SOME WICKED: Dashiell Brown's Blog

John Brown, Newfoundland spoken word aficionado, did his thang on The New Spin with David Day backing him on guitar with some great alt-tuned licks that remind me of John Fahey and other instrumental acoustic guitar greats. I saw these guys down at Natalie Noseworthy’s open-mic night at the Hava Java, and John Brown has been going down there for more than a year now. John Brown initially started at the now defunct Turner’s Tavern.

Here’s the New Spin Podcast of John Brown and David Day, otherwise known as The Hip Replacements. This also features the hit “Once I Went On Medication.”

in sound,

dashiell brown

Hear all my other New Spin Podcasts.

Tweet This Post 

For any newcomers to my blog, just letting you know you can always catch a full edition of The New Spin at Oh!Zone Radio Network. The current episode streaming online is my playlist of Best of Canadiana of 2009. Click on Oh! Zone’s weekly schedule and scroll down on the calendar and you’ll find The New Spin on Mon at 5:00.

And of course, you can always listen to The New Spin on 93.5 CHMR-FM or online at the CHMR website at its regular scheduled time, Thursdays 9-11 PM Newftime, 7:30 Eastern.

in sound,

dashiell brown

Tweet This Post 

On his latest album with his latest band, Patrick Molloy and The Manifest’s Who Will Listen? is bold, italicized, and even underlined. He is clearly shooting for the moon on this one, channeling the progressive power rock of Rush a la Vapor Trails, with an Ozzie Osbourne-like wail that sounds surprisingly fresh against today’s trendy pop-oriented music industry and—daring.

Whether his aim was true will actually depend on who will listen but I’m sure radio stations here in Newfoundland and Labrador and across Canada will eat it up. From what I understand, they already are. “Who Will Listen?” was already featured as the Producers Pick on The East Coast Countdown and won the Regional Radio Star National Songwriting Competition for Newfoundland and Labrador.

Patrick Molloy will be representing Newfoundland in Toronto from March 10-14th during Canadian Music Week for the National Prize of the Radio Star competition. It’s apt because his album manages to reflect the smorgasbord of the tastes and styles you’ll hear from so many of the local bands here in St. John’s, from the progressive hard rock of The Pathological Lovers to the more punchy new-wave of The Subtitles.

Though a few songs may feel incomplete or less developed, there are a number of hits here, in particular “Darkness Glows” and “Peace, Now, Today” which I still have in my head. Produced right here in St. John’s by gold and platinum award-winning producer Krisjan Leslie, Who Will Listen? serves up a heaping dish of all that’s fresh and happening here in the St. John’s music scene, and Patrick Molloy must have felt it his duty to deliver such a showcase. For that alone, you can thank him.

Preview his new album online at www.patrickmolloy.ca

Here’s an interview I had with him last year on The New Spin.

(The New Spin airs every Thursday night, 9-11 PM Newftime, 7:30 Eastern on 93.5 CHMR-FM.)

Tweet This Post 

The New Spin’s goal is to expose the great underground musicians of today. But given that 35% of everything The New Spin plays must be Canadian, I have discovered many great Canadian bands from among the piles of crap that’s out there. So here is a list in the order that I discovered them (kind of), the cream-of-the-crop Canadian bands making waves on The New Spin for 2009, some of which I have already written reviews for (they have links included.)

Of course, to listen to any of these artists, you can always tune in to the show every Thursday night on 93.5 CHMR-FM, online here, 9-11 Newftime, 7:30-9:30 EST, 4:30 Pacific. You should be able to find most of them on CBC Radio 3. I have added a few keywords to describe each artist in case you only like certain genres. SL means “sounds like.”

Tonight I will do a special show playing these artists, so tune in and hear the best of the best in Canadian music.

Hear a playlist of most of these artists here.

Timber Timbre (truly unusual folksongs, like Patrick Watson, this guy’s in a class all his own.)

Bruce Peninsula (dark choir/chamber folk, oh yes.)

Geoff Berner (Klezmer punk, what more needs to be said)

The Hylozoists (all instrumental like post-rock, but wow.)

Headache24 (SL Pixies)

Japandroids (SL Fugazi)

Olenka and the Autumn Lovers (if you like Dead Can Dance, etc.)

Weather Station (folk on the laptop loveliness)

Rae Spoon (how many transgendered folksingers do you know who sound like women but are actually men and who trade in their guitars for computers? not many, I’m sure.)

