The History of Punk Radio Show #23

Here’s the History of Punk Playlist on CJSR from 2 March!

1. The Vibrators (London) – “Disco in Moscow”
2. The Dils (Carlsbad) – “Red Rockers Rule”
3. Generation X (Chelsea) – “Trying for Kicks”
4. Tropic Harbour (Edmonton) – “Colour”
5. Gary Debussy (Edmonton) – “Live at the Bohemia 2”
6. Fist City (Lethbridge) – “Buried”
7. Viet Cong (Calgary) – “Static Wall”
8. Heart Attack Kids (London) – “Shoulda Been from Japan”
9. The Thrashers (Winnipeg) – “Party on the Moon”
10. Banshee (Edmonton) – “Insubordination”
11. L7 (LA) – “American Society”
12. Bikini Kill (Olympia) – “I Hate Danger”
13. The Gits (Yellow Springs) – “Second Skin”
14. Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät (Helsinki) – “Aina Mun Pitää”
15. Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät (Helsinki) – “Diagnoosivammainen”
16. Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät (Helsinki) – “Sofianlehto”
17. The Anatomy Cats (Edmonton) – “Ashes on the Floor”

The History of Punk Radio Show #22

Here’s the History of Punk Playlist on CJSR from 23 February, when Not Enough Fest took over the show!

1. The Fakes (Montréal) – “Sabrina”
2. Cheap Wig (Montréal) – “That Witch”
3. Bikini Kill (Olympia) – “Rebel Girl”
4. Sourpatch (San Jose) – “Never Ever Ever”
5. Joyride! (San Francisco) – “In the Mirror”
6. Younger Lovers (Oakland) – “I Wanna Come Over”
7. Big Eyes (Seattle) – “You Ain’t the Only One”
8. Des Ark (Pittsboro) – “Bon Chance Asshole”
9. No Babies (Oakland) – “One Size Fits All”
10. Submission Hold (Vancouver) – “Predisposed to Oppose”
11. Morbid Opera (Fort Lauderdale) – “Liar”

Check out Not Enough Fest on Saturday February 28!!!!!

marching through the snow

Last Thursday, when winter was doing its best to hold off spring in Edmonton, Bohemia was holding a cozy local show. The Choir and Marching Band and 77 Superstars warmed things up for all the folks who braved the weather, and made it well worth the trudge through the snow.

The 77 Superstars started the show and immediately brought the audience back to the mid-70s in New York City. Fronted by Aaron Vincent, the sound, style, and attitude of the three piece harked back to the heyday of glam rock and early punk. Very importantly, the guitar solos were killer too.

Just in case that wasn’t enough, they even played the, uh, classic heroin addiction song first performed by the Heartbreakers, “Chinese Rocks.” I kept expecting Dee Dee Ramone to walk through the door. Or at least Richard Hell.

Another highlight of the show was when Vincent invited the audience to get closer to the stage, and even before he finished his request, Grant Stovel, the drummer for Choir and Marching Band, zoomed right up front.

Stovel was at the back of the stage once Choir and Marching Band were on it, helping launch into an ethereal set led by Trevor Rockwell.

The band’s newest release Superhot Body Only One Light Year Away debuted #2 on the CJSR charts a few weeks ago. Taking 5 years to make (which might have had something to do with Rockwell completing his PhD in Soviet History), it’s exciting his music has finally taken off like Sputnik.

Melodic and spacey, Rockwell weaved the audience through songs both new and old, and across genres. Funny enough, this distance was reflected in the movies screening on the Bohemia television during the gig- first it was Serenity, and then the Norwegian film Dead Snow. 

If you didn’t make it to the show last Thursday, Choir and Marching Band have a couple upcoming shows with great line-ups in May:

Saturday May 3rd – Filthy McNasty’s with Braden Gates.

Saturday May 10th – Starlite Room with Spoons, D. Trevlon Band, and Cygnets

And stay tuned for the official album release in the early summer!

