New tunes from Durham Region acts Jadea Kelly, Skye Wallace, Sonny Hendrixx, Devontee Woe, Jacob Henley, Rody Walker, and Shawn Mendes

By Will McGuirk

“Happy was written about the traditional narrative of motherhood and marriage. What is a woman’s societal worth and identity outside of her basic anatomy? Despite what society and history unconsciously imprints on a woman, the independent solitary and childless woman is equally whole. This song celebrates the choice and freedom to joyfully do whatever makes you happy in this one beautiful life. Our generation has the choice to reinvent what has been unconsciously expected of us. ‘Do whatever makes you happy’. - Jadea Kelly

Now y’all know I have been a fan of Darth Jadea for quite the time and not just because of her clear as crystal vocals, and her deep love of the folk tradition and her canny sense of song but also and mostly for her bravery and her honesty in her creativity. She looks inwards and calls it out and in her callings we find moments of ourselves. Jadea has a new album due in a couple of months, so put away your $$ now.

Many other kats and kits and all in-between from the D-Rawk have been laying out their own hearts and minds in new tunes, including Kelly compatriot from Protest The Hero Rody Walker working under the covers in a new project. Both Sonny Hendrix and Devontee Woe bring the Rap spirituals and big time dude Shawn Mendes also goes for the heart on his new track, although maybe more heart break for the Pickering dude truth be told.

And “Truth Be Told” is the latest the from the enigmatic rocker Skye Wallace. We anxiously waiting for new tunes from Skye after seeing her open for Crown Lands recently at the Biltmore Theatre. So good.

And speaking of the Biltmore, the Newcastle On. via Dublin Ire. via Newcastle On. singer/songwriter Jacob Henley has an album release at the downtown Oshawa venue skedded for Feb 4. Our Cobourg pal Cale Crowe opens. Pray to the Corona Gods for that to happen.

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Radio Zeitgeist: best of the new vinyls includes Miles Kane, Billy Nomates, Amanaz, and Jake Xerxes Fussell

By Will McGuirk

Scour your local records store for these waxy droppings Jan 21. Some great pop tracks here starting with the Mod sounds of Miles Kane on his disc ‘Change the Show.’. Kane is ex- Last Shadow Puppets the band he co-founded with Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys. Taking his cue from the Northern Soul clubs of yore Kane gives you every reason to look good on the dance floor.

Mods had a hand in Brit no-waver Billy Nomates as well, Sleaford Mods that is. It was at a gig by the two piece raging ravers one Tor Maries aka Billy Nomates found her calling. Her 2020 debut is on vinyl this week. Its a rager of its own, with underpinnings of the Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde and Emily Haines of Metric.

‘Africa’ was released in 1973 by Zam-rock act Amanaz but has garnered some more modern attention via the soundtrack of Netflix hit series Ted Lasso. Amanaz broke up in 76 so there you have it.

On ‘Good and Green Again’ Jake Xerxes Fussell picks his way through Americana like a magpie, plucking gems of notes, notes shining like a National guitar, notes which were passed form eye to eye and ear to ear by the countless nameless. Fussell has opened for Wilco and Bill Callaghan and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy appears on the record.

Chastity's new album 'Suffer Summer: a review

By Will McGuirk

At the core of what Brandon Williams, aka Chastity, does is community. He is a dissolver of differences and a gatherer of commonalities. From his days as a hometown Dungeon kid to his present release ‘Suffer Summer’ his intentions seem to be, more than seems to be, to be honest, to bring the disparate and perhaps the desperate together. 

His notorious DIY barn shows in north Whitby (his hometown) were icons of that idea. Those gigs were country backyard shenanigans with Metz, K-Os, as well as local Durham Region bands Mary + Adelaide and Wooly. At a gig in TO I saw him perform, he brought on Alexisonfire for the encore and they carried him on their shoulders, a happier kid I don’t think I have ever seen. Heroes as pals, does it get any better.

He also once took over the Whitby Courthouse Theatre for a gig with Dizzy, and once again it was an intimate collection of folks who became friends by the end. He has the knack. His songs too have that knack.

The new album ‘Suffer Summer’ on Dine Alone, also is a gathering; Williams welcomes in. He has co-writes with Stefan Babcock of PUP on a couple of tracks , David Mitchell from Gulfer plays bass, and Dallas Green of City & Colour duets with him on “Vicious Circle,” a co-write with his wife Linnea Siggelkow, aka Ellis.

