This November 7th sees the full length album "Repentance" from British Columbian (and for a short while, Calgarian) Jordan Klassen. One of my favourite artists from the 2010 Calgary Folk Fest is bringing his infectious indie folk to life once again. Klassen's music can be akin to a Canadian Sufjan Stevens (without all the crazy art folk mixed in) and possibly more accurately to someone along the lines of Dan Mangan. After sitting down with Jordan during the 2010 Calgary Folk Fest, I know Mangan is considered a personal favourite for him, so I think that [...]
If you are Alberta based and you fancy yourself musically inclined, you have a goal. That goal is to join the ranks of the musicians included in the TransCanada Alberta Music Series for 2012. The deadline to submit your talent is upcoming (Sept. 30th), so don't sleep on this, just do it - we want to see & hear you! The event is a 4 day series of shows at the lovely Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts and features local talent showcasing what Alberta has to offer. You can schmooze with industry folks, fans and other musicians [...]
This is a re-posting because it is such a great album that I simply have to. A side note to the original post is that I did in fact go to the show I mention below and it was fantastic and had Brian sign my vinyl copy of the album! Please enjoy the experience of this album at some point in your life, it is a Slowcoustic all time best album. Original post from October 2008 and the album ended up being my #1 pick for best/favourite album of 2008...obviously. [...]
Chris Kiehne has just released his newest album 'A Widower's Kind' via his Bandcamp page and as eluded to in the title of this post he is using material from the great Hank Williams. By his own admission he describes the project below: "A Widower's Kind" is a collection of significantly-to-slightly modified Hank Williams songs. Some of my favorite Hank songs, and some of his most morbid. Mark de Wilde ( http://markdewilde.tumblr.com/ ) created the beautiful cover art. Hank supplied everything else. God rest his soul. [...]
Today's song & video of the day came out of nowhere, but from a familiar place - always nice when that happens. Creeping on music forums is one of the best ways to find music - you tend to get a lot of suggestions and the people tend to know what they are talking about. Then, I look into it and I find a video via the good folks at Love Drunk Studios (where I first 'saw' the band Kill County - another winner in this category). The song is "Man Pt. 13 from the one man band 'South of [...]
Today is a guest post from Tyler Butler, creator of one of my favourite albums of 2011 thus far, Winter King ( see here ). Crawl inside his head and read into how Butler comes to terms with one of the very things it is to be Canadian. Enjoy the below feature and swing by and visit him on Old Ugly Recording Co or his Bandcamp page. Friends, The dark cold of Edmonton's winter is an isolating force. I know this is an inappropriate time to speak of such a [...]
&l t;/p&a mp;gt; After listening to my brand new Dolorean vinyl for his newest album "The Unfazed", I was kinda worked up and wanted more. Well, I started going over the fact that I had to post again on the nom de plume that is the Al James fronted band out of Portland. Admittedly a bit late to the party on Dolorean as I have only been listening for a couple of years, but there are some crazy good slow burners (including the one in this post) from James & Co. that just stop me in my tracks. [...]
Small Houses swung by the good folks over at Halfway House and recorded a session at the Stone House Studios. Sorry, had to type it out again. But seriously, Jeremy Quentin (Small Houses) has been 'round these parts previously (see here , here & here ) with his acoustic folk stylings and once again he shows why I enjoy listening soo much. His Halfway House Session includes 3 tracks including a Tom Waits cover. The two original tracks chosen, Late July and In the Lawn are two of his best [...]
A little self promotion is never bad. Right? RIGHT? So my little label over at Yer Bird Records is starting a trend in having at least one long weekend 2 for 1 special each year on all our wares and it is happening right now. Purchase the new Hezekiah Jones LP? Why not have the new Ghosts I've Met LP thrown in for good measure? Yeah, its great stuff. LPs, CDs and digital downloads - its the wild west over there this weekend. See our home page on the label site HERE for more information! [...]
Bryan John Appleby's new album "Fire on the Vine" was released today via his Bandcamp page and I have just started listening and it is fantastic. While I just heard this song performed live from over on the Sound on the Sound blog - the studio/album version of "Noah's Nameless Wife" is just stunning. It is your song of the day. <a href=" http://bryanjohnappleby.bandca mp.com/track/noahs-nameless-wi fe" mce_href=" http://bryanjohnappleby.bandca mp.com/track/noahs-nameless-wi fe">Noah's Nameless Wife by Bryan John Appleby</a& amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; ~~ The song is a classic pining singer songwriter lament with acoustic guitar over waning strings and Appleby's steadfast [...]
