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Monthly Archives: March 2016

Around the dial: The Amazing, Donovan Woods, Radical Face, and Shane Burke

27 Sunday Mar 2016

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Around the Dial

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Donovan Woods, Hard Settle Ain't Trouble, Picture You, Put On Cologne, Radical Face, Shane Burke, The Amazing, The Breathless Boy, Welcome Home

IMG_5947Let’s take a mellow moment and turn our ears to the acoustic side of poprock. Our four featured songs have a stripped down feel, unhurried, and certainly not cranked to eleven. The Amazing are an example of the neo-folk roots revival apparently going on Sweden over the past decade (I’m thinking here of other Swedish acts like The Tallest Man on Earth), though their most recent Picture You album expands their sound in a more poppy direction, both melodically and instrumentally. But “The Headless Boy” is more a throwback to their earlier material, a delightful, almost Donovanesque tune with some lovely harmonies in the chorus.

Donovan Woods is one those breathy singer-songwriters with whom you can pull up the covers and settle in for the night. And while he might sound a little bit like those breathy others, his subject matter is decidedly different, tracking a bit deeper and more realistically the actual ups and downs of relationships and life’s disasters or disappointments. His most recent album, Hard Settle, Ain’t Trouble features the beautiful and moving “They Don’t Make Anything in that Town,” which is pretty self explanatory. A great song exemplifying his Canadian roots (Sarnia, Ontario) is “My Cousin has a Grey Cup Ring.” But featured here is “Put on, Cologne” from his 2013 record, Don’t Get Too Grand. Why? Because it’s wonderfully weird. The title? No, I’m not sure what it means or refers to. All that is clear is that he has got a real problem with somebody’s ‘stupid European boyfriend’. It is a song that seems to really capture the irrational frustration of unrequited love.

radical faceRadical Face have put out a number interesting records, including their just-released The Leaves. But the song here, “Welcome Home,” comes from their 2007 album Ghost. There is something otherworldly about this tune, the way the march-like drumming and swirling vocals combine, which is probably why they used it in French TV’s The Departed, a creepy enigmatic (but riveting) show about people who died but somehow inexplicably returned years later.  And I love the cover of this album. https://poprockrecord.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/02-welcome-home.m4aWelcome Home

487bc4620f23eda48661787c8fdafaadLast up is Colorodoan Shane Burke, a man with an amazing voice. Generally, a lot of his material would not really fall under the poprock mantle, but “I Go Crazy” has a great rollicking feel and a trebly guitar intro and leadline that threads it way through the song. A worthwhile boundary stretch to finish things off.https://poprockrecord.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/01-i-go-crazy.mp3 I Go Crazy

You can explore more of what The Amazing, Donovan Woods, Radical Face, and Shane Burke have to offer on their websites and Facebook pages.

Dutch treat: Diesel “Sausalito Summernight”

25 Friday Mar 2016

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Artist Spotlight

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Diesel, Dutch rock, Sausalito Summernight

Diesel SSI was minding my own business enjoying John D. Macdonald’s The Quick Red Fox when the protagonist Travis McGee pulled into Sausalito as part of his latest adventure and suddenly I was thinking of a song I hadn’t thought of for decades: Diesel’s “Sausalito Summernight.” I distinctly remember hearing this song on the radio in 1981 and playing it at some of the first high school dances I deejayed for a mobile sound company.  Diesel joined the lonely ranks of Dutch hitmakers in the United States, groups like the Shocking Blue (“Venus”) and Golden Earring (“Radar Love,” “Twilight Zone”).  Looking back now, the song sounds incredibly tightly focused and executed – the addictive lead line that propels the song never lets up, the multilayered vocals are drenched in reverb, and so on.  It’s like a soft drink that is just too sweet.  But I still love it.

The song peaked at 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart but went to number 1 in Canada.  It was featured on the band’s 1980 album, Watts in a Tank, which also contained two songs that charted in Holland, “Going Back to China,” and “Down in the Silvermine.”  Later albums did not repeat their American success but did contain some tantalizing song titles (like “Leader of the Pacman”).  A version of the band is still performing, though under the slightly modified name, Deazol.

