Thursday 06 November 2008
Explore the Rural Alberta Advantage
photo: Marc Hodges
It’s been a slow week ’round these parts, music-wise that is. That’s okay by me, as it’s given me a chance to mine the hidden treasures that I’ve been missing lately. Thanks to I (heart) Music’s “Hottest Bands in Canada” list, I’ve been discovering quite a few golden nuggets.
One such diamond in the rough is Toronto’s The Rural Alberta Advantage. Paul Banwatt, Amy Cole and Nils Edenloff “sing about summers in the Rockies and winters on the farm, ice breakups in the spring time and the oil boom’s charm, the mine workers on compressed, the equally depressed, the city’s slow growth and the country’s wild rose,” as stated on the band’s official website. Indeed, there’s a certain rural charm to their music that sits alongside a modern sophistication, which explains the frequent comparisons to Wilco and Neutral Milk Hotel. They released their debut long player, Hometowns, earlier this year, and have been making inroads in the Canadian music scene ever since. While their songs and experiences may come from a specific geographical space, the themes are universal. You don’t have to be an Albertan–nay, a Canadian, even–to appreciate The RAA; you just have to appreciate musical greatness when you hear it.
MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage “Don’t Haunt This Place”
MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage “Frank, AB”
Myspace: The Rural Alberta Advantage
Buy: The Rural Alberta Advantage, Hometowns
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