Bocce at Kazoo
Isn’t that a great title? I mean, you’re probably like “What the hell?” Well I’ll tell you what: Bocce is a band and Kazoo is a festival.
More specifically, Bocce is a band I have written about before here. I’ve never been a huge fan of synthesizers, but I’m coming around. Because this Waterloo quartet rocks harder than any band with three keyboards has any right to. Especially live.
And that’s why I’m giving you a heads up about their upcoming performance at Guelph’s Kazoo Festival, which is currently going on in the Royal City. A boatload of fantastic Canadian bands and musicians are taking part and if you can manage to get out to see at least some of them, you should.
I love Guelph’s continual reinvention of the indie music scene. Hillside Festival is famous because despite its size, organizers still manage to make it feel intimate and neighbourly. But let’s face it, it can still be slightly unwieldy. Often, you have to pick between two or three artists you want to see. And for the bands, getting a spot on that roster is tough. At Kazoo, you can catch smaller groups who might be overlooked at Hillside and watch them find an audience in the city at a variety of venues. (Check out Bruce Peninsula at Dublin St. United Church tonight!)
The Bocce CD release show at the Albion Saturday is my personal pick for best show of Kazoo. They’re set to perform with Guelph rapper Noah 23, Toronto rapper Miles Jones and Guelph’s Green Go.
I’ve been listening to the new album for the last couple of weeks. I’m charmed. Charmed and a little bit in love. This is a group I’ve been listening to for a few years now via local shows and various EPs and singles and they’ve really come into their own.
This is one of my favourite new Canadian albums of the year thus far. From the rollicking groove of “Wheel of Fortune Cookie (Before and After)” (and its fantastic trumpet solo) to the bombastic, wild rumpus of “Louis Sojo (Baseball Player)”, this album is Bocce fully realized. Standout tracks include “Bachelor (Satisfied Fool)”, which reminds me of the best of The Go! Team, and “Highlighter (Reverse Video)”, which combines the best of their keyboard triumvirate with some percussive brilliance.
You can download Disambiguation at Bocce’s website for free or pay-what-you-can. OR, you can buy a physical disc at the CD release show Saturday! Win-win!
Green Go will have some new material to showcase at Saturday’s show, too. They recently released the second volume of their famed remix project, where they give their take on songs by their favourite artists. This time they remixed Gregory Pepper and His Problems, Diamond Rings (D’Urbervilles frontman John O’Regan’s side project), Montreal’s Think About Life, Woodhands and themselves. Yep. Sometimes, you just want a second chance with your own songs.
I have to go to Montreal this weekend to hit some girls on roller skates. Not a lot of things could make me want to miss that. This concert is one of them. Hit. It. Up.
Bocce - Highlighter (Reverse Video): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Bocce - Bachelor (Satisfied Fool) : Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Gregory Pepper and His Problems - 7ths and 3rds (Green Go Remix) : Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
