Elliott Brood, this year’s Polaris country-rock nomination, have just announced new tour dates around Canada after the fated Polaris gala date, and believe me, they will bring their high and loud spirits if they win or not.
The tour takes them through Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, then through the states and back up to Ontario and towards the Eastern provinces.
The band will be playing the Polaris gala, with the other 9 nominees. This is the first year that all nominated bands will be performing. The grand juray was also recently announced.
If you want any indication as to how awesome an Elliott Brood show is, go watch my SPIN Earth report from London from early this year.
If you’ve been following this blog since before its WordPress inception, you’ll know that I’m quite the fan of The Swell Season (by entries like this one and this one).
So it’s safe to say that I’m giddy over the recent performance of GlenHansard and MarketaIrglova (even though they’re romantically broken up now… I think… sigh) on NPR’s cute Tiny Desk concert series. The pair performed six new songs and one more familiar track off of their upcoming album, Strict Joy. The album will be released September 29, but for now, enjoy the performance along with me.
The songs are played in this order:
“Maybe I Was Born To Hold You In These Arms”
“Low Rising”
“Fantasy Man”
“Paper Cup”
“Feeling The Pull”
“Back Broke”
“When Your Mind’s Made Up”
Can’t resist the cuteness, can you? Now, it’s a little awkward when Hansard explains the story behind “Low Rising” as it’s about a rough talk with “a girlfriend”, so it’s a little heartbreaking. But it sounds like and looks like they’re fine with one another, singing about love…
I remember seeing them play a few of these songs, if not all of them, when they came to Toronto last year. And I remember feeling all warm and fuzzy. I don’t need to remember though, as I feel it again, and it’s obvious the entire NPR office did too.
Tiny Desk concerts are available as audio downloads, but it’s a great thing to see visuals as well. Check out Canadian Julie Doiron’s video performance.
Canada is well represented on the British web series Black Cab Sessions this week with two new episodes of Final Fantasy and Woodpigeon.
Final Fantasy’s Owen Pallett sits down in the cab “I’ve never played in a car before!” after London’s Field Day festival on August 1. Pallett spends a lot of time over in old London-town I believe because he’s recording and finishing up his next album, and probably because he generally loves it there. In this video, the camerawork is a little shotty but that’s what makes it endearing and encompasses the meaning of these sessions: they’re low-budget ways to show music in motion, simple yet so sweet.
Lead singer Mark Andrew Hamilton of Woodpigeon got lucky with an impromptu session after the Field Day festival as well. BCS saw his name on the band list and gave him a ring. In this video, music in motion is given another meaning as you get to see more of London through the rain drop-covered window, and you get to see one of my favourite things about the city, Regent’s Canal. Hamilton’s singing and guitar strumming never wavers through this bumpy ride, and it becomes very soothing. And even after the great song, he promptly finishes to scratch his beard. Ah, Canadian musicians.
It’s actually been hard telling myself I can’t update this blog this coming weekend. Seriously.
I’ll be having a speedy weekend in Florida, my cousin is getting married! It’s about 33C there, but I just checked and it says thunderstorms for every day. Sorry, cousin, I’m apparently bringing Toronto with me….
Anyways, music lovers, have a great weekend! And if you’re taking the weekend off (or just wishing you were), you should take a few minutes and take the What’s your cottage’s style quiz I made at work for Canadian Home and Country! That aughta brighten something up…. right?
Regular posts will resume hopefully around next Wednesday or Thursday. If you do something great or see something awesome in the music world this weekend, post it in the comments!
P.S. What do you think of the new RoundLetters banner on the site?
Are you a big fan of the emerging Edinburgh or Glasgow scene that follows in the footsteps of Franz Ferdinand? We’re talking Frightened Rabbit, The Twilight Sad and now We Were Promised Jetpacks.