Recording the Edmonton Music Scene

The other day, my car was broken into. The thief smashed the window with a hammer, and grabbed the bag that was sitting on the passenger seat. The poor guy probably figured there was something of value in it – it was a really nice satchel, given to me by an awesome swim team when I finished coaching with them.

Unfortunately for this robber, just like the bag, its contents were really only valuable to me. It contained a couple notebooks with stuff from the History of Punk class I teach, and guest lectures I’ve done over the past couple years.

Obviously, this isn’t a big deal because I can just copy and paste all the information from Wikipedia again, where like all good academics, I plagiarized it from in the first place.

The only thing Wikipedia doesn’t have that my notebook did, however, was the information I was compiling on the Edmonton Music Community. I had a pretty good database going, with a list of local bands, record labels, activists, venues, writers…basically anything local associated with the scene that I could find.

Now it’s gone, but if there’s one thing a thief can’t steal from my car is the internet. I’ve decided that creating a record of the local community is much safer online than in my Buick. So, I’ve started a tumblr page which lists the great stuff going on here in Edmonton.

Which, by the way, looks like this from space:

Check the Tumblr out here:

And join the Facebook group here:

Please add anything you’d like to the Facebook group…except for classifieds…there’s already lots of groups doing that really well already.

Not all Music Festivals are in the Summer!

you’re not hardcore unless you’re hardcore for humanity

There’s a lot of snow falling in Edmonton today. For most, it means snowball fights and visiting the ski hill, but for those without shelter and warm clothes, the weather puts their lives in danger. Every winter is life-threatening to folks on the street in our city, as they fight in a daily struggle against the cold.

Luckily, they’ve got help from people like Mattie Cuvilier. He’s an adult support worker at Bissell Centre, and the brains and muscle behind Clean Up Your Act Productions, an outfit that’s put on over 100 local shows since 2008. On Friday, November 9th, he’s organizing a great gig at DV8 called “Hardcore for Humanity.”

Cuvilier has teamed up with an awesome lineup of hardcore bands: TODOS CAERAN, DETROIT, BREAKBEAT, EXITS, and CONTENTION. It’s a United Way Fundraiser. Entry is by donation. Food bank and warm clothing donations are happily accepted.

And there’s a real need for these donations. As Cuvilier said in the St. Albert Gazette today:  “People not living in houses are vulnerable. They are easy targets for crime and assault. Women especially are victims to predators. There is the cold, but there is certainly a lot of violence too. And it’s especially difficult for those with diabetes, heart disease, AIDS, arthritis and cancer. If you’re not in housing, you can’t deal with a terrible physical illness and you can’t treat it when living on the streets.”

Helping those in need is important, but it’s not always easy. Going to a local show, with great bands, isn’t one of those times. The only thing hard is the music.

 

Adventures in Edmonton Music!

So the other Thursday I missed the Collective West play at the Artery, and this left me pretty sad because not only are they nice people who put on a fun show, but their new music proves Darwin was right about that theory of evolution thing, and, if you really think about it, them growing as a band actually serves as a microcosm for the Edmonton music community, so even though I was chapped I didn’t catch their gig I knew I could redeem myself the upcoming weekend and to get things going I got on the LRT Friday evening  and hopped off at Culture Days downtown in time to catch  everyone talking about how good Mad Bomber Society’s set was and then I ran into a bunch of my friends and we danced to Shout Out Out Out Out as they played new music, did impossibly high high-kicks, and had folks like Cadence Weapon join them on stage for a free show in beautiful autumn weather that anyone could come to, including the mayor who drifted through the crowd right past me, but after the show people wandered off and my friend Gord from Wool on Wolves, (get ready for their rad new album in November by the way), ran into me and we decided it was a good idea to head across the river, pick up his bandmate Eric, and go to the community hall in Bonnie Doon where CJSR was hosting a Fundrive show so they could stay on the air, which us and a lot of other people thought was a great idea, including the host of the show, the guy from the girl-guy combo who make up the Awesomehots, who introduced the Uncas, who put on a fiercely amazing show, including a song that included playing the guitar with a skil-saw, and after that Scenic Route to Alaska went on stage and were joined by Lyra Brown and somehow by joining forces they’ve created something that is incredible and gives the audience the chills and has to last, but they played pretty late so afterwards it was time to go home and I didn’t see anymore music until Saturday evening when Tyler Butler took the stage at the Elevation room at another CJSR Fundrive show and somehow his music can make me feel like I’m back in the deep south of the United States even though he’s never been there, and I knew it’d been worth it to catch his set even though my girlfriend and I had to hike across the river right after he was done and go to the New City Legion because Ben Disaster, and then Mike McDonald, and then Joey Keithley played acoustic punk for everyone lucky enough to be there, but once again things went late and when they were done it was time to go home. Good thing too, because I was running out of breath.

