MADRID

This interview with Duncan Christie originally appeared on Soundproofmagazine.com.

Christie (left) and Perry. Photo courtesy of Madrid.

 
 Duncan Christie has a message for fans of his electro-pop band Madrid. Although it has been eight years since Madrid's debut, Warm Waters, they did release an EP in 2007 titled First Message. First Message was a precursor to their recently released full length Original Message.

 Christie says the time between albums is due to the fact that Madrid, which also features Adam Perry and Eric Lightfoot, chose to make the music found on their new record in a completely different way than the sounds they had previously created.

 "We are definitely traveling uncharted waters in a sense that there's no formula for our music," Christie said. "So the recording process takes a lot more time. We're inventing genres and styles as we go. We're not following any kind of traditional way to make music. I think that Original Message has a wider range of influences. Warm Waters, I think was a great album because it was very singular; whereas with Original Message, we kind of opened our song writing process to all kinds of other influences."

 The change in Madrid's sound influenced the band to switch labels after Warm Waters. The group started out on Aporia Records but now calls YYZ home.

 "Being on Aporia for our first record was perfect," Christie explains. "We were pretty new to the game and they had a roster that was ethereal kinds of music and we fit in to that. Yet we knew that when we started working on new sounds that we had to be in the hands of someone more entrenched in the electronic scene."

 In addition to making music Christie is also a prolific player in the Canadian film industry. Christie attended Humber's film program and says he is fortunate he went to Humber during the time period that he did.

"In the film course I was able to make movies on 16mm film; which was great freedom. A lot of people going to film school now don't use the same sort of old technology and learn the basics that way. I feel fortunate that I was in one of the last years that were able to truly call it a film school," Christie said.

 Christie worked extensively on the cult show Kenny vs. Spenny and directed the cult film Confessions of A Porn Addict.

 "I was working with some really close friends on that project" Christie said of Confessions of a Porn Addict. "Part of our shoot was in Toronto; here we had time and structure. The second half we shot in Los Angeles and the atmosphere was crazy while we were there. It was ultra-guerrilla film making. We had no real structure; we had no real support in place. It was five guys running around the San Fernando Valley chasing after these weird porn people and making a comedy at the same time so it was a ton of fun."

With all of his success in the music and film industries, Christie likens the rhythm that comes with playing music to the rhythm ones needs to edit film.

 "I think there are a lot of the same sensibilities. Especially with editing, it's rhythm. It's very musical the way I approach it. I think the two definitely go hand in hand. I've been fortunate that I've never had to choose between the two careers. They just both co-exist side by side. I approach it creatively from the same place."

Out To Sea


Easy

MOM/CHILD RELATIONSHIP SONGS

 The impetus of Mother's Day comes from Ancient Greek and Roman times. The Roman festival of Cybele eventually progressed into the Christian festival of Mothering Sunday that honoured the Virgin Mary and the "mother church."
 Honouring mothers would be modernized in the 1870s as an observance for mothers who lost children in the American Civil War. Then on May 9 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared Mother's Day a national holiday and the day of maternal merit in May spread around the globe.
 I happen to love my Mom and have a great relationship with her. However, talk to enough people and you'll know that isn't the case with everyone. Moms are human and can make mistakes. Mother/child relationships are as varied as a bouquet of carnations purchased last minute on a highway off ramp.
 Below you'll find songs that suit whatever the status of your relationship with your mom may be.  
 

For love/hate mother/child relationships

My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Momma
Mothers of Invention

For those who are distant

Mother Mother
Tracy Bonham

For kids who still live with their moms

Tie Your Mother Down 
Queen



For nosy, meddling moms

Your Mother Should Know
The Beatles

For explosive relationships

Mother
Pink Floyd

For those with fun moms; the kind who will go to the club with you

Take Your Momma Out
Scissor Sisters

For those who never had a mom

I Need A Mother
Eels

For mamma's boys

Mother's Little Helper
Rolling Stones

For those who miss their moms

Momma I'm Coming Home
Ozzy Osbourne

For those who are or will be moms

I Think I'm A Mother
PJ Harvey

POLY STYRENE (1957 – 2011)

 Lead singer of the influential and incendiary '70s band X-Ray Spex Poly Styrene succumbed to cancer on April 25.
 Born Marianne Joan Elliott-Said in Bromley, Kent, England, Styrene was raised by her single Caucasian mother. Her father, a Somali aristocrat, was not present in Styrene's life.
 Styrene ran away from home at 15 and lived a nomadic hippie lifestyle. She eventually hooked up with a boyfriend/manager who would take her around to record company offices, attempting to secure studio time. This approach eventually wore thin.

