The Watchmen - In the Trees Deluxe Edition (Double Album!) Pre-Order Available Today

The Watchmen recently released details of the Deluxe Edition reissue of 1994's In the Trees, which will include a whopping 34 tracks. It features the original album remastered, demos for all of those songs, 5 unreleased demos, live tracks from a Netherlands radio performance, and a 2000-word essay on the band/album.

 Can't think of many Canadian artists from that era that have gone back and put out special versions of their records. Blue Rodeo put out a box set celebrating their first 25 years. The Hip's Up To Here is a cherished record, and they haven't put out an expanded edition, even though it was remastered. Sloan did it with Twice Removed, and they did it properly. The Watchmen took a big step forward on their second album (drummer Kohn once said that one song on the first album was "one long wank"), soundwise and songwise, so I am not surprised it was a success and still resonates for fans and for band members.

I asked Kohn, The Watchmen drummer extraordinaire, how the deluxe edition came to be a real thing.

"Eight or nine months ago I started thinking about (the album's 20-year anniversary). I have always been the archival master, in charge of the Vault, which is a big shoebox in my parents' basement. And I'm still the guy that picks up Mojo , scours Pitchfork, and likes to find cool exciting stuff and rarities. I thought it would be cool for fans to get a fresh look at an album that didn't have much gimmickry to it."

 What were your bandmates' responses to that idea?

 "I think they were thinking, 'Here goes Sammy again...', but once I started forwarding contracts, Joey (Serlin) called me and said, 'Do you want to come to my studio so we can listen to this shit?'"

Kohn suggested that band members don't have the same "quality control attitude" that they used to share. I distinctly remember asking Daniel Greaves why the band didn't put out their own release before getting signed - I'm pretty sure that was back in 1991 when Barenaked Ladies were selling truckloads of cassettes. Greaves looked askance and replied, "I don't want some shitty tape out there!"

"This thing is not without its flaws, it's a warts and all look at what I think is a great album, arguably the best collection of songs, " Kohn says. "And you can hear some pretty significant changes on the demos...Lusitana didn't have a chorus, Danny was just scatting, and All Uncovered you'll hear some differences."

And if that's not enough, there will be a book coming out on Eternal Cavalier Press in the fall by author Vanessa Azzoli about the band, revolving mainly around the In The Trees era. Heck , I even saw a Tweet the other day about a craft beer called Night Watchmen, also out in Sept and sure to be found at Motel Bar.

Of course, with all this nostalgia, the question of new music is always going to come up. The band gave away two new tracks, Trampoline and Miss Monday Morning, 5 years ago and nothing new since. Writing new songs for The Watchmen is not a priority, but is it a possibility?
"That would be the next logical step," admits Kohn. "But I can't really imagine us hammering it out in a room. I think it's up to those guys."

Watchmen documentary:

The Watchmen - All Uncovered - Full Documentary from ReilMunro on Vimeo.


All Uncovered


Boneyard Tree


Lusitana


34 Dead Street


Wiser


Calm


In My Mind


Laugher


The South


Born Afire


Vovo Diva


Middle East

IN THE TREES Track listing:

Disc One
1. 34 Dead St.
2. Boneyard Tree
3. Lusitana
4. Wiser
5. Calm
6. All Uncovered
7. In My Mind
8. Laugher
9. The South
10. Born Afire
11. Vovo Diva
12. Middle East
13. Nothing (Demo Outtake)
14. Take My Fever (Demo Outtake)
15. Hurting Place (Demo Outtake)
16. Dragon (Demo Outtake)
17. In The Trees (Demo Outtake)


Disc Two

1. 34 Dead Street (Demo)
2. Boneyard Tree (Demo)
3. Lusitana (Demo)
4. Wiser (Demo)
5. Calm (Demo)
6. All Uncovered (Demo)
7. In My Mind (Demo)
8. Laugher (Demo)
9. The South (Demo)
10. Born Afire (Demo)
11. Vovo Diva (Demo)
12. Middle East (Demo)
13. Lusitana (Live)
14. All Uncovered (Live)
15. Boneyard Tree (Live)
16. Middle East (Live)
17. In My Mind (Acoustic)

Amazon pre-order here, release date is Sept. 16.

iTunes preorder here, the release date is Sept. 16, but the acoustic version of In My Mind is available now .