Patrick Watson (one of the best of the year, avant-garde/progressive indie folk)

The Torrent (dark 80’s inspired electro)

Pat Lepoidevin (amazing folk guitarist with an oh-so-sweet Scottish touch)

Eleazer Vs John (like Junior Boys?)

Tiga (play this at any club and watch them feet move)

Rural Alberta Advantage (dark, folky, I like them better than Elliot Brood)

Lovely Feathers (indie rock)

Hidden Cameras (80’s, New Order-ish, I love their new album)

Dan Mangan (folk, songwriter)

Wooden Sky (dark folk, reminds me of 16 Horsepower a bit)

Kids on TV Remixed V.1 from Blocks Recording Club (beats!)

Cousins (I can’t get play “Growling” enough)

Spiral Beach (kick-ass garage rock/punk)

Acres and Acres (lo-fi folksongs with St. John’s guest Amelia Curran)

Brock Geiger (banjo heavy folk songs)

Reverie Sound Revue (SL Stereolab)

Dark Mean (a little EP, but let’s see what they do in the future)

The Got to Get Got (fun fun in the sun indie rock)

Ambisonic (avant-garde-ish)

Jordan Klassen (love this guy from Calgary, oh my. SL Sufjan Stevens, David Pajo)

Gypsophilia (my interview with them is on my site here)

The Diableros (they have a new album, but haven’t heard it yet!)

The Danks (you love da danks if you love da strokes)

Flotilla (harp-based folk stuff from Montreal. SL Sunday All Over the World if you know who the hell that is)

Extra Happy Ghost (I only like one of the songs on this EP, but it’s so incredible I have to mention it. That would be “mash up: neither being nor nothingness”)

Vincat (Vincat!)

Rival Boys (alt-country, but their EP has grown on me)

Jesse Matheson (this guy’s songs are hilarious and oh so fun)

Octoberman (SL Calexico)

hellothisisalex (unusual chill-out chipcore or chipcore chill-out, whichever sounds better)

The Sales Department (electronic)

The Mountains and The Trees (from St. John’s, they’re making waves!)

Errand Boy (he moved away from St. John’s, too too bad, but keep an eye out for this dude)

Islands (not really underground, but whatever)

Language Arts (whoah, spoken word/hip-hop folk, cool…)

Fritz Helder (not really my favorite, but he has a very original electronic style that’s hard not to notice and that you may love, who knows)

Gregory Pepper and His Problems (problems? on his eclectic album With Trumpets Flaring I don’t see any problems, this guy’s uber-talented)

Makita Hack (straight up bluegrass, but awesome bluegrass at that)

Miss Quincy and The Ramblers (less exciting than Makita, but if you’re a bluegrass fan, why not?)

Woody Johnson (this guy’s a whiz on the acoustic blues front. so is Trevor Caswell, for that matter.)

Let’s Go to War (funky, electronic stuff, probably worth mentioning. SL Groove Armada)

We are Wolves (easily one of the best Canadian albums of the year, wow…)

Peace (who is this dude??? dark 80s-like stuff. SL early P.I.L. or Wilderness if you know them)

Minto (don’t know the album too well, but it’s produced by Steve Albini. yes, Steve Albini!)

The Fugitives (find me, find me! oh god, I’m drooling over them banjo licks.)

Digits (this guy emailed me and showed me his music. I cannot stop playing “Endgame”)

Jon and Roy (from BC, “Another Noon” is one of the best songs of the year.)

Vivian Houle (WTF???)

Rep by Pop (one of my favorite Canadian albums of the year, Cell Phone Camera, just wrote the review.)

Devil Eyes (very raucous, loud, but in a good, trashy-garage-rock-kind-of-way)

Sex with Strangers (I just love “We Want the Fire”)

Richard Laviolette and The Oil Spills (good folky stuff)

You Say Party We Say Die (yep, this is a good album, very punchy and lively)

The Racoon Wedding (like if Arcade Fire came from a bluegrass angle with some brass thrown in for good measure)

Okay, that’s it, I hope that’s enough to keep you busy for awhile, assuming you read this. I’ll post another list of the best underground artists from the rest of the world later. If you’re a new spinner, you already know them. If you need more, here is my list of top ten most under-rated records of 2008.

in sound,

Dashiell Brown

www.thenewspin.ca

Tweet This Post 

Now that I’m back from vacation, I’ll be on the air tonight, bringing you all new editions of The Folkin’ Freak Show and Other Frequencies.

