One of the greatest finds in my musical mind is a song which simply makes people happy. With this in mind, thank you, Carla, for showing to me a song which had me jumping around my bedroom, stomping my feet and grinning from ear to ear.
Michael Bernard Fitzgerald is a Calgary based singer/songwriter. The more I hear of him, the more I'm wanting to call him Canada's Sufjan Stevens. Brilliantly combining blues vocals with simple, pleasing chords and elaborate, layered drums, MBF creates the kind of music that is perfect to lean back and listen to, cuddled up on the couch with your most comfortable blanket. Alternatively, you're more than welcome to wear your favorite rocketship underpants on the outside and skip gleefully down a street, singing at the top of your lungs.
Your call.
He's currently touring around western Canada with a full 30 person choir, and likely spreading smiles at every venue he graces.
-We can't afford to spend the time and money we never knew we had
Monday, February 15, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Sin City Sleeze
I make it a point of avoiding crap music on this blog. The intention of this website is not to act as a 'review' per say. My goal here is not to determine whether something is good or bad, it is to recommend music which I have already determined to be good.
That said, every now and then, I can't help but take a moment to enjoy the real crap out there. While researching Tuesday's post on Ryan Dahle I took some time to see what the rest of the boys from Age of Electric and Limblifter were up to. My conclusion was simple, yet important; Dahle was doing pretty well for himself by comparison.
Todd Kerns, one of the original founders of AoE, can currently be found peddling sleeze and disgust in the city where that's all that anyone does: Las Vegas. He's hooked up with the B-movie version of a supergroup who calls themselves Sin City Sinners and is playing music which should make a grown man ashamed of himself. Yes, they've got a few catchy riffs, and yes, at one point in life, it was cool to skeeze all over teenage girls, but for the love of all things gelatinous, you're in your 40s dude.
When one of your band's notable quotes comes from Porn Star Ron Jeremy, you really have to rethink your situation.
-Stop me from doing what I've already done
That said, every now and then, I can't help but take a moment to enjoy the real crap out there. While researching Tuesday's post on Ryan Dahle I took some time to see what the rest of the boys from Age of Electric and Limblifter were up to. My conclusion was simple, yet important; Dahle was doing pretty well for himself by comparison.
Todd Kerns, one of the original founders of AoE, can currently be found peddling sleeze and disgust in the city where that's all that anyone does: Las Vegas. He's hooked up with the B-movie version of a supergroup who calls themselves Sin City Sinners and is playing music which should make a grown man ashamed of himself. Yes, they've got a few catchy riffs, and yes, at one point in life, it was cool to skeeze all over teenage girls, but for the love of all things gelatinous, you're in your 40s dude.
When one of your band's notable quotes comes from Porn Star Ron Jeremy, you really have to rethink your situation.
-Stop me from doing what I've already done
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Digging Past Electric Limbs
You remember the 90's? I remember the 90's. Canadian post grunge bands were becoming insanely popular and I was able to identify with their strange, confused sound. While never making the top of any of my lists, two important bands in that scene were Age of Electric and Limblifter. However, what does one do after involvement in such iconic bands?
Ryan Dahle was sure to keep busy. After being the primary writer for most of AoE's songs, he needed to start a side project, which would eventually become Limblifter, to deal with the overflow. By the time AoE had dismantled and LL was in full effect, he was already chumming up and collaborating with Matthew Good. It took him a long time to figure it out, but eventually, it would become clear that the best path forward for Dahle would be a solo project titled, Irrational Anthems.
IR is a very catchy and surprisingly unique blend of the 90's rock which Dahle become known for, and modern, bouncy indie music. Dahle does a fantastic job of incorporating a variety of instrumentation and arranging songs which are both deep and rich, but also catchy and accessible. It's not the type of album you're going to scream along to a-la AoE's Remote Control, however, it is an album which I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish.
-Time is only your enemy when you've got no friends to slow down
Ryan Dahle was sure to keep busy. After being the primary writer for most of AoE's songs, he needed to start a side project, which would eventually become Limblifter, to deal with the overflow. By the time AoE had dismantled and LL was in full effect, he was already chumming up and collaborating with Matthew Good. It took him a long time to figure it out, but eventually, it would become clear that the best path forward for Dahle would be a solo project titled, Irrational Anthems.