Chastity’s desire to reach-out, work with, blend, blur, applies to the sounds too. It’s hard to pigeonhole this kat in a rock ‘n roll genre. Even if one could it says more about the reviewer than the review but either way here goes, showing my age - Williams is adventurous an artist as Robert Smith of the Cure, an act I would lean into for Chastity on the basis of a previous track, “The Girls I Know Don’t Think So” from the album ‘Home Made Satan. Williams is as willing to play around with expectations and challenge his audience, to challenge himself, but, although Chastity has the melodic sensibility of Smith he also has 30 years of something else; and what that is is bands he has seen in-person, in dark clubs, small clubs, within the camaraderie of the audience, in the sweaty connections of the mosh-pit, and that is what Chastity is at his core and somehow within all the noise, all of the punk, all of the pummelling, all of the thrash, all of the suburban angst, all the orchestrations, all the righteous rage that there is on ‘Suffer Summer’, it is the innate empathy for others that carries this album. There’s a humanity in this music that, again, showing my age, I can only recall feeling in the Clash and Fugazi, and Broken Social Scene, and even BSS is two decades ago so what do I know, but I know it when I hear it and I hear it in Chastity.

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Mad Ones, Broken Social Scene, Sarah Hiltz, Tennyson King, Scott Hardware, Sam Weber, AHI, Particle Kid, and Misfire

By Will McGuirk

"It's a poem for time and distance and whether or not peace and prosperity are possible amidst chaos. It is a meditation on our proximity to circumstances and our enduring love for those who contribute something powerful in our lives.“ - Andrew Devillers, Mad Ones

“Life isn’t easy in the music industry or with any dream you want to achieve. It’s full of ups and downs, people who don’t believe in you, but we need to acknowledge this, step out of our comfort zone and keep at it.” - Tennyson King

"My mom lived near this lake for a while, and whenever I’d go to visit her, I’d want to walk along the shore and have a moment. She’d always tell me before heading out to watch out for the water snakes.” - Scott Hardware

“This track is about quitting everything you’re passionate about and trying something else - and the process of returning to that first thing with a new perspective and taking stock of all your changes.” - Sam Weber

‘Fractured’ unearths the feelings of uncertainty and dread we were faced with in 2020. Inspired by the current state of the world, it delves into the madness that is the pandemic. The song poses the question, ‘What’s left of who we are?,’ as we are left with humanity divided and fractured. - James Nicademus, Misfire

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Radio Zeitgeist: best of this week's vinyl drops includes M(h)aol, Punch Brothers, The Kernal, and more

By Will McGuirk

Expected drops of new vinyls Friday Jan 14 include the debut album ‘Gender Studies’ from the post-punk Irish act M(h)aol. Recorded in three days by the five piece the album stomps alongside Sonic Youth calling out male white corporate oppression and The Slits asking “Who invented the typical girl?” but add on a couple of decades of “in this modern age so little change” fuelling the tunes.

‘Hell on Church Street’ is the new record from the Punch Brothers. The album is a tribute and reimagining of the late Tony Rice’s ‘Church Street Blues.’ The band says ““No record (or musician) has had a greater impact on us, and we felt compelled to cover it in its entirety, with the objective of interacting with it in the same spirit of respect-fueled adventure that Tony brought to each of its pre-existing songs.” The album includes tracks by Bill Monroe, Gordon Lightfoot and Bob Dylan and is available on Nonesuch.

The Kernal also tips the hat to those prior to him on his album ‘Listen to the Blood”. His father was a bass player at the Grand Ol Opry for three decades and The Kernal aka Joe Garner has over the last couple of albums tried to get inside his music and find his own space within his country heritage and the modern age.

Oshawa three piece, Spirit Josh - the band to watch for in 2022

By Will McGuirk

There were some great bands floating around the D-Rawk in 2021; Crown Lands, Dizzy, Lindsay Schoolcraft, Tania Joy, Hollowsage. The OMAs spotlighted even more but flying under the radar is Spirit Josh, a band I am quite excited about and the excitement runs in the family so to speak.

I wrote this review on the band’s self-titled debut album back in the times. . .

