Tag: Music

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Music Quickspins

St. Vincent – MASSEDUCTION

St. Vincent – MASSEDUCTION (Loma Vista, 2017)

St. Vincent, a.k.a. Annie Clark, has redeveloped her singular stylings in new and interesting ways on MASSEDUCTION, her most recent album. The sound of this album is new, but at the same time, retains St. Vincent’s charm. The guitars are still crunchy and percussive and her voice is as dynamic as ever, while the electronic sounds are satisfyingly punchy. “Fear The Future” has a tight electronic beat alongside St. Vincent’s strange vocal melody, which constantly fluctuates from high to low. “Smoking Section” is a slower piano ballad, but when she shifts to her falsetto, the song becomes more grandiose and emotional. My only grievance is with some of the lyrics. The lyrics of “Pills” feel kind of edgy and simultaneously attempt humour and seriousness, but I don’t think it works. Nonetheless, this album is an absolute joy.

Sample track: “Smoking Section”

Rating: 8/10

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Music

GoldLink live at L’Astral

Photo by Kirubel Mehari

Washington MC’s laid-back attitude counterbalanced his fast-paced flow

For those who do not know him, Goldlink, also known as D’anthony Carlos, is a rapper out of DMV, a district located in Washington, D.C. He made waves with his debut mixtape God Complex and has since been one of the freshest voices in music right now. Ecstatic, funky and charismatic, Goldlink is part of futuristic bounce, a genre that intertwines soul fusion, R&B and hip hop viscerally through the infectious energy of its fans.

April + Vista playing songs from their EP Note to self. Photo by Kirubel Mehari

The show started off with a performance by music duo, April and Vista, who delivered a soulful performance that resonated through the crowd. Defined as pioneers of the stresswave genre, they brought a sound that is both soothing and raw. April’s voice has a powerful and invigorating tone, and used this to her advantage. Before performing her last song, she asked the crowd an important question that sounded more like an affirmation:

“Do y’all know that you can do anything the fuck y’all want? If you put your mind to it, you can do anything,” she said.

April’s passionate persona shined through her performance that night, alongside Vista on the keyboards. Songs such as “Beasts” and “Daggers” were perfect for setting a chill and vibrant vibe for the night ahead.

Masego swaying the crowd with his smooth jazz house trap style. Photo by Kirubel Mehari

Masego made an appearance with his trusted saxophone named Sacha. Known for his unique blend of styles such as jazz, house and trap music, he performed his new singles, “Tadow” and “Navajo.” The crowd was pleased beyond measure, as he played songs from his own tracklist as well as classics such as “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson. During his “Billie Jean” performance, as an hommage, Masego showed up with a similar red leather jacket from the late pop star. Spontaneous and versatile, Masego then created his own freestyle with a MIDI controller at the request of the crowd. The freestyle track garnered a positive reaction from the audience, as they sang along to Masego’s passionate refrain. Enthusiasm filled the room throughout his performance, leaving the crowd ready to welcome GoldLink.

GoldLink performing his hit track, “Crew” to his fans. Photo by Kirubel Mehari

The crowd’s energy peaked at it’s highest level as GoldLink took center stage. His laid-back and cool attitude provided a nice counterbalance to his rhythmic and fast-paced flow. The hip hop artist opened up his act with his track, “Some Girl,” which caught the undivided attention of all the ladies at the show. Fast-forwarding to GoldLink’s “Kakamoe Freestyle,” his performance made it obvious why the 24 year-old artist is becoming an imminent figure within the culture of hip hop. He had the audience in the palm of his hands, as they chanted his lyrics word by word. Afterwards, much to the crowd’s pleasure, Masego returned to the stage with GoldLink to perform a duet called “Late Night.”

Towards the end of the show, the experience became a thrilling one, with everyone in the room shouting for an encore and constantly making noise to show their love and support to the young rapper. GoldLink returned the appreciation by thanking his fans once again and performing his hit song, “Crew,” twice in a row.

