I have recently gotten back into radio... that could mean so many things! well, okay maybe just a few things, but to dissect its actual intended meaning:
In university I hosted a radio show. Well actually I started out filling in for people who were sick/had exams or were in plays or whatever, then moved on to hosting a radio show with my friend Robyn, then later on a movie soundtrack show with another friend, Jess. I kind of loved it. For someone who used to be afraid of speaking in front of large crowds of people radio was perfection (yes perfection). It was just me and my friend, two microphones a couple turn tables, a tape player and a CD machine (ok CD player, but tape player followed by CD player just sounded lame...). No audience. Not in the studio, likely not even on the other end of the radio. Perfection! Well until the day when a person we had never met called in and we realized that there actually were people listening on the other end of the line... actually that was a really weird feeling, that you are being heard by people you've never seen and will likely never meet...More importantly you might play a song that introduces them to their future favourite band! Screw being afraid of talking in front of people, the possibility of introducing someone to new music far outweighed any fear. I was hooked.
At least until the end of university...
Once you get out into the real world its a little more difficult to get involved in radio. At least I thought it was... I later discovered that several people I knew had local radio shows, mostly on campus or community access radio, but I knew from experience that the fun part was the idea that even just one person you've never met might hear something you play and like it. If three people heard it, all the better, but I really couldn't (and still can't) fathom the idea of many more people than that hearing my voice on the radio (despite evidence to the contrary...)
So when Shawn asked me if I would do a Canadian music segment for his weekly radio show/podcast I lept at the chance. Not only was I excited to get back into radio, I was especially pumped to have an excuse to be up on Canadian Music. Alright, alright, I don't really need much of an excuse, but its nice to feel like there's a reason beyond "I just like it though...". Don't get me wrong, that is definitely enough of a reason for me, only sometimes, when people realize the depth of my love for it and the extent of my random can-con knowledge they seem a little weirded out by it. Tacking on "Well I do a weekly radio segment on Canadian bands..." takes the edge off a bit!
So this past week I went a bit bonkers with it. And my 'it' I mean research. And by 'research' I mean listening to a crap-ton of bands on a crap-ton of websites and blogs, and mining the minds of friends and fellow music lovers for their current favourites.
And it was awesome.
Alright the computer-dazed-headache thing wasn't so hot, but once the dust settled I was left with at least a handful (and at most an extensively annotated and very very long list...) of new-to-me bands to add to my listening list. And that most definitely is awesome. So I thought I would share a few with you!
First off, the tantalizingly-few-released-songs of Writers' Strike. Hailing from Halifax, this is the first band that has made me miss the Hali music scene since I moved away almost a year ago. Plus you can download their music for free (or 'pay what you feel like' which always makes me actually want to pay for the music)! Text-book Indie, the kind of band you hear and think "I bet they're good live..." I am going to have to send some of my east coast friends on reconnaissance missions over the next few months... Looking forward to the eventual release of a full length album
Though my 'research' was geared towards Canadian music, the band I have not been able to stop listening to is from Iceland. Of Monsters and Men. A little bit Arcade Fire, a little bit Library Voices, and a little bit Mumford and Sons, with maybe a dash of Phil Collins (okay that might just be me, but seriously, just a liiiitle bit!) their back-and-forth vocals, storytelling lyrics and loverly selection of horns, guitar and la la las gets me right in the stomach. Plus they've got the awesome (though sometimes subtle) Icelandic accents that just make all of the lyrics seem trapped in some sort of netherworld between Europe and North America, like they're singing from a bubble atop the Atlantic Ocean... or Iceland. Either way I am very much enjoying it!
Also not Canadian but instead from Rhode Island, Math the Band. Cheeky, a little silly, and a lot like 8-bit video game music, these guys are far from sophisticated, but way too much fun to not love. I spent the last three days listening to them while editing K's extensively long film-preservation paper and they acted as both excellent background music, and an exceptional distraction. Odd combination, but you'll just have to trust me on that. Like B.A. Johnson and The Beta Band had some sort of nintendo-playing wiz kid, they walk the line between quirky and ridiculous in an entertaining and (usually) fairly listenable manner.
So with the monster list I have awaiting further 'research' there are bound to be more of these types of posts in the next few months/weeks! If you've got any other bands you think I should check out, send em my way! Maybe I'll play them on the radio (well, only if they're Canadian, but I will listen to them either way)!
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Hey, I know that guy!
If I have heard of a band and one of their songs has ever made me smile I will go see them in concert. Okay, if someone I trust to know my musical tastes says I will like them, I will also go. Alright, it doesn't take much for me to go to a concert, but it its even better when its one of 'your bands.' I love going to see bands I love, but there's this other thing you get to have happen sometimes that makes it just a little something else... a little more entertaining I would say. Yes, entertaining is the right word. When you know the person playing the music.
