| I went out this week and did some hard-hitting investigative reporting. Fast Forward received a press release stating that the Moyo Combo have broken up, and played their last show at The Warehouse on May 13. The document insinuated that a hard rock ’n’ roll lifestyle had taken its toll on the group (you know, like the 46-minute mark of a VH1 Behind The Music special), but I wasn’t buying it, so I dug deeper.
"Our guitarist is moving to Toronto and our drummer is moving to Phoenix," claims the band’s spokesperson and second guitarist Fredy Unui. So I asked the question that has been on all of our minds. Is The Moyo Combo breaking up because you’re a bunch of hippies? "Well, we all hate drum circles, (but) I wouldn’t say that we’re neo-hippies or anything," says Unui. He then went on to say that he thought Phish was the greatest live band that he had ever seen, and then we talked about how The Grateful Dead are touring again, but without Jerry Garcia and now they’re simply called The Dead. There’s no way he could know about Jerry Garcia quitting the band without being a hippy himself. The Moyo Combo is survived by a self-titled, self-produced CD available at many indie-friendly stores.
Incandescence - intensity of emotion such as anger or romantic passion.
All-ages favourites The Incandescence are putting out their first album this coming June. After going through two different singers (the band probably got intensely angry at them, forcing them to leave) the band has taken to splitting vocal duties amongst the four members to attain what they consider to be a more cohesive sound.
"We used to get compared to a lot of shoe-gazing bands like My Bloody Valentine," says guitarist Spencer Davis, "but now we get more of a Sonic Youth comparison. We try to stay away from standard songwriting convention." Well, they sure don’t get compared to Sonic Youth because of their old age. The Incandescence are all in their (oh-so) early 20s and still play (for the most part) at all-ages venues. "Bar shows actually pay money, but then you’re playing to mature adults who are more afraid to have fun – concerned about being cool…. It’s like playing to plants," says Davis, though not in an intensely angry way.
The Calgary Folk Music Festival and the Ship & Anchor Pub have crowned the winners of their second annual songwriting competition. A total of 170 entries were submitted, and over the course of three weekends the finalists kicked out the jams for a rotating panel of celebrity judges, competing for absolute songwriting supremacy in three categories – best song of Alberta, best song by a newcomer and best song overall. On April 30 Mark Sadlier Brown took home a cool $1,000, a new Fender acoustic guitar and top prize in the best song of Alberta category for "In the Devonian." The next week, Jasmine Whenham’s "This Girl" bagged $1,000, 10 hours of studio time and the best song by a newcomer. In the finals, which took place on May 14, Thérèse Lanz topped them all when her song "Blackfoot Bones" took the best song prize (Whenham, however, came in as first runner-up). Lanz, who many will know from her work with screaming punks Kilbourne, scooped $2,000 and an album packaging and mastering prize from Canada Disc and Tape.
While last year’s winner, John Wort Hannam, didn’t place in any of the above categories, he did take the judges "Big Metaphors.com" discretionary award for "Wrecking Ball." For a complete list of all finalists and winners, check out www.calgaryfolkfest.com
Don’t forget that on May 21 and 22, Moustache Rock 2005 takes place at the Night Gallery. It’s your chance to see local bands such as Ditchrider, Beija Floor, Veritas and The Brenda Vaqueros celebrate the year 1979 by getting fall-down drunk and covering the hits of the day.
If you have any info for The 411, e-mail info@ffwd.greatwest.ca. |
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