Photos by Kirubel Mehari

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Music

The musical moments in our daily lives

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin

The world is filled with subtle sound cues that largely go unnoticed

My first time riding the Montreal metro was like a sci-fi experience due to the glowing fluorescent lights and the sheer amount of people.

Growing up in Saudi Arabia, we didn’t have the infrastructure for public transportation—although the country is currently building a metro system in the capital city, Riyadh—so riding the metro was a very foreign concept to me. I was mostly entranced by the sounds the metro made—the simple three notes that played when the doors were about to close. So I decided to research that little chime.

That sound serves a dual purpose: to warn passengers to stay clear of the doors and to give a certain ambiance to the metro. This simple melody has a very interesting history. According to the magazine Spacing Montreal, the sound originated from a metro ad in the 70s called: “Il fait beau dans l’métro.” The ad opens with a heavily synthed version of the chime. The rest of the ad is a ridiculously charming musical about the metro, filmed at Atwater station.

This chime is unique to the type of metro train Montreal uses, the MR-73. According to Spacing Montreal, the chime was sampled from the engine noise the MR-73 makes. This specific train model has been around for a long time and, though it may sometimes feel and look antiquated, these trains helped create the charming sci-fi, three-note melody. Even the new train models, used on the orange line, use the same chime.

People hear this melody everyday, but most don’t give it a second thought. Repetitive sounds become part of our daily lives, almost fading into the background. Yet, these sounds always have an interesting backstory.

The 516th episode of the popular podcast This American Life featured an 81-year-old man named Dick, who has an obsession with on-hold music—music that plays when we’re waiting on the phone. It wasn’t just any on-hold music. It was a certain track he couldn’t name but always heard. So This American Life helped Dick track down the name of the tune and the story behind it. They eventually contacted the composers, Tim Carleton and Darrick Deel.

The friends collaborated on this track while in high school in 1989. The track is called “Opus No. 1,” and was recorded in Carleton’s garage. Years later, Deel started working for communication company Cisco, on their CallManager project—their enterprise phone line. He was given the opportunity to choose the default on-hold music for Cisco’s line of products. Eventually, this track became the default on-hold music for Cisco products all over the world.

Even though Dick had heard this track many times, and in the most annoying conditions—waiting on the phone for hours—he just loved this song. It would inspire him to spend hours looking for a song that was made in a teenager’s garage.

I have this vivid memory of watching a nature documentary on VHS as a child. I was alone in a dark room, watching a bunch of bugs on a leaf, when the music captured my imagination. It was some kind of ambient electronic music that had a particular educational-video sound. Every now and then, I look for that videotape in my parents’ house, just so I can re-experience the music that, in a lot of ways, shaped my musical taste.

Not even the most ardent music fans start their musical fascination with highly conceptual albums, but rather through very a memorable and simplistic melody they heard constantly. I remember thinking the pinnacle of music was the Grease soundtrack cassette my mother used to play before I went to bed. Eventually, my interests led me to listen to full albums and discover different artists, but my musical interests were initially sparked by a nature documentary and the Grease soundtrack.

We have an antiquated hierarchy of music. The world typically looks down on “primitive” music, like what’s used in commercials or the metro’s simple chime, and praises “high art” music, like John Coltrane’s intricate jazz albums. Yet, music comes, and is consumed, in many forms. It’s important to embrace all the different ways music affects us. Sometimes, the most inane and least artistic music sticks with us the longest.

Graphics by Zeze Le Lin

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Music

Beach Fossils’ return is long overdue

Payseur greeted Montreal like an old friend he hadn't seen in a while, and said Beach Fossils were happy to be back on the road after such a long hiatus. Every song sounded unique, happy, and mastered. Photo by Sarah Jesmer

After a four year hiatus, the band’s return is now set in stone

It has been four long years since the music world heard new material from Beach Fossils. The band is back and here to stay with their new record, Somersault. Which sounds similar to their earlier works, yet, the final package is somehow different somehow.

During their hiatus, the group has learned more about what they want to sound like as a collective and what they want to offer as artists. It’s evident the band took their time—lead singer Dustin Payseur started a record label with his wife. Now, he’s ready to come back into the spotlight with his bandmates.

