Rob Szabo - Life & Limb

How does a guy who constantly gets expressions like "Cobain-worthy" and "like prime Costello" hurled his way, manage to stay significantly unknown? Not only is Rob Szabo unknown in the world of pop music, but even in the world of indie rock he still seems to be a heavily guarded secret, appreciated by only a few astute, CBC loving individuals. The fact is that such overly flattering comparisons, while perhaps a tad extreme, are not entirely inaccurate. Rob Szabo is one of Canada's most gifted singer-songwriters, on par with fellow under appreciated artist Danny Michel and even Ron Sexsmith.

His new CD Life & Limb has just been released, and it's a sophisticated follow up to 2006's Like A Metaphor containing more of the same clever wordplay set to melancholic pop hooks that fans such as myself have come to have an awestruck admiration for. The CD begins quite upbeat with That Cold Hard Sell, which is a wonderful Dylanesque rant on blatant commercialism. The rest of the album remains a little bit more acoustic and chilled, but never does it lag or grow monotonous. All the Sleepy Souls is a beautiful slice of balladry that avoids sounding contrived, as ballads often do. Last Night is a country and western shuffle, which features the beautiful voice of Kerri Ough. What I Deserve has Szabo sounding his most genuine, hinting at a slight desperation that is tempered with hope. The album closes with That Kind Of Fight, possibly the most beautiful song he's ever written, sounding as if he's taking a cue from some of Neil Young's more personal works. The album is the perfect length clocking in at just over 30 minutes and hopefully Life & Limb will finally be the release that brings Szabo the attention that has unjustly eluded him for too long.

Rob Szabo is playing The Cameron House with Revival Dear tonight (Oct 3rd)
$10 at the door

Myspace: Rob Szabo
Stream: Life & Limb - Entire Album here.

Other stuff:

The Matthews Brothers (whom I talked about here) are playing The Horseshoe Tavern on Friday October 10th. It's an open guest list, which means that you simply say that you're there to see The Matthews Brothers and you're in for free. It's part of Indie Music Week.

Myspace: The Matthews Brothers

Camera Obscura apparently have another album all finished, mixed and mastered and they're looking forward to releasing it sometime in the new year. They're interviewed over at Von Pip Musical Express.

Myspace: Camera Obscura

Retro hip hop soulster Slakah The Beatchild has a cool new video for his song What's This Feeling? from his current release Soul Movement Vol One. The video can be seen here.

Myspace: Slakah The Beatchild

Apostle Of Hustle and Tanya Tagaq are playing the Glen Gould theatre on Friday November 7th. They're giving you an opportunity to win tickets to the show over here.

Myspace: Apostle Of Hustle
Myspace: Tanya Tagaq

You wanna be the guitarist for an ultra cool San Franciscan rock 'n roll band? The Diletantes are apparently looking for a new permanant guitarist. They are going into pre production for their second album this month.

Myspace: The Diletantes

Tickets for Sondre Lerche's November 14th show at The Mod Club go on sale today for $18.50.

Myspace: Sondre Lerche

And finally, for people who are my age and stuff, Virgin Music Canada is holding their 25th Anniversary concert at Lee's Palace on Tuesday October 14th. Performers include The Northern Pikes, Colin James, Pluto, and Choclair. Tickets are $20 with all the proceeds from the show being donated to MusiCan, which will use the funds to raise money to support a school's music program.

Myspace: The Northern Pikes
Myspace: Colin James
Myspace: Pluto
Myspace: Choclair

The Dilettantes - 101 Tambourines

Joel Gion was the tambourine player and "spokesperson for the revolution" in Brian Jonestown Massacre. He has left and rejoined the band more often then any other BJM member. His newest band, The Dilettantes, is exactly what the doctor order to fill your rock 'n roll prescription. The CD 101 Tambourines actually came out in July of this year which means that my discovery is a little bit late, but hey! better late than never, dig? It follows in the same mold as Gion's work in BJM, providing us with that classic psychedelic rock sound that is sure to get your head shakin' rattlin' and rollin'. If you're familiar with the documentary Dig!, than you know all about Joel's antics and the fact that his motto seems to be fun fun fun. Well, that optimism is portrayed nicely throughout this release, making it such a classic sounding record that I feel it's destined to become a classic. I really admire the fact that although Joel is the most recognizable face on the cover, this is by no means a one man show. The band also consists of Jefferson Parker and Brock Galland on guitar, Nick Marcantonio on bass and KC Kozak on drums. Joel writes the bulk of the songs and sings most of the songs, but the others all make contributions as well, giving the album all sorts of variety, while staying steeped in the classic 60's.

The album kicks off with the all-out rocker "Ready To Go" which has an artsy delivery that reminds me of the early days of Roxy Music while still firing ahead with straight forward rock guitar riffery. The Stones are all over the next song entitled "Subterranean Bazaar," with a little bit of New York Dolls in the vocals. Man, I love this sound! "Brightly Lit Dark Ages" takes things down a little bit, settling in a slightly more acoustic Byrds-y area, while still making heavy use of psychedelic keyboards and sounds. Jefferson Parker takes over lead vocals on "Don't You Ever Fall" and "Never Go Without" sounding like Ray Davies on the former and Gram Parsons on the latter. Brock Galland also gets a couple of turns at the mike on the slightly twangier "You're Gonna Need More Time" and "Kiss & Run" leading me to wonder if maybe he's the Mike Nesmith of the bunch. The album ends with "What Were You Thinking?" which has a slight Stone Roses feel to it. I realize that simply name dropping so many different artists could be considered a real slice of lazy journalism, but the fact is that if you like any of these bands than you owe it to yourself to pick up 101 Tambourines. It's a real trip, man!

Myspace: The Dilettantes
Stream: You can listen to the whole album over at Happy Parts Recording.
Video: Ready To Go on youtube