The Most Serene Republic / Meligrove Band / Single Mothers
London Music Hall, London, ON November 4

By John Teeter

Kicking off the night, London, ON's Single Mothers blasted out a set of music that didn't match the band's appearance. Sounding like a lost Dischord artist from the '90s DC hardcore scene, they were a great start the evening.

Tour-mates on this eastern tour, Meligrove Band, kept things moving with a set of pop-infused harmonies and some downright infectious delivery. It's easy to see where the Sloan comparisons come from, but no one should ever be ashamed of drawing a nod to such an influential catalyst on today's Canadian musical landscape. Meligrove Band's only Achilles heel is the sometime awkward between-song banter of drummer Darcy Rego, which came across as the only misplaced piece in an otherwise tight, well-paced set.

It's obvious London is as enchanted with the Most Serene Republic as their label Arts & Crafts is. In 2005, they became the first band that had no direct orbit in the Broken Social Scene nucleus to be signed to the label. A few moments of their live show and it's obvious why the A&C brain trust stepped outside the family, so to speak, when adding Most Serene Republic to the roster.

With seven members onstage, it would have been easy for the songs to get away from them. Yet it didn't, with the group becoming an incredibly tight and cohesive army of sound. They've certainly flourished as they've found themselves, and the live show is testimony to that place they've reached in their sonic development. It's taken three records to get there, but it's living up to that promise apparent from day one, and their universe just keeps expanding.

Neon Indian
Sunparlour Players / Sheesham & Lotus
The Idan Raichel Project
Real Estate - Real Estate
The Mayfair Set - Young One + Self-Titled
Leyland Kirby - Sadly, The Future Is Not What It Was
Kraftwerk - 12345678: The Catalogue
Cloak/Dagger - Lost Art
Bebel Gilberto - All In One
Lyle Lovett - Natural Forces
Will Hoge - The Wreckage
Will Stratton - No Wonder
Dave Rawlings Machine - A Friend of a Friend
Juliette Lewis - Terra Incognita
Sea Wolf - White Water, White Bloom
Yim Yames - Tribute To
Ambarchi / Fennesz / Pimmon / Rehberg / Rowe - Afternoon Tea
Wooley / Lytton / Grubbs - Seven Storey Mountain
Ganesh Anandan & Hans Reichel - Self Made
Todor Kobakov - Pop Music
Castanets - Texas Rose, The Thaw & The Beasts
Low Low Low La La La Love Love Love - Feels, Feathers, Bog And Bees
Nocturnal Fear - Metal Of Honor
Slayer - World Painted Blood
Green Jellÿ - Musick To Insult Your Intelligence By
DRUDKH - Autumn Aurora
Letting Up Despite Great Faults - Letting Up Despite Great Faults
Comanechi - Crime of Love
Brilliant Colors - Introducing
Star Fucking Hipsters - Never Rest in Peace
Bastard Child Death Cult - Year Zero
Antonio Valdetaro e Grupo - Letícia
Ken Aldcroft’s Convergence Ensemble - Our Hospitality
Devin Townsend Project - Addicted
The Expos - Blackwater
Ray Charles - Genius Hits the Road
Marek Hemmann - In Between
Emptyset - Emptyset
Bassnectar - Cozza Frenzy
Basement Jaxx - Scars
David Sait - Postage Paid Dues — Volume 2
Muskox - 5 Pieces
Friendly Rich - Presents Pictures At An Exhibition
March Fourth Marching Band - Rise Up
Fat Freddy’s Drop - Dr. Boondigga & The Big BW
Collage - 54’05”
The Quiet Nights Orchestra - Chapter One
Sabrina Malheiros - New Morning
Chief - Collabo Collection
Paten Locke - Super Ramen Rocketship
DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid - The Secret Song
Scottt Catolico - Massacre
The Bushpilots - Seven Ways to Broadway
Coalesce - Ox EP
Black Anvil - Time Insults the Mind
Culted - Below the Thunders of the Upper Deep
Between the Buried and Me - The Great Misdirect
Gossip - Music for Men
Bell Horses - This Loves Last Time
Shonen Knife - Super Group
Hockey - Mind Chaos
The Dudes - Blood Guts Bruises Cuts
Lee & Willbee - North Carolina
Teenage Bottlerocket - The Came From The Shadows
Krum Bums - Same Old Story
Los Yetis - Nadaismo A Go-Go!
Sacrifice - The Ones I Condemn
Priestess - Prior To The Fire
Various - Fire In My Bones: Raw & Rare & Otherworldly African-American Gospel (1944-2007)
The Schomberg Fair - Gospel
Various - D-Funk: Funk, Disco & Boogie Grooves From Germany 1972 — 2002
Grand Archives - Keep In Mind Frankenstein
7 Worlds Collide - The Sun Came Out
A Fine Frenzy - Bomb in a Birdcage
Raveonettes - In And Out Of Control
Headlights - Wildlife
Jakartah - In the Nervous Light of Coincidence
Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary
The Noisettes - Wild Young Hearts
Tinted Windows - Tinted Windows
Alice in Chains - Black Gives Way to Blue
Fashawn - Boy Meets World
Corporation - Return of the Corporation
Idlers - Keep Out
Mark Matos and Os Beaches - Words of the Knife
Genitorturers
The Jesus Lizard / Brides
Deastro / Max Tundra
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson / These United States
Dinosaur Jr. / Pink Mountaintops
Young Galaxy / Politique / Blazer
The Fiery Furnaces / Cryptacize
Jonas Reinhardt / Sinoia Caves / Valet
Muse - The Resistance
Ricca Razor Sharp - Causeways & C-Trains
Muneshine - Status Symbol
Magnolius - Mary Musht
Port-Royal - Dying In Time
John Abercrombie - Wait Till You See Her
Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky
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