K'Naan Works With Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, and Fela Kuti (via J.Period)

Note: This is sort of a review, and sort of a "hey, listen to this free thing I found on the internet" post. Make of it what you will.

I've always felt there are two levels of musicians: some write songs (great or otherwise), perform, and entertain people. These are most. Then are those who take music to a whole other level, elevating it to a spiritual experience, using their words and music to tackle subjects that, in another time, would have been addressed by philosophers or even prophets. Of course, who fits into which category is a matter of personal taste and experience, but if you were to take a vote on who belongs in the latter, I'd think it's a safe bet that two Bob's, Dylan and Marley, would be near the top of the list.

That sentiment is echoed in K'Naan's new mixtape project "The Messengers," a collaboration with Brooklyn-based DJ J.Period. In this three-part series, the two pay tribute to three artists-- Marley and Dylan, plus Nigerian musician/activist/politician Fela Kuti-- who, in their opinion, made music that "compels us not only to dance but to think, not only to celebrate but to strive, not only to listen but to truly hear."

It takes a certain conceit to decide that you can position yourself alongside three such respected musicians and leaders, but K'Naan's life story (Google it if you haven't already heard it) and commitment to  "conscious hip-hop" that sheds light on the problems of the developing world makes the pairings seem logical. Heck, K'Naan's last album was partially recorded in the late Marley's Tuff Gong studios while he stayed in Marley's old house in Kingston, Jamaica, at the invitation of Marley's sons. 

It also helps that Period's music and K'Naan's lyrics are always respectful to their sources, maintaining the integrity of both their musical arrangements and their messages. In some ways, the mixtapes come off as mini-documentaries about Kuti, Marley, and Dylan, as the songs are interspersed with archival news reports about and interviews with the musicians, and the occasional commentary from K'Naan explaining who the artists are to those who might not know, and what their music has meant to his own life.

On his latest, Polaris-nominated, album Troubadour, K'Naan sounded trapped between two worlds: there was the Marley-inspired, "one-love" style lyricist of "Waving Flag" and "Fire in Freetown" and then there was the guy who wanted his message to actually REACH people, and figured the way to do that was by collaborating with MTV-friendly names like Adam Levine (Maroon 5) and Metallica's Kirk Hammett. The problem with this approach was that K'Naan's far more compelling story and voice was distilled by the radio-friendly (and, frankly, dull) bigger names that accompanied him. He was out of his element, and it came through. At the time, I suggested the solution was to ignore the big-name collaborations on the third record and just go it solo. It turns out I was wrong. As demonstrated here, K'Naan just had to go bigger, working not with Top 40 stars of today but the legends of the past. These people have messages and music that are far closer to the one K'Naan seems to want to bring to the masses. It's strange, but it's when paying tribute to others that K'Naan sounds the most like himself.

"The Messengers" is available as a free download at www.jperiod.com/knaan

Char2d2 Small Vampires EP and Concert Review

Char2d2, consisting of Charla McCutcheon (Bella) on guitar and Eric Breitenbach (Lefinn, Heatwave) on drums, opened for Victoria band Immaculate Machine Saturday, September 12 at the Biltmore Cabaret in Vancouver. I was truly blown away by their set, as I had gone in with no expectations and very little knowledge beyond name recognition.
For this reviewer, there are a few things you need to check off in order to deem a set truly excellent.
As for them?
- Packed dance floor after only a few songs: check
- Responsive crowd: check
- Band members sincerely enjoying their time playing together: check (big grins all around)
- Presence of other musicians: check (rumors have it that Tegan of Tegan and Sara was around)
- Positive audience bathroom reviews: check

What truly caught me off guard was the ability of this duo to fill up the lounge with more energy and sonic presence than many considerably larger bands I've seen. Charla's guitars did not seem sparse even without the presence of bass, and Eric kept the rhythm driving and pounding throughout their much-too-short set.

Below is the set list of songs that they played, mostly off their Small Vampires EP (except for the starred ones):

Only Man For Me
You Are A Small Vampire
Don't Want To
I Am Safe
B-Day Girl**
Some Will Have To Go
Torn Apart**
Take and Send

Since grabbing a copy of it at the show, I've been listening to Char2d2's debut EP Small Vampires (what is it with vampires anyway?) on repeat. It's a disc full of lovely romantic pop ditties that are guaranteed to stick in your head.

I cursed myself for not putting the album on my iPod as I was humming You Are A Small Vampire the entire commute to school and back. And why not? Charla has an excellent sense of melody, which is combined with a lovely girlish voice, bright melodies and sweet choruses such as,

can I be the one that you wake up at 6am?
and we talk to the clouds till we fall back asleep again

The result is an uplifting album which will make you vow to love your cherished ones just a little bit more. 

