I'm not sure if it's possible to overstate the dumbfounding work ethic and determination of one man tour-de-force Chad VanGaalen has. Between writing, performing, producing, and touring his own material, producing the artists who make their way through his at-home Yoko Eno studio, whipping up a bunch of visual works (including the album artwork on his most recent Diaper Island record), and still finding time to raise a family, he consistently seems to operate an order of magnitude higher than most of his peers. And yet, here he is, preparing to completely outdo himself with the [...]
As I wrote about for Exclaim! , Chad VanGaalen is releasing a whole whack of unheard albums on cassette. They will be available in limited quantities from the merch booth during shows. Unfortunately, he only just played in Vancouver earlier this month, so who knows if I'll be able to pick them up. D'oh! Below you can hear "Never Cut My Hair," which appears on a collection of Diaper Island outtakes called Garbage Island #2 (yes, there's also a Garbage Island #1 ). This is [...]
(Sub Pop, 2011) The answer is yes. Yes; you can love, possibly more than anything else, at least for the moment, an album titled Diaper Island . What Chad? You get a kid or something. It's definitely a less death-focused VanGaalen affair (and more Womenly, given his recent exploits). Chad VanGaalen - Sara by subpop
Chad VanGaalen — Sara Chad VanGaalen 's Diaper Island is still two long months from seeing the light of day, but Impose has offered up a sneak peek in the form of "Sara". As they so keenly noted, this bare, guitar-centric new sound drips of the same vibes as Women 's phenomenal Public Strain (which VanGaalen produced). Pre-order the album here , and, if you haven't already, [...]
Over the latter half of the past decade, reclusive Canadian songwriter Chad VanGaalen has sat comfortably under the radar. Every few years, however, he graces listeners with a new set of enigmatic/gorgeous/weird set of tracks. His 2008 LP Soft Airplane was one of my favorites from that year and ended up on several notable year-end lists. This year, VanGaalen emerges with his fourth full-length Diaper Island , and he seems to have changed his songcraft appraoch. According to his label Sub Pop, For the first [...]
Mar 16, 2011, 7:54pm
SGTMT
Tweet If Braids' trajectory continues as it has over the last few months then soon we won't even be able to pop to the shops for a bag of pork scratchings without hearing something from them. Usually that's not good. In this band's case it is. Braids make mesmerising shoe-gazing pop for patient kids and I can't stop listening to Lemonade and Little Hand which bookend their forthcoming debut Native Speaker LP, out 4th April in the [...]
When I called to interview Ghostkeeper , Shane was talking care of business-in the bathroom. Luckily, Sharon from the band spoke with me for a bit while I waited. The first thing Shane did when he got on the phone was describe himself as a B.F.I. (You will have to listen to hear what that stands for.) After that, I had no idea what to expect next. Ghostkeeper are one of the more interesting bands on the Flemish Eye label [...]
None of the members of Braids are older than 21. Despite that, they've been around so long in the Montréal scene that they almost seem like established grandparents to some of the city's newer acts. In fact, they are the most tagged band on this very blog. It therefore surprises some to learn that they [...]
For a change, today, I thought I'd post something about a record that I just can't decide whether I like or not. I blow hot and cold… Women Women are a Canadian band of four blokes who have just released their second album, on Flemish Eye records, called Public Strain. And right now, on my headphones, it sounds like a bit of a belter – all spiky alt-punk guitar chords and sparse atmospheric sounds, vocals recorded in the room next door, etc… Problem is over the car stereo (a new and unexpected pleasure for [...]
Women/ Public Strain/ Album Release- Sept ember 28, 2010 At about six and a half minutes long, the new single off of Women 's due to be released album Public Strain sits on a different plane than the punchy bass driven brevity of, let's say, "Group Transport Hall." But upon listening to "Eyesore," you can still hear the rusty pop playfulness that made "Black Rice" an instant marker on their 2008 self-titled debut on Flemish Eye (a Canadian label whose artists also include genius song-writer and artist Chad [...]
