Apostle of Hustle, Andrew Whiteman (lead guitarist of Broken Social Scene), bassist Julian Brown (Feist), and Dean Stone (Sarah Harmer, Amy Millan) on drums, have announced plans for a new album!

To be called Eats Darkness, the album will be out on July 6th on Arts & Crafts.

Says Andrew Whiiteman, “Eats Darkness is a serial poem about some struggles people go through. Battles, from the macro to the micro. Songs about tactics and attitudes needed in ‘life during wartime’. Each track is like tapas at the banquet of conflict. A small contribution to the articulation of a fucked and beautiful world.”

Sounds marvellous!

Apostle of Hustle on Myspace

Dan Mangan

Those of you who have been loitering around the security doors here at TLOBF Towers for a while now you have probably noticed the frankly phenomenal amount of great new music coming from Canada over the last few years. From the classics (Joni, Neil and Laughing Lenny), the big hitters (Arcade Fire/ BSS/ Feist) to the up and coming (The Acorn, Woodpigeon, Ohbijou) TLOBF has been committed to bring you the best of what the Great White North has to offer. So we figured it made sense to start a new column dedicated to uncovering the latest new talent emerging from Canada, to showcase some of the lesser sung acts, labels, and events that may not have shown up on the collective radar over here in the UK. So from The Acorn to Zumpano TLOBF brings you: Oh! Canada.

And what better way to start off our new column than a review of the Canadian Blast! showcase from this years recent Great Escape festival.

It seems strangely appropriate that the first artist covered by Oh! Canada is Vancouver’s Dan Mangan. After all, he has form when it comes to the Canadian National Anthem, having performed it at the start of a Vancouver Canucks (let’s go Canucks!) Ice Hockey game , he’s also scheduled to sing it again at the start of a Vancouver Whitecaps soccer game later this summer (it’s a peculiar quirk of North American Sports that at every level, no game starts without the anthem being sung, or played on a nose flute, or something). Mangan first came to prominence a couple of years back with Postcards and Dreaming which saw him draw comparissons to fellow Canuck Patrick Watson and coffee table favourite Damien Rice. But that was five years ago, and now he’s back with a less lush, more gritty sound on the Roboteering EP (given a glowing review here last week).

Having charmed the crowd of his headline show on the first night of the festival with tales of falling asleep during a Mudhoney concert, Mangan had an early start in order to accommodate the fact that he had to drive to Cambridge to support The Broken Family Band later that evening. And so it came to be that, joined by the string section of Hey Rosetta! he took to the stage at 12.15 on an overcast Friday afternoon. By rights, the venue should have been empty, but it is testament to Mangan’s growing following that it is almost filled to capacity, helped no doubt by the fact that he had snuck outside moments before to the venue’s balcony to have a quick practice before the show, causing members of the general public to come in to the cave like venue for a closer look. Mangan’s finely crafted Canadiana is perfectly accompanied by his hastily assembled swooning string section, his smooth to gritty vocal delivery just the right side of broken to appeal to the mainstream and the underground alike. About midway through the set, however, things start to go wrong, with guitar and microphone cutting out. Unfazed, Mangan simply unplugs his acoustic guitar, steps off the stage and continues the set from the middle of the crowd, who by now are in the palm of his hand. As the set draws to a close, he begins to lead the crowd in a stomping, hand clapping, sing-a-long take on EP lead track “Robot”. As the now capacity room sings in unison “Robot’s need love too/ they want to be loved by you”, it becomes clear that the future could be very bright for this young man from Vancouver. After all, as Mangan himself acknowledges: “This isn’t supposed to happen- You’re industry people, your clapping, singing harmonies and it’s not even 1pm”.

