LOCAL EXPOSURE: Moderne art.

(Phillip Intile of Mode Moderne cupping his supple breasts. © 2010 Benjamin Luk.)

The 11th of June represented the start of a new season in the Vancouver music scene. With sunny skies and clear nights, there was no better time to be meandering in the streets seeing what's to be seen. If one happened to wander into Funky Winker Bean's on that night, they would have seen a bar bustling with musicians, partiers and the like. Funky's was hosting The Orpheans' EP release party, and there were great sounds to be heard by all.

But one sound stood out, and that was the sound of the synth-pop gothic wonder that is Mode Moderne. They took to the stage in a blur of black and white attire and wasted no time, jumping into the impressive "Radio Heartbeat", the first track off Ghosts Emerging. Evoking chills down the spine of every person who hears the fast-paced instrumentals coupled with the droning vocals and intense feeling, it was a spectacular opener. However, the band weren't content to just play their older, better known material. Utilizing one of the newer additions to the Mode Moderne canon, they graced their audience with the haunting "Rattle", a song that boasts a careening and optimistic refrain, enchanting their listeners. Vocalist Phillip Intile created the full experience of an emotionally-synthetic goth fantasy, all within a tight 35-minute set. With the night chiefly devoted to The Orpheans' EP release party, they played a short set that ended all too soon, leaving us thirsty for further indulgence in their synth-pop dreamscape.

If you haven't already picked up a copy of their 12" Ghosts Emerging, there is no record I would recommend more highly in the current Vancouver indie music scene. The sound makes you wary of your accidental time travel into some 1980s synth-pop arena, but you welcome it wholeheartedly. Mode Moderne renders its audience powerless, and desperately in need of more gothic drones to whisk us away into a surreal fantasy once again.

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Mode Moderne played Funky Winker Bean's on June 11th, 2010.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Hospital stays and rehearsal days.

(Unlike the rest of The Best Revenge, I don't wear my sunglasses at night. © 2009 Jason Kazuta.)

Yup. We did it again. We disappeared off the face of the interwebs and because of that, both our readership and reputation has suffered. However, this time, we have a perfectly valid excuse. (We're full of them.)

First of all, I was recently in hospital. I won't go into too much detail, but it was definitely something more serious than a broken leg. In total, I spent three weeks on the inside, and motivation to stay on top of new music and go to concerts immediately ground to a halt. After all, I was more concerned about getting better. Things like The xx coming to town were the last thing on my mind. (I never liked them much anyway.)

But just when things seemed darkest, out came the light. Once I got better, my band The Best Revenge started making plans for an album. Since then, we've been practicing our asses off and sending off demos to industry types, and that's one of the reasons our humble little blog here hasn't been getting much attention. As for the rest of it, I could blame work or the lack of interesting new music, but that would be a lie. I got lazy. It's time I picked up the pieces and brought this blog back to its former glory.

So that's that. After nearly three years, we're still not dead yet. Enjoy the posts to come.