Early edition

A couple of Mondays after Bluesfest shuddered to a halt I went over to Zaphod's to see a mixed bill at their free showcase: Italian Edition, Foxfire and locals Autoracing. Italian Edition travelled furthest - all the way from Victoria - and came on first. The band has put a fair bit of thought into their music; it's catchy without throwing out too many self-evident hooks.

Jack Derricourt is a good mobile frontman.



Dave Sponaugle, guitarist and keyboardist.



Joshua Von Leeuwen handles the low end.



Jay Bhattacharyya taps some cymbal.



Guitarist Dave Williams in low light.



The whole lot!





And so on ...







A pretty good opener with a nicely tangled sound, though to my jaundiced ears they could have been a bit more abrasive.

• Show reminder: Cam Malcolm & The Owls, The Allrights and Chris Page perform at the Bytown Tavern. Japanther sneaks into Sounds Unlikely for an early afternoon show (over by 3 p.m., I hear). Rick Hayes performs at Irene's. Ball and Chain and The Wreckers play the Elmdale House. Trevor James and The Perfect Gentlemen and Black Diamond Bay (Patrick Krief of The Dears and company) perform at Babylon.

In translation

What a quiet Monday. I went over to Zaphod's after watching No Country For Old Men and a bite to eat to see Victoria's Italian Edition, Toronto's Foxfire and local twosome Auto Racing. About two dozen folks had the same idea, mostly friends of the bands.

Italian Edition began things with some cerebral alternative rock.


Italian Edition, Zaphod Beeblebrox, July 21, 2008

Foxfire is a Toronto septet who are either Eurosleaze discopop or indie soul dance music ... maybe that's the same thing? I gather they used to call themselves Foxfire Forest but dropped the Forest. All I know is Neil Rankin sings most of the lead vocals, Andre Lowy plays keys and trumpet.


Foxfire, Zaphod Beeblebrox, July 21, 2008

Can't forget Hannah Krapivinsky (the other lead singer, a bouncy lass) and Anna Edwards over on the right.


Foxfire, Zaphod Beeblebrox, July 21, 2008

By the time Auto Racing got on stage the crowd had shrunk to four (at least on the dancefloor). It's a duo, Cosmo on bass and Tyson Hein on drums. When I think of bass duos folks like Lightning Bolt, Pink and Brown and Om come to mind. Auto Racing are neither disjointed minimalist punk nor trance drone. Cosmo plays his six string by hammering on melodies on the higher strings and keeping the rhythm on the lower ones. I found them proggy. I can't think of anyone on the local scene (or elsewhere, for that matter) quite like them.


Auto Racing, Zaphod Beeblebrox, July 21, 2008

An interesting triple bill, mostly in a good way.

• Show reminder: Al-Kinda, Rottaway, Mud Lake and Citizen Folk perform at the Bytown Tavern. Memmaker performs at Zaphod Beeblebrox.