Tuesday, December 31, 2013

3am Mixtapes: Episode Eighteen: Hangover Songs

Each week on the 3am Mixtapes podcast, I will share with you the Top Six Songs of a certain subject. The topics can be as general like favourite songs of the year. Or some might be a little more... esoteric. Top Six Songs With The Number Six In The Title.

This week I bring you something rather timely, something you might need tomorrow after your New Year's Even festivities tonight. It's the Top Six Songs To Listen To Whilst Hungover.

Featuring the calming tones of:

"A Stone Would Cry Out" by Sam Roberts
"Doctor Blind" by Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton
"The Deserters" by Rachel Zeffira
"Carry On" by The Mountains & The Trees
"It's All Your Fault" by Elisapie
"Love The House You're In" by Moonface

Any questions or comments or waffles or criticisms or suggestions for future themes are welcome!



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Sunday, December 29, 2013

Said the Whale @ Commodore -- 12/28/13

You can't accuse Said the Whale of not being one of the hardest working bands in Canada. They released their latest album, hawaiii, about a year and a half after the previous Little Mountain, and they have been almost constantly touring; criss-crossing Canada, down into the States, and even overseas.
But to wrap up their 2013, they have come back to Vancouver for a pair of hometown shows; an afternoon all ages show, and an evening 19+ (which I caught).

With them, they had a band that highly influenced them, By Divine Right to open the show. While I had seen the band once before, I mostly knew them more based on their legacy and reputation than their music, and the Toronto three piece definitely lived up to that.
The band lineup has rotated a lot throughout their twenty-plus years -- including musicians like Brendan Canning, Leslie Feist, and Brian Borcherdt -- and joining frontman José Miguel Contreras in their current lineup was drummer Geordie Dynes, and Alysha Haugen on bass.
Highlights from their set included the simple yet catchy "The Slap" and "Past The Stars", the first song from new album, Organized Accidents, introduced as about space aliens. Contreras swapped to an acoustic guitar for "Mutant Message", and got the crowd really going with their biggest hit, "Five Bucks". After jokingly ringing in the new year early, they ended with "Stella Ocean Heart"
They put on a strong set, and it's easy to see why they have had such longevity.

Soon enough, the lights dimmed and LCD Soundsystem's Home (appropriately enough) blasted throughout the venue as Said the Whale took the stage. The song ended and they launched into "More Than This", the soft song was a little anticlimactic after that introduction, but then quickly exploded into "Mother" promising "maybe I should fuck something up good".

They kept up the energy for the first few songs, hitting "Camillo (The Magician)" early on, the crowd singing along, not for the last time. Judging by the volume the crowd hit joining in on songs like the beautiful "Curse the Currents" (Ben goading the crowd to sing louder and louder) and "Emerald Lake, AB" and the way the dancefloor was bouncing, the audience was almost as excited to be there as the band was; more than once, the members of the band proclaimed their love and gratitude towards the fans, with big grins on their faces, visibly stoked to be headlining the Commodore.

Highlights from the set included my favourite new track off of hawaiii, "Resolution" which ended with an incredibly energetic Shad joining the band on stage to perform his portion of the song, and one of my favourite Said the Whale tracks overall, "My Government Heart", the stage bathed in red lights as Tyler vitriolically spat out the lyrics.
They also pulled out a deep-cut cover, Father John Misty's "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings", and Tyler got very emotional when he went into "Helpless Son", a song written for his mother, a cancer survivor, who was in the crowd and hearing the song performed live for the first time.

"I Love You" wrapped up the main set with a huge energy, but of course they were back for the obligatory encore; a few more songs before wrapping up with the perfect set-ender, "Goodnight Moon", capping off with Tyler rocking out on the ukulele as hard as someone can rock out on a ukulele.

I've seen Said the Whale more than a few times in the past few years, and I would say this was the best I have seen them play live. They were incredibly tight, firing on all cylinders, Ben & Tyler's voices working in perfect harmony, and even Jacelyn joining in on more backup vocal duties than before.
It made me really excited to see what they come up with next.


setlist
More Than This; Mother; Camillo (The Magician); Narrows; The Light Is You; My Government Heart; Big Sky, MT; Safe To Say; Resolutions; Seasons; I Could Smoke; Oh K, Okay; Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings [Father John Misty cover]; Helpless Son; The Gift of a Black Heart; Loveless; Curse the Currents; Willow; On The Ropes; I Love You.
(encore) The Weight of the Season; Emerald Lake, AB; Goodnight Moon. 

