Welcome to the Canadiana free-for-all. Both calystarose and I will be posting 3 times this week. We never could do things in moderation.

Let's get started.




This is J Englishman, a wonderful artist from Toronto. His album, Poor Li'l Rock Star has pretty much been my soundtrack for the last ten years. I'm going to take the lazy way out and plagiarize myself for a minute. I reviewed the album last year at my music blog (which I have, sadly, neglected the last six months or so. I need to get back to it). I don't see the need to do a completely different intro, especially when there isn't much information to be had.

So, the following is cribbed from my review of the album:

J Englishman is a Canadian artist who released a really stellar album in 2000. It was probably the first album I bought after hearing only one single, and it was way before I started downloading and doing the "try before you buy" type of thing, which goes to show how sure I was of the purchase. This was his only release, unfortunately. When last I heard, he was tending bar at The Tap in Toronto, though his Wiki article says that over the years, he's been working as a freelance music writer for Chart magazine, Production Manager for a John Legend tour, Festival Programmer and Production Manager for "Rock the Wake" festival, and is currently working as an audio engineer. He also has album producer credits (two of them) for the band G-13. He's also done sound engineering at a lounge in Toronto.

This is a lot of info for someone so obscure, so I'm guessing that someone connected to him or his sister (Canadian singer Esthero*) has edited the article. I don't know if that makes it more or less trustworthy, but I'm just happy to know that the man might still be somewhere in the music industry, just waiting for a chance to put out more music.

I'm pretty attached to this album, and I'm always up for trying to tempt someone else into listening to J's stuff. The problem is... it's really hard to find. It's not available at iTunes, and J's website is woefully out of date. The last listed tour dates were in 2004. There are some free MP3s available in the Sounds section, though. Download Breaking Down, Flowers For Ophelia (my favourite!), and Tripwires. To hear the album in its entirety, click the cut below. I cannot tell you how shocked I am that Grooveshark has the files streaming. I've included a playlist.

( Click to listen! )

Four songs hit the Top 40 and one went as far as the Top 10 (Abused, Staring at the Sun, The One Thing, and More). I've been able to find a couple of videos on YouTube that use his music, but only one actual music video. It's below. Kind of silly that it was banned by Much Music.

He has a MySpace, which indicates that he (or someone else) logged into the account in March 2010, but the last blog post is dated 2009. I've friended it anyway just in case.

If this ends up being his only album it'll be a damn shame, but at least he put out a good one.




*Fun Fact, J's sister helped to co-write Love Lockdown with Kanye West


Links:
- LastFM

This lovely man is Anthony Green. (He's also in my icon.)



He sings in a band called Circa Survive. He also supports breast cancer research, and foundations like Keep-A-Breast. Here he is, making a plaster cast of his rack. Or rather, of the rack he no doubt wishes he had.



Anthony's side project is the whole reason I pushed for this week's theme. In 2008, he put out a solo album called Avalon. I heard about it via an e-mail update from My Chemical Romance and I kind of scoffed. Why the hell would I go and buy your friend's album? Also, it's pretty lame to use your fan base like that. Well, I was a fucking idiot because the love I have for this man knows no bounds.

I don't even remember how I ended up hearing a song from Avalon, but I suspect that I came to Circa Survive first. I'm pretty attached to Act Appalled (Juturna) and The Difference Between Medicine and Poison is the Dose (On Letting Go). Chiodos was playing Warped Tour the last time I went and since I'd gotten a magazine with both Craig Owens and Anthony Green on the cover, I decided to check out some of his stuff, too. I like Circa Survive well enough, but Anthony's solo stuff is golden, in my opinion.

His voice isn't for everyone, which is something that drives me nuts because people are way too quick to brush him off. If you give him a chance, you'll probably really enjoy his music. While Circa Survive is pretty loud, Avalon is full of slower, calmer, songs - though that's not to say that it's all a bunch of ballads. It really isn't. I can't really compare it (or him) to anyone in particular because I have no clue who he might sound like. Now that I've said that, someone will no doubt school me with a list as long as I am tall, but I don't really care.

To record the album (and later to support it), he played with Good Old War, another favourite of mine. (He later returned the favour on Weak Man, off GOW's Only Way to Be Alone.)

The best song on Avalon also happens to be the shortest. Slowing Down (Long Time Coming) clocks in at 1:44, but it's an amazing little song.

It also has lovely ( lyrics. ).

Along with Avalon, you get the High and Driving EP, which includes several demos of Avalon songs. It's always interesting to see how songs may have changed from that starting point. Between the demo and the album versions, I've listened to Slowing Down (Long Time Coming) 150 times. I'm still not bored of it. I'm still not 100% sold on the Colin Frangicetto remix album, particularly on my favourite song, but I'll give him another listen and try to be objective.

There's another Circa Survive album coming soon, but after that Anthony plans to work on his next solo effort, Beautiful Things. I'm pretty excited for that.

Links:
- Last FM (with performance video)
- MySpace (LOL, username used to be moshtradamus)
- Twitter
- Facebook

So, last week I mentioned that on occasion, iTunes Canada actually does give us a fucking awesome song for free. This is one of those times.

Sam Sparro is an Australian singer-songwriter born in 1982. He's best known for this song - Black & Gold. His self-titled album came out in June 2008. Of the 13 songs, Black & Gold (Marcussen Album Version) is the strongest (and, unfortunately, the only song worth keeping, IMHO). His work ranges from R&B to funk to electronica, to classic Prince to Scissor Sisters, to everything in between. If that sounds like it's your cup of tea, then he's definitely an act worth checking out.

