Sunday, September 16, 2007

Miss Lilly - La ligne rose video

www.myspace.com/lillymiss 

Update December 25th, 2021: MySpace is dead now, please let me know in the comments if you can find a better link to Miss Lilly.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Vicious Hairy Mary - Spyro video

I Just found the video of Spyro by Vicious Hairy Mary on YouTube. It brings so much memories ! I first saw VHM in 1994 in a small venue in Sydney (can't remember the place), they where doing the first part of Trout Fishing in Quebec. I remember being blown away by the voice of Michael Lira (he was using a megaphone) and he was pulling crazy sounds from his weird bass guitar...

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Les mamelons de satan


Photo: Les mamelons de satan

Here's a link to a Chicoutimi garage rock band; Les mamelons de satan. Be sure to listen to the song Couteau. Enjoy !

http://www.myspace.com/lesmamelonsdesatan

Monday, May 28, 2007

Ouèbe Musique on CKRL 89,1


Starting Sunday, June 10th at 10 pm, I will be hosting a radio show on CKRL 89,1. The name of the show is Ouèbe Musique and I will be presenting music that is available for free on the series of tubes that internet is. For the residents of Quebec City, simply tune-in to 89.1. You can also catch the show via the main site of CKRL FM 89,1, just click on the (((CKRL en direct))) button at the top right corner of the page.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival



Damn, I wish I was living in Montreal... The Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival has a wicked line-up, I will try to attend to what I can.

www.suoniperilpopolo.org


Saturday, May 19, 2007

Melvins + Koenjihyakkei (高円寺百景) @ FIMAV 2007

Finally, the 2007 edition of the FIMAV is launched. I came back at 4:00 am this morning from Victoriaville and going back for more tonight.

I saw two shows; Melvins and Koenjihyakkei (高円寺百景). The Melvins were all right, but they didn't really do it for me. It was more a nostalgic moment for me, it reminded me some parties back when I was in Australia. They began and finished the show with was an excruciatingly long soundtrack (no musicians on the stage). They played as tough they were in a bubble, not once they tried to make contact with the crowd in from of them. The public seemed to like the show, there was a small mosh pit and I even saw a guy doing some body surfing once.

I was completely blown away by Keonjihyakkei (高円寺百景) ! I didn't knew them at all, what a great find. I don't know how to describe their sound; furious, melodic, precise, jazzy, proggy, funny, profound, aerial... It was a shock and awe moment for me, probably one of the best show I saw (and I saw a lot). They where very generous with the public; Kengo Sakamoto (bass) and Tatsuya Yoshida (drums) made a point to present their songs even if they had a very limited english. Being a true Japanese, Yamamoto Kyoko (voice) photographed the crowd and also the band in front of the crowd :-). It was the first time they played outside of Japan and I'm sure Victoriaville will leave them a very good impression. Here's a link of a video of them playing in the studio of WFMU.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Festival Vitesse Lumière 2007

Festival Vitesse Lumière 2007, June 6th to 10th.




Friday, April 27, 2007

Toni Music



If you like good minimal techno music, I'm sure you will love the releases on the netlabel Toni Music. The albums, released under a Creative Commons licence, can be downloaded for free. Your ears like what they hear ? Please make a donation.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Monday, April 16, 2007

Mud Flap Girl


She's been a phantasm since I was a kid, and I finally found out about the mysterious Mud Flap Girl. I always saw her on mud flaps or in front of big trucks and always wondered where she was from. She was apparently designed in the 70's by Bill Zinda, owner of Wiz Enterprises in Long Beach, California. The model was Leta Laroe, a famous stripper.

In the name of political correctness , she will probably disappear one day (a sad day for sure). The Arizona State (U.S.A.) already tried to pass some legislation about it (article 1, article 2).

Saturday, April 14, 2007

SWZ



SWZ is a man of many trades; He's a self-taught cartoonist/illustrator, painter, web designer, musician and more.

