Last night Pop Montreal kicked off and I checked out Jay Reatard at Sala Rossa. I’ll be covering the pop festival in the next issue of Snap Magazine but for now here are some photos. The opening band No Bunny was actually really great. My second favorite of the night, after Jay Reatard of course.

Jay Reatard – Oh it’s such a shame

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Distroboto are old cigarette machines converted to sell zines, artwork, poetry and pins for 2$ each.

The lead singer of No Bunny literally scratched and clawed his way through a great set.

After her work on a Darwin Inspired Opera with the other half of The Knife, Karin Dreijer Andersson released a solo album last December under the name Fever Ray. Her vocals will be very familiar to anyone who gets down with The Knife. The instrumentals are comprised of atmospheric electronic beats that are as eerie as they are erratic and play in the same sandbox as The Knife. Fever Ray plays on Oct 1st at Metropolis for Pop Montreal festival and tickets are a whopping 30$ + fees!

Many Fever Ray songs have fully realized videos like this one and I expect the show to likely include some visual components as well. Costumes will likely be in effect.

Fever Ray – Triangle Walks (zshare)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Fever Ray – Seven [CSS Remix] (zshare)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

You might wonder why I would preface a post about Pop Montreal announcements with a photo of a white dog sporting a red collar. The answer is because that dog has a 12 million dollar trust fund that’s why. Hotel heiress Leona Helmsley left the fund to her beloved dog after she passed away a few weeks ago.

Anyways, some of the headliners include Fever Ray, Jay Reatard and of course Yo La Tengo. It’s just a taste of what’s to come this October.

Also Sufjan Stevens is having a rare performance in Montreal during the festival but not associated with it. His entire tour is already sold out, but I thought I’d mention that anyways.

Yo La Tengo – Little Eyes (zshare)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

At the last minute, my super friends at Snap! Magazine have bestowed upon me a free ticket to the Hot Chip show tomorrow night. As the Pop Montreal festivities kick off, I’ll be right in the thick of things. There’s only one problem… No one seems to be going!

Literally no one I know is going and I realize the world may not revolve around me, but the facebook group, which is usually a okay, albeit lame barometer for event attendance, is literally barren. Anyways, I’m going regardless of whether I have anyone to go with. That’s the sad story of my life folks.
Hot Chip – Sexual Healing [Marvin Gaye Cover] (mp3) (zshare)

The madness otherwise known as Pop Montreal kicks off next wednesday and is largely the reason why the upcoming events section is so huge these days. The Dodos are playing that saturday at Sala Rossa and as much as I wanted to go, I’m opting to go see A-trak (again) instead. Why? I went last year.

When I first heard The Dodos I didn’t really understand what all the fuss is about, which explains the lateness of this post in terms of everything else that’s going on, but the more I listened, the more it grew on me.
The Dodos – Red and Purple (mp3) (zshare)

The Dodos – Ashley (mp3) (zshare)

Richmond Lam photography

I learned about Caroline Keating by watching her act in short film at Parc Cinema a few weeks ago. In it she played her song “The Honey and the Shimmy” and I was intrigued enough to pay attention to the credits and remember her myspace. She’s a Montreal artist and she’s taking part in pop Montreal’s Pop Off tour this summer. If your around Montreal, Quebec, Toronto or Ottawa this summer I recommend checking her out. Actually decide for yourself.

Pop off Tour
June 11, 08 Le Cercle Québec, Quebec
June 12, 08 Parc des Amériques (Fringe Pop) Montréal, Quebec
June 13, 08 End Hits Ottawa, Ontario
June 14, 08 Silver Dollar Toronto, Ontario
Caroline Keating – The Hunny and the Shimmy (mp3)

Caroline Keating – So long, solange (mp3)