Feature & Reviews – Vol.1
DADA POGROM Toronto Vs. Reykjavik
Toronto is a thriving city hosting a variety of cultural events: Toronto International Film Festival, North by North East Music and Film Conference, Hot Docs, Much Music Video Awards, Toronto Jazz, Edgefest and the newly formed Virgin Music festival to name a few. Film and music play an integral role and are the city’s strengths. There are many excellent reasons to visit or live in Toronto especially if one is an artist as a result. Why is this we wonder?
Deciding to lay down roots as an artist or entrepreneur has always received stiff competition from Montreal, Canada’s second largest city. If we think of music, Montreal recently boats the likes of The Stills, The Dears, Mobile, Dumas, Hot Hot Heat, and The Arcade Fire. Toronto on the other hand lays claim to Peaches, Dada Pogrom, Death From Above 1979, Nassau, and Broken Social Scene. Of course, these acts are just the tip of the iceberg. We wonder more specifically, what it is that that makes Toronto very attractive to artists.
Kenneth Balys, founder of Dada Pogrom, an electronic artist who is based in Toronto and Reykjavik offers an interesting take on the dilemma of laying down roots in Canada. Toronto claims Balys, “is good for business, performance, and filming where the city offers almost everything with out the fuss and crime synonymous with other metropolitan cities in North America and Europe.” This tends to be the consensus when talking to new comers especially entrepreneurs. In fact, Universal studios and Toronto Film Studios have recently locked hands with the municipality to secure land for productions. Balys who is also a short film and video director warns that, “it is the creative center of Canada but it is big. There is a lot of time traveling from A to B”. This is a fact with which agreement can be issued. Toronto and it’s five suburbs houses over 5.7 million inhabitants, has the third largest theater district, is home to Much Music, Chum Limited, City TV, CTV, Corus Entertainment, MTV Canada, CFNY Radio, has three universities, The Royal Conservatory of Music, Casa Loma, and once upon a time Toronto was called York… but as we move on… how does Reykjavik stack up to Toronto?
Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland is located in the North Atlantic and was established by rebels fleeing Norwegian aristocratic oppression in the 9th and 10th century. Since then, the country has produced a variety of music and film creators such as Bjork, Mum, Selma Kaldelons, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Baltasar Kormakur, and Dada Pogrom who has both recorded in Canada and Iceland. “Toronto and Reykjavik are almost polar opposites when it comes to size but artistically, it is the same. I prefer to write in Iceland because it is smaller and simply, more cozy.” The album “Apocalypso” was recorded at Thule studios in Iceland and the forthcoming release of “Deja Voodoo” was recorded at The Warehouse in Vancouver with producer Anthony ‘Fu’ Valcic who is known for work with Skinny Puppy and Nine Inch Nails. “Recording in Vancouver was an exceptional experience, great fun and I had access to equipment that is not necessarily available in Iceland.” Balys also notes that filming in Reykjavik is peaceful and picturesque yet, access to production studios, equipment, and supplies is more readily available in Toronto. “It’s not that these things do not exist in Iceland. It is a matter of availability and getting the job done. It is easier in Canada. I admire both equally.”
Toronto it seems is the place to be although, every city around the world has something to offer depending on your needs as an artist or entrepreneur. This is what we have discovered after interviewing Kenneth Balys from Dada Pogrom. Recently, the video for ‘War is a Pogrom‘, the feature single from “Apocalypso” was filmed at Lead Berry Research in Toronto with local actor Robert Howard and Stasi from Brandenburg, Germany. Balys, who directed the video itself will film two more videos in Toronto before heading back to Iceland to write more music.
Album Reviews
Kasabian —— “Kasabian” (2004)
Kasabian, from Manchester, Uk stormed onto the Brit pop scene in 2004 with their self titled album called Kasabian. The success of ‘Club Foot’, the album’s first single release, is a blues based beat which is composed of old school vibes from the 1990’s synonymous with The Charlatans, Ride, and Stone Roses for example. The video for this song is just as hot, a black and white story about what looks like censorship laws in the former eastern block. The footage is a mix between military and contemporary files. The music adds a dramatic flair. Other key songs from the album are: ‘Processed Beats‘, ‘Reason is Treason’ and ‘Butcher Blues’. Slower pieces often mix electronic sounds with very catchy baselines. Getting back to music videos, ‘Processed Beats’ is alright, a warehouse setting with interesting angle shots and a fire burning. However, the video for ‘Empire’ is very interesting, a historical setting with 18th century soldiers on the battle field who appear to be peace activists and are reprimanded for such behaviour. Over all, the first album from Kasabian is a nice introduction for the band and it will be interesting to see what is next on the new album called “Empire”.
