| There’s lots of great gossip and goings--on about town for me to tell you about. The first thing worth mentioning is Going Coastalﾕs coverage of "Much Does Calgary." The long-standing TV show will feature performances by Starewell, Sudden Infant Dance Syndrome, Five Star Affair, The Rocky Fortune and Woodpigeon as well as interviews with each band and a few other surprises. It airs at 9 p.m. on Sunday, March 11 on Channel 18 and will be way better than the Oscars if you’re a fan of local music (though I am glad Marty and Forest finally won).
Besides their appearance on the telly, Woodpigeon is back in town for a pack of March gigs. First off is a set at the Plaza Theatre for the $100 Film Festival’s opening gala on March 10, followed by a show on March 14 at The Ship and Anchor with Kara Keith and Pressure Kill Common Style, an appearance at The Engineered Air Theatre on March 21, and an all-ages spot at EMMEDIA on March 23. The latter two shows with James Fooks and The Constant C. will feature the free, limited giveaway (only 100) of the new five-song Houndstooth EP, recorded in Paris and Berlin, primarily on the ukulele.
Next up, you really need to know about Woodpigeon’s newest mate on Rectangle records, James Fooks (a.k.a. Jane Vain). The bespectacled chanteuse has been gaining a lot of buzz lately, and is now putting the finishing touches on her debut long-player (featuring members of The ’Pigeon).
"I’m writing, recording and producing the album myself at my house," says Fooks. "Other than myself (vocals/keyboards/beats, etc.), it includes Dillon Whitfield (guitars/bass/acoustic), Mark Hamilton (acoustic guitar/ukulele/banjo/backup vocals), Annalea Sordi (backup vocals), and Foon Yap (violin/backups). They are all amazing.
"I have yet to come up with an album name. Mark wants me to call it So Ravenous Was Our Love Mak(ery)ing, but as funny as that is... it's unlikely. We will probably call it Play Like Perfect Robots."
With a dark and dreamy singing style comparable to Chan Marshall (Cat Power), the majority of Fooks’s songs are presented in a first person perspective, created "as a result of emotional/situational confusion."
"Real events mostly inspire the songs," Fooks explains. "I tend to say too much in real life, like there isn’t someone standing at the gate in between my brain and my mouth to decide what thoughts should be let through and what should remain imprisoned. Or if there is, they’re sleeping on the job."
You can catch Miss Vain live at Vern’s on March 11, then again at the previously mentioned EMMEDIA show on March 23. If you need a taste in the meantime, spin on down to myspace.com/janevainsmusic. With its banjos, trippy electronics and warbly guitars, "Don’t Mind Us" is on repeat at my pad.
Kris Ellestad (formerly known as Kessler Tidal) is another singer-songwriter type you should already love. If you haven’t received the memo yet, he’s playing at Soda on March 24 (with The Pine Tarts). His newest CD, Third Person, can also be purchased at various independent music haunts around town and can be listened to in part at – you guessed it – myspace.com/krisellestad.
The Ostrich don’t have any shows announced for this month yet, but they do have two new songs posted on their space. "Don’t Rock" does.
Finally this month, my beloved Azeda Booth are finally set to let loose their five-song Mysterious Body CD at the Hifi Club on March 31 (for the adults) and on April 6 at Lynwood’s Re-Store venue (for the kids). Band-member/electronic madman Morgan Greenwood, who recorded the EP at his house, explains. "The recording process was done over a wide span of experimenting and life," he says. "It’s not certain how long exactly we spent, except that it was time well spent.
"For the most part, the songs are similar to those on the myspace page. A couple of them have not been played live, a couple of them have."
As for the increased attention the band has been getting lately, Greenwood adds a few words of wisdom from a family member (and Forrest Gump).
"My grandpa always used to say, ‘Boy – an ounce of attention a day keeps the ego at bay.’ He was right. Attention is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get."
If you’re a local artist doing something interesting and want to have it written about, drop me a line at either alvy411@hotmail.com or myspace.com/alvy411. Shalom. |
Copyright ©2007 FFWD. All rights reserved.