Maylee Todd + Hooded Fang @ L'Esco, July 27, 2010

Steamy as a sauna, L’Escogriffe welcomed energetic musicians and an audience that embraced all kinds of dancing last night. Toronto’s Maylee Todd and Hooded Fang made Montreal the last stop of their summer tour together. Beginning the night with a full venue, Hooded Fang charmed us with their pop music, orchestrated with horns and equip with gentle harmonies. After their first song, they urged their audience, “Come Closer!” The consistent pace of the drumming encouraged dancing amongst the audience. As a dace party ensued, we learnt that despite some bad luck with animals earlier that day (a bird relieving itself over the bass player and food-poisoning-by-mussels experienced by the lead singer), Hooded Fang was in good spirits. Fans of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros would be fond of Hooded Fang’s harmonies. Fans of Stars would enjoy Lorna (main female vocalist of Hooded Fang)’s soft voice. Hooded Fang makes pleasant and catchy music for any mood. The reptilian monster-like figures employed as the band’s graphics nicely juxtapose the sweet nature of their music.

Another creature could be seen in the venue-a plush lion’s head. Boasting a fluffy mane, this lion’s head is usually found worn by Maylee Todd in promotional photos, but last night this lion’s head damped the sound of the drum. Being much to warm for any costume, Maylee instead delivered her majestic performance barefoot. She claimed to be tired at the beginning of her performance, but I’m not sure if I believed her. Sharing boundless energy, Maylee began her set with her harp before moving to the guitar and later dancing with her vibraslap. Hooded Fang horn players Lane and Julia accompanied Maylee for the second half of her set. Her music is a fusion of Bossa-jazz and funk. Delivered with confidence and charm, Maylee’s jazz infused music makes us feel as though she has taste and style beyond her years. The freedom of her spirit is implicit in the title of her debut album Choose Your Own Adventure. As the end of the evening approached, Maylee called for a good ol’ “soul train”, whereby two lines formed and the individuals at either end met to groove back down the line aside one another as Maylee acted as the MC. Sad to see the evening reach its end, we all breached the thick air of the venue towards the refreshing feeling of the cool air that met our bodies outside. For these musicians, dancing in this humidity is worth it.

Hooded Fang: http://www.myspace.com/hoodedfang
Maylee Todd: http://www.myspace.com/mayleetodd
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros: http://www.myspace.com/edwardsharpe
Stars: http://www.myspace.com/stars

Five Alarm Funk @ Le Divan Orange, June 22nd, 2010

Vancouver eleven-piece band Five Alarm Funk took the stage at Le Divan Orange last night, playing for their first time in Montreal. They have been on a CD release tour to share their new album Anything Is Possible with Canadian fans. When their choreographed arm gestures coincided with their melodic climaxes, audience members could not help but share their energy. I’ve never seen an entire audience jump and throw their hands in the air at Le Divan Orange as I did last night for Five Alarm Funk.

Having played together for seven years, Five Alarm Funk has grown to become a band that embodies many eclectic sounds. While their previous album Voodoo Hairdoo (2008) carries a more funk/afro-beat/Latin oriented sound, the heavier bass lines, Tayo Branston’s raspy vocals akin to Gogol Bordello, and the use of horns similar to Beirut create a more Baltic sound, even chamberal at times, for their new album Anything Is Possible. This is especially evident in “Soft Six”, during which the musicians stacked their hands in front of their chests and bobbed up and down like Russian dancers. One musician created bows and arrows with his arms and shot them into the crowd. Other musicians wearing Viking, gorilla and shark costumes danced on stage. Vivacious as they were, many of the musicians became shirtless to keep cool. Seeing Five Alarm Funk live is more than just a sampling of their new music-they give a truly theatrical performance of undeniable umph.

The encore featured an amplified cover of “The Final Countdown”, heralding the entire audience to join Five Alarm Funk in jumping, proving these Vancouver folk are musical and theatrical gems with whatever they craft. Prior to Five Alarm Funk’s performance I was feeling ill, and after realizing I felt better by the end of the night, I came to understand that Five Alarm Funk is a fine medicine indeed.

Five Alarm Funk: http://www.myspace.com/fivealarmfunkmusic
Gogol Bordello: http://www.myspace.com/gogolbordello
Beirut: http://www.myspace.com/beruit

Sweet Mother Logic @ Casa del Popolo, July 20th, 2010

Visitors to the Casa del Popolo were greeted by a myriad of lovely sounds last night. Montreal’s instrumental band Sweet Mother Logic is hard to describe and I am even nervous to write about them, fearful that I cannot giving them all the remarks of awe that they deserve. My iTunes reads the genre as “Unclassifiable”. On their MySpace, they describe themselves as “Experimental/Acoustic/Pop”, but I suppose you’d really have to come to a show to experience just how this is realized. For me, their music exists somewhere between an orchestra and the climactic music of a space-themed video game. Whatever it is exactly, it is a truly distinctive sound. I was sold after the first time I saw these musicians perform months ago and have tried to see them every time I can since. Sweet Mother Logic features two cellos, guitar, keys, synth, drums, and sometimes videos (by VJ Bandit) to accompany their music- a sensory delight.

Performed were many songs from their 2009 self-titled debut full length CD, including variations from each track. To see Sweet Mother Logic live is to experience something new and different each time. They broke into seemingly flawless improvisations during which the musicians were laughing and exchanging smiles. “Ghost Army” was chosen as the encore song. It’s climax was repeated, turned, and twisted; “Ghost Army” subsequently grew into an extended jam. Quite frankly, Sweet Mother Logic rules. Do yourselves a favor and see them the next time they perform. Sweet Mother Logic is Adrian Aitken, Erip Kaplin, Jack D. Kelly, Jean-Pascal Saint-Cyr and Justin Wright.

Sweet Mother Logic on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/sweetmotherlogic