Receiving tunes from an unknown artist is always a fun proposition. I got a music submission from Kori Pop, but I thought it was spam (Hint for artists: "Scruffy the Yak music submission" is a good subject line). I can't answer why I opened it, but I found out that Kori Pop is a singer/songwriter from Ontario. You can listen to (and purchase) her album, From the Outskirts, here. Sprightly-piano-based pop abounds, and I liked by her DIY video for my favourite song from the record, Nowehere Near My Heart.
Pixies are unveiling a new website and are giving those on their mailing list a free download of the 2004 Coachella show, and supposedly there will be new shows every week. Even if you are wary of giving out your e-mail address, it looks like you can get digital downloads of shows for $3.99, and a cd and download is $3.99 plus shipping and handling. I know that Black Francis/Frank Black/Charles or whatever his name is has said that for Pixies, it's all about the commerce these days, but that seems like a fair price. And getting the 20-song Coachella set for free is pretty spiffy in my books.
Although Pixies are not putting out new music and are probably hoping we'll shell out the $8700.00 or what-have-you for the Minotaur box set, other people are sure into covering their songs or screwing around with them in other ways.
I got into Roxy Music through Avalon, which makes me uncool in some quarters. I know, I know, the Brian Eno-with-Roxy early stuff is more challenging, or progressive, or what-have-you, and I now enjoy that era as well, but I still think the later Roxy Music albums, as well as Ferry's solo records, are masterful. Sweet, smooth, multi-layered songs that work as aural treats to my ears. I understand those who feel that it's too lightweight - the unusual rhythms, strange keyboard and synth sounds, unique lyrics and vocal choices in the early Roxy material aren't often found in Ferry's later work. But to me, there's still a dark undercurrent riding inside many of those songs, even on the stately Avalon, which makes that cover of that album make sense.
Like Avalon, Olympia was produced by Rhett Davies, and it also includes contributions from Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera. The cover art (shown at the top of the post) hearkens back to Roxy album covers too. Other notables collaborating with Ferry on the new record are Dave Stewart, David Gilmour, Jonny Greenwood, Nile Rodgers, Groove Armada, and Scissor Sisters, as well as David Williams, who worked with Michael Jackson. You can hear the new album at NPR.org.
The Watchmen are returning to Winnipeg for two shows at The Pyramid December 3 and December 4 - get yer tix soon, both nights will be sold out if they aren't already. The documentary on the band, All Uncovered, will be on sale at the show in DVD format. No word on blu-ray, VHS, or Beta. Here's some tunes you probably don't own (the first three below were never commercially released that I know of) and a few you might in other formats.
Just found out via the 80's- and 90's-obsessed Slicing Up Eyeballs that The Cars seem to have unobtrusively confirmed that new music is actually being created by the reconstituted band. The group's FaceBook page will let you play a snippet of new tune Blue Tip, which sounds like...classic Cars, maybe from Panorama or Candy-O. It could have been worse, it could have been a dancey electronic thing like the remix by The Transients below.
As for making Blue Tip only available on their FaceBook page, it seems like a bit of an odd move to me, but with MySpace becoming the place where tweets go to be repeated ad nauseum, I can see it making sense for some people.
Vancouverite-turned-Winnipegger Ridley Bent recently released his third album, Rabbit On My Wheel, and his progression away from hick-hop country rap to straight out country seems fully complete. What remains is Bent's exceptional storytelling skills, what's more developed is the melodies. I confess I like the fact that Bent can kinda fit in to "new country", with songs like I Can't turn My Back on the Bottle having the prerequisite smooth touches of rock/pop and western music, yet his sharp, gritty edge and sense of humour is intact in his lyrical bent. I'd still like to hear him take more chances, but I'm rooting for him anyhow. I mean, this guy married country and rap and allowed elements of bands like Rage Against the Machine, as well as name-dropping The Clash and Bob Marley on his first record - I guess he's allowed to move in a more linear fashion for awhile.
I've been missing for a awhile, I know. Been busy with my new child, birthdays, the return of hockey, dealing with near-poverty, unnecessary drama, family get-togethers, pumpkin pie and too much coffee. Life is full, I guess. I can't keep up with everything.
And I wonder about those who seem to accomplish so much. You know who plays in more projects than I can keep track of? R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, that's who. Besides still making records with R.E.M., Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus Three, and The Baseball Project, he's also now involved with Tired Pony, which also features Gary Lightbody (Snow Patrol, The Reindeer Section), Iain Archer, Richard Colburn (Belle & Sebastian), Jacknife Lee, and Scott McCaughey (Minus 3, Young Fresh Fellows, The Baseball Project, Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus Three, R.E.M.). Tired Pony's album, The Place We Ran From, came out July 12 in the UK and September 28 in North America, and it also features Tom Smith (Editors), M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel. It contains some of the smooth pop I associate with Snow Patrol, which I confess I never mooned over, but it also includes touches of alt country, slightly Waterboys-flavoured rootsy pop (I Am a Landslide), and folky melancholia.
Miesha & the Spanks have hit some charts with their new 45, Mean/Fuck. The Calgary guitar/drums duo are offering up their usual raw, dirty rawk on vinyl, which make sense to me.
Painting Over Silence reminded me that Jim Bryson and The Weakerthans are releasing their collaborative effort, The Falcon Lake Incident, on October 19th. They will celebrate that release with a free show at the Horseshoe Tavern on the same day. I really like the album cover, which reminds me of a Jim Bryson photo from awhile back that caused someone to comment, "Looks like a good album cover." Guess Bryson took that response to heart. The first officially-released song from the album, Metal Girls, includes great lyrics, happy pop hooks, warm keyboards, nicely-understated back-ups from John K.Samson, and and bap-bap-ba's. A guy from Ottawa recording at a cottage in the middle of winter in Manitoba with Winnipeg's favourite sons is an unusual (gutsy? crazy? inspired?) move, but the results sound good so far.
Here's a little video captured by The Weakerthans' Jason Tait of Bryson and John K. Samson singing Raised All Wrong "in front of the Kwik-E-Mart in Kitchener", according to jimbryson.org.
The Falcon Lake Incident cd and digital album will be available through MapleMusic Recordings, the vinyl will come out on Kelp Records.
mp3s will be posted for a limited time and are for promotional purposes only. If you like it, buy the albums, go to the shows, buy the t-shirts - support the artist so they can keep on keepin' on. Artists - if you would like an mp3 or video removed, please contact me directly at chrisyakchart@hotmail.com.
If you've got something Scruffy should hear, same email. Snail mail is cool too.
Scruffy the Yak 34 Allenby Cres Winnipeg Mb R2C 3J4
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