Singer Dustin Payseur and bassist John Pena jam on stage at the Theatre Fairmount. Photo by Sarah Jesmer

Somersault, is a breezy, lo-fi, jangle rock record that feels like a good weekend with friends. Tracks like “This Year,” driven by a repetitive, soft guitar, are paired with the lush strings of a subtle orchestra.

The album is more energized, polished and exciting than Beach Fossils’ previous albums. The vocals cut through the guitar with piercing clarity, showcasing Payseur’s lyrics. This mix adds a dimension, while violins carry the songs softly in the back. The far-out, beachy, garage tones of their 2010 debut album are sprinkled in small doses throughout the new album. This can be clearly heard on tracks like “Saint Ivy,” but this stylistic approach is intentional. It’s no longer just jamming for Beach Fossils.

The album features collaborations with Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell, in a back-and-forth duet with Payseur in “Tangerine.” The two pair up again in a spoken-word interlude, accompanied by Cities Aviv on sultry saxophones, in “Rise Up.” The tones of this track are reminiscent of James Blake’s vocals. “There’s not enough collaboration in rock music,” said Payseur about working with fellow artists, something he hopes to do again in the future.

Snail Mail and raener opened up for Beach Fossils. Raener sounded like a fresh mix of Bon Iver and Glass Animals, and the female duo of Snail Mail rocked the stage with a simple guitar and bass medley paired over soaring vocals from lead singer Lindsey Jordan. Photo by Sarah Jesmer

And there will be a future, according to Payseur. Every Beach Fossils album feels like the last, he said, despite the fact this new album is so unique. It marks the beginning of a new direction for the band, which will entail more features, more teamwork and promoting what they stand for as a band.

Payseur’s lyrics come from his own experiences, drawing on relationships with friends and significant others. Beach Fossils’ albums don’t stick to just one story. The record is an ode to someone close to the the singer, whoever that may be.

Somersault’s lyrics are coupled with sweet nostalgia and a whisper of political references. In “Down The Line,” Payseur references A.C.A.B. (the anti-police acronym meaning “All Cops are Bastards”) and a personal rejection of Wall Street. These political slants are new but necessary, according to Payseur. This is shown in the lyrics, “Wanna believe in America, but it’s somewhere I can’t find,” featured in “Saint Ivy.”

“It’s shitty to be in a place of privilege, like a white man, and be completely silent about things [going on in the United States],” he said, explaining why it’s important for the band to use their platform for advocacy. “Actions speak louder than words. Getting out and participating in protests and putting money towards certain organizations, that stuff goes a long way,” Payseur said.

The Brooklyn-based band performed in Montreal last week, the third stop in their North American tour, accompanied by Snail Mail and raener.

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Music

CJLO: Revamping and ready for more

Josh Spencer oversees all aspects of promotions, inside and outside CJLO. Photo by Adrian Knowler

Josh Spencer is a long-time concert booker in Montreal’s local music scene

These days, students aren’t listening to the radio like they used to. It makes sense, of course. With platforms like Spotify and SoundCloud offering music fans access to almost any track in modern recording history, the old-school radio model doesn’t match up with university students’ lifestyles.

“‘If I can access every single song ever created on my phone, at any time, why the hell would I tune in?’” asked Josh Spencer, CJLO’s director of sponsorship, promotion and fundraising.

“Radio can be cool,” Spencer insisted. But he’s not blind to how many see the medium these days. “It can also be super lame.”

So how does CJLO plan to avoid the lameness of radio?

The man tasked with giving the station’s identity a makeover said he believes the answer is twofold.

“I really want to brand the station around discovery and local music,” Spencer said. “When I tune in to CJLO, I’m going to hear music coming from my community, bands that I can check out live for like five bucks.”

Spencer joined CJLO in February, bringing several years of experience in local music management and promotion to the organization. His involvement in the Montreal music scene began when he graduated from McGill in 2015.

“I started managing three bands and one solo artist, booking house concert tours across Canada, and started putting on festivals, the KickDrum Winter Marathon and Summer Marathon,” Spencer recalled. “Over two years, I put on over 150 shows with over 200 artists.”

