'Sup in March: Ten Picks

After a couple of months of relatively casual concert going action, it looks like the month of March is going to be a busy one for me, concert-wise. If you couple that with the fact that life is also going to be quite busy life-wise, than you're going to be looking at a fairly exhausted guy come months end. For the most part however, it'll be worth it, since the month promises not to leave me wanting in terms of high quality shows, so here are a few picks if you're looking for something to do.

For more detailed listings, as usual, go check out Stillepost, Zoilus and Jen's Semi-Weekly List (of shows under $10)

1. Joanna Newsom / Kevin Barker @ The Phoenix
(Saturday March 13th; Cost: $28)

I've been listening to Joanna Newsom's (pictured above) latest 3-disc opus Have One On Me over and over and over again this week, which is amazing considering the fact that it is certainly what one could classify as a daunting listen. Her voice may be a tad normalized this time around (no doubt making some people quite happy) but this is still an example of primo Newsom as it showcases her usual penchant for adventure, both lyrically and instrumentally. There are so many layers to peel back throughout this recording that I hope I'll be able to have it fully absorbed in time for the show, which is sure to be a classic performance. [Myspaces: Joanna Newsom, Kevin Barker]

2. Thrush Hermit @ Lee's Palace
(Fri. Mar 26th - Sun. Mar 28th; Cost: $17.50)

The reunion of the boys in Thrush Hermit admittedly brought me mixed feelings since my tastes have changed a little bit over the last 15 years, and I'm fairly indifferent to the solo version of Joel Plaskett. Both this fact, and the other fact that I have not listened to the Thrush for several years had me wondering if the old tunes would still do it for me in my advanced age. Well, I recently dusted off both the Smart Bomb EP and Sweet Homewrecker and I hafta say that both of those albums held up exceptionally well, proving to me that Plaskett's former band truly was a different beast altogether. Two sold out nights at Lee's, with undoubtedly a third one on the way confirms that they've still got the ability to generate some great enthusiasm. [Myspace: Thrush Hermit]

3. Canadian Music Fest @ Various Venues
(Wed. Mar 10th - Sun. Mar 14th; Cost: $63 for the 5-day pass)

To be honest, I'm still perusing the schedule for this one, trying to use the opportunity to focus on bands that I wouldn't normally get to see, but making a decision on what to do ain't coming as easily as it has in the past. I'll keep you posted on some picks in relation to this as we get closer to the date. [Myspace: Canadian Music Fest]

4. Language-Arts/ The Pinecones / Allie Hughes @ The Garrison
(Friday March 5th; Cost: $6)

Vancouver's Language-Arts are an amazing band that I only recently was introduced to, but within seconds of listening to their debut LP Where Were You In The Wild, I knew that this band was going to be right up my alley. Their airy and organic tones, in theory, should really serve as a contrast to Kristen Cudmore's pixie-ish vocals, but the pairing is one of pure magic as the compositions themselves are abstract works of art that defy characterization by showcasing something new with every listen. This is mesmerizing stuff that I'm curious to see how it will translate to the live stage. [Myspaces: Language-Arts, The Pinecones, Allie Hughes]

5. David Ford @ The Drake
(Tuesday March 9th; Cost: $11.50)

At first listen, David Ford doesn't seem like much, as his vocals are certainly not all that unfamiliar and the songs themselves at first seem like your typical pop fare. But as you let his sounds linger a bit, it becomes apparent that there is some pretty impressive Tom Waits-ian lyricism taking place, not to mention the articulate musicianship that refuses to limit itself within the confines of the 3 or 4 minute pop song. The looping machine is being used by many these days, but I guarantee that you have never seen it used to the impressive extent that it is used by this multi-instrumentalist, to the point that you can actually hear the sound of a full stadium band emanating from that stage, even though Ford may be the only person up there. If you haven't seen him live yet and you appreciate pure musicianship, than you owe it to yourself to be at The Drake on March 9th. [Myspace: David Ford]