With the Electrocutionerdz project, he toured around Canada and the U.S.A. Electrocutionerdz can be described as MIDI-core / cybergrind music if labels can be applied at all. The brutal adventure is now officially"dead", but the whole catalog is available for free (please make a donation) at http://electrocutionerdz.com.

The upcoming project he's working on is Dis(10)Pütes, a d-beat band composed of members and ex-members from Dahmer, Mesrine, Electrocutionerdz, Hands of Death, Nourriture, Victims of Corruption, Dis-Eased, Fistfuck, Thinkshit, The Toilet and more (read my previous post about it).

On Retinal Overdrive you can see his excellent artworks for sale and some videos.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

R.I.P. Kurt Vonnegut 1922-2007

Damn, I just began discovering Kurt Vonnegut, and I learned today that he died yesterday. I'm reading Cat's cradle at the moment and I'm enjoying it very much.

He seemed to be a very interesting character who had an unusual journey in life; prisoner of war during WWII, student, police reporter, teacher, worked for General Electric in public relations, graphic artist, Honorary President of the American Humanist Association and more importantly a very influential writer with a unique voice. Make sure you read the entry Wikipedia has on him.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

FIMAV 2007 - Official schedule is out

I received via snail mail the official schedule for the 2007 edition of the FIMAV. It has not been updated yet on the official site as I am posting...

Thursday, May 17th

20h @ Cinéma Laurier 28$

MARILYN CRISPELL
LOTTE ANKER
ANDREW CYRILLE
MARK HELIAS

22h @ Colisée 28$

CORKESTRA

Midnight @ CÉGEP 18$

JEAN-FRANÇOIS LAPORTE "WAVES"


Friday, May 18th

13h @ Cinéma Laurier 18$

MICHAEL SNOW
ALAN LICHT
AKI ONDA

17h @ CÉGEP 18$

THERESA TRANSISTOR

20h @ Cinéma Laurier 30$

JOHN ZORN SOLO

22h @ Colisée 30$

THE MELVINS

Midnight @ CÉGEP 20$

KOENJI HYAKKEI


Saturday, May 19th

13h @ Cinema Laurier 20$

JASON KHAN
TOMAS KORBER
NORBERT MÖSLANG
GUNTER MÜLLER
CHRISTIAN WEBER

15h @ Colisée 22$

VICTORIAVILLE MATIÈRE SONORE

17h @ CÉGEP 18$

LARRY PEACOCK

20h @ Cinéma Laurier 24$

CARLA BOZULICH "EVANGELISTA"

22h @ Colisée 32$

ACID MOTHERS GONG

Midnight @ CÉGEP 18$

MAGIK MARKERS


Sunday, May 20th

13h @ Cinéma Laurier 20$

QUASAR
ALEXANDRE BURTON
JULIEN ROY

15h @ Colisée 24$

ANTHONY BRAXTON Diamond Curtain Wall Trio

17h @ CÉGEP 18$

FINE KWIATKOWSKI
HANS TAMMEN

20h @ Cinéma Laurier 24$

JOHN TILBURY
STEVIE WISHART
CHRISTOF KURZMANN
WERNER DAFELDECKER

22h @ Colisée 34$

ANTHONY BRAXTON 12(+1) TET

Midnight @ CÉGEP 18$

FOND OF TIGERS


Monday, May 21st

14h @ Cinéma Laurier 22$

JOANE HÉTU "FILATURE"

16h @ CÉGEP 24$

KEVIN BLECHDOM
EUGENE CHADBOURNE

20h @ Colisée 30$

"KIKURI"
DANIEL MENCHE
KEIJI HAINO
MERZBOW

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Subhumans @ L'anti, April 19th

Don't miss Subhumans at l'Anti, April 19th. Confirm your attendance: http://upcoming.org/event/173471/ Until then, here's a video found on YouTube (Subvert City).

Sunday, April 01, 2007

FC3A - Festival de cinéma des trois Amériques



We are so lucky to have the Festival de cinéma des trois Amériques in Quebec City. I wish I could have seen more movies during the weekend. Here's a list of what I saw;


Thursday, March 29th


A selection of Short films that won prizes in the last two years at the Expresion en Corto festival.