The connections he built with artists, promoters and venues are helping CJLO become the destination on the dial for Montreal’s local music.

“I’ve had a lot of those artists approach me and say, ‘Hey I heard you’re at CJLO now. Can I come in for an interview? Can I come in for a live session?’” Spencer said. “So we’ve already increased the amount of local artists [on the station].”

Spencer knows the importance of live shows to local artists and said he thinks that, by organizing them through the radio station, CJLO can stay relevant in the age of music streaming.

“Artists don’t sell CDs, they don’t sell music,” Spencer acknowledged. “[Concerts are] how [artists] connect, and how [musicians] make some money. The magical moments of music happen live.”

Spencer has used his old connections as a promoter to book CJLO-branded live shows around the city.

Every month until March, CJLO will host music department showcases, featuring genres such as hip hop, alt-rock, metal, world and electronic. Each showcase will be held at Casa del Popolo and will  highlight a different genre each month.

Spencer has big plans on the horizon for CJLO, starting with the launch of their new website in January. But it doesn’t end there.

“We want to move to FM, but the problem is that the dial’s full. We’re waiting for space to open up so we can bid on an FM signal,” Spencer said. “We also want to move downtown. We want to be at Sir George Williams, but we’re not going to move unless we can get the same quality of space [as our offices on the Loyola campus].”

Spencer grinned with anticipation.

“We’re poised to pounce.”

Photo by Adrian Knowler

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Music Quickspins

Alvvays – Antisocialites

Alvvays – Antisocialites (Polyvinyl Records, 2017)

After incessant touring and the inescapably infectious sleeper-hit “Archie, Marry Me,” Toronto outfit Alvvays has returned with a brand new album. In it, the band establishes a more refined sound, including more studio flourishes and even brighter sonics. The sounds that resonate throughout Antisocialites explore the same formula Alvvays presented with their debut album—cute, bubblegum-pop songs mixed with a brash and loud 90s flare. Upon first listen, it’s clear Alvvays has abandoned their lo-fi leanings in exchange for squeaky clean, studio-quality recordings. This is especially evident on the album’s best track, “Plimsoll Punks.” Like that song, much of the instrumentals incorporate twangy, spacey hooks bathed in an ocean of reverb. It’s not exactly the most halting effort in the indie-rock canon, but a step in the right direction for a band still trying to find their footing.

6.8/10

Trial Track: “Plimsoll Punks”

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Music Quickspins

Walter TV – Carpe Diem

Walter TV – Carpe Diem (Sinderlyn, 2017)

Carpe Diem is the third album from Montreal-based trio Water TV. The album lives up to its name, “seizing the day,” with laid-back guitar lines and dreamy vocals throughout. “Begotten,” opens the album with timid vocals over soft strumming that builds and breaks with crashing cymbals and clapping hands, before tumbling into the high-energy second track, “Graceland.” “Spring Time” is a sunny interlude, a sonic ray of light juxtaposed beside the eerie “Laura Palmer,” a fitting reference to the crime drama series Twin Peaks. “Alaska Cruisin’” is a refreshing, upbeat moment amongst the sleepy nostalgic vibes that define the rest of the album. Where it capitalizes on warm, relaxed melodies to sustain its mellow vibe, Carpe Diem seems to lose emotional intensity in its redundancy, making for light, easy listening and not much else.

7.1/10

Trial track: “Spring Time”

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Music Quickspins

Protomartyr – Relatives in Descent

Protomartyr – Relatives in Descent (Domino, 2017)

Protomartyr has returned with yet another darkly melodic and post-punk sensible album. Relatives in Descent rings with the same dark moodiness as Joy Division and The Cure, but manages to sound incredibly modern. Unfortunately, this blend of influences comes at the expense of the album’s quality, which sounds all too similar to the band’s previous releases. Despite that, Protomartyr still knows how to write a mean hook, capturing brooding melancholy with a confrontational and muscular sound. Relatives in Descent pulls its power from familiarity. Protomartyr has built a prominent career on throwback post-punk sounds. It’s a shame, then, that the antiquated sounds the band pulls its influence from may contribute to its eventual downfall. Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with a throwback album, but it needs a bit of variety to retain the listener’s attention.

