Linden, Alberta raised, Victoria, B.C. based musician Mike Edel is excited to wind down his tour in support of his new album India, Seattle, in Lethbridge at the Slice, May 14.

 He is excited to show off two solid years of work which went into the CD, which has nothing to do with India or Seattle other than being an interesting juxtaposition of places and cultures.

“ I get asked about the title a lot. India is a very eastern culture  while Seattle is very western. They are polar opposites,” Edel said, getting ready to play a Canadian Music Week showcase in Toronto.

“ I play Seattle a lot. But I’ve never been to India. It really isn’t a hotbed of roots music as far as I know,” said Edel, getting ready to play a Canadian Music Week show in Toronto.

“It’s very universal. It’s also an abstract idea,” he said.
 He noted the new record, which was officially released on April 14, is getting great response already.

It’s been getting a great reception. It’s a really complete record. It definitely isn’t a flavour of the month or taste of the month. There are a lot of really great songs on it, which I think is why people are responding to it,” he said.

“ I’m pretty stoked about it,” he enthused.

Winnipeg folk trio Sweet Alibi are hard at work on a new  album “ Walking In The Dark”, while supporting their most recent album “We’ve Got To.”

The trio play the Cave at Lethbridge College for the Lethbridge Folk Club, May 16.

“ The tour got off to a bumpy start. We had some mechanical troubles, but we only had to cancel one show, ” said vocalist/ guitarist/ ukulele player Amber Neilsen from Prince George who is joined by band mates Jessica Rae Ayre (lead vocals,guitar, harmonica) and Michelle Anderson ( electric guitar/banjo/ background vocals) who are joined on this tour by bassist Alasdair Dunlop and drummer Jake Bell.

 Neilsen is pleased with how well “ We’ve Got To” has done.
“ CBC picked it up. We made their top 20. It’s getting a lot of play on CKXU and we won a Western Canadian Music Award for it. It’s received lots of good response, she said.

 But they are already working on the next CD.
They are turning to crowd funding for the next CD, offering pre-sales and innovative perks through Pledge Music.

“Michelle offered banjo  lessons and  Jessica offered home made blush she makes from beets, ( that option also includes some of Neilsen’s home made  jewelry and art from Michelle)” she continued.

 Action for the second day of the Electric Eye Music Festival , May 8, centred around two main venues, The Slice and the Owl Acoustic Lounge, though Blueprint Records opened the night’s festivities.

 While I missed Internet Love and Sparkle Blood at Blueprint, as well as  the earlier acts at the Slice and Owl, I arrived in time to catch a catchy set of bass powered dance pop music from Edmonton trio Physical Copies, who include members of Shout Out Out Out.

They had a lot of energy excruciatingly loud bass but tapped in the spirit of ’80s new wave music and synth pop music like Devo and the Talking Heads.

A computer supplied dance beats and synth sounds, while Shout Out Out Out drummer Clint Fraser spun his drum sticks and held down the beat as bassist  Matt Bouchard  held down the thudding bottom end.

 The lead singer would pick up another bass as well for a couple of songs, alternating it with guitar or simply jumping up and down as he manned the microphone.

They played a cover of their remix of the Wet Secrets’ “Sunshine.”

 They had a  good sized audience  who stuck around for local punk/ garage rock trio Advertisement rather than wandering over to the Owl in between sets as I did.

 I wanted to hear newly minted Edmonton garage rock / punk band the Versions, who have only been together for about a year and played their first gig in about three months for the Electric Eye Music Festival.

They played bare bones, back to the basic rock music, though guitarist Tim Hatch pounded on his axe with a pair of drum sticks for one of many newer songs. They had some catchy guitar and a wicked bass groove.

 They had lots of  intense  energy  reminding me of a variety of acts like experimental punks NoMeansno, hardcore forbearers like Black Flag and new punk bands like the B Lines and even sounded more modern rock in places along the lines of the Foo Fighters.

 For a slight contrast to that, I stuck around for more of an indie rock sound with Vancouver’s  Soft Serve.

 They had a more laid back post punk indie rock sound that sounded like a more psychedelic Shins except with a more laid back ’70s feel.

The second annual Electric Eye Music Festival got off to an exciting start at the German Canadian Club, May 7. Most of Lethbridge’s rock and indie rock scene were at the sold out kick off show featuring  Fist City, Viet Cong and Chad VanGaalen.

 While I missed openers Fist City, I arrived to see a sold out crowd of at least 350 clustered in front of the stage for a set of psychedelic weirdness from Calgary’s Viet Cong, who are beginning to make waves, not to mention a lot of noise all over the country on the heels of their new self titled CD.

 They began a massive two month tour in Lethbridge, which will take them all over the United States and Europe before coming home for Sled Island in June.

 They played an enrapturing mix of psychedelic stoner rock only enhancing an entrancing night with a blinding,  multi coloured , flashing light show. They melted a few faces, not to mention minds and blew lot of eardrums in the process with waves of wild sound from throbbing bass, some 12 string guitar from Scott Munro, keyboards and weird effects. Vocalist/ bassist Matt Flegel added a lot of Pink Floyd influence.

 They started off their set slowly then built up the intensity into a crescendo of insanity and unhinged energy which sounded like Depeche Mode being tortured.

  They wound down their set with a crazy 10 some minute jam on their song Death which among other things featured guitarist Daniel Christiansen banging his head against the monitor in front of the stage then crouching down and twisting effects knobs for added waves of sound as his band mate writhed and twisted and  tossed their instruments in the air.

After that, Chad Vangaalen played a rare live show and gave his fans their money’s worth as he put his brand new band (guitarist/ bassist / keyboardist  Ryan  Bourne and drummer Chris Dadge) through their paces.

 They played everything from ambient indie rock, more experimental Afghan Whigs style strangeness, an electronica set,  songs that wouldn’t  have been out of place in a trippy ’60s science fiction move along the lines of  2001: A Space Odyssey  and songs with a touch of ’90s grunge and alternative rock along the lines of the Pixies and Nirvana before ending with more straight forward catchy pop rock style song based music.