Feb / March 2020

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February / March 2020 Stylus Magazine

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2 Stylus Magazine February / March 2020

FEB/MAR 31 NO. 1 2020VOL

Production Team Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gil Carroll

editor@stylusmagazine.ca Assistant Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . Jen Doerksen

assistanteditor@stylusmagazine.ca Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kelly Campbell

design@stylusmagazine.ca

On the Cover KELLY CAMPBELL is an artist who works in sculpture, installation, printmaking, fibre, and graphic arts. Their work explores issues of labour, gender, taste, class, and material positionality.

They are the art director of Stylus Magazine, which is publushed by CKUW 95.9, and they would like to encourage you to donate to Fundrive 2020 so we can continue to create a record of Winnipeg’s local music scene by and for local artists, writers, and photographers. Invest in your community, the gift that keeps on giving! Call 204-774-6877 or visit fundrive.ckuw.ca to donate.

To see more of Kelly’s work, check out their Instagram @kellygrub or their online store at kellygrub.bigcartel.com.

Cover Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kelly Campbell Advertising Contact . . . . . . . . . Rob Schmidt

manager@ckuw.ca Print by JRS Print Services . . . 204-232-3558

Contributors Ryan Haughey Kaelen Bell Nigel Webber Emily Dubin Keeley Braunstein-Black Adam Fuhr Olivia Michalczuk Chris Bryson Mark Teague Mat Kleisinger Olivier LaRoche Sean Guezen Isabella Soares

Stylus is published bi–monthly by CKUW 95.9 FM, with a circulation of 2,500. Stylus serves as the program guide to 95.9FM CKUW and will reflect the many musical communities it supports within Winnipeg and beyond. Stylus strives to provide coverage of music that is not normally written about in the mainstream media. Stylus acts as a vehicle for the work of new writers, photographers and artists, including members of the University of Winnipeg, of CKUW and of the Winnipeg community at large. Stylus reserves the right to refuse to print material, specifically, that of a racist, homophobic or sexist nature. All submissions may be edited and become the property of Stylus. All opinions expressed in Stylus are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors.

Contributions in the form of articles, reviews, letters, photos and graphics are welcome and should be sent with contact information to:

Stylus Magazine Bulman Student Centre, University of Winnipeg 515 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, R3B 2E9 Phone: 204-786-9785, Fax: 204-783-7080 Writing submissions: editor@stylusmagazine.ca Graphics submissions: design@stylusmagazine.ca www.stylusmagazine.ca Contributions will be accepted in the body of an email. No attachments please. All submissions may be edited and become the property of Stylus. Unauthorized reproduction of any portion of Stylus is strongly discouraged without the express written consent of the editors.

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Table of Contents Blah, Blah, Blah Events Around Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Space Jam: Riley Hill and Domo Lemoine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CKUW Program Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CKUWho: The Gashlycrumb Tinies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Winnipeg State of Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Local Spotlight: Robojom, Veneer, and more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CKUW Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Features An Interview with Max Hamilton of Joko Tea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Festival du Voyageur: When Music Goes Both Ways . . . . . . . . .

Meet Me in the Shed: An Afternoon with Roman Clarke . . . . . .

Lightning Dust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Taylor Janzen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Amos the Kid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Live Show Review: Julien’s Daughter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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February / March 2020 Stylus Magazine

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SUPPORT COMMUNITY RADIO! CKUW 95.9FM

FEB 7-14 FUNDRIVE 2020

DONATE 204-774-6877 fundrive.ckuw.ca

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BLAHBLAHBLAH We are lucky to have so many musical events happening in Winnipeg during these cold winter months***Celebrate the release of the debut album from Hut Hut at the Good Will on February 7th with Big Loser and Hotel Dog (first show!) opening or over at the Handsome Daughter is the CKUW FUNDRIVE kickoff party with Leossa, Julien’s Daughter and Ghost Twin***February 8 at Crescent Fort

Rouge United Church you can catch Cameron Denby, Casati, Rebeka Schroeder, Cary Denby, and Julia Davis***Festival Du Voyageur is back this year featuring amazing talent like Royal Canoe, 3Peat, Veneer, Yes We Mystic, Jaywood, Anthony OKS, Fowler, Dana Waldie, A La Mode, Juniper Bush, Loa, Liam Duncan, Moon Tan and a lot more February 14-23 at Fort Gibraltar***February

14 at Forth is the CKUW Fundrive Wrap Up Party with Brite, Sean Pacheco, and Cole Shway***Begonia sold out four shows at the West End Cultural Centre for February 22,27,28,29***Andy Shauf plays the Park Theatre on March 4***March 5 at Le Garage catch Nineteen with Sophie Stevens, Deidra Borus and Ivy Venin***The legendary Wilco is in town on March 11 at Centen-

nial Concert Hall***Ralph hits the stage at the Good Will Social Club on March 16***March 30 at the Good Will Social Club, expect an amazing performance from Black Belt Eagle Scout***April 6 at the Handsome Daughter, Winona Forever is in town from Montreal with Jaywood supporting***

NNAMDI AT NODE DECEMBER 28 PHOTO: MAT KLEISINGER

VIRGO RISING AT FORTH DECEMBER 2019 PHOTO: SEAN GUEZEN

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February / March 2020 Stylus Magazine

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Joko Tea

An Interview with Max Hamilton of WORDS & PHOTOS: KEELEY BRAUNSTEIN-BLACK Joko Tea currently has five members that performed Thursday January 9th 2020 at the Good Will Social Club for the release of their first album, Frustrated Machine. The band consists of Max Hamilton (he) on piano and guitar and voice, Ben Stokes (he) on drums ( Jaywood), Benjamin Hill (they) on trombone (Big Heist Brass Band and Project: Six-Foot Citrus), Lucas Redekop (they) on bass (currently plays with Sophie Stevens) and Alex Peters (she) on trumpet (plays in a number of jazz and classical enables).

Stylus: How did you meet?

Max Hamilton: Ben and I met when we were fifteen, when the band was a bunch of totally different people, and one of the members at the time brought him in to play drums. So I met him and he was already sitting behind the drums.

Alex and I met through a friend of mine when we were in grade ten, and we were just friends for a while, then when we started recording last year we got her come play trumpet.

Stylus: How has the reaction to Joko Tea’s songs on Bandcamp from October and December been?

MH: I would not complain at all about the reaction. It’s nice to finally put some stuff out and have our friends and family say nice things about them.

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Quite happy with it.

Stylus: What is the story behind the album name Frustrated Machine?

MH: All of these songs were written before we turned twenty. And I think it does feel like an album about being a teenager and trying to shake off a feeling of being prescribed a life, and struggling to find our identity and what not.

Stylus: How did you feel going into recording?

