I Heart the Music: Your Online Source for Live Music Reviews and Interviews in Toronto!

Tommy T, bass player for gypsy punk conglomerate Gogol Bordello has released his freshman solo album, The Prester John Sessions. Although Prester John sounds nothing like Gogol, maybe the most significant characteristic of Gogol’s music is also the foundation upon which Tommy T builds his solo debut: importing ethnically eastern rhythms into western musical culture. Whereas Gogol is predominantly eastern-European inspired, Tommy T goes back to his own personal roots of Ethiopia and follows his guiding light from there. For someone who isnt in-tune with East African – Ethipoian musical trends, this album isn’t all that enlightening. It’s unpredictable, especially if you were expecting a Gogol-esque remix, but it’s a rather forgettable album, especially because it lacks cohesiveness. It almost sounds as though there are three separate musical trends happening on this album, with little tri-musical harmony.

Part One sounds like what Tommy purports the whole album to be: Ethiopian folk. Even to the un-trained ear, you can definitely hear Ethiopian (if not, then generally “African”) rhythms and melodies. “The Response” is by far the most ethically pure track on the album. Like honey from T’s lips, this song drips African culture. A love ballad overflowing with ache and yearning, “The Response” also provides a glimpse into another homeland, another culture, through the makings of truly beautiful music. It was the freshest sound on the album, and unfortunately, the least heard. This song stands so completely alone on the album – not just instrumentally or thematically – but as the only truly beautiful song, and it’s a shame it wasn’t expanded upon further into the album.

Part Two of the album falls into the Dub category. Reggae-styled themes with clear overtones of deeply rooted Ethiopian musical culture, this part of the album is very chill. But really, how can dub be anything but? This is both a strength and weakness. Playing off standard dub themes, and then teasing with experimentation is what you get in this part of the album – nothing more, little less. Take “Oromo Dub” or “The Call”: really chill tracks to listen to, but nothing really new. Neither the vocals, nor the cushitic dub rhythms elevate this dub over that dub, or really any other dub piece out there.

I think Part Three was made for porn movies. In songs like “East West Express” and “Eighth Wonder”, the keys and synths are styled in such a way as to make you think you’ve wandered into the champagne room, and when the porn horns come out, it’s all over. I’m sorry, Tommy T, but the “jazzy”, “lounge-y” sounds emanating off tracks like the aforementioned make for a good porno flick, possibly even a great one.”Eden” quite possibly captures all three of these trends in one track. The soft female vocals, the dub rhythm, and the ancestral sounds of Ethiopia (the porn vibes are slight) give this track an unfarcical exoticism that some of the other tracks probably aim for, but essentially lack.

In summation, The Prester John Sessions is not the greatest album, definitely not the breakthrough of the year, but it’s definitely something different; a different overall musical approach, albeit style broken down into three differing musical sounds, but interesting to listen to, and that makes it worth the disc spin.

TRACK LIST

01 Brothers

02 The Call

03 The Response

04 The Eighth Wonder

05 Oromo Dub (Cushitic Dub)

06 East West Express

07 Tribute To A King

08 Beyond Fasiladas

09 September Blues

10 Eden

11 Lifers (Easy Star Remix feat. E Hutz and P. Erazo)

Reviewed by Brittany Smith

When you think of Newfoundland, specific things come to mind: fishing, the sea, fish, water…you get the idea. What normally doesn’t come to mind is music (sorry Great Big Sea lovers). This is all changing however, as there appears to be such an influx of amazing acts coming out of the east coast these days, that that stigma is rapidly evolving. This is where Hey Rosetta! step in. Hey Rosetta! are a six-piece hailing from St. John’s, Newfoundland who have been able to break out of their small hometown and make it big time all over Canada. With the release of their 2007 EP Plan Your Escape, these friends were followed with eager ears as they toured and tried to make a name for themselves in the “big city”. Well they certainly made an impact during that time and have since released their full length album Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your ) which saw them grab three East Coast Music Awards, album of the year at The Verge Music Awards and most recently a Polaris Music Prize nomination (for the second time). It appears as though there is no stopping this group and we got the chance to speak with lead vocalist Tim Baker to hear how they handle this new found fame.

iheartthemusic: You guys have had a tremendous year so far, including being nominated again for the Polaris Prize. What was your reaction to hearing you had been recognized?

