Before I officially begin this entry, I must say I've probably had one of the best weeks ever as far as interviews go. "Working" for Poutine has allowed me to meet and interview two of my favorite musicians. Last night, before the show, I got the chance to sit down in Sala Rossa's tiny green room to talk with Ohad Benchetrit about his recently released solo project, Years. Ohad is one of the founding members of Do Make Say Think and mainly plays guitar in the band. Earlier this year, another founding member of DMST, Charles Spearin, also released a solo project of his own. When they dropped into town while on tour for The Happiness Project, Spearin introduced Ohad and the then upcoming album. I felt excited to further discover what was going on into the individual creation of the members of my favorite band, and wasn't disappointed one bit. Do Make Say Think began touring their new record, Other Truths, last night in our beautiful city, and while they're at it, they're taking the opportunity to introduce Ohad's new project to the stage as a complete act, alongside The Happiness Project, and of course their own show. If you didn't get a chance to catch the show last night, I'm happy to tell you that they are playing tonight as well at Sala Rossa. Now, hit that jump!

Apostle of Hustle has been one of my top two bands for several years now. I love their albums - they're full of originality and I think that what they create is something truly unique and brilliant. Last spring, the band released a new full length record called Eats Darkness. Apostle of Hustle will be playing at Il Motore this Friday (November 27th, 2009). Their new record is excellent and their live shows are always impress the heck out of me (even after having seen them perform live several times over the past few years). Eats Darkness is a great concept album, which marks a new way of putting a record together for Whiteman and his musicians. Listen to the interview after the jump to hear what he has to say about it (amongst other things).

Last Tuesday, I rounded up a few friends and went to see Peaches do her thing on the stage of the Metropolis. I can't say that I've listened to her albums a whole lot, but for some reason, I've always been really interested by what she does. There's something very raw and adulterated about her music. She doesn't really seem to aim for an overwhelming melodic musicality, in her songs, but that's not to say something is lacking to the unpretentious package. There's beats, words and sounds, and all of it is perfectly fine the way it is. But over and above all that, you haven't heard peaches, or know what she's about (as a musician/artist) until you've actually seen her play live. I don't say this often, but this show seriously blew my mind, to the point where, almost a week later, I'm still looking for the right words to describe the "Peaches experience".

I don't know about you, but I'm a long time lover of vintage. You know, those things that make your mom or grandma smile awkwardly with discomfort because in their minds you're wearing something that's soooooo terribly outdated? Yeah, that stuff. It must come from the fact that my best friend's family have been owners of vintage stores for as long as I can remember. They taught me about the joys of having unique pieces and recycling it into a new and original style of your own. Over the years, it's been a growing passion of mine. In fact, this summer, I spent some time at my grandparent's house, and while I was there, I spent a ridiculous amount of time foraging through every single closet - an experience that was a mixture of joyous finds and mad sneezing spells. But since we live in a culture of constant renewal, such treasure hunts aren't always fruitful as we'd like, which is why we need passionate entrepreneurs like Beau and Ryan, who love vintage just about as much as I do, and have recently opened up a very cool boutique in NDG.

À Montréal, nous avons la chance d'avoir droit à une panoplie étonnante de festivals bien à nous qui n'ont d'égaux nulle part ailleurs au point de vue mondial. Cependant, la mission du festival Coup de cœur francophone est un peu différente. Fondé à Montréal en 1987, le festival est itinérant depuis 1995, c'est-à-dire que les gentils organisateurs du festival ont décidé d'ouvrir les frontières montréalaises du festival à 9 partenaires partout au pays. Vendredi dernier, j'ai eu la chance d'assister à la prestation des Ogres de Barbarack, un groupe de français qui ont traversés l'océan pour venir faire danser une joyeuse foule au Club Soda.

When I look back to the years when I was doing my first degree, some of my best memories revolve around theater. Who hasn't done the odd "Theater Arts" class in high school or enlisted for the drama club because the cutest boy/girl in school was part of it? What I'm getting at is, when did we stop indulging in to the theatrical arts? Why should music shows or the silver screen take over our art-seeing plans? When I saw the flier for Other People's Problems a few weeks back, I made plans to attend the show with a good friend of mine. Last night was a perfectly fabulous Wednesday evening in Montreal. Read on to learn more about why you should also make plans to see this show in the next few days.