 "I got a bit bored with being a solo artist as I was working with all these session musicians who were a lot older than me and who I had little in common with," Styrene told Penny Black Music in 2005. "I wanted to have a band, and that is really why I formed X-Ray Spex. I was writing and recording, writing and recording, writing and recording, and then I got a bit fed up with it because nothing was really happening, so I thought I’ll put a band together. I put X-Ray Spex together after I saw the Sex Pistols for the first time."

 Poly Styrene was not Elliott-Said's stage name of choice. Her manager suggested the moniker and at first she refused it, using it instead for her small fashion label. Eventually she embraced the plastic pseudonym.

 Before the release of X-Ray Spex's Germ Free Adolescents, their only full length release, the band spent nearly a year as the house band at the Man in the Moon pub, a bar on King's Road. Styrene was generous to other up and coming acts, giving bands like Adam and the Ants and the Tourists stage time.

 One of their most famous tracks, Oh Bondage, Up Yours!, was inspired by the suffragette movement. Bondage was X-Ray Spex's first released recording in 1977. In 1978 Germ Free Adolescents was released receiving moderate success and critical praise. In 2001 Spin ranked the album at #5 on their list of the 50 Most Essential Punk Records.

 "I wrote Identity after I saw this girl Tracey slash her wrists at the Roxy. She was a sales assistant in Vivienne Westwood’s shop, Seditionaries. I didn’t write that song about myself at all. I think the idea that I did came from Jon Savage and England's Dreaming," Styrene said.

Identity


I Am A Cliché


I Am A Poseur


 During one of the many tours in support of Adolescents, Styrene claims she saw a UFO and the experience had a traumatic effect on her. At 21 she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital where doctors told her she would never work again. This was effectively the end of X-Ray Spex. Upon her release from hospital Styrene released a solo album, Translucence, in 1980. Her solo work was jazzy and dissimilar from X-Ray Spex's sound. Styrene cited the tranquilizers she was prescribed for the change in her music. Many fans cried foul but most critics embraced the morph. 

 "I got a bit slated for it," Styrene recalled. "It was like 'Look what happened to her. She was this gung-ho punk revolutionary. Where... [has it] all gone?'"

Shades


 When Styrene fronted X-Ray Spex there were few lead singers of colour, especially in the punk scene. Her change of tempo on Translucence was seen as an unconventional move; given the success she found with harder music. As if these oddities of her identity weren't enough, her next move would be the most surprising yet. Styrene joined the Hare Krishna movement.

"I have kept the philosophy, but I haven’t stuck with the organisation," Styrene said in 2005. "Philosophy is one thing, but organisations and corruption are other things. I am not saying that the Krishna movement is completely corrupt, but there was some strange stuff happening, and I decided to disassociate myself from it."

 Styrene went on to release Flower Aeroplane in 2005 and Generation Indigo earlier this year. The track Black Christmas (below) was co-written with her daughter, Celeste, who is also featured on the song.

Black Christmas


 In February 2011 Styrene revealed in an interview with The Sunday Times that she had recently been treated for breast cancer but it had spread to her spine and lungs.

"I had a guru who left the mortal world in December," Styrene said in a March interview with The Quietus. "He gave me a meditation on the spirit, it was a female spirit, very beautiful but it made me think about how this body is just a material body, like an outer shell. It will deteriorate and die, but we can leave something behind in our music or art."

Virtual Boyfriend

THORN

 This article on Marion Arthur and Nicolette Lagace of ThOrN originally appeared on Soundproofmagazine.com.

Photo courtesy of ThOrN.

 
 There are plenty of roses growing in the Ottawa-valley region and with those roses come many thorns. Together Cellist Marion Arthur and pianist Nicolette Lagace comprise ThOrN. The classical grunge music they create, while sharp enough to draw blood, is simply too hip for the conservative community where they reside. Yet that hasn’t stopped these talented girls from branching out and finding audiences in Ottawa and beyond.

 Both Arthur and Lagace are classically trained in the performance of their respective instrument and come from musical families.

 Arthur studied at the University of Toronto where some days she would practice for six hours on top of playing in ensembles, orchestras and attending classes. While thankful for the solid classical background she has from attending U of T, Arthur found that, like many who reside in the Ottawa-valley, the school faculty had conservative attitudes towards music.

