BeatRoute Magazine BC Edition - March 2020

MARCH 2020 • FREE
KENNY
+
CARIBOU
U.S. GIRLS
KESHA
THUNDERCAT
& MORE
UNLOCKED & LOADED:
HOW HIP-HOP’S
DUO OF THE
MOMENT MADE
AN ALBUM IN
THREE DAYS

UNIQUE
50LES
FOR
UNIQUE
50ULS
JOHNFLUEVOGSHOESGRANVILLEST··WATERST··FLUEVOGCOM

Contents
Parisian photographer Inés Ziouane goes
into the night with Black Honey (pictured)
and others, documenting international stars
on the rise. Page 28.
INÉS ZIOUANE
Music
5n UP FRONT
Looking forward to the 2020
Juno Awards, we check in to
host city Saskatoon, SK to find
out why it’s called the Paris of
the Prairies.
6n Artist Features
Thundercat, Kesha, U.S. Girls,
Caribou, and more.
19n Monthly Playlist
All the singles we can’t stop
listening to this month.
21n Album Reviews
Little Dragon, Phantogram, The
Garden, Jessie Reyez, D.O.A.,
Porches, and more.
+
CARIBOU
U.S. GIRLS
KESHA
THUNDERCAT
& MORE
UNLOCKED & LOADED:
Cover Story
KENNY
HOW HIP-HOP’S
DUO OF THE
MOMENT MADE
AN ALBUM IN
THREE DAYS
14 Denzel Curry
& Kenny Beats
A hip-hop match made
in heaven, Kenny Beats
and Denzel Curry channel
their manic chemistry into
Super Bowl-level energy on
Unlocked.
MARCH 2020 • FREE
LifeStyle
24nFashion
Beyoncé’s Ivy Park x adidas
collab is gender-neutral
and features a stunning
orange and maroon colour
palette borrowed from her
signature bold style.
28nBehind The Lens
Photographer Inés Ziouane
gives us a peek through her
lens as she follows some of
the biggest stars in music
today including Billie Eilish
and Yungblud.
30nTravel
Boise, Idaho: Spuds, buds,
and destinationless exploration
in the City of Trees.
YVR
33nQuanah Style
Canada’s a Drag star on
Trans Scripts and controlling
the narrative.
35nYVR Music
Spectres look back in
black on dark wave reverie,
Nostalgia. Plus new music
from War Baby, Wut and
Hotel Mira.
36nYVR Agenda
Celebrate International
Women’s Day all month
long with unique events
from Music BC, the Growing
Room and burlesque
extraordinaire, Burgundy
Brixx. Plus an interview
with Jazz vocalist Dianne
Reeves.
37n Astrology: Venus
Forecast
Pisces season marks the
end of the year if you speak
astrology and our cosmic
advisor has a map to your
new beginnings.
38nThe Cheat Sheet
BeatRoute’s Essential List
— the must-see shows this
month in Vancouver.
Jessie Reyez turns pain into beauty on
Before Love Came To Kill Us. Page 23
MARCH 2020 BEATROUTE 3

Great tasting, smoothly refreshing
gin cocktails in four delicious
natural fruit flavours.
made by distillers.

UpFront
Publisher
Julia Rambeau Smith
@beatroutemedia
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Glenn Alderson
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Alex Kidd
Layout/Production Manager
Rachel Teresa Park
Managing Editors
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Contributing Editors
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Contributors
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Jordan Currie • John Divney
Aerin Fogel • Isaac Nikolai Fox
Fraser Hamilton • Natalie Harmsen
Christian Kindrachuk • Brendan Lee
Christine Leonard • Sarah Macdonald
Kayla MacInnis • Max Mertens
Yasmine Shemesh • Matt Williams
Sumiko Wilson • Aurora Zboch
Contributing Photographers
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Sebastian Buzzalino • Aris Chatman
Parker Day • Christine Do
Christopher Good • Phillip Harris
Max Hirschberger • Richmond Lam
Shervin Lanez • Jerris Madison
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Ines Ziouane
Coordinator (Live Music)
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MARCH
THE 2020 JUNO AWARDS
SASKATOON MUSIC SCENE SECRETS
VENUES:
ndearingly known as the “Paris of the
EPrairies” or “Bridge City”, Saskatoon
is this year’s host city for the Juno
Awards. Known for its disproportionate
number of bridges over water (weird flex),
here are five Saskatoon music scene
gems to
watch for on the ground at this year’s
Juno Awards.
Amigos
Earning its place at Canada’s National
Music Centre, Amigos has been a
cornerstone venue for over 20 years,
known for its undefeated artist hospitality
and Tex-Mex food.
Broadway Theatre
Originally a heritage theatre, this
non-profit and promoter now presents
countless shows across Saskatoon,
bringing in diverse acts spanning from
GZA to Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
Hip-Hop House Party
at The Common Room
DJs Mikey Dubz & Kidalgo’s Hip-Hop
House Party is Saskatoon’s longest
running hip-hop night. Hosted at
The Common Room by Coors Event
Centre, it offers free entry, pool tables,
and popcorn.
Tefrondon & Trifecta Sound Co.
Tefrondon, Saskatoon’s current DJ boywonder,
has hosted two of the city’s most
packed party nights, Lituations and Soiree.
He also runs shows with his crew Trifecta
Sound Co. Keep an eye out for anything
Tefrondon-related, as well as other Trifecta
Sound Co. artists in the JUNOfest lineup.
The Bassment
This original Saskatoon jazz venue holds
the vibes of LA’s 70s-era supper clubs.
LOCAL MUSIC:
lthough largely known for folk and
Arock acts like The Sheepdogs and
The Dead South, Saskatchewan and
Saskatoon are also home to electronic
and urban artists gaining international
acclaim. Catch some of these artists also
performing at JUNOfest.
Alex Bent + The Emptiness* - "Coolin"
If Frank Ocean, Post Malone, and Our
Lady Peace had a baby, this is that baby
(from his album, “Baby”).
Denise Valle* - "Repeat Affections"
Saskatoon’s own El Salvadorian “Queen
of Soul”.
respectfulchild - "Glitter"
Non-binary,
Samurai Champs
classically trained Malaysian-
Chinese violinist finds a loop pedal.
Toria Summerfield - "Kiss Me Lean"
Introverted Myspace bedroom-pop with
the heart of a Soundcloud rapper.
VBND & Katie Tupper - "Name
(On My Tongue)"
Charlotte Day Wilson had better watch
her back! Keep an eye out for Tupper’s
solo work in 2021.
Samurai Champs* - "Still Mine"
The Southeast Asian hip-hop boy band
from the middle of nowhere.
VBRTR & Sienna Lee - "Want You"
Future-R&B Filipino DJ-producer duo.
*performing at JUNOfest
By MARVIN CHAN
The Juno Awards air on CBC, Sunday,
March 15 at 5 p.m. PST/8 p.m. EST.
Samurai Champs
MARCH 2020 BEATROUTE 5

THUNDERCAT IS LOOKING
ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE
LA’S MOST IN-DEMAND BASSIST AND SINGER
LOOKS FOR LIGHT AND LAUGHTER IN DARK TIMES.
By MAX MERTENS
Over the course of his prolific career, Los
Angeles bassist and singer Thundercat
(born Stephen Bruner) has never stopped
moving.
In the past decade, he’s released three
critically-acclaimed albums, collaborated
with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Pharrell Williams,
and Kenny Loggins (winning a Grammy for his work
on 2015’s To Pimp a Butterfly), and toured around
the world. He had no immediate plans of slowing
down, until a tragic death in late 2018 forced him to
reconsider. Bruner was scheduled to open for frequent
collaborator and close friend Mac Miller on his North
American tour shortly before the Pittsburgh rapper
died of an accidental drug overdose.
“That was my best friend,” Bruner says over the
phone from his home in Los Angeles. “It was one of
those moments that was hard for me to process. I had
to sit down and let that in — that was nobody else’s
weight to carry, it was mine. As much as I wanted to
try and push through and go wherever I wanted to go
mentally about it life took precedent.”
It Is What It Is, his fourth album on Brainfeeder
Records, finds Bruner waxing philosophical about love
(“At this point, I’m definitely starting to feel more like
Future than Drake,” he jokes), loss, and navigating life’s
many ups and downs. The 15 songs on the album are
honest, sometimes heartbreaking, and frequently very,
very hilarious. There’s a song about wearing a Dragon
Ball Z durag (“Dragonball Durag”) and another about
joining the mile-high club featuring comedian (and
occasional rapper) Zack Fox (“Overseas”).
This tongue-in-cheek humour is nothing less than
what you’d expect from the man who describes
himself as an “internet troll,” and who shared his North
American tour dates in a short video showing him
“working out” in Uma Thurman’s Kill Bill outfit, eating
cat food, and pretending to hump a stuffed Pokemon.
“I prefer to laugh at most things, I guess,” he admits,
when asked if comedy helps him process these
personal experiences that feel like being stuck in a
never-ending dark tunnel. “There’s always the old
saying: ‘Every musician wants to be a comedian and
every comedian wants to be a musician.’”
Similar to his 2017 album, Drunk, It Is What It Is brings
a laundry list of collaborators into Bruner’s intergalactic
world. But rather than falling victim to the streaming
era’s tendency to encourage overstuffed, feature-heavy
albums, It Is What It Is weaves in its supporting cast —
like saxophonist and bandleader Kamasi Washington,
Canadian jazz outfit BADBADNOTGOOD, and
enigmatic rapper Lil B (“He’s got a really big heart and
he really wants stuff to be dope, but he’s also about his
business, and I fuck with that”) — naturally.
“Black Qualls,” which he’s described as a meditation
on what it means to be a young black American, sees
him trading vocals with Steve Lacey, Childish Gambino,
and Steve Arrington of 70s funk group, Slave.
For Bruner, whose upbringing in an incredibly
musical family (both of his brothers are musicians, and
his father was a drummer who played with Diana Ross,
the Temptations, and Gladys Knight) gave him the
chance to meet many LA jazz greats, he welcomes the
opportunity to learn from his forebears and give them
their flowers while they’re able to smell them.
“If you get a chance to connect those dots on any
level, it’s amazing, because you don’t always get to
do that,” he says. “Having Steve Arrington and Steve
Lacey and Donald Glover on a track, I feel like if we
would’ve been a band back when the Ohio Players was
popping, they would have had some competition.”
Now at 35 years old, Bruner’s armed himself with
collected wisdom, like recognizing the pitfalls of social
media. There’s a repeated line on “Black Qualls,” where
he’s embroiled in conflict: “Wanna post this on the 'gram,
but don't think I should.” It’s a statement that reads like
a 21st century parable. Though Bruner insists that he
doesn’t take his internet presence too seriously, he’s still
self-aware. “I don’t want to be the guy that’s oblivious to
where they’re at. I still pay attention.”
He's not alone in his ability to split his attention
between a cheeky remark and a sincere response. Is
there another way to navigate timelines where we can
expect to be fed a dank meme right before a eulogy?
Bruner’s quick to point out that while the mediums
may have changed, outrage and grief are not new
phenomena to humankind. In the past year, Los
Angeles abruptly and shockingly lost two cultural
icons, rapper Nipsey Hussle and NBA player Kobe
Bryant. “I think what was surprising was that Nipsey
got killed in broad daylight, and the disregard for him
not just as a rising star, but as a person,” he says.
Bruner also paid tribute to Bryant by sharing a photo
on Twitter of his cat wearing a #24 purple and gold
Lakers jersey. “You can feel the broken heart of
Los Angeles right now,” he says. “It put things into
perspective, I think, for everybody out here, how
important the time is you have with each other, and
how fragile life is.”
“My music teacher — he was kind of like a
second dad to me — he always said things
like ‘Prepare for the worst and hope for the
best,’” Bruner continues. “Those moments
when he said stuff like that to me have
never meant more than they do
right now, in
these moments
when we’re
experiencing some
of the gnarliest stuff
in our generation. You
just try to find the good
in these moments, that’s
all you can do.” star
6 BEATROUTE MARCH 2020

