The 2009 Jimmy Awards

Welcome to No Look Guns’ inaugural annual (memorial?) Jimmy Awards. Each Jimmy presented recognizes an outstanding musical accomplishment in the past year that has moved Serge and Gene in one way or another. This year’s ceremony includes 5 categories and features artists that helped make 2009 a very important year in the evolution of the No Look Gun.

Best Album of 2009: Metric – Fantasies

This album is fantastic; it fulfilled most of our fantasies and left us with a few more that probably shouldn’t be put to print. Fantasies is an absolute pleasure to listen to, but then again we’d probably listen to the ‘S’ section of the dictionary if Emily Haines were reading it aloud. The woman’s voice is so sexy it could rouse Rip Van Winkle. From start to finish, this Canadian quartet brings a ruckus so succulent that we sautéed and ate the liner notes. Pounding drums, heavy synthesizer, nasty guitar licks, and saucy vocals combine to produce a sound that is equally hard and soft, slick and gritty, filthy and clean, all while maintaining an irresistible danceablilty. In the 4 years since the release of their last full length album, it seems Metric transcended to an unseen plane of songwriting, then came back to throw it in everyone’s face with this awesome musical display.

Try listening to this without your pants getting a little tighter.
Metric - Sick Muse


Best Album by a Band Outside Canada: Phoenix- Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

A category designed to bring some equality to bands outside the Great White North, it was also a must since we had to ensure that Phoenix received some prize for their utterly infectious album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. The French foursome’s fourth effort, this album has thrown the band into the public ear in a big way, and we think it is very well deserved. Right from the start with the rapid fire opener “Lisztomania”, W.A.P. is so catchy that we dare anyone not to get any of the ten songs stuck in their head. What is remarkable though, is that the album does not trade authenticity for appeal. In fact, the frogs have managed to neatly couple the two, demonstrated by the two-part centerpiece "Love Is Like A Sunset" and numerous classical melodies and references sprinkled throughout. While the lyrics are harder to understand than a Quebec accent, the unique voice of Thomas Mars forms part of a sensual ménage a trois of vocals, alt-pop guitar plucking, and beautiful synth work. We can only tip our berets to the boys of the red white and blue, and say “Vive la France” for producing an album that is as enjoyable as it is genuine.
Phoenix - Fences

Best Album within 100km: Said the Whale- Islands Disappear

Anyone who doesn’t hold a doctorate in Canadian geography/history may need an historical atlas of Canada in order to know what these guys are talking about, but that doesn’t detract from that fact that this is one exceptionally fine album. Vancouver’s Said the Whale have done the Canadian indie scene proud with this release. The album takes the listener on a cross-country trip from BC to Ontario, punctuated by tales of whimsical magicians and uncool Canadian gentlemen. Islands Disappear is plain and simple fun, it makes NLG want to dance-run into the woods and explore until dusk, then drink hot cocoa.

Said the Whale - Out on the Shield

Best Live Show: Easy Star All-Stars (Element Nightclub)

Easy Star All-Stars was a show that was all about breaking rules. First, pairing reggae and dub with the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Radiohead, and turning it into a dance party that left me bed ridden for a week is not something in the ordinary. Element nightclub was so full of people and things being smoked or ingested that the Liquor Board would have been backlogged for months with the case. We were practically dancing on the ceiling. Filthy clean female vocals on “Lovely Rita” and “She’s Leaving Home” left us in state of awestruck bodyshock, only to be matched by the climatic “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” during which a true reggae specimen took us on an intergalactic trip to Planet Zion and back. Dizzier than a dirty rascal and higher than a kite, we dubstepped around in an elated glee which was only furthered by the fact that the music lasted well beyond the usual cutoff of 2am. Seemed like Victoria decided that to get the Easy Stars to come play, they would have to ignore a few of their cherished rules--resulting in Serge and Gene’s finest musical outing of the year.