Tim: I was certainly expecting not to win it given the competition. I mean I didn’t think we really deserved to win. I don’t know much about the Fucked Up record so I can’t really comment on that, but I wasn’t really particularly surprised hearing what I’ve heard about the record and how forward thinking and new and groundbreaking it is. Polaris seems to be in the business of awarding that, which I think is great.

iheartthemusic: How did it feel to win Album of the Year last year at The Verge Awards and what has that money done for you as a band?

Tim: It was great and very surprising. A pleasant shock and it has done a lot. The money itself took us to Australia on tour and we got a trailer that we can stash our gear in. It certainly didn’t take long to spend all that money but it was extremely helpful. The publicity of it has just given the record sort of a second life, which I think is extremely helpful. This is what these awards are about really. Also, just being rewarded for work was excellent.

iheartthemusic: What I found interesting to hear is that you don’t actually listen to music yourself. Can you give us the lowdown on that statement?

Tim: It is a bit of an overstatement. I mean I listen to music, but I’ve never really been an avid music listener and I never really went to shows. I saw maybe three or four bands play in my life before I started this [Hey Rosetta!]. I grew up in St.John’s and I didn’t hang out with people who were into music. I was the only musician in our group of friends. It was just something I did because I liked it and was also skilled as a piano player. I don’t know how to play anyone else’s songs, I mean the simple ones I could learn but I enjoy making stuff up.

iheartthemusic: This album was the first time that you didn’t take recording to the bedroom- literally! How was that?

Tim: This album was recorded in The Sonic Temple; a really nice recording studio in Halifax. It was a great experience. A little rushed though as it took only two weeks. There are a lot of tracks on thealbum so it was kind of stressful, but we tried to keep calm and confident.

iheartthemusic: Well clearly it payed off!

Tim: Apparently two weeks was enough time then! [laughs]

Hey Rosetta! play two sold out shows at the Horseshoe this weekend; Friday, December 4th and 5th w/ Julie Fader and La Strada

photography provided by Sara Collaton

Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker (or USS) consists of one part vocalist/guitarist Ash Bucholz (“Ash Boo-Schultz”) and turntablist/hypeman Jason Parsons (“Human Kebab”). Don’t ask us where these names came from, just know that it IS an indication of how crazy and out there these two guys are! Having garnered acclaim through being “hearted” by Toronto radio station 102.1 the Edge, this duo have taken Toronto and Canada by storm. With the recent release of their album Questamation gaining more and more attention from music lovers alike, we felt like it was time to for us at iheartthemusic to delve deep into the minds of the duo and get serious about who they are…well as serious as we could get!

iheartthemusic: The past two years have been pretty nuts for you two eh?

Jason: Yeah, going from being left to obscurity, to how do you catch up, to how do you get bigger now.

iheartthemusic: That’s true. I mean you did win the CASBY awards last year!

Jason: Yeah it was amazing.

iheartthemusic: Can you pinpoint at all one defining moment for you in the past two years?

Ash: I was actually in Texas and that’s when I found out that our music was on the radio, but not even just on the radio but getting played like seven times a day!

Jason: Also the fact that he [Ash] was in a different place mentally doing some incredible things for himself and I was working in Alberta at the time; that in itself was a pinnacle! It is actually true that the little band that could, without major label support or any label for that matter, could actually still find its way into that realm. Most bands would think that you would have to sign with the four majors and spend all this money and stuff, but we just stayed positive.

Ash: We are in total alignment with the idea that if you truly love something, you let it go. You can push so hard and you can try so hard to make something work and at the time we both were just like “let’s just let this go man”. We were driving ourselves nuts.

iheartthemusic: I truly believe that if you are meant to do something or be somebody then you will and I feel like you guys are a true testament to that.

Jason: It’s like Ben Kowalewicz from Billy Talent has a tattoo on his collar that says never give up and when I saw that I was thinking that I didn’t know if I’d ever get that tattoo but he was basically saying  that no matter what happens, it’s going to happen- which is totally true.

Ash: I mean if we weren’t here having a good time and laughing and telling jokes, we’d be on a roof somewhere digging ditches and dirt.

iheartthemusic: But probably still having a good time and joking around!

Ash: That’s what just kicks our asses!  You know you can dream about something your whole life, but you have no clue what its going to be like until it actually happens. Its hilarious because I still wake up in the morning and my instinct is to put on my work boots but its actually like no, I get to put on these colourful shoes that don’t need to have a big hunk of steel in them because hopefully nothing is going to fall on my toes today!

iheartthemusic: And now you have the cash that if you ruin one pair you can get five more! [laughs]

Jason: [laughs] Exactly!

iheartthemusic: You have had such great success which, I’m assuming, meant that major labels were knocking on your door, so what made you decide to not go the major route?

