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.

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.

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.

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.

Click here to listen.

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.

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.

Who is K.K. Downey? trailer:

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

Then Jack Oatmon of the Montreal Mirror stops by to give us the lowdown on Ivan Smagghe’s health issues and he manages to squeeze in an interview with Andy Butler of NYC’s post-disco group Hercules & Love Affair.

Later on we check in with Phil Elverum, of Mt. Eerie, just before his appearance at the Suoni per il Popolo festival. We play some songs too, like “I Comma Zimba” by Abdullah, the militant Motown musician and “Moliendo Cafe” performed by twelve-piece Romanian brass band Fanfare Ciocărlia. We also get heavy with Pilooski, who channels the high priestess of soul Nina Simone.

Plenty of songs, too: as we make a house call with Lord Kitchener’s “Dr. Kitch,” get warm and fuzzy with The Feelies, and let the plebes love it with forgotten girl group The Cake.

The two guests, gracious and forgiving to a fault, were Montrealer Sam Shalabi and Jon Fall Ryan of Brooklyn’s electronic noise-improv sextet, Excepter, both of which will be performing in Montreal as part of the Suoni per il Popolo festival.

The episode features contributions from both interviewed artists, as well as three selections of music picked by the hosts in their quest for obscurantist internet supremacy. Thrill to the sounds of “Guzar Jaye Din,” a Bollywood song from the film “Annadata;” get girl crazy with Chuck Jackson as he exalts the fairer sex in “Girls, Girls, Girls;” and smother yourself in sentimental kitsch with the Portuguesed-American Jeanette as she runs us through “Porque Te Vas.”

More episodes to come, as ABS and JW3 find their footing, and producer Ali continues fretting.

Hosted by: Alexander Buckiewicz-Smith and Jay Watts III

Written by: Alexander Buckiewicz-Smith, Jay Watts III and Ali Rahman

Web Design: Sebastian Speier

Executive Producer: Ali Rahman

Audio Engineering: Martin Horn