The Local have teamed up with Canadian Blast to present 'Cape Breton Sound', a series of 3 FREE City showcases in Manchester, London and Cardiff next week. The shows will be headlined by The Tom Fun Orchestra , who create an intoxicating brew of strings, horns and a driving folk-punk energy, all built around frontman Ian MacDougal's gravelly growl intoning tales of mystery, death and more besides. Cape Breton is renowned for its fiddle players, and The Beaton Sisters are a perfect sample of the traditions of the island with their [...]
(photo: Nathan M. Boone) There's something religious-sounding about The Tom Fun Orchestra . I don't mean that there's a sacredness to the music, but just that this eight-piece band from Cape Breton Island have put their faith in old traditions and have chosen to make music that serves a power higher than themselves. Grant Lawrence once referred to them as "a Maritimes version of the Hidden Cameras fronted by the lead singer of the Misfits" and that's an apt a description; Broken Social Scene covering Pogues songs works, too. [...]
eine band, die sich um die künstlerische ausstattung von sommercamps sorgen und zugleich verdient machte, irre, was, zudem stammt der vierer aus new york, nicht gerade berühmt für saftige wiesen und lauschige schattenplätze, "ok, ok" wird das im oktober erscheinende album heißen, eine erste single: julius c - don't want anybody eine tour (siehe unten) im zickzack durch europa steht für sie im herbst an, mit boris an der seite und ihrem im april erschienenen "the fear is excruciating, but therein lies the answer" album im gepack: [...]
Call it fate, or kismet if you will, but it's quite a coincidence that the very same week I post an OSM related to Miles Davis , the Tom Fun Orchestra releases a new song entitled Miles Davis . I know, right, how crazy is that? Well, not that crazy at all really. But it does provide a handy little seque into this post, and an oppertunity to post Tom Fun's new song. And it's a good one I should add, perhaps a little more electric gee-tar heavy than the past work, but it's [...]
Cape Breton octet The Tom Fun Orchestra have returned with another dose of their Tom Waits-fronting-The Pogues sound. Check out the brand-spankin' new horn-heavy single "Miles Davis" now. Let's hope this will lead to a new album sooner rather than later. The Tom Fun Orchestra plays The Sound Academy in Toronto on July 27th opening for Primus. Tom Fun Orchestra's website Tom Fun Orchestra's
Every year I say that I'm going to tone down the amount of shows that I go to, and every year I end up seeing more than the year before. This year's final tally sits at 143 different artists to have graced the live stage in my presence, including three more than I still haven't gotten around to reviewing but I will. Eventually. Of course, I have friends that have probably seen that amount in a weekend but for an old married guy, I'd say that's still a pretty obscene number. Overall though, this year has been a [...]
tom fun orchestra bottom of the river the king of rocksprings the perfect guy brendan benson don't wanna talk (morning becomes eclectic) brendan benson poised and ready (morning becomes eclectic) phoenix love like a sunset (animal collective remix - deakin's jam) a sunny day in glasgow close chorus feist i feel it all britt daniel remix charlotte gainsbourg heaven can wait david fridlund with every new day david [...]
Wow. My concert reviews are now reaching a point where I should probably start referring to them as my 'classic concert reviews', since the time lapse between seeing a show and blogging about a show has got to be dipping close to the 'does anybody still care' level. I swear I haven't forgotten about those loyal readers who still hinge on my every word, but I assure you that my tardiness is not due to my being a lazy man. However, instead of wasting any more time with repetitive excuses and my own delusions of grandeur, let's just get into [...]
Cape Breton fusion band Tom Fun Orchestra have just released a video for their stellar track "Throw Me To The Rats". If you like the idea of Tom Waits fronting The Pogues you should probably check this out:Tom Fun Orchestra's websiteTom Fun Orchestra's Myspace
Way back in January , I told you about a nine piece cluster rock outfit from Cape Breton known as the Tom Fun Orchestra . Described by many as Tom Waits meeting the Arcade Fire , the band has a hyperactive sound that is authentic in keeping with its Maritime origins, while still incorporating enough outside influences such as jazz, blues, mob rock and horn section empowered epics to keep things very interesting throughout the course of the entire album. If you're interested in other bands to name drop in association with them, they actually [...]