Dada Pogrom —— “Tech Noire” (2002)
“TECH NOIRE”, released in 2002 is an excellent atmospheric album that provides much more than a moody ambiance. It is genuinely mysterious, a celebration of new dark wave, and clearly, this is an album to activate any turn table. The basis of this album is electronic and captures the best of imagination and if you are familiar with musicians from Iceland then this album is sure to draw your attention to friendly connections such as Mum, Bjork, Sigur Ros, DJ Musician, Kanada, Trebant, and last but not least, Sigur Ros. All of whom, seem to produce a unique melancholic cocktail that is both dreary yet uplifting at the same time. This is what some may call a truly definitive style exported to the rest of the world from the little lonely Island in the middle of the north Atlantic.
My first impressions were of a planetary soundscape quite similar to an evening at the Aurora Borealis with rolling overtures found in track four, Gangur which means ‘passage’ in Icelandic and track five ‘Stajarna’(star). Much to my surprise, I was on the right track according to Icelandic translations. There certainly is a Dr. Who feeling on this album and is captured nicely with the successive tones found on track six entitled ‘Forn’ (sacrifice). ‘Koma’ offers a dreamy warm feeling after having flown for 15 hours and the sun is rising as you approach your destination. ‘Strid’ is definitely a solid track with explosive techno beats, that are written in lower keys. Last but not least, ‘Eilifid’ (eternity) is a slower piece, a requiem in fact and is majestic in form. One cannot deny the feeling of Beethoven, Bach or a reminder of the grandeur surrounding the courts of Queen Christina of Sweden or perhaps, Louis XIV of France.
Dada Pogrom with Tech Noire itself, is rather unique and difficult to categorize. References to classical composers are definitely obvious yet it is apparent that this music is modern in all shapes and form: electronic, synth pop, the emerging field of tech noire, and hints of goth. Other musicians serving the same uniqueness or visionaries who refuse to tow the party line are: David Bowie, John Lennon, Gary Numan, Bob Marley etc…. However, great visionaries aside, Tech Noire according to the website is a “symphonic poem of five parts” and it truly does take you on a solar journey through thick and thin.
Dada Pogrom, as an artist with a passion for music also has a passion for film and video direction. On his website I found a short film called, “The Path Well Trod by Phileas Fogg” featuring Rob Howard, a Canadian actor who plays a lonely man venturing out to have a lovely picnic which, ends up in total surprise for the viewer, a suicide. Even though this is a short film, it skips to the chase and boldly confronts it’s main issue with powerful force similar in the way Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, a director who is also from Iceland deals with mental illness in “Angels of the Universe”. I also found a video for ‘Eternity’ from the album Apocalypso which displays gorgeous footage of Icelandic landscapes. Once again, works from Icelandic artists beit musicians or directors such as Bjork, Sigur Ros and Mum posses a relative likeness irrespective of the genre that is dark in substance like “Tech Noire” from Dada Pogrom.
Pilate —— “Caught by the Window” (2004)
Before writing, I was torn between reviewing “Caught By The Window” released in 2003 and “Sell Control for Life’s Speed” released in 2006 with support from Maple Recordings and Factor. Both albums are enriched with a melancholic discourse that is expressed through dark falsetto melodies where it is easy to become hypnotized or lost in the music. This quality is their strength, a mechanism to pull their audience back and forth the same way it is done by other vocalists such as Thom York (Radiohead), Bernard Butler (Suede), Bjork, and Matthew Bellamy (Muse). The decision to choose one album over the other is completely subjective and determined by the wow factor. It looks like “Caught By The Window” got the cookie.
Pilate, who are from Toronto and headed by Todd Clark from New Zealand offer the listener stories about love, desire and hope. Tragedy is overwhelming in this context and is so beautifully done with ‘Don’t Waste Your Breath’, ‘Collide’ and track 7 called ‘Alright’ which has the dearest animated character starring in the music video produced by the team at Fluorescent Hill in Montreal. The lyrics however, suggest voicelessness, betrayal and ultimately fear. These issues are further explored in a more upbeat fashion with ‘Melt into the Walls’. ‘Overrated’, and ‘Out on my Feet’, a personal favourite guides the listener to and from with the aid of a choir. Overall, this album is a job well down.
The production quality of both “Caught by the Window” and “Sell Control for Life’s Speed” is equally heard although it is obvious that the budget was much more generous with the second album, which was subsequently recorded at The Warehouse in Vancouver. The second album is much softer with only one track to hook you in: Barely Listening. Perhaps, one could say that “Caught by the Window” is for daytime listening and the other for evening use. I have no doubt that Pilate have something going on worthy of recognition and moreover, Maple Recordings should be very lucky to have Pilate in their catalogue. I am sure others are secretly listening.
