BeatRoute Magazine BC Edition - January 2020
BeatRoute Magazine is a music monthly and website that also covers: fashion, film, travel, liquor and cannabis all through the lens of a music fan. Distributed in British Columbiam Alberta, and Ontario. BeatRoute’s Alberta edition is distributed in Calgary, Edmonton, Banff and Canmore. The BC edition is distributed in Vancouver, Victoria and Nanaimo. BeatRoute (AB) Mission PO 23045 Calgary, AB T2S 3A8 E. editor@beatroute.ca BeatRoute (BC) #202 – 2405 E Hastings Vancouver, BC V5K 1Y8 P. 778-888-1120
BeatRoute Magazine is a music monthly and website that also covers: fashion, film, travel, liquor and cannabis all through the lens of a music fan. Distributed in British Columbiam Alberta, and Ontario. BeatRoute’s Alberta edition is distributed in Calgary, Edmonton, Banff and Canmore. The BC edition is distributed in Vancouver, Victoria and Nanaimo. BeatRoute (AB) Mission PO 23045 Calgary, AB T2S 3A8 E. editor@beatroute.ca BeatRoute (BC) #202 – 2405 E Hastings Vancouver, BC V5K 1Y8 P. 778-888-1120
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JANUARY 2020 • FREE
THE
METEORIC
RISE OF
R
E
X
ORANGE
COUNTY
PLUS!
TORY LANEZ
ALEXISONFIRE
HOLY FUCK
AND MORE
+ 10
CANADIAN
ARTISTS
TO WATCH
IN 2020
PuSh
Festival
Preview
PAGE 35
UNIQUE
50LES
FOR
UNIQUE
50ULS
JOHNFLUEVOGSHOESGRANVILLEST··WATERST··FLUEVOGCOM
PLUS!
TORY LANEZ
AMBER LIU
ALEXISONFIRE
HOLY FUCK
AND MORE
Contents
BEATROUTE
BEATROUTE
BEAT
ROUTE
BR
BRLIVE
BRYYZ
Music
4
6
23
25
29
The Guide
Calgary rapper Jae Sterling
has big plans for 2020 and
after his visionary album,
Trap Bby, we’re paying
attention.
Artist Features
Tory Lanez, Alexisonfire,
and Holy Fuck.
The Playlist
All the singles we can’t stop
listening to this month.
Album Reviews
Stormzy, of Montreal, Tinashe,
...And You Will Know
Us by the Trail Of Dead,
Kaytranada, Free Nationals,
Wolf Parade and more.
Live Reviews
King Diamond hails satan
and shines amongst an
army of loyal Mercyful Fate
fans.
THE
R EX
Cover Story
20
METEORIC
RISE OF
ORANGE
COUNTY
Rex Orange County
London-based bedroom
pop songwriter Alexander
O ‘Connor AKA Rex Orange
County minds the gap and
croons beyond his internet
beginnings with a toothy
grin.
JANUARY 2020 • FREE
LifeStyle
30
Travel
From 5-star food trucks to a
flaming hot local music scene,
Portland, Oregon is a city that
shows up.
+ 10
CANADIAN
ARTISTS
TO WATCH
IN 2020
32 Style
Rising star Lennon Stella
shares some tour fashion
tips and highlights
her skin care essentials.
33 That's Dope
Anders, FrancisGotHeat,
and Rich The Kid deliver the
first song ever composed
from sounds extracted from
a cannabis plant.
Tinashe is
in complete
control:
Album
reviews,
page 26.
High On Fire, Dec. 2, 2019 at The
Rickshaw Theatre. Read our review of
this and more online at beatroute.ca
YVR
35
36
38
Frontera
Experimental rockers Fly Pan Am
navigate their way through liminal
spaces at the PuSh Festival.
YVR Agenda
Our top picks for PuSh, Elevate
Music Project takes things to the
next level in the finals and the
VSO’s New Music Festival tunes
into a diverse medley of classical
composers.
Cheat Sheet
BeatRoute’s Essential List — the
must-see shows this month in
Vancouver.
MARIA GOVEA
JANUARY 2020 BEATROUTE 3
UpFront
JANUARY
10
CANADIAN
ARTISTS
TO WATCH
IN 2020
BeatRoute spotlights
Jae Sterling and nine other
rising stars on the Canuck
music scene
See page 14
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 • Dora Boras
Catalina Briceno • Mike Dunn
Connor Garel
Fraser Hamilton • Natalie Harmsen
Chayne Japal • Jeevin Johal
Kate Killet • Brendan Lee
Christine Leonard • Dave MacIntyre
Maggie McPhee • Pat Mullen
Johnny Papan • Michael Rancic
Yasmine Shemesh
Graeme Wiggins • Jordan Yeager
Drew Yorke • Aurora Zboch
Contributing Photographers
Joshua Farias • Sam Gherke
Vanessa Heins • Lukas Holt
Zee Khan • Kate Killet
Adrian Morillo • Kay Nyberg
Darrole Palmer • Allison Seto
Maggie Stephenson
Bobby Tamez • Alex Waespi
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
26 Duncan Street,
Suite 500,
Toronto ON,
M5V 2B9
e-mail:
editor@beatroute.ca
ALLISON SETO
@beatroutemedia
@beatroutemedia
beatroutemedia
beatroute.ca
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MUSiC
A REUNITED
ALEXISONFIRE
REKINDLE
THE FLAME
By JOHNNY PAPAN
A
lexisonfire was at the height of their
career when they announced their
sudden breakup on Valentine’s Day
2011. At that point, the post-hardcore
quintet from St. Catherines,
Ontario had been together for 10
years. Forming in their teens, the band had
grown into adulthood together, spending their
formative years writing, recording, and touring
on the road. Then it all came to a halt.
“It was a necessary trip,” remembers
vocalist George Pettit over the phone from
Hamilton, Ontario. “It was terrifying at first.
We were all little kids when the band started, I
was, like, 19 years old.”
When they released their self-titled debut
in 2002, the band described their sound as
“two Catholic high school girls in mid-knifefight,”
an image that was also used for their
record’s cover. Their music is an eclectic
balance of haunting beauty and utter chaos.
Pettit’s agonizing screech complemented by
the melancholic and soulful voice of guitarist
and co-frontman, Dallas Green, gave the
band a unique edge at the time. The band
became a mainstream sensation after the
release of their second album, Watch Out!,
which was spearheaded by their explosively
ethereal breakout single “Accidents.”
“We got kind of institutionalized by playing
shows and just touring constantly,” Pettit
says. “Being in this band is how we identified
ourselves. So when you lose that, you lose
your identity. I think everybody struggled with
that.”
After disbanding, the group scattered into
different directions: Pettit started the band,
Dead Tired, a post-hardcore outfit that is
sonically dirtier than Alexisonfire in nature,
and exclusively features Pettit’s unmistakable
vocals. Bassist Chris Steele became a barber.
Jordan Hastings filled in on drums for Billy
Talent and joined the gritty, garage-rock outfit,
Say Yes. Guitarist Wade MacNeil became
the frontman of English hardcore punk band,
Gallows, and started the Black Lungs. Dallas
Green shifted focus onto his solo project, City
and Colour.
“I think there was probably a year where
we didn’t communicate too much. We all kind
of went our separate ways and found other
CONTINUED ON PG. 9 k
VANESSA HEINS
JANUARY 2020 BEATROUTE 7
8 BEATROUTE JANUARY 2020
VANESSA HEINS
ALEXISONFIRE
k CONTINUED FROM PG. 7
passions away from Alexisonfire. Musically and
otherwise,” says Pettit.
In 2015, three years after completing their
farewell tour, Alexisonfire returned for a show
at Riot Fest in Toronto. The idea was sprung
by Dallas Green, who was originally going
to perform the festival with City and Colour.
Green reached out to the rest of Alexisonfire
via email to see if there was interest in making
a surprise appearance for City and Colour’s
encore, playing a few classic tunes. Pettit
admits he was hesitant at first, but after chatting
with the band, management, and others,
Alexisonfire announced they would play a full
set at the festival.
“I think after some time and convincing we
decided we didn’t need to hold the breakup so
preciously,” he says. “There was still desire out
there to see us play. When [the band] started
coming back again, I mean, it felt like I’d been
away from it so long that I wasn’t sure if I
could still do it, you know? When I was touring
heavily back in the day, I was just numb to performance,
it didn’t scare me. It was like muscle
memory. Now, I don’t do it every day. There is a
little bit of fear. The fear makes it easier to get
to the place of performance. Like there’s more
on the line now.”
Earlier this year, Alexisonfire wrote, recorded
and released new music for the first time in
nine years. “Familiar Drugs” is a raw, abrasive
offering, that Pettit explains as, “coming to a
point in your life when you recognize that you
need to make a change, and being given the
opportunity to make that change.” The second
new release, “Complicit” is an in-your-face
mosher about white privilege and trying to be
an ally while reconciling what it means to reap
its systemic benefits.
“I think we were outside the realm of good
taste by not recording and putting something
out,” Pettit explains. “I don’t think any of us
really want the band to become a nostalgia
act. And I recognize there’s a certain degree of
nostalgia with Alexisonfire. I think we all felt like
we could still contribute and still make good
music.”
Though Pettit denies the idea of Alexisonfire
releasing a fifth full-length record, he claims
that the band has some “secrets” hiding behind
closed doors. He admits that the process of
writing and recording has been revitalizing for
the group.
“Get us in the room and we become who
we’ve always been,” Pettit concludes. “It’s a
lot of wisecracking. It didn’t take much for
us to just kind of fall back into our old roles.
Regardless of what happened, nobody’s really
thinking about that. It felt very comfortable
when we first started hanging out again. That
really drove our creation and making music and
playing again —the sensation of being around
one another. These guys are, for lack of a
better term, like my brothers; they’re very much
family. I really do feel like the years that I spent
away from the band were very valuable. It’s a
good feeling to know that this thing that maybe
we thought was gone is back.” ,
H O
L Y
F U C K
THE NEW ALBUM AVAILABLE JANUARY 17, 2020
FEATURES ALEXIS TAYLOR (HOT CHIP),
NICHOLAS ALLBROOK (POND),
ANGUS ANDREW (LIARS)
JANUARY 2020 BEATROUTE 9
MUSiC ARTIST INTERVIEW
SUPER
TORY LANEZ
CRAZY
IS ABOUT
TO GO
By CHAYNE JAPAL
just about everything Tory
Lanez does.
At his shows, he
hurls himself into rowdy
crowds, climbs walls like
Spider-Man, and dangles
from whatever’s around,
whether or not it can support
his bodyweight. He’s
undaunted by fellow MCs,
works with the artists he wants to work
with (despite the public opinion around
them), and is quick to counter whoever he
feels disrespected by.
