Manage Directionless

Linda Evangalista I Don't Get Out of Bed For Less Than $10,000 a Day
Nancy Nova No, No, No
Cristina You Rented A Space
Roberto Cacciapaglia My Time
Telex My Time

For more on early to mid-80's conceptual video-art and pop music, I refer you to a March post on Lynn Goldsmith's Will Powers project.

On October 2nd, I'll be moderating a discussion for the symposium portion of the Pop Montreal International Music Festival called From The Crate to the Dropbox. Panelists for the discussion include Jason Sigal, the Managing Director of the Free Music Archive; Yuani Fragata, Executive Producer of Radio-Canada's Bande à part program, Mike Silver (known to most as CFCF), and one more TBA. The event starts at 2pm, and takes place at the Agora Hydro-Quebec at 200 Sherbrooke Ouest.

Pardon My Hindi & Pop Montreal present 2nd Bollywood Party

Asha Bhosle & R.D. Burman Piya Tu Ab To Aaja
(from Caravan O.S.T.)
Kazi Aniruddha Piya Tu Ab To Aaja
(from Bollywood Steel Guitar)
~ My favourite Bollywood song of all time ~

I'm excited to announce that I'll be playing the second Bollywood party (hot on the heels of July's fun-as-hell party), presented by the capable and loving folks of Pardon My Hindi, Elephant Stone and Pop Montreal. Along with a performance by aforementioned band (and Polaris Prize nominees), Freelove Fenner and Magic Hall of Mirrors will also be playing. I'll be DJing Bollywood classics from the glory days of Amitabh Bachchan, Rahul Dev Burman and Ms. Asha Bhosle (of course), along with DJ Desipower.

More information on the Facebook page, or just show up this Friday, November 13th at Casa del Popolo for an evening of Desi dance and subcontinental swagger. Come by and say hello!

Glass Candy, Desire, CFCF, DVAS

Johnny Jewel doing what he does best...

I made my way yesterday to see Desire, Glass Candy and Cosmo Vitelli at Juste Pour Rire. Missed the Cocktail Club DJ set, and caught the last half of Desire, which (as Feeling Nouveau mentioned earlier today) wasn't the wildest in terms of stage performance, but that will come soon enough.

The last time I had seen Glass Candy was about six years ago in Victoria, having formed a band (which will not be named, save me some face here) for the express intention of opening for them. When I first moved to Montreal Glass Candy was playing with Duchess Says (which was their second show, Johnny told me last night), but, and my memory's hazy on this, I ended up missing them or coming too late. Either way, a number of fate's machinations made it so that I didn't get the chance to see them until last night, at Pop Montreal, and it was a great performance. Old classics, exceptional sound, great lights, and a fuller and more solid stage performance, with Ida No pulling out a series of aerobic dance moves... If my hangover today is any evidence, there's a good reason why I don't remember how Cosmo Vitelli sounded.

DVAS Ambient Room

Tonight there's an embarrassment of riches (as per usual at Pop), and you already have my Os Mutantes & Plaza Musique recommendation (more Plaza than Os Mutantes, if I'm being honest) but if you're looking for something a little more clubby and fun, Upper Class Recordings' showcase is at Divan Orange and includes hometown balearic remix hero CFCF, DVAS, and recently transplant to Montreal, Cadence Weapon. As well, The Cansecos and Silly Kissers are playing earlier, so you'll have some time to perfect the stand-nod-clap look. A lotta the post-French Touch retro-wave club stuff (the DVAS song above included) isn't the most ground-breaking in terms of songwriting or what it brings to the table, but I like to think of it, like a lot of good dance and pop music, as being craft more than art. And it's fun to dance to. Should be enough.

It would also be re-miss of me not to mention Karnival, Poirier's new night, which debuts at Club Soda. Featuring Mad Decent's Paul Devro (and former Vancouver boy) and a helluva lotta bass. Check out the FB page here.

Let us not praise famous men, nor our fathers that begat us...

Thee Oh Sees Peanut Butter Oven
Thee Oh Sees Can You See?

Let us speak frankly now, because we're all friends here, and because I care... Now, with all due respect to Ian Svenonius, his contribution to popular music, and his lasting legacy as the one-time Sassiest Boy in America (and subsequent ignoble de-throning), I think Mr. Svenonius' creative output has gradually fallen, witness his painfully dated skewering of suburbia and economic progress. Fish in a barrell or the side of a barn - take your pick, Ian.

