATROUTE 33

Made. By. Distillers.

That’s Dope
HIGH TIME
FOR THC OILS
Sly, smokeless, and super potent cy THC oil has recently hit the market and it is
not lost on celebrity cannabis
high-poten-
aficionados.
By DAYNA MAHANNAH
Rapper Wiz Khalifa knows smoke-free Mary
Jane is yet another opportunity to share his
favourite hobby with the smoke-free inhabitants
of the world, which is what inspired Khalifa Kush
Enterprises. His latest endeavor partners with
Supreme Cannabis to produce something far
more psychoactive than its tame cousin, CBD oil.
THC oil delivers actually strong euphoric effects
through its concentrated dosing.
So why oil over flower? No one is here to
tell you how to party, but oil is generally
more efficient — less product is
needed for the desired effect. Plus,
you might save a lung.
It’s also easier to control your
intake so you don’t get too
high. And, THC oil is a slow
burn. It takes 20 to 30 minutes
to take effect, but will
last longer than smoking
the bud. “The rule of
thumb whenever
you’re trying anything
cannabis related
is slow and low,”
says Malania
Dela Cruz from
Faulbauher
Communications,
a
representative
for
KKE Oils. “If
you’re unsure, you
take the lowest dose
and see how you feel. Take
some time. Maybe you want
to take a little bit more in a
couple hours. That’s how you
find your perfect dose.”
This month in Cannabis news and views
THE HIGH 5
Sunset Sogels
LBS - Indica - $16.99 / 15 capsules
THC: 2.5mg/mL - CBD: 0.7mg/mL
Snoop Dogg’s brand of entry-level oil, pre-measured
in capsule form for your ease. A hint of
citrus makes this the perfect first for the cannabis
curious — not too strong, zero smell. It offers
a slight body buzz and is balanced with a dose
of CBD oil so as not to overwhelm.
Sensi Star Oil
KKE - Indica - $74.99 / 30mL
THC: 28mg/mL - CBD: 1mg/mL
Khalifa Kush Enterprises teamed up with Supreme
Cannabis to make something Wiz himself
would want. The first high-potency THC oil of
the KKE line is also one of the first recreational
oils in Canada. It retains its unique terpene
profile (gasoline, pine, citrus) through a multiphased,
whole-plant CO2 extraction process.
Reign Drops 30:0
Redecan - Hybrid - $55 / 40mL
THC: 30mg/mL - CBD: 0mg/mL
About as potent as it gets. This indica-sativa
hybrid oil is extracted from greenhouse-grown
cannabis in Niagara, Ontario. It is calming,
appetite-inducing, and assists in pain management.
If it’s not your first rodeo, Reign Drops
can also assist in gardening, making art, and
movie-watching.
Cannabis Oil (THC)
Broken Coast Cannabis - Indica - $54.79 /
30mL
THC: 29mg/mL - CBD: 0.3mg/mL
An indica strain hailing from the tiny town of
Duncan on Vancouver Island, BC. This, like any
other oil, can be dropped into your morning coffee,
pancake batter, soup, or a five’o’clock brew.
It may add a dash of sweet, earthy scent, and a
whole lotta high. Better with music.
Rise Oil
COVE - Sativa - $48.99 / 20mL
THC: 25mg/mL - CBD: 1mg/mL
Fruity, sweet, and herbal. Rise Oil is formed
through an ethanol-free CO2 extraction process
and blended with MCT oil for smooth taste.
The sativa strain makes this a good option for
daytime dosing. It’s energizing and can help minimize
anxiety. Need to focus on an art project?
Workout? This will help you rise to the occasion.
OCTOBER 2019 BEATROUTE 35

TRAVEL
ICELAND
AIRWAVES
Exploring Reykjavík:
The Land of Fire and Ice
By GLENN ALDERSON
GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO
F
or a music celebration that takes place on an
island infamous for getting only three hours
of darkness during the summer months, Iceland
Airwaves knows a thing or two about
making a lot of noise when the sun goes down.
Located in the Nordic island country’s capital
of Reykjavík, Iceland Airwaves is a hot bed
for local and international talent who gather once a year
for the ultimate music festival experience. The multi-day,
multi-venue celebration started 20 years ago as a talent
show held in an airport hangar for foreign record execs
hoping to catch a glimpse of the next BjÖrk or Sigur Ros.
