Around this time every year I start combing through my music library looking for albums that I can slip on in the background of those wonderful holiday-themed family functions. What can I say? No one should have to endure multiple spins of Céline Dion’s latest Christmas outing. Basically, the goal is to spike the musical punch with the perfect blend of tunes that are hip enough to be enjoyed, but not so audacious that they alert fellow party-goers to the fact that they’re drinking homebrew instead of eggnog.

One year I slipped on some Solomon Burke and, of course, Feist is an easy sell, but it’s always nice to inject the festivities with something family members won’t recognize. Selecting the right albums can be a subtle and patient art—as much as I may want to groove to Q-Tip’s latest (aaah, yeah) that would blow my cover in an instant. Turns out my work is pretty much done this year though, as Valery Gore’s latest album, Avalanche to Wandering Bear, is the perfect candidate to keep me thoroughly entertained while casually subverting Céline, The Neville Brothers and whomever else my mom will have on repeat this month.

With catchy melodies, jaunty rhythms and an understated vocal delivery that is the icing on the cake, I can listen to Gore ad nauseam. Album opener “Shoes of Glass” is simply undeniable and tracks like “Worried Head” easily follow suit—they’re upbeat and bright without being too bombastic.  Moreover, songs like “Great Lakes” and “Angorra” exemplify the sweet subtlety that taking over the family radio would require.

Sure, it may seem a bit self-righteous to force new music on one’s family, but I’m already a blogger and that assumes a certain extent of vanity. Of course, there’s also the self-preservation angle, as I’m just trying to save myself from “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer”. Either way, all I’m trying to do is make sure there’s at least some bearable music over the holidays and with Avalanche to Wandering Bear I can’t go wrong.

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Valery Gore - Shoes of Glass

Hear more at her Myspace page or grab a digital copy of Avalanche to Wandering Bear here.

I’ve taken my sweet time coming around to The Rural Alberta Advantage (especially considering how many times I’ve seen their name mentioned in i (heart) music), but I’m trying to make good now by getting on board.

Basically, their debut album, Hometowns, is awesome. A perfect example of this is the driven and bittersweet “Don’t Haunt This Place.” To be honest, I could have chosen just about any track from this excellent release, but I figured this is a good place to start…and start you should. If you’re like me, you don’t know what you’ve been missing.

The Rural Alberta Advantage - Don’t Haunt This Place

Hear more at the band’s Myspace page or order a copy of Hometowns from the band’s homepage.

Date: November 07, 2008
Venue: The Rivoli

I recall having enjoyed The Hunting Horns debut, Songs from the Iron Range, when it came out last year, but for some reason the band quickly fell off my radar shortly after. Recently they’ve popped back up for several reasons, not the least of which being this show at The Rivoli earlier in the month.

Somber, but raucous and lead by charismatic front-man Ryan Griffiths, The Hunting Horns painted a picture of a Dylan-esque cowboy traversing an apocalyptic western landscape—roots rock with just the right tinge of empassioned fervour.

The five-piece Toronto band proved a stark contrast to Priya Thomas, who followed immediately afterward. She took to the stage accompanied by nothing aside from a hollow-body electric, a kick drum and some bells on her shoe.  The two acts were appropriately matched in tone however, as Thomas also exemplified a somber intensity. Short on banter, but high on lyricism and poise, she had put together the show (and personally selected the bands involved) in celebration of the recent release of her latest album, Priya Thomas Is Blood Heron.

Here’s a clip of The Hunting Horns performing “Unlucky Dice” as filmed for Zunior.tv (check out a similar video of Priya Thomas here):

The Hunting Horns -Lili

Priya Thomas - Had I Known, I Would Have Declined

This evening I threw on a couple albums to keep me entertained as I finished up some work. I figured a few of them for good candidates to provide a song of the week that I could post when the day-job was finished. Little did I know what I was getting myself into, as Rah Rah’s Going Steady was among those chosen and there was no way the Regina band’s highly enjoyable debut was going to settle for a simple one-song post.