I remember the first time I went to see my cousin play a show- It was fantastic! The show was fun, they were good, and it was great- if odd- seeing these guys I'd known practically their whole lives rockin' out speed punk style... even the road to get to see them was epic (ok not the physical road, but the metaphoric one- I had tried to go see them three times previously but the first time the show got canceled, the second time I ended up having to work all weekend, and the third time- the third time I was soooooo close! Made it all the way to Waterloo and then *blamo* the great East Coast Blackout of 2003. Seriously. It was not meant to be).
Even hearing someone you know on CD... A few months ago I also happened across an old mix CD with one of my cousins old songs on it and found myself singing along for at least twice through before figuring out what it was... (Move to Bremerton, if you're one of like twenty people who has ever heard their album... geez I don't even know what band they were at the time! The Durty Sox maybe?) It made me remember who he was back then when they were writing those songs, just punk ass kids bangin shit out on their guitars... It definitely brought a smile to my face... Or this morning when I heard my friend Kevin's old band, The Dunn Project, and had a similar reaction (not the 'its not meant to be' one, the other one. The 'Ahaha I know that guy! Oh hey this is awesome, I like this music! Nice work friend, nice work!" one). You feel like you've got a little bit of an inside track on the music cuz you know one of the people making it, but then you also feel like you know them just a little bit better for having heard something they made...
The other way that this works is when you've seen a performer so many times, in such small venues that they get to know you- at first just by sight, then by name, then soon you're have actual conversations when you pass each other on the street, catching up and asking after each other's families... This used to happen to me with Old Man Luedecke back in Halifax, and my friend's friend Phil has an even more elaborate version with the loverly B.A. Johnson. Its kinda odd, but it seems somehow very Canadian.
This whole loverly making-you-like-the-music thing doesn't always work out perfectly, though. I mean there are bands I know whose music I am not super fond of- but knowing them personally does turn the experience from "Ho-hum" into "Well, I am smiling and bopping my head..." Case in point: I went to university with In-Flight Safety- never knew any of them well, but had friends in common so I saw them around- but I find their music, how shall I put this....? Boring. Fine, well played, but just Intensely. Boring. Nonetheless when I happen to pass by them playing at a festival or as an opening band, it makes me just a little bit happy to stand there and watch them for a few minutes. Not in an 'Hey guys, hey guys, I know the band!" sort of way, but in more of a "Hey I know you're just regular people from a regular place, and I think its kinda awesome that you're up there playing for loads of people" and I get this weird sense of pride. Again, not pride for me, not pride in something about myself, but being proud of them for doing what they love and getting some sort of recognition for it, even if its just playing their stuff and having people show up to hear it.
I suppose sometimes this also transfers to bands I don't know personally, but have just loved for forever... Like when I heard the Elliott Brood show in Ottawa was sold out- so proud of them. Or Arcade Fire making it big. Or Sam Roberts getting to play Massey Hall. Its weird, I have no reason to feel that way, but yeah- so proud.
I honestly think its one of the big reasons to see live music- you get to feel like you actually know the band/singer/guitarist/whatever. I mean, obviously you don't necessarily know them (except for when you do know them already, or come to know them though going to see them play...) but either way you get to physically, actually be in a room with them, to exist in the same actual physical space, and somehow that makes it all seem just a little bit more real. Its like seeing a work of art in person- anyone who says that a photo in a book is the same as the real thing has clearly never stood in front of their favourite statue or smelled their favourite oil painting (Yes smelled. Fine, think I'm weird, but you go stand in the JMW Turner Gallery at Tate Britain and tell me the smell doesn't transport you to a different era... also the light playing of the softly muted colour transitions... ok I'm gonna just leave it at that before I start to sound like an inaccessible art history text book...). But anyways, being in the same small space as someone making music makes the music make its way into you in a different way than just listening to it on CD. (I guess I'm not really talking about stadium shows or crazy huge tours here, but really I suppose it works in those situations too, to a certain extent- perhaps the effectiveness is inversely proportional to the size of the venue...?)
I realize I have all but totally lost the plot here, so I'll just say this: If you know someone in a band, go see them play. Even if you don't love their music when you hear it on the crappy CD they recorded in their basement, even if you don't really know any of the songs, just knowing them will make it a fun experience. Also you can make embarrassingly awesome fan t-shirts and wear them to the show. And maybe baseball hats too. Hats are cool.
I remember the first time I went to see my cousin play a show- It was fantastic! The show was fun, they were good, and it was great- if odd- seeing these guys I'd known practically their whole lives rockin' out speed punk style... even the road to get to see them was epic (ok not the physical road, but the metaphoric one- I had tried to go see them three times previously but the first time the show got canceled, the second time I ended up having to work all weekend, and the third time- the third time I was soooooo close! Made it all the way to Waterloo and then *blamo* the great East Coast Blackout of 2003. Seriously. It was not meant to be).
