Wednesday, July 16, 2008


hand in handjob

Monday, July 14, 2008

More Square Quotes Episodes

Okay, Alexander, Martin, Ali and myself have been busy since I last posted here. We've got four whole more episodes, and pretty soon, we'll be producing a special episode for Osheaga. The Osheaga podcast you'll be able to get directly from their website, and will include interviews with musicians, artists and other people associated with the festival.

In the meantime, do some catching up with the last couple of episodes... I'll list them in reverse chronological order, or you can go to the main site at www.squarequotes.com or find us on iTunes.


Handsome Fellas

Square Quotes is back with a vengeance, notorious and ever glorious! During our two week hiatus we shuffled off the chains of Suoni per il Popolo and now fly towards the sun like Icarus! This week's episode is packed with summer sounds, summer flicks, and Cancon controversy.

Jordan Robson-Cramer, contributing member of Montreal's Sunset Rubdown and Miracle Fortress visited us and played a song with Rory Seydel (also of Shapes and Sizes) - the newest member of Jordan's long-standing project Magic Weapon.

Tempting fate, we invited Darren Curtis and Matt Silver, two peanut-shelling funny-men partially responsible for Kidnapper Films' debut full-length Who is K.K. Downey? to talk with us. The film premieres in Canada later this week as part of the Fantasia Film Festival.

This episode's musical picks anticipate, welcome, and think about love: its complications, its great bounty. Delegation's Darlin' (I Think About You) appears on their landmark champagne-disco-funk album, 1979's Eau de Vie; ABS dug up Jermaine Jackson's Good for the Gander, which is an unreleased Motown gem produced by Norman Harrison and Ron Tyson; Steely Dan's Dirty Work speaks for itself; Johnny Moped's Darlin' (Let's Have Another Baby) gets straight up paternal; we all love Silver Apples' I Have Known Love (they may be popping up in our city sometime soon - shhh); and Magnum Force speaks to the mood of the moment in Girl, You're Too Cool.


Square Quotes Episode 5: Pansexual Digressions & Nocturnal Omissions

With a turnaround time that would daunt most college radio stations, but is par for the course in the big leagues with major players like Radio Congo, we came up with episode 5. A majestic palace of sophistry, loving communication, and dialogue. Our guests this week were Ken Vandermark, the acclaimed saxophonist whose name you might recognize from Powerhouse Sound and The Flying Luttenbachers; Amber Goodwyn, the publisher of Canada's, nay North America's best smut zine, Lickety Split; and finally, the beloved Claude Bernier, logistics master and jack of all trades with the Suoni per il Popolo festival, who came in to the studio to chat us up, and deliver exclusive Suoni sounds recorded over the course of the festival from Vic Chestnutt and The Sun Ra Arkestra, live at Sala Rossa.

This Episode's Songs...

Leon Ware Rockin' You Eternally, The Velvelettes Je Veux Crier (My Foolish Heart Keeps Hanging on a Memory), Di Melo A vida seus métodos diz calma, The Sun Ra Arkestra Excerpt (Live at Sala Rossa), Vic Chestnutt Excerpt (Live at Sala Rossa), Marcia Hines You Gotta Let Go, Sadina I Want That Boy

Men At Work

Square Quotes Episode 4: Too Much Too Late

Woah. Well, Square Quotes took our sweet, precious time delivering this, a snapshot of a week or so in the life of a gaggle of Montrealers... First, Sasha Kleinplatz, a Montreal dancer, choreographer and organizer who recently put on a dance event called Piss In the Pool at the dilapidated Bain St. Michel went head-to-head with ABS; after that, we spoke to Billy Mavreas, the garrulous and lovable mensch who runs the Monastiraki Curiosity Shop, and is also a cartoonist who's recently published a graphic novel called Inside Outside Overlap, published by Timeless Books. It's all about dream logic, the murk, and a recent experience at the Helen Pitt Gallery in Vancouver, BC, where he participated in their Workaday series; and finally, Jenny Craig, the hostess and curator of the monthly Greasy Goose salon series discussed the business of talking about things here in Montreal, and let us listen in as local cosmologist Mark Slutsky spoke about ESP. Music? Yep, music again - Art Ensemble of Chicago, Manfred Krug, Mavreas' The Fudge, Ben E. King, and The Soft Boys. All for you, by us.

Racial Harmony

Square Quotes Episode 3: The Sun (Ra) Also Rises

On episode three of Square Quotes we talk with Alex Moskos of electronic-jam-duo Thames / circuit-twisted pop trio the Unireverse. Afterward we enlist his help in channeling the spirit of afro-futurist jazz artist Sun Ra.

Then Jack Oatmon of the Montreal Mirror stops by to give us the lowdown on Ivan Smagghe's health issues and he manages to squeeze in an interview with Andy Butler of NYC's post-disco group Hercules & Love Affair.

Later on we check in with Phil Elverum, of Mt. Eerie, just before his appearance at the Suoni per il Popolo festival. We play some songs too, like "I Comma Zimba" by Abdullah, the militant Motown musician and "Moliendo Cafe" performed by twelve-piece Romanian brass band Fanfare Ciocărlia. We also get heavy with Pilooski, who channels the high priestess of soul Nina Simone.