The Rural Alberta Advantage: Hottest band in Canada (photo: Patrick Leduc)

Like leaves falling from trees, and smashed Jack-o-Lanterns littering damp and windy streets, the arrival of November is a  tell-tale sign that the year is quickly drawing to a close, and we’re in the midst of a season change: year-end list season.

Thing kicked off a little early yesterday, but they did so in style and with a Canadian bent as Matthew over at i (heart) music unveiled the fifth edition of his annual Hottest Bands in Canada poll.  This was the second year Matt’s asked me to participate, and I was more than happy to oblige.  Sadly, though, I have to report that only 4 of my 10 choices made the list.  Even more sadly, I have to report that I completely left out the band that ended up capping the list for no other reason than I kinda, uh, forgot to put them on my list.  Te band in question, The Rural Alberta Advantage, was prominently featured on QBiM’s 2008 year-end list, and have gone on to have an amazing 2009.  I think I was just being too 2009-centric when building my list that I didn’t look back far enough, but the truth is that there has been so much fantastic Canadian music released in the last couple of years that it’s really hard to peg down just 10 artists as the hottest (as I read through the final list, there were so many acts there that I had to cross off in order to get my list down to 10).  In the end though, we’re all winners because of teh wealth of talent out there for us to enjoy.

So for this week’s 4FTW, I thought I’d recap the 4 bands from my list that made Matt’s final tally, and throw in the #1 band as a special Halloween treat.  Happy haunting, ghouls and boars!

MP3: Lightning Dust “I Knew”
Myspace: Lightning Dust
MP3: Giant Hand “Coming Down From the Mountain”
Myspace: Giant Hand
MP3: The Wooden Sky “Oh My God (It Still Means A Lot To Me)”
Myspace: The Wooden Sky
MP3: Ohbijou “Black Ice”
Myspace: Ohbijou
MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage “Rough and Tumble”
Myspace: The Rural Alberta Advantage

(Josh McIntyre of Little Girls)

I’ve pretty much known all week that I’d be following up my Atlas Sound post with one about Little Girls, but I wasn’t sure (and still am not) about what kind of angle I was going to take on it.  Back in June I was totally digging the sonic sound collisions Josh McIntyre was posting over at the Little Girls Myspace page, having compared his song “Tambourine” to Pixies doing Joy Division, sounding all gothic surf punk, but the concept of a whole album’s worth of the stuff?

Strangely enough, that’s just what McIntyre has named his official debut LP: Concepts is 10 tracks with no real discernible lyrical content, but with a singular musical voice.  With only that Peter Hook-indebted bass as the album’s through-line, McIntyre has managed to build an impressive wall of sound, full of fuzzed out guitar, discordant echoes, raw percussion and buzz saw overdubs.  I have to admit it is all a bit much to take in in a single sitting, but those who do will be rewarded with a pretty amazing musical experience.  There’s something so ominous about the guitar line in “Salt Swimmers”, coupled with another round of distorted vocal wailing, and then something so precious about the way “Growing” crescendos and peaks with an emotional high, that you really can’t make heads or tails of the album at all.  It will be a long while before I think I can expertly pick out any one track from the album, but that’s a credit to McIntyre:  Concepts is very much an album as a whole, greater than the sum of its parts and all the better for it.

Imagine that, a whole album that’s pretty spectacular from beginning to end.  Now that’s a new concept.

MP3: Little Girls “Growing”
Myspace: Little Girls

(photo: Kristin Klein)

Nothing surprises me anymore.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned from writing this blog is that was passed for magnificence one year can be reduced to muck the next.  Conversely, that which at one point didn’t even illicit a yawn let alone any kind of positive reaction can get me jumping up and down in my seat and with feverish excitement.

I’m not quite pushing 103º fevers yet, but the new LP from  Atlas Sound certainly has me swooning.  Logos is the follow up to Bradford “Deerhunter” Cox’s 2008 Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel, an album I wasn’t all that impressed with.  Cox made me a believer with Deerhunter’s outstanding Microcastle, released in 2008 as well, so in the interim I’ve given that first Atlas Sound album a second chance.  I still prefer Logos more, but I certainly have gained a new respect for his creative vision and musical deftness.  Cox’s palette is kaleidoscopic;  if you had to draw out his music’s trajectory, there’d be all kinds of swirling lines and loop-dee-loops as opposed to any kind of slow and steady climb.  My favourite song on Logos is “Walkabout” featuring Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox.  The two are kindred spirits; both their solo work expands on the experimentation and sound of their group work, and make a perfect collaborative pair.