6.5/10

Trial Track: “A Private Understanding”

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Music

Soundcloud’s fixation on suicide

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth

Artists like Lil Peep and XXXTentacion tackle issues of mental health and depression

California rapper Lil Peep  is leading a new nexus of rap artists. He recently released his debut album, Come Over When You’re Sober — a self-obsessed project which grossly portrays depression as something to be fetishized. Peep raps lethargically about depression over pop-punk inspired trap instrumentals, which usually transitions into a banally sung chorus about taking Xanax and smoking a healthy dosage of weed. When he sings, it resembles the nasally cadence of blink-182 or Simple Plan.

Also like Peep, Soundcloud mammoth XXXTentacion uses his history with suicide and depression as the focal point of his image and music. The topic of mental health serves as a means for these artists to establish an air of authenticity, given the grave imagery expressed in the music. In an interview with Pitchfork, when discussing his history with depression, XXXTentacion said, “Some days, I’ll be very down and out, but you won’t be able to tell, really, because I don’t express that side of myself on social media. That’s the side of myself that I express through music. That’s my channel for letting all that shit out.”

Suicide is an especially relevant topic in hip hop right now, with rappers of varying influence and range ruminating on their experiences with mental health. When surveying the current music scene, the vast majority of new rappers who have personally faced mental health issues rarely shy away from expressing their tribulations.

XXXTentacion’s has been making waves on Soundcloud with his mix of emo lyricism and edgy, anything-goes demeanor. His new song “Jocelyn Flores” peaked at number three on the Billboard. Lil Uzi Vert’s sleeper-hit, “XO TOUR Llif3,” which centres on the hook “Push me to the edge / All my friends are dead,” ubiquitously earned the award for Song of the Summer at the VMAs last August. The song ponders the mental hell of contemplating suicide in the midst of a failed relationship.

That same day, Logic performed his suicide-prevention anthem “1–800–273–8255.” These topics can be cathartic for artists. It may come as a surprise, then, that much of the public hadn’t expressed more involvement or concern about mental health until after seeing Logic’s performance. Following the VMAs, it was reported that the suicide prevention hotline saw a 50 per cent spike in calls.

If you’re confronting the same feelings the rappers describe, it’s understandable why you’d feel inclined to gravitate towards artists like XXXTentacion—someone who has yet to overcome his problems. For that reason, this has the potential to position XXXTentacion as a more pragmatic and sympathetic figure. Yes, it’s a troubling proposal for artists to sing so candidly about death and depression. But, this approach may very well offer a window into the ways X’s fans relate to his music.

Depression and suicide imagery in rap music isn’t necessarily a new phenomenon. Not only because rappers as successful as XXXTentacion are bridging the gap between art and reality, but because his own experiences are intrinsically intertwined with those of his fans. He is one of the main proponents of death as art or aesthetic, which he put on full blast when he posted a controversial Instagram video last August where he simulated his own hanging.

Consumers are actively seeking music which puts these topics of mental health centre stage. But if this concept of depression as a trend disturbs you — as it should — the imperative is not to ignore it and pretend it doesn’t exist. For us to instill mental health awareness, it’s important to absorb a certain understanding of the larger, systemic complexes of mental health. This may lead us to a deeper understanding as to why an artist like XXXTentacion might feel depressed.

In addition to the pain that came with growing up in a broken home, his propensity for sporadic violence reflects America’s blatant reluctance to promote conversations about mental health. This also explains why a large portion of his fan base might be predisposed to suffering from depression.

These young rappers who display a certain fixation on death recall the MySpace melodrama of the early-2000s emo revival. Perhaps this is a byproduct of culturally-imposed gender roles, in which boys are discouraged from expressing a full spectrum of feelings for fear of being labeled “weak” or “soft.” This new embrace of the sad-boy aesthetic might be a step in the right direction. It’s definitely a start in the process of dismantling preimposed stereotypes, but not necessarily an end to the stigma surrounding mental health.

