Two weeks ago I spoke with Brigitte Naggar - aka Common Holly - for my show in advance of her playing Real Love Summer Fest (this weekend!!) and at the time, "Central Booking" was still on the horizon and we had to feature something from her 2018 record, Playing House. In the interview, Naggar hinted at some of the sonic changes in the offing with her new material and "Central Booking" certainly demonstrates that difference.
Hopefully we'll be hearing more new Common Holly material this Saturday at 5pm as part of RLSF, in advance of the 11 October release of When I say to you Black Lightning.
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
Dylan Perkons - "Desert Island"
Every now and then I hear a song that just GUTS me. The first track off Dylan Perkons upcoming LP, The Healing Day, which he recorded at Port William Sound with Reductive Reviews fave Jonas Bonnetta (aka Evening Hymns) landed in my inbox yesterday and the text accompanying the link to the track gives the following background:
“Desert Island” comes from my own tendency to go inward and seek isolation in times of emotional distress, partnered with the need to be seen and heard and share this life with people I love. It touches on the struggle between these two things – both the immense capacity of vulnerability, and the shame that’s often felt when we isolate ourselves.
I'm gutted because it 100% speaks to my own experience and something I wrestle with and puts it to music. The way the lyrics more from "oh you know / oh you know / I'm better off alone" to "oh you know / oh you know / I'm grateful for love" gets me every time and even typing it up my throat constricts and my tear ducts fill.
“Desert Island” comes from my own tendency to go inward and seek isolation in times of emotional distress, partnered with the need to be seen and heard and share this life with people I love. It touches on the struggle between these two things – both the immense capacity of vulnerability, and the shame that’s often felt when we isolate ourselves.
I'm gutted because it 100% speaks to my own experience and something I wrestle with and puts it to music. The way the lyrics more from "oh you know / oh you know / I'm better off alone" to "oh you know / oh you know / I'm grateful for love" gets me every time and even typing it up my throat constricts and my tear ducts fill.
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Mick Flannery - "Come Find Me"
Last year I spoke to Irish singer-songwriter Mick Flannery for UMFM's Festival Express series prior to his performance at the 2018 edition of the fest. (The Winnipeg Folk Festival kicks off at Birds Hill Park this evening and you can check out the 2019 edition of Festival Express here).
This past Friday, Flannery released his new self-titled record and while I think the whole thing is uniformly solid, the track I keep going back to is "Come Find Me," slotted at number 3 in the batting order, meaning it's a heavy-hitter. Last night, I'm pretty sure I gave this cut about 5 spins in a row before having to take a break.
The pizzicato string accompaniment lends an urgency and forward momentum to the song that pulls against Flannery's at-times languid delivery on the verses before he plunges ahead on the chorus - which makes sense as he pulls away from the listener and notes "I'm running / come find me / come find me."
This past Friday, Flannery released his new self-titled record and while I think the whole thing is uniformly solid, the track I keep going back to is "Come Find Me," slotted at number 3 in the batting order, meaning it's a heavy-hitter. Last night, I'm pretty sure I gave this cut about 5 spins in a row before having to take a break.
The pizzicato string accompaniment lends an urgency and forward momentum to the song that pulls against Flannery's at-times languid delivery on the verses before he plunges ahead on the chorus - which makes sense as he pulls away from the listener and notes "I'm running / come find me / come find me."
Thursday, July 4, 2019
My Polaris Prize Ballot - 2019 Round Two
Round two of the Polaris Prize voting (i.e. whittling down from the Long List to the Short List) closed last night at midnight CT and now I wait until the announcement event on July 16th to see if I did any better with this round than the 2/5 I went on Round One.
Honestly the best I've ever done was 3/5 and it wasn't until last year with Jeremy Dutcher claiming the prize that my unequivocal #1 actually took home the prize so I'm disappointed but not surprised to go 2/5 and see no Winnipeg / Manitoba entries make the Long List.
As I have always done, I move up the votes that make the cut to the top spots, and then fill in the rest of my ballot from among the overlap between my personal Long List and the official Polaris one.
I'd like to shout out Alexandra Streliski and TOBi as I did agonize over including both their records in my 5-spot.
Here's what I ended up submitting last night:
Honestly the best I've ever done was 3/5 and it wasn't until last year with Jeremy Dutcher claiming the prize that my unequivocal #1 actually took home the prize so I'm disappointed but not surprised to go 2/5 and see no Winnipeg / Manitoba entries make the Long List.
As I have always done, I move up the votes that make the cut to the top spots, and then fill in the rest of my ballot from among the overlap between my personal Long List and the official Polaris one.
I'd like to shout out Alexandra Streliski and TOBi as I did agonize over including both their records in my 5-spot.
Here's what I ended up submitting last night:
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
Brookes Brothers - "In the Moment ft. Amahla"
I'll admit it - I haven't been a consistent drum'n'bass listener in recent years. Once upon a time it was definitely a corner I stood on, but looking at the tracklist on Drum & Bass Arena 2019, so many of the artist names are unknown to me. But I know a good track when I hear it and "In the Moment" is a GREAT track.
That said, I think the strength of this song is guest vocalist Amahla, who brings a soulful swoon to this cut that isn't quite as evident on the other Brookes Brothers original, "Good Thing," which is a much more straightforward d'n'b cut. In fact, for much of its run-time, "In the Moment" feels much more like a broken-beat number that would come out on Tru Thoughts - which may be why I'm so taken with this track (seriously, just look at how often TT gets labeled/mentioned here on RR).
I'm certainly going to keep an ear out for more from Brookes Brothers, but I've already added Amahla on socials, and snagged a copy of her Consider This EP and eagerly await more from this talent.
That said, I think the strength of this song is guest vocalist Amahla, who brings a soulful swoon to this cut that isn't quite as evident on the other Brookes Brothers original, "Good Thing," which is a much more straightforward d'n'b cut. In fact, for much of its run-time, "In the Moment" feels much more like a broken-beat number that would come out on Tru Thoughts - which may be why I'm so taken with this track (seriously, just look at how often TT gets labeled/mentioned here on RR).
I'm certainly going to keep an ear out for more from Brookes Brothers, but I've already added Amahla on socials, and snagged a copy of her Consider This EP and eagerly await more from this talent.
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