Ultimate Power Duo

Next up are Saskatoon’s brilliantly named Ultimate Power Duo. Naturally enough, UPD are in fact a classic power trio of riffs, pummeling drums all kept in check by a low end rumble to make Mike Watt jealous. Fresh from being hand picked as a support act for Bad Religion by Jay Bentley himself and a handful of dates with Canadian punk legends NomeansNo under their belt, The UPD are a vacuum tight punk rock unit, playing a self proclaimed ‘Demolition Rock”- theirs is the music that would be made if the neo-garage rock of The Hives or Rocket From The Crypt played a game of Chicken with The Minutemen and The Ramones and neither backed down. Clad in an all black uniform they know they’re R’n’R history, nodding to The Minutemen’s “If Reagan Played Disco” during the intro to the no-wave onslaught that is “Noam Disco”. The beauty of UPD is the clear delight they take in playing- a reminder that life is too short to not enjoy yourself and a celebration of living in, and for the moment. Their set ends with both non-drumming members performing Pete Townesend-esque windmills before launching their guitars into the roof of the building.

Hey Rosetta!

Having accompanied Dan Mangan early in the day, Newfoundland’s Hey Rosetta! string section clamber back on stage, with the rest of their band. The St. John’s septet are led by Tim Baker, a wiry, impassioned frontman with a fine line in bedsit angst and longing. Baker is in possesion of one of those gritty voices that cracks with passion when pushed to the limit, which it frequently is, driven along by the driving string arrangements and crunching guitars of his band. While there is no doubt a folk tint to the proceedings, more often than not Baker explodes in a jangle pop fury, utilizing simple start-stop dynamics that the Hold Steady would be proud of. This is in evidence on “There’s an Arc”, which sees him clamber aboard the drumkit as he careens around the stage. Maybe it’s the long dark nights out on the east coast, but Baker has clearly worked hard at his art, crafting epic, soaring indie pop-balladry without ever teetering over the edge in to middle of the road Snow Patrolisms. A bundle of energy onstage, his restless legs jangle as Hey Rosetta! come to the climax of their set, gang vocals and all.

The Arkells

Next up is Hamilton’s The Arkells. The most straight ahead commercial prospect featured in the Canadian Blast showcase. Having already played Canada’s V festival and opened for The Black Crowes, it seems likely that this is one of the smaller stages that they will grace in the UK. Good looking boys with bluesy rock riffs and singalong “Hey Hey Hey” choruses and piano hooks abound. There’s a clear love of early Springsteen in evidence here too on the uber-radio friendly “Pullin Punches”, and you can’t help but feel that before they make the transition to the pop-rock big time.

Ohbijou

Ohbijou’s headline set very nearly doesn’t happen, after a keyboard stand collapses onto their cello. Feedback howls from the monitors and sisters Casey and Jenny Mecija look at each other with doubt across their faces. They may not be able to hear themselves or each other, but the moment Casey’s delicate voice starts over her sisters swooning string parts it’s easy to see why Bella Union snapped up the rights to their second album, Beacons. Piano’s chime, drums pound and everything seems to click into place as the tales of doomed love and longing are played to an enchanted audience. As the rain begins to fall outside, Ohbijou wrap the crowd in a warm, comforting blanket of sound, that seems like it could protect you from whatever lies outside.

Ultimat Power Duo

The Arkells

That’s all from Oh! Canada for now but be sure to look out for more Canadian goodness courtesy of TLOBF . And don’t forget to download the Oh! Canada mixtape full of songs from the kinds of bands Oh! Canada will be introducing you to in the coming weeks and months!

If there was an award for sweetest album ever recorded, Dear Reader would have to be a serious contender (ok it might not be the most rock and roll title around, but still…). Hailing from the not-so-musically-renowned South Africa, this three-piece band and their butter-wouldn’t-melt tunes are the perfect soundtrack to a lazy summers day.

Previously known as Harris Tweed, until they got a bit of a telling off from the Harris Tweed Authority in Scotland, the band came to being when lead singer Cherilyn MacNeil caught Darryl Torr’s attention at a small acoustic gig. The rest, as they say, is history. Now, with another addition to the band in the form of drummer Michael Wright, they are proud owners of a second album, produced by Brent Knopf of Menomena fame.

