Yesteryear (2009)

Top Mtl acts:

BRAIDS



Think About Life



Tune-Yards



Live shows that floored (granted no footage of said floorage) :

White Denim @ SXSW



Micachu @ Il Motore (Montreal) + Pop Montreal



Coltrane Motion @ Public Assembly (Brooklyn) + Pop Montreal



Delorean @ CMJ, twice! First time by chance, second by mission





Broadcast @ CMJ



Album of the year:

Micachu - Jewellery

"Mica Levi, born 1987 in Surrey, UK. is a singer, songwriter, composer and producer. She is classically trained and started writing/playing music at the age of four. She was offered a scholarship to attend the Guildhall School of Music and Drama to study composition. While a student at Guildhall, Levi was commissioned to write an orchestral piece for the London Philharmonic Orchestra which was performed at the Royal Festival Hall in April 2008.

She often uses unorthodox instruments, many of which are homemade, These include a modified guitar played with a hammer action, called a 'chu', and a bowed instrument fashioned from a CD rack. This multitude of objects, varying from broken bottles to a vacuum cleaner, help Mica achieve her distinctive and unique sound."

Saturday, October 3rd - Day 4

Quietly Loud Showcase - Daehyun Kim, Jane Vain & the Dark Matter, Kinetic Stereokids, Deleted Scenes, Coltrane Motion
8:00pm - 12:00am - Green Room (5386 St-Laurent)

Daehyun Kim (8pm)
Pop's Korean Debut.


Jane Vain (8:45pm)
'thee' band of montreal


Kinetic Stereokids (9:30pm)



Finishing off the bill are Deleted Scenes (10:15pm) & finally Coltrane Motion (11pm).

Faust - 9:30pm - Ukrainian Federation (5413 Hutchison)

"There is no group more mythical than Faust"

One of the premiere Krautrock bands formed in Germany in 1971. Performances include using live drills as instruments. Prepare for their first show in Canada EVER!



Os Mutantes - 11:30pm - Le National (1220 St. Catherine E)
makin the trek from Brazil


Pick a Piper - 12:00am - Saphir (3699 St-Laurent)




Thee Oh Sees - 1:00am - Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent)
One of the bands making strong advances this past year.


The D'Urbervilles - 1:00am - Casa Del Popolo (4873 St-Laurent)
canadian pride


Think About Life - 1:00am - Espace Reunion (6600 Hutchison)
2nd favorite band in the city! definitely entertaining

Pop Montreal 8th Edition - Prequel

Friday, October 2nd - Day 3

Bob Johnson - 4:00pm-6:00pm - McGill's Tanna Hall (
555 Sherbrooke O)
Come see the producer of ... HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED, BLONDE ON BLONDE, NASHVILLE SKYLINE, JOHNNY CASH AT FOLSOM PRISON, SONGS FROM A ROOM, SOUNDS OF SILENCE, etc.

Talking about recording and answering questions...it will be FREE!

Yo La Tengo - 9:00pm - Club Soda (1225 St-Laurent)



Kid Koala - 9:15pm - La Tulipe (4530 Papineau)
Our nations pride in the mix-master world.



Destroyer - 10pm - Ukrainian Federation (5413 Hutchison)



Teenage Jesus & the Jerks - 10:30pm - Le National (1220 Ste-Catherine E.)
Thurston Moore + Lydia Lunch, wow. This song is stellar, and the visuals a weird homemade video.



The Dø - 11:30pm - Theatre Plaza (6505 St-Hubert)

Come be floored

Shapes & Sizes - 12:00am - O Patro Vys (327 Mont-Royal Est)
Local Montreal act


Lee Fields & the Expressions - 12:00am - Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent)

Thursday, October 1st - Day 2

Easily rounded up to be the most difficult day of choosing what to see and what to sacrifice.

Fever Ray - 9:30pm - Metropolis (59 Ste-Catherine E)

Remember this hit a couple years ago...



these days that female voice is flying solo as 'Fever Ray'. Promised to be quite the showing, her production rider was over 20 pages long and insisted on specific lasers, (which cost quite a few grand to rent for the night)! So, imagine stellar laser flashing to this...



Mono - 9:30pm - La Tulipe (4530 Papineau)

Sailing all the way to the Mtl from J-pan.



Micachu - 10:30pm - Cabaret Juste Pour Rire (2111 St-Laurent)
from London, England, classically trained (yet plays catchy pop), she started writing and playing music at the age of four. Uses unorthodox homemade instruments. Objects varying from a bowed instrument fashioned from a CD rack, to broken bottles, a vacuum cleaner and a modified guitar played with a hammer action. While studying on full scholarship at Guildhall School of Music, Micachu (Mica Levi) was commissioned to write an orchestral piece for the London Philharmonic Orchestrap, not bad for a 22 year old.