PHOTOS BY PARKER DAY
MARCH 2020 BEATROUTE 7

KESHA’S
RECLAMATION OF JOY
In late January, the day before the
release of her fourth full-length album,
High Road, I’m on the phone with
Kesha telling her about my bad father.
I didn’t intend on it. It sort of spilled
out. High Road includes a ballad called
“Father Daughter Dance,” a track I took to
immediately. The song, about Kesha never
knowing her father, opens with “Oh, I wish
my heart wasn’t broken from the start / I
never stood a chance.” I surprised myself
by crying to those first lines. Because of
my soft Scorpio heart, I tell Kesha this. I
tell her all about it.
“Oh my goodness, I have chills,” she
says slowly.
I’ve written about the estranged
relationship I have with my father before.
By being so public about a private pain,
it’s too often a vain pursuit of mine to seek
out a loose camaraderie. Maybe I’m not
so alone. Maybe someone in my small
corner of the Internet will relate and tell
me that we’ll be okay. Kesha echoes this
thought back to me with far more precise
articulation.
“I really never intended on talking about
that side of my life publicly just because it
kind of seemed off limits.” But she pushed
herself to examine why she felt compelled
to—for such an honest person—leave
this portion of her life untouched. “It was
nothing I ever thought I would discuss
publicly, especially in the form of a song.
To hear somebody say that they relate to
[the song] is why I put it out, even though
it makes me incredibly uncomfortable and
feel emotions that I haven't even quite
worked out yet.”
For more than a decade, Kesha has
given us permission to feel but also to
have a really good fucking time. The pop
star, formerly Ke$ha, defined the 2010s
with her vivacious, youthful, and trashy
songs like “TiK ToK,” which spent nine
weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot
100, and became one of the best selling
digital singles of all time, collecting over
$25 million in sales. Her debut record,
2010’s Animal, was a revelatory, partypraising,
unpretentious pop record. And
despite profiles at the time that attempted
to reduce her work to superficial club
bangers, Kesha spoke assuredly about
her future as a pop singer with enduring
talent.
It feels foreign now to tap into that
particular category of sizzling, temporary
fun. This concept of fun seems restricted
to a certain age range; that when you
age out and leave your early 20s or begin
“adulting,” that fun is lost to that moment
of time.
And this is what Kesha, now 33, is
trying to do still for herself: reclaim a
familiar, but more honest, joy that’s
entirely on her own terms.
High Road is Kesha fully formed. It
takes all the best parts of her career and
firmly places them in her own hands,
moulding a fun, thoughtful, prickly and
sweet record. Kesha executive produced
it — a task she enthusiastically took to.
“I like being able to control the narrative
of what this record is because it will live
far beyond my lifespan,” she explains.
“I wanted to represent myself in a really
honest, authentic way.”
High Road runs through pop, hip-hop,
and country. It even finds Kesha rapping
again. All emphasize her I-don’t-give-ashit
attitude (so enviously formed on the
biting “Honey”) and her propensity to fuck
all the way off into whatever experience
she’s in. Both Sturgill Simpson and Beach
Boys legend Brian Wilson join her on
“Resentment;” cruisemate and legend
herself Big Freedia features on the single
“Raising Hell.”
On “Shadow,” Kesha’s exultation is
more a deft proclamation as she sings,
“I’m so happy and you hate that, I love
love, I love life” and “get your shadow
out of my sunshine.” Here, she sounds
liberated. I asked Kesha how she
managed to find happiness. It’s a daunting
task for an everyday person, but for a pop
star? It seems mountainous.
“To maintain your sense of self and,
at the same time, entertain and provide
people with what they want — I feel like
I've earned my happiness.
“I put a lot of work into reclaiming my
voice, reclaiming the right to be happy and
joyful. I have no reason to be ashamed or
to shy away from talking about going out
and having a wild party night or having an
amazing sex life. These are all things that
are realistic in my life and part of living as
a human being.”
It invites a moment of pause, and an
opportunity to investigate how we treat
women who have been generous with
us by publicly coming forward with the
most difficult moments of their life. Should
that trauma remain integral to their art or
person and define them going forward? At
what point do we say, yes, you deserve to
be happy again in whatever way that takes
shape?
It should go without saying that Kesha
deserves to feel joy. That for everything
the pop star has sung about or gone
through in the most public way imaginable,
at the end of the day, she has more than
earned to feel normal and content with
her life.
“When people see me for who I really
am, I think that's one of the things that
guide me,” she says. star
By SARAH MACDONALD
8 BEATROUTE MARCH 2020

MUSIC BC
MERGE
OUT NOW
MARCH 2020 BEATROUTE 9

CARIBOU
REFLECTING ON MORTALITY WITH LOVE AND OPTIMISM
It happens to nearly everyone at some
point in life. We reach a certain age
or something takes place that grabs
hold of our world and rattles it so hard
we feel it in the depths of our soul.
Relatively ordinary life events, like
birth and death, can cause these seismic
changes within. Whatever the catalyst, it
encourages a different perspective and
we begin to reassess the meaning of
everything around us.
This shift has been happening to Dan
Snaith, the London-based, Ontario-born
composer and musician, over the last
five years. One of the most significant
contributors was the shocking sudden
death of a loved one not much older
than Snaith that ricocheted through his
extended family. Then, both of his parents
experienced health crises that they,
fortunately, overcame. But tragedy, and the
threat of more, prompted a stark awareness
of mortality.
“I feel like I've been very lucky in my life,”
says Snaith, over Skype from the basement
studio of his home in London, England.
“I’ve been, just by good fortune, insulated
from those things. Or maybe, my parents
provided me with a very stable life. But I'm
41 years old. None of us are going to be
immune from those circumstances forever.”
Alongside those personal challenges,
there have been happy moments that
have impacted Snaith just as dramatically,
such as the birth of his second child—who
arrived in the back of a car, no less. This
past Christmas was profound, too: It was
the first Snaith and his wife hosted at their
house. “It was the kind of holiday that I
pictured from my childhood,” Snaith smiles.
“[And] it’s shifted from being about going to
see my parents to my children's experience
and building those memories for them.”
These formative moments—Snaith’s life
experiences—often inform the content
of his music. His last release under
the Caribou moniker, 2014’s Grammynominated
Our Love, played with both
austere and bright arrangements to
delicately reflect on the intricate emotions
that accompany new fatherhood, as well
as complexities existing in his personal
relationships with family and friends.
It makes sense that a contemplation
on the asymmetry between the gradual
way we age, grow, our perceptions of
the person that we are becoming, and
the unanticipated thwack of something
completely reshaping that outlook would
follow on Caribou’s latest effort.
Snaith’s new album, Suddenly, is aptly
named. His record labels (Merge in North
America and City Slang in Europe) were
“The kinds of things that are resonating
in my life right now are maybe not what a
21-year-old expects to hear in the music
that they're listening to...”
hesitant at first, concerned that the
more obvious subject matter might not
appeal to the listeners who championed
the subtleties of Our Love. But for it to
thematically be about anything else would
have been an evasion. It was unavoidable.
“The kinds of things that are resonating
in my life right now are maybe not what a
21-year-old expects to hear in the music
that they're listening to,” Snaith muses. “I
don't know. I feel like there was a real sense
of purpose [on this album]. My music has
always documented, to some degree, my life
and where it's at, but much more so with this.”
Snaith sourced from over 900 song ideas
for Suddenly. A mind-boggling number, but
not so much when considering he makes
music every single day. It is a ritual as much
as it is his creative process, and, as such,
the tracks intrinsically reflect his thoughts
and, inevitably, his truth. “I never listen to
them as an album together until the album's
done.”
“And that’s always an eerie experience to
me, because I listen to [the songs] and I'm
like, ’It fits together. It's somehow a story.
It's somehow a narrative,’ which is what I
want. But I don't have the foresight to be
able to put that together while I'm working
on it. It happens, somehow, by accident,
except that it's not by accident. I think that's
part of the thrill for me—there's this kind
of chase, even after 20 years or more of
making music.”
Similar to, and a deeper exploration than
its predecessor, Suddenly is anchored in
the complex concept of love. And during
a cultural moment so defined by urgent,
polarizing politics, it almost feels like a
brave thing to investigate. Snaith is far from
immune to it all. “I had this idea of progress,
that we would learn more and, as we learn
more as a society, society progresses and
gets better,” he deliberates. “And that's
been shaken by all sorts of things.”
The #MeToo movement is certainly one
of them. And something that hit close to
home when two industry acquaintances
were accused of sexual assault. “You meet
somebody and you think, ‘This is somebody
who has, it seems, the same values as
me. They talk about progressive issues
in a progressive way,’” Snaith says. “And
it undermined this assumption that I had.
They seem nice and you think, ‘Well, they
probably are nice.’ And it made me realize,
‘No, that's not reliable.’ You can't trust that.
“In the same way that those major life
changes just shifted the lens on everything,
the world all of a sudden looks different after
you hear some kind of cataclysmic news.”
That is why, for Snaith, ruminating on love
is requisite. It is a reflection of his underlying
optimism—a natural inclination that is
evident in the way he responds to the rocky
terrain of life (and the world at large) in the
gentle electronic textures of his work.
A significant influence on Suddenly’s
empathetic sonic approach was Beverly
Glenn-Copeland, particularly the ambient
musician’s glimmering 1986 album
Keyboard Fantasies. “It's something that
you listen to and it's a big hug that makes
you feel like things are okay—but not in a
facile way,” Snaith enthuses. “His music is
something that really engages with difficulty
and challenges.”
“Cloud Song” is the most obviously
Glenn-Copeland inspired, with its warm,
rippling synthesizers. But the dreaminess is
very much present throughout, whether in
shimmers underneath drum-driven beats,
like on
“Home,”
which also
samples soul
singer Gloria
Barnes; or as a
delicate ramble
that unexpectedly
hurtles towards
screaming guitar, as
it does on “You and
I.” Together, it makes
for a nuanced, intimate,
and meditative listen that
coats the soul in familiarity
and then turns it into
unanticipated shapes.
As someone who pays careful
attention to details, Snaith thinks
often—and deeply— about the
complicated state of our current
reality. Its knots are something he,
being somewhat of an idealist, is
unsure he has entirely untangled within
himself. But then, there is the music.
It helps make sense of things and
it allows him to engage in the most
powerful way he can.
“I’ve always felt that it was a failing
of my music to relate to the political
dynamics in our world,” Snaith adds.
“And I thought: ‘Why am I not making an
album explicitly about climate change
or explicitly about unfortunate political
circumstances?’
Then I talked to somebody who is
very wise in my life and often gives me
good advice, a photographer friend of
mine named Jason Evans, who does
the covers for all of my records. And
he was like, ‘To make music that aims
to unite’—and hopefully not in a kind of
vacuous way, hopefully in a way that's
somewhat meaningful—‘is actually a
political statement.’ I think a kind of
open-armed embrace is the closest
thing that I can come to reaching out to
people in that way.” star
By YASMINE SHEMESH
10 BEATROUTE MARCH 2020