IR is a very catchy and surprisingly unique blend of the 90's rock which Dahle become known for, and modern, bouncy indie music. Dahle does a fantastic job of incorporating a variety of instrumentation and arranging songs which are both deep and rich, but also catchy and accessible. It's not the type of album you're going to scream along to a-la AoE's Remote Control, however, it is an album which I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish.
-Time is only your enemy when you've got no friends to slow down
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Dirty South Week: Bo
Continuing down the N'awlins path, we stumble across a man who was sadly lost to us just this year at the age of 78. Mr. Eddie Bo was a singer and pianist who took the funk/jazz world by storm through a number of different names.
Like Dorsey, he too went into service after high school, joining the army. Unlike Dorsey, however, Bo studied music after his spell in the army and actually studied classical piano. That style didn't last long once he met the likes of Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson. Given his immense talent as a musician and arranger, Bo would have few hits of his own, but write songs for countless stars (Etta James, Tommy Ridgley, Little Richard, Robert Parker, and Art Neville).
Bo's music is wider spread than you may know, and you probably would recognize many of his hooks which have been reused and sampled throughout the years. My personal favorite was Tarantino's use of Pass the Hatchet, which Bo recorded under the pseudonym Roger and the Gypsies.
Lastly, if you're in TO and looking for something to do on a Friday night, The Noble Rogues are playing Hard Luck Bar (812 Dundas W) this Friday, Feb 5. (Details).
-I wanna be rich and I wanna be famous, I wanna have everyone know what my name is
Like Dorsey, he too went into service after high school, joining the army. Unlike Dorsey, however, Bo studied music after his spell in the army and actually studied classical piano. That style didn't last long once he met the likes of Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson. Given his immense talent as a musician and arranger, Bo would have few hits of his own, but write songs for countless stars (Etta James, Tommy Ridgley, Little Richard, Robert Parker, and Art Neville).
Bo's music is wider spread than you may know, and you probably would recognize many of his hooks which have been reused and sampled throughout the years. My personal favorite was Tarantino's use of Pass the Hatchet, which Bo recorded under the pseudonym Roger and the Gypsies.
Lastly, if you're in TO and looking for something to do on a Friday night, The Noble Rogues are playing Hard Luck Bar (812 Dundas W) this Friday, Feb 5. (Details).
-I wanna be rich and I wanna be famous, I wanna have everyone know what my name is
Monday, February 1, 2010
Dirty South Week: Dorsey
The past week I've hit a pretty big Funk/R&B zone, particularly looking at New Orleans inspired music. It's been cool, and pushed me to find a lot of new tunes outside of my usual sphere of influence. I've stumbled across so much goodness that I'm going to subject you to a whole week (read: 2 days) of it.
The first one is a bit of a cheat. Lee Dorsey was born in New Orleans, however, moved to Oregon at a young age. He was in the navy for a while and actually was a lightweight prizefighter right before he was discovered by producer Allen Toussaint. While his music was classified as R&B in the early 60's, one could hear him forming the early foundations of funk, right along side Rev. James Brown. He had a number of massive hits (Working in the Coal Mine, Ride Your Pony) and became quite popular, but never attained the legacy stardom of Brown.
I spent a lot of time listening to Dorsey last week and while I really enjoyed the grassroots groove feel of the songs, I found Toussaint's song writing became too repetitive after a while. Dorsey's music is the kind of thing you can throw on at a party and listen to for an hour or so, but after a while, you're going to need the DJ to be ready with a switchover.
-You're nobody's angel but your own
The first one is a bit of a cheat. Lee Dorsey was born in New Orleans, however, moved to Oregon at a young age. He was in the navy for a while and actually was a lightweight prizefighter right before he was discovered by producer Allen Toussaint. While his music was classified as R&B in the early 60's, one could hear him forming the early foundations of funk, right along side Rev. James Brown. He had a number of massive hits (Working in the Coal Mine, Ride Your Pony) and became quite popular, but never attained the legacy stardom of Brown.
I spent a lot of time listening to Dorsey last week and while I really enjoyed the grassroots groove feel of the songs, I found Toussaint's song writing became too repetitive after a while. Dorsey's music is the kind of thing you can throw on at a party and listen to for an hour or so, but after a while, you're going to need the DJ to be ready with a switchover.
-You're nobody's angel but your own
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