So the full line up and schedule for the Calgary Folk Fest hit the public this past week, and wow I am pretty excited about the late July event. For me the city has two premier festivals each year and they are the previously mentioned Sled Island Festival (see here for my post) and then followed up a mere month later is the Calgary Folk Fest. Let's look into the event shall we? So I am always torn when it comes to "festivals" as I always want a more intimate and personal connection with great and favourite artists, [...]
Honestly, the lineup at IDOW 2- Electric Boogaloo was pretty stellar top to bottom. I mean, for artists like Jill Barber, Buck65, Ana Egge, Ruth Minnikin and Rich Aucoin to play second fiddle to Friday Night's lineup speaks volumes (and that's not even counting Al Tuck playing with an eight-piece band), but for me, that's what happened. Friday night was three musicians in the perfect setting, playing perfect songs. As 500 people took a seat on rock hard pews in the St. George Round Church with only a pulpit and two mics [...]
I always hear people saying this year was a bad one in terms of music. Not including some of the fantastic US releases ( Kozalek, J. Tillman, Black Diamond Heavies, Micah P Hinson, the dual Centro-matic/South San Gabriel, Karl Blau , Neil Halstead , and the trend to showcase your Afro-centric influences all come to mind), the bounty from the Canadian scene in '08 was impressive and for me, picking my favorites was a challenging task. While some might think that is a sign of mediocrity, I think it shows the solid collection of albums available this year. [...]
(graphic by: J. Di Gioia) This wasn't easy. The albums released in 2008 posed an odd sort of challenge to my taste: "I dare you to love me," they all seemed to taunt. I'll admit that at mid-year, I could count the albums that were in serious consideration for this list on one hand. It would take almost another four months before the shape of this list began to really develop, and as always, I was pleasantly surprised at just how much great music I had experienced this year. There were last minute contenders, and some [...]
Last night I should have been at the Biltmore. Last night I should have been in the crowd, being a part of a group of strangers sharing moment of beauty. Last night I should have been there, but I wasn't. So I don't even know whether or not Jellybean is a regular on Rutledge's set list, I just know it would have been a moment. To be quite honest, I had never heard of Justin Rutlege before I saw the poster for his show at the Biltmore, which I found when pseudo-cyber-stalking [...]
V-Fest isn't the only festival taking place this weekend. At the west end of town in an area known as The Junction is the much smaller (and free-er) Junction Arts Festival , which is in its 16th year of celebrating art and music. In all honesty, I had never heard of it before this weekend, nor was I intending on checking it out, but a bunch of my friends had invited us to go and witness the folk stylings of local Junctionite Justin Rutledge . And so we did. Justin is another in [...]
According to Last.FM and Zune.net , these are the tracks that I have been listening to the most over the last few months (one track per artist), although I suspect that the Zune counter is not very accurate as it shows the same tracks every month. By the way, I have no "Zune Friends," so if you have a Zune and use the crappy "Zune Social" and want to be my "friend," search for Aimz54901. 01 The Sadies - Dying Is Easy.mp3 [...]
See Preview , Part I . Yeah, I know I am three weeks late with this. Leave me alone, I've been busy. Saturday, July 26, 7pm-11pm For my first evening at the Hillside Festival , I caught the second half of Jason Collett 's show on the main stage. Collett is yet another former member of Broken Social Scene who has released a solo album, though his music tends to be more Americana than alternative rock. His set was decent and gave [...]
I write this post from a strange and distant land: I am currently visiting the frozen, sunless wilderness known as Canada. Specifically, I am in Lake Louise, a gorgeous glacial lake nestled in the Canadian Rockies. Despite the weak dollar, I recommend all Americans venture north of the border at least ...
photo: Victor Tavares I've been meaning to write about Toronto's Justin Rutledge for months now, and every time I've sat down to work on a post, I've been distracted by something else, so today, I've sequestered myself into my blogging think tank, locked the cats on the other side of the door with a fresh bowl of milk and some new rubber mice, turned off the iPhone (Okay, I just silenced it, but that's like turning it off, right?) and have dedicated myself to the task of introducing QBiM [...]
sup peoples? hey if you are in atlanta or within the vicinity and wanna win tickets to see cracker and dead confederate on 5.2, head on over to rich at cable and tweed to enter to win a pair. texan austin collins the rainbirds' roses are black has been quietly making its way into daily listening routine for the past month - dont think i am just noticing this! i have been on the lookout for some new countryish/rootsy rock records for a while, since some of my typical go-to's have been getting a [...]
