April 22, 2009
Shows! Gentleman Reg TOMORROW! at the Living Room
Hey folks,
Did you know that Gentleman Reg will be returning to Kingston tomorrow? I didn’t until today and was quite happy to hear about it. Anyway, in case you are/were as out of the look as I am here’s what I know – he will be playing at The Living Room (285 Queen St.) [EDIT: Despite what his myspace & the A&C site says, I have it on good authority that the show will be happening at The Mansion (506 Princess St.)]; show starts at 8 (according to the myspace announcement); it is a cd release party for the awesome new record “Jet Black“.
My thanks to the folks at NxEW for alerting me to this show.
Here a few songs which I posted a little while back from his show at Stages from April 2008
* City of Eros
* It’s Not Safe
And here’s a new video, since I’ve recently found out that i have the ability to post them. Enjoy the kooky dancing.
Reg has one hundred thousand million tour dates scheduled in the near future so chances are he will be playing somewhere near you (assuming you live in Canada or the US). Check out full listings at his myspace page. Here are a few:
4/22 Ottawa, ON – Zaphod’s
4/23 Kingston, ON – The Living Room The Mansion
4/24 Guelph, ON – Albion Hotel
4/25 Waterloo, ON – Starlight Room
4/27 Hamilton, ON – The Casbah
4/29 London, ON – Call The Office
Buy GR’s cds and buttons at his site and be sure to get he new single and, in a months time, new record at Arts&Crafts.
April 17, 2009
Matthew Barber – Ghost Notes now available in the US
Photo of Matthew Barber taken at the Grad Club 21 Oct. 2006-10-21 by theplot
One of Canada’s best songwriters and b(oot)log favourite, Matthew Barber, is finally releasing his fantastic album Ghost Notes in the United States. This record has been out for over a year in Canada and I think it is a real gem, showcasing the best elements of Barber’s music. The sound is crisp, clear and straightforward, which suits the stripped bare feeling of the songs on the album. Barber’s voice comes across clear and true, delivering his introspective lyrics which are filled with subtle insights and clever turns of phrase. While the overall feel of the record is sombre, best suited for those sleepless nights, there are a few corkers (“Settle My Accounts” and “One Little Piece of My Love” in particular), which show that Barber hasn’t forgot how to rock.
Here is the lead track for you to check out.
And a live one from his performance in Kingston from back in 2007 (full set here).
*(I’m Gonna) Settle My Accounts With You
He will be opening for the lovely Jill Sobule in Brooklyn at Union Hall on May 13th. Apparently a US tour is in the works but no further details are available so be sure to check out his site periodically for full tour info.
Go out, my American friends, and get yourself this record from iTunes (US) and iTunes (Canada) (iTunes also has Barber’s back catalogue so snap that up too) and for a physical copy hit up Outside Music. Or you can go visit Zunior for you Ghost Note needs (offering it up in both digital & physical).
For those of you who wondered what it would be like if Matthew Barber starred in a Jane Austen novel (and really, who among us hasn’t), here is the smashing video for “And You Give”.
I hope you all had a great Easter. I’ll get back to our regularly scheduled b(oot)loggin’ programming…sometime…
April 1, 2009
The Burning Hell, Skeleton Park Music Fest, 21 June 2008
My amigos over at Apple Crisp are following their amazing Festival with another feat of wonder – a show featuring the Gertrudes, The Burning Hell, and The FemBots, taking place this Saturday, April 4th at BarNone. And if you plan on attending that other show going on that night, I am pretty sure if you hustle between venues after the first is done you will still be able to catch the last bit of the AC show, making it a most wondrous night of music indeed, and, as the cover is a paltry $5, you’d be crazy not to.
We’re fans of all three bands here at b(oot)log HQ, but thought we’d take the opportunity to post about The Burning Hell here today. The ukulele wielding Mathias Kom (see the latest Apple Crisp Zine to get better acquainted with Mr. Kom) and his troupe of up to a dozen musicians deliver sardonic, often creepy, and quite often very funny songs about zombies, the end of the world, stuff he likes, and his own birth. Kom is a wonderful story teller who presents witty narrative songs with a deadpan delivery, backed by the strums and plucks of his ukulele and supported by a the ever shifting band who provide beautiful, multilayered instrumentation.
The Burning Hell have a brand-spanking-new album out called “Baby” and are touring all over the place to spread the word (Check out Dancer/Romancer and another new song on their site). Here are a few upcoming dates. They are going to be in the Atlantic provinces and then back through Ontario through April and into the summer so be sure to check out their myspace to get full listings.
1 Apr 2009 The Gordon Best Theatre, Peterborough – CD Release, w/ FemBots & Weird Weather
2 Apr 2009 Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto w/ FemBots, Wax Mannequin and Jenny Omnichord
3 Apr 2009 The Black Sheep Inn, Wakefield w/ FemBots & Gertrudes
4 Apr 2009 Bar None, Kingstonw/ FemBots & Gertrudes
5 Apr 2009 Divan Orange, Montreal, w/ FemBots & Weird Weather
While I imagine The Burning Hell are probably most at ease playing dank clubs, I had the pleasure of seeing them in the bright sunlight at last year’s Skeleton Park Music Fest, where they brought their own skeleton and played a fantastic set. I was only going to post a couple of tunes from the recording but I was enjoying it so much today that I thought it would be a shame not to post the entire thing. I hope you dig it and be sure to check them out at BarNone this weekend.
The Burning Hell, Skeleton Park Music Fest, 21 June 2008
1. square dance (talk)
2. In the Air Tonight/I Love the Things That People Make
3. Everything You Believe in is a Lie
4. Last Will and Testament (note – the title is right – i forgot to change the tag)
5. born in Kingston (talk)
6. Municipal Monarchs (with Jenny Omnichord)
7. it’s exciting (talk)
8. Grave Situation Part 2
9. another song our ours about death (talk)
10. Grave Situation Part 1
11. slow dance (talk)
12. Happens in Florida
13. going out to the students of economics (talk)
14. Bretton Woods
Buy the three smashing Burning Hell cds from (weewerk) and/or Zunior.
B(oot)log 