MH: We went in with with a totally different line up, just Ben and me, thinking we were going to record a little EP of some stuff we were working on and that would be it.

Then we got Alex and Allegra (Chiarella; not in the band anymore, but was briefly) (Alto Saxphone) to come in. We were able to do a lot of what we were trying to do in the past and it just started making sense. We finished the album, wrote a bunch of songs during the recording process and then just decided to keep going with it.

Stylus: How long did the recording process take?

MH: Recording itself took a month and bit.

Stylus: Where did you record?

MH: We recorded in Lino D’ottavio basement studio. He’s got good gear and a good digital/au-

dio workstation. He is a very, very talented mixer, recorder, producer.

Stylus: What kind of sound, production wise, did you have in the back of your mind, prior to entering the studio MH: Before we went in we were playing some pretty different songs. We were thinking of a really big dark sound, if you’ve ever listened to Neon Bible

by Arcade Fire, that’s sort of what we were thinking of. That kinda changed while we were recording and we started thinking about a very colourful, - hard to describe never really thought about it - like a colourful vibrant, quick moving thing.

Stylus: As a five piece band, how do you all fit together? How does this influence the music of Joko Tea? MH: The drums, I think we kinda treat it like a classic idea of a quintet, where it’s the drums, the piano and the bass are all locked in. The horns are sort of the counterpoint to the vocal melody, sometimes it carries the melody itself, sometimes it there for the harmonics.

Stylus: What kind of input did the producer have during the process?

MH: Lino was always of pushing it into more dangerous territory. He would be the one to suggest some odd rhythm in the bass guitar, in terms of pro-

duction, blow it up and make it sound monstrous at times. He was definitely willing to go pretty far out there, which was what we were into.

Stylus: Are you pleased with the final outcome? (sound - production wise) MH: I am pleased with the final outcome. The one thing about it, is that we started playing the songs live after we finished recording the album. So, it’s not like I feel the way we do them now is better, it’s just different. Now it sounds almost more like what it was supposed to be. The album kinda ended up being at times almost more sound collage then song on a couple tracks.”

Stylus: Did you use any weird or experimental recording techniques?

MH: Yes. On ‘Frustrated Machine’ we sped the entire song up by 2x so that it was an octave higher, and then we sang over one sort of open sounding part of the song and then slowed down. So, we sang over the track while it was going twice as fast and then went back to it’s original speed, so our parts ended up being low and slow.

There was also a lot true collaging, cutting pieces out and placing them in different places then we originally planned.

Stylus:What are your favourite songs and lyrical highlights and why?

MH: Favourite song? ‘Cracked’ is probably that one and ‘Frustrated Machine’. “Cracked” because it is the most recently written, it sort of has more contract between it and the rest of the album because the rest of the album got us to the point where we could write that song and then “Frustrated Machine” because it felt really ambitious, and didn’t seem like it would ever work, and then did actually work. The structure is pretty unusual and was something I wanted to try, and the way it moves, the way it kinda lurches forward and then catches itself for a moment and then rides one feeling out

for a while.

Stylus: Any overall theme of mood that you’re trying to capture while writing songs?

MH: Yeah. It’s pretty different song to song. I usually try to let the ideas that I come across tell me what to do. I don’t usually start anything with a vision in mind. I haven’t done that much.

Stylus: Does your vision for coming up with music get affected by time?

MH: I started out playing kinda folk music primarily, at this point I think we are some kind of fusion of punk and Broadway. The next album which we are already playing actually, we played part of it at the show, with that we are moving to occupy this sort of certain space sort of similar to Belafleck, kind of a progressive folk with a love of funk music and jazz harmonies.

There are a couple of Iron and Wine albums The Shepherd’s Dog and Kiss Each Other Clean that did a really good job of capturing this particularly woody and earthy at the same time polishing and funky sound. He honed in on the the space somewhere in between folk, jazz, blues, funk music, that sound should be everywhere, as far as I am concerned.

Stylus: How would you describe the sound of your album to any potential new fan?

MH: I think at times it’s the noise made of meat. Gears and sprockets and skews, kinda right alongside stakes and whatnot.”

Stylus: Who are your influ-

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ences and heroes?

MH: It was a huge deal when Kamasi Washington put out the Epic, especially at the beginning at this album he was huge guy for me. There is a lot of Death Grips especially the way we treat the drums at times. Our drummer is a big Zach Hill fan, a big inspiration there. What they like to do aesthetically we appreciate, and like to recreate.

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FESTIVAL DU VOYAGEUR: WHEN MUSIC GOES BOTH WAYS OLIVIER LAROCHE It all began in 1967, when citizens of St. Boniface brought forth the idea of a winter festival celebrating the Francophone culture in Manitoba. Three years later, the Festival du Voyageur had the approval of the city and attracted over 50,000 visitors in Provencher Park. Over the years, the Festival grew, eventually relocating to Whittier Park and inspiring the construction of Fort Gibraltar. In the past decade, the yearly attendance surpasses 90,000 visitors, showing no signs of slowing down. One of the central attractions of the Festival has always been the music, where they showcase artists of all kinds.

From rock cover bands to African singers, a wide array of talent and culture is always put on display.

That just may be one of the greatest features of the Festival, one that keeps bringing people back year after year. There are always new musical acts to discover, making it not only an enriching experience for the audience, but an opportunity for bands and artists from all over to gain exposure and play in front of crowds.

Personally, I have always had a connection to the Festival, from family members being involved to near yearly visits. The most memorable experiences for me have always been related to the music.

One of my dearest memories of Festival was back in elementary school. At the time, one of the most popular artists at my school was a lesser known duo from Québec called Orange Orange. Almost every kid in our class knew some of their songs, probably due to the fact they were often played on the school radio during lunch hours. A group of my classmates headed to Festival one night to see them play a set, which was my first concert. From what I remember, it was a truly entertaining show, as the band members interacted with the crowd often. This event undoubtedly left a positive impact on the duo, allowing them to play in front of their Manitoban fans they may not have known existed, as well as potentially reach new ears. Of course, the experience was equal-

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PHOTOS: CHICANE ÉLECTRIQUE ly rewarding for my friends and I, as they remain some of our fondest musical memories at Festival.

Ever since then, I have always referred to this night as an ideal example of the Festival du Voyageur’s two-way musical opportunities, which benefit fans and bands alike.

Another prominent example of this relation is a popular event put on by an organization called Le 100 Noms. Each year, they orchestrate a battle of the bands style competition between francophone high school bands in Manitoba. This quite obviously serves as an opportunity for teenage musicians to be put under the spotlight and potentially attract attention from the right people. The program even goes as far as assigning mentors to each band, choosing local musicians with years of experience in the business to tutor the up-and-comers. As a past audience member of this event, I must admit that it is loads of fun, especially when some of your friends are on the setlist. In fact, I asked a good friend of mine who participated in three editions of the competition with his band Colombe de Fer, to answer a few questions regarding his experience with La Chicane Électrique: Stylus: What was the most important thing you learned from your experience with La Chicane Électrique?

