Sometimes less is more.  Imagine being Lady GaGa for instance:  You can’t even go to the corner store for milk without putting on your bloody lace and spiky halo headdress, and setting fire to the hood of your car.  Better to be low of key and humbler of heart like Two Hours Traffic front man Liam Corcoran, who agreed to our questionnaire willingly and wasting no words in marking out his territory.

He and the band have been out on the road recently, and just this past Friday they stopped in my neck of the woods for a show in St. Catharines (look for that review in this space tomorrow), but while on the road, Liam sat down and took a drilling from yours truly.

(photo: Ming Wu)

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As I get closer to the end of 2009 and start thinking about year-end posts, there have been some albums that keep drawing me back to them.  Noah & The Whale’s The First Days of Spring is definitely one that has figured prominently of late.  If you recall from my previous post on the LP, the band have also put together a film version of the album, which I’m very interested in seeing.  Until then, they offer up a new video for the album’s incredible title track.  Filmed live at Paris’s Cafe De La Danse, it’s an interesting glimpse into the band’s live show, and a document on just how far they’ve come in two albums.

Video: Noah & the Whale “The First Days of Spring”
MP3: Noah & the Whale “The First Days of Spring”
Myspace: Noah & the Whale

Forest City Lovers have a new 7″ green vinyl single available via their own label (Play The Triangle).  It’s the first sample of their album, slated for a summer 2010 release.  You can hear some of it here now:

MP3: Forest City Lovers “If I Were a Tree”
Mysapce: Forest City Lovers

If I would have gotten news of Paper Bag Record’s Seven Year Itch compilation of covers, I may have devoted the entire 4FTW post to it.  No matter, there’s something for everyone here, and it’s free to everyone, too!  Just go here to get your own copy.  Most inspired choice:  The Acorn covering Gowan’s “Strange Animal”–classic Canadian rock spun on its head.  How bizarre?!?!

MP3: The Acorn “Strange Animal (Gowan cover)”
Myspace: The Acorn
MP3: CFCF (How Bizarre (OMC Cover)”
Myspace: CFCF

(photo:myspace.com)

Back in 2007, The Paperbacks released a cool little disc called An Illusion Against Death that helped shine a light on the great music scene in Manitoba beyond the Weakerthans.  Interestingly enough, Jon K. Samson (main Weatherthan) produced that album, which may be one reason why so many compared the two band’s sound.

After a series of lineup changes, The Paperbacks have settled on a roster and spent the better part of the last year working on a 32-song double album opus, Lit From Within.  Upon first listen, I have to say that there’s certainly been a growth and progression in the arrangements and scope of their sound, but Doug McClean’s signature vocals make this album unmistakably theirs.  It’s a weighty affair, but one that pays in spades.  Lit From Within is scheduled for release in early 2010, so I’ll hold back on a full review until then, but for now, you can hear the first fruits of their marathon recording session:

MP3: The Paperbacks “Slow Learners”
Myspace: The Paperbacks

(photo: myspace.com)

There’s something to be said for youthful vigor and vitality, the innocence and spontaneity of music that’s not calculated or skewed to a particular demographic.  I hastened to use the term “naiveté” because that implies a lack of wisdom or judgment, but that was one of the initial reactions I had to listening to Sault Ste. Marie Ontario’s Kalle Mattson the other day.  There most certainly is wisdom and good judgment in the 11 songs on Whisper Bee, there first foray into the musical recording world; but there’s a spontaneous quality to that music that makes it enduring and intriguing.  After all, a band that names one of there songs “Hall of Oats” has to have a sense of humour, and a sense of musical history all at the same time.  That the song is one of the record’s gems is just a bonus.

They are a happy accident where Wilco, Neil Young and Pavement topple head over heels together down a hill, falling into a beautiful mess at the bottom.  Kalle Wainio has been making music from the age of 17 under the name Kalle Mattson, before expanding the band’s number and sound by adding Rory Lewis and Patrick Larkin (who no longer is art of the band), then later Théan Slabbert and Jimmie Chiverelli to create a folk-pop experimental collective that breathes some fresh life into what has become a stale and staid genre of indie music.  What I love most about Whisper Bee, much like Attack In Black’s  Marriage, is that it acts as a signal to what the band could very well become in time.  Their potential is great, but that shouldn’t somehow undermine what they’ve already accomplished.  The more I listen, the more I’m drawn into their sound.  This is definitely worth checking out, friends.

MP3: Kalle Mattson “Hall of Oats”
Myspace: Kalle Mattson

(photo: myspace.com)

If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, then you’re probably aware of how little live music I  actually  get out there to hear, so it’s not often that I mention concerts or review them, let alone use a whole day’s post to promote an upcoming show.  Still, when it comes to The Wilderness of Manitoba, I’ll make an exception.

Hymns of Love & Spirits is the kind of album that comes along once in a blue moon:  a collection of songs that doesn’t reinvent a sound or genre, but effortlessly perfects their execution.  The lush harmonies are flawless, the tone of the music is spot-on and the warm glow emanating from the whole affair envelopes you like a fuzzy blanket or a lovers strong embrace.  I don’t personally know if that experience translates to a live setting or not, but I’d certainly we willing to give The Wilderness of Manitoba the benefit of the doubt.  If you’re in the Toronto area and find yourself with a few hours of freedom tomorrow night, check them out when they open for Jenn Grant at CBC’s Glenn Gould Theatre tomorrow night.  Doors open at 7:30 and tickets can be procured here.

MP3: The Wilderness of Manitoba “Dreamcatchers”
Myspace: The Wilderness of Manitoba
MP3: Jenn Grant “Heartbreaker”
Myspace: Jenn Grant