CLUTCH
THOMAS NEUKUM - MURAL, STAMFORD HILL ESTATE, BY ARTIST AMBER ELISE
MARCH 2020 BEATROUTE 11

SHINE
A LIGHT
ALLOW U.S. GIRLS TO
REINTRODUCE HERSELF
If Heavy Light, the eighth and latest studio album by
U.S. Girls, had a thesis, it would be that you can’t move
forward without first looking behind. The 13-track LP by
Meg Remy’s acclaimed experimental post-pop project
plays like a shifting gaze between the person Remy
was on past records, and who she’s evolved into on her
newest release.
The nostalgia infused in the sounds and messages of
each track is refreshing. More often than not, the swift
emergence of adulthood sweeps in before you even realize
that your adolescence has been left behind. Instead, Heavy
Light chronicles Meg Remy taking the time to share a fond
goodbye with earlier iterations of herself, all while stepping
into a new era of her artistry.
“A lot of the record is about looking back,” Remy explains
at a Bloor West coffee shop on a chilly February afternoon
in Toronto. “People always say, ‘If I could go back, I would
do this,’ or ‘if I knew what I know now, here’s what I would
do.’ I don’t think that’s really true.” While peeking from
beneath her shaggy, flaxen bangs, she speaks softly, but
with comfortable conviction.
But despite acknowledging that you can’t go back, she
spends much of her new album looking back.
If Remy’s last project, In a Poem Unlimited (2018), was her
meditation on anger, then Heavy Light is her reckoning with
the past–before her abbreviation and her alias were born.
Before she was U.S. Girls, she was Meg Remy, and
before Meg Remy, she was Meghan Ann Uremovich. “I
come from a really specific (background),” she says of
her upbringing. “I’m American and I’m white. I was raised
Catholic and went to private school.” Having recognized
that elements of her identity afford certain privileges, her
storytelling has changed. “I can’t speak to anybody else’s
experience. All I can do is present mine and listen when
others present theirs.”
In 2011, Artforum’s Andrew Hultkran concluded that
Remy was “a woman who clearly spends a lot of time in her
apartment with the shades drawn.” But a decade later, this
assertion is less true than ever. “I wouldn’t have finished the
record if I was alone,” Remy admits. During our chat Remy
U.S. Girls
Thur. April 16
Imperial
Tix: $20, eventbrite.ca
explained that she chose
to record the album live
with a full band and backing
vocalists. She even tapped
her husband, musician Max
Turnbull, to do the mixing
and mastering.
The collaborative spirit on Heavy Light is a true sign of
how Remy’s approach to her craft has shifted. “To make
something with 15 amazing people, to hear what they want
and incorporate it into my thing so that it’s not just about
me, is so different from being alone in a bedroom.” Though
her creative process still “always starts there,” over a
decade into her career as a solo artist she’s comfortable
letting other people in. “Now I can turn away from [the
bedroom], or let other people be reflected in there.”
Other voices are reflected on the album too — literally.
Tracks on Heavy Light are woven together by interludes
that Remy likens to sonic collages, where she and her
collaborators answer deeply personal questions. Between
tracks, they serve as palette cleansers, where Remy’s
personal narrative is interjected by voices sharing advice
that they would give to their teenage selves, the most
hurtful thing that they have been told, and the colour of
their childhood bedrooms.
The revelations on the interludes and the tracks were
intentionally cathartic. The writing and recording of Heavy
Light aligned with Remy’s introduction to somatic therapy,
which she describes as “a body-based therapy that is all
about clearing the nervous system of trauma.”
Her eyes widen as she explains that “in nature when an
animal gets scared, they freeze, flee or fight. Once they’re
safe, they shake and shimmy to get the tail ends of that
traumatic energy out of their system,” In contrast, Remy
says that “human beings store it.” On Heavy Light, we hear
the release. “The kind of therapy that I was doing opens
you up to pull that out. It helps you so that you don’t store
things going forward.”
One of the things she held onto was “Red Ford Radio,”
one of Remy’s hallmark singles. To close the album, Remy
chose to re-record a reprise of the song and, ironically, it’s
one of the most vivid markers of her metamorphosis.
“My voice has changed,” she reflects. “I have control
over my voice but I don’t have control over the emotion. It’s
about figuring out how to sing these songs without crying
but knowing that it’s ok if I do cry.”
In spite of this, ending her new album with a rerecording
of an early hit was Remy challenging herself. “After working
on this project for 13 years, to go back to these songs that
I wrote and see if they’re sturdy or not; to see if I relate to
them. I wrote that song when I was 22 and I’m 34 now. Do I
still relate to it? Can I stand behind it?” She can.
While the message is the same, her relationship to that
song has grown. “I think I was hiding behind that song
then,” she says. “Now I’m saying, ‘No. This is me.’” star
By SUMIKO WILSON
12 BEATROUTE MARCH 2020

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MARCH 2020 BEATROUTE 13

THE FRENETIC CHEMISTRY OF DENZEL CURRY AND KENNY BEATS
By ISAAC NIKOLAI FOX
Denzel Curry is all energy.
Live in concert, this means
mosh pits and only mosh
pits. The centrepoint of all
of the Carol City rapper’s
live shows is “Ultimate,” the
viral 2015 breakout single
that’s become his signature
song. When the drums kick
in over top of producer Ronny J’s mangled
piano loop, limbs and bodies careen together
as he screams into the chaos, completely in
command.
For the better part of a decade now, Curry
has been one of the most explosive, passionate
voices to have emerged from South Florida.
Psychedelic, politically-charged, guttural, loud,
and undeniably catchy all at once, he has carved
out a lane for himself with his rapid-fire stories
of life growing up in Miami Gardens’ Zone 3
neighborhood. Plus, he’s part of a rare group of
artists, like Henry Rollins or JPEGMAFIA, who
can completely thrash their vocal chords for the
sake of a song without coming off as preening
or self-indulgent.
Curry’s uncontainable energy is part of what
drew Kenny Beats, one of rap’s most chameleonic
and charismatic producers of the moment,
to collaborate with him on UNLOCKED, their
newly-released joint project which dropped
in early February. Over the phone from Los
Angeles, he’s still in awe of Curry’s magnetism,
both in-studio and on stage. “I’ve known about
Denzel since he was 17 years old, and once I
saw him at Bonnaroo, I couldn’t fucking believe
what a live performer he was.”
“A lot of artists will rap or scream over their
studio recordings, and you don’t really get the
full performance experience, but Curry has the
crowd control of a rock band at Woodstock.”
UNLOCKED opens with a blast of Madvillain-esque
punk energy, as the vintage
supervillian dialogue implodes, giving way
to a throbbing boom-bap pulse and another
layer of scratched vocals. Effectively, this is
the mood throughout the entire 20-minute
project: the raucous energy of the new South
Florida ragers mixed with a sleek revitalization
of New York’s sample-heavy underground
rap.
14 24 BEATROUTE MARCH 2020

