Bran Van 3000

As far as Canadian bands go, Bran Van got off to an auspicious beginning. An excursion into radio vibes with 1997′s hit single “Drinkin’ in LA” (which charted once in Canada and twice in the UK) landed Bran Van brief tenure in pop stardom, including a global tour and a Capitol Records release for their 1997 debut Glee. Riding high on their success, BV3 was subsequently signed to the Beastie Boys‘ label Grand Royal for their sophomore effort, 2001′s Discosis.

Unfortunately, a sudden collapse of the Grand Royal label coincided with Discosis‘ release, tanking the album’s publicity. In the wake of disaster, the track “Astounded”, featuring vocals from soul legend Curtis Mayfield, managed to become Bran Van’s highest-charting hit, but the band re-appraised their direction nonetheless. Leaving behind labels and management of any sort, BV3 became notoriously reclusive, refusing interviews and live shows, seeming to exist only in rumour as they assembled their subsequent album, 2007′s Rosé.

Continuing critical acclaim for Discosis and Rosé didn’t change this reclusive image, and BV3 remained a well-kept Canadian secret – until an appearance at the 2008 Montreal Jazz Festival turned the spotlights back upon them. The urban myth of Bran Van was busted when over 200,000 fans converged at the show, packing the streets to see the group play their first live set in almost 10 years.

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You could say it was something of a turnaround for BV3′s approach. Back in the groove of live shows and recording, BV3 released The Garden in 2010 – and it might be their best work yet. As far back as Glee, Bran Van was fusing electronic beats with rich acoustic sounds and they only push it further here, for The Garden simmers with experimentation and creative meldings of genres. Everything from singalong twee-indie to downtempo, electro-funk, hip-hop and reggae makes an appearance, courtesy of an army of skillfully-arranged guest vocalists. It’s all unpredictable but it never sounds strained – for this, The Garden has earned unanimous and deserved critical praise.

Yeah, we know what you’ll be doing at Osheaga this Friday. See you there!

Osheaga

We recommend you don your neon headbands, leg-warmers and slap-bracelets for this one. With these three down-tuned, cinematic groups engaged in a war of keyboards and drum machines, we’re sure it’s going to be a synth-wave throwdown.

THE GLITCH MOB

Hailing from the bass-driven nightlife of Los Angeles, The Glitch Mob are neither especially glitchy or, technically speaking, a mob – but with an onslaught of moody, funky instrumentals spanning a whole constellation of ’80s and early ’90s synth sounds, they manage to paint a grimy portrait of neon-lit nights and Vice City violence that makes their name feel spot-on. Variously described as glitch-hop, IDM and breakbeat, Glitch Mob don’t stick to one sub-sub-genre long enough to be pigeonholed, but their sound is unified by creative sonic layering and midnight retro atmosphere as thick as LA smog. This is one mob you’ll be happy to join.

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PHANTOGRAM

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Phantogram have been a mainstay of the Montreal scene since 2007, delivering their unique brand of downtempo trip-hop to a growing fanbase – this writer recalls a crowd going apeshit for them at a local venue last year as they followed up the release of their debut album Eyelid Movies.

Sonically, Phantogram are firmly rooted in the sultry stylings of late ’90s Massive Attack and Portishead, filtered through a decade-plus of organic experimentation and low-fi indie sound-collage. The fragile crooning of lead singer Sarah Barthel s as likely to attract fans of Florence + the Machine as much as old-school Bowery Electric.

COM TRUISE

Com Truise has been described – as always, somewhat non-descriptively – as chillwave, but for us Nintendo Generation kids, he’s more than merely chill, he’s an architect of a certain nostalgic time and place where chill was the default state.

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Stirring up a blend of laid-back, ’80s-styled soundscapes by way of classic analogue synths and samplers, Com Truise is to downtempo what the Valerie Collective is to electro. A bit of hard-edged cyberpunk (Com Truise is perhaps most well-known for his remixes of the Tron soundtrack) and spaced-out Steve Moore-ish atmosphere add further colour to Com Truise’s sound. Glitchy samples and the occasional broken breakbeat are the main clues to modernity for Com Truise; for the most part, he’s as ’80s-authentic as a Sylvester Levay film score – and just as moodily cinematic.

