About our Reviews

Amplifier Buzz is mainly focused on live performance, and so the bulk of the reviews you will see here will be focussed on live performances by new, unknown or emerging bands.  There’s lots of places to go to find reviews of the latest cd’s by mainstream bands, and most signed acts have a pose of people that drum up interest with NOW and Eye and others to review their shows, but for an indie act that is just getting started – a review is hard to come by.

Our hopes for this site:

1. That we’ll draw attention to bands (and solo performers by the way) that put on a great live show and have something unique about them that we want to draw attention to.
2. That we’ll provide some honest feedback to the bands about their performances so that they can improve.
3. To  encourage the music listening public to check out some of the great live music that Toronto has to offer and that they might not have otherwise heard of.

We hope you enjoy the site, and we welcome your feedback.

Keith Jolie

ps – you can subscribe to the rss feed for Amplifier Buzz Reviews is http://ampbuzz.wordpress.com/show-and-concert-reviews/feed

The Paint Movement @ Rancho Relaxo – Oct 4, 2008

 

 

After my own band rehearsal on Friday, my bass player and I decided to check out some music.  I wasn’t sure who was playing where on Friday (usually I spend some time going through the listings and checking out band sites to try and narrow my choices, but I hadn’t had time on Friday).  Since I’ve been pretty impressed with the line-ups at Rancho Relaxo I steered us in that direction.  

As a side note, I think that the College Street Strip East of Bathurst is a good bet if you just want to check out a few bands in one night.  You can start at Sneaky Dees, and hit the Free Times Cafe, the Savannah Room, Rancho Relaxo, The Silver Dollar and The Elmo.  

Once again, Rancho Relaxo didn’t disappoint and I’m really excited to tell you about one of the most interesting bands I’ve heard in a while – they are called The Paint Movement.

The Paint Movement is a band that evolved over the last year, out of a circle of musicians from the Mississauga Area.  Consisting of Jason loftman (Sax and Keys), Kevin Kralik (guitar/vocals), Jason Haberman and Glenn Candy (Drums),  the performance also included very capable guest vocals by Lauren Casciato-Turner.  

Their songwriting evokes singer/songwriters like Leonard Cohen, Nick Drake, and more recent performers like Hayden while the musical backing is a creative mix of jazz, pop, and rock.  The Paint Movement takes the listener on a series of well arranged sonic adventures covering a whole mixture of textures, sound landscapes, vocal styles, songwriting styles and instrumentation.  The much maligned saxophone is featured in almost every song skillfully and creatively.  What you get is a band that is fully engaging to watch, and that plays fun, intelligent and interesting music.  

Each musician adds to this group.  I could talk about the very skillful percussion, the emmensly enjoyable saxaphone riffs, the fantastic vocal arrangements, the great grooves and so on, but there was no one person that stood out as the strongest or weakest in this band, and I think that’s what makes a great band great.  Perhaps this is a result of their collaborative approach to songwriting that shows through in their dedication to the performance.  

Songs like “Cat’s Meow” and the arresting and powerful “Howl at the Moon” (my favourite I think) showed off the hauntingly sparse and unique sound of Kevin’s vocals the most creative songwriting and were the most intimate performance moments, while other songs like “I’ve got the Ghost” are more straight ahead pop songs and they had a very happy crowd fully engaged.

There weren’t any 3 minute pop ditties on Friday – the songs are substantial pieces for the most part and with the creative arrangement and skillful execution you are still left wishing for more at the end.

The performance wasn’t perfect, I found the set started off a little slow and the first couple songs weren’t performed as well as the later songs, but with each successive song that I heard, I knew I had stumbled onto something really notable.  The Paint Movement is a definitely must see band.

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CD notes:  I picked up “Our Eurythmy”, the bands new release – It’s GREAT!

Paper Lion and Cake at the Sound Academy

What a great show last night, and a bit of a departure from the usual topics of this blog (I usually only cover local indie bands…Neither of the bands in this post really qualify )  anyway – enjoy.

 

 

 

First and most importantly, I would like to talk about Paper Lion - they are a cool 4 piece from PEI that had a bit of a tough job in my estimation since Cake fans who had been disappointed in 2002 (Edgefest bottle throwing silliness) and 2004 (cancelled blues festival) were seething at the mouth for a fix of Cake Live [Apparently I missed a show at Massey Hall in 2004...so not quite since 2002, but still it's been 4 years].  So when Paper Lions stepped out on stage, I kind of expected a bit of impatience from the crowd.  There was none of that however when Paper Lions grabbed the crowd by the collar with a series of catchy (and peppy) pop songs that were both creative, and well arranged along with a stage presence that was impossible to deny.  If the rest of the band turned their back on the crowd,  any one of these guys could have kept things engaging for the audience.  They showed real professionalism in the way they transitioned from song to song and they used the stage to great advantage.  I can’t find anything on their website that tells me who play’s what instrument, so my comments are going to sound a little generic.