According to Curry, UNLOCKED was based
around their shared joy in exploring the outer
boundaries of their capabilities as musicians.
“We needed to challenge ourselves—but it was
still no challenge for us. It was just a fun, new
thing to do. Creating keeps me going, you know,
and I think it does for Kenny too.”
UNLOCKED’s nu-retro sonic direction is a
major pivot for both artist and producer. Curry’s
most recent projects Zuu and TA13OO were
classic Florida records, loaded front-to-back
with the frantic, syncopated flows and distorted
instrumentals that brought him to fame in the
middle of the 2010s.
Kenny Beats spent most of the past decade
as half of the now-defunct EDM duo Loudpvck.
When that project folded, he locked himself
in the studio and reemerged with progressive,
floor-filling trap instrumentals for everyone
from Rico Nasty (Anger Management), to Key
(777), to FKA Twigs and Future (“Holy Terrain”),
and even Ed Sheeran (“Take Me Back to
London”). Most recently, he’s become the most
popular producer on YouTube with his series
The Cave, where his extended universe of famous
collaborators will often drop by to record
impromptu, high-octane freestyles.
On paper, the two would have seemed like
an obvious combination, but in practice, they
found that the overlap between their trademark
sounds drained their early, unreleased collaborations
of their urgency. Plus, Curry needed time
to move past his (understandable) frustration
with Beats giving another artist a beat he
thought he had claimed for his own. Now, Curry
laughs when asked about the long-dead conflict.
“I was mad as fuck and didn’t want to deal
with him for a while. But time passed and my
cousin showed me The Cave and told me I had
to do an episode of my own. I did, and that got
us back together in the studio last summer.”
The more diplomatic of the two, Beats never
brought up this disagreement, but he did
agree that the UNLOCKED sessions were a
break from their previous experiences working
together. “Our whole conversation that first
day in November was about the new Wu-Tang
documentary on HBO. We started with a drum
break, I pulled up weird old movie samples
for the intro, and we made “Lay_Up.m4a” and
“Pyro (leak 2019)” that first day. When I played
them back the next day, I thought: ‘what the
fuck is this?’ I had two sessions that day with
other people, and I cancelled them both and
told Curry he needed to come back so we
could do more.”
Curry was equally enthusiastic about the new
direction: “Kenny was like ‘bruh, keep coming
back, keep coming back.’ I’d go to his studio,
come back with two more tracks, play them for
my girl, she’d say ‘oh shit, this is fire,’ and then I’d
go back to Kenny’s the next day to do it again.
After three days, we had the project done.”
"DENZEL’S PERSONALITY
IS LIKE HE’S IN THE MIDDLE
OF THE SUPERBOWL AT ALL
TIMES. HE’S SO HYPE, HE’S
GOT SO MUCH PASSION AND
ENERGY, AND HE’LL PUT
ANYTHING ON THE LINE
TO GET HIS POINT ACROSS"
KENNY
Curry isn’t lying about the remarkable speed
of the duo’s recording process allowing them
to enter, almost effortlessly, an entirely new
sonic territory. On “DIET_”, he slides seamlessly
into DMX’s raspy-voice lane, growling into the
microphone as Beats pitch-shifts his voice
to fit the lurching beat. “So.Incredible.pkg” is
the most quintessential New York track on
UNLOCKED, and wouldn’t sound out of place on
a Busta Rhymes or Nas album. Beats builds the
instrumental off of punchy, sampled drums and
washed-out Rhodes lines, giving Curry plenty of
space to combine interpolations of glossy Puff
Daddy hits with straightforward death threats.
Carrying over the nostalgic groove from
“So.Incredible.pkg,” “Track07” combines
the filtered low-end groove of A Tribe Called
Quest’s early albums with the crisp horns
that permeated so many of Pete Rock and DJ
Premier’s classics. Here, Curry plays the party
host, as his warped vocals wash in and out of
the mix. It’s the soundtrack to a mid-1990s
BBQ, composed by two men who were barely
out of infancy at the time.
“Pyro (leak 2019)” is another clear standout
– it might be the closest we ever get to a Kenny
Beats-chipmunk soul crossover episode. A
spectral choir that sounds like it’s being played
underwater washes throughout the background,
while the slow-crawling drums reinforce
Curry’s every lyric. The Floridan pours his
rhymebook out as if his life depended on it, and
delivers hands-down the best opening line on
the entire project: “My bitch bad like battle rappers
that make albums with no [Alchemist]”
Beats laughs when I bring this line up—it’s
one of his favorites, too. He’s clearly proud of
how Curry’s lyrics bring energy to a room.
MARCH 2020 BEATROUTE 25 15

UNLOCKED
is out now
via PH
Recordings
“No matter who I played the album for,
Rick Rubin, Madlib, Ski Mask the Slump
God—that line made EVERYBODY laugh.
I’m playing this for people in their mid-50s
and people in their early 20s, and everyone
is having the same reaction. That’s how you
can tell Curry is really striking a chord.”
Their frenetic recording speed was helped
by the fact that both Curry and Beats are
magnetic, energetic extroverts, permanently
dialed up to 11. “Denzel’s personality is like
he’s in the middle of the Superbowl at all
times. He’s so hype, he’s got so much passion
and energy, and he’ll put anything on the
line to get his point across,” Beats explains
excitedly when talking about the younger
rapper. Curry says the exact same about his
counterpart: “Kenny’s just as animated as I
am. We’ll goof off in the studio, but when we
get to work, we get to work and we get shit
done. That’s how it was, and why we were
able to do this whole project in three days.”
The track titles on UNLOCKED are a sly
nod to the mid-’00s piracy era of the music
industry. Before streaming and Soundcloud
swallowed the music industry whole, The
Pirate Bay and its sketchier predecessor
LimeWire were must-haves for any industrious
young person looking to reload their
iPods with brand-new MP3s. More often
than not, the downloads would come with
unpolished name like “Take_it_Back_v2,”
“Pyro (leak 2019),” and “So.Incredible.pkg”
– to name just a few of the many memorable
track titles on UNLOCKED.
According to Curry, this naming scheme
was a premature middle finger to critics.
“We made this project in three days, and we
knew critics were going to say ‘oh, it doesn’t
sound finished, blah, blah, blah.’ We
wanted to say ‘shut the fuck up’
before they even had the chance to
say it, so we made our track names
look like our session file names or
some shit you’d get when you pirate
music.” They got their point across:
on repeated listens, UNLOCKED’s
deliberate rawness feels like a
feature, not a drawback.
Despite the multi-faceted rollout,
which included the pair getting into a fake
spat, leaking their project, and then releasing
a short movie slash music video where
the two transmogrify themselves inside a
series of animated cartoons, UNLOCKED
avoids gimmick entirely. Made at breakneck
pace and stripped of any excess, it’s a pure
exercise in experimentation by two technicians
who are at the peak of their abilities
and know it.
Curry’s main takeaway from the collaboration
is that while there’s value in honing his
work to perfection, his first instinct is usually
the right and most exciting one. “I knew
me and Kenny were good, but I didn’t know
that we were good enough to make an album
in three days. We didn’t plan it, it was just
on the fly. We figured out the sound, how we
wanted to package it, everything all at once.”
For Beats, UNLOCKED symbolizes the
way that creative discomfort and uncertainty
can be channeled into urgent, immediate
art. “The number one selling-solo piano
album of all time is Keith’s Jarrett’s Köln
Concert, and that was played on a broken,
detuned piano,” he muses. “The greatest
piano album of all time is on a broken instrument,
you see what I’m saying? Sometimes
it takes that discomfort to break through.
When you don’t know where you’re going,
where you can end up is boundless.”
By ISAAC NIKOLAI FOX
ARIS CHATMAN
“I KNEW ME AND KENNY WERE
GOOD, BUT I DIDN’T KNOW
THAT WE WERE GOOD ENOUGH
TO MAKE AN ALBUM IN THREE
DAYS. WE DIDN’T PLAN IT, IT
WAS JUST ON THE FLY. WE
FIGURED OUT THE SOUND”
DENZEL
16 26 BEATROUTE MARCH 2020

The Playlist
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AND MORE!
NOBRO
Don’t Want To Talk
About It
The all-female
Montreal punk
quartet dubbed
this track “as
close to a love
song as we’re
going to get.”
Frontwoman
Kathryn
McCaughey
screams out the
joys of finding
someone new
over crunchy
guitar chords,
but the entire
track is quickly
taken over by
an absolutely
virtuosic drum
solo in the
middle before
the final chorus
roars back in.
Phoebe
Bridgers
Garden Song
Bridgers often
performs
while wearing
a skeleton
bodysuit, which
also appears
on the album
artwork of this
new single. It’s
appropriate
for just how
vulnerable many
of her songs
get. Singing over
a quietly plucked
acoustic pattern
with her paperthin
vocals, she
reflects upon
the passage of
time and the
little moments
that matter.
Kelly Lee
Owens
Melt!
The Welsh
electronic
producer
creates a
slick piece of
environmentalist
techno that
actually samples
the sounds
of glaciers
melting. A voice
repeatedly
whispers “ice”
over a heavy
deep houseinspired
beat
that’s meant to
act as a frantic
call to action,
punctuated
with the more
pleasant sounds
of shimmering
icicles and skate
blades slicing up
a rink.
King Krule
Cellular
On the opening
track of his
latest album,
Man Alive!,
the jazzy
superproducer
gets lost in
his mind in an
interconnected
world that feels
so isolated at
the same time.
With a weary
voice and halfrapped
lyrics,
King Krule links
the divisive
headlines
he reads to
a personal
romantic fallingout,
giving in and
calling her back
in search of
connection.
Billie Eilish
No Time To Die
On paper,
someone
with the quiet
eeriness of
Eilish didn’t
seem like a
natural choice
to record
something with
the dramatic
gravitas of a
Bond theme,
but the teenage
wunderkind
steps
comfortably
into a long line
of legends. Her
aching vocals
soundtrack the
suited superspy
dealing with a
betrayal as the
classic string
patterns swirl
behind her.
PARTYNEXTDOOR
Loyal (Remix)
(Ft. Drake & Bad
Bunny)
This remix of the
latest hit from
the two Toronto
titans adds
some Spanish
flair as Bad
Bunny, the king
of Latin trap,
hops onto the
track, speeding
up the rhythms
of the laid-back
alt-R&B cut with
his extended
verses closing
out the track.
Though there’s
still not much
that can beat
Drake, firmly
in his feelings,
softly crooning
“you’re my best
friend.”
Allie X
Susie Save Your
Love (Ft. Mitski)
Two of indiepop’s
most
celebrated
female artists
finally team
up on a track
to swoop in
together and
rescue poor
Susie from an
undesirable guy;
of course, with
the implication
that she should
be involved with
someone like
them instead.
Featuring a
funky synthpop
explosion
of a chorus,
the two softspoken
sad girls
blend together
beautifully.
The Weeknd
After Hours
The Weeknd’s
fans have been
clamouring for
him to return
to the sleazy
and mysterious
figure with dark
and unsettling
lyrics that he
burst onto the
scene with, and
this six-minute
slow burner
is about as
close as we’re
going to get.
Except this time,
he’s really in
love, perfectly
blending the
rumbling bass
and vocal reverb
of his past with
his upbeat pop
present.
Big Freedia
Chasing Rainbows
(Ft. Kesha)
Two of pop
music’s most
notorious
party people
link up once
again, this time
for Freedia’s
single, on a truly
triumphant track
where they ride
away from all
the haters on
a rainbow. The
Queen of New
Orleans Bounce
mixes up the
track to better
resemble her
signature sound
with some
rapid-fire flows
and calls to the
dancefloor.
Dizzy
Sunflower
The Junowinning
indie
band returns
with a summery
and upbeat pop
track where
they remind
themselves
to snap out
of the cycle
of mundane
everyday life and
start facing the
sun. Sampling
a choir the
band overheard
rehearsing at
an Oshawa
rec centre and
containing
a delightful
synth-keyboard
solo, this one
is a feel-good
anthem to
help usher in
springtime vibes.
MARCH 2020 BEATROUTE 19

LONG & McQUADE
FREE CLINICS
DURING MARCH
A series of free career-enhancing clinics specifically
tailored to the needs of musicians, songwriters, producers
and home studio enthusiasts.
At all Long & McQuade locations, including:
368 Terminal Avenue ∙ (604) 734-4886
vancouver@long-mcquade.com
1363 Main Street ∙ (604) 986-0911
northvan@long-mcquade.com
AVAILABLE
NOW
THE BRAND NEW ALBUM
FEATURING THE SINGLES UNDER THE GRAVEYARD,
STRAIGHT TO HELL AND ORDINARY MAN

