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.

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

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.

Festival Vitesse Lumière 2007

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

www.vitesselumiere.ca

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.

archive.org/details/toni_music

Stev

http://www.stev.ca/

Mud Flap Girl

Image: Szczepan1990

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).

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.

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.

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

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).

Une invitation Osez!

dansekpark.com

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.

www.fc3a.com

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 !

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

L'invention

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 !

Mutek 2007 - The line-up so far...

Here's some info about the line-up for the 2007 edition of the Mutek Festival in Montreal.

Agnès
Claude von Stroke
Kode 9 feat. Spaceape
Lee Curtis
Miskate
Pheek
Shoboshobo
Matias Aguayo & Roccness
Gui Boratto
Chic Miniature
Cobblestone Jazz with The Mole
Colleen
Digitaline
Gangpol & Mit
Heartthrob
Michael Mayer
Mr Oizo
My My
Rhythm & Sound (+ Tikiman)
Shackleton
Jesse Somfay
Ricardo Villalobos & Friends (special project)
Wighnomy Brothers
Candie Hank
Pantha du Prince
Someone Else

More will be announced on April 23rd...

(Source: Pheek on the RaveMontreal Forum. Link)

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:

www.redbull.com/int-en/event-series/red-bull-crashed-ice