Replace Why With Funny plays out in a short 40 minutes. First track ‘Way Of The World’, with its folky undertones and graceful arrangement is a perfect taste of what to expect from the rest of the record. Cherilyn has the most achingly delicate vocals and this talent, coupled with the beautifully composed music makes for a very pleasant listen indeed.

There are definite comparisons to be made with the likes of Feist and Joan As Policewoman, and perhaps even a bit of our own young folk starlet Laura Marling. Like these artists, the album shines for its sincerity and heartfelt emotional lyrics. ‘Dearheart’ – one of the albums standout tracks – is the most Feist-like track on the album, with its stomping piano, complimented by gentle strings and a memorable rhythm.

‘Out Out Out’, one of the record’s more upbeat tracks, is a little bit Emiliana Torrini, but not without being unoriginal. Cherylins vocals are distinctive and work well on both a cheery and, at times, melancholy level.

‘The Same’ takes the crown of most emotive song – featuring the WITS choir, it’s about the ongoing racial divisions in South Africa and is the kind of track that might just give you sensitive souls out there goosebumps. Powerful stuff.

Relationships are a done and dusted topic when it comes to songwriting, and this album is no exception, but they get away with it by having such a refreshing sound. Tracks like ‘Everything is Caving’ and ‘Release me’,  with their haunting qualities, are clearly lovingly composed and it is this tender nature of the album as a whole that makes Dear Reader such a hidden gem.
78%

Dear Reader on MySpace

Dark Was The Night is a fundraiser for the Red Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS, comprising 31 exclusive tracks. Moreover, though, much like a previous Red Hot effort, 1993′s No Alternative (Nirvana, Patti Smith, Sonic Youth, Beastie Boys, Smashing Pumpkins, Pavement, Jonathan Richman), it acts as a snapshot of a certain time and place in North American alternative music (Stuart Murdoch, Devastations, Riceboy Sleeps, Antony Hegarty and Jose Gonzalez company excepted). The record takes in a healthy cross-section of the major players in the scene over the last couple of years; a period of unbridled creativity and critical hosannahs shone upon the music that not so long ago would have been quietly left to fend for its own cult following on the underground. So how do you approach something like this, with no thematic link or stylistic even keel, just a hell of a lot of proven quality intended, as the producers Aaron and Bryce Dessner (of The National) have reinforced, merely as a showcase for “the best in independent music, with an emphasis on traditional themes played and arranged in a contemporary way” (whatever that means)? By throwing traditional review narrative form out of the window and tackling it sequentially, I guess.

So… Dirty Projectors kick off with a David Byrne collaboration that he may have written the words to but in recording doesn’t seem to include David Byrne on anything more than backing vocals, although ‘Knotty Pine’ seems to funnel the wired shuffle of Talking Heads’ first couple of albums to a more straightened out version of Dave Longstreth and co’s eclectic culture surfing. Nick Drake’s ‘Cello Song’ is given The Books’ elegant glitch-folk treatment with Jose Gonzalez on restrained vocals, drifting gorgeously on a digital looped bed. Feist and Ben Gibbard come together on a spare, chiming countrified version of ‘Train Song’ (made semi-famous by Vashti Bunyan) that sounds more like Nancy & Lee than either’s proper work. The development of Bon Iver from solo project to full band expansion while keeping that necessary intimacy continues on ‘Brackett, WI’, brittle guitar and heavenly harmonies this time joined by organ and prominent bass; it wouldn’t have been out of place on the Blood Bank EP. Folk standard ‘Deep Blue Sea’ originally appeared in home recorded lullaby version on Grizzly Bear’s Friend EP last year and reappears fleshed out and warmer, Dan Rossen’s vocals and fingerpicking augmented by woodwind, electronic distortion and percussion. If their forthcoming album takes after this it’ll be unstoppable.

