Ete 2009

Bon bon bon enfin une petite pause de spectacles. On en profite pour mettre de l'ordre dans nos projets de l'été. Cette année encore, pour la 5ieme fois, j'organise le OFF Fete du Lac de Sherbrooke. Ben ben du stress pour une semaine de plaisir, qui passe comme si on était en tournée. A la fin, on a l'air d'un zombie et notre corps expulse des substances verte sans non et sans futur. L'an passée c'était la naissance de Philomène et nous avions booké son baptème le dimanche matin. Oh l'horreur! Ma famille que je vois si peu souvent semblait persuadé que j'étais sur le crack ou whatever. Qu'a cela ne tienne, le OFF revient quand meme cette année. Et pour etre sur d'en avoir plein les bras, ca se passe pas juste a un endroit mais plutot dans le centre-ville de Sherbrooke au grand complet.

Alors la ronde est repartie: les artistes qui te contactent pour jouer essayent de dealer des cachets ridicules, les proprios de bars essayent d'avoir de la pub gratisse sans s'investir, les problèmes techniques s'empilent avant meme d'avoir été réglés, etc. Pourquoi recommencer? Tout d'abord il faut mentionner que ce n'est pas pour mal faire si tout le monde met des batons dans les roues. Les gens ont des intérets dans la vie. Des désirs. Des intérets. Je sais pas. Je m'en fous. C'est plus pour la cause, pour l'idéal, je suppose. Parce que c'est encore pertinent. Parce que meme si c'est du trouble a organiser, c'est pas moi qui décide s'il y a un OFF ou pas, mais bien les gens qui me contactent pour y prendre part. Dans la vie on fait tellement de choses dont tout le monde se fout, quand un truc attire l'attention c'est normal de vouloir y mettre un peu d'énergie. Cette année je la vois un peu comme une année de passage. Je crois que l'an prochain les gens qui sont membres du comité cette année pourront se passer de moi ou du moins, ne me laisserons pas en charge de tout. Ca fait full Dominique Michel. L'affaire c'est que Dominique Michel avait raison.

Le reste de l'été sera passé a préparer la sortie du prochain disque de Half Baked. Cette fois, je commence a savoir un peu plus comment faire alors j'espere etre capable de non seulement sortir un disque, mais également en faire la promotion. Tsé genre, planifier l'affaire. De la grosse bisness. Parce qu'en vieillissant l'adage se vérifie. Les amis passent la bisness reste.

Cet été j'ai aussi comme but de me baigner plus d'une fois. De me faire bronzer. Oui! Je veux avoir la peau orange moi aussi!

Concert Review: The Sound Of Sea Animals @ Toronto

Bon, tant qu'a mettre en ligne un review du show de Half Baked a Toronto, aussi bien mettre le review du show de Sound Of Sea Animals a Toronto...

A l'originel, ce review est paru sur le blog "it's not the band I hate, it's their fans"

"Legion Hall was probably the most unique and hilarious venue I've ever attended for a live concert. Although its ambiance was settled somewhere between high school dance and bar mitzvah, that didn't stop the bands and fans from rocking out most triumphantly as Toronto welcomed its very first visit by Montreal psych rockers The Sound of Sea Animals.

Opening the evening was Broken Bricks, who are a Toronto band who give off an organic rock 'n roll vibe that is tempered with a knack for presenting a decent pop hook. I realize that I tend to compare a lot of bands with The Kinks but hey, if the shoe fits, right? It's pretty hard to ignore the fact that their sound is steeped in the idiosyncrasies of the British music hall combined with the awesome shuffle of the distinctive beat era. The harmonies were beautiful, the performance was gold, the guitars were loud, the energy was high and we all know how I feel about that authentic 60's sound!

The second act of the night was Dinosaur Bones and they were ... well ... Dinosaur Bones. Although this is only the second time that I've ever seen them, I think I pretty much know what to expect when they play, and that is certainly not a bad thing. The organizers needed a ringer for this show; someone that they know is going to bring the people around, and someone who is certain not to disappoint. If that's your goal, then there really is no better choice than Dinosaur Bones, at least not here in Toronto. They always do a solidly energetic show, and fans and music lovers alike are guaranteed to show up in droves. As per usual, the crowd went nuts when they played Royalty and N.Y.E., while the rest of their set was comprised of their more brooding material. After the show, there was also the usual buzz of fans singing their praises as well as the ecstatic din of new converts. The only downside is the fact that fans of the 'Bones are not necessarily going to be fans of the psychedelic scene, which means that the other two acts were not to be greeted with the same rampant enthusiasm. Trust me though, this is through no fault of the bands themselves.

