Land Of Talk have just debuted a new video for “It’s Okay”. Directed by WeWereMonkeys “It’s Okay” is the third of three new Land Of Talk videos; preceded by clips for “The Man Who Breaks Things (Dark Shuffle)” and “Troubled” All three videos can be found on the bands new Fun & Laughter EP along with four new songs. You can find the songs corresponding to the videos on their debut album Some Are Lakes.
Watch the new Land of Talk videos on YouTube:
“It’s Okay”
“Troubled”
“The Man Who Breaks Things (Dark Shuffle)”
The band also begins a North American tour today in San Diego with a free in-store at Lou’s Records in Encinitas. Check out the dates below:
Fall 2009
Mon-Oct-26, Encinitas, CA, Lou’s Records (free in-store at 5pm)
Tue-Oct-27, San Diego, CA, Casbah
Thu-Oct-29, Los Angeles, CA, Spaceland
Fri-Oct-30, Visalia, CA, Cellar Door
Mon-Nov-02, San Francisco, CA, Cafe Du Nord
Wed-Nov-02, Portland, OR, Doug Fir Lounge
Thu-Nov-05, Seattle, WA, High Dive
Fri-Nov-06, Bellingham, WA, Nightlight
Sat-Nov-07, Vancouver, BC, Biltmore Cabaret
Thu-Nov-12, Montreal, QC, Segal Centre
Wed-Nov-18, Cambridge, MA, Middle East
Fri-Nov-19, Burlington, VT, Club Metronome
Sat-Nov-20, Northampton, MA, Iron Horse
Sun-Nov-21, New York, NY, Mercury Lounge
10/27-11/6 with Eulogies
“who would have thought three guys that were so wasted would ever sell millions of albums a few months later”.
It’s always cool to catch a band “before they were big”, but its even cooler when that band is a pre-Nevermind Nirvana. The good people at TrendWhore have posted a gold mine of Nirvana MP3’s from their September, 1991 performance at Montreal’s legendary Foufounes Electrique. One of the more notable aspects of this show is the intense and fresh performance of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” before everyone and their little sister knew the words.
Download “Smells Like Teen Spirit” here, and then head over to TrendWhore for the rest of the MP3’s from the concert.
Besides the Red Wings, Detroit has it pretty rough. Canadian Sam Roberts manages to capture the feel and look of the city in one rollicking retro tune. Check it out:
Are you in need of proof that Ska is in fact not yet dead? Look no further than the debut from Montreal band Stepper. The best way to in fact prove that a genre still has life is to not be ashamed of your influences and to simply do it well. Stepper? Check.
Recorded at Blackbird Studios in Nashville under the guidance of Grammy award winning producer George Massenburg, Way Out is filled with upbeat(obviously) tunes that are tight and well crafted. It’s a fun album to listen to especially if you happened to be a fan of 3rd wave ska music from its late 90’s heyday and will definitely leave you humming certain melodies long after you stop listening. Numerous songs feature a harder rock edge which is a welcomed addition to the sound and should quickly remind you of Reel Big Fish. Inspired guitar playing, tight horn lines and 3 different vocalists taking turns at the mic keep the entire album fresh and unpredictable. Standout tunes include “Turn Up Your Soundsystem”, “Running From Home” and “Bring Us Together”. Ska may not be as popular as it once was but who gives a shit when the tunes are good right? Exactly.
Stepper hits the road this summer for short tour, be sure to keep an eye out and catch up with them online:
http://www.myspace.com/steppermusic
Check out the band in the studio recording “Running From Home”:
Patrick Kreif, guitarist for The Dears heads out on his own with Black Diamond Bay. Check out WatchMojo’s interview:
Bad Flirt took some time to check in from day one of their US tour to share a geography lesson about Boston. The quirky band from Montreal gives plenty of insight into the city’s history including its founding by Boston terriers and its location on the West coast. Head over to Bad Flirt’s Myspace page to see if they will be bringing their high-energy pop/rock – and sense of humor – to a city near you.
November 4, 2008 // Toronto, ON – Fresh off a three-week run in the U.S. with Broken Social Scene, Montreal trio Land of Talk have announced additional Fall tour dates in North America and beyond in support of their debut full-length, Some Are Lakes. The album, which hit stores earlier this month via Saddle Creek in America and Secret City distribution in Canada, has been garnering glowing reviews, along with their performances. Dates continue starting Thursday night in Winnipeg, MB and run through December 12 in London, UK (compete dates below).
