Show Alert: Arkells take a Michigan Left

Arkells @ The Shelter
Detroit
Fri., March 2


Arkells leave "Jackson Square," take a Michigan Left and accelerate their trademark harmonies to well above the limit. Never asking "Where U Going," the Hamilton, Ont. rockers sound more mature, and not just "On Paper." On stage they never have "One Foot Out The Door," according to all the CBC Radio 3 listeners who voted them Best Live Act. Their new record will open the eyes and ears of the nascent Arkells fan, and further strengthen the band's "Bloodlines." Take that and a strong "Coffee" to your next "Book Club."

Show Alert: ISLANDS - Wed Feb 29 - Pontiac, MI

Islands WSGs @ Magnetic Recording Studio

http://www.thecrofoot.com/events/1768.html

http://www.rksrecording.com/rental-halls-in-oakland-county.htm

http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/artists/Islands

	Wed Feb 29, 2012
	Pontiac, Mich. (map)

Show Alert: Elliott BROOD

Thurs., Feb. 23
Magic Stick Lounge, Detroit
With Patrick Davy and the Ghosts

Bringing a little Northern Air to the winter that wasn't in Michigan, death country trio Elliott BROOD (Hamilton/Toronto) return to Detroit for the first time since 2009. We saw them three times last year (New Year's Eve at Lee's Palace in Toronto, Windsor's Capitol Theatre and Phog Phest III), and already braved one of the season's only snowstorms last month to catch them in Sarnia; they never bring anything but their all to a show. Celebrating 10 years as a band in 2012, their latest album, Days Into Years, chips away at the gritty death country label with a mellower vibe, but you can be sure of a foot-stomping, pan-clanging close to the show.

Show Review: You Will Hear Voices

During last year's CBC Radio 3 Bucky Awards, one of the most hotly debated categories was Best Live Act. We'd seen three of the nominees: Rich Aucoin, Library Voices and Fucked Up. (We'll see the winners,  Arkells, on Mar. 2 in Detroit.) There was a lot of fervent love for Rich Aucoin, and with good reason. A Fucked Up show is an intense punk communion. But the majority of our votes went to Library Voices, for their gimmick-free performances built on the strength of sheer personality, musical and lyrical talent, enthusiasm and some of the most fun we've ever had at a show.

Summer of Lust, a second alt-pop gem featuring Mike Dawson's erudite lyrics (and on stage, his amusingly, sometimes alarmingly, tipsy keyboard stand), was still going strong when after a long 18-month wait, Library Voices returned to Windsor's Phog Lounge on Oct. 30, 2011 (read our first show review here). We've been fortunate to enjoy the band in this intimate setting when they're selling out much larger venues, which makes their traditional closing singalong, this time to Lennon's "Oh Yoko!", all the more like a house show. Already known for resilience-- they lost their instruments not once, but twice in one year due to theft and flood-- singer Carl Johnson more than embodied it that evening. He sang the entire set after pulling out a molar he'd broken the night before when he hit himself in the mouth with a mic.

Waterloo's Will Currie & The Country French opened, and what a difference a year made since we saw them in Sept. 2010. Certainly their previous show was good, but this performance was much heartier. Currie seemed shy before; this time he was clearly confident and at ease. Their first full-length album, Awake, You Sleepers!, is a familiar friend now, released in October 2011 after a long delay. The band is a bit hard to pin down genre-wise. Even their own artist page on Radio 3 uses five different adjectives: alt pop, retro pop, dancehall, indie rock and piano beat. Identity crisis? No, they're all accurate.

The Pack Are Back!

Vancouver BC's The Pack a.d. return to the Motor City supporting their most recent album Unpersons and joining Toronto's Our Lady Peace on their Urban Grind Tour.

Saint Andrew's Hall
April 7, 2012
Detroit, MI
Ticket info here.

Once again, bring your earplugs. You have been warned.


Photo: Russ Gordon/N2D Images

JUNO NOMINEES

Congratulations to the 2012 JUNO nominees. While we're more attuned to the Polaris Prize and the CBC Radio 3 Bucky Awards (wink wink), we appreciate all the nominations the artists and musicians we know from CBC Radio 3 received. A JUNO nod will allow these wonderful people to be seen and heard by a much larger audience and hopefully get them the recognition they have earned and deserve.

