Photograph by Jason Halstead
Provincial is John K. Samson’s first full-length solo album. Collecting re-recorded versions of songs from his previously released EPs City Route 85 and Provincial Road 222, along with a few extras, the Weakerthans’ frontman finds himself able to explore a bit musically and indulge in a bit of weirdness.
Not that anything here would be particularly out of place on a Weakerthans album, but the subject matter is certainly more varied, and as a whole the album is more subdued. Most noticeable is ‘http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/rivertonrifle/’ formerly known as ‘Petition’, which is less a song and more a plea to get hockey player (and fellow Manitoba native) Reggie Leach into the Hall of Fame. ‘Stop Error’ is much improved on this record, as Samson’s solo vocals evoke more pathos than the awkward choir found on the EP. Though the Call of Duty 4 shout-out is still a little jarring. ‘The Last And’ is as good as ever, and the knowledge that it was inspired by the relationship of Edna Krabappel and Seymour Skinner only improves that. As for the new songs, the clear stand-out is ‘When I Write My Master’s Thesis’. More upbeat than the rest of the album, still name-dropping video games (take that Lana del Rey), anyone who’s been in grad school can relate to the light at the end of the tunnel Samson presents here.
With Samson’s body of work, it’s strange to call Provincial a debut, but in any case, it’s a successful one. Now get to work on that all-Virtute concept album, Samson.
John K. Samson – Cruise Night
John K. Samson – When I Write My Master’s Thesis
John K. Samson – Stop Error
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Photograph by Jonathan Taggart
In the spirit of the season, let’s take a moment before we get started to thank Dan Mangan for giving the world ‘Robots‘.
There may not be anything quite as wonderful on Mangan’s new album Oh Fortune as that track from his last release, a plea on behalf of our mechanical friends for the oft-overlooked affection they so require – but so it goes. Oh Fortune is still a gorgeous neo-folk album that tops Nice, Nice, Very Nice on points, comparing favourably with Chad VanGaalen’s Soft Airplane and Andrew Bird’s last few releases. The continuing emergence of the Vancouver-based Mangan plants Canada’s musical epicentre even more firmly on the West Coast, which really isn’t fair since they also got the Olympics and some nice beaches, but what can you do?
There’s a lot to like in Mangan’s congealing style. He’s got a tricky voice that delivers wall-eyed melodrama track after track and somehow still comes across as a little understated. He doesn’t hide behind effects and instrumentation but doesn’t avoid them either; he puts himself out in front of the noise of the track, like Andrew Bird with a better sense of direction. On ‘Daffodil’, when he does slip into vocal filters and a shy moan borrowed from M. Ward, the result is a sublime low-fidelity lullaby.
This isn’t an album for good moods, though. The lyrics are a buffet of death, regret, grief, warfare, dread, more death, and anything else depressing I’ve forgotten to mention. There are tracks titled ‘If I am Dead’ and ‘Regarding Death and Dying’ and ‘Post-War Blues’ and they’re just as resigned, morose, and cynical (respectively) as you’d expect. Anything positive gets crushed out: “Nice to have the kids around – oh my God, it’s killing me” closes out the title track. For his part, Mangan has an explanation for all this: he mentioned in a recent Globe and Mail interview that writing these dark songs helps him live in a better headspace day to day. Food for thought.
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Photograph by Alex Cairncross
As summer dies down, Library Voices return with their second LP, Summer of Lust. Produced by the Besnard Lakes’ Jace Lasek, who is becoming the go-to guy for Canadian indie rock, Summer of Lust feels more reined in and focused than Denim on Denim, which is surprising for a band of seven people. On Summer of Lust, Library Voices have managed to maintain their pop sensibilities and make another solid, if brief, album.
Playing up their literary moniker, the album is introduced and closed by a narrator, and a multitude of allusions that go completely over my head are included. ‘The Prime Minister’s Daughter’, however, is a clear rebuke of recent cuts to art funding, which may be lost in the lightness of the song. The album’s highlight comes with the first song, ‘If Raymond Carver Were Born in the 90′s’, with a surprisingly poignant theme of coming to grips with the people around you growing up, while remaining in a sort of arrested development. In a recurring motif, the melancholy lyrics are paired with bouncy background music. Even ‘Generation Handclap’, the most upbeat song on the record, seems to have a bit of sadness to it.
