Sound Salvation Army

Having a problem of motivation lately. I’m sure I’ll get around to finishing the few things I’ve been slowly working on lately, but they’re already overdue and I’m finding myself to be extremely busy of late. But stay tuned. We always bounce back.

 

 Andrew Jackson Jihad - We Didn't Come Here To Rock [1:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 the Mountain Goats - Your Belgian Things: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Travis - Slide Show [3:19m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Pat entries acoustic, Andrew Jackson Jihad, malaise, Mountain Goats, punk rock, Travis

“As we’re waiting for the light to change we see this goth girl run to cross the street. A goth girl, running. You don’t often see goth people run. I think because obviously it spoils the whole image, right? You can’t be in a hurry and goth.”
~ Paul F. Tompkins

Call it what you will: an identity crisis, a marketing ploy, or a gradual evolutionary progression of older musicians that don’t drink as much anymore but are still trying to maintain an edge of darkness and desperation in their music. Old-school Alkaline Trio fans have been lamenting the bands steady slide into faux-Satanic caricatures for years. With a new album on its way it appears we’ve got a ways to go before they leave that affectation behind.

This latest album, This Addiction, was said to be a return to form for the group; they’ve come back to long-time producer Matt Allison and his Atlas Studios for the recording, they’ve pared back the maddeningly thick layers of overdubs and effects that have weighed down their last few records, and they even promised a return to the spirit of their early work. They may have succeeded to a large extent, but you know what they say about close only counting in certain situations and circumstances.

Alkaline Trio’s early recordings were fueled entirely by alcohol consumption, heartbreak, and self-loathing. Their brutal lyrical confessions went hand-in-hand with downright poetic allusions and turns-of-phrase; “Even Christ himself would cringe at the sight of your scars,” went the first song from their first full-length, setting the tone for four nearly flawless albums. But those elements have slowly dwindled, being replaced by an ever-expanding faux-goth sensibility that manifests in a lyrical obsession concerning all things hell, darkness, poison, vampires, death, and gothness. Bassist/singer Dan Andriano seems to be the only member not circling that particular drain, but with only three contributions to this album he doesn’t have the presence to counteract the cloying “darkness” of the other members.

But taken as a whole I would call this record a success, although their attempt to regain the spirit of their earlier work seems to mean re-appropriating elements of older songs in a new context. These things will likely be immediately recognizable to long-time fans: “The American Scream” recycles a guitar riff from “Warbrain,” the band’s contribution to the Rock Against Bush releases from five or six years ago. “Dead On The Floor”’s opening riff is vaguely reminiscent of “Southern Rock”’s, while the rest of the song reads like a more sombre “‘97.” Andriano even lifts a lyric from “Private Eye” and drops it into “Dine, Dine My Darling” (which is a great play on an old Misfits song title).

But those are minor quibbles. There are only so many power chords available to a band and if we’re being honest with ourselves there has always been a familiar thread running through a lot Matt Skiba’s guitar arrangements. It’s punk rock; they’re not reinventing the wheel. On the whole this is a very worthwhile effort and there are a lot of quality songs on here. “Dead On The Floor,” “Dorothy,” “Piss and Vinegar,” first single “This Addiction,” and most of “Lead Poisoning” definitely embody the spirit of their first records. “The American Scream” is the anti-war songs Skiba should have written for Agony & Irony instead of the god-awful cliche horrorfest that was “Over and Out.” “Draculina” is a perfectly serviceable song, although the lyrics are packed to the gills with the goth-lite keywords mentioned above: an Alice In Wonderland reference, knives, a character trapped in their “own living hell,” blood/bleeding, bullets, birds of prey, stinging bees, heaven, angels, demons, dark secrets, teeth “sinking deep” into someone’s flesh, the devil, and exorcism. And yes, an adult put all of those words into a single three and a half minute rock song.

That song aside I would argue there are only two big missteps here. The first pertains to the third track, “Lead Poisoning,” and is the reason I included that quote from Paul F. Tompkins at the start of this piece. It’s a classic four-chord Alk3 stomper with big hooks and a strong vocal from Skiba. But my issue lies in the trumpet solo that comes at the 1:50 mark. It sounds like it was lifted from a NOFX album circa 1996; it’s bright, it’s bouncy, and it’s definitely a playful move from a band that has really opened itself up to experimenting with new sounds in the last five years. But much like you don’t see goths running, there’s a reason you don’t hear a lot of horns on Bauhaus records. It just doesn’t fit the aesthetic of a song when Skiba is singing about getting poisoned, laying his weary head down to sleep, and praying to his dark lord. It’s incongruous, almost comical-sounding, given the context, but at least there is a good song wrapped around that moment.

