vintage

I am not getting any real work done, so I might as well write a post. Here is the second half of my folk festival ramblings!

Saturday & Sunday: Workshops

The awesome thing about the weekends at the Calgary Folk Music Festival is that the daytimes - 10:30 in the morning until 5:30 when the mainstage starts - are all workshops and smaller concerts, and the workshops are where so much of the magic of this festival lies. They throw together two or three groups, who have probably never even seen each other before, let alone played together, and let them go for an hour. The stuff that comes out of these stages … man, you have no idea. Here’s what I took in on Saturday:

Machinations & Palindromes
Andrew Bird, Master Musicians of Jajouka, A Hawk & A Hacksaw

Wicked and Weird
The Weakerthans, Calexico, Handsome Family, Torngat

Shout, Sisters, Shout!
Woodpigeon, Basia Bulat, The Consonant C, Julie Doiron

Sweetly Undone
Calexico, Bill Callahan, A Hawk & A Hacksaw, Andrew Bird

A Brief History of Rhyme
Wendy McNeill, Josh Ritter, Woodpigeon, Trish Klein (Be Good Tanyas)

as well as a concert by the Handsome Family.

Things I learned: Andrew Bird is a great collaborator with anyone, and so are Calexico (that horn section! that lap steel!); John K. Samson (Weakerthans) and Joey Burns (Calexico) should always sing together; Basia Bulat covering “Thirty Days” is one of the best things to happen to workshops, especially with a backing band of about fifteen people; Bill Callahan sings about blood a lot; and the Handsome Family write really sad songs about milk.

The workshops, in short, were awesome.

Sunday

OK, by Sunday I was exhausted. Saturday ends at 11:30 and you are back at the park at something like 8:30 to get a spot, so everyone is a bit sluggish in the morning. However, the workshops got people on their feet pretty quickly. Here’s what I got to see:

Indie 500
Basia Bulat, Great Lake Swimmers, Julie Doiron, Sam Parton (Be Good Tanyas)

3 Altered Chords & The Truth
The Duhks, Joël Fafard, John Wort Hannam, Diana Jones

That Ain’t No A Flat Major!
Maryem Tollar & The Toronto Cairo Collective, A Hawk & A Hacksaw, Düvö

Blue Blue Grass of Home
Tim O’Brien, The Duhks, Sparrow Quartet, Craig Korth (Widow Maker)

as well as concerts by Julie Doiron and Basia Bulat.

I think “That Ain’t No A Flat Major” takes the cake for one of the best workshops I’ve seen at the folk festival. To give you a bit of background, Düvö is from Hungary, and they play Hungarian folk music (complete with fiddles, hammer dulcimer, etc). A Hawk & A Hacksaw, interestingly, is from Alberquerque but based in Hungary - when they said “We’re going to play a Hungarian czardas for you,” all the members of Düvö cheered and roared and joined in. CLASSIC. Maryem Tollar is the one behind the theme song to Little Mosque on the Prairie, for all you Canadians, and she and her band are originally from Egypt. You can imagine how awesome that sounded. It was terrific, and there was this tiny two- or three-year-old girl running around and dancing the whole time, which just made it better.

MAINSTAGE

To be quite honest I don’t want to spend an hour talking about all these acts because it is going to sound repetitive, so here is the short version!

Josh Ritter - I knew his stuff already from The Animal Years, and I was thrilled he played so many songs from that record; he was incredibly joyful AND he stopped a rainstorm (only to have it start again after he left the stage, unfortunately).

The Duhks - Amazing. They fuse Celtic-type stuff with folk and rock and all kinds of things, and out comes a really energetic live show. Their vocalist can really belt it out! Well worth checking out, and definitely one of my favourite festival discoveries.

A Hawk & A Hacksaw - I mentioned them already, of course, but they were great. I think some of the crowd were surprised to see an instrumental band, because there were a few bewildered faces in the audience, but they were really incredible, and once they started playing some blistering fiddle tunes everyone was dancing anyway. Bonus points for the indie kids as Jeremy Barnes used to be the drummer for Neutral Milk Hotel.

James Blood Ulmer - Serious, gritty blues, backed by soul vocalist and bass player Meshell Ndegeocello. He was good and fun and really grooved well, but I guess I just wasn’t totally into his set. He plays his guitar in a pretty interesting way! Great voice though, holy. Very dirty-blues.

The Men They Couldn’t Hang - Hands down one of my favourite acts of the festival. Slightly aging folk-punk musicians from across the pond, rousing everybody with rather Pogues-like tunes, these guys were a total blast. It also didn’t hurt that everything was delivered in heavy Scottish or English accents, only adding to the fun. They sold out of their records in a flash - I didn’t get to pick one up, but if I do find one, I will post something here for your enjoyment!

