April 29, 2008
Wolfe Island Music Fest line up announced!
Hey folks,
Its official. The line up for the 2008 Wolfe Island Music Fest has been announced. Mark your calendar, grab a hat and a blanket, and get ready to have your socks rocked off. Here it is – the lineup:
August 8th (8:30pm)
The Town Hall Hootenanny featuring Carolyn Mark, Jenny Whiteley, Joey Wright, Luther Wright and friends and The Abrams Brothers.
August 8th (10:30)
Flying V Productions showcase at The General Wolfe Hotel
The Handsome Furs with special guests Magic Jordan
August 9th (1pm start)
Featuring (in reverse order):
Wintersleep
Cadence Weapon
Land of Talk
Jason Collett
Plants and Animals
Tony Scherr
The Acorn
The D’Urbervilles
Music Maul
P.S. I love you!
Excited? of course you are. Weekend passes available May 1st at MapleMusic. I’ll be doing another ‘Count down to Wolfe Island’ starting in June so you will be hearing a great deal about this in the coming weeks.
[post updated to correct the dates: It is August 8th & 9th, not 9th & 10th. sorry about that]
Wax Mannequin, The Artel, Kingston, 28 June 2007
photo from WM’s myspace by Stephanie Bell, 6 January 2006
Hey there b(oot)log fans. I’ve been neglecting you a bit, I know, but I haven’t forgotten about you an will still be trying to sate your need for wonderful live music. As the students are heading out of town the frequency of shows tends to lessen a bit but that doesn’t mean that nothing is going on. No, in fact if you will direct your attention to the right of your screen you will notice that there are still things a-happenin’ in Kingston throughout the summer, albeit at a bit more of a relaxed pace.
One thing you will definitely want to mark your calendars for is triple bill of weirndess and wonderment that will be taking place at the Grad Club on May 14th. It will feature B.A Johnston, Wax Mannequin, and Vincat. I have not had the pleasure of seeing Johnston live (nor Vincat) but I have experienced Wax Mannequin in his rose-covered glory and it is something to behold. With dense, evocative, and at times bizarre lyrics which are delivered with unparallelled intensity, Wax Mannequin is equally beautiful and disquieting.
You have ample opportunity to witness the spectacle for yourself as he is playing a ton of dates across Ontario in May & early June and heading out West for June (and into Europe in September & October). Check the myspace for full dates.
9 May 2008- The Ford Plant, Brantford
10 May 2008 – Pepperjack Cafe, Hamilton
13 May 2008 – The Albion, Guelph
14 May 2008 – The Grad Club, Kingston
22 May 2008 – The Horseshoe, Toronto
24 May 2008 – The London Music Club,London, Ont
31 May 2008 – The Montreal House, Peterborough
4 Jun 2008 – The Townehouse, Sudbury
5 Jun 2008 – The Arcadia Project (former Eargazm), Sault Ste Marie, Ontario
The last time I saw Wax Mannequin play the show was plagued with problems and only two songs were actually played but it was pretty stellar until the abrupt end. I hope you enjoy what I have here and be sure to come out on the 14th.
Wax Mannequin, The Artel, Kingston, 28 June 2007
3. number 5 on my machine (talk)
Buy Orchard & Ire and other stunning recordings from your friends at Sonic Unyon and/or Zunior.
April 21, 2008
The Coast, Ale House, Kingston, 30 January 2008
photo from The Coast’s myspace by Jess Baumung.
This Saturday (26 April) Julie Doiron is gracing the Grad Club stage. You know and love her and I’m not going to be talking about her today. What I want to do is suggest that you get to the show early to check out the opening band, The Coast. While the logic of the pairing doesn’t really make sense to me – The Coast’s Brit-poppy, post-punk inspired tunes don’t really seem like an obvious match for Doiron’s intimate songs – that is really beside the point. The Coast offer up music that is textured, melodic and hooky. The people who are supposed to know these sorts of things have tipped The Coast off as a band to watch this year, so why don’t you come out and see for yourself?
25 Apr – Alex P. Keaton, London, On
26 Apr – Grad Club (w/ Julie Doiron), Kingston
28 Apr – Casbah, Hamilton
3 May – The Opera House w/ Tokyo Police Club, Toronto
8 May – Marquee, Halifax
9 May – The Capitol, Fredricton
10 May – A Khord, Saint John
21 May – Le Divian Orange, Montreal
23 May – The Red Dog, Peterborough
24 May – Zaphod’s, Ottawa
Here are a few songs from their very tight set opening for Tokyo Police Club in January. Enjoy.
The Coast, Ale House, Kingston, 30 January 2008
* No Secret Why
* Nueva York
* Tight Rope
* The Lines Are Cut
Be sure to pick up their debut full-length album ‘Expatriate’ in cd or digital form.
April 15, 2008
Born Ruffians, Wolfe Island Music Fest, 11 August 2007
You may know that Born Ruffians are making a name for themselves with their romping & rollicking songs filled with stops, starts, hairpin turns, and a general herky-jerkyness. You may know that they had an excellent ep which was bursting with ideas. And you may know, if you’ve heard their debut full-length, “Red, Yellow, & Blue”, that they delivered on the promise of their ep. This is a smashing album that takes its time getting where its going without dragging its feet. While you will get a good size dose of frenetic guitars, strong basslines, fantastic drumming and lyrics that tumble from Luke LaLonde’s lips at a dizzying speed, this album feels almost introspective at times. While keeping things catchy they don’t wear you out each and every song. Their sound has expanded from the ep, taking on a greater intricacy and complexity with out losing any of the immediacy. It is an album that is filled with hand claps, call-and-response vocals, and a ton of shimmy and shake and it should be played frequently and at loud volume. Don’t believe me? Then check them out for yourself. The Born Ruffians will be travelling around these parts through April and hitting the UK in May (full dates):
April 17th: Zaphod’s, Ottawa
April 18th: Grad Club, Kingston
April 19th: Casa, Montreal
April 24th: Vinyl, Guelph
April 25th: The Ford Plant, Brantford
April 26th: Lee’s Palace (ALBUM RELEASE PARTY), Toronto
Here are a few selections from their appearance at the wonderful Wolfe Island Music Fest this past summer. There is a fair bit of background chatter in spots but I hope you dig it nevertheless.
