Sound Salvation Army

We’re dipping into the archives today for a look at one of the finest Canadian albums released in the last 20 years: 1991’s Shakespeare, My Butt by the Lowest of the Low.

This album was released when my understanding and appreciation of music was just developing so I haven’t got much of a sense of the history of it. Wikipedia and such tells me that it was for a time the best-selling independent release in our country’s history, supplanted shortly after it was put out by the Barenaked Ladies’ Yellow Tape. But I’ve never seen a copy of that tape, so I don’t know what kind of gauge that is.

I learned about the band in 2000 while working at a Little Caesar’s pizza joint. I heard a commercial on the local rock radio station one afternoon about a reunion for Canada’s most legendary “bar band” coming into town (the supreme irony being that I’ve never heard a Lowest of the Low song on radio in Regina in my entire goddamned life). The only reason I cared was because the Weakerthans were opening and I had a serious boner for the Weakerthans after Left and Leaving came out. Their singer/songwriter John K. Samson cites the Low as a huge influence and frankly that’s enough to get me to check a band out. A lengthy, fawning fanboy interview with Samson later and I somehow worked my way on to the guest-list for the Regina date, despite the fact that it was sold out and I was not yet of legal drinking age. Sadly, I would know only heartbreak the evening of the show, as the venue insisted they were at capacity and couldn’t let anyone else in, regardless of whether or not they were on the guest list.

I may have missed one of the Low’s final, legendarily-intense live sets but after stumbling upon a copy of Shakespeare and I was sold immediately. Structurally, the “bar band” nomenclature probably pertains more to their follow-up Hallucagenia; this record has more of a folk-punk undercurrent, reminiscent in a lot of ways to the Pogues. The songs are based almost exclusively around acoustic and electric guitars primarily playing mid-tempo open-chord arrangements. There are guitar solos, shouts of exhilaration heading into bridges, occasional bursts of punkish energy, and plenty of harmonies. The songs frequently follow a traditional verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus structure, but they’re peppered with effortless hooks that speak to an innate ability and understanding of the craft.

What sets them apart lies more in their lyrical palate that draws from history and world events set against the backdrop of Ron Hawkins’ native Toronto (he penned all but one track here). The songs reference Henry Miller, Dostoevsky, numerous Spanish landmarks and that country’s Civil War, Marxism, Dialectics, detailed descriptions of his favourite Toronto watering hole, Catholic iconography, an French massacre in the 1800’s, Klaus Barbie, a french basilica, the 1987 world market crash, class warfare, and much more. And that’s just one album! I’m sure depending on your view this might seem like a heavy-handed attempt to seem a little more high-falutin’ or intellectual, but its a very organic thing. It just is Hawkins’ writing style; he’s a guy who clearly romanticizes and adores France and Spain and likes good literature. You can definitely see how the Low laid out the template for Samson, a guy who writes songs about Michel Foucalt and John Hopper.

But much like his protege in the Weakerthans, its the human element of Hawkins’ songs that really holds your attention. A lot of bands write about the minutiae of love, life, and living but it takes an original voice to make you stand up and pay attention. Whether Hawkins is writing about his creepy neighbour getting arrested for murder or gossipy church-goers or the intangible, subversive elements of love he speaks not only with the voice of experience but also with a sense of humour mixed with a diametric dash of cynicism and hope. He lingers on the subtlest joys and pains of life, like enjoying unemployment because it gives you plenty of time to drink stout and read classical Russian novels. Like being inspired by exotic surroundings to love someone passionately. Like giving a friend who is a perennial loser one last chance to get it right. Like realizing you’re above the petty jealousies of average people. Like being utterly destroyed by a lost love, but still finding the smallest pleasure in the subtle memories that remain lodged in your skull. Like the pain that hesitation brings.

In the end the band was never able to overcome the inner turmoil that seems to have marked their entire lifespan, eventually resulting in a long-standing split after their second album was released. While they were able to overcome that to some extent and stick it out for the above-mentioned reunion tour (and the recording of a third album, Sordid Fiction, which never really struck a chord with me for some strange reason). The tension and energy that marked their albums is present on the live album that chronicles that tour, the marvelous Nothing Short Of A Bullet, most evident when Hawkins — in the middle of a song, no less — shouts, “Steve, whatever!” at axeman and sometimes-songwriter Stephen Stanley. But maybe tension and a certain level of unhappiness in the process or personnel is what makes some good bands great and some great bands legendary.