Dominionated: Free Album! Canadians Cover Canadians

In time for Canada Day, Quick Before it Melts has launched a free download of Dominionated, 22 songs created by Canucks and covered by Canadians. My favourites so far are The Provincial Archive`s G Turns to D (Sloan), Canvas doing Zuckerbaby`s Andromeda, and LeE HARVeY OsMOND`s Black Velvet (Alannah Myles).

Canvas - Andromeda


DOMINIONATED TRACK LISTING:
THE ALMIGHTY RHOMBUS Violent Dreams (Thrush Hermit)
ARCHERY GUILD Hold Tight (Gino Soccio)
CANVAS Andromeda (Zuckerbaby)
EXPWY featuring Julia Pessoa All Uncovered (The Watchmen)
FARRAGOES Lust For Love (Images In Vogue)
GDANSK All the Things I Wasn’t (The Grapes of Wrath)
KASHKA Curious (Sandbox)
LEE HARVEY OSMOND Black Velvet (Alannah Myles)
JERRY LEGER Wonderin’ (Neil Young)
[MP.G] The Criminal (Sons of Freedom)
EAMON McGRATH Young Offenders (Constantines)
MEEKO CHEECH Two Lips, Two Lungs and One Tongue (NoMeansNo)
OLD ENGLISH featuring MERIVAL Coming Back To You (Leonard Cohen)
PENNY BLACKS Tinfoil (Limblifter)
THE PROVINCIAL ARCHIVE G Turns to D (Sloan)
NO ALOHA Fountains (The Nils)
SOME MINOR NOISE Broken Bones (Love Inc.)
STONETROTTER Eyes of a Stranger (Payola$)
TWIN LIBRARY Doesn’t Really Matter (Platinum Blonde)
TIMMINS&BLOOD The Ballad of Jacob Peck (John Bottomley)
VENUS SANS FUR Behind the Garage (Eric’s Trip)


 Here's a few of the tunes from the original artists, if you have forgotten.

 Limblifter - Tinfoil

Neil Young - Wonderin' - One of my favourite videos of all time.

 Constantines - Young Offenders (Live)

The Watchmen - All Uncovered


Sons of Freedom - The Criminal

Sloan - G Turns to D

The Grapes of Wrath - All the Things I Wasn't

Sandbox - Curious

Images in Vogue - Lust for Love

The Payolas - Eyes of a Stranger

Platinum Blonde - It Doesn't Really Matter

The Watchmen - Free Album Download Live at the Hopetoun, The La's and Nova Mob Covers

 The Watchmen have been teasing fans about sharing some "Old Rare tracks, outtakes,demos", and the band has come through with a full album of acoustic tracks recorded at the Hopetoun in Australia. It's worth the little wait, because the sound quality is excellent, and the song selection is stellar as well - seven tunes from Silent Radar, plus All Uncovered, as well as covers of Nova Mob's Admiral of the Sea and The La's Timeless Melody. You can download them all for free here.

 The acoustic versions offer some interesting differences from the original studio versions, like as Daniel Greaves replicating some sounds made by Joey Serlin on the album (such as on Brighter Hell). You even get a Watchmen ditty that's never been released, Everywhere is Grey, which makes me really hunger for some other unreleased tunes that never saw the light of day. "Old Rare tracks, outtakes, demos"...bring 'em on.


Track Listing
1. Do It
2. Any Day Now
3. I'm Waiting
4. Brighter Hell
5. Timeless Melody
6. Say Something
7. Everywhere is Grey
8. All Uncovered
9. Stereo
10. Admiral Of The Sea
11. Silent Radar


Stereo Live in Australia
 


You can keep up with Watchmen goings-on by following 'em on Twitter - @Watchmenmusic.

Can't remember if I ever posted this, so here it is, 'tho it is unrelated to the Aussie live acoustic stuff, it is pretty good.

Ken Tizzard and Bad Intent

Ken Tizzard might still be known by many as the bass player with The Watchmen and Thornley, but he's been pumpin' out tunes of his own for a while now, and it might not be what you expect, because he's dropped some peanut butter country into his rock 'n' roll chocolate. If you're quick you can grab a free four song ep "The Goodness Of Bad Intent - Vol.1" at his website. You can also give a listen to some different beasts such as his version of the Tear for Fears tune Mad World.







