North by East West

Every once in a while a band like Dog Day comes along. They wowed the ears of listeners with their release of "Night Group" and kept those ears perked with their release of "Concentration". Now their newest offering "Edler Schoolhouse" seems to deliver what we have always wanted.

Side A of this LP contains three songs that were recorded at Rick White's Elder Schoolhouse studio earlier this year. One of those was even written by White himself. It's a well selected set of songs that flow into the next in strong smooth motions. Side B is more like a journey into the self. Quite cloudy and full of drive and intent. The whole record is just over twenty-five minutes long, but it is guarenteed that you will be putting this on heavy rotation. These are going to sell out quick so be sure to grab your copy from Divorce Records as soon as possible. Truly Halifax at it's finest.

Labels: review

Tuesday, October 20 2009
Marquee Room
Calgary, Alberta

A friend of mine in Sacramento California asked me to give him a full report on the Amy Millan concert, as he was trying to decide if he should drive up to San Francisco to see her live show. Immediately I told him to do it, because really, how could it not be great? Long story short, I fully stand behind my previous comment. But if you are looking for the whole long story, here you go.

The evening started with Bahamas, which is led by Efie Juravanen, who has recently put his time in with bands such as Great Lake Swimmers, the Stills, Jason Collett and even Feist. Juravanen walked on stage looking a bit like a combination of a 1970s Hockey player and a lumberjack, complete with one hulluva porn ‘stash. Later in the show he admitted that he was at the point in the tour where he was out of clean clothing and dipping into his own merch. To the surprise of the audience, this man with his electric guitar, backed only by drums, had a velvety smooth voice and beautiful melodies. In his very words “oh yeah, that’s the sound that the ladies love”. It is hard to imagine that songs about knocking teeth when you lean in for a kiss (Hockey Teeth) and about missing someone so much that when you get to see them again, you can’t get away from them fast enough (Already Yours) can be so beautiful and sincere. Bahamas engaged the crowd (which seems to be a difficult task for an opening band in a bar full of drunk scenesters) and sent everyone running for merch as soon as their set was done. All in all, Bahamas were a perfect precursor to Amy Millan.

Amy Millan is currently touring her new album “Masters of the Burial”, which marks her second solo effort since 2006’s “Honey From the Tombs”. Amy Millan has a beautiful pure voice that just seems so effortless, as if she could sing in her sleep. Millan, backed by a four-piece band, opened the show with Losing You. The show consisted of an even mix of older songs and new songs, and managed to cover all the ‘hits’. Millan was cheery and upbeat despite the melancholy nature of a large majority of her songs (most of her songs can be categorized into ‘songs about drinking’ and ‘songs about death’). She engaged the audience in witty banter, discussing the perfect sheepskin jacket she found in Drumheller and highlighting the differences between Calgarians and Torontonians (apparently we Calgarians keep better time when clapping along). Unforunately, the Calgary audience did not pay Millan the respect she deserved. The chatter was akin to that found in a seedy night club with an unknown local band playing, not the respect that ought to be paid to one of Canada’s greatest singer songwriters. At one point Millan had to ask the crowd to quiet down so she and her band could play a quiet acapella song. The crowd took so long to get settled and take the volume down a notch, that when singing Pour Me Up Another, she changed the lyrics from “would everyone be quiet” to “everyone sure likes to talk a lot”. Despite the rowdy crowd, Millan was a true showman and took it all in stride, telling the audience that they were allowed to get crazy and chat as much as they liked during He Brings Out the Whiskey In Me. Amy Millan is a true musical treasure and put on an absolutely mesmerizing show. As discovered by my friend and myself, she is downright swoon worthy.