North (2)

In the eighties, Brad Crowe and David Jackson introduced themselves to the indie punk folk rock scene of Ottawa. Impressed by bands such as The Smiths, Sonic Youth and Black Flag the two played together in bands like Groovy Velour and Spindrift. In Spindrift, Crowe and Jackson played their guitars to a piercing effect and the band became legendary for splattering it's gory bastardization of noise and sincerity from Ottawa to Toronto. As time moved on, they got tired of the same old way guitars are played and sound; while Jackson started to experiment with what guitars should sound like and be like, Brad started to completely reject them. After Spindrift disintegrated, due to desperate internal conflicts, Jackson and Crowe started playing together as a duo and had gigs at several clubs, including the Pit club. At this time their music could be described as a strange combination between Aphex Twin and Spacemen 3. After Brad moved to Toronto to pursue his studies and music, as a solo performer and DJ, David started his band The Red Pony. Despite the distance and their musical differences, both never really stopped playing and hanging out together. Brad recorded Red Pony's debut *Red Pony* and Jackson often came to Toronto to make and record music with Crowe. After The Red Pony split, Jackson started his basement solo project Spedder and retired from public performance. In July 2001 Jackson accepted Crowe's invitation to come to Toronto. The following one week long recording sessions led to what is now North, also marking a new musical starting point for Brad Crowe and David Jackson as they move further away from structure and form and further away from their individual expectations of sounds. North's jams are frequent and lengthy, their shows sporadic, short and violent. Fans describe their music as something special and unique, also as something they've never heard before. As a matter of fact, North's music is tremendous. It's combination of programmed, repetitive grooves, patterns and sounds with melodic and disharmonic guitar drones, as well as the percussive use of guitar specific sounds like flagolet create a very intense musical experience bringing up thoughts of the sawing beauty of Sonic Youth at their Bad Moon Rising time. At some moments, one also feels reminded of Slowdive's melodic approach to noise. Mainly, when industrial-styled disharmony and coldness are enlightened by sporadic, warming melodies; one realizes that North is a musical excursion you can not avoid getting lost into.