Skeleton Crew Quarterly Reviews The Weather Station • 05.09.11

On days I wake up in fervor about some sensational label I’d dreamed up in the night, it’s relieving to remember that You’ve Changed Records actually exists. The common strains of retro aesthetic and rustic approach linking each release would be good for nothing without music that rivals the grassroots appeal of this young catalog and You’ve Changed Records hasn’t had much in the way of quality control problems lately, what with expert releases by Shotgun Jimmie and Daniel Romano. That said, the label might’ve landed its crowning achievement with The Weather Station’s All Of It Was Mine.

Confronting the new album by Tamara Lindeman with grand compliments seems a damning thought, as though the record’s delicacy may wilt under a single glare of hype. Her sophomore record is a lean twenty-eight minutes of acoustic lilts, with Lindeman’s songbird delivery often resolutely caged. Vulnerability is something The Weather Station has in droves but it’s never the suffocating sort; these arrangements move too briskly and have too much on their minds to bother soaking in a melodramatic moment. Opener ‘Everything I Saw’ establishes The Weather Station as a band – featuring a handful of musicians including Misha Bower of Bruce Peninsula and Romano on a variety of instruments – which boasts the light twang of banjo whilst ‘Came So Easy’ finds Lindeman with an acoustic in her kitchen, backed by Bower’s lovely harmonies. Her sweet delivery creates an idyllic mood-piece but the implicit pleasantries disguise a crucial streak of regret and doubt that give ‘Chip On My Shoulder’ and ‘If I’ve Been Fooled’ their bite.

Some of the finest tracks tend to evaporate suddenly but perhaps that temporary nature witnessed on ‘Yarrow and Mint’ and ‘Trying’ works to their advantage, since – let’s face it – I am playing them over and over. And since so few moments on All Of It Was Mine offer refrain or respite, I’ve found myself compelled by the fleeting poignancy of its lyrical and instrumental turns. The Weather Station doesn’t spare a note or sentiment here, resulting in a stunning half-hour of bittersweet folk that stands alongside the year’s very best.

http://theskeletoncrewquarterly.blogspot.com/2011/08/all-of-it-was-mine-weather-station.html?spref=tw

Earbuds & Ticket Stubs Reviews The Weather Station • 05.09.11

My experience seeing The Weather Station live mirrors my experience with their lovely sophomore album All Of It Was Mine. When I saw Tamara Lindeman’s project for the first time, it started out with a single whisper from a friend; “I really want to see this band… I’ve heard great things.” All these separate whispers built up to a packed to capacity theatre with a line-up around back.

Similarly, the sparse whispers of acoustic guitar, of banjo, an occasional snare drum and lilting soft voices accumulated to a warm and intimate collection of ten folk songs. Joined by friends Misha Bower and Lisa Bozikovic in quiet harmonies, recorded and assisted by the incomparable Daniel Romano, All Of It Was Mine is an album that will stand the test of time.

http://www.earbudsandticketstubs.com/post/9257281824/my-experience-seeing-the-weather-station-live

THE GOLDEN SEALS on the cover of the OTTAWA XPRESS • 01.09.11

Rare indeed have been the chances for local enthusiasts to catch a sighting of their unique and favourite species, The Golden Seals, but the Ottawa band has finally resurfaced with its first full-length in nearly a decade – Increase the Sweetness. For lead singer/songwriter Dave Merritt, it was just about time for hibernation to end.

“I went out to milk after our second album and just got back,” jokes Merritt. “Actually the record was 80 percent recorded and I stupidly transferred it to a hard drive, deleted it from my computer and promptly lost everything on the hard drive. Then various responsibilities of life kicked in, so I worked on music in my spare time, and recording at home and with Matt Ouimet, and at Phil Bova’s studio, both of whom are Golden Seals.”

Led by singer/songwriter Dave Merritt, The Golden Seals were at one time the toast of the town due to the top 20 charting of early Golden Seals albums Storybook Endings (2001) and No Hitter (2003), and because of their work with Sarah Harmer and The Rheostatics. (Merritt toured the country opening for The Rheostatics in 94-95 with his previous project, Adam West & the Buffalos.) Early manifestations of The Golden Seals even featured Jeremy Gara, now of Arcade Fire, as well as John Higney, currently of well-known local band The Flaps.