And of course, he’s been known to
JOSHUA “MIDJORDAN” FARIAST
here’s a fearlessness to
flip a classic hit every now and then, and
not just for two of his most successful
singles to date – 2015’s “Say It,” which
samples the rich three-part harmony from
Brownstone’s 1995 smash “If You Love
Me,” and 2016’s “LUV,” which borrows from
Tanto Metro and Devonte’s 1998 dancehall
crossover “Everyone Falls In Love”—but
particularly for his beloved Chixtape
series, which launched in 2011, a fan favourite
within his prolific catalogue.
The core of his confidence lies in his
taste, which he defines as a constant
negotiation.
“What they want is what I want,” Lanez
explains, sitting in Toronto’s Adidas store
before a meet-and-greet, where a long
lineup of the fans he’s referring to extends
through the store and up Yonge Street.
“You have to listen to music from the fan’s
perspective, as a fan of your own self,” he
elaborates.
Between the telepathic bond he’s
created with his fanbase and the constant
clamoring on social media, Lanez knew
he had to revisit the series. “I had stopped
singing for the last three years—that’s why
I felt like that essence that the Chixtape
had was gone. But when you listen to Tory
Lanez, there’s always gonna be a variety
of music. I’ll always give you a variety of
lanes.”
The whole point of the
Chixtape project was for
Lanez to put his rhymes aside
and make the sexiest R&B
jams he could, highlighting
his impressive singing
vocals and flexible songwriting.
In 2014, 2 took
a new direction, introducing
a storyline—
told through a series
of lighthearted,
but drama-filled
skits. “It was so
important to
the whole aes-
thetic of the Chixtape,” he explains. The
following year, he would continue to make
samples of 90s and 00s R&B standards
his signature on 2015’s 3 and 2016’s 4.
The songs aren’t covers (nor are they
loops) of familiar songs that Lanez just
sings over. Instead, he uses the originals
as launching points for new compositions.
The classics are confidently screwed,
chopped, reversed, replayed, interpolated,
and filtered in every which way as Lanez
juxtaposes his own and, usually, Play
Picasso’s grimy, almost eerie, sounding
production under his angelic vocals on
odes about relationships, lust, love, and
sex. In some cases, the
samples are barely
recognizable, but
their role in deconstructing the series’
themes of nostalgia and adolescence is
always clear.
For its 5th and newest edition, Lanez
wanted to do something different with the
Chixtape: “Something we felt would push
the narrative and move the needle on it.”
He found his answer when he played
T-Pain his flip of “I’m Sprung,” eventually
titled “Jerry Sprunger. T-Pain was so into
it, he laid a new verse on the remake just
for Lanez. That got the gears turning and
the ball rolling as Lanez recalls, “It was the
T-Pain feature that I used to run to all the
other places and tell people like ‘Yo, I got
T-Pain on this song, so you should do this
with me.’” The-Dream, Mario, Trey Songz,
Mya, and Ashanti – whom Lanez asked
to be the album’s cover model – and
several other artists who dominated the
00s, are seamlessly woven back into new
incarnations of their signature work on
Chixtape 5.
It’s a tough ask, but Lanez
downplays the process of
assembling such a potent
supporting cast for the
project, admitting the
real challenge was
working through the
legalities (“The clearing
process was the only
hard part for me.”) The
fact that Tory Lanez has
built up a reputation —
and a rolodex — that enables
him to execute a
project on this scale
is a feat in itself,
but, ultimately, Lanez and Play Picasso
didn’t let the whole “guest thing” distract
them from putting together an incredible
batch of songs from the most daunting
conspicuous source material imaginable.
And as cool as he’s trying to be about it,
Lanez is proud of his work, plain and simple.
“It’s so nostalgic. It’s so much to give
all in one sitting. It’s really good.”
Chixtape 5 feels like a creative peak
for Tory Lanez: a mammoth of a concept,
only executable by a bold artist. But for
Lanez, it’s still part of the groundwork
for the legacy he’s aspiring to build
for himself. Looking back at a decade
worth of Chixtapes alongside numerous
other triumphs, Lanez is cognizant of
is trajectory. “I came in at 2011. This is
the decade I got famous in, and I stayed
“relevant” throughout the whole decade,”
he laughs as he says “relevant,” as if the
idea of it going any other way for him is an
absurdity.
“[The 2010s] definitely embodies the
foundation of things. When we get down
the line and we look back at these first 10
years, we’re gonna be like ‘Yo, that’s when
everything was just getting started.’ From
2020 and upwards, it’s out of here.”
With a brief headlining tour—featuring
“special guests,” who will more than likely
be a few of the artists featured on 5—on
the horizon, his mentoring of soon-to-be
R&B diva Mariah the Scientist, and more
music on the way (including teasing a 6th
Chixtape), Tory promises he’s not ready to
rest on his laurels. “I’m about to go super
crazy. Crazier than the world could ever
expect from me.” ,
JANUARY 2020 BEATROUTE 11
MUSiC ARTIST INTERVIEW
A
M
B
R E
L I
U
After leaving f(x) and emerging as a solo artist from the S.M.
Entertainment K-Pop factory, Amber Liu is reborn By CONNOR GAREL
A
mber Liu
doesn’t want
to be perfect
anymore. It’s
not that she
believes she
already is, but
rather that her deepest instincts, forged amid
an aborted childhood, betray a profound
desire to be unerring. It’s an ascetic, monastic
kind of itch, the sort of crippling force majeure
that would make any surgeon or ballerina,
in spite of other compromising
qualities, excel at their jobs. Liu
AMBER LIU
wants to be impressive. She wants Thursday, Jan. 23
to be precise.
Vogue Theatre (Vancouver)
Such desires inevitably fail to Tix: $24.99, eventbrite.ca
cloak themselves. “My choreographer
yells at me a lot,” she tells me over
the phone, laughing, one long early morning
in November. “I’m always calculating myself
in the mirror. I’ll just stop the routine if I don’t
extend my arm at, like, an exact 45-degree
angle. It’s stupid.” In other words: anything
that isn’t perfect must be done again,
repeated until emptied of all that
might be construed as unpolished. The
enemy, forever lingering behind each
target, is mediocrity.
“It probably has to do with me starting
out so young,” she says. “I never
really got a chance to grow up, or to
explore who I was.”
Call it armchair psychology, or call it
a self-diagnosis, but in either case, the
assessment tracks. Liu was barely 15 when
she was enrolled into the years-long training
system that would spit her out, fully formed,
on the other side of f(x), the five-member
South Korean girl group that would become
one of the most internationally recognized
K-pop acts of all time. At 15, she was a nerdy,
inchoate teenager from California, nursing a
quiet interest in biology and chemistry. Then
she blinked, and she was someone very, very
different.
“Those teenage years are when you’re
really figuring yourself out, and I was already
thrown into a world where I’d be in front of
millions of people,” Liu explains. “And those
people were going to be judging me.”
This intense judgment is, ostensibly, what
the K-pop factory system anticipates. The
hope is that, through long days and rigorous
training, all flaws will be systematically eliminated,
and the artist will adopt a congenital
allergy to mistakes.
In September of this year, Liu officially
announced that she had not renewed her
contract with S.M. Entertainment and became
the first member of f(x) to begin a solo career.
She’d already released a couple of stray singles
after signing with Steel Wool Entertainment
in 2018, but transitioning into a full-time
solo artist marked a definite, promising
rebirth. It’s almost as though she’s returning to
the exact moment when she lost the chance
to explore who she was, just to correct it.
“I’m ready to have fun now,” she says. Liu
still remembers f(x) fondly, but she now realizes
that none of the money or fame it granted
satisfied her, never made her any happier. “I’m
going to escape rooms now. I’m geeking out
with my friends on anime. I’m playing video
games. Work can become just work, and I’m
trying to learn how to have fun with it.”
This isn’t hard to believe. It’s right there in
the music, which seems buoyed by the spirit
of someone who has not yet decided where
or how to set up camp. If you listen to Liu’s
latest three songs, for example — “Ready For
The Ride,” a smoldering slow jam; “Numb,” a
sparse piano ballad; and “Curiosity,”
a mellow, radio-friendly dance
tune — you’ll hear the ambient
noise of someone fiddling intently
with a pile of puzzle pieces,
as though trying every possible
combination to figure out which works best.
“I think that, after being in a certain type
of system for so long, human nature is to do
something different — hopefully,” Liu says.
“I know now that I don’t have to kill myself
over being perfect anymore. I don’t think I fit
the criteria of a K-pop idol as of now, but it’s
always going to be a part of me.”
That doesn’t mean she’s shedding all of
her K-pop inclinations. In her music videos,
Liu is still drawn to elaborate, precise
choreography. Her upcoming EP, X, will have
accompanying music videos for all six songs.
Liu is also preparing to embark on a major
2020 U.S. tour, one that will take her to 24
cities and become the longest North American
tour any K-pop artist has ever done.
I ask, already anticipating the answer,
whether this moment feels more like home
to her. “Yes,” she replies, eagerly, then
describes what seems like a return to the
locus of what governs her devotion to music:
how it connects people in varying degrees of
intimacy; how it illuminates inner truths, like
a hyperactive firefly in a dark cavern; how it
forces a position of honesty and vulnerability,
all off of “a bunch of sounds.”
“Everyone that I’m working now with has
really allowed me to be more vulnerable and
open up, and has taught me that it’s okay
to express my emotions,” Liu says. I mean
to ask what the alternative is, but then she
compares her manager to her dad, and before
I can chalk it up to a Freudian slip — like
when you accidentally call your third grade
homeroom teacher “Mom” — she starts to
say he isn’t unlike “a big brother, or maybe an
uncle,” then describes her team as an extension
of herself: a sort of intimate, surrogate
familial unit.
It’s this sense of closeness and grounding,
perhaps, that is helping Liu to come into her
own — to relinquish her desire for control
and to trust that her instincts will catch her.
It will be a long process, as all births are. “I
don’t want to be afraid anymore,” she says.
“Even with making mistakes.” Later, I make
note of how many times she has used the
word “mistake” over the last 40 minutes of
our conversation. I write it down: eight times.
“Perfect” comes up six. Nature, it would
seem, is the most difficult trap to elude. ,
GOVERNMENT
PARTNERS
theatre
dance multimedia music
JAN 21 — FEB 9, 2020
PUSHFESTIVAL.CA
MEDIA
PARTNERS
JANUARY 2020 BEATROUTE 13
10
CANADIAN
ARTISTS
TO WATCH
IN 2020
EDMONTON
1 Obroa-skai
obroa-skai.bandcamp.com/releases
Obroa-skai opened 2019 with their incredible self-titled record, which
took the harsh noise/screamo band on tour across Canada, and
in 2020 their destructive forces will show no signs of slowing with
two new split records in the works as well as plans for a full-length.
Named after an obscure planet in the Star Wars Extended Universe,
this hardworking trio stand out for their ability to incorporate caustic
noise into more conventional song structures, situating their place in
the ecosystem of extreme music as urgent, vital, and unpredictable.
CALGARY
A year can be an arbitrary unit
of time when it comes to music.
But once all the “best of” dust
has settled, starting a new year
provides a good opportunity to
look forward instead of behind,
and think about artists who
have promising futures ahead
of them. Here’s a list of artists
across the country we think will
be making waves in 2020.