Airwaves has since grown to become an internationally
recognized event for everyone, shining a light on the country’s
vast music scene with tons of live shows, all night
parties and general debauchery crammed into four days.
“Iceland has consistently punched well above its weight
with quality music,” says Iceland Airwaves’ managing director,
Will Larnach-Jones. “It’s an island, it’s remote, and
yes it’s expensive, but creatively our musical output stands
on the shoulders of giants.”
Larnach-Jones isn’t just talking about Of Monsters And
Men — arguably the country’s largest musical export next
to the Sugarcubes — Although, they are closing out the
festival this year on the Saturday night.
“The festival will always showcase Icelandic music
firstly and foremostly, but we want to also build on the
B2B side of the festival. So many great talent buyers,
agents, festival and musicians come into town, we want
to give them more opportunities to do business with Iceland,
collaborate, and learn.”
This year will see acts like Mac DeMarco, Shame, Booka
Shade, Orville Peck, Whitney and much more, performing
alongside a fantastic curation of Icelandic acts.
Matthildur is a stand out singer-songwriter and producer
based in Reykjavík. Her music is inspired by late 90s
R&B with elements of modern day soul. Emotive and bold
as hell, she is known for wearing her heart on her sleeve
and has been on an upward trajectory since her breakout
performance at Iceland Airwaves in 2018.
Whether you’re looking to sample the sights and
sounds of Reykjavík, party with the locals or find easy
ways to stretch your dollar in one of the most notoriously
expensive but equally as beautiful countries in the world,
songwriter/producer, Matthildur, offers some tips on how
to maximize your experience when visiting the land of fire
and ice.
Iceland Airwaves runs Wednesday, Nov. 6 to Saturday Nov. 9
ICELANDIC
SINGER SÓLVEIG
MATTHILDUR'S
ESSENTIAL
REYKJAVÍK
Punk
Museum's
Black Elf
"When the night is over and I’m
feeling a little bit peckish, I head
to Mandí on Veltusund 3b for latenight
eats. The service is such a
treat and you’ll definitely end up
having memorable conversations
with some locals, possibly in a
questionable state haha! "
36 BEATROUTE OCTOBER 2019

LOOKING FOR BJÖRK?
Try the Reykjavik Music Walk!
An informative and entertaining
tour, detailing the city’s acclaimed pop
music scene, guided by Iceland’s foremost
popular music scholar, Arnar Eggert.
The tour focuses on Iceland’s pop and rock
history and the landmark sites that have
contributed to its remarkable success
abroad. Get a front row view of the
downtown practice spaces of Bjork
and The Sugarcubes, concert halls
used by early career Sigur Ros,
historically important live
venues and more.
Bæjarins Bestu (Tryggvagata 1)
This is a classic "must try in
Iceland" destination and it never
disappoints. If you like hot dogs
and would like to check out how
we do it here, just order ‘one with
everything.’ But if you’re vegetarian,
order ‘one with everything
except the hot dog’ – that’s what
I do!
Hlemmur mathöll
(Laugavegur 107)
The perfect place to go when
you’re not exactly sure what
you’re in the mood for. It’s
Iceland’s first ‘food hall,’ with so
many different culinary options.
You can go there at any time of
the day, it literally has it all.
The Coocoo's Nest
(Grandagarður 23)
For brunch, I love to go to the
Coocoo’s Nest in the flourishing
area of Grandi by Reykjavik
harbour. Nestled in an old fishing
hut, it has a classic brunch menu
accompanied with the best ingredients.
Such a good way to start
the day and then take a stroll at
Grandi.
DESTINATIONS
The Icelandic Punk Museum
(Bankastræti 2)
Located in an old, abandoned
underground toilet, everything about
this former shit hole has been done
in the spirit of "punk". This history
of Iceland’s punk scene paired
with better known punk bands who
toured and influenced the country
is well documented with newspaper
clippings and memorabilia galore,
including things from the early days
of the Sugarcubes and Killing Joke’s
Jaz Coleman’s infamous escape to
Iceland in 1982.
