For those of you who are unaware, the festival’s all-day portions (Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 until 5:30) are made up mostly of workshops, which throw together a few different artists and make them play together for an hour or so. They are by far the most interesting, intriguing, and often surprising parts of the festival, and all of them have a theme attached to them which the musicians can draw from as much or as little as they like. To convey the theme, the clever festival staff assign them really great names. I went through them all and picked my favourites.

Best workshop names

Some Country for Bold Men
Start Making Sense
All Rebel Rockers
The Harder They Strum
and the crowning glory: Strum und Twang!

In that vein, my list of best workshops (at least out of the ones I managed to take in: the schedule is a real feat of organization!):

Some Country for Bold Men
(Danny Barnes, The Deep Dark Woods, Luluc, The Good Lovelies)
As you might expect, a whole heck of a lot of country. Danny Barnes’ blazing bluegrass was a major highlight, as was the fact that all the musicians actually joined in everything — sometimes workshops turn into awkward “you play a tune, now I’ll play a tune” sessions, and then the whole point is lost. Thankfully, none of these musicians could keep themselves from playing along, and it turned into a pretty boot-stompin’ party, tempered by the occasional downtempo folky tune in exactly the right places. The final jam tune, “I Saw The Light,” not only had everyone on stage singing but everyone in the audience too. Not bad for a Sunday morning!
(I actually bought CDs by both Luluc and The Deep Dark Woods purely on the merit of this one workshop — I hadn’t seen either before, but their measly three songs each convinced me. It was that good. I’d have bought the Good Lovelies’ CD too, but my sister beat me to it!)

Cooking With Brass
(Tarhana, Bell Orchestre, Mirah, Bellowhead)
This stage contained everything from fiddles to Sousaphone to saxophones to accordions. It was like Broken Social Scene if they had gone through high school band together or something — I think I counted twenty musicians stuffed onto that little stage. Tarhana led everybody in raucous Turkish folk jams with a ridiculous amount of groove, and Bellowhead reviewed a few of the previous night’s mainstage favourites. It was loud, brassy, and a hell of a lot of fun. The “dancing section” along the side was hopping, which is a good a sign as any that you probably picked the right stage.

The Yonge & The Restless
(Sarah Harmer, Steven Page, The Good Lovelies, Justin Rutledge)
A Toronto-centric workshop in Alberta? Potentially risky, but it just seemed to justify everybody making jokes about the garbage strike and constant rainstorms. The musical combinations of all those voices was, however, totally fantastic. Steven Page was awkwardly on edge, although not as badly as he was during his later mainstage performance — he even broke out “Jane” later in the session! Justin Rutledge led everyone in a singalong of his adorable “Don’t Be So Mean, Jellybean”, which never gets old.

Another World
(Pacifika, The Acorn, Tarhana)
Pacifika’s members come from Peru, Barbados and Canada. The Acorn is an Ottawa mainstay, and Tarhana base themselves in Amsterdam and play Balkan and Oriental folk music. The sheer number of different folk traditions included in this session is astounding, and I’m sure you can imagine the sounds that emanated from the stage once things got cooking. The afternoon was just full of infectious groove and danceability … is that even a word? To be honest, I think this session created it. That was a combination I would love to see happen again.

Guided By Voices
(Akron/Family, The Good Lovelies, Umalali, Dry Branch Fire Squad)
Again, as you might expect from the clever titling, this one was meant to be voice-guided. I don’t think they even needed to prompt them with that, though, because the voices in this combination of artists are so strong that it would have been the standout point anyway. The Good Lovelies are just, well, lovely — their Boswell Sisters cover was delightful — and Umalali are one gigantic party. Pair the latter with Akron/Family and you get something fairly out of this world. Since this one was in the festival’s final round of workshops, it was especially difficult to leave: I could have listened to that for days!

—

Coming tomorrow: List of Lists Part II, featuring the best mainstage performances and new musical discoveries of this year’s festival. Complete with tunes for your auditory enjoyment! See you tomorrow.

I missed the first act, Los Misioneros del Norte, but I made sure I was back at home base for one of my most loved musicians these days, Justin Rutledge. He graced us with a bunch of gooders from Man Descending (including “St. Peter” and “Greenwich Time,” two of my favourites!) as well as “The Suffering of Pepe O’Malley, Pt III” and “Lay Me Down Sweet Jesus” from No Never Alone. It was curiously satisfying to see the latter at the folk festival, because although I’ve seen him perform it a few times, the first time I ever heard the song was when legendary Canadian blues guy Jim Byrnes covered it at the festival in 2007. Ah, the circle!