Blue Rodeo - Can I just say, I love Jim Cuddy. And the rest of Blue Rodeo, too, but I just think Cuddy is like a really cool uncle who would play your favourite songs on his guitar and let you sit on his knee and take you out for ice cream when your parents weren’t around. I like that guy. Anyway, I am so glad we didn’t succumb to the rain and miss Blue Rodeo - they were amazing. Hit after hit! “Til I Am Myself Again,” “Five Days in May,” “C’mon” etc. One of my favourite live acts and one that I would love to see again and again.

Sonny Landreth - Another really great blues player, but one that I was more into. I loved this guy. Serious chops and serious feel. He reminded me a bit of Jack Semple, but I think I liked Landreth’s playing a lot more. He got a bunch of people dancing, always testament to how well you are doing at a festival.

Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet - Featuring Bela Fleck of the Flecktones, who were Festival performers last year. These guys were amazing. Washburn, a beautiful Southern belle, has spent some time living in China, and consequently is fluent in Mandarin. She sang some Mandarin tunes for us and it is so mind-boggling to see this very fair, red-haired, Tennessee lady singing Chinese folk songs. I was thoroughly impressed. Not to mention her and Bela Fleck’s blistering banjo over everything - Fleck performed a tune by himself, as well, and it sounded like there were two or three banjos playing at once. What a guy. Add this to my favourites list.

It was starting to rain again after their set, so we took off and missed Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band and Ani DiFranco, although to tell you the truth I don’t think any of us were too disappointed.

And of course, Festival Mini-Sampler Pt. 2:

Basia Bulat - In the Night
Josh Ritter - Wolves
Blue Rodeo - C’mon
Julie Doiron - Swan Pond

The four days are over and I have the most killer tan. This would probably be more useful if I wasn’t brown to begin with, but you know how it is.

Thursday

Things got rolling with the Master Musicians of Jajouka, at best an unconventional way to start the festival. The group hails from northern Morocco and have collaborated with the likes of the Rolling Stones and Maceo Parker. As revered as they are, I still couldn’t get into what they were doing; rather cacophonous and repetitive, I guess they just weren’t my bag.

Following them, however, were Canadian darlings The Weakerthans, who were just delightful. Somehow this was my first time experiencing their joyful live performance, and it did not disappoint; soft-spoken and gracious, John K. Samson and his crew delivered a bucketload of well-crafted songs that fit perfectly with the sunny weather. Their set felt far too short. I’m definitely seeing them again.

Third up was clever and quirky Aimee Mann. Shamefully, the only experiences I’ve had with her music are “Humpty Dumpty” and “It’s Not Safe,” the latter with Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford from Squeeze. I know. So I was quite taken by surprise when I found out just how much I enjoyed her stuff. Her between-song banter was hilarious and delivered in a completely deadpan manner (which just made it so much better). Her performance was really enjoyable - she has a great voice and her easygoing manner made everyone relax and get into it. I am definitely looking forward to seeing her again in about a month when she opens for Squeeze in Toronto (!!).

Sam Roberts closed the night out with some seriously happy rock & roll, throwing in old favourites like “Brother Down” and “Hard Road” alongside some choice tunes from Love at the End of the World, including the title track, “Lions of the Kalahari” and “Detroit ‘67″. It got a little jammy towards the end, but the energy never failed; Roberts and his band blasted the singing and dancing crowd with some joyful rock and things ended Thursday night on a beautifully high note. Man, I love Sam Roberts.

Friday

Off to a hollerin’, boot-stompin’, banjo-pickin’ start with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, a young African-American string band formed in North Carolina and working under the tutelage of Joe Thompson. They were an excellent way to kick off the afternoon, playing a whole lot of rollicking, uptempo string band tunes and getting everybody’s toes tapping early on. Some great jug playing was featured, too (what a treat!). These guys were a real party, and I purchased their CD from the official festival record tent. Definitely a favourite of my musical discoveries from the festival.

I took off and missed the blues harmonica stylings of Charlie Musselwhite to run to the Twilight Stage instead, taking in a set by indie favourites Great Lake Swimmers. It was just what I had hoped for - quiet and beautifully intricate songs floating over the crowd flopped in the grass in front of the stage, with the sunset blazing behind us. Tony Dekker’s voice is ethereal at times, and other times just country enough. I hope to have a few more opportunities to see them in Toronto in the coming years; they were fabulous and quite a lovely treat on a beautiful night.