Easy Star All-Stars - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Dub Band

Honourable mention: Holy Fuck (Element Nightclub)

The Holy Fuck show deserves mention as it is, in our minds, the scene of a terrific dance revolution. The two main musician/scientists delivered a potent cocktail of cerebral-soothing and spasm-inducing noise emanating from an infinite array of keyboards (which we hope included a PS-80) and various other toys and gadgets that were packed on stage. What made the event especially memorable was that the band’s experimental and pioneering techniques were rivaled by the crowd’s response. First, two headbanded dance warriors changed the way Serge and Gene would dance from that moment on, by showing us such avant-garde moves as the Salmon Spawner, Couch Crawl, and the 2-bit Horse Trotter. Their departure would have left us reeling had it not been for a female stranger who felt the desire to tap her fingers all over our vertebrae (not without asking permission first). The shiatsu beat-keeping finger tapping made us into human pianos, and may have been regarded as a physical violation except that it was for us a most delightful accompaniment to the barrage of bliss from the keys of Holy Fuck. From purely enjoyable music to dance sensations that were light years ahead of their time, Holy Fuck had us shouting profanities all the way home.

Best Cover of the Cardigans "Love Fool": Islands- "No You Don't"

The following should speak for itself.
Islands - No You Don't

Give money to Metric, Phoenix, Said the Whale, Easy Stars, Islands and they will give you goods in return.

Date Music

We like dates. And history. And these two songs highlight two of the most important dates in history: 1517, the year of the Protestant Reformation, and 1901, the year of the, uh, Great Fire of 1901. To tell you the truth, we’re not exactly sure of the motivation behind the naming of these two tracks, but they are some seriously banging tunes. These aren’t the only ones either (Golden Dogs’ “1985”, Crystal Castles’ “1991” to name a few), which leads us to believe this is some sort of trend. Perhaps more history buffs are getting into music.

Two of the most chronisyncetically pleasing sounds from the year 2009, coming from Germany’s Whitest Boy Alive and France’s Phoenix:

Whitest Boy Alive - 1517
Phoenix - 1901

These songs also serve as a teaser to the upcoming first annual Jimmy Awards, presented by NLG to our choice of the best music of 2009, in which these two bands may or may not be taking home some hardware. Stay tuned!

An Ode to Frances

Yesterday, Serge and Gene said farewell to a venerable old friend, Frances. Eighty-three and sporting personal views as abrasive as the Round-Up she pours down the storm drain, Frances has been privately funding our drinking activities for the past year. Beneath the cantankerous exterior is a woman as sweet as the Christmas pudding she was baking for what may or may not have been Lou Diamond Phillips, and one who has taught us more things than you can shake a fist at—including inventive waxing methods and various uses for a tarpaulin. We think that Kurt Cobain’s gritty “Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle” is the ideal tribute to this genteel relic. Not very ironically, this song was written by Cobain about Frances Farmer, the rebellious and headstrong 1940’s actress who was eventually committed to a mental hospital. The song features on Nirvana's final studio album, the raw and thematic In Utero. Oh happy day!


Nirvana - Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle

NLG talks CPH

In the interest of keeping current, NLG would like to recognize the ongoing UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, by featuring the hotter-than-the-Arctic-in-2020-off-the-press work of Copenhagen–based artist Kasper Bjørke. And while we at NLG are big fans of “the environment”, we would prefer to leave any such discussions to the blogs of the environmental enthusiasts.

In the case that anyone was interested in checking out a said enthusiasts' blog covering the meetings, take a quick look at FossiloftheDay.com and see how Canada is keeping up.

Kasper Bjørke - Young Again

NLG Goes Back in Time Vol. II

For those who don’t already know, the two lads in the above photo are Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. We’ve all heard the adage, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”, well, NLG believes this may have been derived from these guys. Separately, they are Donald and Walter, two pretty whack-looking dudes, but together they are Steely Dan, a musical entity so sensual it borders on being downright rude.

Steely Dan’s blend of jazz-porno fusion oozes with so much passion that it could be bottled and sold as a more potent alternative to Spanish Fly. A volatile yet sensuous horn section, bass lines that could kill an alligator, drum beats that could turn said alligator into some pretty fly boots, Becker’s toe-curling guitar licks, and Fagen’s immortal vocal triumphs are just the tip of the iceberg for a band who’s depth could penetrate the Earth’s core. Who would expect such flavour out of a couple guys named Donald and Walter? Their flavour, however, has not gone unnoticed, seeing as one would have to drop his pants to count how many rap songs have sampled their music.

