by JOHNSON CUMMINS

Dan Seligman - what a sell-out, right? In case the name doesn't ring a bell, he's the head honcho from Pop Montreal who's been quoted in all of those glossy rags about the supposed "Montreal music scene." He poses as this guy who's down with the underground scene, but when you see him, he's all like, "Hey, check me out with my badass kimono," and "Hey man, are you down with the Biffer?" (hipster talk for Bif Naked's last joint) or "Dude, you have to check out tantric sex, it's the bomb."

Wotta douche, right? I mean this total fruit is as completely so(u)l-d out as the past couple of years of Vice magazine. What happened to music for the people, with no entry charges? What happened to giving developing new bands a break? What happened to music coming up from the streets?

Well, have no fear, my backpacked myopic, my space brethren, because there is a solution, fighting the good fight against Seligman, Hitler, Karla Homolka and other evil-doing motherfuckers. Music for the people is back and happening this weekend courtesy of Ampkiller's Unpopular Montreal festival. Some of the highlights will be Michal Seta, Gyroscope and Monroe at the Green Room tonight, Thursday, Aug. 25, and Golden Feraille, Deadbush and Channel 2 at the Green Room on Friday, Aug. 26. Pelvic Thrust, Raw Madonna (funny cover of Radiohead's "Creep") and New Suicide are at the Main Hall on Friday as well, and Luca Fantagrossi, Lisa Hoffman, Kensington Square and Pattern Is Movement are at Green Room on Sunday, Aug. 28, as well as Ghettonuns, Infinite Moksha, the Real Deal and the Shifters at Foufs, also on Sunday. Best of all, the shows are absolutely mothafuggin' free! Takin' it to the streets! And to all you people asking, "Who the fuck are these bands?", congratulations, you are already "the man's" right-hand man.

In other festival news, the Montreal punk fest is being organized by the people at Fight the Mentality records this Saturday, Aug. 27, with 13 local bands, BMX and a BBQ at the indoor bike park in Ville Émard. The show starts at noon and ends at 11 p.m.

New cool bar in town Zoobizarre plays host to a rock 'n' roll weekend when BBQ and Demon's Claws play there on Friday, Aug. 26 with Boston's Turpentine Bros. and Mind Controls (members of BBQ, Demon's Claws and First Times) book-ending it on Saturday, Aug. 27. Don't miss it, as BBQ and Demon's Claws start a U.S. tour after that and could probably use the loot. And if Turpentine Brothers' new CD is any indication (see record reviews), this will be one hell of a weekend.

Keeping the weekend going strong is Montreal blues-tinged rockers Starvin Hungry, who'll perform two sets at the Casa on Sunday. The first set, featuring the old chestnuts, will start around 10 p.m., and the second set will feature songs that are going to get thrown down on the next record. Yours truly will be DJing, so c'mon down and tell me how much I suck.

GET UP, AND GET YOUR GRANDMA OUT OF HERE jonathan.cummins@gmail.com

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