By MICHAEL RANCIC
14 BEATROUTE JANUARY 2020
2
Bruce Roach
potatoheadz.bandcamp.com/album/bruce-roach-gut-c-s
Bruce Roach’s Gut cassette was a surprising hit for Melbourne/
Berlin based label Potatoheadz Records last year, but an initial
listen makes it easy to understand why. For 40 minutes, Roach’s
austere techno is executed rawly and wholly entrancing. Stylistically
Roach incorporates elements of early techno and Electronic
Body Music (think Front 242 or early Skinny Puppy) into these
compositions, leaning toward the style’s darker, eerie textures.
Not much is known about the Edmonton-based artist, though
they also collaborated with Montreal-based DJ and producer
PULSUM last year on their The Fear You Give To Me release. Also,
their Soundcloud page, which dates back a few years, is adorned
with screencaps taken from the 1989 Canadian cult horror film
Things which also happens to star an actor named Bruce Roach.
It’s an obscure, but fitting, reference for this gloriously unpolished
project.
ALLISON SETO
TORONTO
VANCOUVER
3 Stripmall
stripmall.bandcamp.com
These self-described “prairie punks”
released the killer debut Surrounding
Area this past summer and have been
gigging hard ever since. Featuring
former members of Blü Shorts, Hag
Face, Shematmomas and WeKnew,
they live up to their noisy pedigree by
delivering bold, gothic country with a
sinister slant. Vocalist Geneva Haley’s
howl is truly fierce, meeting the fiery
intensity of the open-plains-evoking
fretwork, grimy basslines, and unrelenting
percussion of the band as
they contemplate the openness and
bleakness of rural life.
4
Jae Sterling
soundcloud.com/jaesterling
By now Jae Sterling should be
a name that’s familiar to most
Calgarians, whether it’s from his
recent tenure as one of the National
Music Centre’s Artists in Residence
in 2019, or as co-founder of the
Thot Police collective along with
Cartel Madras’s Contra and Eboshi.
On Sterling’s latest tape, Trap Bby,
which arrived in the summer, he declares
he has “Big Plans” and you’d
be remiss to not take him seriously
as someone who can see those
plans through. Trap Bby showcases
his staccato flow over lithe, idiosyncratic
beats that forgo the usual
gauzy, woozy textures of trap for a
sound that’s as clearly defined as
visions can get.
5
James Baley
imjamesbaley.bandcamp.com/album/roads
James Baley has proven himself as an indispensable collaborator and
performer. Whether it’s been backing the likes of Zaki Ibrahim or U.S. Girls
onstage, appearing on the latest LPs from artists as wide-ranging as the
psych-funk sextet Badge Epoque Ensemble, and the deep-house revivalist
AZARI, or his work in Toronto’s Kiki and ballroom scene, the message
is clear: follow Baley’s rich voice and talent wherever he goes. Baley has
released two EPs of his own in 2015 and 2017 respectively, and recently
took part in The Canadian Music Publishers Association Create Canada
song camp in Calgary, so hopefully there’s more where that came from
very soon.
6
Lavender Bruisers
lavenderbruisers.bandcamp.com/releases
Bruisers mastermind Kritty Uranowski is someone who rarely gets
the spotlight shone on her, even though many would agree that
she’s a pillar in Toronto’s music scene. From her previous work in
White Suede and Patti Cake, to managing and mentoring other
artists in ventures like Girls Rock Camp Toronto and Baby Pineapple
Studio, playing with Dorothea Paas and Queen of Swords, or
the recently launched Toronto-centric music podcast Come For
A Ride that she co-hosts with partner Jesse Locke, Uranowski
has her hands in many different projects. Her commanding voice
and knack for smart hooks lie at the centre of Lavender Bruisers’
appeal, and with a great amount of momentum behind her recently
rebooted band, there’s no time like the present to start paying
attention.
7 Biawanna
biawanna.bandcamp.com
After hearing the string of stellar singles that singer/songwriter,
multi-instrumentalist and producer Biawanna released in 2019, you’d
never guess that they were released in their first year as a recording
artist. Right out of the gate, songs like “Care” are written with the
sensibilities toward melody, rhythm and style of a seasoned pro,
while Biawanna’s sleek vocals can’t help but soothe even if they’re
concerned with love lost and personal conflict. With hundreds of
thousands of plays on Spotify already, many have already taken note
of this burgeoning artist’s talents, and it’s only a matter of time before
Biawanna’s name is ubiquitous.
8
DJ Venetta
soundcloud.com/djvenetta
As co-founder of Vancouver’s NuZi, a collective dedicated to providing a
platform for Black, Indigenous, queer and trans women in the city’s electronic
music scene, Venetta (aka Betty Mulat) understands exactly how
political the dancefloor can be. Speaking out against the lack of affordability
in Vancouver for artists and how that directly affects the city’s nightlife,
Venetta has become an outspoken champion for reclaiming the space in
electronic music originally carved out by marginalized people. Her mixes
and productions are just as biting and relevant, oscillating between acid,
funky, tech house and everything in between.
CONTINUED ON PG. 16 k
JANUARY 2020 BEATROUTE 15
10
CANADIAN
ARTISTS
TO WATCH
IN 2020
VICTORIA
JONAH GRINDLER
9 Sussy
As a solo project for Suzie Raudaschl of Victoria indie pop faves
Bridal Party, Sussy is immediately a much more personal affair, something
reinforced by the stark electronic production of her songs, which fosters a
sense of intimacy and closeness with Raudaschl’s voice. The drum machine
driven backdrop of “Why Bother?” or synthy house of the more recent “1
Busy Gal” (produced by collaborator Madeline Collier) showcase just how
delicate but expressive those vocals can be, as well as the range of styles
and sounds she’s willing to play with here – making Sussy a difficult project
to pin down but all the more exciting for it.
10 Loving
loving.bandcamp.com/
After finding their footing with their highly-acclaimed 2016 self-titled
EP, Loving are readying the release of their first full length, If I Am
Only My Thoughts, this month via Last Gang records. The band’s laid
back, lo-fi folk sticks to everything it touches, like honeyed melodies
that you can’t help but feel drawn to. The band, which features brothers
Lucas and Jesse Henderson and David Parry record their songs
to tape in Parry’s basement, a process which gives their material a
great deal of warmth and timeless feel.
RALPH
MORE INFO AT: BEATROUTE.CA/BEATROUTE-EVENTS
16 BEATROUTE JANUARY 2020
Holy Fuck
I still want
everything to be
really difficult
because I feel like
that’s where some
of our best creativity
comes from.
Brian Borcherdt
Toronto-based electronic outfit Holy Fuck dance between techology,
nostalgia, and humanity on new album Deleter
By YASMINE SHEMESH
W
hen Holy Fuck’s Brian
Borcherdt is working
on music, he dances.
He prefers to be on his
feet, moving, rather than
sitting still in a chair. It
helps boost his creative
energy. Lately, he does
it every day—not just
in his basement studio,
but with his family. They
recently moved from
Toronto to a rural part
of Nova Scotia, the
province he grew up in.
When there’s not much
to do, they put on records and dance. His
14-month-old daughter especially loves it.
“She understands it,” Borcherdt says, over
the phone. “No one taught her. It’s just inherent
to the human experience, I guess. We
hear music and immediately we start moving.”
Maybe that’s one of the things we continue to
retain, he contemplates. “Maybe that is where
a lot of our freedom comes from. I think there
is some form of protest in that. In a way we’re
saying, ‘I’m not working right now.’”
Being physically engaged has always been
important to the Toronto-based band’s inner
mechanisms, and the theme of intentional
disconnection surfaces often on the group’s
newest album, Deleter, which rejects the concept
of swallowing the technology we come
into contact with whole. Instead—through idiosyncratic
sonics that combine euphoric 90s
electronica with loose, rhythmic beats and,
by design, encourage freeing movement—it
advocates for a different outcome, where we
can still retain autonomy over who we are,
and the art we want to consume.
In the past, Holy Fuck have resisted
working with vocalists, but this time around,
the songs just felt right, as did the musical
landscape.
It seems like a better time now to do
this kind of thing, Borcherdt explains. “Give
people interesting one-offs that sound a little
different and take bigger risks. It’s something
I look forward to doing more, actually.”
Deleter features a handful of carefully
selected collaborations, including post-punk
musician Angus Andrews on the standout
sort of-title track “Deleters,” an infectious,
buzzy stomp; Pond frontman Nicholas
Allbrook on the ebullient “Free Gloss,” and
Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor on “Luxe.” For
“Luxe,” which tinges classic house textures
with a folksy warble, Taylor contributed his
vocals through a 1940s-era Voice-o-Graph,
a coin-operated phonograph booth that
scratches audio onto vinyl.
It’s estimated there are only two left in existence:
one in Liverpool and the other at Jack
White’s Third Man studio in Nashville, where
Taylor recorded. Along with a warm vintage
quality, the equipment brings a fascinating
conceptual addition to Deleter that leverages
history to reflect the advances it represented
in the 40s, and remind us how similarly
uncharted the territory feels now.
“I don’t want to get caught up in that
‘thing,’ where I’m just mad at the way things
are changing—an old man who doesn’t like
what the kids are into or something like that,”
Borcherdt adds. “I think part of what makes
things exciting is that things will change. It
doesn’t mean we have to jump headfirst into
them. I think it just takes a little precaution.”
In fact, the Toronto-based electronic
music group is known for how they eschew
genre tradition by using live instrumentation
and non-instruments instead of laptops and
software. When they were starting out, the
approach was, in part, a reaction to how their
contemporaries were exploring a kind of limitless
technology in their music. For Borcherdt,
infiniteness is hard to wrap his head around.
“I like limitations,” he laughs. “That’s part of
what draws me to music: trying my best to do
something. I didn’t study music or anything,
but I’ve always loved it. Music has always
been my number one passion, but I’m coming
at it somewhat as a luddite. I like to pick up a
guitar or whatever to try to pour as much of
myself as I can into it, to try to make it good
as it could be.”
Borcherdt’s enthusiasm informs a question
of where that passion-to-challenge relationship
goes as technology changes and
if there’s a way to subvert the medium, so it
maintains a struggle. “I still want to struggle
when I get onstage,” Borcherdt continues. “I
still want to struggle in the studio. I still want
everything to be really difficult because I feel
like that’s where some of our best creativity
comes from.”
It persists as a fundamental consideration
for Holy Fuck, especially today where nearly
all of our day-to-day interactions happen
within a digitized realm. Responding to that as
a musician is difficult. With all the music in the
world at our fingertips, who’s really listening?
“We’re actually probably reaching more
people in one sense, so that’s kind of exciting,”
Borcherdt says. When it comes to the
time and sacrifice it takes to create an album,
though, it can feel disproportionate. “It leaves
you wondering how many people are making
a strong connection.”
