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December extravaganza, part 1

As a precursor to a busy December and something of an impromptu idea, we attended U of O School of Music's Wind Ensemble concert on 25th November, featuring Victor Herbiet on saxophone. Wind ensembles are something of a rarity in our (classical) concert calendar, so it was interesting to find that most of the programme was 20th century. To suit the Friday evening mood, the first piece performed was Edward Gregson's Festivo, with it's jaunty edge - almost like the opening movement to a classic film. Much of the evening's performance was of exciting, engaging music. True to Steven Mazey's pre-review, Herbiet's solo in Claude T Smith's Fantasia for Alto Sax was superb, with a 'sax solo' interlude reminiscent of (or maybe inspiring) electric guitar solos. A high level of musicianship all round and on this basis, much of the 2011-12 season should be very good! A forthcoming concert that has caught my attention is the School of Music's Piano Duets and Duos evening on 7th December.

December 1st brought Polaris winners Karkwa to Ritual, along with support bands Parlovr and I Spell It Nature. I bought 'Les Chemins de Verre' last year on the strength of an Ottawa Xpress interview; many months of listening later and this show was a definite on my list! A full Ritual was first treated to local post-rock band I Spell It Nature. On a first listen, their sound is very interesting. Having listened to a fair amount of bands in the broad vein of Mogwai, Sigur Rós, Ólafur Arnalds, the concept was familiar; I Spell It Nature retained their own flavour as well as a hint of (to my ears) 'Canadian indie' sound. Their new album 'A Story Of...' is available now and can be heard on their bandcamp site. I Spell It Nature's excellent set was followed by the unoriginal sounds of Parlovr. Whilst their musicianship was pretty solid, the cumulative sound was a poor imitation of lots of different bands and styles with very little in the way of original content. Anyone who isn't familiar with classic punk and early grunge would probably find the combination exciting.

In contrast, Karkwa get an 11. A set full of sing-along tracks (not just from Les Chemins de Verre, either) and excellent live adaptation along with a good dose of stage banter made for a great evening. Like many bands, their sound seemed more raw, somehow deeper 'in the flesh'.  Full setlist (courtesy of setlist.fm):

Karkwa 011211
Le pyromane
Échapper au sort
Les chemins de verres
L'acouphène
Le compteur
L'épaule froide
Marie tu pleures
Le bon sens
Oublie pas
Encore:
Le coup d'état
La façade 

Definitely one of the standout gigs of my 2011 musical year - to date...

   
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