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

3am Mixtapes: Episode Seventeen: Christmas Songs

Each week on the 3am Mixtapes podcast, I will share with you the Top Six Songs of a certain subject. The topics can be as general like favourite songs of the year. Or some might be a little more... esoteric. Top Six Songs With The Number Six In The Title.

It's about that time of the year where music everywhere is infiltrated with Christmas carols and songs. And there's not much you can do if, like me, you don't really care for Christmas Music. Which is why I bring you this week's Top Six Christmas Songs for People That Hate Christmas Songs.

Featuring the musical stylings of:

"Puddleglum" by Said the Whale
"Snow" by The Zolas
"A Cup of Kindness Yet" by Hey Rosetta!
"Get Behind Me, Santa!" by Sufjan Stevens
"Fairytale in New York" by The Pogues
"The Night Santa Went Crazy" by Weird Al Yankovic

Any questions or comments or waffles or criticisms or suggestions for future themes are welcome!



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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

3am Mixtapes: Episode Sixteen: Crush Mixtape

Each week on the 3am Mixtapes podcast, I will share with you the Top Six Songs of a certain subject. The topics can be as general like best supergroups. Or some might be a little more... esoteric. Top Six Bands Named After Places That They're Not From.

And this week, we reminisce about putting together a selection of songs for someone you might just fancy.The Top Six Song To Put on a Mixtape for Someone You have a Crush On. Using music to woo someone is as old as music itself, and maybe you remember putting on some songs and just hoping that the person listening gets the deeper meaning?

This week the tunage is provided by:

"Faster for You" by Two Hours Traffic
"On Top Of Your Love" by Royal Wood
"Skinny Boy" by Amy Millan
"New Slang" by The Shins
"Hands Down" by Dashboard Confessional
"Springtime" by Wintermitts


Any questions or comments or waffles or criticisms or suggestions for future themes are welcome!



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Sunday, December 8, 2013

Basia Bulat w/ Evening Hymns @ Rio Theatre -- 12/05/13

Aside from an all-too short solo set opening for Nick Cave earlier this year, it had been over three years since the last time I saw Basia Bulat perform live. But she was back at a packed Rio Theatre to support her latest album, Tall Tall Shadow with her band. Plus, she was touring with longtime friend Evening Hymns -- who had already put on one of my favourite shows of the year, a couple months prior -- so I was more than a little excited for the show.

The night started with Evening Hymns, which is to say, Jonas Bonnetta taking the stage alone. After starting off with "Spirit In The Sky", which teased a bit of looping, he explained the concept of his latest album Spectral Dusk, written about his father's passing after years of illness and the deeply personal & heartfelt songs that were born. He told a couple stories about his father and brother, but also had some levity to his banter, joking around.

Half way through the set, Basia Bulat joined him on stage for a duet for an older song "Dead Deer", their voices blending perfectly together, and he fully exploited his looping pedal as he ran around building "Mtn. Song", his self professed dance number.
Jonas ended the set with the title track "Spectral Dusk", a heart wrenching song that surely caused more than a few teary eyes in the silent theatre. Not only was it his last song of the set, and his last live show of the year, but the last song for the Spectral Dusk "album cycle", and seemed noticeably cathartic for him as he ended that chapter.

setlist
Spirit In The Sky; Arrows; You and Jake; Dead Deer; Mtn. Song; Spectral Dusk.

It wasn't long after before Basia Bulat took the stage. Joined by bassist Ben Whitely and percussionist Ian MacKay, they started with "The City With No Rivers", and Bulat playing a charango; the first of several instruments she would cycle through over the course of the set. From the charango to the pianoette, the more conventional acoustic guitar to the keyboard, and of course the autoharp, she transitioned effortlessly from instrument to instrument. And her small stature -- which she joked about a few times -- gave way to a huge voice and presence. It was hard not to be entranced as her voice soared during songs like "Five, Four" and "Heart Of My Own".