“I performed some of my own songs in my third year recital, but my jury of two seasoned, classical musicians was not impressed,” Arthur laughs.

 Arthur now utilizes her experiences as a student to teach with Kindermusik; a music and movement program for children aged 0-7 and their parents.

 “Children are exposed to songs, percussion instruments and dances in class. This helps support their brain development by challenging them in many ways and is just plain fun for parents and children alike,” Arthur said. 

 Lagace was snared by all things symphonic at an early age. While attending a Christian school as a child she took a liking to tickling the ivories. She began piano classes at age 9 and eventually enrolled in Royal Conservatory classical piano lessons. 

 “That was my parent’s way of instilling and fertilizing those talents,” Lagace said.

The two met when Lagace was looking for a cellist to appear on her last solo album, Love in a Box. Lagace was impressed by Arthur’s cello lines and they decided to create a new project, giving rise to ThOrN.

“ThOrN is a project that started as recognition that Nic and I have a similar emotional vibe,” Arthur said. “Both Nic and I write quite dark music and the piano and cello create an ethos that is compelling. Even though I'm revisiting songs that I played as MEA [Arthur’s solo moniker], Nicolette brings an organic darkness to the project that wasn't there on my album Cocoon to Butterfly. I feel like the emotional landscapes are greater than I've created in the past.”

 Lagace agrees saying that the music she created with her former band was mostly prog rock-based and ThOrN is more low-key. The label of classical grunge came about because the duo feels their music is a combination of classical, rock, pop and progressive rock.

 While innovative and interesting, ThOrN’s music isn’t what most communities in the Ottawa-valley are up for.

 “It’s definitely a challenge here” Lagace said. “In Pembroke and the small surrounding areas there are not a lot of venues that are open-minded to what we offer. Even for my previous band it was always a challenge to try and find a show. People here just weren’t sure because it wasn’t cover tunes or country music. It was something totally off the wall for this area.”

Silent (live)

SONGS FOR 4/20

 I first heard that the term "420" was coined because in California the police code for marijuana-related offences is numerically 420. This information appears to be false; that's what you get for taking the word of a high school stoner. Other unsubstantiated explanations include "April 20th is the day Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and/or Jimi Hendrix died," "April 20th is the best day to plant your crop," or "The Grateful Dead always stayed in room 420 while on tour."
 The real origin comes from a group of San Rafael High School classmates in California who would meet up at 4:20 p.m. every day to blaze.
 Growing out of that tale, the numbers 420 have now come to signify that 4:20 p.m. is the socially accepted time of day to partake in weed smoking; sparking up before that time would mean you are just an aimless stoner.
 As almost every Canadian knows, April 20th is the day anyone can assemble on Parliament Hill to smoke without fear of persecution or arrest. There are also large demonstrations in the Canadian cities of London, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.
 In addition there are many pop culture and industry references to 420. The clocks in Pulp Fiction are all stuck on 4:20. New York's 420 Tours arranges travel to Jamaica and the Netherlands and Atlanta's Sweetwater Brewing Co. sells a 420 beer and opens its doors to the public at 4:20 p.m.
 Sadly April 20th is also associated with some dark historic facts. Today also happens to be Hilter's birthday and the anniversary of the Columbine shootings.
 Below you'll find some of the best songs that pay homage to an activity many will engage in today. I was going to include Because I Got High but I forgot for some reason.

Bury Me In Smoke by Burnt Ones

Burnt Ones - Bury Me In Smoke from LaundroMatinee on Vimeo.

Weed Card by Garfunkel & Oates

For more on G&O see my interview with Kate "Oates" Micucci.

Get It Together by Beastie Boys feat. Q-Tip

Smoke Two Joints by Sublime

Hits From Da Bong by Cypress Hill

Mary Jane by Rick James

Champagne & Reefer by Muddy Waters

Sweet Leaf by Black Sabbath

Hash Pipe by Weezer

One Toke Over The Line by Brewer & Shipley

Blizted by Raveonettes

Strobe by Deadmau5

Pass The Dutchie by Musical Youth

TYLEAN

 This interview with TyLean originally appeared on Soundproofmagazine.com. Her latest album The Unforgivable, The Unforgettable is available now via her official site. Death Disco presents TyLean at Ottawa's Avant-Garde Bar April 15. She will then bring her operatic sounds to Peterborough April 16 and Toronto April 24.

Apologies for the spacing errors in the text. 

Photo courtesy of TyLean.

