(photo: myspace.com)

The argument can be made that nothing is new anymore.  TV shows are being turned into Broadway musicals, Broadway musicals are being turned into movies, and movies are turning into music videos, and music videos are turning into commercials, while commercials are turning into TV shows.  Shit, I can’t believe I actually came full-circle like that!

So having said that, I know full well that the argument can (and probably will) be made that Toronto’s The Wilderness of Manitoba don’t sound like anything new.  The most obvious benchmarks are Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, and Simon & Garfunkel; they’re certainly not the first to strike upon the notion of blending harmonious choirs and gentle acoustic folk, but for my money, The Wilderness of Manitoba are by far making the most interestingly beautiful music of the bunch.  The band is an evolutionary step forward from their (former/present?) incarnation as the indie-rock/pop collective Provincial Parks, who released an EP named Iron Ponies awhile back.

They may be calling Hymns of Love and Spirits an EP, too,  but in my books its eight tracks is the perfect LP, without a clunker track in the bunch and leaving you wanting to listen to it over and over again.  Will Whitwham, Scott Bouwmeester, Stefan Banjevic and Melissa Dalton crafted this magical record in the basement of the house three of them share on Delaware Avenue in Toronto, the band’s defacto headquarters.  They often perform in the garage behind the house (where they made their live debut) as well as venues around the city, opening for their friends The Rural Alberta Advantage (perhaps you’re familiar with them, loyal readers?).  the songs came about while many of the band members were going through personal difficulties and changes in their lives, including the death of Whitwham’s mother, whose song “Evening” (written in the late 60s) is rearranged and covered by the band.  A scratchy, vinyl ripped version of the original track (by Wendy Blackburn) closes out the LP, like a distant echo from another time.

That’s what makes The Wilderness of Manitoba so special: the timelessness of the music.  Their harmonies and sombre instrumental arrangements hearken back to the heyday of folk and beyond, almost convincing you that these are mystical medieval field recordings.  With just the sound of birds chirping, and a new day dawning acting as overdubs, there’s nothing masking the stark beauty of Hymns of Love and Spirits, one of the best albums by a Canadian band this year.

MP3: The Wilderness of Manitoba “Dreamcatchers”
Facebook: The Wilderness of Manitoba
Myspace: The Wilderness of Manitoba