“Eating Me Alive” isn’t quite so likely. I had previously chastised a song from their last record as Skiba’s most terrible work yet but he’s dug an even deeper hole this time around. The lyrics are simply embarrassing. More importantly they’re lazy, hackneyed, and trite. “You can’t sit there and tell me that I didn’t try/And I can honestly tell you that I never lied”? Really, Matt? Did that need to be said? And the guy can’t even muster up the guster to sing this song with any level of conviction. I’m pretty sure you can hear his own fucking eyes rolling as he’s singing the words, like he’s staring up at the ceiling wondering how it all came to this. I’m pretty sure overly dramatic, suicidal teenage girls will even laugh at this song. It’s just the worst. Skiba probably should realize that its okay to only have 10 songs on your album. You don’t need the filler.

And the song itself! What? I know Skiba said you were listening to The Cars a lot when they recorded Agony & Irony but that really comes through on this number. Everything but the chorus is draped in some pretty gross keyboards. I mean, I’m not a huge fan of keyboards but it just sounds like a different band.

As mentioned, Dan Andriano continues to be a big part of the reason I keep coming back to this band. While he only has three songs on this record (I assume he’s saving more for his new band/solo project, which I’m very pumped for) they continue to be some of the album’s strongest. That goes double for “Fine,” another strong Dan closer on par with From Here To Infirmary’s “Crawl.” It’s also a song about drinking too much and denying how messed up you really are. Talk about your classic Trio! Musically he continues to wear his Jawbreaker influences on his sleeve, something I will never ever ever complain about.

I guess what this all amounts to is the problem most people inevitably run into if they follow a band for a very long time: reconciling new directions with old perceptions. But for the first time it kind of feels like even Alkaline Trio themselves might be getting tired of their blood-dripping, faux-Satanic imagery. It’s been feeling more and more forced over the course of their last three records and I’m kind of hoping This Addiction proves to be the breaking point where they leave that phase behind. Based on the evidence here I’d say that could only be a good thing.

 

 Alkaline Trio - Lead Poisoning [2:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Alkaline Trio - Fine [3:17m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Pat entries Alkaline Trio, legacies, nice tries, pop, punk rock, the goths

Thanks for coming out Attack in Black. You sure made things interesting.

Alright, listen: we’ve all been on road trips that have lasted just a bit too long. By the end it’s all you can really do just to keep your car in between the lines without your brain having a complete freakout. I get it. I really do. I’m hoping that’s what was weighing on the minds of Dan Romano, Ian Romano, Ian Kehoe and Spencer Burton when they stopped by the Exchange a couple of weeks ago. Otherwise they may not have engendered themselves to the Regina audience that well.

They took to the stage looking none-too-impressed to be working, faces looking dour as they dryly went through the motions of tuning and checking their monitors. The early part of the set seemed fairly workmanlike, almost detached at times as they ran through several newer songs.

Things started to go off the rails a bit when Romano asked the crowd if there were any requests. Now, just to be clear: Attack in Black doesn’t get played on the radio in Regina, Saskatchewan. Maybe they do in Ontario, but there’s no modern rock radio stations here and what we do have isn’t hip enough to the “scene” to be playing Attack in Black. That’s just a fact. I don’t expect Attack in Black to know that, but regardless they recoiled when several audience immediately shouted out “Young Leaves.” My understanding is that is probably the most popular song they have, released on a first album they’ve stepped back from in recent years (they’ve stated in interviews that the interference of producers and engineers in the studio led to a sound they didn’t intend). Clearly they’ve come to resent this song in particular, as Romano indicated, “This is what you get for asking for that one,” before the band launched into a toned-down cover of NOFX’s “Please Play This Song On The Radio,” a song drenched in cynicism and condemnation for bands that purposefully write accessible songs to gain airplay.

This confused me. This is the guy that wrote, “Young Leaves.” Is he implying that he has an unhealthy dose of self-loathing because he wrote a song that people actually like? Is he condemning a paying audience for wanting to hear a song that he wrote? Is he implying that his audience has poor taste because they appreciate a catchy song? It seemed a little needlessly hostile, especially for a group of musicians that are among the most talented and cohesive in the country right now. And frankly, “Young Leaves” is far from the best song on Marriage, nor is it the most accessible or radio-friendly in my opinion. The sour attitude also popped up during “I’m Going To Forget,” the lead-off track to the wonderful The Curve of The Earth. The line, “Never to be back again,” closes out one of the song’s verses and Romano seemed to find it necessary to stress those words. “I promise you,” he emphasized before launching into the song’s refrain. I guess they didn’t like the reception they were getting? At least they gave us some warning we might never see them in our fair city again.