The Sound of Sea Animals were brought to our fair city for the specific purpose of being an initial ingredient in building a psych rock revival from the ground up. In other words, start with smaller bands, establish a solid psych rock scene in Toronto, and hopefully allow the buzz to lure other great bands of a psychedelic nature to play here. It's a lofty endeavor since the psych scene doesn't get nearly as much publicity as some of the others scenes here, but I for one can never seem to get enough of it. So I say "Vive la psychedelia!" and this Montreal band was definitely a great way to get the ball rolling.

On record, the "band" is pretty much the pet project of Etienne Chan Kane, who basically recorded and performed the album himself. For this show, an entire band was present, and they were definitely in 'perform to impress' mode. The trippy ambiance of their sound would lend itself nicely to a more reserved performance and given the nature of this beast, I think most fans of the scene would've been cool with letting the music transcend on its own, without a lot of show. What makes their music unique however, is the fact that it also takes a cue from some of the more indie-centric jangle pop of the past, which means that stoner droning is not what this band is about. This aspect of their sound is what enabled them to show real professionalism by refusing to settle with a performance that was merely adequate. Their heady rock assault never let up for a minute, as their performance was an example of 'how to be a rock star 101' most notably displayed by the swagger filled antics of Yann Godbout. In simpler terms, they killed!

Hopefully the next time around they are featured on a bill that is more geared towards their style, since a large number of people had left already by the time they hit the stage, which was a real shame as far as I'm concerned. The smart ones who did stick around seemed suitably impressed, and there were even a few up front who were dancing around and really taking it in. Although everybody put on a great show, The Sound of Sea Animals was by far the money act and I'm certainly looking forward to their return."

Concert Review: Half Baked @ Rancho Relaxo, Toronto.

Alright, Half Baked a récemment joué a Toronto pour sa premiere fois ever. Ca s'est tellement bien passé que nous y retournons a l'automne, dans une plus grande salle. La semaine d'avant c'était The Sound Of Sea Animals qui en étaient a leur premiere visite torontoise. Je dois avouer que j'aimerais bien y jouer le plus souvent possible. Par les temps qui courent, on dirait que l'enthousiasme que j'aimais tant a Montreal se retrouve plus a Toronto. Je tacherai de revenir plus tard sur la comparaison. Pour l'instant je veux plutot partager la review du show de Half Baked faite par Brian Banks pour le webzine londonien (Londres dans le UK la, pas dans le Ontario la) Music Vice. Jettez-y un coup d'oeil:

www.musicvice.com


Pour ceux qui ne veulent pas lire la review a son emplacement originel, vous pouvez bien sur la lire drette icitte. Ca va comme suit, dans les mots de Brian Banks:

"I arrived at this show with the best intentions of having a good time and getting lost in some music. The past week had been very rough for me after getting smacked hard by one of those throw-you-to-the-wall kind of moments that life sometimes hits you with out of the blue. The one thing I have learnt though during the quarter century that I’ve walked on this planet, is that when life and love hit you so hard, there is always music to turn to. So rather than wallow in self-pity, I headed into Toronto in search of a musical distraction in the form of Half Baked. Decent band name, and not a bad movie either.

During the last month or so, Half Baked have sent me their CD, ‘Half Baked Sings The Century Of Foam For Your Pleasure, twice. The second time they adorned the Jiffy mailer with "Half Baked in concert @ Rancho Relaxo, Toronto, April 24th 2009". And just to make double-sure, they also wrote the details of the show on the enclosed CD. The band got my attention, and I felt obliged to turn up to this gig after such a personal invitation.

At first I pretty much had instant regret for showing up at this gig. Rancho Relaxo is a Mexican restaurant, and the music venue part of the establishment is a small room upstairs. Upon arrival at 9 p.m. there were only about a dozen people inside, with most of those being band members and bar staff. Things were dull. During this time some guy from a band was busy with a label-maker, putting labels on the CD’s they hoped to flog that night. Nothing says rock n' roll like a label-maker.

After an hour of awkward idleness inside Rancho Relaxo, the entertainment began as local support Cedar took to the stage. Cedar play sleepy and atmospheric indie rock. Notice I said sleepy not dreamy - this band should come with a warning that they 'may cause drowsiness'. The beats are slow, the songs sung soft, and some nice ambient guitar noise could not save me from wanting it all to end after ten minutes in.