Reviews
ALBUM
ELLEN EDMAR.
LITTLE DRAGON
New Me, Same Us
Ninja Tune
Little Dragon’s sixth studio album,
New Me, Same Us, revels in its dreamy
mood. The Swedish quartet has
claimed that this album is their most
collaborative yet, as if promising that
this time they’ve finally found a perfect
groove and communication between
members. Thankfully, it’s true for the
most part.
The band excels at finding a cozy
niche between pop, R&B, jazz and electronica,
gliding through what makes for
an easy listening experience. It’s never
challenging, but perhaps that’s the
point, as lead singer Yukimi Nagano’s
unique and absolutely gorgeous voice
envelops you, providing comfort and an
immediate sense of ease as opening
track, “Hold On,” rolls out.
While the album never has a bad
moment, Nagano’s voice is constantly
searching to push the album into true
excellence.
On their Ninja Tune debut, the title New
Me, Same Us rings true in many ways,
which feels like a positive step forward
for the band in terms of both their
sound and originality.
Best Track: “Every Rain”
Fraser Hamilton
MARCH 2020 BEATROUTE 21

MUSiC ALBUM REVIEWS
JOHAN BERGMARK
PETER BJORN
AND JOHN
Endless Dream
INGRID
Peter Bjorn and John celebrate their
20th anniversary with the release
of their ninth studio album, Endless
Dream. The trio strip things back to
their pop dreamscape roots with a
focus on bright, colourful beats and
playful folk-tinged vocals — sorry,
no whistling this time.
Every song is hooky with funky
grooves, full of new wave and
80s-pop influence, a turnaround
from their previous moody album
Darker Days. Endless Dream might
just brighten your day, leaving you
unaware of your tapping feet and
sudden positive outlook on life.
Best Track: “On The Brink”
Kayla MacInnis
MAX HIRSCHBERGER
D.O.A.
Treason
Sudden Death
NAP EYES
Snapshot of a Beginner
Jagjaguwar
THE GARDEN
Kiss My Super Bowl Ring
Epitaph
PORCHES
Ricky Music
Domino Recording Co.
Porches returns with Ricky Music,
a further refinement in Aaron
Maine’s dedication to making 80s
synth inspired indie pop on his
computer.
The album is less broken than
2018’s uneven but excellent The
House and more experimental than
2016’s pretty much perfect Pool.
Porches’ most alluring asset
continues to be Maine’s melancholy
croon, always sounding like
the saddest guy in the room.
I can’t think of anyone that
can sell a line like “do you wanna
cry? I boo hoo”, but I bought it on
“Hair.” The same song contains a
certified gem that is hard not to
relate to: “I’m kinda pretty, kinda
busted too.”
Best Track: “Do U Wanna”
John Divney
With a raging fire of political
contempt burning, Vancouver’s
original hardcore punks, D.O.A.,
ring in the decade with a manifesto
for the modern age.
Over 40 years since founding
member, Joey “Shithead” Keithley
started the band, Treason is a
tight eight-track offering that
highlights Keithley’s unique ability
to knit catchy lyrics, blazing guitar
solos, and breakneck punk rock
into one single entity that stays
perpetually fresh right up until
the very last slightly off-kilter
note. Treason lives up to D.O.A.’s
storied history, proving that as the
world continues to get weirder,
they seem to only get more
pissed off and poignant.
Best Track: “My My, Hey Hey”
Brendan Lee
Nap Eyes have a superpower of
stretching time like playdough.
Every song on the Halifax natives’
fourth album, Snapshot of a Beginner,
should be printed in a pop-up
book of poetry. Their sound is
effortlessly low-key but especially
hi-fi, creating a polished, ambling
landscape for frontman Nigel
Chapman’s pragmatism.
Get strung out on “Real
Thoughts” before tapping into the
nuanced Puff The Magic Dragon
vibes of “Dark Link.” There is a
dichotomy here; it digs at the lazy-hustle-lazy
orbit of the zeitgeist.
The cohesiveness of Snapshot
peeks at the sixth dimension
through windows of daily banalities.
This is their magic.
Best Track: “Fool Thinking Ways”
Dayna Mahannah
The Garden conveys the idle dissatisfaction
of life in a clash of sounds
on their punchy fourth studio album,
Kiss My Super Bowl Ring.
Brothers Wyatt and Fletcher
Shears never adhere to one
narrow sound. Their DIY spirit
incorporates electronic and punk,
switching from minimalistic to
bombastic in an instant on tracks
like “Clench To Stay Awake” and
“A Struggle.” The ennui in the lyrical
content of “Sneaky Devil” and
“Hit Eject” express being fed up
with corrupt institutions and their
injustices.
The record wastes no time catapulting
listeners into its chaotic
world. Frustration and boredom
have never sounded so enlivening.
Best Track: “Sneaky Devil”
Jordan Currie
22 24 BEATROUTE MARCH 2020

NECK OF THE
WOODS
The Annex of Ire
Pelagic Records
PHILIP HARRIS
SHERVIN LAINEZ
The newest dispatch from thorny
Vancouver metal arbour Neck of
the Woods finds its rhythm method
in the midst of madness.
Chromatic technical prowess
gleams on “Ambivalence” while
the miopic soul-seeking of “Vision
Loser’’ levels the landscape like an
atomic blast. Jeff Radomsky’s voice
rises above the fray of “Strange
Consolation” before he finds solace
in the guitar wire spires that pierce
the celestial vault on “The Tower.”
Built on a slicker-than-wet-asphalt
foundation,the entire album
PHANTOGRAM
Ceremony
Republic Records
Phantogram has never been
known to confront things quietly.
The electronic rock duo made up
of Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter
present their fourth album, Ceremony,
with a different approach.
Following the loss of her
sister, Barthel looks deep into
the concept of death, grieving,
and moving forward. It can get
overwhelming at times, but there’s
an occasional oasis of calm, like
on the standout track, “Glowing,”
where we get to appreciate
Barthel’s impressive, controlled
hangs together with palpable cohesion
and clarity of purpose. From
the door-kick introduction provided
by the title track, it’s apparent that
Neck of the Woods aren’t giving up
any ground when it comes to the
gritty gains they’ve made.
Best Track: “The Tower”
Christine Leonard
vocals and hear the emotion
behind the lyrics.
Ceremony isn’t perfect, but its
urgency in confronting unspoken
feelings is what makes it interesting
and emotionally investing.
Best Track: “Glowing”
Fraser Hamilton
WAXAHATCHEE
Saint Cloud
Merge Records
Getting sober often involves a moment
of self-reckoning, discovering
what’s left after the hangovers
subside for good.
Waxahatchee devotes Saint
Cloud to exploring that idea, coming
to terms with herself through
her trademark moving and romantic
poetry, set against a musical
backdrop as sparse and delicate
as the wispy rural environs of her
native Alabama. Honest and unflinching,
her fifth full-length turns
inward in an attempt to connect
outward. In doing so, she emerges
with a deeper love for those around
her by learning to love herself first.
“I take it for granted/If I could love
you unconditionally/I could iron out
the edges of the darkest sky,” she
sings on album standout, “Fire.”
With Saint Cloud, it’s clear Waxahatchee
is entering a new age with
her head held high and a newfound
appreciation for the beautiful
details that surround her.
Best Track: “Fire”
CHRISTOPHER GOOD
Sebastian Buzzalino
JESSIE REYEZ
Before Love
Came To Kill Us
Island Records
Jessie Reyez is one of the most
refreshing and unlikely pop stars
working in music right now.
Dropping back the hip-hop and
R&B production of her previous
material for a new orchestral and
cinematic sound, Reyez paints
a series of beautifully tragic pictures
of unattainable or doomed
romances.
Featuring quite a few classic-sounding
doo-wop inspired
tracks, the album is packed with
twistedly morbid metaphors for
love, as if they were designed to
waltz to at a funeral.
DANA GAVANSKI
Yesterday is Gone
Flemish Eye Records
Introspection is the common
thread that cuts through Dana
Gavanski’s lo-fi breakup album,
Yesterday is Gone. Folk and pop
collide to produce hazy musings on
personal growth.
Gavanski reflects delicately on
all the pain and loss that comes
with losing a lover. Her honeyed
vocals tiptoe around whimsical
lyricism about the changing of the
seasons and the slow burn of ti me.
Sorrow transforms into a thriving
heartbreak paradise as ethereal
The album’s title refers to
a friendship that was “killed”
because he jumped in before
Reyez was ready. Adding some
heart-wrenching personal twists,
everything Reyez says here hu rts,
but it sounds so beautiful.
Best Track: “Coffin”
Ben Boddez
melodies infuse the record to highlight
the essentials: stripped-down
vocals, guitar and a pitter patter of
drums and piano.
Best Track: “Yesterday Is Gone”
Natalie Harmsen
MARCH 2020 BEATROUTE 23 25

Style
RUN THE
SHE’S CONQUERED
MUSIC AND NOW
BEYONCÉ IS SETTING
HER SIGHTS ON
SPORTSWEAR
24 BEATROUTE MARCH 2020

WORLD
By JOSEPHINE CRUZ
Photos by CHRISTINE DO
Model/Styling: DIANE J LOUIS
As soon as the news came that Beyoncé’s
IVY PARK brand was dropping a
collaboration with storied sportswear
giant adidas, one thing was absolutely
guaranteed: it was going to sell out.
Before anyone had seen a lookbook, a
product shot or even a design sketch,
the collection was destined—like so
many of Beyoncé’s other creative
endeavours—for dominance.
When it dropped on Friday, January
17, the first season of Beyoncé IVY
PARK x adidas fulfilled that destiny
with ease, much to the delight of her
faithful Beyhive who were able to nab
some of the coveted pieces, and the
chagrin of others who missed the
drop and caught (what hypebeast
culture calls) the dreaded “L.”
Because this is Beyoncé we’re
talking about, Mrs. Knowles-Carter
didn’t release her collection like
everyone else. In the days leading up
to the launch, she seeded pieces to
her A-list friends like Reese Witherspoon,
Zendaya, Cardi B, Laverne
Cox, Janelle Monáe and Hailey Bieber,
all packaged up in luxurious PR boxes
shaped like orange rolling racks.
And if that wasn’t enough, for her
biggest marketing tactic, Beyoncé
used a trick she herself perfected
back in December 2013 when she
unleashed her acclaimed self-titled
album on the world by complete
surprise. The IVY PARK x adidas
collection released a full day earlier
than originally planned, setting social
media—and hopeful buyers—into a
frenzy as everyone tried to get their
hands on the pieces.
The capsule collection was
completely gender neutral and was
comprised of apparel, accessories
and four sneaker styles. The collection
featured a stunning orange and
maroon colour palette and borrowed
from Beyoncé’s signature bold style
with asymmetric dresses and jackets,
shrugs, cargo skirts, and jumpsuits
alongside elevated staples such
as hoodies, biker shorts, tees, and
sports bras. While this season may
have sold out, this isn’t the end of the
partnership between Ivy Park and
adidas, so keep your eyes peeled for
future releases.
MARCH 2020 BEATROUTE 25

