Two innovative TO music icons are collaborating to release a pretty rad document of the Canadian indie scene. Selections from the music series “Live at Massey Hall” will be complied and released on Arts and Crafts Records. Volume One includes Destroyer “Foam Hands”, Constantines “Nighttime/Anytime (It’s Alright)”, Hayden “Almost Everything”, Dan Mangan + Blacksmith “Vessel”, Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton “Fatal Gift”, Andy Shauf “The Magician”, Cœur de pirate “Place de la République”, Bahamas “Like A Wind”, Japandroids “The House That Heaven Built” and Whitehorse “Die Alone.” Liner notes are supplied by Michael Barclay, author of the the Hip bio, “The Never-ending Present.” The Live at Massey Hall was a series of concerts by Canada’s best indie musicians which were filmed and then presented as short films on YouTube. Tickets were 18.94 in homage to the year the Grand Old Lady opened. She has closed up shop for a touch-up but these album (plus more I’m guessing) should hold you through.
Reuben and the Dark cover The Hip's 'Bobcageon'
The enigmatic "Bobcaygeon" has been covered by spirited folk rockers Reuben and The Dark and is available now for purchase. Proceeds from the track will go to the Gord Downie And Chanie Wenjack Fund. (Listen hear -> )
“The Downie Wenjack Fund is important because of its focus on youth, its active education on Indigenous history, and the creation of connections with this land's rich Indigenous culture. I am compelled to be a part of this action, to be both a listener and a participant in these conversations, a student of these issues, and a proponent of progress,” Reuben Bullock says in a press release.
Reuben and the Dark recently released a new album, Arms of a Dream, on Arts & Crafts and is touring extensively across Canada with a dip south in to the States for a couple of dates.
Photo by Scott Ramsay
Lucy Rose changes up 'Something's Changing', remix album drops July 6 on A&C
Photo by Laura Lewis
Its sunset Friday and these unobtrusive gentle remixes are just the thing; the English rose who is Lucy Rose alights on Feist, Carole King, and even the Celtic chanteuse Loreena McKennitt on her album "Something's Changing" and as good as that is this album of remixes on Arts & Crafts takes it higher, to a cloud of ten. Dig deep, find a book, put it down, dream, look up, dig.
SOMETHING’S CHANGING (REMIXES) TRACKLISTING
1. Intro (Chartreuse Remix)
2. Soak It Up (JAWS Remix)
3. Moirai (Liz Lawrence Remix)
4. Second Chance (Fryars Remix)
5. Is This Called Home (Anatole Remix)
6. All That Fear (Otzeki Remix)
7. Strangest of Ways (JM∆C Remix)
8. Love Song (Evan Klar Remix)
9. Soak It Up (Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. Remix)
10. Strangest Of Ways (Marcus Hamblett Remix)
11. Second Chance (Intalekt Remix)
12. No Good At All (Tobie Tripp Remix)
HAERTS play some velvet afternoon vibes Sunday June 3 at Field Trip
By Will McGuirk
Brooklyn by way of Munich winds through a lot of territory as does the music of Haerts, the German duo, who play Sunday at Field Trip 2018. They have scored some serious streaming cred with a track on the Netflix show '13 Reasons Why'. "Your Love" rides a Bauhaus beat, Springsteen narrative and Paul Simon Graceland groove and a Stevie Nix chorus, yip anyway, their latest "New Compassion" bumps up against The Lumineers and Nancy Sinatra/ Lee Hazelwood so you tell me what genre they are but its sure is intriguing. They've signed to Arts & Crafts by the by.
Dan Mangan 'Fool For Waiting' is a rallying call to charm
“Fool For Waiting” is about “finding someone who makes you feel less crazy, or at least someone who finds your craziness endearing because it’s real and honest,” says Dan Mangan. “And that real, imperfect love is not always as fantastical or magical as a wild romance, but that it’s worth waiting for.”
And who isn't waiting, really, who isn't?
Photo by Chelsea Ivan
FRIGS' 'Solid State' is a melodic sneer across the age, new album 'Basic Behaviour' out now
FRIGS stands for a mash-up of all my fave albums playing at once, whole lotta pre-punk Patti Smith and post-punk Sonic Youth with some ailing psyche-punk howling and guttersnipe vocals.Its just a collective sneer from Link Wray's "Rumble" right up well, "Solid State". All available on Arts and Crafts.
Photo by Brett Warren
Liza Anne's new single 'Small Talks' is one big track, plays Drake in Toronto May 2
Strap on your dancing sneakers, Liza Anne's poppy track is a gutsy response to teenage angst wrapped in a party mix of The Undertones with Julie Doiron on vox. And the best response to an awkward situation is to dance like everyone's watching. Kick it.
The track is of her album, 'Fine But Dying' available on Arts and Crafts. Liza Anne is touring and will be at the Drake in Toronto May 2.
Frigs release 'Solid State' - here's to all you kool things!
TO Frigs set up for Feb 23 release of their debut album, 'Basic Behavior', on Arts and Crafts.
Remember when Kim sang :
"Hey, Kool Thing, come here, sit down
There's something I go to ask you.
I just want to know, what are you gonna do for me?
I mean, are you gonna liberate us girls
From male white corporate oppression?
Tell it like it is!
Huh?
Yeah!
Don't be shy
Word up!
Fear of a female planet?"
- watch this space -> and watch for a gig Apr 7 at the Garrison in Toronto
Ellevator on the rise with new track 'New Survival' and tour with OLP, Matthew Good
Yeah, cheap headline pun I know - Ellevator from Hamilton, ON, have signed to Arts&Crafts and released a new single, 'New Survival'. Delivery is somewhere between Amy Milan and Emily Haines. They are on tour with Matt Good and Our Lady Peace on some West dates but have their own date at the Drake in Toronto Feb 10 and 11 2018. Worth digging into I'd say.