Live Review: Tales of the Uncanny: Do Make Say Think, Owen Pallet, and Robert Lippok (Luminato Fesitval)

My friend contacted me a day before the show telling me he was going to be in town. I inquired what the occasion was, and he said that Do Make Say Think were playing a free show at Dundas Square in Toronto. I wasn't keeping track of the Luminato Festival going on at the square so this came as a surprise to me, but I knew I had to go. The more I read into it the better it got. Owen Pallet was joining them along with Robert Lippok, a german electronic artist, and they were performing a soundtrack for a 1919 horror film: Tales of the Uncanny.

The day came and a group assembled to walk a few blocks to Dundas Square. We got there about 5 minutes before the show, and the rain was starting again. Umbrellas were being raised and unfolded as the band filed out on stage. The film began and enormous thick distorted beats and sounds erupted from the speakers. Slowly, Do Make Say Think and Owen Pallet began to join in creating a deeper sense of mounting fear. As the section of the film was reaching it's climax, the music was rising along with it. The rain began to beat down harder as the sounds emanating from the enormous speakers grew more intense. This was truly a beautiful moment.

The rest of the show followed this pattern, as each of the many stories of Tales of the Uncanny unfolded one of the three artists would take the foreground. Owen Pallet had an entire section to himself of intricate and beautiful violin loops. At the height of the climax, Mr. Pallet stood up and ripped at his violin like a mad man. Robert Lippok wove drones of sound with deep booms of kick drum, shaking the audience to the core.

The film itself was a series of stories written by many authors, that horror story characters in a bookstore were telling to eachother. I couldn't see myself being interested in the film if it wasn't accompanied by these three incredible artists, but with the music and the cold rain, I was utterly enthraled.

We left Dundas Square at around 11:00, some of us utterly drenched, some us slightly moistened, all us of astounded, and most of us pissed off at the lady who decided to step infront of us and text on her iPhone blocking our view and pouring water on our shoes.

-Lucas Thurston

Song of the Day #6: I Luv The Valley OH!

I was schooling my friend in Xiu Xiu.
I played her this song and she fell in love with it, and I remembered how much I love this band.



-Lucas Thurston

Song of the Day #5: Art Brut - Modern Art

Art history class.
Vasily Kandinsky.
Modern art really just makes me want to rock out.
Art Brut knows how to rock out.
Plain and simple.



-Lucas Thurston

Song of the Day #2: Phoenix - 1901

Phoenix has been one of my favourite bands since grade 8. Yes, I have been listening to them for that long. They've changed over the course of their past 3 albums, slowly taking a more indie rock based feel, distancing themselves from their electronica beginnings. Their newest album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is a blend of the two genres they've played in. Just listen and enjoy.

-Lucas Thurston

Song of the Day #1: School of Seven Bells - Half Asleep

Here's a little something I am going to try out for a bit. We'll see how long this lasts.

School of Seven Bells is a relatively new group hailing from Brooklyn. To be honest the first time I heard this band was one of the mixtapes created for one of the characters in Octopus Pie (check it out too). This song continues to blow me away with how accessible it is, but at the same time how complex it is also. "Half Asleep" is expansive at times, huge thundering drums and incredible synth and guitar lines, while it also has quieter moments letting the two part harmonies shine. All and all, I am completely enamoured with this song and I want everyone else to be too. So there.



-Lucas Thurston

Music Review: Merriweather Post Pavillion - Animal Collective

I'll say it right now. I am in love with Animal Collective. So far, by any of the changes they've made in their music, I have yet to be alienated. I admit though, "Winter Wonderland" from Strawberry Jam did have me worried. I mean it sounded just as weird as the Animal Collective I have grown to love, but there was something a little too poppy about it. That being said, Merriweather Post Pavillion has some of the best "pop songs" that have been written in years.

Now don't let that scare you away. Merriweather is still an acid trip and a half, it just happens to be fucking catchy at the same time. Many of the tracks just make you want to do more than just nod your head and shyly tap your feet. No, many of these songs don't ask, they demand you stand up and shamelessly dance infront of your family and friends. When the claps kick in on the chorus of the masterpiece that is "My Girls", it makes you wonder why this isn't played in every club across the nation.

"Brothersport" is yet another pop song on heavy hallucinogens. The song starts off with Panda Bear singing a catchy tune, then it moves into an experimental breakdown until the original tune finds its way back, slowly building and building, working itself into a fervor until it explodes into an enormous dance party in your headphones.

"In The Flowers" exhibits the giddy Animal Collective we are all accustomed to, with one of the most psychedelic synths I've heard in a while, and "No More Runnin'" is the slow moving chill-out staple of the album.

Panda Bear was quoted saying that he believed this is Animal Collective's best record so far. Do I agree? It's hard to say when a band changes their sound every album, but it's definitely up there. Merriweather Post Pavillion is perfectly produced, each song has sparkling highs and booming bass hits. Every piece of the album sonically jumps out and makes itself known. There isn't a track that could be called filler, each song fits onto the album without sounding too similar to eachother.

If you are going to listen to an album this year that has a man shouting "lyin' in a coma" make it this one.

Rating: 5/5

-Lucas Thurston