The Earlies
These Were The Earlies (Secretly Canadian, www.secretlycanadian.com)
There's something oddly refreshing about the familiar. On many occasion I've had to defend my love of the Psychedelic Furs, one of many tapes I pillaged from my parents' collection and took with me through my own musical journey. Its frenetergetic dance punk energy got me moving, but the perfect pop structures were what stuck, served well with a stripped down (if carefully produced) arrangement. In other news, The Earlies bring their solid debut These Were The Earlies from the ashes of the United Kingdom's post-Oasis shitpile, and lithely sidestep the grime shadow. Feelings of familiarity and nostalgia are conjured, but via a wholly different route than my connection to the PF. Warming piano melodies share the stage with quietly strange Wilcoesque production, bound together loosely by drifting lyrics. Snap arguments may be made about music in search of a song, but these swelling arrangements hint at moods and visions rather than structure and story. Rather than a showy declaration of ego, the band uses its debut to encapsulate the ebb of its own emotional connection to its sounds. - SEBASTIAN VON CLAPTRAP
File Next To: Let It Die, Oui, and other things I will always throw on while putting away my laundry

The Hoa Hoa's
Flower Flowers (Yummy Records, www.yummyrecordings.ca)
The album name is a direct translation of the band name! Who would have guessed'¦. '˜Hoa' (pronounced '˜whaa') is the Vietnamese word for '˜flower', according to the Yummy Records website. Brothers, The Hoa Hoa's are just trying to spread love and friendship through their music. Sirs? The 1960's are over and America is angry and jaded once again! This record advocates a boring kind of love; a drawn out and tedious kind that never seems to get anywhere even after 10 martinis. In fact, the band doesn't have a lot to say at all, or make their lyrics a prominent feature on this work. It's nice that '˜you've got a yellow jacket/ but you've got no place to wear it'. Sadly there's more going on in the world than within our own ignorant consumer bubbles, and The Hoa's Hoa's don't address that or leave that realm for one minute of this record. They sound British, which could be sexy in any other context, but the scene accents originate from T.O. and the Niagara Region. They sing '˜buh' a lot, and advertise themselves as the new rock revolution. Experimental sound was cool with Sonic Youth, but to experiment you actually have to DO SOMETHING NEW. The Hoa Hoa's barely break 4/4 time and if it wasn't for the professional backing, this couldn't be more than a high school battle-of-the-bands garage fling. - GENA MELDAZY
File Next To: A flower? That might be appropriate. A dying flower, in honor of our fallen musical comrades.

Jonathan Kane
February (Table of the Elements, www.tableoftheelements.com)
A founding member of Swans and percussionist for Rhys Chatham, La Monte Young, Gary Lucas and Elliott Sharp (to name a few), Jonathan Kane has a litany of sources from which to draw inspiration on his debut solo album. He offers up three originals, a re-arranged traditional and his own version of a Rhys Chatham work on this perfectly symmetrical album. (Length = 12+, 6+, 9+, 6+, 12+ minutes.) All these songs follow a basic formula: start with a basic blues-influenced riff, layer in extra textures bit by bit, and build to a hypnotic cacophony by the end. The production on this album is clean and separated to the point of sterility, which unfortunately distills some of the grittier elements of the music. Although each track does gather momentum and intensity to a point of climax, I can't help but feel that each song would be even more thrilling if it started from a more exciting point from the outset. The middle track 'œSis'? adds the most extreme shifts and changes, and is the strongest one as a result. Otherwise, I find the album to be pleasant, at times rewarding, but ultimately forgettable. '“ PADDY O'DONNELL
File Next To: Pell Mell, straight-ahead instrumental rock masquerading as post-minimalist epics.

Kate Rogers
St. Eustacia (Grand Central, www.katerogers.net)
Mixing overplayed, mid-90s electrobeats with adult contemporary singing and instrumentation is never a good thing. In my research to find out what this record was about, I got hints of 'œavant-folk'?, 'œmesmerizing textures'?, and 'œbeautiful sadness'?. There's something to be said for all of these things, mainly that I love them. I can't say that I love this. Ms. Rogers' sounds like Dido (which is in and of itself a backhanded compliment: a lot of people love that Dido!); in fact, the whole thing sounds a bit too much like Dido. A little bit too much. But really, this record has the appeal of a future Jann Arden, or maybe a k.d. lang: something that is loved by mothers driving minivans, as terribly elitist as that sounds. '“ ANTHONY GERACE
File Next To: Your mom's beat to shit Sony boombox.

