Edmonton – Ottawa’s The Balconies have been rising through the Toronto scene, as the last couple of Panic Manual plaudits attest. Now they’re poised to take over the rest of Canada and joining up with a trio of local bands, stopped by Edmonton this past weekend for the first of their two shows here this month.
Arrived at the Haven club around 8:00 while there was still a sound check going on. Was a bit unsure what to expect, since the club’s in a part of town that’s probably in one of the top five stretches here where you wouldn’t want to walk alone after dark. Turns out it’s a pretty cozy, relaxed place with the same kind of audience. I’d guess there’s room for about 25-50 people on the dance floor in front of the stage, depending on how many tables are set up and how many people are actually dancing. Further back are some larger tables, where most people seemed content to stay for the evening. Soon enough, The Translators took the stage. For a band who seems to be only a few concert dates past their “battle of the bands” days, they did fine. Solid mid-tempo folk-rock, with a couple of songs even reminding me of one of my favourite 90’s guilty pleasures, Toad the Wet Sprocket.
Yes Nice played next and were the pleasant surprise of the night. Formed in Edmonton, they relocated to Vancouver and are now .. back to Edmonton, or at least partly? I dunno, I lost track. In any event, they played about 7-8 tracks from their already prolific discography from the last two years (one EP and two albums since 2008.) What made Yes Nice stand out though, was the charisma of the band’s performance, especially from co-frontman Nathaniel Wong who seems to relish the role of raconteur. In between songs he would talk and joke with a straight face about mythical upbringings in rural Alberta and re-appropriated choruses from BTO tunes. The rest of the band seemed to be having a grand time too.
The last of the local bands was Whisker Kiss, who have been playing local shows at indie clubs for about 3 years now. By the time they hit the stage the audience at the front had really picked up, a group of their friends formed an energetic dance circle in front of the stage. It was pretty clear by then that a large part of the audience was here to see Whisker Kiss, as this was their last show together. Oddly enough it was a CD release party for their new EP as well, but perhaps they’re releasing it as more of a thank you relic to their friends and fans.
The Balconies capped the night off, taking the stage around midnight. By this time most of the patrons near the front cleared the dance floor, but if that discouraged them they never let it show. The trio launched into a blistering version of Ghost Fever, and covered a significant portion of their self-titled album mixed with gracious chatter thanking the other participants this night. Singer and guitarist Jacquie Neville took their performance to the next level as she danced across the stage without missing a note. I don’t think it was just the several drinks I already had that night either, but the band sounded even more cohesive live than they did on the record. After this particular performance, I expect that anyone remaining at the club was both thrilled at what they just saw and still wanting even more.
read more »
Click here to see my favourite songs of the past decade. If you're more album-ically inclined, here's the first part of my favourite albums list. The first half will appear tomorrow, but, for now, here's numbers 21 through 40...
First, before I get into my favourite album of the '00s, here's a few that just missed making my list:
- Giant Hand, Coming Home
- Black Hat Brigade, Fathers
- The Racoon Wedding, Gather Gather Bones Rattle Rattle Truth
- Bruce Peninsula, A Mountain Is A Mouth
- Metric, Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?
And with that out of the way, here's the list...
40. Hayden, Live At Convocation Hall
I know it's kind of cheap to start off a favourite albums list with a concert album that doubles as a best-of compilation. But looking back over the past decade, I was faced with a quandary: Hayden is by far one of my favourite artists from the last ten years, and he's released quite a few excellent albums, but none of them individually are strong enough to crack this list. The solution, in this case, was to pick something from him that took some of the best pieces from his two best albums (that is, Skyscraper National Park and Elk Lake Serenade), and threw in some of his better moments from the '90s as a bonus. To round it all out, it showcases Hayden's on-stage persona, which is a whole lot more upbeat and enjoyable to watch than you'd get from his albums.
Download "Woody"
39. Boo Hoo, Boo Hoo
It actually came as a bit of a shock to me when I realized that Boo Hoo's self-titled debut was one of my favourite albums of the decade. After all, my view of them has been slightly coloured by the fact I didn't really care for their most recent album, so they weren't exactly top of mind when I started making this list. But then I went back and relistened to this first album, and I was floored by how many good songs it contained: "Eff The Ineffable", "The Last Ride", "America", "'Till You're Run Out of Town". Boo Hoo may not have looked for influences much outside the late '80s/early '90s, but given how well they distilled those influences into their own sound, they obviously didn't need much more.
Download "The Last Ride"
38. Human Highway, Moody Motorcycle
Moody Motorcycle is proof that effort can be overrated. Recorded in Jim Guthrie's apartment in less than a week, the album sounds exactly like what it is -- specifically, a tossed-off effort from two of the more well-known figures in Canadian indie rock. But that's a good thing. The Guthrie-Nick Thorburn duo seem to have been aiming to make a breezy, laidback pop album, and they succeeded at that spectacularly.
