Some (relatively) new releases that have been on repeat the past few weeks:
Implodes – Black Earth – Kranky
Marissa Nadler – Marissa Nadler – Box of Cedar
Grails – Deep Politics – Temporary Residence
And some (relatively) older records for a quiet afternoon at work:
Labradford – Mi Media Naranja – Kranky
Rachel’s – Handwriting – Quarterstick
Dirty Three – Whatever You Love, You Are – Touch & Go
Yo La Tengo – And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out – Matador
Hammock – Raising Your Voice…Trying to Stop An Echo – Darla
Hammock – Chasing After Shadows…Living With the Ghosts – Hammock Music
I could listen to this band all day. The perfect blend of ambient, electronic, and shoegaze. Kenotic and Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow are equally as amazing as these records.
Belong – Common Era – Kranky
Completely different than their first record (October Language), they’ve added vocals (though they’re heavily reverbed and buried beneath distorted guitars and synths) and drums (that sound straight out of Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures) and despite the change in sound, somehow the record is even better than their last one.
I had been looking forward to seeing Low for months. I’ve probably spent more time listening to Low in the past few years than any other band I can think of. So, in my incredibly biased opinion, their set at the Mod Club on Monday night was nothing short of amazing.
Although the set focused heavily on songs from their recent album C’mon, which admittedly is not among my favourites of theirs, the new songs sounded incredible live. This isn’t to say that it’s a bad record, just average for a Low album, but in a live setting a lot of the new songs (like $20 and Majesty/Magic) really stood out and matched the beauty of their best songs. They managed to throw in one or two songs from most of their records (well, every album after Secret Name), including Canada and Last Snowstorm of the Year from my personal favourite record Trust. The real highlight of the evening came in the encore which included Canada, followed by a few audience requests Two-Step and When I Go Deaf – the latter illustrating what an amazing guitarist Alan Sparhawk really is in the finale. His harmonies with Mimi were pitch perfect the whole night as well.
Here’s hoping Low comes back sooner than the 5 years it took them between shows in Toronto this time.
And in related news: even John Stamos likes Low. Or at least I assume he does since he stars in their newest video.
Temporary Residence put out not one, but two highly anticipated new albums yesterday. Both albums are now on repeat in my headphones, and both are just amazing as expected:
Explosions in the Sky – Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
Matthew Cooper (aka Eluvium) – Some Days Are Better Than Others (Original Soundtrack)
The vinyl packaging for Take Care, Take Care, Take Care looks amazing as well. I may have to venture out to pick up a physical copy this week.
Thanks to everyone who came out to the show last night, and to anyone who picked up one of our CD’s or LP’s – we really appreciate it!
Headaches started the night with a beautiful ambient/electronic set. I definitely recommend you check out his stuff, I think everything he has is just on bandcamp on the moment, but I look forward to him putting out some physical copies of his releases too.
The American Dollar‘s set was amazing. They played quite a few songs from the albums I am most familiar with (Atlas, A Memory Stream), I picked up the rest of their discography as well – can’t wait to give them all a listen!
And, as always, Old World Vulture put on an amazing show. The new songs are sounding awesome, I can’t wait to hear the new record. I suspect that we’ll be playing with them again very soon…
A big thank you to Matt from A Mountain Far for putting together such a great night as well!
Something for your viewing enjoyment – check out OWV’s video for “Too Much Eye Makeup”
Playlist for a post-show Sunday morning:
Grouper – A I A Dream Loss / A I A Alien Observer – Yellow Electric
Looking forward to what is sure to be a great night on Saturday night at Rancho Relaxo. We’re playing with the American Dollar, Old World Vulture, and Headaches!
We’re looking into booking a couple of shows in May and June as well. We’ll keep you up to date as soon as we get any more info on those.
Now playing:
The American Dollar – A Memory Stream – Yesh Music
Dustin O’Halloran – Lumiere – Fat Cat
Low – C’mon – Sub Pop
Max Richter – Infra – Fat Cat
This year is flying by, it’s hard to believe it’s already April. But good riddance to the snow (hopefully).
But with warmer weather comes more shows in Toronto. There always seems to be quite a lull from December through February…so I’ll be making up for lost time this month and hope to catch most or all of these shows, I recommend you do the same:
The Joy Formidable – April 2nd at the Horseshoe
Jessica Lea Mayfield – April 4th at the Drake
Sharon Van Etten – April 12th at the Drake
Pantha Du Prince w/ The Sight Below – April 15th at Sneaky Dee’s
Of course American Dollar, Old World Vulture, Epigram, and Headaches – April 16th at Rancho Relaxo
The Pixies – April 19th at Massey Hall
Godspeed You Black Emperor – April 22nd at Lee’s Palace
Mogwai – April 26th at the Phoenix
Hauschka – April 28th at the Music Gallery – OR – Grails w/ James Blackshaw, Old World Vulture – Sneaky Dee’s
Battles – April 29th at the Mod Club
Playlist for today: Wires.Under.Tension – Light Science – Western Vinyl
This album doesn’t really sound like anything else I’ve heard. Very different from Christopher Tignor’s other project’s (Slow Six) classical leanings, Light Science has complicated rhythms, violins, horns, glockenspiels, electronics. Every song is pretty unconventional but still very anthemic. It will probably get labeled as post rock, but this sounds like a mix of so many genres it would really be unfair to do so. Favourite track “Position and Hold”
– Brad
Well, we’ve started a blog for the universe to read all of our trivial ramblings. We’ll try to keep things focused on music, short reviews and recommendations of shows, albums, etc. As well as any updates about what’s happening with Epigram, right now we’re just preparing for a show April 16 at Rancho Relaxo with the American Dollar and our friends Old World Vulture.
Now onto other things…
Three months into 2011 and there have already been a few records destined for the year end “best of” list:
Tim Hecker – Ravedeath, 1972 – Kranky
Recorded in Iceland with Ben Frost (whose Theory of Machines and By The Throat are also in regular rotation) in a church on an old pipe organ, the sound then manipulated and processed in a way that only Tim Hecker can. A beautiful addition to his already amazing catalogue.
Deaf Center – Owl Splinters – Type
The second release from this cello, piano duo picks up where they left off on Pale Ravine. Varying from 10 minute haunting drones (“The Day I Would Never Have”) to short Satie-esque piano pieces (“Time Spent”). A stunning album.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Belong – Slumberland
As catchy as their self-titled debut in 2009, but with a higher production budget. Fuzzy guitars sounding like early Smashing Pumpkins or Ride, synths straight from the catchiest of the Cure’s singles (“Just Like Heaven” or “In-Between Days”), and choruses that are pretty much impossible to get out of your head.
– Brad
epigram 