When did it start? Was it in 2001, when Ian Svenonius adopted the pseudonym David Candy for an extended, abysmal romp through kitsch? Did he give up after the International Noise Conspiracy & The Hives et al. purloined his look and approach whole-sale? The Scene Creamers? Weird War?

But then again, maybe high-concept garage rock that lifts heavily from the darker corners of post-Marxist thought & radical chic was never really meant to rock anyway. Maybe as close as we could get to that was the Yardbirds trashing their guitars in an Antonioni's Blow Up.

And thank God. I'm no purist - garage rock or elsewise, which is why Thee Oh Sees are such a god-damn revelation. Started by John Dwyer of Pink & Brown and The Coachwhips and from their ashes, rises a jangly, lo-fi phoenix. Or maybe a Griffon. If you're in Montreal for Pop, check them out this Saturday.

Thee Oh Sees at Pop Montreal
w/ Pink Noise, Golden Triangle, The Fresh & Onlys
Saturday, October 3rd
Sala Rosa

Check out the Oh Sees myspace page for more information.

Bixi Pop

Synergy
(but not exactly)

Kano's "Don't Try To Stop Me" & Ring My Bell: Pop Montreal Italo Disco Bike-In

Kano Don't Try to Stop Me

A sleeper Italo Disco Funk hit from Kano from their 1981 album New York Cake. It's a super fun boogie vocoder-laced workout, similar to their dance-floor slayer I'm Ready.

I'll be DJing (as Jay Watts III, natch) the 3rd Annual Pop Montreal Bike-In this weekend, along with the ever-talented Why Alex, Why?, David Shaw (Loose Joints), and Bethany Benzur (New York City) at Terrace McAuslan. In previous years, the themes have been R. Kelly & Bollywood, (I'm hoping next year it'll be a Hip-House Bike-In) while this year we'll be celebrating the artistic heights that the greats of Italo Disco managed to scale. If the names Kano, Jimmy Ross, Scotch, Carmen, & Pineapples mean anything to you, or you consider the ouevre of Ken Laszlo to be beyond compare, then I'm sure you'll appreciate the night.

There's also a screening of Michaelangelo Antonioni's dubious masterwork Blow Up happening at dusk. All free, just pay for your drinks & food!

The Hour's Brendan Murphy wrestles the zeitgeist to the ground and steps on its throat, describing Bixis as "the new fanny packs," but being okay with Italodisco.

Jack Oatmon loves anything on two-wheels and calls me an 'inimitable pop sophist.' Thanks?

Soundalikes

Jens LekmanThe Opposite of Hallelujah (MP3)
The Chairmen of the Board Give Me Just a Little More Time (MP3)

Jens, meet The Chairmen of the Board. Gentlemen, meet Jens. Oh, wait, it appears you've already met. Our Swedish friend Jens is, of course, no stranger to the curious desire and pull that influences, conscious or not, can exert on one's work. In previous songs, he's graciously lifted from The Left Banke, Belle and Sebastian, and The Mamas & The Papas, and in deference to our esteemed corporate friends above, Mr. Lekman has often launched into a cover of Give Me Just A Little More Time during his performances. Pop!




Sinbad Richardson directs a new video for Think About Life's Sweet Sixteen.

The Friends & Fellow Travelers at Pop Montreal are putting on the Passion Pit show this Thursday at Sala Rosa. It's all sold out online, and I imagine the last 10 tickets available at Casa del Popolo will be gone by the time it opens its doors in 45 minutes.

Notes...

Congratulations to The Diableros on their signing to Baudelaire (Alright, that's the correct spelling now!), Torontonian home to Tangiers.

Sibling Bostonians Ponies In The Surf, whom I covered a couple of months ago have dropped their first full-length Ponies On Fire, on Asaurus record, and have been mopping up love and kudos from blogs far and wide.

Code Pie are at The Main Hall (5390 St. Laurent) here in Montreal on Saturday.

Midnight Poutine keep up with the scheduled barrage of updates from their dedicated army of scribes. Recent missives from the front include the 2005 round-up, with a hash-induced list from yours truly, amongst other Pop-kids like Daniel Seligman, Andrew Rose, and Shawn Petsche. Mr. Rose has also been keeping good house at both the Pop Montreal site and his own blog, as well as recovering from seasonal sickness. Send him love.

New Year's wasn't the black hole of booze and memory impairment that last year was (thank God)... I was down at the W's Wunderbar for Robin Simpson's curated shindig... Music provided by DJ Paddy (he of The Scissor Sisters) and personal and musical favourites Dandi Wind, who were fresh off of a prodigal son's style trip back to Vancouver. Go buy their album or EP already.