Arcade Fire, City and Colour, Deadmau5, The Sheepdogs, Feist, Arkells, Sam Roberts Band, Dan Mangan, Diamond Rings, Lindi Ortega, Braids, Hey Rosetta!, Mother Mother, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Dallas Green, Jim Cuddy, Ron Sexsmith, Cuff The Duke, Jenn Grant, Destroyer, Fucked Up, Timber Timbre, Lights, Sloan, Matthew Good, Colin Stetson, Coeur de Pirate, Malajube, Classified, D-Sisive, Kardinal Offishall, Swollen Members, Duck Sauce, Good Lovelies, The Deep Dark Woods, The Wailin’ Jennys, Twilight Hotel, Socalled, Jannie McInnes (Art Director), Robyn Kotyk, Graydon Sheppard, Sammy Rawal, Petra Cuschieri (Designers), Heather Goodchild (Illustrator), Taylor Kirk (Art Director/Photographer), Robyn Kotyk (Designer), Nina Nielsen (Photographer), John JP Poliquin, Jon Busby, Jose Lourenco, Michael Maxxis, Mike Roberts, Anthony Seck, Chip Sutherland, Elinor Svobodo/Salazar, Tegan Quin, Sara Quin, Piers Henwood, Nick Blasko, Austra, Junior Boys, Tim Hecker, Anvil, Cauldron, Devin Townsend Project, Fuck The Facts, KEN mode.

Show Alert: Will Currie & The Country French

Fri., Feb. 3
Nite Owl Lounge, London, Ont.

Sat., Feb. 4
Phog Lounge, Windsor
With: Menos Mal (Windsor)


Listen to the classic piano-driven alt pop of Waterloo's Will Currie & The Country French, and it's hard to believe that Currie was a percussion major in university and has never had formal piano lessons, as he reveals in an interview with Amanda Putz on Bandwidth (with WC&TCF drummer Aaron Mariash).

But the piano is, after all, as much a percussion as a stringed instrument. Currie admits he'd "fiddled around" with keyboard instruments for a long time, so no wonder it proved the perfect medium.You can also hear Currie and Mariash discuss the inspirations behind the band's great debut full-length album, Awake, You Sleepers!; hear it live in both London and Windsor this weekend. We've seen them twice before, and we think you'll find it a Whale of a good time.

Fare Thee Well, Wheat Pool

Ever heard a song by a band that seems as if it was written just for you? That perfectly captures a time and place in your life, emotionally, literally?

For us, that song is "This Is It" by The Wheat Pool. It came along at a time of endings and beginnings, of uncertainty and leaps of faith. And hearing it performed live-- and other songs we love-- in an almost private setting, made that evening one of our top shows, and most treasured moments, of last year.

So we were saddened to learn that The Wheat Pool has announced that it no longer exists as a band. You'll get no hand-wringing from us; we wouldn't be where we are today if we didn't change and grow. They left us with two beautiful albums. We're just disappointed there won't be any more. We know we haven't heard the last from them. Mike Angus has already released a fine solo album, and Glen Erickson launched a music video company, Heavy Grain. We wish them all well in their new endeavors, as we offer a fare thee well.

From The Wheat Pool:

“No one knows how to begin to say something they don’t want to say.  And we are men, it is especially difficult.  This March 23, 2012, it will be the seven year anniversary of the first show the four of us played as The Wheat Pool.  It will also be the last show we play together as The Wheat Pool.


It is hard to name the exact reason why, although we know we are going to be asked a fair bit.  From the beginning The Wheat Pool was a relationship; it was the convergence of two brothers, and the uniting of four guys who cared as much about each other as they did the music. It was a really really good thing. So who can explain how a relationship changes?  When it began it was compelling and sweet; it was four guys coming together to find something special.  In seven years we have had the best times and the worst times of our lives, on and off the road.  That particular “something special” which bound us together and moved us forward appears to be gone, and we aren’t the types to try and force it, manufacture it, or fake it.  We would rather burn bright and burn out.  We have admitted that we aren’t four guys in the same place anymore, and that makes it really hard to be a great band.  So we are moving on.