Reykjavík Art Museum
Kjarvalsstaðir (Flókagata 24)
Kjarvalstaðir is a wonderful museum
hosting beautiful artworks by
well-known Icelandic artists, and the
building itself is also one of the most
interesting in the city. It’s a great
location to start a day wandering and
admiring your surroundings.
Guðlaug Baths
(Langisandur, Akranes)
Going swimming in Iceland is
almost obligatory when visiting. If
you want to take it one step further,
you should check out the beautiful
Guðlaug in Akranes, just one hour
away from Reykjavík. It’s located
on the Langisandur beach, where
you can bathe in the warm water
while looking out to the ocean.
Gorgeous!
Grótta Lighthouse (Seltjarnarnes)
If you’re visiting in the winter
months, you might get lucky and
see the Northern Lights. The best
place to see them in the city is if
you go to Grótta, which is a nature
reserve on the tip of the Seltjarnarnes
Peninsula in the north-westernmost
part of the Greater
Reykjavík Area. There is one tall
lighthouse but no light posts, so
the Northern Lights are especially
visible.
NIGHTLIFE/ LIVE MUSIC
Spánski barinn (Ingólfsstræti 8)
If you want to go somewhere cosy
and little bit quieter, go to Spánski
barinn in the city centre. It’s the one
I always go to when I want to have
good conversation and an even
better drink.
Prikið (Bankastræti 12)
If you’re like me and love hip-hop
and R&B music, Prikið is the best
place to be. They always have the
best DJs performing to make the
night even better.
Kex Hostel (Skúlagata 28)
This venue boasts the most
gorgeous view to the sea and the
mountain, Esja. It’s a place where
you can grab a drink, listen to live
music and have a truly memorable
time.
Iðnó (Vonarstræti 3)
“A beautiful spot right by Tjörnin
(the lake) and the Reykjavík city
hall. It’s a cultural hub that has
been important to Icelandic artist
since 1896. It’s small and therefore
creates a close and intimate atmosphere
with each performance.”
Listasafn Reykjavíkur
(Tryggvagata 17)
An industrial building that transformed
from being a ship manufacturer
to an art gallery. Experiencing
music inside this beautiful building
creates an indescribable atmosphere
that has made each concert
more memorable than the last.
EATS
Hamborgarabúlla Tómasar
(Geirsgata Geirsgötu 1)
This is where you get the best
burgers in Reykjavík. My brother
and I are official regulars so I think
it’s safe to say we really like it!
Good service, great music and the
best burgers.
HOT WAX
Lucky Records (Rauðarárstígur
10) and Smekkleysa
(Skólavörðustígur 16) are solid
destinations for all your music
needs, both offering solid browsing
opportunities. You can find
many Icelandic music albums and
of course some classics as well.
It’s the places I visit when I’m in
need of some fresh new vinyl.
OCTOBER 2019 BEATROUTE 37

Style
Sweater: model's own
Hat: archive Vivienne Westwood
Pants: Trip NYC
Shoes: John Fleuvog
By GLENN ALDERSON
PHOTOGRAPHER: ANNIE FORREST
ART DIRECTOR: JACOB PARK
MAKEUP ARTIST: CIRSTY BURTON
PHOTO ASSISTANT: BRUNA MOREIRA
ZSELA

Coat: Luar
Tights: stylist's own
Necklace: model's own
In April,
experimental arts
and fashion collective
Vaquera hosted
“Vaqueraoke” at the
MoMA PS1 in New
York. Rising R&B star
Zsela Thompson
took the stage in a
tartan dress with cut
aways that revealed
an homage to Madonna’s
iconic cone bra.
The moment she set
her dark, brooding
vocals loose over
an acapella cover of
Madonna’s “Like a
Prayer,” a new darling
of the NYC fashion
scene was born.
In September,
she followed up her
first single, “Noise,”
with “Earlier Days,”
a heart wrenching,
time-stopping ballad
steeped in nostalgia
and lost love. This fall,
Thompson will join
Cat Power and Angel
Olsen on tour.
And on the eve of
releasing a five-song
EP, Thompson is devoted
to allowing her
art to live and breath
in multiple disciplines
while planting her feet
firmly in music and
fashion.
“I’m inspired by the
space, or venue of
the moment and how
I’m physically feeling,”
she explains.