Thought I would point you all in the direction of fellow Calgarians ' Welcome to the West ' today. I am doing this today of all days due to two fantastic videos they have had on their site recently. In all honestly I was just going to post the 'pool party post folk fest' video, but then saw a nice new Sumner Brothers video and I can't ignore that! Welcome to the West focuses on just that, the West of Canada's music scene - not necessarily Canadian content exclusively, but they do show off that talent often as [...]
(photo by Nick Wilkes) Many do it. Many will continue to do it. Many don't do it this well. Covering Neil Young is almost a staple of any Country/Folk/Americana artist, but it isn't something to take lightly. It is all too easy to jam a cover and release it to the masses - we all know we are a blogger-coversong-world these days. It just usually isn't done where you feel like an artist borrows from another and if you didn't know that little fact, that the song could be their own. [...]
Discovered this little gem of an EP from the good folks over at Natural Beardy (thx NB! See their post here ) and thought I would share it with you as well. So after listening over with the bearded ones, I immediately picked up the 2009 6-track EP 'Shoes for Men and Beasts' via their Bandcamp page and it has been playing all weekend at Slowcoustic HQ. There also looks to be a new album that should be surfacing very soon (complete with sample track for streaming/purchase) via a recent successful Kickstarter campaign. <a href=" [...]
This second and final grouping of albums are not necessarily greater than yesterday's grouping, but for lack of scientific research these could be considered my #5 through #1 favourite releases of 2011 thus far. Once again: do you agree, have suggestions, have ridicule? ~~ The Deep Dark Woods - The Place I Left Behind Okay, I need a bit of flexibility from you folks as this album isn't even released yet (but it is on Aug. 2nd, 2011 on Six Shooter Records here in [...]
*please disregard the fact that I only have 4 of the 5 listed below - $15.00 shipping from the USA t0 Canada isn't right. Sure a favourite releases list of 2011 thus far - I can do that. Also, as it is the weekend I am going to post 5 today and 5 tomorrow because honestly it gets me a post material for tomorrow automatically!! This first grouping is not necessarily lesser than tomorrow's grouping, but for lack of scientific research these could be considered #10 through #6 favourite releases of 2011 thus far. [...]
Happy go lucky dog enthusiasts The Black Atlantic have essentially premiered two new songs from an upcoming release via the Kapelsessies.nl video series. Gone is the tip toeing through the fields here folks, we get a possible movement in what could have been the slower folkier sound of previous TBA - noticed especially in Lead Geert van der Velde's vocals at least - there is new energy in these songs! I am very excited to see what comes of the new material - it seems like the sound is growing, but not too fast as to leave any [...]
Matt Kinder and his recording persona 'The Parade Schedule' recently started a Bandcamp page with a release of some extra tracks, demos, compilation tracks called Struggles in Dinosaur, Wyoming (rarities and what not) . I have been a fan of TPS since the fantastic album Seeds to be Planted, Trees to be Cut (see a feature we did here ) so this was a great surprise to find this 'new' material over the weekend. When previously featured, TPS was based out of Louisville and there has been a relocation to Seattle for [...]
Not much time today, but I still must tell you to visit the new blog that Andy Hull (of Right Away, Great Captain & Manchester Orchestra) is trying out. It is called Something For Somebody Somewhere and if you must know, I am that somebody. Hull is posting streams and downloads of out-takes, demos and such and so far, if you are a fan of his solo stuff/Right Away, Great Captain - this is the place for you. Currently tracks like 'We Were Made Out of Lightning', 'How [...]
So I finally received my Bon Iver vinyl package from Jagjaguwar yesterday after an almost painful 5 week wait. You see, we had a postal issue in Canada for a month or so and my 4 pack of LPs essentially sat around waiting to be delivered in some warehouse - but alas, it is safe and sound in my home ( proof )! I wanted to have a huge post this morning, almost a stream of consciousness type post as I tend to not plan out too many posts and just write 'in the moment'. But alas (again) [...]
Banner image delicately lifted from these nice people. New albums are on their way from a couple of bands that might do something for you Slowcoustic readers. The albums are from the Canadian sister duo Tasseomancy (nee Ghost Bees) and the Rhode Island duo Brown Bird: while they are both albums to look forward to, they just might be nothing alike! First off, Tasseomancy are moving in the direction of atmospheric folk and ambient indie - a bit different from the more traditional folkier moments [...]
Slowcoustic
Azealia Banks - '1991' [Listen]
Metric Debuts Album via Synthetica Hide+Seek, Tickets On Sale Now For Fall Tour
THE MASTERSONS — BIRDS FLY SOUTH
