SOME WICKED: Dashiell Brown's Blog

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

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Jesse Matheson’s new album Pleasure Pounds is not only a delight, but Matheson wants to “get you alone” and “make you moan.” Based on the picture on the back of his album, he’ll achieve that by serenading you on his guitar with his Lou Reed-esque growl as he feeds you angel cake by candlelight. Pleasure Pounds is as fun as it sounds and any fan of Velvet Underground and Pavement will dig what Vancouver’s Matheson is going for here.

The first half packs a bigger punch followed by a 2nd mellower half, but it’s all good, and as you listen to his unique songwriting, it will become clear that Matheson is a great new Canadian artist you will want to keep tabs on. “She Does it in Graveyards” and “Orgy in Portland” are the highlights for me, and the backing vocals by various sirens like Misty Bath and Jill Propp among others make this all the more enjoyable, not to mention the varied folkin’ countrified instrumentation including an accordion, trumpet, and electric dulcimer.

Don’t let this guy escape your attention. Hear more at his myspace and on The New Spin this Thursday.

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Like folk songs about vegetables, desserts and animal fables? Varied instrumentation like accordions, banjos and fiddles, tubas and trumpets? Neutral Milk Hotel’s Jeff Mangum’s scratchy warble? Then you’ll love Philadelphia’s mewithoutYou’s new album, it’s all crazy! it’s all false! it’s all a dream! it’s alright just released on Tooth and Nail Records. I am crazy for this album, easily one of the best under-the-radar albums of the year so far.

NPR has just posted their list of their listeners’ best music so far, and I’m clearly whistling to another dixie as any listener of The New Spin might attest to. Yes, a lot of the artists on the list are great, there’s no question, but it’s clear that the stars of the indie world are launching further into the limelight of what we call mainstream, and the indie label/sound starts to get obfuscated in a quagmire of pleasing-to-the-ear melody and harmony that speaks so loudly to a common denominator that I have to dig even deeper to root for the “best music you’ve never heard,” which is the mission I have set for myself for The New Spin.

This album is so great, you’ll just have to see this video to get a sense of what it has in store for you. For fans of the “ballads” of Neutral Milk Hotel, Okkervil River, The Mountain Goats, and The Decemberists.

Listen to another track from this album tonight on The New Spin, tonight at 9-11 PM, 7:30 Eastern, 4:30 Pacific. Streams tonight online here.

And now a few unique details about the album…

Aaron Weiss’s lyrics are somewhat inspired by the Sufi mystic, Bawa Muhaiyaddeen

Their tour van often runs on vegetable oil.

The Weiss brothers are currently doing a little tour in August, but it’s not a mewithoutYou tour. Important to know. It’s called The Weiss Family Tour. They’re actually playing at The Cat’s Cradle in Chapel Hill, my stomping grounds at one point when going to UNC-CH.

They made Paste Magazine’s Band of the Week. Just the week?

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The 2009 2 CD Set Sampler of Portland Oregon’s PDX POP NOW is amazing, as I just featured it on The New Spin. Actually, I haven’t heard any of the 2nd disc, but who cares. I’m sure it’s great, too. So many great bands. Go to their website to learn more, and sample the album here. $8 bucks for a 2 disc set, is a steal. Incredible music is coming out of, and always has come out of, Portland. Portland is to new music as Seattle was to grunge.

Another incredible compilation out right now is Made in Iceland 2. Great stuff that gets spin on all three of my shows. Their website has tons of info about the bands on the compilation.

And don’t forget Merge’s SCORE! of course.

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Fresh on the scene out of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Matthew Hornell has only been playing guitar since high-school, but his songs aim right for your gut, riding on pure emotion. His well-crafted folk songs draw you in, you’ll be singing along, feeling at home as in front of the campfire with good food and friends. Sounding timeless, yet fresh and bold, played live, his songs are executed with whip-crack precision. And when backed up by Tiffany Hancock’s beautiful and exquisite vocals, the duets become absolute magic. “Goodbye for Now” is purely enchanting, and “Khaki Dodgers” is an immediate hit. You’ll be singing it for days. Matthew Hornell and The Diamond Minds seems to have struck gold, and we should be so lucky they want to share it with us.