Robert Perron: The most important thing that I learned, honestly, would’ve been how to handle being in front of a crowd. You get the experience of putting yourselves in a vulnerable position in front of hundreds of people, so you get over certain insecurities. Also I’d say the friendship building, because as a band you’re all put in the same situation, playing something that you’ve made yourselves and so the possible backlash from the community, you all face together and you grow a nice friendship with that as well.

Stylus: Was the help of assigned mentors beneficial to you as a musician and the band as

a whole?

RP: Yes and no, it depends on the mentor, it changes every year. One year we had a mentor who was fantastic, he really helped us move as a band and understand what to expect and gave us some really good tips and connections we never thought we’d get. In other years not so much, because the person might not be in tune with the genre you’re playing.

Stylus: So would you say you are a better musician overall today than you were before you joined the first Chicane Électrique?

RP: Wholeheartedly yeah, we learned a lot of things that we really do use and take to heart to this day and we wouldn’t go back on anything we’ve done.

Stylus: Personally, I was made aware of your band for the first time through La Chicane. Do you feel you gained notoriety and fans thanks to the exposure from the competition?

RP: Yes, we got a lot more notoriety. The only problem I’d have with it is the notoriety is mostly within the French community, which isn’t a bad thing, but for bands who want to make it their career, they can’t solely rely on something like that.

You will learn fairly quickly that you will have to push harder outside of just the French community, but it is super useful because you at least get a bunch of exposure and experience that you wouldn’t get if you didn’t put yourself in that situation.

Since Robert’s group’s triple stint at La Chicane, they combined with two other members and are now part of the band Crisis Averted, performing at multiple punk and emo themed events around town and currently working on new music.

Robert and his band are just one example of the excellent two-way musical relationship at Festival du Voyageur, always offering a thrilling show to the audience while gaining fans and experience by the song.

“MEET ME IN THE SHED” – An Afternoon with Winnipeg’s Roman Clarke WORDS & PHOTO: MARK TEAGUE As I was getting ready to go meet Roman Clarke, I received a short e-mail telling me to “meet him in the shed”. It was an ominous start to a surprisingly pleasant interview, and the shed, as it turns out, is where most of Clarke’s creative works originate.

We met on a Sunday afternoon and Roman has just driven back into town after playing drums in Brandon for his father’s cover band. He is the first to recognize the familial roots in his passion for music.

“My dad is really musical and my mom is musically inclined too. My dad did a similar thing that I’m doing when he was my age. He was touring a lot in his early twenties.”

“One of his biggest touring opportunities was with this Elvis tribute band, it was called Elvis, Elvis, Elvis. There was a short Elvis, a tall Elvis, and a fat Elvis, and that was their thing. They went on the

road one time for eleven months straight.”

But Clarke is no stranger to touring himself, spending much of his post-high school years on the road.

“With [The Middle Coast] I feel like some of the years we were in high school we played over 100 shows … and when I graduated, we just tried our best to not have jobs and book a shitload of tours.”

And although he is no longer touring with The Middle Coast, his schedule has not changed much.

“In 2019 I was on the road for pretty much 6 months. I’ve gone through other years where I was touring that much, but it was a different level of touring that I was doing this past year, it was better. Better shows, not crashing on couches as much, and not really financially scared for my life, which is sweet, but it was mostly because I was touring with

Joey Landreth, so I was playing drums for him and opening.”

When he is not on tour, Roman spends most of his time creating in the aforementioned shed and amassing an impressive body of work in an admirably disciplined way.

“It is like exercising. Like everything else, I am training my brain to get to that place of allowing myself to be inspired and running with it. It is not necessarily a song every day, honestly, I will come in here, and screw around on my piano for a bit, and if I find a cool chord progression or something, then I will start recording a track. I come in everyday and I have no idea what is going to happen, I don’t have a plan or anything, I just tinker around and by the end of the day there is either an instrumental, or a song, of I have gone through a few versions of a song that I want to get. Every day is just different because I don’t really care what I make as long as I make something, as long as I flex that muscle, that’s all I really want to do.”

But with a body of work growing as quickly as his, choosing what to release can be just as challenging.

“Deciding what songs I want to put out is kind of hard, because I like all of them, and I do want to put out a lot of them, but not all of them are what I want my art to be, so I have to curate something towards whatever my goal is, or what I want my art to look like.”

“Usually it is not even things that sounds the same or look that same, it is the things that give me the feeling that I know that this is who I am, and sometimes those things sound drastically different, but it is still me, and it is still what I want to put forward, and it is what I want to sing when I am on stage in front of people. “ Roman has no plans on slowing down, with shows booked for February in Toronto and Ottawa, a few singles in the works, and summer festival bookings beginning. 2020 is on schedule to be just as busy as 2019.

You can have access to Roman’s daily output of music by subscribing to his Patreon page - https:// www.patreon.com/romanpclarke.

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February / March 2020 Stylus Magazine

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Lightning Dust KAELEN BELL PHOTO: LIGHTNING DUST

Lightning Dust seem to be constantly starting anew. Six years on from the brooding synth-pop of Fantasy, they returned this October with Spectre – a haunted, krautrock-indebted wash of folk, as shadowy and diaphanous as its namesake.

Though Amber Webber and Josh Wells have been creating as Lightning Dust for more than a decade, it’s this sense of subtle reinvention that seems to drive their music – becoming new all the time.

“We tend to approach each group of songs as something different, and try out a different process,” Wells says. “With this one I wanted a sort of cosmic, folk expanse.”

As Wells and Webber explain, this mindset was born partially from their drive to test the limits of Lightning Dust’s sound, and partially from the way these songs originally came into the world.

Wells – the touring drummer for Dan Bejar’s Destroyer – was away for months at a time, and Webber decided to begin writing alone, just voice and guitar.

“In the past, Josh would have brought maybe half of the songs to the table – the music. And I would write lyrics over them,” she says. “But because I wrote most of these songs, they just naturally felt like a more acoustic, organic kinda vibe, initially.”

Webber describes the new record as a coursecorrection of sorts – a more accurate representation of her artistic voice than the electronic sparkle of 2013’s Fantasy.

“I feel like I’ll like this album 10 years down the line more than maybe I’ll like Fantasy 10 years down the line,” she says. “Not to diss an old album – just production wise, it feels more classic, like it’ll stand the test of time. For my sensibilities anyway.”