Equally as comfortable
in a Comme
des Garçons leather
jacket and John
Fluevog shoes or a
pair of jeans with a
baggy hoodie and a
bandana, Thompson
describes her style as
temporal and fleeting.
“I’m super scrappy
when it comes to
pulling together looks
too. An archive or
vintage piece can
be the inspiration
that a whole look
surrounds.”
Zsela performs with Cat
Power on Monday, Oct.
28 at the Commodore
Ballroom (Vancouver).
OCTOBER 2019 BEATROUTE 39

Style
Top: stylist's own
Shoes: Maryam Nassir Zadeh
40 BEATROUTE OCTOBER 2019

YVR
10.19
Master of Disguise:
the groundbreaking
art of Cindy Sherman
By YASMINE SHEMESH
In one image, she’s done up
like a 1920s movie star — thin
eyebrows, pouty lips, and a scarf
draped over her head. Another
one has her sitting demurely on a
wooden chair in a studio, peeking
through blonde bangs and looking
the epitome of cool in a white
button-up and blue jeans. A third
shows her in clown make-up,
donning plump cheek prosthetics
and a sad expression.
It is, indeed, the one-and-thesame
woman: Cindy Sherman,
master of disguise and artist,
known for her highly conceptual
photographs in which she manipulates
her appearance to portray
characters in a variety of contexts.
In a decorated career that
has spanned more than 40 years,
her work primarily explores the
junction of identity and illusion,
particularly regarding feminine
stereotypes that exist in television,
film, and advertising.
But Sherman was always interested
in challenging the notions of
identity. In interviews, she has discussed
how, as a kid, she would
dress up as different characters
to get attention (she was the
youngest sibling). After moving
to New York in the 70s to pursue
photography, though, dressing
up became more than child’s play
and she started creating what
would become her best-known
work: Untitled Film Stills (1977-
80). The black and white portrait
series, inspired by promotional
posters for 40s and 50s movies,
carved out a prominent place for
her in the Pictures Generation
— a group of artists who sharply
critiqued the media landscape.
This month, the Vancouver
Art Gallery will host a critically
acclaimed retrospective of
Sherman’s work, exhibiting more
than 170 of her pieces, including
Untitled Film Stills, as well as her
newest project, Untitled #602.
The latest, a collaboration with
Stella McCartney, shows an
androgynous Sherman with short
hair, standing in a landscaped garden,
and wearing a trench and a
t-shirt that depicts an image from
her own Rear Screen Projections.
Here, and as always, Sherman
challenges the viewer to consider
reality, artifice, and their own
reflection.
Vancouver Art Gallery / October 26,
2019-March 8, 2020 / Tix: vanartgallery.bc.ca
VANCOUVER’S ESSENTIAL OCTOBER HAPPENINGSk
OCTOBER 2019 BEATROUTE 41
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND METRO PICTURES, NEW YORK

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42 BEATROUTE OCTOBER 2019

10.19YVRAGENDA
JOHN FLUEVOG:
King of Rock and Roll
Soles Celebrates
50 Years
By YASMINE SHEMESH
I
n 1956, John
Fluevog was
eight years
old, listening
to a car radio
at the Luxury Freeze, his
father’s drive-in ice cream
joint on Kingsway in Vancouver,
singing along to “Blue
Suede Shoes” by Elvis Presley.
It would become a formative
moment — and an ironic one,
too, for the now-shoe designer
celebrating a career that spans
half a century. But, back then, it
was just exciting.
It was the early rumble of
rock and roll and Fluevog was
surrounded by low-rider cars,
music, and teenagers cooling
down on sundaes. His family
was religious, so rock music
was forbidden at home, which
made it that much more appealing.
He took in how kids wore
their belts and blue jeans, and
the colours of their socks and
shoes. He had an eye for that
kind of stuff.
“I’ve always been edgy,” Fluevog
tells BeatRoute. Of course,
Fluevog’s natural knack for
style led him towards crafting
some of the most beautifully
made shoes in the world. The
journey began in 1970 when he
and Peter Fox, then manager of
Sheppard Shoes, opened Fox
& Fluevog on Gastown’s main
drag. After a decade, Fluevog
broke out on his own.
