Boo!
Be afraid, be very afraid. Scare Quotes is back with tales of terror, debauch and woe. We were wooed by worsmith by Simon Schlesinger, lambasted by ghost hunter lucky Luce, sparred with Square Quotes alum Sebastian Speier and jostled with Jay Burrell of Le Social.
Indeed. If Square Quotes were a political party that would be our slogan.
Although we’re suffering the annual Pop Montreal hangover that somehow exceeds the length of the festival itself, we remain undaunted, committed to pull ourselves from the brink for you, dear listener. Lazerus!
First up, pundit-turned politico Anne Lagacé Dowson. In addition to being the New Democratic Party candidate for the Westmount / Ville-Marie riding in the upcoming federal election (October 14th), she’s a 20-year radio veteran, which caused producer Ali Rahman to be more than a little anxious about interviewing someone so obviously out of his league.
Ben Addelman, half the brains behind AM Pictures, the grass roots documentary film production company that brought you Discordia and Bombay Calling sat down with us to talk about his latest picture, Nollywood Babylon, an NFB co-production. He and filmmaking partner Samir Mallal set out to explore the burgeoning Nigerian film industry.
Square Quotes Episode 11 (Feat. Anne Lagacé Dowson & Ben Addleman): The only party that knows how to party. [53:01m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadSomething strange happens, as our producer briefly takes on the position of host, his voice acquiring a more nasal sound than usual in the process. After five days taking in the sights and sounds of the Pop Montreal festival, we’re slightly hungover, a little worse for wear, but mostly pleased. We completed this episode on some downtime, check it out.
On this episode of Square Quotes, conversations with Jamaica-to-New-Jersey transplant and legendary dancehall MC Sister Nancy, Chad Reimer of Calgarian neu-wavers Women, filmmaker Matt Wolf on his documentary debut Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell,” and some fond recollections from former Telefauna members Tyler Rauman and Katherine Peacock about Pop Montreal.
As well, we have a live recording of acapella legends the Persuasions, recorded during their appearance at the Pop Montreal Symposium.
Track listing: Sister Nancy’s One Two, Women’s January 8th, and Arthur Russell’s That’s Us/Wild Combination.
In some circles, Pop Montreal is the Superbowl, the World Series and the Special Olympics of music festivals all rolled into one. The climax of the cultural calendar, coming in just after the kids have settled into their school year. Blow off those midterms baby, we’ve got a five-day bender lined-up for you.
Covering the illustrious and the obscure, Pop Montreal aligns itself nicely with the Square Quotes mandate. Evidenced so clearly in the nepotistic, depotistic, masochistic and narcissistic conversation we had with festival founder Dan Seligman and his protege Andrew Rose. Andrew is also half the brains behind Secret City Records, known for providing ample musical fodder for the Polaris Prize.
Continuing with this theme of incestuous back-patting, we also sat down with Parlovr, an up-and-coming local act turning the heads of 8-year-old girls and 89-year-old men alike. Parlovr recorded their debut full-length here, at Digital Bird Studios, under the tutelage of the increasingly Phil Spector-like Martin Horn.
Jay Watts III got on the phone with David Feinberg, a filmmaker who shot out of the gates with some in-the-line-of-fire documentaries he did with Vice magazine’s broadband channel, VBS. I spoke to him late. Jay spoke to him last month about his experiences filming “Toxic Linfen“, a 6 piece series documenting a week that he and the VBS crew spent in Linfen, China: a coal industry town in Shanxi province that used to be known in typically hyperbolic Chinese phrasing as “The Modern Fruit & Flower Town,” but is now so polluted that it could yellow Donnie & Marie Osmond’s smiles in under a minute, and bears the dubious title of “The Most Polluted City in The World.”
As always, there’s music - sweet, blessed, beautiful music! Rita Lee’s Agora e Moda, Yoko Ono’s Uh Oh, Parlovr’s On The Phone and Vetiver’s Houses.
Also, for those in Montreal, Square Quotes will be hosting a DJ night and episode launch party at Korova, 3908 St. Laurent.
All right, full disclosure here. This was a commissioned piece. The lovely folks behind the Osheaga Music and Arts festival liked Square Quotes so much they decided to buy a little Square Quotes island of their own. Interviewees include Mike Watt of Iggy and the Stooges (pre-robbery), CSS, Duchess Says and Plants and Animals, among others.
On this episode we don our anoraks and journey through the looking glass of independent music and race politics! During the production of this episode, our producer Ali Rahman lost his apartment in an explosion, which lit a fire under our asses to finish the damn thing.
Founding member of The Dears Murray Lightburn, who’s been navigating the orchestral pop minefield for the past 13 years, stops by the studio to talk about the Dears‘ latest album Missiles, and how it was recorded by him and Nathalia Yanchak, the only members remaining from the original lineup.
We dig into the archives for a long-lost interview with Edmund Lam of Hexes & Ohs. Slated for the first episode (now lovingly referred to as the Lost Episode) when all we knew were racquet sports and field trips to Montreal’s West Island, we talk with, and give a walloping to, one half of Montreal’s cutest bedroom pop couple.
Producer Ali Rahman drunkenly assaults the Silver Jews‘ very gracious mastermind David Berman at his recent Montreal show. They spoke of cultural identity, Lyndon Johnson, and the intertwining of Talmudic thought and country music.