Even hearing someone you know on CD... A few months ago I also happened across an old mix CD with one of my cousins old songs on it and found myself singing along for at least twice through before figuring out what it was... (Move to Bremerton, if you're one of like twenty people who has ever heard their album... geez I don't even know what band they were at the time! The Durty Sox maybe?) It made me remember who he was back then when they were writing those songs, just punk ass kids bangin shit out on their guitars... It definitely brought a smile to my face... Or this morning when I heard my friend Kevin's old band, The Dunn Project, and had a similar reaction (not the 'its not meant to be' one, the other one. The 'Ahaha I know that guy! Oh hey this is awesome, I like this music! Nice work friend, nice work!" one). You feel like you've got a little bit of an inside track on the music cuz you know one of the people making it, but then you also feel like you know them just a little bit better for having heard something they made...
The other way that this works is when you've seen a performer so many times, in such small venues that they get to know you- at first just by sight, then by name, then soon you're have actual conversations when you pass each other on the street, catching up and asking after each other's families... This used to happen to me with Old Man Luedecke back in Halifax, and my friend's friend Phil has an even more elaborate version with the loverly B.A. Johnson. Its kinda odd, but it seems somehow very Canadian.
This whole loverly making-you-like-the-music thing doesn't always work out perfectly, though. I mean there are bands I know whose music I am not super fond of- but knowing them personally does turn the experience from "Ho-hum" into "Well, I am smiling and bopping my head..." Case in point: I went to university with In-Flight Safety- never knew any of them well, but had friends in common so I saw them around- but I find their music, how shall I put this....? Boring. Fine, well played, but just Intensely. Boring. Nonetheless when I happen to pass by them playing at a festival or as an opening band, it makes me just a little bit happy to stand there and watch them for a few minutes. Not in an 'Hey guys, hey guys, I know the band!" sort of way, but in more of a "Hey I know you're just regular people from a regular place, and I think its kinda awesome that you're up there playing for loads of people" and I get this weird sense of pride. Again, not pride for me, not pride in something about myself, but being proud of them for doing what they love and getting some sort of recognition for it, even if its just playing their stuff and having people show up to hear it.
I suppose sometimes this also transfers to bands I don't know personally, but have just loved for forever... Like when I heard the Elliott Brood show in Ottawa was sold out- so proud of them. Or Arcade Fire making it big. Or Sam Roberts getting to play Massey Hall. Its weird, I have no reason to feel that way, but yeah- so proud.
I honestly think its one of the big reasons to see live music- you get to feel like you actually know the band/singer/guitarist/whatever. I mean, obviously you don't necessarily know them (except for when you do know them already, or come to know them though going to see them play...) but either way you get to physically, actually be in a room with them, to exist in the same actual physical space, and somehow that makes it all seem just a little bit more real. Its like seeing a work of art in person- anyone who says that a photo in a book is the same as the real thing has clearly never stood in front of their favourite statue or smelled their favourite oil painting (Yes smelled. Fine, think I'm weird, but you go stand in the JMW Turner Gallery at Tate Britain and tell me the smell doesn't transport you to a different era... also the light playing of the softly muted colour transitions... ok I'm gonna just leave it at that before I start to sound like an inaccessible art history text book...). But anyways, being in the same small space as someone making music makes the music make its way into you in a different way than just listening to it on CD. (I guess I'm not really talking about stadium shows or crazy huge tours here, but really I suppose it works in those situations too, to a certain extent- perhaps the effectiveness is inversely proportional to the size of the venue...?)
I realize I have all but totally lost the plot here, so I'll just say this: If you know someone in a band, go see them play. Even if you don't love their music when you hear it on the crappy CD they recorded in their basement, even if you don't really know any of the songs, just knowing them will make it a fun experience. Also you can make embarrassingly awesome fan t-shirts and wear them to the show. And maybe baseball hats too. Hats are cool.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Oh Nintendo, You Really Do Love Deep Frying Squirrels
I'm not sure that I can ever properly explain why I would be so excited to see songs about Nintendo, pirates, Jesus' love for the Hamilton Tigercats, hot-dog-cart neighbors, hating squirrels, and loving deep fryers- but I am gonna give it a shot anyways...