Upcoming shows:

Mar 1 The Whistle Stop, Jasper
Mar 2 The Haven Social Club, Edmonton
Mar 3 The Ironwood Stage and Grill, Calgary

The Watchmen - Free Live Album, Jets Montage, Grey Cup Show

For a part-time, having a lark reunion band, The Watchmen seem to be more active than many artists that consider themselves a going concern. CBC used Any Day Now as the musical accompaniment to a video montage celebrating the return of the Jets to Winnipeg yesterday, for example. Look closely in that montge and you might see a white-haired kid riding in a convertible for Dale Hawerchuk's signing - is that Scruffy the Yak? Could be.



The band also played their Silent Radar album in its entirety (as well as other fan faves) in September at the Horseshoe Tavern. Now the band is making the whole show available for free download at their website. No fixing it up in the studio, no auto-tuning, just the sounds as they unfolded. Here's a taste.

The Watchmen - BRIGHTER HELL Live Silent Radar Redux by scruffy the yak

The Watchmen have also announced their first show in Vancouver in about 8 years, playing as part of Grey Cup festivities at The Commodore on Saturday, Nov. 26. Tix on sale now. Here's an old one that never made it to an album.

The Watchmen - One of Us (live Moncton 2000) by scruffy the yak


If that ain't enough, somehow some older Watchmen tunes 'The South' and 'Sleep' made their way into the 2011 TIFF selected film "The Whistleblower" starring Rachel Weisz.

The Watchmen: Jets Pre Game Show?, Silent Radar

I've been seeing some tweets regarding a pre-game show featuring The Watchmen before the first tilt for the revitalized Winnipeg Jets. Watchmen drummer and Winnipeg Biz guy Stefano Grande have been in touch concerning the festivities, we'll see what transpires. Maybe Danny singing the anthem? I'd like to see Danny on skates. Make sure you get him a good helmet if he goes anywhere near the ice.

Meanwhile, the band is playing what is so far a one-off Hogtown show September 24 in which the fellas will perform the entire Silent Radar album plus a whack of fan favourites.

I'm Blind - The Watchmen by scruffy the yak

Seven Times - The Watchmen by scruffy the yak

The Watchmen Will Sell You Their New Doc...If You're Quick

photo by Clay Devoute
Watchmen drummer Sammy Kohn revealed that while the Watchmen DVD documentary, All Uncovered, will be on sale at show(s?) this weekend, he also told the Winnipeg Free Press's Rob Williams that there are less than 100 of them to be purchased. Since both shows are sold out, the chances of every fan walking away with a disc are about as good as Joey Serlin rocking the long hair he had in the photo above. Here's a couple more Watchmen tunes that didn't make it onto one of their albums.

I'm Blind - The Watchmen by scruffy the yak

I'm not sure if the name of this one is right, maybe someone out there can correct me.

Seven Times - The Watchmen by scruffy the yak

This song, Painted Ladies, is just a different videorecording of the same performance in the last Watchmen post. You can find a review of that show at The Panic Manual. If you missed that last post of mine on the band, there may have been a couple of other unreleased songs for your edification. Check out this article about what Daniel Greaves has been doing lately, which includes making what he terms "atmospheric pop" among other things.

The Watchmen Return. Again. With a New Old Song

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.

The Watchmen - Everywhere is Grey by scruffy the yak

Painted Ladies Live at the Horseshoe



I Wish We Were There



Absolutely Anytime



Brighter Hell

Free New Watchmen Tunes

The Watchmen have made good on their promise to offer brand-spankin'-new tunes, which you can download here. The two original tracks (a digital 7"?) have appeared on their MySpace page and their official site, http://www.the-watchmen.com/ (you can also fill your ears below). Here's an excerpt from guitarist/songwriter Joey Serlin's explanation about how and why the freshly-baked aural treats were crafted:

"The response from the fans and industry after last years Horseshoe shows was overwhelming. Offers came in to play more and more shows and before we knew it, what was supposed to be a one time thing became something else entirely. The band was in agreement that something was missing from the experience. We needed the buzz and satisfaction of creating new songs together. We made a decision to make new music for the first time in years. Ken had some songs and I had some songs and we decided to track a few at Vapor studios. With the help of engineer/mixer Julian Rudd, we set up, looked at each, took a deep breath and went for it. Sammy counted in the first track and within a few bars, years disappeared. I listened back and realized for the first time, how special our chemistry is."