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Spectre certainly sounds timeless – a warm, glowering set of songs that touches on folk, country and krautrock, coloured with vivid, enigmatic strings provided by jazz improvisers Peggy Lee and Meredith Bates.

“Those are the most intentional collaborations.

We’re such fans of those ladies,” Webber says. “In ‘Devoted To’, that’s their song really – they steal the show.”

The album’s other notable collaborations come from long-time friends of the band Stephen Malkmus and Dan Bejar, lending guitar and voice respectively. Collaboration has always been a hallmark of Lightning Dust, and Wells says it’s the only way he knows how to work.

“My strength is arrangement, whereas Amber’s strength is creating amazing melodies and words.

We fit pieces of each other’s puzzles that are missing,” he says.

Still, this level of outside collaboration was a change for the band, but it was only one of many that came about during the creation of Spectre. After years on indie powerhouse Jagjaguwar – home to the likes of Angel Olsen and Sharon Van Etten – the band moved to the smaller independent label Western Vinyl.

“Jagjaguwar are a rad label, but they operate on such a huge level at this point – It costs them hundreds of thousands of dollars to put out an album, just by the staffing and everything,” Webber says. “It doesn’t make sense for a band that’s smaller to put out an album with them. Which is funny, because you’d think a smaller band could use a bigger label to push them, but that’s not really the way it works in the industry now.”

Both Webber and Wells are well aware of the seismic changes that streaming has had on the music industry – they witnessed the shift firsthand.

“We kind of got into the music industry at a weird time,” Webber says. “We’d play these small venues but we’d pack them, and we’d sell tons of merch and our label was selling tons of records. And then, the next album rolls around and we’re playing these much bigger venues and selling way less records.”

Still, as a band without an intense hunger for fame – and a devoted, consistent fan-base – they say they haven’t felt the sting quite as powerfully as others.

“For us, maybe it’s an advantage that there’s never really been any money in it,” Wells says, laughing.

And with the industry in the state that is, where even world-conquering artists are begging their fans to stream strategically in their favour, it seems best to find inspiration in those touched by the music.

“When we toured Europe this last time, we just had such beautiful shows with people who’d followed our careers for so long, which is kinda new for us,” Webber says. “You could tell everyone there had been fans for a long time, and they were there to see the show, and were really, really quiet, and so excited to talk after the shows. And that was really, really rewarding.”

So Lightning Dust continues on, digging deeper rather than growing bigger – making music for the music and finding new ways to speak to those who are listening.

ISABELLA SOARES

Taylor Janzen

Winnipeg raised singer/songwriter Taylor Janzen has come a long way in the course of two years.

Having released two ground-breaking EPs Interpersonal and Shouting Matches that quickly received praises from The New York Times and Billboard, as well as recently signing with Glassnote (same record label to sign bands like Mumford and Sons and Phoenix). While she was preparing for her North American tour with Half Moon Rising, Stylus had the chance to speak to her about the liberating power of music to express ones feelings, the urge to create genre-defying work, and what she has learned being on the road.

Even though, Janzen was used to listening to strong female artists, such as Tegan and Sara and Brandi Carlile, who spoke without constraints about their personal struggles, little did she know that she could take refuge in music in the same manner. When asked if it was easy to express her feelings in a song, she replied: “Music is the most natural way to express emotions, and what I am going through. I’d say the hardest part would be to put it out for everyone to listen to.”

This is primarily due to the fact that Taylor con-

siders her work as autobiographical, and at times a bit of a “downer” since they capture moments of distress over topics such as faith and mental health.

“These topics are present in several parts of me growing up, in both positive and negative ways, and song writing has been my way of searching through how I feel about them. No matter how much I think about them, there is always something new to say.”

Although she has grasped listeners’ attention towards her candid and deeply relatable lyrics, Taylor Janzen is also highly appreciated by her “genre-less” music. Her latest single “What I do” takes over a pop sound that breaks away from her acoustic first EP, or even her indie/folk second one. These are only the building blocks for next work she will release.

“I am working on my first full length album, and there is a lot of new sounds and genres happening in it. I have songs that are folk and call back to my first EP, I have songs that are similar to my second EP, and then there are songs that are entirely new like “What I do”… I feel in my music that I am exploring so much and I don’t want to box myself in.”

This past year, Taylor has also had the experience of supporting artists like Lucy Dacus and Phoebe

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PHOTO: EMILY DUBIN

Bridges on tour. She said that the sense of community on the road and excitement of playing to different audiences every night is a “feeling that never gets old”. So much so that she really anticipates this year’s tour, and having the chance to perform in various cities in both the U.S. and Canada.

Despite gaining international acclaim and now being able to work with musicians that she admired growing up, Janzen loves to come back to her hometown and remains passionate about its local music.

“I love Winnipeg a lot, there is a reason I haven’t moved which is that I am a very big nerd about this city. I think Winnipeg has one of the most underrated music landscapes in Canada. There are so many amazing bands, and I am a very big fan of the music in here.”

It is safe to say that Taylor Janzen will continue to impress listeners with her mesmerizing vocal range, the raw emotions she displays with each of her songs, and her fearlessness in trying new styles and genres that only complement the depth of her sound.

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Space Jam:

Riley Hill and Domo Lemoine

ISABELLA SOARES

Normally, Space Jam is an inside scoop on the recording studio and production process behind the music that local bands create. However, in this particular case, it is impossible to boil down the music background where musicians/producers Riley Hill (“The Emu”, “Mulligrub”, “Steve Basham”, and “Vanity Dads) and Domo Lemoine (“À La Mode”, “Lev Snowe”, “Warming”, “Palm Trees”, “Domo 11”, “Steve Basham” and “The Vanity Dads”) prepare for their individual and collaborative projects. Once you step into their living room, you can already spot two keyboards and a sampler ready to be put to action if the inspiration hits for a new song, or simply to practice on the spot of the house they consider most relaxing. “We just like to sit up in here and get “comfy”.

I guess we are both very musically active and creative, so that’s why there are set ups throughout the house”, said Domo.

Despite sharing a home and playing in some of the same bands, Riley and Domo were preparing for their first collaborative performance. While they admit this experience might have been challenging at times due to their contrasting working methods, they have learned to listen to each other’s ideas and

to be at peace. They also briefly described their project as “spacy”, soothing and mysterious.

In addition to this, it is essential to point out the several dolphin adornments and the dolphin painting hung up on the wall as decoration. Later on Domo explained, “I like the way they look, as if they are magical and a lot of people began buying me dolphin knickknacks because they know I like them.” This enchanted looking creature is also a source of inspiration, especially for the 15 min. solo performance that was played at Real Love Summer Fest, called “The Dolphin Connection”.

