Top Albums #6 - Atlas Sound - Parallax

I don’t think anyone can debate the fact that Bradford Cox knows how to make amazing music. But on previous solo endeavors the music inside his head hasn’t translated as well to paper. In no way was it ever bad, it just didn’t feel as natural as his previous work.

Parallax doesn’t have that problem at all. 

It actually feels a lot more like Cox had the time to iron out the kinks. When you hear early releases of some songs on this album, they’re great. But when they appear on this record they feel more than just an idea.

In many ways this record actually feels a bit like a continuation from Deerhunter’s superb Halcyon Digest. The most noticeable difference is the tone between each album. This one seems a lot brighter than Cox’s last outing. That isn’t to say it’s light though – it just seems a little more out of the shadows.   

Favourite Tracks: Praying Man http://tinyurl.com/ceyee2v , Mona Lisa http://tinyurl.com/csevqre , Parallax http://tinyurl.com/caa5bjl

Top Albums #7 - Timber Timbre - Creep On Creepin' On

There's one thing Timber Timbre knows how to do better than anyone else; create a sense of atmosphere. Each one of his albums seems improve that moody feeling better than the last. Even the title of this record ominously foreshadows what's to come.

Mysterious piano trills or gongs at the right moment really add to the spooky feeling. On others, guest Colin Stetson really punches up songs with the help of his baritone sax.   


This is a blues album that really enhances a chilly, grey day. If you wake up and can see the clouds rolling in, then it's best to throw this album on before you turn on the heat. It will help warm you up.

Even though there's a feeling that something could sneak up behind you at any moment, Taylor Kirk's vocals are still relaxing. Its deep drawl is perfect to sway and drift off with while gazing out at a cold drizzle.

While it has a very calm feeling, this album is anything but lethargic. Just when you think the record is going to come screeching to a halt - there are some very eerie transitions that completely change the tempo.

As far as a blues album goes, this is was the year's best. 

Favourite Tracks: Black Water http://tinyurl.com/3bak6pr , Bad Ritual, Woman http://tinyurl.com/5vborez , Too Old to Die Young http://tinyurl.com/7o6lb4v .

Top Albums #8 - Austra - Feel It Break



I’ll admit that when people are flocking in droves to a band that “you simply MUST listen to” I get a little put off. The initial buzz around Feel It Break had me curious about what Austra was all about. I really enjoyed their first couple of singles, but after being bombarded with so many critics telling me I absolutely HAD to love this album - I didn't want to bother anymore. 

After a while though, I found myself drawn to Austra once more. It was their live performances that really did it for me. As a band, they really know how to work a crowd. Going back and listening to the record, it's clear that all the credit they were getting was well deserved.  

What stands out the most is the vocals. Katie Stelmanis' power behind the mic offers each song a strength that make the subject matter relevant. I hope I'm not the only one that is reminded of Stevie Nicks on some of the more potent blasts. They both have that ability to fill a room with song, while at the same time hinting at some sort of inner vulnerability.

The balance of light and shade on Feel It Break also stands out. It really is a cool feeling when it sounds like a band is taking you some place bright and uplifting, when in reality it's actually quite dark. The electronic beats and airy back-up vocals really lend a hand to that illusion.  

Favourite Tracks: Darken Her Horse http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScooPAeTtFU , Beat and the Pulse http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emHAfLWqbnA , Spellwork, The Villain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgkeUDSDyI0





Top Albums #9 - The Strokes - Angles

When you take a five year break between records, you should know the expectations are going to be high. I’m sure the Strokes had a pretty good idea what was waiting for them when they finally released Angles. 

Stylistically this record seems to fit somewhere in between Room on Fire and First Impressions of Earth. It’s because they didn’t quite get back to their original, stripped-down sound that I think a lot of reviewers wrote off this album. NME actually called it one of the biggest let-downs of the year. I wonder if they actually listened to it more than once.

Angles has everything any other Strokes record has; rhythmic guitars, catchy lyrics, and a strangely familiar feel. Plus it has that ability to grow on you with every listen. But like the others, it also has a different attitude that sets it apart from the rest. 