Butthole Surfers - 10:30pm - Olympia (1004 Ste-Catherine E)
Kurt Cobain placed the Butthole Surfers as one of his three favorite bands. Member this didley from the '90's.



Best known for their chaotic and disturbing live shows (told over the phone by record store clerk in Ottawa, they were turned around by customs some years ago, attempting to bring their shotguns across the border for customary shooting of blanks over audience during performance). I can't get enough of this annoying song...



Roxanne Shante - 12:00am - Club Lambi (4465 St-Laurent)
Pretty impressive old school improvised rap.



Also playing on said night: Joel Plaskett 9:00pm - Club Soda (1225 St-Laurent),The Intelligence 1:00am - Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent)

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 - Day 1

'It Might Get Loud' screening - 7pm - Cinema du parc (3575 Parc). The history of the electric guitar as seen from the point of view of three significant musicians: Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, U2's The Edge and the White Stripes' Jack White.

"I want it to be a struggle" - jack white



Fashion Pop - 8:30pm - Espace Reunion (6600 Hutchison)
Six of Mtl's finest emerging fashion designers present a six look mini collection. Official Puces Pop launch party!

Alright, the live music...

Amy Millan - 10pm - Ukrainian Federation (5413 Hutchison)



the lady from 'stars' is playing an intimate church set.

Very inneresting is Bruce Peninsula - 11:30pm - Il Motore (179 Jean-Talon O.)

Matt & Kim - 12am - Club Lambi (4465 St-Laurent)



Jay Reatard - 12:30am - Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent)

Stick a Fork Innit

"Pitchfork...never heard of it. I like gangsta rap, cop killing gangsta rap. Alright... have a good time" with this uncomfortable admission from the buzz cut sportin', power hugging customs officer, myself, some peeps and our weapon of transport merge onto I-94 glaciering towards Chicago.

Hopping fancy along the aforementioned cities acquiesce architecture, feeling jazzed about VIP tickets to snag, adrenalin is stalled embracing the caterpillar envious shoelaced formation at the gate. With the talkie-talkies blarin, comedic relief summons as judging marshals organically decipher (in what is now the festival's ummth edition) that extra gate assistance and some fresh guest list prints may be yesterday wise. Impatience aside, we puddle through and find ourselves grasping weekend long complimentary 'Sparks' (dream of red bull spun thickly in vodka and orange crush) -$7 wallet pain at concessions- to accompany the less enticing 'Old Goose' sewer beer -$6 in festival grounds-.

How long to drive from Montreal to Chi-town...14 hours, how long till domesticated at the Pitchfork festival...1 minute. Now I like me a stand tall, independant festival headquartered by sonic bliss, but I also like a little internal audible signaled distraction to sidekick. Attractive as standing strong for six simultaneous hours of tunes appeals, it doesn't. Need to sway the goers off the diamond in the middle grounds, throw a bat, ball and some gloves out; initiate the alt-entertainment. Mind me, there stood a music orientated world record hub (be it most drum sticks held in one hand, most MJ tunes titled in 30 ticks while thrashing about on a pogo stick), years of show posters, and an army of arts n crafts. Yet, how quaint a distraction a mascot makes, an initiative or a scenic stroll. Rather, the grounds were tight, not a shadow formed of stuffed animals on polls, all in attendance seemed fashionably fair and porta potties hogged as popular booths. Credit where due, the eats menu salivated curiousity (Po' boy Catfish), the acts hit their marked set tick tocks quite accurately and stage transitions were flawless.

Now, now, an extremely pertinent aspect (stretching years above the mentioned) to consider in hosting a mammoth music fest...ensure quality sound. If you puddled away from the secluded third stage motioning forward to the bigger billed, you addled until sight oodling proximity whether anyone graced the mics. And if they did, you questioned who they were.
For all the snobbery the company offends on the www. the mystery lurks how the petty draw to close out the nights entailed: The National and The Flaming Lips. A colleague drilled a triple acknowledging the former verged winding into U2 hits with the riffs opening their ballads. While the Lips honed in old act they've been buffing what seems decades on, someday sound shall draw merit over trying antics.
The talent bored via: grizzly bear, final fantasy and beirut, neither seems equipped to translate well on a large platform. Other overrated hype: Yeasayer, Black Lips & M83 brought winners and losers, but mostly put me to sleep. Shutting my trap, much applause was felt for Built to Spill, The Very Best, Matt & Kim, Japandroids, slaving more sweat than the weekends clouds dispersed.

By not flaunting their title at site gates coupled with vacant stage hovering posts, Pitchfork warranted respect...not shoving business down fans throats, keeping attention on target. Yet, it's the lack of an appealing target that implies those fest adverting banners might have remained scarce on another take: embarrassment.