danes, Mother Sun, and Alexandra Babiak
danes
Dislocation // Self-Released
Often misunderstood or misrepresented, noise rock as a genre can feel very unwelcoming, unpleasant and unfamiliar to the listener. However, some noise bands will perfectly find ways to bridge the gap between the uncomfortable and comfortable. Dislocation by Vancouver based group Danes, is just one such EP that perfectly sits between the two. There is enough groove and melody to help ease into it, while at the same time exploring very unconventional song structure and guitar tone. Being a three piece band, that groove all starts with the drums.
Having been recorded at the legendary Rain City Recorders by Jesse Gander and Mariessa McLeod, the drum sound is almost too good to be true. The tone is on point sitting in that area between hi def, muddy, and buried just to perfection. It's not too harsh as the rhythm often switches between danceable post punk beats to a stripped back, sludgy, breakdown type beat. The bass on the other hand has a very tasteful yet super overdriven tone. It’s also doing a ton of work keeping the groove on the funkier side of things whilst also being able to match the guitar in these chaotic call and response moments on tracks like "End of Contract" and "Raft too". The guitar work on this EP is very much the meaty focal point of each track as the tone is very carefully chosen and versatile. Sometimes having those post punk glassy sounds and melodies whilst also having enough fuzzy jangle with blues and jazz grounding to keep psyche rockers appeased. The tone is then doubled down when the band busts into heavy and uncompromising noise riffs that often bridge the gap of their songs. Then throughout this release the guitar hits really experimental notes sounding almost synth like, especially on the track "Inspector". The guitar player Geordan Gaskill-Cadwallader appears to be a guitar player who won't be satisfied with a one dimensional sound. Also as lead singer, he helps paint a bleak and apathetic landscape to help the sound travel through. Never really screaming, just loudly suggesting themes of boredom and bleakness.
All three of these players clearly have many inspirations and genres they pull from but marry it perfectly together to bring their own sound to the table. Not as harsh or unruly as other Canadian noise contemporaries such as Metz or Tunic. Dislocation finds itself somewhere between modern noise and the west coast noise pop scenes from San Francisco in the mid 2000's, beautifully bleak and chaotic.
- Nigel Young
Mother Sun
Train of Thought // Earth Libraries
Groovy lysergic pop from interior BC, with well fleshed-out horn and string arrangements and interesting, jazz-influenced song structures. Train of Thought, the third LP from the Kamloops based four piece is heavily augmented by session musicians, making for a stimulating studio concoction of progressive sunshine psychedelia.
Taking a page from the West Coast pop of Kurt Boetcher produced groups such as Millenium, with a touch of madcap British psych reminiscent of bands like Tomorrow and The Soft Machine, this is a surprisingly well-realized production effort, helmed by Vancouver based revivalist Felix Fung, the go-to guy for bands looking to capture their favorite production aesthetics of yesteryear.
Standout track “Cycling” leaps in fits and starts through a fantastically dynamic progression with some stellar guitar work, while follow up track “For Sale” gives a whimsical Kinks-like chorus before jumping into a nutty psych freak-out. “Blue Dreams” continues in the Village Green Preservation Society mode with a delightful piece of orchestral piano pop complemented by a gorgeous, lilting vocal performance that was far and away my favorite cut on the LP.
While nothing here is particularly freaky or heavy, the sum of the parts makes for a pleasantly positive, and dreamy listening experience that will please fans of the psych genre as well as tickling aficionados of orchestral chamber pop and jazz fusion alike. An ambitious and precisely crafted effort from a band that clearly has a surfeit of talent and ideas.
- Shaun Lee
Alexandra Babiak
Magical Thinking // Self Released
The singer-songwriter label can carry with it a lot of baggage. Some will hear it and immediately get turned off due to the perceived lack of musicality and instrumentation, while others will actively seek it out anticipating an emphasis on meaningful lyrics and deep stories. Good artists in this genre will subvert the expectations of the former while delivering the goods for the latter. Toronto's Alexandra Babiak does just that with her latest album, Magical Thinking.
At the heart of her work, Babiak is a masterful lyricist and songwriter. Her songs convey very raw emotions, but not in a heavy handed way; they weave a story that allows you to take the music in on many levels. The tracks "After You" and "Til It Burns You" are great examples of this, where the lyrics are so vivid that you can easily get lost in the rich imagery alone. Alternatively, you can listen a bit deeper to take the words in context and really comprehend the sense of loss the characters are feeling. Also, Alexandra's choice of a piano for the main musical vessel rather than the acoustic guitar you'd expect is a welcome alternative, and really adds to the drama and weight of the soundtrack.
Where Magical Thinking also shines is in the songs that feature a full band. Alexandra doesn't choose to simply add fluff pop progressions, but instead leans into the more intricate world of jazz-alternative. A song like "May Full Moon" really demonstrates this with its lively rhythm section, chorusey guitars, tremolo'd electric pianos, and haunting vocals. It is skillfully mixed and produced, and listening with headphones is an audible treat. The best song on the album for me, however, is "Look Right Through". This song chooses to simply anchor on a very dissonant progression throughout its entire duration, but it expertly builds the dynamics and adds a symphonic build up reminiscent of a good Radiohead song. Fairly unexpected from an artist unduly tagged with a singer-songwriter label, but she pulls it off brilliantly.
It's such a pleasure when artists that know how to craft great lyrics can use different musical styles to convey their messages. Alexandra Babiak's Magical Thinking is a fulfilling album, and a great listen for those that enjoy raw emotional songs, as well as fully instrumented numbers; all anchored by excellent songwriting.
- Matt Budd