6. Scout Niblett / Picastro @ The Horseshoe
(Wednesday March 17th; Cost: $11.50)

Scout Niblett is the perfect antidote for those who are suffering from "lack of rawness" syndrome. Too many artists start out with an intensely raw sound, only to trade it in for delicacy later on. (I'm looking at you Chan Marchall). Scout Niblett, on the other hand, is about as raw as it gets, with a sound that encapsulates all that grunge attempted to create, without actually be grungy at all. In fact, Scout probably has more in common with P.J. Harvey than Kurt Cobain, but if you're in the mood for some a little bit harsher than usual, her show comes highly recommended. [Myspaces: Scout Niblett, Picastro]

7. Spoon / Deerhunter / The Strange Boys @ Sound Academy
(Monday March 29th; Cost: $32.50)

There was a lot of excitement generated by this double bill, featuring the consistently catchy indie rock of Spoon and the atmospheric, yet still mildly hooky, ambient-punk of Deerhunter. While I'd imagine that a certain majority of the crowd will be there for Britt Daniel's band, I really hope that many will show up early enough to catch Bradford Cox's band, since they really are awesome live. I, however, won't be there in time for either since I think I've lost my ability to not be grumpy when I'm at the Sound Academy. Yep, don't think I'm in the mood for that. [Myspaces: Spoon, Deerhunter, The Strange Boys]

8. Justin Townes Earle / Joe Pug @ The Horseshoe
(Monday March 1st; Cost: $15)

When your father is a country legend and you're named after another country legend, I think it's safe to say that certain expectations are going to be pretty dang high. Well, if there was one thing proven by last year's Midnight At The Movies, it was that Justin is not one for undermining the aforementioned expectations. He may have definite similarities to his father Steve and his mentor Townes, but Justin Townes Earle is very much an individual songwriter and performer that is all his own, and from what I've heard, he puts on a pretty impressive live show too.  [Myspaces: Justin Townes Earle, Joe Pug]

9. Rodrigo y Gabriela @ The Phoenix
(Friday March 5th, Cost: $29.50)

I was recently thinking that I simply don't cover enough jazz tinged, acoustic guitar, instrumental duos from Mexico on this here blog, so I figured Rodrigo y Gabriela's show at The Phoenix would be an excellent opportunity to do so. Seriously though, Rodrigo Sánchez' natural abilities on lead guitar coupled with Gabriela Quintero's accompaniment on rhythm guitar is one of those great musical wonders of the world that I don't get the chance to see too often these days. [Myspace: Rodrigo y Gabriela]

10. The Besnard Lakes @ The Horseshoe
(Thursday March 11th; Cost: $16)

I would've assumed that The Besnard Lakes were big enough to fill a larger capacity venue than The Horseshoe by now, but I guess that the collective longing for neo-progressive orchestral flourishing isn't as intense as I thought. Perhaps the release of their upcoming new disc entitled The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night will be epic enough to change that, In the meantime, smaller venues seem to be the way to go for this trippy outfit, and if The Horseshoe is still a little too large scale for you, than perhaps you can catch their instore performance the day before (March 10th) at Criminal Records at 6:30pm. [Myspace: The Besnard Lakes]

Honorable Mentions:
Steam Whistle Unsigned #13 takes place at the Steam Whistle Brewing Club featuring three of the city's finest in Make Your Exit, Everything All The Time and Dinosaur Bones (Mar. 5th / $5); TWM 58 looks pretty interesting, boasting a lineup including BA Johnston, Racoon Wedding and Andrew Vincent (Mar. 6th / $7); Brooklyn's Vivian Girls are playing The Wrongbar (Mar. 10th, $14); my friends Maned Young Lions are at The Horseshoe (Mar. 15th / FREE); and finally, one of my favourite local alt-country acts Elvyn is celebrating the release of their new album The Decline at The Silver Dollar with The Champion Heartache opening for them. That show takes place on March 26th (Cost: TBA)

Where I'll Be:
I've already got my tickets for Joanne Newsom, David Ford and Thrush Hermit, and I'm pretty positive I'll be going to see Language-Arts as well. Canadian Music Fest is pretty much a sure thing whether I'm officially accredited or not. I'll also be checking out as many instores as I can, including Zeus at Soundscapes on March 6th, as well as whatever other ones I can squeeze into my schedule. Gonna be a busy one peoples, so we'll see how I fare.