The Folkin’ Freak Show, 9 PM

Possible list of artists: White Magic, Castlemusic, Dory Previn, Burning Hell, T. Bone Burnett, Jenn Grant, Litterbug, and Weather Station, to name a few.

Other Frequencies, 10 PM

Local turntablist DJ TJ will be my special guest. Who knows what’ll happen!

Streaming online tonight on 93.5 CHMR-FM, 9-11 PM, 7:30 Eastern, 4:30 Pacific

in sound,

dashiell brown

Tweet This Post 

Daniel Johnston: the man, his music, and those he influenced, tonight at 9-11 PM, 7:30 Eastern, 4:30 Pacific, listen online here.

Tweet This Post 

When it comes to unique Canadian jazz/dance acts, it doesn’t get better or funkier than Halifax’s Gypsophilia, a dynamic seven-piece that’ll blow you away (with their horns, guitars, keys, violin, accordions, double-bass and more) and infuse you with a can of get-yer-jive-on whoop-ass. Largely inspired by Django Reinhardt (like our own Duane Andrews) in sound (and dress!) their quixotic early 20th Century gypsy jazz sound smoothly crosses through genres of swing, be-bop-’til-you-drop, blues, reggae, funk, klezmer, even R&B and Eastern European flava, and anything else they might feel like throwing at you. Further setting themselves apart from other “similar” jazz acts is the fact that they don’t have a drummer, primarily using the guitar and the bass to drive their compelling rhythms, zig-zagging through time signatures and tempo changes like sunbeams weaving through dust. Since they are currently in St. John’s as part of the Wreckhouse Jazz and Blues Festival, I saw their incredible, foot-stomping performance at the Martini Bar on George Street last night and had the pleasure of interviewing Ross Burns, Adam Fine, and Nick Wilkinson in the CHMR studio.

Listen to this exclusive Folkin’ Freak Show podcast, which will also air this Tuesday night at 9 PM on 93.5 CHMR-FM. Only on SOME WICKED (R)

Want to stay updated about The Folkin’ Freak Show. Become a fan! “Folked up music for a folked up world,” every Tuesday, 9 PM. Then stay tuned to my electronic and avant-garde show, Other Frequencies at 10 PM. And don’t forget The New Spin, of course!

in sound,

dashiell brown

Tweet This Post 

on air in under an hour, The New Spin will feature brand new music by TGTGG, math the band, Dark Mean, Made In Iceland 2, Ambisonic, Royal City, Placebo, Portland Cello Project and more!

streaming online at 9-11 PM Newftime, 7:30 Eastern, 4:30 Pacific

Tweet This Post 

Any fan of Pavement, Sebadoh, or especially Superchunk will love this new album by Halifax’s The Got to Get Got, one of the most exciting new high energy Canadian acts to hit the indie pop rock circuit, especially over here in Atlantic Canada territory. Just check out their myspace page to see what I’m talking about, and of course I’ll be spinning this jangling sucker on The New Spin this Thursday. Their page will clearly tell you can pre-order the album from Noyes Records, which will be released officially on July 14, and trust me, it’s worth it. Indie rock fans will go ga-ga over it, from the infectiously fun pop numbers to the lo-fi fuzz and male/female harmonies, not to mention the diverse instrumentation with synths, brass, vibes, what’s not to love? Sahalee will be a New Spin favorite for sure.

Tweet This Post 

A few weeks ago, Jon Janes of St. John’s The Mountains and The Trees was my guest on The New Spin. He has a new e.p., Hop, Skip and a Jump, and is playing at the North by Northeast Festival and Conference currently underway in Toronto. Strongly influenced by Iron and Wine, he brought his banjo, guitar, and harmonica and played a few ditties and we chatted folk, which I also play on my new show, The Folkin’ Freak Show, Tuesdays 9-10 PM (7:30 Eastern) on 93.5 CHMR-FM.

Here is The New Spin Podcast, featuring Jon Janes of The Mountains and The Trees.

Here is his website.

“As the name suggests, The Mountains and The Trees will wash over you with simpler times, lost memories, and wonderful dreams.”

– Dashiell Brown, The New Spin

Tweet This Post