As the indie music scene gets more and more flooded with with lo-fi, sun kissed melodies, it becomes harder and harder to remember that rough bedroom recordings have been a way of life for artists long before chill-wave or bro-fi became the flavor of the week. Those lo-fi recordings weren't done to mask limitations; they were used to add life and reality to the songs.

For NB's Ian Wilson - a.k.a. koAk - his preferred collage of fuzz, acoustics and drums has been evolving for years and stems from legends like The Microphones and Eric's Trip not Memory Tapes and Washed Out. KoAk's new record disregards a reliance on synths and samples, as Wilson adds to his structures with sonic blasts and distortion, but this time around, Ian and Meg expanded their sound by fusing in a slowed down surf rock feel to the appropriately titled, In the Sun.

Instead of beach side relaxation and sun bronzed, Dick Dale influenced shakers, the songs move at the pace of a lazy, sun-filled afternoon allowing the psychedelic tones transform the lo-fi tracks in something unexpected and transfixing. There are moments of jaw dropping beauty - the album bookends, Sleepytime (destined to soundtrack your night when the party ends and the sun starts to creep up over the horizon) and Delinelle (an opener that fulfils the crucial task of engaging you in the LP from the opening note) certainly standout - but koAK's liberal use of traditional sounds and mood prevents the dreaded blending of tracks.

They still offer up drone filled bliss, but even the muddiest of terrain - except maybe Highnoon Harmonica - seems to be free from clouds and shadows. The hint of warmth and some nice harmonies gives the songs a soul that powers through. The drums and feedback are simply used for support and embellishment, not distraction. In the Sun manages to surprise and excite you, but also relax you as the 40 minutes starts to wash over you.

Oh, and the band is giving it away for free.

MP3:: koAk - Sleepytime
MYSPACE:: http://www.myspace.com/koakrock
WEB:: http://koakrecordings.blogspot.com/

Labels: Canada, koAk, Music, New Brunswick, Reviews

Back in the winter of 2008, I humbled up and finally made mention of a young NB artist named Corey Isenor. His debut record - Young Squire - was a solid collection of indie folk that felt like the work of an artist with a solid back catalog and years of gigging under his belt instead of a fresh face. It was also one of the best self-released records I stumbled on, but despite the talent crammed into that DIY disc, I never saw Corey's name on posters here in Halifax, so he kind of went out of sight, out of mind.

That was until a few weeks ago when his new record, Frost showed up in my mailbox. Long story short, I didn't think Corey had this type of record in him. Thanks to some spirited product, drums and bass courtesy of Sackville's Shotgun Jimmie, Corey's songs blossomed into indie-folk gems that fall more inline with the nasally indie sounds he explored on Chores in the Summertime than the traditional hushed confessionals you expect from today's indie folkers.

Isenor still offers his take on the traditional sounds, like the banjo heavy As a Ghost and the echo-y chords of Rainsong, but he seems to have found his stride experimenting with bigger and bolder sounds. The drone and drums of the opener, Riverwoman, jump starts the record and he continues the surge on Baby Don't Go. He start tracks as intimate stories, but slowly build them into indie folk anthems without you even noticing. It's not hard to imagine someone singing along to The Weather or feeling the surprising warmth he adds to the lovely, epic title track when each layer is slowly added to the mix.

Sackville's music community is tight knit, almost like the indie-folk secret society of Canada, so it will be interesting to see if Corey's songs are able to push the boundaries past the confines of the beautiful college town. I've often wondered the same thing for people like Jimmie, Julie and Fred so my hopes aren't high - especially considering Corey is doing this alone - but if playing fields were equal, Isenor would be getting love on CBC and blogs all across the country.

MP3:: Corey Isenor - Frost

MP3:: Corey Isenor - Riverwoman
MYSPACE:: http://www.myspace.com/coreyisenor

Labels: Best-of '10, Corey Isenor, New Brunswick, Sackville

All too often in this age of indie collectives, you get bombarded with songs steeped in layers so thick the melody and intricacies are lost, along with any spontaneity. The desire for epic sounds leads overproduction and a polish that takes away the heart of the songs or a muddled combination that makes it impossible to feel your way through.

Thankfully, when it comes to The Geese - a folk collective from New Brunswick that recently moved to Vancouver and changed their name from The Family Band - the songs on their EP are full of ramshackle and creativity. Each of the five songs are loosely held together by the shared members but almost nothing else.

The opening number - Le Beau Risque - is a beautiful, bilingual track full of mandolin, drums, acoustic, female vocals and spirit; a clever song from Quebec to the rest of Canada disguised as a back and forth between two lovers, the track sounds like it could be a standard from years long since past but the foot stomp beat that darts in and out and the cymbal washes make the song feel alive. The band does an abrupt turn on Zachari's tender Ancestors, a heartfelt tale about family and love. The piano, long bended notes and gentle picks held complete the cozy setting Zachari sings about, but right around the 3-minute mark, the band adds some playful hand claps to refocus your listen. It's only for a few seconds, but it shows complete control of sound.