The vocalist in Paper Lion reminded me of  Waterboys singer Mike Scott, while influences from the Beatles, and the beach boys influence the creatively employed vocal harmony arrangements albiet more agressive and urgent in nature.  For the most part the vocals were very tight except for a couple of miscues that were probably missed by most of the audience.

The lead guitar player is simply a tour-de-force and I found him wholly entertaining in both his playing (which was spot on) and his interaction with the crowd and the rest of the band.  He’s visually eclectic without upstaging the vocalist – they had their blocking (sorry if I sound a bit too theatrical here) very well planned.

The band consists of John MacPhee, Rob MacPhee, David Cyrus MacDonald and Colin Buchanan, a group of guys that have been around the music scene in one way or another for some time now.   This effort however has a freshness about it that I found very entertaining and I immediately walked over to the merch stand to buy their cd after the show.

Last night Paper Lion announced an upcoming show at the Supermarket in Kensington Market  within the next couple of weeks – I don’t see it on their sites yet, but I would definitely recommend keeping your eyes open for them and checking them out.

update – just got word from the band that the Supermarket show is on Wednesday Oct. 15th – thanks John

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Cake did nothing to disappoint last night.  From the very first note of Frank Sinatra to the last note of The Distance, Cake demonstrated a skill for performance and mastery of their craft.    As previously mentioned, this was the first opportunity to see Cake play in Toronto since 2002, and quite frankly, I’m not sure when they would have played before that.  So to say that the crowd was ready for them…understatement for sure.

I think the thing that truly impressed me last night was the energy and vitality that was given to songs that the band has been playing for many years (it’s easy to forget how many great songs they have) – no hint of boredom here.  There also seemed to be some genuine excitement from the band as they embark on the next part of their career sans major label.  They treated Toronto to a debut from a promised 2009 release and gave away the customary tree (which took some time to identify…)  A very satisfying performance from a great band.

I think Cake also deserves Kudo’s for either inviting or agreeing to have a Canadian band open for them – they could have just as easily brought someone with them.  Cheers guys.

Shane Philip – CIUT outdoor stage

I just caught some of Shane Philip’s set at the CIUT outdoor stage this lunch hour and I’m writing this as a precursor to a more full review I intend to do after one of his upcoming shows.  Shane is one of those musicians that makes other musicians envious.   To paint the picture, imagine this:  The drummer starts a steady beat with a mixture of kick drum, toms and cymbals combined with aslatua and djembe – certainly enough to set the soul in motion and get the feet moving. Then a didgeridoo joins the party (you’re probably familiar with the sound that is often associated with the Australian outback) and it’s just as much a percussion instrument as it is a sonic landscape, filling in around the listener with both haunting sonic textures and additional beats that force you into a rhythmic sway.  Then a guitar joins in creating a perfect base for Shane’s haunting and sweet vocal treatments.  The kicker…Shane does it all – a veritable one man band!

Shane’s song range from more folky and bluesy pieces to full on dance club explosions.  It’s all held together nicely by themes that run throughout the music and the organic sounds that are consistently applied in the music.  

I can only imagine how amazing this guy is going to sound through a proper sound system and to that end, I highly recommend that you get out to see one of his upcoming shows in Toronto:

Sep 28th, 2008
Pedestrian Sunday’s
Kensington Market, Toronto, ONT

Sep 30th, 2008
Horseshoe Tavern
Toronto, ONT

6 O’Clock News – The Horseshoe Sat. Aug 16th

So, a little confession before I get to the rest of this review – I get instantly nervous when I see a band that has a singer that doesn’t play another instrument.  Now, I get that there are some phenomenal bands out there that have front men and women that don’t play another instrument.   They are great vocalists and they have the charisma to carry the rest of the band through the musical adventure of a show – those are the greats and they are few and far between.   What I’ve seen far far too many times is the antithesis of that….guys that stand hugging a mic stand, staring at their shoes and singing because…they wanted to be in the band and weren’t musicians – most of the time it shows, and most of the time it’s incredibly painful.

KW, Guelph, and area seem to generate a lot of bands.  And if they stay together long enough, they inevitably make a couple of phone calls and end up going on a road-trip to take a kick at the big smoke.  A lot of times, the bands don’t exactly kick though and so they come into town, to play The Horseshoe on a Monday or some other well known bar on an off night and leave without much fanfare.  Trust me when I say that 6 O’Clock News is not one of those bands.  This band is innovative, powerful, unique and just damn good.  So what makes them good.

Let me introduce you to Barrett – Barrett is the front man for the news, and he has the “newsheads” (that’s what the fans are referred to as) wrapped up like fish’n'chips on a Friday.  This guy is great.  Think about Rage Against the Machine at their best, and Barrett is there.  He’s the consummate front man and he delivers in every way that is important – His singing is intense, animated and his voice is really strong.  Barrett is a vocalist – this isn’t just about screaming into a mike with passion – his voice and the microphone are his instrument and it flows every bit as good as the rest of the band.  Barrett has great timing, and he easily jumps from song segments that are epic and flowing to complex staccato singing that is punctuated perfectly.  He had the audience screaming by the second song and kept them there the whole way through.  His performance is just that, performance in the most dramatic sense of the word.  Barrett don’t get a big head, enough about you.