I booked the heck back to the mainstage afterwards; next up were Vancouver’s darlings the Be Good Tanyas, who I have been dying to see for a few years now. Their delicious blend of folk, country and bluegrass gives them a unique sound that lends itself perfectly to the Calgary folk festival. They didn’t play my favourite song of theirs (”The Littlest Birds,” from 2001’s Blue Horse), but they did treat us to a very energetic “Reuben”, as well as a host of other favourites from their three records, including “Human Thing”. Lead vocalist Frazey Ford has one of the most interesting voices I’ve heard in a while, and all three of them sing beautifully, making every song a study in lush vocal harmony. I can’t wait for them to release something else - I really love this group and I bet you would too.

After that, oh, what a treat - Andrew Bird, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, whistler extraordinaire. I don’t really know how to describe him other than “a wonder”. Bird layers track after track of violin, voice and otherworldly whistling until he sounds like an entire orchestra, and his songs are complex and beautiful. Seeing him live is a totally different experience and one that I am completely willing to repeat. What a guy.

Calexico took the stage next, and boy was I really in for a surprise. I’ve only ever heard one Calexico song, and it was on a mix CD I got in a trade called The Country Hour. Thus, I was expecting a country band. However, Calexico - named for the city on the border between California and Mexico, counterpart of Mexicali - takes much of its influence from mariachi bands and other sounds from Mexico and the American southwest. Their horn section is absolutely fantastic, and vocalist Joey Burns’ style - gritty and wistful - conjures images of campfires in the desert at sunset. And, in fact, during their set the sun was going down; perfect imagery for a really enjoyable set.

And finally, the headliner: Kingston (Ontario, not Jamaica)’s Bedouin Soundclash. They were energetic and fun for the first half, but by the end I was more than ready for them to get offstage. I did have a good time to start off, though - they were really pumping up the crowd, playing reggae-heavy danceable tunes for all the whippersnappers up front, and at one point offering up a tribute to Joe Strummer of the Clash. However, reggae beats get repetitive after a while, and the Soundclash did little to offer any variety; a somewhat shorter set would probably have been a better idea, and I was sick of them by the end. Still, a pretty fun way to end the Friday.

More stuff to come, including a series of excellent Saturday and Sunday workshop sessions. In the meantime, Folk Festival Mini-Sampler, Pt. 1!

The Weakerthans - Civil Twilight
Carolina Chocolate Drops - Starry Crown
Bedouin Soundclash - Living in Jungles
The Be Good Tanyas - Reuben

Sorry about my continued absences. I am currently knee-deep in the 2008 Calgary Stampede, where I work as a guest services supervisor; it leaves little time for such frivolities as music blogging. But here I am on a bit of downtime ready to give you exciting things to read again. I know how excited you are, trust me.

The Polaris Music Prize shortlist was announced today! The final ten vying for the prize are:

Black Mountain, In the Future
Basia Bulat, Oh, My Darling
Caribou, Andorra
Holy Fuck, LP
Kathleen Edwards, Asking for Flowers
Plants and Animals, Parc Avenue
Stars, In Our Bedroom After the War
Shad, The Old Prince
Two Hours Traffic, Little Jabs
The Weakerthans, Reunion Tour

Place your bets now!

—

Yesterday I also had the opportunity to see Sloan. Again. This time they played in Calgary at the Tequila Nightclub, not a place I would ever go to of my own accord. It used to be The Republik (which has since been resurrected a few blocks down the road), where Sloan played back in the day, interestingly enough.

I only got to see the last half of the show, which contained exactly one song from Parallel Play (lead-off track and single “Believe in Me,” which was a terrific live rocker). Old favourites in the set included “People of the Sky,” “Who Taught You To Live Like That?” and “Money City Maniacs.” The crowd was a beer-drinking Stampede party group but seemed to be really into the show, which was nice.

Many thanks go to Mike from the Sloan ‘entourage’ who helped me make it to the show after work in the first place. Working til 12.30 is not usually a situation conducive to going to see shows, but you know how it is … things always work out in the end.

By the way, some of you may remember me mentioning how Yep Roc had failed to send me my copy of Parallel Play at the time I wrote my review. Well, it finally came - on July 2. Three weeks and a day late! I will tell this story in full so you can experience the good times with me (ha, ha).

Have a good week, everybody!

Well, this is many weeks overdue, but when am I ever on time with concert reviews? Man oh man. Sorry guys, I have been a real deadbeat.

