Into the Sunset (with very few stops)

Ontario is big. Very big. If you drove from the Southern tip (Windsor, Point Pelee to be exact) to where the roads run out it would take over a day. And from that point, there is still hundreds of miles of land with no roads in or out and very few towns scattered here and there- you need to fly into these places (although no one ever does). So you will understand why i feel a little bad about only talking about Toronto before heading out West, across the prairies to where the sun sets and the weed grows free. There are great regional scenes in cities like London, Hamilton, Windsor, and Burlington, but i'm too tired from this trip to get excited about them now. All that is left is the cities with tall enough buildings to tickle god's feet and enough people to have suburbs. That leaves Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver; and 4000 kilometers of pretty empty space.

Winnipeg is Canada's own Windy City and except for the wind and a pretty lively music scene, it is nothing like Chicago. Actually, both cities do share some historical similarities that are pretty interesting: both cities had devastating fires that consumed much of the city, one started by a cow (or so the story goes) and the other by wood skyscrapers, and both cities can claim to be amongst the earliest cities to have steel skyscrapers, Chicago having the actual first and Winnipeg getting some after their earlier attempts in wood proved misguided at best.

G7 Welcoming committee

This is about the only label that i know of in Winnipeg. A very political label (read the article on their site about how their company is run), their music tends to avoid the dreary dogma and ridiculous posturing that aligns so many 'activist' bands with Christian rock bands in my opinion (same coin, different sides). Led by the biggest 'Peg export in a long time, the Weakerthans, G7 puts out music that's all over the map (united by an uncanny ability to lean left), that doesn't sacrifice musical innovation (and listenability) for political impact.

Warsaw Pack- Attention To Deficit.
Sadly this rap-rock-jazz-is that a flute on stage? band has called it a day, citing (ironically enough) the troubles to trying to make a living as a 7 piece ensemble who don't believe in capitalism. Funny that. In all seriousness the 'pack were a live monster, rocking clubs full of drunk people who moved to the music and listened to the insightful rhymes of Lee Rebak. It's a shame these guys didn't get the attention they deserved, but heavy political acts very rarely get heard through all the banter.

Malefaction- Red Industries, I Will Not Serve


Heavy, heavy stuff. Lot's of drop tuning mayhem and dude screaming like he saw Christ in his rear view mirror. I hate this kind of music, but this band actually makes me kung fu dance and question the capitalistic ethos. Oh, wait...

International Noise Conspiracy- Capitalism Stole My Virginity, Airports

They might claim it was stolen, but we all now that Dennis sold it out back of the 7-11 for another shot at fame. He must be kicking himself for holding onto his virtue now that it has come to this. I like this band (not nearly as much as refused), but the endless tirades against western culture from a man so involved with the most garish aspects of it make me a little queasy. If he would just shut up or sing about something other then politics once in a while they could be great.

Propaganhdi- I want to see Oka (everywhere)

One of the greatest Canadian punk bands hands down, it's a shame that this band is no longer with us. This song is taken from 'Where Quality is Job #1' and odds and sods collection that doesn't do this witty, catchy and sometime skidly band enough justice.

Consolidated- Schnitzel Boy

I think Consolidated okay. It's not the band i hate, it's their fans.

thank you,
sloan.

Weakerthans- Confessions of a Futon-Revolutionist

The Weakerthans succeed where so many of their peers fail for the simple fact that the music comes first and the politics follow. And since John K.Samson is such a great lyricist, the band very rarely alienates with said politics. Instead, what we have is a diverse band whose influences range from punk to country to union songs who always manage to through in a hook or two for those with short attention spans.

and now we will be moving on to Cow Town, otherwise known as Calgary, otherwise known as 'where can i find some oil?'.

The scene in Calgary seems realatively dead these days, but there is one man (literally, one man) doing his best to keep the music alive. His name is Chad Van Gaalen, and those who don't know, he's a bedroom genius. Apparently he spent the better part of the last ten years in his bedroom (with only short breaks for the toilet one assumes) writing quirky pop songs on homemade instruments that truly defy convention. Similar in sound to Built To Spill, Modest Mouse, Beck and Flaming Lips but nothing like them at the same time, Chad is am expert lyricist, songwriter, arranger and producer whose songs are at once bold, triumphal statements of love and life and yet fragile and delicate.

Clinicaly Dead
Traffic


I must stop and get some sustanance. Jerky for the road. Edmonton's a long, long way away.