Live – Mac Demarco @ Sneaky Dees, Toronto, ON
“And you’re opening for Phoenix on their European tour after this, that’s crazy! How the hell did that happen!?”
Demarco just kinda looks at me with a grin and a shrug.
Oh, I donno. They just came to one of our shows in Paris and liked what they saw, I guess.
The cool ambivalence toward what would otherwise be a career-defining moment for an up and coming band is a good summation of Mac Demarco’s appeal; that being to forgo taking life too seriously in favor of having a good time, an approach that shines through in both his recorded material and his live show.
Mac Demarco is a young man who began making music in Vancouver years ago with his friend Alex Calder under the moniker of Makeout Videotape, before relocating to Montreal and focusing on developing his own material. Last year saw the release of not one but two albums, the vampire-glam of his debut, Rock and Roll Night Club, and the breezy, slacker-rock leaning 2.
His show on Friday, March 22nd, at Sneaky Dee’s, was the first in a series of shows he and his band played as a part of Canadian Music week before taking off to Europe for the aforementioned Phoenix tour. The sold-out set was attended by an army of young men decked out in plaid who spent the duration of the set pogo-ing manically in front of the band, while a harem of fangirls opted to sit at the bottom of the stage as if it were an altar of some sort.
I’m Mac Demarco, and this song is called ‘I’m A Man” , he announced through a toothy smile, kicking off a set that featured a healthy amount of material taken from across both of his albums.
Whereas the recorded material comes off as laid-back music not unsuitable for drinking on a porch in the summer sun, performed live, it takes on a new form, retaining the playful looseness while also gaining an electric groove a la Grease Lightning.
Having seen Demarco before, a staple of his shows for me has always been the esoteric covers he sprinkles throughout his set. He’s done stuff as varied as the Police’s “Message in a Bottle” and Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman” in the same show, and for Friday’s set he presented a cache of covers that was even more expanded and disparate. They fiddled with the opening riffs of Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” between songs before launching into their first full cover of the night, a messy, adrenaline-filled take on Rammstein’s nu-metal anthem “Du Hast”. The highlight for the night in terms of covers occurred later, when the band delved into their own jangly take on Weezer’s Sweater Song. Although a lot of influence from the Blue Album can be noted in Demarco’s music, especially 2, the band made it their own by peppering the lyrics with goofy expletives, delivered by Demarco with the glee of a misbehaving 10-year-old.
The band’s endearing immaturity did not end there however, with Demarco evolving into some playground version of G.G. Allin towards the end of the set by charismatically displaying to the audience both his bare white ass (which some female audience members promptly attempted to spank), and eventually ramping up the sexual show-and-tell by pulling out his balls from his fly mid-song.
The band ended their set with “Still Together”, the closing ballad from their latest album. Demarco brought his girlfriend onstage to serenade her, however, as the band launched into a rocked-out, electrified version of the song’s bridge, the two began to make out before jumping into the audience to crowd-surf together in a display filled with the triumph of a scene taken from an 80’s teen movie. I left the venue that night covered in sweat, satisfied to have witnessed once again that Mac Demarco’s recent success is well-deserved.
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[photos : John Szlazak]
Watch – Black Garden: West Coast Dreaming with Mischa Davis
Black Garden showcases Sitka New Zealand’s surf team rider, Mischa Davis, surfing and playing on the West Coast of NZ.
The black iron sand shores of New Zealand’s wild West Coast and the frequency of the swell that roll along it have been the core of the love affair between the ocean and Piha local, Mischa Davis. A passionate surfer, Mischa balances her time between the waves with her goals of becoming an environmental lawyer to help save and protect this beautiful planet of ours.
In 2013 Mischa was crowned New Zealand Surfing Champion, not only on her beloved longboard, but also taking out the open womens shortboard competition as well.
Black Garden – West Coast Dreaming with Mischa Davis from Sitka on Vimeo.
MP3 – Nervous Nellie : Gloves (Adam Boy Remix)
MP3 – The Strokes : One Way Trigger
Julian Casablancas stretches his falsetto range on the new Strokes track, “One Way Trigger”. Stream it below.
Free download here: smarturl.it/strokes?IQid=sc
Night Moves : Colored Emotions
Recent Domino signing Night Moves are the best local act to emerge from the Twin Cities since Howler and the first noteworthy band of 2013. The Minneapolis-based, classic-rock inspired trio sound like a cross between Gram Parsons, Supertramp and MGMT…with some falsetto Mick Jagger sweet talk mixed in. Named “Best New Band” by Minneapolis City pages, Night Moves are receiving due praise for their debut album Colored Emotions – a sleepy, electr0-psychedelic-country treasure trove of twangy, retro, guitar licks, lush instrumentation and hypnotic harmonies.
