Catl. kicks off a series of digital singles with updates of heavenly gems from The Louvin Brothers and Carter Family.
In advance of Catl's upcoming European tour, Toronto's favourite blues bashers are sharing a digital single of their Catl-ized versions of two country gospel tunes "Satan's Jeweled Crown" by the Louvin Brothers and "No Telephone In Heaven" popularized by the Carter Family. Have a listen to Catl's update of "Satan's Jeweled Crown" right hereand "No Telephone In Heaven" right here.
Before any nasty rumours start spreading, it should be made clear that Catl's dynamic duo of Jamie&Sarah didn't "get religion" during the pandemic. Although their time away from the stage did present the opportunity to listen to more vintage country and blues recordings which they found inspiring. And just as many of their favourite purveyors of "the devil's music" – namely Charley Patton, Son House, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Washington Phillips – also dabbled in the spiritual realm, Catl like to keep all the bases covered. In fact, they've previously recorded a version of Phillips' "Keys to The Kingdom" for their 2018 album Bide My Time Until I Die (available here) and they also did "He'll Make A Way" by Robert Johnson (the other one, documented by George Mitchell) for 2012's Soon This Will All Be Gone (get it here).
Explains Jamie: "During the Covid lockdown, Sarah and I were buying and listening to a lot of country music. I've always loved gospel music and how it's structured to 'uplift' people out of their troubles and embrace the 'spirit' (which can be interpreted differently from person to person). Also, how it balances with blues music.
"Since we haven't had a practice space in years, playing drums loudly was not an option. Sarah switched back to her original instrument, the organ, and we started working on a gospel/country set. A handful of songs were recorded over a three-day session during June of 2023 in the French countryside near Rennes, where our label Beast Records resides. More tracks were cut with Franck Thareault at his home studio called Fly House Records.
"Initially our plan was to make this a series of singles, with future releases would share the same theme. Not sure if we would ever play these songs live, but it's been a nice side distraction learning songs from the old country catalogue.
"If we get an album's worth of material covered we're gonna consider a physical release, but for now we're sharing the first two songs, "Satan's Jeweled Crown" by the Louvin Brothers and "No Telephone in Heaven" by The Carter Family."
Check out Catl's versions of "Satan's Jeweled Crown" and "No Telephone in Heaven" right now on your streaming platform of choice.
You can catch Catl. at Castro's Lounge (2116 Queen St. East) on Saturday (May 18) before they ship out overseas for their European barnstorming tour of Finland, France Germany and Belgium this June (see dates below). Those interested can check out the Louvin Brothers' 1958 recording of "Satan's Jeweled Crown" and the Carter Family's 1929 recording of "No Telephone In Heaven"
Check out "Falling Forever" off the new Beachwood Sparks album, Across The River of Stars out July 19. Photo: Kathleen Nicholson
Here's the scoop...
Beachwood Sparks recently announced their return after a 12-year hiatus with a new album, 'Across The River Of Stars,' (out July 19th via Curation Records – pre-order it right here) and they've just shared a new single,"Falling Forever," catapulting listeners into a sonic odyssey, echoing the cosmic fervour of The Byrds' legendary sound. Conjuring a kaleidoscope of melodies, weaving intricate harmonies reminiscent of the timeless magic of "Notorious Byrd Brothers," their eagerly anticipated album was produced by Chris Robinson (of The Black Crowes), a stalwart champion of the band, and the track is a testament to timeless psychedelia, jangle and gratitude in a 3-minute pop song.
Across The River Of Stars
Forming in the summer swelter of 1997 — built on the bones of Further and Strictly Ballroom — Beachwood Sparks stood among the charmed few who picked up the yoke left loose as Alt-Country’s early ‘90s wave crested and cooled.
While the whole world was wrapped in pop, nu-metal, and indie rock, Beachwood Sparks were aloft on winds with The Byrds, weaving harmonies like Starry Eyed and Laughing, and lost in the heat-ripple haze with the Flying Burritos.
To the uninitiated they’d seemed out of step, but to those who’d already been scanning the Cosmic channels, waiting for kindred hearts to answer the call, they were far ahead of their time. The Cosmic American tide has finally caught up to their curl in the last few years, and it seems like it’s finally just the time and place for Beachwood Sparks to assume their rightful place at the forefront of the new wave of psychedelic country.