Diverse, melodic and engaging throughout, it became very clear to me as each song passed that Going Steady is an album that deserves a bit more attention than a “song of the week” can give. Thus, here I am at the mercy of spontaneous bloggerly inspiration, eagerly hyperbolizing Rah Rah for all to hear.

Be it the upbeat and ridiculous fun of “Tentacles,” the contemplative and alluring slow-burn of “Castles,” or the anthemic chanting of “Cuba/Peru” there’s a lot to like on Going Steady. Just when you think you’ve got the album pegged as an upbeat and explosive indie rock extravaganza (which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing) they throw in a curve-ball like the country-style romp of “My Guarantee” to keep you on your toes. Furthermore, the album is able to stay diverse without sacrificing an overall sense of identity. Throughout it all there’s an underlying  effervescence and intensity—like the whole thing is a stick of dynamite that’s actually made of crayons.

It’s easy to hear echoes of the usual suspects—all of whom are listed as influences on the band’s Myspace page—but Going Steady is anything but a tired run-through of indie-rock history. It’s playful (“If I shaved my head I would become a genius. So why don’t you shave your head? Too afraid that I’ll look like a penis”), and endearing, but also engaging and able to be taken seriously when it needs to be. Basically, Going Steady is a great candidate for repeated listens.

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Come to think of it, if Herohill gets around to making their Saskatchewan mixtape it’d be a real shame if Rah Rah weren’t on it (got that, Ack and Naedoo?).

Rah Rah - Tentacles

Hear more at the band’s Myspace page or grab a digital copy of Going Steady here.

Date: November 08, 2008
Venue: Lee’s Palace

33 songs! That was the final tally (as I counted) at the end of The Bicycles CD release show at Lee’s Palace last weekend.

Celebrating the unveiling of their excellent sophomore effort, Oh No, It’s Love, the Toronto band was in vivacious form as they entertained the near capacity crowd. The epic event was dubbed The Last Schmaltz II, as it featured an array of special guests that included $100. Sandro Perri, Hooded Fang, Laura Barrett, Sebastien Grainger, and half of Sloan many others.

Sure, most of The Bicycles songs are pretty short, but that doesn’t detract from nearly 2 hours of tunes. The only breaks came by way of an exercise breakdown and a brief performance by a comedy duo (which is also on the album).  Add to that the fact that opener Young Rival set the tone very high with their excellent set and it was an entertaining affair from start to finish.

Having seen The Bicycles at Sappyfest in the summer I thought I knew what to expect, but nothing could have prepared me for the euphoric and uplifting evening that was The Last Schmaltz. What can I say, if it wasn’t already ridiculously evident, these guys are awesome.

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Here’s a clip of The Bicycles opening the night with “Won’t She Be Surprised” as filmed for Zunior.tv:

The Bicycles - Won’t She Be Surprised

Hear more at the band’s Myspace page and stay tuned to Zunior.tv for more clips from the show (including songs by both Sandro Perri and Sloan). In the meantime you can grab a copy of Oh No, It’s Love here.

I walked into the bar on Tuesday night with a guitar case and a small piece of luggage brimming with pedals. Fully expecting to sound un-rehearsed, noisy and unimpressive, this was the follow-through on a vow I’d made to start working on a more than acoustic set involving loops and whatever else I could manage. There was a band on stage laying down some good ol’ rootsy rock & roll as I clumsily crashed through the doors. Not surprisingly, while the place was far from empty no one was really paying attention. This went double on this particular evening as everyone not on stage was glued to the coverage of the US election.

The band finished their set just as John McCain was working into his speech. He seemed dejected, but poised in defeat, though I heard more than a few whispers from people who just wanted the entertainment of hearing what celebrity-of-the-week, Sarah Palin, might have to say. Noticing a friend at the bar I made my way over to say hi. He, like most of the patrons, was in a perpetual trance of Obama-fueled disbelief and good-will.