Some high praise for Some Are Lakes::
“[Some Are Lakes] casts its own illumination, intense yet rarely harsh” - New York Times
“[On Some Are Lakes] the spotlight stays on charismatic Elizabeth Powell, who grinds out chunky guitar noise as she attacks the mic with a slow-burn drawl that suggests Lucinda Williams fronting a power trio.” – Spin (4 out of 5 stars)
“Powell is no mere singer-songwriter dressing herself up in rock-trio cliché: She really seems to think, feel, sleep, and reason in the language of rock ‘n’ roll.” - Village Voice
“Canadian trio evolve past the jagged noise of their debut EP in favor of subversive melodies, all with foxy Elizabeth Powell at the helm.” - Rolling Stone
Check out the new Tour Dates:
11/6/08 – Winnipeg, MB @ Lo Pub#
11/7/08 – Saskatoon, SK @ Univ. of Saskatchewan #
11/8/08 – Edmonton, AB @ Pawn Shop #
11/9/08 – Calgary, AB @ Broken City #
11/12/08 – Vancouver, BC @ Media Club #
11/15/08 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
11/18/08 – Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom *
11/19/08 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse *
11/20/08 – Tallahassee, FL @ The Moon *
11/21/08 – St. Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Landing *
11/22/08 – Pompano, FL @ Club Cinema *
11/27/08 – Toronto, ON @ Sound Academy *
11/29/08 – Utrecht, NL @ Le Guess Who ^
12/1/08 – Berlin, DE @ Festaal Kreuzberg ^
12/2/08 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega ^
12/4/08 – Heidelburg, DE @ Zum Teufel ^
12/5/08 – Offenbach, DE @ Hafen 2 Club ^
12/6/08 – Ghent, BE @ Etolie Poliviers Festival w/ Bon Iver
12/8/08 – Brussels, BE @ Botanique ^
12/9/08 – Paris, FR @ Main D’Oeuvres ^
12/10/08 – London, UK @ Water Rats
* w/ Broken Social Scene
# w/ Josh Reichmann
^ w/ Think About Life
Here they are performing the title track to their debut album, Some Are Lakes:
Here’s a second MP3 from Land Of Talk’s forthcoming debut full-length, Some Are Lakes. See below for upcoming tour dates!
Land Of Talk - ‘Corner Phone’ (right click, save as)
BIO:
After more than two years of touring for their debut release, and having gained and lost a few members, Land of Talk retired to their hometown of Montreal to roll tape on a batch of new songs.
Singer/songwriter/guitarist Elizabeth Powell set about making an album that could encompass a great deal with very little, an aesthetic in stark contrast to the orchestral pop and digi-tweaked indie chic. With bassist Chris McCarron and drummer Andrew Barr (The Slip), the band set up in an old converted church outside of Montreal and recorded 9 songs with the helping hands of Justin Vernon (Bon Iver). The tenth and final track “Troubled” was recorded in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, at Vernon’s parents’ home.
Land of Talk isn’t so banal as to pretend that a new album is a departure, or a disconnected effort from the last. There’s a longer narrative at work here and this isn’t some paint-by-numbers pop. It’s simply a continuation of the internal conversation Powell has been holding with herself since she began this musical lark, more than a decade ago, with a 14 year-old’s creaky-voiced acuteness, spouting the uncomfortable truths of a woman thrice her years and many times more guarded.
The album opener, “Yuppy Flu”, and the two songs that follow, “Death By Fire” and “The Man Who Breaks Things (Dark Shuffle)”, are stealthy nods to Land of Talk’s much ballyhooed debut EP Applause Cheer Boo Hiss. Powell is as unrelenting in her appraisal of the world as she’s ever been, and it’s a world as pitiably venal as it is lovingly rendered. These songs might easily have sat in tandem with the urgent rawness of the EP tracks but with Powell’s sense of story and Vernon’s fresh perspective, they find better use on the new album. Here they set a perfect bridge from the jangling dissonance and ferocious doubled voicings of the debut, towards the road-weathered clarity and reflectiveness she has now begun to own so fully–a narrative string from there, to here, and beyond. When the titular track hits four songs in, it’s clear why “Some Are Lakes” is the album’s anthem call, as much a nostalgic tramp through summers past and love unending as a backhand ode to the very album it appears on. It’s a statement of intent with a sea change at its heart.