The National themselves take the spotlight next, ‘So Far Around The Bend’ less outwardly emotive than usual in a sawing back porch strum with decorative woodwind frenzy and a song about a woman lost and alone through choice in New York, apparently “praying for Pavement to get back together”. Yeasayer do their expansive otherworldly rhythmic thing a lot better than usual on ‘Tightrope’, and it’s far easier to get excited about than another version of ‘Feeling Good’, especially as My Brightest Diamond adds little to the original arrangement. Title track honours are left to avant garde San Franciscan string section the Kronos Quartet, and once four minutes of plucked string bending has sufficiently tested your patience Antony appears with Bryce Dressner on backup for a fairly perfunctory, vocal pyrotechnic-free version of Dylan’s ‘I Was Young When I Left Home’. Justin Vernon returns with Aaron Dessner backing him up on ‘Big Red Machine’, which pitches Vernon’s multitracked falsetto against insistent piano hammering. It’s an odd juxtaposition but no less intriguing for that. Hard to tell if ‘Sleepless’ is much of a preview of the Decemberists’ rock opera direction, given the stately nearly eight minute rumination sounds like it could have been an offcut from Castaways And Cutouts. Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam gives himself sixty-seven seconds on ‘Stolen Houses (Die)’, which means he’s reduced to vocal and guitar and so can’t ruin it with the soft rock settings of late, while Grizzly Bear and Feist both reappear with a reworking of ‘Service Bell’, originally from the former’s Horn Of Plenty debut album, which with its percussion loops and doo-wop backing vocals actually sounds more like Rossen’s Department Of Eagles, before the first disc closes with something of a war of choral folk attrition, more than ten minutes of Sufjan Stevens. ‘You Are The Blood’ – another cover, apparently – throws a curveball of electronic bleeps for its first thirty seconds and continues in a pattern of underlying electronic effects, samples and and found sounds in the background in a way he hasn’t explored since 2002′s Enjoy Your Rabbit, over which gradually develops a pattern of sympathetic male-female harmonies, cinematic brass and galloping drums before breaking down into cutting up his own vocals and instruments, veering off into heavily reverbed George Harrison piano-led contemplation for a bit, then back to the laptop, then explodimng into joyful brass-led fanfare, then distorted guitar solo over glitches, then solo piano voluntary, then a bit of everything to close. Phew. There’s as many ideas in this one track as those that have followed Sufjan’s path have ever had, and whether one-off playful experiment or signpost as to where he goes whenever he next deigns to record an album – three and a half years since Illinois now – it’s a masterstroke.

Still with it? Good, on to CD 2, which at least initially is something of a disappointment. Even Arcade Fire’s ‘Lenin’ turns the bombast down but ends up sounding more like their pre-Funeral EP, reaching towards something distinct without quite making it. Chief offenders are Beirut, still in underwhelming French mode, and My Morning Jacket, who turn in a song that sounds almost exactly like a British 80s AOR hit that I frustratingly can’t place (helpful, I know). As with most things it takes Dave Sitek to turn things around, who gives the Troggs’ ‘With A Girl Like You’ the fuzzy, synth layered production treatment he’s recently given Telepathe, plus horns and Sitek’s vaguely threatening lower register. Never mind knocking out a cover, Buck 65 reworks a track that’s already been on this compilation, turning Sufjan’s epic into the queasy, gospel choir aided ‘Blood Pt 2′, while the New Pornographers look inside themselves and knock off a version of their own Dan Bejar’s Destroyer’s ‘Hey Snow White’ that allows them to really indulge their AM radio rock fantasies and Yo La Tengo are in one of their relatively subdued Velvets moods on ‘Gentle Hour’. It says here Stuart Murdoch’s ‘Another Saturday’ is to the tune of traditional Scottish folk song ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’; whatever, it’s the type of ruminative, personal acoustic lament Murdoch hasn’t recorded in some time, and with references to his church background.