On location in Canada: 100 Mile House, Portage and Main, and Whitehorse

22 Tuesday Mar 2016

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

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100 Mile House, Better Man, Last Call, Leave No Bridge Unburned, Portage and Main, Sweet Disaster, Whitehorse

Let’s hit the road, Canada-style (though we’ll linger mostly in the west). Three bands, three locations: 100 Mile House, Portage and Main, and Whitehorse.london-geographical-institute_the-peoples-atlas_1920_dominion-of-canada-with-newfoundland_3992_3012_600

I’ve spent a lot of time passing through 100 Mile House over the years, as a kid living in the interior (Williams Lake) and north (Cassiar) of British Columbia, on my way to and from my first commercial radio job (Smithers), or visiting my in-laws (Prince George). 100 miles from where, you might ask? The answers lie back in the mid-19th century gold rush. 100 Mile House, the band, is based in Edmonton, Alberta and channel a quiet folky sound, for the most part. But “Last Call” is a bit more upbeat with some nice banjo and a great sing-along quality.

2496764923_9ebc4aba00_mPortage and Main is a downtown Winnipeg intersection, which turned 150 years old just last month. Portage and Main, the band, reside in Vancouver and sport a laid-back country feel on a lot of their material but “Better Man” breaks out from the pack with a Blue Rodeo-like punch: great organ, super electric guitar lines, catchy tune.

$T2eC16J,!zUE9s38-IrJBRtz6QL4Zg~~60_35Whitehorse is the capital of the Yukon territory and the largest town in Canada’s north. It boasts 20 hours of sunlight on summer days. Whitehorse, the band, can be found in Hamilton, Ontario, offering up a sound that borrows from roots and vintage 1950s twang electric guitar but with songs that defy categorization. “Sweet Disaster” is from their 2015 Leave No Bridge Unburned album: a cool mood piece that builds from some sparse drums, piano and rumbly electric guitar into a breakout chorus.

Track down 100 Mile House, Portage and Main, and Whitehorse on the internet in all the usual places.

Seeing double: Django Django and Everything Everything

12 Saturday Mar 2016

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

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Arc, Born Under Saturn, Distant Past, Django Django, Duet, Everything Everything, First Light, Get to Heaven, Hail Bop, Hand of Man, Kemosabe, Life's A Beach, Reflections, Regret, Spring / Summer / Winter / Dread

Bands so great, they named them twice: Django Django and Everything Everything. django-django_2385694bDjango Django caught my ear for their totally unique songs and sound – one part New Order bass synth, another part oddly retuned Brothers Four vocals, strung together with some killer Ventures-like guitar lines. It all sounds vaguely familiar while being completely original. It is hard to single out just a few songs to feature from their records, despite the fact that it is still a rather sparse catalogue (just two albums, an EP, and some remixes).

2012’s self titled debut album showcases all the band’s strengths in instrumentation, songwriting and clever vocal interplay. “Hand of Man” has the warm acoustic guitar and harmony vocals of a new millennium folk sound. “Hail Bop” brings out the synth but then surprises us by adding some bright and sparkly electric guitar.“Life’s a Beach” reinvents the party surf sound, with airy vocals riding a great set of trebly guitar riffs.https://poprockrecord.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/07-hand-of-man.m4a Hand of Man  They followed this with the masterful Born Under Saturn in 2015, an album with even more surprising twists and turns than their debut. “Reflections” never hits a false note: electronica as if it were indie poprock. And there is something about “First Light” that reminds of this 1970s Light Brite commercial.

Everything-Everything-January-2013Everything Everything are another band with a unique sound that attend closely to songwriting, taking songs places you don’t expect. Their best material builds out a song from some interesting ideas, putting them together and taking them apart repeatedly. Key examples would include “Kemosabe” and “Duet” from 2013’s Arc. The transitions between the verses and pre-chorus and chorus of the former are exquisite, pivoting on careful vocal arrangements and the word ‘hey’. The latter kicks off with a string section that reminds me of Kate Bush’s “Cloudbusting” in general ambience, transitioning on the phrase “but I don’t know what’s real or what’s going on” into a very different sounding song, then shifting again into the chorus. 2015’s Get to Heaven continues to develop their sound with great singles like “Distant Past” and “Regret” but the song that really stuck in my head was the more unusual “Spring / Summer / Winter / Dread” with its intimations of both joy and dread. There is something 1980s going on with it, though I can’t quite put my finger on what it is.