Born Ruffians, Wolfe Island Music Fest, 11 August 2007
* Kurt Vonnegut
* I’m One Of Those Girls
* Hummingbird
* Barnacle Goose
* I Need A Life
* This Sentence Will Ruin/Save Your Life
* Red Elephant
Buy new album, the ep and shirts & singles.
April 6, 2008
Rock Plaza Central – various & sundry live musics
Photo by Jalapeno, taken at South Street Seaport, New York City, 20 July 2007
Since I was impatient and already posted my Rock Plaza Central set from the last time they were in town, I thought I’d give you a bit of a taste of a bunch of different live RPC that I’ve collected from here and there in anticipation of their show at the Queen St. United Church in Kingston on Friday. As you might know if you read this site regularly, I’m a fan of RPC and I can’t recommend them highly enough. Their songs are filled with ramshakle beauty. Inventive lyrics – delivered passionately – are backed by rich instrumentation in the form of horns and violin and crashes and shakes. Live, it is nothing short of amazing. You should go see them. It will be great.
Apr 10 – Toronto, Sneaky Dee’s w/ Jetplanes of Abraham and Gusto Basketcase
Apr 11 – Kingston, Queen St. United Church w/ Jetplanes of Abraham and TBA
Apr 12 – Ottawa, Barrymore’s w/ Jetplanes of Abraham and Ghost is Dancing
Apr 17 – Montreal, Sala Rossa w/ Miracle Fortress
Apr 18 – Bennington, VT, University pig roast
Apr 19 – Albany, NY, Valentine’s w/ Sgt Dunbar and the Hobo Banned
[see here for complete dates]
CBC Radio 3, Session, Studio 211, Toronto, 25 March 2007
Fuse with Tafelmusik, CBC Radio 2/Trinity-St Paul’s Church, Toronto, 22 November 2007
* I am an Excellent Steel Horse
[a pairing of sheer brilliance – listen to the full concert]
Live on MOKB SIRIUS Blog Radio, Left Of Center, Channel 26, 7 September 2007
* How Shall I To Heaven Aspire
[a great session from My Old Kentucky Blog]
Irene’s Pub, Ottawa, 16 Sept 2006
* When We Go, How We Go (Part II)
* 08/14/03 & Hearts Will Not Rust
Lee’s Palace, Toronto, 10 August 2007
* We’ve Got A Lot to Be Glad For
[recorded by Dave, who also has a KEXP session which you should check out]
Zaphod Beeblebrox, Ottawa, 13 January 2007
[full set; see also my recording from November 21 in Kingston]
And, finally, their Daytrotter session from last year.
Be sure to pick up Rock Plaza Central’s stunning albums.
April 1, 2008
Sandro Perri, New Year’s Concert, Bandwidth, CBC Radio One, Ottawa, 29 December 2007
Okay folks, I know I’m running a few days behind on this (last) week’s post but here is something that I think is pretty cool. If you want to know why I love the Ceeb (although, no more Air Farce? That’s kinda sad) and why you should too, here is just one example of the amazing programming they bring to the airwaves.
The stellar CBC program Bandwidth approached 6 of its favourite musicians (Andre Ethier, Jim Bryson, Zaki Ibrahim, Catriona Sturton, Jenny Whiteley, and this week’s feature Sandro Perri) at the end of 2006 and asked them each to write 27 words (lyrics, poetry, free associated ramblings) which were passed on to another person in the group to do a ‘first draft’ of a song based on or inspired by the 27 words. That first draft was then passed along to another member of the group who used that as the inspiration or starting point for a fully realized song to be performed at the end of 2007. Nifty, eh? The process was intriguing and the results were excellent. It was a highly sucessful – and enjoyable – experiment in collaboration.
Below you shall find the first draft composed by Perri as well as the fantastic full song he produced. If you like what you hear there – and you can check out the Perri’s performance from the last time he swung through town – be sure to get yourself to The Artel on Saturday, April 5th, becasue Perri will be performing along with Nat Baldwin (who I know nothing about except that he was one of StG’s favourite’s for 2006, which is enough for me to get there early to see him play). Full dates:
April 4 Toronto, Tranzac w/ Nat Baldwin, Corpusse
April 5 Kingston, The Artel w/ Nat Baldwin
April 6 Montreal, Le Divan Orange w/ The Luyas, Nat Baldwin
April 11 Hamilton, Art Crawl Polmo Polpo w/ Orphx
April 30 Toronto, Tranzac w/ Snailhouse, Dan Goldman
May 9 Toronto, Tranzac w/ Mama Lisoni, Cry Rumble
June 16 Montreal, Suoni Per Il Popolo w/ Michael Hurley
Sandro Perri, New Year’s Concert, Bandwidth, CBC Radio One, Ottawa, 29 December 2007
* Sandro Perri – “Champagne Kisses” (inspired by words by Jenny Whiteley)
* Sandro Perri – This Time (inspired by words by Jim Bryson & 1st draft by Zaki Ibrahim)
And be sure to pick up Sandro Perri’s albums (in all his guises) here and here.
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