Shoot the Moon

Shoot the Moon and Dress Whites at the Main Hall - July 16, 2005

Shoot the Moon has a sound that speaks right to something in me. They are like Sonic Youth but less loud, like Arcade Fire with a twist of ska, that makes them a little more laidback, Montreal, easy-going. I need to preface a review of their music by this caveat because the fact of a sound making sense to you is something you just can’t help, and in a way it has little to do with the professionalism or tightness of the band, or of the individual musicians in it.

So though, based on their performance this Friday night at the Main Hall, there’s still ways to grow and all, the first thing I’m putting on the table is that this young Montreal band unhooks something in me and leaves me wanting to drive fast at night on the 401, wailing like a displaced gypsy along with the heartbreaking gutsy holler of Miss Nadia Bashalani.


Dan Schachter’s vocals are like this stuttering, surprising, skinny, witty hipster guy rocking down a windy urban street. His voice is maybe weaker than Nadia’s, but the choices he makes are more interesting. There is a feeling between their voices of strong wills pulling in different directions but not pulling apart- a yearning tension that keeps me wide-eyed when I listen to their songs.

Dan’s voice is almost better for being less hauntingly beautiful and strong- he has to push harder for it, and you appreciate the effort and feel the crackle, the raw edges of his singing, and it draws you in. And he makes your attention worth it with a hint of musical genius that shines through in his uncanny, quiet melodies and unique chord progressions.

There seemed to be a little confusion with the lyrics between Nadia and Dan, and some loss of cohesiveness within the band on what I assume were the newer songs. And there was an incident with the baritone sax knocking over and thereby untuning a guitar. These seven people (sax, drums, guitar, bass, viola, keys, vocals) are definitely still pulling this new “Shoot the Moon” thing together, and sometimes the green-ness shows.

But bear in mind, they are weaving a more complex thing then most of your just-breaking-out bar bands will attempt: they all get up and cross the stage to other instruments between songs. Tara Martin leaves the drums to get behind an ax, and sometimes she stays back there banging and sings instead. James goes from guitar to drums to bass effortlessly, and rocks out creative, funky, shoeless, and passionate strings of sounds wherever he ends up. Nadia speaks, sings, hollers and wails, and then trades places with Louie Nagy, once of Gangster Politics, to sit behind the keys. You have to respect this degree of musicality in band members. The violist and the sax player- Julie Raymond and Mellisa Pipe- stand as anchors in this complex switching. And their sounds serve a similar function: filling out the bewildering, shifting layers of each piece with rich tone and mournful blaring.

Shoot the Moon’s most interesting moments come from this layered motion. Their instrumentation is complex and intense. At one point last night James, on guitar now, built up a kicking rhythm on a jazz guitar that was totally un-hearable, hidden behind a wall of Fender and sax sound; until that dominant piece hit a break, and suddenly you could hear this other jazz rhythm that he had been building in your bones all along.

Bashalani is the heartheartheart at the heart of this band. She plays her voice like it’s an instrument she loves, as though she would close her eyes like that and love the feeling of making those noises with her throat and lungs even if there was no one else around. However, the next challenge for this band’s spreading success rests squarely on her shoulders, and it will require a kind of musical ingenuity that she may need to look to her fellow bandmembers for help with. She needs, I posit, to be pushed outside her melody-making comfort zone by someone with a different kind of relationship to music then she has- a workaholic music genius, or a creative music genius maybe (both of which I think can probably be found within the group). Someone, anyway, who can see a way of building counter melodies that sometimes go against the grain of the instrumentation. Because what’s missing in their sound is the hook- that fascinating change embedded somewhere in a song, that is startling and intriguing, and that makes you want to own the record so you can listen to it over again and figure out where the simple thing that hooked you is.

There is already a powerful base of fascinating hooks and catches here- in the relationship between Nadia’s voice and the viola, and Dan’s and the sax and the reggae-ish rhythm and drums- but a next level is clearly attainable, and this will have to come from the singable lines of the songs.

Dress Whites, who took the stage before Shoot the Moon, have already hit on one of these lucky sound breaks. Their second to last p - http://open.touchbasic.com/journal/?p=76

A strangely intriguing mix of cabaret and emotive rock, Shoot the Moon’s admirable talents should give them a good chance in the third wave of Montreal hype. From opener “Purple B,” the best thing going for this band is Nadia Bashalani’s evocative vocal styles that, with better harnessing, could give Shoot the Moon a seat at the new cabaret table. Not stopping in that genre, “Tales From the Sea” goes for the indie pop heart and puts Bashalani to the background to create a jumpy, addictive rush. While the pop atmosphere continues with “Rude Awakening,” this one falters just a tad as even the vocal interplay doesn’t help the somewhat mundane music. Of course, heading back to the cabaret angle, closer “Where Strangers Live” assures definite attention for whatever further recordings await them. A slow burn, Bashalani returns to tease the listener with glimpses of her powerful voice, slightly touching a peak about two minutes in. Despite the lack of payoff, she dominates the song and if her magnetism is as powerful in the live setting as it is on this song, Shoot the Moon will definitely have the heads turning. - Exclaim!

