Unpopping your cherry

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

Montreal is without a doubt a full-fledged music festival city, with everything from this week’s Osheaga to next month’s Pop Montreal taking up space on our calendars. One of the best up and comers is the Unpop festival, which gathers the mongrel runts that have been left out in the cold by other local fests and lets them know they’re indeed loved too. Flying in the face of the aforementioned festivals, Unpop returns with 40 bands that have all been waved administrative fees, are usually accepted without questions and yet again have managed to sidestep any outside sponsorship. Initially organized by Nate Munn of Ghettonuns, the reins of Unpop have been passed this year to Sebastian Hell, who will continue to resist genre-fication while presenting all of the shows free.

Although Unpop is already underway, you can play catch-up on Friday night and see the sombre electro/indie pop of Pax Nipponica, the indie croon of Shot While Hunting, potty-mouthed brats

Launie Anderssohn and the ’70s-styled boogie rock of Bullmoose at Quai des Brumes. On Saturday, you better check some of the hipper message boards to find the location for the acoustic Belleisle show that will be happening in an undisclosed park. The location will be announced last minute as to hopefully sidestep any buzzkills from the fuzz. On Sunday, you can head down to l’Absynthe to check out the dark pop of On Bodies, the folksy Will Austin Escape, the gentle acoustic strum of the Shane Watt Band and the Ideal Lovers. On Monday, Unpop digs into the roots with a jazz and blues night at Playhouse, with the Chicago jump blues of Richard Carr, les Jazz Bins and the upright bass and acoustic guitar of Okanogan Valley transplants OK Giraffe. More Unpop shows are scheduled for next week, so keep your eyes glued here.

Off the festival track, there is still a lot going on around town. Tonight, Sept. 6, at l’Escogriffe, you can check out the garage sounds of thee B Sides with the Captains. For what proves to be some fine improv, you can check out Sam Shalabi and Chris Burns in Crib Death of the Uncool, with openers le Sentier Lumineux, at Cagibi. Also happening tonight, at Sala Rossa, is the rockabilly freak-out of the Cockroaches, Bharath and His Rhythm Four, Rockabilly Filly, Hellbound Hellcats, Misfortune and DJ Choyce providing the wax.

The real do-not-miss show this week, happening outside of Unpop and Osheaga, would be Bill Callahan who, after 10 years of playing under the name Smog, is finally using his own name. Although Callahan should prove to be nothing short of stellar, show up early to catch his Drag City labelmate Sir Richard Bishop, one of the main players in the noise/psych/improv scene. Bishop provided the guitar for the highly influential Sun City Girls but proves to be just as lethal as a solo artist. His instrumental record Polytheistic Fragments (out Sept.25) is equal parts composition and improvisation, and dazzles with the virtuoso flourishes of Django Reinhardt, East Indian ragas and healthy doses of Merle Travis picking squeezed in at the most unpredictable moments. Catch this show on Sunday night at la Sala Rossa.

DJ NOT FOR SALE…Jonathan.cummins@gmail.com