WinnipeggerMatt Epp's Luma ep came out in October, but that's no reason you can't get into it today. Promised Land bristles with crackling energy, barely restrained.
Former Winnipeggers you may want to give some attention? Here you go.
Garfield/Odario Williams keeps getting more ambitious and broadening his palette. If he becomes a star in music, film, television or otherwise I will not be surprised.
Jahmeel Russell has been putting out his own stuff with Red Vienna, working with Fine Times, and is now playing with San Angelus. Quit being so lazy, slacker.
Okay, I've been out of commission, here are some things that caught my eyes and ears over the last little while. It's an unconnected grab bag, deal with it.
New Sloan! O Happy day! Sloan will be releasing their 10th studio album, The Double Cross, on May 10th from Yep Roc Records, distributed by the Outside Music Label in Canada. The new single, Follow the Leader, does not sound much like other Sloan-tunes, which is cool, I like when artists keep their own blood flowing. I accidentally caught the band on a kid's show the other day and wondered when something new would appear, and magically, it did! Andrew Scott also has a new website for his artwork, check it out here.
Stripper's Union, the unholy alliance of The Tragically Hip's Rob Baker and the Odd's Craig Northey, have recorded a nw album entitled The Deuce, which was released March 8th.
Matt Epp is a Winipegger to watch, as well as listen to, of course. Epp and his Amorian Assembly wil release new album At Dawn on April 23.
Apr 7 McNallys Regina, Saskatchewan Apr 8 Haven Social Club Edmonton, Alberta, CA Apr 9 The Ironwood Calgary, Alberta , CA Apr 12 St. James Hall Vancouver, British Co, CA Apr 13 Joe's Garage Courtney, British Co, CANADA Apr 15 The Maquinna Tofino, British Co, CA Apr 17 The Royal on Baker Nelson, British Co, CA Apr 20 The Slice Lethbridge, Alberta, CA Apr 22 Lydia's Saskatoon, SK, CANADA Apr 23 West End Cultural Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba, CA Apr 24 Fire'n'Water Concert Series Lac Du Bonnet, Manitoba, CANADA Apr 29 The Cameron House (back room) Toronto, Ontario, CANADA May 1 Black Sheep Inn Wakefield, Quebec, CA May 3 Governor's Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scoti, CANADA May 5 Ship Inn St. John’s, Newfoundla, CA May 6 Ship Inn St. John’s, Newfoundla, CA May 7 Whelans Gate Corner Brook, Newfoundla, CANADA May 11 The Seahorse Halifax, Nova Scoti, CANADA May 12 The Paramount Lounge Moncton, New Brunsw, CANADA May 13 Baba's Lounge Charlottetown
Metric at the Heritage Classic playing Stadium Love in a Stadium? Better than Clay Aiken and 3 Days Grace at the NHL All-star Game.
In a book by John Connolly I was reading recently I found this little tidbit. One character asks what kind of music is playing over the car stereo, and the car owner answers, "Alternative country." "That's when your truck starts, your wife comes back and your dog gets resurrected," he snickered. "Willie Nelson heard you talking like that, he'd whip your ass."
I can't actually remember which artist was playing - Lambchop? Iron & Wine? At any rate, soon after that, I had a request for some "alt country" recommendations. I'm not really sure what alt country is or isn't. I used to think it was the holy trinity of Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, and Wilco. But both Wilco and Son Volt have veered off into some music that has nothing to do with country and sometimes has little to do with rock. And it can't be just the marriage of country and rock, either, because the Eagles don't fit into it either, at least from my perspective. What about those who came before, Jason & the Scorchers, Jr. Gone Wild, Long Ryders,or Rank and File? Do they retroactively get shoved under alt. country? What about Steve Earle? Dwight Yoakam? Gram Parsons? (An aside: I just looked up Alt country on wikipedia and there's a big golden exclamation mark beside a warning that the article contains weasel words - that sounds hilarious, I am now going to make sure my posts contain weasel words, okay?)Parsons always said he was making cosmic American music, didn't he?
When I was a kid, I couldn't get into country, but Johnny Cash seemed to have something. But I remember when The Jayhawks came out with Hollywood Town Hall, a guy I worked with who loved a lot of generic rock music fell for it big-time. So did I. I think it might have been around that time I first heard the term "alternative country". Is that what I was listening to when I watched Jr. Gone Wild at the Spectrum, rolling out jangly rock with country overtones? Is that the thing I tried to imitate when my basement band wrecked Jason and the Scorchers' brilliant Hank Williams-goes-punk paean White Lies? When Steve Earle covered Son Volt's Windfall at the Walker Theatre, was the old alt-country winking to the new alt-country?