Download "My Beach"
37. Woodpigeon, Songbook
While most of the world started paying attention to Woodpigeon with the band's re-release of Treasury Library Canada on Boompa early in 2009, for me the love began with this underrated gem of an album a few years before. (Of course, apart from Mark Hamilton, I'm not sure how much overlap there was in line-ups between the two albums.) In any case, I was glad when the band started getting attention, because Songbook suggested that they totally deserved more widespread attention. It's full of ornate orchestral pop that never sounds too precious and never lets its arrangements get in the way of some perfectly lovely, hummable melodies.
Download "Chorus of Wolves"
36. Cadence Weapon, Breaking Kayfabe
Given how rock-centric my list is, it should come as no surprise that one of the two non-rock albums on here comes from Cadence Weapon. After all, the man formerly known as Rollie Pemberton comes from a background that's as equally steeped in rock as in rap, and (perhaps consequently) he's always been an expert (both on record and on stage) at making hip-hop that appeals to both groups. This album shows this as well as anything he's ever done, with his charismatic rhymes underlain by heavy, abrasive beats come from all sorts of different backgrounds.
Download "30 Seconds"
35. The Stills, Logic Will Break Your Heart
As the decade progressed, The Stills seem to have lost the plot more and more with wholesale line-up and sound changes. But back at the beginning of the decade, on the strength of Logic Will Break Your Heart, it seemed as though the band clearly deserved to be mentioned alongside any of the prominent bands who were making Canada seem like the place to be, musically. Before they went all generic in their sound, on Logic... The Stills were somehow managing to make ripping off The Smiths, The Cure and Joy Division sound like a wholly original concept, even as numerous other bands (see: The Walkmen, Interpol, etc.) were doing the exact same thing at the exact same time. Basically, their thievery worked because it sounded good, as tracks like "Lola Stars and Stripes" and "Let's Roll" amply demonstrated.
Download "Still In Love Song"
34. Coeur de Pirate, Coeur de Pirate
This album's placement on this list can largely be attributed to the fact that my wife has played the heck out of it pretty much non-stop for the last year or so. She was obsessed with Coeur de Pirate from the moment she first heard one song, and when I finally received a copy of the album, she quickly ripped it for herself and has been playing it ever since. Even if I may not have listened to it as obsessively, it still managed to work its way into my brain via osmosis, to the point that I know almost all of the songs by heart. Luckily for me, they're all extremely good songs. My French isn't quite good enough to keep up with Ms. Béatrice Martin's lyrics, but that's made up for in the fact that both her melodies and her vocals are quite lovely.
Download "Printemps"
33. Mother Mother, Touch Up
I can admit now, a few years after the fact, that I was a wee bit too enthusiastic in my praise for this album the first time I heard it. Having said that, however, a lot of what I said is still extremely valid. Throughout Touch Up, Mother Mother show an impressive willingness to try out all kinds of different sounds and styles...and an even more amazing ability to hit every single sound and style they aim for. Like ghostly folk? Then you'll love "Angry Sea". A fan of manic pop? Then you'll be a fan of "Oh Ana". And so it goes through jazz-pop ("Love and Truth"), and hip-hop ("Verbatim"), and, uh, trains ("Train"). While there's something to be said for defining yourself through one specific sound, there's also something to be said for trying out all kinds of things and seeing what works best for you, and Touch Up makes that latter argument as well as anything I can think of.
Download "Train"
32. Royal City, At Rush Hour The Cars
Basically, everything I wrote about the Royal City retrospective finally released last June goes double for their spectacular debut.
Actually, spectacular is probably the wrong word. After all, it implies something big and energetic, and At Rush Hour The Cars strength lies in all the small things -- the way Aaron Riches quietly sang his fascinating lyrics, in the way Nathan Lawr and Jim Guthrie backed him up with sparse-yet-catchy music, in the way Simon Osborne provided support to all of it through his understated basslines. The band's career was far, far too short, and this album contains in it all the reasons why I still love them so passionately well over half a decade after they last played a note together.
Download "I Am A Raw Youth"
31. Jenn Grant, Orchestra For The Moon
With all due respect to Echoes, there's really no better way to experience Jenn Grant than when she's as happy and upbeat as she is on Orchestra For The Moon. She has a gorgeous voice, and it's easy to get swept up in it as she uses it to perfect effect on tracks like "Dancin' In The Wind" and "Don't Worry Baby".
