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Art, film and of course music galore at the
eighth Pop Montreal festival

ON THE RISE: P-Star

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

This coming Wednesday, Sept. 30, sees the kickoff of the eighth edition of what’s become one of the most notable music-and-more festivals in North America, if not the world. Pop Montreal, again easing the transition into the colder months with a frenzy of activity at the beginning of October, is spread throughout even more bars, clubs, boutiques and cultural centres—almost 50 venues this year—including an important addition to the Pop map, Espace Réunion, a former flour factory on Hutchison just north of the tracks.

Espace Réunion is the locale for several components of the fest. There’s the Symposium, which means music-related keynote speakers, hands-on workshops and panel discussions; some of Film Pop’s programming, including Sufjan Steven’s 40-minute ode to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, preceded by Goblin Market, a spooky-forest fairy tale shot by the Sanchez Bros. and directed by intrepid fruit hunter and bon vivant Adam Leith Gollner; a Puces Pop fashion show pimping the sartorial efforts of indie designers; and various and sundry Art Pop installations, gimcracks and geegaws.

MAYHEM FROM MEMPHIS: Jay Reatard

DROP IN, DANCE OFF
The actual concerts at Pop this year of course number in the dozens, the bands and acts in the hundreds. Here’s a couple of worthy picks for opening night, Sept. 30. At Club Lambi, you can catch adorable duo Matt & Kim, and preceding them, their fellow Brooklynites, hipster hoppers Ninjasonik. At la Sala Rossa, meanwhile, Memphis post-garage macher Jay Reatard headlines a gig with Box Elders, Hunx & His Punx, Nobunny and Useless Eaters.

The fun continues on Oct. 1, when at Green Room at midnight, following sets by Nightwood, Dog Day and Cotton Mouth, you can bust out your best moves for the Soul Clap Dance-Off, with DJ Jonathan Toubin of the zine/label New York Night Train breaking out his funkiest 45s, and the dancefloor dominated by Ian Svenonius of the Make-Up and Chain & the Gang (the latter play Club Lambi the following night, Oct. 2)

The same night sees pioneering female rapper Roxanne Shanté, a contemporary of Biz Markie and Marley Marl, headlining a gig with local ladies-of-rap supergroup Mother Gang and b-girl extraordinaire Princess Leah Poppins at Club Lambi. Shanté also sits in for a discussion with Roxanne “Donzelle” Arsenault at Espace Réunion on Oct. 2.

GROOVES ON THE MOVE
Later on Oct. 2, at la Tulipe, Montreal’s wizard of the wheels of steel, Kid Koala, joins his pal Dynomite D and the rhythm section of Wolfmother for a presentation of the Slew, their project that sprang from an aborted film soundtrack. This is your one chance to catch what promises to be a pretty amazing and unexpected experience.

Another local to count on for a cool and original take on what hip hop can be is Poirier, whose now-defunct Bounce le Gros nights will be missed—no tears, please, he’s back with a new night at Club Soda called Karnival. The inaugural edition of this steamy session of slamming tropical tunes, with guests Dub Boy and Paul Devro, goes off at Club Soda on Oct. 3

Alternatively that night, Studio Juste pour rire hosts the Tremendous Records showcase, with the new label’s godfathers, Team Canada DJs, spinning between sets by cut-disco reprobates aRTIST oF tHE yEAR, delicious Toronto electropoppers Love & Electrik and the big-time Danish synth-gazers SMALL.

PLUG IT IN: Love & Electrik

RUGRAT RACKET
Fans of krautrock will reserve most of Oct. 3 for Faust, who fit in alongside Can, Neu, Harmonia and Cluster in the vintage German art-rock pantheon. Preceding their gig at the Ukrainian Federation with Black Feelings, they’ll be at Espace Réunion in the afternoon for a bring-your-own-instrument krautrock workshop, culminating in a mega-jam with the band themselves.

At the same space on Sunday, Oct. 4, David Beaulieu and Christian Pelletier talk about the giganto-normous “room-sized” Theremin they’ve installed there for the duration of the fest. No dainty fingerwork here, this thing spews out mega-wee-oo to match your drunken stumbling.

Over at Parc Jean-Drapeau, meanwhile, the arrival of fall hasn’t deterred the Piknic Électronik team from throwing an afternoon bash with undead dance-jam duo Zombie Disco Squad, Mike Simonetti (founder of the hot Italians Do It Better label) and Valeo.

Also that afternoon is a whopper of an event for tots, tykes and ankle-biters. The Kids Pop Purple Party, at Metropolis from 1 p.m. to supper time, is free at the door and it’s hosted by the obnoxiously nice and likeable Martin Cesar of Dishwasher and Think About Life fame. On the menu are sets by precocious teen rapper P-Star (P-Star Rising, a doc about the youthful MC, workout-DVD impresario and star of the new version of Electric Company, screens at Film Pop this year, btw) as well as Socalled, who will no doubt insist on performing some of his questionable “magic tricks” for the little ones, numéro#, Denmark’s the William Blakes, DJs SHAYdakiss and DL Jones of plucky party providers Peer Pressure, and a live-band karaoke session. The thing wraps up with an all-in jam session guaranteeing a hideous kiddie cacophony. Yay!

FOR MORE INFO, GO TO
POPMONTREAL.COM