Archive for the 'New Album Alert' Category

Doug Burr - The Shawl

Published
by
Olivier
on August 30, 2008
in Acoustic, Folk, New Album Alert, News, On iTunes and Singer Songwriter
. 0 Comments

With two essential full lengths ‘The Sickle & the Sheaves‘ - 2003  and ‘On Promenade‘ released last year, Doug Burr is preparing a new opus : The Shawl ! And  once again, I’ve got to deal with the delicate mix of religion in music.

…Mainly right now trying to keep working on new music. First up, The Shawl, a side project of material with lyrics pulled straight from the Psalms as penned by King David himself. We’ll be heading out to record this material at a remote location in an old, old building soon. Me and the band are really looking forward to this experience. We’ll be working with On Promenade’s chief producer, Britton Beisenherz, again on this one. This will be a collection of mellow, melancholy, but beatiful tunes, ones that I feel have a universal power to move people…because there’s just something about the Psalms. They’re unflinching in their honesty and ache. And next up, finishing up the writing phase for what I hope to be the follow-up to On Promenade…
Read more on Doug Burr’s official site.

For those like me, who love Doug Burr soft-acoustic tunes, but who are simply atheist, here’s a teasing track. For the others, listen to this new opportunity increasing both your faith for God and Mr Burr !

 
 I am Weary with my Sighing - Doug Burr [2:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Well Good, I have to confess that you have found a perfect servant in the person of Mr Burr ! Even if I won’t join your herd, I will buy ‘The Shawl’ for both the music and those beautiful words, while awaiting for your coming album… I’m already chanting*!

Artist : Doug Burr
Label : Spune
Where to Buy :  ‘The Sickle & the Sheaves’ is availalble @cdbaby or @itunes - ‘On promenade’ is available @ cdbaby.com, @spune or @itunes.
You should also enjoy : Fraser Anderson, Evan Goodberry
More Appetizers : @myspace.com
*in french psalmodier is the most accurate word… yeah I used to be part of a choir !

Chad VanGaalen – Soft Airplane (2008)

Published
by
smansmith
on August 28, 2008
in Alternative, Folk, Indie, New Album Alert and On iTunes
. 2 Comments

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

 
 Molten Light from 2008's "Soft Airplane" LP [2:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 
 dead ends from 2006's "Skelliconnection" LP [3:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 
 Somewhere I Know There's Nothing from 2004's "Infiniheart" LP [4:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Jeff Hanson - Madam Owl

Published
by
Geordie
on August 28, 2008
in Acoustic, Folk, New Album Alert and Singer Songwriter
. 2 Comments

Just a quickie as I’m having a real busy day but at some point in the future maybe I or one of my fellow bloggers can come back to this.

Can you believe that Elliott Smith has been dead for almost five years now? Yup, Five years in October. In that time whenever I’ve heard anyone who I think is just trying to be a blatant copy of Elliott I have shrugged and thought ‘Ok, you’re an Elliott Smith fan, so what’? and moved on. However, I think Jeff Hanson is different. Although he is going to get compared to Elliott I feel he brings something else to that style of music, his voice for a start. When i heard the first lines of nothing would matter at all I thought it was a woman, something that happens often apparantly. Paste magazine described it as Angelic falsetto if Wikipedia is to be believed.  He also has less multitracking on his voice, something that Elliott was well known for but also his new album is more varied, especially on the dreamlike track No never mine where his voice is unbelievable ! As I say this album deserves a lot more coverage than I’m giving it now but anything is better than nothing. He’s on the brilliantly named kill rock stars label and his brand new album Madam Owl is out right now. Buy it.

09-jeff_hanson-wrong_again

And from his 2005 album..

07-this-time-it-will

 
 Jeff Hanson - Wrong again [2:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 
 Jeff Hanson - This time it will [4:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Lindsay Mac - Stop Thinking

Published
by
Olivier
on August 20, 2008
in Alternative, Folk, Jazz, New Album Alert, Pop, Rock, Singer Songwriter, chamber pop and electro
. 1 Comment

Here’s the time for another exceptional cellist : Lindsay Mac. It Should be another summer effect, but I’m irremediably attracted by strings. I hope your screen his wide enough for displaying her picture, because I do not find a way to crop it !

With an amazing repertoire : from Rock to Jazz, from Jazz to Pop, and Pop to something dealing with modern country, and then through folk via electro-folk.. - let’s call it Alternative, Lindsay is a non-stop amazing artist. I’ve been listening all day long, before writing this post, to her first full length ‘Small Revolution‘, I was surprised each time the loop repeats !
No one makes me ‘fly’ with Peter Pan but Miss Lindsay Mac : an exceptional plucked insurgent cello player (she declined the classic way) ; gifted with a supreme (delicious, amazing and sometimes surprising) voice. Well, a complete performer who can count on a wide songwriting talent… add to these previous a (need to enlarge my dictionary) great ability for composing and dressing beautiful songs… (that’s enough !)
Well, you might have guess, Lindsay Mac is releasing her second solo album this coming september : Stop thinking, and except couple tracks I have no other information to share. So here are first song called Faith from this new opus and an ‘old’ favorite Lucy. Enjoy !

 
 Faith - Lindsay Mac [3:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 
 Lucy - Lindsay Mac [4:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Low audio quality, but what an awesome track : Barbies & Broncos !