On May 24, quirky Columbia Records jazz trio The Bad Plus rolled into Calgary for a show at 7th Ave jazz club Quincy’s. It was tight, energetic, and everything else you would expect from this startlingly innovative threesome. Lest I run out of adjectives too soon, though, let’s not forget the openers: Calgary’s own Sinistrio, a group of exceedingly talented local jazz players who were really well matched to their headliner. Matching the Bad Plus’ appetite for originality, their set included some pretty wild collective improvisations and a quite fantastic ballad in 11 (in 5 in the bridge, I believe).

When the Bad Plus were introduced (rather later in the night than many of us were expecting) the place sounded more like a rock venue than a jazz one, testament to the group’s successful merging of rock covers and influences with their original jazz sound. They’ve done covers of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, David Bowie’s “Life on Mars?”, and yes, Rush’s “Tom Sawyer”. They’ve done Tears for Fears and Neil Young, Bjork and Blondie, Aphex Twin and Queen, but somehow they still manage to be the freshest and most original jazz group I’ve heard in a very long time - and that was how they were that night too.

Their set was largely original compositions - all three are prolific and talented composers as well as performers, and have recorded a substantial amount of their own material in addition to their famous covers - and although there wasn’t as much material from their latest effort, Prog, as I would have liked, everything they did include was terrific (particularly “Dirty Blond” and “1972 Bronze Medallist”). Throughout the night, pianist Ethan Iverson took the mic between tunes, introducing the ones they were playing and providing a bit of background, taking care to introduce his fellow group members - bassist Reid Anderson and drummer David King - multiple times throughout the night to assure everyone he was not stealing the spotlight.

Not that he doesn’t deserve it; all three should be getting as much spotlight as is affordable. King’s solos were completely ridiculous, for lack of better term; the time never wavered while he was performing superhuman feats of kit skills. A friend I was sitting with, a drummer himself, was sitting openmouthed for most of the show. They are that good.

Their final song was introduced again by Iverson, but he refused to tell us the name, only saying that we’d recognize it (everyone here, including myself, was hoping very hard it would be “Tom Sawyer”). He put the microphone down on top of the piano lid and continued to stand, back to the piano, facing the audience, as the tune started. For maybe two minutes he played scattered melody notes with one hand, staring deadpan and unmoving at the audience. Rather surreal. Then he sat down and really began to play, and then we realised: “Chariots of Fire”.

The Bad Plus are one of the few bands that can do a cover of “Chariots” - as their final tune, no less - and still make it seem like the coolest song ever to be played in jazz. Iverson’s giant block chords turned it into even more of an epic than would be expected, and by the end we were all converted to the church of Vangelis … okay, maybe not that far, but certainly to the cult of the trio on stage in front of us.

They did get called back for an encore, which was not a bit unexpected. Iverson came back to the mic with a bit of a mischievous smile. “Wow, you guys! You’re so nice here in Canada. We really like Canada. It’s pretty great. Okay, this next tune … is from Canada.”

The crowd went nuts.

Debates afterward followed whether Rush’s “Tom Sawyer” or the Bad Plus’ take on it (live, even more fabulous than on record) was better, and you know if this debate is happening in Canada it is probably pretty serious. The night was capped off by the house playing the original Rush tune after their set, of course. And what a night it was.

See them if you can. There’s nobody out there quite this fantastic, I promise.

Coming up: reviews of Sam Roberts’ Love at the End of the World and the Futureheads’ This Is Not The World!

This is kind of a hybrid concert-review/band-ramblings/album-review post. Hopefully it is not too confusing.

Toronto’s blues-rock-country-drunken-party band The Schomberg Fair hosted a marvelous CD release party this past Saturday at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, smack in the middle of a weekend transit strike that essentially paralyzed much of the city (and caused terrifying gridlock for those of us attempting to transport ourselves to the show via other peoples’ wheely machines). However, it was remarkably well-attended, and featured a host of their friends’ bands on the bill as well. To make things somewhat confusing and rather narcissistic, two of those - not one, but two - were bands that I am a member of, namely Entire Cities and The Cheap Speakers. So I will forego the review of those, although I would like to mention that I think both sets were a lot of fun, and playing at the Horseshow really rules.

The third band was, as the others, a veteran of the Rancho Relaxo’s Two Way Monologues showcase; they were Tin Bangs, and to be honest, I didn’t enjoy their set all that much. I will refrain from commenting too extensively on it, mostly because I was extremely tired (having played back-to-back sets) and somewhat impatient to see the Fair’s notably crazy, country-filled goodness. I also was somewhat bored by their stylings. They are, to their credit, great musicians; the set was really tight and really poppy, but there was something the same about all of it, which left me pretty cold. According to a friend, they covered the Hives and the Strokes during their stage time, but I will freely admit I had no idea (not because of the way they played, just because I wouldn’t recognize a Hives song if it was waving an airport pick-up sign).