Django Django and Everything Everything are bands whose material is off the beaten track of everyday music, and thus benefit from repeated listening. Find them on their websites and/or Facebook pages.

Should be a hit single: Cheers Elephant “Airliner”

07 Monday Mar 2016

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Should be a Hit Single

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Airliner, Cheers Elephant

Cheers-Elephant-AirlinerThough it was released in May of 2015, is it really too late for Cheers Elephant’s “Airliner” to race up the charts? There have been slow building hits in the past. Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over” did not take off on its initial release, only catching on with radio months later. “Airliner” is certainly deserving of such late recognition. The opening verse is delivered with a compressed vocal sound that channels 1970s AM radio and holds the listener in check until the chorus drops with a killer hook. As the band drops out momentarily, a rainbow-like harmony vocal sustains a chorus of longing for escape from the mundane ground in favour of the ease of flight on an airliner. As the chorus laments, “I walk around kicking trash up off the ground and I say I want my seat on an airliner …”  The graphic for the single riffs off the 1960s ‘flight as party’ motif recently re-popularized in TV shows like Mad Men.

“Airliner” is one of three singles released by Cheers Elephant in 2015. They have three prior albums, 2008’s Cheers Elephant, 2011’s Man is Nature, and 2012’s Like Wind Blows, all with strong material. I like particularly “6th and Girard,” “Party On Darwin,” and “Thoughts and Commonsense.” But their three most recent singles showcase a band hardening their sound into something distinctive and original. “Airliner” really should be their breakout hit single.

Do your bit to make these boys stars by visiting their band’s webpage and/or Facebook page.

Around the dial: Parquet Courts, Little Green Cars, Dandy Warhols, and Purses

04 Friday Mar 2016

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Around the Dial

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Absolute Zero, Berlin Got Blurry, Distortland, Ephemera, Harper Lee, Human Performance, Little Green Cars, Obsess Much, Parquet Courts, Purses, The Dandy Warhols, The Song They Play Every Night, Wheels on the Run, You Are Killing Me

What’s not to love about Parquet Courts? Is that an Ennio Morricone guitar riff? That sounds like Jonathan Richman’s cousin on vocals. What’s that great piano bit? Parquet Courts has it all going on with their new single “Berlin Got Blurry.” Frankly, I found their earlier work a bit too punky for my tastes so the new album Human Performance has just the right amount of polish and pockrock finesse. They play the Phoenix in Toronto April 22.

Dublin’s Little Green Cars are a curious mixture of things: melodic songs, pristine harmonies, with just a hint of Smithian ennui. “Harper Lee” from their 2013 album Absolute Zero captures a lot of what they do in one song. But their new album, Ephemera, taps into a more poprock vein. The debut single, “The Song They Play Every Night,” utilizes a sparse arrangement of acoustic guitar, a trebly – sometimes rumbly – electric guitar, and endearingly weird vocal interjections to add up to something catchy. Little Green Cars appear in Toronto at Lee’s Palace April 27.

For years the Dandy Warhols were, for me, just a song from the FOX TV show, The O.C., which then reappeared under the opening credits to another TV show, Veronica Mars. But I didn’t really pay them any attention beyond that. Boy, talk about not knowing what you were missing. The Dandy Warhols have a great back catalogue, featuring some standout singles like “Bohemian Like You” and “Not if You Were the Last Junkie on Earth.” Nor have they rested on their laurels, consistently putting out solid albums over the years. For instance, 2012’s This Machine had a killer single in “I am Free.” This year they are back with Distortland, and the opening single showcases a band that has not lost its touch: “You are Killing Me” chugs along with great distorted guitars and more subtle pop vocal hooks. The Dandy Warhols hit Toronto April 8 at the Phoenix.

I love that way the band just crashes in on the beginning of this song and never lets up. A great poprock onslaught. Popmatters tells us that the members of Purses are actually from other bands, this group representing a kind of Athens, Georgia supergroup. “Wheels on the Run” is rumoured to be from soon-to-be released debut album, Obsess Much, which if this single is anything to go by promises to be something else.

Rush out and buy songs from Parquet Courts, Little Green Cars, the Dandy Warhols, and Purses by connecting with their them through their websites or Facebook pages.

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