Next, we went up the staircase to the second mu-

PHOTO: RILEY HILL

PHOTO: CHARLIE RAE WALKER PHOTO: ISABELLA SOARES

10 Stylus Magazine February / March 2020

PHOTO: ISABELLA SOARES

sic space in the house: Riley’s studio. In it are two sofas, a keyboard and some guitars (both electric and acoustic) leaning to the side of the wall, some speakers and a computer at the center of it all.

When asked what instruments Riley plays, he replied: “I started with guitar, but now I hardly ever play it. I’d say mostly keyboard, synth, and I also play the drums in “Mulligrub” (one of the bands he is a part of )… I am not specialized in a particular instrument, so that is why I do more electronic music where I just have to tweek here and there”.

Stylus also asked them what are their must haves in regards to equipment, and reveal the reason for their choices. Riley replied by saying that his Electron Octatrack is his personal favorite, for it is ideal to work on electronic music without having to use the computer at all times. “It’s a very strange powerful device that is notoriously difficult to learn. It feels more like an “instrument” to me than using a computer,.... it also feels like it has a mind of it’s own sometimes, so it’s sort of like a collaborator as well. I love it.”

Domo also spoke in detail about their Yamaha MODX keyboard, boght at a good price from someone in the PHOTO: ISABELLA SOARES U.S. a couple months ago. “It’s a workstation synth that can do it all. I’ve gotten to use it in most of my performances since I got it - even in scenarios where I was using two keyboards plus a laptop, I can just use the MODX now. It’s also super light and I have a soft backpack case for it so I can actually walk or bike to rehearsals with it, which as a keyboard player, isn’t something I ever thought I’d be able to do. So yeah it’s definitely an improvement in my life, since the keyboards I was using before were kind of random and I sometimes had to rent them.”

Lastly, they showed us their third music environment: their garage. While, the plans are still on the go for using it as a spot for performances, it includes their drum set, more keyboards of various sizes, and the “minicup” that has accompanied them on the road several times.

As we wait to see the outcome of their collaborative project, Riley and Domo’s work places show their focus on creating music that speaks for itself and that they can be made from literally any corner and space available in their home.

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Amos the Kid

Amos the Kid is set to release an album in the Spring of 2020 following seven years of writing music and a year-and-a-half of recording and preparing to release his EP. “This album will be the first official thing I’ve done” said singer and guitarist Amos Nadlersmith.

The band, as it stands, has gone through many changes and iterations to arrive at the current group of musicians who recorded the album and now perform live. Nadlersmith (guitar, vocals), Adam Fuhr (guitar), Jensen Fridfinnson (keys, vocals), Jordan Cayer (bass) and Brian Gluck (drums) are Amos the Kid. Nadlersmith changed the name of the band prealbum release from Shoal Lake Kid to Amos the Kid though the band membership and songs have remained the same. The new name is much more representative of his ethos and he wanted to respect the communities and people who live near Shoal Lake, a place he holds dear.

“I was thinking a lot about [the name] Shoal Lake Kid and how it’s not representative of myself

1212 Stylus StylusMagazine MagazineFebruary February/ /March March2020 2020

OLIVIA MICHALCZUK PHOTO: ADAM FUHR

and it’s misleading almost. I essentially vacationed at a summer camp on Shoal Lake every summer but there’s a lot of kids who live on Shoal Lake, and people who live there. Names mean a lot and for me to represent a place through my name, especially a place as significant as Shoal Lake, it didn’t really feel right.”

Nadlersmith was born into a musical family. His grandmother Rita played violin and piano at local events, his father plays the banjo, and his siblings all play instruments including violin and piano.

“So I was homeschooled - this is probably the first time people are going to hear that - and we were made to take violin lessons, me and my three siblings. I hated violin so I got put in guitar.”

His mother was also a big fan of live music.

“She was really into music, like she would follow the Grateful Dead around on tour and was friends with Frazey Ford of the Be Good Tanyas and went to Folk Fest. We would go to Folk Fest with her every year and she was always just like a Blue-RodeoMom.”

Nadlersmith moved to Winnipeg seven years ago and began to religiously attend local shows after getting a job at the Good Will Social Club in his late teens, citing Animal Teeth as an early local favourite. He admires the support from more experienced bands in the local music scene and how meaningful it was for them to take notice of newer projects, such as his own.

“I always thought that was a way the music scene perpetuates itself. Now realizing I am in my mid20s and have been around for a while, I get to do that now” Nadlersmith said.

“That’s why I am working on an album. People I looked up to wanted me to record something and encouraged me, so it goes full circle I guess.”

The first iteration of the band playing Nadlersmith’s songs post-solo-stint was called SOUP featuring Adam Soloway and Sam Sarty of Living Hour and Brian Gluck, who still plays drums with Amos the Kid. What started as several friends encouraging Nadlersmith to play with other musicians turned into the inspiration he used to start his full band. “[The idea] was kind of a joke but then the show was really fun, and I [thought] ‘playing with people is really fun and I should do this more often.’”

Living Hour went on tour shortly after and logistically Nadlersmith concluded playing with an actively touring band wasn’t possible if he wanted to move forward with his music. “Brian Gluck and I wanted to keep playing together and were throwing around ideas and that brought us to where Adam [Fuhr] convinced me to record with him. We needed people to play on the album so I asked a bunch of my friends to play on the album and those people are who perform it live.”

The EP, set to be released early this year, is a collection of six songs, some of which were written around seven years ago. “I wrote Mountain View around my second year living in Winnipeg so 2013 or 2014,” he said of the oldest track on the album.

Along with the current musicians on the album, Shawn Dearborne plays lead guitar on one of the tracks and Nadlersmith also had a companion and mentor in writing lyrics. He spent time sharing and revising his lyrics with friend and poet Noah Cain.

Nadlersmith credits Cain for his work on some of the lyrical composition of the album.

“My good friend Noah Cain is a poet/writer from Thunder Bay and he would say he writes poetry for the eastside of Thunder Bay, which I always liked. I think I write music for the south side of Boissevain. I don’t write songs for Boissevain but I write songs for the Turtle Mountains.”

“My songs are written about three things, all areas of land. One would be the southside of Boissevain - Turtle Mountains, where I’m from. Others are written about Winnipeg. The rest are written about Shoal Lake, where I spent a lot of my summers as a kid at camp.”

Two singles are set to be released in February and March, respectively, the full EP will be released in April. “It’s summer music. I don’t really want to release it in the winter because the songs are better suited to doing things in the warm weather.”

Fans of Amos the Kid can be sure that their appetite for an album is just as strong as Nadlersmith.

Though Nadlersmith is anxious to hear what people think of the album and how it performs on streaming services, he really values the time and effort people put in to the creation of Amos the Kid and the upcoming album.