If you can find a copy of the album anywhere at any time, its definitely worth your money to pick it up, regardless of price. I consider this to be the seminal independent Canadian musical recording from a band that, in a perfect world, would’ve become the institution that the Tragically Hip has somehow stumbled into being. But I think the realist in me can see quite clearly these aren’t songs that are born from a perfect world, no matter how much better they make it.

 

 the Lowest of the Low - So Long, Bernie [3:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 the Lowest of the Low - Rosy and Grey [5:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 the Lowest of the Low - Gossip Talkin' Blues [3:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Low, Hawkins, and Stanley stuff is available through MapleMusic, Victimless Capitalism, and sadly their stuff seems to have disappeared from iTunes. For shame.

Pat entries bar rock, Canadian content, Lowest of the Low, rock

Spookey Ruben is Canada’s undisputed musical oddball. From his debut more than a decade ago with the song “These Days Are Old” (with it’s nonsensical “oodle-oop-wee-iy-iy-oh-oo-yeah” refrain) and the cracked genius of the video that accompanied it, he’s been the musical visionary that never quite made it into the mainstream. Despite a high-profile label backing his first several releases he never quite broke into the public conscious in a big way, despite some heady critical praise (one reviewer called his debut album the Pet Sounds of the 90’s).

There is an unbelievable amount of stuff happening on his latest album, Mechanical Royalty, so much so that its hard to say where to begin. Taken as a whole, you could argue that the entire album is a tribute to lost keyboard and synth sounds that have fallen out of vogue in the last twenty years. Ruben and his band have, in fact, been known to pull out a dozen keyboards while performing these songs live. They’re sprinkled so liberally throughout the record that you really only notice when they aren’t playing, as Ruben weaves them so thoroughly into the tapestry of the music that they feel at home despite the fact that some of them sound painfully aged.

Taking a closer look at individual tracks, Ruben seems to be focusing on reclaiming various genres as his own on the majority of these songs. The keys, retro production/instrumentation, female backing vocals, and lyrics of “If You Wanna Know” and “U Don’t Know What You’re Missing” come off like lost Prince b-sides from the 80’s. “Rachel” is straight-up classic pop songwriting, drum machine beats and roboticized backing chants bolstering a bouncy soundscape consisting primarily of acoustic guitar and keys and Ruben’s acrobatic vocals. “American Processed Cheese” wanders into ‘heavy metal’ territory with predictably Velveeta results. “Superpoke” riffs on Facebook and its impact on the social fabric of society, the heavily-synthesized instrumentation coming off just a few keys short of elevator music until a saxaphone solo straight out of Huey Lewis and the News knocks the floor out from under you.

The unmistakable centerpiece is the title track, a guitar-heavy paean to prog-rock mainstays like Rush and Yes, a story about war between an advanced race of robots and the humans that created them that spans seven “chapters” and 15 minutes. It doesn’t seem to offer much if any sub-text that might connect it to the industry term that its title refers to (the cut an artist/songwriter/publisher gets from the sale of a physical/digital piece of music), but serves more as a reminder that despite our proclivity for creating and obsessing over technology mankind can often let it take us over instead. It definitely reaches what seems to me to be the ultimate goal of prog music: showing off the talent of the musicians. Let me tell you, the chops on here are so huge you would think Vince Shlomi had something to do with it.

So what are we left with? A true individual following whatever bizarre muse inspires him, a collection of songs that sound fun even when they’re aren’t necessarily meant to be, and a butt-load of keyboards. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but Ruben has crafted a deft, well-produced, and thoroughly unique set of songs that speak to his quirky nature and inherent ability. Any fan of pop music should find at least a little something to like here.

 

 Spookey Ruben - Rachel [2:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Spookey Ruben - If You Wanna Know [3:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Check out the Ruben-ator’s stuff at Hi-Hat Recordings’ merchandiser’s website or on l’iTunes.

Pat entries Canadian content, keyboards, left field, pop, Spookey Ruben

Another year, another Hillside over and done. My clothing is soooooooo muddy. As usual, it was a weekend filled with inclement weather (why so angry, sky?), environmentalism, epic performances and spirited company.