The Small Vampires EP, like their set at the Biltmore, is short and sweet, and ends much too quickly. It leaves you smiling but wanting more, like a single forkful of cake. Hurry up with the full length please!

Small Vampires was written and co-produced by Charla McCutcheon, with the other half of that producing team being Tegan Quin of Tegan and Sara. 

Char2d2 will be playing at Victoria's Rifflandia Music Festival on Saturday Sept. 26 at the Metro Theatre. Make sure you catch them; you will not regret it!

You can buy Small Vampires at Maple Music or on iTunes.
You can find Charla of Char2d2 on MySpace and Twitter.

The Imaginaries Album review

The Imaginaries - Jackson Fishauf (photo courtesy of the artist).

The Imaginaries newest album, entitled "Jac's Milk", is whimsical, quirky and enjoyable. The 15 songs on this album are fresh and interesting in their lyrical and musical content. The longest song is just over 4 minutes and the shortest is just over a minute. The guitar tone and melody of the Pixies-influenced “Motorcycle Through A Haunted House” as well as the vocal performance on “Don't Cry At Me” are clear highlights. The standout song for this reviewer is called “Fuck Year” and totally reminds me of a few years in my life that I'd to forget to some extent. There are many elements that make this music Jackson's – particularly the combination of rock, country, blues, folk and a touch of sonic experimentation. I find this album refreshing in its simplicity and its honesty. It deserves a full listen before any judgment on the listener's part can be made. The Imaginaries are currently working on a new album for release later this year. The Imaginaries play live for Two Way Momologues at the Rancho Relaxo on September 30. You can purchase or download Jac's Milk and other Imaginaries albums by visiting:

The Imaginaries Discography

Here are a few questions that I sent to Jackson to add to the review. I decided to leave them as is without editing any of his answers.

How many other people help with your music?

Up until about a month ago, I wrote and recorded every song on every album by myself, with a few exceptions. Since I started writing, I understood that the live performance was what people have to pay attention to, because it's there, right in front of them. Or it's not, and you're playing on stage at a Supernova show at the El Mocambo to the 2 fans of the band that went up before you, Satan Reincarnated. Replicating the sound that I try to go for on the recordings just isn't possible with me alone acoustically live (I tried and failed) so I formed a band, and over the 4 shows that The Imaginaries have played, the band has evolved into what it is right now: Guitar, Bass, and Drums. And we're recording a new album this year, and it's going to have all the best songs, and everyone's going to be on it, and it'll be the greatest.

How do you feel about the current state of the Music Industry as a whole?

I can only speak to my extremely limited experience in the music industry, which is writing and recording music, putting it up for sale on online stores, and playing the 4 shows. Currently, I've made $41.60 from all that, and spent .... a lot more than that. I don't really even want to think about it. I guess you have to though, right? As for the industry as a whole, it's a wasteland. Look at what was on the charts 40 and 50 years ago - Hank Williams, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, then the Beatles, Stones, Kinks.... what's on there now? The Jonas Brothers? Black Eyed Peas? Nickelback? Fuck Nickelback. If you like Nickelback, I can't be your friend. I know that's a childish attitude, but seriously - Nickelback? I don't get it.

Do you feel the media does not pay attention to indie music more than they currently do, generally speaking?

You can look at bands like Arcade Fire, or Broken Social Scene, or Fleet Foxes getting on charts and radio and say "wow, that's amazing, that these indie bands all have real audiences!" I don't want to get into debating the meaning of "indie", because those conversations end up being really lame, but those bands aren't indie - in the logical sense, anyways. Indie should be a short way of saying Independent - IE, independent of a record label. People think of indie as a genre now, something that's easy to throw onto a band that's not quite rock, and not quite folk, and not quite pop - it's lazy and annoying, and I would never call myself indie.

How do you feel about promotion in the Music Industry? Do you feel its over-rated?

When it comes to promotion, I'm probably one of the laziest people I know. I saw this guy today near Yonge and Dundas Square going around and handing out these little laminated cards that said something like 'download the hit new K.O. single for free!' He offered me one, and I looked at it, and I looked at him, and I saw that the picture of K.O. on the card was clearly the man handing it to me, and I just said "no". What was I going to do with it? Throw it in the next trash can? I certainly wasn't going to download the new K.O. single. But you've got to admire him a little bit, his audacity, his courage. I would absolutely never do anything like that. I put all my music up for free, and if people want it, they can find it. And when they find it, they can download a .zip file of the album, or go and buy it from iTunes, emusic, amazon, wherever. Why not give people the choice? It's made me the $41.60 rich man I am today. Beside playing live, which I'm trying to do more, that's the extent of my promotion.