And finally, the power trio, banjo-filled, and (this night) completely drunk Schomberg Fair. They make you want to break out the hooch and your cowboy hat and go find some handsome lads or pretty ladies on the dance floor. Let me tell you, if you have any opportunity to see them, you must.

In a nutshell, the Fair are like rock ‘n’ roll with a lot of extra roll - that good old-style twang, banjo, and some incredible bass vocals courtesy (of course) the bassist, Nate Sidon. They do covers of Townes Van Zandt (really well, too) and also of the favourite “Wade in the Water,” sung entirely two octaves below sea level by Sidon, who continuously draws shocked and disbelieving looks from listeners and audience members as he defies normal vocal capability. Seriously. It’s excellent.

Frontman, guitarist, banjo player and vocalist Matt Bahen is no second fiddle, though. Even while listening to him noodle around on guitar during a soundcheck, it’s clear he knows how to play the good ol’ blues, and play it well. His voice and instrumental stylings are a combination of Those Who Rock and Those Who Country (er, that was not a verb until just now), and together with spirited drummer Jake Stewart, often a vocal contributor as well - and an excellent one - the three make up one of the most talented good-time party bands to hit Toronto in a while.

Their new album Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground is a good embodiment of all of these characteristics. A few bonuses is that it’s a bit easier to hear all the crazy things that Bahen does on his various instruments than it is live (where often some of the subtleties get lost in the confusion), as well as to hear Sidon’s vocal-cord rumblings for mostly the same reasons. The songs are well-produced and have just enough twang to appeal to those who enjoy, but not excessive enough to repel those who are wary of it - a pretty awesome feat, honestly.

The one thing I wish it had a little more of was their on-stage exuberance, although much of it is still present in all facets of the recording. Perhaps a little more restraint on that is good, since the further you go into “exuberance” the further you inevitably go into “sloppiness” after a certain while. Still, that doesn’t take away from what is definitely a contender for my list of best albums this year (I was just about to enumerate some of the other contenders, and then realised that would probably be a silly idea).

Conveniently, the Fair are featured today as CBC Radio 3’s Track of the Day with the title song from said new record, so do yourself a favour and go check it out right here.

—

On a totally unrelated and fairly gratuitous note, I am really obsessed with the following albums lately: Murmur, Ball, Challengers, Heretic Pride, and It’s Never Been Like That. (If Wikipedia had music samples every other website would be DESTROYED FOREVER.)

Oh man, I have so many posts to write! This one’s a bit late in coming, too, so the others are going to get bumped back a bit. Sorry … I’ve got Lazy Blogger Syndrome lately, it seems.

Anyway, if you’ve been reading this blog since the get-go you’re aware of my great love for Field Music. While they are quite regrettably on some kind of band hiatus (a concept invented mainly to torment music fans), the members are still keeping themselves busy with other projects; School of Language is one of these. Mainly a solo venture for guitarist David Brewis, the School is a tight power trio on the road, and rolled through Toronto last week for an excellent set at Sneaky Dee’s.

Kicking off the show was Toronto outfit Pants and Tie, delivering a rollercoaster set of tunes that spanned a myriad of genres. Vocalist Mark Colborne belted and squeaked and hollered his way through the night, supported by excellent sampling, keys, guitar and bass work by the remaining two musicians. Some of the songs were a little off the mark (due in large part to arrangement), but when they were on, they were really on. A highlight was “Little Bird,” available for your listening pleasure on myspace.

Next up, another Toronto band by the name of The I Spies. I’ve seen them before, supporting indie-pop favourite Small Sins (some songs on their new record are co-penned by Sins’ frontman Thom D’Arcy); that was a great show, but nothing prepared me for this. I’ve rewritten this paragraph ten times and they all sounded like pretentious indie music reviewers who inject adjectives everywhere to make themselves sound good, so all I’m going to say is, they were spot-on. Every song. As some people would say, they “rocked my face off”; comparisons could be drawn to the Who at their best, and “In the Night” was absolutely fantastic. At the end of their set I kind of felt like just sitting there and staring, because it was so unexpectedly ON. I’m definitely making a point of seeing them more often. I picked up their new album, released March 11; so far, it’s just as good.