Earlier this afternoon, I got a chance to sit down with Chris and Ezra of Vampire Weekend, who are currently in town to play a show tomorrow night at Le National. We had a lovely chat about their new album (coming in January 2010) and they will tell you a little about what to expect with Contra. I also asked them about how they create music and what goes into their creative process, amongst other things.
Listen to the interview after the jump.

Whether you've heard about him as the Grammy nominated arranger/producer who worked with Feist on Let It Die or for his talents as prodigious piano player, there's nothing in this guy's Resume to leave a music lover indifferent. This is why I just had to attend his concert at the newly renovated concert venue at L'eXcentris last weekend. The outcome was rather surprising to say the least. Clearly, I wasn't the only Montrealer who just had to see the virtuoso in action. The lineup started at the very back of the theater and even stretched to the street.

Acadien d'origine, Joseph Edgar est un auteur-compositeur-interprète d'un rare talent qui réussit avec succès le mélange délicat de multiples styles et influences de rock-acoustique visant à créer un univers à la fois rafraîchissant, unique et familier. Membre fondateur du populaire groupe Zéro ˚Celsius, Marc Poirier (maintenant connu sous le pseudonyme "Joseph Edgar") présente son deuxième en novembre 2006 album solo, "oh ma ma" pour lequel il se voit attribué le prix d'Artiste de l'année en musique au Gala des Éloizes 2008, événement soulignant l'excellence dans les arts et la culture acadienne. Le 5 mai 2009, Joseph Edgar lance un troisième album "Y'a un train qui s'en vient...". Joseph Edgar et ses trois albums font leur petit train de chemin: ses performances énergiques et passionnées se voient acclamées autant par les critiques qu'auprès de son publique. Il fait partie d'une vague d'artistes acadiens qui se font de plus en plus remarquer sur le marché québécois, établissant ce que certains commencent à appeler « The Acadien Invasion ».

Joseph Edgar sera en spectacle demain soir à L'abreuvoir (403, Ontario Est) à partir de 22h30. Les billets sont disponible à la porte pour le raisonnable prix de 7$.

Tonight, the Metropolis was vibrating with a sold out crowd of happy fans who gave a warm and loud welcome to Miss Regina Spektor. I must admit that it was a bit of a musical discovery for me. It didn't take long for her whimsical lyrics and clever sense of musicality to win me over.

The setup was simple but efficient. Miss Spektor on vocals and piano, accompanied by two string players and a drummer. It's really all it took to bring out the best in her music. Overdoing it would've been a mistake. Her voice is so pretty, and for newbies to her music (like yours truly), it's pretty crucial for that to stand out more than anything else to get the most out of her great words.

Last night I went to see Bowerbirds, down at Sala Rossa. I discovered this band through a friend of mine over the Christmas holidays. There's a lot of nice perks to having friends with similar musical tastes, but discovering new bands, I feel is one of those privileged moments that just keeps on giving. This gets even better when I finally get to see those new discoveries play their music live. I don't know if you realize how incredibly lucky we are here in Montreal to have a ridiculous amount of fabulous bands rolling in every week to share their music with us. I can honestly say that I can count on one hand the amount of bands I love that I have yet to see.

I also love it when at a show, I'm caught off guard and end up loving other acts of the evening, and last night I was pleasantly surprised by the two other bands that took the stage before Bowerbirds. This, to me, testifies to good show planning; another reason why we should be thankful to have such great production companies in this city (i.e. BSTB). Not only do they bring in the bands we all know and love, but they manage to swing musical discoveries for us audience members while they're at it. I think that's great... really. Keep reading for less ranting about how great I think Montreal production companies are, and more about the actual show.

It's been a while since I've last attended a show in Montreal and since I've been ill since I've returned from Europe, last night it was twice as great to celebrate my official return to my beloved city by seeing one of my current favorite bands play in such a great venue. I speak of course about the mysterious and fabulous Timber Timbre, who has recently re-released his latest eponymous record with Arts & Crafts. It didn't take too long after the original release of the album for the notorious Canadian Indie label to notice this chap, and with good reason: it's simply brilliant.