MySpaceI hope it doesn’t sound like faint praise when I say that Wave North, the new album from Toronto’s Sunparlour Players, is much, much better than I’d expected it to be. I’d always figured that their strength would be in their sound, a raucous and clattering sort of country-groomed barroom gospel-rock which made for great live shows. But with this album, they’ve also proven they can write some pretty impressive songs with lyrical depth and emotional heft to say nothing of their surprisingly anthemic delivery. This isn’t to say these facets weren’t there before – maybe they were and I didn’t pick up on them – but on Wave North they’re impossible to ignore.
They band are doing an in-store at Soundscapes Wednesday night, June 24, at 7PM and will play a CD release show at the Horseshoe on Friday night, June 26, with special guests The Hylozoists and Wayne Petti, and courtesy of Outside Music, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Sunparlour Players” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at 5PM, June 25.
MBVGuelph’s Royal City were a band who were just ahead enough of their time to miss out on the great Can-rock explosion on the early 2000s, singing their swan song in 2004 with Little Heart’s Ease, just as many of their contemporaries, collaborators and followers – at one time or another, their roster included the likes of Leslie Feist and Owen Pallett – rose to far greater heights both at home and abroad.
But they’ve never been lost or forgotten, their three records held with great affection by those who were fortunate enough to have seen or heard them over their too-short, half-decade existence. Their sound was deceptively simple – folk-pop with occasional excursions into noisier territory, led by singer Aaron Riches’ charmingly creaky voice – but beneath the seemingly placid surface were deep waters of musical, lyrical and spiritual complexities, frequently as unsettling as beautiful. It’s hard to put one’s finger on just what made Royal City so special but few would deny that they were.
The band will get some measure of posthumous recognition this week with the release of Royal City, a limited-edition compilation of rare and unreleased material, and here in their hometowns, a pair of concerts entitled “Burning Torch: A Tribute to Royal City” will be held later this week at the Ebar in Guelph on June 24 and at the Tranzac in Toronto on June 26 and will feature performances from friends, fans and former members. Details at Exclaim.
For my part, I am very pleased to be able to offer, in conjunction with the band, their former label of Three Gut Records and my blog compatriots at MBV Music, a very special commemorative giveaway. They’ve created a super-limited run of approximately 6.5″ x 6.5″ prints featuring the artwork of the three Royal City albums created from Tyler Clarke Burke’s original artwork files – view them large size – and I have one of the thirty to give away to a lucky fan. To enter, leave me a comment below with a Royal City anecdote, either related to a record, a song, a live show, a traffic altercation with Nathan Lawr or that time you caught Jim Guthrie with his hand in your pocket, whatever. Make sure to include your email so I can contact you and have that in before midnight, June 30. And also, for those seeking to increase their odds, another set is being given away at MBV Music and Said The Gramophone will be giving a set away very soon as well. MBV is also streaming the album right now and The Guelph Mercury talks to Guelph-based CBC personality Vish Khanna about the band’s legacy.
Paper BagSo hey, did you hear? Vinyl is the next big thing! All the cool kids are doing it, spinning those groovy wax platters on their vintage gramophones and getting down with that analog sound! Digital is for squares!
Do you want to be one of those hep cats with the milk crates full of LPs, but don’t know where to start? Paper Bag Records wants to help! Courtesy of they and Stage Fright Publicity, I’ve got a special set of limited edition vinyl featuring some of Canada’s top up-and-coming acts for you to spin – the pack includes Woodhands’Heart Attack, Winter Gloves’About A Girl, Josh Reichmann/Oracle Band’sCrazy Power and Life Is Legal EPs and Slim Twig’sContempt! and Derelict Dialect / Vernacular Violence EPs. All are limited black label vinyl with custom screen printed sleeves and limited to 300 copies – it’s basically a one-step process to becoming the coolest kid on your block.
To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want the Paper Bag vinyl” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body. And tell me what kind of turntable you have – I’m curious. Get that in to me before midnight, June 30 and contest is open to residents of Canada only. Sorry Americans, you’ll have to find your own express route to hipsville.
