Picastro is a Canadian

slowcore Slowcore, also known as sadcore, is a subgenre of indie rock characterised by its subdued tempos, minimalist instrumentation, and sombre vocal performances. Slowcore's influences are diverse, involving varying other genres, including folk rock ...

and

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

band based in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. The band is fronted by guitarist/vocalist Liz Hysen, and currently includes

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

Nick Storring, synth and guitarist Matthew Ramolo (Khora) and

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

Germaine Liu. Past members included Evan Clarke, Rachel McBride,

Owen Pallett Michael James Owen Pallett-Plowright (born September 7, 1979), known professionally as Owen Pallett, is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist. Under their former pseudonym Final Fantasy, Pallett won the 2006 Polaris Music P ...

, Stephanie Vittas, Kurt Newman, Alex McLeod and Zak Hanna.

History

Picastro formed in 1998 in

. In 2002 they released their debut album, ''Red Your Blues'', with slow, heavy instrumental music overlaid with Hysen's vocal work. The band toured the U.S. and performed on

WFMU WFMU (91.1 MHz) is a non-commercial educational station, non-commercial, listener-supported, independent radio, independent community radio station city of license, licensed to East Orange, New Jersey, with studios in Jersey City. It is owned by ...

as well as recorded a session for Daytrotter Session. ''Red Your Blues'' was featured as "Album of the Week" in the

London Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of New ...

following its release on Monotreme and the band appeared on Gideon Coe's

BBC 6 BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...

show. The song "Winter Notes" appeared on the television show "24". Following this, ''Metal Cares'' was released on Polyvinyl Records and Monotreme and the band toured Europe several times, performing on VPRO and various festivals. After releasing the album ''Whore Luck'', Picastro performed at the X-Avant Festival in 2007. The song "Towtruck" was featured on the BBC and included on the Wire's, ''Wire Tapper,'' volume 13. The band's 2009 album, ''Become Secret'', featured mainly the lead singer Hysen; 2012's ''Fool, Redeemer'' was a collaboration between Hysen, Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff. The band continued to tour Europe expanding into the Balkans, Eastern Europe and the Baltics. in 2014, Picastro released ''You'', which contained more extensive contributions from the other band members."Picastro You"
''Pop Matters'', Ian Mathers 17 March 2014 The band then went on a European tour.

Discography

* ''Red Your Blues'' (2002) * ''Metal Cares'' (2005) * ''Whore Luck'' (2007) * ''Become Secret'' (2009) (vinyl) * ''Become Secret'' (2010) (CD) * ''Fool, redeemer'' (2011) split with

Nadja Nadja may refer to: * Nadja (given name) * Nadja, pen-name of Louisa Nadia Green (1896—1934), British poet * ''Nadja'' (novel), 1928 surrealist novel by André Breton * ''Nadja'' (film), 1994 vampire film by Michael Almereyda * Nadja (band), ...

released on Alien8 * ''You'' (2014) *''Exit'' (2019)

References

External links

Picastro
on

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Polyvinyl records

Blocks Recording Club

Picastro on Bandcamp
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1998 Canadian post-rock groups Musical groups from Toronto Canadian shoegaze musical groups 1998 establishments in Ontario