The open-request format came and went for the remainder of the set, with the band shifting course every few songs to adjust to what the audience wanted to hear. The results, however, were mixed; Romano forgot the words on two or three occasions and the band collectively couldn’t remember how to play at least one requested song.

After an admittedly pathetic curtain call from a rather young audience, the band came back out to tear through some older songs. The conclusion saw a surprisingly adept singer pulled from the audience to perform the vocals from a track on their very first EP; Romano insisted no one in the band could sing it anymore. It was an interesting and mostly successful experiment that actually drew a smile or two from the band members.

I can’t fault their actual performance. Sticking with electric guitars gave a new edge to some of their quieter/acoustic songs and they certainly played with plenty of vigor. Romano strained a little during some of the trickier vocal performances but the band believes in their songs and it’s impossible to argue that their writing is incredibly strong, especially for a bunch of fellows that look to be in their tweens still (that’s a joke, mostly, although their bass player does look like he’s 18).

Now. The band seemed to suggest at one point that they were facing an all-night drive home at the conclusion of the show. Like I said, we all know that an eight or ten or twelve hour drive isn’t a thing you look forward to, especially if you’ve already been driving for a few hours in the day. But this isn’t a band that tours occasionally; they’ve spent the better part of the last four years on the road. Even if you’re feeling miserable to be playing a show I would posit that your audience likely isn’t worthy of open contempt and hostility.

Although, seriously. Could Regina crowds be any worse? YOU DON’T HAVE TO STAND STILL WHILE A BAND IS PLAYING, CONCERT-GOERS. YOU CAN MOVE AROUND A LITTLE BIT. THIS ISN’T FOOTLOOSE, DANCING IS LEGAL.

So in summation: Attack In Black is still awesome, and I’m going to chalk this one up to a rough night. Let’s hope things go a little better next time.

 

 Attack In Black - Young Leaves: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Attack In Black - Let Wander Your Restless Heart: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Cheer these boys up by buying some albums! Everyone likes residuals, right?
Physical (& digital): Dine Alone website
iTunes: Yeah, it’s a thing
Zunior: Has the self-titled EP and the Baby Eagle split tracks

These fellows have a couple more tour dates in the immediate future. Check them out, Ontariarians:
02.11.10 – Hamilton, ON @ The Casbah
02.12.10 – London, ON @ Call The Office
02.13.10 – Toronto, ON @ The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern

Pat entries Attack in Black, Canadian content, hostility, live music, minor bummers, rough nights

This blog is only a few years old, but if there’s one thing we’ve managed to establish it should be this: for a multitude of reasons, perhaps too many to count, we love the Burning Hell.

That’s why I’m frankly more than a little surprised that more hasn’t been made out of Mathais Kom’s latest record, released under the name Spring Breakup. That level of surprise roughly doubles when you factor in that Kim Barlow, folk darling of the frozen Yukon, is the group’s other principle member. Surely a meeting of the minds like this cannot be ignored!

The group quietly released a self-titled album in the latter half of 2009 and the muted sound of that record dropping is probably somewhat befitting of the its content. I have no way of confirming this, but I have always pictured the two of them sitting in someone’s living room with a four-track recorder, facing each other, with nothing but a microphone or two between them while they pluck away at the 10 songs that make up the record. The recording is the very definition of bare bones, most often nothing but banjo, acoustic guitar, and ukulele propping up two unique Canadian singers.

Nearly every song is framed in the context of dying love or its characters working through a break-up. If you’re familiar with Kom and Barlow’s work you won’t be surprised to hear them pepper many of the tracks with subversively cynical, cutesy, or dark turns of phrase. In fact that’s where the majesty of this simple record lies, in their ability to frame a universal experience in a number of different ways. The emotional tenor alternatively carries a humorous tone (”Spring Flings”), some are emotionally fragile and unrequited (”Hummiah”), some are quietly angry and desperate (”Came Up Roses”), and some are confident torch songs (”Young Love,” “Cosmic Sea”).

I can’t speak much to Barlow’s side of the affair as I’m less familiar with her previous work, but I’m thrilled to hear Kom’s performance on this record. Where his rich, deep vocals can often take on a blanket of cynicism, sarcasm, and depression in his work with the Burning Hell his singing here is emotionally genuine, bright, and convincing. While many of these songs grapple with the dissolution of something beautiful his voice conveys the sense that he still believes in love. He and Barlow are terrific counterpoints, her sprightly alto a picture of earnestness that always has a hint of a smile peeking around the corners of her phrasing.

