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June 7th, 2010

Review :: The Bad Arts – The Bad Arts

The Bad Arts
The Bad Arts
(Self Released)
Halifax, NS
::web/sounds::


From the not-so-bad artistry of James Goddard:
Some philosophers believe in a unified totality. For them everything is one thing. That one thing might be something vague or something specific. The Bad Arts seem to believe that every individual song should contain as many musical ideas as possible. Moving through rock and roll tropes like an undergraduate survey course, The Bad Arts cassette is a terse treatise on abrasion tempered by that inescapable haligonian penchant for mathy pop.

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The Bad Arts – Drastic Measures

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The Bad Arts – Long To Repeat

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Categoria!! cassette :: New Canadiana :: nova scotia | No Comments »

May 26th, 2010

Review :: PS I Love You – Starfield

PS I Love You
Starfield
(Thing Itself)
Kingston, ON
::web/sounds::


From the starfield eyes of James Goddard:
There are two Kingston’s: One sanitized and sold – yours to discover. The home of Sir John A. Macdonald. The first capital of the Province of Canada. Regal, limestone buildings, and staid institutional stuff. Then there is the Kingston inhabited by PS I Love You. A heavy, hook-laden irresistibly catchy, summer-ripened forbidden fruit of a place. The two tracks on this 7″ are uncompromising displays of pop prowess beginning with Starfield, which maps the trajectory of a maybe romance, anchored in the middle by a censor baiting string of “fucks,” and followed by a b-side that dives head-first into a world where mundane obligations are subsumed by good times, distortion and unstoppable guitar tone.

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PS I Love You – Starfield

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PS I Love You – Butterflies & Boners

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Categoria!! 7" :: New Canadiana :: ontario | 2 Comments »

April 9th, 2010

Review :: Pastoralia – Across Living Room Floors

Pastoralia
Across Living Room Floors
(Self Released)
Halifax, NS
::web/sounds::


From the tuesday-night pasta of James Goddard:
I once had the good fortune to go drinking with underwater welders. I was left with the distinct impression that were I fonder of Whitesnake submarine metal-working might have been the life for me. Pastoralia, like underwater welding, is a strange combination of things; clown makeup, throw-back samples, and choreographed dance sequences all blended seamlessly with a power-pop trio. Mitchell Wiebe‘s vocals float disaffectedly over thalassic bass lines and discarded C&C Music Factory beats. What Pastoralia do may be more akin to making collages out of US Weekly in a wading pool than actual under-water welding, but isn’t that just a matter of scale?

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Pastoralia – Daddy Daughter Dance

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Pastoralia – Fuschia of Architecture

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Categoria!! compact disc :: New Canadiana :: nova scotia | 1 Comment »

April 6th, 2010

Review :: Frederick Squire – Friday March 12

Frederick Squire
Friday March 12
(Self Released)
Sackville, NB
::web/sounds::


From the tantramaratic marshes of James Goddard:
There is a special bite to the wind that blows off the Tantramar. Fred Squire’s songs are modeled after that marsh wind. They wake you up. Expertly positioned, every layer arranged like a plate in a drying rack. The voice, guitar, drums, piano; one after another. Fred wants you to watch him build these songs. He draws your attention to the process, to the pedals and the microphones, the tape and the instruments; it’s an attention to recording. He’s showing you how to make something sound ecclesiastical, reverential, like the wind. While at the same time never allowing one to losing sight of the fact that underneath all that is a man with a guitar and a voice like a paragon.

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Frederick Squire – You Sing High We Will Sing Low

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Frederick Squire – Theme From a Northern Movie

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Categoria!! compact disc :: new brunswick :: New Canadiana | 3 Comments »

March 3rd, 2010

Review :: Bad Vibrations – Bad Vibrations

Bad Vibrations
Bad Vibrations
(Brotherhood Cassettes)
Halifax, NS
::web/sounds::


From the not-so-bad vibrations of James Goddard:
Sometimes I imagine a future where everyone has forgotten what a guitar actually sounds like; Children brought up on a steady diet of French pop and Swedish 8-bit. Eventually, current trends like lo-fi would become ailments listed in the DSM VII with prescriptions like: 2 hours of Kumbaya orchestrated by battery-operated MicroKorgs (twice daily, with food). Things would be bad. Luckily former Dog Day drummer KC Spidle has strapped on a six string and stepped to the foreground to ensure such a future will never happen. Bad Vibrations play guitar music. They play the kind of three piece power-pop that begs for adjectives like dark or gloomy; and they play it well. Eschewing any kind of overt studio trickery, the members of Bad Vibrations (KC, Evan and Meg) have put together a crisp sounding record that subtly recalls that classic 90s Halifax sound. Nothing could be further from an all-electro dystopia.
[Levin's Note: James forgot the positive side of an all-electro dystopia: Gino Soccio all day 'ere day.]

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Bad Vibrations – We’re Dead

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Bad Vibrations – Think About Life

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Categoria!! compact disc :: New Canadiana :: nova scotia | 2 Comments »

February 2nd, 2010

Review :: Adam Mowery – Port City Burning

Adam Mowery
Port City Burning
(Self Released)
Saint John, NB
::web/sounds::


From the singed mind of James Goddard:
Adam Mowery began the decade singing songs about being a cat and wearing striped socks in a well-loved acoustic indie-pop trio. Here as we enter a new decade he has re-invented himself as a sort of bizarro world Harry Belafonte. His live shows are swoon inducing rock and roll revivalism at its best. On this CD-R he treats us to 13 bad luck pop songs. The old pop-sensibility that used to dominate Port City Allstars records is now tempered by lo-fi experimentalism. His falsetto voice cuts through all the tape hiss and off-beat percussion making you believe that the rain-soaked, wind-ravaged port city of Saint John, New Brunswick really is a tropical paradise. What could be better than that?
[Levin's Note: Saint John is the new Halifax.]

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Adam Mowery – Turn Another Page

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Adam Mowery – The Dragon Boat Festival (Let’s All Go To)

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Adam Mowery – I’m Forever Diggin’ Where the Well Went Dry

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Categoria!! compact disc :: new brunswick :: New Canadiana | 7 Comments »

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