Riceboy Sleeps will be a new name to most but lead member Jónsi Birgisson of Sigur Ros won’t be, the eight and a half minutes of slowly shifting and drifting ambient waves almost daring the listener to use those ‘glacial’/'pastoral’ descriptions that have long since been deemed passe when describing Birgisson’s main project. An alt-countrified run starts with Cat Power’s interpretation of ‘Amazing Grace’ which is – shock! – Memphis bluesy and continues with Andrew Bird taking the warmer approach of his current album on as he grants the Handsome Family’s ‘The Giant of Illinois’ lush orchestration alongside his own multi-layered violin plucking and sawing and shimmering guitar, before Conor Oberst scratches a bluegrass country itch duetting with Gillian Welch on a reworked ‘Lua’. It suits him. Blonde Redhead are also in stripped back mode collaborating with shimmering Melbourne outfit Devastations, a laid back, comely Kazu Makino sounding oddly like Black Box Recorder’s Sarah Nixey against distorted piano, and it’s left to Kevin Drew to bring the whole charabanc home with the yearning slowcore of the Low-esque (if not Low-esque titled) ‘Love Vs Porn’.

So no, it doesn’t all work, and even by the nature of “previously unreleased tracks” for something promoting the fresh pickings of the very best available there’s quite a few reworkings and covers. However, despite the first CD being clearly the stronger, the hits clearly outweigh the misses, showing a new possible direction for some (Oberst, Sufjan), bringing the best out of others (Yeasayer, The Books) and doing what it should do, reasserting the claims of some of its most lauded (Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, The National, The Decemberists). This is where – oh, let’s say it – hipster music largely stands in early 2009, and we’re all the better for it.
79%

Dark Was The Night

As previously reported here, the new 4AD compilation Dark Was The Night will be released next month and comprises of 31 exclusive tracks curated by The National’s Aaron and Bryce Dessner and the AIDS charity Red Hot.

‘Knotty Pine’ by The Dirty Projectors and David Byrne is just one of the many, many highlights on this fabulous set and has just been made available as a free download.

Also, as of yesterday, 4AD began a track-by-track premiere of the record. From January 15 through February 15, each track, in order will be streamed for one day only at www.myspace.com/DarkWasTheNight as well as on the relevant band’s MySpace page.

Tracks to look out for are Antony Hegarty’s stirring take on the early Dylan classic ‘I Was Young When I Left Home’, ‘Cello Song’ by The Books and Jose Gonzalez, ‘Deep Blue Sea’ from Grizzly Bear and a cover of Nina Simone’s ‘Feeling Good’ by My Brightest Diamond – which really shouldn’t work but does in a quite fantastic way. Oh, and there is a stunning reworking of Bright Eyes’ ‘Lua’ where Coner Oberst is joined by Gillian Welch on vocals. Basically, there isn’t a duff track over the whole 2 discs.  Definitely an essential purchase for 2009 and for a great charity  to boot. Pre-order here.

Tracklist in full:

‘THIS DISC’

1. “Knotty Pine” – Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
2. “Cello Song” – The Books featuring Joses Gonzalez
3. “Train Song” – Feist and Ben Gibbard
4. “Brackett, WI” – Bon Iver
5. “Deep Blue Sea” – Grizzly Bear
6. “So Far Around The Bend” – The National
7. “Tightrope” – Yeasayer
8. “Feeling Good” – My Brightest Diamond
9. “Dark Was The Night” – Kronos Quartet
10. “I Was Young When I Left Home” – Antony with Bryce Dessner
11. “Big Red Machine” – Justin Vernon + Aaron Dessner
12. “Sleepless” – The Decemberists
13. “Die” – Iron & Wine
14. “Service Bell” – Grizzly Bear + Feist
15. “You Are The Blood” – Sufjan Stevens

