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January 17, 2013

North of Northwest: Ten Favorites from 2012

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I could pretend to be cool, to be hip, to be omnipotent, but the truth is I spent about six months last year vacationing off the face of the earth, and I didn’t hear nearly as much new music as I normally would have. Thus any claim that I could tell you the ten “best” Canadian records from last year would be even more farcical than usual, but I can offer ten that are worth your time and much-competed-for ear.

In no well-thought-out order:

Baby Eagle and the Proud Mothers – Bone Soldiers

Gravelly sing-talk and beautiful noise combine on this richly layered fourth album from Steve Lambke and his band of friends.

Snoqualmie – Snoqualmie

Victoria band Snoqualmie’s debut album seems to contain the very soul of the Pacific Northwest: delicate, beautiful, and ominous.

Cold Specks – I Predict A Graceful Expulsion

This record calls holy holy holy, Al Spx’s earthy voice paradoxically pulling you off the ground and up to heaven on its honey golden threads.

John K Samson – Provincial

Weakerthans frontman Samson goes it alone but maintains his poetic humanism and bittersweet sense of humor.

Hot Panda – Go Outside

A 40-minute sneer you can shake your hips to.

Whitehorse – The Fate of the World Depends on This Kiss

Cold wind howl and outlaw swagger on this psych-tinged country rock record from husband-wife duo Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland.

Eamon McGrath – Young Canadians

A crackling thunderstorm of an album: rumbling, tarry darkness shot through with static and the uncanny ability to make your hair stand on end.

Diamond Rings – Free Dimensional

On only his second solo record, the devastatingly stylish and eminently likable John O’Reagan already shows near-complete mastery of the pop song.

Hawk and Steel – Danger Road

Nuanced alt-country with the reverberating catchiness of garage pop and a touch of big-rock swagger helmed by former Forestry member Peter Gardner.

Bahamas – Barchords

Honey-tongued troubadour Afie Jurvanen delivers the year’s sexiest breakup album.

March 29, 2012

Lincoln Barr, Bahamas, Loney Dear at Chop Suey

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Bahamas ::: photo by Brittney Bush Bollay

Red Jacket Mine lead singer Lincoln Barr opened the night with an excellent set. Performing solo but commanding the stage, his swagger and playing style hinted at the influence of great rock and roll singer-songwriters like Lou Reed and Joel Plaskett, and kept the normally-chatty early crowd rapt and “unnervingly respectful.”

Bahamas maintained his reputation as Canada’s most understatedly charming performer. Most of his setlist came from his breakup-themed February release, Barchords, but even his heartbreak songs have a way of sounding like sex, and so once again the audience offered their full attention. Traveling only with two backup singers – his drummer had recently flown home to the embrace of new parenthood – Bahamas offered minimalist arrangements of his material interspersed with a dry, quiet banter that kept the mood light and the flow steady.

While playing, Loney Dear displays the intensity and fast twitch muscle movements one would expect from a man smaller than his teddy bear size. But when he speaks, he exhibits the same charming mastery of banter as Bahamas. (While not subtle, his proclamation of Seattle as the “dream city of [his] heart” certainly makes him no enemies.) His almost-one-man-band used guitar, percussion, mics, and an array of pedals – and one accordionist – to create a gently humming, atmospheric sound that served as a pleasant and appropriate closure to a delightfully low-key Saturday night.

Lincoln Barr ::: photo by Brittney Bush Bollay

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Lonely Dear ::: photo by Brittney Bush Bollay

February 14, 2012

North of Northwest: Bahamas – Barchords

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Valentine’s Day is kind of a schizophrenic holiday.

One one hand, you have all the mush. Teddy bears, vases of pink flowers, cheap candy in expensive boxes, love songs upon love songs, and heart-themed lingerie. The other side is the dark side: the sad sacks and loneliness, the Hallmark-induced bitterness and binge drinking and the occasional creepy revenge fantasy movie.