And finally, the band of the night … Sunderland’s School of Language, quirky and awkward and absolutely fantastic. David Brewis - a man who could use a good sandwich - recorded the SOL’s debut album Sea From Shore by himself, playing all the instruments and sequencing everything with a laptop. Consequently, it sounds deliciously weird and choppy, and occasionally disjointed; however, the two musicians he’s taking on tour with him ironed out the songs well, translating them admirably to a live setting. “Disappointment ‘99″ and “Poor Boy” sounded exactly like the Futureheads when performed on stage (not surprising, as his brother and fellow Field Music member Peter Brewis was among the original members); “The Rockist” bookended the set, and a Roxy Music cover featured somewhere in the middle. Requests for Field Music and Tortoise covers weren’t honoured, but for the best, likely; Sea From Shore provides great material on its own and Brewis is sagely trying to distance himself from the other projects he and SOL members have been previously involved with.

Brewis himself is a talented songwriter and guitarist, but a very humble and softspoken one; a very British “thank you very much indeed” followed every song, and conversations with him post-show yielded slightly shy acknowledgments of compliments, both from me and other people in the audience. He seemed almost reluctant to agree that Sea From Shore was a great album, but was quite excited about having been able to schedule a date in Toronto; “another gig in Pennsylvania or Ohio would really just have depressed me!”

They may not be Field Music, but that seems to be Brewis’ objective; to show that yes, there are other things he can do. Of course there are countless similarities, but School of Language seems a bit more open to experimentation and doing things that might just be called “weird” in the prog-pop frame. And with a talented group of musicians like that, they can very well do so. We need more of you, David Brewis; come back soon.

One of the most excellent things about Toronto music festivals is the abundance of in-store performances you can catch, both by local bands and visiting ones, completely for free. I dropped in on a few of them last week - braving the awful snowstorm - and here we are.

The first was at Soundscapes, a little independent record store in Little Italy with a great deal of emphasis on homegrown talent. In between buying the latest and greatest albums to hit the shelves, we witnessed a short but wonderful set by Toronto’s own Laura Barrett, mistress of the kalimba and brand-new signee to Paper Bag Records (staff were playing fellow labelmates The Acorn before her set, but I can’t tell whether that was a coincidence or not).

Since self-releasing her EP Earth Sciences back in 2005, Barrett has seen the recent release of a second EP, Ursula, as well as the reissue of Earth Sciences on Paper Bag late last year, and is at work on a full-length. Her set was, as usual, completely charming and extraordinarily well executed; she’s the newest one-woman band, at one point playing the kazoo, kalimba, and MIDI-controller bass foot pedals at the same time (and, of course, never missing a beat). We were treated to a handful of newer songs from the second EP and the upcoming album, as well as a few old favourites like “Robot Ponies” and “Stop Giving Your Children Standardized Tests”. She’s always sunny and charming, and remarkably good at keeping the audience’s attention, directing lines of the songs at audience members and generally being a great time to watch. It’s always a pleasure to catch one of her sets.

Afterward, I made it to Criminal Records (”legal music and swag”) on Queen West for an East Coast instore showcase. Because of the aforementioned snowstorm, and a late start at Soundscapes, I missed the first band - former Eric’s Trip bassist Julie Doiron’s new outfit Calm Down It’s Monday, formerly Blue Heeler, with Dick Morello - but we did catch her solo set later, which was delectable, featuring some work from her latest album Woke Myself Up (notably “Dark Horse,” which I love). I did, however, arrive in time to see - in the words of the Meligrove Band’s Mike Small - “the cutest band ever”: Halifax duo The Superfantastics. They’ve just come off a mini-tour with Laura Barrett, and they were well matched; self-described as “the Alex P. Keaton of the indie pop scene,” they are absolutely adorable, extremely talented, and make incredibly enjoyable music. Their songwriting is catchy and despite being only two people, their sound is remarkably full and engaging. They are currently touring with Julie Doiron promoting their newest EP Choose Your Destination, a follow-up to their full-length album Pop-Up Book. They’ll be playing in Calgary as part of Junofest at the beginning of April.

Closing band Dog Day, once described by Sloan’s Chris Murphy as “the ABBA of Canada” (referring to the two married couples who make up the band), ended the afternoon with an excellently delivered set of energetic pop-rock, although their stage presence left a little to be desired compared to the bouncy Matt MacDonald of the Superfantastics. Still, their performance was tight, supported by excellent work on the bass by Nancy Urich, and upheld the remarkable reputation that the Halifax-centric East Coast scene has earned for excellent pop and rock bands since the original Pop Explosion. They are touring extensively to support their new full-length, Night Group, which has earned them a great deal of positive press (for good reason; the songs are magnificent).

And all that for free! What’s not to love?

Coming up: reviews of School of Language,  the I Spies, Jason Collett, and the Mountain Goats! Stay tuned!

Sloan. If you’re Canadian, you’ve likely heard the clichés; pioneers of Canadian independent music, quintessential Can-rock, etc. But after surveying their previous work associated with the murderecords label, and checking out the new stuff they’ve signed, there’s no denying there’s some truth to them. Clichés kick around for a reason, and Sloan’s still doing what they do over fifteen years into it all.