We of course have an impossible amount of people we could thank, because of the incredible gratitude we feel for the opportunities we have had over these years.  We worked our ass off for those opportunities, very little was handed to us, but we shared all of them with as much grace and love as we could for the people we shared them with, the people who opened their doors, venues, stations and homes to us.  If you have known us, hosted us, played with us, watched us or bought our music, please know how deeply grateful we are for the opportunity.  The memories are so rich.”

Much love,
Mike, Robb, Stephane, and Glen

So, I guess this is it.







Photo: Russ Gordon/N2D Images

VIDEO - The Pack a.d. - Sirens

"The Pack a.d.'s first single, Sirens, off of their album, Unpersons. Finally, we have our video for it thanks to the direction of Lloyd Choi and the erratic styles of Mr. Josh."

~ via The Pack a.d.

Show Review: Said The Whale - We Are The City

Canadian indie shows coming through Metro Detroit can be a lot like rare bird sightings. They happen with little warning and appear at odd times. Most people aren't even aware of the event. Some people see them and don't know the significance. But for a few, getting a glimpse of the Vancouver whale warbler or the Kelowna mourning dove and hearing their songs is something special.

We're kidding about the birds, but the bands are real. On Sun., Oct. 16, Vancouver's Said The Whale and Kelowna, BC's We Are The City flew into town for their first visit to Michigan at the Crofoot's Pike Room, earning a spot on our top shows of 2011 list.













We Are The City had a fly-by last March when they played Windsor's Phog Lounge. This time the band-- Cayne McKenzie at the mic and keys, Andrew Huculiak at the kit and guitarist David Menzel-- brought their forte/piano, creative, progressive alt pop to Pontiac. We love McKenzie's agile, Broadway musical vocals and the variety of their songs . Some have jazz inflections, some are just fun, some are thoughtful; some are just bites of musical bliss like "Dark/Warm Air" (with Huculiak taking a turn at singing).

Whether Said The Whale is winning America remains to be seen, but they'd won us over even before "Emerald Lake, AB," became our NXNE 2010 theme song. In 2011, they won over Juno voters to take home the New Group of the Year award; their video for "Lines," an homage to the movie Back to the Future, was voted Best Video by CBC Radio 3 listeners in the 2011 Bucky Awards. The band is personable, engaging and earnest, on stage and off. So are their irresistible songs that frequently evoke a strong sense of place ("Mermaid sits on a tide-washed rock in the harbour..."), and robust harmonies led by heartthrob Tyler Bancroft's appealing tenor to Ben Worcester's grainier counterpoint.

As the band prepares to release Little Mountain, the much-anticipated follow-up to their debut LP Islands Disappear, in March, whale-watchers will be happy to know the band is returning in April with not one, but two dates: Apr. 16 at Windsor's Capitol Theatre, and Apr. 17 at PJ's Lager House in Detroit. No binoculars required.

Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images

NEW VIDEO ~ CATL - A Sun's Grave

catl - A Sun's Grave

Our Top Shows of 2011

Notice something conspicuously absent in that title? The number 10.

Out of the 108 bands/performers we saw in 2011, we couldn't choose just 10. Because it's our blog and we'll do what we want to, here is our list, in chronological order, of our top shows from last year. Our criteria: it just had to be an experience that for whatever reason-- musically, emotionally, artistically-- was particularly memorable out of all the great shows we saw. Truly, we are continually amazed by the talent that's out there in Canadian indie. Note: since we did a Top Ten list for NXNE, we did not include any of those shows here.

Jenny Omnichord, Wax Mannequin

Les Jupes, Wheat Pool

The Rural Alberta Advantage

(wh)y.m.e.(??), Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, Rich Aucoin, Gobble Gobble (now Born Gold)

My Son the Hurricane, D-Sisive (with Muneshine)

Hey Rosetta!

Fucked Up

Parlovr, Handsome Furs

Great Lake Swimmers

The Besnard Lakes, Malajube

We Are The City, Said The Whale

Will Currie & the Country French, Library Voices

Shred Kelly

Field Assembly, The Locusts Have No King, Sunparlour Players, The Sadies

Danny Michel

VIDEO ~ I Won't Try To Break Your Heart • Crissi Cochrane

"I Won't Try To Break Your Heart", the single from folk/pop artist Crissi Cochrane's Pretty Alright EP (Nov 2011). Directed and shot by Sasha Jordan Appler at the Phog Lounge in Windsor, Ontario, featuring a white dress made by Crissi.    




