Pitchfork is a great website, eh? No matter how much flack the Pitchforkians receive for their sometimes unforgiving reviews, they know where the real talent is at. Last night, House of Vans, Pitchfork, and NXNE teamed up for a head-scratching night of performances at Berkeley Church. It was a celebration of the diversity of music.
Author Archives: Jacob Crepeault
Finding your footing at Toronto’s inaugural North By Northeast festival is never easy in the beginning. With more than 20 venues across the city each serving their unique brew of talent, deciding on where to go can be a daunting task. I chose The Danforth Music Hall for my first NXNE encounter.
Just like that, Bestival is over. The island will go back to its original state, liberated of costumed free birds strutting their stuff to electronic bangers. I talked with a few of the festival goers about the overall appeal of Bestival. They indicated that the fest is very much like an amusement park ride, “You wait in a line for the ferry, the food, the events, and more.
Bestival was originally a music festival put on in the UK. As with any stereotype given to a certain location, rain is a common element associated with the Brits. As Bestival arrived on Toronto Island, the weather wasn’t unlike a typical day in London. Huge grey clouds overtook the sky and haunted the first day of the fest.
[heading size=”20″ align=”left”]Angel Olsen | 9pm, Mod Club Theatre, June 20th[/heading]
Slow burning songs are hard to perfect. Angel Olsen is one of the few who have mastered making music that is drawn-out and eerie. Her ominous folk compositions make for the ideal creepshow. Her show is guaranteed to be a treat to the ears while the instrumentation with shake you to your core.
In what sounds like a classic rock opus, PINS have done the unthinkable in 2015. The all-girl bunch have conquered the competition by turning their amps up to 11 and creating some good, old-fashioned rock and roll. While today’s music scene is drifting farther and farther away from Les Pauls and Gibsons, PINS proves that rock music is on the rise once again.
[heading size=”30″ align=”left”]Banks (Saturday)[/heading]
Keeping it fairly under the radar, pop superstar Banks shows off her talent through her voice. The blazing set of pipes are her crowning glory. Banks’ style is often described as underground R&B with her voice being compared to Aaliyah. By being covered by high profile media outlets like MTV and BBC Radio 1, Banks has slowly been climbing the social ladder to stardom.
“Ooh the world is crowded”. Ruban Nielson makes this seemingly-obvious statement in the centrefolds of Multi-Love, Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s third album. While the world may seem busy and full of different people with different personalities, getting along with others isn’t always a pretty affair. While UMO’s sophomore album II focused on solitary disillusion, such as suicidal thoughts while eating popcorn, Multi-Love turns the tables on the problems with others.
The Postal Service
Give Up The collaborative genius of Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie) and Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel) was unleashed in 2003 with this game-changing minimalist indie pop record. The subtle hints of string instruments shaped the album’s solemn theme along with the soaring vocal melodies Gibbard provided alongside backing vocalist Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley.
Give Up The collaborative genius of Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie) and Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel) was unleashed in 2003 with this game-changing minimalist indie pop record. The subtle hints of string instruments shaped the album’s solemn theme along with the soaring vocal melodies Gibbard provided alongside backing vocalist Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley.
Machine Girl, the Brooklyn-based producer, has reached deep within herself to extract defused musical formations. Her brooding style of darkstep drum and bass proves noisily to be a concoction of the inner circles of hell. The music is the fuel of nightmarish images that you never want to wake up from.