 Pianist TyLean's music comes with the disclaimer that it is ‘not for casual listeners.' Her latest offering, The Unforgivable, The Unforgettable, combines elements of the caustic and the celestial; a melding of genres that has amassed TyLean a following on both sides of the Atlantic.

 Originally hailing from small town Pennsylvania, TyLean now resides in London. A self-taught pianist since the age of 14, she began experimenting with the cello at 24.

  "I am not a cellist and have never called my self such. People assume because I'm classically trained" - a phrase she detests - "that I must be by default classically trained on the cello. I don't play cellos. I rape them. It's a phenomenal instrument for exploiting and creating horrific soundscapes."

 The landscape of TyLean's childhood was a lonely one. Living in such an insular place with siblings too old to bother with her, she retreated into the fantasy world of film.

 "Film was my first passion, because watching movies kept me company," she says. "That was what I wanted to do, but since there were no films being made in my part of Pennsylvania and I couldn't convince my family to move, I got into children's theatre as a matter of compromise. From there I got into musicals and eventually came to be very passionate about orchestral music and opera."

 The influence of operatic music can be heard on her debut, the When All Else Fails EP. Although many called When All Else Fails ‘hauntingly beautiful,' TyLean describes the reaction to her debut as confused.

"It was my first release. I had no fans, no supporters and no one who understood who I was and what I was about. I don't even think I understood who I was and what I was about yet. The lyrics were either too dark for them to accept or too intelligent for them to understand. In addition, I was from small town Northeast Pennsylvania. I knew people who had tattoos of the local ‘80s cover band who they would support tooth and nail in a fight. Just the fact that I was recording and releasing original music was well beyond their ability to comprehend."

It was small-mindedness like this that inspired TyLean to seek refuge in another country. For as long as she can remember, she has wanted to flee the US.

 "I don't like America," she says. "I was hell-bent on becoming an ex-patriot since I was 7 years old and was able to understand what countries were and just how far away the other side of the Atlantic was."

 Her move across the pond has given TyLean an insight into the habits of the international music fan. She says American, English and Canadian music lovers all absorb music differently.

 "In the UK, people are more passive about their music than in the States, where people define themselves by the music they listen to. In the States, people tend to be more dedicated to a genre than their own ability to think whether they like a piece of music or not. The UK is also slightly like this, though not nearly to such a degree. Canada, however, is completely the opposite. Music fans are open minded and accepting of anything they happen to like, despite what genre it falls into."

 Once of a member of prolific darkwave band Attrition, TyLean and founding member Martin Bowes had a falling out over his veganism.

 "We parted ways over an incredibly silly difference of diet. Martin Bowes is a vegan. I think we should eat endangered animals before there are no more left to taste; humans too. I'm at odds with the accepted belief that humans are special and important. We are shit-throwing monkeys who if we hadn't evolved to say derogatory things about one another, we would still be flinging poop. One day the usual banter turned into an actual disagreement and that was that for Attrition. We were both probably being too headstrong for our own good."

 However TyLean says she loved the experience of performing with the band, which has been active for three decades, and looks forward to connecting with Bowes again in the future.

 After the upcoming Death Disco dates TyLean is heading back to England to appear at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August. Look for a new EP, tentatively titled Formaldehyde, to appear this summer.

Corner of My Eye


Love Always Dies (live)

SONGS TO STIFLE SEASONAL SORROW

 As what once was frozen begins to melt and winter slides into spring, many are affected by damp spirits and soaked shoes. Music therapy is a surefire cure for seasonal sorrow. So if you're saddened by the elusiveness of sunny springtime weather; snuggle up with these sanguine songs.

You'll Find A Way by Santigold

 Santi White and John Hill originally recorded under the pseudonym Santogold but swapped an "O" for the "I" after the threat of a lawsuit from the makers of the 1985 movie Santo Gold's Blood Circus. Their eponymous debut album is awash with feel good anthems. Also see Lights Out, Unstoppable and Say Aha.




Lasso by Phoenix

 This French outfit first assembled as cover band playing in bars and cafes. After adopting their current moniker, the band, led by Thomas Mars who is married to Sofia Coppola, got a gig as Air's backing band. Their album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix beat out the likes of Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Depeche Mode to claim the 2010 Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album. I would say the album is more electronic than alternative; yet the optimistic offerings Phoenix delivers remain winners regardless of genre. Also see Girlfriend and 1901.