–Dashiell Brown, The New Spin and The Folkin’ Freak Show

Local St. John’s folk act Matthew Hornell of Matthew Hornell and the Diamond Minds, and special guest Tiffany Hancock, performed in the studio and played several great numbers on The New Spin. Listen to the podcast here.

For more great folk music, be sure to check out my new show, The Folkin’ Freak Show. Tuesdays, 9-10 PM, streaming online at 93.5 CHMR-FM.

(Photo taken by Jon Janes)

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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

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I am debuting two new shows tonight on CHMR-FM, The Folkin’ Freak Show and Other Frequencies. I have happily agreed to share a pint with myself and discuss the ever-growing popularity of the new folk movement and my two new shows.

ME: Hi, thank you for taking the time to chat with me.

DB: No sweat, but let’s make this snappy. I gotta prepare for my shows tonight.

ME: OK, sure. So, why The Folkin’ Freak Show? Isn’t there enough folkin’ music in this town?

DB: No, you can never have enough folk music. Folk music is the music of the people, the John Doe’s of the world, and when you consider Newfoundland’s own history, it’s no coincidence folk and trad. is so important here. Folk is labor songs, maritime songs, mountain songs, railroad songs…rock n’ roll grew out of it. And look at all the folk festivals going on everywhere, not to mention all the great new folk music popping up in St. John’s. And Tom Power’s Deep Roots on CBC2. You have folk night at The Ship every Wednesday. So why isn’t there a local show about it? It’s about folkin’ time, don’t you think?

ME: But don’t you play folk music on The New Spin?

DB: Well, The New Spin’s focus is really on new music, hot off the press, with lots of punk, post-punk and indie rock—folk fans might not dig that. The New Spin was initially called The Folkin’ Freak Show, but when I saw how much insanely good new music was coming to CHMR, I realized I had to devote an entire show to just playing the new stuff. But I still find I’m gravitating towards the folk-oriented new stuff. It needs its own show.

ME: So will it just be new folk music, then?

DB: No. The New Spin is a showcase of all that is great out there right now, that isn’t getting radio play or much promotion. The Folkin’ Freak Show will be about folk and world music and discuss it’s historical importance and influence to today’s mass movement that has brought us the likes of Devendra Banhart, Iron and Wine, M. Ward, Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, Fleet Foxes, Animal Collective, etc. It’ll be a mix of the old and new. There’s a whole slew of new Canadian folk, too, Timbre Timbre, Bruce Peninsula, Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir… It’s a very exciting time for folk music. The Dark Was the Night comp is proof of this.

ME: Yeah, Grizzly Bear just hit the Billboard Charts with the likes of Eminem and Lady Gag. Animal Collective hit the charts at #13 with their latest release. Why do you think folk music is taking off again so suddenly?

DB: Well, it wasn’t suddenly, but Devendra Banhart has a lot to do with it when he released his critically-acclaimed album, Rejoicing in the Hands in 2004. But many other bands were doing the same thing, like Iron and Wine, Joanna Newsom, Coco-Rosie, Animal Collective, M. Ward…I think people were growing tired of shitty, compressed-to-death pop music which represented a growing commercialism and domination of the entire music industry which quickly killed the grunge movement in the 90’s. Folk music quickly moved in to fill the gap, but it took more than ten years for the world to catch on to this growing revolution. Malls are out, folk music is in. And now with the global economy in its fragile state…the new folk movement is going to speak to more people than ever. And it’s about folkin’ time.

ME: And aren’t you doing another new show after that?

DB: Other Frequencies, yes, a showcase of electronica and underground hip hop. What with Loft 709 on the go, Errand Boy, Le Malediction, Aoke, Sports, and Ye-Yeti, the popularity of electronica, dance and hip hop is growing, but there’s no show about it here either, and it needs a voice. New DJ’s are popping up and new electronica acts. Let’s support it.

