The Weather Station has released the first single from her S/t album due Oct 6 2017 on Outside in Canada. Tamara Lindeman has opted for a darker tougher sound this time around adding a band of Don Kerr on drums and Ben Whitely on bass, with guests Ryan Driver, Ben Boye and Will Kidman. The first single, well its as if Joni Mitchell moved into into the Gilded Palace of Sin.
Its as good a time as any to revisit The Weather Station's Live at Massey Hall show.
Press play, close your eyes, hear the message and go act
Produce more art, consume less pop.
Less words from me this time, you don't need them and I am still absorbing my incredible Hillside weekend anyway so more music, more songs, more inspiration. Hillside this year delivered epiphanies, moments of clarity, emotional communion and a spur to action. The 2017 theme was Resilience but less talk, lets get straight to those who crystallized the hastag. Videos are not culled from Hillside as I do words not images so much. Next year though next year I'll bring a videocam but for now dig these kats and then go act.
The BSS and Arcade Fire will be playing the ACC in TO Friday and Saturday Nov 3 and 4 2017. The biggies have new albums out, BSS' Hug of Thunder and the Fire have "Everything Now".
The Dears from the same Montreal scene = time as the AF also have a new record, "Times Infinity Vol Two" available on Paper Bag Records. They will be at the Great Hall in TO Nov 9 2017.
By Steven Frank
During the 1970’s, Bob Marley and the Wailers were emissaries who disseminated the Jamaican sound of reggae to the world. Their honors include Best Album of the Century in 1999 by Time Magazine for 1977’s Exodus and BBC chose “One Love” as the song of the millennium. The greatness of Bob Marley’s music and message is without question, but without Marley himself, some may ask, “Who are the Wailers?” The answer is still “the greatest reggae band of all time,” and the reason the Wailers continue to be a vital force is that they have true provenance. Provenance in the world of art refers to a record of ownership that authenticates the quality of the work. The Wailers have provenance. Take Junior Marvin, lead guitarist on the classic Exodus album, and bassist Aston "Familyman" Barrett, who along with his brother Carlton on drums, played with Lee “Scratch” Perry's Upsetters before joining forces with Bob Marley around 1970. The Barrett Brothers rhythm section formed the bedrock of the international reggae sound. The loss of Carlton in 1987 was tragic, but Aston Sr. keeps the rhythm in the family with his son taking over his uncle’s role. Aston Barrett Jr. is proud to have grown up in a family that helped forge a sound that moves the world.
A distant cousin to the Barretts is multi-talented Joshua David Barrett who has aptly assumed the role of lead vocalist. It’s a daunting task, but one he’s taken on with a natural grace that honors Robert Nesta Marley without attempting to play Bob. To Joshua, reaffirming the legacy of Marley and the Wailers is a spiritual mission that respects Jah Rastafari and the legacy of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I with the message of One Love - something the world can certainly benefit from.
You cannot think of the Wailers without the vocals of the I-Three (Judy Mowatt, Rita Marley and Marcia Griffiths.) This tour includes singers Shema McGregor, daughter of Judy, a member of this iconic vocal group that toured and recorded with Bob Marley and the Wailers for a decade, and the muli-talented Hassanah.
As important as the talent on stage, there is provenance in what you hear, with sound engineer Dennis Thompson operating the board. Thompson has worked with the top reggae talent, including Jimmy Cliff, Dennis Brown, Bunny Wailer, Buju Banton, Burning Spear and Steel Pulse. From 1973 until Marley's last concert in Pittsburgh on September 23, 1980, Thompson has helped to craft the sound, and he continues to as the Wailers tour the world.
Muddy Waters once wrote, “the blues had a baby and they named it rock and roll”. Reggae has been called the offspring of ska and rock steady. Just as the Sugarhill Gang's “Rappers Delight” coined the term ‘hip-hop’ and Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild” gave birth to ‘heavy metal’, Toots and the Maytals “Do the Reggay” was the first popular song to use the term ‘reggae’.
Ska and rock steady were themselves born of traditional Jamaican mento, rhythm and blues and jazz. Add to the crucible, a desire to reproduce the sound of the delayed frequencies of New Orleans radio stations and one can surmise that that’s how the dub sound may have been born.
