Music
Arts & Crafts' Field Trip continues to foster community and musical discovery
by Nicole Villeneuve
June 6, 2014
Last year marked the 10-year anniversary of Arts&Crafts, a milestone that was captured with the day-long Field Trip festival in the venerable label’s Toronto homebase. Some things were very clear after the fact: people loved reliving their early-2000’s indie rock years through the Broken Social Scene reunion, they loved a well-defined, community-focused, family-friendly festival, and, obviously, they loved food trucks and beer.
This weekend, they’re doing it again, expanding into two days and bringing back not only Broken Social Scene to headline for the second time in two years, but another A&C family (and AUX) favourite, the reunited Constantines. Interpol and the Kills headline on night one. Scottish electronic pop wunderkinds Chvrches will be on hand. So will Feist and her collaborative Snowblink/AroarA Hydra project. Shad’s there. And Fucked Up. And Gord Downie and the motherfucking Sadies. Musically, it’s a stacked weekend, which is, of course, to be expected. Plus, of course, all of that local food and drink, handmade goods, and artwork you love so much.
And as much as Field Trip is good at serving up the hits and keeping us well fed and hydrated, part of its mandate is also musical discovery; fostering the spirit of community that defined Arts&Crafts and, by extension, went on to be a huge part of Canada’s music scene. So while every fest has its headliners, who we’ll be front and center for, we wanted to point out a few others to keep in mind. Badbadnotgood certainly aren’t unknown in the music bubble that a lot of us live in, but there’s a pretty good chance a ton of the families on hand at Fort York on Sunday won’t be expecting a hip-hop friendly jazz trio. A Tribe Called Red have had a huge two years, but on Saturday at dusk a massive amount of people will be seeing them for the first time (and, subsequently, be converts to their hip-hop/dub/First Nations hybrid DJ dance party).
So, if you’re not familiar, here’s a handful of top picks for non-headliners to make sure you catch at Field Trip this weekend. Show up early, show up often. See you there!
Check out the full Field Trip lineup and schedule right here.
Lowell
The geographical and philosophical ground Toronto-based artist Lowell has covered in her life lends itself largely to her rich and textured EP, I Killed Sara V. (think part Lykke Li, part Sleigh Bells if you need a few touchpoints). Her songs deal boldly in topics such as sexuality, feminism, and gay rights with a betraying optimism in sound and approach; her upcoming debut full length can't come fast enough.
Badbadnotgood
Three Humber College jazz students bond over a shared love of hip-hop, form an instrumental jazz band, become collaborators of Tyler, the Creator and Frank Ocean. Just regular standard stuff! The trio just released their new album III, but there's no doubt they'll still stack their set with the hip-hop covers that first got them noticed.
Reuben and the Dark
This Calgary four-piece's melancholy pop-folk will be an easy fit at Field Trip. Their just-released debut album Funeral Sky was produced by the UK's Chris Hayden (Florence & the Machine) and Stephen Kozmeniuk (Madonna, Nicki Minaj), so you know things are gonna get big—both in sound, and in status, for these guys.
River Tiber
River Tiber is singer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Tommy Paxton-Beesley (plus band on stage), and his scratchy, minimal sounds have found a rabid fanbase online in the last couple of years. Ranging from R&B-style slow jams to glitchy experimentation Caribou fans will dig, River Tiber is another local act to keep tabs on.
Zaki Ibrahim
Zaki came to our attention (and WON OUR HEARTS FOREVER) when she was long listed for the 2013 Polaris Music Prize. She went on to the short list and, while she didn't claim the prize, demonstrates the lasting importance of that kind of word-of-mouth recommendation that circulated her album, Every Opposite, among the prize's jury initially. She's an absolute force on stage and is sure to set Field Trip's bar very high when she opens the Fort York stage on Sunday afternoon. Get there early.
Tags: Music, Cancon, Lists, News, BadBadNotGood, lowell, Reuben and the Dark, River Tiber, Zaki Ibrahim