In 1986, he designed his
first women’s shoe, the Pilgrim,
which, with a pointed toe, buckle,
and angular heel, evoked a
Victorian cowboy boot. Over
the next five decades, his shoes
became a symbol of spirited
originality. Bright and whimsical,
coming in surreal shapes with
artful detailing, they’re coveted
by Madonna, Jack White, and
your next-door neighbour alike.
Fluevog
is as
colourful
as his
footwear.
When it
comes to the
stories, fact and
fiction are hard
to gauge. Did he
really work as a psychic
in the 90s? Some
reports confirm, others
deny. And did the iconic
Angels come to him in a vision,
as legend states? “Yes. No.
Maybe so,” Fluevog chuckles.
But enigma is part of the fun —
and the universe he has created
for his brand to live in.
The Angels were Fluevog’s
response to Dr. Martens, the
popular combat boot Fluevog
was selling in his stores in the
80s. They brought in good
business, especially from the
music scene — it was the dawn
of grunge with Green River on
Seattle’s horizon and Vancouver’s
D.O.A. was helping pioneer
hardcore punk. But Fluevog
needed to carve his own path.
Plus, he didn’t like that Docs
were also in with alt-right skinheads.
So, he dreamed up, as
it were, his Angels. The chunky
boots are one of his most
enduring styles.
“I did them for survival,”
Fluevog explains. “And I
suppose part of me is a rugged
individualist. I like doing my own
thing. If everyone else is doing
something, I don’t want to do it.”
The soles, moulded in Italy
out of natural latex instead of
the poly vinyl chloride used on
other boots, read the inscription:
“Angels resist alkali,
water, acid, fatigue, and Satan.”
Dave Webber, the artist and
writer behind Fluevog’s zine-like
catalogues, came up with the
line, which has less to do with
spirituality than it does being a
footprint of Fluevog’s wonderful
world.
Fluevog: 50 Years of Unique
Sole for Unique Soles is available
for purchase on November
5
RIO
THEATRE
1660 EAST BROADWAY
OCTOBER
SEPTEMBER 26 - OCTOBER 11
The Vancouver International Film Festival
See www.viff.org for details
OCTOBER
11
OCTOBER
12
OCTOBER
13
OCTOBER
14
OCTOBER
15
19
OCTOBER
23
OCTOBER
24
OCTOBER
25
30
31
George Romero’s
NIGHT OF THE
LIVING DEAD
LINDA RONSTADT
The Sound of My Voice
*Additional dates www.riotheatre.ca
Rudy Ray Moore
DOLOMITE (1975)
MEMORY
The Origin of Alien
*Additional dates www.riotheatre.ca
Sigourney Weaver
ALIEN (1975)
Takashi Miike’s
FIRST LOVE
OCTOBER The Fictionals Comedy Co. Presents
IMPROV AGAINST HUMANITY
16 Halloween Show!
OCTOBER
OCTOBER
OCTOBER
Eddie Murphy
DOLOMITE IS MY NAME
*Additional dates www.riotheatre.ca
RIVERDALE BURLESQUE II
Escape from Greendale
Sam Raimi’s
THE EVIL DEAD (1981)
4K Remaster w/ New Score!
Double Feature!
EAST VAN OPRY
2019
STORY STORY LIE
Tales of Terror
The Gentlemen Hecklers Present
TROLL 2
Paul Anthony’s Talent Time
THE HALLOWEEN SHOW!
The Geekenders Present
WE ALL FLOAT DOWN HERE
A Burlesque Tribute to Stephen King
THE ROCKY HORROR
PICTURE SHOW
*Additional dates www.riotheatre.ca
THE CRITICAL HIT
SHOW
A #DNDLive Improvised Epic Fantasy!
THE EXORCIST
NOVEMBER 8 - 9
The Vancouver Podcast Festival
See www.vanpodfest.ca for details
COMPLETE LISTINGS AT WWW.RIOTHEATRE.CA
S
OCTOBER 2019 BEATROUTE 43

10.19YVRAGENDA
Bowie:
the
Tribute
Ground control to Major
Tom — On October
11, BOWIE Tribute
Band, an eight-piece
ensemble based in
Vancouver, performs
their hat-tip to the
late David Bowie at
the most fitting Star
Theatre in the H.R.
