Ohbijou - Beacons (for realsies this time)

You know that movie, where this girl, who is in a struggling band and works temp jobs on the side, and this guy, who works as a writer for fortune cookie fortunes, meet, then have an emotional roller coaster through the four Canadian seasons in the heart of Toronto's downtown artistic community, going to indie concerts, hanging out at Trinity Bellwoods park, staring at stars, jamming together, building snowmen and falling in love slowly despite an unsure future because the girls band might make it big, but they struggle through their own selfish issues in order to learn how to love, even if it means learning to lose that love while moving on in a bittersweet life lesson, but not regret it because the year they did spend together was so good they have no regrets since it made them both better people?

No? Ok, well, it's because I made all that up. But if it DID exist, Ohbijou's latest album would be a perfect soundtrack for it.

'Beacons', the follow up to the orchestral pop ensemble's 2006 lp 'Swift Feet for Troubling Times' is, if anything, a consistent sophomore effort.

A familiar mix of cello and piano accompany lead singer Casey Mecija's fragile songs and even frailer lilting vocals. Ohbijou have always been known to craft a delicate sound, despite the bands propensity for using upwards of 8-10 instruments on a single track, and 'Beacons' is no exception.

Opener 'Intro to Season' doesn't take listeners far from the band's signature sound, but the pacing and energy of the song reveal a band more mature in its song craft and more realized in letting their musical talents shine through, a somehow subtle yet stark difference from the pure emotion that drove many of the tracks on 'Swift Feet'.

Still though, through and through, the main draw here is Mecija, who's voice makes you feel like she's whispering each song directly into your ear like a sweet nothing on a quiet Ontario night. The intimacy and sheer prettiness of her voice make it impossible to not get caught up in the swell of strings, horns and dreamy plucking banjo.

To be honest, I always thought Ohbijou sounded much better in studio than they do live, and this is mostly because despite being incredibly talented musicians, their product is inherently background music of the greatest kind. Taken on its own, the music may not immediately seem captivating. But listening to 'Beacons' will make you incredibly cognizant of the fact you are alive in the present. Backing a period in time, an event, emotions and thoughts -- it's music that makes a normal moment extraordinary, even if you're alone. It makes you feel like ... "hey, this moment in my life could absolutely be a scene in some hipster romance movie."

Basically, if you think you'd enjoy that fake movie I mentioned, you'll probably enjoy Ohbijou.

Also, they played a free gig at North York Central Library once. Yes, you read that correctly. How can you not think they're sweeties knowing that fact?

Curmudgeons need not apply.

Ohbijou - Beacons, 2009

Independent

Sounds like: Carissa's Wierd is for depressed people as Ohbijou is for hopeless romantics.

"Wildfires" live at the North York Public library, North York Civic Centre, 2007

Because, you know. You need to know.

One advantage of free time is I get to catch up on books, movies and music that I wouldn't otherwise have sought out and engaged. Here's some interesting items out now or coming out soon:

District 9

From Peter Jackson, the visual effects in this look absolutely amazing. And not only is it about aliens, but aliens in mechas. That's like putting a twinkie inside a joe louis. How can you resist?

Daybreakers

Vampire is the new teenage-wizard, dontcha know? Also, I can't help expecting a velociraptor to jump out during any scene, in any movie, that Sam Neill is in. Still, I am intrigued by this seeming genre mashup. The trailer is pretty amazing. Also, I love Kate Bush so much that even Placebo sounds good covering her. Brownie points.

The Hurt Locker

This is supposedly the war movie of the decade. I will watch it soon, as it's out already. This I swear. The tension is pretty clearly jacked up big time from what you see in the trailer. Reviews pouring in have been nothing short of stellar.

500 Days of Summer

This actually looks pretty contrived (The Smiths? And you work in a loft studio? Ok). But I tend to enjoy mildly emo hipster rom-coms (see: State, Garden; Kiss, Last; Real Girl, Lars). Where do I sign up for my hipster-douchebag tshirt?

Albums I am eager to hear:

Ohbijou - Beacons

The Most Serene Republic - ...and the ever expanding universe

Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue

I've been listening to a lot of upbeat summer music lately. Drake, Passion Pit, Au Revoir Simone, and some Bjork to put myself in vacation mood. Suggestions welcome.

Currently reading:

Fifth Business - Robertson Davies

Next Up:

TBA. Suggestions?