Each of the five songs makes an impact, and could stand alone but it's the way the potential and talent the collective offers that really excites me. The songs are heavy in emotion, but the band manages to keep the whole affair fun.On the spiky New Brunswickers, the lead vocals, sing shout chorus and percussive stomp could be slipped into a Bruce Peninsula set, but the band uses strings and accordion to soften the impact.

By the time they experiment with some heavier, almost Crazy Horse inspired electric work on the country rocker, Frustration, you are left wondering if there is any style they won't fuse into their sound. The song, obviously, doesn't crank up the amps and distortion but the slight bit of muscle works well and as they fade into another mix of electric and accordion on God's Children you realize the 17-minutes of music leaves your completely satisfied, and you wouldn't change a note.

MP3:: The Geese - Le Beau Risque

MYSPACE:: http://www.myspace.com/familybandnb
BUY:: http://music.thegeese.ca/

Labels: Canada, Family Band, Folk, Music, New Brunswick, Roots, The Geese, Vancouver

I have to give it to the fine gentleman in Bad Religion. Not only have they created some of my all-time favorite records, they also seem to love the East Coast music scene. First they picked Halifax’s The Hemingways to open up the show at the Forum and now they bestowed that same honor on Moncton’s The Motorleague when they play in Quebec.

Bottom line: The Motorleague - behind the strength of their new record, Black Noise - are here to remind you that rock and roll needs some swagger. It needs to be loud and when the boys open up for BR and Alexisonfire, they get the chance to melt the faces off a ton of fanatical punks. Given how stoked the band is to be playing with two bands they love, here's betting the NB vets will burn down the stage.

For the local readers, The Motorleague are playing a few warm-up gigs on they way to Quebec, including a Hali set at Gus’s with The Cuban Assassins and The Cobra Jets.

Here are the dates:
Saturday, August 29th – Irishtown, NB @ Messtival
Wednesday, September 2nd – Fredericton, NB @ Nicky Zees /w Cobra Jets
Thursday, September 3rd – Saint John, NB @ Akhord /w Cobra Jets
Friday, September 4th – Halifax, NS @ Gus’s /w Cobra Jets / Cuban Assassins
Saturday, September 5th – Sydney, NS @ Governor’s /w Cobra Jets
Saturday, September 12th – Quebec City, QC @ Envol Et Macadam /w Bad Religion, Alexisonfire, Pinky Piglets
Friday, October 2nd – Moncton, NB – Forward Music Group Showcase

MP3:: The Motorleague - Fossils

WEB:: http://www.themotorleague.ca
BUY:: BLACK NOISE @ Zunior

Labels: Canada, New Brunswick, Rock n' roll, The Motorleague

I'm sure everyone really loves hearing tremendously un-qualified ramblers such as myself discuss the artistic blood, sweat & tears of others at length, but in my opinion it's always far better to get insight on something direct from the artist. That's why we're pleased to bring you Share's breezy live performance video of KC from their new album, Slumping in Your Murals, along with an explanation of the clip from Share frontman Andrew Sisk. So without further ado:

I went to Shotgun Jimmies Farm in Sackville, NB for a visit. He is one of my favourite songwriters so I was really excited to record some demos with him and hang out. We recorded some demos and then recorded me playing KC in his back yard. Jimmie's back yard has a constant wind blowing through due to it being on the Marshlands that separate New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. It is a cantakerous grassy bit of land that stretches between the two Maritime provinces and is flat and wet from the constant draft coming in through the backdoor of the Bay of Fundy. Not too long ago, these wetlands were the only things separating the British Fort Lawrence and the French Fort Beausejour during that ongoing struggle for this part of the world. I wonder if the soldiers who had to guard those forts knew that these marshlands were a vital part of the natural ecosystem? I am going to take a guess and say no. I can only imagine that most of their conversations involved the constant, unending, persistent wind.

The song KC from our new album is about another, more modern, period of Atlantic domination.

Andrew

VIDEO:: Share - KC (Live in a field)

MP3:: Share - Maybe Always f. Jenn Grant
MYSPACE:: www.myspace.com/andrewsisk

Labels: Live, New Brunswick, Sackville, Share, Video hits

Shane and his brood have taken off to Fredericton this weekend, so I'm left holding down the fort. Originally I thought about throwing a kegger, letting some nare-do-wells run wild on herohill's nicely upholstered furniture but opted for more cleanly fun. I'm going to be hammering through some news items, records I like but haven't had time to really cover (and won't find that kind of free time in the near future) and probably post a few random links to nonsense.