No Nostalgia by AgesandAges

 This seven member band from Portland, Oregon released their debut album, Alright, You Restless, last month. Their jam band sound and sing-a-long style makes for songs that are as secure and warm as a group bear hug. While they maintain they are not a cult, they are hoping their rapidly increasing fan base will organize as one. I imagine they would be devotees of hand claps and harmonies.

Summertime Clothes by Animal Collective

 The collaborative and experimental group known as Animal Collective has been kicking around for a decade. Yet it was their most recent album, The Merriweather Post Pavilion, that proved to be the roar heard around the world. The band's four members, Avey Tare (David Porter), Deakin (Josh Dibb), Geologist (Brian Weitz) and Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), are fluid with their contributions. All have side and/or solo projects but Animal Collective remains the most successful of all of their musical outfits.

Don't Give Up by Noisettes

 Don't Give Up is a feel good track which can also act as motivational music. Noisettes fuse funk, punk, rock and soul into a truly original sound. Their 2007 debut What's the Time Mr. Wolf? made in on to my best of '07 list. Their follow up Wild Young Hearts while more soulful than rock is still strong enough to merit a listen.

Golden Phone by Micachu & the Shapes

 Highly unorthodox Mica Levi has captivated audiences in her native UK by utilizing extraordinary instruments such as a vacuum cleaner and broken bottles. Superstar fans of hers include Bjork and Animal Collective. While Mica says she's "not totally behind" her debut album Jewellery, English music fans lapped up the album like kindergartners slurping spilled cola. When Jewellery wasn't nominated for the Mercury Prize an outpouring of criticism slammed the nomination process. Regardless of the controversy, no one can deny that Golden Phone is a song that will warm up the dampest of spirits.




Multiply & Divide by the Soviettes

 The band's name came from a "tip" a customer gave singer/guitarist Annie Holoien as she waited tables in St. Paul, Minnesota. In lieu of payment he offered the name The Soviettes for her band. That was a decade ago and after three well received LPs, the band went on semi-permanent hiatus in 2006.
Their music is usually short and speedy and at the height of their popularity the foursome managed to perform in all fifty states in a span of three months. Their myspace page hints that they may reassemble for shows; as they did in 2010.
After the Soviettes' hiatus Holoien and Danny Henry formed Awesome Snakes. Holoien recently joined The God Dam Doo Wop Band and Maren "Sturgeon" Macosko plays in The Gateway District. Suzy Sharp is now the bass player for That's Incredible. 

This Twist by Roxy Epoxy & the Rebound 

 Roxy Epoxy's Bandaids on Bullet Holes is made up of unusual, upbeat, new wave-inspired tracks guaranteed to put the listener in a good mood. For more about former Epoxies member Roxy Epoxy see my post on anti-social songs. Also check out Roxy's Ego Hour, her radio show on KPSU, Portland's college radio station.

Hardcore Girls by The Count & Sinden featuring Rye Rye 

 Perhaps best known as MIA's protege, the remarkably refreshing Rye Rye's career got a jump start when she left rap on DJ Blaqstarr's voicemail. Dubstep and grime producers The Count and Sinden tapped her for this single and also co-produced her forthcoming debut Go! Pop! Bang! along with Diplo, Blaqstarr and MIA. 

I Feel Alive by 33Hz

 The members of NYC's 33Hz love disco (and cheesy video effects, see below.) Their electro-heavy sound may have played better decades ago, yet this strobe-lit song still has the power to perk up sagging spirits.

Ba Ba BaBa Ba Ba Well Anyway by Oh No Ono

 This Danish band's style is deviant and daring. Malthe Fischer's vocals definitely diverge from what would be considered the norm for North American music listening audiences. His frightening falsetto might turn some people off, but if you prefer uncommonly hyper arrangements, Oh No Ono's 2006 album Yes may be what you've been seeking. Their most recent album, Egg, was released last year.

My Rainbow Valley by Dolly Mixture

 Formed in 1978 in Cambridge, Dolly Mixture was first conceived as a joke. Three teenage schoolmates, Debsy Wykes, Hester Smith and Rachel Bor, loved the dreamy sounds of the '60s and as a response to the popularity of post-punk decided to tell people they were in whimsical pop band. When they began receiving requests for live performances, the girls picked up instruments and began practicing in earnest. They found some success backing Captain Sensible yet they released just one full length album, 1983's Demonstration Tapes. My Rainbow Valley is typical of Dolly Mixture's gleeful sound. If you can overcome the cooing backing vocals the track will subtly slap you with a sweet smile.