When discussing Steely Dan’s incomparable style, NLG can’t help but reminisce back to when the barely 18 year-old Serge and Gene ventured to beautiful Auburn, WA for a life-altering weekend of musical doings. We loaded our nubile frames onto the Clipper, braved Seattle’s public transportation system, then dined at the Azteca Mexican restaurant (ring a bell to any radio listeners?), all before clambering aboard the Steely Dan Express headed for the spectacular White River Amphitheatre. The Steely Dan Express was a tour bus full of gregarious 40- and 50-somethings who were elated that a pair of young stallions would be joining them on their musical pilgrimage… this made finishing our case of Budweiser easier, if not necessary. Upon arrival at the venue, we spilled out of the bus feeling moderately violated (on account of an especially gregarious fellow passenger), sufficiently roonied, and more than keen to be pummeled by the musical styling of Steely Dan. Little did we know of the pummeling we were about to endure. Accompanied by Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers, and a back up band that could have propelled a jet fighter, Steely Dan rained blow after blow of auditory uppercuts on our unsuspecting heads until we were TKO’d in the most pleasurable way possible. Details of the concert are hazy, perhaps the result our minds being blown, or perhaps it was the Budweiser. Either way, the whole spectacle left us reeling in our bad sneakers and with an inexplicable craving for Cuervo Gold.

Trying to peg their best album would be fruitless. The pure fire that these boys exude is exhibited in nearly all of their works. Aja, Gaucho, and Can’t Buy a Thrill immediately come to mind as their finer collections of aural erotica, but that’s not to say their other stuff won’t blow a hole in your drawers.

Here’s "Black Cow", the opening track from Steely Dan’s 1977 album Aja,
Steely Dan - Black Cow

and "Hey Nineteen", off of Gaucho, their 1980 follow-up to Aja.
Steely Dan - Hey Nineteen

NLG is Naïve

We at NLG like the Talking Heads… a lot. That’s why we are overjoyed that their music has been popping up in the most unexpected places lately. First, there was the Talking Heads Dance Party at Logan’s Pub, where local act Elephant Island had the audience doing their best David Byrne body-jolts, and which also threatened to draw the attention of the fire marshal who feared we might actually burn down the house. Then, a late night romp in Fan-Tan Alley came to an immaculate climax as “This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody)” erupted from the DJ tables. And not one full day later, the very same song caressed the cochlea of Serge as he indulged in the finest mint juleps at a local hotspot. To whoever is responsible for the recent resurgence of Head, we tip our hats to you. This is where we want to be.

Without further ado, here’s the greatest song ever recorded.
Ps- NLG is also a major supporter of the use of parentheses in song titles.

Talking Heads - This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody)

NLG gets a Goolden shower of music

On Tuesday, NLG went to the Alix Goolden Hall to be elevated to another level by Arts and Crafts recording artists, The Hidden Cameras. The setting was a “church”; a strange enough setting considering one of the opening bands played Eastern Bloc gypsy music, and the Hidden Cameras’ choir were garbed in what appeared to be Ku Klux Klan attire. However, the setting couldn’t have been a more fitting venue, because the experience was ethereal.

Right from the start, the show was incredibly visual. The first band, 15-piece Bucan Bucan, promenaded the theatre dressed like 1920’s Hungarians with all sorts of brass and wind, and were followed by the band Meatdraw who appeared to be triplets. Apart from being pretty talented (he once led the whole Bucan Bucan army with a beat) Meatdraw’s drummer looked like the Queen from Alice in Wonderland, playing croquet with drumsticks in slow-motion--so much fun to watch. They were followed by the group Gentleman Reg, whom I honestly thought were upstaged by the raw energy of the previous acts.