Keep the Artery Flowing

According to the only reliable source for science, Wikipedia, a human artery is part of the circulatory system. This circulatory system, it says, “is extremely important for sustaining life.” Just like the human body needs its arteries, the Edmonton music scene needs its artery too. The Artery is a local venue housing all kinds of creativity, and it’s vital to the Edmonton artistic community. Since there’s no Wikipedia entry for the Artery, I can’t back this up with science, but this might be the one time that’s not necessary.

A few days ago, the Artery was broken into. The venue suffered a myocardial infarction which, if it was in any other city, might mean its demise. Edmonton’s scene, however, is full of musicians and artists that would never let that happen. So tonight, Wednesday August 8th, the Artery is hosting its “Break in Relief Party.”

Some of Edmonton’s best bands, like F&M and Scenic Route to Alaska, are playing. There will be comedy from the Wunderbar’s Craig Martellica, and even some magic tri…er, illusions, from Tad Hargrave. And that’s not even the full-lineup! The Tchir Brothers and Jordan Norman are playing too. There will be a silent auction with works from local artists like Chelsey Adel and Kevin Green. Oh, and albums up for grabs from lots of local bands. Heck, Liam Copeland has even donated a guitar from Long & McQuade, and JCL Productions have supplied free tickets to some great shows.

Edmonton venues have been in danger before , but the community has rallied together and kept things going. Tonight, it’s happening again.

Doors at 7:30, and music starts at 8:15. Entry by donation.

 

Edmonton’s Streetball Showdown

When I first started working in Edmonton’s inner city a few months ago, I heard about a young musician named Lance. He wanted to organize an event celebrating the great things happening in the community.

Of course, putting together any kind of event can be a tall order, even if it’s just a Tuesday night poker game…which this is not. Lance’s idea certainly involved a lot more work and creativity than getting a deck of cards. His vision was for something as inclusive as possible – bringing people together in a public space for a fun, clean, community event.

And it looks like Lance has done it. With lots of support, time, and effort, Edmonton’s Streetball Showdown will be taking place this Saturday, August 4th in Centennial Plaza from 2:00-7:00.

There’s going to be food.

There’s going to be streetball.

And there’s going to be tons of local music.

$20 will get you into the 4 on 4 streetball tournament, and if your team wins – you take the pot. If you prefer playing music to ball, sign up to perform. You’ll join a stacked bill including Ambiguous  and Shawn “Feenix” Bernard.

Lance wants to recognize the positive things going on in the downtown community, and the event this Saturday will show this in spades. It’s all-ages, and everyone is welcome to stop by. If you want to participate in the tournament or the music, get there around 1:00.

Come see what youth can do when they’re given independence and the opportunity to thrive – and the positive impact this has on the community as a whole.

Tonight in Edmonton Music!

Edmonton’s Tyler Butler is joining  Bry Webb and Zachary Lucky tonight at the Elevation Room!

Tickets are $20, get them at yeglive, Blackbird Myoozik, or at the door if there’s any left!