Mountains don’t go away
Where is Sarah Harmer at, people?
Remember back in 2001 when her second solo album dropped? You couldn’t get away from that shit! She was on MuchMusic! Remember MuchMusic? You Were Here received accolades from critics and the listening public in kind for her relaxed, acoustic-based pop songs. They were like back-porch soul food for any and all musical appetites. She was a confident and assured performer with marvellous finger-picking and a knack for heartbreaking vocal melodies. It went platinum, for goodness’ sake!
She ventured into more diverse territory on her third solo joint, which had some quietly devastating songs as well. Textured with the vaguest of electronic, roots, and rock elements, All Of Our Names was a wonderful sophomore follow-up.
Depending on your perspective, her third album either lost the thread on what gained Harmer public approval in the first place or followed a natural progression into bluegrass territory. Despite the trepidation of some to embrace that bluegrassiness, there were still a few big singles (and the should’ve-been-huge single, “I’m A Mountain,” a version of which is found below). But she’s been rarely glimpsed outside Ontario since 2006, mostly sticking to the occasional fundraiser show. The last word her fans received on any type of recording was over a year ago, when she alluded to laying down some tracks for a future LP.
Now listen: I know you can’t rush the creative process. If you do the results are usually pretty unfortunate. And I wouldn’t bring it up if I hadn’t stumbled across a Bootlog post from 2006 last week that has some absolutely wonderful tracks that were recorded at a show in Toronto she did with the Weakerthans. I think it was broadcast on CBC at some point. Either way, there are some really cool cuts in this post where Harmer and the Weakerthans back each other up and cover each other’s songs. They also perform some covers of songs by the Shins, the Bee Gees, and the Replacements.
So aside from Harmer’s wonderful original tracks she and her band (which included Julie Fader and Danny Michel at the time, apparently) put together a downright majestic reading of one of my top 10 favourite songs of all time, the Weakerthans’ “Left and Leaving.” Its mostly pretty faithful to the original, tossing in a wonderfully-lethargic solo and some slightly-tweaked vocal inflections. But its just another example of how rock-solid a performer Harmer is and her knack for imbuing a song with genuine feeling.
So here’s some stuff to remember Sarah Harmer by while we wait patiently for LP5. It can’t come soon enough.
Sarah Harmer - Left and Leaving (Weakerthans cover) [4:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Sarah Harmer & the Weakerthans - I'm A Mountain [3:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Sarah Harmer - Greeting Card Aisle [4:38m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadSarah Harmer’s webstore is a pretty good one; buy her albums by visiting it, through her main site. iTunes also has your back in a pinch.
