Eddie told me he thought their music was "different" -- but then again, you have to understand he's more accustomed to singing about limbless bodies and necrophilia a la Cannibal Corpse. In fact, Language Arts spun lovely lyrical lilt with their voices and yet dolled out complex time signature changes and tempo changes with their smooth instrumentation. It was very listenable. Dancable. Math-rock indie-pop.
The drums sounded like they could have been programed, only just a bit fresher. The Nord synth the backup singer played had the most authentic sultry Rhodes piano sounds I have ever heard emanate from a piece of electronic machinery. The bassist played a stand up like a funky punk rocker. Oh -- and the lead singer with the Spanish guitar rapped real quick over top of it all. The general atmosphere of the east-side bar turned into a kind of imported-samba swing fest.
Just imagine listening to the Cranberries churned up with Buck 65. Or like Bonobo remixing the Camera Obscura. Or a beachside reincarnation of former Western female underground loved ones Andre's Last Chance (since disbanded, but not without having left their mark). Or think about the limitless possibilities of what might happen if female jungalist MCs wore your grandma's old cardigans. File next to Scratch Bastid or Kid Koala. Maybe one day they'll be signed to Anticon and open for Why?, Dose One and the lot of 'em. They deserve it.
For my Toronto peeps, you can check them out a Rancho Relaxo on July 5th (maybe bring them some Chinese food or tell them about the street meat in the area) coming up. If you're doing any hitchhiking heading east in the next couple days from Western Canada to Hamilton -- you just might run into these fine musicians. They'll be spending Canada Day living it up on the road in their van -- passing stranded hikers no doubt along Lake Superior's awe inspiring northern shores. They'll be on the road all summer -- heading east then right back west. That's the life.
------->>>>>
The scene:
Charise, the drunk street-urchin, was floating around town with a new boyfriend -- a smooth-skinned fedora-wearing straight and long brown-haired dude from Regina who never took off his backpack. We saw them down by the library and then later on up by the Hose and Hydrant (a bar that's set up like a fire hall). She just collapsed by a tree and her mind seemed to be elsewhere. She was wearing the exact same hoodie she had on every time I've seen her before. Some purple-haired hippie came up to us and chatted with Eddie for a bit. With her glittering scarf on I figured she must be going somewhere, but she said nope. Eddie said, "She's not headed anywhere -- she's just a hippie". And so it goes.
I hadn't seen Eddie for at least a month, and I was beginning to think he had just disappeared. But I found him alive and well hitting up the jazz fest crowd, in his most street-ghetto fashion. I chatted with him for minutes before he randomly pulled out a rat.That was before it shit in his pocket.
Anyways, we followed the purple-haired chick for a bit until we ran into two beefy dudes who told us about the commotion just down the street. Turns out a guy tried to abduct some little girl from the side of the road in front of all the family-dining patio goers at Nino's. I guess everyone saw it happen too. Then some other guy jumped out of a big truck and beat the shit out of the first dude. The police were at the scene all night and I saw them take a guy into custody. Just another night here on the Broadway strip.
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