Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Tami Nelson, Mo Kenney, Melanie, Janet Simpson, Venus Furs, Christee Palace, Strippers Union, Alex Southey, Black River Delta, JP Sunga,

By Will McGuirk

Could be me, could be Tuesday, but it seems the ladies have got the blues, - we do this by inviting everyone who wants to to get up on stage, and sometimes its a flow and sometimes its all going in every direction, this evening its all these so fab female voices but there’s a sadness to the sassiness but heck the blues ain’t nothing to get down about.

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I've been a big Daniel Romano fan since I first heard this song. It was so nice to hear a modern country song that was reminiscent of the old stuff. The songwriting is so good, I was excited to strip it down so the lyrics really shine. Recorded in front of one mic at the New Scotland Yard.” – Mo Kenney

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Christee Palace · Christee Palace - What Have You Done To Me

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“we were musing on the idea that the majority of beings live behind the scene lives with no perceived power or glory, often unaware of the power they actually hold, individually and collectively - especially as ‘we’. The ingenuity required to survive is more amazing than the trivial exploits of the ‘powerful’. The real power waits and it's beautiful when it shows itself. ‘We’re the dirt that starts the pearl’.” - Rob Baker

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Alex Southey · Rosie

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Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Beams, Skye Wallace, Prehistoric Dogs, and Summons

By Will McGuirk

The future is local.

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Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Bernice, The Besnard Lakes, Monowhales, the Record Summer, Mirabelle, Favourite Daughter, Erica Knox, Venus Furs, PhotoSynthesizers, and Emmett Lucius Pharaoh,

By Will McGuirk

There’s too much, are you feeling it? is it all just zoom and gloom? thinking hold your nose, go underwater far from the maddening crowd, I will slip this into the stream silently a message in a bottle and see where the currents take it, hello its me you.

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““A small metal bowl floats away into the lake and sinks – but below the waves she sits on her cool bottom, her shape shifting self not full of water but of the water, edges dissolving as her identity reforms, grows, reforms, grows, reforms, like the fascia of a body reinventing itself with each twist and bend. A sign, a cross, a road, a potato – who are you?” - Robin Dann, Bernice

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“The song is an ode to logic and intuition and being able to learn from the past”. – The Besnard Lakes

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“This song is the feeling of being made to choose where there's no choice at all, but taking a vicious grip on hope in spite of everything going on in our lives.” - Monowhales

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"‘White Dress’ is about the juxtapositions that occur during marriage. . . how you bounce from a grandiose day with a gorgeous dress to absolute boredom and exercises with self-control. The question of spending the rest of your life with somebody versus standing with the sun shining in your hair, bright and beautiful.” - Bret Rodysill aka the Record Summer

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Erica Knox · Running Inside Of My Brain

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“The song was written in the summer of 2020 and is inspired by the power of collective consciousness working together to overcome the pandemics our society faces; COVID and systemic racial injustices against black and brown people.” - PhotoSynthesizers

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Emmett Lucius Pharaoh · Sleepless Nights

Channel Vinyl - MLK reissue, Neil Young, Tom Jones, Jeremiah Fraites, and Daniel Lanois,

By Will McGuirk

Channel Vinyl - we scan the wires for news on new releases, reissues and special editions plus other music and vinyl related stories.

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Dr. Martin Luther King’s ‘The Great March On Washington’ which includes the “I Have A Dream” speech is being reissued on vinyl. via UDiscoverMusic

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Neil Young has another album coming in February. This is a live album with Crazy Horse 1990 Ragged Glory era; title is ‘Way Down in the Rust Bucket.' via Consequence of Sound

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Sir Tom Jones is back with an album, ‘Surrounded with Time’, featuring covers of Bob Dylan, The Waterboys, Michael Kiwanuka, Cat Stevens and others. via Uncut Magazine

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Jeremiah Fraites of The Lumineers will release his debut solo album, ‘Piano Piano’ January 22. via Louder Than War

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Daniel Lanois has released a visualizer for “Power,” his new single from the Grammy winning producer’s latest album, ‘Heavy Sun.’ via Glide Magazine