Anyway, it’s a simply joyous record to listen to, whether you’re lovelorn or not. A friend pointed out today on the Twitter machine that Barlow and Kom are heading out for a short, oddly-routed Western tour next week that includes stops in Regina and Saskatoon. I’m really thrilled to see them perform together. The album may be barely more than a half hour, but even that will be worth the price of admission. You should be there too.

 

 Spring Breakup - Spring Flings [3:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Spring Breakup - Young Love [3:09m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

They don’t seem to have a label, but their 2009 full-length is up digitally at Zunior and they’re doing a tiny tour. You can be I’ll be picking up a copy. Also, I don’t normally do this but if you’re the least bit curious check out their myspace page, where you can listen to like half the album for no dollars. It will convince you.

Tour dates are with John Wort Hannam, an old-timey Albertan .

Pat entries acoustic, Canadian content, Kim Barlow, Mathais Kom, quaintness, Spring Breakup

Oh my goodness you guys. I’m am so excited right now. This is the third time I’ve fallen totally in love with Basia Bulat and I’m falling hard this time (wait, it’s the fourth time; I almost forgot the Sam Cooke cover).

Just look at that video. So intimate. Her performance low-key but impassioned before an unyielding, unblinking camera. Her voice elegantly quivering, the melody patient and earnest. The hammered harp is the perfect accompaniment, its percussive tone just unfamiliar enough to the ear to keep it captivated while still carrying a bright but spare melody. This is a torch song for the ages.

That video was recorded roughly two years ago, when Basia Bulat’s new release, Heart Of My Own was likely just a flicker of a future possibility. She was in the midst of touring North America (and eventually much of Europe) playing and promoting her debut, which you might recall was lauded on these pages. All things considered, though, it shouldn’t be surprising that Bulat has had a gem of a song like this in her back pocket for a while. In an interview conducted a few months back with JAM she explains her process a bit: “I like making challenges for myself. It takes a while to know what a song is about because it has a life of its own. It takes a while for their meaning to develop. I need an audience.”

Hopefully the new album will help expand that audience. Having listened to Heart Of My Own dozens of times in the three days since it was released it would seem all of her time on the road has done her a lot of good. The album is more forceful, more propulsive. It just sounds stronger and there’s more in the mix to help reach that goal as well, including electric guitar (although I’m pretty sure that’s just one song). That might not seem too revolutionary, but the whole of Bulat’s debut was crafted with an exceedingly-acoustic aesthetic. To put it in the parlance of that debut, this record is more “I Was A Daughter” and less “Before I Knew,” with faster-paced numbers like “Go On” and “Gold Rush” setting the tempo in the early offing and eschewing the lilting, gentle sounds that marked much of her first record. The latter number serves as the album’s first single and for good reason; the strings that open the track give way to cascading cymbals, galloping toms, and a constantly-building instrumental track that matches Bulat’s strongest vocal performance on record to date. The song apparently triggered the only mosh pit in the history of her career, according to one interview. Several tracks are also punched up with very complementary string and horn sections that sound like they were arranged by Barry Gordy himself. Perhaps it’s a tribute to the AM radio that Bulat has stated was a major influence in her home as a child.

But obviously, based on the above video, she hasn’t left behind her gentler side. “The Shore” is the standout ‘quiet’ song here, but there are other contemplative numbers as well. “Sugar and Spice” is a mournful lament on past mistakes with a lovely string arrangement. “Sparrow” is a spare ukelele piece with a lyric as fragile as the instrumentation. “I’m Forgetting Everyone” is nearly as sparse musically, seemingly focusing on the the lingering effects of a couple of years on the road. These songs succeed because of their simplicity and their reliance on Bulat’s incredibly expressive and emotive voice.

I’ve read a review or two that make loose comparisons to Neko Case, and I suppose fans of one could likely gravitate to the other. Musically the two are not entirely analogous, but as with Case there is an undefinable quality to Bulat’s voice that is completely disarming and impossible to ignore. I wish I could explain it. If I could I’d probably be a lot better at this whole music critiquing thing. All I know is it’s impossible to listen to Heart Of My Own and not be totally enraptured and enamored (for me, anyway, but like I said; I have a huge crush on her).

I mean, just look at that video up there at the start of this post. I think at our very core humans are simple creatures; I could be wrong, but I think we all just want someone to sing us love songs. And that is a goddamn gorgeous love song.

