Bass Lions - ...Is Diamonds (Early Review!)

We haven't heard all that much from Hamilton's Bass Lions for awhile and I'm sure the fans, like myself, were hoping that this was all for a good reason. 2007's More Than Islands was pretty much perfect, not only as a collection of excellent songs in an individual sense, but also in terms of production and in the way that the album presented itself nicely as one flowing piece of music. I'm not sure if that was the band's intention, but I found it hard to separate the tracks, as the whole EP worked so well together. Still, as good as it was, it still felt like a teaser and it left me with a feeling that the band's best work was still ahead of us. Their latest upcoming release, ...Is Diamonds, hints at the fact that this assumption certainly held true, as well as adding credence to the fact that the time away was likely spent honing this stellar piece of work.

While it still keeps that sublime formula of soulful, melancholic indie pop in tact, this latest work boasts an even larger sound that borders on anthemic, while still remaining quite intimate thanks in part to Nathan Stretch's captivating baritone whisper. The most immediately noticeable thing about this particular release is that it has to be the crispest, cleanest production I've ever heard on an independent release. For example, there's a moment at the start of the song New Intuition where you can faintly hear a female voice say "ok", and when I first listened to this on my iPod while standing on the subway, I actually turned around twice to see who was saying this behind me. The sound is that clear and uncluttered. There are other moments like the opening drums in Wind Up Bird [the creeping glacier] or the acoustic picking in You Brought The Bass that really needs to be experienced in headphones to appreciate to the greatest extent. The album was recorded at Last Ounce Studios (Fox Jaws, Oh No Forest Fires) and mastered at Bova Sound (Bahamas, Zeus), which no doubt explains its superior sound. Still, all of this would be pointless if the songs were not up to par, and this release's 22 minutes ends way too early. One of the highlights for me is the opening track Dynamite Quartz, which boats some subtle keyboard work coupled with some beautifully poetic lyricism and some nice harmonies. I also really like Goodbye, Mouth, which is a song who's lyrics sound comical when read back on paper, yet heartbreaking when set to music.

Like the previous release, it's brevity leaves you wanting more, although I've discovered that both albums when played together make for a very satisfying length; just enough to tie me over until the band releases a full length, should they choose to do so. In the meantime, I recommend throwing this one on your player, getting yourself some good quality headphones, and settling in to the crisp, clean sounds of Bass Lions.

Bass Lions ...Is Diamonds is scheduled for release within the next few months. More updates when they come available.

Myspace: Bass Lions
Video: Goodbye Mouth @ Groundswell, Alliston ON on youtube

Other stuff:
The magic pairing of M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel, known by many as She & Him, have released their second album together today, the brilliantly entitled Volume Two, which is reported to have an even more unabashed old school country feel than the first one. The album is streaming for free on Exclaim until March 29th. They're playing The Phoenix on June 9th. [Myspace: She & Him]

Teenage Fanclub finally have a new album set to be released on June 8th on Merge. It's called Shadows, and judging by the free track Baby Lee, which is available as a free download on Pitchfork, it's going to be more of that perfect power pop that we've come to expect and love by Sctoland's favourite popsters.They begin a tour of the U.K. in May, and they'll be following with an American tour later in the year, that I can only hope will showcase a Toronto date as well. [Myspace: Teenage Fanclub]

For those that had to miss this year's Wavelength 500 festival, or for those that simply didn't get to catch as much of it as they would have liked to, Joe at Mechanical Forest Sound has put together an amazing compilation that features a track from every set of all five nights of the festival. It is available to download in .zip format over here. An amazing idea.

For obvious reasons, the passing of Alex Chilton, one of the founders of Big Star, has led to an outpouring of emotion and tribute from the many acts that have been inspired by him through the years. The Alex Chilton tribute show that took place at this year's SXSW was apparently an affair that was both melancholic and celebratory, but nothing tugs at the heart more than Cerulean Blue (For Alex Chilton), a song that was just written and recorded by Superdrag's John Davis and is available as a free download over at Magnet Magazine, along with other artists paying their respects to his work.

Chris Bell - I Am The Cosmos (Deluxe Edition)

There are few things that elicit as much excitement in the world of music snobbery than the emergence of another cult hero. This is exactly what happened in the late 80's when bands like R.E.M., The Replacements and Teenage Fanclub started singing the praises of an ironically named band called Big Star, who emerged onto the scene in the early 70's to great critical praise, but unfortunate mainstream obscurity. Since the aforementioned name dropping by those highly notable college rock staples, the band's stock has continued to rise, being covered by the likes of Wilco and Elliott Smith, as well as having their music featured in TV (That 70's Show) and film (Adventureland). Interestingly, the Alex Chilton / Chris Bell tag team has been referred to by some as a sort Lennon / McCartney duo, with Chilton being the advanced songwriter and Bell being relegated to the roll of less substantial rocking sidekick. This is a sentiment that I also foolishly accepted until I first listened to I Am The Cosmos, a compilation that was released in 1992 of some of the songs that Chris Bell had been working on prior to his untimely death from a car accident in 1978. That outstanding collection of songs awakened in me the realization that Bell was every bit as substantial a songwriter as Chilton and he undoubtedly had more input into the band's output than is often credited to him (especially on Radio City, their 2nd album that was released after he had left the band).

