Over The Edge Page 6

March 9, 1999

ils caine

April March
Chrominance Decoder
Ideal/Attic

En Francais. This is a one of a kind
CD. Trying to tap into the French
Canadian market, along comes April
March - with a sound found in a lot of
consumer pop in France but not in
Canada. Consequently, this is our
only window into what’s going on in
the French pop world at the moment.

this CD, and so it isn’t limited only to
francophones. In fact, a good half of
the songs are in English, yet in the
same French style, which makes the
music unique.

Subtly electronic and mostly beat
oriented music can be found in such
tracks as “Garcon Garcon,’ but there
is an unmistakably loungy edge found
in tracks such as the English sung
“Knee Socks.”

The difficulty with this music, as is

_ common with a great deal of modern

Not all of the songs are in French on

pop is the indecipherable lyrics. It
isn’t that they are not able to be
understood, but they walk the razors
edge between understanding and self
translation. This may be purposeful,
but don’t look too hard for deeper
understanding of the music through
lyrics, as it is possible that you might
just get completely swallowed up.

- By Kevin Milos

Apple Venus
XTC

Apple Venus brings to us a refresh-
ing taste of something new. Not only
have they succeeded at mixing a
great variety of traditional sounds
together, but they are able to make
use of blank spaces, providing an
end result of very powerful music.

Strings, brass, acoustic...all uncon-
ventionally put together like a jigsaw

| Lower East Side
Stitches

Staja98 L.E.S.

Ng

ts been a long haul but L.E.S.
itself as one of the better punk
the eastern USA and Canada.

mix the best with the fast action

of Rancid and the Ramones.

Muck About &

Sing-a-long

March 13

Stitches is finally making a name for
bands around, after touring much of
A crazy mix of guys, they probably

beat-it-out-of the instruments sound

Admittedly, L.E.S. Stitches is a huge

puzzle which isn’t supposed to fit -
yet somehow does.

The majority of the music is slow and
mellow, with lyrics to match it. This is
thanks to the always calm and con-
trolled vocals of Colin Moulding and
Andy Partridge.

From the calm beauty of “Knights in
Shining Karma” to the choppy,
almost childish sound of “Fruit Nut’
with its wurlitzer-like sounds in the
background, this CD is on the break-
ing edge of venturing into the musi-
cal unknown. A couple of the songs

collection of borrowed sounds from
a great array of different punk
bands that have predecessed them.
In the words of the band them-
selves “punk music is all about
credibility. Who you know. Who
knows you. Who you blow. Who
blows you... It's almost impossible to
tell the diamonds from the dog shit.”
True enough, but if nothing else is
true L.E.S. Stitches is definitely
ranking on the diamonds side of the
credibility game. There’s just plain
a lot of bad punk out there, but
L.E.S Stitches knows enough to
restrain their style a little bit in order
not to make it a chaotic mess of

are even graced by the full backup of
the London Session Orchestra
(Greenman & | Can’t Own Her) -
adding sound which is not to be
duplicated elsewhere.

- By Kevin Milos

Over The Edge
SounuStepy:

is a review column encompassing music
and its many talents. Features will
include reviews of artists, live venues,
recordings and upcoming releases with
a focus on Canadian and local artists
when it is viable. Future publications will

include features of artists and outlines of
events in the area.

Individuals and
commercial interests can contact
SoundScape c/o Over The Edge at
3333 University Way,

Prince George, BC, V2N 4Z9

sounds which just makes your ears
bleed.

Your ears will, however, bleed with
punk pleasure when you crank the
L.E.S. Stitches to their maximum
db.

- By Kevin Milos

Doors open at 8:00 pm

Live Band: Looped Gurus

Tickets: $8.00 for sale in the
Wintergarden March 8-12
Licensed (no minors)