#biipiigwan

[doyourememberrocknrollradio]

BIIPIIGWAN - Nishkaak

[doomedandstoned]

BIIPIIGWAN Classic ‘God’s Hooks’ Still Rocks ‘n’ Roars

~By Shawn Gibson~

Photos by Damien McLean (You Can Only Imagine)

BIIPIIGWAN is Ojibwe for a "battle whistle" or "battle flute" played before right before an attack -- and true to form, this music will attack you!   God's Hooks was released March 15, 2010, written and recorded by band members Miskwaanawad ("Musky") Rice, Michael Shrives, and Steve Vargas, who also plays in The Great Sabatini. The album was mastered By Topon Das of Fuck The Facts.

God's Hooks by BIIPIIGWAN

I was first introduced to the Ottawa trio through David Hall and his Ontario-based record label, Handshake Inc.   I gave God's Hook's a listen and, well, I was hooked!   God's Hooks is where "gadzooks" comes from -- the nails that held Jesus to the cross.   This and a bunch of other random facts came from me emailing back and forth with Musky, Michael, and Steve when they were working office jobs.

From opening track, "Beaches" (which might be like landing on the beach of Normandy during WWII) to the last track, "B'il Sabab," BIIPIIGWAN dish up seven songs of raw, dissonant carnage.   There is some heavy-ass groove in the music, as well.   "Vegemite" will get your head banging and your body thrashin' in no time.

Proceed to the pit when the title track comes on!   Searching my emails and interviews, I came across my first with Musky.   I tell him about playing "God's Hooks" in my car, even with my kids in tow!

I go on to tell the lead singer he's going to blow his vocals!   Musky finds it amusing when I talk about him taking "lead" on vocals, since all of the members of BIIPIIGWAN contribute to the singing.   Musky himself roars like the polar bear on album cover of their second release, the EP 'Nibaak' (2012).

Film by Dylan Baillie

When I finally saw BIIPIIGWAN perform live, there was that "oh shit!" moment when I realized just how thunderously heavy these guys really were.   God's Hooks is an amazing example of seamlessly blending subgenres: sludge, doom, and grind.   A balance, an atonement, is reached here.   In my eyes, I’d say BIIPIIGWAN is underrated, but definitely have a steadfast following...and growing still.

Follow The Band.

Get Their Music.

Shawn "The Bandit" Gibson of Mountains Moved hails from Asheville, North Carolina. His cat can eat a Whole watermelon. Seriously. This is his first piece for Doomed & Stoned (Shawn, not the cat, though one wonders what else this felonious feline is capable of.)

[takerwide]

Episode 193-Miskwaanakwad Manoominii

I present part 2 of a convo that is actually just back to back episodes with Musky. For those who don't know Musky is the main dude behind Biipiigwan.

Listen to Biipiigwan at biipiigwan.bandcamp.com.

This episode is brought to you by Dave Levitt Photography, Wellington Brewery and Yokai Music Manufacturing.

[sunkcostzine]

Biipiigwan

West Wing

11/7/2013

[zaturk]

GREBER (members ex-F*ck The Facts, The Great Sabatini) Offer A Whirlwind of Hardcore And Grind On “Fabricated Purpose” Off “Fright Without”

GREBER (members ex-F*ck The Facts, The Great Sabatini) Offer A Whirlwind of Hardcore And Grind On “Fabricated Purpose” Off “Fright Without”

Canada’s Greber are the no-holds-barred, to-the-point hardcore grind band that you have been waiting for, and for those uninitiated, they are a ferocious duo that keeps it on the low end, saturated with gritty vocals and a no-bullshit attitude. Steve Vargas (drums/vocals) (The Great Sabatini, BIIPIIGWAN) and Marc Bourgon (bass, vocals) (ex-F*ck The Facts, Cancelled) have put out several albums,…

[infraredmag]

MetalInjection Premiere – GREBER Presents A Grind Buffet of Riffs, Drums And Pain In “Into Silence” Off “Fright Without” Out September 2022

MetalInjection Premiere – GREBER Presents A Grind Buffet of Riffs, Drums And Pain In “Into Silence” Off “Fright Without” Out September 2022

NEWS RELEASE Montreal, QC – July 14, 2022   GREBER (members ex-F*ck The Facts, The Great Sabatini, BIIPIIGWAN) Presents A Grind Buffet of Riffs, Drums And Pain In “Into Silence” Off “Fright Without” Out September 2022 Photo by Austin Gibson Editing by Youth and Rust Left to Right – Steve Vargas – Drums and Vocals, Marc Bourgon – Bass and Vocals Greber is a harsh grind/hardcore act,…

[ashfaultradio]

A punishing list of tunes selected by Mike Crossley of SAGO, Vilipend and Springloaded.