Thought it would be a nice Friday treat to share another video from an East Coast act we love. The The Olympic Symphonium are getting ready to release More In Sorrow Than In Anger on vinyl, and to celebrate the occassion Share front man Andrew Sisk crafted a beautiful, vintage Super8 representation of the lovely track, Side by Side. They've also released another single from the record, so download Blood From A Stone while you're here. We liked it (read the review) and we think you will too.

MP3:: The Olympic Symphonium - Blood From a Stone
WEB:: http://www.theolympicsymphonium.com/

Labels: Music, New Brunswick, The Olympic Symphonium

Today we recieved a preliminary lineup announcement for HPX '09 (full post on that coming soon, but suffice to say that with names like Japandroids, Ohbijou & The Acorn, things are shaping up well already), and this reminded me that we had yet to post anything on what might be the best summer music festival for indie music fans in this part of the world: Sappyfest.

Now in its fourth iteration, Sappyfest is put on by the fine folks of Sappy Records (Julie Doiron, Jon Claytor and Paul Henderson), and takes place in the lovely town of Sackville, New Brunswick. It all goes down at the end of this month, July 31 - August 2, and based on the incredible feedback we've heard from folks who've attended, it's a proper blast for all involved. So I'd suggest that if there's any way you can make it, do so. The full schedule has been released, but just have a gander at this eye-vexing list of this year's performers:

100 Dollars, The Adam Mowery Organization, Attack In Black, Baby Eagle, The Baird Brothers, BA Johnston, Bloodsport, Brent Randall & His Pinecones, The Burning Hell, Calvin Johnson, Cat Pontoon, Clues, Destroyer, Dog Day, The D'ubervilles, Eric Chenaux, Eric's Trip, Fembots, Fuerermusik, Gambletron, The Gertrudes, Harbour Coats, Horses, Jon Rae Fletcher, Jon Mckiel, Julie Doiron, Julie Fader, Justin Haynes, Ladyhawk, Laura Borealis, Lonnie James, Lovesinger, Luyas, The Magic, Motion Ensemble, Old Man Luedecke, Ohbijou, Rick White, Rock Plaza Central, Ryan Driver, Shapes & Sizes, Shotgun Jimmie, Snailhouse, Spring Break Up, Timber Timbre, We Are Action, Windom Earle, Wintersleep & Woolly Leaves, Castlemusic, Mount Eerie, Slowlover, Snowblink, The Memories Attack

There's more to Sappy than music though:

Run in conjunction with Sappyfest, the Ok.Quoi?! Arts Festival will feature curatorial projects by Elisabeth Belliveau (www.elisabethbelliveau.com), Peter Flemming (www.peterflemming.ca), Rita McKeough, and instillations by Jean-Pierre Gauthier (http://sites.google.com/site/jpgauthiermachines), Vincent Levy (http://vlevy-expos.blogspot.com / http://vlevy.installations.free.fr), Lisa Lipton, and Anne MacMillan. The festival will also feature films by Nelson Henricks (http://www.nelsonhenricks.com), Helen Hill (http://www.helenhill.org), Allyson Mitchell (http://www.allysonmitchell.com), Kate O'Connor (http://www.kateoconnor.ca), and Chad Van Gaalen (http://www.chadvangaalen.com).

I think you have all the info you need, so get some tickets.

MP3:: Julie Doiron - Sending The Photographs

MP3:: Ladyhawk - I Don’t Always Know What You’re Saying

MP3:: Castlemusic - Heaven

MP3:: The Gertrudes - The River

MP3:: Spring Breakup - Leaky Pail

Labels: Julie Doiron, New Brunswick, Sackville, Sappyfest, Summer Festival

It seems like we’ve reached the dog days of summer releases. The review pile is running low and honestly, if it wasn’t I don’t know if I would have thrown in Clinton Charlton’s full length the other day. It’s not that I didn’t think the NB man is talented – his work with Carousels was strong enough to gain a spot on the NB mixtape – I just assumed it would be in line with the roots tinged, bar rock I had heard from the band and not really what I’m looking for these days.

Instead, Charlton retreats to the back of the bar and has penned a collection of introspective tracks. I know that roots music is the new synth rock, which was the new black, but Parade never really pushes the issue. Charlton doesn’t hit you over the head with a fake drawl or nods to Townes or Young. Instead he just plays relaxed songs with the help of a solid band and lets the chips fall where they may.

Probably Charlton’s best skill is understanding how people will hear his music. He jump starts the record with an uptempo effort- Bee In October - and picks up the tempo again when the disc starts to lag. That lets you settle into the tender tracks like All the Damage Done. More importantly the brevity of the LP doesn’t let you get bored. Parade is a quick hitting nine songs, four of which don’t even break the 2:30 mark, that make their point and leave. He doesn’t waste time with extended solos, pointless narratives or stories that go nowhere, and as a result, Parade is highly repeatable.

