Tag: Singer/Songwriter

Categories
Albums

Best albums of 2022: Five honourable mentions

This year will mark the sixth time I’ve done one of these end of the year, best album countdowns. Last year, even lacking the energy and the real will to pull it off, I still managed to do a more toned-down, two-part series. This year I wanted to try and do my usual six part effort, even if the word counts for each post don’t get as lofty as usual*. My goal is to share my favourites out of all the great music released this year.

On any other year, this particular post wouldn’t even exist but for some reason, this year, I couldn’t get my list down to just ten albums, no matter how hard I tried. I just had to shout out a handful more. These five are not ranked but instead, listed in alphabetical order by artist name. (Don’t worry, I’ll get back to properly ranking with the next post.)

So you can consider this a taste of things to come and if you haven’t yet given these five albums a spin, hopefully my brief words and the sample Youtube link provided will get you on the right path. Cheers!

The Afghan Whigs “How do you burn”: I’d heard the name but never listened to the alternative band from Cincinnati, even in their first go-round in the 90s. If their intense ninth studio album (third since reuniting in 2011) is any indication, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.
Check out: “A line of shots”

Andy Bell “Flicker”: For his second solo album, the founding member of Ride and former Oasis guitarist went full on double LP and it is full of swirling, ethereal, droning, and [continue to insert dream pop and psych rock adjectives here] beauty.
Check out: “Something like love”

King Hannah “I’m not sorry, I was just being me”: The debut album by this duo hailing from Liverpool, England is moody and atmospheric and cinematic, earning them favourable comparisons to Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, and maybe even Portishead.
Check out: “All being fine”

Dan Mangan “Being somewhere”: The Canadian indie folk troubadour has increased the atmospherics and production trickery on his seventh studio album but hasn’t dispensed with any of quiet but loud passion in the process.
Check out: “In your corner (for Scott Hutchison”

Sharon Van Etten “We’ve been going about this all wrong”: In my books, SVE has been one of the most consistent singer/songwriters on the indie scene in terms of producing excellent work on every outing and her sixth full-length studio might be favourite of the bunch to date.
Check out: “Mistakes”

*And even if I don’t manage to get all the posts in before the end of the year…

I’ll be back very soon with albums #10 through #6 for my Best albums of 2022 list. In the meantime, you can check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.

Categories
Live music galleries

Live music galleries: Lucy Dacus [2022]

(I got the idea for this series while sifting through the ‘piles’ of digital photos on my laptop. It occurred to me to share some of these great pics from some of my favourite concert sets from time to time. Until I get around to the next one, I invite you to peruse my ever-growing list of concerts page.)

Lucy Dacus at Bluesfest 2022

Artist: Lucy Dacus
When: July 14th, 2022
Where: SiriusXM stage, Ottawa Bluesfest, Lebreton Flats Park
Context: After more than two years of moaning and groaning about missing live music during the pandemic, I finally got out to see some live music in 2022. I played it safe and kept to outdoor concerts, many of the sets coming care of a festival pass I had purchased early in 2020, before everything went to hell. I’ve already posted about my other three favourite sets of the year (The Strumbellas, Crash Test Dummies, and The New Pornographers) and here is a fourth, this one a bit of a surprise. I’d enjoyed the last few releases by indie pop singer/songwriter Lucy Dacus but I wasn’t quite prepared for how entertaining she would be. She was quirky and fun from the get-go, and her band of usual suspect collaborators were tight. Three quarters of the set pleased the fans (yes, including me) of her aforementioned last two records and she pulled out her cover of Springsteen’s “Dancer in the dark” to give those new to her music something to chew on. Just looking at these photos has got me hoping I’ll get out to some more shows next year.
Point of reference song: “Hot & heavy”

Closeup with Lucy
Sarah Goldstone on the keys
Jacob Blizard on Guitar
Dominic Angelella on bass
More Lucy
Sarah and Dominic rocking out
And more Lucy
Categories
Tunes

Best tunes of 2013: #28 John Grant “Pale green ghosts”

<< #29    |    #27 >>

I’ve said it before on these pages and I’ll likely say it again. The lot of the opening act is a tough gig.

At the risk of dating myself here*, I’ve been going to see live music for almost three decades now and pretty much for every show to which I’ve ever been, I’ve arrived early enough to catch the lion’s share of, if not the entire set by the opening act. And I’ve been rewarded with some excellent performances for my efforts. I’ve discovered way more great bands in this way than I have had to suffer through forgettable sets. In some cases, I’ve even walked away from shows having been more impressed by the opening act.**

My practice these days, as it has been ever since music streaming has become a thing, is actually to sample the opening artist’s wares in advance of the gig and if it sounds promising, give it a proper chance to sink in beforehand. Such was the case back in the early spring of 2014, when I purchased tickets to see Elbow playing at the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto. I made it a point to check out the latest album by the solo artist starting things off.

I had never heard tell of American singer-songwriter John Grant before, nor had I heard of the alternative rock band that he had fronted for over a decade called The Czars. He had just released his sophomore album the year before, recorded with one half of electronic duo GusGus, it was apparently a bit of a departure from his first solo album. The opening track is of the same name as the album title and is the stark wake up call one would think it might be to long-time listeners.

“Pale green ghosts must take great care,
Release themselves into the air
Reminding me that I must be aware”

It is six minutes of rumbling tribal beats run through all kinds of digital distortion and augmented by bleats of synthesized horns blown by heartless robots. It is suffocating and intense and harrowing. And through it all is jaunty John Grant singing breathlessly and with purpose but in that whiplash-inducing voice that is inescapable and that commands such a presence. What a voice indeed.

*It’s probably too late.

**I made a playlist a couple of years ago inspired by all the great opening acts I’ve seen.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 2013 list, click here.