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Montreal Snapshot: Arianne Moffatt

Arianne Moffatt - Point de Mire

Arianne Moffatt - Follow Me (Remix)

So I know this is probably not your cup of tea, but bear with me.

So on Sunday night in Montreal, I wandered into Metropolis for what the Jazz fest organizers call the nightcap with electronic jam band Jedi Electro. I’m not the biggest fan of traditional electronic music, but I decided to roll through since it was free and I was craving a Johnnie Walker Red and Coke for some reason. After some initial hesitation at the start of the set, I decided to stick around, and I’m glad i did.

Because they killed it.

The shit was live. The setup consisted of beats from a Mac (of course) with live drums, bass guitar, as well as keyboards and Moog synthesizer playing over it, in true jam band style. I didn’ t have my camera so the description doesn’t do the audio justice. But the highlight of the whole night was seeing Montreal singer Arianne Moffatt warped, remixed, and sample her voice on the fly. It ranks as some of the flyest ish that I’ve ever seen. The whole time, our new friend Mike (aka “le redneck de Montréal”) was screaming into my ear…”you know that girl is famous!”

I didn’t know just how famous until I did a Google search a few days later and yeah….she’s a bonafied pop star in French Language circles, and its much deserved. So far she’s dropped 3 albums, which combine everything from rock electro, to reggae/dub, and everything else in between, with a shout out to old school trip-hop that runs through her whole catalog. Most of y’all know that I’ve been on this singer songwriter kick for a while, thanks to such females as Fiest and Lykki Li. Personally, if Ms. Moffatt sung entirely in English her name would be among that crowd.

I’m not advocating she make an English language album though, lest she lose her artistic integrity. Plus French just sounds too damn sexy.

myspace.com/arianemoffattmusique

Tags: Arianne Moffatt, Montreal

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Montreal Street Art/Graf

Montreal has some of the best graf in North America. Check it:

Tags: Montreal

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Dope Spot: Paul’s Boutique in Montreal

Paul’s Boutique is a dope store near Mount Royal in Montreal that specializes in rare and vintage vinyl and is simply a crate digger’s dream. The spot has a heavy focus on hip-hop, and they also have a large selection of old school 45s as well as mixtapes from local DJs and DVDs. The Beastie Boys hit this spot up when they’re in town as well (obviously). If you’re in the MTL, roll through and tell ‘em that you heard about them from The Couch Sessions.

Pauls Boutique
112 Mount-Royal E.

Tags: Montreal

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Performance: Public Enemy at Montreal Jazz Festival 2008

Public Enemy played It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back in order from beginning to end, with commentary in between.

It was like a live version of VH1 Storytellers with Chuck droppin’ such tidbits how Hank Shocklee at the last minute flipped the ordering of the songs of the cassette and played many songs for the first time live. And yeah, just like De La Soul, PE railed against the 20 minute sets that some hip-hop artists try to pass off as a live performance. Public Enemy went on for over 2 hours.

MORE PHOTOS AT THE FLICKR PHOTOSTREAM

Bonus: Flava Flav on the drums!

Flava Flav Drum Solo from Couch Sessions on Vimeo.

Tags: Montreal, Montreal Jazz Festival, Public Enemy

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Press Conference: Public Enemy at the Montreal Jazz Festival 2008

With Flava Flav in the building, we already knew that this would not be just any ordinary press conference.

Say what you want about the man, but the dude is living life to the fullest. I ran into Flav twice in Montreal and he’s keeps it real—he’s the same person that you see on TV, no matter if he’s in the bar, in the elevator, or at a press conference. Chuck D, on the other hand is the exact polar opposite of Flav. Yes, we know that already, but to see these two side by side only heightens their differences.

Chuck and Flav are like brothers, with Flav being his loud and rambunctious self going off topic more than once and giving off the wall answers for seemingly straight-forward questions, and Chuck being quiet and collective and overtly political. Even though there was reported tension when Flav started taping his Flavor of Love series on VH1. In 2006 when the series debuted, Chuck criticized Flav’s choice of action in 2006, but there is nothing but love on stage, with Chuck defending Flav and noting the fact that he invented his role as a hype man, as well as pointing out the diversity of the Public Enemy lineup.

However, the younger generation will never really know the social impact of Public Enemy. Questions like “how does Delicious taste?” and “how can I be a cameraman on Flavor of Love?” seem to be the norm now at Public Enemy pressers. Chuck, for his part, steered the conversation back to politics.

With Public Enemy being North of the Border, Chuck focused on Canadian issues. “United States, is the new Mexico,” Chuck declares as he rails on government border policies, and the difficulty that now exists to cross into Canada. In fact, Professor Griff couldn’t make it across the border to Montreal. Chuck also remarked that Canada might become the next superpower because of its large oil, natural gas, and water reserves in relevance to its sparse population.

Of course, with the possibility of the first Black president in our nations history, the media was anxious to hear Chuck D’s take on the election, and it was predictably dire: “You’re gonna see some shit that you ain’t never seen before. You’re gonna see some shit that you ain’t never heard before…sit back, pull up a chair and watch the greatest reality show in the world.” Flav lightened the mood though by talking about how Obama recalled to a journalist that he can never be as Black as Flava Flav. “The fact that I occupy space in that man’s brain is a blessing to me.”

Chuck is also sour on the current state of hip-hop. According to Chuck, the current generation of hip-hop has lost its focus by trying to get rich quick rather than developing the skill of MCing and DJing. He did big up Canadian artists such as K-OS and Kardinal Offishall as well as Much Music and Musique Plus (Canadian Music Video Channels), for promoting hip-hop artists who wouldn’t be given a chance on MTV.

