Neon BibleDuring the finale of their five night run in Montreal in the hundred candle-lit basement of the Ukrainian Federation and an all acoustic version of “the Well and the Lighthouse” , Win Butler walked into the crowd that had followed the band down the stairs after the first encore. The song was ending, the band yelling ‘the lambs and the sheep ain’t sleeping yet’ and a camera followed him into the mass of people parting. He emerged around the other side a minute or so later with the camera in his own hands, pointing it back at the audience before turning it on himself and disappearing backwards into the crowd.

It doesn’t get more grand or dramatic than the Arcade Fire’s sophomore release, Neon Bible, in terms of the ambition of imagery and the breadth of the gestures. Mirrors and bombs, casting of stones and soldiers and the Church, a golden calf, good Christian men, lambs, the flood, a key. If the Arcade Fire are vulnerable anywhere (though they seem a pretty sudden and stern institution around here) it’s in the question, ‘can they really pull that off?’ Are they really standing up there singing “Neon Bible”, and about the big and obvious but almost embarrassing touchstones of our recent age? You know, like war, religion, the public forum and its spotlight? Who do they think they are anyway?

There's a lot of good music out there, and a considerable amount of crap to wade through to get to it. If you've been playing with the Pop Sirius Player (that blue box over there to your right...) you probably have come to some interesting conclusions about the festival's voting process. We currently have 6188 songs being voted on, from nearly 800 bands. Qualitatively, you're always welcome to let us know what you think by commenting, but quantitatively, the votes speak for themselves. Here are some artists that you guys have set aside from the poop pile, along with the blurb that is meant to sum them up to the judges. You can even go see their Sonicbids profle for yourselves by clicking on the band names.

	Educated Consumers, Maryland, USA "300 characters? That's barely enough space to brag about how much $$$ we are going to make your venue. We have opened for the superstars and headlined as the local heros. We have rocked internationally renowned venues and brought down the house at every hole-in-the-wall around DC/VA/Bmore."
	boats, Winnipeg, MB "specializing in handclaps, glockenspiel, vocal loops, noisyness, and magic."
	Thrushes, Baltimore, Maryland, USA "cotton candy guitars and sticky reverb-drenched melodies shimmer and shudder with echo ”
	Sprengjuhollin, Reykjavik, Iceland "Sprengjuhollin stormed onto the Icelandic scene last year, making art school hipsters, mechanics, housewives, convicts, critics and politicians fall in love with their music and lyrics and resulting in critical praise, ever soaring sales and chart topping success (#1 for a total of 27 weeks in 2007)"
	charles atlas, Brooklyn, NY "post-chamber and ambient from brooklyn, NY"

That question occured to me this morning while riding the subway to work during rush hour. I was reading the National Post and on the front page of the entertainment section I saw the headline: "Is He The Next Ben Stiller?"
Before I could mumble, "Who FUCKING cares!?!?!?!?" Some middle-weight, middle-aged, middle-class mid-town Torontonian muddler said something like:
"Oh, my! Ben Stiller! Isn't that an amusing co-incidence!"

Miracle Fortress

The Luyas

Think About Life

Adam & The Amethysts

The Pop Montreal International Music Festival is proud to present the 2nd POP OFF tour of 2008 . The tour is a great way to show the community and artistic spirit that is alive and well within the Montreal underground. We thought there was no better way to do this than to take a group of bands that are all intimately connected (all 4 bands will share members) and put them on the road to spread the happy vibes. First up is the Luyas who are Jessie Stein, Pietro Amato and Stef Schneider. Three awesome musicians who together create hypnotic and ethereal pop gems. For some shows Adam & the Amethysts will open. Adam is Adam Waito and The Amethysts are a rotating cast of characters who help give life to Amethyst Amulet an album critics are calling “the hit of the summer”. Following The Luyas or the Amethysts is the psychedelic Pop bliss of the sensational Miracle Fortress. Miracle Fortress is the brainchild of Graham Van Pelt, but the live configuration now includes Stein, Waito and Nathan Ward. To end things off we bring you the explosive and electrifying Think About Life, where Van Pelt will be joined by musical renegades Martin Cesar and Matt Shane to bring you the greatest dance party imaginable.

July 25 - Ottawa, ON:: Babylon

July 26 - Toronto, ON:: Sneaky Dee's

July 27 - Guelph, ON:: Hillside Festival

July 31 - Quebec City, QC:: Le Cercle

August 2 - Charlottetown, PEI:: Hunter's Ale House

August 3 - Sackville, NB:: Sappy Fest