“I’m excited to see what people think, I’m interested in how it will do on Spotify, but it’s also just been really nice to play with my best friends.”

ckuwho who? ?

CHRIS BRYSON For almost five years Daniel Guezen and Sheldon Hoffman have found discovery through the alphabet as hosts of CKUW 95.9 FM’s The Gashlycrumb Tinies, every Sunday from 9:00-10:00 p.m.

Guezen and Hoffman delve into music by artists whose name starts with the letter of the week.

Guezen and Hoffman got into doing the show after their interest was piqued at a film screening by a friend of theirs who had their own radio show and had been talking about it. “It was a bit of a drunken pact,” says Guezen. “ But not the typical one that falls apart. It was one that was founded on good desires that occurred first soberly I think, and then we just followed through with it.”

“The next day we were already on it. We were sending our ideas back and forth about which we wanted to do. Dan had the idea of us doing an alphabet radio show. And I’m a big fan of Edward Gorey’s artwork, and that’s kind of what we named the show after, is this alphabetic book about a bunch of children dying, which is kind of morbid,” Hoffman says with a laugh.

The Gashlycrumb Tinies radio show started in July of 2015, and with planning for it, Guezen figured out that the alphabet fits neatly into the year twice. “Somehow we went on air the first Sunday of July, and it happened to be the 27th Sunday of the year. So it just lined up nicely.”

Despite the convenience of this finding, over the seasons the duo has discovered the troublesome letters, as well as ways to work with and around them.

“Sometimes we’ll join letters together when they’re very difficult to research, to fill a whole show with enough Canadian content,” says Guezen. “It’s usually towards the end of the alphabet, we’ll have our UV episode and we’ll joke about the weather or something.”

“Sometimes it does end up bunching up a little bit at the end of the year,” explains Hoffman. “So we’ve got our Chromosomal episode which is our XY one we usually do. Finding a bunch of X artists is difficult sometimes.”

Hoffman says that when The Gashlycrumb Tinies first started it was more of an eclectic indie show, but since then they’ve fallen into some niche areas that they both really like. “It’s very much like we’re playing our favourites, but we try to not slip into familiar grooves, like genres,” says Guezen. “Because every week it’s a different letter.”

“Every show is going to be very unique in that you’re going to be getting something that’s not defined by the genre, it’s just the simplistic letter organization,” says Hoffman. “So it opens the doors for us to play whatever we want, and we bring in a bunch of selections and kind of whittle it down each Sunday.”

A shared favourite memory of Guezen and Hoffman is the Mother’s Day episode they put on.

Guezen says that he and Hoffman both got their mothers in as co-hosts and mildly grilled them.

Then at some point they reversed the roles and their mothers did the same. Hoffman says, “they were

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sharing baby stories of us on air and stuff.” “It actually ended up being really cute,” says Guezen.

The duo also likes to involve the community by having guests on the show, and Guezen says they’re going into 2020 with the hope in mind of having a lot more.

Even though The Gashlycrumb Tinies is primarily a music show, its title is in reference to a piece of visual/illustrated art, and its content also sometimes extends beyond music. In the past they’ve had graphic novelists and photography artists on the show, as well as musicians who have performed on occasion.

Guezen and Hoffman are both really looking forward to CKUW’s Fundrive this year. For the annual Fundrive, CKUW members raise money for the station to help it continue and grow. Guezen says that in previous years they’ve put in a lot of effort to come up with different prize packs and stuff to give away to people. This year isn’t any different.

“The station is trying really hard now to get ready for the possibility of us moving into a new studio space,” explains Hoffman. “And so it kind of falls onto all groups to really put 110% in for Fundrive.”

Hoffman says for part of their Fundrive giveaways they got the person who does TimothyCards to draw mini versions of them in the style of The

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Gashlycrumb Tinies booklet by Edward Gorey, with them behind a little DJ booth. And then they got Caitlin, an artist who goes by Real Swanky on social media, to embroider the TimothyCards comic version of Hoffman and Guezen.

“That’s going to be one of the prizes, the big ones, that we’re giving away this year,” says Hoffman. “And then with that we also made little pins and stuff like that that we can give out to people who donate.”

Guezen explains that in a way The Gashlycrumb Tinies is a very comfortable show, but it’s also full of surprises, despite the expected format of the English alphabet. “I think that’s a huge thing about people tuning in as listeners is you want to discover new music,” says Guezen. “Being able to discover it as a host because of what you’re forced to do in the format of the show is great. As a music lover I like it. But I think it can be good for listeners and hosts alike.”

Catch Hoffman and Guezen in their musical exploration of the English alphabet from 9:00-10:00 p.m. every Sunday on CKUW 95.9 FM. And if you want to contact them, keep up with or be a part of the show, find Hoffman and Guezen at @thegashlycrumbtiniesradioshow on Facebook.

February / March 2020 Stylus Magazine

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Winnipeg State of Mind NIGEL WEBBER “My attack is purely mental and its nature’s not hate” - Jeru tha Damaja Sir Louie the 3rd is a gentleman. The young Winnipeg rapper is starting to make some moves around town, but he’s been in the game seriously for about two years. Originally in a group called Two Above, Louie cites the 2018 Northern Touch Music Festival as a pivotal moment for him. Not only did Two Above perform, they were scouted by an out of town executive from Atlanta’s A3C music festival and asked to travel there for the festival. Along with Northern Touch founder Shea Malcolmson and fellow local rappers Myazwe and Chris Bennett, Sir Louie and Two Above got to perform in Atlanta for what Louie calls “one of the best experiences of my life”. Despite the positive affirmations, Louie and fellow Two Above member Poetic Justice drifted apart musically and Louie felt the time was ripe to pursue a solo career.

Since then, Sir Louie has been working hard to hone his craft, not just as a rapper and occasionally as a producer, but in particular as a member of the Winnipeg hip hop scene. He credits just showing up to a lot of shows, studying other rappers live and learning from their marketing and business decisions. Sir Louie gives respect to many of his elders, including Nestor Wynrush and Tony from 4th Quarter Records But there is a deeper, familial respect for one of Winnipeg’s true hip hop pioneers. Len Bowen is one of Winnipeg’s true OG’s as a member of Different Shades of Black (aka Shadez ov Blac, or just Shadez). He is also Sir Louie’s cousin. Louie makes it clear that he never leaned

on Len to help him with his rap career, but once Len saw Sir Louie taking rap seriously, he was right there with advice and guidance. Finally, in 2019, Len Bowen felt it was time to make Louie not just his younger cousin who raps but a true peer by featuring him on his single “My Style”. Also featuring Kast and Odario (of Grand Analog and originally Mood Ruff ), “My Style” is an elegiac boom-bap love rap from one of Winnipeg’s greatest storytellers. Louie felt honoured to be included by Len on a track with some of the best to ever do it out of the 204.

