A Tribe Called Red, Timber Timbre and July Talk to headline event
The Hillside Festival has released the lineup for its winter series, Hillside Inside, to be held at St. George’s Church and other locations in downtown Guelph. The festival, running from Feb. 7 to 9, will feature A Tribe Called Red, July Talk, Timber Timbre, Whitehorse, and others. Here is a preview of some of the talents to perform.
Ottawa’s A Tribe Called Red have enjoyed overwhelming popularity in the past two years, known for blending traditional First Nations percussions and voices with high energy electronics. A Tribe Called Red is a testament to both innovative musical stylings and social awareness, and the group members are vocal supporters of the Idle No More movement. By transposing these modes of First Nations musical textures and visual designs into one of electronic music, their music makes a powerful statement about the state of First Nations’ presence in contemporary Canada, and the world, by extension.
July Talk, hailing from Toronto, is an absolute blast and shouldn’t be missed. The bourbon-drenched voice of Peter Dreimanis harkens back to Tom Wait’s growlier work, and Leah Fay’s sweet voice and angelic stage presence acts as an apt foil in these stylings. Inspirations and similarity notwithstanding, the group’s music is fun and energetic.
Timber Timbre, also hailing from Toronto, has a gentle and multi-faceted sound that should prove to be an excellent evening of music. Dense instrumentations, fragile thematic arcs and strong vocal melodies characterizes the work of trio Taylor Kirk, Simon Trottier and Mika Posen, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that they work under Kevin Drew’s Arts and Crafts label, famous for the collective work of Broken Social Scene.
Hamilton alt-country act Whitehorse features gritty guitars, transcendent vocal harmonies and evocative textures. Working with no drummer and opting for loops, foot stomps and other particulars, the duo of Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland crafts a striking, nearly minimalistic space for their rich voices to work in. The group closed the summer Hillside Festival on a warm, brooding note, so this event marks a welcome return for the two.
This years Hillside Inside looks to be another exciting installment, much like last year’s, which featured acts from Hollerado to Born Ruffians.