Harvest of
hot sounds

>> The Montreal music scene offers a bumper
crop of great shows and parties this fall

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

The Montreal music fan’s autumn agenda is packed from the get-go, what with a whole bunch of great shows and parties this week alone. Toronto’s king of high-end crossover, K-OS, gets Club Soda in order on Friday, Sept. 14, while Saturday night sees Brazilian pop princess Bebel Gilberto at le National, the venerable Rush at the Bell Centre and drum & bass heavyweights Calyx & TeeBee at the new club on the Main, Coda. Sunday, Sept. 16, the same venue hosts two dudes familiar to fans of M.I.A., DJs Diplo and Switch, for what’s bound to be a night of bangers with international scope.

Speaking of Diplo, his Brazilian baile funk discovery Bonde Do Role, along with freak-rapper Juiceboxxx, are at la Sala Rossa on Sept. 19, the same night that Beastie Boys deliver a relatively intimate instrumental show at Metropolis. The following night, rap’s original Great White Dopes do a full show at Bell Centre (Montreal’s Chromeo open both). Nick Catchdubs can be caught catching dubs at Coda that night too. Sept. 20’s also sweet for ska fans, with Chris Murray, One Night Band and punky-reggae rudies Trip the Off at Petit Campus. Somewhat heavier is the bill of Cradle of Filth and Taiwanese black metallists Chthonic at Metropolis that night, or alternately, locals We Are Wolves launching their new CD Total Magique at le National.

The most obvious call for Sept. 21 is Björk down at the Old Port (fireworks again, please?), though that night also sees the Music Is the Weapon awareness-raiser at la Sala Rossa, overseen by Canadian Friends of Sudan, with Ottawa’s Kobo Town and Souljazz Orchestra, and also locals Constantinople welcoming special guest Homayoun Sakhi, an Afghan virtuoso on the rubab, at Salle Pierre-Mercure.

Local roots-music guru Michael Jerome Brown launches his new double live disc at Lambi on Sept. 22, same night psych-folk weird beard Devendra Banhart’s at le National. That venue hosts Norwegian nutjobs Turbonegro on Sept. 23, with Mondo Generator (featuring former Queens of the Stone Age caveman Nick Oliveri—note that QOTSA are at Metropolis on Oct. 16), though fans of Scandinavian heaviosity will be torn between that and the evil Finntroll at Club Soda the same night, which also sees Sicilian alt-chanteuse Carmen Consoli at la Tulipe and racket-raisers Videohippos and Brother Hong Kong at Divan Orange.

Pop and circumstances

Monday, Sept. 24, is a busy one, with Akon smacking this that and the other thing at the Bell Centre, in the company of Rihanna. Tampa’s electro-rap trio Yo Majesty rampage across the Lambi stage that night, while Cinematic Orchestra roll ’em at Club Soda. Suzanne Vega’s got a sit-down show at la Tulipe on Sept. 25, and Iron & Wine do the same at Metropolis the next night, which also sees Soulive at le National, Andrew Bird at la Tulipe and the bumbaclot blues of one-weirdo-band Bob Log III at la Sala Rossa.

Old-tyme synth-popper Thomas Dolby blinds us with science (and surprises us with a jazz horn section) at Café Campus on Sept. 27, the Hot Springs hold their official CD launch, with guests Miracle Fortress, at le National on Sept. 28 (same night the U.K.’s Sinden and Product01 join Jordan Dare and the Peer Pressure DJs at SAT), and Bat for Lashes and guests the Brunettes are at Petit Campus on Sept. 29. On Sept. 30, Piknic Électronik wraps up its 2008 season at Parc Jean-Drapeau with a Ninja Tune blowout featuring Sixtoo, the Bug and more.

The next week sees the Pop Montreal festival floodgates open and, for five days, far too much good live music pour into town. Patti Smith and Pere Ubu, Hot Hot Heat and Eric’s Trip, Caribou and Optimo, Bun B and Buck 65—the list is a long one, and full of neat surprises.

The same stretch of early October also sees the Black & Blue weekend, with the main event at the Big O boasting Peter Rauhofer and Mark Anthony (not to be confused with Latino loverboy Marc Anthony, who shares the Bell Centre stage with Jennifer Lopez on Oct. 12).