Through “My Style,” Sir Louie was also asked to open for Shadez in July 2019 as a part of the 20th anniversary re-release of their record “Comprehension”. Ecstatic at the opportunity, Louie is out there to do what he does best, rock a crowd. Louie describes his live shows as a very important factor in his music and that each performance is bound to bring a new level of intensity and emotion. On that night in July 2019, Sir Louie took the time to shout out his friends in the crowd and remark that a year prior he was there with him dreaming of being up on stage. Reflecting back now, six months later, Louie recognizes the importance of being validated by the older generation that put him on describing them as “my heroes, not to be dramatic but…I really admire and respect them and now I’m sharing that stage with them.” Now having been on stage with acts like Shadez, Super Duty Tough Work and most recently Dill the Giant, Sir Louie can start to view those more experienced cats as peers.

As Sir Louie the 3rd has built up his credibility in the existing rap scene, he’s been doing it with a solid group of collaborators all roughly his age.

Live Show Review:

Their clique is 4eighn World (pronounced Foreign) and it also includes rapper Flamenco Sketch, singer Khalil and resident beat maker Toksik, among others. Their most recent effort is a hype new Sir Louie single called “Optimist” featuring Khalil on the hook. The video, shot by Jan Manibo all around the Forks, showcases the youthful energy and enthusiasm the whole crew has just to be out there.

When speaking about his elders, Louie kept coming back to the topic of work ethic. Not only that he admired their consistency, but he admired how the OG’s are only reaching down to the young rappers they feel are putting in enough work to deserve to be the next generation of Winnipeg. Given all we’ve seen so far, expect to be hearing the names Sir Louie the 3rd and 4eighn World a lot in 2020.

JULIEN’S DAUGHTER

OLIVIA MICHALCZUK Through a series of line-up changes and several Kijiji ads, the newly formed four-piece indie rock roster of musicians played their inaugural show as Julien Daughter at The Good Will Social Club on January 10th. The band is comprised of drummer Cody Kennered, bassist Chelly Osuntade, guitarist Ian Tata, and vocalist, pianist, and guitarist Emma Murphy. This group of seemingly seasoned performers danced, expressed, and connected during their energetic opening set. The band was surprised at the great turn-out for their first appearance.

“Everyone I talked to is here,” Osuntade said of their show. Murphy added, “People I didn’t even tell are here.”

Fighting through a few technical difficulties and minor delays, Murphy was soon exploring the stage and expressing the lyrics with her entire being while dancing along to the cleanly timed and demonstrative rhythm section lead by Kennerd’s complexity and reliability. It was surprising to find that only

14 Stylus Magazine February / March 2020

half of Julien’s Daughter has played in a band before.

Most notably, Osuntade played in the former Arenas and Kennerd in Sons of York and Sports Club.

Tata gained experience playing guitar in church and curiously found the transition to indie rock quite smooth, “It’s pretty similar, a lot of the tones are very similar, the reverb, the delays and stuff.”

The Good Will Social Club premiere of Julien’s Daughter was Murphy’s first time performing on stage with a band.

“I performed at the Handsome Daughter open mics a couple times acoustically but I’ve never been in a band.”

Murphy’s comfortability on stage with her bandmates and behind her instruments showed with no hesitation. Her interaction was modest, expressive, and intentional which made for a genuine and captivating show without overwhelming the performance with theatrics. She describes her stage persona as an embodiment of Toronto indie rockers

July Talk. Her relationship with the band on stage is of importance to both her and Osuntade.

“I try going for July Talk,” Murphy said of her onstage persona.

“Yeah I try to do the same because she really likes the July Talk vibe,” said Osuntade. “They are really connected on stage with each other so I try to keep that [connection] with her.”

Though brand new on the scene, Julien’s Daughter has already demonstrated an ability to play, perform, and captivate an audience. Hitting their stride right out of the gate and gathering personal influences from artists such as Bombay Bicycle Club, Sleep, Keith Moon, and July Talk, they have the chops, sound, and persona to hit every local stage in 2020.

Local Spotlight with a purposeful disregard for homage or emulation, Hollow Body comes together to create something thoughtprovoking and fresh. The result being akin to a concept album which never explicitly states its theme, but allows the narrative to form subjectively in the consciousness of each listener. But beyond independent listening, the real experience cannot be understood until it is seen, as Robojom’s style is as much performance art as it is auditory. Their ROBOJOM stage presence, costuming, and selfHollow Body described “dance-o-tron experience of raw power” is an integral part of the Robojom’s first full-length release album and, as a result, their live shows Hollow Body creates some interesting have become a piece of the Winnipeg difficulties when attempting to write a music scene that must not be missed. coherent review. First, and perhaps the Mark Teague most vexing, is its resistance to being defined by normal concepts of genre and the decided lack of easy comparisons to similar sounds popularized by other bands. From the first song to the last, the album demands that modifications be made to the common definitions of musical nomenclature and, in some cases, requires an entirely new set of terminology in order to unpack its impact and significance.

From the outset, the eponymous track “Hollow Body” raises more questions than it answers. The song begins with what is arguably the most trianVENEER gle-heavy intro ever recorded - and the Veneer peculiarity of this statement can do justice to only a small portion of the arWinnipeg’s Veneer released their tistic risks and liberties undertaken by first single back in June of 2018 to a Robojom over the course of the next bunch of excited Winnipeg music loveight tracks. The album is certainly ers. Their first self titled EP, recorded electronic at its roots, but to use this at Collector Studio in Winnipeg was as an excuse to classify it as purely “new released July 5, 2019. Veneer is comwave” would be a major disservice. In prised of musicians and long time many ways it represents a rejection of friends, Talula Schlegel , Sam Sarty the Duran Duran and Depeche Mode and Claire Bones. They collectively aesthetic typified in the eighties. “Til I play a surprising number of instruDie” begins with gasps evoking a pro- ments for a band only made up of three nounced corporeality, juxtaposed by people. distinctly robotic, digitized sounds.

Veneer truly shines when Talula, The penultimate track, aptly named Sam, and Claire harmonize their voic“fear”, produces the nostalgic 8-bit edge es to create some haunting melodious of music signifying an imminent pix- playful art that slowly grows on you elated danger, while introducing real the more you listen to it. Veneer has a world social anxieties with lyrics ask- strong bass guiding the rhythm of their ing questions like “why are you look- relaxing multi instrumental alternative ing at me?” and fading into unsettling, music. choked screams.

