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Thursday, March 17, 2011

Destroyer makes a clean break

kaputt:
Destroyer
Where: Commodore Ballroom, 868 Granville St. When: Thursday at 8:30 p.m. Tickets: $28.55 at Ticketmaster.ca
Stuart DerDeyn
staff reporter

Group comes together to create the smoothest blend of texture and sound

In concert

astel blazers with rolled-up sleeves, jagged frosted mullet cuts, pointy toed buckle shoes and a backing track of pristinely rendered pop music with whispered dance beats below atmospheric and ambient production overlayed with lush, crooned vocals; the look of late 1980s and early 90s acts like Roxy Music, Talk Talk and Steely Dan didnt endure the music certainly did. From the smooth saxophone leading to the chorus in Chinatown to the bubbling base in the title track, Destroyers new album, Kaputt, references the era brilliantly. Its a far cry from the glam rocking of 2001s raved-about Streethawk: A Seduction or even the melodic band effort of 2008s Trouble in Dreams. Yet for bandleader and songwriter Dan Bejar, of New Pornographers and Swan Lake acclaim, Kaputt is what he wanted it to be. Although banging his head against old synthesizers trying to get them to do what he wants in rehearsals for his coming tour is proving challenging. With all the sequencing and pro-

Dan Bejar, of new Pornographers fame, is Destroyers bandleader and songwriter.

Submitted Photo

gramming up against live musicians on the new album, this is going to be a shift from the slam-it-to-the-wall live approach to previous albums. The band is big, eight people, and while it would be really heavy to have eight of us staring into a MacBook, were going to be blending rigged and live to cover all the bases, says Bejar. You always take a hit transferring over, but you also get trumpeters and sax players blowing hard togeth-

er and a rhythm section establishing a real band dynamic rather than the illusory one created in studio. Textures, sounds and arrangements all come together on Kaputt in a way that could suggest the sum of all the experiments of Bejars other four projects. Not so, he says. The songs are written differently than in the past with some emphasis on staying comfortable. I see it as a bit of a clean break as

before there may have been a bit of emphasis on staying uncomfortable. Im not playing as much on the album and leaving more space for some kind of atmospheres to slip in and for other people to come up with melodies and nail it. He thought it might be fun to still have a voice halfway through the tour, too. Not that hes getting all Bryan Ferry or anything, but he certainly paid attention to how Ferry

and singers such as Japans David Sylvian managed to use their voices to great effect as another element in the overall atmospheric mix of the music rather than the more traditional lead singer role. My voice isnt like any of those singers with that ability to rest and luxuriate, its much more conversational. But with this band we can create those sorts of textures. The JC/DC production team gave Kaputt its gloss. For the tour, the group includes the likes of Larissa Loyva (a.k.a. Mint Records artist Kellarissa) on keys and vocals, jazz head J.P. Carter on trumpet and electronics and one enduring Destroyer member, guitarist Nick Bragg. Because hes a real player who likes to go for it, I wasnt sure how he would embrace this since its very studioheavy playing. But he just handed us all this perfect stuff on a silver platter to pick and use, Bejar says. Fans who pick up the vinyl version of the album will also get to hear frequent pianist Ted Bois entire third side to the project. While he didnt play on the album, he composed, performed and recorded an entire additional 20 minutes of music that Bejar sings on. The singer is really excited about this bonus. The generally positive reviews for the recording are making him happy. Its been a lot of strangely backhanded compliments in headier press like the New York Times, Village Voice and others. The publicist says its all great, but Ive needed some explanation at times.
sderdeyn@theprovince.com twitter.com/stuartderdeyn

End of the road for merry group

By John P. McLaughLin
special to the province

In concert
Mark Berube and the Patriotic Few
Where: The Cultch, 1895 Venables St. When: Friday at 8 p.m. Tickets: $22 at 604-251-1363

Tomorrows show at the Cultch marks the last in a cross-Canada, mid-winter swing for accordionist Mark Berube and his happy band of players, the Patriotic Few. This is a big, big country and, except for our little oasis by the sea out here, a cruelly cold and snowy one. In a cosy, rented minivan Berube and his Patriotic Few Kristina Koropecki on cello, Patrick Dugas on percussion and bassist Amelie Mandeville have driven from the Maritimes, over Lake Superior and westward ho sampling every Tim Hortons along the way. Theyve been promoting their brand new June In Siberia album and its the only time all four had available for a tour, so black ice be hanged. But now its all but over and every-

body goes home, one to Toronto and the rest to Quebec. Berube and his wife are expecting a baby shortly and then he and the band are off on the summer festival circuit around their Quebec. Les Quebecois love their festivals, they have tons of them. Poutine, festivals, hockey and politics thats Quebec for you. Brandon, Man.-born Berube has been in Montreal for quite a while

now and has completely taken to it. He spent a few years as a kid in Swaziland, Africa when nearby South Africa was still in the grip of apartheid. He was back in Brandon to begin high school, went to university at Simon Fraser and got started in music here, but Montreal is home now. His dad is Quebecois, his mother Manitoban and Berube is utterly bilingual. In fact, the bands name the Patriotic Few is rooted in historical Quebec. I went to the Museum of Montreal down in the Old Port, says Berube. There was an exhibition on the 1836, 1837 War. Basically the way that war has been mythologized in Quebec has been the Francos against the Anglos. The exhibition was talking about how les patriots was made up of Irish and Americans as well, they were against the English

accordionist Mark Berube and his band of players, the Patriotic Few, are known for their jam sessions. Submitted Photo

empire. So I thought that was pretty interesting, especially with the history of my family, too, so I thought Id bring that into the band name. Im not a huge fan of patriotism thats why I added the few. The foursome is as collaborative as bands get and like to work

up Berubes song arrangements by essentially jamming. The lyrics are literate and extremely evocative but the overall sound is what jumps out as most original. Percussion, bass, cello and accordion? Huh? It works.
jpmac@gmx.net