There were a couple technical difficulties in the set, but nothing that took away from it; even when having keyboard or mic stand troubles, Basia was unfazed, joking and charming the crowd before getting it right rather than slipping into an awkward silence. Other highlights of the set included the soft and gorgeous "Paris or Amsterdam", the building intensity of "Gold Rush", and the incredibly catchy "Tall Tall Shadow", which saw Bonnetta coming out to join on backup vocals and staying for the final song of the set, "Never Let Me Go"

Basia came back out, visibly overwhelmed by the crowd's reaction, and went for a more loose and seemingly unplanned encore taking suggestions from the audience. "In The Night" again showed off her world class autoharp playing, and she did a beautiful cover of Daniel Johnston's "True Love Will Find You In The End", before she bookended the set by again bringing out the charango and finishing with her voice once again soaring for "It Can't Be You".

Basia Bulat is a fantastic musician and performer, and she had the entire theatre captivated throughout the show. I just hope it's not another three years before she's back.

setlist
The City With No Rivers; Promise Not To Think About Love; Gold Rush; Heart Of My Own; Run; I Was A Daughter; Five, Four; Paris or Amsterdam; Little Waltz; The Shore; If It Rains; Wires; Someone; Tall Tall Shadow; Never Let Me Go. 
(encore) Before I Knew; In The Night; True Love Will Find You In The End [Daniel Johnston cover]; It Can't Be You.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

3am Mixtapes: Episode Fifteen: Trios

Each week on the 3am Mixtapes podcast, I will share with you the Top Six Songs of a certain subject. The topics can be as general like Top Six Holiday Songsor they can be as strange and specific as Top Six Bands With Classically Trained Opera Singers.

This week is all about three pieces. Triumvirates. The Top Six Trios. Bands with three members have long been a mainstay in music, and this week we celebrate that with musical accompaniment from:

"Extraordinary" by Joel Plaskett Emergency
"Stamp" by The Rural Alberta Advantage
"Oh Hi!" by beekeeper
"Whatchewdid" by Grady
"Will They Bury Us?" by Elliott BROOD
"Scumbag Blues" by Them Crooked Vultures


Any questions or comments or waffles or criticisms or suggestions for future themes are welcome!



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Sunday, December 1, 2013

Brendan Canning @ Media Club -- 11/29/13

No one can ever accuse Brendan Canning of not being a hard working, busy man. The Broken Social Scene co-founderhas his name to about a half dozen bands, and now that Broken Social Scene is on a hiatus, he has been busy with his new solo album, his second counting Something For All Of Us, under the "Broken Social Scene Presents" line.
But in contrast to Broken Social Scene's bombastic, grandiose sound, his new album You Gots 2 Chill takes a tone fitting exactly with its name; it is laid back and mellow.

I got to the Media Club just as Dinosaur Bones took the stage. With a dark indie rock sound, the band had a great presence on stage. A few times they got the crowd clapping along, and had an effortless energy.
They were supporting their newest album Shaky Dream, and with songs like the moody "Career Criminal" being one of the highlights of the set, and I am definitely going to have to pick up their album.

It wasn't long after that that Brendan Canning was up. Joined by Hark on backup vocals (who opened the show and I unfortunately missed), Canning and his band played in front of a projection screen showing stock footage and old videos (including the old science film Powers of Ten)
After an instrumental intro, he launched into "Plugged In", the first single off the new album, setting the tone for the set with it's very laid back mood. Throughout the set, Canning was occasionally joined by members of Dinosaur Bones, and part way through the set invited a friend up on stage, Torquil Campbell of Stars. Campbell joined backup vocals for "Late Night Stars" -- appropriately enough -- and then a pretty amazing cover of Drake's "Hold On We're Going Home"
The band also took the time to stretch their musical legs, as a few songs ended with extended jams; Canning even mentioned after the swirling ending of "However Long" that they did some on-the-fly improvising. The set ended with the soft and beautiful "Last Song for the Summer Hideaway" and while the rest of the band left, Canning stayed to perform one more song, a solo acoustic instrumental.

It was a great show that was marred a little bit by a shitty crowd. The Media Club has always been bad for noise and conversation, and combine that with a Friday night and Canning's chill set, and the din got to be a bit much at times. But Canning managed to get the crowd to shut up for at least one song, the quietest of the set, and the noise seemed to die off after that. Noise aside, Canning is a hell of a performer, and I would love to see these songs in a more fitting venue.