The bar was loud, so the small television had subtitles on to help us make out the speeches. I squinted and watched the typed words carefully, trying to catch them in a screw up. Next to me a boisterously drunk blonde made eye-contact and screamed something along the lines of “Obama, man!” I couldn’t help but agree. Ah ha! There it was, McCain stuttered for a moment and the subtitles couldn’t make it out, inserting a random “id” into the sentence by accident. Victorious, I retreated to the entrance and stood next to my guitar case for fear that the previous band might mistake mine for one of theirs as they loaded up. Beside me the hostess of the open mic was busy informing a guy slumped over in his stool that he was too drunk to play, after which she assured me that I was on next. I didn’t recall her being so short.

Springing the latches of the little brown piece of luggage, I unloaded my mini-pedalboard and was set-up in seconds flat (it’s already pretentious enough of me to bring pedals to an open mic, I’d hate to take a long time getting ready too). I introduced myself with a loud “Howdy, folks,” to which the drunks in the crowd hooted back. I followed it up with some lame crack about how I brought some toys to play with and that it was about to get noisy.

Throughout my short set the middle-aged eyes of the previous band carefully studied the mysterious stomp-boxes at my feet. When I really started sloppily layering things with my loop pedal one of the guys exclaimed how he was witnessing “experiments in electronic music.” I didn’t know that was possible with an acoustic guitar and a couple pedals, but it was flattering enough that someone was paying attention to my noisy mess. After the third song I introduced myself again, thanked everyone for listening and unplugged.

The hostess admitted that they were taking another break because people wanted to hear Obama’s speech, which had begun just as I was winding down. Asking for feedback on the cacophony I’d just birthed, she told me to keep bringing the pedals, as it’ll sound better when I’m more practiced. She added that at one point, as Obama was getting started and I was going on about hot air balloons and submarines over a mess of loops, things took on a very cinematic and surreal tone, like I was playing the soundtrack to a political documentary. Hmm, I’ll take that.

As for Barrack Obama’s big moment, people in the small bar were overwhelmed and began to clap as his acceptance speech came to a close. I made a misstep by likening the prevalent “Yes, we can” mantra to televangelism, which was met with disdain from one of my compatriots. I didn’t realize we had all suddenly become such devout born-again Americans. Of course, my black friend at the bar was suitibly rapt with positive emotion at the election’s outcome. I think we all were to some extent. That said, my shit-disturbing Israeli friend quickly went into a rant about how it shouldn’t matter that Obama is Black as long as he’s the right man for the job. I saw his point, but pitied the fact that the empowering idea of positive change that had anesthetized the rest of us seemed lost on him.

I’m under the impression that the open mic resumed at some point, but for a little while we were all too taken by a solidarity and optimism to bother ruining it with vanity. On my way out the door one of the older guys from the previous band stopped me to compliment my set. He said he appreciated what I was doing. Surprised and distracted, I thanked him and left.

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Seeing as he’s much better at it than I am and was among those who inspired me to buy a loop pedal in the first place, here’s another clip of Culture Reject, this time performing “Beach” live for Zunior.tv:

Culture Reject - Fireflies Are Fading

My folks used to wait until after my birthday (late November) before decorating for Christmas. After that, all bets were off and we’d go wild with decorations—not to mention drooling over the Sears Wish Book…ahh, pages and pages of toys.

I (heart) music’s annual list of the hottest bands in Canada is somewhat of a similar event for me, as this mammoth list signals that it’s time to start thinking about my own year-end countdowns.  Of course, instead of looking forward to toys and holiday parties, it’s a time to look back over the year and take stock of all that was.

As for the big list itself, it’s an impressive and fairly comprehensive rundown of everyone who’s anyone in Canadian indie music.  I’m sure there are people who will bemoan the position of their favourite band, but if you ask me the top 3 of Caribou, Plants & Animals and Chad VanGaalen is pretty spot-on.  I was also very pleasantly surprised to see Bruce Peninsula take #5.  Sure, they’ve only released 2 songs so far, but there’s a fire brewing behind these guys & gals and its going to explode in 2009.