LISTEN – Night Moves : Headlights
LISTEN- Night Moves : Country Queen
TOUR DATES:
Jan 16 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall (Tomorrow Never Knows Fest)
Jan 17 Cleveland, OH – Happy Dog
Jan 18 Philadelphia, PA – Kung Fu Necktie
Jan 19 New York, NY – Mercury Lounge
Jan 20 Allston, MA – Great Scott
Jan 22 Pittsburgh, PA – Shadow Lounge
Jan 23 Detroit, MI – Magic Stick Lounge
Jan 24 Madison, WI – FRZN Fest
Jan 26 Minneapolis, MN – Icehouse
Discosalt Holiday Mix : Volume 3
We are keeping our mix-giving tradition alive this year with volume 3 of the Discosalt Holiday Mix. Volume 3 is loaded up with new indie holiday tracks and old classics from artists like Paranthetical Girls, Chuck Berry, Deanna Kirk, Flowman, The Maytals, 44.1K and Postcode. Happy Holidays from Discosalt! and feel free to re-gift this link to your friends.
Play Volume 1 and 2 :
Play Volume 3:
Bob Dylan Subterranean Homesick Blues : A Hand Lettering Experience
Inspired by Bob Dylan´s Subterranean Homesick Blues video, where he flips cards with the lyrics as the song plays, Leandro Senna decided to recreate those cards with handmade type. There are 66 cards done in one month using only pencil, black tint pens and brushes. The challenge was not to use the computer, no retouching was allowed. Getting a letter wrong meant starting the page over. You can watch the original movie here
Bob Dylan Subterranean Homesick Blues – A HAND LETTERING EXPERIENCE from Leandro Senna on Vimeo.
Video – Taken By Tree’s : Large
Taken By Tree’s “Large”, taken from the new album ‘Other Worlds‘.
Discosalt Halloween Bash
The Discosalt Halloween Bash is back! Come freak the demons this Saturday – October 27th – at Lit Lounge in the East Village, with live music from :
Chris Alker (Subtrak, Team Deep)
Synth Records
Plus Special Guests.
Don’t forget your costume.
DETAILS:
Discosalt Halloween Bash
Saturday October 27th
Lit Lounge
93 Second Avenue ( Between 5th and 6th Street)
9pm – 4am
MP3 – Happy Lives : We’re So…
Had enough Lo-Fi ? Young and indecisive, Brooklyn-based Happy Lives have your antidote- tizzying up bounce friendly Garage Rock that sounds like an oddly amazing marriage between Nirvana and James Blake. With already 43 shows under their belt since their start in February, the band takes stage at CMJ 2012 at Muchmore’s on October 20th at 9pm. Don’t miss them live!
Video – Still Corners : Endless Summer
Watch the Georgina Hudson directed video for Still Corner’s Twin-Peak-y track “Endless Summer” on Sub Pop.
Watch – Until the Quiet Comes
Amazing short film from Kahlil Joseph, with music from FlyLo’s highly anticipated new LP , Until the Quiet Comes, featuring Erykah Badu.
Watch – Sound of Vision
Sound of Vision is a glimpse into one man’s journey to belong: born and bred in the city that never sleeps, Frank Senior spends his waking and dream-swaddled hours confronting the hurdles, and embracing the beauty, of the city he will never see. This short documentary was conceived as part of a competition for the International Documentary Challenge, where it won the POV Award, the Jury Award for Best Film, the Audience Award, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Use of the Experimental Genre.
WATCH IT NOW ON PBS P.O.V. HERE
Cat Power : Sun
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Label: Matador
Longtime Miami indie Goddess Chan Marshall was born again in 2012 with a short, cropped, breakup haircut and the first Cat Power album of original material in over six years. Transformed by her struggles as an artist, Marshall revisits her roots and comes into her own with this collection of moody, bluesy, songs layered by drum machines, synths and beautiful background vocals, which help showcase Marshall’s seductive, whispered croons and clever wordplay. If that isn’t enough, Marshall raps on the album and there is a surprise appearance from Iggy pop in the middle of the ten-minute Velvet Underground homage ”Nothin But Time”.
Listen : Cat Power : Ruin
Video – Petite Meller : NYC Time
A.T. Mann (the Director behind Tiger Love’s “Summer Rain”, “Gio Gio”) & Napoleon Habeica (the well-known fashion photographer behind the American Apparel ad campaigns) direct this new music video for “NYC Time” by PETITE – the ex -lead vocalist of electro-pop cult band Terry Poison. The video pays homage to Petite’s love affair with NYC and Napoleon Habeica’s love affair with American Apparel, running on memoirs from Antonioni’s ‘Eclipse’ to David Hamilton’s sexy socks in sandals.
New Track – These Kings : Home
Listen to two new tracks from instrumental, progressive, indie, mathpop, rock group – These Kings – from Birmingham, UK.
MP3 – Lazyeyes : Nostalgia
From the ashes of The Twees, comes Brooklyn band – Lazyeyes. Former Twee front man Jason Abrishami, with members Alex Taraka and Paul Frank Volpe have forged a new Dream-Pop band with the environmental footprint of Surf-Pop; a sound they call – “surfgaze”. The band is planning to record their debut EP this year, but For now, you can listen to the track “Nostalgia” on Bandcamp.