Brett Caswell and the Marquee Rose @ The Horseshoe

I'm not going to lie: I've been rather enjoying my concert going hibernation over the last month or so. The brief spurts of time off have been refreshing as they've allowed me to indulge my other passion for classic foreign films, not to mention trying to find a decent recent movie to enjoy also, which was extremely difficult to do. "Not impressed 'cinema of 2009', not impressed at all!" (I'm talking to you Mr. Cameron! Give me my money back or I'll continue to hold these 3D glasses for ransom!)

Still, a concert goer has to hit the venues again at some time, and there was no better way to ease back into the show goings then with a brief and free (and not to mention early) show at The Horseshoe featuring a man whom I'd heard tons about, yet had never really taken the time to properly acquaint myself with: Mr. Brett Caswell. In preparation for the show, I had spent some time with his debut release Love Waiting, which came out almost two years ago. It's a very easy-to-digest collection of piano and guitar based pop rock tunes that bring to mind guys like Ben Folds or Elliott Smith. Although the material is far from earth shattering, the melodies in particular, are exceptional and there was no doubt in my mind that the man had the talent and capabilities to expand that sound even more. Well the performance that night proved that my assumptions were correct.

First of all, I was pleasantly surprised to see that his band consisted of some backing vocals by my favourite little Barrie-ite Carleigh Aikins of Fox Jaws, as well as some amazing fiddle accompaniment by the incredibly talented Sarah Morano. Still, the biggest surprise was the fact that the songs that were presented that evening went far above and beyond the standard singer- songwriter fare of the aforementioned album. His new album, entitled A New Balance, is coming out this spring and, judging by the songs that he played that evening, he's boasting a heavier, rockier edge that places greater emphasis on playing and musicianship while still keeping that gift for melody fully in tact. One would assume that a set so short (he only played six songs) would mean that it ended just as he was starting to find his groove, but the fact is that Caswell is obviously such a seasoned performer that he was able to hit the stage on a high and keep that going throughout. The evening's highlight was an explosive performance of a song called Show On The Road, which boasted a slightly country-ish vibe that built into a full-on country rock assault that was reminiscent of some of the impressive jams you would hear performed by The Allman Brothers or My Morning Jacket. There are few things more impressive than watching Caswell attack the keys the way that he does. I think it's safe to say that Caswell is one charismatic and electrifying performer and I'm looking forward to catching a full set before the year is through.

Brett Caswell and the Marquee Rose are back in town tomorrow night opening for Clothes Make The Man at The Garrison (Ossington & Dundas). They'll be hitting the stage around 10pm.

Photos: My shots of Brett Caswell and the Marquee Rose @ The Horseshoe are on flickr
Myspace: Brett Caswell

Other stuff:
My email box hath runneth over with stuff and info so let me quickly share some with you before I run off to work today.

Whale Tooth has a new video for Hibernation Song which was shot and directed by The Cobourg Boys, who have also worked with The Bicycles. [Myspace: Whale Tooth]

Lucky Soul has posted a new video as well for the song White Russian Doll, which will be featured on their upcoming album A Coming of Age, which is due out this spring. [Myspace: Lucky Soul]

And Forest City Lovers also have a new video for their song If I Were A Tree, directed by Colin Medley and Jared Raab. [Myspace: Forest City Lovers]

While preparing to unleash their heavily anticipated full length, Dinosaur Bones are releasing a limited edition 7-inch white vinyl copy of Royalty/Ice Hotels on the upstart Toronto/New York vinyl label Hi-Scores Recording Library. Fans can pre-order the record at the Hi-Scores site now. [Myspace: Dinosaur Bones]

By now I'm sure that everyone has heard about the big Pavement reunion which will affect Torontonians at the Toronto Island Festival on June 19th when they hit the stage with Broken Social Scene and Band of Horses. Despite the fact that it hits me on the weekend of NXNE, I'm pretty sure that I'll be picking up some tix for this one. In the meantime, if you desire to see Pavement perform somewhere more exotic (like New York), Matador is holding a contest in connection with the tour and their upcoming greatest hits release. [Myspace: Pavement]