Final Fantasy performed tonight and holy frijole! Owen Pallett played a song or two, thanked us for coming out in the bad weather and added he hoped the rain wasn’t the last straw for us. “Oh, Owen doesn’t have a band, he’s playing old songs. AND IT’S RAINING!” And then it REALLY started to rain. And thunder. And lightning. And yet… he continued to play.

Even as a Hillside organizer clomped onstage to ask him to wrap it up for a minute until the rain died down a little, he continued to play. Even as the organizer came back a second later and made the “cut it” motion to the soundboard, Pallett called “Just one more minute!” He played to the end of the song and the lights went out. He basically invoked a thunderstorm and played through blinding wind and rain under constant threat of electrocution.  It was the best performance of the night for sure, maybe even the best performance of this Hillside!

But there were some other highlights:

There seemed to be a theme running through many of the side stage performances. Bahamas performed a cover of “Purple Rain.” Rural Alberta Advantage played “Eye of the Tiger.” And Woodhands rocked out to “Electric Avenue.”

Speaking of Woodhands, their show Saturday night was great (except for the douchey frat boy who insisted on crowd surfing like it was 1994) and they deservingly got an encore. This doesn’t happen often at Hillside. Bands generally get on and off when they’re supposed to. They ended with Be Back Soon.

Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long were the surprise of the festival for me and many others, judging from audience reaction. The talk rockers from Pentiction, B.C. were part of the crowd onstage during the Sunday Morning Gospel Hour and a Half (now two hours) and they blew the roof off the tent after just one song. People. Went. NUTS. Nobody seemed more surprised about this than the players themselves. After their first song, a man sitting beside us cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled “WHO ARE YOU!?” These old hippies couldn’t get enough! Introductions during gospel hour can be harried and the program doesn’t list everybody who performs, so they appeared to have come out of nowhere to testify in a combination of blues, spoken word and folk. Flustered, the bearded Koyczan (but I won’t hold the beard against him) called out the group’s name and directed people to head over to the Sun Stage where the spoken word artists were holding court later in the day. Then, they launched into a cover of “Sexual Healing.” A woman danced topless through the entire gospel hour and two women slow danced. We all went crazy again. Hamilton’s Melissa McClelland was up next and she joked “How do you follow ‘Sexual Healing?’ ” Somebody from the audience called up “With a cigarette.” Zing! Line of the weekend.

If you missed Hillside for whatever reason or you were there and didn’t get to see these the Short Story Long, they’re playing at the Drake tomorrow at 8 p.m.

 

 Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Woodhands - Be Back Soon: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long - Apology: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Buy Final Fantasy and Woodhands albums from Zunior. Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long don’t have albums available on their website yet. In the meantime, check them out on iTunes.

*****

Thanks for coming out and we at Sound Salvation Army hope you enjoyed our coverage of Hillside this year. As the lone atendee (I’m trying to convince Pat to come out to Ontariariario in 2010), I was extremely pleased to find out that Pat played a bunch of bands who were live at Hillside this weekend for our corresponding radio show on CJTR. Hooray for synergy! So, think I left something out? Feel like I am wrong and stupid and want to tell me what I missed? Send me an email at tanisfowler@gmail.com or go right ahead and click the little comment button. Feedback is our friend!

Tanis entries Canadian content, Final Fantasy, Guelph, Hillside Festival, live music, mp3, shane koyczan and the short story long, Woodhands

I’m not saying you’ll go to hell if you miss the Sunday morning Gospel Hour and a Half today (It starts at 11 a.m. on the Island Stage), but you will miss heaven on Earth. Also, you’ll go to hell. It’s a fact.

The event is usually a musical free-for-all, with members of multiple groups climbing up on the stage to sing gospel tunes, spirituals, hymns and revival songs. This year Quebec’s bluegrass pickers and fiddlers Notre Dame de Grass lead the charge. You can buy their album New Canada Road from their website.

I’d be disappointed if Bruce Peninsula didn’t make an appearance. Their performances of “Lift Em’ Up/Jack Can I Ride” surprised the folks on the Island stage yesterday with its intensity. Misha Bower, Neil Haverty and their crew are once again a force to be reckoned with.

I’ll be back later tonight or tomorrow with a summary of my favourite acts from Hillside. For now, I’m heading out to meet the shuttle bus!