Episode 7 features "a continuous gut punching event to your ear drums." It's hard to nail this guy down, but his selection of tunes here will be the steak in your bloody fuckin heart.

Green Beret - Violence is their Currency (00:19)

Ayahuasca - A Dark Horse Dragging (1:30)

Biipiigwan - Vegemite (7:22)

Caino - II (Exegesis) (10:14)

Dangers - Power Chord Blues (13:19)

Dead Tired - The Court of Public Opinion (15:25)

Fog of Leprosy - The Goblin's Gloryhole (17:22)

Greber - Fredericton (19:52)

Hard Charger - This Pack Will Roam (22:48)

Meek is Murder - Ghost Moth (28:26)

Napalm Death - Beyond the Pale (30:13)

Teethmarks - Sea of Violence (33:09)

Thantifaxath - Grasping in Darkness (37:14)

The Great Sabatini - Zaikos (43:09)

Trap Them - Hellionaires (46:34)

Weedeater - Monkey Junction (50:04)

[nikkowhitworth]

A jet lagged playlist... #jeffbeck #biipiigwan #cannibalcorpse #celestialshore #genghistron #johncoltrane #vinyl #eve

[blacktable]

Alaskans Final Show

We are pleased to announce our first journey across the Northern border into Canada. We are making this special trip to help celebrate (and mourn) the final performance of our friends in the incredible band Alaskan. We will be joined by the crushingly heavy BIIPIIGWAN and sludge/stoner beasts in Swarm of Spheres. The proceeds from this show will go to an excellent cause – Ottawa Coalition To End Violence Against Women. We could not be more excited to be a part of this. ( http://www.octevaw-cocvff.ca/ )

Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/513326838875457/

[takerwide]

TEW 192. Miskwaanakwad Manoominii

Musky is the engine of the machine that is Biipiigwan. We get slightly drunk and talk shit about life as we generally do together.

Go support Musky... biipiigwan.bandcamp.com.

This episode is brought to you by Dave Levitt Photography, Wellington Brewery, Asher Media Relations Yokai Music Manufacturing and Dapper Beard Oil. Use promo code TAKERWIDEFREESHIP for free shipping on your order. www.dapperbeardoil.com

MUSIC:Jean Mustard-Shut the fuck up George

[sunkcostzine]

Biipiigwan

West Wing

11/7/2013

[zaturk]

GREBER (members ex-F*ck The Facts, The Great Sabatini, BIIPIIGWAN) Presents A Grind Buffet of Riffs, Drums And Pain In “Into Silence” Off “Fright Without” Out September 2022

GREBER (members ex-F*ck The Facts, The Great Sabatini, BIIPIIGWAN) Presents A Grind Buffet of Riffs, Drums And Pain In “Into Silence” Off “Fright Without” Out September 2022

Greber is a harsh grind/hardcore act, coming at ya’ from Ontario, Canada. They are releasing a new album “Fright Without”, which will be their fourth full length, later this year and in anticipation, are getting listeners stoked with their first single “Into Silence”. Even just as a duo, Steve Vargas (drums/vocals) (The Great Sabatini, BIIPIIGWAN) and Marc Bourgon (bass, vocals) (ex-Fuck The…

[natcaprock]

Biipiigwan finish things off Saturday night at Daily Grind with a crushing set.