Madagascar
Forced March (Western Vinyl, www.westernvinyl.com)
Accordion radiates from this album like nobody's business. Sometimes it's in bizarre dirges, sometimes it approaches Klezmer. Sometimes it sounds like straight up pop. However it's sliced, it usually ends up sounding pretty good. 'œI'm So Tired of Violets'? mines a groove and keeps on chugging, 'œBrief Stroll'? sounds like pop if Lawrence Welk were a sixties pop superstar (instead of a sixties cornball superstar); the whole album plays on the accordion like nobody's business. What really grabs me about this record, though, is how experimental it is while it retains its accessibility. This is the kind of record for a pop fan who thinks that NNCK are kind of cool, or the avant head who thinks that Zorn is just a bit too extreme. '“ ANTHONY GERACE
File Next To: Accordions, NNCK, Zorn, Parallel Universe Lawrence Welk

Miles from Land
Cry Happiness (Independent, www.milesfromland.com)
I this CD was a book, it'd be put out by the people who do "The Babysitters Club" and it would be written by Rivers Cuomo in 1993 and it would be a Choose Your Own Adventure. I have decided this because when I first opened the CD I saw song titles like "Tunnels" (SECRET TUNNELS WITH SKELETONS?!?!), "Glidder" (A GIANT SUGAR-GLIDDER EVADING SKELETONS AS YOU RIDE THE SADDLE ON ITS ADORABLE BACK?!?!) and "The Nickel Empire" (SKELETONS LOVE 5 CENTS AND RULING KINGDOMS!!!!). But alas, this was not the case. What followed was a fairly good CD that kinda of reminded me of Weezer's Pinkerton but a little more sad (cheer up big guy, skeletons aren't even real, let's spoon with dry eyes) and then for the last couple songs someone told them that synthesizers existed and they got mind fucked and made sure that everybody knew that they knew they existed. In conclusion, if you ever make a movie where a kid gets beat up by his dad and then runs and gets on his bike and just rides cuz the wind feels so good, play this song in the background. '“ SPENCER BUTT
File Next To: Christopher Pike

Mon Electric Bijou
Bullets in the Penguins (Roast, www.monelectricbijou.com)
The name originally turned me off of this band. Thankfully, in this wonderful internet age, names aren't that important (Test Icicles, anyone?) and it turns out that this record is the jam. Sometimes sloppy and atonal, sometimes trying to rock harmonizing sunshine pop riffs along with post-punk skronkiness, and sometimes rolling heavy on a groove, Bullets in the Penguins takes disparate elements and manages to almost unify them, to almost make them their own. On the instrumental 'œParis at Night'?, they bring in large riffs with chiming melodic counterparts. They could've kept the whole thing instrumental, as bandleader Martin Saz has the kind of voice that would make Roger Daltry snicker. Still, I can't fault a guy for his voice, and the musicianship on the album is so stellar and heartfelt that the vocals don't even bear consideration. '“ ANTHONY GERACE
File Next To: Chigga-chigga-chigga, whammy bar.

Rick White
The Rick White Album (Bluefog)
This album first caught my attention as I spied the stunning 12'? artwork drying at Future Primitive's since-disappeared screenprinting facility. The cover looks a little less breathtaking scaled down to CD size, but the recording makes up for this by brimming with richness. Skittering folk rhythms meet dark psychedelic underpinnings, with Rick White's soft, half-sung half-spoken vocals providing the heart of each song. The pacing shifts from propulsive and urgent to contemplative and dream-like and back again throughout the album. The not-so-secret key to the content and idea of this album may be in these lines from the liner notes: 'œSing the songs of manifestation, self reflection and reverse premonition. Dreamt through seven lovely quilts. Suzanne, Gloria, Viola, Shelly, Julie, Tara, and Kim.'? So it is, then. Love Tara, Suzanne, Gloria, Viola, Shelly, Julie and Kim. '“ PADDY O'DONNELL
File Next To: Love/Arthur Lee, the other Rick White albums: Eric's Trip, Elevator, The Unintended, etc.

The Shanks
Here Come the Shanks (Independent, www.herecometheshanks.com)
The Shanks make barely passable pop-punk that would play well to kids living in dorms or, maybe, highschoolers with a love of Bruce Springsteen and The Strokes. This isn't to say that it's bad, necessarily, just that I hate it. The artwork is fairly juvenile (in that juvenilia-trying-for-artistic way that tries too hard), and I just don't have anything left to say. '“ ANTHONY GERACE
File Next To: The Shanks are not going to be pleased with this. Seriously.

by Demian Carynnyk

Listen, the snow is falling. As the new year comes and goes, and we retreat to our apartments, it's natural that we reflect and make plans for the future. As I was looking back on maybe my strangest year ever, I found myself looking at an even bigger picture.