A few years ago... Many years ago... Six years ago when I had first moved to Halifax, this 'singer' named B.A. Johnson got stranded out east and had to play several shows a week in order to make enough money to get home. I happened to see him open for Cuff the Duke and was really really REALLY taken by surprise. In his own words B.A. is a 'thirty year old boy,' who follows the golden rule of 'write what you know.' Only all B.A. knows is working at a fast food restaurant, playing video games, and living in his mom's basement. Surprisingly it makes for some of the funniest and most entertaining songs you'll ever hear, and perhaps consequently un-suprprisingly, I used to go see him play on almost a weekly basis. Eventually he made enough money to go back to Hamilton/Peterborough and I never saw him again. Until...
Fast forward to this past summer: I get a tantalising update of B.A. when, while at the hillside festival, I see a gentleman wearing a brand new B.A. Johnson T-shirt! He saw him perform in Peterborough only last week! B.A. has a new CD! We both love the 'I hate squirrels' song! I am sad he is not coming to Ottawa...
Fast forward about three weeks: My friend Josh is telling me about his weekend and mentioned that he saw "This guy B.A. Johnson play..." and I kind of flip out about it. I love B.A.! You love B.A.? You know who B.A. IS? I am excited josh knows who B.A. is! Josh is excited I know who B.A. is! We agree to go see him together next time he's in town...
Fast forward again to last night. B.A. at Irene's. We showed up part way through the opener and the bar was full (Full!?!?! but no! we have to see B.A.!!!). Waited for about half an hour and finally got in (with some gentlemanly 'No Ladies, you go ahead first.' -thanks Phil and Josh!) with a few songs to spare. then B.A. took the stage. Maybe stormed the stage would be more appropriate? Engulfed the stage?
B.A. Johnson is someone you really have to see live in order to fully appreciate him. He is one of the most skid people you will ever meet. He's got a damn respectable beer gut and some killer chops (yes, the facial hair kind), and I don't think I have ever seen him without a trucker hat (usually accompanied by a plaid shirt if wearing one at all). And he is funny. I mean really funny. He doesn't take himself seriously at all, plays the guitar and keyboard just well enough, and remembers all people who come to see him every time he's in town. He gave me a free CD when I told him that my ex took my copy when we broke up. I mean c'mon now, how can you not love this guy?
The night did not disappoint- it was funny, ridiculous, entertaining, and just a little bit gross. We drank beers, sang our hearts out, squeezed in to the women's bathroom for the smallest stage encore I have ever seen (B.A. standing on a sink is a sight not to be missed, in fact it need not be missed, as that up there is a video of the very event to which i just alluded...!). It was great.
Also it ended with me and two of my friends trying to prove we could kick the ceiling. Appropriate, no?
A few years ago... Many years ago... Six years ago when I had first moved to Halifax, this 'singer' named B.A. Johnson got stranded out east and had to play several shows a week in order to make enough money to get home. I happened to see him open for Cuff the Duke and was really really REALLY taken by surprise. In his own words B.A. is a 'thirty year old boy,' who follows the golden rule of 'write what you know.' Only all B.A. knows is working at a fast food restaurant, playing video games, and living in his mom's basement. Surprisingly it makes for some of the funniest and most entertaining songs you'll ever hear, and perhaps consequently un-suprprisingly, I used to go see him play on almost a weekly basis. Eventually he made enough money to go back to Hamilton/Peterborough and I never saw him again. Until...
Fast forward to this past summer: I get a tantalising update of B.A. when, while at the hillside festival, I see a gentleman wearing a brand new B.A. Johnson T-shirt! He saw him perform in Peterborough only last week! B.A. has a new CD! We both love the 'I hate squirrels' song! I am sad he is not coming to Ottawa...
Fast forward about three weeks: My friend Josh is telling me about his weekend and mentioned that he saw "This guy B.A. Johnson play..." and I kind of flip out about it. I love B.A.! You love B.A.? You know who B.A. IS? I am excited josh knows who B.A. is! Josh is excited I know who B.A. is! We agree to go see him together next time he's in town...
Fast forward again to last night. B.A. at Irene's. We showed up part way through the opener and the bar was full (Full!?!?! but no! we have to see B.A.!!!). Waited for about half an hour and finally got in (with some gentlemanly 'No Ladies, you go ahead first.' -thanks Phil and Josh!) with a few songs to spare. then B.A. took the stage. Maybe stormed the stage would be more appropriate? Engulfed the stage?
B.A. Johnson is someone you really have to see live in order to fully appreciate him. He is one of the most skid people you will ever meet. He's got a damn respectable beer gut and some killer chops (yes, the facial hair kind), and I don't think I have ever seen him without a trucker hat (usually accompanied by a plaid shirt if wearing one at all). And he is funny. I mean really funny. He doesn't take himself seriously at all, plays the guitar and keyboard just well enough, and remembers all people who come to see him every time he's in town. He gave me a free CD when I told him that my ex took my copy when we broke up. I mean c'mon now, how can you not love this guy?