Photo by Neil Thomas Douglas
A lot seems to be riding on this young four-piece who formed in Edinburgh but now reside in Glasgow, Scotland. They’ve been together and performing around the UK since they won a high school Battle of the Bands contest in 2003, but it isn’t until now that they’re releasing the heavily-anticipated full-length debut. Since their inception, they’ve been riding under the wing of another recently popular Frightened Rabbit, as well as gaining radio play.
In this album, WWPJ create an emotional, bass-laden atmosphere that’s like a night’s swirling soul-search to life. It’s catchy, exciting and lonely at the same time, but they stop short of emo. “Roll Up Your Sleeves” is an endearing and modest tune during which vocalist Adam Thompson sings in a back-and-forth of calm and eagerly driven. “Quiet Little Voices” will wake you up from your longing day dream and coax you to live it out. This album is strong for its down-to-earth ‘we know how you feel’ mentality, anxious riffs and suspicious plots. WWPJ’s jumpy rhythms call to mind other UK hotshots Arctic Monkeys and the Wombats such as in “Moving Clocks Run Slow.”
No wonder they make beautiful music, they come from such a beautiful place. I had the chance to visit Edinburgh in March, and it was a fantastic trip.
I’ve got more Scotland (and other European) pictures from my trip updated on my Flickr!
The lineup and further details were announced today for this summer’s Virgin Festival in Ontario. In the past, they’ve taken place on the Toronto Island, but it looks like this year they’re making the impatient city kids sweat it by hauling the trek to Orilia’s Burl Creek Park. The festival will take place on August 29 and 30.
Here are the headliners and supporting acts for both days:
Aug 29: Ben Harper & Relentless7
Pixies
Franz Ferdinand
Paolo Nutini
Grizzly Bear
Mates Of State
Sloan
LIGHTS
Plants And Animals
Down With Webster
The Rural Alberta Advantage
Iglu And Hartly
Anjulie
Candy Coated Killahz
Aug 30: Nine Inch Nails
Pet Shop Boys
Our Lady Peace
N.E.R.D.
Cold War Kids
Mutemath
Mew
Thunderheist
Coeur De Pirate
The Von Bondies
Datarock
Hyper Crush
Trouble Andrew
Silver Starling
The D’Urbervilles
Sean Kingston
Melonie Fiona
The New Cities
More acts will be announced soon! Get your tickets now, if you’re willing to pay anywhere from $100 to $300.
In liu of a new series of Polaris blog entries I’ll be doing (slightly in order to avoid discussing my opinion until I’m good and ready), here’s today’s entry, all about Metric, one of the most talked-about nominees so far.
CBC Radio 3reported yesterday that the Metric gang was on their way back from the Glastonbury Festival when they stopped at Stonehenge. They realized it was closed and forlornly looked through the fence until they recognized ‘rock icons’ Spinal Tap.
“We were all settling in for an uneventful ride when our driver suddenly exploded with excitement. Gesturing madly to the left of the highway and veering dangerously off the main road he shouted “STOOOOONEHEEEEEEENGE”, swerved and made a sharp turn onto a bumpy dirt road full of craters. Showering the camped out hippies in dust, he tore down the road toward that famously perplexing collection of rocks. We screeched to a halt at the entrance and piled out like a bunch of fucked up clowns only to discover that Stonehenge was….CLOSED! We were staring at the stones through the fence and halfheartedly watching various generic families wander toward their cars when Joules said the words we will remember forever: ”Um, guys, that’s…Spinal Tap!”"
And there you have it. Metric has made it clear they all have way more fun than the rest of us do.
BUT I did get to see Stonehenge in January after I moved to London for a few months. So… ha!
Now, I didn’t see any rock stars that I know of, but I did see this guy! He obviously didn’t think I was a rock star either…
For any RoundLetters updates that came before May 09, go here.
Contact
Would you like to send your music to possibly be reviewed? Talk about music? Make a comment or complaint? If so, please don't hesitate to send an email to roundletters@gmail.com.
