Mixtape Monday #2: 4 Songs I've Seen Live (And A Bonus)

I've been quite busy on the concert front this week, managed to squeeze in 4 shows in 6 nights, something I hadn't done since Pop Montreal (one of my favourite experiences of the year). And so I've compiled some studio versions of songs that I've heard over the past week that I've enjoyed in some way.

1. The Acacia Strain – Beast
Night one of Despised Icon's two-night farewell stand at Club Soda held a great line-up –
ABACABB (who themselves are soon to be no more), mychilden mybride, Montreal techgrind maestros Beneath The Massacre and direct support The Acacia Strain set the tone for the Montreal sextet's exit. The opening song from the TAC's set (and also the first track off of their 2010 release Wormwood) got the crowd moving like no one had done prior, and the refrains of "my life... is a shooting range" reverberated off of the venue's walls with a guttural desire that demanded attention, as if the band had tried to hypnotize the crowd into two-stepping like it was the last thing they'd ever do on earth. The Mass. band did well.

2. Despised Icon – All For Nothing
Montreal. Deathcore. Nothing more to be said about a band I've seen live more times than I can count. Sad to see them go, but they went out in style. Cameras were there Sunday night which definitely means they were shooting for a DVD. They opened their set up with this song (and closed with Guitar Hero anthem "MVP" too) and the stage-dives demonstrated their style. Thanks, guys.

3. The Sainte Catherines – We Used To Be In Love
It's Friday night/Saturday morning. The bar is packed, it's nearing one a.m. My trusty punk punter friend Alex Manley and I give the doorman our 5 bucks and get into the low-ceiling venue, anxiously awaiting the band of the hour. The Sainte Catherines had announced the last-minute show on Twitter and spread the word to friends, and it was by a stroke of luck that I read that shit on the internet and promptly got dressed and headed out, but not before calling Manley up for some good ol' Montreal punk action. The dancing was furious, the walls of L'Esco (on Saint-Denis) were covered in steam, so much so that Sainte Cats/Dig It Up! drummer Andrea Silver was drawing shit in the windows near her stool in-between songs. The band was tight, the mood was light, singer Hugo Mudie was talkative and the music was sublime: gang vocals, hoarse plaintive remarks from Mudie and even a surprise vocals from Mike of Dig It Up! (as it was also his birthday, natch). Their 45-minute set was a perfect kick-off to a great weekend.

4. P.O.S. – Low Light Low Life (feat. Dessa / Cecil Otter/ Sims)
I could spend all day talking about my love of Doomtree Records. The Minneapolis collective has been putting out quality productive for the last half-decade and turned a growing number of ears and eyes their way with their brand of heart-on-sleeve rap music that also boasts great production. Their Tuesday night marathon at Il Motore proved that the collective's got it going on – it's the first time they've toured nationally and the road warriors showed up. DJs Paper Tiger and Lazerbeak set the tone early on (with Tiger opening the night with a DJ set, kicking things off with LCD Soundsystem's "Dance Yrself Clean", one of my favourite tracks of the year) and then 2 1/2 hours later it was all said and done. Members Dessa, Cecil Otter, P.O.S. and Sims held down the fort while an absent Mike Mictlan remained stationed in the States, presumably unable to enter the country due to... past transgressions. "Low Light Low Life" closed the group's set off and had everyone chiming in. After that there was no encore bullshit, just a straight-up thank you from the group to the audience, and vice-versa. A class act until the end.

5. Beck – Debra (Live On West 54th)
I picked this bonus cut because of the fact that I wish I could have seen this live. Recorded in September 1997 during his Odelay tour, Beck was at his James Brown-esque finest: an undeniable bandleader who gathered an amazing menagerie of musicians in order to create the dirtiest of funk. The hour-long set starts off with an updated re-envisioning of Keith Mansfield's "Soul Thing" (complete with some tasteful DJ scratches) and from there we're off to the races. Although Beck went on to release the stripped-down, bossa nova and tropicalia-tinged Mutations a year later, he was clearly already prepping 1999's Midnite Vultures with the inclusion of show-stopper "Debra" (labelled as "I Wanna Get With You" on the bootleg). Check out the intro adlibs to see why this piece is godly. It's been a decade since I first heard it and I still scream out "YEAH YA'LL LIKE THE SLOW JAMS" with frightening regularity.


Zip file with all of the tracks.