Video Of The Week: Kandle

With her new video directed by Natalie Rae Robison, Kandle tackles the hard subject of violence against women and hardcore depression, and released it in collaboration with canadianwomen.org - a community-based organization that looks to help balance the bad on this planet with a bit of good.

Not Up To Me is a terrific song, and I hope she doesn't tire of singing it any time soon, but because its message is so powerful and it's so well-crafted, it could have the Jeremy (Pearl Jam) or Creep (Radiohead) effect, where the artists just can't bring themselves to perform their signature song because it stirs up too many conflicting emotions in them.

In any event, I'll be attending her show next week as she performs in this year's Jazz Festival - she probably would have fit better playing at Pop Montréal, but I'm happy I'm seeing her in July rather than September. If anything, the walk home will be less painful (mentally) in the summer heat than it would have been in the chill of autumn (and possible rainfall).

Video Of The (Past) Week: The Soft Moon

I've read uneducated music critics compare them to Joy Division, but their sound is a lot more guitar-oriented gloomness than bass, so I'd say they're actually much closer to Love And Rockets / Bauhaus in that regard, or even Chrome or Suicide.

I'm talking of course of talk of the town The Soft Moon, who played at Pop Montreal on Saturday and whose concert was attended by all the hipsters you can imagine and given additional hype with most of the city's big show promoters also present.

I like their energy and sounds, myself, but I'm also a huge fan of Love And Rockets, so I would kind of prefer if the real thing would release more music than bands they inspired...

Nevertheless, as autumn's gloom and rain and depression hits like it does every year after my birthday, this band fits right in.

Pop Goes the World

Montréal musician and columnist Jonathan Cummins, a Montreal Mirror regular for perhaps a decade now, hit a grand slam in his column today.

He bashed a reality TV show, a Canadian ''making the band'' type of horror thing, with terrible Canadian no-talent judges, with foul language that brings vivid imagery.

He also plugged my show and and festival, UnPop Montréal, and all the acts playing at Parc Des Amériques tomorrow night, without even mentionning the acts playing the same place today, Saturday and Sunday - all organized by Pop Montreal, my ''direct competitor''.

Hmmm: also: I just noticed, while linking to Pop's website, that they too are plugging my show(s) - with a picture of me playing solo, too! And the pic is my former Facebook profile pic, where did they get it? I want to say ''thanks'', but too many questions are raised...

It's weird. I like to comment on the news, but now I am the news. I guess Michael Jackson really is dead.

UnPop Montréal 2009

Well, it's official: UnPop Montréal 2009 will take place, starting August 24th, hopefully until September 15th - I really like partying on my birthday, and beyond.

All shows, as usual, will be free for the public to attend.

The start-off show will be held at Soundcentral, an independent record shop situated at the corner of Coloniale and Mont-Royal, and will feature myself, Sébastian Hell, and Small Wars - UnPop founder Nate Munn's acousti-punk alter-ego.

The most massive show will be an outdoors extravaganza on St-Laurent street, Friday, August 28th, from 4PM to 10PM, during the street fair - a collaboration with our nemesis Pop Montreal (as in 2006, we've given peace a chance, more specifically, the chance to play outdoors to a bunch of people). And it'll rock onwards and upwards from there.

Some shows are still being booked as we speak, some bands have yet to confirm, but this year, Year 5, looks to not only be a good yet, but possibly the best yet.