Artist : Lindsay Mac
Label : Taiga Records / Golden Rod Distribution
Where to buy : CdBaby.com, Golden Rod Distribution, Itunes
More Appetizers : sonicbids.com, myspace.com
If you love Suzanne Vega, Tory Amos (listening to Lindsay reminds me to Tory last hit of mine : Parasol), Sinead O’Connor ( for the electro-acoustic wise-range), Elvis Costello (for many songs but especially the parallels between Veronica and Lucy… ) (hum), Joe Jackson (undoubtly)…, Lindsay Mac should be your next favorite.
You should also enjoy : Mieka Pauley, Amber Rubarth (reminds me to bog about her), Me

Christian Kiefer / Jeff Pitcher / Matthew Gerken and their Presidents.

Published
by
smansmith
on August 15, 2008
in Acoustic, Americana, Folk, New Album Alert and Singer Songwriter
. 1 Comment

We all know that us Canadians love our Presidents, we are the true, north, strong and…er, hold on, I am Canadian, we don’t have Presidents! Now why would I betray my own country and support the push for Presidents this election year? Why for the September release of the 3 disc box set for the Compilation: “Of Great and Mortal Men: 43 Songs for 43 Presidencies” from Standard Recording Company.

To get an idea of the magnitude of this release (I have been waiting over 2 years!!) - you can visit the actual blog page for the writers (whom are listed in this post title) that are the life blood of the compilation. Don’t let names like Mark Kozelek, Denison Witmer, Bill Callahan and even Jamie Stewart ( Xiu Xiu for those who are not aware) woo your ears from the true prize. The real talent for this release lies in the storytelling and writing of Kiefer, Pitcher and Gerken on each of the 43 presidential vignettes. For a little background on the trio you can do your homework here - Christian Kiefer / Jeff Pitcher / Matthew Gerken, there will be a test on this later, believe me.

This all started back in 2006, during the February Album Writing Month in which the FAWM organization brings together songwriters to write an entire album of new songs during the shortest month of the year. So get this, everyone has to write (and record) a minimum of a full album within the month and submit for judging!! Truly a feat if I ever heard of one (although I consider myself the furthest thing from a writer, it is altogether impressive no matter how you look at it). Now, we find ourselves 2 and a half years later and we are getting a 3 disc release with some amazing artists and I am absolutely foaming at the mouth to receive my pre-ordered copy.

So now that you are all heading over to pre-order your copy of the release [hint, hint], let me highlight for you the roots - nay, the heart of this entire project with original songwriting and delivery from Kiefer, Pitcher and Gerken. The three tracks below are the original recordings, so we will see in a few weeks when we get a chance to review a “Before and After” scenario;

  1. George Washington performed by Christian Kiefer. When released it will feature Vince DiFiore of Cake!
     

     Christian Kiefer - “George Washington” [2:58m]:Play Now | Play in Popup

  2. Calvin Coolidge performed by Jeff Pitcher. When released, Radar Bros. will provide the rendition.
     

      Jeff Pitcher - “Calvin Coolidge” [3:44m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

  3. John Adams performed by Matthew Gerken. This will feature These United States when released.
     

     Matthew Gerken - “John Adams” [3:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

There you have it, forget Obama and McCain, support some real talent in ‘08!

    ~Smansmith

Ray LaMontagne - Gossip in the Grain

Published
by
Trini
on August 1, 2008
in Folk, New Album Alert, On Tour and Singer Songwriter
. 5 Comments

Happy Birthday Crazy Dreamers! It’s hard to believe that it’s already been a year since we started this little music blog. It’s been great getting to know my fellow bloggers throughout this year. As some of you may already know we all met and started this blog because of Ray LaMontagne. We are all anxiously awaiting the release of his new album “Gossip in the Grain” (even though it’s been delayed what seems like a million times) and looking forward to his upcoming tour. The place to be thus far is NYC, Radio City Music Hall - that’s were we’ll all be! This will be his second (correction ninth now since the release of the new dates) stop to the start of his fall tour, details listed above. Thanks to I AM Fuel, You Are Friends we have a better version of “Let It Be” for all our listening pleasure.

I also want to say thank you to all of the other crazy dreamers and people who stop by to read, listen and find new music. We appreciate your feedback and the support you give to all the artist who are kind enough to allow us to share their music and a little bit of them with you all. Here’s to another year of dreaming!

Pre-Sale Tickets Here

JJ Grey & Mofro - Chicago 7-26-08

Published
by
Laura
on July 27, 2008
in Live Performance, New Album Alert, On Tour, Soul, Southern and blues
. 2 Comments

I went and saw JJ Grey & Mofro last night in Chicago at the “Taste of Lincoln Fest” to get a little taste of some bluesy southern soul. Best $10 I ever spent (for the fest admission fee.)

I can not say enough how much I love love love LOVE these guys and god damn do they put on an amazing show. Incredible. Stunning. Gave me chills at some points they were so pee-in-your-pants-good. I saw them last year at the House of Blues but this show far surpassed that one for me by miles. I was simply enthralled the whole night. You either had to be deaf or have no rhythm to not groove and dance to JJ. I know I was shakin’ my tail feather most of the night! *shake shake*

Their album “Country Ghetto” was one of my favorites albums of last year. Definately in my top 3 of 2007. If you do not have this CD, I highly recommend that you run right out and purchase it or download it! The whole album is just fantastic.

I’ve very excited for their new release “Orange Blossoms” due out August 26th. You can pre order it: here

One of the highlight of the night was getting to hear one of their new songs off the new album called “Everything Bad is Good”. Upbeat number….I just loved it. Here is a youtube video of the new song (although not from the Chicago performance)…oooh sing it JJ!

MySpace

mofro.net

 
 JJ Grey & Mofro - Sun Is Shining Down: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 
 JJ Grey & Mofro - Tragic: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 
 JJ Grey & Mofro - Lochloosa: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download