“It started at a summer lake / a sentence and a name / If only for a moment’s sake/ We called it and it came” Powell sings. The fierce spotlight of Powell’s attention points inward and has begun exposing a more private side of the nascent iconoclast. There’s nothing fragile in it. The honesty makes it steel. That in itself is a kind wonder. Where once one might have questioned whether Powell was shielding herself under the gauze and frenzy of her music, songs like “It’s Okay,” with its Afghan Whigs-inspired soul, and the alt-country amble of “Troubled” prove that she is ready to strike at the heart of even her own cherished conceits, and come out of it fresh, fighting fit and game for putting herself on the line in the spirit of true musical confession.
As a portent of things to come Some Are Lakes is nothing short of inspiring. On its own merits, it’s simply striking. The simplest things are the hardest to make.
TOUR DATES:
Thu-Sep-18, Ottawa, ON @ Zaphod’s
Fri-Sep-19, Montreal, PQ @ La Sala Rosa
Sat-Sep-20, Kingston, ON @ The Grad Club
Mon-Sep-22, Laval, PQ @ CEJEP
Tue-Sep-23, Sherbrooke, PQ @ Telephone Rouge
Wed-Sep-24, Peterborough, ON @ Montreal House
Thu-Sep-25, Guelph, ON @ E Bar
Fri-Sep-26, Hamilton, ON @ Casbah
Sat-Sep-27, Toronto, ON @ Sneaky Dee’s
Wed-Oct-08, Grand Rapids, MI @ Calvin College
Thu-Oct-09, Chicago, IL, Vic Theatre
Sat-Oct-11, Madison, WI @ Union Theatre/Univ. of Wisconsin
Mon-Oct-13, Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
Tue-Oct-14, Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
Thu-Oct-16, Kansas City, MO @ The Beaumont
Fri-Oct-17, Columbia, MO @ The Blue Note
Sat-Oct-18, St. Louis, MO @ The Gargoyle
Sun-Oct-19, Urbana, IL @ Foellinger Auditorium/Univ. of Illinois
Tue-Oct-21, Richmond, VA @ Toad’s Place
Wed-Oct-22, Falls Church, VA @ State Theatre
Fri-Oct-24, Brooklyn, NY @ Masonic Temple
Sat-Oct-25, Brunswick, ME @ Bowdoin College
Sun-Oct-26, Boston, MA @ Wilbur Theatre
10/8-26 with Broken Social Scene
Fusing “confessional” singer songwriter music with the energy and communal spirit of a “rock” band, Mike Feuerstack’s Snailhouse offers some of the Montreal native’s most impressive material. Whittling sound down to a succinct, simple beauty, the band specializes in a sort of everything-folk charm that brings collaborative musicians out of the woodworks — just ask Julie Doiron, members of the Arcade Fire, Maritime, or The Acorn. On his latest offering, Lies on the Prize, released last week on Unfamiliar, Feuerstack tackles a wide array of styles, from wistful pub rock, to subdued sucker-soul, and everything in between. It’s a soaring, assured piece of songcraft. Just listen below.
MP3: (Not) Superstitious
“Snailhouse sounds like a thoughtful post-rock band, turning songs inside-out to get at their heart and guts and finding them every time.” - Exclaim
In a world where the term “sensitive singer/ songwriter” is synonymous with “self- absorbed wanker,” it’s refreshing to see someone who can carry if off with such panache. The Radio Dances is a wonderful example of intelligent, innovative pop songcraft– the kind that’s well- suited for mornings, late nights or drives along a country road.” [8.5] - Pitchfork
Speaking of drives along a country road, Snailhouse is currently in the middle of one, making their way across Quebec and New Brunswick for slated appearances in Fredericton and Sackville later this month — all in celebration of the release of Lies on The Prize. So make your way out to a show and give Feuerstack a deserved fanfare! We certainly will.
07-18 - 07-20 Dawson, Yk - Dawson City Music Festival
07-30 Rothsay, NB - Shadow Lawn
07-31 Fredericton, NB - The Capital
08-01 - 08-03 Sackville NB - Sappy Records Music Festival
Here’s an intimate look at a Snailhouse live performance:
For More Information:
http://www.myspace.com/snailhouse
http://www.snailhousemusic.com
Young Galaxy are yet another new indie band coming out of Montreal, and with this video they’ve crafted something pretty memorable. The clip has some great visuals and a high concept that is reminiscent of various sci fi stories/movies that I can’t remember the names of. It looks and sounds great and I hope they can continue to make interesting videos as they grow their audience. Check it out:
http://www.myspace.com/younggalaxy
PLAY
