NPR Music CBC Radio 3Basia Bulat at The Bowery Ballroom (02/29/08)
According to this story on NPR Music, Basia Bulat, Bon Iver, and Darondo are three “artists to watch” at SXSW this year.
So, I’ve been wanting start this feature for a while, problem is, I knew it would take time, and that was a little daunting to me. But, here we are, (or at least here I am), so let’s get going shall we? The focus of “The Dew Line” is Canadian artists, typically emerging artists, but sometimes I’ll throw in established artists with new releases or upcoming tour dates. That’s about it for now, so sit back and enjoy the ride, eh.
Wintersleep
Photo: Scott Munn
Wintersleep
Wintersleep is a power pop band from Halifax, NS that gets a lot of love from CBC Radio 3. Wintersleep released a record in late 2007 called Welcome to the Night Sky which was produced by the legendary Tony Doogan (of Mogwai and Belle and Sebastian fame). Since then, they’ve been touring a ton (including some gigs in Japan) and tonight they’ll be at the venerable Union Hall along with Brian Sendrowitz of Beat Radio. If you can’t make it to out to the Brooklyn show, you can also catch Wintersleep on Saturday night at the Bowery opening for fellow canucks The Stills.
Wendy McNeil
Wendy McNeill is an accordionist from Edmonton, Alberta with a poignant voice, a talent for writing interesting songs and a bewitching sense of style. In fact, ever since hearing her most recent record, The Wonder Show, I’ve been completely under her spell. In particular, I can’t stop listening to the track, “Such A Common Bird”, it’s quirky, yet irresistible. That song, and a few others are streaming over on her MySpace page, so give them a listen, ok?
Dan Mangan
Dan Mangan is a Vancouver musician with a penchant for writing thoughtful folk songs with intelligent lyrics. When I first heard Dan’s “Unnatural Progression” on the CBC Radio 3 Podcast, it really knocked my socks off. Dan Mangan’s self released 2005 record, Postcards and Daydreaming, was rereleased in Canada and the USA in November 2007 with new artwork and an additional track (it’s also available on iTunes). Dan will be at SXSW this year, so do yourself a favor and check him out when you’re down there.
Download: Dan Mangan - Unnatural Progression (mp3)
Hayden
While not an emerging Canadian artist by any means, Hayden’s Everything I Long For and Moving Careful were two records that made quite an impression on me when I was younger, so I thought I’d give him a shout out here. He’s got a new record out now (in Canada) called In Field and Town and the one track I have heard so far, “Where and When” is excellent. Check out the controversial video for “Where and When” on episode 41 of CBC’s R3TV Podcast. Hayden is on the road right now with Feist, he’ll be opening for her at Hammerstein Ballroom on April 29 and 30. Fat Possum is releasing In Field & Town in the US on April 29, 2008.
Miracle Fortress
Had I put together a top ten list for 2007, Miracle Fortress‘ Five Roses would have held down the number one spot. From the moment I heard his cover of John Cale’s “Hanky Panky Nohow” on Andrew Rose’s Pop Montreal Popcast I had to find out more about this guy. Once I got ahold of Five Roses, his dreamy pop/electronic sounds spun on my ipod daily. Miracle Fortress has only a played a few US dates thus far, and Graham and the band are currently in the midst of a tour that will see them play SXSW next week and the Mercury Lounge on March 21 along with fellow canucks, The Most Serene Republic. I’ll be there for sure.
Some more Canadian artists who I’ve posted about in the past, but who also deserve a mention on The Dew Line are:
Basia Bulat
Plants and Animals
Torngat
The Acorn
Hey, I didn’t get to mention everybody I wanted, but I managed to go past my self imposed time limit anyway. Next time on “The Dew Line” look for the goods on: Parlour Steps, Hawksley Workman and Sandro Perri (just to name a few).
St Vincent headlined the Bowery Ballroom on Friday night and Candian chanteuse Basia Bulat played the opening slot. Now if you’re if you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know who I really went to see.
Basia Bulat at the Bowery Ballroom (02/29/08)
Once again, Basia opened the show with a solo a cappella number (which I later learned, is actually a traditional tune). She played most of the tracks off of her just (domestically) released record, Oh, My Darling and one Daniel Johnston cover, (”True Love Will Find You In The End”). Now some Johnston purists may find this offensive, but I usually enjoy a Daniel Johnston song much more when someone else sings it, and this cover was no exception. “Snakes and Ladders” and “I Was A Daughter” are probably my two favorite tracks on the album, and once again I think they were also my favorite songs live. Though not my favorite track on the album, I enjoyed hearing “In The Night” live more this time around, it’s playfulness is a bit of a nice break from some of the other more serious (dare I say melancholy) songs in the set. All in all, I think Oh, My Darling is a very impressive debut record, and even though we’re just getting a taste of it now stateside, it’s been around for awhile in Canada (and Japan), so I figure it won’t be long before we start hearing some more great material from this young Londoner.
St Vincent at the Bowery Ballroom (02/29/08)
Photo courtesy of The Modern Age
Here’s what Laura had to say about St. Vincent:
The night was full of the usual impeccable song interpretations. Just like other great live powerhouse performers like the White Stripes and Ryan Adams, Annie Clark constantly reinvents her own songs during her live show. But the set was not limited to her own material, she put on almost unrecognizable, but no less stunning, cover versions of “Dig a Pony” by The Beatles and “Ring My Bell” by Anita Ward. [The Modern Age]
Yes, Foreign Born played too, but I missed their set, d’oh.