The album Veneer has seven songs The artistic marriage of the digital and runs approximately twenty-four and the human is an undertaking at- minutes in length. Opening with a tempted by many, but successfully song called ‘Oooooo’, melodic and accomplished by few. As Robojam haunting distorted harmonies vaguely lays the groundwork for a burgeon- reminding the listener of throat singing prairie-futurism, they take on the ing. Continuing on to songs ‘Don’t Get important task of questioning mod- my Hair Wet,” “Unsure,” “First In Line” ern methods of artistic expression. and “Go,” that are tender mellow tunes Through lyrical brevity, and combined with some soulful saxophone inter-

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mixed. The song ‘Bridal’ kicks it up a bit with some playful saxophone mixed in with the instrumental and vocal harmonies.

Relaxing and easy to listen to, Veneer’s lo-fi, alternative indie/rock/pop is recommended for anyone that enjoys amazing vocalists, relaxing tunes, the Weakerthans. These songs get in your head and make you want to listen over and over. Keeley Braunstein-Black

HAVS FYM music video review Winnipeg new wave hip hop artist HAVS launches into 2020 with a video for her new single “FYM”.

The video, directed by Vince Tang and filmed by Bogos Demsas, follows HAVS into a strange, dimly lit house party that includes VR goggles and mustard drinking. Bathed in a soft red light and sporting a sparkly red jumpsuit, HAVS glows on screen in stark contrast to the other party goers, dressed in muted colours and in relative shadow. Over a understated new wave beat, produced by longtime collaborator Dreyze, HAVS voice silkily pops giving the track a smoothness like cold steel. HAVS is an expert at songs about the intimate intricacies of relationships and “FYM” is a sterling example. Zeroing in on the power dynamics of a couple, “FYM” is short for Fuck Your Money. But don’t get it twisted. HAVS isn’t saying fuck all money, she’s saying specifically fuck your money and the unfair balance of power achieved in a relationship when one side is spending lavishly. The last lines of the song are, “I’ve been fucking tired/ trying to deal with you and make a million at the same time/ please don’t hit my line,” reinforcing the idea that it’s more about achieving success independently and without hollow praise.

Through the video, a potential suitor is calling HAVS, telling her everything he can provide but she stays put at the weird house party, comfortable in her circle of friends. In the song, the potential suitor is left hanging, waiting for

HAVS at the club with bottles waiting. On the other hand, in the video HAVS’ lyrics, “I don’t ever change”, are projected directly onto her face, giving new meaning to the term facial expression. “FYM” is a stylish, solid video, and the devilishly simple lines of “baby fuck your money” will seep into your everyday consciousness as you hit the required replay button again and again.

Nigel Webber

HUT HUT Hut Hut Hut The mystical and enigmatic Winnipeg band Boats released their last album in 2013 and played their final show in 2016. A few years back the wild music of these prairie legends resurfaced with a new moniker: Hut Hut. They’ve exposed the public to several madness fueled performances over the past two years complete with their signature sound clip which gets everyone chanting along, “Down, Set, HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT—!”

Long has the world waited for new music from Hut Hut, and on January 30, 2020, its release is eminent, with the aptly titled Hut Hut Hut. The record dials back the roaring, nitrous fueled energy that the band brings to their live performance, showing that Hut Hut’s refined bubble-gum psychedelia can still satisfy even the wackiest of cravings.

The second track, “Harmony Mansion” embodies Hut Hut’s tendency to revert expectations with disjointed drum samples, flailing square synths and wailing guitar rips. The song rolls into the chorus with rhythmic repetition of its title like a tire speeding down a hill backed by “HEY”s and “HO”s, a crowning epitome of instrumentalizing vocal lines.

Hut Hut jumps around from concept to concept, touching on ideas that reinvent originality. At times referencing musical concepts from elsewhere on the record, each song develops an extremely obscure idea into a melodically accessible tune with matured

February / March 2020 Stylus Magazine

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ANCIENT SHAPES PHOTO: SEAN GUEZEN

backing tracks and seasoned accents crafted from quirky, eclectic synth lines.

Songs like “Bedbug Christmas” and “To the Lost Bachelorette Parties” pair specificity in their lyrics with tonal absurdity, vocals switching back and forth between ahigh pitched Laupner-esq and a low, operatic timbre.

Hut Hut’s Hut Hut Hut is uniquely accessible; refreshingly mature and chalk full of new ideas. It is strangely psychedelic, but familiar enough to pull you in and keep you waiting for the next track. Ryan Haughey

95.9 FM CKUW CAMPUS/COMMUNITY RADIO TOP 30 ALBUMS ( November 26, 2019 - January 23, 2020) !=LOCAL CONTENT * =CANADIAN CONTENT re=RE-ENTRY re= RE-ENTRY TO CHART #

BOTH ABOVE: CHASTITY BELT AT THE GOOD WILL NOVEMBER 24 2019 PHOTO: MAT KLEISINGER

16 Stylus Magazine February / March 2020

ARTIST

RECORDING

LABEL

1 ! Mariachi Ghost Puro Dolor Self-Released 2 ! Begonia Fear Rex Baby 3 ! Smoky Tiger And The Manitobandits Premium Quality Royal Rumpus Transistor 66 4 * Fly Pan Am C’est Ca Constellation 5 * Gym Tonic Good Job Transistor 66 6 Los Straitjackets Channel Surfing Yep Roc 7 Guided By Voices Sweating The Plague GBV Inc. 8 ! Cell Ancient Incantations Of Xarbos Self-Released 9 * Ian & Sylvia The Lost Tapes Stony Plain 10 ! Micah Erenberg Love Is Gonna Find You Sleepless 11 * Little Scream Speed Queen Dine Alone / Merge 12 Negatviland True False Seeland 13 Purple Mountains Purple Mountains Drag City 14 Matana Roberts Coin Coin Chapter Four: Memphis Constellation 15 The Hold Steady Thrashing Through The Passion French Kiss 16 The Foreign Resort Outnumbered Artofact 17 ! JayWood Time Self-Released 18 ! Holy Void Naught Transistor 66 19 * Geoff Berner Grand Hotel Cosmopolis Coax 20 * Corin Raymond Dirty Mansions Self-Released 21 * Jpod Circadian Rhythms Additech 22 * Woolworm Awe Mint 23 * Shotgun Jimmie Transistor Sister 2 You’ve Changed 24 * Pup Morbid Stuff Little Dipper 25 ! Selci Effervescence Self-Released 26 * Pat Labarbera/Kirk MacDonald Trane Of Thought Cellar Live 27 ! Greg Rekus & The Inside Job Death + Taxes Self-Released 28 The Flamingos Pink Kustom Kreme Label Etiquette 29 * The New Pornographers In The Morse Code Of Brake Lights Concord 30 * Rae Spoon Mental Health Coax

www.ckuw.ca/stylus

February / March 2020 Stylus Magazine

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18 Stylus Magazine CONCERT February /HALL March 2020