Currente calamo: NXNE 2011 (Wednesday)

NXNE 2011 (Wednesday, June 15, 2011)

While these shows are fresh in my mind I want to get some quick notes down. I'm a nerd for not wanting to throw my full reviews out of sequence, so there'll be a fuller accounting of the night by and by that'll include all the details on the burritos and existential worrying.

8 p.m.: Loom @ Rivoli

Brooke Manning's folk/drone project took on a different cast than when I had seen last her playing in February. On that occasion, she had a couple musicians sharing the stage with her, including Maya Postepski's icy, ambient keyboard work. Now playing on her own, the music was even more spare. And also something closer to folk than to the vaguely Broadcast-y feel of the previous versions.

That said, this was still very good stuff. It helps that there's some crackerjack songs here. Plus, Manning took the stage with far more confidence tonight, even daring to smile and look confidently relaxed. At one point, she took a picture of the audience with a disposable camera, instructing everyone to close their eyes and think of something they loved. Manning seemed to be following her own advice while playing, eyes closed and fingers spinning out her slow, fragile dreams.

9 p.m.: Megan Bonnell @ Rivoli

This was more of a "well, I'm here" sort of set than anything I was particularly eager to see. And while I can sometimes be swayed by purveyors of piano pop, it's more often the case that I find it hard for anything to really stand out for me in a crowded field. For this set, Bonnell was joined by a drummer, as well as a cellist on several songs. The latter certainly enriched the sound, but sadly there were some persistent problems that added some unwanted buzzings and harsh overtones to the strings. Even Bonnell's vocals were sometimes creaking in the mix. That'd certainly be no fault of her own, as she gave every indication of being a good singer, gifted with a powerful voice that she used with admirable restraint.

Her smoky timber occasionally recalls Chan Marshall, but the way she employes her voice is different. Regina Spektor is an easy point of comparison. Unfortunately, the songs didn't do much for me, so I spent more time thinking about how she fits into the field of her genre than I was being pulled into the music.

10 p.m.: O Voids @ The Horseshoe

From there, it was just the shortest of walks, past the front bar of The Riv (packed with people eyeballing the Stanley Cup final) over to the 'Shoe (where the front bar was similarly jammed). It was quieter in the back as O Voids got ready to play. This showcase was presented by M for Montréal, and I dropped by in time for some aggressive volume that was in sharp contrast to what I had seen so far in the night.

I didn't know much about the band, but they had a convincing blurb and a likeable track on on offer in their festival listing, so I gave it a go. As could be expected, loud guitars and bellowed vocals aren't a bad way to get my attention. The guit/bass/drums trio tend to fish around in the long history of louder postpunk music, and could be considered a power trio in the sense that Mission of Burma are a power trio.

Having a bit of trouble getting everything balanced in the mix, the band settled for the solution of turning the guitar up louder. That actually did clear up some initially-murky sound, but also made it ear-splittingly loud in the room. Musically, I mostly enjoyed what was on offer here, with pummelling instruments and vox buried down somewhere. The music occasionally veered toward something catchy in the manner of, say, early Superchunk, but lots of little post hardcore ruffles around the edges kept this off the easy track.

11 p.m.: Red Mass @ The Horseshoe

I'd been aware of Roy Vucino's rock onslaught machine for quite awhile, just having missed seeing them at a couple previous festivals. Now, it appears that they've slimmed down from their previously outsized formats to a comparatively-managable five piece. But that's still enough people to raise a helluva racket. The set started with some bait-and-switch, with some live violin being played against a manipulated tape-recorded violin, but that was soon set aside as the group settled into an aggressive hard rock groove, sort of like a bad-trip version of the MC5. And then, about halfway through the set, "Weird Mess" hit like a sonic reducer, and suddenly the band was rather excellent.

Sadly, it was just at that moment that the band was really nailing it when Vucino broke a guitar string. The rest of the band played on while he hurredly changed it, creating an unplanned lengthy instrumental excursion. But that punkish snarl triggered something, and the rest of the set was similarly intense, indicating that the band was just getting warmed up. Sadly, this was a half-hour set, so we got about three songs of the really good stuff before their time was done.

Listen to a track from this set here.

12 a.m.: Parlovr @ The Horseshoe

The night's "special guest" headliner was an open secret, it seemed, and I decided to stick around to see how things have progressed for this trio. It was actually back at NXNE two years ago that we'd last crossed paths. Things certainly seem to have gone well for the band, who are now garnering a pretty large and enthusiastic crowd. And they've definitely managed to thicken their two-guitars-no-bass sound a bit. Vocally, at first I though there was a bit more yowling going on than previously, but I note that when I first saw 'em I was a bit weary of "slightly howl-y adenoidal vox".

All three still play with manic energy, though, and their wired-up deportment is definitely their strongest suit. The songs, however, still don't do much for me. That put me firmly in the minority, as there were a lot of people really into it. During "Pen To The Paper" I noticed the couple in front of me singing it to each other in a manner suggesting it was "their song". Clearly this hits in just the right spot for a lot of people, and if I don't get that, I can at least admit it's energetic as hell and fun to bounce along to.