Quick Notes featuring The Fratellis, Santa Dog, Ragni & Chance

The Fratellis’ “Costello Music” was one of the UK’s most praised releases last year. It will finally make it’s way to North American shores on March 13^th. I’ll definitely be telling you more about it when I get the CD, but in the meantime be sure to check out the insanely infectious tune, “Flathead" You can either watch the video or stream the song.

The Fratellis on myspace.

Canadian Music Week has already begun in the city and there are a lot of great performances taking place. The one that I would highly recommend the most is Santa Dog from the UK. I’ve talked about them and their classic pre-Oasis brit-pop sound before, but I have this sinking feeling that after the release of their full length in the near future, you won’t be able to see them for $8 at a tiny club anymore. So don’t miss this one, OK? Download the song "Rosa" to see what I mean.

Santa Dog on myspace.

The mesmerizing and atmospheric Ragni are going to playing The Savannah Room in Toronto on April 3rd. I’m not sure about the price just yet, but they’re another band we don’t see around these parts all that much so I’m anxiously awaiting that show. It’s bound to be a little bit on the mind-blowing side. Here’s an edited version of “The North Sea Epoch.”

Ragni on myspace.

One of my favourite artists, Chance, has recently released his latest single, entitled “Life And Life Only" He only releases a few singles a year, and he is very particular about what he chooses to release to the public. So each new single really is an event of sorts. This new one is probably his most personal one to date. Test drive the song by watching the video, and then purchase the song for only 99 cents over here.

Chance on myspace.

Ragni creates a North Sea Epoch.

Subtle and emotive. Melancholic and poignant. The music of Ragni is all that and more. Ragni consists of Jakub Zapotoczny on keyboards / vocals and Brenden Fletcher on vocals / guitar. They describe themselves as indie-mood music and they pride themselves in being blatantly non-commercial. Their debut EP is perfect for playing in your headphones at the end of a long hard day with the lights off. It has a very ambient feel to it as the songs are made strong by the inclusion of cello, strings, and even some faint echoes of old family recordings and the creaking of Brenden’s grandparents house in which the CD was recorded. The last two songs, “The North Sea Epoch” and “Kolysanka” are tracks that I find particularly captivating. For me they paint a picture of the calm that takes place after a storm at sea, when the clouds part and you can still smell the preceding chaos in the air.

Another highly impressive thing about this release is the CD packaging. Unfortunately we’re living in an mp3 age where artists are devoting less and less effort into how to package the product. (Does anybody else get annoyed when they dish out the $$$ for a CD and get nothing but the single fold case containing a few thank-yous and your CD?) The Ragni EP comes with a full 72-page wordless graphic novel that was illustrated by Karl Kerschl of DC Comics fame. The artwork acts as a narrative for the music and the two complement each other very well. If you enjoy the music of Sigur Rós or even Canadian acts like A Northern Chorus, this EP would be a good one to add to the collection.

Ragni means ‘melody’ in Hindi, ‘spider’ in Italian and ‘lovely goddess’ in Norse languages.

Sorry for the short notice but Ragni will be playing at Rockford's in St. Catherines on Sunday February 18th with Jaded & Fiord Rowboat for only $4.

Download
The North Sea Epoch (edit) mp3

Most of their music can be heard over on their myspace page.
You can watch sort of a video type thing for “The North Sea Epoch” here.
You can purchase the CD and book for only $12.99 here.