Public Enemy is the self declared “Rolling Stone of hip-hop,” dropping 12 albums over their 25plus year career, and performing in over 67 countries. But do they fit today’s notion of popularity? Chuck got testy when a journalist called Public Enemy popular. “Popular? That’s news to me. I drove my 1997 Acura up here.”

Popular or not, Public Enemy are legends who should not be missed when they come through your town.

Tags: Montreal, Montreal Jazz Festival 2008, Public Enemy

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Review: De La Soul – Montreal Jazz Festival

So the drinking age in Quebec is 18. Add to that the fact that De La played at an all ages joint that is notorious for not carding. The result? I was surrounded by a bunch of drunk 17 year olds and I felt old as hell.

Having that said, the teens in that building could tell a certain 17 year old what real hip-hop is.

Starting off for De La was Montreal DJ Ghislain Poirier. Other than a few remixes he did, I wasn’t really up on his original music. To be honest, his set sounded real repetitive and bass heavy, and for a while I was going to give up and go to the bar. However, the party livened up, first when two MCs showed up, then when his dancers entered the stage and tried to one up each other in a booty shake contest.

Nothing gets a crowd hype like booty!

De La Soul

Let’s be honest, most hip-hop shows are wack. They show up late, play a 20 minute set, and fill the stage with every cousin and weed carrier known to man. But not De La. They ROCK the show.

De La Soul - Stakes Is High from Couch Sessions on Vimeo.

It’s hard to believe that De La has been in the game for 20 years, and even though these cats are “old” by hip-hop standards, they had more energy and fire than people half their age. Their longevity is rightly deserved, and they put every bit of energy they had into their performance, which lasted so long that they ran out of songs. And the crowd was one of the livest that I ever seen. Seriously, these dudes have been in business longer than most of these kids have lived, but there was such an appreciation for REAL HIP-HOP in the building that I almost shed a tear.

De La’s set skewed heavily toward their sorely unappreciated album The Grind Date which is one of the best hip-hop albums of 2004. Of course they did the hits, “Me Myself and I,” “Saturday,” and “Stakes is High”, but their hustle for an album that’s almost 4 years old shows their dedication to the game and their resistance to becoming just another washed up hip-hop hit parade.

FULL SET AT THE FLICKR PHOTOSTREAM

Tags: De La Soul, Montreal, Montreal Jazz Festival 2008

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Review: Stephanie McKay – Montreal International Jazz Festival

To be honest, Stephanie McKay was off my radar for the longest time. I remember her from that track that “Take Me Over” off her first album, which was solid. And I still keep confusing her with Alice Smith.

But that’s all under the bridge. Ms. McKay has taken me over. She really needs to be in the conversation when it comes this new generation of soul singers, because she has a voice and an attitude that rivals anybody that is out today.

I’m not going to front, I only know one of her songs, but she has managed to win over the me and the crowd with ease. McKay’s music is soulful and personal, and the songs from her new album, Tell It Like It Is has a political agenda and social consciousness that is lacking, because many soul artists are basically just trying write a song based off of a catchy hook.

McKay’s blend of soul, jazz, and even a little broken beat might be a tough sell for some, and her dive club feel could have fell flat in such a large venue. But in the end, Ms. McKay won over the crowd of 20,000 easily and effortlessly. Her performance gained her new fans, including yours truly.

Check Stephanie McKay out at her MySpace.

Tags: Montreal, Montreal Jazz Festival 2008, Stephanie McKay

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O Canada: Montreal AND Toronto

So I’ve made slight modifications to my Canada trip, extending it by three days, thereby contributing more of my slowly dwindling funds to y’all Canadian economy. One of my good friends moved to Toronto a few weeks ago, so I figured I would hit him up while I’m “in the neighbourhood,” so to speak. Here’s the agenda:

Montreal: June 27th - July 1st
Toronto: July 1st - July 4th

I’ll be checking the Alice Russell, Public Enemy, and De La Soul shows in Montreal, and gettin’ up with my homeboy Dennis for some debauchery. Anyway, hit me up if you’re in one of the cities above, and we can share some beers and terrorist fist bumps.

Tags: Canada, Montreal, Toronto

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Negroclash!

Montreal

So yeah, most of y’all know that I love traveling.

After I turned 21 I told myself that I need to get out of the city at least once a year to stay sane. In 2008 I had a tough internal decision: go back to London or pick a new city for debauchery. An associate that I know invited me to Montreal to cover Jazz Fest, and naturally, I was in.

See, for some reason I’ve had this itching to get to Montreal. I don’t know why, but the city has been on my hotlist for a hot minute now. Reading Dallas Penn’s blogs about his trip didn’t help.

So yeah, Jazz Fest is supposedly off the chain, and the tickets are already booked. Of course this is all dependent on if my passport situation works out (nothing major, I just got to get a new one within 3 weeks). Only problem is that this is the first time I’m going to be in a city and not know anybody. And although I’m meeting people at Jazz Fest, for the most part I’m going to be roaming the streets by myself. If you are reading this and reside in the Montreal area PLEASE hit me up. I know nothing bout the city and can’t speak a lick of French. I’m reaching out to all my Canadian readers, all two of y’all, to help me on this.

I might be podcasting, trying to highlight the culture and scene of Montreal, but its highly unlikely. First and formost this is a vacation/musical experience.

As for jazz fest, I booked tickets to the De La Soul/Ghislain Poirier show on Saturday, June 28th, the Public Enemy show on Monday, June 30th, and for UK blue eyed soul singer Alice Russell’s show on Friday June 27th. I will keep y’all posted on updates.

Tags: Alice Russell, De La Soul, Ghislain Poirier, Jazz Fest, Montreal, Public Enemy

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