Camera Obscura w/Last Town Chorus @ The Phoenix

Last night Camera Obscura were back in Toronto yet again, which enabled them to acknowledge the fact that they wonder why everybody keeps coming back to see them. "Suckers for punishment," they assumed. Of course this isn't true, although I actually wasn't planning on going to this one since I'd already seen them earlier this year. But my wife convinced me otherwise (as well as Megan Hickey, but more on that later,) and it's a good thing because last night's performance was probably their best so far. It was nice to see Tracyanne Campbell smiling on several occasions throughout the night. For those who have seen them before, you know that this isn't always the case at a Camera Obscura show. However, everyone seemed to be in high spirits, and that translated very well onstage. They performed more or less the same songs as last time with a few surprises. For example, they pulled out "The Sun On His Back" from the 2001 debut. They claimed to have not played this one for about 5 years and for the long time fans in the crowd, this was a real treat. I also enjoyed the slightly countrified cover of Abba's "Super Trooper." I never realized the song was so sad. Finally, the encore began with guitarist Kenny McKeeve doing his rendition of The Beatles' "Rocky Raccoon." Apparently he was required to do so at the loss of a bet, and the rest of the band just sat idly by and watched him, with huge mischievous grins on their faces. Tons 'o fun.

Photos: Camera Obscura @ The Phoenix on flickr
Downloads: If Looks Could Kill mp3 / Let's Get Out Of This Country mp3
Myspace: Camera Obscura
Video: Lloyd I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken youtube

Although I enjoy Camera Obscura, the real person I was there to see was Megan Hickey, otherwise known as The Last Town Chorus. The album "Wire Waltz" just gets better and better with every listen and Megan is truly a captivating presence. She also helped me to realize that The Phoenix isn't all bad. She stated that it has one of the best sounds of any of the places that she has played at, and I had to admit that the ring of her lap steel sounded pretty sweet. She alternated between 'hilarious' and 'deadly serious' with exquisite ease, keeping the banter witty but the playing emotive and charismatic. She even handed out Last Town Chorus bookmarks, jokingly grasping at the rock 'n roll virtues of reading! She promised to be back in town regularly which is exciting for me because I definitely plan on seeing her perform again.

Photos: The Last Town Chorus @ The Phoenix on flickr
Downloads: Modern Love mp3 / Oregon mp3
Myspace: The Last Town Chorus
Video: Modern Love on youtube

Songs From A Room and other weekend festivities.

This weekend looks like it's going to be another wacky unbalanced trio of live events for yours truly, so in preparation, I should get some rest and keep this post relatively brief. We'll see how that goes.

Pictured above is a local Toronto band called Songs From A Room. I really don't know all that much about them but I throughly enjoy the songs they've got posted up on their myspace page. They have a super solid heavy rock vibe with a vocalist shriek that could strip the paint off a building ... with ... several coats ... of paint ... on ... it. I'm so tired that even my analogies aren't flowing as freely as I would like. However I think you get the point. They're playing a free show this Monday August 27th at The Horseshoe in support of their new CD, which is to be released that same day. I guarantee that I'll be returning from that show with a more thorough (and articulate) review.

Myspace: Songs From A Room

Sunday night is the Camera Obscura show. I had already seen them once this year and enjoyed it very much. I figured that it wasn't necessary to see them again but a) my wife really wanted to go and 2) The Last Town Chorus is the opening act. That's an incredible double bill, and there is no way I could miss this one. The last time I saw TLTC I was feeling a little bit under the weather and sadly didn't get the full impact. I'm anticipating a more enjoyable show this time around. The downside is that they're playing at The Phoenix or, as I like to call it, big sweaty dumb stupid town. Hopefully my wife and I will be able to get up all good and close so that we can see something. The Phoenix isn't really designed for people under a billion feet tall.

Download:
Camera Obscura: If Looks Could Kill mp3 / Let's Get Out Of This Country mp3
The Last Town Chorus: Modern Love mp3 / Oregon mp3

Myspace: Camera Obscura / The Last Town Chorus

Videos:
Camera Obscura: Lloyd I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken youtube
The Last Town Chorus: Modern Love youtube

And to start things off, we're heading to The Ex for the first time in forever years. I have to admit that the thought of cotton candy and a discofied dog show doesn't exactly thrill me as it once might have, but the real draw for me this Saturday is the fact that Sloan will be playing with The Golden Dogs at Exhibition Place for what, I believe, is no extra cost. Don't quote me on that, but I'm pretty sure that I'm right. However if I'm wrong, and you do choose to quote me, I'll deny it. Either way, it's been a dang long time since I've seen the boys in my favorite all time Canadian band play live, and their last album was their best in 10 years so it's bound to be a stellar show. The Golden Dogs are great too, and their brand of sunny ultra-hip power pop will complement the Sloan gang nicely.

