Acrpost: A Project of the Pacific Association of Artist Run Centres

Event Description

Ever walk down a street paved of gold? I will save you some time and mind space…the answer is no. None of us ever have. That’s the beauty of being mortal, but if you want to reach the highest of blissful states the closest you’ll get to a gold paved street is the show on August 7th @ the Pic Pub featuring the electrifying keyboard driven pop hooks of headliner Novillero, the hard hitting Bombeat styles of local favorites Threat From Outer Space, the upbeat, rhythmic and uniquely dark pop harmonies of Bontempi and the live electro dub poetry of Recommended System Requirement.

NOVILLERO

Novillero formed in 1999 out of the ashes of Winnipeg lounge pop darlings Transonic, picking up Rod Slaughter (Duotang), Dave Berthiaume (Bulletproof Nothing), and Rusty Matyas (The Waking Eyes) along the way. This lineup released The Brindleford Follies on Endearing Records, toured moderately in support of its release, and then ground to a halt early in 2002. After nearly a year apart, Rod, Sean, Dave and Rusy got together to have some fun and play a few one-off shows with new songs. The vibe felt really good and the music was heading in a new direction. Relying less on spacey psychedelia and more on keyboard driven pop hooks and retaining enough of their mod influence to bridge the gap, Novillero began to take shape. They added Grant Johnson when Rusty scaled back his input to focus on The Waking Eyes. The result is a cohesive and unique sound in the Canadian independent music scene with a live show not to be missed. Bio excerpt from http://newmusiccanada.com/genres/artist.cfm?Band_Id=5697
www.novillero.net

THREAT FROM OUTER SPACE

Encompassing all aspects of life through music, Threat weaves together comic book fury and political consciousness with science fiction and metaphors for everyday living. Bomb Beat music defies limits and is as infinite as outer-space. Since 1997 Threat From Outer Space has mashed together styles as diverse as Hip Hop, Funk, Jazz Underground Rock, Drum’n’Bass, Punk, Ska, and House to create a hard hitting mix that has made the crew legendary live performers across the country. It is due to their ability to stay current in adapting to and mastering every style in Vancouver urban music scene that they’ve been able to deliver incendiary live shows and a distinct sound system blending live instrumentation with samplers, saxophones, trumpets, guitars, double and electric basses, and with a host of electronic triggers. With national and regional touring, heavy airplay on college and university radio and numerous festival appearances, Threat From Outer Space are dedicated performers that have been generating a buzz ever since returning from a third tour of duty across Canada; a 45 date National tour. The 12” single Walking on the Width of a Blade is out now on ConceptIcon Records and has been included in the Circa Presents Compilation East Meets West by Mat the Alien and DJ Dopey and has moved 30,000 copies. www.threatfromouterspace.com


BONTEMPI

Bontempi is a three-piece pop band that channels its scary dreams into simple, dynamic songs about isolation, sadness and the weather. The band is comprised of former roommates and present-day siblings, Lynette Gillis on drums, Carla Gillis on guitar and vocals, and Geoff Miller on bass and keyboards. Now based in Vancouver, the trio surrounds its melancholy lyrics with upbeat harmonies and sparse rhythms to create uniquely dark pop music. Siblings Lynette and Carla came of age in the heyday of the Halifax Pop Explosion and were founding members of the high-energy all-girl group Plumtree. During the band's seven-year stint, they snagged a YTV Achievement Award and some ECMA nods, recorded three full-length albums for Cinnamon Toast and Endearing, and learned the ropes of the road by touring with Thrush Hermit, the Weakerthans, the Local Rabbits, the Salteens, Julie Doiron and Duotang. Taking shape around words like "minimal," "experimental," and "spooky," and drawing influence from Blonde Redhead, Wire, Dirty Mind-era Prince and Fleetwood Mac, the group uses its three-piece status to its advantage. By limiting the instrumentation in each song, they manage to achieve an arrestingly rhythmic but fragile effect. Bontempi spent the summer of 2003 in a sweltering attic studio in Halifax's famed Khyber building with producer Charles Austin, ex-member of the Superfriendz and completed a nine-song recording in early 2004. Its street release is pending, along with plans for a summer tour.

RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENT

Spoken word and dub poet vamp Ryan Lester and laptopist Spark is Recommended System Requirement. They bring you spoken word and dub poetry infused with live electronic beats to bring to the masses a unique electronic show. This group has only been on the scene a few months but have been making a bit of noise lately by combining smart lyrics and amazing electronic instrumentation. Ryan Lester has competed in various slam poetry events around the city namely at Café Deux Soleil, Café Montmatre and Crush Lounge. Spark was the winner of this year’s Vancouver’s Laptop Battle at Brickyard and a frequent guest at the weekly experimental music night at Atlantis Nightlcub.


www.dreameyes.com