On his sophomore album Barchords, released just in time for Valentine’s, Bahamas (aka Afie Jurvanen) somehow manages to embody both sides of the holiday’s spirit. Barchords is a breakup album in theme and origin, carefully detailing the ombre assortment of post-parting emotions: guilt, regret, self-doubt, accusation. But with his debut, Pink Strat, Jurvanen pulled the nifty trick of making interpersonal ambivalence and relationship decay sound positively sexy, and on Barchords he makes it two for two.

The problem and the beauty is in Jurvanen’s voice. We’re used to hearing angst come from alien falsettos and angry growls, but Jurvanen coats everything in a smooth layer of sun-brightened honey, giving a homey sheen to every melody and little phrase. It’s a supremely comfortable voice, casually upbeat despite the anguished content of the lyrics. Jurvanen is a sad bastard’s Willie Nelson.

Opening track “Lost In The Light” exemplifies the album’s internal conundrum. “Life is long,” Jurvanen sings, “and so you wouldn’t be wrong” – then a chorus bursts in like a sunbeam – “being free, leaving me on my own.” The music says glory has come, while the lyrics tell of glory gone, gone, gone. Jurvanen’s use of backup singers makes for some beautifully exultant moments on Barchords, where occasionally a choir will come and take you out of your head and right off to church.

But Jurvanen is at his most interesting when he lifts his voice alone, not to the heavens but to a sexy, breathy range that takes us someplace much earthier. It’s not quite husky and not quite smooth, just an interesting tenor full of subtleties and positively laden with sex appeal. When, in “Your Sweet Touch,” he sings “Do I hold you back?” he might as well be asking, “Can I tie you down?”; the “Be My Witness” lament “I couldn’t even give you half of what you wanted if I wanted to” seems positively unbelievable, so seductive is his coo.

Even if it doesn’t all quite make sense, the question is whether you’ll care. Barchords is simply a pleasure to listen to, an escapist treat despite its heavy nature. Bahamas is for lovers, and also for haters, and possibly perfect if you’re both.

______ Barchords is out now. _______

January 10, 2012

Brittney’s Occasional Choice: Bahamas – “Lost In The Light”

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Go behind the scenes with Afie Jurvanen, aka Bahamas, as he wraps recording on his upcoming album Barchords in a beautiful rural studio. Jurvanen has a voice like a cello, with a deeply resonant and soul-soothing tone, and these snippets from “Lost In The Light” demonstrate his gift for making quiet, simple music that feels big enough to fill the rafters. Also, you get to see his birthday presents (not a euphemism).

Barchords comes out February 7.

December 30, 2011

North of Northwest: 12 Things To Look Forward to in 2012

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1. The same new Japandroids album I talked about last year.

2. A full-length from Victoria’s Hawk & Steel. No release date yet, but frontman Peter Gardner reports they’re recording fifteen songs in January.

3. Provincial, the debut solo full-length from Weakerthans vocalist John K. Samson, out January 24. (Pre-order here.) And in February Samson will release a book called Lyrics and Poems, 1997-2012.

4. Meanwhile, The Weakerthans are also forming plans for a new album.

5. Great Canadian artists coming to the Tractor: The Pack A.D. (with local favorites Hobosexual) January 21, Matthew Good February 10, hip-hop artist Buck 65 February 17, and John K. Samson April 1.

6. …And to the Crocodile: Elliott Brood February 28 and Plants & Animals March 22.

7. …And to Neumos: they host terrific Ontarian rapper Shad January 20.

8. Speaking of Plants & Animals, their third full-length The End of That hits stores February 28.

9. Sharing that release date is the long-awaited new LP from Toronto Americana group The Wooden Sky, titled Every Child a Daughter, Every Moon a Sun. They’ll hit the road to promote the release, stopping at the Bunk Bar in Portland April 9 and Lucky Bar in Victoria April 10.

10. Bahamas – the subject of the very first North of Northwest column – has just announced his second LP, Barchords, scheduled for a February 7 release.

11. A remastered and possibly expanded “box set” version of The Weeknd’s mixtape trilogy. Whether this will be a physical or commercial release (unlike the free, self-released original albums) remains to be seen.