Borcherdt grew up during a time where
finding common ideals among his peers was
challenging, especially in an area without
much exposure to what he was looking for. “It
created this thirst for inspiration, but it also
created an appreciation for those things that
I did find along the way,” he says. “Whether it
meant picking up albums and spending that
hard-earned money on them at the record
store, getting home and not even really liking
it. You know, that disappointment,” he laughs.
“And we’ve maybe forgotten what that feels
like, disappointment. But there’s also that elation
and sense of ownership, that something
can really represent to you. I think about that
so often because [now] we have everything.”
With expansive technological landscapes
come the perplexity that we don’t exactly
know who is controlling algorithms or how
our data is actually being used. Borcherdt
worries if the ambiguous vastness of it all
is more dangerous than we realize, and we
might not fully understand how vulnerable we
are. “I think that our best protection of that is
just being aware of it,” he continues. “I enjoy
having the option of unplugging and I enjoy
having the option of deleting.” ,
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JANUARY 2020 BEATROUTE 19
RE
LONDON-BASED, SINGER-
SONGWRITER ALEXANDER
O′CONNOR AKA
REX ORANGE COUNTY
IS A SOULFUL
ARTIST FOR THE
INTERNET
AGE
XORANGE COUNTY
By
JORDAN
YEAGER
20 BEATROUTE JANUARY 2020
R
ex Orange County
doesn’t mind
putting himself
under the magnifying
glass. E arly
on, he realized he
wasn’t the band
type, finding it
creatively nourishing to do it all himself. From
writing deeply insular lyrics, to producing synthy,
sunshine-soaked melodies to accompany them,
it’s been the prerogative of the multi-instrumentalist
to be the sole narrator of his own story.
While the reflective, insular nature of his work
has worked in his favour—he boasts more than
8.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify and 1.1
million followers on Instagram—his artistry is an
argument for the benefits of thriving in solitude.
The only person Rex follows back on Instagram
is his girlfriend of four years, Thea.
Rex Orange County hails a long way from his
sunny west coast namesake. Born Alexander
O’Connor in the Surrey village of Grayshott,
England, the singer-songwriter spent his formative
years in the suburbs, dreaming of escaping
the school system and taking control of his life.
At 16, O’Connor moved to London to attend
The BRIT School, a highly selective performing
arts institution notable for renowned alumni
like Adele, Amy Winehouse, FKA Twigs, and
Leona Lewis.
“I was dying to go, so I worked a little
harder,” he says over the phone from
the UK. Though notoriously difficult
to get into for anyone outside of
London, O’Connor managed to secure
his spot at the school by committing
himself to mastering the
drums, his instrument of choice
since his elementary school choir
days. He turned out to be one of only
four drummers in the class of 2016, which
enabled him to work with a wide range of peers
and genres – after all, everyone needs percussion.
The variety exposed him to possibilities
he hadn’t considered for his own music before,
like taking up guitar, honing his singing skills and
learning music production software.
“Everything I do to this day is thanks to [The
BRIT school]. My friends there were doing all
these different things, and I had nothing other
than drums. I was like, ‘I should probably do
something other than this.’” Of the school’s
impressive roster, he was inspired by the level of
ambition the school normalized. “I just think people
are driven there,” he muses. “If I’m honest, I
think they had a good run with a few people in
the beginning, and that inspired others to go. I’m
not going to lie, I think ultimately it’s the people
who went there that made it for themselves, not
necessarily the school itself.”
“I only have good things to say about my time
there,” he continues. Some highlights? “Simon
Cowell came in one time. He was giving a
speech about music, but it didn’t last very long.
I think he had somewhere else to be. And Ne-Yo
came in! Do you know Ne-Yo? Of course you do;
I just had to make sure.”
In 2015, before he had even graduated,
O’Connor released his debut album, bcos u will
never b free, an entirely self-produced, quintessential
bedroom pop album. Tyler, the Creator
found the mixtape on SoundCloud and, impressed,
reached out to compliment O’Connor’s
style. Then he flew him out to L.A. in late 2016
to collaborate on Flower Boy which resulted in
O’Connor featuring on “Foreword,” and earning
a writing credit for “Boredom,” with a writing
credit for the former.
“I thought it was somebody else,” O’Connor
remembers about receiving that first email from
Tyler. “He had an email address that sounded
like it would be him, but I thought it wasn’t. I was
like, ‘Why on earth would he reach out to me
right now, at this point in my life?’”
At the time, O’Connor had not completed
Apricot Princess, his ultra-personal sophomore
effort, but his work on Flower Boy had been
revelatory. Wanting a similarly well-rounded
portfolio of his own material, he continued working.
Hard. And ended up releasing 2017’s Apricot
Princess before Flower Boy had even come out.
That’s one of the benefits of operating solo: you
maintain total control not only of production, but
also of when your work is released.
“On Apricot Princess, I produced pretty much
all of it myself, other than a couple helping
hands,” explains O’Connor. “The mixing was
done by Ben Baptie,” who went on to play a
heavy hand in not only the mixing but also the
production, composition and lyrics for 2019’s
Pony.“This time around, [on Pony], Ben and I
actually got deeper. [He’s on] pretty much all the
songs from the ground up. There were a couple
other musicians as well, but no feature artists
listed or anything like that.”
His introverted method of making music
makes sense, considering the personal nature of
each of his projects – he revels in getting to the
core of universal experiences, which often feel
lonely and isolating from the inside. Whereas
Apricot Princess was an upbeat, rose-tinted
ode to Thea, the subsequent two years of
O’Connor’s life took him to parts of his soul that
were previously unknown. On Pony, O’Connor
delves even deeper into his own psyche through
themes of love, longing, and growing distant
from old friends.
On the first lines of the opening track, “10/10,”
he muses, “I had a think about my oldest friends
/ Now I no longer hang with them.” The rest
of the album takes its listeners on a journey
through the poignant ups and downs of this
period in O’Connor’s life – a sort of in-between
phase, when he’s achieved what he’s always
wanted and it came with some downsides he
didn’t expect. When O’Connor turns inward, he
wears his vulnerability on his sleeve. His lyrics
are delivered with a confident cognizance of
who he is, and what he stands for, and that
self-assurance seems to stem from the ability to
admit when he’s unsure.
“I still wanted to be the only one telling the
story, and not relying on anyone else to make
the song better. It’s a blessing and a curse:
you’re the one that makes all the decisions, so
you’re happy with it, but at the same time that’s a
burden to take on.”
CONTINUED ON PG. 22 k
ALEX WAESPI
JANUARY 2020 BEATROUTE 21
RE
XORANGE COUNTY
k CONTINUED FROM PG. 21
“There’s so much that’s
happened to me that I
hadn’t expected before,”
he continues. “I’ve had a
difficult time. The years
from 18 to 21 are quite
important for everyone, I
imagine, and for me, there
was a lot of negativity that
I didn’t see coming. When
REX ORANGE
COUNTY
Monday, Jan. 20
PNE Forum (Vancouver)
Wednesday, Jan. 29
to Jan. 31
Danforth Music Hall
(Toronto)
Tix: $36.59 - $46.59
I was making Apricot Princess and bcos u will
never b free, [my relationship] was all I had to
talk about and all I really wanted to talk about.”
As O’Connor’s position in the world has
shifted, so have his ambitions as a songwriter.
“This time around, there’s a lot I wanted to
discuss rather than love so much,” he continues.
“But songs like ‘Pluto Projector,’ ‘Everyway,’ and
‘It Gets Better’ celebrate the positive side, and
having that relationship. We’ve made space to
talk about me being on the other side of the
world and missing her – which is still a massive
part of my life – but there are all these other
things I wanted to address. They were more
pressing in my mind.”
When asked what exactly he went through,
O’Connor deflects, brushing it off as “hard to
explain right now.” But he’s never been one
to dwell on the negatives, anyway – listen to
Pony and you’ll hear that acceptance is more
his speed. The result is an album drenched in
emotion that evokes images of dancing in a
flower-strewn field, alone except for the chirping
birds. It’s the morning after a life-changing
party, and now you’re reflecting on the night by
yourself, glad it happened because you learned
something about yourself.
“The whole album is actually about getting
through that period of time and looking back at
the end of the tunnel and being like, ‘That was
very, very tough, but look at me now.’ I can talk
about it and put it into a song, and it’s just a
song. Things are better now.” That sentiment
is actually how the album closes out – its final
track, “It’s Not the Same Anymore,” ends with
the line “It’s not the same anymore / It’s better.”
On top of the universal anxieties of growing
up, O’Connor has the additional pressure of
doing so on an international stage. Pony is his
first major-label release, and the only album he’s
recorded with the knowledge that, yes, people
will definitely be listening.
“I spent a lot of time feeling scared in the last
The whole
album is actually
about getting through
that period of time and
looking back at the end
of the tunnel and being
like, ‘That was very,
very tough, but look
at me now.’
few months, just being nervous, because
it’s a different feeling having more people
listening,” he says. “It was harder for sure. I
spent quite a bit more time looking at each
of the things involved, whether it be lyrics
or production, just me and Ben in a room for
hours going over things more intensely than
I did before. Saying the right thing, and not
saying things, just to say them is very important
to me. Right now, though, I’m excited.”
In fact, O’Connor says making Pony is the
accomplishment he’s proudest of to date. He
took his time with it, painstakingly contemplating
each decision until he was absolutely sure it was
the best it could be. Although his rise to fame
seems sudden, the foundation has been laid for
years, and O’Connor urges other artists to be
mindful and deliberate with their work, too.
“If you go up very quickly, you come down
very quickly,” he advises. “So try to take your
time and make considerate decisions and don’t
let other people run your career.” ,
ALEX WAESPI
22 BEATROUTE JANUARY 2020
The Playlist
BEATROUTE
RIGHT
BEATROUTE
BEAT
ROUTE
BR
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BRYYZ
10 SONGS IN
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AT THE BR OFFICES
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CHECK OUT
BEATROUTE.CA
FOR MORE HOT
TRACKS ON
OUR ROTATING
PLAYLIST
+ VIDEOS,
ARTIST
INTERVIEWS
AND MORE!
Lil Uzi Vert
Futsal Shuffle
2020
We have to give
credit to Lil Uzi
for featuring
Vancouver’s own
Nardwuar on a
surefire hit song,
closing the track
with a sample
from one of his
many encounters
with the plaidclad
interview
king. Predictably
unorthodox, with
skittering techno
synths reminiscent
of old soccer
videos set to
rave music.
The Weeknd
Blinding Lights
Perfect for his
new shades-toting
80s pimp
and/or Scarface
drug kingpin
look, The
Weeknd teams
up once again
with pop savant
Max Martin for
an electrifying
and upbeat
synthpop track
that never loses
the mysterious,
dark and twisted
essence that
makes him so
unique. Abel rolls
through Vegas
and struggles
with romance
once again.
Kaytranada
(Ft. Kali Uchis)
10%
Kali Uchis wants
her money.
Kaytranada’s
funk-inspired hiphop
production
has the ability
to make anyone
sound like their
absolute coolest
selves, but Uchis’
permanently
aloof and confident
delivery
never needed
much of a lift
in that department
anyway.