MacMillan Space Centre.
Against an intergalactic
backdrop, the
group will run through
Bowie’s greatest hits
as they provide an
intimate experience
that’ll transport you to
another galaxy.
October 11, 2019 / H.R.
MacMillan Space Centre
/ Tix: eventbrite.ca
WHY I
DESIGN
How does design
impact our city? That’s
one of the main topics
of discussion at Why
I Design, an annual
one-night-only event
held at the Museum of
Vancouver.
Now in its fifth year,
the evening acts as
an open platform
for forward-thinking
designers to engage
in conversation with
the public about
their inspirations and
intentions for creating
products that shape
our environment, as
well as the challenges they face.
Ronnie Dean Harris
The designers range widely in discipline and definition — from architects
to sustainable furniture makers to economic strategists. This
year’s event highlights, in particular, the potential of the circular economy:
a regenerative design concept that aims to eliminate waste.
Participants include Tantalus Labs, a company founded on a commitment
to advancing the frontier of cannabis; The Binners Project, fostering
social and economic inclusion, building community resilience and
stronger networks around sustainability issues; and Ronnie Dean Harris,
a media artist, hip-hop performer and poet based in Stō:lo Territory.
Saturday, Nov. 2 / Museum of Vancouver / Tix: museumofvancouver.ca
YVRAgenda
Vancouver
Art Book Fair
A grassroots project celebrating
both local and international talent,
the Vancouver Art Book Fair
has been a staunch supporter of
publishing and the literary arts
since the festival’s inception in
2012. This year, along with exhibitors
like the Writers Exchange
— a program for kids in the
Downtown Eastside that helps
develop reading and writing skills
— there’ll be presentations from
an impressive and diverse roster
including poet Lisa Robertson,
Indigenous contemporary artist
Dana Claxton, and Agony Klub
— the music and print label of
musician KC Wei.
October 18, 2019 / Emily Carr University
of Art + Design / Free
Khari Wendell McClelland
Heart of the
City Festival
celebrates
downtown's
East Side
The theme of October’s Heart of the City
Festival is “Holding the Light,” which refers to
the artists who work to highlight the spirit of
Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. But the notion
is something that has always defined the annual
event. Now in its 16th iteration, the festival celebrates
the neighbourhood and the community
that call it home through music, theatre, dance,
art exhibitions, and more. In 2018, over 1,000
local creatives and residents participated.
This year’s music presentations are among the
most exciting highlights with a concert series
curated by the festival’s artist-in-residence,
Khari Wendell McClelland, featuring Indigenous,
marginalized, and POC artists. The lineup
includes Tonye Aganaba, Francis Arevalo and
Shannon Bauman. Tale of the Eastside Lantern
is a Chinese rock opera, performed in both English
and Cantonese, that follows a man through
Chinatown as he seeks to solve a mystery. And,
of course, the Carnegie Jazz Band is set to
make an appearance — a staple of the festival
and the DTES, the group will perform a variety
of original songs and popular jazz classics.
October 30-November 10, 2019 / 40+ venues on the
Downtown Eastside / Free
44 BEATROUTE OCTOBER 2019

CHUTZPAH! FESTIVAL Oct 24 to Nov 24
I
n
Hebrew,
chutzpah
means “brazen
audacity.”
As such, it’s fitting
that the term would
be the namesake of
a Jewish performing
arts festival that has
always championed
fearlessness. Since
2001, the Chutzpah!
Festival has welcomed
artists from
around the world to
stage provocative
presentations of
music, dance, theatre,
film, and comedy in a
celebration of cultural
and creative diversity.
This year also
marks artistic
managing director
Mary-Louise Albert’s
final season with
Chutzpah! after
15 years. A former
professional dancer,
Albert had specific
goals she wanted
to meet during her
tenure, particularly
seeing the festival
reach an international
standard in the performing
arts scene.
With the annual
event consistently
presenting substance-rich
works
that challenge the
status quo, Albert’s
goal has been more
than surpassed. 2019
continues to carry
that torch forward,
featuring artists from
Israel to Canada that
dive headfirst into
subject matter ranging
from conflicted
identity to generational
trauma — and all
with a healthy dose of
chutzpah.
“You definitely do
not need to be Jewish
to enjoy,” Albert adds.