[blueskies-turnblack]

Check out six of BSTB's upcoming shows! MOONFACE (solo project from Spencer Krug of #wolfparade) at Sala Rossa :: 6 juin STREETS OF LAREDO // MOTHER at Il Motore :: 7 juin PARQUET COURTS // TYVEK // PROTOMARTYR at Il Motore :: 9 juin THE NOTWIST // JEL // HOW SAD at S.A.T. :: 11 juin BISON // HASHED OUT // BIIPIIGWAN at Il Motore :: 16 juin CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH // STAGNANT POOLS at Il Motore :: 17 juin + + + tickets available on our website + + + #moonface #streetsoflaredo #mother #parquetcourts #tyvek #protomartyr #thenotwist #jel #howsad #bison #bisonbc #hashedout #biipiigwan #clapyourhandssayyeah #stagnantpools #salarossa #ilmotore #SAT #blueskiesturnblack #BSTB #montrealshows

[everyoneisdoomed]

best of 2013...

YOOOOOOOO. it's yr boy Yung Doomed aka garbageface aka i'm right behind you, and this is the end of the internet... or at least, the end of the musical internets for twenty thirteen. beyond this point, there's just static and the emergency broadcast system.

in 2013 there was no excuse to be bored of music, and i was fortunate enough to see and / or share the stage with a bunch of these fine acts throughout the year. the list below isn't really definitive, but it's a pretty decent alphabetical order list of some of the albums that i jammed out on over and over, while just shaking my head at how much awesomeness there is in music these days. the titles link to places where you can pick up these albums, often at rock bottom bandcamp prices!

B L A C K I E - only 4 the real: a collection of rarities and unreleased / unrelenting shit from the ALL CAPS WITH SPACES boy who makes something like grind rap. it's like as if The Bomb Squad kept making beats into senility and then a young bridge-burner got Chuck D's spot, with no Flav filler. the duo of "revolutionary party" tracks are easily the standouts, and probably the most "hip-hop" that B L A C K I E has been in several albums. no time for fear, this is only for the real.

beyoncé - BEYONCÉ: queen bey was this year's anti-yeezus: holding up a mirror to kanye's forever problematic (and sonically adventurous) dick-waving, she managed to craft an album that was grounded, personal, and tight, full of bangers and almost no mash. the fact that she also broke the internet with the complete surprise drop was a double fuck you bonus feature for an album that was already packed full of goodness (and an extra nice fuck you to kanye running his mouth all year). oh, and there was 17 (stunning) videos that came with it. so yeah. boom.

biipiigwan -something for everyone; nothing for anyone: somewhere at the crossroads of sludge, doom, and hardcore, this album steamrolled just like God's Hooks did before it, now with more intense lyrics, more intense riffs, and something like harmonized screaming. to top it off, my doom band had a chance to play a show with these guys earlier in the year and they not only pulverized the venue with sound, they were the nicest folks ever. so yeah. get into it, or get out of the way.

daiquiri - sequel: this album actually dropped into my digital hands in the latter quarter of last year (and made my 2012 best of list as a result), but daiquiri unleashed it on the digital masses officially this year, and so i'm making it show up here again. and it deserves it. this is funny in the way a car crash is funny, and though i've always loved their non-musical interludes, the no-filler approach to this one makes it more digestible (and has made me repeat the album from the start as soon as it was over, more than once). 

dawn of midi - dysnomia: basically a single track that bends, roils, and morphs over time through polyrhythmic play, this album is perfect for listening to on headphones in the dark on a night when you might just be having a crisis of meaning. don't call it jazz; it's something darker, more deliberate and just so goddamn intensely composed. like an audio venn diagram that keeps shifting to reveal new overlaps and points of commonality. 

death grips - government plates: death grips dropped government plates with almost no advanced warning (a solid month before queen bey did it) and proved - yet again - that they are the most challenging and dangerous band on the planet. though i was a huge fan of no love deep web's track after track of sub bass, this one boosted the treble and shoved the mids forward with full knowledge of the discomfort that would result. after four albums in three years (all of which have flipped the script on their previous work), i still can't fucking wait to see what they do next. A++++++

dillinger escape plan - one of us is the killer: though it doesn't necessarily feel different than option paralysis, there's something about these songs that i like more than those ones. where the last record's songs felt concept heavy but kind of detached and cool, these songs seethe with that dreaded hardcore adjective: emotion... "crossburner" in particular was a jam that i was able to put on repeat and insert myself into, over and over again. they just hit it with this one, good pacing, blistering technicality, lyrics that you can feel... killer diller.