Style
Love on top
Four pillars of the adidas x IVY PARK Collab
1 .ORANGE
adidas x IVY PARK
Halter Bra, Solar
Orange, $45 USD
2. UNISEX CUTS
adidas x IVY
PARK Mock Neck
Sweatshirt, Ecrtin/
Maroon, $90 USD
3. ELEVATED BASICS
adidas x IVY PARK
Cargo Sweatpants,
Maroon/Solar
Orange, $85 USD
4. STATEMENT SHOES
adidas x IVY
PARK Nite Jogger,
Maroon/Solar
Orange, $160 USD
26 BEATROUTE MARCH 2020

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No purchase necessary. Must be 19+ and a legal resident of Canada with a fixed address. Enter by attending a Jim Beam National Talent Search event in one of eight Canadian
cities. Regional Fan Sweepstakes closes March 12, 2020, 11:59PM EST [Note: Last regional event is April 11, 2020]. Eight (8) Regional ‘Stand-By’ Packages to be won, each includes,
among others, passes to the Canadian Music Week 2020 Festival, tickets to the Jim Beam Indies, and more, total approximate value of $1,448 CDN per prize. Odds of winning
depend on number of attendees at each regional Jim Beam National Talent Event. National Fan Sweepstakes closes April 11, 2020 11:59PM EST. One (1) VIP Grand Prize Package
available of a trip to the Jim Beam Indies in Toronto at Canadian Music Week, valued at up to CAD $2,150. Odds of winning are 1/8. Skill testing question required. Full contest
details at http://indies.ca/fan-sweepstakes
Jim Beam® Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 40% Alc./Vol. ©2020 James B. Beam Distilling Co., Clermont, KY.
MARCH 2020 BEATROUTE 27

Behind The Lens
INTO THE
NIGHT
WITH PHOTOGRAPHER
INÉS ZIOUANE
By DAYNA MAHANNAH
I
wasn’t meant to do what I do today,”
Inés Ziouane’s French accent crackles
over the phone from Paris. She just
returned from a weekend in Lyon photographing
indie duo Terrenoire. Though
Ziouane moonlights—ironically—in the
daytime as a music journalist, her passion
and profession are rooted in the career
she has built taking pictures of musicians.
A bonafide hustler by every millennial
standard (she hasn’t had a day off in
a month), Ziouane’s attitude sparkles
amongst the status quo. “Now that I can
do stuff, I always want to do more,” she
gushes. “I’m so grateful for everything.”
Ziouane’s photos exude energy and
emotion that transcend their two-dimensionality.
Through juxtaposition and curation,
the collages she pieces together
on her Instagram share an experience,
not just a moment. Her eye captures
disco ball glimmer on a pulsing crowd, the
effervescence of an overwhelmed fan, an
exalted band halfway ready in a mirror.
Before stacking her repertoire of
photography subjects with artists like Billie
Eilish, Kristina Bazan, and YUNGBLUD,
Ziouane was confined to her bed for a
year in 2014 due to a rare genetic disease.
Forced to drop out of university where
she was studying medicine, she began
blogging about music. Ziouane got a call
to do an in-person interview—her first—
when her health was on the upswing. “This
is when things happened for real.”
Ziouane picked up a camera and practiced
her craft every night in the caverns
of Parisian live music venues. Immersing
herself amongst people in the music community,
it was music that “saved” her after
a year at home. Then, she met UK psych
rock band Black Honey, who invited her on
tour. “This is when I felt part of something
so much bigger than just myself for the
first time in a very long time,” she says.
But the journalist-cum-photographer
isn’t used to sharing her side of things.
When she dropped out of uni, she didn’t
tell her friends it was because she was
sick. Six years on, the thought that her
story may inspire others to pick up a
camera is appealing. She’s a glass-halffull
kind of person. “It’s the way to go,”
she giggles. “You know?”
1 BANKS in London, June 2019
(promo day at Universal UK for a day)
2 Yungblud in Paris, November 2019
(promo at his hotel)
3 Black Honey at Molotow in Hamburg,
Germany, November 2018
4 Billie Eilish in Paris (“It was June 2018,
and I was the photographer for the
meeting of Billie with her fans during an
afternoon at Universal Music France.”)
5 Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes at
Rockhal in Luxembourg, March
6 Bagarre at L'Olympia de Paris,
November 2019
1
28 24 BEATROUTE MARCH 2020

2
4
5
3
6
MARCH 2020 BEATROUTE 29 25

TRAVEL
BOISE, IDAHO:
TREEFORT MUSIC
FESTIVAL
SPUDS, BUDS AND
DESTINATIONLESS
EXPLORATION IN THE
CITY OF TREES
By MELISSA VINCENT
ALDEN SKEIE
In 2019, Forbes named Boise, Idaho the
fastest-growing American city, and last
year, The City of Trees took the top spot
for overall livability when it was ranked the
best place to live for millennials. But looking
beyond the weight of impressive accolades,
a casual visit to Boise quickly reveals a city
whose spirit tells its own narrative.
With the easy-going charm of Canada’s west coast, and the “come as
you are" tolerance of the Mountain states, all jammed into the ever-evolving
bustle of a budding metropolis attempting to carve out a new identity, there’s
something familiar, compelling, and, if you give in, undeniably irresistible
about Boise. Because below a sprawling mountain backdrop, and adjacent to
Boise State University’s famously blue football field, the city’s wide sidewalks,
bike-friendly streets, and noticeable street culture invites destinationless
exploration.
Due to this, it’s difficult to imagine a festival like Treefort Festival — the
city’s exceptional multi-genre, multidisciplinary music festival, now in its ninth
year—serving as a better representation of the very best of the city come
to life. And because of its ability to capture the life-sized humility of a small
town with world class musicians, internationally renowned artists and writers,
and a remarkably curious approach to programing rooted in inclusion and
representation; it’s similarly difficult to imagine Treefort happening in another
American city.
With past headliners including Vince Staples, Toro Y Moi, and Parliament
Funkadelic, 2020 welcomes silken-pop revisionist Omar Apollo, electroniceverything
innovators Chromatics, sun-baked desert rockers Calexico, and,
as always, local boys Built to Spill, a clear example that the festival continues
to offer a slice of something for everyone.
30 BEATROUTE MARCH 2020
Treefort Festival
Mar. 25 - Mar. 29, 2020
treefortmusicfest.com
Tix: $125-$210
DESTINATIONS
Idaho State Museum
610 Julia Davis Dr
Originally built in 1950, the Idaho State Museum
celebrated its grand reopening two years ago
with an ambition to accurately tell the story
of the state, through the story of its people.
During Treefort festival, the museum morphs
into the landing site of a diverse range of talks
on subjects like exploring the human diaspora,
and understanding the benchmarks of activism,
alongside more eclectic talks like a deep dive
(pun intended) into the the state’s river systems.
Rhodes Skatepark (4)
1555 W Front St.
Stretching across 1.2 acres under Interstate 184,
Rhodes skatepark is impressive due to its sheer
size. Since its construction, the world-class
skatepark has served as a crucial community
hub and support for at-risk youth, but those
with a flair for adventure might come looking for
something more. For the last three years, the
park has hosted the X Games Qualifier, offering
the opportunity to see pros at the top of their
game.
EATS & DRINKS
Petite 4
4 N. Latah St.
Sarah Kelly cut her teeth as a self-taught chef
at both grocery stores and fine dining restaurants
before opening the beloved Bleubird
sandwich shop, which she shuttered with
partner David to open Petite 4. Serving a wide
range of French bistro-inspired dishes, expect
staff in pinstriped aprons, a rotating dessert
menu, or if you’re in luck, a Friday night oyster
cart announced 24 hours in advance via Instagram.
Madre
1034 S La Pointe St.
It’s very likely that even the most devoted taco
aficionados have never had a taco quite like
Madre’s non-traditional upscale tacos. James
Beard House is devoted to using sustainably-sourced
ingredients. Ever had an Idaho
spud and chorizo taco? Or a vegetarian pineapple
al pastor taco? Now’s your chance.

1 3
ALLIE SMITH
2
CHRISTINA BIRKINBINE
4 5
AARON RODRIGUEZ
AMY RUSSELL
Mai Thai (2)
750 W Idaho St.
For Chef Josh Maciolek, pretty good doesn’t
cut it. The Thai restaurant sets its sights on
the cosmos with an approach to Southeast
Asian fusion that blends both classic and contemporary
styles of regional cuisine through
an always innovative menu. A beloved local
favourite, if they’re pad thai doesn’t convince
you, their 12 year streak of being voted the
city’s best Thai restaurant will.
Guru Donuts (1)
928 W Main St.
Stationed in the historic Idanha Building,
Guru Donuts does away with artifice to
create a uniquely crafted donut experience
made fresh daily, from scratch, and with local
ingredients. This month for Treefort Fest,
the storefront wears a new coat. While you
munch on a “Hipster Berry,” “Funfetti,” or
“Girl Scout,” you can also take in a writing
workshop or panel discussion.
NIGHTLIFE
Neurolux
111 N. 11th St.
Think of Neurolox as a glorious combination
of the best parts of your local dive, the likely
spot where a wildly buzzed-about out of
town band will probably play, or the place
you might catch a set of eyes from across
the hall, and make an unsuspected new
friend. The best part? The giant luminescent
clam in the background, acting as a mascot,
chaperone, and cheerleader to a raucous
night.
The Balcony
150N 8th St.
From the moment you take the outdoor elevator
up to the the top floor of The Balcony
and turn the corner, you know what kind of
night you’re in for. Spectacularly sprawling,
you’re just as likely to sink into the crowd (or
decide to take centre stage). Think of this as
the city’s go-to destination for both a sweaty
night of dancing, or the crowning site where
the city’s next best drag queens perform.
The Funky Taco (5)
801 W Bannock St.
Imagine a beautiful place where life’s two
delicacies of live music and tacos meet.
Welcome to The Funky Taco. An even blend
of Asian, Indian, Mexican, and Americana
cuisine? Check. An unreal balcony performance
space with sightlines around the
restaurant? Check. A robust live music and
DJ schedule? Check. A pivot from “farm to
table” towards “farm to funk.” You’re sold.
The Olympic Hotel
1009 Main St.
Perched above Mulligans Pub & Eatery,
Boise’s newest venue in the heart of the city
hosts a wide range of programming most
nights of the week, including rising local
bands and international acts on a stage with
a delightful wraparound balcony. During
Treefort, the venue morphs into an important
landing site, running full steam nearly all
night long.
SHOPPING
The Record Exchange (3)
1105 West Idaho St.
To call The Record Exchange an institution
would be an understatement. For the last 40
years Idaho’s largest independent record
store has sold vinyl, books, candy bars, collectibles,
and everything in between. Keep
an ear out for their always free, all-ages,
in-store events which might include a meet
and greet, album signing, or concert.
Maven
928 W. Main St.
Maven opened in the basement of the
Idanha Building after the closure of the Garden
City Projects pilot program that created
a dynamic multi-use DIY space that cradled
art shows, live performances, and poetry
readings. Now in its new home, a recent
testimonial describes the space best: “A
cool collective / mini art museum / gift go-to
place. The best Boise has to offer in funky
little wares crafted by local creatives. Prints,
jewelry, vintage clothes, crafted candles and
so much more."
star
MARCH 2020 BEATROUTE 31