Clinton’s got the unique ability to leave the listener wanting more. When he gets it right, like he does on the beautiful, steel/organ filled duet with Jessica Rhaye (Til We've Both Said Goodbye), the stripped down Because Of A Girl or perfectly Angels Of Cantebury Street, you wish he could have added another minute to the effort. But even when songs lose some of the integrity the genre deserves (like the radio friendly Braver than Most, Charlton doesn’t let the song overstay its welcome and derail the listen.

All in all, a nice solo venture for the seasoned musician. There are some nice highs and of course, a few lows but Parade gets me excited for his next batch of songs when he's more comfortable with his band and the sounds that works best for them.

MP3:: Clinton Charlton - Til We've Both Said Goodbye


MP3:: Clinton Charlton - All The Damage Done

MYSPACE:: http://www.myspace.com/clintoncharlton

Labels: Canada, Music, New Brunswick, Reviews

People on the internet (bloggers) love to talk about how the way music is made and consumed now pushes bands into the spotlight way too early. For me, the real problem is that the comforts of the internet allow bands to sell records/MP3 (and build a blog-base) without having to hit the road.

Taking the time to tour and find out how to flesh out your demos is crucial, and without that seemingly obvious step those unpolished demos become an EP, and what should have been your EP becomes pre-mature album. The cycle never stops and sure the never ending torrent of music satisfies the immediacy we crave, but it doesn’t let the band grow or fine-tune their sound.

Thankfully, The Divorcees hit the pavement long and hard. Their new record - Last Of The Free Men - is a collection of songs that grew organically during countless shows and miles in the van and thanks to the relatively hands-off approach of Josh Finlayson, they capture that energy on tape. Considering the huge shift in the working dynamic for this record, the tightness the outlaws offer up is remarkable (not to get into it, but Jason Haywood left the band mid-tour and Alex Madsen stepped in as vocalist). Last of the Free Men is who they are and that’s why the country tracks feel sincere, not like someone slapped some steel onto a guitar track and claimed Willie, Waylon and Merle as lifelong influences.

Make no mistake; The Divorcees are a country band. Not alt-country and not any sort of hybrid. They won’t get a pass from punkers and indie fans for creative subject matter (like Corb). Instead, the Moncton band sticks to tried and true sounds and subjects, but unlike 90% of the bands doing the same thing, these guys get it right. Beat up cars (My 83), drinking (God Damn That Bottle), hanging with the boys and getting over life, love and luck. They are all covered here, but without any irony that plagues music these days. The same can be said for their country fried take on AC/DC’s Shoot to Thrill. Instead of another hokey country cover - Dynamite Hack, I'm looking at you), The Divorcees pay tribute to a band they love. Nothing more. Nothing less.

I’ve never met any of these guys, but I’d be shocked if each one of them didn’t own beat up cowboy boots and a closet full of wranglers and I’d wager they aren’t the type to refuse a drink, but with tracks like the soulful After the Storm is Gone (that shows Alex and herohill fav, Angela Desveaux trading vocals beautifully), the fantastic story of My Boys or the sunny saunter of When I Say you see there is more to their songs than just having a good time. Chances are though, if you see them play live that's just what you will have.

After that glowing review you are probably wondering when you can see these boys tear it up. Well, for any of our Halifax readers, tomorrow is the CD release party @ The Seahorse.

MP3:: The Divorcees - My '83
MYSPACE:: http://www.myspace.com/divorcees
BUY::
http://www.thedivorcees.com/

Labels: Canada, Music, New Brunswick

myspace || web site

When we first talked about Ker, it was behind the strength of the beautiful, stripped down track If You Stayed we included on our New Brunswick Mixtape. The song was built with a gentle picked acoustic, some heartache filled harmonies and little else. So when Kerstin Wilson reached out and told us about another project, I expected something in the some pocket.

Boy was I wrong.

The Papertiger Sound is a rather slick sounding collaboration with Dan Gelder that shimmers instead of creaking. The two met when Ker lived across the pond, and thanks to the power of the internet they've continued to write songs together even though Wilson has returned to Canada.

Their latest EP - tiny robot love – is full of synths and computer blips meshed with acoustic riffs and the whole project has a definite anglophile sound more apt for smoky clubs than intimate bedrooms. The duo uses atmospheric slow builds and subtle chimes to create dream like hazes, but somehow keeps the whole effort grounded.

This EP is a precursor to the full-length The Papertiger Sound is working on, but considering the 5 songs will cost you absolutely nothing, I’d suggest you take the time to listen.

Labels: Canada, Music, New Brunswick