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Bahamas launches free 'Live to Tape' concert series

An album I have been listening to in the background a lot has been the effortlessly engaging ‘Sad Hunk’ from Bahamas. Its a gentle sway, even the dancey bits are subtle in their soulfulness. The kids may call it yacht rock but don’t get stung by the saltiness man. To celebrate the release of the album which came out last year Bahamas (Afie Jurvanen) is organising a jam-a-long with some rad company for a free Live to Tape series beginning today Sat Jan 16 at 9 pm ET. The studio-to-studio performance stream will be running every second week for the foreseeable future. The 400 Unit join Bahamas for the first one. Upcoming guests include Dawes, Teskey Brothers, Sam Weber, Brody Simpson and there are loads more. On the Socials Bahamas says he is missing playing with other musicians and this is his way of getting past the lockdown lonelys, AND. . . we are invited!!
Link via the vid below.

Haviah Mighty and Devontee Woe team up, new single 'Antisocial' released

By Will McGuirk

Always great to see someone do it their way and it hasn’t taken that long for Haviah Mighty to go from playing the Diezel Room here in Oshawa to winning the 2019 Polaris Music Prize, the first Hip Hop artist and first Black woman. It was for her album ‘13th Floor.,’ an apt title for someone who has created her own stepping off point. Along the way a relationship was struck up with Devonteé Woe, another cool kat doing things his way and doing well doing it. From Durham to LA, could be a song.

Haviah Mighty has a new single, ‘Antisocial’ out and we reached out to Devonteé via Instagram for some insight.

“I sent her a beat pack last December 2019 and over the year she built me the records on the beat and she sent me the final. She’s a beast,” he says.

In a press release Haviah says ““I remember listening to the beat months ago, feeling really energized by the hard cuts and bouncy percussion. That energy within was bottled up as I sat on my bed, hanging out alone, socially distancing - something I spent a lot of time doing around the time I wrote this song. As I got comfortable and familiar with being alone, I focused on self-help and self-care. As someone who generally only felt comfortable on the go in the messy hustle and bustle that is life, this time of slowing down to better get to know myself was important.”

The track features Old Man Saxon, of Denver CO.

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Slow Leaves, LAL, Charlie Houston, Middle Kids, and much more music

By Will McGuirk

Fast and furious babies not slow and level like we like - but with everyone home and tech so close those who make songs are making a lot of them so this open mic is going late. But lets start with slow - Slow Leaves, one of my fave finds in the last couple of years, authentically heartfelt, its the perfect sound for times like these; small, isolated, longing yet finding the warmth, the purpose, in the small slow things, in the domestic, the familiar, the inevitable. Yes hunker down, we are in for the long haul, we are in for the lockdown but with Slow Leaves in the ears we will get through it . . Slow Leaves is Grant Davidson, take the time.

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“The song inspired an idea where the people and their surroundings are stuck in their own behavior, both physically and mentally. It’s a deeply touching song moved by a lot of energy, where the illustrations and the motions reflect a feeling of my interpretation of the song’s intention and atmosphere, without being too distinct.” - video director and animator Jonna Hallberg

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Tampa · Irene

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“Respect the Gift" is about using our ‘gifts’ for good, and not taking for granted the everyday freedoms and luxuries we have. There’s never been a more important time to appreciate all that we find precious, especially given the world we’re living in today,” - Adrian Sutherland

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The Mandevilles · Lightning

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The Neighbourhood Watch · Focus Up

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His His · Winter Journal

Slowcity.ca Channel Vinyl - Bandcamp Vinyl, RIP Sylvain Sylvain, Neil Young, UB40, and John Coltrane plus more

By Will McGuirk

Channel Vinyl - we scan the wires for news on new releases, reissues and special editions plus other music and vinyl related stories.