 

 Basia Bulat - Gold Rush [3:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Basia Bulat - the Shore [4:44m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Basia Bulat - Touch The Hem Of His Garment [1:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

You can purchase Heart Of My Own from Secret City Records (in Canada), Rough Trade (UK etc), and iTunes.

I’ve been looking forward to Bulat’s upcoming Saskatoon show since summer, when she was the first main stage performer of the entire Regina Folk Festival. Her presence was simultaneously demure and authoritative, her voice carrying over the fenced-off park and drawing those that had arrived early closer and closer. I can’t wait to experience the intimacy of her performance from a tiny stage instead of a grand one. Canadian tour dates follow!

Feb 02, 2010 - Kingston ON
Wed Feb 03, 2010 - Peterborough ON
Thu Feb 04, 2010 - London ON
Fri Feb 05, 2010 - Orillia ON
Sat Feb 06, 2010 - Guelph ON
Sun Feb 07, 2010 - Hamilton ON
Wed Feb 10, 2010 - Halifax NS
Thu Feb 11, 2010 - Halifax NS
Fri Feb 12, 2010 - Montreal QC
Sat Feb 13, 2010 - Ottawa ON
Thu Feb 25, 2010 - Winnipeg MB
Sat Feb 27, 2010 - Saskatoon SK
Tue Mar 02, 2010 - Calgary AB
Wed Mar 03, 2010 - Edmonton AB
Fri Mar 05, 2010 - Vancouver BC

Pat entries acoustic, Basia Bulat, Canadian content, crushes, folk, love songs

Tanis said it first: we are staunchly Team Conan around these parts.

I’ve been watching Conan since I was old enough to stay up late enough to watch Conan. I have vivid memories of his trip to Canada; I watched every night with exceeding joy as he and Triumph traipsed around Toronto. I relished each and every appearance of Norm MacDonald. I loved his apple orchard piece with Mr. T so much I took it out behind the middle school and got it pregnant. His old-timey baseball bit was unbelievable. I downloaded every episode during the writer’s strike, unable to look away as he clamored for ways to fill the time (and out of curiosity about the extent to which he would grow his beard). Of late, his nights and days out on the town in L.A. with staff member Jordan Schlansky revealed a whole new side of him (namely the kind of dickish side). While I thought the ‘celebrity survey’ bit was getting very old in the tooth and the ‘Twitter Tracker’ segment was woefully underused I still watched every night of his Tonight Show run.

I’ll admit it: I cried a little during Neil Young’s performance and Conan’s speech. I know, it seems like petty nothingness in the face of Haiti’s devestation and a million other serious and impactful things that happen all over the world every day. But I don’t have a lot going on in my life right now and Conan has been there with me for more than ten years. He didn’t deserve this. He was really coming into his own and the show was on a level it hadn’t been before.

In hindsight I only wish Canadians could contribute to the Neilsen ratings. Or that my TV had channels so that I could watch Conan when it might’ve slightly (not at all) counted. I’ve always thought Conan’s style and sense of humour played so much better in Canada. It’s a shame our TV industry clearly cannot support a late night talk program. Mike Bullard, you were meant for better things (no, he wasn’t).

So I thank Tanis for her previous post (and for explaining Conan’s appeal with the elequence my sleep-deprived brain just doesn’t have today) but that post was missing something. Something I either have the advanced technological capabilities or a willingness to breach NBC Universal copyrights that she does not.

Look below for Neil Young’s tear-stirring performance of “Long Will You Run” and a faithful take on “Free Bird” courtesy of Conan, his axe, Will Ferrell, Beck, ZZ Top, Ben Harper some dude that looks exactly like Ben Harper named Robert Randolph Ben Harper, Max Weinberg and the Tonight Show Band, some pregnant hippy, and Will Ferrell’s cowbell. So appropriate it hurts.

 

 Neil Young - Long Will You Run (live on the Tonight Show) [4:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Will Ferrell, Conan O'Brien, Beck, ZZ Top, Ben Harper, some pregnant hippie, and the Tonight Show Band - Free Bird (live on the Tonight Show) [6:51m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We love you Conan. Hurry back to us.

Pat entries Beck, Ben Harper, comedy, Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, Late Night Wars, live music, more cowbell, Neil Young, Will Ferrell, ZZ Top

If music is indeed moving back towards shorter formats like vinyl and digital singles I think we’ll be just fine. While there’s something to be said for the mastery and majesty that goes into crafting a real back-to-front piece of art (ie OK Computer, Paul’s Boutique, or my favourite album of 2009, the Wheat Pool’s Hauntario) there is still the possibility of creating something transcendental on a smaller scale. Many notable bands (including Radiohead and hardcore punks Paint It Black) promised to move exclusively to single formats and why not; digital is king now, right? Well, maybe we won’t go that far.

