POP Picks
The Link’s Editors Pick Their Must-Sees
You’ll Dance to Anything
I’m into the idea behind You’ll Dance to Anything. What makes an object resonate? What makes it unique? For those skeptics that enjoy seeing everyday objects as intrinsically symbolized by their cultural environment, You’ll Dance to Anything will help you assign new meanings to what we often take for granted.
—Paku Daoust-Cloutier,
Graphics Editor
You’ll Dance to Anything / Quartier POP (3550 St. Urbain) / Sept. 19 to 23 / 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Yukon Blonde
Yukon Blonde is from Kelowna, BC, a sort of uncool town in Western Canada. I’m from a nearby uncool town (Surrey, BC) with a lot more meth users per capita (so clearly I’m the authority on this). They’re garage-y and northwestern (Yukon Blonde, not the meth users) and kind of like if every band from Seattle went camping a few more times a year and smoked 10 per cent more pot. Go see them.
—Katie McGroarty,
Fringe Arts Editor
Yukon Blonde + Elephant Stone + Cobra & Vulture + Bredrins / Sept. 19 / Divan Orange (4234 St. Laurent Blvd.) / 8:30 p.m.
Peaches DJ Extravaganza
The Peaches DJ Extravaganza promises to get you balls-deep in some frighteningly sexual electronic beats. The show promises copious amounts of glitter and sweat, so you’ll most likely be taking a not-so-environmentally-friendly number of post-extravaganza showers. If you’re a fan of fucking the pain away then this is the POP event that will surely get your body shaking.
—Hilary Sinclair,
Managing Editor
Peaches DJ Extravaganza + Venus X + The World Provider / Église POP Little Burgundy (5035 St. Dominique) / Sept. 20 / 11:30 p.m.
METZ
If you’re looking for dirty, sweaty punk ‘n’ roll, then you better be at the METZ show.
Catch them at POP’s converted community centre venue on Rachel at St. Urbain and get your dose of loud, aggressive music to offset all the spacey, synthy stuff you’re bound to hear at POP this year.
—Colin Harris,
Coordinating Editor
METZ / Mission Santa Cruz (60 Rachel St. W.) / Sept. 20 / 11:00 p.m
Lil B
At some point The New Yorker, and The New York Times decided Lil B’s rap—which usually features abrasive beats and intermittent calls of “Swag!” or “Whoop!”—was some kind of transcendent beat-poetesque genius. Even if you’re uncertain about the merit of verses like “Put me on the couches/Interview my girlfriend/Swag, swag, swag, swag/Brang-dang-dang your girlfriend,” his show is sure to be a bass-driven romp the likes of which you have never experienced.
—Sam Slotnick,
Community Editor
Lil B + Lunice + Cadence Weapon (DJ Set) / Sept. 21 / Club Soda (1225 St. Laurent Blvd.) / 9:00 p.m.
Shut Up and Eat Your Ballads
How does an evening of Tom Waits reimaginings recorded live to tape through the same console that recorded the legendary sounds of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” sound? Leif Vollebekk and his fantastic friends wanna pull on your coat with this intimate, one-of-a-kind performance. So grab a drink and saunter north of the railroad tracks Saturday night for what’s bound to be one hell of a show.
—Corey Pool,
News Editor
Shut Up and Eat Your Ballads: Leif Vollebekk & Friends / Sept. 22 / Breakglass Studios (7250 Clark St.) / 10:00 p.m.
Yamantaka // Sonic Titan: Opera 33
Concordia art grads turned musicians created this send-up of club culture, mixing Noh wave with Japanese opera. Inspired by surrealist performance art and spectacle, the media experiment revolves around warring drag queens. The stage is set with them lip-synching to the live music by YT//ST. The rock opera promises to be absurdist and macabre at the same time.
—Elysha del Giusto-Enos,
Fringe Online Editor
Yamantaka // Sonic Titan: Opera 33 / Sept. 21 / Rialto Theatre (5723 Parc Ave.) / 9:00 p.m
The Besnard Lakes
Though they haven’t released new material in two and a half years, locals The Besnard Lakes’ two most recent albums are gems of spacious, carrying sound, as the group’s vocalists, Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas, guide the listener through the rhythm section’s, well, roaring night. That these guys haven’t achieved the Arcade Fire’s fame is criminal. The singers are married to each other! I mean, come on.
—Alex Manley,
Copy Editor
Besnard Lakes / Sept. 21 / Breakglass Studios (7250 Clark St.) / 10:00 p.m.
Chilly Gonzales
¬ If I could domesticate Chilly Gonzales’ hands and take them home with me, I would have them serenade me all day with their immaculate piano-playing. This one-man army fuses classical music with the best white-boy rapping since that short dude from 8 Mile. Go, or we aren’t friends anymore.
—Andrew Brennan,
Assistant News Editor
Chilly Gonzales: piano Vision + Kyrie Kristmanson / Sept. 22 / L’Olympia (1004 Ste. Catherine St. E.) / 8:00 p.m.
Puces POP
For those not cool enough to recognize any of the other names on this page, Puces POP is your answer. Impress your hipster friends with some awesome handmade swag picked up at this local craft fair/marketplace. Find some sweet prints for your probably bland kitchen or grab a one-of-a-kind bracelet from a Montreal-based designer. And don’t worry—all transactions are completed in Canadian currency, not street cred.
—Julia Wolfe,
Editor-in-Chief