Do you like East Coast Music? Well, what about Tom Wait s-ish vocals? Or indie music consisting of more than drums, bass and guitar? And does the atmosphere at the Dakota Tavern inspire you? Well then. How about the Tom Fun Orchestra ? They're from Halifax and even though their name sounds like an Asian kids string quartet, they sound more like the Arcade Fire if they were inspired by 40's big band music and grew up drinking Jack Daniels and whiskey. [...]
Last week I had been listening to both A Mountain Is A Mouth and You Will Land With A Thud rather extensively, so my enthusiasm for Saturday night's show was sitting at a comfortable level of antsy. I almost always have fun when I go to a live show (wouldn't be doing this if I didn't) but I have to say that it's been quite a while since I've had THIS much fun at a concert! The audience was receptive, the bands were tight and there was a certain level of uplift in the air. [...]
Die Roten Punkte This week, Thunderheist and Shad top a series of FREE weekend shows in Toronto; the Rhubarb and Weesageechak Festival s open at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre and Theatre Passe Muraille, respectively; Ruby Coast and Winter Gloves headline a rock solid night of indie music at the Horseshoe Tavern on Thursday; Bad Dog Theatre's Globehead Tournament ramps up to the finals [...]
Tom Fun Orchestra 's You Will Land With A Thud is interesting , and not interesting in the I don't-want-to-say-anything-b ad-about-them kind of way, but in a they're-really-really-unique-a nd-different kind of way. I've got a post in the works about the Glasvegas and Animal Collective albums, and while I liked those albums, they were both a little derivative (from every British band ever and Panda Bear's Person Pitch respectively); and certainly, everything is a little derivative – in as far as all artists, I think, have music they're influenced/inspired by – but if [...]
Tom Fun Orchestra 's You Will Land With A Thud is interesting , and not interesting in the I don't-want-to-say-anything-b ad-about-them kind of way, but in a they're-really-really-unique-a nd-different kind of way. I've got a post in the works about the Glasvegas and Animal Collective albums, and while I liked those albums, they were both a little derivative (from every British band ever and Panda Bear's Person Pitch respectively); and certainly, everything is a little derivative – in as far as all artists, I think, have music they're influenced/inspired by – but if [...]
We haven't had many contests in awhile and we got a huge prize pack to give away. There's an awesome prize pack available to people living in the city of Toronto. The Tom Fun Orchestra , Bruce Peninsula and The Darcys are playing a show at the legendary Horseshoe Tavern on a Saturday January 31st. All 3 acts have had considerable fan fare with Tom Fun Orchestra touring cross-country, and Bruce Pennisula touring numerous spots across the province (including a live performance at Soundscapes ). Here are the contents of the prize pack: [...]
THE TOM FUN ORCHESTRA - YOU WILL LAND WITH A THUD The press release I received for Cape Breton's Tom Fun Orchestra described them as Tom Waits singing lead for The Arcade Fire . In my experience, I've learned that press releases need to be taken with a grain of salt since they usually drop big names in order to grab a person's attention, even though, more often than not, the artist sounds nothing like what the big name comparisons would suggest. (BTW: [...]
Like ( ) Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours A lot of people seemed to go batkite crazy for these guys and I have to say I never really got what was so stellar about them. The album is good, but it's not the best thing ever. I liked it. Cut Copy - Lights & Music Danielson - Trying Hartz I never know [...]
Normally, when you see the word "orchestra" attached to an indie act, it's intended in an ironic fashion. It's either one dude with 7 toy Casio keyboards billing himself as an Orchestra, or three scruffy dudes playing decidedly un-orchestra like rock & roll. This scenario plays out roughly 99% of the time, but I can introduce you to that remaining 1%: Sydney, Nova Scotia's Tom Fun Orchestra and their new album You Will Land With A Thud . Not to suggest that this nine-piece extravaganza makes music that is anything close to orchestral, [...]
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