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NXNE on the Road

Welcome to NXNE on the Road – where every so often you’ll see signs that one or another of our intrepid NXNE correspondents talked his way into a festival or a gig somewhere other than here in the Centre of the Known Universe, and did something other than to hunker down in the corner and get buzzed on club-courtesy drinks…

Of course, with NXNE itself right around the corner, we’ve curtailed all this gallivanting about for the moment to focus on pulling off the best festival yet. If you count yourself among the countless throngs of NXNE fans and friends worldwide, we hope you’re on the road yourself – to Toronto, that is, for June 14-20. See you soon!

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A couple of the boys took the KLM Festival Express to the Netherlands to check out Eurosonic, held annually in Groningen. Here’s some video they shot of Dutch band Moke:

NXNE @ Eurosonic catches Dutch stars Moke from NOW Magazine on Vimeo.

Top selling Dutch band Moke were one of the highlights on NXNE’s road trip to the Eurosonic Music festival in Groningen, Holland January 14 – 16, 2010.

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Recently one of our programmers trekked to Austin TX where our good friends at
Transmission Entertainment mark the first weekend of November with an awesome outdoor party – Fun Fun Fun Fest..

Here’s some iPhone-quality proof:

The Jesus Lizard's David Yow stage diving 2 bars into the first song of the set

The Jesus Lizard's David Yow stage dives 2 bars into the first song of the set

Crystal Castles explode

Les Savy Fav - seconds before there became more nudity

Les Savy Fav - seconds before the pants came off

More pics here (Les Savy Fav / Melt Banana / yeasayer / Fucked Up / HEALTH / Death / Broadcast / Fuck Buttons)

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A couple of the boys recently returned from the CMJ Music Marathon in New York City. Video evidence:

Sucker @ CMJ from NOW Magazine on Vimeo.

Free Energy at CMJ from NOW Magazine on Vimeo.

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Last month, half of NXNE’s Programming Department visited Pop Montreal (Sep 30 – Oct 4/09).

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First, the videos. Yo La Tengo:

Yo La Tengo from NOW Magazine on Vimeo.

…and NXNE alumni Hollerado:

Hollerado @ Pop Montreal from NOW Magazine on Vimeo.

Here’s the written portion of the Pop Montreal report:

Pop Montreal Top 5

1. The Oh Sees – Setting up on the floor in front of the sound booth, they warned the sold-out Sala Rossa they were all sick – then they proceeded to rock so hard I got the flu. Serious. Unforgiving energy and ferocious sonic assaults and crowd-surfing after the first song. My new fave band.

2. Chain & The Gang – As the kids packed into Club Lambi to be crooned at and grooved in creepy perfection by these stylized hipsters, it was clear this was a special show. Dressed in white suits and prison stripes, they (band, not kids) spazzed out and stalked the room with cautionary tales and deconstruction abounding… Definitely my new fave band.

3. Japandroids - Another sold-out Pop Mtl show… I decided to wait and listen from the door for a few minutes or at least until the door guy waved me through. Glad he did – Japandroids are a force live. Their super-heavy stripped-back guitar-and-drum sounds sunk deep into my chest and made me want to describe them in hyphenated compound adjectives as I made my way to the stage… Lovely noise. The club’s foggy windows were testament to how this show rocked. I had initially written these guys off as poseurs but seeing them live has made me a believer. For real. These guys are my new fave band.

4. The Black Hollies – These dudes were loud & tight, and laid down some awesome old school garagey rock n roll via tripped-out psychedelia. Guitar. Organ. Drums. Yelling. Excellent… Straight up, simple, great energy.
(Seemed every room I hit this weekend was either at or close to capacity and sweaty – perfect complement to this band for sure…) This might be my new fave band.

5. Parlovr - Ended up seeing these guys by accident – I was meeting someone for an afternoon drink at The Green Room, and I ended up getting totally sucked into Parlovr’s hyper pop-jams as they did a day show at the venue. A bit mesmerized by the drummer – very cool; and the duelling guitars (one doubling on synth) completed the trio up front with wailing vocals and crowd singalongs to help make the rain stop. This is my new fave band.

And more video – this from the band tUnE-YaRdS, another hit at Pop:

tUnE-YaRdS @ Pop Montreal from NOW Magazine on Vimeo.

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Mid-September 2009: Two NXNE emissaries return from Portland, Ore (a city once tagged with the dreaded “America’s Coolest City” epithet by Utne Reader – this would be just before the influx of cool alternative bookstores, cool free-trade coffeehouses, and cool recycled hipster clothing boutiques downtown drove everyone to the suburbs). Portland is the site of the annual MFNW festival (Music Festival NorthWest). The NXNE-ers tell us they were working… Catch a few moments of the evidence – without having to pack your umbrella – and see for yourself.