I just finished 'Omnivore's Dilemma' prior to my bi-monthly Canlit fix. It was interesting, definitely, but I feel you'd almost be equally educated by just going to watch FOOD Inc. It's essentially... the movie version, of that book. With some 'Fast Food Nation' thrown in. Also, I feel guilty about everything I eat now. Thanks, Michael Pollan.

Eight boy bands you have probably forgotten

Disclaimer -- for those of you who are banned from viewing YouTube videos at work, this will be a disappointing post unless you come back on your own time. Slackers.

Remember high school? It was good times. "Home work", part-time jobs, melodrama and skipping classes. But do you remember the soundtrack to all that?

In hindsight, trawling through popular music during that five year era is a veritable pantheon of pablum. Or more bluntly, it was a barren wasteland of musical talent. Think about what high school kids listen to today: Beyonce? Jay-z? Kanye? Panic at the Disco? Fall Out Boy?

These are actual BANDS! Artists! Compared to that, some of the crap being peddled to us in high school was downright absurd. I'm not bitter though, because at the very least it helps our generation identify with a completely unique era in pop-culture history. Morbid as it may be.

Sure, we all remember it as a time when boy bands (and to a lesser extent, girl bands and a seven member co-ed band) ruled the world. And yes, the Backstreet Boys and N'Sync are still to this day remembered somewhat fondly and with nostalgic relevance.

But what about all those other boy bands? I figured it'd be fun to take a stroll down memory lane. You probably have forgotten all these songs. Until now. I apologize, but... really. This stuff was popular once? It's a post that really just writes itself. Enjoy.

2gether

Technically, I think these guys were a a television show and not an actual band. Also, they were created to make fun of boy bands. Ironically, in their irony, they were one of my favourite boy bands.

3deep

Even 2gether had 2 hit songs. 3deep, despite being numerically superior, had only one. That's how bad they were. Even when it comes to bad music, Canada had an inferiority complex. Mostly, I remember wanting to start a band called 4shallow, just to show them up. That is all.

B44

Not only is the song incredibly perverted, but the three dudes look like child molesters in training, suffering from scurvy. Also, doesn't it seem implicitly racist to portray a black child playing with toys from a garbage can on the street? Either he's poor, or hallucinating from tainted meth. Perverts AND bigots. Yikes.

5ive

I only included them because they completed my pattern and also happened to be a one hit wonder. I only regret there wasn't a band with the number one in its name. I couldn't find the real video, which I recall takes place in a bowling alley

O-town

Created from the 'Making of the Band' tv show, their most popular song was one originally made famous by Westlife... another boy band. But Westlife was British, so apparently they don't count, and it's OK to pooch their act. BSB purists note: this is essentially the 'Get Down' video, except with less colour.

LFO

Stands for Lyte-Funky-Ones. References include Abercrombie, Footloose and... Family Ties?? There's no way they wrote this song. They can't possibly know who Alex Keaton is. It's actually pretty meta that they sing about that time back when New Kids on the Block was popular. One day, I am sure, no one will ever write a song about when LFO was popular.

The Moffats

I actually saw them live once. They were doing a gig at Playdium while I happened to be there. To be fair to them, at least these kids played instruments and wrote songs. They were just really bad. One of the brothers ended up in a band with one of my university friends' friend doing some sort of prog-rock thing in Boston. No, really.

Dudez A-Plenti

To anyone who thinks Andy Sanberg is original, I present exhibit A: Conan was pulling that shit way before that Natalie Portman stealing asshole wrote Lazy Sunday. To be honest though, Lazer Cats is some sort of epic bad assness. Props where deserved.

Dudez a-Plenti

I dedicate this post in loving memory of the YTV Hitlist.

Welcome back white folks

You know how technology kind of creeps up on us, but becomes entrenched so quickly in our lives that we don't even remember what life was like before the internet or cell phones?

A similar phenomena is currently taking place in bars all over and having thoroughly listened to the Passion Pit album this week, I've decided it's time to extoll the return of white people to the dance floor.

Welcome. We've missed you.

You see, for the longest time, White people completely owned the floor. Waltzing, foxtrots, flappers, the charleston, the twist. Remember when Footloose came out? Disco? The hustle?

White people used to dance. In dance clubs. It was cool, and it was the cool thing to do.