I’ll admit that I may have been a little too eager to listen to this album. A co-worker and I actually watched a clock countdown the hours (and then minutes) before we could listen to Under Cover of Darkness this spring. Does that make me a little biased? Maybe. Even a little deranged? Perhaps. One thing’s for sure, had I not been working at a rock station – I would've been fired.

I just hope that this isn't the last record from the Strokes. And if it isn't, that we don't have to wait another five years for the next one.

Favourite Tracks: Machu Picchu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i8xhDleJ14 , Under Cover of Darkness, Taken for a Fool, Gratisfaction, Games, Life is Simple in the Moonlight http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-m8I6di6R8&feature=related

Top Albums #10 - Tune-Yards - WhoKill

Right from the get-go, Merrill Garbus proves to you there really isn’t anything else out there quite like Tune-Yards. 

One of the year’s strongest albums, WhoKill is also one of the most difficult to describe. It’s melodic, tribal, mysterious, and chaotic. Just when you think you’ve got a handle on a song, it changes. On other songs you’re often taken to up to a thunderous crescendo just as the floor drops out from below you. While it's like a leopard constantly changing its spots, there's no denying the pleasure you get from how creative this record is.

Then there’s Merrill’s voice. In a year of seemingly endless droning on about Adele’s pipes, I actually found myself far more impressed with what I heard on this record.  

The first time I ever heard of Tune-Yards was when Merrill opened up for Think About Life in Toronto (at of all places a Polish Legion Hall). It only took one gig to hook me. Definitely unlike anything I had ever heard, never mind seen before. A woman wearing neon zinc like war paint, creating loops with a ukulele is just something you don’t see on stage all the time. 

It doesn’t seem quite so out of the ordinary anymore.

Favourite Tracks: My Country, Gangsta, es-so, Bizness

Long Overdue

Simply put, I’ve been gone far too long.

I originally started this blog for two reasons; to keep my mind sharp in between writing gigs, and to write about something I enjoy. The explanation for my absence is really as simply as this: I got a job that pays me to write for a living (which means I do less of it for pleasure) and that job was far-removed from a music hub like Toronto.

Needless to say if I had any fans on here before, I’ve clearly lost them. But at the same time, I still want to do my top ten albums of the year. No matter where you live, music is always available to everyone.

So without further ado…the Top Ten of the year.  

This Movie Is Broken - Reviews for the Film and the Actual Concert

After a seemingly endless wait to see This Movie Is Broken, I finally got my chance. I without a doubt loved it and here’s why: I lived most of what the movie was about that day. I woke up in my then girlfriend’s bed to the sound of race cars at the Molson Indy, I went to watch those fast cars, and then I ended my day watching Broken Social Scene play a free gig at the Harbourfront Centre. It was one of the most perfect days of the summer.

I think if you were ever asked by someone to describe what Toronto was like in the summer of 2009, you could simply point to this film. Director Bruce McDonald captured everything that was going on. The heat, the atmosphere, and the garbage. I was actually surprised at first how much the infamous garbage strike actually played a role in the movie, but it provided the perfect narrative. By letting actual newscasts from the CBC talk about the strike and images of our fair city piled with filth, the film cut down a need for excessive dialogue. 

What there was of a plot was much better than I had been expecting. Truth be told, the reason it took me so long to see the film was because of the love story. I don’t feel like getting into that, but let’s just say I was moved by the script at points.

Then there’s the most important part of the movie; the music. Whoever was in charge of shooting the band did a fantastic job of frame transitions so that it feels like you’re actually on stage with BSS. While they didn’t pick all of the songs, they picked the right ones to enhance the scenes going on in the film. 

What this film does extremely well is set itself apart from other live performances that you can take home. It could easily have been called Broken Social Scene Live on the Harbourfront but it takes a different route and gives you something to feel past the music. Because that is what music does after all; it enhances what you’re feeling at the time you’re watching it.