Paper Bag RecordsToronto’s Rock Plaza Central is an acquired taste and one, I confess, I’ve not fully acquired. Frontman Chris Eaton’s voice is a ragged and off-kilter thing and not one terribly concerned with pitch, and though it’s well-suited to the densely literate lyrics and ramshackle folk-orchestrations of the band’s music, it’s still something I have to learn to get past to fully appreciate the band because otherwise, they sound very much up my alley. But I also remind myself that I was once unable to get past the vocals of Okkervil River frontman Will Sheff, but eventually did and my world was a better place for it. So we shall see.
Rock Plaza Central just released their second album At The Moment Of Our Most Needing and are playing a record release show at Lee’s Palace this Saturday night, June 13, to mark the occasion. And courtesy of REMG and Paper Bag Records, I’ve got a couple of prize packs to give away consisting of a pair of passes to the show and a copy of the new album on CD. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Rock Plaza Central” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body, and get that in to me by midnight, June 11.
eye and CBC Radio 3 have features on Rock Plaza Central.
Rodolphe BarasJeff Buckley passed away twelve years ago, drowned in the Mississippi River at age 30, leaving behind just a single completed album – Grace. It wasn’t a perfect record, but still an excellent one and has gone on to achieve near mythical status due as much to the the immense potential that Buckley demonstrated with it as the music it actually contained.
Since Buckley’s death, a string of new releases and reissues have poured forth and while naysayers might say these recordings are unnecessary at best, that the tale is best told in its entirety by Grace alone, the intensity of devotion that much of Buckley’s fanbase still holds for his work even this long after his passing ensures that every new bit of work unearthed will be greeted wholeheartedly, helping to flesh out a story that never got the chance to tell itself. The latest of which is Grace Around The World, a combination CD and DVD package that collects audio and video footage from television performances filmed during the first world tour in support of Grace. The CD and DVD share performances and a deluxe version includes a second DVD with a documentary feature on Buckley.
And courtesy of Toolshed, Fun Palace Entertainment and Jeff Buckley Music, I’ve got some nice items to giveaway for three such devoted Buckley fans. First is a Grace Around The World prize pack consisting of a copy of the CD/DVD, a poster, some Jeff Buckley guitar picks, temporary tattoos and postcards. Second is a CD from Jeff’s personal CD music collection, stamped with an official Jeff Buckley Music archive sticker. Third is a limited edition t-shirt circa Mystery White Boy (front/back). To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want Grace Around The World” in the subject line and in the body, your mailing address and which prizes you’d like to be considered for in order of preference. Contest is open to anyone, anywhere, but note that the DVD is only available in region 1/NTSC format so if you live abroad and don’t have a fancy, “plays everything” DVD player you may want to pass on it, though the CD is of course universal. And if you want a t-shirt, please note your size. Contest will close in two weeks at midnight, June 21.
Also note that screenings of the DVD are being held in various locales around the world and for the Los Angeles, San Francisco and Austin events, Buckley’s mother and caretaker of his estate, Mary Guibert, will be in attendance:
June 9, 2009 – Los Angeles, CA @ Largo (tickets)
June 11, 2009 – San Francisco, CA @ Opera Plaza Cinema (tickets)
June 19, 2009 – Manchester, UK @ Ruby Lounge
June 21, 2009 – Paris, France @ La Scene Bastille
June 24, 2009 – Dublin, Ireland @ Andrews Lane Theater
June 28, 2009 – Austin, TX @ Mother Egan’s
August 2009 – New York, NY (date and venue TBD)
And note that you can subscribe to the Jeff Buckley mailing list to get more information on these events and other Buckley happenings.
MySpaceI hope it doesn’t sound like faint praise when I say that Wave North, the new album from Toronto’s Sunparlour Players, is much, much better than I’d expected it to be. I’d always figured that their strength would be in their sound, a raucous and clattering sort of country-groomed barroom gospel-rock which made for great live shows. But with this album, they’ve also proven they can write some pretty impressive songs with lyrical depth and emotional heft to say nothing of their surprisingly anthemic delivery. This isn’t to say these facets weren’t there before – maybe they were and I didn’t pick up on them – but on Wave North they’re impossible to ignore.
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