So pop-rock gods U2 are coming to Montr– what, you’ve already heard? Oh, of course. If you live here, you’ve definitely heard.

Over 160,000 fans are expected to show up tomorrow to U2′s massive self-constructed venue at the Hippodrome at Decarie and Jean Talon, formerly the Blue Bonnets racetrack. Hundreds, in fact, are already there right now, camping out in the streets overnight to catch first glimpse of Bono and his crew tomorrow night. U2 plays two full shows Friday and Saturday night (July 8th and 9th), as part of their massive world tour, U2 360.

The much-discussed 360 stage gives U2′s tour its name. A rotating stage will slowly turn throughout the concert, leaving the stage and band totally surrounded by countless thousands of concertgoers. It’s been done before, but never to this scale – U2′s attempt is the largest stage of its kind ever built. Depending on your point of view, this enormous and expensive spectacle is either an audacious move to accommodate the needs of an enormous fanbase, or an over-hyped publicity stunt cooked up in typical fashion by the world’s most pretentious Adult Contemporary band. Both views are common in the media at the moment – we’ll let you make up your own mind.

One positive of the stunt? The enormous stage means there’s an enormous amount of space, which means tickets are still available!

You can thank U2 for that one. Maybe Prince ought to take some pointers.

Incidentally, the number 360 also has added meaning for hardcore U2 lovers. U2′s Montreal stopover comes almost a full year late – fans will recall that a back injury sustained by Bono cut U2′s 2010 tour short before it ever reached Montreal. Tomorrow should wash away 360 days of anticipation.

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If you don’t know him yet, DJ Champion (or just Champion), alias Maxime Morin, has been a fixture of Montreal’s dance scene since the mid-’90s. He began releasing albums with 2005′s Chill ‘Em All, a sensual trip into downtempo Americana and beat-laden electronic blues that has since become an award-winning genre classic. The guitar-infused album’s tongue-in-cheek name is perhaps an homage to Champion’s early ’90s career as a metal guitarist, but Chill ‘Em All is praised for its subdued vibe, which never gets heavier than back-country twang — although the bass is guaranteed to shake the floor.

Soulful vocals from fellow Montreal local Betty Bonifassi (lately of electronic duo Beast) add a warm and soulful touch to the album’s sound, although Champion would switch it up for his next studio release, 2009′s Resistance. A little darker and more varied, Resistance sees Champion cranking up the distortion and employing hard guitar rhythms and male vocals into his electronic sound – all adding up to a most rocking effect. Like Chill ‘Em All before it, tracks from this album have become hits on the soundtrack circuit, adding energy to clips for games like Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, seen here.

Severe health problems have sidelined Champion until recently, which means June 30th’s show will be a return to form and truly something special to witness – it’ll also be his only show this summer! Champion will be pulling out all the stops, accompanied by his live band, G-Strings, for the full effect.

If you don’t mind a little rock mixed in with your dance beats (and Champion has proven the combination irresistible) you’d best come on down to Metropolis on Thursday! Tickets are still on sale at $34.50 at L’Astral and Metropolis or through admission.com (Tel.: 514-790-1245).

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It’s all sort of last-minute: Prince wasn’t on the bill until the middle of June, when he suddenly descended from on high and asked the co-ordinators of the fest if he could be included in the show. Plans were made – you can’t say no to the man who did Purple Rain. Audiences, as always, seem to agree: The shows were sold out over a week ago (sorry, folks!). This is well in keeping with the pop-god’s usual showings, which are often short-notice.

What to expect at the show? Expect to get your groove on, for one. Prince is an artist who has spanned genres and decades, influencing countless imitators and spawning sub-genres left and right. His music is emotional, sexy, moody, sonically lush and nearly always dance-oriented. A prodigy multi-instrumentalist, Prince throws wild guitar solos, synths, pianos and nearly every other instrument into his sound with boundless energy.