I was very tempted to just call quits on this night and file this gig away under the ‘never-to-be-spoken-of-again’ category. After all, there are plenty of bad and boring concerts, and I make a point of saying that if a gig is not worth talking about then its not worth writing about.

This night was truly dying on it’s arse, but egads! A concert miracle happened! Half Baked took to the stage and performed some chest-pumping and lip-smacking CPR to kick this baby back into life. Remember that label-maker dude? Turns out he is Yann Godbout - one crazy mofo, and the lead protagonist of Half Baked.

Godbout lept on and around the stage while started slapping away at his bass guitar while singing ‘Nobody Cares About Art’. He swung his arms around like a clock; to 12:00, 9:15, and 6:30. It was hilarious. Showmanship is probably not the right word to describe his behaviour - this was a full-on display of pure ADHD, and uninhibited exhibitionism. The dude was totally letting loose in his music and it was a joy to behold.

After a couple of songs Half Baked switched it up as Godbout swapped his bass to begin twisting knobs on his synth deck, and mess of wires and electronic equipment. All the while the drummer kept the whole thing moving along to some degree of organized chaos. Lazer Gun is a mega tune, a whole lotta fun - bang this in your ipod and smile on every listen. It sounds like a dirty three-way between The White Stripes,The Prodigy and Flight of the Conchords.

Later on the bass guitar came back out for 'his Is How You Become A Dinosaur, which was another storming track. Throughout the set Godbout would continually beckon the people at the back by the bar to get up closer to the action. At one point he ran around the venue, waving and clapping in everyone’s personal space. No doubt most people were wishing that they could just flick a switch and have the same kind of fun that he was having, but instead as an audience we stayed typically reserved, and merely nodded our heads and tapped our feet in appreciation.

Before their last song, Godbout announced that this was the first time his band had ever played in Toronto. “You see, normally we stick to playing in Montreal... because we live in Montreal and have jobs there...” This led to a rambling insight about the lack of perceived differences between Montreal and Toronto as rivaling musical hotbeds:

“Really there is no difference. I was told that you guys label your apple with ‘apple’. It says ‘butter’ on your butter. There is no real metaphysical difference - you are not that forward. The Tim Horton’s in Montreal is just the same as the Tim Horton’s in Toronto.”

That quote, to which I have probably horribly paraphrased, was a further display of the humour from this crazy French-Canadian fellow, who I have no hesitation in saying would be more than welcome in Toronto some time again soon. Perhaps in a different venue though, because I am not a fan of Rancho Relaxo - especially with their awkward metal backed chairs that are very much anti-relaxing. Oh the irony.

By the time Half Baked finished it was time for me to catch the last express bus back home to Hamilton, so I missed out on Chang-A-Lang. Half Baked would’ve been an incredibly tough act to follow anyway. Susan Boyle already proved last week that it is bad to make judgements based on first appearance, and tonight the dweeb with the label-maker proved himself to be one the wildest performers you could ever hope to see live. Easily the best show I’ve ever paid $6 to see, and what a turnaround."

Quand l'appétit va, tout va.

Yeah! Un des meilleurs disques RAWK de l'année est présentement en download gratisse sur le internet. Bon c'est vrai c'est pas gratisse, c'est contribution volontaire, mais on sait tous tres bien que personne aime ca payer pour avoir de la musique. Ma suggestion pour vous autres c'est vraiment de downloader le disque gratisse mais d'aller voir Les Psycho Riders en spectacle le plus souvent possible.

Voici le lien: www.psychoriders.com

Le disque il est comment? Rapidement je résumerais le tout ainsi: les Psycho Riders ont faim. Sur "Les Derniers Jours", chaque toune rentre au poste meme si le poste ne s'y attend pas, les sont riffs ascérés et les solos sont déments. Ca sonne comme un coup de poing dans ta face et les paroles sont peaufinées assez pour que tu les remarques. Il y a meme une toune instrumentale qui aurait pu se retrouver sur Total Magique de We Are Wolves (Tristan Da Cunha). On va mettre ca sur le dos de Jess Gagnon, qui a enregistré les deux galettes. Il a aussi enregistré Mes Aieux mais on lui pardonne. On comprend ca, les jobs alimentaires.

