Every time I want to throw in the blogging towel (which, as you can probably tell by the eradic posting schedule lately, is often) something comes up that I just can’t help but write about.  The most recent musical firecracker-up-my-butt is The CFL Sessions, the latest project from Henry Svec.

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Henry’s (Peter Mansbridge and The CBCs, The Boy from ET). He’s one of the most charismatic live performers around (see here) and his song writing is top notch. In fact, I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been salivating in anticipation of the release of The CFL Sessions since I heard him perform these songs last year at the Tranzac. That’s saying a lot, as I’m far from a sports nut and don’t know much about the Canadian Football League at all. These are just damn good tunes.

Of course, with Henry there’s always more to it than just individual songs. As the name would imply, this particular high-concept involves Canadian football. The official byline is as follows (from The CFL Sessions website):

“The original CFL Sessions were captured in the 1970s by the late Canadian folklorist Staunton R. Livingston. The tapes (of Canadian football players performing both original and traditional works) collected dust in the National Archives of Canada until the summer of 2008, when they were discovered by resident folklorist Henry Adam Svec. Now, with the help of ethnomusicologist and composer WL Altman, Svec has transposed the rough, deteriorating recordings into lush and contemporary orchestrations.“

Basically, these are meant as songs performed by CFL players, lost decades ago, but found and given new life by Svec. Whatever the case, they are astounding songs—“Song Written Upong Getting Cut By the Argos” has pretty much been a favourite of mine since seeing it live for the first time last year. They capture an honour and dedication to craft (football or otherwise) that is humble (it is Canadian football…), masculine and divine. All of this is exemplified by the wonderfully forthright admission in “On Discipline”:

“I’m a bad lover and I can’t dance, …but you should see me down in a three-point stance. I’m a terrifying machine. Some of you know what I mean.“

Perfectly unpretentious lyrics like that combined with Svec’s undeniably charming delivery combine to make some truly compelling moments throughout the album (“Linebacker Passing Through” is another prime example).

Another thing that adds to The CFL Sessions‘ overall capacity for repeated listens is that Svec went straight for a collection of songs this time out, unlike The Boy From ET (read about that concept here) which included a large spoken word component.  The stories on that album were hilarious and very entertaining, but made for a far less casual listen.  With The CFL Sessions you’re able to enjoy the excellent songs and impeccably convincing delivery simply as is or dig deeper into the intriguing overall concept.

Whatever the case I can’t help but count my blessings that people like Svec are out there pushing the conceptual envelope while at the same time delivering such an engaging listen. It’s either that or resent him for making me get off my lazy butt and write, but I’d prefer to choose the former and simply sing along.

Oh, did I mention the whole album is free? Get it here.

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The CFL Sessions - Song Written Upon Getting Cut by the Argos

The CFL Sessions - On Discipline