These new sounds emanating from Jamaica may have only been heard by locals and adventurous tourists if not for one Anglo-Jamaican named Chris Blackwell, who took his fledgling Blue Mountain/Island Record Company to England, where, it is said he once sold records out of the back of his car directly to record shops. His first artists included Jimmy Cliff, the Skatalites, and a young Bob Marley. Chris would later promote everyone from Roxy Music to the B-52’s and U2, but will be remembered as the most influential person for turning the world onto reggae music and he continues to with young artists like Chronixx.
The reggae diaspora is a worldwide phenomenon and connections between Trenchtown and Toronto are very tight. It should be noted that Leroy Sibbles of the Heptones, Rannie “Bop” Williams, Stranger Cole and Alton Ellis are just a few of the many musicians with first-class pedigrees who lived and recorded in small studios in Toronto and in Kingston in the famed Studio One. Two other notables are Willie Williams and Jackie Mittoo who co-wrote a song that reverberated outside the reggae community when “Armagideon Time” was covered by the Clash. Jackie Mittoo is also remembered as a member of the Skatalites who backed the Wailers hit “Simmer Down” in 1963. Mittoo’s inventive organ and keyboard playing has influenced musicians in many genres.
The organ and keyboards continue to be an essential ingredient to the Wailers sound, with the prodigious Javaughn Bond adding the distinctive counter play to the rhythm and lead guitars. Along with Junior Marvin, American-born guitarist Donald Kinsey, son of Chicago blues legend Big Daddy Kinsey, is laying down those unmistakable leads. Donald has toured and recorded with Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Albert King. Rounding out the guitars is Owen "Dreadie" Reid, playing rhythm. Dreadie is someone who knows about bringing the music to the younger generation, as he himself was mentored by Aston "Familyman" Barrett and went on to play a part in the musical careers of Bob Marley's children Ziggy, Stephan and Julian.
Though the original players might be older, this tour is no nostalgia act, and the message of Bob Marley has never been more necessary or relevant.
Close your eyes during Joshua’s Barrett’s rendition of “Redemption Song” and you hear the past, present and future and there is hope, as long we remember that, “none but ourselves can free our minds.” The words of Bob Marley can help us get there, and the Wailers still have the soundtrack.
Since reggae borrowed from other genres, it will continue to morph into other musical forms as well. There is no better example than the “Rhythm Twins”: Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, who continue to explore the reggae medium with their dub experiments using elements of jazz, electronica and dancehall, working with the likes of producer Bill Laswell. They have also been champions of bands like Black Uhuru bringing reggae to a new generation. To know that the reggae sound can evolve, be relevant and infuse the irie spirit into other genres is significant, but the timeless music that Bob Marley and the Wailers perfected proves there is “no need to fix what isn’t broke.”
Steven Frank still has the tickets to see Bob Marley and the Wailers October 6th, 1980 at Maple Leaf Gardens and finally experienced them at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto June 15th, 2017.
(edited after initial publication)
In the past week I have the opportunity to see Bob Dylan at the TCC, Bruce Cockburn and Gordon Lightfoot at Mariposa and coming up this weekend Lowest of the Low and Billy Bragg. What do they have in common, mixing pop and personal politics. The duo have been a feature of the Lowest of the Low's songwriting since their remarkable debut, an album which inspired me to start up the Woolly Tuque and everything that came afte. Its been a while since the Lowest lads have had a track - they do now and its classic LOTL, the soft corner boys on the hard scrabble city street, the smallest of details blown up to represent the grandest of ideas, and a melody that screams skinny tie leaping guitar slashes; the pic as blade. The song mentions Caroline who may or may not, but I prefer of course may, never be tamed.
Well its time, Festival time - after waiting for the snow to melt and the spring rain to ease, after waiting already half the year its time for Mariposa the beginning in so many ways for the festival season which for me starts in Orillia’s Tudhope Park and continues on to Hillside in Guelph and River and Sky near North Bay.
This year Mariposa promises to be an affirmation of its own roots in the social justice and protest music movement with Bruce Cockburn making a rare public appearance but it also promises to be a festival not ready to rest on its heritage laurels.
Indie supergroup the New Pornographers from Vancouver are headlining the Saturday Night. Great Lake Swimmers and Whitehorse are also on the weekend schedule.
Friday night brings the band that kicked off indie in Canada, the Barenaked Ladies. Wrapping it all up in a neat bow and nod to many of the Toronto Yorkville folkies who got the Grand Old Dame of Mariposa up and running, there will be a celebration of The Band’s ‘Last Waltz’.
