Also Cool's Palomosa Top Picks (Yung Lean, Jai Paul, Snow Strippers, and More)

 

The Montreal team behind Igloofest and Piknic Électronik, have treated us to what is possibly the best lineup we’ve seen since TIME Festival in 2015. From September 5th to 7th, Parc Jean-Drapeau will host the first ever-edition of Palomosa, where every act could be their own festival headliner. Oh and not to mention, there’s a block party on September 5th at the SAT, and an iconic after party on September 6th and 7th. 

It’s overwhelming in the best way possible, so we decided to break it down for you with Also Cool’s top Palomosa picks. Listen to our playlist at the same time to get a taste of what’s to come

Friday September 6th - Top Picks

Yung Lean - Iconic Swedish rapper who defined the 2010s vaporwave Tumblr era, perfect to listen to with some Arizona iced tea and your cloud rap fanatic friends.

Yaeji - Making it rain(gurl) since 2017 with her dance floor-ready tracks, Yaeji is an artist, producer, vocalist, and musician born in NYC and raised in Seoul.

Snowstrippers - Did someone say indie sleaze revival? Crystal Castles fans rejoice, this Detroit duo’s electro sound is straight out of the 2010s.

horsegiirL - The world is her barn and we’re just living in it. Horsegiirl gained mainstream popularity after her hit single “My Barn My Rules” went viral, cementing her icon status as number one horse pop star.

Also Cool’s Afterparty of choice:

Saturday September 7th - Top Picks

Jai Paul - The mysterious British songwriter and record producer from the UK is finally playing live shows, years after his demo “BTSTU” made waves across the music industry in the 2010s.

Yves Tumor - A true rockstar, Yves Tumor shifts, alters, and plays with the boundaries of contemporary art and culture. Always a treat to see live, you can count on an electrifying performance.

BADBADNOTGOOD - As previously mentioned, the Also Cools who are writing this article saw BBNG at Times festival in high school, and proudly learned to mosh during the contemporary jazz group’s many performances in Ottawa and Toronto in the mid 2010s.

SHYGIRL - British star has a club all to her own this year, with LSDXOXO, Nick Léon, and Angelita joining her for Club Shy.

LSDXOXO - We saw LSDXOXO perform at the most recent Montreal Boiler Room and it was very demure, very mindful, but most of all one of the hardest sets we’ve heard in a long time.

Also Cool’s Afterparty of choice:

Get your tickets for Montreal’s best end-of-summer party, Palomosa, here

Malaika Astorga is the Co-Founder & Creative Director of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.


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Win Tickets to Ciel Noir Featuring Codeine, Duster, Pelada, Model/Actriz & Snow Strippers

 

All your favourite bands, in the same place? For free? 

You heard us right. We know you've been eyeing Ciel Noir tickets for a minute now, and we've got you. The lineup is expertly curated, and feels like it's straight from our Spotify algorithms, featuring everything from slowcore to 2006 adjacent electronic music.

We've partnered with Ciel Noir and Blue Skies Turn Black and are giving away two tickets to the event! 


RULES:

Follow @alsocolmag & @cielnoirmtl on IG

Repost this post to your story & tag us @alsocoolmag

Winners will be announced on March 25th, bonne chance!

In the meantime, get to know the bands. We've put together a sampler playlist to get you in the mood.

Ciel Noir is a series of special events produced by Blue Skies Turn Black. This edition features lowcore legends Duster and Codeine for rare Canadian appearances and some of the most exciting acts straddling the lines between electronica, post-punk, hyperpop, and techno with Snow Strippers, Model/Actriz and Pelada. 

Duster

Duster is a reclusive, experimental electronic slowcore band from California. They have been around for a long time. 

Snow Strippers

Snow Strippers is an electronic music duo formed by Graham Perez and Tatiana Schwaninger based in Detroit, Michigan. The duo seems to have time-travelled to 2008 in reminiscence of Crystal Castles, placing the duo squarely in the electronic underground's resurgence. 

Codeine

Codeine is an American indie rock/slowcore band formed in 1989 by Stephen Immerwahr (vocal/bass), Chris Brokaw (drums), and John Engle (guitar). The band pioneered the slowcore and sadcore subgenres of indie rock but with a more experimental attitude. 

MODEL/ACTRIZ

Model/Actriz is an American rock band whose music has been described as visceral post-punk. Its music features a pulsing blend of danceable noise and a live performance that mirrors the way its records unravel. The band is an experiment in the primal aspects of human experience.

PELADA

Pelada, the duo of singer Chris Vargas and producer Tobias Rochman, broke out of Montreal's underground warehouse rave scene in 2014 after uploading tracks to Soundcloud, which caught the attention of the global dance music scene. Their collaboration is a blend of urgent Spanish language vocals centred around power, control, and social justice themes with hardware samplers, synths and drum machines. 


Ciel Noir I Blue Skies Turn Black

Tickets

Malaika Astorga is the Co-Founder & Creative Director of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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Snow Strippers, Ducks Ltd., Haruomi Hosono, Kim Gordon & More: Also Cool's Playlist Refresh

 

Kim Gordon by Danielle Neu

It seems that every musician we like here at Also Cool has released new music in the past few weeks, so we put it all together for you to enjoy.

This edition of our Playlist Refresh includes everyone from Kim Gordon to Haruomi Hosono, and you can listen along via our regularly updated playlist on Spotify.

Snow Strippers and Turnabout - “Luctus Mane (Snow Strippers Remix)”

Snow Strippers (Nice Bass Bro) have permeated the music scene with their signature sound, reviving the nostalgic appeal of late-2000s electroclash with haunting vocals and hyper-pop nods. In their latest endeavour, the Detroit duo step up to remix Turnabout’s “Luctus Mane,” softening its trap metal roots with a celestial touch. Vocalist Tatiana Schwaninger’s hypnotic inflections rise above the distortion and conjure a light all their own.

