4/4 from the four corners

By JACK OATMON

Everything from flippant Scandinavian disco-pop to Baltimore garage techno, aggro West Coast electro, 8-bit hip hop and German house awaits you this week, so let’s hop right to it.

Tonight, check out fun and funky Norwegian outfit Casiokids who, as the name suggests, produce an innocent, stargazing synthpop sound, with disco-tempo 4/4 beats, energetic, catchy synth lines and live guitar, bass and percussion, as well as, thank goodness, lyrics in actual Norwegian. Euros not having the balls to sing in their native tongues has got to be one of my biggest musical pet peeves. Kudos. That’s tonight, Thursday, Aug. 6, at la Sala Rossa, with Slow Club and Wave Pictures.

The latest visitor to Montreal in the long line of fresh, dope, creative acts making Baltimore one of the most consistently exciting sources of indie electronics in recent memory, Ear PWR is a jangly, sing-along-worthy act, producing quick, saccharine bursts of throbbing bass, thumping breaks and silly choruses. They’ll be alongside the fuzzy, filtered and eclectic lo-fi pop offerings of South Carolina’s Toro Y Moi and locals Transport and CFCF. That should be a pretty sweet jam, going down this Friday at Zoobizarre.

Also Friday, if you drop by Vinyl, you’ll get a chance to check out some LSDJ Gameboy beats from 8-bit artist Battle Lava, and also the debut performance of Commodore84 and ALEX_one, a stripped-down digital synthpop duo with hip hop vocals, a style not unfamiliar to the Montreal scene. They take what Omnikrom and #numéro have done and add a slight chiptune sensibility.

Also this week, keep an ear out for aggressive, bloggy Vancouverite Felix Cartal, who appears at the SAT Friday night. And don’t forget about German funky tech house guy H.O.S.H., who hits Piknic Électronik on Sunday afternoon. n

WACK, JACK, SHACK UP, THEN RELAX, MAX… jack.oatmon@gmail.com