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Bandcamp has announced a vinyl pressing service. via Bandcamp

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RIP Sylvain Sylvain of the New York Dolls. via Brooklyn Vegan 

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One can pre-order Neil Young’s ‘The Times’ EP originally released last September. The vinyl edition of The Times will be available in February. via Neil Young website

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UB40 celebrates 40 years of ‘Signing Off’ with red vinyl reissue. via UDiscoverMusic

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John Coltrane’s ‘Lush Life’ launches new Craft Recordings Small Batch series. via AnalogPlanet

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Lana Del Rey to release new album, ‘Chemtrails Over The Country Club’ in March. via SuperDeluxeEdition

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Interview with Amy Lee of Evanescence; new album ‘The Bitter Truth” drops March. via Kerrang!

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The Fall announce newly unearthed live album, The Fall – ‘Live at St. Helens Technical College, ’81’ via Pitchfork

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Black Crowes celebrate 30 years of ‘Shake Your Money Maker with reissue. via SuperDeluxeEdition

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Gojira, Mastodon, Megadeath, Evanescence, Architects; Revolver magazine looks forward to five fan fave 2021 album drops. via Revolver

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Perfume Genius announces IMMEDIATELY Remixes; via the Line of Best Fit 

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KEXP chats with Osees. via KEXP

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The Body’s new album released Jan 29. via Consequence of Sound

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NOFX to release new album, with a new take on an old song via Louder than War

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with The Weather Station, Scott MacKay, TV Priest, Kandle & Kendel, Rhye, POSTDATA, Virgil Abloh, Devan, Triptides, The Neighbourhood Watch, and The Barettas

By Will McGuirk

I wonder how they do it, hang on until years from now another discovers the work, lying there in a bin, or back of a library or in a box in a storage locker, or perhaps on an old hard drive in the back of a drawer, and then Eureka! Shared gleefully at the discovery - Christopher Columbus like one would imagine… Its a marvellous place I am in where I get the gems, they sail across my stream, they are intimate to me, but one can only do what one can and I can only urge you to listen and marvel. The Weather Station, there with Sarah Harmer and Kathleen Edwards in my canon. . . if you need some door propped open. Open, you will not be disappointed, there has never been any disappointment from the Weather Station, there has only been song after song, soul after soul edifying moment, album after album of change-ups and growth and journey and a hand held out to journey along and no disappointments only soul after soul edifying moments evermore.

“Trying to capture something of the slipping feeling I think we all feel, the feeling of dread, even in beautiful moments, even when you’re a little drunk on a sea cliff watching the sun go down while seabirds fly around you; that slipping feeling is still there, that feeling of dread, of knowing that everything you see is in peril,” says Lindeman. “I feel like I spend half my life working on trying to stay positive. My whole generation does.”

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Once upon a time there was a man named Handsome Ned who stepped onto the stage of the Cameron House and I wasn’t there. However records had been invented. I imagine Ned would have been happy to have Scott MacKay open for him or even open for. Or perhaps one could hear in Scott MacKay Orville Peck if he didn’t go for Baroque.

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“Press Gang” is about the shifting role in the dissemination of information and ideas, and how the prevailing narrative that the “Death of Print Media” has contributed to a “post-truth” world.

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“We wanted to be somewhere else for a spell and it was granted by whiskey, reverb and 6 beautiful, dark tunes from the early 70s. We boarded his silver spaceship looking for respite from the pandemic…”

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Artist, architect, engineer, creative director, artistic director, industrial designer, fashion designer, musician, DJ, and philanthropist, Virgil Abloh, can very much be described as a multi-hyphenate man. For Abloh, who is also the Chief Creative Director and founder of Off-White™️ and Men’s Artistic Director at Louis Vuitton, music has always run deep.

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“Writing songs for me is a way to uncover my underlying feelings about something –putting elusive emotions into tangible sentences, and coming to terms with them. My only guideline for writing these songs was to try to be as honest with myself as possible, and follow my instincts without all the self-inflicted barriers that I usually let get in the way.” – Devan

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Slowcity.ca Channel Vinyl - Chet Baker, Belle Orchestre, Kings of Leon, Buck Meek, Mütiilation, Rhye, and PJ Harvey

By Will McGuirk

Its new to us stuff I want to remember because you will and you will ask and I want to answer in the affirmative, its research for behind the counter culture, its notes to self and easier to place on a digital shelf.