But then... then came hip hop. Because hip-hop proved to be such a culturally embedded art form, white people never really were able to appropriate hiphop to the same complete extent that they consumed jazz, or rock and roll.

To this day, despite Eminem's best efforts and rabid consumption of hip-hop by white suburbanites, ownership of the music is still inexorably linked to black culture, and as such ownership of all dancing and dance-like movements (i.e. breaking, popping, locking, and various degrees of getting jiggy, leaning and nodding very, very slowly). The stigma of white hiphop has not been overcome, and as a result, white people are uncomfortable dancing freely, although they most certainly will try their best to emulate the actions of black people dancing -- mostly out of respect for the form.

But when you see white people dancing to Beyonce at a club, let's be honest -- that's not how white people dance. If you've ever seen the Chapelle show skit with John Mayer and ?uestlove, you'd know that in their natural habitat, surrounded by fellow white people with approved white music playing, this is white dancing taking its natural course:

Within the last two years however, slowly but surely, there has been a relatively new genre seeping into bars and clubs -- white dance music. And not European white, commonly referred to here as "Gino beats", or "Techno". No, I am referring to homegrown, North American music, made for dancing.

The sample above features a Santogold song, which is not prototypical of the genre I speak, but still somewhat relevant as according to the white-hipster rulebook (section 143.2d) she is an approved artist under the white-dancing protocol of 2003.

You see, what started with a few dance infused indie rock bands (the Rapture, !!!) and extended into djs (Daft Punk, Girltalk) has naturally evolved into a whole new genre that, although seemingly ubiquitous to us today, is actually quite new -- indietronicpop.

To be honest, the genre is so popular yet actually still so new that nobody has coined an all encompassing term yet, like how "Emo" came to eventually represent all melodic power pop punk and metal.

Helping to pave the way on the pop side of the equation was Dntel and Ben Gibbard, who together put out the Postal Service, a forbearer album that led hipsters to add synths and midi to all the folk songs they had been recording in Garageband.

Sometime in 2005, after Kanye West was awarded honorary hipster status, white indie artists became comfortable enough with certain minority artists (but not all. The list was essentially Kanye, MIA, The Roots, NERD and TV on the Radio, who don't rap, but were black and played indie rock. This strange juxtaposition helped join this bridge from the non-white side of the equation, as did Lupe Fiasco and Pharell, who liked to pretend they could skateboard -- a decidedly white hobby until about 3 years ago) to appropriate not the actual essence of black music, but at least some of the tools used to create it -- tools which could be borrowed and reutilized to form their own, more comfortably familiar beats.

Thus 808's and record sampling began to be common place in the vintage clothing crowd.

The movement began gaining momentum.

Now, we have clearly reached a tipping point. With bands such as LCDSS, Cut Copy, Justice, Hercules & Love Affair and Passion Pit, white people have finally found their way home.

Walk into any hipster hangout on a weekend now and the days of shoegazing, toe tapping and headnodding while leaning against a wall are long gone. No, today you will hear falsetto's blaring, synths, heaving bass and people dancing drunkenly and uncontrollably -- the natural state of a white person dancing (it's been downhill since Fred Astaire), emancipated from the coolness associated with dancing to hiphop, and the monopoly hiphop had on rhythm until just this decade.

Here, in three short videos, is an abbreviated evolution of hipster dance music.

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Getting more Northern and North Eastern

Alright, so I was out of commission for the kickoff jam, spending my time sitting face first in front of a toilet instead of being up close and personal with surprise headliners Broken Social Scene and Feist. Plus, I also was too weak to go to any of the film, or conference events. Double bogey.

But after I managed to crawl out of my sickbed, NXNE was still a pretty awesome time. I was limited to only my venue since it was an extended call event (the bar served until 4am all weekend; both an awesome and terrible thing). Despite that, some really amazing, talented (and super friendly) musicians did make their way through The Painted Lady.

Highlights:

Midwest Dilemma

From Omaha, Nebraska, lead singer Justin Lamoureux channels a lot of his good friend Conor Oberst in his voice, right down to letting out quivering emotional screams. There's a lot of soul in the music, which is a mix of lilting orchestral ballads and foot stomping acoustic romps. It doesn't stray particularly far (aptly) from that familiar midwestern indie sound, but if you're into stuff like Bright Eyes, Tilly and the Wall, Sufjan Stevens or Jenny Lewis' solo ventures, you'd probably enjoy Midwest Dilemma.