And finally, it looks like the Thrush Hermit reunion is on and the tickets to their two shows at Lee's Palace (March 26th, 27th) go on sale today. Say what you will, but the solo works of Joel Plaskett haven't come even close to impacting me the way that his former band did. To be honest, despite the amount of love and praise Three has received by just about everyone I know, I still haven't been able to listen to the whole thing all the way through. Some excellent songs buried in there, but still way too much meh if you ask me, which continues to be my personal beef with Plaskett's solo output. But when it comes to the sounds of the thrush, to my ears they are virtually meh-less, which means that I will certainly be attending one of the shows in March. [Myspace: Thrush Hermit]

How The Lassue Yous Changed My Life

or The Reason Why I’m The Type of Indie-Rock Nerd Who Goes Online and Pretends To Be A Music Journalist For Fun!!!Music is very important to most young men between the ages of 15 and 25. They base their cliques on it, they base their vocabulary on it, they design their rooms and lockers by it. But then most guys reach an age of responsibility, where music starts to take a back seat in their lives. Just a few short years ago that’s exactly where I was. I was bored with classic rock radio so I moved on to alternative rock radio. I had grown bored with that too, and I figured that I was finally reaching that age where music is just simply not that important anymore. After all, I’m now an old married man and music is, well, it’s for teenagers. Right?

Then something happened that fateful day (if I believed in fate, which I don’t!) just a few years ago. The wife had planned an “evening out with the girls” and I was left to entertain myself for a few hours. The thought had crossed my mind to possibly go to the local Chapters and read several magazines without actually buying them. Or perhaps I’d rent a couple of movies. However, I picked up The View, a local free indie-paper and I read an interesting article about a band from London, Ontario called The Weekend. They sounded very interesting. They were to be playing that evening at a little place called The Hudson in Hamilton at 9pm. Hmmm. That sounds like something. I didn’t have to pick up my wife until about 11:30 or so. Why not?

Now, being new to the way the whole “small band at a small venue” thing works, I didn’t realize that “doors at 9” actually means that the band will likely go on closer to 11. The opening act that day was a little band consisting of 3 brothers from Dundas, Ontario who call themselves The Lassue Yous. The Hudson was empty. I grabbed a beer, and sat down at a table near the stage. After nursing that beer, (by myself) for just under two hours, The Lassue Yous were ready to take the stage. As soon as they hit the first note, I was starting to believe that I may be in the midst of a particularly historic moment in the life of yours truly. The jangly guitar! The crazy lyrics! The handclaps! The energy! The excitement! They reminded me a bit of Thrush Hermit. Or Sloan. Or, heck, they even reminded me a bit of the Liverpudlian fab four themselves! At that moment, I felt as if I was Rodney Bingenheimer, and I had just discovered the GREATEST BAND OF ALL TIME! Yes, that is truly how they sounded to me that night! You see, that was the night that I realized that I was still in love with music as much as I ever was. The problem was that mainstream radio was not providing me with anything new. And these crazy Dundanites were! And if these guys have been kept a secret from music lovers everywhere, than how many more unsigned artists are hiding out in the clubs of their respective towns? How much music have I missed out on over my 20-something years of existence?

Well, from that day on, I have constantly been on the prowl for new and interesting music. Sadly, I didn’t get to see The Weekend that night, but I have seen them several times since. I’ve seen The Lassue Yous a few more times as well although I think they’re on a bit of a hiatus at the moment. I’ve been introduced to so many other bands that have changed my life and rocked my world. I’ve had the opportunity to expose some of my favourite bands to others as well, by means of my blog or by introducing them to podcasting. And the music scene has never been more exciting to me than it is right now. I often wonder, if it had been a dude with a casio singing Pat Boone covers that night, I may have given up on music altogether. Thank goodness for The Lassue Yous!

Download:
Rock “N Roll Your Saturday Night mp3
Toughen Up mp3