Blast from the past III

Way back when vampires disintegrated in the sunlight, I went down to Halifax for a tour of Dalhousie University. The open house weekend happened to coincide with the Halifax Pop Explosion--my first Halifax Pop Explosion! This was 2005. I was 17. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, I found out, they were playing an all ages show as part of the Pop Explosion. Obviously, I convinced my compatriots to accompany me to this evening of awesomesauce and beards.

Sharp Like Knives, I've talked about before. I think. I've played them on my radio show, anyhow.
Femme Generation, I've talked about before.

North of America, however, I've overlooked.

Their last record was put out in 2003, and that was technically the end of the band, but they've come back together a few times since then, most notably for that 2005 tour with Ted Leo, ending on the HPX date. They sound like the turn of the millennium. They sound like everything you once loved, and hopefully still do. They're a gateway drug, they're a straight-up indie rock band who put on an awesome high-energy show, when I saw them. Totally fab. I hear they reunited again at last year's HPX, but I missed them. I have no regrets about my 2008 HPX experience, though. I would like to see them again, though, and see how they're holding up four years on.

The show closed with a massive clusterfuck, I don't know what else to call it. Ted Leo and his band were on stage and joined by the whole of North of America--which means two drumkits were on stage--and members from the other bands got up there, too. They played something incredible, but this old brain, he ain't what he used to be, and can't remember what that song was. All I know is Ted disappeared at the end of it. Just vanished. Pouf!

North of America - Let's Get Sick To Our Stomachs
North of America - Keep It On The Download

These painted lines, they brought us together.

These all seem to be Pop Explosion reviews. It's a pity I didn't have a blog back in October, I could have gotten them out of the way then, and with better recollection. Oh well.

This is one of the most beautifully packaged CDs I own. Handpainted on firm cardboard, inside and out, and even on the CD itself. Absolutely beautiful, just like the music contained within.

And who is the perpetrator of this wonder? A cute little thing named Jess Kussin. She opened for, of all people, Hilotrons, who seem to channel XTC, at the Pop Explosion. I always find these juxtapositions interesting.

Jess plays what I like to describe as Canadiana. Small-town influenced folk music with a distinct Canadian tinge. She can't stand much more than five feet, and trading between banjo and ukulele from song to song, feet dangling off the stool on which she sat, it was a purely beautiful and downright cute performance. Her vocals are heartfelt, are gorgeous. Andy Swan joined her on stage for part of her set, as he does for part of the EP, and though it did add something to the performance, I have to say I preferred her alone on the stage. The mood in the place might have influenced this, though. The bar was dead, with maybe 15 or 20 people watching. The world was silent and all there was was Jess.

The second of these tracks, both from her EP Big City Smile, features Andy Swan on vocals and guitar.

Jessie Kussin - Dodging Daggers

Jessie Kussin - Big City Smile

I see your keys hanging in the same place, they haven't moved for a month.

an attempt at
ew, courier
what the hell

an attempt at
why the hell is this bold?
fuck off.

an attempt at defining the rural alberta advantage comes up short. to be frank, they're a rock band, and only one of them out of alberta. why am i not using capitals? i should really use capitals.

Right. So. The RAA (as they're known) are something special. A Toronto-based three-piece that I'm going to throw under Canadiana/folk-rock but that doesn't do them justice. They are the sound of-- well, take a listen.

The Rural Alberta Advantage - Ballad of the RAA

I saw the band in Halifax, opening for Ghost Bees and Laura Barrett. The night before, Laura had mentioned to me that she was a little bit excited to have them in the lineup, felt a little bit small as the headliner coming off such an amazing line of bands as came before (a lineup which also included Boxer the Horse and Rich Aucoin) and stressed the awesomeosity of the RAA. I, therefore, on the bus to Halifax the next day, was beyond excited for the concert. They certainly did not disappoint.