We're also halfway through the strangest decade ever, which started in 2001. It's now been a full four years since September 11, 2001, and already we seem to be entering a new phase. Social unrest in Paris, urban tension and renewal in Toronto, and an enduring activist culture suggest a return to a sort of No Logo-era social awareness.

In our mass culture, we don't seem to have gotten much smarter. Instead we have been finding clever new ways to be stupid. Obsessing over celebrities and gadgets, at the expense of our neighbours and family, while consumerism and war cause people to die. DOES NOT COMPUTE! If I was a robot, my head would explode and I'd be done with it.

In the indie music scene, things seem much healthier. Amazing Canadian bands include Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Wolf Parade, and Death From Above 1979. Around the world there's Animal Collective, Postal Service, Bright Eyes, Bloc Party, The Rapture, White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand, and many others. Ladytron, The Gossip and Yeah Yeah Yeahs giving us great leading ladies; Outkast and Missy giving Top 40 its wonderful what-the-fuck moments. Electro and hip-hop mutations around the world, and music and technology moving forward together. We have access to music history like never before, and a strong desire to destroy it all and drop something new. Awesome, No Dynamics, Kids on TV, Ninja High School, and others are already working on the next wave. Don't let anyone tell you that this decade sucks.

All these artists are off to a great start, and all could help create something substantial. And the emphasis on community and D.I.Y. is empowering and healthy. People are dancing, talking, sharing and transforming spaces. Arcade Fire are giving us community anthems, and Broken Social Scene are setting a great example and sending a message to the majors. But for the moment, they are mostly empowering their circle of friends. What will they do to help other musicians? Artists in general? Social activists? Ordinary people? It's time to give substance to all the talk about community, and take all the promise to task.

Indie/mass culture boundaries are more blurred than ever, which is both great and problematic. Hipsters are buying into pop's most short-sighted and shallow values, and acting on the lie that we're all lost and jaded. Irresponsible consumer-culture habits are becoming ever more accepted and even Le Tigre licensed two songs to cell phone companies. I respect their desire to spread their music and pay some bills, but I thought we were trying to build a '˜sustained alternative', and that means making do without the man.

Instead of integrating scenes, we move between them, and we turn away from a trend rather than follow through to its fulfillment. The urban punk funk of recent years has already given way to psychedelic noise and strange folk. Artistically and spiritually liberating, but a political disengagement. Already Interpol and Radio 4 have had their potential compromised, and it would be pretty sad if the same thing happened to Sufjan Stevens or Devendra Banhart.

If there's inspiration in the neo-psych scene, it's the idea of getting out of our city heads, letting our dreams surface, and trying to manifest a more beautiful world. Also, I think it makes complete sense to act 'œcrazy'? these days. Standing on a street corner and shouting at strangers is a perfectly appropriate response to the absurd world that we are living in. Better yet, get some friends and some instruments and plug in. Skill is not essential, although it may help you articulate that craziness.

If we really want that sustained alternative we have to fire on all levels. We need substance and style, signal and noise, Chuck D and Flavor Flav. Shit-disturbers and clowns, community-builders and diplomats. We need singers, players, artists, designers, tech people, and pay-what-you-can patrons. Wavelength is always looking for contributors; help these good people build their labour of love. And if you're an artist, musician, or web designer, drop by dcompress.net. I've got some space and I'm happy to share. Thanks, Wavelength, for doing the same.

Team work makes this dream work, assholes!

Does anyone else remember the episode of SCTV with John Candy hosting a show called "Fishin' Musician" that featured The Tubes? Anyone? Well anyway, at the end of the bit the band played their song "Sushi Girl" and singer Fee Waybill ate a full raw fish (head, tail, scales and all) filled with rice. As a youngster, I remember thinking "that's sushi? GROSS! I'm never eating that!" It was many years later that I discovered the error in my thinking. I now know the pleasure of well-cut piece of raw fatty tuna with some soy and wasabi. Yum!

Now, I've never really mastered the art of making sushi at home - very fussy business, and frankly you're usually not gonna get near the results of a real sushi chef. However, I do often prepare that popular Japanese starter in my kitchen, miso soup. Unlike the main course it usually precedes, this stuff couldn't be much easier to make.

