Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther

It's hard for nice music to be interesting. It's a delicate balance between complimenting the material in an interesting way, and overcrowding it. It's also easier to talk about someone like Keith Moon, who was always the driving force of his band, than to talk about McKenzie Smith of Midlake, who does a fantastic job of not really being noticeable (if that makes sense).

It's hard to explain what I mean. On The Trials Of Van Occupanther, the drums sound so organic and natural. Hell, they just sound nice. There is no showboating, just warm, textural playing. It's the little things I like about his playing. The way his kick drum locks in with the bass on Roscoe. The way he comes in halfway through Bandits. The rhythm on Young Bride (probably my favorite display of tasteful drumming in the last few years). Even the seemingly simple It Covers The Hillsides has some really cool half time stuff.

I've has friends tell me that they saw Midlake at festivals and were bored to tears. I am sure they are right, because seeing Midlake at a festival would be horrible. This is a band that needs to play theatres, Carnegie Hall, or anywhere with incredible acoustics. There is just too much little stuff that deserves to be heard. You can't capture that outside with tens of thousands of people, you need closed quarters, a comfortable seat and a quart of Jack Daniels.

Audio/Visual Evidence : Roscoe, Head Home

HFX Pop Explosion Drummers Pt. 3

Well, I kind of lost track of my mission as the Pop Explosion went on. Early on I found lots of opportunities to talk to the other bands, mingle around, etc... and it was easy to get submissions from the other drummers some of whom I haven't met before and some of whom I have. As the days went on I started to get more interested and really take advantage of my band pass, going to four different venues a night, trying to see as much as I could without having any downtime, which is when I would get most of my submissions. Thankfully, the Pop Explosion always runs on time, and I got too see mostly everything I wanted. Unfortunately, I sort of lost focus.

Basically what I'm trying to tell you is that the first two nights of Pop Ex, I was able to wrangle three entries from other drummers, but in the following three days, I wound up with two.

So here they are.

Frank Cox-O'connell of Toronto's Boys Who Say No

Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot


"The drums on this record sound incredible, they are perfectly tuned."

Jason Burns of Cape Breton's Mardeen

Led Zeppelin - III

"They left the squeaky kick drum in Since I've Been Loving You because it is a perfect performance."

So there. Two submissions, a classic and another one I have already written about before. It's not entirely my fault I didn't do better. This was an awesome Pop Explosion. It's hard to be professional when you are caught up in it all.

In no particular order I :

Saw twenty-six bands, 12 of which were awesome.

Played three sets in one night.

Drank my weight in Coors light.

had 38 fantastic conversations.

Get beer poured on me four times.

Met fifteen new people.

Poured beer on Myles Deck three times.

Re-charged a diffused Matt Pollard.

Saw the Sean Macgillivray "You just poured beer all over my drums" Face of Death (or the SMFOD, for you texters.)

More A Less V.

Saw my very first, full on, Establishment mosh pit.

And lots more I can't even try to describe.

Thanks Halifax.

HFX Pop Explosion Drummers Pt. 2

Last night was filled with old friends, industry types, free beers and mild hearing loss (I forgot my earplugs). Throughout the night I was able to grab a few more drummers to give me their personal album selections.

Adam Hartling of Halifax's Kestrels (currently #5 on the CBC Radio 3 R3-30 Countdown)

Weezer - Pinkerton


"This is what I want my drums to sound like. All the time. The drums sound so live on the record, and absolutely HUGE."


Shaun Gibson of Winnipeg's Old Folks Home :

Tegan and Sara - The Con

"Jason McGerr (fr. Death Cab For Cutie) is a drumming machine on this record. I think he plays better on this than he does on the Death Cab records."



Sigurður Tómas Guðmundsson from Iceland's Sprengjuhöllin :

Queens Of The Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf


"Just beat the shit out of it."

I like that so far I have been getting all kinds of different perspectives on records by asking around. I've been given everything from extreme metal and noise punk to seventies yuppie rock to Tegan and Sara. You may note that I already reviewed that Queens Of The Stone Age record when I did a five album feature on Dave Grohl here. I could have asked him to give me something else, but instead I kept it just to have some proof that I'm actually right most of the time.

HFX Pop Explosion Drummers Pt. 1

This week marks the beginning of the best reason to live in Halifax, the Halifax Pop Explosion. I've been fairly busy, I just got back from a week long tour to Ontario (where my laptop kicked the bucket). I returned to the city only to have over 100 bands playing various shows over the next five days. Needless to say, I'm going to be too busy to probably post any actual album reviews for the next week or so. While I'm going to all of these shows, I figured I might as well locate as many drummers playing the Pop Ex that I can, and get them to give their favorite "drummers" album.

So after a fun time at The Paragon last night filled with Sauza girls, Rock and Roll and Coors Light (because it was either THAT or Canadian.....) here's what I have.

Lance Purcell of Halifax's A History Of :

Shai Hulud - Hearts Once Nourished With Hope and Compassion
"This album sat in my CD player for most of '99"


Owen Lawson of Montreal's Red Mass :

Lightning Bolt - Ride The Skies


"Ride The Skies is an outpouring of pure creativity."


Lucas Fredette of Toronto's Dinosaur Bones :

Steely Dan - The Royal Scam


"Very Minimalist. The less is more approach, nothing but groove."

So there we have it, three totally different albums from three totally different drummers. Stay tuned to see if I keep going out.

Converge - Jane Doe

Someone once told me that music, above all else, is essentially made up of tension and release. On the piano for instance, no matter what key you re playing in, you can basically play whatever you want as long as it all resolves properly. The mess of notes is the tension, the resolution is the release. I think what drew me to harder music was the fact that with hardcore, the tension IS the release.