Greatly enjoyed the fusion stylings of Umalali as well — what a groove! — and the Woodchoppers really upped the ante with their genre-bending, joyful mayhem on stage. (Not bad for a last-minute mainstage addition.) And of course, Iron & Wine … I can only imagine how intimidating it must be to be on a stage that enormous by oneself, let alone perform with such a casual, familiar attitude. Perhaps it’s just the atmosphere of the festival itself. At one point, the crowd cheered and yelled after a particular song and he quipped “Is this a Canadian riot?” Oh, very funny. Welcome to the land north of the 49th.

I’ll keep this brief, but before I sign off I wanted to point out something awesome: Glen Campbell’s latest record, Meet Glen Campbell (released August 2008). He’s a mainstage act on Saturday night, and I’ve heard many an interesting tidbit about this record, so I investigated. Well, not only is it an album full of covers, but the list of artists whose songs he borrows is pretty incredible: Travis, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Foo Fighters, Jackson Browne, The Replacements, U2, Velvet Underground, Green Day, and John Lennon. Yeah — Glen Campbell covers “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”, that song that’s been played at every high school grad since 1997. And I really want to hear him do Tom Petty and Jackson Browne. It could be awful, a product of an old star trying to connect with the whippersnappers, but I have a feeling that it’s probably awesome. I mean, “Wichita Lineman”. Do I have to continue?

I’ll try to check in daily to let you know how things are going, but it’ll be a quick turnaround between night and morning for the next two days, so updates might be scarce. You can always check out my Twitter, though — I’ll be updating “from the field” every day. And if that’s not enough, the Twitter hashtag #cfmf will provide you with posts from all folk festival Tweeters using the tag!

See you tomorrow — Bell Orchestre, Gomez, Akron/Family, Chad VanGaalen, and the Decemberists (!!!), and more besides. Whew!

The Burning Hell @ the Horseshoe Tavern: This band is amazing. They are coming off the release of their second full-length, Baby, and I think they get more energetic every time I see them. The bonus of this show is that they were almost all rip-roaring drunk, particularly Mathias (the frontman, brain, and master ukulele-man behind the project), which added about ten thousand energy points. “Grave Situation Pt. 1″ has never sounded so good, and I was amazed both at the number of people filling the ‘Shoe for their set and at how many of those people were raucously yelling along to most of the songs.

Six Shooter Records BBQ: For those unaware of the recent tradition, Six Shooter Records hosts a backlot BBQ on the Saturday of NXNE behind their store on Queen East. This year it poured fairly aggressively, but it was still packed full of umbrella-wielding, good-humoured folks; NQ Arbuckle, the afternoon’s host, definitely fits into the latter category. I believe the margaritas may have contributed to his good humour later in the day, but nonetheless, he did magnificently. There were great, and I mean great, performances by the likes of Justin Rutledge (including a rockin’ version of his “jellybean song”), The Beauties, Luke Doucet, Martin Tielli — yeah! — backed by Luke Doucet and Selina Martin, Rose Cousins, and a bunch of others too. Highlights included … well, the whole thing. I am sure you can imagine what the original post looked like.

And that’s about all I did. We played a show at Mitzi’s Sister on the Saturday night, though, and Chart magazine loved us. So that’s something! (I apologise for shameless self-promotion; in my defense, it has been quite some time since that happened around these parts.)

Much shorter than the last post, and hopefully you’ll actually get to read it this time! I hope things get interesting around here again so I have things to talk about. I am working my way through a couple of books (Claudia Dey’s Stunt and Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany), so when I finish them — which will be soon — perhaps you will see some musings.

Ho hum, summertime, etc.

Sloan (March 6, The Supermarket, Toronto)
review

Just by virtue of the fact that they played a host of songs I never thought I’d see them do (“Stood Up” and “Same Old Flame”, for example, from an old 7″ released around 1996), gave us a preview of some new tunes a few months before Parallel Play, and had a good time on a small stage.

The Bad Plus (May 24, Quincy’s, Calgary)
review

One of the more talented jazz groups I have had the pleasure of witnessing, and of course, they ended with their now-famous cover of Rush’s “Tom Sawyer” (which the Bad Plus have released on 2007’s Prog). Incredibly talented and versatile musicians, and Quincy’s was a great venue for them.