To prove just how much this gig meant to me, here’s the review I felt compelled to write when I got home at two in the morning after the gig:

Broken Social Scene- Harbourfront Center- July 11, 2009 

OR

“How my love of BSS was rekindled”

I gave this one an alternative title because I really have to admit, Broken Social Scene and I have been going through a dry spell in our long relationship. It has been more than two years since I saw them last and none of the BSS Presents: music has really caught my attention. This concert was like a second wedding or at the very least, a change in bedroom antics. For one thing, there were many more partners in there, but I’ll let you figure out that metaphor in the notes to come. 

Tonight you really got the idea that Kevin Drew felt bad about their annual Olympic Island show being cancelled. “We couldn’t play the island, so we decided to not charge you fifty bucks” he told us. That’s right, they played for free. And boy did they play.

Because so much happened, I’ve decided to give a play-by-play list of the highlights as best as I can.

- The solo stuff starts off with Brendan Canning. It’s the first treat of the night. Nice and funky, it was the first song that had me dancing.
- Kevin Drew plays his first “solo” album song of the night. It reminded me that I hadn’t given it a good enough chance yet. I resolved to pick up Spirit If… and give it another listen the next day.
- The first surprise of the night, Kevin Drew introduces Leslie Feist who comes on stage and sings 7/4 Shoreline. She then disappears, but not for long.
- Second treat of the night: the emergence of Amy Milan who sings one of her solo tunes. KD intros her as a girl he met at camp. Amy disappears after her song. I worry that she’s in a huff and won’t be back.
- Feist returns to the stage to play an acoustic duet with Kevin Drew of Safety Bricks mixed in with I Feel It All. The two songs fit together incredibly!
- I begin to wonder if the night will really include “everyone” like Kevin Drew promised at the start of the night. Then he brings out Emily Haines and her fellow Metric guitarist.
- Emily, Amy, and Feist all sing Gimme Sympathy in harmony for a much more mellow version of the song.
- Jason Collett decides that he’s going to join the party and thus completes what I thought would be the end of the surprises. Everyone I really wanted to see were on stage.
- I make my first count of what seems to be a ridiculously crowded stage. There’s at the very least 22 people on stage. Jason Collett throws down a classic rock-n-roll move and ends up playing guitar on his back.
- Andrew Whiteman from Apostle of Hustle is featured for the first time. How can all these people really play so well in one band? Repeat after me “I WILL NEVER TAKE THIS BAND FOR GRANTED AGAIN!”
- Kevin Drew announces that the show is now in at the middle. Pardon me sir? You pulled off all that in the first HALF of your show? I realized he wasn’t kidding when they end their set an hour later.
- I hear the best rendition of Anthems of A Seventeen Year Old Girl I have ever heard live. All three ladies are singing and they’re having the most fun I’ve ever seen them have together. Even Amy starts getting into it.
- Feist continues to dance about between the songs featuring her on vocals. When she’s not dancing, she’s standing at the back playing the drums. It’s rather adorable.

- After playing Bandwitch, they announce that their done for the night, but that they played too fast. So the first encore begins. Brandon Canning dedicates the song to the late Martin Streek due to his support of the band in the early days. Then they “blast the roof off the sucker”, just like Brandon said they were out to achieve.
- They leave the stage for the first time before quickly returning. It’s not going to be so easy to take off. The second encore starts with Pacific Theme which is perfect on a night like this. Cool and breezy after a hot day. Before leaving for the night, Brandon blurts KC Accidental into his mic. So they play that too.
- The band appears for their last encore and ends for good with Major Label Debut. Throughout the whole night, they have averaged at least 13 band members on stage at a time. Wow is all I can say before I sit my ass down and take it all in.

The way Kevin Drew spoke to the crowd suggested that he wanted to make up for their cancelled show. Two and a half hours later, the job was done. There was not an unhappy person among the crowd. The only beef that I had with the night was the lack of my favourite song Stars and Suns. But I listened to it while I wrote this, so that really isn’t something to be upset about. 

Ultimately an upside-down frown is really a smile. I had an upside-down frown the entire show.