REVIEWS
crescendos for a level flow of
movement that is expansive and
fertile and will grow with many
listens. – Brennan Anderson
Kevin Drew | Darlings
Arts & Crafts
The Toronto music scene is like
Rob Ford: an authority that
moves in unexpected ways,
captures international attention,
and locates cultural and societal
thresholds.
Enter Kevin Drew, the
frontman of the epic Toronto
supergroup, Broken Social Scene.
Drew has spent a decade operating
at the edges of sound, searching
for the unusual and grandiose.
In Darlings, his second solo
effort, his creative exploration
continues but in more subtle,
steady, and weightless ways.
Without the extensive weight
of BSS contributors filing in and
expanding his sound, Drew’s
ideas stand alone in beautiful
clarity.
Darlings
is
simple,
introspective, and honest. Vocals
are discernible, clear, and in the
foreground, while lush pulsating
synthesizers and delicate guitar
lines slowly sway in restrained
epicness. All this combines to
bring the evocative lyrics to life.
Drew eschews prototypical BSS
Hunting | Self-titled
Nevado
Sabota | Self-titled
Hybridity
I am not a DJ. I do not know
how to mix beats or “mash up”
something. I barely know the
meaning of those phrases, but I
do know crunchy beats that make
me want to grind on the dance
floor. That’s the effect of Sabota,
a new collaboration between
Robbie Slade from Humans and
the house/techno/bass veteran,
Max Ulis. Both spent time in
Nelson and they came up with the
name from an area where kids go
to secretly smoke pot. The tracks
on the album take Ulis’ pulsing,
dark, sweaty grooves and match
them to Slade’s austere tenor
vocals. I suggest “Hi and Lo” or
the vocally altered “Next Time”
for some head nodding, booty
moving goodness. Keep in mind,
though, this recommendation
comes from someone who
wouldn’t know a Steinberg
CMC-PD USB Pad if it hit him in
the face. – Glen Ingram
Sometimes a lack of information
is what it takes to draw you in.
I challenge you to research the
band Hunting. Nothing, right? Let
me help. Hunting is a Vancouverbased alt-folk-pop band with its
first release just out. The band
is made up of the mysterious
Bradley Ferguson, the beautiful
Jessica Yliruusi, Paul Rigby, John
Raham, and Darren Parris. Now
let me tell you what they’re like as
a band. They’re good, really good.
With Ferguson’s innate ability to
write melancholy, yet super catchy
tunes, Rigby’s wicked skills on the
guitar, and the alluring back-up
vocals of Yliruusi, Hunting gives
us delicately crafted songs that put
you in a rainy Vancouver mood.
Add in the surprisingly rough
look of Ferguson and the other
curious characters in his band and
you want to learn more. Yet you
can’t, using modern methods. In
today’s instant gratification world,
you might be inclined to just walk
away. But because of the alluring
talent of Hunting, you can’t.
– Glen Ingram
13
[sic] spring 2014.indd 14
14-05-26 12:23 AM