Art of Craft

City of Craft

The local arts and craft showcase at The Great Hall on Saturday would fit into one row at the much larger One of A Kind show that took place a few weeks ago. Nevertheless, the people jostling cheek to jowl were happy to support small artisans. I ended up making a few Christmas purchases. Leaving aside whether something should be considered art or crafts, let us consider that there is an art to craft itself. That is, the ability to complete a piece of work instead of endless tinkering.

This was on my mind when later on that evening, I went down to the El Mocambo to see 3 bands: Paper Lions (PEI), The Elwins (Toronto), and The Love Machine (Ottawa). I actually did not end up seeing head-liner Paper Lions because their set was pushed back way past their 12 am start, probably because the relatively sparse crowd made the owner push out the set times to encourage more drinking (and more late comers). In any case, the first two bands suffer from a sort of musical ADD.

15-foot Santa at the Elmo

I first saw The Love Machine earlier this year at the Lovely Killbots' CD release. They write upbeat tunes with catchy choruses that are easy for a new crowd to pick up. But they simply have to change tempo and melody 3 or 4 times every song. Add to this a propensity to segue into the next song, and someone unfamiliar with their music would have no idea what's what. Although that is better than their other tendency, which is to trail off and then abruptly end the tune.

This was my 3rd exposure to The Elwins. I do find myself enjoying their music more now but they have the same issue: shifting melodically numerous times in a song. OK, maybe both bands are trying to add something new to the pop landscape. But the truth is that the Tin Pan Alley structure of a pop song is a very restrictive and relatively unsophisticated form. There's only so much you can do with a kazoo. So why abandon its strengths for failed experimentation? Anyway, that came off more dismissive than warranted. In their favour, The Elwins have excellent stage presence and was able to engage the typically stand-offish Toronto crowd.