The Acorn at Union Hall (05/03/08)

Since The Acorn play their final New York date tonight (05/06) at The Mercury Lounge I thought I would post these pics from their Saturday night gig Union Hall before they leave town. What can I say about the show? Let me be short and sweet: I was blown away all over again by these guys. For a more nuanced take on their performance, (which I also agree with), check out what Jonny Leather had to say below:

The Ottawa six-piece are one of those bands whose name will certainly become more and more known in the indie music world over the course of the next year. Their 2007 release, “Glory Hope Mountain” has been another testament to the high level of quality music coming out of Canada. “Glory Hope Mountain” is a concept album based around the story of the lead singer Rolf Klausener’s mother. At times the songs are deeply emotional and natural indie folk, but there is also a nice handful of more upbeat tracks that help give the album an uplifting vibe.

On Saturday night, The Acorn was able to prove that the magic goes beyond recorded form as they filled the songs with extra life, during an exceptionally tight performance. Klausener’s voice was just as soulful, if not more so, and the duel percussion worked perfectly. [JonnyLeather.com]

Check out my full flickr set from the show here.

Ottawa’s favourite sons (The Acorn) return to NYC tomorrow night (May 3) for four dates spread out over two boroughs. My advice, catch these guys while they are still playing small rooms— mark my words, it won’t be long before these kids make the jump to the big time).

Glory Hope Mountain is dedicated to the life story of the singer Rolf’s mother Gloria and her difficult immigration from Honduras to Canada in the 70’s. Rolf conducted a series of interviews with his mother over six months and researched Smithsonian recordings of 50’s Honduran/West Indies folk music for the making of this album.

The Acorn 2008 Late Spring Tour Dates
05/02 - Khyber - Philadelphia, PA
05/03 - Union Hall w/Ola Podrida - Brooklyn, NY
05/04 - Sound Fix Records (6pm) - Brooklyn, NY
05/05 - Pianos - New York, NY
05/06 - Mercury Lounge w/Cave Singers, Love As Laughter - New York, NY
05/07 - Great Scott - Boston, MA

Watch the video for “The Flood Pt. 1″ after the break.

“The Acorn Are Back” continued after the jump

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).

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!