‘THAT DISC’

1. “Well-Alright” – Spoon
2. “Lenin” – Arcade Fire
3. “Mimizan” – Beirut
4. “El Caporal” – My Morning Jacket
5. “Inspiration Information” – Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
6. “With A Girl Like You” – Dave Sitek
7. “Blood Pt. 2″ – Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
8. “Hey, Snow White” – The New Pornographers
9. “Gentle Hour” – Yo La Tengo
10. “Amazing Grace” – Cat Power
11. “Happiness” – Riceboy Sleeps
12. “Another Saturday” – Stuart Murdoch
13. “The Giant Of Illinois” – Andrew Bird
14. “Lua” – Conor Oberst with Gillian Welch
15. “When The Road Runs Out” – Blonde Redhead & Devastations
16. “Love Vs. Porn” – Kevin Drew

mp3:> The Dirty Projectors and David Byrne: ‘Knotty Pine’

Bon Iver

We’ve known about this for a few weeks now but for some reason haven’t posted anything about it… *slapped wrists etc* 4AD Records and AIDS charity Red Hot have joined forces with Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National to produce a whopping 32 track album of original material from all your favourite indie superstars. Yup, you’ve guessed it – Bon Iver, Arcade Fire, Beach House, The Decemberists and of course The National all feature. It is certainly set to be one of the must have records of 2009.

Some info from the label below, plus the complete lineup.. Tracklisting so far, hasn’t been revealed.

Dark Was The Night we can confirm will be released on February 16th (Worldwide) and 17th (North America) 2009. Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National produced the album, with John Carlin (founder of the Red Hot Organization) its executive producer. A total of thirty-two exclusive tracks have been recorded for the compilation, which will be available as a double cd, triple vinyl and download album, with profits benefitting the Red Hot Organization – an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS.

Red Hot was founded on the premise that even without a cure, AIDS remains a preventable disease – using music as a great vehicle to raise both money and awareness for it. This is also the twentieth year of Red Hot as well as their twentieth compilation.

The complete list of artists (in alphabetical order) that recorded tracks for this release are:
Andrew Bird
Antony + Bryce Dessner
Arcade Fire
Beach House
Beirut
Blonde Redhead + Devastations
Bon Iver
Bon Iver & Aaron Dessner
The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez
Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues
The Decemberists
Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
Kevin Drew
Feist + Ben Gibbard
Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear + Feist
Iron & Wine
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Kronos Quartet
Stuart Murdoch
My Brightest Diamond
My Morning Jacket
The National
The New Pornographers
Conor Oberst & Gillian Welch
Riceboy Sleeps
Dave Sitek (TV On The Radio)
Spoon
Sufjan Stevens
Yeasayer
Yo La Tengo

Pretty awesome huh? I’m particualry looking forward to the Ben Gibbard and Feist collaboration.. More news as and when we get it.

This album is a hard one to review. Oh yes. Not because it’s bad, its brilliant, and I’m so impressed by That’s The Spirit (Ottawan native Ben Wilson, with some help from a few good friends) that to put into words how much i like this album would take up 3 pages and probably only consist of the word ‘incredible’. And that wouldn’t make a good review. When I do try, whenever I get a good point in my head, I automatically forget it because im too lost in the music. This album feels like an album. It isn’t a collection of songs loosely bundled together. It’s a positive cloud of music, something almost tangible. When Staying Places is playing, an atmosphere is created that is ethereal, almost dream-like and at the same time, a focused concentration of well placed instruments and vocal lines. In fact, if I wasn’t woken up slightly by the vintage piano introduction of ‘It’s Curtains For You’ (a track that drifts across your mental horizon halfway through this release, and then leaves after less than two minutes), Staying Places would have me in a trance from start to finish.

