Chez Nous Presents » News

Smooth Sailing 2 – And the winner(s) is(are)…

Carter — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 01:21:14 +0000

I think we all know Kevin (the mermaid) is the real winner here, but as runners-up to the night, here are the top three smoothest bands from Smooth Sailing 2, as voted by you on Friday:

1st Place: Aunts & Uncles
2nd Place: The Greff Band
3rd Place: Dan Moxon

The Prizes:

The first place prize is a boat rental from the awesome marina out at Horeshoe Bay, Sewell’s Marina. Second place prize is a night at the hotel above the Biltmore Cabaret, and the third place prize is a collection of the smoothest Vinyl, thanks to Vintage Media (Main st. and 12th Ave). Congratulations guys, we’ll get in touch to deliver the goods.

Thanks again to all of the bands (and friends of bands) who participated, it was a blast. If anyone has some photos or video of the night, please contact us so we can post it! (follow us on twitter for updates)

This IS IT! Smooth Sailing #2 is tonight at the Biltmore!

Carter — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:48:12 +0000

What a perfectly sunny day to sail the seas of smoothitude! Come to the Biltmore tonight for pina coladas, margaritas, mermaids, kiddie pools and smooth music! We’ll be screening all 12 episodes of Yacht Rock starting at 8pm, followed by performances from Edo Van Breemen (Brasstronaut) with Fine Mist, The Greff Band, Minto, Dan Moxon (Bend Sinister), Aunts & Uncles, Weekend Leisure, Kidnap Kids, Chris-a-Riffic / Bible Belts, Katie GoGo, Vincent Parker, Tape Moss, and Louise Burns. How could you miss that?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Tickets are only $12 and you can still get them last minute here, or at the door.

2nd Annual SMOOTH SAILING!! Get out your harpoons!

Carter — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 21:36:19 +0000

Hard to believe an entire year has gone by since our last smooth sailing, yacht rocking event. I hope you all kept the fire, and are ready to sail away once again. Friday September 3rd, make sure you show up at the Biltmore Cabaret for our 2nd annual Smooth Sailing event! 12 bands, $12 bucks, great theatrics and delicious margaritas!

Smooth Sailing last year – debauchery at the end of the night. Photo: Noah Adams

For any of you that missed it last year, Smooth Sailing is 12 local Vancouver bands of all genres doing their renditions of “really smooth music” and “yacht rock” (all the tacky brilliant 70′s & 80′s soft rock ballads you can think of – Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, Toto, Hall & Oates, Foreigner, etc..) Here’s a good place to start:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s the lineup so far:

Edo Van Breemen (from Brasstronaut) – myspace with Fine Mist – myspace
The Greff Band (last year’s winners) – myspace
Minto – myspace
Dan Moxon (from Bend Sinister) – myspace
Aunts & Uncles – myspace
Weekend Leisure – myspace
Kidnap Kids – myspace
Chris-a-Riffic / Bible Belts – myspace
Katie GoGo – myspace
Vincent Parker – myspace
Tape Moss
Louise Burns – myspace

Tickets available at Scratch, Red Cat, Zulu and you can buy them online here. Get them quick – we were a packed house last year!

Fol Chen with Fine Mist and Babe Rainbow!!

Carter — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 07:57:28 +0000

Taking a break from their ongoing tour with Liars, Asthmatic Kitty recording artists Fol Chen from Highland Park CA will be playing the Media Club on July 11th with locals Fine Mist and Babe Rainbow.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Doors at 8. Tickets $13 are available at Scratch, Red Cat, Zulu and online at TicketWeb.

Pictures from The Tallest Man on Earth Show – #2

Carter — Mon, 24 May 2010 07:22:28 +0000

Here’s the second batch of photos from The Tallest Man on Earth and Nurses show at St. James Hall last week. All of these awesome photos were taken by Missy Shana. We’ve broken them into two posts, so make sure you check out this post for the first half.

Check out the first batch of pictures here »

Pics from Nurses & The Tallest Man on Earth Show – #1

Carter — Mon, 24 May 2010 07:22:17 +0000

Thanks everyone for coming out to St. James Hall last week to see Nurses (from Portland) and The Tallest Man on Earth for his first concert in Vancouver! It was a sold out show but we still managed to squeeze in some last minute tickets at the door. For anyone that missed the show here a few photos to recap the night. Hopefully we’ll see these two bands back in Vancouver very soon.