“You just need to like
good art!”
by YASMINE
SHEMESH
Sandra Bernhard
October 31, Vogue Theatre
From her pioneering one-woman stand-up show to her portrayal of Nancy
— one of American television’s first openly gay characters — on Roseanne,
Sandra Bernhard is a queer comedy trailblazer. She’ll be performing
her cabaret show, Quick Sand, with a three-piece backing band.
October 24-November 24, 2019 / Various Locations / Tix: chutzpahfestival.com
Daniel Cainer
October 24, Norman Rothstein Theatre
In his musical cabaret, Gefilte Fish and Chips,
songwriter and storyteller Daniel Cainer
explores what it means to be both Jewish and
British. Both poignant and funny, Cainer searches
for a sense of identity in a re-discovered
heritage and the unconventional antics of his
relatives.
ProArteDanza
October 26-28, Norman Rothstein Theatre
The Toronto-based ballet company brings
Beethoven’s 9th Symphony to life with the world
premiere of the 9th! Breathtaking choreography,
epic music, and themes such as freedom
also serve as an intentional tribute to the 30th
anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Tamara Micner
October 27-28, Wosk Auditorium
at the Jewish Community Centre
In her one-woman show, Holocaust
Brunch, Tamara Micner tells the
true story of Bluma and Isaac
Tischler — Holocaust survivors
who met in medical school during
World War II and went on to
become successful doctors. With
comedy and courage, Micner
reflects on trauma and how to sort
through painful memories that have
extended through generations.
Gary Lucas
October 30,
Norman Rothstein Theatre
The avant-garde guitarist, composer,
and Lou Reed collaborator
will perform a live score to two
classic 1930s horror films: Drácula
(in Spanish) and Frankenstein.
Gary Lucas spent his formative
years playing guitar at the Jewish
Community Centre in Syracuse,
New York, and his roots continue
to play an important role in both his
life and work.
OCTOBER 2019 BEATROUTE 45

10.19YVRMUSIC
The Cheat Sheet BR PICKS THE 5 ESSENTIAL LIVE MUSIC SHOWS
INDIE
METAL
R&B
ROCK
DANIEL CHAMPAGNE
1 Sat, Oct. 5 at the Roxy
A fusion of folk and pop with a
bluesy twist, this classically trained
percussive guitarist will mesmerize
you with his mind-numbing sound. .
2
THRUSH HERMIT
Thurs, Oct. 17 at Vogue Theatre
Canadian rock stalwart Joel
Plaskett brings Thrush Hermit back
together to celebrate the 20th anniversary
of their acclaimed album,
Clayton Park.
3
ANDREW BIRD
Thurs, Oct.17 at Vogue Theatre
A multi-instrumentalist indie-rocker,
Andrew Bird’s diverse sound will
have you dancing while also guiding
your mind to a place of calm.
4
Lucy Dacus
Mon, Oct. 21 at Rio Theatre
A member of the indie-rock supergroup,
boygenius, Lucy Dacus’
intimate lyrics and melancholic
sound will make your heart sink.
5
BUILT TO SPILL
Sun, Oct. 27 at Rickshaw Theatre
Pioneers of the Pacific Northwest
indie movement, the catchy sounds
of these cool alt-dads are still a
relatively well-kept secret.
1 IMMOLATION
Tues, Oct. 15 at Rickshaw Theatre
Immolation is defined as “something
that is sacrificed” — immolate
yourself to the brutal blast beats of
these death metal kingpins.
2
SABATON AND HAMMERFALL
Wed, Oct. 16 at Vogue Theatre
“The Great War” is upon us, and
these two Swedish bands will use
the mighty strength of power metal
to lead you to victory.
3
ALIEN WEAPONRY
Thurs, Oct. 24 at Biltmore Cabaret
All three members are of Māori
ancestry, and they uniquely blend
sounds and words inspired by their
indigenous heritage into a heavy
metal sound
4
CANNIBAL CORPSE
Wed, Oct. 30 at Vogue Theatre
Death metal OGs return to zombify,
crucify, and brutalize audiences
with their murderous soun
5 JINJER
Thurs, Oct. 31 at Rickshaw Theatre
Melodic and progressive, this
Ukrainian band have been creating
a serious buzz in the metal community.