The night did not disappoint- it was funny, ridiculous, entertaining, and just a little bit gross. We drank beers, sang our hearts out, squeezed in to the women's bathroom for the smallest stage encore I have ever seen (B.A. standing on a sink is a sight not to be missed, in fact it need not be missed, as that up there is a video of the very event to which i just alluded...!). It was great.
Also it ended with me and two of my friends trying to prove we could kick the ceiling. Appropriate, no?
Friday, November 25, 2011
The Opposite of the Bluegrass Blues...
Have I mentioned that I have fairly recently discovered that I adore bluegrass music? I put it that way, because I am pretty sure I've loved it for a while, I just had this mind-block about liking country (aka country is the best kind of music to not-like...), but I think I was only lying to myself. Cuz bluegrass is amazing.
Yesterday I got to experience two firsts and a wonderful... twentieth? eighteenth? (I'm not really sure actually...) It was my first time at the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield, my first time seeing (or even ever hearing of) Lake of Stew and my many many many-th time seeing the incomparable Old Man Luedecke.
So The Black Sheep Inn. I've heard tell of its awesomeness via our loverly CBC radio, but had yet to experience it for myself. Now I've been to a lot of new (to me) venues over the past year, from the good (La Sala Rosa, Irene's) to the okay (the Bronson Centre), the awesome (Raw Sugar), and the pretty awful (I'm sorry Maverick's but your sound quality is just bad!), and the Black Sheep Inn is pretty tops. Sitting down without feeling stuffy (comfy chairs, good sized tables and standing room in back), good food and beer (mmmmm burgers...), not too loud (you can talk without shouting or feeling like you're interrupting the show), good sound (small enough to hear it mostly from the stage, but a good system too), and a great crowd (whom you get the feeling have been putting a shine on the bar for years..) this place is a great location to see live music. (Elliott Brood there in January- can't wait!)
So last night we started off with Lake of Stew- and a better starter could not have been had! One of those five-seconds-in-you-already-know-you-love-them kind of bands- at least for me, the rest of my table, and most of the audience, judging by the explosive applause (and the first time I have ever seen an opener do an encore!). Bluegrass to the absolute core, this Montreal-based ensemble boasts a wash-tub bass, harmonica, mandolin, banjo (of course), guitar, accordion, kazoo and washboard-percussion-section (you'd think maybe I have a bit of a thing for bands with weird instruments... did someone say Graveyard Train?). With oddly old-timey voices to match their oddly old-timey instruments, these guys really know how to rock out hillbilly style (which, believe it or not I mean as a compliment!). They are so down-home its almost hard to believe they hail from such a big city. Part of that is the feeling that you're just hangin' out in someone's [very big] living room, listening to a bunch of friends improv songs about food, love, and guys who almost were sorta kinda good at track back in high school. I swear they could get an adamant country-music-hater slapping their knee after a song or two- something I will remember in future should I encounter such a person...
Lake of Stew also just recently recorded an EP with Old Man Luedecke so he joined them for three or four songs at the end (including the aforementioned encore). It was nice to see two bands playing together and feeding off of one anothers' groove (almost like a workshop sessions at the hillside festival)- I wish more bands would do that...
Which brings us to Chris Luedecke- I've actually been seeing him perform for years (almost six years I think?) but he never ceases to impress me. His banjo playing is always astounding, but its his storytelling skillz that bring everything together. Whether its through the lyrics or the best between-song banter you'll ever experience (especially impressive as he is up there all alone...) you'll soon find yourself smiling your face off. Watching him perform is particularly odd for me as I often get flashbacks (I tried to think of a different word to use there cuz that makes me sound like I'm in some sort of horrible superhero tv show, but alas it is the only one which seems to appropriately describe them...) to the first time I heard him play whichever song he is about to perform. I was there for so many of the "This is the first time I've played this at a show" times that it feels like I've been watching his journey as an artist... I know that sounds super sappy, and I am a little embarrassed at having written it, but Chris is just so adorable (and amazingly talented and friendly etc etc etc) that its difficult to not get a little soppy when talking about him.
There's just something about the simplicity and the, lets face it, friendliness, of bluegrass that really gets to you, especially when you consider its actual complexity, and sometimes deceptively serious subject matter. If you're one of those people who finds themselves sitting on the 'I Hate Country/I Tap My Foot to Johnny Cash' fence, check out Lake of Stew or Old Man Luedecke in concert and I all but guarantee you'll find yourself in a field of 'I Love Bluegrass'
Yesterday I got to experience two firsts and a wonderful... twentieth? eighteenth? (I'm not really sure actually...) It was my first time at the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield, my first time seeing (or even ever hearing of) Lake of Stew and my many many many-th time seeing the incomparable Old Man Luedecke.