On God? . . . Lo-fi saloon blues, fragile freak folk, and cautious country tremblings, shambolic ramblings even - its for everyone, its for fans of Kurt Vile, Kalle Mattson, The Band, Chad Vangaalen, John Prine, its a new collection from Spirit Josh, a TO trio from the shades of Shwarock City, its a dog-leg, a left turn, a lantern layered with paint, brushed with loons and cut-up conversations, snatches of plots hatching, and maybe even in there in the back of it, underneath the roots of it something of Daniel, Fred and Julie. And above it all the high spirits of Matt Jonn, Sam and Alex.

Cullen McGuirk co-produced this short documentary on the band and I asked him the story behind it all.

Slowcity.ca: Why did you choose Spirit Josh? 

Cullen McGuirk: “The creation of Spirit Josh (The Documentary) came from an assignment I was given in college. The assignment was to create a short documentary, 4-6 minutes in length. In my first idea, I was going to choose my brother, Aidan's, band, ‘Mary & Adelaide’. Due to the connection I already had, the story behind it, and the convenience of it being my brother's band so getting rights to music or interviewing him would not be any trouble. My brainstorming led me to desiring a documentary on a band but I later chose to focus upon Aidan’s friends’ band, ‘Spirit Josh.’ Matt Jonn Lewis, Sam Szigeit, and Alex Nunes are a trio of wonderful and creative artists. The story behind the band and the sound really resonated with me and I landed on choosing them as my creative subject since they had an impressive and unique style that aligned with how I wanted my movie to look.”

SC: How did the music inspire the visuals?

CM: “Their entire style impacted the visuals since they had a grounded and consistent style. The film/vintage look, the coziness, the pastel colors, 4:3 ratio, and overall attention to detail and reminiscing on the past. One part that really speaks to this question is in our intro where we tied the timing of the xylophone to the real life capture of it being played. We establish its existence by using the notes as sonic transitions and then use the actual timing to transition to the real instrument itself. When working with the ‘Spirit Josh’ guys and their home footage, we discovered how much we loved their style and how it would completely revert and change the entire film's style. The true goal was to embrace the coziness that I feel when I listen to the debut album, due to its soft sounds, lo-fi production, stacked harmonious vocals that harken to folk artists of the past but flow with the new age.”

Radio Zeitgeist: Hear tracks from Curse of Lono, Lincoln, Lisa, Somali Yacht Club, Treetop Flyers, and Working Men's Club

By Will McGuirk

So here go, 2022, driving into the new year with the latest new vinyl due out Friday Jan 7.

‘People in Cars’ from Curse of Lono, from London UK captures that long romance between motors and music. Singer-songwriter Felix Bechtolsheimer says “When I first got clean, I used to feel like running away a lot. Whenever things got too much I'd jump in my uncle's Jeep and drive along the ocean, all the way from Boynton to Miami and back again, blasting Rolling Stones records until I felt better.” This album will take you on a similar trip, and you should come out all the better for it.

Lincoln’s 2017 EP, ‘A Constant State of Ohio’, winds its wordy way in a vein similar to Dan Mangan and the Weakerthans and maybe Arctic Monkeys. I thinks its a bit shabby these days to describe bands in terms of other bands because we are all in our own channels but yah worth a listen, several listens actually.

Somali Yacht Club are releasing ‘The Sun.’ Some driven psychedelic stoner rock from the Ukrainian act. on this debut.

Radio Zeitgeist: Hear tracks by Durutti Column, L’éclair, Dr. Lonnie Smith and Iggy Pop, Pablo Infernal, and Las Dianas

By Will McGuirk

Not much coming down the pipes as it is the year-end. Most outlets will be looking back, maybe some will be looking up, we here at SlowCity will be looking forward as usual. There are of course records still being released and here are the ones scheduled for this week that caught our ears.

Durutti Column are releasing the 2010 ‘A Paean to Wilson’; Tony Wilson was the head of Factory Records and the band’s erstwhile manager, and he had passed away in 2007. The album is a tribute to Wilson and the track “Brother” is a take on Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’, by way of label mates Joy Divison’s “Atmosphere”. Great track.

L’éclair, a Swiss techno-psyche band have the album ‘Confusions’ dropping this week and we are digging the jammy Madchester vibes of “Timbacrack”, vibes it must be said were energized by the aforementioned Tony Wilson.