32 BEATROUTE MARCH 2020

YVR
QUANAH STYLE ON TRANS SCRIPTS
AND CONTROLLING THE NARRATIVE
By YASMINE SHEMESH
03.20
After a number of infectious
singles and a feature on
Canada's a Drag, CBC’s
docu-series about drag
performers from across
the country, Indigenous, two-spirit,
transgender artist Quanah Style
released her self-titled debut album
this January. Within the vivacious
collection of house dance anthems
is standout track, “Love Will Set You
Free”—a fierce banger championing
the beauty of love in every form.
“We all have an inherent value as
human beings,” Style says, about the
song. “We're all worth the same. And
with so much going on in the world
right now, I think the best thing we
can do is love ourselves more and
love each other more.”
The liberation at the root of
love and acceptance also
reflects what is at the heart
of Style’s latest project:
Trans Scripts, Part I:
The Women, a play
written by American
playwright Paul
Lucas that paints
an insightful,
nuanced
portrait
of seven
transgender women. The dialogue is
taken verbatim from interviews with
over 75 women from six different
countries, ranging widely in age,
ethnicity, and socio-economic
status. Among the characters are
a former small-town mechanic, a
sexagenarian doctor, and an exdominatrix.
The trajectories of their
life stories are diverse and distinct,
albeit one fundamental
truth: that we
all have the
right to
the
freedom of being our true self.
Style plays Luna, the youngest
character. It is an interesting
dynamic, Style says, portraying
someone so different to her yet so
relatable. “There's a scene where
she's talking about wanting to be a
witch for Halloween as a little boy.
And, legit, I have almost the exact
same story. I think that the cast
can relate to each one of the
characters in one way
or another, even
though [they all
have] such
different life
experiences. Our general feeling of
growing up out of place in our own
skin, being ostracized by our peers—
there's a general narrative that we
can all relate to on some level.”
Trans women are so often
typecast in popular media. It is
stifling and stereotypical. Style
describes being called into multiple
auditions to play an escort. “There
are other stories that need to be
told, that humanize our experience,”
she emphasizes. In Trans Scripts,
the women are in control of their
narratives. The work and its
approach are urgently necessary,
though something Style is uncertain
could have existed in the notso-distant
past. Now, she says,
especially with television shows like
POSE, the critically acclaimed drama
about New York ballroom culture
in the 1980s, more honest
dissections of the community
are finally gaining broader
visibility. “It’s showing
that people do care
about hearing these
stories and that they
deserve to be told
and honoured—
like any other
story in a
mainstream
platform.”
VANCOUVER’S ESSENTIAL
MARCH HAPPENINGS
MARCH 2020 BEATROUTE 33
MARCH 2020 BEATROUTE 33

BEATROUTE
Get even closer
to the music.
Check out
BEAT
the all-new
beatroute.ca
ROUTE
BR
BRLIVE
BRYYZ
Photo of Daniel Caesar: Darrole Palmer
A collection of groundbreaking drawings by
the celebrated, third-generation Inuk artist
ON VIEW UNTIL MAY 24
TICKETS AT VANARTGALLERY.BC.CA
Generously supported by
Gary R. Bell
The exhibition and tour are supported by
The TD Ready Commitment
Shuvinai Ashoona: Mapping Worlds is organized and circulated by The Power
Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto and curated by Nancy Campbell,
PhD, with assistance from Justine Kohleal, Assistant Curator, The Power
Plant Contemporary Art Gallery
Shuvinai Ashoona, Composition (Attack of the Tentacle Monsters), 2015,
Fineliner pen and coloured pencil on paper, Collection of Paul and Mary
Dailey Desmarais Ill
34 BEATROUTE MARCH 2020
ALSO ON VIEW UNTIL MAY 18
Over 80 artworks from the permanent
collection exploring the idea of the self in
relation to the natural world featuring a new
perspective on the work and lives of
Sewinchelwet (Sophie Frank) and Emily Carr

LINDSAY WALLACE
03.20YVRAGENDA
SPECTRES
Looking back in black
on dark wave reverie,
Nostalgia
Arrayed with a gloomy
presence and an eerie sound
that could be ripped right out of
British music weeklies like Melody
Maker and New Musical Express,
Vancouver’s Spectres have been
haunting fans with their brilliant
yet reserved brand of goth-rock
severity since 2005.
Surpassing those initial
stirrings, the West Coast quintet
has grown from an ambitious
anarcho-punk DIY entity that
pushed its way onto a skeptical
scene to become the vanguard
of Canada’s contemporary new
wave upsurge.
“We’re not trying to hide the
fact that we’re making music that
sounds a certain way or draws
a certain era to mind. We wear
it on our sleeves,” guitarist Zach
Batalden tells BeatRoute. “We’re
conscious of our influences and
that a lot of the music is about
looking back and having certain
feelings about your own past at
different times than where we
are today.”
Beyond a backwards glance
at the crushingly elegant phrasing
and melodies that epitomize a
time and place, Spectres latest
offering, Nostalgia (Artoffact
Records), immortalizes the spirit
of ennui and psychic discomfort
that inhabits the lyrical realms
established by groups such as
The Smiths, Echo & the Bunnymen
and The Psychedelic Furs.
“The bands that inspired
us in the first place and still
inspire us today,” he says. “The
late 70s and early to mid-80s
Manchester sound is pretty
strong in what we’re doing with
Nostalgia for sure.”
Recorded at Jacknife Sound
with producer Jason Corbett
(ACTORS), Nostalgia relies
heavily on dark emotional interplay
between Batalden, lead singer
Brian Gustavson and drummer
Mitch Allen, while integrating the
talents of more recent arrivals,
bassist Jason Renix and guitarist
Adam Mitchell. Dauntless, yet
utterly prone to pursuing synthpop
romances down mysterious
causeways, Nostalgia is perhaps
Spectres most dancefloordestined
work to date.
“That’s totally a part of the
goal is that people will be able to
dance,” says Batalden. “Hopefully
they’ll feel like moving around
when they hear the music!”
Spectres release Nostalgia on
March 13 via Artoffact Records.
By Christine Leonard
LOCAL ARTIST
SPOTLIGHT
WAR BABY
The local grunge rock favourites
are finally back with their first
album in three years. The highly
anticipated You Are Not Here
arrives March 20 and, from the
glorious melodic fuzz of first
single “Dirtbag,” War Baby is still
hitting all the right notes—no
wonder they call recording this
effort one of the most simple and
beautiful experiences they’ve
had. The release show is at the
Rickshaw Theatre on March 27,
where the band will play alongside
other homegrown heavies, Dead
Soft—of which member Keeley
Rochon contributes vocals to
YANH’s opener “Permanent
Guest.”
WUT
On the trio’s debut cassette,
NOW (split into a “nihilist” side
A and a “love sick” side B),
charming, off-kilter melodies bring
a playfulness to more sincere
ruminations on the frustrations of
living and working as a creative in
an increasingly unaffordable city.
Lyrics like “It was an artist centre,
now it’s a coffee shop / It was a
music venue, now it’s a coffee
shop” ring so true. WUT has also
produced a music video for each
of the album’s 10 songs.
HOTEL MIRA
Formerly known as JPNSGRLS,
Hotel Mira has grown a lot in
the past few years. The name
change, for one, and also
artistically, particularly with their
newest album, Perfectionism.
The record was released in
February to rave reviews for the
way it builds on the band’s knack
for catchy pop hooks, as well
as for its introspective subject
matter that doesn’t shy from
topics like suicide.
DEBUT ALBUM
OUT MARCH 27TH, 2020
FLEMISHEYE.COM
MARCH 2020 BEATROUTE 35