Jason: We started  our own label basically. We realized that we had a good grip on a business model, but we also had a good manager and an excellent team behind us that we felt that we had found the pieces to start putting the puzzle together. Right now the puzzle is almost complete; we’ve taken it as far as we can take it now based on what we have currently. We financed the whole operation, made all the management and creative calls.

iheartthemusic: It must be nice to retain that control over what is ultimately your future success.

Jason: That’s the compromise you have to make. If that [signing to a major label] is your goal then that’s what is going to happen for you. Like Avril Lavigne signs with SONY in New York, but her only interest at seventeen years old was probably to be taken care of for the rest of her life and be an absolute superstar.

iheartthemusic: And where is she now? [laughs]

Ash: Actually I was listening to Avril Lavigne this morning in my kitchen on top of my fridge next to a sweet potato…I really should not have that sweet potato anymore. I’ve had it for a really long time and it’s got to go in the green bin. I have this habit where instead of putting stuff in the green bin, I just throw it out the window into my backyard. Like if I have a pit of an avocado, I’ll just think that that can just go in the bushes.

iheartthemusic: I feel like that is totally fine!

Ash: I don’t want to hit a squirrel!

Jason: I still have a problem that I can never number two outside. Even if I had to, I would just hold it until the next fifth wheel or something.

iheartthemusic: Far too much information for this interview! [laughs] So how has the process been from self-releasing your first album Welding the C://, to now having a label (your own) backing your recent release of Questamation?

Jason: Creatively, the process seems to work in Ash’s favour no matter how random it gets or how focused it is. The business side of it, which I’m more involved with and our manager, we just try to plug in as many resources and networks as possible for the three of us to make it all happen in sync. It is really hard to maintain deadlines when there is only three of you, but you are still trying to maintain that level of control and of course creativity while at the same time create future opportunities, play shows, do interviews, be places, try to live a normal life and be healthy. I mean it’s a balancing act!

iheartthemusic: And a lot of musicians definitely cannot do that.

Jason: No they can’t and its unfortunate that it happens, but we’ve been through enough emotionally already that this is kind of easy compared to that.

Ash: Yeah, when we were recording our EP, I was roofing for fifteen hours a day, six days a week and then bringing my laptop to work and I was on a roof covered in tar and dirt and it was like ninety degrees and I would have my headphones on thinking I’ve just got to finish this drum part because we have to get it done by tonight. So the process was a bit different because we were still under pressure with this album in terms of getting it out, but in totally different circumstances. It’s just one of those things where its like; life on the road is such a grind, but roofing seventy hours a week while trying to record an EP is a grind. So it makes us very greatful if anything.

iheartthemusic: I wanted to ask you about your “Laces Out” video. How did you guys come up with the concept for that?

Ash: I had been talking about the idea of this neo-vaudeville, so it kind of came out of that. There’s the circus thing, but then there is just randomness: question marks on parachutes falling from the ceiling, etc. Then we kind of put it into the hands of the production company after planting the seed and we showed up day-of and were just like “nice growth”.

iheartthemusic: So the dude in the video isn’t actually a guy that comes to all your shows?

Jason: Yeah we know him. The film company is called Brook Street Pictures and they are from Ottawa and they are incredible dudes. They did their first feature with the guy who played Freddy Krueger.

Ash: Because they mainly make horror movies.

Jason: But they were absolutely inlove with our sound and then came out for a bunch of shows and the director saw something that Ash was talking about and then through the phone between Toronto and Ottawa put together the storyboard and then we went to the Sound Academy and the production company hired like sixty people and it was a full-on production.

iheartthemusic: One thing that I found pretty cool with this new album was that you guys use something called a “z-card”. Can you explain why you decided to use it for your album?

Ash: The ironic thing about that is that I worked in a factory on a machine that made the z-card. I worked there when we [Jason] met during a time when I was not really that accessible or available to society. It’s okay though because Jay kind of helped guide me back to relating to the rest of the world which was really great. It was handy to meet a person to do that.

ihearthemusic: He’s a good husband eh? [laughs]

Jason: [laughs] Exactly!

Ash: Father, son, brother…

Jason: Idiot.

Ash: Yeah, whatever you want. Putz! That’s a good one.

Jason: I hate that word!

Ash: I know eh, who likes that word!? So when the album came along I was like “we should make something that is like a map” and then it kind of came back to where it started.

iheartthemusic: What’s on the horizon for you guys?

Jason: Hopefully we will see Canadians at their various post-secondary institutes in the fall!

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