Polaris Music Prize: Where's Kevin Drew's New Record?
There's no doubt that this year's Polaris shortlist had all the good Canadian records of 2007/08 (good call on the inclusion of Two Hours Traffic, Kathleen Edwards and Basia Bulat). I am even sure the right band won (Caribou). But for a music prize that purports to choose the best Canadian album solely on the basis of artistic merit, did the judges listen to that little Kevin Drew record called Spirit If...? I'll be hard pressed to find a better sounding record than that in recent times, in and outside Canada.
Listen to a stream of the entire album here. See how you feel at the end of it all.
Okay, I haven't heard the whole thing yet, but the two sides of Will Johnson and the band can never be a bad thing. I still haven't stopped enjoying Fort Recovery, but here's hoping that I can finally get over that and move on. I managed to get some legal tracks off the new double split LP, so enjoy!
Okay, forgive me for asking again, but it is all the fault of Travis, who it turns out, thinks a certain Smiths album is the best when its not and such and such.
Vote away, and enjoy some random Smith goodies below.
Does it not say a lot when it takes a new Charlatans record to bring me out of my self-imposed silence? Oh Charlatans, thank you for making blogging fun again!
Better still, it's being offered as a free download on XFM. Thanks Radiohead!
Too lazy to download the full thing? Then hit up these two songs.
In other news, if you like in Vancouver and love Oasis or Ryan Adams as much as I do, hit me up for two tickets to see both live in concert in August. Real good seats too.
So Mr. Spitzer's "Kristen" is an aspiring singer! It's our job then as music bloggers to do the best we can to hype her to stardom, isn't it? I would have voted for her on American Idol. Isn't she lovely!?
So I am hanging out in Vancouver right now, loving the city. Lunch break escape from a meeting where there's a lot of talk going about things called "assays" and "in vivo". I took the bus down Main St. and discovered Neptoon records, where I found some cool LPs. Favorite find - Eno & Bryne: My Life in the Bush of Ghosts ($10). The guy at Neptoon made me check out, and buy the new Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings record (which for reason I had stayed away from - hmnnnn...), and then told me to grab lunch at Locus Restaurant on Main (intersection: King Edward's). Best Venison burger and hash browns combo I ever had. Best any kind of burger I ever had. Faaking A.
Anyway, here's some live Jeff Buckley. The details are in the tags.
Here's a treat for my friends who read this blog, and for those of you with uncool bosses. My boss, currently a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy, used to sing lead in a number of bands in the New Wave/"New" Weezer era. I like the alt rock incarnation better, but the dance pop grooves of the self-titled Absolute 9 record was alright too. Just so you don't think I am sucking up, check it out for yourself.
My Aunt's Playlist: CBS/Pepsi Special Offer - Simon & Garfunkel/The Tremeloes
This is a special find - not sure how many of this are still in circulation. Google and Ebay searches confirm that this guy and this guy have one, so that makes me the third person who is known to possess one for now. Just in case you are a fan of The Tremeloes...
So while vacationing in Nigeria I found a bunch of precious goodies on vinyl in my aunt's "very dusty" collection. I plan to post these here over the next few weeks, not just to show how cool my aunt was and still is, but also to take a break from the usual "live music" posts. Not even sure I want to do those anymore.
My reaction when I first saw the Twiggy single? Somewhere between surprise and disgust. Kinda like how I felt about Tyra's Shake Ya Body (some things shouldn't happen). But I was being merely ignorant - apart from the fact that this was a high-charting single (#17, UK), Twiggy is actually more than a decent singer. The single, "Here I Go Again" is a cover of 60's folk rock band Country Joe and The Fish, but the real treasure here is the B-side ballad, "In Love Together". Enjoy.
For those of you who have wondered about the lack of new posts here, here's your reason. I am on vacation in Africa right now, and internet access where I am situated is a bitch. There you have it. A reason. However, I am collecting some really kickass exciting music on vinyl here, and will be totally prolific when I get back. I even managed to find some single released by Twiggy (sure to go on ebay when I return), a 1964 promotional single by The Beatles, the Declaration of Biafran Independence speech by President Ojukwu, some really old Fela, and some badass highlife music. It's on.
There's no doubt that this year's Polaris shortlist had all the good Canadian records of 2007/08 (good call on the inclusion of Two Hours Traffic, Kathleen Edwards and Basia Bulat). I am even sure the right band won (Caribou). But for a music prize that purports to choose the best Canadian album solely on the basis of artistic merit, did the judges listen to that little Kevin Drew record called Spirit If...? I'll be hard pressed to find a better sounding record than that in recent times, in and outside Canada.
"Quality Strange"
