2009 produced the usual batch of excellent sounds from Winnipeg artists. I got some suggestions for some kind of best of list, but there's enough of those out there already. Nevertheless, I don't mind briefly running down notable local artists, some of whom I've touched on before and some I haven't. For some strange reason, the upper half of the alphabet has been ruling the roost lately as far as beginning letters for band names, at least as far as the ones Scruffy's been digging. As a matter of fact, what's with all the brilliant bands begining with the letter P?
Paper Moon gets my vote as the band most likely to be ridiculously successful beyond Manitoba borders. Consistently good songwriting, sweet vocals, and exceptional production choices make PM one to watch.
On the much heavier and much more political end of the spectrum, Propagandhi ended up on top of Exclaim! magazine's best o' the year heap and rocked the magazine cover. The band's album, Supporting Caste, was named punk rock album of the year. Propagandhi's blend of punk rock ideology and metallic instrumentation put 'em on the rails to...even greater popularity? Critical acclaim? (Gasp!) Financial success?!? An anti-corporate band in every way, they've still managed to sell tons of cds in corporate record stores and make fans of those who aren't neither punk devotees, metal experts, or politically brilliant, and may have actually worked in one of those evil villain chain record stores (like me).
The Perms kept up their record of launching modern rock missiles on an unsuspecting world with Keeps You Up When You're Down. The guys and director Jeff Bromley manage to get in shots of the back of the Zoo, the front of the Albert, prudent Wpg fashion, inexplicable sucking-on-a-Slurpee-in-winter behaviour, and goofy band behaviour in this vid.
Enough with the "P" bands. my favourite release of the year was The Rowdymen's Gas, Liquor, and Fireworks. The band have been digging deep into the roots of rock 'n' roll for a long time (hey, Eddie Cochrane!), but this time they dug deeper into the country artists that were badasses before Sid Vicious was a t-shirt, Cobain was a martyr, and Marilyn Manson was a tired attempt at controversy. If you thought The Rowdymen was "just" a rockabilly band, you haven't listened to Jason Allen's songs that took the group out into dustbowl territory like a drunk astronaut with a serious roots music jones. Hint: who was given the nickname "Possum"?
The Rowdymen - Ode to Possum
The Rowdymen - Rode Hard
The Western States bucked the whole Autotune trend and trekked down to Texas just to record live to tape, no digital effects or computer tomfoolery allowed. If rock and roll never happened, Neil Young and Gram Parsons were on all the cool teen clothing shops' badges, t-shirts and patches, and subtlety and restraint were commended in our plastic world, the Western States would be sittin' pretty. The following tune starts as bare bones as can be, but grows into a different animal altogether - listen closely to that sparking guitar near the end, it sends me to the moon.
The Western States - The Road is Dark as the Night
Sights & Sounds is a band that pulls in so many different flavours they're hard to describe. Total hardcore assault, fragile piano bits and intimate in-your-ear-vocals, some ambient sounds, beautiful layered harmonies - they don't fit a genre. Post-hardcore?
Grand Analog I've mentioned before, but again, this is a band that doesn't readily fit any genre. The band has had one song used on TV show 90210, and there are so many points of reference in the tunes on Metropolis is Burning, I wouldn't be surprised to see more popping up all over the place.
A friend recently walked up to me and said, "Scruffy, twee something something." Well, he didn't really use the words "something something", but I forget what they were. I was trying to play croquet. Nevertheless, the poor fellow wanted me to give him some musical recommendations. I told him it wasn't my forte.
But I'll give it a whirl. Urban Dictionary tells me that twee pop is a "[t]ype of indie pop that is known for simple, sweet melodies and lyrics, often combined with jangling guitars; twee is also British slang for something almost sickenly sweet". I also learned that a band called Tullycraft put out a song called Twee, sang lyrics such as "fuck me, I'm twee", and released some humourous tunes such as Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend Is Too Stupid to Know About. T-shirts that whisper "Twee as Fuck" or "Twee Fucker" have reportedly been worn by someone - you, maybe?
So now I know that I don't know jack about twee. Here's what I'm calling twee anyway.
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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