Sometimes all
you need is a
pounding house
groove and a
great bassline.
Grimes
My Name
Is Dark
Grimes, in her
perfect, completely
bonkers
way, described
this track on
Twitter as “a very
not pg13 ethereal
Shadow of the
Colossus demon
nu-metal song
about insomnia.”
“Imminent annihilation
sounds so
dope,” she sings
in her jarringly
cutesy voice, just
one of the many
thoughts that
crosses her mind
when she lies
awake at night.
Stormzy
(Ft. Headie One)
Audacity
This is surprisingly
the first
collaboration
between the
smooth-voiced
alt-R&B duo and
the king of styrofoam
cups and
Auto-crooned
raps. Main
vocalist Daniel
Daley sounds
eerily like Drake,
right down to
the emotionally
distant flexes, as
he trades verses
with Future over
a slow-jam beat
from producer
Nineteen85.
Tame Impala
Posthumous
Forgiveness
A track that originally
debuted
in the Mortal
Kombat 11 trailer,
the ever-menacing
Savage slices
up his opponents
like Liu Kang in
the full version.
Dropping quite a
few references
to the gaming
franchise
amongst his
usual deadpan
humour and
quotables, this
is over four minutes
of straight
bars.
Khruangbin
(Ft. Leon Bridges)
Texas Sun
The uncategorizable
Texas trio
team up with one
of the smoothest
vocalists in the
game for the title
track of an upcoming
EP about
all things Lone
Star State. With
cover art depicting
an open road,
Khruangbin step
into folksy country
and Americana
territory as
Bridges sweetly
sings about driving
through every
Texas locale with
the girl of his
dreams.
Teyana
Taylor
We Got Love
Conceptualized
during Kanye
West’s 2018 Wyoming
Sessions,
the track finally
materializes minus
the original
verse from Mr.
West but still
brimming with
his personality in
the production
featuring heavy
percussion, orchestral
strings
and a gospel
choir. Taylor is
a star in and of
herself, rap-singing
and flexing
about the love in
her life instead
of her material
possessions.
Okay Kaya
Asexual
Wellbeing
Norwegian
bedroom-pop
artist Okay Kaya
uses some of
the year’s most
vivid, allusive
and bluntly
humorous lyrics
to construct a
pulsating and
self-deprecating
anthem about
being there for
a lover, vegan
peanut butter
chocolate ice
cream in hand,
even if the sexual
side of the
relationship isn’t
as fun as it could
be. The many instrumental
quirks
are strangely
infectious.
La Roux
Gullible Fool
The second single
from the first
La Roux album in
six years, this is
a full seven minutes
of the retro-pop
mastery
that we’ve come
to know from
Elly Jackson. An
uptempo piano
ballad that grows
into a deliciously
rhythmic synthfunk
jam session,
Jackson pounds
the keys and
criticizes herself
for getting too
optimistic about
the future of a
relationship once
again.
JANUARY 2020 BEATROUTE 23
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Reviews
ALBUM
STORMZY
Heavy is the Head
#Merky
Last summer, Stormzy headlined
Glastonbury wearing a
Union Jack-emblazoned stab
vest made for him by Banksy.
The artwork for his sophomore
album, Heavy is the
Head, depicts the English
rapper looking down at the
vest while wearing a text
crown reading “h.i.t.h.,” a
not so subtle metaphor for
his ascent to the top of the
British grime scene.
Stormzy continues the
blistering form he’s been on
since his 2015 single, “Shut
Up.” The ruthless, aggressive
delivery on “Wiley
Flow,” to well-placed
features from H.E.R. on
“One Second” and Headie
One on “Audacity,” to
heart-on-sleeve tracks
like “Rachael’s Little
Brother” and “Lessons”
all serve as highlights.
Heavy is the Head
shows Stormzy sounding
as confident and assured
as ever.
Best Track: Wiley Flow
Dave MacIntyre
JANUARY 2020 BEATROUTE 25
MUSiC ALBUM REVIEWS
...AND YOU WILL KNOW
US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD
X: The Godless Void and
Other Stories
Dine Alone
Back in motion after a six-year lull,
Austin’s …And You Will Know Us
by the Trail of Dead celebrates lead
singer Conrad Keely’s return from
living in Cambodia by releasing a
10th full-length LP.
Bursting with creativity and
emotion, the versatile post-hardcore
outfit’s painterly riffs and spirited
harmonies generate grand impressionistic
landscapes on “All Who
Wander” and “Something Like This.”
Further in, the dauntless title
track, “Who Haunts the Haunter,”
and “Through the Sunlit Door ‘’
slice through thorny heart brambles
with laser-synth precision.
The electronically-enhanced
“Gravity” delivers a crashing
crescendo blow, before dropping
a thought bomb on your cognitive
ground zero.
Best Track: Don’t Look Down
Christine Leonard
TINASHE
Songs For You
Tinashe Music Inc.
K!MMORTAL
X Marks the Swirl
COAX Records
KAYTRANADA
BUBBA
RCA
WOLF PARADE
Thin Mind
Royal Mountain Records
“All these songs are for you baby.
You know who you are,” Tinashe
whispers on the six-second
“You.”
It’s a message to the loyal fans
who have waited patiently for
Tinashe Jorgensen Kachingwe
to finally reclaim her own sound.
After years of label interference
and a solid album in 2018 where
struggles over her sound were
apparent, R&B songwriter Tinashe
is finally back, completely
independent with an album full of
songs – for you.
Right from the start, Tinashe
makes it clear she has no ill will
towards her past troubles on
opening track, “Feelings.” “You’re
still stuck in the past,” she teases.
“I don’t get mad, I get bags.”
It’s a little bittersweet but
exhilarating how free she finally
sounds here, letting her voice
explore different octaves over
late night R&B beats and low-fi
disco tracks.
Songs For You cements
Tinashe’s staying power, proving
just how good an artist can be
when they’re in complete control
of their own sound.
“Would you fight for what you
want?” she asks on “So Much
Better.”
Tinashe clearly knows what
she wants, and she finally got it.
Best Track: Stormy Weather
Fraser Hamilton
“Stars,” the opening track to X
Marks the Swirl, sets the tone
for K!MMORTAL’s ascension to
a celestial sphere in their music
career. A departure from the
organic, acoustic quality of their
debut album, Sincerity, X spins
hard-hitting verses in brisk succession,
soothed by soulful hooks
and enlivened with impeccable
electronic production. Everything
we loved about K!MMORTAL in
Sincerity—a voice of raw honey,
whip-smart lyrics serving inconvenient
truths, community awareness—abound
in X, only amped
up. Magnetic from the upbeat
“Questions” and swaying “I’m
Blue” through to hip-hop heavy
“88 and Beyond,” K!MMORTAL
hits every note with confident
transcendence.
Best Track: Sad Femme Club
Dayna Mahannah
It’s been two and a half years since
Kaytranada’s Polaris and Juno-winning
debut album, 99.9%, and he
clearly took the time carefully
crafting his follow up, BUBBA.
Kaytranada made his name on
the back of a signature sound that
took Soundcloud by storm—one
marked by soupy basslines and
swinging drums. BUBBA bears
witness to Kaytra’s growth from
bedroom producer to bonafide
pioneer, one who has left a deep
mark on pop music as we look to a
new decade.
Kali Uchis, Pharrell, Tinashe,
Charlotte Day Wilson, SiR, and others
lend their talents without ever
taking away too much attention
from the star of this show, which is
Kaytranada’s lush productions and
thoughtful artistry.
Best Track: What You Need
Josephine Cruz
Set in front of the now-common
backdrop of the late-technological
ennui era, Wolf Parade’s fifth
studio album attempts to reconcile
our quasi-cyborg condition with
the beating hearts that remain
inside us still. Lead single, the
frenetic “Forrest Green,” tries to
make sense of the band’s natural
surroundings on Vancouver Island,
where the album was recorded.
The idyllic and spiritual island functions
as a metonym for the larger
condition of life according to Wolf
Parade, a sort of paradise lost to
big consumption and bigger money.
With heavy use of vintage
synths and some of the band’s
most urgent performances on
record, Thin Mind features a Wolf
Parade ready for a resistance that
starts within.
Best Track: Forrest Green
Sebastian Buzzalino
26 BEATROUTE JANUARY 2020
FREE NATIONALS
Free Nationals
OBE, LLC / EMPIRE
Hip-hop of the grooviest order
is presented to you here by Free
Nationals. Anderson .Paak’s choice
touring band step into the light on
their self-titled debut.
Cruising through low-key funk at
a delicious pace—slow-mo, sped
up—Kelsey Gonzalez, Ron Avant,
Callum Connor and José Rios lasso
in their signature mix of cosmically
velvet instrumentals.
Featuring sublime artists like
Daniel Caesar, .Paak, Kali Uchis
and the late Mac Miller, the album
sways to beats about lovin’ and
chillin’, with the Nat’s own Connor
waxing poetic on two tracks. The
Free Nationals have true swagger
and street cred all their own.
Best Track: Oslo
Dayna Mahannah
BEACH SLANG
Deadbeat Bang of
Heartbreak City
Bridge 9 Records
OF MONTREAL
UR FUN
Polyvinyl
A psychotropic electro-pop
extravaganza, of Montreal, return
with their 16th album, UR FUN.
It’s a mature and otherworldly
blend of time periods, ranging
from 90s-inspired indie summer
jams to whole sections that feel
transported straight from the 80s
pop scene.
Raring guitars, funked out
basslines, and endearing choruses
densely populate the 10-track
effort that’s all about living life in
love.
The band has long been known
for their wacky avante-garde
vibe, and with yet another release
chocked full of lines like, “I can’t
go to work today cuz I’ve forgotten
how to human,” ringleader
Kevin Barnes absolutely does not
disappoint.
Best Track: St. Sebastien
Brendan Lee
Beach Slang have always been
about channeling the power of
rock and roll to bring hope to the
bleakest of places.
With their latest offering, they’ve
double downed on the rock and
toned down the hopeful notes, offering
a bleaker and more nihilistic
take on the world. It’s a bombastic
album that builds on their Replacements
influences (bassist Tommy
Stinson even has a guest appearance)
with cock rock swagger.
If you thought frontman James
Alex’s Quiet Slang project would
take the band down a notch
volume-wise, this album proves
otherwise. Lead single “Bang Rang
Rang” is a high octane glam-punk
rush of adrenalin that takes their
familiar sound and sleazes it up in
all the right ways.
Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak
City rings through with a beefier
and crunchier sound, boasting
enough hooks and monster riffs to
keep you riding high.
Graeme Wiggins
HARRY STYLES
Fine Line
Columbia
Harry Styles has finally found his
own sound on his psychedelic
sophomore album, Fine Line.
The former One Direction
member shed his image with his
sweeping self-titled solo debut,
but fell into a trap of imitating his
favourite rock legends instead of
creating something personal. This
time around, Styles easily dances
past the sophomore slump in
sparkling fashion, and isn’t afraid
to banish everyone’s expectations.