-Su Radito by Celso Garcia (Mexico)

Very funny and beautiful, but my spanish knowledge prevented me to fully understand. The audience was laughing out loud.


-Who I Am and What I Want by Chris Shepherd and David Shrigley (England)

One of the best short I saw in a very long time, very funny and sincere.


-Los Elefantes Nunca Olvidan by Lorenzo Vigas Castes (Mexico)

The photo was amazing, I liked the acidic/washed look. The suspense killed me.

-Empire by Edouard Salier (France)

The soundtrack was very good and I found the idea of superposing transparent millitary vehicules over scenes of the american dream very clever.

-Cristiana Sepultura by Victor Audiffred Bazaldua (Mexico)

A very touching story.

-Cousin Cousine by Maria Mohr (Germany)

I have to confess that my brain decided to shut down and take a little nap.

-Un Viaje by Gabriela Monroy (Mexico)

A poor father that intentionally loses his autistic kid in the metro. A very honest look at what the parents with kids who have disabilities must feel like from time to time. I liked that short very much, everything in that short was top notch.

-Le Régulateur by Philippe Grammaticopoulos (France)

It reminded me of the communist era propaganda imagery and some bits of Brazil. The 3d effect was stunning. The director created a very special world and he has a very good sense of humor.

-M by Everardo Valerio Gout (Mexico - USA)

The editing was very sharp and nervous. I liked the mix of Manga imagery with live actors. The actress was very beautiful.


Friday, March 30th

-Taxidermia by György Palfi (Hungary)

I wanted to see that movie for a long time, I first heard about it because the soundtrack is by Amon Tobin. It's definitely not for weak hearted peoples, very graphic and disturbing but very beautiful at the same time. It's definitely the kind of movie that you have to watch a few time to fully absorb.


Saturday, March 31st


-Steamboat Bill,JR by Buster Keaton and Charles F. Reisner (USA 1928)

Philippe Vienne (guitar), Stéphane Caron (drum) and Frédéric Desroches (keyboard) were improvising live during the movie. Buster Keaton's movies are so amazing, I don't think we could be able to make movies like that today. The musicians did such a great job that I completely forgot about them ! Silent movies should come back, the combination of movie and live music is amazing.

-Le silence nous fera écho by Mathieu L. Denis (QC, Canada)

It felt like an exert from a longer movie. A very original story that I didn't fully understood or could interpret in different ways. I will have to discuss it with someone who saw it too. The actors were really good.

-Petit dimanche by Nicolas Roy (QC, Canada)

I liked the fact that not a word is pronounced for the whole duration of the short. The story bring us from total joy to complete sadness.

-Le petit oiseau va sortir by Samer Najari (QC, Canada)

Very funny and I liked the photo-taking effect. Three suicide-warriors, one from Japan during WW II, one from Lebanon in the 80's and one from Palestine today. We humans are all the same and nothing really changes.

-À l'ombre by Simon Lavoie (QC, Canada)

It made me think about the parent-children relation when prison gets in the mix. Simon Lavoie should make a documentary about the subject.

-Musica de ambulancia by Paula Markovitch (Mexico)

A very touching story about a girl and her sick mother. Beautiful, sad and funny.


Sunday, April 1st


-La lacheté by Marc Bisaillon (QC, Canada)

By far not a bad movie, I found it uneven though. The re-creation of the 60's was really well done, the images beautiful, the soundtrack so-so (I liked the band in the bar). I don't know what's missing for me to give it a thumbs-up.


Friday, March 30, 2007

Recycle Your Animals



Yeah ! I received an e-mail notification from Zazzle, I finally sold a t-shirt ! You can see my other fine products here:
www.zazzle.com/simonroy*

*Edit April 4th 2008*

Two t-shirts have now been sold !

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Jesus Malverde


Photo: angelferd

Last night a friend from Mexico told me about a very unusual saint; Jesus Malverde. In the state of Sinaloa, he's known as the protector of the drug traffic business amongst other things. I don't have to tell you that the funky Vatican don't really approve this "narco-saint", but I'm sure the Big Man up in the sky must be pulling some strings once in a while...

