The album is split into two halves, with the six songs in its first half artfully reinterpreted in its second, using different musicians (17 in total), orchestration (23 instruments, plus a men’s choir) and producers (three). Waltzing tempos, European folk flavours and baroque arrangements eventually give way to sputtering electronic beats, cerebral, looping vocal lines and dark minimalism.

The constant is Minnikin’s effortless alto, as casual and unpretentious as ever, though here it reaches high into its upper register with results as impressive as this bold new direction.

http://www.nowtoronto.com/music/discs.cfm?content=173877

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/music/soldier-of-love-sage-night-and-dreams/article1460753/

There’s lots on the horizon too. The Sheepdogs will be releasing their amazing new album Learn & Burn at the end of February and embarking on a tour to support it. Here’s a preview from the record called “I Don’t Know” …sounds like Moby Grape meets James Gang, we’re excited to start getting the word out. We’ll also be announcing tours from Ruth Minnikin and Daniel, Fred & Julie before long as well. On top of all that, Dog Day’s Seth Smith will be releasing his new solo album, New Problems. It’s amazing. We’ll have more details on it in the next week or so.

To keep up, here’s a few reviews that have come in over the last few days:

The Stance on Quick Before it Melts
Ruth Minnikin and her Bandwagon on Babysue
Daniel, Fred & Julie on Altsounds
Daniel, Fred & Julie in Vue Weekly
Gravity Wave on Altsounds
The Pinecones on I (heart) Music
The Pinecones on Babysue

Also, over on the !earshot National campus radio charts a few Pigeon Row artists have been getting some attention. Daniel, Fred & Julie are sitting at #12 Nationally and Ruth Minnikin and her Bandwagon are at #14. Jenocide re-entered the charts at #36 as well.

On the Folk/Roots/Blues charts, Daniel, Fred & Julie are #1 for the third week in a row and Ruth is at #4. On the hip hop charts, Ghettosocks is still holding strong. This week Treat of the Day has moved back up to #2.

That’s it for now. Have a great week. Read more Herohill.

From funk to noise experiments to breakneck punk to a brooding denouement, the band hits you with one surprise after another without every losing stride. On Action in the North Atlantic, you could draw lines to Jawbox or Sonic Youth or even to a more serious Les Savy Fav, but none of these quite fit because the band makes are making its own sound. It’s heartfelt; it earns every moment; and it hits you hard from start to finish. A few years back, indie rock mined Montreal for fresh blood. Maybe the punks should head up to Nova Scotia and see what else there is to find.

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/119249-a-history-of-action-in-the-north-atlantic/

At Just Friends Records, hosting a weekend of music releases, getting on with it means going back to a degree. Even looking at their releases reveals this.

“I guess it’s no secret that we all like the look of the old stuff from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s,” admits Mat Dunlap, who co-founded the label with musician/producer Dave Ewenson in 2003.

Dunlap, who does just about all the label’s album photography and design, describes the in-house aesthetic as “fun and slightly kitschy.” Within that, though, a BA Johnston album will differ visually from a Laura Peek, he points out. “It really depends on the band, of course,” continues Dunlap, who collaborates with each band on the art. “It’s our time to have a little bit of fun with the looks.”

For The Pinecones’ new one, Sage, Dunlap set headshots of the quartet against a background awash in psychedelic colour and floral forms (much like Ruth Minnikin’s own art direction for her latest, Depend on This).

Even before you hear the bass note and guitar wail of “Sage,” the title track opening the album, co-written by Dunlap and Brent Randall, the packaging signals what’s to come. There’s even a worn circular pattern visible on the cover, conjuring the memory of vinyl records.

On the phone from home in Toronto, Brent Randall, who dropped his name and the possessive pronoun (his) for The Pinecones’ Sage, recalls the album cover evolved from a poster they’d used and that was inspired by a record from The Turtles. In that era, from Brian Wilson and Burt Bacharach on the pop side to Sly and the Family Stone and Bill Withers on the R&B side, Randall hears “a simplicity, a sense of adventure. And maybe people didn’t take things too seriously.”