St.Germain —— “Boulevard” (1995)
Under the stage name of St.Germain is Ludovic Navarre, a native of France who has achieved a significant amount of success with Boulevard in the Uk and abroad. Ludovic is a pioneer of his field along with Laurent Garnier who is also from France but challenges an entirely different genre. Those who have been influenced by such pioneers are the likes of Daft Punk, Air, Cassius, and so forth. Navarre however, is a true musician who cares only to write music and is not all bottled up in this or that scene.
The basis of Boulevard is jazz. This very foundation is layered with house, salsa, and soul. ‘Deep into it 07’18’ involves a vast amount of piano solos with a grooving house beat that inspires everyone to dance. Most of the album is like this although, the softer moments are more lounge oriented. ‘Sentimental Mood 10’20’ creates an atmosphere of chill where a thirties sounding trumpet takes the forefront flowing into a mild party mood. ‘Forget it 08’05’ is the heaviest track with lots of brass, deep house beats and is a nice conclusion to the album itself.
Boulevard is the perfect album to enjoy cocktails and is in the loupe no matter how subtle the sounds may be. An artist of great similarity is Jimi Tenor from Finland who also dives significantly into a jazz based world. This is yet another excellent release from F-Communications, a French record label.
Beehives & The Barracudas —— “Platstic Soul” (2002)
This is one of the most interesting albums to come across my desk in a long time. Well sure, there are good albums but then how many albums out there are simply ones to get down and have fun? Well, this is one of them. It is hilarious. It has groove, and it is a serious Detroit surf-soul-punk-blues-skate-garage record. Shall I go on?
This blues’esque album sounds like it was recorded live and perhaps in their bedroom. This is not a bad formula for the tunes which are well crafted. ‘Dirty Soughts’, utilizes lyrics from the asian languages making fun of cultural stereotypes and specific reactions thereto hence, the chorus which shouts, ‘Doing the white apes’. One cannot help but pass a chuckle or two with this song. Song seven is a bluesy song about traveling to Mexico proclaiming that, ‘Love is a brick wall’. This song is sweet.
With all of the soul there lies a couple of very charismatic vocalists who sing about love, lust and moving on. This is probably the best album associated with Sympathy for the Industry label and distribution. If you like the grind of Motown, The Kills and Californian innocence, then this album is for you.
www.myspace.com/beehiveandthebarracudas
Oasis —— “Don’t Believe the Truth” (2005)
Oasis, a band hailing from Manchester, Uk first brought us an album called “Definitely Maybe” as an introduction to the next big thing and thus, succeeded in becoming the most important export the British Empire has seen as a result. Well, of course there have been others if we think of The Kinks, The Rolling Stones and naturally, the Beatles. For now, Oasis seem to be the only band under the age of 65 really kicking it especially with the album “Don’t Believe the Truth” released from the heavens by Epic in 2005.
The album itself has an optimistic attitude and progresses nicely with beautiful melodies and percussion on ‘Love Like a Bomb’, ‘Part of the Queue’, and ‘Let there Be Love’. The raw elements inspire a retro feeling or sound and they are hammered out fully on ‘Mucky Fingers’, ‘The Meaning of Soul’ and ‘The Importance of Being Idol’. Each song individually is rock solid and the only problem I have with this album is that it is too short. The ending sizzler is called ‘Let there be Love’, a ballad about the necessity to pick up the pieces and cary on with life. The song is a relaxing piano based piece, which is not only refreshing but it is also rather endearing. It is an absolute jawbreaker for anyone who may admire Lennon’esque poetry. Although, the majority of the songs are written by the Gallagher brothers, Andy Bell from Ride wrote the upbeat ‘Turn up the Sun’ and Gem wrote ‘A Bell Will Ring’.
Just when you thought that the album was over, the flip side of the disc contains a 23 minute documentary about the band’s writing and recording journey both directed and produced by Dick Carruthers. Yes, this is a dual DVD disc. The documentary itself is very funny with the group interview where they demonstrate how unique sounds were developed, their cooperation with producers, and the story behind each song or rather, the ideas that inspired each song. ‘Part of the Queue’ as explained by guitarist Noel Gallagher reminded him of an incident where he confessed the need to leave a grocery store when the clerks did not allow him to pay quickly. All in all, the documentary is a nice addition to the album and before I forget, it also contains the music video for ‘Lyla’.
Mmhm Music Zine 
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