Fad attitude

by JACK OATMON

You may recall a small profile of an unusual new record store that appeared in the Mirror a few weeks ago. Well, if exhaustive stacks of wax and stompin’ dubwise all-nighters weren’t enough, the good folks at Death of Vinyl have another electric trick up their multitasking sleeves. These collaborative gurus have a cinematographic arm called Volatile Works, which will be showcasing live, manipulated videography and gems from their previous efforts as well as a DJ set by crate-digging bass junkie Chet Edwards. The event will feature music by the Practice of Joy Before Death, Annabelle Chvostek and Anna Friz. That’s at Cinémathèque Québécoise, starting at 7 p.m. this Friday, Nov. 23, and it’s certifiably not-to-be-missed. You can almost taste the abstract and altruistic deviance.

It being certainly no secret that I bear a perennial affection towards alienated digital approximations of early punk and self-indulgent lo-fi krautrock, I can’t help but recommend you stop by Zoobizarre tonight, Thursday, Nov. 22, for Vancouver’s Primes. Think Kraftwerk on barbiturates, masochistic art-school angularity, new wave with a vendetta—you get the picture. They’re slated alongside kindred creeps Ghettonuns, Paul Keeley and DJ Kozz. Come wearing bloodcurdling disdain and a touch of eyeliner.

On a lighter note, Toronto and the Internet’s shared love of uplifting pop that is somehow simultaneously accessible and a tad bit pretentious will bring us a taste of the Russian Futurists on Friday at Lambi. It’s actually one dude, and he’s more “Back in the USSR” than Mikhail Gorbachev, but the beats are big, the choruses are thermal flannel, and the mood should be just right for a chilly evening.

While you run the risk of having some of your friends flippantly and dismissively stating that they’ve “already seen that a few times” and declaring it “okay, I guess,” it probably remains in your best interest to catch hypesters M.I.A. and the Cool Kids at Metropolis on Monday night (provided you already snagged tickets—it’s sold out). Or you could just not go and, any time anyone brings it up, you ambiguously snap, “What do you think?” and then change the topic of conversation. That way, you’ve saved 30 bucks and can avoid squandering precious indie cred. Just kiddin’! It’ll be dope.

Lastly, I just recently caught wind of a couple of fantastic new albums, which I will now duly expound upon. For sanguine party jams overloaded with filters and idiotically catchy synth lines, the wise will note that Kitsuné poster boy Shinichi Osawa has recently released a disco masterpiece narcissistically entitled The One, with guests including Au Revoir Simone and Freeform Five, amongst others. Also, Australia’s ballistic new wave supremacy streak continues as Theatre of Disco release a self-titled EP of giddily clever glitch pop and cockeyed genre-jumbling. You wanna hear monolithic windbags Jay-Z and Liam Gallagher reduced to gibberish overtop tweaked-out electrofunk? Lend an ear to the jam “KWIK Allstars.” Sooooo dope.

Somebody book a Modular showcase already!
jack.oatmon@gmail.com