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New Music: Asleep In The Pews – Evening Hymns

Dec 1st, 2011 Leave a comment

Last week, I was in the mood for something upbeat that I could turn up loud. This week couldn’t be more different – but it’s just as good!

Quiet and soft, a pulling-at-the-heartstrings kind of song, “Asleep In the Pews” is a new release from Evening Hymns from their upcoming album Spectral Dusk (Shuffling Feet Records) which will be out in spring 2012.

Recorded in “the depths of a Canadian winter,” the album features members of The Wooden Sky, Ohbijou, and City and Colour. Evening Hymns are currently touring Europe, playing with Agnes Obel and Timber Timbre, but you can check out “Asleep In the Pews” below.

Website: http://www.eveninghymns.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/eveninghymns
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eveninghymns

Asleep in the Pews by evening hymns

[Thanks to AUX]

New Music: Niki and the Dove

Nov 17th, 2011 1 Comment

“Mystery hangs around this band, both on record and, especially, in person: whether it’s the conspiratorial whispering with each other in Swedish, the conversations punctuated by Malin’s childlike yelps of laughter, or Gustaf’s tangential flights of fancy, it’s like stepping into another world.”

I was definitely in the mood for something upbeat as I scanned the music that popped into my inbox this week. Hence Niki and the Dove. Gustaf Karlöf and Malin Dahlström are a Swedish pop duo who have just released their new EP, ‘The Drummer’ on Mercury Records.

“They make the kind of pop music only Scandinavians seem capable of: all strident and immediate on the one hand but also curiously knotty and multi-layered, with each song marrying lyrical complexity with clattering percussion and joyful dollops of synth.” [The Guardian]

If you check out their music on Soundcloud, I’d suggest starting with Mother Protect and Winterheart. Seriously, don’t they both belong on a soundtrack? Yes. Yes, they do.

I wasn’t sure about a couple of their songs, but have to admit, I fell in love with DJ Ease My Mind when I saw the video (below Mother Protect) — I now want to fling around on ropes all day to funky music!).

Website: www.nikiandthedove.com
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/nikiandthedove
Myspace: www.myspace.com/nikiandthedove

New Music: Emm Gryner’s Northern Gospel

Nov 10th, 2011 1 Comment

3-time Juno Award nominee Emm Gryner has recently released her 11th album, Northern Gospel – aptly titled for songs recorded in Algoma, Ontario and with content that is admittedly “a lot of Canadiana.”

“The album brings together some old favourites and some new gems, all stitched together with a common thematic thread: it’s never a Gryner album without a little heartache, but with a whole lot of hope thrown in for good measure.” [LondonFuse.ca]

Engineered by Joe Corcoran, the album was produced by “longtime Gryner cohort” Stuart Brawley (Don Henley, Emmy Rossum) who worked with her on “The Original Leap Year.”

“It’s kind of a crazy thing because we dated so there was that added advantage of really knowing someone…I think there’s this trust. He knows how my voice works and what fuels my voice emotionally, and he also knows if I ask him about something, I’m going to change my mind! I think with other producers there was always: ‘I don’t really know. What mood is this person in? Are they just doing it for the money?’ And it’s nice to not have those questions.” [MSN.ca Entertainment]

The album is typically personal, even “confessional.” ”Just a little bit of ‘let’s come clean about a couple of things,’ at the risk of having some discomfort with people that you’re close to,” she says of the album’s subject matter. “It doesn’t ever feel worth it for me unless you go there, and especially now. I guess I feel like I want to make something that Ronan is proud of as well.”

Ronan would be her new son, born in February 2010 with husband and visual artist Sean Odell.

When listening, you’re struck immediately with the familiar sounds of Canadian influences. But each song is strongly infused with Gryner’s personal touch.

Check out Emm Gryner’s Northern Gospel here and catch her on tour for the album here.

You can also find her on her website, Twitter and Facebook.