Stream:
Sloan: Never Hear The End Of It (full album)
The Golden Dogs: Big Eye Little Eye (full album)

Myspace: Sloan / The Golden Dogs

Videos:
Sloan: Flying High Again (Super 8 Film) youtube
Sloan: I've Gotta Try youtube
Sloan: Where's Jay? (Funniest. Video. Ever.) youtube
The Golden Dogs: Construction Worker youtube
The Golden Dogs: Never Meant Any Harm youtube

St. Vincent and Other Exciting Things

There are several music related tidbits that I have found out about recently that have me as excited as a music freak can possibly be.

First off, I'm going to be seeing St. Vincent (or Annie Clark to her parents) at The Horseshoe tomorrow night. Her album "Marry Me" has been in constant rotation on my ipod for the past week in preparation for the big show. I was completely blown away by her, when she opened for Midlake back in February, and then, after further research, I realized that I was already sort of a fan, thanks to her association with The Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens. Her performance that night was quite a bit different than the way she sounds on this release, but I'm a big fan of both. Live, she was just a crazy, brilliant and endearing performer with a guitar and piano, shifting easily between hyperactivity and sensitivity. She does the same on the album, only with a much fuller sound. Apparently she plays the bulk of the instruments herself (and there's a heckuva lot of them) and, for me, she comes across as sort of a Kate Bush for the new millennium.

Download:
Now Now mp3
Visit St Vincent on myspace.

Also, on Monday, I'm finally seeing They Might Be Giants, which is something that I've been wanting to do since my late teens. But what has recently added to my excitement is the news that Hamilton's Young Rival (formerly known as The Ride Theory) are going to be opening the show. To this day, I still consider them to be one of the most fun bands to see live. It's like entering into a time warp to the late 60's, perhaps dropping into one of the club scenes in Antonioni's Blow Up. A mod show at The Mod Club. Hmm. Interesting.

Speaking of opening acts, I also recently found out that The Last Town Chorus will be opening for Camera Obscura on August 26th. That is going to be one outstanding double bill. Sadly, it's being held at The Phoenix, in all of its glorious packed in like sardines-ness. That means we'll have to get there early so that we can stand at the front so that I can see something. Because I'm short. Either that or everybody that goes to a concert is tall. Whatev's.

As I've been mourning the absence of The Weekend in my life (I'm speaking about the band, although I often miss the literal weekend as well,) I've recently discovered that frontchik Andrea Wasse (who is apparently residing in L.A these days) has started another side project called Macleod. Judging by the songs on their myspace, Andrea's still got it man. Purrfect pop that everybody would be better off listening to.

And finally, I recently heard from the Pop Kulcher blog, who recently heard from the I Am Fuel blog, that R.E.M. has been debuting several new songs at their Olympia Theatre shows in Dublin. One of those shows is available for download on that site. If the final songs sound as good as the live versions posted here, than R.E.M. will officially have made their third comeback, in my opinion, which puts them one up on U2. I haven't heard them sound this exciting since 1986. That's pretty significant. Huzzah!!!

The Last Town Chorus - Wire Waltz

Everybody told me to check out “Wire Waltz” by The Last Town Chorus and I procrastinated and procrastinated until this week. Fact is, I had only really heard the cover of Bowie’s “Modern Love” and I was only mildly impressed. Then I went to check out her show at The Horseshoe earlier this year but was dealing with a mild case of nausea and could only stay for a few songs. It didn’t blow me away, but after listening to this excellent CD, I’ve come to the conclusion that it must have been the nausea because this is one great release. It is very atmospheric and mellow. Megan Hickey’s voice seduces a person’s attention, and when you add her phenomenal abilities on the lap-steel guitar to the mix, it becomes impossible to turn away. I’m kind of upset that the Bowie cover was chosen as the lead-off single because I would hate for this artist to fade into one-hit cover wonder where-are-they-nowness. Because the highlights really are the other tracks. “Boat,” for example, features haunting vocal harmonies where her voice actually sounds as if it’s harmonizing with the sound of her vintage steel guitar. “Huntsville, 1989” is a beautiful tale steeped in the nostalgia of being a teenager with a broken heart. Again, her sincerity is compelling, because you know that lyrically, this is not a simple case of putting together some simple rhymes designed to tug at the heartstrings. This release sounds very earnest, heartfelt and frank.

The Last Town Chorus will be at the El Mocambo in Toronto on May 14^th.

Download:
Boat mp3
Modern Love mp3

The Last Town Chorus on myspace.
Purchase “Wire Waltz” on Amazon.ca