Site News, Upcoming Albums and Just Stuff: It’s Saturday Round Up!

A little bit of everything for your Saturday today.  I haven’t done one of these “round ups” in a while, so I thought I would put one up as I wanted to get votes tell you some happenings around Slowcoustic HQ and ramble on…more or less….

Site News

• First off, do you ever feel like you really need to vote for us here at Slowcoustic?  Okay, fine.  Well, how about you listen to me ask you to vote for Slowcoustic?  Better.  We have been nominated for CBC Radio 3’s Searchlight Poll where they are looking for the “Best Canadian Website”.  Its a little vague, but essentially, if it is a website and it is about music in some way then which one is your favourite.  There are actually a massive amount of great sites to vote for, so if you get a chance you should visit to vote for someone at least (and if it is Slowcoustic, then we thank you).  VOTE HERE.

• Slowcoustic (or rather me, Sandy) has been asked to be a juror for the 2011 Polaris Prize!  Yeah, me!  So I will be voting as part of Canadian media on what album released by a Canadian from June 1, 2010 – May 31, 2011 is really doing something for me.  If you are in the UK, it is essentially like the Mercury Prize there.  Have a couple of albums I really like but there are a couple open slots….are you listening Canadian bands?

Upcoming Albums

I thought I would post a couple of tracks from upcoming albums that I recommend.  I was also going to call this feature albums that leaked and I now can’t wait to buy them, but then that sounded like an admission of some sort of guilt.  ;-)

• The Low Anthem – “Smart Flesh” – Feb. 22nd (Pre-Order).  This album seems familiar but worlds away from Charlie Darwin and I dare say it works.  While I still think Charlie Darwin had one of my all time favourite tracks in its title track, the new album brings Americana (Hey, All You Hippies, Apothecary Love), Indie-Rock(Boeing 737) and their great mixture of strings, piano, harmonica and great delivery of lyrics together for an album to look forward to.  There is even a contender for that slow, pining song that makes an album for me in the track “Love and Altar”.  Recommended.

Listen: “Ghost Woman Blues”

• The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Departing” – March 1st (Pre-Order).  This album was surprisingly not as “upbeat” as I thought it was going to be.  And maybe “upbeat” isn’t the word I should say, but maybe not as driving of a record.  This suits a sad bastard like me just fine.  While there are fantastic “get out of your chair” tracks like Stamp, there are some great slowed down tracks that still hold on to that signature sound of The RAA…like Coldest Days, Two Lovers and Under the Knife.  Now that I am actually typing it, maybe it is more like 50/50 in the rocking vs. listening tracks…that Tornado ’87 and Barnes’ Yard have some crazy good hooks.  Okay, this album is great and I am sure a lot of fellow bloggers are having a collective sigh of relief in the fact that the follow up to Hometowns is worthy.   Recommended.

Listen: “Stamp”

• Oh, and that new PJ Harvey album ‘Let England Shake’ is killing.  I think this will be an album like The National’s “High Violet” – it is all around good and is going to stand up to many ears.  Just sayin.

Just Stuff

“Just Stuff” is a little misleading for the below as it makes it sound like it is lesser?!?  This stuff is stuff that I have been listening to and I have to share as it is just too good.

• Conrad Plymouth who’s self-titled release was one of my favourite EPs of 2010 are said to have their debut full length coming out this spring.  Details are still a bit light, but I am very much looking forward to it.  CP are the type of band that I always sing to, it just makes me want to join in – the songs pull me in, the melodies and harmonies can’t be denied and it just sticks with you.  If you follow Conrad Plymouth on Twitter (follow them) you would have been privy to a tweet with a collection of 3 live tracks from a WMSE fundraiser show last May.  I mention this as one of the tracks “Tapes” is stellar and will be on the new album.  This makes me want it even more.

“Tapes (Live on WMSE)” – Conrad Plymouth (purchase their Vinyl EP at Ten Atoms)

• If you know me, you know I am a fan of Jason Molina and the things he does (well, mainly his solo or Songs:Ohia stuff) and I wanted to recommend an artist who has a release with a few songs that give me the same type of chills as some of the earlier Molina stuff.  The band is Psalmships who is essentially Joshua Britton from Philadelphia and he creates moody pieces of music that like I said, give me shivers.  Listen to 2 tracks of his Kronotsky album now.

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Find more on Psalmships and 5 releases worth of music on his Bandcamp page.

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Enjoy your Saturday updates.

~Smansmith