“I’m pretty happy with how our reception has been so far, but it has just been too long since we did something,” reveals Merritt. “It’s mainly me trying to be a responsible human

being and feed my kids and stuff like that. Our first album came out around the time that Royal City and The Hidden Cameras and all that stuff hit, and we got four-star reviews everywhere as well. We didn’t tour that record though, and we should have. We’ve always had pretty healthy radio play in Canada, and some play in Europe and the U.S.

“We should have played out more, and we should have played better shows when we did play out. We didn’t take it seriously enough. Somebody would play keys at one show and then play bass at the next. It was always a little haphazard; it can be fun, but you can have some shitty shows.”

The Golden Seals’ take on pop music has clear inspirations in classic 60s and 70s names like The Beatles and Nick Lowe, and, as Merritt mentions, even Hoagy Carmichael. Increase the Sweetness will go some distance in solidifying those touchpoints, but there is evidence of a broader set of influences. The song Half Life has a welcome Paul Simon-esque familiarity, while Note to Self boasts a dark, tongue-in-cheek playfulness reminiscent of Ween.

“Wow, Paul Simon, we’ve never had that before,” says Merritt. “But it’s funny because I really like the old Muscle Shoal stuff, his backing band, and when he did a lot of the albums in the early 70s. I never even thought he was an influence, but I love listening to all of that old stuff. For Increase the Sweetness, the approach production wise, and everything else, was definitely 70s – 70s vinyl.

“I’m not saying I’m cool to buck the trend, but it seems that every record you listen to these days has tons of reverb on it, and maybe some delay on the entire mix. There is no reverb on this record, and the 70s records sound like that, you know. Late-70s stuff like Nick Lowe was the approach we were going for.

“Regarding Ween, I’ve got a few of those records but never thought of them before either. It’s definitely a bit dark, yeah. I’m not sure that was where I was heading there, maybe I was thinking more of an Elvis Costello approach. I like to think that I’m a pretty upbeat guy, but there is always something sinister under there. I think there is always a bit of melancholy and sense of humour in there though.

“Shit, I think you’re right, it’s way too dark and isn’t going to go anywhere!” he adds, jokingly.

Despite the fact that their first album in nine years is about to drop, The Golden Seals have maintained some cachet among Canadian indie tastemakers, with a recent cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s Summer Side of Life widely distributed through the popular blog Herohill. Legendary hockey commentator Ron MacLean is even said to be a big admirer of the band. Still, despite several upcoming gigs being planned in Ottawa to coincide with the release of the record, Merritt is in no hurry to be stuck in a touring van for weeks on end.

“I certainly don’t mean that I am above it musically, but I have no desire to drive four hours and lose money in Toronto. You can’t really generate the audience unless you play live, but you lose money playing live if you don’t have an audience. If the response to the record warrants playing some live shows, that would be swell.”

“I’m not even sure we should talk about Ron MacLean, but I got an email from Dave Bidini while he was at Hockey Day in Canada. Ron MacLean was apparently going to introduce him and mention his connection to us, because the name is derived from a hockey team in California. Apparently MacLean is a huge Canadian indie rock fan, so maybe it is true. It would be awesome, because I’m a huge fan of his too.”

http://www.ottawaxpress.ca/music/music.aspx?iIDArticle=22148

The Globe And Mail Reviews Dog Day’s “Deformer” • 17.08.11

At first glance, the latest incarnation of Halifax’s Dog Day looks a lot like the White Stripes, a husband-and-wife team in which she plays drums while he handles the singing and guitar. Dig into Deformer, however, and it rapidly becomes apparent that the differences outweigh the similarities. Where the Stripes strove for bluesy primitivism, Dog Day is all about pop minimalism, with catchy, evocative melodies in stripped-down arrangements that evoke the Velvet Underground more than garage rock. They are not above overdubbing extra parts or switching instrumental roles, and while their instrumental amateurism can be wearying at times, their song-craft is nothing if not polished.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/music/disc-of-the-week-jeff-bridges-calls-in-the-big-talent-but-he-didnt-need-to/article2127772/

The Toronto Star Reviews Dog Day’s “Deformer” • 17.08.11

Halifax’s Dog Day is a decidedly different band these days than the spooky post-punk outfit responsible for 2009’s smashing Concentration, having lost half its membership last year and pared the lineup back to just the husband-and-wife core of Seth Smith and Nancy Urich. The scruffy, home-recorded Deformer finds the pair in fighting form, however, and Dog Day reverting to an appealingly primal and pugilistic punk-rock state.