12. A new album from singer-songwriter Julie Doiron. If she can ever stop giggling.

February 14, 2011

North of Northwest: Valentine’s Day Mix-Tape

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Though most famous for being my lovely husband’s birthday, the fourteenth of February is also the day we celebrate / vilify romantic love and all its glories / unfortunate consequences. As every good makeout session / sob fest needs a good soundtrack, I’ve created a 14-track* Canadian** mixtape for all Valentine occasions. Simply choose your side and go / stay. You can download the mix here.

Side 1: I’M NOT TRYING TO BE ROMANTIC Julie Doiron – Consolation Prize Joel Plaskett Emergency – All The Pretty Faces Bahamas – You’re Bored, I’m Old Elliott Brood – Miss You Now Timber Timbre – No Bold Villain Zeus – The River By The Garden Japandroids – I Quit Girls

Side 2: BUT I MADE YOU THIS MIXTAPE

Constantines – Shower of Stones Bahamas – Hockey Teeth Weakerthans – My Favorite Chords Diamond Rings – All Yr Songs PS I Love You – Subtle and Majestic Japandroids – Crazy / Forever Forest City Lovers – Don’t Go Please

*Of course. **Of course.

April 16, 2010

North of Northwest: Bahamas

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[Editors Note: North of Northwest is our new column about Canadian bands, curated by a new contributer, one Brittney Bush Bollay. She's made a great start. -josh ] Afie Jurvanen doesn’t exactly look like a heartthrob. When he took the stage at the Tractor Tavern last month, the one-man force behind Bahamas was sporting a red trucker’s cap reading “Larvacide” and a mustache so carefully cultivated it was impossible to tell whether it was meant to be ironic. Googling his name, however, reveals clues to another side of Afie: second only to his MySpace page is a blog post reading simply, “Hey Mr. Afie Jurvanen, you charmed the skinny pants off everyone tonight.”

While I didn’t actually see any pants flying at the Tractor performance (alas!), the audience that night did have the same figurative experience. We all fell in love with the bewhiskered guitarist, falling victim to his multi-front assault of charm.

First of all, he’s got a great smile. I know this isn’t musically relevant, but those megawatt whites never turned anyone off. His flirtatious stage banter is a second hook. It’s the third element, though, that really gets you: the music itself.

Jurvanen writes country and western-influenced songs that are sweet and tender without being cloying, the kind of songs you’d want a man to write for you. “Though there were girls before you, I don’t remember their names. Ain’t it a beautiful thing to watch our love, our season change?” His voice is velvet and honey, with just enough sandpaper to make things palatable. It’s hot chocolate with a shot of whiskey.

Musically, the tunes on debut album Pink Strat are somewhat simple affairs, with Jurvanen on guitar and spare backup accompaniment from various friends — a second guitar here, a gentle percussion there. Despite professing a penchant for “guitar-nerdery,” Jurvanen offers no distractingly showy riffs, no unrestrained solos. In fact the whole record feels loose, breezy, and carefree — well-matched to Jurvanen’s tropical stage name.

Good things seem to lurk on the salty horizon for Bahamas: Jurvanen already has a second album in the can, though a release date has not been set. Pink Strat has also been nominated for a Juno Award in the “Roots & Traditional Album: Solo” category. Jurvanen will attend the awards ceremony on April 18; charmingly, he’s taking his mom.

Online at: http://www.myspace.com/bahamasbreeze

Bahamas ::: “What’s Worse”

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Upcoming recommended area shows by Canadian bands and musicians:

The Besnard Lakes:

-Lucky Bar (Victoria) May 4

-Media Club (Vancouver) May 5

-The Crocodile (Seattle) May 6

Dan Mangan:

-Sugar (Victoria) May 7

-Vogue Theatre (Vancouver) May 8

Fucked Up:

-Sugar (Victoria) May 12

-The Biltmore (Vancouver) May 13

The Pack A.D.:

-The Biltmore (Vancouver) April 23

The Tranzmitors:

-The Funhouse (Seattle) April 17