At just over a half-hour in length, Summer of Lust comes and goes rather quickly. It’s usually a good sign if a band leaves you wanting more, and it looks like that desire will have to be satiated with their perpetual touring. It’s a wonder they aren’t more well known, but hopefully Summer of Lust will bring Library Voices the respect they deserve.
Library Voices – If Raymond Carver Were Born in the 90′s
Library Voices – Generation Handclap
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Photograph by Alex Southam
I Break Horses are Swedish duo Maria Lindén and Fredrik Balck, who, as the story goes, met online while both were visiting a medical site catering to hypochondriacs. The two were able to connect and decided to put their worries into music. The resulting catharsis is Hearts. Finding themselves labelmates with Fleet Foxes and Explosions in the Sky on Bella Union, I suspect they feel pretty good right about now.
The first two singles ‘Hearts’ and ‘Winter Beats’ have been available for some time, and being a devout follower of all things shoegaze (typically the floppy haired guitar variety), these offerings had me excited for things to come, even if the noise I Break Horses generates is created electronically. These songs gently layer into an astonishing and repetitive, beautiful sound, with the vocals softly adding to the atmosphere.
Although there are some obvious older guitar-based influences, most notably My Bloody Valentine with Loveless and Ride with Nowhere, I Break Horses still come off sounding fresh and relevant. The comparison with M83 has been made, but I would argue that this material could rival anything Anthony Gonzalez has to offer, especially as he seems to have progressed little since Saturdays = Youth with his latest single.
Hearts as a whole doesn’t sound like the first two singles, but overall the remaining seven songs tend to take on the same formula, shifting and progressing slowly. ‘Wired’ deconstructs itself and becomes somewhat foggy and unrecognizable near the end, while ‘Pulse’ utilizes hazy vocals that swell with beautiful harmonies. I never thought I would use the word ethereal to describe a song entitled ‘Cancer’, but somehow I think this is what I Break Horses had in mind, perhaps trying to understand something that they have both professed to fear greatly. And while the album as a whole could hardly be described as positive, the finale ‘No Way Outro’ certainly ends with a triumphant drum roll.
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Photograph by Will Govus
Two years ago, Atlanta, Georgia-based multi-instrumentalist Ernest Greene, going by the name Washed Out, released Life of Leisure. The EP was an admirable laptop-created debut for Greene, and he was widely acknowledged as one of the pioneers of the chillwave genre alongside like-minded Toro Y Moi’s Chaz Bundick, Small Black’s Ryan Heyner and Josh Kolenik, and Teen Daze’s Teen Daze (who prefers to not go by his name). Now, signed to a major indie label and enjoying the true in-studio process it entails (including working with Ben Allen of Merriweather Post Pavilion and Halycon Digest fame), Washed Out has returned with Within and Without, one of the most infectious albums of the summer, and possibly 2011.
Aside from the advances in recording, which resulted in a more polished sophomore effort, it is the duality of Within and Without that makes it outshine other electronic acts that have the tendency to fall into a static motif. The upbeat tracks slowly flood your ears, while the more somber tracks leave you in a melancholy, yet appreciative state. Whether under the shine of the sun or the glow of streetlights, Within and Without’s rich electronic dreamscapes provide the perfect music for a drive this time of year. ‘Amor Fati’ is the epitome of a summer song. With its pulsating synth, a steady beat, and some of the most uplifting lyrics ever, the track encourages its listeners to understand that the world is theirs and that they can decide their own fate.
The attention paid to balance in the album is noteworthy. The opening of ‘Far Away’ sounds similar to a Chromatics song, but then morphs into the unfamiliar sound of cellos over a minimalistic bass that leaves your ears vulnerably and cautiously awaiting what’s next to come. Fortunately, lifting you out of that trance is the sunny disposition of ‘Before’, but before long you are placed right back into the darker corners of Washed Out’s repertoire with ‘You and I’.
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