Lo-fi bashers such as “Nothing to Do” and the charging “Scratches” rock out as hard as the band ever has, while there’s a bleak heaviness to numbers like “In the Woods” that would seem to indicate that Dog Day’s clear veneration of the Rick White catalogue is tilting a bit more towards Elevator than Eric’s Trip these days.

Nevertheless, despite the extra layer of fuzz, the melodies remain uncommonly rewarding — “Eurozone” is a pop hit that will, unfortunately, never happen – and Smith’s withering wit has resulted in perhaps his most literately disenchanted lyric sheet yet. I’m pretty sure even the Dog Day kids are a little weirded out by my fanhood at this point, but they’re still my favourite Canadian band right now.

http://www.toronto.com/article/694938–ben-rayner-s-reasons-to-live-dog-day-weird-owl-fruit-bats

Skeleton Crew Quarterly Reviews Dog Day’s “Deformer” • 17.08.11

Anyone who has caught Dog Day live knows that the punk spirit inhabiting the fringes of their gloomy, controlled records frays apart onstage. From statesmen of gloom to hell-bent revelers in a snap, the band’s raw performances became expositions on how to hear an album like Concentration or Elder Schoolhouse in an aggressive new light. So when this spring’s Scratches EP all but erased the contrast to Dog Day’s duality by presenting their noise-band rep on record, complete in raw recordings and compressed textures, it seemed as though the newly minted duo (core members Seth Smith and Nancy Urich) was self-imposing itself into a corner.

Deformer, despite bearing a similar home-recorded approach as Scratches EP, promptly incinerates those fears with a line-up of killer tunes with real songwriting depth. From the rallying call of ‘Daydream’ and rhythmic intensity of ‘Part Girl’ to ‘I Wanna Mix’’s autumnal guitar tones, Smith and Urich get the obvious out of the way; that losing half the members of their band hasn’t diminished the restless creativity at the heart of Dog Day. And as Deformer branches into menacing riffs (‘Positive’) and affecting atmospherics (‘Mr Freeze’), it becomes clear that the Nova Scotia-based duo has stepped further, somehow channeling the unhinged spirit of a band basking in the limelight for the first time. The scrappy yet magnetic energy displayed on Deformer seeks not to pedestal its qualities on Dog Day’s string of successful releases, as most artists would be content doing, but instead provides a blank slate – for both fans and themselves. It’s the same Dog Day you’ve always loved, just hungrier.

On a personal note, I’d be remiss not to mention how much I enjoyed Dog Day as a fearsome foursome. Part of the reason Concentration became Skeleton Crew Quarterly’s Top Album of 2009 was because the instrumentation posed so many intriguing questions; elegant bits of distortion melting into one another and songwriting that benefitted from different pens to the paper. No one really doubted Smith and Urich’s roles as the key ingredients to that stew but I’d wager a lot of fans hardly expected Deformer to make such a fine point of it. A passionate and ferocious return.

http://theskeletoncrewquarterly.blogspot.com/2011/08/deformer-dog-day.html

Round Letters Reviews Dog Day’s “Deformer” • 17.08.11

Dog Day is back. Halifax howlers Seth Smith and Nancy Urich have finally released their anticipated album that first fully sees them as a duo after last year’s split from Chrystal Thili and Robbie Sheddon. Deformer is that look we’ve all been waiting for closer into the duo’s dynamic. It’s refined but messy, sour but oh so sweet and droney but full of melody.

Dog Day’s sound hasn’t changed much, it’s just become a bit simpler, what with only four hands. You can barely tell though, as this married couple makes a lot of noise and sometimes adds some effects.

They both still have their trademark singing drones, which is interesting for the fact of how well they pull it off. I’m willing to bet if I heard many other acts sing like this, I wouldn’t be so pleased to the ears. But I can’t get enough of their vocals that flow so well together as Seth goes low and Nancy gets high, like in the point-blank “Nothing to Do.” (But when Seth works the notes up high on a ladder, it’s one of the finest points, like in the stellar ‘Part Girl” and “Scratches.”) Seth still rips at his noisy guitar, but now Nancy’s plodding away on the drums and even singing more lead parts (“Blueish Grey” is like that summer thunderstorm you’ve been waiting out). They’re shoegaze but starting to let more obvious fun slip into the cracks, whether it’s recording their dog Woofy while he yips during dreams or through the lyrics that are smart, tender, happy, honest, conscious of anything and everything.

