Joe DiMaggio Shopping For 7 Up

From the echoing wolf howls of a struggling guitar on the opening track off Siskiyou’s self-titled debut album, it’s apparent that this is a much stronger project than Colin Huebert and Erik Arnesen’s previous effort with Great Lake Swimmers. The Canadian duo released their debut album in September last year and it’s a striking reminder of the country’s folk legacy. Huebert’s voice is fragile and oddly pitched much like Neil Young or Chad VanGaalen and his ability to mix classic lyricism with garbage can instrumentation gives the music a timeless rustic sound. A range of instruments support and drive the album, from a starry banjo on ‘Hold It In’ to a rusty saw on ‘Never Ever Ever Ever Again’ – each song has it’s own fragility and depth of yearning. There’s even a grunginess to the guitars on ‘Useless Anymore’ and their cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘El Condor Pasa’ (released as a single in April 2010) is a morbid take on a piece classic song writing.  If I’d heard this album in time it would have been among my personal favourites of 2010.

You can download and/or stream Siskiyou’s debut album on their website.

Siskiyou- Never Ever Ever Ever Again: MP3

Siskiyou- El Condor Pasa: MP3

Siskiyou- Myspace

Posted by Nick Fulton under Canada, Vancouver
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Sea Salt Stampede

Like drifting along a winding coastline as sand blows in your face and sea salt sticks in your hair, Dirty Beaches’ songs are unforgiving in their sparse and quiet crisp guitar melodies that sound like they’re plucked from an ancient tomb. The dry production on songs like ‘Window Rail Seats’ have another-time feel to them, they sound distant and excavated. While only holding onto the bare bones of sound and relying on the simplest of structure, the songs form a hypnotic thread that carries you along the mind strands of creator Alex Zhang Hungtai. Originally from Taiwan, Alex now bases himself in Vancouver, having previously spent time in Montreal. At times rollicking rockabilly style guitar and swift percussion forms the basis of songs like ‘Black Horses Take 1′ (released this year on a split with Omon Ra II) and ‘Like Dreamers Do’, while other songs sound more skeletal and shrouded in dark cobwebs of distant echo. Alex’s songs have a really moving, coastal feel and with titles like ‘White Sand’, ‘Sea Drift’ and ‘Coast To Coast’ (a particularly persistent and captivating track) it’s easy to see why. ‘West Coast Bird’ (from Bird EP) incorporates a brilliant, shuffling jazz style to the mix, appearing as if out of a languid black and white film. It may sound strange at first, but with its weird otherworldly presence, Dirty Beaches really lured me into its contemplative and hypnotic music. There are a bunch of releases out via Fixture Records and Night People, and Alex plans to release the ghost-themed album Badlands on Zoo Music in March.

Dirty Beaches- Black Horses Take 1: MP3

Dirty Beaches- Coast To Coast: MP3

Dirty Beaches- West Coast Bird: MP3

Dirty Beaches- Myspace

Photo by Caley Jones

Posted by Sarah Gooding under Canada, Vancouver
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Academy ’94

Are Canadian kids really leading a ’90s alternative pop revival? Oh No! Yoko definitely seem to be attempting it, as do a bunch of other young bands in the Vancouver area. Maybe it’s the fact that they sound a little like Tokyo Police Club that has me on that train of thought, but hey, I’m no expert on the subject, you’ll have to make up your own mind.

At just sixteen years of age Everett Morris, Nic Denis and Liam Hamilton are all still in High School. However that hasn’t stopped them from recording a bunch of songs that sound cleaner than most other bedroom pop projects. They’ve been lining up and gradually winning fans in Vancouver for the past four years and their song ‘Courtyard! Bankrupt!’ has had extensive airtime on Canada’s CBS Radio. They even performed live during the recent winter Olympics, on the same bill as Tokyo Police Club.

But like a lot of young bands they’re still experimenting with different techniques. Liam and Everett once played in a metal band together and if you listen to the three tracks they have on their Myspace page you can hear multiple influences. ‘Courtyard! Bankrupt!’ is bouncy and synth heavy, with a TV themed sense of humour reminiscent of a late ’90s after-school teen drama. ‘Deer In Japan’ takes on Death Cab For Cutie, all electronic clicks and clouded in shy romanticism. While ‘Yellow Babies’ is the band’s attempt at writing a guitar, bass and drums song, focusing on sound over aesthetic.

Oh No! Yoko has also benefited from an emerging support base in Vancouver, fed by local religious groups. Even though the band has no church affiliation they’ve become involved with For Ones Coming After, an organisation dedicated to putting on live shows in churches and amphitheatres across the city, with a focus on being all-ages and unlicensed. FOCA has also helped the band make t-shirts, via American Apparel.

They’re currently writing and recording a debut album which they hope to release in 2011.

 Oh No! Yoko- Courtyard! Bankrupt!: MP3

 Oh No! Yoko- Myspace

Posted by Nick Fulton under Canada, Vancouver
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The Art Of Confusion

After gushing over Dandi Wind for a very long time I’m only just getting into Fan Death, Dandilion Wind Opaine’s other notable musical project in collaboration with Marta Jaciubek- McKeever. The duo has just released their debut EP titled A Coin For The Well and hearing the track ‘Soon’ has me hooked. Going back and listening to songs from their first two 12″ records Veronica’s Veil and Cannibal has me wondering why I never got into them sooner.

They have been labelled nu-disco by some critics and in some ways they are definitely crafting a new path for the genre. With ghostly beats and short, sharp stabs of pop synths, their timing and fluid rhythms are in tune with the genres changing guard. In step with Opaine’s creative thinking (she’s a photographer, video producer, sculptor and digital animator), Fan Death has a large visual element to their sound, sparking images of flamboyance and grand costumes, something that has perhaps been associated with disco music since the beginning. But this is obviously a new era and the band’s style is most certainly cutting edge.

Opaine wrote and directed a music video for their song ‘Reunited’ which appears on the new EP. Throughout February Fan Death is on tour with Vampire Weekend, a strange combination but one that will hopefully work to their advantage. A Coin For The Well is currently available in the UK via The Pharmacy Recording Company and will be available in the US on February 23 through Last Gang Records. Fan Death’s debut album Womb Of Dreams is also set for release in 2010, due out some time in May.

 Fan Death- Soon: MP3

Fan Death- Myspace

Posted by Nick Fulton under Canada, Vancouver
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Hell Is Other People

Canadian duo Tegan and Sara have announced the beginning of pre-orders for their new album Sainthood today and the first single is ‘Hell’. Fans can now place their orders from iTunes for the twin sisters’ sixth album and get two bonus iTunes songs, ‘Wrists’ and ‘Light Up’. The pre-order also comes with ‘It Was Midnight’.

The girls have kept busy since the release of their acclaimed 2007 album The Con, and are releasing their publishing debut alongside the new album. ON, IN, AT is a three-book set which chronicles different periods of their lives (their 2008 US tour, 2009 Australian tour and a joint writing session in New Orleans for Sainthood) in writing and photos.

The third track from the new album, ‘Hell’ is a fast-paced, almost punk song for T&S, with driving guitar and harmonic singing. It’s an interesting departure from their previous quieter, somber fare, apparently written about a newspaper article in the Vancouver Sun about Tegan’s new neighbourhood being deemed “Vancouver’s four blocks of hell”.

There are special celebratory shows in New York and California at the end of the month for Sainthood, after which T&S will tour Europe, Canada and the US.

Tegan and Sara- Hell: MP3

Tegan and Sara- Myspace

Tegan and Sara- Website

Posted by Sarah Gooding under Canada, Montreal, Vancouver
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