I just finished listening to the catchy new tune "Return to the Moon" by EL VY (pronounced like a plural of Elvis; rhymes with "hell pie", as you'd expect). Who is EL VY, you may ask? It's a new musical collaboration between Matt Berninger of The National and Brent Knopf, of Ramona Falls and Menomena.
The tune's got a cool beat, a funky little guitar hook and Matt's laid-back signature on the vocal melody. It's an instantly likeable pop tune.
Give it a listen:
The album, Return To The Moon, comes out October 30. Tour dates are on their site.
I first saw Carmen Elle sing and play guitar when I saw Army Girls open for July Talk at Lee's Palace last year. Seeing Diana live at NXNE on a great bill with Warpaint was a little like one of those Monty Python skits where they say, "And now for something completely different..." Army Girls is about simplicity and emotion; a garage rock duo of drums and guitar. Diana is about beauty, emotion and polished pop sounds including lots of synths and even a sax.
Diana's music ranges from fierce to tender to aggressive to sexy to joyous. This is a band that demonstrates all that's right in new music. It's the kind of music that makes me want to shake the people who say, "There's no good music any more", by the lapels and make them hear this. Personally, I'll be waiting with baited breath for the next time I can see this band live.
The Toronto Festival of Beer took over the Bandshell Park area of The Exhibition Grounds in Toronto for the weekend of July 24-26. The Bandshell Park area would be the end of the Exhibition Grounds that was not already taken over by the Pan Am Games.
I went down on Sunday to check out the fest and to listen to a performance by one of my all time favourite bands, The Lowest of the Low. I thought I would never see The Lowest of the Low perform live again after Steve Stanley's 2013 announcement that he was leaving the band, but apparently, rumours of the band's death were greatly exaggerated.
Singer and principal songwriter Ron Hawkins has been focusing on his solo material and The Do-Good Assassins since the last Low album, Sordid Fiction, in 2004, but it was great to see a show focusing on the old favourites.
For this particular gig, the band consisted of Ron, along with original drummer David Alexander, long-time vocalist and harmonica player Lawrence Nichols, long-time bassist Dylan Parker and a new guitarist who's name I didn't catch. A beer fest was a close enough approximation of the beer soaked bars that the band used to fill back in the day; the biggest differences being the wide-open spaces, the beer tents, and the bright and setting sun.
The band sounded great, playing old favourite after old favourite while fans gathered in front of the stage to sing along. Ron wrote so many fantastic songs that have lasted so well for the fans. He continues to write great new tunes, but I'm glad that he still takes the time to recognize the songs we heard when many of us first discovered his talent.
The beer fest itself was fun with a huge variety of beer vendors on hand to delight any beer lover. I'd definitely check it out again, especially if they can continue to bring in such great musical talent to accompany the sampling of suds.
Here are some of my favourite tunes from their set.
"Kinda the Lonely One"
"Just About the Only Blues"
They snuck in a tune by Ron's post-LotL band The Rusty Nails, "Bite Down Hard"
"Salesmen, Cheats and Liars"
"For the Hand of Magdalena"
"City Full of Cowards"
"Eternal Fatalist"
"Bleed a Little While Tonight"
They closed out the main set with "Gossip Talking Blues".
When the band came out for the encore, I joked by shouting "Black Monday!" because I love the song and I never thought they'd play it for an encore. Then they started playing it. And yes, I was too far back for them to have heard my shout. It's the second song Ron plays in this clip.
They closed with their biggest hit and fan favourite, "Rosy and Grey". It was another fantastic Low experience.
Vancouver acid/psych/classic rockers Black Mountain cruised through Toronto, stopping in at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern on July 18. A relentlessly enthusiastic crowd packed into the front-of-stage area to be close to this talented band. Their set featured extended, dynamic jams that highlighted the vocal and instrumental talent on stage. The Les Paul sounded amazing, their drummer beat his kit with massive force and it all came together in rock solid, glorious noise.
Check out some of my favourite Black Mountain tunes:
Charles Bradley and his Extraordinaires played Toronto's Nathan Phillips Square for Panamania, the Arts & Culture Program of The 2015 Pan Am Games, on July 21. Charles delivers his own brand of soulful R&B with a great backing band. I was told that I should not miss this performance and I pushed through a giant wall of tired to take it in. I was not disappointed.