Other don’t miss shows today include:

Gentleman Reg on the Island Stage at 5 p.m.
The Rural Alberta Advantage on the Lake Stage at 6 p.m.
Great Lake Swimmers on the main stage at 7 p.m.
Patrick Watson on the main stage at 8 p.m.
Final Fantasy on the main stage at 9 p.m.

See you there!

 

 Notre Dame de Grass - Goin' Up Home: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tanis entries bluegrass, Gospel, Guelph, Hillside Festival, live music, mp3, Notre Dame De Grass

So Hillside has scored some big names in folk this year. And try as I might, I can’t pretend to care too much about them.

I respect your hippie right to smoke a bowl and listen to Xavier Rudd and twirl around to Loreena McKennitt. Really, I do. It’s just not my cup of organic green tea. So while I’m sure the mainstage acts tonight will please and delight in a variety of ways, I’ll be elsewhere, soaking up new music vibes at the Island Stage where the Birthday Boys will play a set of their whiskey-soaked rock.

And Rock Plaza Central play the Lake Stage at 9 p.m. and I love them mainly because they sound like Neutral Milk Hotel and put lots of trumpets in their music. I love the horns!

I’ll probably close the night out with USS and their manic DJ energy on the Island Stage at 10 p.m.

 

 Birthday Boys - Wasted: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 USS - Laces Out: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Rock Plaza Central - Them That Are Good and Them That Are Bad: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tanis entries Birthday Boys, Canadian content, Guelph, Hillside Festival, live music, mp3, Rock Plaza Central, USS

Timber Timbre’s music is the kind of stuff that if you put it on the soundtrack for your “crazed lunatic escapes from the asylum and begins spree-killing teenagers in the woods” thriller, it makes the movie.

Taylor Kirk has come a long way from the bare bones recording style he employed on Medicinals and Cedar Shakes, released in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

Timber Timbre’s latest eponymous offering is positively orchestral in comparison to those efforts. But it’s glaringly spare next to anything else.

Released on Toronto indie-label Out of This Spark, Timber Timbre is not so much about the genre of music (though I guess if you were desperate to put labels on it like the corporato fascist you are, you could call it bluesy folk) as much as it is about mood. And the mood here could best be described as “Holy shit! Please do not murder me and leave my corpse to be eaten by wild dogs! I’ll do whatever you want!” Members of Bruce Peninsula and Forest City Lovers contribute to the album as well.

Kirk’s voice has the same brittle, warbling quality as Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons. But while Antony uses his voice to sing plaintive love songs, Kirk puts his to use on macabre murder ballads.

You might recall that I am a fan of such tunes. They put a spring in my morose step and a sliver of gladness in my black, black heart.

But these are not your grandpa Nick Cave’s murder ballads. Oh no. They are far more frightening. See, a lot of murder ballads are really up front about describing their anti-heroes plugging you full of lead or leading you down to the river where they drown you so nobody finds out about your clandestine affair. But Timber Timbre’s music is much more subtle; The threat is implied, not spoken and that’s scary as fuck. Check out the opening lines of “We’ll Find Out:”

Do your actions mention,
your heart’s intentions?
we’ll find out, we’ll find out
Is your mind mistaken,
is your conscience not at ease?
We’ll find out, we’ll find out

How will they find out? I don’t know, but if I had to hazard a guess, I bet it involves shackles, a ballpeen hammer and a rusty pitchfork hidden away in a dank root cellar illuminated by a single, bare bulb. *shudder*

Then there’s the twisted, carnival-esque song “Trouble Comes Knocking.” The steady piano and the slinky, serpentine organ interludes remind me of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ version of “I Put A Spell On You.” Sultry and seductive, this song sounds like the band recorded it in the swamp with a voodoo priestess at the ready to conjure demons as needed.

I like the sinister, ominous nature of the tunes on offer here. They’re darkly fragile and sickly sweet and maybe I should just go ahead and marry Taylor Kirk and have his pale, miserable little nightmare babies. Um. I’m going to stop now before I further embarrass myself. Timber Timbre plays the Island Stage at Hillside Festival Saturday at 5 p.m.

Buy their stuff on zunior or iTunes.

 

 Timber Timbre - We'll Find Out: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Timber Timbre - Trouble Comes Knocking: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tanis entries Canadian content, Guelph, Hillside Festival, live music, mp3, murder ballads, Timber Timbre

ATTENTION HIPPIES!