Shoot the Moon Where Strangers Live EP (independent)

Between the sensual, slow-burning quality of songs like "Concubine's Lament," showcasing the torch-singer emoting of vocalist Nadia
Bashalani, and the charming Pavement shagginess of "Tales From the Sea," there's a lot to commend about this local band. Their five-track debut EP was produced alternately by Patrick Watson and Moondata Productions' Matt Lederman, and mastered by Harris Newman, and while the production segues seamlessly, and the band's split personalities
each have their appeal, Shoot the Moon's parts produce a disjointed
whole. 7/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) With Orillia Opry, Lil' Andy at Main
Hall, Fri., Sept. 9, 9 p.m., $5

http://www.montrealmirror.com/2005/090805/disc.html

- Montreal Mirror - September 8, 2005

Shoot the Moon Where Strangers Live EP (independent)

Between the sensual, slow-burning quality of songs like "Concubine's Lament," showcasing the torch-singer emoting of vocalist Nadia
Bashalani, and the charming Pavement shagginess of "Tales From the Sea," there's a lot to commend about this local band. Their five-track debut EP was produced alternately by Patrick Watson and Moondata Productions' Matt Lederman, and mastered by Harris Newman, and while the production segues seamlessly, and the band's split personalities
each have their appeal, Shoot the Moon's parts produce a disjointed
whole. 7/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) With Orillia Opry, Lil' Andy at Main
Hall, Fri., Sept. 9, 9 p.m., $5

http://www.montrealmirror.com/2005/090805/disc.html

- Montreal Mirror - September 8, 2005

You're not going to feel guilty now if we talk about all the great shows happening this week, are you? Because that wasn't the point - we
were given big brains so we could run a couple programs at once. If we stop going to shows then the terrorists win... wait, no, that one
doesn't apply here. Regardless, to help cut up your perfectly
justified fun into more digestible portions, I've grouped a bunch of
vaguely complementary shows together to either prove some larger point or make my job easier. Either way, this is some good ish...

...

The following night (Sept. 9) at Main Hall, stop in to wallow
wonderfully in the multi-instrumental sounds of locals Shoot The Moon for the launch of their EP. Shoot The Moon, who are clearly going to be following in the footsteps of all the great musical acts they've been opening for, play with special guests Orillia Opry and Li'l Andy.

I found a quote by the group's Daniel Schachter that I'm going to use instead of trying to summarize: "It's no genre. It's just songs." Good ones, I might add.

http://www.hour.ca/music/sevennightstand.aspx?iIDArticle=7083

- Hour Magazine - September 8, 2005

You're not going to feel guilty now if we talk about all the great shows happening this week, are you? Because that wasn't the point - we
were given big brains so we could run a couple programs at once. If we stop going to shows then the terrorists win... wait, no, that one
doesn't apply here. Regardless, to help cut up your perfectly
justified fun into more digestible portions, I've grouped a bunch of
vaguely complementary shows together to either prove some larger point or make my job easier. Either way, this is some good ish...

...

The following night (Sept. 9) at Main Hall, stop in to wallow
wonderfully in the multi-instrumental sounds of locals Shoot The Moon for the launch of their EP. Shoot The Moon, who are clearly going to be following in the footsteps of all the great musical acts they've been opening for, play with special guests Orillia Opry and Li'l Andy.

I found a quote by the group's Daniel Schachter that I'm going to use instead of trying to summarize: "It's no genre. It's just songs." Good ones, I might add.

http://www.hour.ca/music/sevennightstand.aspx?iIDArticle=7083

- Hour Magazine - September 8, 2005

Rating 3 1/2 Esoteric acoustic pop could be one way to describe it.
Shoot the Moon is yet another young Montreal band that has sprouted up and, with admirable determination, made things happen for itself. Produced by singer-songwriter Patrick Watson and former Parkside Jones (and current Moondata) guy Matt Lederman, this debut EP captures the group's airy appeal. The opener, Purple B, and closing title track showcase the group's loose sense of time and space; Concubine's Lament
has a bewitching Gypsy swing and Tales from the Sea flies by with
flower-child innocence. To be continued, surely, but they're off to a promising start.

Shoot the Moon CD launch, with Orillia Opry and Lil Andy, tomorrow at 9 p.m. at the Main Hall, 5390 St. Laurent Blvd

http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/news/arts/story.html?id=785e9154-e7fb-4270-9066-f8aa50528bb2

- The Gazette - September 8, 2005

Rating 3 1/2 Esoteric acoustic pop could be one way to describe it.
Shoot the Moon is yet another young Montreal band that has sprouted up and, with admirable determination, made things happen for itself. Produced by singer-songwriter Patrick Watson and former Parkside Jones (and current Moondata) guy Matt Lederman, this debut EP captures the group's airy appeal. The opener, Purple B, and closing title track showcase the group's loose sense of time and space; Concubine's Lament
has a bewitching Gypsy swing and Tales from the Sea flies by with
flower-child innocence. To be continued, surely, but they're off to a promising start.

Shoot the Moon CD launch, with Orillia Opry and Lil Andy, tomorrow at 9 p.m. at the Main Hall, 5390 St. Laurent Blvd

http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/news/arts/story.html?id=785e9154-e7fb-4270-9066-f8aa50528bb2

- The Gazette - September 8, 2005