Toronto is smack in the middle of Canadian Music Week, and as part of it, the aforementioned label put on a showcase at a little bar in Kensington Market to display some recently-signed talent (as well as their venerable, at least in rock & roll years, owners). Murder is expanding again to include bands other than Sloan, which can only mean good things. And, in almost every case, it did.

I missed the first two bands at the actual showcase, but I’ve had the great pleasure of seeing the first, Will Currie & the Country French, before. As many would attest, they are an excellent match for the label. They’re incredibly young, but have great musicianship; their music is full of breezy pop melodies and tight hooks, and the piano work is really well done. I have the demo they sold at that show for the remarkable price of $1, and it’s tighter and better produced than some recent full-length albums. Their EP will be out on murderecords sometime this year, and rest assured, there will be a review here!

The second band, Pony Da Look, is one I’ve yet to experience live; from what I understand, though, “experience” is a fairly appropriate word. Their music is very 80s influenced and awash in synthesizer and strange vocals. I’ll reserve full judgment, but I’ll say here that missing their set was not the disappointment of a lifetime.

I arrived in time to catch the slimmed-down Meligrove Band, now playing as a three-piece after the departure of guitarist/synth player Andrew Scott (yes, he’s heard the Sloan jokes!) of The Bicycles. The last time I saw them was coming off of Planets Conspire, so it’s been a while, and there was a fair amount of material in their short set that I hadn’t heard before. They did add some Planets favourites, including the explosive single “Our Love Will Make the World Go Round”; the arrangements are remarkably different live, and especially without Andrew, but they are an excellent trio of musicians and put on a great show. And they even added a Local Rabbits cover as a tribute to murderecords. Nice work, lads.

Finally came Sloan. There had been some talk that they were going to pull out some “old favourites,” but we hadn’t realised to what extent; boy, were we surprised. Right off the top, their first two songs were both sides of a 7″ from the One Chord to Another era (”Stood Up” and “Same Old Flame”), and the third, “Take Good Care of the Poor Boy” - one of Jay Ferguson’s best! - from Between the Bridges. Truthfully, they could have ended there and I’d have been happy.

They didn’t, of course, and other surprises showed up as well (namely “Before I Do,” somewhat shortened from its album version and sounding great). Each of the four did one of their new songs, as well, from their upcoming record tentatively titled Parallel Play. Unfortunately, bassist Chris Murphy - now finding himself in a comfortable and secure familial situation - seems to have lost the ability to write playful, meaningful lyrics like he used to (see “Autobiography,” “The Marquee and the Moon”); new song “I’m Not a Kid Anymore”, while musically solid, featured lyrics far too much like “Will I Belong?” or similar to be completely great.

However, newly bearded guitarist Patrick Pentland and drummer Andrew Scott - the other one - pulled off a couple of solid ones (”Believe in Me” and “911″, respectively), both rocking rather admirably, and the former conjuring shades of a more driving and uptempo sequel to “I Understand”. Guitarist Ferguson regaled us with a curious number titled “Witch’s Wand,” written in a surprisingly low vocal range, and complete with expected catchy chorus. Certainly all four were a welcome glimpse into the content of what will be their ninth (!) studio album, likely a fair bit shorter than their last effort - Never Hear the End of It was thirty tracks long, plus two bonus!

When all is said and done, Sloan definitely still knows how to put on a tight show, most of the time - and judging by the new murderecords lineup, they know how to find other bands who can do the same. If this is the new face of the label, I’ll be driving the bandwagon.

If you’re a fan of the Joel Plaskett Emergency, chances are you heard about his 6-night run at Toronto’s Legendary Horseshoe Tavern in mid-December. And if you live in Toronto, chances are you probably attended at least one show, or fought unsuccessfully for a ticket - five of the six shows were sold out.

Never mind that Winter Nationals had been a Rheostatics tradition since Joel was cutting his teeth in Thrush Hermit. Never mind that they had just broken up in March and the fans were still sulking over the loss - and the end of the formidable Nationals run. The fact of the matter was that the Horseshoe’s 60th anniversary was coming up, a giant party was in store, and suddenly … there were no Rheos. A slight dilemma.

Enter Joel Plaskett. With his popularity on an exponential rise, a song in a Zellers commercial, recent tours with the Tragically Hip … well, he seemed like a pretty reasonable candidate for the ‘Shoe and a big anniversary bash. When he was approached by the head honcho of the Horseshoe, he gamely accepted - but decided that damn it, he was going to put a twist on things. For one, it was a milestone birthday; for another, a lot of people were probably not going to take a different artist playing Winter Nationals very lightly. So it was up to Joel to make it worth their while.