While Rhino has continued to fuel the continual interest in Big Star with last year's release of a 98-song career retroactive boxset entitled Keep An Eye To The Sky, they also play their part in keeping Bell on the radar by releasing a new double disc deluxe edition of I Am The Cosmos which comes complete with a slightly re-sequenced version of the album on disc one, and a collection of (mostly) unreleased material on disc two. The songs themselves hold up remarkably well, especially some of the mellower heartbreaking numbers. Songs like You and Your Sister and Look Up, for example, exhibit a vulnerability that is immaculately produced, yet presented in a way that sounds genuine and unforced. The acoustic version of the former number on disc two sounds surprisingly clean, which adds an almost haunting quality to the song for some reason, although I find it difficult to articulate exactly why that is. Perhaps it's just the imagery of him performing the song in a small room surrounded my friends and family while completely unaware of the impact that his music would eventually have on so many people. I'm not usually one for spending a lot of time with bonus tracks and such, but I actually find myself enjoying the rarities on disc two just as much as the actual album. Some more great discoveries have been unearthed on this disc, such as Stay With Me, a country duet with his friend Keith Sykes that has an impeccable melody and some pretty impressive guitar work. In My Darkest Hour is sung by Nancy Bryan, and provides an articulate insight into the depression that Bell has been known to deal with during the last few years of his life. The reflective instrumental piece that ends the album (Clacton Rag) is beautiful as it manages to tie the album together in a way that makes it feel like one full cohesive piece which is remarkable considering that, as mentioned earlier, this really is simply a culling together of scattered parts and pieces.

While it is a tragedy that Chris Bell and his Big Star comrades were unable to get the recognition that they deserved until much too late, the impact of albums such as this one are undoubtedly going to continue to grow even more substantial as the music on this double disc set continues to speak to future generations. There is no doubt that this is one emotionally charged listening experience, and perhaps it's not the type of thing that you're going to put on when you're in need of some cheering up, but it's very rewarding to see that there was still much to discover in the legacy of this musical legend.

Preview: All of the tracks on I Am The Cosmos at Rhino Records.
Myspace: Chris Bell
Myspace: Big Star

Other stuff:

Sloan has just released a new compilation of B-sides and rarities entitled B-Sides Win which can now be purchased at their website. [Myspace: Sloan]

Danny Michel has just released his first solo live album called Live in Winnipeg which can also be purchased at his website. [Myspace: Danny Michel]

Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips is interviewed at Crawdaddy.  [Myspace: The Flaming Lips]

The White Stripes are releasing a limited edtion CD/DVD boxset chronicling their 2007 tour of the Canadian countryside on March 16th. It will be entitled The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights and a video clip from the set of Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground is being featured on Spinner.ca [Myspace: The White Stripes]

Kat Burns of Forest City Lovers debuted a new song called Oh Come Away/Sea To Land on the Grocery List Countdown show on Verge FM. The show will air February 15th, but there's a video of the song posted on Forest City Lovers blog. [Myspace: Forest City Lovers]

The Broken West - I Can't Go On, I'll Go On

The Broken West are from Los Angeles and their sound encapsulates all that the sunny world of LA represents. Originally known as The Brokedown (until a punk band with a similar name made them change), the songs on their debut full-length sound as if they’re heavily influenced by Big Star, Teenage Fanclub, Golden Smog and the like. I even hear a bit of Wilco circa “Summerteeth.” The album kicks off with a slice of Byrds-y power pop perfection called “On The Bubble” which comes with all the necessities…jangly guitars, thrashing tambourine work, a swirling keyboard is introduced in the middle of the first verse and the obligatory handclaps! “So It Goes” kicks it up a notch and then the third song, “Down In The Valley” takes it down just a little bit, with perfect harmonies emphasizing the chorus. As you may have heard, that there has been described as the instructions to making the perfect mix tape. And that’s exactly what “I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On” is. It’s formulaic, and not entirely original but certainly appealing to any fan of the well assembled pop-rock song.

The Broken West will be performing in Toronto at El Mocambo with The Long Winters on March 27th.

Download:
On The Bubble mp3
Down In The Valley mp3

The Broken West on myspace
Purchase “I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On” over at Merge Records.

Perhaps You Missed It: Big Star's #1 Record/Radio City

Another weekly post that I would like to start is what I will call the “Perhaps You Missed It…” post. This is where I will feature a release from the past that should have been huge but for whatever reason, didn’t quite make much of an impression at the time. This week I’m starting with the highly influential Big Star. Talk about wrong place, wrong time. If they had come out in the mid-60’s or the mid-90’s, I’m sure more people would have heard of them. However, their first album, ironically titled #1 Record, was released in 1972. With progressive rock on the FM, and mellow singer-songwriter artists on the AM, people were simply not interested in jangly Byrds-esque pop music. Add to that, very limited support and promotion from their record company (big surprise) and you’ve got a band that was destined to sink deep under the radar of popularity. But Big Star has written some of the greatest pop songs of all time in my opinion and this is showcased heavily on their first two albums, which can be easily found on one CD, aptly entitled #1 Record/Radio City.

No doubt you’ve heard some of these songs before covered by other artists. Elliott Smith, Wilco and Mary Lou Lord have all done beautiful versions of “Thirteen.” “The Ballad Of El Goodo” was covered on the Empire Records soundtrack by Evan Dando. The Bangles did a cool version of “September Gurls” which gets my vote for being the greatest pop song ever written. And probably the most popular cover, “In The Street” can be heard by Cheap Trick as the theme song to “That 70’s Show.” Altogether now: “Hangin’ out! Down the street…” Their influence can also be heard all over the music of early R.E.M., The Replacements, and, most notably Teenage Fanclub. I won’t go over the entire history of the band since it’s been documented all over the place in great detail, but if you haven’t yet heard this masterpiece of an album, please do so. Recently, Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens have reformed the band with a couple members of The Posies. They released a new CD a couple of years ago and they play the occasional show. But nothing compares to those first two albums when it comes to pure jangle pop perfection.

Downloads:
September Gurls mp3
Thirteen mp3

You can purchase Big Star’s #1 Record/Radio City here.