GREG ARCADE

It’s hard not to be struck by Greg Arcade’s multi-generational cacophony of sound and style.

The local singer/guitarist looks like a mustachioed uncle, dresses like a greasy ‘70s album cover, croons like the golden age of rock ‘n’ roll and polishes off his act with cabaret-style entertainment.

“It’s all about cabaret,” he says. “So many bands, they’ll just stand there and play and people will love it. People go to shows and lie to themselves.”

Arcade’s technicolour personality and onstage antics have made him a fixture in the local music scene, most notably as one of the founding members of reggae soul brothers The Noble Thiefs. But, as nothing gold can stay, Arcade recently made the decision to walk away from the Thiefs to pursue greener musical pastures.

Since then, he’s released his first solo album, Greg Arcade In… Hawaii, become a full-time musician and pieced together an attractive super-group, The Electrics. He describes his sound as “roots rock ‘n’ roll mixed with newer, muddier, loud reverb-y, garage rock” – more than a mouthful.

Being his own biggest fan, Arcade is set to release a birthday EP on Sunday, Sept. 18, aptly titled, IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY GREG ARCADE: THE BIRTHDAY CAKE EP.

Still, it’s not all cake and ice cream.

“You have to give up certain liberties. I don’t go out and party all the time. When I do that, I play shows, and it’s part of my job to be perceived as having a good time.”

Visit www.gregarcade.com.

– Dunja Kovacevic

LOOM

“There’s something beautiful about being an achingly vulnerable human being,” 26-year-old Brooke Manning says. She is also known as LOOM, the beautiful, albeit disquieting, solo project based out of Toronto.

Her live show, she explains, comes from a place of “improv vomit” – blunt, but there’s something in the honesty of excretion.

“I always kind of believed that being a human boils down to two specific emotions: love and fear,” she says.

Both are evident in the video teasers released for her upcoming album Epyllion, which she also assembled herself. Swollen hydrangeas sway in a silent wind, a godforsaken spigot pools slowly into nothing, underscored by a building din and a sparse, bewitching melody.

Epyllion comes from the Greek tradition of classical epic poetry; stories about love, heavy with mythological allusion.

The album, slated for release on Oct. 11, was recorded over three days on Gibraltar Point in Toronto, and in the company of musicians “who know (her) heart,” she says.

It’s that telltale heart that reverberates in everything Manning touches: music, poetry, a self-published ‘zine and the home videos that accompany her pieces.

Between deliberate plucking and quivering vocals grows a kernel of strength, drawn from that place most people run from.

“We shouldn’t necessarily fear fear, we should embrace it. It’s one of my most holy inspirations.”

Come watch her do that voodoo at the Lo Pub with Ian LaRue and the Heartbeat City on Monday, Sept. 19.

– Dunja Kovacevic

GOLDENBOY

After five years of paying dues, Winnipeg’s Tele took a break to analyze the next step.

While making some creatively fulfilling home recordings, electronic pop just seemed to come naturally. Matt Worobec and Zack Antel are now the buzzworthy Goldenboy.

Fleshed out live by their Tele band mates Brenden Berg and Derek Allard, Goldenboy is ready to take things to the next level.

“With the new name, we’re trying different things live as well,” Worobec says. “I’ve put the guitar down. I play once in a while live, but the guitar is no longer a key feature of the band.”

Antel and Worobec have been posting some tunes on YouTube with makeshift videos, using found footage to give the listener a little something more than an album cover to peep.

“I thought MySpace was kind of the Google search of music, but YouTube really is the place where everybody lands,” Worobec says. “If an industry person goes to that site and doesn’t find you, it’s a good sign that you’re not doing enough work.”

A video for the duo’s track Cool Kids caught the attention of some Los Angeles managers.

“They wanted to see us play in L.A., so we went down there in August and showcased for them.”

The next step: the L.A. folks are coming to town to see the band.

Goldenboy are having a local showcase at the Pyramid Cabaret on Wednesday, Sept. 21. The band will go on at 9 p.m. and admission is $5. Visit www.whoisgoldenboy.com.

– Nicholas Friesen

Published in Volume 66, Number 3 of The Uniter (September 15, 2011)