We play songs on this episode too, including a Murray Lightburn exclusive called Money Babies, an untitled Hexes & Ohs exclusive, How Can I Love You If You Won’t Lie Down by the Silver Jews, Freddie Scott’s (You) Got What I Need, The Merseys‘ Sorrow” and a little treat from Brazillian sensation Jorge Ben.
For more information on the Dears, we encourage you to check out Natalia Yanchak’s informative blog, titled (strangely enough) Natalia Yanchak’s Blog.
All rise!
Square Courts is back in session, with the honorable Jay Watts presiding. The people will be represented by Alexander “below-the-black-belt” Buckiewicz-Smith, foil to public defender Ali Rahman, who is expected to employ his usual tactic of obfuscating the issues by overwhelming the jury with a barrage of non-sequiturs.
Plaintiff Martin Horn lobs wild accusations at defendants Mark Slutsky and Seth W. Owen, two-thirds of Montreal’s film-family Automatic Vaudeville. Megasoid’s Rob Squire was called in as a character witness but arguably stole the jury’s heart with his tales-out-of-school.
Crime Scene photographers the Sanchez Brothers make the journey from the North Shore also bore witness to a bevy of musical selections. Pop-Reggae innovator Eddy Grant plays Walking on Sunshine, Popeye composer and John Lennon drinking partner Harry Nilsson performs Good Old Desk, acclaimed songwriter-of-the-century Burt Bacharach does a version of Trains and Boats and Planes and Barbara McNair does Fancy Passes.
Square Quotes is back with a vengeance, notorious and ever glorious! During our two week hiatus we shuffled off the chains of Suoni per il Popolo and now fly towards the sun like Icarus! This week’s episode is packed with summer sounds, summer flicks, and Cancon controversy.
Jordan Robson-Cramer, contributing member of Montreal’s Sunset Rubdown and Miracle Fortress visited us and played a song with Rory Seydel (also of Shapes and Sizes) - the newest member of Jordan’s long-standing project Magic Weapon.
Tempting fate, we invited Darren Curtis and Matt Silver, two peanut-shelling funny-men partially responsible for Kidnapper Films‘ debut full-length Who is K.K. Downey? to talk with us. The film premieres in Canada later this week as part of the Fantasia Film Festival.
This episode’s musical picks anticipate, welcome, and think about love: its complications, its great bounty. Delegation’s Darlin’ (I Think About You) appears on their landmark champagne-disco-funk album, 1979’s Eau de Vie; ABS dug up Jermaine Jackson’s Good for the Gander, which is an unreleased Motown gem produced by Norman Harrison and Ron Tyson; Steely Dan’s Dirty Work speaks for itself; Johnny Moped’s Darlin’ (Let’s Have Another Baby) gets straight up paternal; we all love Silver Apples‘ I Have Known Love (they may be popping up in our city sometime soon - shhh); and Magnum Force speaks to the mood of the moment in Girl, You’re Too Cool.
Who is K.K. Downey? trailer:
With a turnaround time that would daunt most college radio stations, but is par for the course in the big leagues with major players like Radio Congo, we came up with episode 5. A majestic palace of sophistry, loving communication, and dialogue. Our guests this week were Ken Vandermark, the acclaimed saxophonist whose name you might recognize from Powerhouse Sound and The Flying Luttenbachers; Amber Goodwyn, the publisher of Canada’s, nay North America’s best smut zine, Lickety Split; and finally, the beloved Claude Bernier, logistics master and jack of all trades with the Suoni per il Popolo festival, who came in to the studio to chat us up, and deliver exclusive Suoni sounds recorded over the course of the festival from Vic Chestnutt and The Sun Ra Arkestra, live at Sala Rossa.
This Episode’s Songs…
Leon Ware Rockin’ You Eternally, The Velvelettes Je Veux Crier (My Foolish Heart Keeps Hanging on a Memory), Di Melo A vida seus métodos diz calma, The Sun Ra Arkestra Excerpt (Live at Sala Rossa), Vic Chestnutt Excerpt (Live at Sala Rossa), Marcia Hines You Gotta Let Go, Sadina I Want That Boy
Woah. Well, Square Quotes took our sweet, precious time delivering this, a snapshot of a week or so in the life of a gaggle of Montrealers… First, Sasha Kleinplatz, a Montreal dancer, choreographer and organizer who recently put on a dance event called Piss In the Pool at the dilapidated Bain St. Michel went head-to-head with ABS; after that, we spoke to Billy Mavreas, the garrulous and lovable mensch who runs the Monastiraki Curiosity Shop, and is also a cartoonist who’s recently published a graphic novel called Inside Outside Overlap, published by Timeless Books. It’s all about dream logic, the murk, and a recent experience at the Helen Pitt Gallery in Vancouver, BC, where he participated in their Workaday series; and finally, Jenny Craig, the hostess and curator of the monthly Greasy Goose salon series discussed the business of talking about things here in Montreal, and let us listen in as local cosmologist Mark Slutsky spoke about ESP. Music? Yep, music again - Art Ensemble of Chicago, Manfred Krug, Mavreas’ The Fudge, Ben E. King, and The Soft Boys. All for you, by us.
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