07. Bon Iver - the Blood Bank EP
If we’re being honest this is really only on here because of the title track. That’s it. The rest of it is pretty much unnecessary. Especially that goddamn vocoder or auto-tune or whatever track. Pitchfork can talk about how it runs so contrary to his established aesthetic and how the coldness of the computery sound mirrors the tenor of same. But it sucks a big fat one and that’s all there is to it. But the title track is unimpeachably brilliant. Read more here.

06. Small Brown Bike - Composite, Vol. 1
In my round-up of the top five albums of the year I included a wonderful album called Chasing Hamburg by Polar Bear Club. I lot of why I liked that album has to do with both my and that band’s affection for Small Brown Bike. They were occasionally written-off as Hot Water Music devotees but as their career progressed they developed a more complex post-rock sound that really was unique. To see them reunited and creating new music after a few years apart is goddamn heart-warming. I love this band.

05. the Lazy MKs - A Field Guide To…
A local addition from a group of guys I hadn’t heard of prior to last summer. Their blend of roots and rock, combined with their instrumental aesthetic, is a very singular thing. It’s a purposeful step well outside of the boundaries Regina’s music scene is used to and that boldness should be rewarded, especially since their audience already has been with the release of this EP. Read more here.

04. the Lawrence Arms - Buttsweat and Tears
As long as these guys release something, I’ll include it on a year-end list. That doesn’t diminish the quality of this product, however. Hell, “The Slowest Drink At The Saddest Bar On The Snowiest Day In The Greatest City” alone could carry this EP onto this list, never mind the presence of four other great songs. Their melancholic sense of self-loathing shouldn’t lend itself to music this catchy, but somehow it does. Read more here.

03. A Wilhelm Scream - self-titled EP
Probably the most talented band in punk today takes their first stab at a short-form release in a very long time and make it work. “Fun Time” might be seen as a mis-step if you’re used to hearing them play the most complicated shit they can think of 24/7, but its straight-forward, no frills, pop rock arrangement is just another example of the level of skill these guys possess; they have so many talents they rarely if ever utilize some of them. Read more here.

02. Laura Stevenson & the Cans/Bomb The Music Industry! split 7″
While there are four very good songs on this 7″ one soars above the others (previously documented here). Laura Stevenson’s cover of BTMI!’s “It Ceases To Be ‘Whining’ If You’re Still ‘Shitting Blood’” (yes, gross) is one of most beautiful songs with multiple f-bombs in it I’ve ever heard. Rest assured, that’s an unnecessary qualifier. She can’t help but create slightly off-kilter yet ceaselessly gorgeous songs and here she proves as capable with interpretation as she does with creation.

01. Jon Snodgrass/Cory Branan split LP
Each of these two country-influenced singer-songwriters could’ve released their individual tracks from this release on their own and garnered a spot on this list, but the fact that they combined forces to put out an album of mind-boggling quality makes them a clear favourite for top spot. Snodgrass continues the dour acoustic arrangements that marked some of the high low points of his first solo LP, Visitor’s Band; the highlight here from him is “Wild One,” a tortured plea for a lost lover to come home. His deft chord changes propel a powerful vocal performance to a conclusion that comes way too soon. As for Branan, I’ve NEVER been as immediately and fully impressed by a musician as I was after my first listen to his tracks on this album. Never. I cannot pick a favourite from his songs here; “the Corner” is a meditation on lost love that falls somewhere in between absolute misery and whistful remembrance, “Walk Around” is a joyful romp that runs awfully close to being too clever by half, and “Yeah, So What?” is a shamelessly flirtatious cover that swaggers through its entire length. I swear I’ve listened to this EP 100 times at least since November. It is absolutely without peer.

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Small Brown Bike - Hourglass: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 the Lazy MKs - Burgess Lake [3:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 the Lawrence Arms - The Slowest Drink In The Saddest Bar On The Snowiest Day In The Greatest City [3:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 A Wilhelm Scream - Australias [2:49m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Laura Stevenson & the Cans - It Ceases To Be "Whining" If You're Still "Shitting Blood" [2:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Cory Branan - Walk Around [3:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Bon Iver: Physical and iTunes
Small Brown Bike: Physical and iTunes
the Lazy MKs: Physical (although you could probably just go to a record store near you) and iTunes
Lawrence Arms: Physical and iTunes
A Wilhelm Scream: Physical and iTunes
Laura Stevenson/BTMI: Physical and iTunes (Bomb The Music Industry! only)
Jon Snodgrass/Cory Branan: Physical and iTunes (together, Branan solo, Snodgrass solo. Keep in mind, however, that Suburban Home/Vinyl Collective has their own digital download service that is cheaper than iTunes. That can be accessed through the first link.