Iggy Pop would have energized Wilson’s own vibe. The punk icon doesn’t restrict himself to gnarly raw power rock but dives wholeheartedly into a variety of everything which may only have the common denominator of being cool. This week Dr. Lonnie Smith releases ‘Breathe’ on Blue Note. Its a live album recorded at the NY club Jazz Standard on the occasion of his 75th birthday. The album also includes collaborations with 74 year-old Iggy, a cover of Donovan’s “Sunshine Superman” and included here cos its cooler, “Why Can’t We Live Together”. Thats almost 150 years of cool together!!

Mixing cool and Swiss timing are Pablo Infernal, a glamped up garage affair from Zurich. Their record ‘Mount Angeles”, mastered at Jack White’s Third Man Studios, has some strut.

From Spain, slightly warmer than Switzerland, but just as cool is Las Dianas, somewhat a Spanish Go Gos and/or B52s. Their debut album ‘Lo Que Te Pida El Cuerpo’, is out and ya no idea, I don’t speak Spanish but I do speak Dance!!

Don't forget, Glass Tiger's Alan Frew to play Beatles-style roof-top Dec 20

By Will McGuirk

The roof of the Back Door Mission in Oshawa will host Alan Frew of Glass Tiger. Frew will be playing the Regent Theatre on the evening but will perform at 11:30 am on top of the Mission.

Alan Frew is a multi-platinum selling songwriter, public speaker and author of the best-selling book ‘The Action Sandwich-A Six Step Recipe to Success by Doing What You’re Already Doing’.

His work with Glass Tiger has garnered him five Juno Awards, a Grammy nomination and five Canadian Classic Awards in recognition of songs that have been played in excess of 100,000 times on Canadian Radio. Additionally, Frew co-wrote ‘I Believe’ (the theme song for CTV's coverage of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games) with Stephan Moccio,. He also co-wrote the title track from Johnny Reid’s Juno-Nominated album “Fire it Up”,which was coincidentally also recording by the legendary Joe Cocker.

This is a fundraising event presented by Paul Koidis and Kim Bathija, in association with the Oshawa Chamber of Commerce. Back Door Mission is located at 66 Simcoe Street South. This event will be recorded for an upcoming cross-Canada Bell Media series.

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Best Coast, Yukon Blonde, Begonia, Cat Power, Jarvis Church, Blake Morgan, The Crowleys, Matt Pike, and Felly

By Will McGuirk

“You don’t really need to compete with yourself, you just need to challenge yourself.” - Jeffrey Innes, Yukon Blonde

“. . . I’m a work in progress and always will be” - Felly

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The Crowleys · Lampshade

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Radio Zeitgeist: Hear tracks by Ajak Kwai, Claptone, Gare Du Nord, Komodor, Jah Wobble, and Paul Weller

By Will McGuirk

Radio Zeitgeist spotlights the best of the week’s vinyl releases scheduled for a drop on Friday. This week we spotlight tracks by Claptone, Gare Du Nord, Komodor, Jah Wobble, and Paul Weller, plus a whole lot more. Dig in. It is available on the Spotify platform. Subscribe, Follow, Like, whatever it is they do, do it there. We have been doing the RZ roundup for a while so there’s an archive too.

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Jadea Kelly, Ruby Singh, Simon and the Island, Jordan Klassen, Edwin Raphael, Mauvey, and Neil Young

By Will McGuirk

“Maybe this is the heart of wisdom; knowing when to indulge and knowing when to abstain." - Jordan Klassen

“However you realize maybe love isn’t about being realistic and the past isn't foreshadowing the present either. You got to dive in or you’re lying to yourself.” - Edwin Raphael

“Love, at the end of the day, is real and unpredictable.” - Mauvey

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Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Chastity, Cots, Kyla Charter, Ellen Froese, Charlotte Day Wilson, Begonia, Rachel Bobbitt, Wet Leg, and Sam Weber,

By Will McGuirk

“It's about the feeling of not being heard, and just wanting to escape the cycle of thought - planning your next move, and thinking and thinking about what you could say to make them hear and understand you.” - Ellen Froese

“I was taught to believe that there was always a right or wrong and beyond that, that there was a heaven and hell waiting for us after we die and we just had to live our lives accordingly to end up in either place. I had a lot of fear of screwing up and a lot of fear of the unknown. As I've grown, all of those binary ways of thinking have more or less been shattered.” - Begonia

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