Download "Jenn Grant"
30. Kid Koala, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
If I know next to nothing about electronic music, then I know absolutely nothing about scratching. Despite this handicap, even someone as fundamentally ignorant as me is able to appreciate how good Kid Koala is on Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Even if he's just borrowing from all kinds of different sources, he's still skilled enough to make all that borrowing sound incredible. One moment you'll hear clips of old movies, the next you'll hear instructional tapes, the next you'll hear jazz, after that he'll throw in some comedy routines, but in Kid Koala's amazing fingers it all flows together perfectly.
Download "Roboshuffle"
29. Parlovr, Parlovr
I've come a long, long way on Parlovr's self-titled debut. The first time I heard it sometime in 2008, I thought so little of it that I gave it away without a second thought. Luckily for me, someone on the Polaris jury message board recommended it, I gave it another listen with an open mind, and from there the band slowly but steadily tunnelled its way into my heart. I like it more and more every time I hear it, to the point that lately I've been waking up with different songs from the album in my head, which I've found is always a good sign. I'm not sure how to describe them -- hiccoughing, punk-ish pop doesn't do songs like "Pen To The Paper" and "All The World Is All That is The Case" justice -- but the more I listen, the better and better it sounds.
Download "Pen To The Paper"
28. Basia Bulat, Oh, My Darling
I was enamoured the first time I saw Basia Bulat in concert, and that only increased when I heard her album. It captures all her cutesy stage presence, and augments it with a set of songs that are folk-ily brilliant.
Download ""
27. The Balconies, The Balconies
This may be a little premature -- after all, judging by the band's set at my Christmas show, the best is most definitely to come for The Balconies. On top of that, the album is only five months old. That said, it's an astounding achievement. Even if the band is still finding their sound, every single song on here is incredible, from the post-punk-y "Lulu" to the disco-tastic "Ghost Fever" through to the perfect pop of "Serious Bedtime". It's almost scary to think of what might be said about The Balconies at the close of the decade just beginning, but for now, it's clear that they've got a monumental achievement of an album already under their belts.
Download "Ghost Fever"
26. The Bicycles, The Good, The Bad and The Cuddly
When I want catchy, enthusiastic pop delivered with a completely unironic smile, there's nothing better to turn to than The Good, The Bad and The Cuddly. Admittedly, I have some trouble listening to the album from beginning to end on account of that fact that the experience is akin to eating waaaay too much sugar in one sitting, but still: not many bands can lay claim to albums with songs that are as consistently memorable as this one. Like Boo Hoo above, when I went back to albums to start making my list, I was blown away by just how much quality there is here -- no small feat, when you consider that The Bicycles crammed seventeen tracks onto their debut.
Download "Two Girls From Montreal"
25. Two Hours Traffic, Little Jabs
Simply put, the perfect summer album. (Put in a slightly longer way, there's this, and also this, both of which still encapsulate my feelings on this masterpiece.)
Download "Jezebel"
24. Hawksley Workman, For Him and The Girls
I've never entirely been sure how to classify Hawksley Workman. His career seems to have been an exercise in constant movement (if not quite reinvention), as he bounces from style to style, all the while showing off a dazzling voice that can adapt to all kinds of genres. As far as I'm concerned, he demonstrated this best on his debut (which, possibly, may have been self-released in 1999 before getting wider release in 2000, but I'm going to ignore that for now on the grounds that I really, really like For Him and The Girls). It may be a couple of tracks too long -- the only reason it's not higher -- but when he's at his best on songs like "Sad House Daddy", "Tarantulove" and "Safe And Sound", there aren't many artists in Canada (or anywhere) who are more of a pleasure to listen to.
Download "Sad House Daddy"
23. Stars, Set Yourself On Fire
To a large extent, what I wrote yesterday about Set Yourself On Fire's lead-off track, "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead", could also be said for the rest of the album. There's a sense of stately, elegant melancholy that pervades the whole thing, but not to such an extent that it's impossible to enjoy a nice set of songs.
(There's one strange thing about the album that's worth mentioning, though, and that's the odd vocal relationship between Amy Millan and Torquil Campbell. Whereas most other bands with boy-girl vocals have a dynamic that's established through the interplay between those two competing forces, for most of Set Yourself On Fire Millan and Campbell sound as if they're not quite cognizant of the other's presence. Even on "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead", when the two are, possibly, talking about each other, it still sounds as if they're on completely separate pages, kind of like Millan is singing one set of lines completely unaware that Campbell is also singing other parts of the song. It's not something that makes Set Yourself On Fire any better or worse, but it's just something I've always noticed that I may never get another chance to mention.)