drugs of faith - architectural failures: since the much anticipated Agoraphobic Nosebleed quadruple album never dropped this year, i settled for another searing dose of grind vox from Richard Johnson's virginia crew. no one does cracking voice screaming vocals quite like the grindfather, and it scratched an itch that only his vocals can. this album was like the "knockout game" of music this year, a great example of what grind bands are capable of when the palette is expanded even just a few steps in either direction. 

elms - divorce: oh, ELMS. my dear ELMS. in early 2013, i played a somewhat incongruously booked show with ELMS opening for a doom metal show that i was a part of, and what i saw happen there kept me riveted for pretty much the rest of the year. i don't know how many times i listened to this album while falling asleep into weirdo introspection and regret, and i also had the pleasure of sharing the stage and briefly touring with ELMS with my noise rap act throughout the year. it's this kind of musical gem that makes you wonder how much fucking amazing music is out there in the world, that you might never hear because you don't know how to connect the dots between your ears and a little farm outside of peterborough ontario. here's hoping that in 2014, music press helps more people connect these particular dots.

fox reactions - stay pawsitive: played a show with this band in philly! philly is magic! seriously, there was a time in my life when a particular strain of gritty pop/punk/hardcore was all i wanted to listen to, and about ten seconds into FR's set, i was hooked again. political, posi, poppy, with just the right amount of sandpaper in the vocals. at 5mins in length, this is tied with Venns (below) for the shortest investment of time and best return on that investment you will get from a release this year.

francis and the lights - like a dream: francis farewell starlite seems to have done it all (within a certain range) at this point: electro-cution of modern beats (with falsetto accents), exploration / exploitation of 80s reverse-fetishism, wikkiwah sleazy guitar worship... but just when you thought he would start bouncing within the bounds he had created for himself, he shimmied up into the clouds for something eponymously dreamlike. 

fuck the facts - amer: the title means "bitter" in french, and the vocals are all in french this time around, and even if you're not french, you will soon realize that grind is the universal language. how FTF manage to put out so much quality music, so consistently, and with so much fucking DIY spirit is beyond me. if you're already familiar with the FTF brand, you know what you're in for, but if you haven't made the leap, now is a great time to get into it: they are regularly producing compelling material and grinding circles around other bands.

GATES - moths have eaten the core (LP): this album is a few years old, but you seriously have not heard this until you are BLASTING it on vinyl. bryan handing me this album personally was one of my favourite musical moments of 2013, because i know how hard that guy works and how much time and energy he has poured into making some of the most compelling ambient/drone/doom music out there. i would love to include The Prevailing Wind on here, but i still haven't heard the vinyl yet and i'm waiting for the Through The Howling Infinite to arrive! GIMME IT ALREADY!

hammerhands - glaciers: watching this band absolutely obliterate the stage of this year's BRIEFCASEFEST in toronto was a highlight of the year, and the recording that i bought from them (on CD! and i NEVER buy CDs!) is like... yo, where the fuck did this come from and why isn't it on the cover of revolver and shit like that? it's doomy / sludgy as fuck, but also really listenable and refined. seriously, where did this come from? have they been playing shows for a decade and i just didn't realize it? (i know the answer, but i'm just amazed.) 

kanye west - yeezus: so let's get a few things out there right now: kanye west doesn't differentiate between good and bad attention, and he doesn't care about your opinion of anything. all he knows is that, despite repeated public blowups, meltdowns, and tugs of war, he still somehow seems to be reigning in blood . if you believe the mythology, what ended up as yeezus started as about three hours of middling music that was reduced and deranged by rick rubin over a couple of weeks before 'ye scored a touchdown in the 4th quarter and delivered five tracks of lyrics and vocals in a day and then bounced to the kimye's baby shower in paris immediately from the studio. is that actually what happened? who knows. is kanye actually a good person, and does it matter? probably not (unless you're willing to hold every other shitty person in the music business accountable for being a shitty person). what remains clear through all of this is that yeezy took the typical script of Full Length Rap Albums (a handful of good songs, a bunch of okay songs, some filler and some skits) and flipped it hard, giving us forty-one leaaaaaaaaan mins of music that you could listen to TWICE in the time it takes to listen to eminem's latest blotation. 10 tracks of killer noise rap packed to the gills will kanye's usual problematic misogynist bluster, dashed with race politics analysis and some vague conspiracy ramblings. yeezus walks.