First thing you need is miso paste. These days you can find it in most decent grocery stores, and as if in tribute to Mr. Waybill and company, it's often found in tube form. Gotta love any food that comes in a tube, right? You'll also want some firm tofu, green onions and a regular white mushroom or two.

Boil about 2 cups of water and add miso paste to taste. As usual, I'm not real big on this whole "measuring" business that people are always on about, but if I had to guess I'd say around a tablespoon should do the trick. Stir 'til the paste is fully dissolved, finely chop and add the onions and mushrooms, cube and add the tofu. And there you have it. Hey, I told you it was easy.

Bon appetite!

by Jay Moonah

The Adam Brown is from skanky Montreal, but Toronto loves them anyhow. They make those great rock songs that exist only in your head when you're driving until you hear them in real life and are like "Oh... oh!" The band's shows are happily less "scenester toe-tapping" and more "revival-tent rockstravaganza". The Adam Brown is composed of four fine-looking gentlemen, and Kate Carraway plucked two of them away from their busy days to answer some questions.

Who are you?

Shawny Petsche: ...featured a terrible direct-recorded guitar tone from Pete Townshend. But other than that mis-step, he's pretty much a god in my eyes. That said, I am Shawn Petsche, guitar, tambourine, and keyboard player
for the self-contained rock 'n' roll unit named The Adam Brown, named so after a 19th century locomotive that traveled the woods of the BC interior. Lord, I was born a ramblin' man...or I wish I was.

Adam Brown: I'm Adam Brown from The Adam Brown. It's 3pm and i just woke up, but I still remember that much. The Adam Brown however is something much greater than myself. It's like Voltron. Rock n' Roll Voltron, or for some of you: Rock' n Roll Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. It's almost Captain Planety... but without the eco villains.

Toronto seems to have a big, juicy crush on you. Do you like us back?

SP: SWEET YES! Although it almost pains me to say so. You see, I was raised on Roch Carrier's The Hockey Sweater (the book and the NFB animated film). My grandfather played for The Montreal Canadiens. It's cliche to boil the Montreal-Toronto rivalry down to our hockey clubs, but hey, usually, cliches are born out of something powerfully 'true.' So yeah, I have been programmed to hate Toronto with all of my heart. That said, the shows we have played in Toronto have been among the most fun shows we've ever played, and the crowds have just been so incredibly sweet, sincere, and fun that we're willing to chuck aside that whole Toronto hate thing. Besides, New York Subway's burritos make city-rivalry talk kind of pointless. That said, Tie Domi is a tool, and the CBC stands for "Completely Biased Channel".

AB: I SOOOOOO have a crush on Toronto!! Does Toronto really like us back!? Eeeeeeee!!!!!! I'm not even kidding! I think about Toronto all the time. Especially on the really cold days in Montreal when Toronto is 3 degrees warmer. But seriously now: your audiences have always been really receptive, and warm, booty shakin'... and that's all I've ever asked for in an audience. I actually think I'm full on in love with you Toronto.

If Toronto is so rad and containing the perfectest audiences, why is Montreal the city du jour?

SP: Oh, don't get me wrong. As much as we love playing shows in Toronto, that isn't to say that it is the most perfect of cities (though New York Subway's burritos are absolutely perfect). We (and by that I mean "I") have really come to the conclusion that there is no city on earth like Montreal. The air is fresher (well, at least than Toronto's smog-filled air). The bars stay open later. You can eat the best hot dogs and fries at LaFleurs and Dic Anne's. It's a walking-friendly city. We don't worship Mats Sundin and his ridiculous smirk -- We (and by that I again mean "I") worship Seripop, Ric Trembles, Billy Mavreas, Elisabeth Belliveau and Jessica Moss. The list is long. I think that Montreal is justifiably the city du jour, in terms of music, if ever such a thing was justifiable. If you look at the number of incredible bands, for example, that aren't mentioned in the Montreal frenzy, you can get a real idea of why its such a fantastic city to listen to and play music in. Tricky Woo, The Sunday Sinners, BBQ, King Khan & BBQ Show, Royal Mountain Band, The Donkeys, American Devices, Crackpot, Fake Blood, Bionic, Telefauna, Think About Life, Priestess, J.Five, etc. That said, Toronto *does* have The Illuminati, Shikasta, and Goat Horn!