Pat entries A Wilhelm Scream, acoustic, best ofs, Bomb The Music Industry!, Bon Iver, Canadian content, Cory Branan, indie rock, Jon Snodgrass, Laura Stevenson and the Cans, punk rock, Small Brown Bike, the Lawrence Arms, the Lazy MKs, year in review

At various points in 2009 each of these records have been my absolute favourite of the entire year. Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear be damned, these bands have written truly intimate and affecting songs, not dissonant and disaffected studies in sound. These songs have heart and soul and emotion and enlightenment woven into their very fabric. They are indeed my favourite, if not the best, albums of 2009.

05. Polar Bear Club - Chasing Hamburg
This site has taken a big hit in the last five weeks and it has everything to do with this record. I’ve essentially listened to nothing in all of December except for this album. They sound like a pop rock/hardcore punk hybrid band with a bit of Gatsby’s American Dream-style quirk in their songwriting. There is a huge amount of passion at play here, even if their subject matter runs pretty frequently towards being in band and the experiences and emotions that come along with it. I just can’t get over how good this record is. It’s a shame it took me four months to actually listen to the damn thing.

04. Why? - Eskimo Snow
Yoni Wolf’s songs keep getting more and more interesting. He’s focused like a laser beam on making miserable sound as lovely as possible. The complexity of both the sentiment and the mixed meter arrangement of a track like “Berkeley By Hearseback” is not come upon easily. The imagery of “Against Me” is not something you hear or read every day. An acoustic guitar rarely sounds as full when sparingly plucked as it does on the album’s title track. Misery has rarely sounded so beautiful.

03. the Deep Dark Woods - Winter Hours
This band is so good it’s hard to believe they come from this tiny, insular province. Their songs are a slow walk down a back country road, an afternoon spent staring at the sky as the clouds morph into shapes that evoke the old west, a sad story told around a campfire late at night. These are songs sung by drifters on lonely back roads as they lament how everything’s gone wrong while thumbing for a ride. These are songs plucked on a beat-up acoustic guitar on a back porch as faint solace after a lover/dog has left you. These are ramblin’ men playing ramblin’ tunes of lives lived hard and fast and the consequences that follow. Plus the song found below sounds like Neil Young performing a song written by Radiohead. Fun!

02. Strike Anywhere - Iron Front
Strike Anywhere realized long ago that you can’t start a revolution without a hook and they’ve come out swinging harder than ever with this record. In addition to being the most immediately-catchy album I heard all year it’s also the most hopeful. Sure, the songs alternate between despondent reality-checks and desperate pleas for change but the tone and tenor of the album as a whole is at least mostly uplifting; the melodies are too buoyant, too catchy, too (dare I say it?) pretty for it to be anything else. They can keep promising they’ll return to a more hardcore sound but this sure as hell isn’t Black Flag or Bad Brains or the Germs. This is pop music through an activist, hardcore filter. But damn it, it’s good.

01. the Wheat Pool - Hauntario
I am quite confident I didn’t hear another album all year that boasts songwriting as fully-realized as Hauntario. Their lyrics go beyond vivid, reaching an incredibly admirable level of descriptive and evocative wordsmithery. The overarching themes of the album are not heavy-handed, the emotional elements are honest instead of exploitative, and the undercurrent of absolute misery on some (re: most) of these tracks seems absolutely genuine. They even manage to reprise an upbeat song as a morose closing number without making it seem like a cloying re-tread. In every way this is Canadian music and storytelling at its finest.

 

 Polar Bear Club - Boxes: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Why? - Against Me: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 the Deep Dark Woods - the Birds On The Bridge [6:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Strike Anywhere - Omega Footprint: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 the Wheat Pool - Italy [3:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Polar Bear Club: Webstore and iTunes
Why?: Webstore and iTunes
the Deep Dark Woods: Webstore and iTunes
Strike Anywhere: Label webstore, band webstore, and iTunes.
the Wheat Pool: Webstore and iTunes.