Back to Black & Gold, though. This song has proven to be extremely popular, which was a huge surprise to me because I haven't heard it anywhere. Apparently it's been used in soundtracks, commercials, tv promos, and video games. You'd think I'd at least have heard about that, but apparently not. It's entirely possible that I live under a rock.

There's been a few cover versions of this song (most notably Adele, Ellie Goulding, Alphabeat, and Katy Perry) but like usual, the original is always best. There's something to be said for Sam Sparro's voice and the way he sings the lyrics. Also, a bad cover version of any song is a sin that should banish you to the depths of hell.*

*Okay, okay, we'll reserve that solely for butchers ofHallelujah. DNW anyone other than Jeff Buckley, kthnx.

Here, have a streaming file from Grooveshark:

The song has a video, but Sam's record label, Island Records (UK), has had embedding disabled at YouTube. It's so camp and I laughed, but everyone needs a little camp in their day now and then. Click here to see it. It's boys in tuxedos and top hats. Carrying walking sticks and feeling up a limo. No, I'm not just saying that. There's also a fast food drink cup but that might be for a rousing game of One of these things is not like the other....

Links:
- Facebook
- MySpace
- Twitter

I'm sure we've all noticed by now that the iTunes free track of the week is usually a hot, steaming pile of crap. When it's not the place where shitty music goes to die, it can occasionally be decent. Now and then, someone at iTunes Canada slacks off and actually lets a really, really awesome track slip through.

This isn't one of those tracks, but it is how I found this band - Said the Whale.



[Pictured: Said the Whale. Not pictured: actual whales.]

In mid-October 2009, the free track of the week was the band's The Gift of a Black Heart. I downloaded it like I always do and I was pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately, I have musical ADD and forgot about them fairly quickly. Every now and then I'd 'rediscover' them on shuffle, but it wasn't until Genius recommended their 2-track The Magician EP two weeks ago that they became a band I really, really wanted to learn more about. I guess it's kind of funny that it was the single B-side that I went so crazy over. Carmelo (The Magician) is a good song, but the real gem is Love is Art / Sleep Through Fire. The lyrics are pretty and the melody is sweet and flows very nicely. It doesn't necessarily sound like eight other songs I could name, which often happens when you listen to a lot of a certain genre.

Said The Whale formed in 2007 as a collaboration between songwriters Ben Worcester and Tyler Bancroft. The pair’s debut EP, Taking Abalonia, featured sunny west coast indie pop, with breezy harmonies, shimmering guitars, and lyrical tributes to their home city of Vancouver.* In 2008, the album was rereleased as Howe Sounds/Talking Abalonia, featuring seven additional tracks that stretched the band’s stylistic palate to include bubblegum folk (”The Light Is You”), thundering hard rock (”Last Tree Standing”) and gentle ukulele ballads (”The Real of It”). After several personnel changes, the group settled upon a five-piece lineup that includes bassist Peter Carruthers, drummer Spencer Schoening, and keyboardist Jaycelyn Brown. The quintet embarked upon a rigorous touring schedule, crossing Canada numerous times and landing high profile gigs at V-Fest 2008 in Calgary and the nationally televised Canada Day celebration on Parliament Hill.

-Source

[*Sorry, I was just excited for a second there.]


Here's a clip from a live version of this song. I couldn't find a full, streaming version of the studio track, which is one of the downsides to unsigned bands.

Love is Art / Sleep Through Fire can be purchased through iTunes for $0.99, or as part of The Magician EP for $1.98.


So, in conclusion:



[Pictured: Said the Whale. Also pictured: cutie in white shoes.]

Links:
- Official Site
- Facebook
- Myspace
- Twitter
- PureVolume
- LastFM [with videos]

Meet Snowsera.


(Hi, Snowsera!)

They're an unsigned rock band from Chicago, a city that apparently has a magic music potion in the water. They've been together since 2006 and they have a fairly diverse list of influences: Michael Jackson, Nirvana, the Beatles, to name only a few. Because of this, they're not one of those bands whose songs all blend together.

I found them in 2008, right after someone in the band MySpace spammed me. Normally I click 'Decline' and don't bother to listen to the music. This time, however, I clicked the link and was pleasantly surprised. Their EP Fictions had just come out and I downloaded it right away. The songs have a great, polished quality to them that you don't often see with unsigned bands. It's a pretty good way to get into unsigned bands, because the sound isn't all that different than what a radio-listener is used to.

There are three other EPs, all of which are available free of charge on their website. Push&Pull came after Fictions. The two songs there (Push&Pull and Sun Meets the Sea) are rougher, not as polished, but no less interesting. With a bit of studio glitz, they, too, would be as strong as the Fictions EP. The other two-song EP contains the songs Chase the Rabbit and Stop, Listen, both of which are favourites of mine.

Things get a little tighter each time with respect to instrumentation, though I do wish the singer's voice didn't sometimes get a little drowned out. That's due to recording issues, though, so I'm doing my best to be patient.

For earlier Snowsera stuff, download the Snowsera EP, which includes the demos of two songs from Fictions - TwentyFour (24) and So Subtle.

Is this band perfect? Of course not. No one is. Are they a little rough? Definitely, but that's not a bad thing. They're certainly a band to keep an eye on because there's real potential there. That's pretty exciting.

Photos:
-*- Live
-*- Recording
-*- Promo

Other links:
-*- Official Site
-*- MySpace
-*- LastFM (And what's that I see? I'm the Top Listener? Shock me, shock me!)
-*- Pure Volume