I made my way over to the Tranzac last Friday to catch my friend Stuart’s monthly “Out of this Spark presents” concert. Stu’s been doing these shows for a while now and I’ve yet to miss one. They’re always nice, laid-back affairs, where you’re sure to see unique sets from both fresh talent and more established acts. The lineup for the night was The Youngest, whose short, wistful set left me truly impressed, VIVIV, the latest project from Ken Reaume, and finally, Casey Mecija of Ohbijou. I’ll be honest, it was pretty late by the time Casey went on and I’d had a few drinks, so I collapsed into a seat right up front and tried filming to the best of my inebriated abilities. So please, watch this video of Casey playing a song that I’d never heard before – her sister Jenny is singing backups and really nails it. Love ‘em.
This past November, Evening Hymns released Spirit Guides, which was one of my favourite albums of the year. I’ve been a fan of Jonas Bonetta (the man behind Evening Hymns) for a long time now, so I’ve been really happy to see so many people discover him with his latest release. For the longest time, Jonas was a one-band-band, using only his guitar and keyboard (and a few looping pedals) to create his lush sonic landscapes. For Spirit Guides, he enlisted the help of his many talented friends (including Sylvie Smith of The Magic, Tim Bruton from The D’Urbervilles, Shaun Brodie of the Hidden Cameras, and most of The Wooden Sky), resulting in his most diverse and transcendent album to date.
Jonas brought out these friends for his album release show back in December, and I was fortunate enough to be in the audience. Here they are performing his song “Broken Rifle” – see if you can count how many people are on stage for this.
Here’s a video I shot last month when the Harbourcoats opened up for Evening Hymns at the latter’s album release show. I’ve seen the Harbourcoats (Bry Webb, also of the Constantines) play many times now going back several years, and each time has been special. The first time was almost five years ago, also at the Tranzac. I believe that was one of Bry’s first solo shows, and he only played a handful of songs (it was an afternoon gig in celebration of Three Gut Record’s fifth anniversary). The next time I saw him play was two and a half years later, once again at the Tranzac. For that show he had an entire band backing him up, with members of several prominent bands filling out the ranks. Now jump ahead to this winter, a few more years have passed and I find myself back at the Tranzac watching Bry Webb (this time wrapped in blue Christmas lights).
It’s actually unprecedented for me to have seen a performer so many times (I failed to mention above that I’ve seen Bry play at least two other times) and know the songs so well but not own their record. I can’t be blamed in this case since he’s yet to release an album! I’ve heard for several years that he’s been chipping away at one, so hopefully we’ll have something by the end of this year. If you’re really jonesing for some solo recordings, check out 2007’s Friends in Bellwoods compilation for a cover of The Velvet Undergrounds’ “Oh! Sweet Nuthin’” he did with Ohbijou’s Casey Mecija, or try tracking down the soundtrack to This Beautiful City, which features two originals by Bry Webb called “Big Smoke” (which nominated for a Genie last year for Best Original Song) and “Positive People.” Whew.
Continuing with the anniversary celebrations, here’s another recently uncovered gem from earlier this year. I’m not sure why I never posted this the first time ’round, but it’s totally the only video like it on the internet! Sebby G himself has gone blog crazy in recent weeks, so ch-ch-check it out!
I didn’t get off work until midnight last night, meaning I missed Taylor’s big gig, but I still made it to the Tranzac afterwards for the latest OOTS presentation. Luckily that seemed to be where most people ended up after the Timber Timbre show so I was still able to see some friends, which is key. I missed the first few acts (Chris Yang and Gavin Gardiner) but got there just in time to see Guelph’s Richard Laviolette, whose quiet masterpiece A Little Less Like a Rock, a Little More Like a Home was a favourite of mine a few years back, and who I last saw at SappyFest about a year ago. However, in stark contrast to that show, yesterday Richard was backed up by his new-ish band (well, it was the first time I’ve seen them) the Hollow Hooves, who brought some welcome muscle to his fragile sounding songs. It was a very different performance than I’m used to him putting on, but I liked it all the same.
I ducked out after a few tunes to catch up with some friends outside, but hopefully it’s not another year before I see Richard again.
My pal Sylvie asked me to videotape her band playing at the Tranzac. I wish I’d done a better job though. I stood way at the back and had to do a lot of zooming in, and I moved the camera around way too much. However, the song is really great, so I think it deserves to be shared! This band, “The Magic,” are a lot of fun. The song in the video is actually a quasi-cover, since it was originally performed by Sylvie’s old band, Habitat! I also posted a video of Jim Guthrie’s new band Human Highway covering a Jim Guthrie song! Joy!