If you or a loved one are experiencing suicidal thoughts or emotional distress, please call Suicide Action Montreal at 1-866-277-3553 or visit Concordia’s mental health services for help.

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth

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Music

Talking video games and racial inclusion

The Japanese Breakfast frontwoman ponders the creative process

Michelle Zauner just released her second album with the band Japanese Breakfast, Soft Sounds From Another Planet. It’s bigger, more ambitious and succeeds in building on what Zauner began with Psychopomp in a very real way. The singer also released an online  role-playing game, Japanese BreakQuest, in conjunction with the album. Here’s how our conversation went down.

Q: What’s up?

A: I’m just sitting in a van.

Q: Right! On tour. Do you play any games on the road? That’s a lot of driving.

A: Unfortunately, our guitar player dropped my Nintendo DS in a puddle of water, so I haven’t been able to play any games this tour. But I’ve been editing a lot of video footage for upcoming music videos, so that’s another thing I spend a lot of time in the car doing.

Q: So you’re very productive instead of playing video games?

A: I try to be. Lately I’ve been having a lot of back pain so I just kind of miserably stare out the window and try to zone out.

Q: Well, I’m sorry to hear that. What game were you playing on your DS before it got wrecked?

A: I was playing Chrono Trigger, and I was pretty into it. But someone fucked it up for me…

Q: I was just playing your video game, Japanese BreakQuest. It’s really good. What was making it like?

A: It was really fun. I feel like I got to do all of the really fun stuff—basically tell someone who knows how to make games what to do. Elaine Fath, she did the majority of the game design and I just described how I wanted the characters to be, what I wanted them to look like, where I wanted the world to be and look like, what kind of references I wanted to put in, and helped out with a lot of the dialogue and scripts. She was the one who developed the actual gameplay and told me what steps you have to take in order to complete it. It was really collaborative and fun. It was a back and forth thing since February.

I really enjoy art that’s focused around a narrative in any way, and I think that RPGs (role-playing games) are a really fun medium for that. I grew up playing RPGs, since I was five, with my dad, and it was a really meaningful bonding thing for us. It was fun to be on the other side of that and make it. It felt really good to see people interact with it, and I was really happy with it.

Q: A video game is a really unique way to promote the new album. I saw Jay Som perform a few weeks ago, and I hadn’t rescued them from space jail in the game yet, and I felt a little awkward about that. I’m glad space jail doesn’t stop people from touring.

A: [Laughs.] Yeah, yup.

Q: In the game, you directly reference your tour with Mitski—were a lot of people included in the game people you met on tour?

A: Yeah, for sure. I think that when you’re on the road as much as we are, your friend group changes from one that lives in the same city and becomes more people who also tour all the time. You end up at the same kind of festivals or venues or on tour together, so you can hang out. I just wanted to do a fun nod to them because I think the people playing the game maybe already know that we’re friends or have toured together, or are fans of both of our music. Everyone I put in the game I consider a friend.

Q: You’ve spoken about being an Asian woman in the music scene, and about how you want your work to create more space for Asian artists in music scenes you’re part of. Have you noticed anything changing over the course of your music career?

A: Yeah, we’re definitely trying to create a community. I feel really lucky to be a part of that—it wasn’t always like that. It’s hard because I feel like I create my own community too, and the one that I’ve created for myself is a little bit more balanced in terms of representation. It’s a difficult thing.

Q: How did you get into making your own music videos?

A: I worked with [cinematographer] Adam Kolodny on, I think, seven music videos. His passion is cinematography. He really likes creating the image and making the [shots beautifully lit] and being a behind the scenes guy. When we started, I didn’t really know that much about making music videos, and I felt like he probably wanted to direct. He directed the first two, and we conceptualized them together.

For the third one—“Everybody Wants to Love You”—he encouraged me to take a directing role. I think he wanted to focus more on the cinematography and he doesn’t really identify as a director. It was something I was already naturally doing in the first two videos, I just didn’t know that that’s what it was. After that, I fully transitioned into a directing role and Adam focused on being the amazing director of photography that he is.