The Weakerthans (July 24, Calgary Folk Festival)
review

I credit this show with catapulting me into becoming a Weakerthans fan. They were terrific, and just the perfect sort of music for a summer afternoon. There couldn’t have been anything better about the Weakerthans’ short folk festival set.

Be Good Tanyas (July 25, Calgary Folk Festival)
review

I’ve wanted to see the Tanyas for quite a few years, dating back to the first time I heard “The Littlest Birds” from Blue Horse. Unfortunately, they didn’t play that, but they put on a very impressive show at the Folk Festival, reminding us that their blend of bluegrass, folk and country is not going anywhere. Three of the finest voices this country has to offer.

Andrew Bird (July 25, Calgary Folk Festival)
review

Definitely one of the most unique and interesting acts at the Folk Festival this year. It was hard to believe everything was being done by one man and a hard-working loop pedal; very intricate and delicately crafted music, and a great experience to see it being done live.

Blue Rodeo (July 26, Calgary Folk Festival)
review

Words can’t describe how much fun I had with Blue Rodeo. It had rained most of the afternoon and evening that day and I was ready to bail, but I’m glad we stuck it out — it’s obvious to me now why Blue Rodeo have been around for such a long time. Incredible musicians, and their joy of playing radiates from everything they do.

Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet (July 27, Calgary Folk Festival)
review

Abigail Washburn: a redheaded Southern belle who can sing in fluent Mandarin, accompanied by a string band. This alone is good enough to land the Sparrow Quartet on the list, but on top of that, they are amazing (also featuring banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck). To see these musicians is a real experience.

Squeeze (August 28, Kool Haus, Toronto)
review

I’ve wanted this to happen for years, and when it finally did, nothing was a letdown. Tilbrook was on top form, his voice and guitar skills as good as they ever were, and a bonus of touring without an album to back was a setlist jam-packed with all kinds of unexpected songs. A party from start to finish.

Sigur Rós (September 22, Massey Hall, Toronto)
review

I didn’t know what to expect going into this, but everything about it was great. Ethereal and soaring and very, very musical. The encore didn’t hurt either: a huge, joyful version of “Gobbledigook” featuring all the members of opening band Parachutes, and near the end, the biggest blast of confetti I’ve ever seen inside a concert hall. We were picking up the pieces for weeks!

Martin Tielli (September 28, Hugh’s Room, Toronto)

I regret not doing a proper review for this show, since it stayed with me for quite a few weeks. Tielli is one of those musicians you can go to when you’re sick of everyone doing the same thing, because he’s never, ever conventional. An incredible performance of his solo tunes and Rheos material with a great band of supporting musicians.

David Byrne (October 29, Massey Hall, Toronto)
review

Byrne is a real legend, and deservedly so; he did all the right things on the Massey stage, and added some quirks too (like the dancers!). The new material translates exceptionally well live, and he threw in some Talking Heads favourites too. He’s a thrilling performer, and one I’d see again in a heartbeat.

Hayden (November 1, Massey Hall, Toronto)

Backed by members of Cuff the Duke, Hayden’s jamming-in-a-living-room sort of set was homey and perfect, filling the beautiful old Massey Hall with his easygoing music. I didn’t want it to end. I’d see him again quite readily, especially since I bought his album after the show and know it reasonably better now.

Robin Williams (November 22, Massey Hall, Toronto)

The funniest hour and a half I’ve spent all year. Robin Williams just does not stop talking, and flits around from subject to subject to potty joke faster than light. Much ado was made about the American election, but also the Canadian one (he did a remarkable impression of Prime Minister Harper), and his accents and miming skills are among the most hilarious things I’ve seen in a while.

Justin Rutledge (December 1, Cameron House, Toronto)

If ever there were a perfect show, this might be it. The Cameron House’s front room capacity is about 70, and there were at least that many people crammed in there to hear Justin Rutledge on night 4 of his “Incredible Shrinking Tour” (each night brought a smaller venue). Many songs from Man Descending were played, and he went over two hours before finally deciding to take a break. I had no idea that much time had passed — a testament to the captivating things happening on stage.

Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Cafe (December 14, Massey Hall, Toronto)

I must confess: before this, I didn’t even like Stuart McLean. I would turn the radio off when the Vinyl Café started. However, there’s something about seeing the live version that makes things all the more enjoyable; ad-libs, personal anecdotes, and the really great musicians he brought along with him. I have been inducted into the world of Dave and Morley, and while I probably won’t listen to too many studio broadcasts, the live ones have a certain warmth that I really enjoyed.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS: There were two shows that I feel worthy of mentioning here, but they didn’t make the main list mostly because I was heavily involved with them (and that is probably a conflict of interest!). One of them is The Bicycles’ CD release party at Lee’s Palace on November 8, featuring a myriad of guest performers like Forest City Lovers, Henri Fabergé and the Adorables, Sloan, Hooded Fang, $100, Matt Murphy, etc. I did play in about 8 songs, but the Bicycles put on a fantastic performance in every one, including backing up all the aforementioned bands. It was a great way to bring Oh No, It’s Love into the world. (review)

The other is Entire Cities’ CD release party at the Canadian Corps Hall on April 11. This is my band, and we had planned for quite some time to get the release party in order. Everything went without a hitch; no delays, no PA problems, great sound, and a lovely time. It still stands as probably the best show I’ve ever played, and certainly the best show with Entire Cities; I think that in itself merits a mention.

Happy new year, everybody! I look forward to the news and tunes of 2009 (already shaping up to be a pretty good year). Now if only that strike would end already.

10. SCHOOL OF LANGUAGE, Sea From Shore (Thrill Jockey)

Peter Brewis of Field Music, whose Tones of Town made it to the top of my list last year, is back with a new project. School of Language’s debut album is strange and quirky (the four-part “Rockist” certainly assures that much) but also features some great poppy numbers like “Poor Boy” and “Disappointment ‘99″. Every time you listen to it, something different stands out: you have to listen to it many times over to realise everything that it has to offer, and that cements its status as one of the top albums of the year.

Review: March 2008
Listen to Disappointment ‘99

9. THE BURNING HELL, Happy Birthday (weewerk)

The Burning Hell are awesome because they simultaneously don’t take themselves too seriously and take themselves very seriously. Mathias Kom’s earnest baritone is, well, serious, but he uses it to sing about dinosaurs, zombies and other playful subjects; the closing number involves him singing about his iconic ukulele. This is a band that isn’t afraid to appear whimsical (and they do, on several occasions) but Happy Birthday is also a lesson in how to play with a giant Broken-Social-Scene-sized ensemble and still make the music sound intimate and well-rehearsed.

Review: January 2008
Listen to Municipal Monarchs

8. THE MOUNTAIN GOATS, Heretic Pride (4AD)

I’ve always admired John Darnielle’s songwriting, and Heretic Pride is no reason to quit. Of course, the album features his trademark nasal vocal style, which admittedly gets to be a bit annoying on the title track particularly, but there’s also something about that style that fits perfectly with his abstract lyrics and occasionally jerky guitar. There’s some almost ethereal work on Heretic Pride too, though: songs like “San Bernardino”, featuring strings, and “Sept 15, 1983″, songs which remind you just how talented Darnielle really is and why he deserves a place on this list. (Well — that, and he has a song called “Michael Myers Resplendent,” which should be a bye into the top 10 no matter what!)

Review: April 2008
Listen to Sax Rohmer #1

7. LONGWAVE, Secrets Are Sinister (Original Signal)

I have Adam to thank for this one. I wasn’t familiar with Longwave’s work until 2008, so Secrets Are Sinister is the only album of theirs that I’ve heard in its entirety. Really, the best adjective for this record is “tight” — very together, very well put together, and very hard-driving. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been listening to it in the season of snow, but it seems curiously to sound like a wintry album without resorting to clichés. “Sirens in the Deep Sea” is a well-chosen opening track, and the whole thing feels a bit like a film distilled into musical form: a perfect flow from start to finish.

Listen to Sirens in the Deep Sea

6. THE BICYCLES, Oh No, It’s Love (Fuzzy Logic)

Before you jump up and call bias (I was on this record as a member of the horn section), I’ll remind you that I had no part in the actual writing or creation of this album, and so I think it’s fair game! The Bicycles’ sophomore record is much more mature and varied than their bubblegum-pop debut album, and the myriad list of guests (including Basia Bulat, Bob Egan, Laura Barrett and Dan Werb) fleshes out the foursome’s collection of musical ideas. At 19 tracks, the album runs just under 38 minutes — a testament to the tight, poppy esthetic the band still maintains. Oh No, It’s Love is simultaneously a fun, playful record and a slick rock collection, and finds its niche comfortably in between; again, the only thing wrong with this record is track 16, the unfunny, awkward comedy interlude (1:03) that disrupts the flow and holds the dubious honour of being the only track that needs skipping.