The record, which was recorded
under the influence of hallucinogenic
mushrooms, begins as
a party with the glittering funky
standout, “Watermelon Sugar,”
and the dark disco-inflected
“Adore You.” It quickly fades from
its euphoric kickoff, and halfway
through descends into a comedown
where the joy evaporates
and is replaced with sentimental
piano-driven and folksy ballads.
Styles toys with the ukulele,
flirts with some synths, and plays
around with jazzy horns. The
result is an array of songs that
delve into heartache and explore
the many layers that result from
finding love and losing it.
Fine Line is experimental but
playful, not straying far from the
territory of his idols, David Bowie
and Stevie Nicks, whose influences
peek through.
Now, Styles is fully in control,
letting loose and having fun.
His heart is open, and beautiful
melodies and soulful lyricism are
pouring out.
Best Track: Lights Up
Natalie Harmsen
JANUARY 2020 BEATROUTE 27
SAT JAN 11 IMPERIAL
WITH SPECIAL GUEST JUDGE DAN MANGAN
NOBLE SON
STRANGE BREED
MICHAELA SLINGER
THE LUNCHTIME BAND
CAM BLAKE
THE BROKEN ISLANDS
FRI JAN 24 VOGUE THEATRE
FINALISTS ANNOUNCED JAN 13
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT ELEVATEMUSICPROJECT.COM
28 BEATROUTE JANUARY 2020
Live
MUSiC
Vancouver
KING DIAMOND
Nov. 28, 2019
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Low ticket sales couldn’t stop Heavy
Metal royalty, King Diamond, from
shining brighter than the wedding
band aisle at People’s Jewellers.
With the upper balcony of the
Queen Elizabeth Theatre closed, the
camaraderie was at an all-time high
as an army of loyal Mercyful Fate fans
gathered on the Orchestra floor to
hail the band’s one-time lead singer
and Heavy Metal mastermind.
Rolled out on a makeshift gurney,
King Diamond wasted no time resurrecting
himself, standing to his feet
and squealing through the band’s first
banger, “The Wizard.” The macabre
style performance was set against an
impressive two-story backdrop with a
cellar door in the centre of the stage,
allowing Diamond to easily dispose of
Villains and Demons who would dare
attempt a mutiny against their dark
overlord.
And of course, what would a
King Diamond show be without a
baby sacrifice, as the singer drove a
dagger into a black-haired newborn,
freeing its soul before ripping into his
classic track, “Abigail.”
Despite a lack of Mercyful Fate
songs in the setlist, King Diamond’s
cult following remains robust, and the
devil horns were raised highly in his
honour.
Jeevin Johal
LUKAS HOLT
JANUARY 2020 BEATROUTE 29
TRAVEL
PORTLAND,
OREGON
THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST
MUSIC TOWN
THAT SHOWS UP
By YASMINE SHEMESH
SHUTTERSTOCK SLEATER KINNEY/KAY NYBERG
“I
t’s important to show up for the
people you love,” Carrie Brownstein
proclaims to the audience at the
Crystal Ballroom on the final night of
Sleater-Kinney’s two-part homecoming
gig in Portland, Oregon.
Specifically, the guitarist was referring to fighting
against social injustices. Activism has always been
at the heart of the band’s ethos. But one couldn’t
help relating Brownstein’s sentiment to Sleater-Kinney
themselves: the riot grrrls have had a bit of
a tough go lately, with the departure of longtime
drummer Janet Weiss. Here, though—in their hometown,
in a packed house filled with fans that made
the venue’s famous floating dance floor levitate—
everyone showed up.
Portland is nestled in the banks of the Columbia
and Willamette Rivers and framed by thick forest
and the snow-dipped Mount Hood. The lush Pacific
Northwest surroundings come second only to the
creativity that blooms in the Rose City. Filled with
artists, designers, culinary visionaries, and musicians,
it’s a cultural mecca.
While Portland has always been known as an
eclectic music town (the Kingsmen, Esperanza
Spalding, and the Dandy Warhols all call it home)
plenty of locals will tell you that, right now, the
scene is more diverse, inclusive, and vibrant than it’s
ever been.
Queer, Indigenous artists like Black Belt Eagle
Scout are getting more visibility and making glorious
noise. Hip-hop, which has a complicated history in
Portland, is thriving thanks to monthly showcases,
rising stars (Karma Rivera, Maarquii), and stalwarts
such as Cool Nutz who continue to promote the
culture in the city. There’s Sávila, a Mexican American
band that plays with cumbia and salsa rhythms.
Their guitarist, Fabi Reyna, is the founder of She
Shreds, a female-focused guitar magazine.
It’s no secret Portland has seen an influx of
growth in recent years. But the population boom
has contributed to an exciting time for the music
scene. It’s helped it evolve. Lifelong residents and
newcomers alike are engaged. They’re inspired.
And, together, they create a powerful force that reverberates
beautifully into other corners of the city.
DESTINATIONS
KEX Portland
100 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Housed in the century-old Vivian
Apartments on Northeast MLK, this
boutique hotel has a design-forward
aesthetic, with a variety of
accommodations from shared
rooms to private suites.
The concept for KEX was born in
Iceland, where their flagship is already
a hip landing place. And, like
in Reykjavík, local art and culture is
at the forefront of the experience
in Portland.
The lobby bar, where you can
enjoy Nordic-meets-Pacific Northwest
cuisine, is a modular space,
doubling as an intimate venue for
live music nearly every night. Some
Rose City history glows in the
outdoor courtyard: the Music Box
Sleater-Kinney
marquee from the now-demolished
landmark Fox Theatre.
Downstairs has a multi-use gallery,
too, outfitted like an old boxing gym
with a vintage punching bag. In fact,
the entire hotel is filled with antiques
sourced from Europe and Oregon’s
surrounding areas—the wood floor
in the lobby was salvaged from an
abandoned train depot across the
Columbia River. It adds to KEX’s
warm, lived-in vibe that makes travelers
feel right at home.
Portland Art Museum
1219 SW Park Ave
Founded in 1892, the PAM is the
oldest art museum on the West
Coast. It boasts an expansive and
impressive permanent collection, as
well as exciting travelling exhibitions.
On until January 20 is Hank Willis
Thomas’ All Things Being Equal….
30 BEATROUTE JANUARY 2020
KEX Portland
Portland Art Museum
The first career retrospective of
the Brooklyn-based artist features
over 90 works, including conceptual
photography, videos, and
sculpture, that survey and critique
American ideals from sports to civil
rights from the Black gaze. One of
the most affecting pieces is “14,719
(2018),” a large-scale installation
the PAM commissioned from
Thomas. It resembles an American
flag, with the number in the title relating
to how many white stars are
stitched into the navy fabric—and
each star representing someone
who died from gun violence in the
U.S. in 2018.
EAT/DRINK
Jojo
3582 SE Powell Blvd
If you ask around for the best
friend chicken, locals will point you
towards this food truck. Whether
Doug Fir Lounge
Deadstock Coffee
you order a classic southern fried
chicken sandwich, a boneless
thigh with spicy Thai fried Brussels
sprouts on the side, or one of
their many rotating specials, you
can’t go wrong. The offerings are
juicy, flavourful, and messy. Bring
napkins and an appetite.
The Solo Club
2110 NW Raleigh St
This eatery and cocktail lounge
serve up Mediterranean-inspired
plates and excellent brunch on
the weekend (the shakshuka
is top notch). Their drink menu
prominently features Amari, bitters,
and vermouth in both classic
and creative concoctions. Plus,
with kitschy details including original
barstools and light fixtures
from its historic sister-restaurant,
Besaw’s, you’ll want to linger longer
just to marvel at the décor.
Jojo
The Solo Club
Deadstock Coffee
408 NW Couch St
Sneaker-themed and judgement-free,
this coffee shop is at
once a creative hub and the place
to get a damn good brew. They
roast their own beans and have
all sorts of fun stuff on the menu,
including the LeBronald Palmer
(sweet tea, coffee, and lemonade)
that’s named for a rare edition
of the LeBron 9 Nike shoe. Plus,
you haven’t seen latte art until
you’ve seen a kick in your caffè
crema.
SHOP
Wildfang
404 SW 10th Ave
A go-to for Tegan and Sara and
Janelle Monáe, this boutique
specializes in gender neutral styles.
Think everyday essentials that look
beyond typical ideas of women’s
fashion. Their Wild Feminist Collection,
which includes everything
from fleece and t-shirts to tux
blazers, is one of their signatures.
Mississippi Records
5202 N Albina Ave
This little place has been a collector
go-to for more than 15 years
for its selection of rare blues, soul,
and jazz vinyl that also comes at
an extremely reasonable price. A
quick peek around the shop and
you’ll spot hard-to-find titles from
John Coltrane, Nina Simone, and
Blind Willie Mitchell. Mississippi
also operates as a label, specializing
mostly in re-issues. It all firmly
abides by its “Love Over Gold” motto,
which emphasizes founder Eric
Isaacson’s vision that decisions
here are made in the name of love,
not money.
Music Millennium
3158 E Burnside St
Opened in 1969, this Portland
institution just celebrated its 50th
anniversary. And, as the city’s oldest
record shop, it’s as much of a
destination as it is the place to find
quite literally any vinyl, cassette, or
CD imaginable. From Angel Olsen
and Orville Peck to the Buzzcocks
and David Bowie, bins of $2 wax,
as well as a thorough selection
of rare 45s, Music Millennium has
it all—even their own merch. Set
aside an hour or two just to explore
this awesome space.
Powell’s Books
1005 W Burnside St
No trip to Portland is complete
without a pilgrimage to Powell’s.
Known as the largest new and
used independent bookstore in the
world, it first opened in a former
car dealership on Northwest Burnside
in 1971, a flagship location that,
following a big expansion in 1999,
sprawls an entire city
block. Now, Powell’s
boasts five different
locations across PDX,
with an inventory
upwards of two million
volumes.
She Shreds
Founded by Fabi
Reyna to provide a
visible and inclusive
platform for female,
non-binary, LGBTQ+
and BIPOC guitarists and bassists,
She Shreds is redefining how
players from underrepresented
communities are presented in the
greater guitar industry. Features
from what it’s like being pregnant
on tour to women instrumentalists
in tropical music are just a glimpse
into the topics this magazine dives
into. “Reimagining, reinventing,
and redefining language, imagery,
design, and music journalism all
play a part in how She Shreds aims
to push culture forward,” Reyna
tells BeatRoute. Pick up an issue at
Powell’s.
NIGHTLIFE
Doug Fir Lounge
830 E Burnside St
Dressed up like a log cabin in homage
to its location’s roots (Burnside
was once a logging road) this
iconic venue plays host to some
of the best indie and up-and-comers
in the city. The performance
space is intimate, with a sunken
floor and open concept, so there’s
not a bad seat in the house. The
upstairs restaurant is open all day
from 7am until late and features an
exceptional science-based cocktail
menu. Don’t leave without trying a
Nitro Old Fashioned from the north
end of the bar.