So The Black Sheep Inn. I've heard tell of its awesomeness via our loverly CBC radio, but had yet to experience it for myself. Now I've been to a lot of new (to me) venues over the past year, from the good (La Sala Rosa, Irene's) to the okay (the Bronson Centre), the awesome (Raw Sugar), and the pretty awful (I'm sorry Maverick's but your sound quality is just bad!), and the Black Sheep Inn is pretty tops. Sitting down without feeling stuffy (comfy chairs, good sized tables and standing room in back), good food and beer (mmmmm burgers...), not too loud (you can talk without shouting or feeling like you're interrupting the show), good sound (small enough to hear it mostly from the stage, but a good system too), and a great crowd (whom you get the feeling have been putting a shine on the bar for years..) this place is a great location to see live music. (Elliott Brood there in January- can't wait!)
So last night we started off with Lake of Stew- and a better starter could not have been had! One of those five-seconds-in-you-already-know-you-love-them kind of bands- at least for me, the rest of my table, and most of the audience, judging by the explosive applause (and the first time I have ever seen an opener do an encore!). Bluegrass to the absolute core, this Montreal-based ensemble boasts a wash-tub bass, harmonica, mandolin, banjo (of course), guitar, accordion, kazoo and washboard-percussion-section (you'd think maybe I have a bit of a thing for bands with weird instruments... did someone say Graveyard Train?). With oddly old-timey voices to match their oddly old-timey instruments, these guys really know how to rock out hillbilly style (which, believe it or not I mean as a compliment!). They are so down-home its almost hard to believe they hail from such a big city. Part of that is the feeling that you're just hangin' out in someone's [very big] living room, listening to a bunch of friends improv songs about food, love, and guys who almost were sorta kinda good at track back in high school. I swear they could get an adamant country-music-hater slapping their knee after a song or two- something I will remember in future should I encounter such a person...
Lake of Stew also just recently recorded an EP with Old Man Luedecke so he joined them for three or four songs at the end (including the aforementioned encore). It was nice to see two bands playing together and feeding off of one anothers' groove (almost like a workshop sessions at the hillside festival)- I wish more bands would do that...
Which brings us to Chris Luedecke- I've actually been seeing him perform for years (almost six years I think?) but he never ceases to impress me. His banjo playing is always astounding, but its his storytelling skillz that bring everything together. Whether its through the lyrics or the best between-song banter you'll ever experience (especially impressive as he is up there all alone...) you'll soon find yourself smiling your face off. Watching him perform is particularly odd for me as I often get flashbacks (I tried to think of a different word to use there cuz that makes me sound like I'm in some sort of horrible superhero tv show, but alas it is the only one which seems to appropriately describe them...) to the first time I heard him play whichever song he is about to perform. I was there for so many of the "This is the first time I've played this at a show" times that it feels like I've been watching his journey as an artist... I know that sounds super sappy, and I am a little embarrassed at having written it, but Chris is just so adorable (and amazingly talented and friendly etc etc etc) that its difficult to not get a little soppy when talking about him.
There's just something about the simplicity and the, lets face it, friendliness, of bluegrass that really gets to you, especially when you consider its actual complexity, and sometimes deceptively serious subject matter. If you're one of those people who finds themselves sitting on the 'I Hate Country/I Tap My Foot to Johnny Cash' fence, check out Lake of Stew or Old Man Luedecke in concert and I all but guarantee you'll find yourself in a field of 'I Love Bluegrass'
Sunday, November 20, 2011
The Best Drum Kit in All The Land
So a few weeks ago I kinda really ripped into the band One Hundred Dollars for being one of the most ineffective opening acts I had ever seen (aka super creepy, played for too long, would have been better on CD, etc...). To be honest (and I'm not sure if i said this at the time) but it kind of ruined the rest of the show for me. Alright, not strictly speaking, as it is practically impossible for anything to ruin Elliott Brood, but it was definitely the least fun I had ever had at an EB show... Now normally that would mean I would really try to never see said offending band again, but 'twas not to be so. Elliott Brood played in Montreal last night, and I could not resist, despite the opening act.
I was tempted to skip them (the opener, not the whole show) but I had hyped their creepyness so much to my sister and her friend that it would have just been mean to deprive them of their own experience... Then I realised that it was actually a win win situation- if they were horrible again I was not only prepared, but would enjoy seeing everyone else's reaction, and if they were great (or even just good!) I would be pleasantly surprised. The only way they could possibly disappoint me would be by being slightly better than barely passable. So I guess technically more of a win-win-lose situation (66/33 odds are better than 50/50...) So we went for the whole show. Good decision.