Outside of those two mega-events, you can catch Jamaica’s Elephant Man (he is not an animal!) at Red-Lite on Oct. 4, same night as the acoustic set from Zimbabwean star Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi and his band the Black Spirits at Kola Note. Oct. 6 has Italian icon Zucchero and guest Giorgia Fumanti at le Monument National, while Matthew Good goes the solo acoustic route at Club Soda on Sept. 9. The night after, the same hall hosts the lunacy of gypsy-punk posse Gogol Bordello.

Shout it out

Oct. 11, les Breastfeeders join bong-rockers Nebula at la Tulipe, while Elliott Brood and the Acorn are at Casa del Popolo. Friday, Oct. 12 belongs to Omnikom and numéro# at Club Soda, but it’s Saturday, Oct. 13, that’ll generate headaches—you’ve got punk-funk trance commanders !!! at le Studio and Digitalism at Club Soda, White Cowbell Oklahoma at Petit Campus and High on Fire, Coliseum, Mono and Panthers at les Saints, Rock Plaza Central at Casa del Popolo and Old Time Relijun with AIDS Wolf at Divan Orange. Decisions, decisions! Sunday night, though, check out the dazzling song and dance of Cuban folk troupe

Yoruba Andabo at Club Soda. That same night, Montreal’s Chris Burns celebrates a quarter-century of wound-up, wigged-out rock ’n’ roll racket-making at la Sala Rossa, reuniting many of his bands, including Slaphappy 5 and the loopy, long-lost Terminal Sunglasses.

The heir to Daft Punk’s French dance-music crown is Justice, laying down the law at Metropolis on Oct. 19—keep the dirty dancing going the night after with Shout Out Out Out Out at Cabaret (don’t mix that up with the Shout Out Louds, same venue, Oct. 23), or go for sheer synth-pop iciness with She Wants Revenge at le National. Of course, there’s always David Usher at Metropolis that night.

Indie darlings Spoon are at le National on Oct. 16 with the Ponys, while New Zealand’s Architecture in Helsinki play an early show at la Tulipe on Oct. 19, leaving time to catch Do Make Say Think at le National. Oct. 21 has Tori Amos getting real classy at Place des Arts, same night that Enon and the Octopus Project are at la Sala Rossa. Oct. 22 has the New Pornographers getting smutty at le National, while Oct. 24 is just too heavy—the mighty Jesu is at la Sala Rossa with Tim Hecker, Unearth shake the Earth at le National and FEED unleash their seizure-inducing audio-visual overload at Usine C.

PUTTING THE “G” IN MAGICK:
Genesis P-Orridge of Psychic TV

Psychic predictions

Eleni Mandell launches a French-language seven-inch at la Tulipe on Oct. 25, while breathing space will be limited when

Suffocation hit Club Soda with Immolation and Skinless on Oct. 26. Rogue Wave are at Cabaret on Oct. 27, same night the

Figurines are at Club Lambi. Pantera’s Phil Anselmo brings his new bag Down to Metropolis on Oct. 28.

Neo-disco don Felix da Housecat is at SAT on Nov. 1, the same night Montreal’s Ghislain Poirier launches his Ninja Tune debut No Ground Under at la Tulipe. Do the math on Nov. 2: Sum 41 at Metropolis with Finger Eleven, or Weakerthans at le National? That same venue hosts Icelandic gnomes mùm on Nov. 3 at le National, and Boys Like Girls and the Academy Is… on Nov. 7 and 8, respectively.

My Brightest Diamond shines on Nov. 8 at la Sala Rossa, to which DJ Vadim brings a little love from Russia on Nov. 10. That night also has no less than a reunited Van Halen at the Bell Centre, with Diamond Dave himself, David Lee Roth, back in action (goodbye, Hagar the Horrible!). The top-shelf soul revue of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings is at la Tulipe on Nov. 11, the same night Battles fight the good fight at le National, while Nov. 12 witnesses a one-night return visit by the Police at the Bell Centre.

The rescheduled visit from madman Genesis P-Orridge and his magickal mindbenders

Psychic TV is at les Saints on Nov. 16, while Nov. 23 offers Jethro Tull at Place des Arts—standing (on one leg) room only!—as well as Saharan blues-rockers Tinariwen with Mamadou Diabate at Club Soda, and Senegalese superstar Youssou N’Dour and his band Super Étoile de Dakar at Olympia, showcasing their latest album, Alsaama Day. Jazz pianist Michael Kaeshammer is at Club Soda on Nov. 27, the same venue that has Xavier Caféïne on Nov. 30—and if you’ve made it to a fraction of the shows listed above, you’re probably well acquainted with his invigourating namesake.

ERUPTING: Van Halen