Review: November 2008
Listen to End of a Good Thing

5. DAVID BYRNE & BRIAN ENO, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (self-released)

When you pair up two musical luminaries such as these, the unexpected will usually come to pass. So it is with Everything That Happens, a long (long, long)-awaited follow-up to 1981’s collaboration My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. That album was quite experimental, using “found objects”, strange samples, and other such interesting sounds; this album is quite conventional by comparison. Some songs even lean toward the singer-songwriter style, such as “My Big Nurse” — but still manages to incorporate enough inventiveness not to be dismissed outright. Curious piano riffs and odd vocal styles (“I Feel My Stuff”), understated downtempo songs (title track) and decidedly new wave influences come together in a sort of mishmash of sounds to create a slick, well-produced, and very interesting record. It’s not as weird or inaccessible as Bush of Ghosts, but this is a positive: Byrne & Eno have made a record that it is nearly impossible to dislike.

Review: October 2008
Listen to Home

4. HAYDEN, In Field & Town (Hardwood)

The best thing about Hayden is that his songs have a curious way of sounding like home, no matter where that might be or how long it has been since you were there. In Field & Town has a quiet humility about its tracks, which are unpretentious and charming to the end; when he played at Massey Hall with Cuff the Duke as his backing band, opening for Feist, the stage was set up to look like a cluttered living room, complete with rugs, a few lopsided table lamps, and even some dishes strewn on top of keyboards (just like his album cover, which is among my favourites). This album floats into your ears and waits for you to realise that it is worth keeping around; nothing is forced, and everything is perfect.

Listen to Damn This Feeling

3. SAM ROBERTS, Love at the End of the World (Secret Brain)

If Secrets Are Sinister was a winter album, then this is definitely one for summer. Sam Roberts has always had that breezy summer feel about his songs, and Love at the End of the World shows him at the top of his writing game; tunes like “Detroit ‘67″ and “Them Kids” just make you want to dance around in fields. “Lions of the Kalahari” and the title track are like the impending summer sunset, a little calmer but no less thrilling. Roberts has crafted an engaging record once again, and one that is immaculately produced to boot. It’ll be a long time before I’m tired of this.

Review: June 2008
Listen to Detroit ‘67

2. JUSTIN RUTLEDGE, Man Descending (Six Shooter)

My top two albums were a tough contest, and Man Descending sat in the number 1 spot for a long time before I finally made up my mind. That alone should tell you how good this record is! Justin Rutledge’s music is usually best listened to after dark, preferably near to midnight; it is calm and beautiful and intimate without being vacuous or boring. Everything about this album is understated, and Rutledge’s voice — smooth as honey — covers everything in a layer of softness. Although it’s by definition a country or roots record, there’s no hoedown or overt twanginess present here — instead, a very solid folk element, some nighttime campfire sounds, and a collection of beautiful lyrics. I can’t think of anything wrong with this record: maybe it should have been a tie!

Listen to Greenwich Time

1. ELLIOTT BROOD, Mountain Meadows (Six Shooter)

It’s a tough thing, choosing the best record of the year. I can’t say I have a remotely unbiased view, considering I heard a pretty small number of new albums in 2008. I can’t say that one winner really stood out at the beginning of all this, either — but out of the mess of good records, mediocre ones, and unmentionables, and out of the scrap between spots 1 and 2, a winner did emerge, and that was Mountain Meadows. This record is a mishmash of all kinds of sounds, from the Rutledge style of quiet folk to the rollicking piano-led hoedown of “Woodward Avenue,” from soaring build (“Fingers and Tongues”) to simple singable tunes (“Without Again”). There is very little that Elliott Brood has not thrown forth on this album, but it comes out as a cohesive whole instead of a collection of parts. Mark Sasso’s trademark raspy voice races through the songs, completely unrestrained (his entrance on “Woodward Avenue” is particularly striking!) and it’s unique touches like these that separate Elliott Brood from the rest of the country bands out there. They do what they want — and if what they want always sounds like this, count me in.

Listen to Fingers and Tongues and Woodward Avenue

Hope all of your holidays are going magnificently; another list or two is forthcoming and then it’s back to business as usual. Take care!