The first time I heard Jane Doe by Converge, it was pretty hard to wrap my head around what was going on, it all sounded garbled and wild. With repeated listens I started to really hear the musicality of it all. In between all the yelling and chaos there is a group of musicians with pure talent, and completely aware of what they are doing. Ben Koller drives the band with an insane blend of extreme metal, punk, jazz and progressive drumming.

Koller can fit rolls into any space, the rhythms in Distance and Meaning are made up of swirling tom rolls and well places snare shots. When the chorus kicks in, Koller plays a balls out rock beat that cuts out to leave space for a feedback boost. Concubine and Fault and Fracture take a lot more from metal drumming, They have a mix of blast beats and tom work that matches the guitar riffs.

Converge can also bust out the sludgy, slow jams. The title track, Jane Doe seems to go the Melvins route and keeps things at a slow tempo, beefing it up a little. Koller sounds like he is beating the crap out of his drums, but when you watch studio footage of him he really has a light touch.

I guess that's how he manages to play so god damn fast.

Audio/Visual Evidence : Fault And Fracture, The Broken Vow

Jason Finn was a pretty visible guy during the early (meaning, Pre-Nirvana) Grunge scene in Seattle. Skin Yard, Love Battery, The Fastbacks. These were the bands that influenced the BANDS. It wasn't until he joined The Presidents.... that he finally got recognition for being a talented, off beat musician, but at least he finally got noticed.

There are some albums that just linger, and this is one of them. Sometimes your just in a mood where the only thing you want to listen to is this gem from the mid nineties. Along with interesting, quirky guitar parts, it had Finn playing his drums differently on almost every song. Some songs have cool little shuffles (Boll Weevil), some songs are balls out punk (We Are Not Going To Make It), some sound like some kind of back country jamboree (Back Porch). Finn was weird, energetic and skilled enough to really keep this three piece grounded.

This isn't the greatest display of percussion prowess I've ever heard, but it's an example of a guy who worked hard, kept things interesting and wound up in a band that will always be remembered for writing odd, fun rock songs. Good songs are made better when they have good drummers.

Audio/Visual Evidence : Dune Buggy, Kitty, Lump

In Case You Missed It

You can download the episode of Halifax Is Burning I was on, HERE.

I listed my Top Ten favorite local drummers.

Feel free to discuss my choices but keep in mind I can argue in circles like a champion.

Indie Spotlight : Tomcat Combat - I'm OK You're OK

True story, one time Gary from Tomcat Combat tuned my drum kit and I didn't have to touch it for six months. The guy just has perfect ears. He has this ear for melody, and his playing adds a texture to songs that sits above the rhythm, it's a hard thing to accomplish.

This is one of those records that needs to be played loud. Especially if you want to hear all the cool little shit Gary is doing. Action Doer has some cool tom work, driving disco dance beats and during one set of pauses he does some cool time stretching hits. Best of all is this little fill he does were he performs triplets on each drum (with the kick on the one) and ends it with a slick ride bell cymbal choke. Throw in some off time stuff and this is as interesting to listen to as it is fun.

Gary brings something to the table that is a requirement if you want to be an interesting drummer in an instrumental band, and that's taste. He knows when it sounds better when he holds back, and he knows what to play to display his skill but not come off showy. His snare on Ponies on Ice is erratic but low enough it doesn't overpower, I Might Have To Go Away For A While shows us that he can rock out when he has to.

Middle States and Mental Giants has to be my favorite though, it sounds like Tortoise meets Do Make Say Think, cool rhythms and noisy, dirty guitars. If you play a show with Tomcat Combat (and you will, probably) I suggest you get Gary to show you how to tune a drum, because I am sure that he's better at it than you.

Audio/Visual Evidence : Action Doer, Stella

Trans Am - Red Line

I mentioned Trans Am in my previous post on The Mars Volta and it re-kindled my appreciation for this band. I went looking through my old CD collection that has long since been ransacked by friends, neighbors, pets and myself, to see if I could find something from my Trans Am phase. The jewel case for Liberation was there with no CD in it, Futureworld was nowhere to be found, and then I came across Red Line, ripped it, and have been listening to it constantly since.

It kicks off with a slick drum roll and leads us into a drum filled, synth-y mess that sounds like the soundtrack to a British bank heist film. Basically this whole album could accompany any movie with Jason Statham in it. Sebastian Thomson is a master at keeping momentum going whether he's showing off with awesome rolls and grooves (like on I Want it All) or keeping things minimal (as in Polizei (Zu Spat)). This is what happened when the path Kraftwerk and Devo were on meshed with balls out rock and roll. You can dance to it, but you should probably make sure you don't look like an idiot first.

There is such a high percentage of cool shit Thomson plays that I'm surprised I went looking for Futureworld first. Don't Bundle Up has this off time pattern that always sounds like he's going to lose track of where he is, but doesn't, and Slow Response sounds like he's trying out for Nirvana. The Dark Gift is basically Thomspon picking up momentum and making things more confusing as he goes on, like he's walking down a path that just keeps forking. Thomson is also like myself, a Roto-tom enthusiast, and he is a rare example of how when you use Roto-toms properly, you avoid the risky chance that you'll just wind up looking like (and sounding like) a huge wanker.

The night Trans Am came to Halifax I was busy doing this, so I never made it out. Now, I may never get the opportunity to see them again. I could say something amusing, but it actually just makes me sad to think about it.

Audio/Visual Evidence : I Want It All, Play In The Summer