Anyone familiar with the current trend of Folk/Americana/Alt-Indie sweeping over the American and Canadian music scene will probably not be surprised by what they’re hearing when they first play through Staying Places. Well written music, gently sung, with obscure and ornate instruments popping in and out to add colour to what are essentially simple 3 minute minus pieces of music. For the uninitiated, expect from ‘Staying Places’ surprising and inventive songs that will mature greatly over multiple listens. One of the best parts of Ben Wilsons opus is the way that every time you play through the tracks, you hear them in different ways. A bit hard to describe, but you just notice something new every time. For example, the main thing I noticed on the first listen of ‘Always Coming Back’ was the way that it contrasted quite strongly to the first few tracks purely for having an afrobeat, stomping drum line. Second time through it wasn’t so much a “party” song, and I bypassed it completely only to get hung up on the sweetly plucked guitar lines in ‘Epic Advice’. It’s like there’s too much music for one album, and it’s constantly fighting for prominence. This competitiveness means that the next time your brain clocks onto a particular element of a track, or a song as a whole, you can be guaranteed that it won’t sound quite the same as the last time you heard it. This shows an astounding ear for song crafting. Not even songwriting, song crafting. It feels almost like Ben shaped the songs physically, putting little pieces in here and there to surprise or amuse, rather than just being sat in front of a mixing desk or apple computer.

Moving on, if I was to attempt to summarise the lyrical content of the album, I would probably refer you all to his press release. And before you shout out loud at such lazy journalism, its obvious to anyone that the best person to tell you about that is the artist himself (or at least his pr team), and as it was summarised so excellently, I would only butcher and misinterpret.

“From one angle, it’s a snapshot of the mind of the postmodern traveller – always wanting to be somewhere else, constantly in search of that idyllic exile, in a shrinking world with exhausted global space….From another angle, though, it’s a personal reflection of that age-old conflict of putting down roots versus extending branches – the comfort in routine, versus the challenge and excitement of the unknown and uncharted. From any perspective, Staying Places is meant to be a soulful, optimistic album for explorers and armchair travellers alike.”

There. But come on Ben, how was I supposed to guess that? Listen to the lyrics and actually put some effort into a review? Oh….that’s quite an idea!

…good answer.

Highlights of this album are many and commonplace, too many to go into without requiring a full dissection of the album. Clever use of natural reverbs, the way the almost brit-pop guitars of ‘Every City’ sit perfectly with Ben’s vocals, delivered with a soft throat comparable almost to Mike Love of Beach Boys fame in places. Indeed, comparisons to Brian Wilson may even be used when considering the composition of the album, which is always high praise. Shades of Grizzly Bear and Menomena can be found singing through at times, especially on ‘Unmake Me’ and ‘Orienteering’ respectively, to offer another two points for relation. However, it’s much easier (and feels a lot more validating) to say that this is a spotless, near-perfect release. Maybe I’ve just fallen in love with it, but i can see this album staying just as strong over time as it is now. It certainly packs a punch, albeit a punch covered in the fluffy woolen glove of spaced-out folk.

Canada, it seems, has its share of great artists making great music that combines quality songwriting and a skilled hand for lo-fi, delicate production. Sadly though, all we hear about on UK shores is Broken Social Scene and their in-house bands. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as Broken Social Scene are incredible songwriters and musicians, but if there was any justice in this world, Staying Places and indeed Ben Wilson would be household names in Blighty as much as Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning, Feist, Emily Haines et al. are. Fans of the previously mentioned should check this gentleman out, because he makes top drawer folk music, and can easily stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Bon Iver and Iron And Wine. And for a debut effort, this is an undeniably evocative and accomplished collection of songs. Let’s just hope the postmodern traveller in him doesn’t decide to settle down before he gets his music (and himself) over to Great Britain to chart the uncharted some more.
85%

mp3:> That’s The Spirit: ‘Orienteering’
mp3:> That’s The Spirit: ‘Every City’

That’s The Spirit on MySpace