the knife - shaking the habitual: when silent shout came out, it was one of the first records in a long time that made me remember why i loved electronic music: because in all its circuitry and cool precision, there was an extrahuman frailty that was communicated, a subliminal something about The State Of The World In The Post Millennium that i am totally projecting, but is also true, youknowhatimean? shaking the habitual arrived in my mailbox as three heavy slabs of vinyl in an eye grating pink and green package that blew me away from beginning to end. is it a concept album about gender / sexual fluidity? an allegory for the impending singularity? something else? i don't know, but it's fucking excellent, and it gets extra points for the 'middle' LP, which is basically two sides of exploratory ambient electro that only the knife could pull off with such obvious and definite intention.

M.I.A. - matangi: maya returned again in 2013 with another fucking excellent LP of songs that sound undeniably MIA. though she's been (rather unfairly) critiqued for her version of radical politics lite in the past, it somehow feels like she's sidestepped that whole thing in recent years by making album after album of song after song of good shit. on top of that, she hasn't dulled her political edge and if anything, has remained relevant through it all. i mean, realistically, who else can drop futuristic beats, fashion forward videos, AND have julian assange open their album release party in NYC via Skype? 

portal - vexovoid: in 2013, portal took their fucking abrasive swirling murk, and added something a bit unexpected: recorded clarity. though muddy as swamp recordings have been a standard conceit in the death / blackened genres for a long time, krallice exploded that myth a long time ago. here portal gives clarity a shot and comes up a winner. this is still hella dark and feverishly paranoia-inducing death metal, but you can also actually hear more of what's going on, and that makes it scarier.

sole - no wising up, no settling down: for a long time, i wondered how the fuck sole packs so many words into his songs, and with such a sense of urgency. now i just wonder how the fuck he remembers them all. this was actually one of two lyrical albums that sole released this year (the other being the also great crimes against totality) and if you count last years november release of ruthless criticism of everything existing and the instrumental whitenoise: no more dystopias album, he released FOUR FUCKING ALBUMS in a calendar year. all of them good! this was probably my favourite of the three from 2013, with the lyrics of standout tracks "The Trap", "My Veganism", "People Piss Me Off" and "I Think I'm Emma Goldman" rattling around in my brain quite a bit.

stay here - non-mechanical/hammer hits my skull: some kind of triangulation between toronto, peterborough, and ottawa, i'm voting for this never materializing 7" not just because of the recording (which commits to memory two of their more accessible tracks), but because of the fucking KILLER live sets that i was able to witness by this band in 2012/2013. another case of awesome people making awesome music that just ploughs through the dross of daily life and gives you something to be stoked on immediately. if you live in the southern ontario doom corridor, make sure you see this band at some point in 2014.

the sun through a telescope - i die smiling: i was told by dwyer records that i was officially the first person to order this cassette, and if i remember correctly i bought it about 2mins after they posted that it was available. worth every goddamn penny. i die smiling extends the logic of the green and orange/black EPs over a slightly longer format and gives anyone into the multitude of genres contained within (drone, doom, ambient, sludge, metal) something to eat until their stuffed. i don't know how you even begin to write a 21min song like "Werewolf Weather", but i do know that the locked groove and repeating wall of harmonies that caps off the composition was one of my favourite musical moments of the year. hats off.

venns - red carpet: uncompromisingly crisp and tactical techy grind from a screamo veteran vocalist of the Greater Toronto Area and one of the hardest working robottos in the toronto indie music scene. four short songs revolving around themes of celebrity, sexuality, and idol worship, it has already taken me longer to write this than it has to listen to it. just get it, ya dummy. 

yung gutted - internet graveyard vol. 2: a second collection of dark beats from someone on the internet, proving once and for all that bandcamp is an endless rabbit hole of potentially some of the best shit you've never heard of. volume 1 was a collection that i dug immediately, and this one has taken a little while to grow on me, but is just as awesome. easy listening for a walking around a city at night feeling like you're being followed.

whew! bring on 2014!