Welcome to the third release for this resident of Calgary, Alberta, Canada (my hometown currently) and my opportunity to showcase some “local” talent. While I don’t’ exactly run into CVG along 17th Avenue or stay up jamming with the crew, I still like to think of him as a hometown artist that is out there doing his thing.
If you weren’t completely familiar with Mr. VanGaalen, previous albums “Infiniheart” in 2004 & “Skelliconnection” in 2006 would be where to start. Outside of their titles being quasi-words, they feature tracks that brought CVG to our (my) attention, most notably his welcome to Canadian Indie – “Clinically Dead”. Both links for the albums above include a couple tracks from each album for your listening pleasure. I think Infiniheart got all the press with it being his first release, but I also believe that I liked Skelliconnection more – increased growth to an eclectic sound of more keyboards, reverb (which continues on Soft Airplane as well) and his ever present just slightly too high pitched voice.
While those first paragraphs might leave you confused about who or what is Chad VanGaalen, I want you to know that when he is on, the brother is on. From tracks like “Somewhere I know there is nothing” in ’04 to “Dead Ends” in ’06 to this year’s “Molten Light”, there lies some catchy songwriting, but not too catchy to find itself on a car commercial/teen drama. While I don’t consider him a traditional singer/songwriter, I believe he has the talent for it, but he doesn’t fall into the “guy with a guitar” pigeonhole. His inclusion of keyboards, wailing guitar (at times) and a dab of “instrument unknown” for good measure sets him apart. I think his albums could actually make for an interesting installment at a gallery, and quite possibly have already done so…
Chad has been with Flemish Eye Records for a few years now (label with some other great Canadian acts such as “The Cape May” & “Women” that are worth a few spins to say the least), which is where you can purchase a copy of “Soft Airplane” upon it’s release on September 9th.
Get to know Chad below.
~Smansmith
That’s weird, I just got this album a couple of days ago.
Yeah, I just got an advance download as well, still digesting it as a full release. I can’t wait to receive my “hard copy” in a couple of weeks once officially released, a few b-sides will be included!