I just went down to grab a coffee and noticed the Hillside Shuttle Bus won’t be leaving from the Stone Store as advertised on the Hillside Festival website. Due to the construction ripping up the parking lot in front of my building (and the Stone Store) they’ve moved the bus stop.

It’s now at Norfolk and Quebec Streets. The first shuttle leaves today at 4 p.m. Also, the Stone Store is offering a few weekend pass and tickets for Friday and Saturday all at slightly reduced rates. Who said waiting until the last minute doesn’t pay off?

Check out Winter Gloves on the Island Stage at 4 p.m. Sunday.

 

 Winter Gloves - Hillside: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Winter Gloves - Smells Like Teen Spirit: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tanis entries Canadian content, Guelph, Hillside Festival, live music, mp3, Winter Gloves

Get ready, Hillside. Guelph group Green Go are going to blow. you. away. Guaranteed. Hometown heros always make for a great show and these dudes have been demanding their pound of sweat from audiences all over southern Ontario.

I’m not a big fan of electronica. I just have bad memories of terrible 80s songs, I guess. But groups like Holy Fuck, Shout Out Out Out Out and Bocce have been slowly curing me of the shivers I get when I hear a synthesizer.

Green Go joined their ranks last year when I discovered their single “Mad Man Max.” A few songs from their album Borders started to find their way onto my iPod and I wrote about them for the entertainment blog I created for the newspaper I worked at. I said they should have made it onto the lineup for Hillside Inside. They didn’t.

But they DID sign to Pheromone Recordings and release their album Borders in April. Right around that time, word started to spread about their Remix Project, in which they took songs from their favourite Canadian groups and put their own spin on them. They got favourable writeups in the Star and the Globe and various other rags. And now, they ARE playing Hillside! Ahhh, sweet vindication!

Borders is alternately dreamy and funky and gritty. They have risen up out of the basements where they played for years and are coming into their own as a group that you should watch out for or, at the very least, get out of their way. Their album is a sonic smorgasborg and if I, a person who loathes most electronic muisc, loves this, imagine what it will do for you! The thing that sets them apart from most electronic/synth groups are the vocals. Several tracks see accomplished pianists Ferenc Stenton and Jessica Tollefson employing some harmonized shout-singing that is charmingly bossy and frantic. Fun and funky pop is the order of the day for “Brains For Breakfast” and “Danger Bay,” which uses my all-time favourite thing: hand claps. You guys, I am a sucker for hand claps! They’re sassy!

The Remix Project Vol. 1 sees Green Go reinterpreting songs by The Rural Alberta Advantage (not actually from Alberta) and Gentleman Reg (not actually an albino). “Sleep All Day” and “How We Exit” are fantastic in their own right and it takes a great remix artist to do more than put an annoying dance beat under the song. Green Go will not ruin your favourite song. They will rebuild it. They will make it better, stronger, faster. More danceable.

Green Go perform noon Saturday on the Lake Stage at Hillside Festival. Be there. Get funky. Get sweaty. Dance!

Gentleman Reg performs Sunday at 5 p.m. on the Island Stage. The Rural Alberta Advantage play at 6 p.m. the same day on the Lake Stage.

Buy Green Go albums and MP3s on Maple Music and iTunes.

 

 Green Go - Brains for Breakfast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Green Go - Danger Bay: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Gentleman Reg - We're In a Thunderstorm (Green Go Remix): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 The Rural Alberta Advantage - Sleep All Day (Green Go Remix): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tanis entries Canadian content, electronica, Gentleman Reg, Green Go, Guelph, Hillside Festival, live music, mp3, remix, The Rural Alberta Advantage

If I could pick one new band at Hillside that I think you should absolutely not miss, it would be Montreal’s Silver Starling.

They’re new-ish and intriguing. The handful of songs up on their myspace page are really, really good. I sense some Wilco and Arcade Fire influences in their music. No surprise on the latter, as member Marcus Paquin is a recording engineer who’s worked with AF in the past. And he sounds a lot like Win Butler.

Especially on “Caught in Your Glow,” where his voice is tremulous but fierce. He sounds like you sound when you hear a noise in the middle of the night and bravely call out into the dark “Who’s there!?” The song is especially sweeping and glorious. The guitar cuts through the string stuff and there are some chord changes halfway through that are really reminiscent of U2 at their most poperatic.