And of course so much more. Not just performers but also the personal commitment to community building which may well be the central legacy of Mariposa, over five decades gathering music adventurers who share common values, building a culture of community, caring, sharing, creating, and enjoying the grand old great outdoors finally. Bring on the sun, bring on the road trips, bring on the camping and the finest of folk.
Washed Out's paraphernalia-pop album "Mister Mellow" is a pearly-hued trip through the flotsam and tchotchkes of the modern millennial's media mirrors, take the "Hard To Say Goodbye" and don't tell me you haven't heard that before Ubering through a wet Manchester except you haven't. Its a basement bedroom collection of VHS tapes and a box full of clocks tick tocking out a slow dance rhythm, just a reminder that every time you look up from the screen the world has passed you by. This album tony moronies on the head of the pin that sticks right in that gap, that gap between the now and the was, between the here and the missed. Washed Out, (aka Ernst Greene) reached out to his want list to ask for visual contributions. The result is a kaleidoscopic collaboration of styles and designs. The folks involved are listed below the video.
Eric Coleman - "Title Card"
L.A. born artist Eric Coleman began his career as a freelance photo assistant for some of the most acclaimed photographers of our time such as Rankin, Peter Lindhberg, Melodie Mcdaniel, Steve Heitt, and Robert Erdman. He's worked in fine art, photojournalism, fashion, landscape and music photography, and his photography has been published in magazines from The Fader to Teen Vogue, and many more.
Winston Hacking - "Burn Out Blues"
A Canadian filmmaker and collage artist represented by Brainfeeder Films, a division of Flying Lotus's Brainfeeder music label, Winston Hacking uses techniques that masquerade as animation in an attempt to deceive the viewer's eyes. His work has been featured in The New York Times, Vice, Rolling Stone, Adult Swim, and Vimeo Staff Picks.
RuffMercy - "Time Off", "Zonked"
Ruffmercy is a Bristol-based animator and video director whose instantly recognizable animations have been used for videos for smaller indie artists, as well as hip-hop superstars Danny Brown and Pusha T, dance duo Disclosure and electronic musicians such as Lone.
Drew Tyndell - "Floating By"
Drew Tyndell is part of Computer Team, a small creative studio in Portland, Oregon that specialises in 2D hand-drawn and stop motion animation. "When making the video I was mainly responding to the song, and how it's made up of chopped up/cut up sections that all flow together," Drew says, "I wanted to go the same route with the animation, designing a mashup of scenes inspired by the lyrics and the feel of the song. The video starts out very methodical, illustrating the theme of routine and the boringness of everyday life. Eventually it gets weirder and weirder - bright colors take over and the video goes from routine to daydreaming to escaping the everyday grind."
Ernest Greene aka Washed Out - "I've Been Daydreaming My Entire Life"
Speaking about his contribution to the visual album, Greene says, "My parents had recently moved out of my childhood home and they were pulling out tons of boxes of old photos. It's funny how all of that stuff lives on hard drives now - but I really loved how distressed a lot of the photos looked and felt - with lots of dust and folds - and I made sure to keep all of that as I scanned-in each photo. I've always been a bit of a loner and have always felt slightly "apart" from everything thats going on around me. That's sort of what the video and song represent for me - never really fitting in."
Jonathan Hodgson - "Hard to Say Goodbye"
Jonathan Hodgson is an internationally renowned, BAFTA winning animation director based in London. He combines teaching with animated filmmaking through his own production company Hodgson Film. He was animation director of Wonderland: The Trouble with Love and Sex, the first full-length animated documentary broadcast on British TV, and has also created animated documentaries Mostafaei for Amnesty International's End the Death Penalty campaign, Guantanamo Bay: The Hunger Strikes for Guardian Films, and What Comes After Religion, a short film collaboration with Alain de Botton.
Daniel Brereton and Morph Animation - "Down and Out"
Daniel Brereton is a director based in London. He has directed videos for artists including Metronomy, Connan Mockasin, Late of the Pier, Django Django, and Kindness, in addition to commercial work for brands.
Sophia Bennett Holmes - "Instant Calm"
Sophia explains the idea behind her video: "In this animation, I was exploring the feeling of dancing, but for no audience, dancing for yourself. The character goes in and out of the literal world, her clay body moving in animated "slow motion."