ME: Do you plan on having guests on your show as you do on The New Spin?

DB: Funny you asked. Ryan Green of Patch is going to be my guest to help me launch Other Frequencies tonight. We’ll be spinning some Patch tunes, plus some of his favorite electronic tracks. Should be pumpin’.

The Folkin’ Freak Show roots through the backwoods to bring the best this folked-up world has to offer. Tuesday nights, 9-10 PM, streaming online on 93.5 CHMR-FM, or Rogers cable 942.

Other Frequencies is the first all-electronic show in St. John’s to get your booty groovin’, all genres of electronic music, from dub and grime to techno and trance. Tuesday nights, 10-11 PM, right after The Folkin’ Freak Show.

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Got a live acoustic act tonight in the CHMR studio coming up shortly, 9-11 PM Newf time, 7:30 Eastern. Matthew Hornell and the Diamond Minds, plus I’ll be spinning new tunes by Sunset Rubdown, Deastro, Grizzly Bear, Ear Pwr, and Black Moth Super Rainbow, plus tons more.

Tune in here for live streaming online (15 min from now)

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Anyone heard of this guy, Pat LePoidevin? He’s stationed in Sackville, New Brunswick, and his new album Blue Tornadoes is something to behold, especially for any of you folkies out there. By folkies, I mean people who like folk/Americana and International folk music, including bagpipes and tin whistle, the former of which he learned while living in Scotland. Similar to St. John’s own The Mountains and The Trees, Pat LePoidevin apparently uses a looper pedal to create innovative soundscapes using organic instruments. His voice has the power to make you cry, very similar to M. Ward and Nick Drake and Samamidon, very smokey. He gets a little too rock n’ rolly with his voice almost going to an Eddie Vedder style, but it’s not so bothersome that I can’t get past it. Others will love it because of that, I’m sure.

Here’s a sampling of his incredible music that you’ll just have to hear for yourself. I’ll also be featuring it this week on The New Spin this Thursday night, 9-11 P.M. on 93.5 CHMR-FM, 7:30 EST.

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Winner of the Polaris Prize in 2007 for Close to Paradise, Patrick Watson’s new album on Secret City Records, Wooden Arms, will truly leave you spellbound, especially if you’re a fan of progressive/experimental (and even classical) music that utilises the whole gamut of the musical spectrum for pure sonic ear candy. Any instrument you can think of, it’s probably on here, with just about every style, save perhaps Latin American. Though originally from CA, like me, he lives in Montreal and this album could be easily classified under the new weird America tag that you might’ve seen on last.fm.

With a tenor-like/falsetto voice similar to M. Ward, Devendra Banhart, Iron and Wine, Nick Drake, and Bon Iver, Patrick Watson serenades with you sweet nothings and lullabies, but these songs are anything but simple, rather they are meticulously layered and composed with complex arrangements like Animal Collective, Yeasayer, and The Microphones, leaving you with unlimited opportunites to explore this album’s exciting depths like an undiscovered gold mine. Every song on this incredible album will take you far on a journey somewhere that you never knew you could go to or even wanted to. Whether it is the stunning barrage of Kodo drums thundering in your ears on “Beijing” taking you to fog drenched hidden mountains in the farthest depths of Asia, the Cabaret-like Tom Waitsian numbers,  the beautiful classical arrangment of “Hommage”,  the exquisite alt-country/folk harmonies of “Big Bird in a Small Cage” against a backdrop of quiet guitar fingerpicking and banjo, or the utterly exciting track, “Where the Wild Things Are,” this is easily my favorite album of the year, one I will play constantly on The New Spin.

Having also released last year’s Polaris Prize-nominated Plants and Animals to well-deserved critical acclaim, Secret City Records are clearly a label that wants, deserves, your attention, and Patrick Watson’s Wooden Arms is their latest secret weapon, one that will shoot you straight in the heart and leave you begging for more.

–Dashiell Brown, host of The New Spin, “the best music you’ve never heard.”

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