HIPHOP
TYLER, THE CREATOR
Tues, Oct. 15 at Pacific Coliseum
1
This Odd Future innovator has
been causing “Earfquakes” in the
rap game for over a decade and
his latest stage show is not to be
missed.
2
BLACK PUMAS
Wed, Oct. 16 at Rickshaw Theatre
Hot off the heels of a sleeper hit of
an album, Black Pumas’ old school
R&B vibrations will touch your soul
with swagger.
3
RICH BRIAN
Fri, Oct. 18 at Vogue Theatre
With more than 10 million views
on his single “100 Degrees,” this
20-year-old Indonesian rapper
proves to be one of the hottest upand-comers
of the year
4 JPEGMAFIA
Sat, Oct. 19 at Fortune Sound Club
Socially commentative and undeniably
unpredictable, Jpegmafia
seamlessly fuses various styles
and topics into his verses that both
shock and intrigue.
5 BROCKHAMPTON
Sat, Oct. 26 at PNE Forum
A self-described “boy band,”
Brockhampton is a collective
making major waves with their
genre-bending alternative style of
rap music.
EDM
1 THE LAZY HUMAN SYRUP EXPERIENCE ORCHESTRA
+
Tues, Oct. 15 at Imperial
Vibe to sultry soundscapes at this
major downtempo double-header.
From sexy sax to tribal strings, this
will be a unique dancing experience.
2 GRiZ
Fri, Oct. 18 at Commodore Ballroom
Feel the funkadelic vibes of one
of EDM’s hottest virtuosos. It’s
no wonder why his latest album
featured Lupe Fiasco, Wiz Khalifa
and Snoop Dogg.
3 GAWP
Fri, Oct. 25 at M.I.A.
This deep-house kingpin delivers
aphrodisiac-like beats for the
after-hours underground.
4 STICKYBUDS
Sat, Oct. 26 at Commodore Ballroom
Making his yearly Halloween
weekend return, this homegrown
hero will smoke you with dank
bass lines.
5
MIAMI HORROR
Thurs, Oct. 31 at Fortune Sound Club
Despite what their name might
suggest, this group is anything
but horrific. Spend Halloween
dipped in a pop-laden, holographic
euphoria.
PUNK
1 PUP
Tues, Oct. 8 at Vogue Theatre
One of the hardest working Canadian
punk bands, Pup cope channel
doom and gloom through catchy
choruses and singalong verses.
2 LUCERO
Fri, Oct. 11 at Rickshaw Theatre
Emotional country punks from
Memphis, Tennessee, Lucero
will have you kissing the bottle in
record time.
THE INTERRUPTERS
Wed, Oct. 16 at Commodore Ballroom
3
This top-brass ska band uses their
upbeat energy to turn the stage
into a two-tone blitz.
4
THE ADICTS
Thurs, Oct. 24 at Rickshaw Theatre
U.K. punk legends fly across the
pond to get bizarre and make a
social statement on the crumbling
first-world.
5
CRACK CLOUD
Sun, Oct. 27 at Fortune Sound Club
An international multimedia collective
with an emphasis on rehabilitation,
Crack Cloud find recovery
in expressing themselves through
experimental post-punk.
46 BEATROUTE OCTOBER 2019

new album includes “strangers” & “astronaut”
october 4
canadian tour
11.08 — victoria, bc @ save on foods memorial centre
11.09 — vancouver, bc @ pacific coliseum
11.10 — kelowna, bc @ prospera place
11.12 — calgary, ab @ scotiabank saddledome
11.13 — edmonton, ab @ rogers place
11.15 — regina, sk @ brandt centre
11.16 — winnipeg, mb @ bell mts place
11.19 — sudbury, on @ sudbury arena
11.20 — windsor, on @ the colosseum at caesars windsor
11.22 — toronto, on @ scotiabank arena
11.25 — ottawa, on @ canadian tire centre
11.26 — kingston, on @ leon’s centre
11.28 — moncton, nb @ molson canadian centre at casino new bruswick
11.29 — halifax, ns @ scotiabank centre
each ticket purchased online includes a CD or digital copy of the new album
$1 from each ticket will be donated to MusiCounts & Indspire cityandcolour.com