Cox is also joined by another sound pioneer, Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab.  Their track, “Quick Canal” has been given the video treatment by director Flitz Vladich, and is linked below.  The appearance of these two guest musicians gives Logos the feeling of being more than just an outlet for Cox, or a diversion during Deerhunter’s downtime.  As close as they are in nature, their is little overlap in what Deerhunter and Atlas Sound do, and keeping these two facets of his musical vocabulary separate really lets Cox explore and play in a way that you can’t always do as part of a collective.

MP3: Atlas Sound “Walkabout (featuring Noah Lennox)”
Video: Atlas Sound “Quick Canal”
Myspace: Atlas Sound

(photo: audiobloodmedia.com)

Things around here have been pretty messed up lately, thanks to the giant mess that DreamHost put me in last week when they pulled my plug (and not in that good way).  It feels like the groove I was getting into all summer crumpled like a greasy sheet of tin foil.  It was the weirdest feeling, not having the outlet to write about anything, even though it was for just such a short period of time.  Because of it, I actually have a bit of a backlog of music I wanted to investigate and write about that I just haven’t been able to get to fast enough.  The result it that when I do sit down and listen to something, I notice now that all my “friends” have already gotten to it, making me feel like I’m lagging even further behind the other blogs than I already am.

Fitting then, that I should start clearing this backlog out with a band named Slow Down, Molasses.  The Saskatoon band has been described by some as the Broken Social Scene of the prairies, due in part to its rotating roster of musicians.  There’s also some similarity in their loose-limbed, DIY sound, as evidenced in the rolling thunderstorm of songs like “Knife Fight”.  For the most part, though, Slow Down, Molasses have nailed down that classic blend of country, classic, and contemporary rock.  There’s a little Bowie, there’s a little Blue Rodeo, there’s a little Boston, even, but mostly there’s power and precision behind the 12 songs on their debut, I’m An Old Believer (released, as far as I can tell, at teh tail end of 2008, proving just how far behind I really am).  Like the title suggests, these guys have been at this for a long time, and are no flash in the pan.  The album is fresh and familiar at the same time, and it will definitely make you an old believer in Slow Down, Molasses.  If, like me, you’ve haven’t become acquainted with them, I suggest you do so soon.  Some of you might just have the opportunity to do so this week:  The band is in Kingston tonight at The Mansion, and plays The Garrison in Toronto tomorrow with Monday’s featured band, The Wilderness of Manitoba.  Now that should be an incredible show.  After that, they’ll be heading home for a show at Saskatoon’s Amigo’s with Ohbijou, another amazing bill.

Now that I’ve caught up with Slow Down, Molasses, its time to get the lead out of my ass and get writing/listening/back in the groove.  One record down, God knows how many more to go.

MP3: Slow Down, Molasses “I’m An Old Believer”
Myspace: Slow Down, Molasses
Twitter: Slow Down, Molasses

(photo: Laurie Kang)

I’ve been kind of obsessed with some “big sounding” music lately, thanks in no small part to my continued infatuation with the TV show Glee.  I thought that–based on descriptors alone–Toronto’s  Everything All The Time would kind of sound like a school choir (quartet of vocal harmonies, cramming everything but the kitchen sink in, blah blah blah) but truthfully, this tight 6 piece pop-outfit is anything but blah blah blah.

The band has individually busted their chops supporting everyone from Feist and Sarah Harmer to The Hidden Cameras and Jason Collett, so they are certainly no slouches.  Having said that, there’s really nothing about their music that reminds me of their former employers.  Everything All The Time have a sound that’s truly their own: a blend of electronic dance beats and indie rock that’s not afraid to coax an audience into singing along.  That’s thanks to the big. boomin’ beautiful voice of Alanna Stuart, who brings a touch of class and soul to the whole proceedings.

I’ve yet to hear more than “Lazy Days” and the assorted tracks available on their Myspace page, but this will certainly be one band I’m keeping my eyes on.

MP3: Everything All The Time “Lazy Days”
Myspace: Everything All The Time