Download the final track from Women 's new LP Public Strain , out September 28 on Jagjaguwar : mp3: Women :: Eyesore [ via ]
Black Mold Snow Blindness is Crystal Antz (2009, Flemish Eye) RIYL = Kemialliset Ystavat, Squarepusher, Dan Friel I didn't miss out on Black Mold last year due to not knowing about it. As an avid fan of all things touched by Chad VanGaalen, I was well aware of this release. Nor was it because I didn't listen to it. The album was simply too much. It absolutely overwhelmed me with the sheer volume of ideas. Honestly, even with a cursory understanding of the genuine awesomeness that popped up on [...]
top of the mid morning to you all. i just got done listening to calgary's ghostkeeper and their fine self titled record for 4th time - its being released by flemish eye on 3.9. if pavement had spent more time down in the mississippi delta than on boards or smoking the dope, they may have sounded like ghostkeeper or vic versa. its not too bluesy of a record, or too folky of a record, but its cool mix of the two but with those pavement like off-kilter hooks. by morning [...]
Up tonight is another haunting installment from Calgary's favorite indie/experimental-rock artist Chad VanGaalen . VanGaalen demonstrates his talent as an animator/illustrator with the video that accompanies Molten Light , and allows us to be pleasantly horrified both visually and sonically. The song itself can be found on VanGaalen's 3rd full-length effort Soft Airplane , released in September of 2008 via Flemish Eye and Sub Pop record labels. The album would successfully traverse the Canadian gauntlet known as the Polaris Music Prize jury in 2009 and find it's way onto the 10-album shortlist; [...]
Calgary seems to be the current buzz town for Canadian indie music thanks to Chad VanGaalen and his close Flemish Eye brothers Women . There are several bands defining Calgary's lo-fi sound, such as Hunter-Gatherer , Manchild , and Puberty (who lends it's bassist to today's featured band). Friendo is based out of Calgary and includes the drummer from Women. Their sound is a hybrid of lo-fi noise, rock, and pop and the vocals are shared by all members adding an interesting dynamic. After a few [...]
Chad VanGaalen holed himself up in his basement to bring us the experimental album 'Snow Blindness Is Crystal Antz' under the moniker Black Mold.
BLACK MOLD SNOW BLINDNESS IS CRYSTAL ANTZ (Flemish Eye) www.myspace.com/blackmoldmusic Never describe an album as "experimental." The word in the music realm has a lot of negative baggage ranging from simply awful to downright unlistenable. With the word being thrown around to describe Snow Blindness Is Crystal Antz , the new record from singer-songwriter Chad VanGaalen's new side project, Black Mold, I was ready for the worst. Would VanGaalen make a record that was impossible to listen to? It doesn't start out too promising. The [...]
We're all about full disclosure here at Citizen Dick, and given that fact I am going to let you all in on a few secrets right now. First, though you are likely reading this review on a lovely Tuesday morning, I actually wrote it last night before I went to bed. Second, I accidentally got fairly drunk on Monday night. I will let you draw your own conclusions from those two bits of information; I'm confident that you'll figure it out where I'm going with that. My state of inebriation likely means different things to different people, but what it [...]
posted by Matt: I love Women's record, full of swirling noise that fills in the voids as song structures rise and fall. Here's their Five Favorites list. Five Favorites with Women Fleetwood Mac - Rumours It's cool to like them now. We've toyed with the idea of all dressing like Stevie Nicks when we play. All of us. The tangles that would ensue would be insane. Swell Maps - Jane From [...]
posted by Matt: Back in the days before I turned to the dark side of the music industry, I got assigned a last minute story for The Coast on an animator that was hanging out in Sackville, NB named Chad VanGaalen. I had heard of him before, but hadn't had a chance to check out his debut album, Infiniheart , yet. Due to my schedule, I didn't even have time to set-up an interview over the phone. I just had to fire in some quick questions over [...]
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