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Ep. #186: Socalled

Socalled is the moniker of a talented musical mastermind named Josh Dolgin who calls Montreal home. As someone who truly embraces the open-ended and multi-faceted aspects of hip-hop culture, Socalled’s music reflects virtually every kind of noise and genre touchstone that world has yielded to date. His fifth album is a joyous and star-studded but ultimately all Socalled affair called Peoplewatching, it’s out now via Dare to Care Records, and here, Josh and I discuss talking to Socalled, the musical The Season, Seattle pals, asserting himself on Peoplewatching, rapping and joking, hip-hop culture, Off the Hook Radio, conservatism in the production and reception of hip-hop, the weirdly right-wing-y materialistic part of hip-hop that has replaced much of its aspirational bent, rap heroes and being stuck in the 90s, Drake talk, dropping Chilly Gonzales’ name, hearing A Tribe Called Quest when you’re 16 years old, the people of Peoplewatching, Chinese-Indian fusion cooking, the sad story of Amar Singh Chamkila, Katie Moore, Oliver Jones, Fred Wesley is for the people, quoting Genghis Khan, a terrible philosophy, the song “Fire on Hutchison Street,” growing up in Chelsea, Quebec but going to school in Montreal and how Socalled became a musician, the weird assignment of re-fashioning the theme song for the show As It Happens and the CBC listener backlash, getting Moe Koffman’s widow’s blessing, no love in Toronto, never getting covered by Exclaim!, the awesome Socalled band, figuring out which song we want to play right now, the song “Never See You Again,” @peeplewatching on instagram, and then we’re dreamin.’

Related links: socalledmusic.com vishkhanna.com

socalled_pic

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News Podcast

Ep. #185: Steven Kado of Blocks Recording Club

Steven Kado is a Toronto-based musician and a co-founder of the Blocks Recording Club label in Toronto. Founded in 2003, the Blocks slogan “Don’t try, do!” led them to put out 70 releases by then-fledgling artists like Owen Pallett, the Barcelona Pavillion, Katie Stelmanis, Ninja High School, Matias, Bob Wiseman, the Phonemes, Les Mouches, Hank, and many more. On May 9, Blocks retires from the music biz with a celebratory party at the Tranzac in Toronto (292 Brunswick Ave) featuring performances by Nifty, Austra, the Barcelona Pavilion (2002-2004 lineup), Bob Wiseman and Picastro’s Liz Hysen, the Phonemes, Hank, Matias, Ninja High School, and Les Mouches. Here, Steve and I discuss the legacy of Blocks, what Toronto was like and what it’s like now, why some people hate Toronto, why some people from Toronto defend it, people who come to Toronto just to make it, trying to make Blocks a co-operative and aligning it with other local co-ops, knowing your city’s cultural history, what’s coming up for his own music, the secret guest at the Tranzac this Saturday is Les Mouches, the Bob Wiseman song “Neil Young at the Junos,” then it’s time to stop doing and trying.

Related links: blocksblocksblocks.com vishkhanna.com

Kado

 

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Ep. #184: METZ

METZ is one of the best hard rock bands in the whole wide world and their members, singer/guitarist Alex Edkins, bassist/singer Chris Slorach, and drummer Hayden Menzies all currently reside in Toronto. Their new album is called II and is out now via Sub Pop, prompting them to tour the world over for the foreseeable future. On May 1, METZ and I hung out on a patio on Bloor Street and discussed being a at Strombo’s house, people’s perceptions of the band after they broke out, Jello Biafra and Johnny Rotten, the Shirley Temple I ordered, alcohol abstinence and straight edge, epically PG and PC punk culture, the song from Aladdin and a whole new world, academic punks, feeling too cool for Nirvana as a kid, the amazing band Hoover, people who care about a band playing lots of shows, living the dream, thinking about the future, aging into the music you make, knowing your limits, meticulous production, Cam Loeppky, recording new songs already, chatty Cathy, Highway to Hell, AC/DC, Clickbait Khanna, pancake Tuesday, favourite songs and not always knowing what Alex is writing about, bringing the vocals up, agonizing over lyrics, the song “Spit You Out,” and then we broke up.

Related links: metzztem.com vishkhanna.com

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