Allie X by Marcus Cooper

Allie X - “Weird World”

Avant-pop fixture Alexandra Hughes, better known as Allie X, has emerged with her third album Girl with No Face, out today via Twin Music Inc. This new record anchors itself in a swath of ‘80s synth-pop and dark wave—entirely self-produced by Hughes—and “Weird World” marks its latest single. This impassioned track mourns the notion of a past life while erupting with freedom, sprinkling a touch of German musings over eerie instrumentation fit for the likes of Drab Majesty.

Kim Gordon - “I’m A Man”

Kim Gordon has offered the second cut from her forthcoming album The Collective, set to release March 8th via Matador Records. Swiftly following The Collective’s breakout single “BYE BYE,” “I’m A Man” is an equally noisy testament to Gordon’s triumphant domination of post-rock. Awash with a blistering collage of dissonant guitar and an ear-splitting trap underbelly, “I’m A Man” is best played cranked at full volume, with Gordon’s meditations on the disappointments of Western masculinity taking centre stage. While some have argued that Gordon’s reflections harbour passé feminist sentimentality, we wonder if Gordon (now 70) is making space for the music she would have wanted to write in her Sonic Youth days.

Watch the video for “I’m A Man,” starring Gordon’s daughter Coco Gordon Moore.

Hot Garbage by Laura-Lynn Petrick

Hot Garbage - “Look at My Phone”

Toronto psych rock four-piece Hot Garbage barreled into 2024 with Precious Dream, the band’s second full-length on Montreal indie label Mothland. Flush with rippers from front to back, Precious Dream sneers with dark surf flirtations, motorik rhythms, and sinister synth-laden chaos. The album’s second track “Look at My Phone” is a super-charged headbanger for coping with the horrors of this cruel world.

Tyla by Annie Reid

Tyla - “Butterflies”

Tyla hit superstardom after releasing her Grammy Award-winning song “Water.” Quickly after, she dropped her debut EP Tyla via Fax and Epic Records and proved she wasn’t going to be a one-hit wonder. “Butterflies” highlights a softer, almost ethereal side to the singer – let this song transport you to a magical place!

Nick Schofield by Christopher Honeywell

Nick Schofield - “Resonant World”

Self-proclaimed “ambient raver” Nick Schofield (Best Fern, Saxsyndrum) recently dropped his third solo sonic venture, Ambient Ensemble, via Halifax label Forward Music Group. Along with a band of masterly local collaborators (Yolande Laroche, Philippe Charbonneau, and Mika Posen), the Hull, QC-based electroacoustic composer achieves otherworldly splendour on Ambient Ensemble. Likened to works by masters Brian Eno and Philip Glass, Schofield's delicate yet profound Ambient Ensemble is a kaleidoscope of lush, instrumental bliss.

Loving - “Any Light”

Loving has been a longtime staple of Also Cool’s playlists, bringing well-considered tenderness to the Canadian indie music scene. “Any Light” is the title track of their latest album, guiding us into the contemplative world of Jesse Henderson and David Parry. The 10-track album weaves through themes of love, existential uncertainty, and "the psychic consequences of living in an increasingly digitized world."

Max Leone - “Kirkland”

There’s nothing that hits harder than going back to your hometown just to discover that your memories have been paved over and replaced by parking lots and big box stores. California-based Max Leone submerges himself in this flavor of bittersweet nostalgia with his latest release “Kirkland,” which is accompanied by a music video made of home videos that act as a portal into his childhood. Watch the video below.

Moon King - “Go To My Head”

Comfortable in a cold blue light, Moon King brings us yet another slinky synthy single “Go To My Head,” off of his upcoming album Roses (which is set to release later this year on Arbutus Records). Inspired by loops found on ‘future music’ CDs from the mid-90s, FM synths, and 808s, the track rounds out with his layered, pitched-up vocals – perfect for grooving to anytime, anywhere.

Born at Midnite - “*69 (Patrick Holland Remix)”

The great music minds of Montreal have merged to create an absolute banger remix of an already great song. Born at Midnite's “*69 (Patrick Holland Remix)” will soon be added to DJs’ USBs worldwide, and dancefloors everywhere will rejoice.

In the words of Born at Midnite: “If you are anything like me, the second you hear Pat’s remix of *69, the tears will roll, everything you’ve ever heard will suddenly seem irrelevant, tingles will go up your spine and you’ll drop your Timmie’s on your Rick Owens Crocs.”

Ducks Ltd. by Dylan Taylor

Ducks Ltd. - “On Our Way To The Rave”

“Memories I'll barely retain, We're on our way to the rave.” Relatable for almost every party person, and eerily reflective of the theme of our FSR radio show (music ranging from the indie rock show to the rave), Ducks Ltd. have returned with an excellent single off of their recent album Harm’s Way.

Reliably jangly, and always fun, Tom McGreevy and Evan Lewis of Ducks Ltd. deliver a highly-anticipated expansion on the sound they established in 2021. We were able to catch their set at Taverne Tour this year, and are happy to report that the sold-out show was one of the highlights of the festival.

Haruomi Hosono & Mac DeMarco - “Boku Wa Chotto”

Mac DeMarco has teamed up with Japanese legend Haruomi Hosono for their latest release, “Boku Wa Chotto,” via Stones Throw Records. While it may seem like an unlikely pairing, Hosono has long been one of Mac DeMarco’s musical idols and had previously covered his song “Honey Moon” in 2018. For those unfamiliar with Haruomi Hosono, we suggest listening to his 1978 album PACIFIC and the classic track “SPORTS MEN” off of his 1982 album Philharmony as an introduction to the incredible world of Hosono’s Japanese pop music.


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