What really came out live was how ridiculously talented they were. It's not every night you rock out a bar with a clarinet solo, but these guys had the folks (literally) dancing on the bar, clapping, singing along and the set ended with chants for an encore. Sadly, we had to say no due to the tight festival schedule, but I certainly wouldn't have minded more from these super friendly folks. On top of being warm, talented and endearing, the band said they were driving from the bar directly to a park north of the city (this was at 2am) to go camping for the weekend afterwards. In the words of Maggie the clarinetist, "It's cheaper and I've never been camping before! I'm stoked!"

You can't argue with any of that.

Michou

From Windsor, these guys were actually a replacement band after we found out one of our acts had cancelled and we scrambled to find someone to take her spot. Michou had just played a set at the Rivoli, and drove directly over and played the Painted Lady last minute. Definitely a different sound (our venue was mainly singer-songwriter type stuff the rest of the night) but some melodic power pop and folksy rock was a welcome change of pace, and the crowd appreciated the energy and volume from the five piece. Kind of a mix of Wintersleep, City and Colour, Cuff the Duke with some Death Cab thrown in (the lead singer even has a Ben Gibbard-ish voice thing going for him). Lots of great harmonies, clapping and xylophone. Great stuff, and they ride in a Starcraft van. Classy dudes.

The Painted Lady

The best part of the weekend though was probably the venue itself. I'd heard about the Lady from various magazines and newspapers, but this was my first time there. I must say, I fully intend to be back, and often. There are really only four staff who run the bar, and they live the kind of life you hear about or see on tv but don't imagine real folks live. The owners were born in South Africa, have lived in New Orleans, opened their bar here in Toronto (they live above it) and did all the decorating themselves. I was incredibly impressed by how cosy and intimate it was. They definitely spent there they needed to and not where they didn't, and as a result the place looks and feels very New York. It's got personality shining through everywhere.

On top of that, the staff are some of the nicest folks you'll meet this side of Kansas. They're hip, accommodating, hard working and easy going. All of them make the place one of the most popular bars on the Ossington strip with the place still filled to capacity with music blasting as I sat sipping my pint at 5am Sunday morning.

On top of that, it's pretty much directly across the street from Pizza Libretto. They're constantly adding live acts, hoping to get up to 3-4 music gigs a week. I told them I'd be back, and I hope to soon. Definitely a go-to place to hang and a great find -- the new bar, and new friends.

You're not staying for Japanther?

(Los Campesinos)

Been on a bit of a concert tear lately, March was just too good to pass up with Cut Copy, CMW and the Junior Boys all bunched up. I wanted to get out to a few more as well, but never made it. It would have been nice to have gotten into the Born Ruffians, but luckily I've seen them before so it wasn't a complete loss.

Saw Los Campesinos tonight, which was a pretty amazing show despite the fact they only played for maybe 50 minutes. This is not their fault however, as they only have 50 minutes worth of music to their name right now. But I loved their energy and overall quirkiness -- they're going to go places quickly, especially after being critically lauded in so many top-whatever lists at the end of last year.

Coming up, I'm finally going to stay for Japanther! Or rather, I am seeing Meligrove again, who are once more accompanied by Japanther. Last time I saw them, we all left before Japanther came on and the ticket person by the door basically cried when we walked out.

"You're not staying for Japanther??" he said to us, looking genuinely completely crushed.

Consider this a make up, mysterious ticket selling hipster guy.

Patrick Watson will be playing Trinity St. Paul's later this Spring, but before that Metric is playing the Mod Club with Holy Fuck, April 14. I don't know if tickets are gone yet, but I. Must. See. That. Show.

After that, I think I need to take a breather. And by breather, I mean stop spending so much money.

I bought my Los Campesinos t-shirt tonight though, my little splurge.

I have a strange affection for band shirts, even though I try not to buy too many.

Consider it love in moderation.

Random albums I am currently excited about:

1) Mirah - (a)spera

2) Fever Ray - Fever Ray

3) Metric - Fantasies

4) Yeah Yeah Yeah's - It's Blitz

5) Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains

It is, it seems, a pretty darn good month for fans of indie-music females both intro and extroverted. And fans of Built to Spill. Gooood times.