|
|
|
|
|
|
Ivana Santilli’s State of Mind
By Del F. Cowie
For the past few years Ivana Santilli has spent time in dour London and home in Toronto, but mostly in New York, finding inspiration in unlikely places. “Late at night is the best time to go grocery shopping in Manhattan,” says Santilli. “In this grocery store they played the best pop music from [the] late ’70s, early ’80s and I could see people dancing in the aisle.”
The fruit of Santilli’s late night excursions is her third solo album TONY, named after the two cities in which it was conceived. Her homage to classic pop songwriting takes a different approach than 2004’s Corduroy Boogie, which included contributions from King Britt, 4Hero’s Dego and UK soul icon Omar. “This time around, living in New York really moulded the way I looked at my own music in terms of it allowing me to being very direct.”
Santilli’s songwriting and arrangements have resulted in perhaps her most sonically consistent and cohesive record to date, incorporating mid-tempo balladry and Minneapolis-tinged funk, while retaining her love for boogie, disco and even yacht rock. Lyrically, Santilli’s New York state of mind has made her more focused on everyday life.
“Some people are working from seven in the morning to nine at night and then they get their cocktails alone in a bar,” she says. “Although their goal is to move up the ladder, one of things they’re looking for is someone to warm their heart. That’s why a lot of the songs are about relationships. What makes the city go round is the business. But on a healing level I see people falling in and out of love and arguing on the street — the hard aspect of it. It is such a hard city. It’s my job to make people feel comfortable with their discomfort that they’ve had throughout the day.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
Wolf Parade’s Concrete Jungle
 “That’s what the studio looks like in my mind,” says Wolf Parade’s Dan Boeckner, only semi-facetiously. He’s referring to the cover art for the band’s second album, At Mount Zoomer, named after the Montreal studio where they began work on the long awaited follow-up to Apologies to the Quee...Read More
|
|
|
The Demonic Minds of the Notwist
As any good priest will tell you, the devil can take many forms. But in the case of the Notwist’s new album, The Devil, You + Me, the devil is simply a character. “Our singer Markus [Acher] was inspired to write about a friend’s film, which is about a couple moving to a little town, and nob...Read More
|
|
|
Shai Hulud Hate Everyone
Shai Hulud guitarist (and mainstay) Matt Fox admits the title of his band’s fourth effort is personal. Dubbed Misanthropy Pure, their Metal Blade debut is more a peek into his own personality quirks than a means of describing the band’s confrontational blend of metal-influenced hardcore. Read More
|
|
|
Hercules and Love Affair’s Disco Fever
There was a time when, before “I Will Survive” and “Y.M.C.A,” disco was a culture centred as much on artistry as excess. Though the bitter taste remains for many, Brooklyn-based collective Hercules and Love Affair are looking to evoke the fonder memories of the genre. “I think now enough time has ...Read More
|
|
|
Dubmatix's Renegade Riddims
 Dubmatix’s new disc, Renegade Rockers, is without a doubt the most star-studded Canadian reggae album of all time. The guest vocalists on Rockers represent six decades of Jamaican music, from grandfatherly Alton Ellis, whose first record came out in 1959, to contemporary Jamaican-Canad...Read More
|
|
|
Living With Lions Love Each Other
 “When we left, there were holes in the ceiling, broken dishes everywhere, and at our last party, people ran through the walls.” Chase Brenneman is on the phone from Vancouver, taking a break from his job, which, appropriately, is at a restoration company. The wall-crashing mayhem he is describing wa...Read More
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|