Or at least, he adds, they didn’t take themselves too seriously.

“I like the haircuts,” jokes Mark Macaulay (vocals/guitar) of The Stance. They’re releasing their first full-length album, I Left Love Behind A Long Time Ago, on Just Friends.

“Records don’t sound like that anymore,” adds Macaulay, who co-writes songs with his brother, James (guitars/vocals). “I like the sound of under-rehearsed, slightly shitty musicians in a room playing. No click tracks, no time, nothing. That was what our record deliberately intended to sound like.”

Similarly, for Randall, he and his fellow Toronto-based bandmates had a revelation while working early on: “Maybe these aren’t the demos, maybe this is the album.”

When The Stance first emerged, the joke at the label was that they were the Stones to The Beatles, as embodied by Halifax’s Their Majesties, now defunct. From that band, Brian O’Reilly also played guitar in the pop-orchestra format of Brent Randall and His Pinecones and on last year’s We Were Strangers in Paddington Green.

On Sage, O’Reilly, who shares an apartment and has amassed a vinyl collection with Randall in Toronto, writes and sings a group of tunes (check out “Act a Gentleman”), as does drummer Paul Linklater (”Do It”) and bassist Joel Goguen (”Never Seen the Likes”). “Tea Tonight” is vintage Randall, who’s been playing more guitar than keys these days. (He just bought an Epiphone Casino, semi-hollow body, which The Beatles used in recording, he says.) With more guitar work The Pinecones seem bursting with the urge to kick out the jams.

Macaulay calls The Stance’s I Left Love… a “really fun record, exuberant.” If not a call to arms, the album shakes listeners awake to the fact they’re alive. Musically, they deliver the message with MC5 or Stooges-sounding force. (The Pinecones do it with “Ardmore Jenny.”)

“We stopped writing about girls as often. I like to think that’s a sign of maturity, or maybe it’s because I’m totally unsuccessful with girls these days,” says Macaulay.

http://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/spend-the-weekend-with-just-friends/Content?oid=1481395

http://www.exclaim.ca/musicreviews/generalreview.aspx?csid1=138&csid2=851&fid1=43573&utm_source=ExMS&utm_medium=MySpace&utm_campaign=MSMail

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/article/748403–ben-rayner-s-reasons-to-live.

Having never heard of A History Of before listening to Action In The North Atlantic, I was blown away by this album, and ashamed of myself for being unaware of the band until that point. The energy emanating from this album is ridiculous. With the exception of “Micropolyphony” (0:55 seconds of slow, relaxing tones mixed with what appear to represent waves) each of the 10 tracks on this album will punch you in the face. Aggressive vocals, creative and loud drumming, driving bass lines and overall catchy as hell guitar hooks solidify surprises around every corner.

Another aspect of Action In The North Atlantic that deserves praise is its tremendous diversity. Although punk seems to be the easiest way to label the majority of songs, it doesn’t have to stop there. Each song itself comes back to a punk sound at one point, but there are many in which the label of simply “punk” is inaccurate. Influences from folk, pop, hardcore and many other mini genres that I can’t quite nail down have a say in the shaping of the sound of the album. Songs that stand out to me include, “Strike It From The Lexicon”, “National Tectonic” (Somebody, please establish a “Best Groove” award and give it to this song), and “Dagger Woods”.

A History Of has the ability to make each song unique in its own, powerful way. So powerful that I can’t wait to see these guys live, as I’m sure they will be back on the island again soon enough (they played a show that our buddy Matt Dixon (Bikon) put on back in ’07). My advice is to pick up this album next time you get the chance, you won’t regret it.

http://junnnktank.com/reviews/ahistoryof.htm.

SHOTGUN JIMMIE – Used Parts from Mitch Fillion on Vimeo.