One Hundred Dollars
To be fair, it would have been pretty difficult for them to get much worse, but One Hundred Dollars' performance was vastly superior to the last time I saw them. There were no scary eyes and pointing, no glares full of loathing, no horrible tension and sense of impending doom... I mean don't get me wrong, the lead singer still had her super creepy moments, but they were few and far between, and actually seemed to fit with the songs (as opposed to overshadow them like the darkness of everlasting night...). It felt like classic country instead of the jumble of conflicting and depressing visuals (and soundicals) of their previous performance. The lyrics fit nicely with the flowing and surprisingly upbeat music, the crowd sang along with most of the songs (we even seemed to learn a lot of new ones by then end) and everyone benefited from the general sense of camaraderie resulting from this being the last date they would play with Elliott Brood. It didn't completely wipe their last performance from my mind, but it was a good set and it created a mood the way an opening act should do. Should I ever happen upon them at a festival or as an opening act, I look forward to having my first impression of them more fully expunged.
Elliott Brood
Now THIS is what I'm talkin' about!!! With the much much MUCH improved opening performance the crowd was in just the right kind of mood for the Brood boys. Enthusiastically joking, jumping and juggling (ok there wasn't any juggling- I just couldn't think of another 'j' word...) they blazed through one of the best sets I've ever seen them play. With songs I havn't seen in years (President 35 was faaaaantastic), classy duds, and the best drum kit this side of anywhere (ok I might be a little biased, but c'mon, a birch bark and tree-cross-section kit? so appropriate...) they had the audience belting it out and dancing along with every song. Danielle even mentioned that this was practically the most enthusiastic she had ever seen a Montreal crowd (an impressive compliment, as many Montreal concert-goers will know).
I was tempted to skip them (the opener, not the whole show) but I had hyped their creepyness so much to my sister and her friend that it would have just been mean to deprive them of their own experience... Then I realised that it was actually a win win situation- if they were horrible again I was not only prepared, but would enjoy seeing everyone else's reaction, and if they were great (or even just good!) I would be pleasantly surprised. The only way they could possibly disappoint me would be by being slightly better than barely passable. So I guess technically more of a win-win-lose situation (66/33 odds are better than 50/50...) So we went for the whole show. Good decision.
One Hundred Dollars
To be fair, it would have been pretty difficult for them to get much worse, but One Hundred Dollars' performance was vastly superior to the last time I saw them. There were no scary eyes and pointing, no glares full of loathing, no horrible tension and sense of impending doom... I mean don't get me wrong, the lead singer still had her super creepy moments, but they were few and far between, and actually seemed to fit with the songs (as opposed to overshadow them like the darkness of everlasting night...). It felt like classic country instead of the jumble of conflicting and depressing visuals (and soundicals) of their previous performance. The lyrics fit nicely with the flowing and surprisingly upbeat music, the crowd sang along with most of the songs (we even seemed to learn a lot of new ones by then end) and everyone benefited from the general sense of camaraderie resulting from this being the last date they would play with Elliott Brood. It didn't completely wipe their last performance from my mind, but it was a good set and it created a mood the way an opening act should do. Should I ever happen upon them at a festival or as an opening act, I look forward to having my first impression of them more fully expunged.
Elliott Brood
Now THIS is what I'm talkin' about!!! With the much much MUCH improved opening performance the crowd was in just the right kind of mood for the Brood boys. Enthusiastically joking, jumping and juggling (ok there wasn't any juggling- I just couldn't think of another 'j' word...) they blazed through one of the best sets I've ever seen them play. With songs I havn't seen in years (President 35 was faaaaantastic), classy duds, and the best drum kit this side of anywhere (ok I might be a little biased, but c'mon, a birch bark and tree-cross-section kit? so appropriate...) they had the audience belting it out and dancing along with every song. Danielle even mentioned that this was practically the most enthusiastic she had ever seen a Montreal crowd (an impressive compliment, as many Montreal concert-goers will know).
Elliot Brood's strikingly appropriate and amazing drum kit
Nobutseriously I am completely in love with their choice of visuals...
(Its not every day you get to love a band for their music and their artwork!)
I wouldn't have admitted it before, but I was really disappointed in the last show and pretty sad to have to have that as my most recent memory of them for even a few weeks. Happily this fantastic concert has all but erased the un-fantasticness of the former one. Next up? At the Black Sheep Tavern in January... Four times in seven months? Not bad.
Oh right, one last thing; my sister finally got the opportunity to massively make fun of me for my Mark Sasso love when he walked in front of us and I turned all red. Really really red. Yes they could tell even in the dark, that's how bad it was. Damn band loves... Now I just have to figure out a way to get back at her by making her be suddenly face to face with Library Voices...!