GWEN BENAWAY
03.20YVRAGENDA
CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL
WOMEN’S DAY ALL MONTH LONG
Let’s Hear It!
Music BC’s Let’s Hear It! Series,
created to support independent
artists by connecting them with
local industry and fans, is presenting
a special edition for International
Women’s Day. The showcase
is hosted by Tonye Aganaba,
multidisciplinary creative and a
fixture in Vancouver, and features
performances by femcee Missy
D, hip-hop artist Mamarudegyal,
and neo soul singer-songwriter
Turunesh. The event takes place
right after another Music BC
initiative: Follow Your Music Career
Compass, an industry panel that
serves to inform, inspire, and
celebrate women working in the
province’s music scene. The panel,
open for anyone to attend, is held
at Nicli Antica Pizzeria in Gastown
and includes insight from publicists,
festival directors, and professionals
working with organizations such as
Music Heals.
March 7
VENUE
Tix: ticketweb.ca
36 BEATROUTE MARCH 2020
Growing Room
Already known for fostering an
empowered and inclusive creative
community, Growing Room is
expanding its fourth edition this year
to become both a literary and arts
festival in order to further address
sociopolitical issues impacting
Canadian arts and culture from
a feminist standpoint. Governor
General’s Prize-winning poet Gwen
Benaway is among more than
85 authors, artists, filmmakers,
dancers, and musicians on hand
to participate in a diverse lineup of
panels, workshops, and readings
that explore topics like remaining
honest to queer identities in fiction
and writing about mental health.
March 11-15
Various Locations
Tix: eventbrite.ca
Sassy Saturdays
Ever wanted to try burlesque? Now’s
your chance—and to learn from one
of the best in the game. Burgundy
Brixx, Vancouver’s burlesque queen
and founder of Kitty Nights, the
award-winning burlesque show,
is hosting a new series of dance
classes every Saturday this spring,
starting March 14. Along with
striptease, there’ll also be broadway
jazz, musical theatre tap, and surfa-go-go
classes available (you’ll
find us at that last one!). All ages,
gender identities, and skill levels are
welcome.
March 14
Vancouver Pops Performing
Arts Society
Tix: burgundybrixx.com
DIANNE REEVES
Her Love Song to Brazil
The vibrant traditions of Brazilian music can be heard
distinctly in the work of Dianne Reeves. Pluck out
nearly any song from the jazz vocalist’s catalogue and
you will surely recognize them: intrinsic improvisation.
Dancing polyrhythms. Quiet, expansive melodies.
Brazilian music, of course, has many expressions
including bossa nova and pagode. But the thread
connecting them all? A celebratory soulfulness.
“It is really for your mind, for your body, and for your
spirit,” Reeves says, speaking from Denver, Colorado.
“You feel that in it. I have just always loved it.”
Reeves discovered the South American music in
the 1970s, through an album by Flora Purim called
Stories to Tell. She felt an immediate connection.
Then, she heard Wayne Shorter’s Native Dancer,
a collaboration with Brazil’s Milton Nascimento
combining funk and jazz rock. “That just killed me,”
Reeves laughs. “I was hooked from then on. There was
something about it that was so familiar and I felt that it
was a part of me, as well.”
In the late ‘70s, she explored Latin-fusion as a
member of Caldera, a band influenced by samba and
Afro-Cuban. In ’81, she toured with Brazilian pianist
Sergio Mendes. The rich and intricate sounds soaked
into Reeves’ sensibilities, surfacing within inspired
textures in songs like “Sky Islands,” “Tango,” and
covers of Brazilian players like Vinícius de Moraes.
As such, Reeves’ latest project, Beleza Brazil,
is a natural progression. “It was time,” she adds,
considering how important Brazilian music has been
to her. Its title translating to “the beauty of Brazil”
from Portuguese, the dedicated concert program
features selections from Reeves’ repertoire, as well as
compositions from musicians including Dori Caymmi
and Antônio Carlos Jobim—two of her favourite artists.
Reeves is also releasing an album of Brazilian
music. It is still in early stages, but arrival is imminent.
“I’m just excited about the record,” she beams, delight
radiating through her voice. And no wonder: it is an
opportunity to become further acquainted with a part
of herself that Reeves describes as one she cherishes.
A chance to explore sonic terrain that already feels
intimate, but still has space to be fully discovered.
by Yasmine Shemesh
JERRIS MADISON

Venus Forecast
By AERIN FOGEL
Pisces season
Notable Pisces
Millie
Bobby
Brown
02.19
WELCOME TO PISCES
SEASON! According to
astrologers, it’s the end of the
year, because the astrological
wheel resets when we enter
Aries season and the first
day of spring. So if it feels like
things are ending, perhaps
unraveling and drifting away,
there’s nothing to worry about
– you’re right in line with the
season.
Pisces is ultimately about
recognizing what connects
us all. Going through our day
to day lives can be intense,
personal, and even isolating.
But this sign speaks to the
intangible and powerful reality
that we are part of a vast
collective. As a result, we learn
how to be more sensitive to
what we (and others around
us are feeling). Life is tough
sometimes, and through our
own struggles we become
more empathetic. Pisces
teaches us how to act more
compassionately as a result.
Aerin Fogel is a spiritual
counsellor and the creator of
Venus Fest, a future oriented
Toronto music festival.
Important dates:
March 9
Mercury stations direct.
Yes that’s right, we’re in the middle
of a Mercury Retrograde. Mercury
traveling backwards through
sensitive Pisces gives us reason to
pause, go inwards, spend time alone
dreaming and wondering and feeling
it all. When Mercury goes direct
again it’s time to move forward on
decisions you’ve been putting off,
and revisit some hard conversations,
this time speaking from the heart.
March 9
Full Moon in Virgo.
The Full Moon helps us see
where we need to pick up the
pieces from Mercury Retrograde
– we may need to
reorganize our drawers, our
commitments, or our social
priorities. How are we doing on
the goals we set during “back to
school” season? Some can be
redefined now, as we take time
to integrate the last few weeks.
March 24
New Moon in Aries
The first New Moon of the astrological
year is the most powerful
moon to set an intention. This
is an opportunity to start a new
endeavor, new relationship,
new approach to something
already existing, and infuse
it with fresh energy. Think of
where in your life you want
something to begin or emerge
more fully. Now is the time.
Rihanna
02.20
Erykah
Badu
02.26
Kesha
03.01
Tyler,
The
Creator
03.06
Steph
Curry
03.14
Albert
Einstein!
03.14
Visit us online at beatroute.ca to check out our Pisces mood songs playlist!
FRIDAY LATE NIGHT MOVIES!
VISIT WWW.RIOTHEATRETICKETS.CA FOR SHOW TIMES & TICKET PRICES
19+
VALID ID FOR
BAR SERVICE
MAR 6
HARDWARE
MAR 13 FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII MAR 20 ALIEN MAR 27 THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS APRIL 3 HEATHERS
MARCH 2020 BEATROUTE 37

03.20YVRMUSIC
The Cheat Sheet BR PICKS THE 5 ESSENTIAL LIVE MUSIC SHOWS
1
YOUNG MA
Sun, March 8 at Fortune Sound Club
The Brooklyn rapper exploded
since dropping 2016 breakout single
“Ooouu.” Now is your chance to see
Herstory In The Making—her debut
album—in the flesh.
2 GRIEVES
Thurs, March 12 at Fortune Sound Club
Backed by mega indie label
Rhymesayers, the Seattle-based hiphop
artist tosses melodic beats and
spits earnest lyrics with a distinctly
Northwest bent.
3
LIL MOSEY
Fri, March 13 at the Vogue Theatre
Young and making bold moves in
the hip-hop realm, the 18-year-old
wunderkind has toured with the late
Juice Wrld and mixes high fidelity
production with mumble rap verses.
4 ONYX
Sat, March 21 at The Waldorf Hotel
Sliding just under the radar during
the Golden Age of hip-hop, the longstanding
hardcore rap pair are back
from the East Coast with grimy new
material.
5
MC HOTDOG
Fri, March 27 at the Vogue Theatre
Swerving from melodic R&B sounds
to metal trap instrumentals in a
single album are a testament to
the dynamic skills of this veteran
Taiwanese artist.
1
THE STROKES
Thurs, March 5 at Rogers Arena
Their first album in seven years
isn’t out until April, but who
doesn’t love a rock and roll rager
from the ones who spearheaded
the garage rock revival?
2
AVI KAPLAN
Tues, March 17 at The Biltmore Cabaret
The former Pentatonix vocalist
has moved on from acappella
to guitar and harmonica riffs
trembling beneath a commanding
bluegrass voice.
3
DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS
Thurs, March 17 at The Commodore
The grit-under-your-nails country
rock band radiates Alabama
flavour; raspy vocals tell tales of
guys who’ve been through it all.
4 DESTROYER
Fri, March 20 at The Vogue Theatre
Acclaimed indie-folk hometown
hero Dan Bejar’s candid vocals
teeter on 90s vibes, beautiful
piano, and electronic guitar.
5 TENNIS
Mon, March 30 at VENUE
In the wake of their fifth album,
Swimmer, the married duo remain
steadfast to the 60’s dream pop
sound their music first burst from.
1
BLACKWATER BURIAL
Fri, March 6 at the Astoria
Dishing a sonic brain-melter of
tech-death, this nascent Vancouver
band has only been smashing out
high-octane jams since 2018.
2
CURL UP AND DIE
Sat, March 7 at The Wise Hall
The resurrection of the Las Vegas
metalcore act land heavy with the
nostalgic sounds of their early
aughts days.
3
DECIBEL TOUR
Wed, March 18 at the Imperial
Decibel Magazine’s behemoth of a
night: Norwegian black metal gods
Mayhem headline alongside ABBATH,
with Gatecreeper and Idle Hands.
4
A NIGHT OF DEATH AND
DOOM WITH VASTUM
Thurs, March 19 at the Astoria
Feel the doom with extreme
thrashers VASTUM from Oakland,
Grave Infestation’s haunting screamo,
and the psychotic tendencies of
Radioactive Vomit.
5 FLESHGOD
APOCALYPSE
Tues, March 31 at the Rickshaw Theatre
Reach another dimension in the
presence of the Italian symphonic
death metal outfit’s obliterating vocals
and stunning melodic production.
1
THE REAL MCKENZIES
Sat, Mar 7 at the Rickshaw Theatre
A founder of Celtic Punk, playing on
home soil, spinning traditional songs
with classic bagpipes and the usual
suspects of great punk—rapid-fire
drums and DIY spirit.
2
DAYGLO ABORTIONS
Sat, Mar 14 at Pat’s Pub
It’s the 30th anniversary of the
Vancouver Island punks being
cleared of obscenity charges—laid
on the basis of their third album—
so come celebrate with these
motherf%*#@$!
3
PUSSY RIOT
Thurs, Mar 19 at Fortune Sound Club
Big noise and hunky hooks abound in
the local duo’s raging output of sound
and, half a decade after conception,
their heart is still right where it needs
to be—drenched in sweat.
4
SETH ANDERSON
Thurs, Mar 26 at LanaLou’s
Scream along and let all your woes
fall to the whisky-sticky floor where
they belong. Be ready to headbang
one moment and put your lighters in
the air the next.
5 AANTHEMS
Fri, March 27 at Pat’s Pub
Big noise and hunky hooks abound in
the local duo’s raging output of sound
and, half a decade after conception,
their heart is still right where it needs
to be—drenched in sweat.
1 SMALLTOWN
DJS MAGIC
MOUNTAIN TOUR
Sat, March 7 at MIA
Hype up your Saturday with
Smalltown DJs, Miami’s funky The
Sponges, Christian Martin, and
Vancouver’s very own housespinner
Sivz.
2 YULTRON
Fri, Mar 13 at Celebrities Nightclub
The LA-based producer is as
comfortable playing rock music
as he is EDM, but the genreoctopus
mainly sticks to subgenres
of the latter.
3
LA ROUX
Fri, March 20 at The Commodore
The now-solo artist is back with a
new album, fresh energy, and that
synthy electro-pop that we fell in love
with.
4
DAN DEACON
Sat, March 21 at VENUE
The multi-instrumentalist,
conservatory-level trained composer
will shoot you to the moon via tour
bus run on electronic experimentals
and vegetable oil.
5
SEASONS FESTIVAL
Sat, Mar 28 at Pacific Coliseum
Thank you for flying with EDM
megaliths Above and Beyond, DJ
Yotto, LA producer JVNA, and
Vancouver Trance Family’s Chris
Arnal.
38 BEATROUTE MARCH 2020

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