Prince’s show may be booked, but he isn’t the only attraction at the Montreal Jazz Festival this weekend. Everyone from torch-singer goddess Holly Cole, to ’80s sensations B52s, to legendary crooner Maryanne Faithfull will make an appearance. Clearly, this isn’t just for people who like jazz – it’s for music fans of all stripes. And it’s all available in the heart of Montreal, from St. Laurent Boulevard and De Bleury Street and Ste. Catherine Street and President-Kennedy Avenue downtown. Find out more at their site. See you there!

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English-German outfit Art Brut take their name from a little-used alternate term for outsider art. It’s an appropriate moniker — Art Brut may well have formed in a vacuum, because nobody else sounds quite like them.

To call Art Brut indie rock would be, if not a mistake, then at least inadequate. It’s true that the band’s sound recalls the the crusty low-fi of garage rock and the driving New Wave-redux rhythms of fellow British invaders Franz Ferdinand and Futureheads. But lead throat Eddie Argos‘s thickly English howls are culled straight from vintage punk (even his comedic asides recall the satire of the Stooges or the Dead Milkmen) adding an anarchic, loopily hilarious spirit to a genre often known for its self-seriousness. The band capably complements this off-kilter approach with catchy dance-rock grooves, spiced with the kind of stylistic curveballs that Weezer once offered.

DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake by art-brut

Ultimately it’s Argos himself who forms Art Brut‘s make-or-break proposition. His lyrics, like the better brand of stand-up comedy, are both universal observations and private revelations — albeit couched in non-sequiteur rambling and energetic catchphrase slinging. Argos’s stream-of-lyricism style spans everything from terrible sex to music industry woes to DC Comics and chocolate milkshakes, at least in the song of that name.

At times Art Brut resemble nothing so much as Bloc Party being joyfully waled upon with a cricket bat by Wesley Willis. It’s an engaging and often gut-busting balance of the amusingly dumb, the archly self-aware, and the painfully sincere.

Supporting the release of their fourth album Brilliant! Tragic!, Art Brut has been on a North American junket, and they’re hitting up Montreal this Saturday (June 18th) at one of our favourite venues, Il Motore, brought to you by Greenland, BSTB & Evenko. You are cordially invited to come shake your ass — and maybe laugh it right off.

Samedi 18 juin(Greenland, BSTB & Evenko présentent)
ART BRUT + INVITÉ
IL MOTORE – 179 JEAN-TALON O.

15$ + f.s. à l’avance et 16.50$ + f.s. à la porte

Billets en vente chez CHEAP THRILLS et sur le réseau ADMISSION.

Hebden credits everything from Motown funk to ’90s horrorcore rap as influences, making him impossible to pin down. One thing is consistent: In contrast to the often chilly and downbeat style of his electronic post-rock peers, Hebden’s work as Four Tet is known for its upbeat, warm and even euphoric qualities – qualities which are much enhanced by the joy-charged atmosphere of his live show. MUTEK Montreal is going to be all sexy smiles, we predict.

Hebden has been purveying his brand of soulful dance rhythms as Four Tet since 1998, when he was still playing guitar in his post-rock band Fridge. Four Tet’s early output attracted significant buzz and soon Hebden was leading a musical double life, touring with Fridge by day and remixing the likes of Aphex Twin by night – or perhaps vice versa.

Hebden’s 2001 album Pause under the Four Tet name was critically acclaimed, and so unique that a new genre name – folktronica – was coined by music media to describe it. Since then, Four Tet has been Hebden’s dominant project, with a smattering of Fridge releases throughout the 2000s. Hebden’s many talents and have made him a hotly demanded remix artist from a wide variety of artists; he’s worked with artists as disparate as Madvillain, Tegan and Sara and Radiohead, among others.

Were not able to catch his show at MUTEK? This is a good video showing some of his previous work…

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Tobin is one of those names, like Aphex Twin and Plastikman (the latter also appearing at this year’s MUTEK) that’s known well beyond the inner circle of electronic music devotees, having achieved a brand of mainstream recognition in a traditionally underground scene.