The Lovecraft Bar
421 SE Grand Ave
With a huge pentagon overlooking
the dance floor, a room with a coffin
in it, and an eight-foot-tall statue
of Cthulhu, the octopus-man-dragon
creature dreamed up by writer
H.P. Lovecraft, this horror-themed
bar lives up to its namesake. It’s
also well-known for its industrial,
goth, punk, and dark electro dance
nights.
Jack London Revue
529 SW 4th Ave
Tucked away in the basement of
the Rialto Poolroom, the Jack London
Revue has a speakeasy feel to
it with, as they put it, “the modern
bells and whistles of a cutting-edge
21st century club.” The place to
see live jazz and an important
facilitator in making
space for it in the city,
the venue also hosts
a number of fantastic
weekly nights including
Neo Soul Sundays with
Rich Hunter, a figure
of Portland’s hip-hop
community.
Aztec Willie’s
1501 NE Broadway St
Taqueria by day, salsa
club by night. Voted as
the best spot for Latin dancing in
Portland, Aztec Willie’s includes a
variety of styles from bachata to
timba. You don’t have to be a pro to
join the fun. In fact, there’s usually
a dance lesson before the floor
opens up into a giant party. ,
KEX/MIKAEL LUNDBLAD
JANUARY 2020 BEATROUTE 31
Style
5
SKIN CARE
TOUR TIPS
WITH
LENNON
STELLA
By DORA BORAS
1
2
3
4
L
ennon Stella has
come a long way
since she, along with
her sister Maisy, first
charmed audiences
as children, performing
pop hits on YouTube.
Poised for the spotlight,
she graduated to the role of
Maddie Conrad on the show
Nashville until 2018. Today,
Stella has embarked on her
own projects, including her
well-known radio hit “La Di
Da,” a collaboration with pop
favourites The Chainsmokers,
and her latest single, “Kissing
Other People.”
With an ever-growing fanbase
and a promising first fulllength
album in progress, Stella
is a rising star, spending the
bulk of her time on tour, sharing
her music with the world.
BeatRoute sat down with
Stella at the Annex Hotel to
ask her to share her tour fashion
and skin care tips that she
lives by on the road.
Taking inspiration from
the late 60s and early 70s,
Stella gets her style inspiration
from rock royalty of the past,
naming Janis Joplin and Stevie
Nicks as her go-to muses both
in fashion and music. With
Pinterest as her guide, the pop
starlet uses the inspiration
board website to search for
new cues and insights on her
personal vision. “When I was
a little younger, I loved the Almost
Famous sixties vibe. Now
I feel like seventies - collars
and buttons – I’m very drawn
to,” she says.
Simple and sweet, Stella’s
go-to makeup products are a
mix of beauty lover’s classics
and new renegades.
5
1. “Lip liner is big for me!”
Cork by Mac & Coconut by
Kylie Cosmetics
2. BECCA Blush
“I love BECCA Blush!” I like it
to be dewy with lashes.”
3. The world needs to know
about: Sanitas Brightening
Peel Pads. “They’re literally
life changing and everybody
in the world needs them.”
4. Tried and true: Neutrogena
makeup wipes
5. Lights Out: Kiehl’s night
time oil with moisturizer
32 BEATROUTE JANUARY 2020
That’s Dope THIS
hether you prefer Black
Sabbath’s “Sweet Leaf”
W or Young Thug’s “Stoner,”
there are plenty of songs to choose from
if you’re looking for a song about weed.
But how about a song made from weed?
The pool of songs to choose from is whittled
down from thousands to just one.
Producer FrancisGotHeat, R&B singer
Anders and chart-topping rapper Rich
The Kid recently came together to create
the first-ever commercially available
song composed from sounds extracted
from a cannabis plant. The result is their
track “Sticky Situation,” and while it’s
undeniable that the result is a hot beat
with a catchy hook and lyrics, we still
wanted to understand how the whole
thing worked exactly, so we decided to
go straight to the source.
“We initially had our team record bio
rhythmic vibrations from our new proprietary
cannabis strain [the aptly-named
“Sticky Situation”] we are currently
developing at the Merry Jane Labs in Los
Angeles,
Kai Henry, Chief
Strategy Officer of
MERRY JANE explains
of the innovative
process: “Then we
converted these vibrations
into MIDI data, so
we can export through
music programs and
actually hear the
plants through different
instruments.”
It was then that
FrancisGotHeat involved to work his magic
with the MIDI samples, and take them from
recordings of vibrations into a full track. “I
incorporated the plant in the beat in several
ways, the biggest being the main melody,”
says Francis. “I took the MIDI signal of the
plant and routed it to a plug-in which gave
it a bell-like sound. I also
used the raw sounds of
the plant as just some
background percussive
elements or ear candy.”
Once the production
was finalized, it just
needed some vocals
which come courtesy of
Rich The Kid and Anders,
whom Francis has
collaborated with in the
past. “Me and Francis are
always working on some
MONTH IN CANNABIS NEWS AND VIEWS
420 DECIBELS
Anders, FrancisGotHeat, and Rich The Kid deliver the first song ever composed
from sounds extracted from a cannabis plant By JOSEPHINE CRUZ
Anders FrancisGotHeat Rich The Kid
cool shit together,” says Anders, “but when
he told me he was going to put a weed
plant in the booth and make a beat with it, I
didn’t even understand what he saying. But
I was down!”
The track was released in conjunction
with the one year anniversary of legalization
in Canada, and it seems fans are
enjoying the vibes thus far: the song has
racked up over 500,000 streams on Spotify
alone.
While Anders and FrancisGotHeat may
have never thought they’d be making a
song with (not just about) weed, the experience
of making “Sticky Situation” served as
a reminder about the endless possibilities
technology has provided us with today
when it comes to creating.
“I made this whole beat based off of
plant signals,” Francis says. “It could be
anything next.” ,
RIO
THEATRE
1660 EAST BROADWAY
JANUARY
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JANUARY
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JANUARY
5
JANUARY
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JANUARY
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JANUARY
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JANUARY
31
Hayao Miyazaki’s
MY NEIGBOR TOTORO
*Additional dates www.riotheatre.ca
Christian Bale & Heath Ledger
THE DARK KNIGHT
John Carpenter’s
THE THING
Friday Late Night Movie
Final Screening!
PROMARE
FANTASTIC FUNGI
*Additional dates www.riotheatre.ca
THE BODY REMEMBERS WHEN
THE WORLD BROKE OPEN
#CDNFilm
THE SHINING
THE ROOM
Ricky Gervais hosts
THE GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS
Live & FREE!
RSVP at www.riotheatre.ca
MIDSOMMAR
Director’s Cut!
Warren Miller’s
TIMELESS
Lil Peep
EVERYBODY'S
EVERYTHING
ZIGGY STARDUST
AND THE
SPIDERS FROM MARS
The Gentlemen Hecklers Present
LABYRINTH
Paul Anthony’s Talent Time
FUTURISTIC
NEW YEAR’S EVE SPECIAL!
One Trilogy To Rule Them All!
THE LORD
OF THE RINGS
All Day. Back to Back. Extended Editions.
April O’Peel’s
CARTOON CABARET
Nicolas Cage in
COLOR OUT OF SPACE
The Geekenders Present
BEATLES LIVE BAND
NERDLESQUE
COMPLETE LISTINGS AT WWW.RIOTHEATRE.CA
S
JANUARY 2020 BEATROUTE 33
YVR
FLY PAN AM NAVIGATE
THROUGH LIMINAL
SPACES IN FRONTERA
By YASMINE SHEMESH
L
ast
September, Fly Pan Am released C’est ça, their first
album in 15 years. Now, commissioned to create the
soundscape for FRONTERA, a collective multimedia
performance that leads the charge at this year’s PuSh
International Performing Arts Festival, the Montréal
post-rockers are back with a very big bang.
FRONTERA fuses the band with Animals of Distinction, the
contemporary dance company of renowned choreographer Dana
Gingras, and United Visual Artists, a UK-based art practice. With
its title meaning “border” in Spanish, the show uses live music,
wild movement, and striking lights to explore concepts of boundaries
and surveillance.
Though mixed-media endeavours are familiar terrain for
guitarists Roger Tellier-Craig and Jonathan Parant (outside the
band, Tellier-Craig and Gingras are frequent collaborators, and
Parant has worked extensively in congruence with dance and
theatre), FRONTERA was a unique undertaking.
Parant describes the creative process as a series
of co-existing ecosystems. The first was Gingras
and a few dancers, who then worked alongside
UVA to design the lights. Fly Pan Am entered
into the third ecosystem and composed by
watching, listening, and doing. As they developed
the score, the choreography and lights
shapeshifted with them, and vice versa. “There
was this constant push and pull that ended up
crystallizing,” Tellier-Craig explains. And as the
collective have begun to publicly perform the piece in its
entirety, he says, the work has continued to transform.
Borders are liminal spaces, too—something we can’t
tangibly see, but we feel—and the notion expands both
metaphorically into the performance experience, with
interactivity between the artists, and physically. “I feel
like we’ve never seen [the show],” Tellier-Craig laughs.
“We have a few layers of different types of opacity, curtains
going up and down.” These, he adds, are a type
of frontier that can feel limiting, but also very freeing.
“I’m totally obsessed with liminal spaces,” Parant
says. “Sometimes a border is very open. It’s what you
don’t perceive. The space where matter is intertwined.
Is it the beginning of existence or the end of
it?”
January 30 // Queen Elizabeth Theatre //
Tix: $36-75, pushfestival.ca
PuSh
Festival
Preview
01.20
VANCOUVER’S ESSENTIAL JANUARY HAPPENINGSk
JANUARY 2020 BEATROUTE 35
ADRIÁN MORILLO
01.20YVRAGENDA
BEATROUTE’S TOP 5
PUSH PICKS By YASMINE SHEMESH
For more than 15 years, the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival
has been a champion of innovative and provocative ideas, with
nuanced programming that seeks to challenge, enlighten, and inspire.
Our top picks for 2020 take on complex notions of identity, social politics,
perception, and lived experience, all with music as an anchor.
PuSh
Festival
Preview
Strange Breed
SAM GEHRKE
1
Ikigai Machine
January 25 / Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre
In Japanese, the word “Ikigai” refers to the reason for one’s being: the
thing in life that brings you joy and value. For Myles de Bastion, a deaf
advocate and artist, that thing is music. de Bastion creates installations
where sounds, light, and vibration react to one another. For this
particular project, a combination of mesmerizing soundscapes and
captivating imagery come together to create an immersive, inclusive
narrative.
JAKKUB FULIN
MATT REZNEK
2
She, Mami Wata &
The Pussy Witchhunt
January 29-February 1 / Performance
Works
DJ Softishan provides a live
soundtrack to d’bi. young anitafrika’s
highly physical, emotional,
and intentional performance about
four friends and their lives in
present-day Jamaica. Embodying
a number of characters, from a
church pastor to a pole dancer,
anitafrika weaves a powerful,
intersecting narrative that explores
gender, sexuality, religion, and the
black diaspora.