Pat entries alt country, best ofs, Canadian content, Canadiana, country, indie rap, Polar Bear Club, punk rock, roots, Strike Anywhere, the Deep Dark Woods, the Wheat Pool, Why?, year in review

There’s a new Vampire Weekend album out! Upper-middle-class white nerds are stoked!

Just kidding. I know that’s the meme everyone wants to fall into when it comes to this band, but really it’s just another indie guitar pop band that has a very slight twerk in their sound to make them stand out ever so slightly.

All comparisons aside, I like this band better:

 

 Talking Heads - Pulled Up [4:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime [4:23m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Check out Contra for real, if that’s your kind of thing, via Beggars Group or iTunes

Kitty cats via where else.

Pat entries pop music, Talking Heads, things that are nice enough but kind of overrated, Vampire Weekend, white dudes

There was a number of artists that broke new ground this year after having come a long way already. Here are two singer/songwriters that really hit their stride with their latest albums, a French pop band that people finally started paying attention to after four albums, a punk rocker that underwent a total rebirth, and a Toronto band that actually became a band.

Away we go!

10. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
They’re so French! Have you seen their Take Away Shows episode? Its a brilliant, joyfully ecstatic set that perfectly encapsulates Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. The band shows up out of nowhere in front of the frigging Eiffel Tower after achieving fame around the world (several albums into their career) and at first people don’t even seem to believe it’s them. Much like their extremely slow and steady rise to prominence in the States, South America, and elsewhere a crowd starts to grow around them as the genius of their songs starts to become apparent. This band just continues to get better and better and its almost getting ridiculous. Read more here.

09. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
Fox Confessor Brings The Flood be damned, this is Neko Case’s best album yet. That is a simple fact. From the first track (found below) Case and her collection of players meld the alt-country she’s best known for with a rock edge, pop hooks, and simply stunning songwriting. She’s completely unfettered here, the incredible singles interspersed with a pair of covers perfectly suited to her, all of it giving way to a final track comprised of nothing but a half hour of frog noises. What more could you ask for? Read more about Neko here.

08. Ohbijou - Beacons
This is an album of love songs for the sake of love songs. Songs filled with deliberate, frequently orchestral arrangements that swirl and sway through the speakers and surround the listener. Casey Mecija’s vocal melodies constantly yearn for weightier gravitas and a bigger emotional response, the warmth of her tone (as well as warmth of the very organic production) helping to counter the chill that pops up in the lyrics due to constant references to winter, snow, and ice. This band should be on soundtracks. Soundtracks to movies about knitting.

07. Chris Wollard and the Ship-Thieves - self-titled
This album is in a bit of a grey area. Some might argue it shouldn’t because a pre-release run of 500 or so copies was pressed on vinyl for a big festival in the states run by his label. But it was technically released in 2009, so I’m including it (incidentally the mp3 below is a vinyl rip of that pre-release version). Regardless, this record is far from what I would’ve expected from the other half of the Hot Water Music songwriting duo. At a time when every punk in North America is picking up an acoustic guitar for some country/folk-inspired solo performances Wollard embraces his inner 90’s alt-rock nerd and makes a nuanced and varied album that has a little bit of everything (including a couple acoustic-based tracks). This is pop rock for grown-ups, done extremely well.

06. Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid
One might wonder what the need is for Dan Auerbach, half of the essentially-flawless Black Keys, to record a solo album. Why bother when you already contribute the majority of the writing in a two-man group? Well, regardless of motivation Auerbach made the right decision. He expands the bluesy stomp of the Keys to include a few more instruments and a modicum of funk, throws in a couple contemplative acoustic tracks, and then spends the rest of the album doing what he does best. This isn’t a sea change from the Black Keys sound but when your songs are as perfect as Auerbach’s they really don’t need to be. Just marvellous.

 

 Neko Case - This Tornado Loves You [3:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Phoenix - 1901 [3:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Ohbijou - Black Ice [3:41m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Chris Wollard - Oh, Whatever: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Dan Auerbach - I Want Some More [3:49m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Neko Case: Webstore and iTunes.
Phoenix: Webstore and iTunes.
Ohbijou: Doesn’t actually seem to have a place on the web you can buy their physical albums, but MapleMusic still has copies of their split LP with the Acorn available if you dig around. Go digital with iTunes and Zunior.
Chris Wollard & the Ship Thieves: No Idea Records Webstore and iTunes.
Dan Auerbach: Webstore and iTunes.

Pat entries alt-rock, best ofs, blues rock, Canadian content, Chris Wollard, Dan Auerbach, indie, Neko Case, Ohbijou, orchestral, Phoenix, pop rock, rock, year in review