Born Amon Adonai Santos de Araujo Tobin, the Brazilian genius was releasing music from his bedroom studio as a teenager, which eventually led to some notoriety via his debut album Adventures in Foam under his artist name, Cujo. An underground sensation, Adventures in Foam attracted attention from the likes of Funki Porcini, which led to Tobin being signed to infamous London label Ninja Tune. 1997 saw the release of Tobin’s breakthrough album Bricolage, which attracted significant critical attention – and the rest is, if not history, then legend at the least.

Tobin is known for his deep, layered production, which fuses samples of acoustic instruments with hard-hitting breakbeats and drum and bass rhythms. Tobin’s work is varied and genre-sweeping – at times frenetic and claustrophobic, at times relaxed and subtle. Orchestral and jazz instruments figure prominently in much of his work. The cinematic richness of Tobin’s sound has given him the opportunity to work in film and video games as a soundtrack artist, and he’s been lauded by gamers and music lovers alike for his work on the Splinter Cell series and the recent Infamous.

Since 2002 Tobin has resided in Montreal courtesy of his association with Ninja Tune’s Montreal offices, which means MUTEK wasn’t much of a commute. Tobin’s June 1^st spectacular brought the house down with wild projections of 3D abstract visions upon a massive sculptural form, courtesy of several fabricating and engineering companies who collaborated on the huge project. Of course, this kind of collaborative fusion has defined Tobin’s career all along. The only question remaining in the aftermath of MUTEK is, how can Tobin possibly top himself now?

We can’t wait to find out!

While we were not working on our client’s campaigns and hitting the winter music fests we had a peak into some of the things that are really making Japan’s music industry a fruitful avenue for North American bands trying to get a slice of the Yen. In particular, their trendy mobile technology is starting to pick up elsewhere in the world and as the worldwide web brings foreign industries closer and closer together, we think 2010 will be the year that getting distribution deals, bookings and press from our Japanese friends will be easier than you can imagine…

How to get BIG IN JAPAN? I think we’ve cracked it here:

With websites like TOPMUSICJAPAN allowing one to quickly get a .jp music page and promo package, bands can try their luck at selling both music and merch to the Japanese music fan market place.

Japan is enormous, with over 127,704,000 people living there, and a huge entertainment industry, you can imagine how many music fans there are.  It seems like they have really mastered interactive advertising as well and if you think Facebook is the web’s biggest playground think again! In Japan – MIXI is their virtual hang-out and home to over 25 million users and if their steady growth continues we’ll have reached 31 million users by 2011.

Music magazines! This is a great way to get your band out there. In Japan, they are genre obsessed and instead of having a few magazine that cover mostly pop music, they have hundreds of magazines for many many genres of music and styles. The easiest way to find some reliable agencies is asking the new media buyer of a popular major like SONY JAPAN. If you are are fluent in Japanese, go ahead and call the magazines yourself!  Some genres do particularely well in Japan like :Metal, Visual Kei and electronica.  If you have a glam-rock style band SHOXX would be a good mag to advertise in.

Poster downloads and concert promo! if you are touring in Japan you will not be able to resist this service. It enables the mobile population to literally get free downloads and concert info off of a poster via bar codes, augmented reality symbols and what is known as air tagging! (visuals that are linked to your GPS allowing users to seek wireless hot spots, cool new restos, clothing specials and of course concerts!

Before creating your plan of action, study the country and the culture, read some blogs, Google is your friend! Below are some of my favorite Japanese videos that will hopefully help you get a feel for this bustling stylish & entertaining Metropolis and how bands can make it BIG IN JAPAN!

“Japan” from Felix Urbauer on Vimeo.

Generally Andre is the ultimate vid candy hunter and then we pick from the prey pile – but he is in Cali hopefully soaking up sun rays and hanging out in some real waves! So we did our best to pick your Xmas Edition.

Kef Muon – sound reactive installation – Santa how cool is this?!

Lady Gaga – Speechless Royal Variety Performance – pitch perfect.

Pointer Sisters famous Pinball song from Sesame Street –  NUF SAID

Jingle Bells Performed by U900, a Japanese Ukulele Duo

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