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Cuff the Duke: They make bad sound sound good
Oh Cuff the Duke, so very country, so very Oshawa, so very much the only band that seems to be able to consistently sound good when playing at the consistently-bad-sounding Maverick's... I'm not quite sure how they do it- perhaps they are very thorough in their sound checks? Maybe they've just played there so many times that they have this special way of tuning their instruments? Maybe they're just magical... Whatever it is, they consistently deliver.
I don't know that that sounds like a compliment, but it is certainly meant as such. With Cuff the Duke you know what you're getting: they're straightforward blue collar guys singing about their experiences growing up in a straight-up blue collar town- something that is a really common experience in life, but not something commonly sung about in music. And it speaks to me. It sounds corny, but its true! There is something about Cuff the Duke's music that makes me feel at home.
It may be because half of my family is from Oshawa- I grew up going to family gatherings there in the old house, driving by the GM plant, thinking it was super cool to have a corner store literally right on the corner (we didn't really have that kind of stuff in the 'burbs). So many of my Grandma's childhood stories were about the quintessentially blue-collar-Oshawa that I'm sure I likely always pictured it as the depression era town where my Great Grandfather fixed porches to put food on the table and my Grandma scooped at the ice cream counter... but there is just something about Oshawa, something shared by London Ontario, by Edmonton, by Winnipeg, and by parts of Calgary and Hamilton... something so rarely captured in popular music but so clearly its very distinct thing... and Cuff the Duke encapsulates it perfectly.
Maybe thats why they sound good at Maverick's when everyone else sounds like crap- They understand the uneven floors, they understand the weirdly placed pillars and the unhinged bathrooms doors, the room sees that they understand it and it pays them thanks by helping them sound good. Or maybe they just sound that good. I guess we'll never know...
I don't know that that sounds like a compliment, but it is certainly meant as such. With Cuff the Duke you know what you're getting: they're straightforward blue collar guys singing about their experiences growing up in a straight-up blue collar town- something that is a really common experience in life, but not something commonly sung about in music. And it speaks to me. It sounds corny, but its true! There is something about Cuff the Duke's music that makes me feel at home.
It may be because half of my family is from Oshawa- I grew up going to family gatherings there in the old house, driving by the GM plant, thinking it was super cool to have a corner store literally right on the corner (we didn't really have that kind of stuff in the 'burbs). So many of my Grandma's childhood stories were about the quintessentially blue-collar-Oshawa that I'm sure I likely always pictured it as the depression era town where my Great Grandfather fixed porches to put food on the table and my Grandma scooped at the ice cream counter... but there is just something about Oshawa, something shared by London Ontario, by Edmonton, by Winnipeg, and by parts of Calgary and Hamilton... something so rarely captured in popular music but so clearly its very distinct thing... and Cuff the Duke encapsulates it perfectly.
Maybe thats why they sound good at Maverick's when everyone else sounds like crap- They understand the uneven floors, they understand the weirdly placed pillars and the unhinged bathrooms doors, the room sees that they understand it and it pays them thanks by helping them sound good. Or maybe they just sound that good. I guess we'll never know...
Friday, November 4, 2011
Please tell me you love something this much...
I am at this particular moment realizing the extent of my love for Elliot Brood.
Its extensive.
Having said that, I find that I don't really care one way or another whether friends, family or strangers feel the same way. Elliot Brood brings me great amounts of joy (They make me happy when I'm feeling sad, happier when I'm already feeling happy, and like dancing around my living room when I've had too much to drink. that may or may not be what I am doing at this very moment. Yes while holding my computer and typing. I'm just awesome like that), but it is completely inconsequential to me whether they make anyone else just as happy. What I do want, what I want most definitely, is for everyone to have something, anything, that makes them feel like this. A band, a television show, a favourite meal or whatever else. Something, just something, that makes them feel like everything in the world is fine. Like nothing could possibly be wrong if something so happy-making exists.
Because seriously, if the opening chord of The Valley Town doesn't represent all that is right with the world, I am made of a pile of sticks. Or carrots. One of the two.
Its extensive.
Having said that, I find that I don't really care one way or another whether friends, family or strangers feel the same way. Elliot Brood brings me great amounts of joy (They make me happy when I'm feeling sad, happier when I'm already feeling happy, and like dancing around my living room when I've had too much to drink. that may or may not be what I am doing at this very moment. Yes while holding my computer and typing. I'm just awesome like that), but it is completely inconsequential to me whether they make anyone else just as happy. What I do want, what I want most definitely, is for everyone to have something, anything, that makes them feel like this. A band, a television show, a favourite meal or whatever else. Something, just something, that makes them feel like everything in the world is fine. Like nothing could possibly be wrong if something so happy-making exists.
Because seriously, if the opening chord of The Valley Town doesn't represent all that is right with the world, I am made of a pile of sticks. Or carrots. One of the two.
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