Erick D'Orion - Ruined Pianos



Monday, March 26, 2007

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Millimetrik - I am you are me; remixes and unreleased


Photo: Kim Lessard, layout Pascal Asselin & Geneviève Garneau

I just received Millimetrik's latest album, and it blows my mind ! It has remixes from aKido, Port-Royal, Ixe-13, Deadbeat, Televise and Keith Berry. The album will be in store April 4th, but you can buy it right now on Millimetrik's web site. I received a special stamped edition (#11 out of 222), if you want one, don't wait any longer !

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Photos Red Bull Crashed Ice 2007 - Finals

Oh their god, I wasn't alone at the Red Bull Crashed Ice 2007 finals (around 75 000 spectators). I arrived too late because I wanted to post the photos of the qualifications.

Fortunately, I got a call from a friend that was at a party in an apartment on Place Royale. We had a decent view of the last stretch of the course, where the skaters seemed to fall a lot. Someone found an almost live feed on the net, so we where able to follow the race.

Here's the photos of the finals:

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Photos Red Bull Crashed Ice 2007 - Qualifications

Here's some photos of the qualifications for the Red Bull Crashed Ice 2007 in Quebec City. They really have balls of titanium to participate in that crazy race. I'm off to the finals, more photos to come...

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Cheshire Moon

Tonight the moon is like the Cheschire Cat's grin...

Saturday, February 17, 2007

The Soundry Courter Project



The Soundry Courter Project is the brainchild of Jason Cox, a bored U.S. California state worker (still employed ?). He uses the Windows Sound Recorder to make cut and paste collages of samples. His techno/dance/disco music has elements of noise, grindcore, ambient, trip-hop and countless other styles. While working at his day job, he recorded over 521 songs so far.

You can find his Best of Volume 1 available for steaming or to buy on Insides Music (CD-R netlabel).

Friday, February 16, 2007

XOC - Super Mario World Cover



For the nostalgics, the best (the only ?) cover album of Super Mario World's soundtrack by XOC. Available for download on Archive.org here. A tribute to the great Koji Kondo.

Friday, February 09, 2007

Fimav 2007 passport on sale



The passport (all-access pass) for the 2007 edition of the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV) is on sale. Buy it before March 5th and you will save 65 can$ (275 can$ instead of 340 can$). The website for the 2007 edition will be live on February 12th.


Here's the line-up:

-ANTHONY BRAXTON 12(+1) TET
-JOHN ZORN SOLO
-ACID MOTHERS GONG
-MARILYN CRISPELL / LOTTE ANKER / ANDREW CYRILLE / MARK HELIAS
-CORKESTRA
-JEAN-FRANÇOIS LAPORTE "WAVES"
-MICHAEL SNOW / ALAN LICHT / AKI ONDA
-THERESA TRANSISTOR
-THE MELVINS
-KOENJI HYAKKEI
-JASON KHAN / TOMAS KORBER / NORBERT MÖSLANG / GUNTER MÜLLER / CHRISTIAN WEBER "SIGNAL QUINTET"
-VICTORIAVILLE MATIÈRE SONORE
-LARRY PEACOCK
-CARLA BOZULICH "EVANGELISTA"
-MAGIK MARKERS
-QUASAR / ALEXANDRE BURTON / JULIEN ROY
-ANTHONY BRAXTON CURTON WALL TRIO
-FINE KWIATKOWSKI / HANS TAMMEN
-JOHN TILBURY / STEVIE WISHART / CHRISTOF KURZMANN / WERNER DAFELDECKER
-FOND OF TIGERS
-JOANE HÉTU "FILATURE"
-KEVIN BLECHDOM / EUGENE CHADBOURNE
-DANIEL MENCHE
-KEIJI HAINO / MERZBOW "KIKURI"

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Troy Hurtubise's Trojan fully-armored exoskeleton

Will someone please help this poor man :-) Found on Engadget.com, read the article here. www.projectgrizzly.net

Monday, February 05, 2007

Vieux Farka Touré @ Joe's Pub



Before releasing his new album on February 13th, Vieux Farka Touré will be playing at Joe's Pub in New-York City, February 8th.