Download "Sleep Tonight"
22. Constantines, Shine A Light
Similar to Royal City above, everything I wrote about The Constantines in this post can be traced back to one album. Shine A Light -- along with one unforgettable live show -- is what drew me in to the band, and it's what has defined them for me for the better part of a decade. Everything that makes them great can be found on songs like "Young Lions, the title track and, of course, "Nighttime Anytime (It's Alright)", and anyone who needs to know why so many love the band need only listen to the twelve songs here.
Download "Young Lions"
21. Entire Cities, Deep River
This is another case where my initial enthusiasm for an album wasn't quite as durable as I originally thought. After all, looking back now I see some flaws on Entire Cities' sophomore album that I didn't at the time; specifically, its pacing. The first five songs are amazing, but then the final three close things out on too quiet and sombre a note.
That said, it's still an impressive collection of songs -- even those final three. The band went into the studio with Dale Morningstar as an overenthusiastic, ragged mess, and then came out with an album that was far more polished than I ever could've expected or imagined. Whether I'll still be listening to it eight years from now (as I predicted back when I first heard it) remains to be seen, but with a bit of perspective I'm still able to call Deep River a pretty essential album.
Download "Waiting"
read more »
Again, super behind on the music that’s been coming in. Apologies. Fortunately for this blog Markus G (formerly Sirhan) has been kicking it into overdrive and delivering some quality, quality tunage. As for everyone else (Black Holes, Kid Color, miracleGro, and both Brookah’s), they’ve all been removed for lack of contribution. Sad face. Anyway, as always, I feel like all of these artists would ultimately get their own post, but I’m too far behind. Lastly, had to post up this picture of The Balconies… Jacquie is too cute, not to mention the ultra authenticity of the bros beside her.
Anti-Pop Consortium – Volcano (Four Tet Remix) (FT made this acceptable hip-hop)
The Balconies – Ghost Fever (Indie rock. She gets pretty into it. Good vibe)
Chicane – Offshore (Stefano Azati Remix) (DEEP HOUSE![ish])
HEALTH – Die Slow (Tobacco Remix) (You know what Tobacco sounds like.)
Identical Homes – Worn (chill beats)
Lemonade – Bliss Out (Espimas Remix) (DEEP HOUSE!)
O’spada – Time (35bag Remix) (35Bag put a nice funky rhyme into this thing)
Visitor – Los Feeling (Digitalfoxglove + Wonder Remix) (Vocal, melodic, not cheesy)
Beats™
Tagged: 35bag, anti-pop consortium, balconies, chicane, digitalfoxglove, espimas, four tet, HEALTH, identical homes, lemonade, Mp3, music, ospada, Remix, stefano azati, Tobacco, visitor, wonder
read more »
I'm not going to say too much about The Balconies' self-titled debut, since 1) it's not actually out for more than a month, so it's not available until their CD release show in September at the Black Sheep Inn, and I'm planning on saying a lot more about it closer to then, and 2) I'm getting married tomorrow, so I don't have much time to write as much as I'd like.
But I will say this: it's incredibly good. The trio are all very polished musicians, and in Jacquie Neville and Liam Jaeger the band is blessed with two outstanding lead vocalists. I haven't had time to listen to the album as much as I'd like to, but even after just a few listens I can definitively state that it's packed with extraordinarily catchy pop. Better still, both Neville and Jaeger already have their own distinctive styles; Jaeger demonstrates on opening track "Lulu" that he's got a bit of a Smiths thing going on, while Neville imbues her songs with a certain slinkiness -- which means, as a song like "Ghost Fever" shows, they have a knack for worming their way into your brain and never letting go. All in all, it's a great debut, and I'm looking forward to listening to it more and really being able to sink my teeth into it.
Of course, it also has me even more excited for their appearance at this year's i(heart)music festival, taking place August 20th ro 22nd at Café Dekcuf. A quick reminder of everyone playing...
The whole thing kicks off on Thursday, August 20th at Café Dekcuf, with Sadie Hell, Still Life Still, Parlovr and Converters.
Then, the very next night...
The Balconies will be joined by The Love Machine, Modernboys Moderngirls and Oh No Forest Fires
And finally, on Saturday, August 22nd...
The Lovely Feathers will be closing things out, and they'll be joined by Black Hat Brigade, Giant Hand and On Bodies. You can buy your tickets now from this very site -- only $15 for a three-day pass, or $7 advance for the Thursday and Friday shows, and $8 advance for The Lovely Feathers. It should be a lot of fun, so get your tickets while there still are some!
And while I'm mentioning ihm-produced shows, I should point out that The Rural Alberta Advantage will be coming through Ottawa...
...on Thursday, August 6th at Mavericks. They'll be joined by Old Crowns (formerly Anchors) and The John Punch Band. There are still some tickets left -- both hereand at Vertigo Records -- but they're going fast, so get yours soon!
read more »