Thanks to Tom and Frank at Phog, and all the locals who took part.


For more info or to buy music, please visit


www.crissicochrane.com

It's not like we're bitter*

... about all the business cards we'll have to change now that we finally got rid of our clunky Twitter handle.

You can now tweet us at:  @n2ds2w

Yaa, we get it.

*With thanks to Shad

Hunting for a Hands & Teeth CD?

That's right, boys and girls. TWO of you can be the proud owners of Hands & Teeth's debut full-length album, Hunting Season, which will be officially released on Jan. 17. If you can attend their upcoming show on Fri., Jan. 13 at Windsor's Phog Lounge, the first two people to email us will receive a Hands & Teeth - Hunting Season CD.
US and Canada only, please.







 Listen here: http://mandrillproductions.com/handsandteeth/huntingseason/


From the band's CBC Radio 3 artist page:

"Hands & Teeth, a Toronto-based five-piece, demonstrate what can be created when friends unite through a love of good food and complex harmonies. Hands & Teeth's sound is an artful fusion of pop, classical composition, angular guitar rock and inventive rhythms. It tastefully sweeps from whisper-quiet ballads to roaring anthems, reflecting each member’s eclectic past. Since the band is composed of musicians who were leaders of their own individual projects, each member takes an active role in all elements of production, from song writing to lead vocals." Listen

Road Trip!

We're pretty lucky when it comes to Canadian indie bands playing the Metro Detroit/Windsor area. But if bands we want to see don't come to N2D-- well, N2D will go to the bands.

http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/?p=11593

Sarnia's an easy hour drive for us; we've even hauled to London and back. So when we found out The Besnard Lakes and Malajube were playing Oct. 5 in Kalamazoo, and Hollerado the next night in East Lansing, the answer to "What are we going to do?" was "Road trip!"

Although paired with The Besnard Lakes, one of our top 10 shows of 2010 and an all-around favourite (review here), we would have journeyed to the land of K-Zoo just to see Malajube making their first appearance in Michigan. It's a shame most of the crowd at The Strutt that night were probably saying "Mala-who?", because this award-winning Francophone band and their intelligent, nuanced, melodic rock deserves a much wider audience.

They've been around since 2004; they scored the film The Trotsky; the last three of their four albums have all been either short- or long-listed for the Polaris Music Prize. The way we see it, there are no barriers, linguistic or otherwise, to appreciating great music. So we applaud the one person who shouted "Porte disparu!" Lead singer Julien Mineau politely declined the request; instead, with one exception ("Cristobald" from Labyrinthes), their entire set list was made up of songs from their latest album, La Caverne.


After a stay at the budget-friendly and tres acceptable Red Roof Inn Kalamazoo East, we headed for East Lansing by way of the Gilmore Car Museum and a lot of rural roads through rolling farmland. Our destination: Macs Bar, a blast from the past for one of us and a venue so no-frills it doesn't even need an apostrophe.


























With their water-spouting, confetti showers and other on-stage antics, we can't think of a band better suited for a college town than Hollerado.We'd been trying to catch up with them since NXNE 2010, when six months after winning $250,000 in a contest, they not only rocked Toronto's Hard Rock Cafe but let the audience order whatever they wanted on the rocks with a 10-minute open bar on their tab.

Look beyond the frat house mentality and you'll find pop rock with irresistibly catchy hooks and singalong lyrics that range from clever to poignant to whimsical. They were nominated for a Juno in 2011 (Best New Group, which went to Said The Whale). Their catalog of videos are as fun and engaging as their music ("Americanarama" has more than a million views and won Best Video in the 2010 CBC Radio 3 Bucky Awards; "Good Day At The Races," which features the band racing ostriches, was also nominated for Best Video). Even their website is a hoot. Although they've released some new singles recently, we know there are a lot of fans waiting for a follow-up to the enormously popular Record In A Bag; count us among them.

Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images,
Lincoln photo --->  http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/?p=11593