All of these awesome photos were taken by Missy Shana. We’ve broken them into two posts, so make sure you check out post #2 for the rest.

Check out the second batch of pictures here »

Courtney Wing w/ E.S.L. and Attics and Cellars

paul — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 06:36:21 +0000

So we’ve been taking it easy for a while, trying to gather ourselves, but now we’re back; and oh how. Saturday April 17th, we’ve got Montreal’s Courtney Wing playing at The Western Front in support of his new album “Bouquet of Might and Fury”. An artist of this caliber in a room this stunning is a damn safe bet on it’s own. The supporting cast will be local gems E.S.L. and Attics and Cellars. If your not familiar with these them, then you really ought come find out for yourself. Watch this to get an idea what you’re in store for.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Courtney Wing is a living illustration of modern Canadian multiculturalism. Born to a Chinese father and a Russian/Icelandic mother, Wing has played traditional Chinese percussion, sung with members of his hometown’s Icelandic folk community, played with a reggae band in Belize and danced flamenco in the south of France. “

“With a ten-piece chorus and half a symphony behind him, Montreal musician Courtney Wing has created an album that dazzles with its ambition and opulence. The clamour of Bouquet of Might and Fury’s operatic folk pop is a serious departure from Wing’s sophomore release, 2005′s folky, jazzy Starlight Shuffle. For his third album, Wing put together a 15-member ensemble that includes an opera collective called Liederwolfe, as well as members of Belle Orchestre and Godspeed! You Black Emperor. But despite the grand spectacle of breathtaking opening track “The Cruel of Fair,” Wing shows himself still capable of whimsy, with bells, noodling synth and loosey goosey horn lines cutting through the grandeur on later numbers such as “Bluffing Face.” Wing’s melodies occasionally get lost in the symphonic tangle, but even when his songs lose the plot, the sprawling, cinematic arrangements are vivid enough to carry the album through to its final twinkling notes.”
-Rachel Sanders, Excliam!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Luyas, Aunts and Uncles & Brave Irene

Carter — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 23:45:36 +0000

This event has absolutely nothing to do with the OIympics. This event will be intimate and memorable. Luyas (members of the Bell Orchestre), from Montreal, play the Western Front on Saturday Feb 20th with locals Aunts and Uncles and Rose Melberg’s new band Brave Irene.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You will thank yourself for indulging in this beautiful reprieve from chaos!

Headlights w/ Blank Cinema and Shane Turner Overdrive

paul — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 06:47:54 +0000

This is something that we’ve tried and failed to do before. Finally it has happened. We’ve managed to get Headlights to play Vancouver. This is exciting for us, and exciting for them too, as they will then begin their tour with Pedro the Lion’s David Bazan. Sadly David will not be coming to Vancouver, but these Illinois born gems will be playing the Railway Club on Feb 28th (last day of the Olympics!)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Just to sweeten the deal, we’ve got Blank Cinema and Shane Turner Overdrive playing the bill too.

Tickets available at Scratch, Red Cat, Zulu and Ticketweb

The Tallest Man on Earth at St. James!

paul — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:40:34 +0000

I once read on another blog, “calling someone the best songwriter since Dylan is about as original as listening to MGMT”. Humorous and poignant, yes. However, The Tallest Man on Earth is certainly doing a good job of making people seem unoriginal. In support of his third album, The Wild Hunt, he will be playing St. James Hall on May 12th.

The proof is in the pudding:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now how original do you feel? Tickets are available at Zulu, Scratch, Red Cat and Ticketweb this Friday.

“Over the last half-century, the tag “Dylanesque” has been slapped on so many mediocre folksingers clutching battered Moleskines that it’s become a meaningless joke, a critical hiccup, a silly, lazy way of invoking an age-old raspy voice/acoustic guitar combo. It’s gotten so bad that, in 2008, yammering on about the cliché of dubbing someone “the next Dylan” has become a cliché in itself. Still: It’s exceptionally hard to talk about Scandinavian folksinger the Tallest Man on Earth (also known as Kristian Matsson) without mentioning Bob Dylan’s early years, mostly because Matsson manages to embody Dylan’s effortlessness so well (Dylan was trying really, really hard, sure– but he sang like he didn’t give a shit), infusing his songs with a detachment that, miraculously, is neither cold nor alienating. Like Dylan, Matsson is so natural a songwriter that these tracks feel predetermined, tumbling out of his mouth with an ease and grace that’s increasingly uncommon.”
— Amanda Petrusich, Pitchfork, May 6, 2008