3
Footnote Number 12
February 6-8 / Performance
Works
David Foster Wallace’s 2006 New
York Times essay about tennis
player Roger Federer becomes
both performance art and cultural
criticism in this challenging and
thought-provoking production. The
text is broken up and unpacked
into a series of monologues that,
by their delivery—digitally altered
by sound artist Nancy Tam—examine
the politics of language,
privilege, and social context.
SONNET J BLANTON
4
Anywhere But Here
February 4-15 / Vancouver
Playhouse
Juno Award-winning hip-hop artist
Shad makes his theatrical debut
with contributions to the score of
this dark political comedy, written
by Chilean-born, Vancouver-based
playwright Carmen Aguirre. The
music, which borrows from a broad
spectrum of genres from disco
to samba, helps inform themes of
home and displacement as a family
journeys to contest their refugee
status on the border between
Mexico and the United States.
5
The DJ Who Gave
Me Too Much
Information
February 7 / Western Front
Exploring the way music infiltrates
our lives and shapes our
perception and understanding
of our experiences, PME-ART’s
“party performance” takes
dozens of records, plays them
one at a time, and tells accompanying
stories attached to the
tune. Audience members are
invited to listen and reminisce,
too.
ELEVATE Music Project:
Semi-Finalists Break
Through The Sounds of
Vancouver’s Music Scene
If you’ve been feeling something
simmering just below the surface
of Vancouver’s local music scene,
now may be the time it bubbles into
plain sight. Incredible musicians are
florid on the west coast, yet without a
justified platform they sometimes risk
flying under the radar.
The ELEVATE Music Project is the
brainchild of The MRG Group. Sensing
opportunity amidst the slow touring
season, Adam Vickers and Angela
Howells of the ELEVATE team explain
that the intent behind the venture is to
give Vancouver musicians elbow room
in the performance sphere—and a
shot at career-changing prizes and
opportunities.
After 24 bands and artists showcased
their musical dexterity over
four nights of preliminary rounds in
November and December, the selected
semi-finalists are now up to plate.
On January 11, a genre-diverse cast
of six local acts hit the stage at the
Imperial for ELEVATE’s semi-finals.
Revel in Noble Son’s quirky charm,
The Broken Islands’ post-rock chutzpah,
Strange Breed’s riot grrl attitude,
the groovy beats of The Lunchtime
Band, Michaela Slinger’s angelic
vocals, and the youthful energy of
Cam Blake.;
Special guest judge Dan Mangan
will preside amongst a panel
of industry professionals who will
choose three finalists to move on to
ELEVATE’s last hurrah for the grand
prize on January 24. Be a part of the
experience that celebrates Vancouver’s
burgeoning talent and put the
fun back in no-fun city.
January 11 (Imperial Vancouver),
January 24 (The Vogue Theatre) //
Tix: elevatemusicproject.com
Dayna Mahannah
36 BEATROUTE JANUARY 2020
Agenda
YVR
RAPTURE, RHYTHM, AND THE TREE OF LIFE
Emily Carr’s forests and portrayals of Indigenous life are some of her most important work; the latter,
particularly, from a critical standpoint as a glimpse into the colonialism of the late 19th and early
20th centuries. In Rapture, Rhythm and the Tree Of Life: Emily Carr and Her Female Contemporaries,
Carr’s paintings are displayed beside Indigenous creators from the same period — Amy
Cooper (Th’ewá:li), Mary Little (Nuu-chah-nulth), and Placida Wallace (Lílwat Nation) — whose
pieces prominently feature materials from the cedar tree: the “tree of life.” With contributions
from other Vancouver-based artists like Unity Bainbridge and Beatrice Lennie, this exhibition
highlights the prolific contributions women on the West Coast made to modernism in this era.
Until June 28 // Vancouver Art Gallery
WE WILL ROCK YOU
Footloose meets Freddie Mercury in a dystopian future where
music and freedom of thought is forbidden, We Will Rock You
follows a group of rebels — the Bohemians — as they face
off against the all-powerful Killer Queen in a fight to save rock
and roll. The jukebox musical, which includes many of Queen’s
biggest hits, including “Bohemian Rhapsody” and, of course,
“We Will Rock You,” was first staged in 2002 in London’s West
End and is one of its most popular productions.
January 10-11 // Queen Elizabeth Theatre // Tix: ticketmaster.ca
NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL
Viviane Hagner
(re)creations is the theme for the Vancouver Symphony
Orchestra’s seventh annual New Music Festival, with
programming that offers fresh takes on a diverse medley of
music and features celebrated composers, both local and
internationally renowned. Among the highlights include Nicole
Lizée’s reimagining of The Sound of Music, set to cuts from
the Montreal-based artist’s own catalog; VSO Music Director
Emeritus Bramwell Tovey’s rendition of Vivaldi’s The Four
Seasons, with violin, strings, and electronics; and the Violin
Concerto of Korean composer Unsuk Chin, interpreted by
German-Korean violinist, Viviane Hagner and Finnish clarinetist,
Kari Kriikku.
January 11-16 // Various Locations // Tix: vancouversymphony.ca
Hall
ALL AGES/BEV Service for 19+
JANUARY 2020 BEATROUTE 37
01.20YVRMUSIC
The Cheat Sheet BR PICKS THE 5 ESSENTIAL LIVE MUSIC SHOWS
HIPHOPR&B
1 ZION I
Fri, Jan. 17 at Biltmore Cabaret
Spiritualistic alternative hip-hop at
its finest. This genre-bending old
school project will take your mind
to a meditative level.
2
YBN CORDAE
Fri, Jan. 17 at Fortune Sound Club
From funky bass to 808s, Cordae
is a lyrical prodigy in the eyes of
his YBN crew, with recent collaborators
including Anderson .Paak
and Chance the Rapper.
3 SHOCORE
Sat, Jan. 18 at Rickshaw Theatre
Revisit the early 2000s with the
return this industrial rap-metal
group from Vancouver. They will
surely have your “bones cracking.”
4 GZA
Mon, Jan. 20 at Fortune Sound Club
Celebrating the 25th anniversary
of his atmospheric and philosophical
record, Liquid Swords, this
Wu-Tang Clan original will put you
in checkmate with his genius flow.
5
XAVIER OMÄR
Fri, Jan 24 at Fortune Sound Club
This soulful R&B crooner’s atmospheric
ambiance thrusts listeners
into a seductive, neon vibration.
ROCK
METAL
INDIE
1
THE STRUMBELLAS
Fri, Jan. 10 & Sat, Jan. 11 at Commodore
Ballroom
This alt-country collective has been
in high “Spirits” since jumping into
the mainstream, earning them two
nights in a row at the Commodore.
2
FOG LAKE
Wed, Jan. 15 at Biltmore Cabaret
Like a sedative, this lo-fi songwriter
from Newfoundland will guide
you into a dream-like haze with his
acoustically prominent, hallucinatory
songs.
3
KING PRINCESS
Thurs, Jan 16 at Queen Elizabeth
Theatre
One of the hottest artists of 2019,
this pop music royalty has taken
the crown with Cheap Queen, topping
best-of lists all over the world.
4
...AND YOU WILL KNOW
US BY THE TRAIL OF THE
DEAD
Mon, Jan. 20 at Fox Cabaret
Taking influence from varying ends
of musical spectrums, this explosive
art punk group can deliver
multiple experiences in one track. .
5 PARAVEL
Sat, Jan. 25 at the Roxy
This young group from Abbotsford
looks to take listeners on a trip
through the stars with their cosmic
pop-rock sound.
1
CHTHONIC DEITY
Sat, Jan. 11 at Astoria
Dropping their debut record, Reassembled
in Pain, this past Halloween,
Chthonic Deity leaves listeners
baffled with brutally graphic lyrics
and a headbangingly putrid sound.
2
GOD SAID KILL
Fri, Jan. 17 at Pat’s Pub
Contrary to what their name
suggests, this six-piece group is
technical, melodic and demonically
heavy.
3 NIGHTSEEKER
Fri, Jan. 24 at Wise Hall
Inspired by 80s metal, Nightseeker
takes listeners on a space-rock
odyssey with songs of slaying
dragons, making love, and drinking
beer.
4 WINTERFEST
Fri, Jan. 24 at Rickshaw Theatre
The first metal festival of 2020, Winterfest
aims to destroy Vancouver
with performances by Anciients,
Gross Misconduct, Pound and many
more of the city’s heaviest acts.
5 BISON
Sat, Feb 1 at Rickshaw Theatre
Like the animal for which this band
got its name, Bison’s beastly sound
takes listeners on a wild journey of
sonic sludge
PUNK
1
THE RARE FORMS
Sat, Jan. 11 at Antisocial Skateboard
Shop
Featuring members of the Shivas,
BHS, and Marion Walker, this group
from Seattle adds a nostalgic rock
twist to their dirty sound.
2
THE KING KHAN
& BBQ SHOW
Fri, Jan. 17 at Rickshaw Theatre
Intricately mixing punk rock with
doo-wop, this infamous Montreal
duo takes seemingly incompatible
genres and puts forth a unique
sound.
3
GREG REKUS
Sun, Jan 18 at Pat’s Pub
Who needs an electric guitar? All
this “punkoustic” rocker needs is
his trusty acoustic six-string to
deliver hard-hitting, catchy, punk
tunes that keep you dancing.
4
ALEXISONFIRE AND
THE DISTILLERS
Tues, Jan. 28 at See-Scape
One of the biggest shows of the
month, Canadian post-hardcore
legends, Alexisonfire return from
an 8-year hiatus with the recently
reassembled, equally influential,
Distillers.
5
THE JUDGES
Sat, Jan. 25 at Wolf Bar
This group of punks looks to slam
the gavel down in Maple Ridge,
sentencing listeners to a night of
smashing into each other before
they smash the patriarchy.
EDM
1 DEORRO
Fri, Jan. 17 at Harbour Events Centr
An electro-house O.G., Deorro will
have you clapping your hands and
shaking your rumps to the bumps
of bass.
2 KHANVICT
Fri, Jan. 17 at Imperial
Hailing from Surrey, BC, this
Punjabi producer takes inspiration
from his Indian heritage to create
a unique, atmospheric electronic
sound.
3 WOOFAX
Fri, Jan. 17 at Gorg-O-Mish
Beginning his career as part of
Krewella, Woofax has spread his
wings to create a wobbly, bassheavy
set of future funk and dank
dubstep.
4
WAX MOTIF
Fri, Jan 24 at M.I.A.
Deep house icon, Wax Motif, will
surely drop a bombastic set of
bouncy tunes fitting for an underground
vibe.
5 JAUZ
Sat, Jan. 25 at Commodore Ballroom
A maestro of the mix deck, Jauz
can take a variety of genres and
drop them into a full night of never-ending
party slappers.
38 BEATROUTE JANUARY 2020