Of course, as is the nature of the beast, half of my picks didn’t make the final top 30, but Matthew’s rounded up all the straggler’s here.  I was particularly surprised that Old Man Luedecke wasn’t represented, but judging by the comments below the list I’m not the only one who wanted to see the renowned banjo troubadour given some attention.  Other picks of mine that didn’t make it included Culture Reject, whose self-titled debut is definitely one of my favourites from this year, as well as Jenny Omnichord, The Burning Hell and Sunparlour Players.

Check out the mighty list for yourself right here and let the year-end madness begin!

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Speaking of Culture Reject, here he is performing “Inside the Cinema” for Zunior.tv:

Culture Reject - Inside the Cinema

Old Man Luedecke - Proof of Love

Turns out I’m a sucker for amicable male/female duets. Who’d have thought that someone glued indoors to the internet all day would be taken by such a life affirming and joyous romp as the appropriately titled “Duet” from the Polymaths?

Upbeat, effervescent and uplifting, this song from So Long, Castle Road, the Regina band’s diverse and engaging debut EP, is a treat for the ears. It makes me want to grab my best girl and take a run through the park.

Polymaths - Duet

Hear more at the band’s Myspace page or grab a digital copy of So Long, Castle Road here.

Date: October 10, 2008
Venue: The Drake

I’ve been meaning to get to this for a while now, but best laid plans and all that nonsense…In any case, I learned a valuable lesson about shows at The Drake while seeing The Buttless Chaps there a few weeks ago: go early.

You see, The Drake is one of those places that likes so get concerts over and done by 11pm so they can get on with their Friday club night. Unfortunately for my friend and I, we arrived at 10 assuming that would be plenty of time. Little did we know that by then we had already missed the opening sets by both Tim Vesely and Wax Mannequin. All wasn’t lost however, as we got there just as the Vancouver headliners were getting started.

To be honest, aside from a slight giggle at their name and a huge affinity for the title track to their 2001 album, Death Scenes I II III, I’ve only recently started giving these guys the attention they deserve—and deserve it they do. This fact was evidenced by their excellent performance on this particular evening. Personally, I was loving the spacey sounds guitarist Lasse Lutick was getting out of his Boss Space Echo pedal (I’m a bit of a gear head…) and Morgan McDonald’s synth and keyboard sounds added a welcome layer of versatility to Dave Gowans’ acoustic guitar and unique vocals.

They didn’t play my beloved “Death Scenes I II III,” but maybe next time I’ll make a request.

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Here’s a clip of The Buttless Chaps performing “Complications May Arise,” from Cartography, as shot for Zunior.tv live at The Drake:

The Buttless Chaps - Death Scenes I II III

Here more at the band’s Myspace page or grab digital copies of their albums from Zunior.

There are so many ways I could twist the title of this EP into a cheesy tag line of praise (see above for one example…). Fortunately for you, I’m going to resist the urge to rejoice in puns as best I can (no promises). The fact is that The Law of Averages, the debut EP from Bells Clanging, is simply an excellent outing.

Made up of members of Plumtree and Bontempi, Bells Clanging come to the table already equipped with a knack for sweet sounding addictive indie pop. In fact, you don’t have to look any further than the title track for a perfect example of the band’s mastery of the craft. Follow that up with the driven and ridiculously intoxicating “Even Stars Burn Out” and you’ll be hooked. Seriously, I’ve been listening to these two tracks nonstop for a week.

That’s not to say the remaining 3 songs are slouchers. Put it this way, I was going to choose one of the previously mentioned two songs as my song of the week, but the entire EP is so damn enjoyable that I couldn’t justify focusing on one tune alone.

In case I haven’t articulated this point well enough yet, Bells Clanging have an innate ability to craft excellent and compelling melodies. The result is an EP free of misteps. Whether it’s the sugary-sweetness of the excellent title track, the arpeggiated intensity of “Morning Episode” or the slowed-down ease of “Little Star” and “Undone” (the latter of which is currently envelloping me with its seductive rhythm), The Law of Averages is a must listen.

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Bells Clanging - The Law of Averages

Hear more at the band’s Myspace page or grab a digital copy of The Law of Averages here.