Quebec’s got soul

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

Before I hip you to the hep shows happening this week, let me first pluck out this little gem for the people that are peeping this through their computer machines. The fine folks at Vente de Garage have just released their 15th podcast and it’s a doozy. This time around, it’s Part 2 in their series featuring the best of Quebec’s early blue-eyed soul. The U.K.’s Northern soul scene usually grabs the majority of the spotlight when it comes to this era, but it seems like a crime that dusty soul sides from Quebec bands like les Sultans, les Classels and Tony Roman aren’t considered heavy contenders. DJs Sweet Melo and Pate hunt down the best nuggets from this bygone era and perfectly flesh out the Quebec soul and funk scene of the ’60s for an incredible hour of music that is guaranteed to have you shakin’ it like a bowl of soup. So call in sick for work, take the phone off the hook and check it out, and grab their 14 other episodes at

ventedegaragepodcast.blogspot.com while you’re there.

The Punkus week starts off with a bang when Nomeansno’s alter egos Hanson Brothers merge their Ramones-style three-chord punk rock with the joys of old-tyme hockey at Il Motore tonight. Hanson Brothers always come out swingin’ (and droolin’) live, and guaranteeing a full evening of debauchery are openers Potty Umbrella.

On Friday, you can check out riff-slingers Barn Burner, who get off the beaten path and sneak their PBR king cans into Fat’s Pub (1638 Ste-Catherine W.) and best of all, it’s free. Still on the rock tip, you can check out the noise/rock/punk of Desert Owls on Friday night with the punk rock of Shortpants Romance at the always fab Barfly.

On Saturday night, witness the return from their tour of the United Steel Workers of Montreal at Petit Campus. Lending a hand in the welcoming committee is none other than their birds of a feather, the Unsettlers, while current blog darlings from Vancouver Ladyhawk shake the walls of Divan Orange on Saturday night with Great Bloomers and Parlovr. For the noiseniks, la Brique once again hosts a night of dementia and decibels on Saturday with Thrashed Genes, Panopticon Eyelids, Thames and Wasted Nymph.

The perfect weekend is capped off on Sunday when folk legend Tom Paxton plays the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall with Katie Moore. Paxton is one of the last folk troubadours from the mid-’60s Greenwich Village scene still touring, with high praise coming from none other than heavyweights like Pete Seeger and Willie Nelson, so this should prove to be a truly rare and special night.

Also on Sunday, at the Green Room, is Paradigm Shit (!) with guitar/drums duo T’assles, a special screening of Half Japanese’s Live in Hell macro-video and a rock ’n’ roll dance party taking you right to last call. Sam Shalabi proves himself one of the busiest people in town on Sunday night when he plays/conducts classical Arabic, noise and Western pop, country and rock with a 19-piece ensemble called Egyptian Light Orchestra at la Sala Rossa. Wrapping up the Punkus week is the phonetically-driven hyper noise rock of Baltimore’s Ponytail with Golden Isles and Ultrathin, also at la Sala Rossa.

I KNOW YOU GOT SOUL—IF YOU DIDN’T, YOU WOULDN’T
BE IN HERE.
JONATHAN.CUMMINS@GMAIL.COM