Being one part excited musician and one part sly businessman, Plaskett decided that he was going to play one of his albums every night (totalling five), and play the sixth night as a wild-card themeless Emergency set. Of course, this ensured attendance at multiple nights for people who “just couldn’t miss” certain albums; some crazy fans even went all six nights, this writer included. Sneaky.

Herein lies the genius of naming Plaskett the successor to Bidini, Tielli et al. There are few artists who could rehearse a repertoire of over sixty songs, play a full set each night (ramping it up a notch each time, as you’ll hear about) of almost completely different material, draw sellout crowds for an entire week, and still come away with fans who are not sick of seeing them. I’m still trying to come up with any other bands that are currently active who could do the same for me. Who on earth would I want to see six times in a row? Is there anyone?

Interesting: with these six Horseshoe Tavern shows, the Emergency has tied for most times I’ve seen a band live (nine) with Sloan, but I don’t think I’d ever voluntarily see Sloan that many times in such a ridiculously short period of time. Well, unless they played four album shows, Twice Removed through Between the Bridges - that would definitely get me out. But I digress.

The point is, Joel has a stage presence and a way about performing that is always, and I do mean always, fun and exciting. He does all the right things: engaging with the audience, making jokes, messing up every once in a while, having extended harmonica duels (Elkas playing “Low Rider”? Golden). Oh yeah, and bringing up a set of guests a la The Last Waltz didn’t hurt either.

If you’re curious, you can check out the complete setlists of his six-day residency at the ‘Shoe. If you’re not so into looking through them, allow me to impart the list of his guests:

• Tara S’Appart (Elevator)
• Gordie Johnson (Big Sugar, Grady)
• his father, Bill Plaskett
• Taylor Knox & Neil Quin (Major Grange, The Golden Dogs)
• Andrew Scott (Sloan)
• Mr Chill
• Gord Downie (Tragically Hip)
• Sarah Harmer
• Ian McGettigan (Thrush Hermit, former Emergency, Camouflage Nights)

Seeing Plaskett, McGettigan and Marsh on the same stage was certainly cause for quite a lot of celebration (especially their performances of “Light of the Moon” and “Down at the Khyber,” as well as unexpected Clayton Park favourites “Oh My Soul!” and “From the Back of the Film”. Let’s just say I picked that as one of the best shows of the year for a reason, mmhmm? There are few things more excellent than that.

Anyway, without going into excessive detail about each night, I’m going to say that there was no one week better than the reborn Winter Nationals at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern. Everything from seeing Joel play with his father to Gord Downie singing on “Love This Town” to the Hermit to “In a Town This Size” and “The Lakes of Pontchartrain”. Ladies and gentlemen, Canada mourns the Rheostatics, and we will for a long time; but in their absence, it sure is nice to have a guy like Joel.

If there’s a band you should know about, it is Peterborough’s The Burning Hell. Trust me on this one.

Primarily the brainchild of ukulele master Mathias Kom, the Burning Hell is an outfit that combines folk, rock, cabaret and the now-familiar giant indie-band lineup (my friend described them as “Folkin’ Social Scene”, and a more apt nickname I may never hear). We played with them in Oshawa this past week and I have no idea what I was expecting, but it was certainly not this.

To give you a brief idea, their set that night featured ponderous, lilting numbers (”Everything You Believe Is A Lie”), hilarious uptempo multi-part stories about zombies (”Grave Situation” parts 1 and 2), beautiful folky songs (”Municipal Monarchs”) and yes, a cover of Men Without Hats’ ubiquitous “Pop Goes the World”. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen that one covered by a ten-piece band.

The best part about the Burning Hell is that they don’t take themselves too seriously, which is why they can get away with bouncy covers back-to-back with dirgey folk, sung by Kom in his rich baritone, backed by ukulele. They do whatever they want, however they want, and it’s that element of whimsy that makes them such a delightful band to witness - not to mention their innate ability to make you want to dance to songs about zombies and cheating husbands. And their informal CD release party, held in a photographer friend’s loft near Queen St East in Toronto, was just as much of a party (one that was broken up by the police, in fact, which left a lot of people rather bewildered; but what better way to endorse a band’s awesome factor than the hint that it takes a police force to contain them?).

Riding on their recent release, 2008 is shaping up to be an excellent year for the Burning Hell and friends; gear up to hear more about them, as they don’t look like they’ll be slowing down anytime soon.

Take a listen to Grave Situation Pt. 1 or check out their myspace.