Coté parole, on parle ici de textes engagés. Pas engagé dans le sens de vouloir faire de la politique, mais engagé dans le sens de mettre ses trippes sur la tables et les questionnements qui vont avec. J'aime bien cette facon d'écrire des paroles. Richard Séguin disait que paradoxalement c'est quand on essaye d'etre le plus sincère et personnel possible dans l'écriture que l'on rejoint le plus grand nombre de gens. Les textes des Psycho Riders vont dans cette lignée, je trouve. Oui oui. Dans la lignée de Richard Séguin. T'as tout compris.

Ca me rappelle une discussion que j'ai eu hier dans la pratique de Half Baked. Apparement Richard Seguin n'a jamais pogné en France parce que ses paroles sont trop n'importe quoi pour etre comprises par les Francais. Moi j'appelle ca de l'écriture impressionniste en joual. Mais j'avoue que les paroles de Journee D'Amerique sont assez random merci. Ca plait au boomers, parler de lotterie et de retraite au soleil. Les Psycho Riders ne parlent pas de retraite au soleil pourtant... Peut-etre que la comparaison avec Richard Séguin ne tient pas? T'as tout compris.

Va donc downloader Les Derniers Jours avant de frapper aux portes du matin.

Et dire qu’il existe encore des epouses, des mamans qui se plaignent constamment de la lourdeur de leur tache! Fait remarquable : ce ne sont pas les mères de famille nombreuse, attelées a de dures besognes, qui passent leur temps a geindre! Mais de jeunes femmes, gâtées par l’existence, en possession d’un équipement ménager perfectionné, n’ayant a leur charge qu’un ou deux bambins.

Mesdames, que diriez-vous d’un examen de conscience?

Ce samedi 9 mai ’09 au Divan Orange, a Montreal, aura lieu un evenement favorable a ce genre d’examen. Pour l’occasion, Half Baked + Golden Collider + Bernardino Femminielli prendront la parole a tour de rôle pour vous aider vivre en paix avec vous-meme.

Si vous répondez affirmativement a toutes mes questions, il vous faudra modifier votre régime de vie, et vous présenter au Divan Orange le 9 mai, sinon l’anemie ou une dépression vous guette.

1.- Dormez-vous, en moyenne, moins de huit heures par nuit ?
2.- Fumez-vous plusieurs cigarettes par jour?
3.- Consacrez-vous plus d’une journée par semaine a des sorties tardives?
4.- Prenez-vous un intérêt passionné aux aventures romanesques ou policières que vous offrent les magazines, la radio et la télévision?
5.- Cherissez-vous le « cocktail » hebdomadaire de vos amis, au point d’en ingurgiter plusieurs?
6.- Vos repas se composent-ils de boites de conserves et de gâteaux achetés a l’epicerie du coin?

Vous avez répondu négativement au petit questionnaire et vous constatez, par ailleurs, que votre travail vous accable?

Peut-etre qu’une sortie au Divan Orange, un spectacle de Half Baked + Golden Collider + Bernardino Femminielli, pourrait vous remettre sur le droit chemin.

Voyez, ensuite, si votre fatigue ne dépend pas de deux auses principales :

1.- Une organisation défectueuse des taches ménagères. Beaucoup de pas inutiles, de demaches superflues sont dus au manque d’ordre et de méthode dans l’accomplissement de la besogne. Sans omettre les courses fiévreuses dans les magasins, l’ascension rapide des escaliers, qui affecte votre cœur et provoque des palpitations frequentes.

2.- Peut-etre, aussi, transformez-vous de petits cailloux en Himalaya?.. Vous grossissez vos problèmes, vos tracas, avec le microscope de l’imagination.

Quel est votre cas?

Examinez-vous sérieusement. Quand tous les points énumérés ci-haut recevont une solution favorable, vous serez en voie de guérison. Apres cela, prenez un bon tonique, qui ranimera vos forces physiques et n’oubliez pas d’excellentes vitamines pour revigorer votre moral : des capsules a base de confiance en soi… de confiance dans les autres… et de confiance en Dieu.

C’est un rendez-vous le Samedi 9 Mai ’09 au Divan Orange, 4234 St-Laurent, Mtl. Des 21h30, venez célébrer ce qui est plus qu’une simple hygiène de vie avec Half Baked + Golden Collider + Bernardino Femminielli. Votre sante mentale vous en remerciera.

Ainsi l’energie féminine sera sauvée du désastre qui la menace a l’heure actuelle!

Denyse
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