I wasn't sure then, and I'm even less sure now. Does Neil Young fit into this category? Calexico? Fleet Foxes? Blitzen Trapper? Where do folk or other rootsy sub-genres fit in this slippery puzzle? I don't know. Here's some songs I like, call 'em what you want. And oh yeah, you know what's cool? They're all Canadian artists. Not only that, but they're all promoted/pushed/publicised by the sweet-as-honey Killbeat Music, where you can swiftly download all of these tracks (as well as many others) gratis. Not just roots, country or alt-country stuff either, check out Orchid Highway, Cory Woodward, Two Hours Traffic, The Parties, The Paperbacks, The Parkas, Parlour Steps, Paper Moon...hey, that's a lot of "P" bands.
Winnipeg's own The Western States have put out two albums of fine music, and the last one, Bye and Bye, upped the ante with a live-to-tape all-analog organic vibe. Every one of their songs gets room to breathe, even though there's layers to delve into - a trumpet here, some fine honky-tonk piano there, and wistful vocals aplenty. My favourite is still The Road is Dark as the Night, starting with guitar and voice and building up to a mini-epic, with tasteful guitar supplied by master Chris Carmichael. Here's a melancholy bit of sonic beauty.
Vancouver's Dan Mangan has won the listener-awarded XM Verge Artist of the Year award, which netted him a $25,000 prize. He's garnering lots of college radio play, as well as touring almost anywhere - for example, he just played in Dubai, after which he's hitting a truckload of European dates. Check out At Constant Speed for a full review.
Ridley Bent is also from B.C., but he hoes a more straightforward country row. However, he also drops Husker Du, Nine Pound Hammer (cow-punk!?!), and yep, you guessed it, Nine Inch Nails into his lyrics. Does that qualify him for alt country membership? Well, the song was actually co-written with Dustin Bentall, and it won Country Song Of The Year at the Independent Music Awards of North America. He's currently opening for Corb Lund, who is pretty darn country but comes out of a strong punk/indie background.
Deep Dark Woods hail from Saskatoon, and the band's prairie harmonies and laid-back shuffles may have helped them land a tune on CBC Radio 2's Great Canadian Song Quest. The band's developed a sound that seems timeless, sometimes giving off faint echoes of Neil Young in his prime, and sometimes reflecting a precious, fragile beauty like that of the much-hyped Fleet Foxes.
Twilight Hotel is an Austin-by-way-of-Winnipeg duo that has been Juno-nominated. Their blend of folk-blues-roots sometimes gives hints of menace a la PJ Harvey, but choruses often feature rich, layered vocals and stronger-than-death lyrics. Listen for the performers on this song at the end of the tune as they offnhandedly talk about how much fun it was to record...
Edmontonian Corb Lund describes his music as "scruffy country", among other things, so you shouldn't be surprised to see him here. He's been the Canadian Country Music Association's Roots Artist of the Year and picked up one Juno so far for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year. I was in a junior high school recently and a kid was listening to Lund's The Truck Got Stuck, so this ain't just old man country. At times, Lund sounds like a modern Stompin' Tom Connors or a twangier Blue Rodeo, and he's going to have a long career like those fellas (he already had a pretty successful turn in indie-rock band The Smalls, so he's on his way).
Winnipegger Romi Mayes took home the 2009 Western Canadian Music Award trophy for Songwriter and Roots Album of the Year. Her sweet country blues is always richly produced by Gurf Morlix, and she plays non-stop - she's currently touring in Europe with Danny Michel and has shows booked for next September already. A lot of people refer to her serious work ethic, and Mayes is a tireless promoter - I know, I get her e-mails all the time.
Lee Harvey Osmond is "Tom Wilson, some of the Cowboy Junkies, a few Skydiggers, Ray Farrugia from Junkhouse, Brent Titcomb and a lot of groove", according to their myspace page. Tom Wilson was in Junkhouse and Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. So tis no surprise that LHO occasioanlly sounds a tad like those outfits, but there's a lot of atmospherics and subtlety here. I've seen the band described as acid folk, and we do get elements of beatnik jazz here...but I think there's some gentle alt-country nods here, especially when Margo Timmins shows up.
Kim Barlow is from the Yukon as far as I can tell, and I'm sure many listeners are going to say this tune is simply folk, and maybe it is. I just like it.
Nathan Lawr has played in Royal City and on albums by Cuff the Duke, Jim Guthrie, Gentlement Reg, and The Hylozoists, and many more. I think this tune is a warm blend of pop sensibilities and organic-sounding hopefulness, like The Band were just starting out now and employed lyrics about a freshwater shark.
T. Nile hails from Vancouver, and she's got her own take on folk/roots, sounding like Gillian Welch one moment, Norah Jones the next, and Lisa Loeb later. Nile has already been named Best New/Emerging Folk Artist at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. Check out her live version of The Postal Service's Such Great Heights on her myspace page, her spare rendition frames the melancholy melody perfectly.
Lastly, sometime Winnipegger Matt Epp's bio calls him "folk-soul", but tunes like Cover Me nod more to Ryan Adams than any folkie. They Won't Find the Bodies' synth sounds take it somewhere else, as do the softly sung perilous lyrics - and the video, for that matter.
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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