Harvey Benschoter - "Get Lost"
Oof Collective member Harvey Benschoter is best known for short-form experimental animation. First introduced to psychedelic culture through the likes of Dead Milkmen, Butthole Surfers and Frank Zappa, his work often explores the unintentional psychedelia of mainstream culture. His visual contribution to "Get Lost" resembles the style of Turkey, his critically-acclaimed short that earned him a Vimeo Staff Pick upon its release in 2014. Past artist collaborations include his video for Lightning Bolt's "Vile House," which won the 2007 Chicago Underground Film Festival in the category Best Music Video.
Parallel Teeth - "Easy Does It"
Parallel Teeth is the alias of Robert Wallace; Director, animator and graphic artist. Originally from New Zealand, he now works and lives in East London. His playful style spans poppy live action, hypnotic 2D animation, puppetry, and colourful illustration, and he has worked across a range of media, including music videos, commercials, festival identities, album artwork, installation projections, 360 videos, wall murals and prints. He was also selected by the the Art Directors Club for the Young Gun award and won the Music Video category in the Motionographer Motion Awards.
Jason Miller - "Million Miles Away"
Jason Miller leads the multiple Emmy-nominated Shrine Production team, working with artists such as Diplo and Riff Raff and brands like Nike and Audi on commercials, documentaries, music videos, and live-concert pieces. Miller has known Greene since 2010, when the Washed Out project was in its infancy. "It's been great as a fan and a friend to witness the project grow and morph into so many different iterations. We wanted the video for "Million Miles Away" to play off of 90s skate videos and to be gritty, tripped out, and lightly feature Ernest as well. We shot in downtown LA -- such a loaded location and one of those places that's hard to wrap your head around all of the good and bad wrapped up into five square miles."
Rory The Vox Taillon gets his Shot in the Dark - this one you just say, Listen and if you don't think he is a powerhouse of a presence rivalling any Les Miz front or any Night At The Opera vocal theatrics then well I give up - I truly do and you don't want that. Rory JT is it man. Done.
Shot in the Dark is a live music session covering the Ottawa music community. Its a joint venture between The Gallery Recording Studio and Just Pixl Media Solutions Inc.
Canada Day is a time to shine the spotlight on the nation and its artists. Canada 150 maybe more so. Whitby steps up asking the town's resident blues great Jack DeKeyser to swing his Juno winning blues down by the waterfront July 1. Blues in the nightime, yes please.
Scugog ramps up the tunes for its Scugog Summer Jam coinciding with Canada Day 150 celebrations. Big Wreck kick things off Friday June 30
The East Coast rockers rock out the Canada Day 150 celebrations at Ajax Downs July 1. They are also playing the Hayloft in Prince Edward County Friday June 30. The Ajax gig is free by the way and now seems a perfect time to show the four piece Live at Massey Hall as they say in Halifax, sure why not?
The Jerry Cans are full of a fiery blend of throat singing, alt-roots, rock and even reggae. They are a Northern band that seem to reach down and take it all in from their perch at the top of the world. They sing of the North, its people, the land and its values. They also value those who share those values and thus the cover of Gord Downie and The Hip's "Ahead of the Century" on the eve of a Canada's 150.
Tour dates including festivals (yay Hillside) below the break.
The Federation of Broken Social Scene is on the road, dropping singles from their July 7 due album Hug of Thunder - the gang closed out the Sat night of Field Trip past and it was a stunner with about 16 people on stage give or take and all the ladies, Amy, Emily, Feist - Ariel Engle is also part of the collective and offers her voice on the track "Stay Happy" - it was the theme of the band's F. Trip, be happy, be courageous enough to care, wear your heart on your sleeve, love laugh live hug and keep one ball of joy in the air at all times, lovely to see them all again together, lovely to hear them too and it will be lovely to see the BSS and the Arcade Fire rock out the ACC - a long time ago I called them the Canadian equivalent of Brits The Clash and the Pistols and Americans, Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Like them they've broken the trajectory, disrupted the system. They have their own festival, their own label, and now they will own the big stage with several thousand pals off and on the stage - makes one want to be 14 all over again and join a band.
BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE IS: Kevin Drew - John Crossingham - Brendan Canning - Sam Goldberg - Charles Spearin - Ariel Engle - Justin Peroff - Leslie Feist - Andrew Whiteman - Emily Haines - Evan Cranley - Amy Millan - Jimmy Shaw - Lisa Lobsinger - David French - Ohad Benchetrit - Jason Collett