Another week, another mix. Enjoy! Red Light Company - Fine Fascination Justin Rutledge - St. Peter Finest Dearest - Your Hometown Gentleman Auction House - The Book Of Matches Hot Lava - Blue Dragon Elika - Nowhere Kites - Easy Now The Forms - Red Gun Anthem In - Down The Fashion - Solo Impala (Take The Money And Run) Ladytron - Black Cat
The yearning, that feeling that somehow makes desire seem too weak a term. Whether it's a material possession or someone, you are consumed with thoughts of possession, of ownership, of the happiness that will surely come your way if you give into temptation and spend the money, show your hand or some other part of your anatomy. But the rational side of you knows that it's best to hold tight to the arms of the chair like an astronaut in take-off, hanging on until they break free of the atmosphere, that this too will pass. Just lately I've been asked [...]
Last week I fell in love with Justin Rutledge's new record, so posting this CBC Radio 2 recording of his performance at Kingfest seems pretty fitting. It's a nice slice of his more country sounding material from the early records, but the sound is rock solid and the band really takes some nice lap steel and electric solos. Rutledge is quickly moving up the charts as my favorite Canadiana song writer, and this performance is just another example why. Come Summertime Lay [...]
With a Juno nomination, a full length cross border tour with Kathleen Edwards and a new album poised for release, Toronto-based country crooner Justin Rutledge is anything but on his way down. After releasing his sophomore record, "The Devil on a Bench in Stanley Park" to critical acclaim, including a Juno nomination and four star reviews from Toronto Star, Vue Weekly and the honorary title of NOW Magazine's "Best Local Singer/Songwriter", Justin readies the release of his third album, "Man Descending." Inspired by the novel by Guy Vanderhaeghe, a Canadian writer from Saskatchewan, "Man Descending" is the map of a [...]
The upgrade to 2.5 was successful, and the new version is very smooth. The dang thing used to not let me make new categories, but finally they fixed that. Now if only I could preview before I posted, but you can't have everything, right? So, a new category in honor of artists like Justin Rutledge, who aren't new (this is his third album with Sixshooter) but who certainly aren't indie darlings because of the specificity of their sound. Though many will find Justin soft and overly country, he's got a beautiful turn of phrase [...]
Two years ago, Nic and I powered down the coast (well as much as you can power in a Yaris) and explored the Oregon coast. We stopped in little towns, drove past farms and tried to avoid any road with more than two lanes. Undoubtedly, the record that backed our trip was Josh Ritter 's masterpiece, Animal Years . I can already tell that Justin Rutledge's new record - Man Descending - is going to be one that gets played over and over again on our next excursion. I don't want to throw in [...]
First of all don't tell Justin Rutledge he sounds like Ryan Adams, He hates it. However, there is no getting away from the fact that he sometimes does, Pehaps not vocally but musically? Yes. That should be where the comparisons stop though. Firstly Mr Rutledge is from Toronto, Canada and has been making big waves over there recently. He has that uncanny knack of making music that sounds so sweet but when you read his Lyrics you realise how dark he can be and you can of feel guilty that you are tapping your foot along to [...]
Slowcoustic
Herohill
Quick Before It Melts
Road 2 Nowhere
It's Not The Band I Hate, It's Their Fans
Rockstar Aimz
Mike Went West
Captain's Dead
Instrumental Analysis
lonesome music
Local Vertical
Bon Ton
You Crazy Dreamers
Antony and the Johnsons - "Rise"
Beach House covers Queen
The Bee Gees – Tragedy (Equateur Remix)
