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Music From Light Wings, Beak, Bjork, Weed, Father John Misty & More

Welcome to Endless Volume, a Nic Bragg column that details all the good tunes he currently has on heavy rotation, plus one local show on the immediate or near horizon that shouldn’t be missed. Scroll, press play, enjoy!

ON HEAVY ROTATION

LIGHT WINGS Light Brang

Flares shoot sparks into the deep darkness of the night as Light Wings head honcho Kyle Fields rambles through this first cut from their latest folky outing. Apparently the video is shot on the Japanese island of Miyazaki, which is known for its lush natural beauty. None of that is shown of course, so just focus on the beard.

BJORK Black Lake

When Bjork’s latest intense orchestral listen Vulnicura record ‘accidentally’ leaked at the beginning of the year, all the press and hype surrounding it was set into fast-forward. Thus, we have heard and seen production footage of her epic 10 minute Black Lake accompaniment video. Officially a commission from New York’s MOMA, the film showcases much of Bjork’s native Icelandic landscape – caves, bleak fields of stone, rumble and moss fields. Of course Bjork plays the role of a strange nymph in the wilderness. Both the song and the video are beautiful.

BEAK The Meader

Beak is the latest side project of Geoff Barrow from Portishead. Designed to explore his love of Krautrock – Neu, Can, and Faust – Beak is sort of a freaky jam band that has quietly released a few noisy releases on small UK labels over the years. The Meader dials in paranoia rock perfectly with its clangy use of guitars, beats, and delay drifts. The video, complete with super lo-fi herky-jerky POV camera work, documents a horrible night at a train station. All aboard!

WEED Never Leave

Vancouver’s Weed just departed for a quick mid-West tour. Here’s a noisy bliss rocker from their Lefse release. All that backwards walking through drugstores will probably give you nightmares. Nice video directed by Andrea Lukic of Nu Sensae fame!

FATHER JOHN MISTY The Suburbs

The CBC here in Vancouver asked J. Tillman (aka Father John Misty) to go into a shed in East Van and record a cover of a Canadian song. He choose Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs and later related the story of why here. Together, the two videos provide an interesting glimpse into the life of an indie star. Bonus: In 5 years this part of Vancouver will be transformed and this song documented in this spot will live on.

BIG NOBLE Traveler

Sounding like a blending of Fripp, Eno’s Evening Star and the tight compositional repetitions of Steve Reich, Big Noble (Daniel K. of Interpol) has branched out in a new ambient soundscape direction. The stark black and white video works nicely with in situ sound bleed added. Bliss rock comes back every 20 years, so draw a bath and soak it up.

THE GIG

TINARIWEN August 4th at the VOGUE THEATRE

When this show was announced there was a great deal of excitement. This legendary group of Tuareg desert rockers have been booked to perform in Vancouver in the past and sadly had to cancel due to logistics. The band’s roots go back to the late 70’s in the Sahara region of northern Mali. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that this show comes to fruition! Since forming, Tinariwen have been a collective of players reflecting the nomadic lifestyle of the Tuareg, often taking on a rotating group of touring musicians as they have recently been able to tour the European folk-rock festival scene. Combining classic West African guitar styles with traditional tinde drum rhythms as well as Rai pop from Morocco and Algiers, their sound is so rich in melodies. Not to be missed!