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The four albums jazz legend Chet Baker recorded for Riverside label are getting a 180 g release cut from the original analog tapes. via UDiscoverMusic

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Montreal based Bell Orchestre, featuring Richard Reed Parry and Sarah Neufeld of Arcade Fire, will have a new album, 'House Music', avaialble in March, its their first in a decade. via Hot Press

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Kings of Leon announce new album, ‘When You See Yourself’, drops March. via Consequence of Sound

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Buck Meek of Big Thief will release his new album, ‘Two Saviours’ next week, Jan 15. via Glide Magazine

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Mütiilation's ‘Vampires of Black Imperial Blood’: White Whale Vinyl highlights the collectibility of metal. via Revolver Magazine 

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Rhye has a new album, ‘Home’ coming Jan 22. via Line of Best Fit

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The inimitable PJ Harvey is truckin’ along with reissues; ‘Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea’ is due February, via SuperDeluxeEditions

Slowcity.ca Channel Vinyl - Children of Bodom, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Exclaim's 2021 picks, Loretta Lynn, Shintaro Quintet, and The Roches

By Will McGuirk

Its new to us stuff I want to remember because you will and you will ask and I want to answer in the affirmative, its research for behind the counter culture, its notes to self and easier to place on a digital shelf.

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RIP Gerry Marsden, Gerry & the Pacemakers; The Guardian UK takes a deep dive into his discography. via Guardian UK

RIP Alexi Laiho, Children of Bodom; Kerrang! pays tribute. via Kerrang!

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Exclaim gets excited about 2021 upcoming releases; Daniel Lanois, Small Sins, and the Weather Station, are among the 29 featured. via Exclaim

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Loretta Lynn announces new album, ‘Still Woman Enough’, features Carrie Underwood, Tanya Tucker, and Reba McEntire. via Consequence of Sound

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Shintaro Quintet’s ‘ Evolution’ is being reissued by London UK based label BBE. via Aquarium Drunkard

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A random find in a crate brought The Roches to my ears. Three-part family harmony, maybe Bee Gees, but more maybe Adrianne Lenker, maybe First Aid Kit. The album is from New York 1979 so dropped among all the disco, punk, new wave, hip-hop going-ons in that city this from the Village.

Slowcity.ca Notes to Self - MF Doom, Denise Chaila, Ozzy, Cult of Luna, The Black Keys, and The Band,

So it begins. . . as it continues. . .

By Will McGuirk

Its new to us stuff I want to remember because you will and you will ask and I want to answer in the affirmative, its research for behind the counter culture, its notes to self and easier to place on a digital shelf.

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RIP, Rapper MF Doom remembered by Tyler the Creator, JPEGMAFIA, Q-Tip and more - via Pitchfork 

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The Guardian brings some keen forward looking with its look at some albums to look forward to in 2021, includes Denise Chaila, who is a revelation - via Guardian UK

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Ozzy’s new album will feature members of Metallica, Foo Fighters, and Red Hot Chilli Peppers - via Kerrang!

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Architects, Cult of Luna, Evanescence, Melvins; 55 albums to anticipate in 2021 - via Revolver

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‘Brothers’ is ten, Black Keys celebrate with deluxe edition - via Consequence of Sound

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Fifty years of ‘Stage Fright’; The Band’s third album will be treated to a box set which will include ‘Field Recordings’ - a jam session at The Calgary Hotel as well as ‘Live at the Royal Albert Hall 1971’. - via Super Deluxe Edition

Slowcity.ca Open Mice with Lowell, Devan, Eivør, Snotty Nose Rez Kids, James Yorkston & The Second Hand Orchestra, and Taylor Abrahamse,

By Will McGuirk

Stay apart, be apart, take a part a lifetime together, the heart won’t part even as lives are sent asunder with the swipe of a scythe, we hear of couples in hospital beds side by side, “its out of our hands” but they hold hands tight as the scythe swoops, and oh to die by your side oh the pleasure, the privilege. . .

“This song is very near and dear to me. Written at a low point in both my career and my relationship, it's simply about feeling like you belong together and being forced to be apart, which I think a lot of people can relate to at the moment.” - Lowell

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