This band would be nothing without the dynamic duo of Tim (Bass) and Jonas (Drums) – I love these guys, and I’m not convinced that they’re not the same guy;  their timing being in such lock step.  Seriously this is one of the tightest rhythm sections I’ve ever heard, and they both played with an enthusiasm and energy that you can’t help but enjoy watching.

On top of the foundation laid down by Tim and Jonas – add to that a touch of Mike and Mike (the two guitarists) who both have some serious guitar playing chops and you’ve got one powerful band. One of the Mikes plays a Gibson, and I want to point him out in particular – spectacular playing!

Throughout the performance this was a band that showed that they’ve rehearsed their set – everything comes off extremely well timed and the set moved nicely from one emotion to another.  There’s lots of message in this music, and Barrett does a decent job bringing that message out.  

So where can the band improve? – 2 areas:  1) story telling – some of the introductions to songs could bring out the message just a bit better (i.e. rather than saying “this is a song about _______”, I’d like to hear why they wrote the song (as long as they keep it really short)  2) some of the softer singing, needs some work.  It could be that a key change is needed for the songs so they stay in Barrett’s range, or it could be just a bit more work is needed on them.

Overall, if you’re looking for a break from the singer songwriter schmaltz that seems to accompany every car advertisement out there…these guys are recommended strongly – make sure you’re ready for them.

KJ

Organic Funk – The Hideout Sat. Aug 16th

I was fortunate enough to see two great bands on Saturday – the first was 6′Oclock news (the subject of another review on this site) and the second was a cool little three piece called Organic Funk that got things cooking at The Hideaway on Queen West.  

This 3 piece aptly named band is a highly entertaining and talented group of musicians that do everything to underline the simple elegance that can happen within a  3 piece musical group.  Are they organic?  I’m not sure there’s a better way to describe Michael Costantini’s playing.  Michael is one of the smoothest and most talented guitar players I’ve heard in Toronto and he weaves effortlessly through a repertoire that could just as easily have been played by a lineup of Carlos Santana, Peter Tosh, Jimi Hendrix, and Duane Allman.  As for the funk – some of the funkiest grooves going.  I really enjoyed this bands live performance, and so did the rest of the crowd at the Hideaway.  

Bass, played by Michael Sullivan, while not overly complex, or showy did it’s job well, by supporting the percussion with at times, solid standard and other times unexpected and creative bass lines that engage the listener into the experience and overall feel of the song.

I didn’t have the opportunity to speak with the drummer, but I’m guessing that he has formal jazz percussion training – spot on timing and creative fills, with a real sensitivity for the vocals and the lead guitar.  

Overall, I liked the John Mayer like sweet smooth voice of Constantine matched with delicate and beautiful guitar work that inserted just the right amount of crunch and guts to pull off a soulful and intense performance. 

Great live band

On a side note – Their CD (when it began) is worth the money.

KJ

Leonids @ Rancho Relaxo Friday, Sept 5th.

After a few disappointing shows at the Hideaway and at Sneeky Dees I stopped in at Rancho Relaxo to see what was happening.   The stage was being populated by a quirky collection of musicians and gear.  Some amusing banter started between the two front men that was definitely in line with the quirky outward appearance of the group which served to introduce the first song “secret handshake”,  and as for me – I liked it right from the start.  

The Leonids, a four piece consisting of Angelo, Jeremy (both of them play guitar, sing and play keyboards), Kyle (bass / vocals) and Jen (drums / vocals), are one of the more refreshing new bands I’ve heard on the Toronto scene in some time.  With creative lyrical hooks, and overall interesting songwriting and well thought out contributions from each musician in the arrangements, there was lots to like about this group.

The Leonids bring a singer/songwriter foundation to the church of good pop, quirky folk, city country, and post punk and they make it work in a way that is unique and very listenable.

Vocally, the Leonids share the kind of space inhabited by Bright Eyes and Cuff the duke (especially their first album)  while adding layers of vocal harmony that put them into a different zone all together.  The singing is definitely a group effort, and the entire night felt as much like a collective as a band with unique flavours coming in and out based on the contributor.    

Jen’s percussion in the performance was calculated and well placed, doing it’s part to err on the side of only playing what was necessary rather than the all too common overplaying.

Watching Kyle on bass was a party all on it’s own and his enthusiasm and energy added to the overall performance and was a good contrast to an intentionally more dry presentation on the part of Angelo and Jeremy.  

Overall, I liked the feel of this group, the quality of the vocals and the harmony work as well as the range (both thematically and sonically) that the Leonids put into their songwriting and arranging.  I especially liked a song (sorry didn’t get a set list) with the refrain “look to the stranger” (?)   – Melodic, captivating, great transitions – I’m now a Leonids fan.

Now all I need is a record…tell me there’s one coming.

KJ