NLG made use of the intermission before Hidden Cameras to down a black can in Victoria’s favourite alleyway, and from the moment we stepped back inside the building until the show ended two hours later, we didn’t stop dancing. We couldn’t. The music was more infectious than the swine flu—which I think I got from going to bed with wet hair (thanks a lot). Normally a 9-piece band, the Hidden Cameras probably had more than 40 people on the stage at some points, with nearly everyone from the opening bands, a choir of randomly selected Victorians, hell even NLG's own Serge and Ellie Vator made it on stage to double on the tambourine. Led by curiously charismatic frontman Joel Gibb, the Cameras were horns, violin, bass, keys, drums, and wind chimes. They had harmonies that would make Brian Wilson smile, beats and chants that made me want to buy a one-way ticket to Paul Simon’s Graceland, and 60’s rhythms that had us doing the Cavern Stomp, Watusi, and the Mashed Potato. It was like being at a performance by a bunch of your friends: the crowd was in the band, and the band was in the crowd. There was 200% crowd participation, and the band was the most humble and welcoming I have seen. The climax of the show, which featured the last tracks off their latest album, Origin:Orphan, left the crowd with just enough breath to shake the piety out of the building with chants and stomps asking for “one more”. When the Cameras returned, it was another wild, sexy, exuberant display of musical salaciousness that enveloped the crowd in a wave of jubilation. After the show, I’ve never seen such comradery between the attendees as well as the band members. High fives and sweating faces abound, it was like we had been through a war together. Joel Gibb even gave NLG an exclusive ‘no look gun’. “Blog it up” we will!



The Hidden Cameras - Do I Belong?
The Hidden Cameras - Underage

Serge and Mom spare some change

Braving the wind, rain, and the foul BC Ferries’ food to get to Vancouver, NLG’s latest musical outing was to see the Playing For Change band. For the ill-informed, Playing For Change is the brainchild of a sound engineer called Mark Johnson who, after seeing a moving performance by a talented street musician in Atlanta, went around the world asking various street artists to collaborate on music, on such immortal songs as “Stand By Me” and “One Love”. Ingenious editing originally brought the music together in the form of videos; now we have the privilege of seeing some of the musicians collaborate live as the Playing For Change band.

Street musicians they are, however these are not just a bunch of homeless buskers. This is a (afrocentric) United Nations of perversely-talented musicians who made Serge feel like he died and went to musical heaven, and was now witnessing their last performance before the Armageddon. Naturally, NLG was front row, and close enough to feel the blasts from Clarence Bekker and Titi Tsira’s colossal vocals and get damp feet from the rivers of sweat pouring from the band’s euphonious bones. The three hours of non stop music covered African soul shakers, a cover of Don’t Worry that induced a dance battle between Titi and Mermans Kenkosenki that threatened to reverse the earth’s rotation, and an insane jam-cover of Billie Jean that involved a solo performance by each of the ten musicians including Grandpa Elliot bustin’ some dance moves with his harmonica. Voodoo brought Don’t Worry back near the end of the show with a gender battle of chanting led by Titi’s pure and true chords, which started from a shocking acapella rendition of Linda Perry’s “What’s Up” by Clarence Bekker. The music, the message, and the love present at the Commodore that night served up what was described by Serge’s mother as “the most positive musical experience”. Well said, Mom.

NLG Goes Back in Time

The year is 1982 and today's electronic acts are no more than a bulge in their daddy's acid wash jeans. Neil Young, being the prolific social activist he is, decides to turn his attention to the ever prevalent "computer age" which is sweeping through the nation. Bear in mind that a computer circa 1982 resembles a wood-paneled TV with a typewriter super-glued to the front (seen here). This was enough, however, to catch Young's attention. So, what does he do? He releases a mind numbing, seizure inducing, electrosexual masterpiece that we at NLG consider to be a thrusting factor in the birth of modern electro music (which is fitting since the boys from Chromeo may very well have been conceived to this album).

