Lake Of Stew Successful At MIMIs

MONTREAL — The Montreal International Music Initiative (MIMI) has a long, coloured history of attempting to celebrate and promote the local music scene to varying degrees of success.

Bad timing, lack of interest and all-out dislike for the concept have been issues that the revolving door of organizers have dealt with since 1997. But the MIMIs have occurred without a hitch almost every year, and Montreal bands that normally seem reticent about being lauded in some hyped-up flagellation ceremony take the adoration in good stride.

Unlike previous years, this 12th edition didn't fall on the same day as the Junos, and there was no counter "Fuck the MIMIs" protest show held elsewhere. Organzers weren't content to have the ship run smoothly, though, and paired the MIMIs with the city's Nuit Blanche — where every self-respecting city locale holds an all-nighter.

This meant most music patrons would rather spend their time doing something else instead of watching five fairly well-known bands play 15-minute sets. The venue was hardly half-filled when Le Matos took the stage on time. And when de facto guests of honour Parlovr finished their performance, those who remained made a quick dash towards coat check.

This year's new format attempted to capture what the MIMIs do best: showcasing artists and keeping the awards and accolades to a minimum. A jury panel selected five bands seemingly on the cusp of hypedom: Le Matos, Parlovr, Random Recipe, Witchies and Lake Of Stew. They performed their micro-sets before being given free T-shirt contracts, training workshops and future sponsored concerts.

Each band squirmed and writhed on stage as the very francophone presenter bequeathed the awards and thanked them entirely in English. The noticeable lack of French on stage was intriguing, but not surprising, given the show's international aspirations and performers.

Le Matos, the night's first performers, are a trio of Korg, Casio and Boss nuts big on analogue electro-dance in the vein of Frenchmen Kavinsky and Danger. Their mix of hard, pulsating dance beats and '80s chiptunes is currently very en vogue, and they've been busy on the DJ and remixing circuit despite not having a record out. At the very least, they have a good ear for dance music and the ideal equipment necessary to turn some heads in the particularly Eurocentric world of electronica.

Not unlike Le Matos, Random Recipe fill another niche perhaps currently under-represented in Montreal and over-saturated elsewhere. The dual female vocalist-led quartet specialize in collegiate, backpack hip-hop. Although they received one of the louder pops of the night, their lyrical platitudes and minimal arrangements veered quickly into Jack Johnson stoner beach rap territory.

Witchies are a trio fronted by the aesthetic cousin of Simon Collins and an elfin keyboardist. Their short career has already garnered them praise from Wolf Parade's Dan Boeckner — who picked them to open for Handsome Furs last year — and Arlen Thompson, who produced their EP.

It's a natural fit. Witchies deal in awkward tempos and song structures, the keyboards hum and buzz above the mix, and the lyrics are dour and often morbid, just like Wolf Parade. Anyone still digging on The Unicorns or the aforementioned Parade would likely find themselves at home with Witchies.

Although Lake Of Stew opened their set referencing KRS-One's classic "Sound Of Da Police," the acoustic bluegrass collective are by no means a gimmick. They were hardly audible without amps and performed in the middle of the room instead of on stage, yet every piercing harmony and the metronomic thwamp of the bass resonated and successfully transported the room to a more appropriate Kentucky backwater. Lyrically, the group are laugh-out-loud hilarious and juxtapose bluegrass with very current subjects like closed circuit television cameras, public transportation and graffiti.

Parlovr's name was on everyone's lips. They've already received the "next great Montreal band" mantle from an eager blogosphere. They've been given the types of outlandish comparisons surely to put a damper on their own unique traits, but within the opening notes of their headlining set, vocalist/guitarist Louis Jackson, vocalist/keyboardist/guitarist Alex Cooper and drummer Jeremy MacCuish thrashed away at their already taped up instruments with reckless abandon and dispelled any myth that they're some Arcade Fire/Wolf Parade acolyte (although the comparisons are somewhat apt).

Parlovr have been called messy, D.I.Y. and even punk, and although that doesn't pertain to their music (which carries a very Pacific northwest tone), they're chaotic and energetic performers, which adds a fun element not really present on their recorded material. Their debut album ably introduces listeners to their bouncy, jangly guitar-based indie pop, but their live set separates them from the endless parade of blog-approved bands waiting in the wings.

Since it was Nuit Blanche, many would split before the MIMI after-party — which featured Black Diamond Bay and Hexes & Ohs — started. My personal party eventually landed at Barfly, where Hollerado were finishing an epic residency at the venue, part of an impossible-to-fathom 28 straight days of shows. It was a sweaty, dirty affair with Brooklyn hardcore band Black Names.

If it wasn't obvious enough, Hollerado are just as likely to hit the big time as any of the marquee names at the MIMIs. It seems inevitable that "Fake Drugs" will be a ubiquitous hit in 2009.