Some heads were always clued in. Sharp ears at Sub Pop picked the band up after their debut single on Bomp! and set sail the journey of Cali’s most consistent sunbeam surfers. The group stuck out like a wild hair on the Sub Pop roster, but as the label eased into their reputation as indie rock’s rudder in the early aughts, the band laid down a celebrated string of albums — S/T (2000), Once We Were Trees (2001) and the EP Make The Cowboy Robots Cry (2002) — before slipping into the ether in favor of new projects like All Night Radio, Mystic Chords of Memory, and GospelbeacH. They’d return to form, and their home at Sub Pop, after a decade away for The Tarnished Gold (2012) and revisit some early material on Desert Skies for Alive (2013). Now the band’s three founders — Brent Rademaker, Chris Gunst, and Farmer Dave Scher — return to the fold once more for a new album that’s just in time to sweeten the Summer air.
The band hunkered down at John Dwyer’s Discount Mirrors Studios in Los Angeles. Producer Chris Robinson (The Black Crowes, The Chris Robinson Brotherhood) along with renowned house engineer Eric Bauer (Ty Segall, Osees) helped the band give their sound a fresh salt scrub, tacking the sails into those requisite warm winds once more. A few more familiar names entered the studio as well, with Benjamin Knight (The Tyde) adding guitar, Andres Renteria (John Dwyer’s Bent Arcana) laying down the drums, Jen Cohen Gunst (Mystic Chords of Memory, The Aislers Set) on keys, and Clay Finch (Mapache) peppering in background vocals. The mix of friends and family (and friends who feel like family) helps add to the warmth and ease of the album. The band has long captured a kind of California ideal, and as we slip into Across The River of Stars, it still feels like a place where the days never end, the sun never burns, and the crash of waves lulls the listener into a place of peace.
From the backstage stomp and dance floor romp of “My Love My Love” the band sets the scene, flings open the shutters, and lets the amp-fried goodness roll out into the streets. The album captures classic shades of Beachwood bliss — lovelorn yearning, now underpinned with Jen’s keys (“Torn In Two,” “Faded Glory”), last call crooners that slip over the horizon with the final rays of sun (“High Noon”) and a classic stacked-harmony hummer that reaches back to the haze and humidity of the Once We Were Trees era. While feeling at ease on the shelf alongside your copies of Rose City Band, Silver Synthetic, Color Green, The Hanging Stars, or any of the newer guard on Rademaker’s Curation Records, the band keeps one foot in classic territory and another just past the modern mirage. Far from following any trend, the band are keepers of the flame. Beachwood Sparks long ago entered the pantheon of country-psych’s headiest hitters, but with Across The River of Stars, they prove that they’re luminaries and leaders of a sound that still soaks the soul in the sublime. - Andy French, 2024
Nichol Robertson is joined by The Sadies' Mike Belitsky & Sean Dean on "Mimico Moonlight" – check the title tune. Photo: Laura Proctor
Here's the scoop...
Nichol Robertson is a Canadian roots music guitarist, born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. Equally at home melting faces with his high octane guitar onslaught as he is gently picking Hawaiian tunes for background ambience at the local bar, Nichol Robertson is a sonic painter with an ear for Bob Ross-esque aural landscapes. From twangy melodies echoing The Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet to B-bender shredding reminiscent of the late Clarence White, his six-string technique is very impressive.
Robertson's first solo album was the critically acclaimed “Stranger Things” released back in 2011, long before that show. His latest opus “Mimico Moonlight” – recorded with his Honkytonk Boogaloo band cohorts, drummer Mike Belitsky & bassist Sean Dean of The Sadies – is out Friday (May 17th). While 13 years between releases might seem a bit long, Robertson has spent that time working on countless projects including but not limited to The Layrite Boys, The Hulagoons, Thelonious Hank, Nic & the Narcs, Robertson & Kerr and Snowbird when he isn't accompanying rising country stars or recording viral videos with his family band, The Robinson'sons.
Get a copy of Nichol Robertson's Mimico Moonlight album on vinyl right here.
Nichol is launching the vinyl version of his Mimico Moonight album in the back room of The Cameron House on Friday (May 17) at 7:30 pm surrounded by the oil paintings of the multi-talented Sean Dean. Check out the title track from "Mimico Moonlight" below or stream it here.