The tickets (15 us$) can be bought at publictheater.org/programs/joes-pub/.

You can have all the details here.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

1bit Wonder


Photo: Steffen Bennemann

1bit Wonder is a great netlabel specialized in minimal electronic music (but not limited to it). They distribute their music freely under a creative common license.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Pride Tiger + Lesbo Vrouven + Les Georges Leningrad

At first, I was surprised to learn that the show would be presented at the Dagobert, I was kind of expecting to see it at Rouje... The sound and light kit of the Dag is amazing, so no complaints here.

Like true groupies, we arrived way too early, the ticket was stating 9 pm (yeah, right). I did'nt knew Pride Tiger and I was pleasantly surprised. It reminded me of some kind of cock rock with a touch of Iron Maiden. The singer/drummer was a pure concentrate of energy (borderline puppy joy).

I'm glad I finally got to see the Lesbo Vrouven, I missed their previous shows. They offered a kick-ass performance. I particularly liked the bass, it had a NoMeansNo feel to it. The singer/guitarist is a show beast, very entertaining. While buying their album, I learned from the singer that they have something coming up in the future with Les Goules...

Les Georges Leningrad where plenty decadent as always. I would love to see them play in front of a Christian convention. The marvelous plywood bat was there at the back, the sexy echo queen singer was on fire. The ninja/burglar costume of the keyboardist was too good, all I could see was his eyes from where I was sitting. If you never saw those guys in concert, you are really missing something.

Barely 4 hours of sleep is definitely not enough for my poor brain...

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Blindsight by Peter Watts


Illustration: Thomas Pringle

I've just finished reading the excellent hard SF novel Blindsight by Peter Watts. It's basically a first-contact story between an alien entity and a crew of freaks. The crew is composed by a linguist with multiple personalities, a biologist so radically interfaced with machinery that he sees x-rays and tastes ultra-sounds, a pacifist warrior whose career-defining moment was an act of treason, a synthesist (an informational topologist with half his mind gone) and a vampire to command them all.

The book has been released under a Creative Commons license and is available to download as a PDF file here. I'm going to buy that book for sure, it's probably the best hard SF novel I have read in a long time.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Dis(10)pütes

Here's a very good d-beat band from Quebec City. Their brutal songs mainly talk about our good 'ol industrial chickens. The band members are from such bands as Electrocutionerdz, Traumatism, Mesrine, Fistfuck, Dahmer, Victims Of Corruption, Nourriture, The Toilet, Dis-Eased, Anomalies, to name a few...

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Back to the future: 1985 BBS post on Engadget.com



I'm crazy for gadgets and can't spend a day without having a look at Engadget.com. They write great articles about upcoming gadgets. It's always well written, often with a tongue-in-the-cheek attitude. They won't miss an occasion to make fun of ridiculous gadget. I've stumbled on the 1985 page, when they were posting on BBS. It's always funny to look back at what we saw as the future... Windows 1.0, a killer app !!! For a bit of nostalgia, click here.

Friday, January 05, 2007

Amon Tobin - Foley Room out in March

There's already advance copies circulating around in the series of tubes that is internet, but the official release of the new album by Amon Tobin is due in March. The album Foley Room will be released with a short DVD documenting the recording process. I can't wait to buy the album !

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

The X-Dump Electronica Collective



It seems that I'm a lot into 8-bit music these times (a longer post about that to come). I discovered an interesting net label that distributes it's music freely in MP3 and OGG formats. The X-Dump Electronica Collective is composed of 8-bit /electronica / techno / IDM / pop / electro / ambiant artists.
Here's some videos of the artists on the label:

Psilodump




Dorothy's Magic Bag



Lithis



Paza Rahm



Matophonia



The Korvstoppers



Din Stalker



Bethy Ethodd

Anode