Young's album, entitled "Trans", is an amalgamation of rock 'n roll, dance, and Pac-Man, that could easily slide into rotation beside any modern electro album in your collection. Besides being a techtastic groove piece, the album also manages to touch on society's growing dependence on technology. Track titles like "Computer Age" and "We R in Control" exemplify the shift from computers being used solely by researchers at UC Berkley to calculate the decimal expansion of pi, to ubiquitous forces that dictate our every move. But, when I listen to the album, all I hear is "get roonied and party 'til you're comatose".

We leave you with two tracks off of Trans: The 8 minute epic, "Sample and Hold", and our personal favourite, "Computer Age", complete with synthesizer, something called a "vocoder", and a mid-song breakdown a la Pachelbel.


Neil Young - Computer Age
Neil Young - Sample and Hold

NLG likes Arts and Crafts

Since we’re so hyped on the crafty indie music label Arts and Crafts, and also as a jab at the botched TD money lounge concert at UVic, I thought I’d put down a track from The Stills apocalyptic-themed album Oceans Will Rise. If you don’t want to get too depressed don’t listen to the lyrics or read the song names (Snow in California; Snakecharming the Masses; Panic; Dinosaurs—wonder if it would sync to Fantasia??). I tried to pick the most upbeat song because, as we all know, the world can look pretty grim after a couple nights of getting blackout.

By the way, for an interesting and inadvertently funny discussion on the genuinity of the show Mantracker, see this page: Everydayweekender.com/mantracker. Make sure you check out the comments, notably comment #4 for an idea how they get around the camera problem.


The Stills - Don't Talk Down

Serge goes to Champion

We were surprised that the liquor store was even open, the day being a Sunday and the time 10pm. But when we went inside and found out that there were no black cans left, we were devastated. “How else are we gonna get so roonied that we’ll have to be scraped off the floor tonight?” we asked ourselves. And then, as if God was answering our prayers and restocking the shelf himself, a hand appeared from nowhere and placed 4 tall black cans in a row above the word “FAXE”. They were even cold. We looked at each other and knew it would be a good night.

Champion and his G-strings are the most French Canadian looking people I have ever seen. Long hair, scruffy, uncouth. Champion, or Maxine Morin, is the conductor, not only a maestro but a train conductor of a cavalcade of musical explosiveness that leaves you numb. While jumping around adjusting the drums and bass he fires a selected “G-string” a no look gun (no joke he was firing NLG’s all night) and detonates a blistering, threatening eruption of guitar shredding. Champion knows how to work the crowd and uses this knowledge to induce head-splitting convulsions by stopping and starting the tunes on a dime. True maestro style. Vocals were provided by another scruffy frenchie, Pilou Cote, who almost stole the show with glorious strains that reminds of Beast. Me and Tab Asco finished our night by doubling home on my bike, and had so many near deaths that I’m surprised we’re not being scraped off the road right now. What a success!

Here is a track from Champion's latest album, Resistance, and his first, Chill 'em all
Champion - Alive Again
Champion - No Heaven
Beast - Fingerprints

NLG attended Monsters of Folk

Last week, NLG attended the Monsters of Folk concert in Vancouver, the kickoff show to their 2009 world tour. The 'monsters' were very good--good in the way that you would expect a group of such accomplished musicians to be. Accomplished musicians being: Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, M Ward of M Ward, and Mike Mogis who played an electric mandolin/slide xylophone.

NLG had three main observations from the show:
1. Jim James is a workhorse
2. Conor Oberst has good balance
3. There was enough flannel there to clothe Paul Bunyan's family (if he could have one--not sure if he can procreate)

Monsters of Folk - Say Please

Welcome to No Look Guns

Welcome to No Look Guns. We're a couple of kids from Victoria who bonded on a strange but epic surfing adventure to the Oregon Coast. There we met Jimmy, a man who would change our lives forever. But neither the trip nor Jimmy (with the exception of Who Let the Dogs out) has anything to do with music. Which is what this blog is all about. We want to share tunes with you to get free stuff and collect money from hits on our ad. I mean, share our passion for music with you. We'll post up some reviews of shows we've been to, some tracks that we think are nice, and possibly some interviews with our favourite artists if they allow us to be near them. Stay tuned...