Here’s to the here and now
I missed Jason Collett’s set at Hillside Festival last year (though I saw him play at the Sunday Morning Gospel Hour and a Half) and somehow managed to bypass his 2008 album, Here’s to Being Here.
But I’ve been listening to it in advance of his show tonight at the eBar. Frankly, it’s been providing me with the perfect “Now-I’m-Unemployed-but-Life-Goes-On” soundtrack. Combined with Joel Plaskett’s new triple album Three, which I’m still absorbing, Here’s to Being Here has been filling my days with beautifully crafted, rootsy numbers that tell me I’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Roll On Oblivion does just what it says it will: You’re immersed in an ocean of folk-pop on a particularly tranquil day, with waves of chords just rippling over you, out to the horizon. And once you’re done splashing around in the ocean, there’s a sprawling afternoon before you, a perfectly good hammock stretched between two palm trees and absolutely no intention to honour any engagements. I imagine just crawling in there and listening to the Lou Reed-esque nasal tone in Collett’s voice on Not Over You and crying to myself because dammit, I still wish I had a job and I’ll never really get over losing this one, no matter how hard I convince myself I am.
I see my future in this album, too. I could picture listening to Out of Time, with its “ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-oooohhh!” studded chorus and Rolling Stones strut on a cool, spring morning, curlers in my hair, getting ready for work and sipping coffee on a city balcony somehwere, while the streets wake up around me. There’s nothing hurried or urgent in Collett’s music and the album’s title, Here’s to Being Here, is really resonating with me. It’s something I’m learning to appreciate. Being here - right here, where I am right now - is just fine. This week is about pausing and reflecting on that.
Collett will be supported by his labelmates, Toronto group Zeus. They’re releasing their debut album, Something Awesome on Arts & Crafts sometime this spring. Right now, they’re offering a few tracks for free. They’re all catchy, sweet-sounding rockers that do pop a solid by representing.
But my favourite is The Renegade. Its piano track has a boogie-woogie feel that reminds me of nothing so much as the Beatles on Lady Madonna. Sure, sure, everything’s influenced by the Beatles. But finding yourself compared to them on your first outing is no mean feat. Keep it up, guys, and you’re going to find yourself big, stupid music stars.
But that’s not all! Local boys Tacoma Hellfarm Tragedy will be on the bill, too.
Fine purveyors of tonics to cure what ails you or murder you silently in your sleep, this foursome’s last album, Orchard Songs on Guelph’s Digital-D.I.Y. label, Out of Sound, is a triumph of gutter-crawling, lyin’, cheatin’, heart-breakin’ murder ballads.
It features many sad songs masquerading as happy songs, like True Love Killed My True Love’s Love For Me, which sets a cheery pace that wouldn’t be out of place on an Archies album. But it’s better than that, because overlapping the shiny, happy rhythm are melancholy vocals and pedal steel the way it was meant to be played, dammit. Though they’ve been around for awhile, Tacoma Hellfarm Tragedy are a new discovery for me and I’m definitely hoping to see more. Their website says a new album is due out this year, so be on the lookout!
This show is a benefit concert for Out On The Shelf, a queer library and reference centre in downtown Guelph. It’s a fine and worthy organization you should support by attending the show. Come on out! It’s from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. tonight at the eBar. Tickets are $12 if you bring a food donation, or $14 without.
Jason Collett - Roll On Oblivion: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Zeus - The Renegade: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Tacoma Hellfarm Tragedy - True Love Killed My True Love's Love For Me: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