The band is comprised of Nils, the lone Albertan of the lot, singing and guitaring away, Paul (also of Woodhands) on the drums, and Amy, multi-instrumentalist and backup vocals.

Amy was, I think, what gave the band their character. There was the heart and soul of the band, the expat Albertan, playing the guitar, there was the drums keeping everything in order, and then there was Amy, tapping away at a xylophone or a synth or whatever else depending on what the song required. That little addition, the third of the three-piece not being a bass or even a keyboard but a multi-instrumentalist of her orientation, that is what won me over. I sat, and stood, there in the Coconut Grove absolutely enthralled for their whole set, and promptly tracked down a member of the band to pick up a CD.

Now, the CD, Hometowns, has the same stripped down sound of a three-piece in concert, the heartwrenching vocals of hometown exodus which I (see the rant) can fully understand. Exodus and heartbreak, beautiful indie folk-rock supported with strings here and there. But even when strings are added the stripped down mixing and overall sound rings true. One of the songs I have for you below, Don't Haunt This Place features a cello, though if I remember rightly Amy just played the cello part on a synthesizer at the show in Halifax.

From what I can gather, the band has a bit of a cult following here in Sackville, and it's well-deserved. There is something indescribable about them, something wonderful that can only fully be appreciated when experiencing the music. It's simply beautiful, and haunting. Frank, AB, the third and final song I have for you in this post, defines that haunting quality so well. Telling the story of the 1903 mine disaster in Frank, the song is one of those that stops the world, that takes everything outside and stops it, and you just live in the music for a few minutes. A band that can do that is a band that deseves universal laudation.

The RAA - Don't Haunt This Place

The RAA - Frank, AB

Actually, I'll throw this song up here, too, just because it's quite a bit different from the others. Now get out there! Go to their shows, pick up their record, fall in love with the music as I have.

The RAA - The Dethbridge in Lethbridge

Don't know when I'll be back to get my things.

I had the good fortune of catching Woodhands in concert at the Halifax Pop Explosion this fall, headlining the Saturday night show. Turnout was mediocre, I assume because Sebastien Grainger was opening for Islands not far away at the same time. But: wow. Woodhands amazed me. Never have I seen such a high energy performance as that of Dan Werb. You might know him from Henri Fabergé and the Adorables.

Woodhands are a two-piece electronic outfit from Toronto by way of BC, with the same awesome nerditude of Werb's fellow Adorable Laura Barrett, who appears on the album. Heart Attack was released by Paper Bag Records this past spring, and I picked up a copy at the show after Dan and Paul absolutely blew my mind.

Their show was done live, Dan handling the synths, drum machines, drunken swearing--you know, all of the fun stuff--while Paul hit up the drums. That always makes me smile, a synth-based group who don't rely on samples and laptops for their live show. Honestly, fantastic, fantastic show.

The highlight of the album, for me, is not the universally praised Dancer, or even Laura's guest vocals on Sailboats, but a drawn-out, 8-bit sounding epic called Be Back Soon. It at first hit me with the building synth hook, but once the vocals and the song as a whole kicked off and the rhythm of the whole thing, the beat upon which it's all based-- The whole song just swims through you and you swim right along with it. The vocals are minimal and pumped through the synthesizer, and as such they just add as a part of the epic soundscape of synths and drum machine. The swimmy quality of the whole thing, the rhythm and measure, it all amounts to one thing for me, and I'll phrase it thusly: if you're looking for a soundtrack to break-up sex, this is it.

Woodhands - Be Back Soon

Of course, the slow-paced sex anthem that is Be Back Soon does not speak for the whole album. Heart Attack is possibly the most danceable album I've ever heard, start to finish. The live show reflects this, and you've probably heard this one by now, but just... this is the definition of a Woodhands show, this track here.

Woodhands - Dancer

Nonstop listening pleasure, really. If you get a chance, pick up the album, or, even better, see these guys live. You will not be disappointed. They're in my running for best live show of the year. I might just do a top 5 rundown at the end of the month. We shall see!