Deformer is a really enjoyable listen for multiple moods and headspaces. Seth and Nancy live in a forest, raise chickens and are actually two of the sweetest rockers you’ll meet. They’ve created something that both encapsulates their environment but is also accessible to those not living in the bubble.

I’ve been waiting for this album since 2009′s Concentration kicked things up a notch, but especially since I saw the duo play at Sneaky’s last summer, when it was clear they were pleased as their plump chickens to be in a space they wanted. Deformer is the confidence to their former shakiness, and Dog Day are all the better for it.

http://roundletters.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/album-review-dog-day-deformer/

Noisography Reviews Kuato’s “Summer” EP • 17.08.11

Kuato‘s Summer EP starts off with their trademark dramatic guitar chords before a power beat comes in and lifts the track up, almost reminiscent of BSS or the Arcade Fire. So called “post-rock” bands have always relied on the most melancholy of melodies, so it’s nice to hear a band branching out. “Iraqnaphobia” still mixes sounds and style from across the board, with the looping drum beat holding it all together. A climatic chorus carries to song until the crushingly heavy ending crashes out in waves and moves straight into “Afganistan Rogers.”

The song starts on the same note, and the tones and feeling are predominantly the same with another rolling jungle drum beat taking over the crunchy guitars and soaring melodies. To be honest the two tracks run together somewhat, though there are different themes and progressions on this track that call to mind later period Mogwai. It still delivers on the giant, punishing sound that Kuato is known for, with plenty of tight rhythms and catchy guitar work.

The final track on the EP, “Frances The Mutant,” moves further toward the trademark Summer EP sound with more pounding drums, grinding bass, and nice fractal guitar melodies. The track grows in intensity towards the halfway mark and the band just keeps piling on more layers, with crash symbols and dirtier and dirtier bass, while still finding room for the clean guitar melodies that keep the track from getting lost in mud.

The production and recording are perfectly suited as always to capturing the variety of sounds the band evokes, but it would be interesting to hear some more variation, even if it did bow to cliché – strings, effected vocals, synths? Over all the band captures the perfect epic summer vibe – I picture the finale of “Frances The Mutant” playing while soaring away on a helicopter in the sunset from a tropical island that’s, well, exploding.

http://noisographyreviews.blogspot.com/2011/07/album-review-kuato-summer-ep.html

The Broken Speaker Reviews Kuato’s “Summer” EP • 17.08.11

Halifax based band Kuato are back with the Summer EP, their third release in under a year. The four piece band create intricate post rock instrumental tracks that have the ability to transport you to another place. The three tracks that make up the EP clock in at just over twenty minutes, but honestly it is easy to lose track of time when listening to the songs. The slow build up of “Iraqnaphobia” that eventually erupts into a burst of emotion carried by soaring guitars and clashing cymbals. While post-rock may not be a genre that the Broken Speaker is a particular expert on, it is easy to see that these songs combine the best elements of power and passion to create an uplifting musical experience.

http://thebrokenspeaker.com/2011/08/04/album-review-kuato-summer-ep/

Grayowl Point Reviews Kuato’s “Summer” EP • 17.08.11

It only makes sense that the follow-up to instrumental post-rock band Kauto’s Winter EP would be the Summer EP.

This EP is also three songs, though it’s about ten minutes shorter than the previous 30-minute EP. And there are still awesome song titles: “Iraqnophobia”; “Afghanistan Rogers” and “Frances the Mutant.”

The shorter songs of the Summer EP are just as potent as their predecessor. Though Kuato uses the standard bass, guitar and drums, the melodies they craft are very unique and fascinating to watch unfold.

The first song is the seven-minute “Iraqnophobia” which could very well be two songs due to a melody change halfway through. The first half of the song starts with sparse and distorted guitar riffs, which then adds drums. The song is fairly high energy, and then the guitar riffs change in the second half. You’ll likely double-check to make sure you’re still listening to the same song.

“Afghanistan Rogers” was my favourite of the three, mainly for its fuzzy-sounding guitar riffs and its military-sounding drums.

Finally there’s “Frances the Mutant” which is a solid seven minutes of upbeat craziness, with too many guitar solos to count.

Kuato have proved once again that post-rock is their thing. It’s surprising that their atmospheric instrumental sound hasn’t been included in cinema or TV yet. But it may end up being included in a remake of Totall Recall- check out that tidbit here.

http://glasspaperweight.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/review-summer-ep-kuato/