AB: Umm... cuz we bring the party to Toronto? Because Toronto is the city of every other jour, and it's nice to get a jour here and there, every once in a while? Actually, when I speak about Toronto, lately I've been speaking about the friends I've made there, and people I've met, all have been amazing. The actual city itself is far too big for me to comprehend. It takes two hours to drive through it. So many neighborhoods, so many people.

Did you ever catch the nefarious gear stealers [who stole TAB's gear, nefariously]? And if so, have you heard of vigilante justice?

AB: Oh I've heard of vigilante justice, I just never got the chance to use my mad ninja skills on the bad guy(s) who stole our stuff.

SP: Charles Bronson taught me everything I know about vigilante justice --take that as you will. As for the gear thieves, they have not been caught, and most likely never will. In all honesty, if we ever found them, I think we would just be too happy to have found Marc's father's hand-me-down to exact any sort of revenge. Plus, I'm not a very big guy, so I'd go down fast in a fight.

A big contingent of the WL audience is probably familiar with WIBI, but tell us a tale of the label and why you put out your own stuff for the noobs.

SP: WIBI stands for 'The West Island is the Best Island.' That's because it is. The West Island is the suburban area of Montreal in which I, and most of the members of The Adam Brown (at one point, all of us!), grew up. It was a semi-joke, at first. My brother actually came up with the name, as we were both huge fans of Ice Cube (or at least his trademark: "yeah-yeeaaayyyyhhh" -- at the time. Consider it a commentary on the gangster-ism rampant in the suburbs, or a political commentary on the Montreal merger, or a joke, or a very sincere sentiment. I put out stuff
for the noobs to pad my C.V.

AB: I can tell you that The Adam Brown is a side project of WIBI Records. It seemed like everyone on WIBI had their own projects, and I wanted mine, so I took members of other WIBI bands to form my own. Shawny and I played in a band called Fistful of Nature Death with Dave Timerman, Edmund Lam, our first drummer was in A Vertical Mosaic at the time, and I used to play bass for J. Five, who now plays bass for us. Heck, Moses Mathur of One Candle Power used to be in The Adam Brown as well. Basically, you can take all the core members of WIBI, mix them up in different ways and get different bands. Ex. Cock Dragon, Fistful of Nature Death, J. Five, Blue Collar Madness, One Candle Power, A Vertical Mosaic, Ass Cobra, The New City Rules, Badflirt.

What are your top 7 dream Jeopardy categories?

SP: Oh wow, what a great question. I hope we're talking Rock & Rol Jeopardy here, because my crowning achievement is once scoring a perfect round as I played along while watching it on VH1 (not a repeat either). That's right, I would have even defeated the mighty Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray fame, who has a surprisingly encyclopedic knowledge of rock 'n' roll. Though my brother claims that I could never defeat him. Rock & Roll Jeopardy is also how I developed a slight crush on Moon Unit Zappa. Anywho, on to the list!

1 - AC/DC.C Deville (one of those categories where the two correct responses share a middle section, this time focusing on great pioneers of hard rock/metal, and those who later tarnished the genres' reputations)

2 - Cowboy Songs (all songs about cowboys, the easiest question's answer being Thin Lizzy, or Bob Dylan's soundtrack to Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, an average answer being The Velvet Underground's "Lonesome Cowboy Bill," the toughest one being Billy Childish's "Western Plains" or Thee Headcoat's "Cowboys are Square."

3 - Even Cowgirls Get the Clues (a category in which the clues will all be related to country chanteuses -- Emmylou Harris, Loretta Lynn, Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, Susanna Clark, etc.).

4 - Bands Who Play(ed) 1977-1978 Gibson RDs (there are so few guitarists that use Gibson RD guitars, that I think the category would be one I could clean up in. I'd expect Kevin Cadogan of shit-makers Third Eye Blind -- who sold me my Gibson RD Custom -- to be one of the answers).

5 - Ink on Paper on Poles (a visual clue category in which concert posters would be flashed on screen and the contestant would have to name the poster artists responsible for the work -- yes, I am that big of a dork).

6 - Rock, Paper, Scissors (this would be a concept category. The clue would always be the same: "This move never fails to win a rock, paper, scissors game." The answer would be "What is rock?" because rock always wins).

7 - The Good, the Bad, and the Morricone (in this audio category, excerpts from Morricone's scores would be played, and the contestants would have to properly identify the film *and* character with which the excerpt of the theme is associated. I think it would be appropriate for a category to finally point out the obvious -- that buzzing in at jeopardy is just our generation's version of the high noon walkdown duel).