My favourite track is their jaunty, friendly song, “Ghosts.” It starts out tip-toeing along at a gentle whisper, then turns into a full-blown march. The rhythm of this song is so parading, I almost expect them to have a drum major on hand. Maybe I could volunteer. I always wanted to be a drum major.

Silver Starling are also on the bill at Virgin Festival in Toronto this year. Be on the lookout for their debut album on Last Gang Records. It’s set to drop September 22.

 

 Silver Starling - Ghosts: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

P.S. Hillside updates for you! Sunday is now SOLD OUT. There are Friday tickets still available and you MIGHT be able to figure something out last-minute on the ticket swap board. You never know! Performer schedules and shuttle bus schedules (It leaves from the Stone Store at 14 Commercial Street, which is literally right next door to me) are up on the website.

I’m getting excited! Because of the music, yes, but also… food! Hillside’s food is RIDICULOUSLY good. I don’t see Diana Downtown on the vendor list this year, which is too bad, because their pakoras and samosas and curries were delicious. Meals that Heal is back, as is Sausage Brothers. I am going to eat so much sausage, you guys! And roasted corn! And ice cream! And Feng’s Dumplings! OM NOM NOM NOM NOM!

Things you should remember: It looks like rain is being forecast for this weekend, so bring an umbrella and rain gear. Bring a blanket and a low chair. Bring your Hillside mug (or buy one from a vendor) to drink beer. Bring a refillable water bottle cuz the tanker trucks full of cold, free water are back. Bring sunscreen and a hat. Bring appropriate clothing. Bring a swimsuit if you want to take a dip in Guelph Lake. Most importantly: Bring your appetite for music, food and fun!

Tanis entries Canadian content, Guelph, Hillside Festival, live music, Montreal, mp3, Silver Starling

Ontario-based mega choir-group Bruce Peninsula have their work cut out for them Saturday at Hillside Festival. They’re performing on the island stage at the same time that indie darling Julie Doiron is on the lake stage and guitarist Kristin Sweetland plays the main stage.

If quantity of people is any indication of a good show, BP’s set in the steamy, revival tent-setting of the island stage will be a barn-burner. Tent burner? Whatevs. We be worshippin’ music, so you best get to prayin’.

Bruce Peninsula’s large choir-like group has a bit of a rotating membership, but the grounding basis of gospel, blues and folk remains solid as a rock. What they do, they do well; that is, sing traditional American folk songs with a hollered spiritual bent. Neil Haverty’s gravelly voice inquires, the heaven-sent female choir responds. Of the female chorus (which consists of Misha Bower, Katie Stelmanis, Kari Peddle, Ohbijou’s Casey Mecijah and others on occasion), Misha Bower’s deep, dark voice stands out.

She is expressive and wounded on “Weave Myself a Dress,” moving from a slight warble to a full-blown wail that flows perfectly into the call and response gospel asthetic of “Crabapples,” my favourite song from their full-length album, A Mountain is a Mouth.

The album made the long list for the 2009 Polaris Prize, but was unfortunately edged out of short list competition. It’s too bad, because the final group of artists up for consideration this year is kind of repetitive. Many have been nominated before and while I don’t doubt that Joel Plaskett deserves to be there, I don’t want the Polaris Prize to start to be like the Oscars, where artists who should’ve won in previous years are awarded for efforts that are passable, but not amazing. I wish there’d been room for Bruce Peninsula.

When I was a grade-schooler, I had this amazing music teacher, Mrs. Weimer. She taught me that the human voice is the most powerful instrument. Bruce Peninsula reinforces that, and then some. Their set at Hillside, in a hot, crowded tent will no doubt be intense (get it? In tents? Get it? Awwww, nevermind) and worthy of your applause. Especially if they play “Lift ‘Em Up/Jack Can I Ride” the best, wildest traditional songs they sing on their 2008 7″ release, which, incidentally, has some of the most beautiful design I’ve ever seen.

Their albums are available on Zunior and iTunes. Check them out!

 

 Bruce Peninsula - Lift 'Em Up/Jack Can I Ride: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tanis entries Bruce Peninsula, Canadian content, Guelph, Hillside Festival, live music