Q: How have you found folding that extra workload into your regular schedule?

A: It’s challenging. My body doesn’t want to keep up with my ambitions, currently. But it’s a beautiful life and a beautiful job to be able to make things that excite me. I can’t really complain. It’s hard to balance, but it’s a real privilege.

Q: If you had one tip to give to somebody making a music video, what would you tell them?
A: Oh god! Try not to get overwhelmed. The best thing to do is to do as much pre-production and planning as possible, and I think that location scouting is really important. If you have an environment that’s really captivating, it kind of does the work for you.

Q: I feel like it’s hard to conceptualize how much work actually goes into a music video while you’re watching it.

A: Oh, absolutely. I’m working on a video now that has a lot of stop-motion animation, and I spent 12 hours making maybe 10 seconds of content. I never really used photoshop before this, and the learning curve of spending hours figuring out photoshop and then also doing stop-motion has been quite the challenge.

I’ve harassed people in my vicinity to teach me something several times, but then I won’t ever really learn it until I do it myself.

Q: Have you set aside any music video ideas because they were too ambitious?

A: I’ve never set aside an idea, but they’ve definitely been too ambitious for us and, honestly, this video I’ve been working on with the stop-motion is the hardest one. There’s no strenuous shooting involved, but all of the labour goes into the editing. It’s a lot of work in a different way. This was supposed to be our easy one. Hah!

Lately, my ideas have become bigger and bigger. As you become more competent, I think that’s what happens. It seems like you should be able to save yourself some work, but then the ideas that pop into your head are stuff like: “I want a crane shot of this cool gymnasium,” and then you just become too big for your britches.

Q: It sounds like you want to keep challenging yourself too, instead of always doing the easiest thing.

A: Yeah, absolutely. For sure. I feel the same way about making records. I find myself taking on more, and the best work comes when you’re slightly out of your comfort zone.

 

Japanese Breakfast played at Bar le Ritz in Montreal on Sunday, Oct. 8.

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Music Quickspins

Lil Pump – Lil Pump

Lil Pump – Lil Pump (Warner Bros., 2017)

South Florida trap rapper Lil Pump has made quite a name for himself over the last few months. His signature short, minute-and-a-half-long songs comprised of nothing but a three-word hook and distorted bass have captured the attention of rap fans and hypebeasts alike. With singles like “D Rose” and “Flex Like Ouu” under his belt, Lil Pump is finally here with his debut mixtape. Let’s just say, if you’ve heard one Lil Pump song, you’ve heard them all. In fact, if you’ve heard 15 seconds of a song, you know his entire catalogue. Lil Pump does little to switch up his flow or the beats he raps over. Even the tape’s features, which include names like Lil Yachty and 2 Chainz, are uninspired. But if I have to say something positive, this mixtape is catchy as hell. The simplistic hooks lend themselves well to singing along and, while not diverse, the beats slap.

Trial Track: “Gucci Gang”

Score: Esketit/10

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Music Quickspins

Demi Lovato – Tell Me You Love Me

Demi Lovato – Tell Me You Love Me (Island, 2017)

Demi Lovato’s sixth studio album, Tell Me You Love Me, delivers all of what we expect from the 25-year-old pop-princess: captivating, powerhouse vocals laced with soulful spunk strewed across 12 R&B-inspired tracks. Contrary to Lovato’s fifth album, Confident, this LP falls flat with the lack of booming, energetic tracks. They’ve been substituted with slow, entrancing beats, such as “Lonely” and “Only Forever.” The second half of the album features mostly laidback, deep-cutting ballads, such as “Concentrate” and “Hitchhiker.” Nevertheless, Tell Me You Love Me will have you snapping your fingers and bobbing your head along to the music, whether it’s to the fast-paced, unapologetic “Sorry Not Sorry” or the emotionally-charged melodies of “Only Forever.”

Trial Track: “Tell Me You Love Me”

8.2/10

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