Okay, Miss Monday Morning is well-produced rock, offering distorto-vox from D. Greaves, maybe the most straightforward riffs Serlin's ever released, a short teaser of a beautiful aggro-skronk screamer gee-tar solo, and a little harmonica flavouring. At just over 2 minutes running time, it's short and sweet, but like the solo, it's teasing and leaving us looking for more. Trampoline is a pretty little ballad featuring some country-flavoured guitar and a shuffle-y beat, but the focus is on Greaves' smooth, yearning vocals. "So I set myself on fire" may remind fans of a couple of older Watchmen tunes, but that's about all that really connects it with the band's older stuff; in fact, neither of these tunes sound like they could have appeared on any of their previous albums. Drummer Sammy Kohn sent me a little note awhile back when I wondered out loud whether the guys could or would drop some original sounds on us (see original post), saying he didn't know whether he should be "flattered or offended". Sammy, clearly you guys can do whatever you want. Wanna make a full album now? Yeah, I'm a greedy fan.

Miss Monday Morning


Trampoline


So aside from the two gifts for fans, what have we got here? Serlin's blurb above doesn't come out and say if there are plans afoot for the boys to continue making music or hit the road. Two shows at the Horseshoe in TO September 25 and 26 tells me they're into playing at the moment. Who knows if these are the (real) last shows?

Royal Albert - The Movie

I was sent the trailer for a new doc on the Albert, the place that has welcomed Husker Du, Green Day, Black Flag, The Weakerthans, The Watchmen, Comeback Kid, Propagandhi, Melvins, Stretch Marks, Personality Crisis, Sloan, New Duncan Imperials, Urge Overkill, Breath Grenades, Sons of Freedom, Kittens, UK Subs, Biohazard, Jesus Lizard, Nine Pound Hammer, The Vibrators, Cannibal Corpse, Telepathic Butterflies, The Wind-ups - the list goes on forever. Decades of rock, many flavours, blood, sweat and beers, long live the Albert.

The Watchmen: More than a classic rock nostalgia trip?

Further to my previous post on The Watchmen and questions concerning touring on old songs, drummer Sammy Kohn has indicated that some new songs will be floating our way on the Web some day soon. A message sent to Alan Cross explains:

"Our agent has received several requests for dates this summer and we’ve accepted a few. In an effort to not completely be living in the past we have some new songs in preparation that we plan to offer as free downloads in the coming months."

Curiouser and curiouser. The last cd the band put out was electronic-flavoured, but the last disc Daniel Greaves (Doctor) put out was pretty straightforward rock. Will new songs follow in the vein of Silent Radar, the last one Sammy Kohn played on? And how many is "some" - 2 songs? 3? An ep or a full album? Heck, I'd probably settle for properly recorded version of songs like Everywhere is Grey or Seven Times, songs I've heard live that never made it onto commercially available discs. At any rate, maybe the group's gonna stick around for a while, because a new website was launched - although there's not much on it yet.

Reil Munro, A Winnipeg film maker also has a band documentary in the works that will be completed in September. Here’s the trailer.



What's your vote for song for Danny to perform a cappella? I'm pumping for him to cover Valerie, the Kooks tune as covered by Amy Winehouse. Comment below.

The Watchmen before the movie, but after the graphic novel

I just received a note from The Watchmen with five new tour dates posted. The quartet is playing the Red River Ex in Winnipeg - the last time I saw them play the Ex was more than a decade ago, maybe 15 years. With no new material since 2001, how many shows can the band do? I have a hard time seeing them going on indefinitely as a classic rock revival, playing on old fans and old tunes. But that’s what Pixies did and Jane’s Addiction is doing right now. How many acts have come back and made good music? Wire, Meat Puppets...I can’t think of anyone else - can you? (The new Pointed Sticks might be tasty…) Still, at least one band member has indicated that there’d be some new music forthcoming. Do you believe it? I don't know, but people still like 'em - look at the video below from last Halloween (sorry about the sound quality, but you see what I mean).

http://www.myspace.com/thewatchmenonline

Upcoming Shows

12 Jun 2009 20:00
Norma Jeans London Ontario
13 Jun 2009 20:00
The Red Rooster Burlington
16 Jun 2009 20:00
Red River Ex Winnipeg, Manitoba
11 Jul 2009 20:00
HOPE Volleyball Festival Ottawa
29 Jul 2009 20:00
BUFFALO DAYS Regina, Saskatchewan