The Acorn at Union Hall (02/27/08)
London Ontario’s Basia Bulat is at the Bowery Ballroom tonight opening up for St. Vincent and Foreign Born.
Ottawa’s The Acorn (who absolutely killed at Union Hall on Wednesday) are at the Mercury Lounge tonight opening up for Bowerbirds and Phosphorescent.
Toronto’s Born Ruffians and Edmonton’s Cadence Weapon are at Union Hall Saturday and the Mercury Lounge on Sunday.
Check out my full flickr set from The Acorn’s first ever US show over here. If you’re gonna catch one Canadian this weekend, it’s a really tough choice, but I’d probably go with The Acorn (with Basia Bulat running a close second). Happy Leap Day everybody!
Drake waxes political about this week’s new releases (well, at this point, they’re last week’s new releases actually) and he and I have and ideological disagreement about Canadian chanteuse, Basia Bulat.
Drake’s Take: New Releases 02.05.08
I think a lot of folks immediately crossed Super Fat Tuesday off their release date calendar, as it’s a date that’s incredibly claustrophobic, as far as getting word out. I conducted my own caucus yesterday, and while none of the candidates impressed me like some from the past few weeks, I still must nominate the new releases from London’s Hot Chip, Baltimore psych-rockers Dead Meadow, and Canadian folkie Basia Bulat.
Playlist: New Releases 02.05.08
The Early Frontrunner:
Hot Chip made a name for themselves with 2006’s The Warning, an album that nearly perfected their electronic-meets-indie-pop sound, taking center stage with the songs “Over and Over” and “And I Was A Boy From School.” 2008 seemed like the year for them to make their run, and Made in the Dark certainly has enough inspirational moments to make that run. Advance single “Ready for the Floor” contains all that makes Hot Chip so endearing: synchopated rhythms, catchy chorus, and quirky turns. “One Pure Thought” has great lyrical turns backed by the kind of chorus that may have New Order thinking, “why didn’t we do that?.” Meanwhile, “We’re Looking for Love” shows that they’ve now perfected the electro-indie pop ballad. And “Hold On” happily revisits the Talking Heads’ Fear of Music white funk vibe that their sister band in NYC mined so well on last year’s Sound of Silver. Unfortunately, too much of the album tries to do too much, especially kitchen sink of songs like “Shake a Fist” and “Bendable Posable,” both of which are still fun songs… just seems at time to pander to the rave, the quirky and the pop sensibilities all at once. Just ask Mitt Romney… if you pander to too much, you might end up on the wrong end of Super Tuesday.
The Outsider:
After five albums over ten years, the psychedelica/stoner rock trio from the DC region seem like the Dennis Kucinich of this week’s race, as they’ve stuck to their guns, winning over the kind of fans that will go to war with you — but not enough to actually win said war. For Old Growth, they’ve softened their edge a bit — there’s no songs here that unmercifully pummel your eardrums — instead expanding their sound to incorporate more of the sounds that inspire them. Like last month’s contender Black Mountain, DM are influenced by original blues as well as Black Sabbath. Sure, the Sabbath still finds it’s way through in obvious and not so obvious ways, but now there’s room for an acoustic ramble like “Down Here,” or the poppy jangle of “Keep on Walking,” and the focused “I’m Gone”… all songs that in the past would’ve been dragged through to (dare I say ‘tedious’?) lengths. True DM fans are probably fine with it either way, because when you’ve lit up, it’s sometimes hard to tell when they’ve moved on to another song anyway.
Download: “What Needs to Be” [mp3]
The Populist:
Oh, My Darling is kind of like a politician’s speech, in that the opening is so crucial, and can hook you in, even when it ends up betraying the rest of what follows. Ok, I’ve stretched the political metaphors such that their translucent at best, but bare with me on this one. The Canadian songstress’ opening song “Before I Knew” is a tremendous song, opening with a ukelele and a sing-songy verse ala Kimya Dawson, with handclaps and gospel-like background vocals. But just as you’re ready to sing “hallaluea!” the song ends, leaving you wondering if anyone got the license plate on that feather-light bus that just ran you over. “I Was a Daughter” follows, and you’re thinking you’ve discovered a new favorite. But “December,” the fourth song, the feeling starts to sink a bit, and then the wheels just seem to come off that feather-light bus, and much of the core of the album is exposed as well executed MOR folk songs. Bulat’s distinctive voice, which at first floats along with the songs, takes on too much work, having to often carry a weak song while also competing with the extra orchestration added to mask said weakness (see “Little One.”) All in all, it’s not a bad debut, falls just short of winning over this voter.
Download: “In the Night” [mp3]
Tuesday saw the release of new records from two independent Canadian solo artists. Here’s To Being Here the new album by Broken Social Scene member, Jason Collett, was released today on Arts and Crafts. Also, Canadian chanteuse Basia Bulat’s debut record, Oh, My Darling finally got its official US release today on Rough Trade. Basia, as you may recall will next be in town on leap day (Feb 29) opening up for St. Vincent and Foreign Born at the Bowery Ballroom. Jason Collett just announced a bunch of new US tour dates today, including two shows at the Mercury Lounge and one at the Luna Lounge. All Jason Collett tour dates after the jump.
Irving Plaza Blender Theater
