Channel One Sound System @ Black Creek Assembly, Thursday

Direct from the UK, the Channel One Sound System makes their Toronto debut at 131 McCormack St. on Thursday night.

Get tickets for Channel One Sound System's Toronto show right here. 

Happy Birthday Sheila Jordan!

Raising a glass to jazz singer extraordinaire Sheila Jordan on her birthday, still going strong at 96! Here's an interview and more.

Baltimore's Magick Potion join Rough Spells, AAWKS @ Handlebar, Sunday

Don't miss Baltimore's heavy whumpin' Magick Potion headline a Toronto triple bill at Handlebar tonight. Doors at 7:30 pm. $15. 

Watch Pat Todd & The RankOutsiders rock Bergamo!

Here's L.A.'s Pat Todd & his RankOutsiders tearin' it up at Punk Rock Raduno 5 in Italy. Catch 'em at The Redwood on Nov 30. 

Remembering Alphonse "Bois Sec" Ardoin on his birthday

Raising a glass to Louisiana accordion ace Alphonse "Bois Sec" Ardoin on his birthday with a couple of vintage performance clips worth checking. 

One For The Weekend: Saint Etienne

Clocking in at just under 2 minutes, "Half Light" is the first taste of Saint Etienne's forthcoming album The Night due December 13th.

Here's the scoop...

Half Light offers a first chance to hear anything from the forthcoming Saint Etienne album "The Night" which is due for release on December 13th.

Pete Wiggs from the band says: "Half Light is about the edge of night, the last rays of the sun flickering through the branches of trees, communing with nature and seeing things that might not be there."

Starting Nov. 20th, you can pre-order The Night album from Saint Etienne's site right here. Every order placed via this shop will receive a free copy of an exclusive 6-Track bonus CD “Deep Into The Night”. 

Have a listen to "Half Light" below. 

Saint Etienne – The Night 

Side One 

1. Settle In 

2. Half Light 

3. Through The Glass 

4. Nightingale 

5. Northern Counties East 

6. Ellar Carr 

7. When You Were Young 

Side Two

1. No Rush

2. Gold

3. Celestial 

4. Preflyte 

5. Wonderlight 

6. Hear My Heart

7. Alone Together 

Saint Etienne's The Night features 14 new tracks recorded in Saltaire and Hove between January and August 2024 with co-producer Augustin Bousfield, “The Night” saw Bob, Pete and Sarah together in the studio for the first time since 2019. 

Says Pete Wiggs: “It was great to all be in the same studio together again and we realised that it had been several years since we’d actually done that, sprawling out on the carpet, mugs of coffee in hand, sheets of lyrics and half ideas for titles lying around us.” 

Adds Bob Stanley, “I think The Night sounds really three-dimensional. A lot of that is down to Gus Bousfield who played the guitars and did a wonderful production job recording much of it in his studio, with so much light and space, has helped to shape it too. The three of us brought in our own songs, but lyrically we were all in tune with each other without having to swap notes first. We wanted "The Night" to be a calming album, warm and serene, but at the same time we wanted to create something gorgeous and dense.” 

Chimes in Sarah Cracknell, "“It was so good to be back in the studio together after recording the last album remotely. One of my favourite songs on the record is Preflyte, it made me cry when I sang it for the first time.” 

Margo Guryan's songcraft is the focus of new tribute album from Sub Pop

Better 4 years late than never, Sub Pop just released Like Someone I Know, a multi-artist reimagining of the late Margo Guryan's fab Take A Picture album.

Here's the scoop...

Most of our stories about cult musicians who make an album or two and then seem to vanish are framed by grief, despair, and frayed ambition. Not so with Margo Guryan, an ardent jazz anomaly who disdained pop music until hearing “God Only Knows” in 1966, opening a window onto the wonders that form could contain. 

Only two years later, she released her own set of little pop symphonies, Take a Picture, to great praise and expectation. But, having already divorced the hard-gigging valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, she declined to tour or even talk about it all that much, content even if her reticence meant Take a Picture was soon consigned to discount racks and cutout bins. She wrote and recorded for years to come, even collaborating with Neil Diamond’s band, but mostly she seemed satisfied by her relatively private life. 

As befits music so stunning and subtle, Guryan, who died in 2021, has enjoyed several renaissances during the last six decades. And now, it’s happening again: Soon after her near-whispered and lovelorn hymn “Why Do I Cry” made her a TikTok star in 2021, the same year she passed, Numero Group launched a reissue campaign, resulting in the acclaimed 2024 set, Words and Music. And now, a dozen artists—none of whom were born when Take a Picture was made, most of whom weren’t even born for a crucial early reissue by Franklin Castle—have reinterpreted and reimagined that entire album (plus one bonus track) for Like Someone I Know: A Celebration of Margo Guryan. Empress Of, Margo Price, Clairo, June McDoom: They all affirm Guryan’s sharpness as a songwriter and the brilliance of an album that has far outstripped whatever promotional cycle Guryan rejected so long ago. 

Guryan was born to a sprawling family in Far Rockaway, when the place was still mostly framed by trees. While a composition student at Boston University, Guryan stumbled into a gig playing piano between Miles Davis Quintet sets, signed a songwriting deal with Atlantic Records, and botched a session with Nesuhi Ertegun. But she wasn’t looking to be a singing star. In 1959, she headed to the Lenox School of Jazz in the Berkshires to write for Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry, earn the attention of instructor Max Roach, and find a longtime mentor and friend in Gunther Schuller. She became an accomplished lyricist, writing not only for Coleman and Nancy Harrow but also for Harry Belafonte and Gary MacFarland. 

But it was that subsequent encounter with the Beach Boys that opened the trap door for Guryan to Take a Picture and scores of other super songs, many of which appear on Words and Music. Take a Picture is a sophisticated survey of mid-20s romance and indecision, from the flirty romp of “Sunday Morning” and falling-for-you affirmation “Can You Tell” to the desperate helplessness of “What Can I Give You.” Her perpetually soft voice, audacious songcraft, and complete candor: Guryan, in 1968 and beyond, was making daring music, no matter how gently those sounds seemed to move. 

With a portion of proceeds being donated to providing and advocating for affordable reproductive health services, Like Someone I Know reinforces the strength of Guryan’s songs by allowing a dozen different artists to take them for trips of their own. The core always remains, unwavering. McDoom stretches static and harmony beneath “Thoughts,” as if they’re spinning on a dub plate beneath her arcing vocals. Rahill lets “Sun” unfurl over harmonium drone and entrancing percussive ticks, digging into Guryan’s interest in the surreal. Frankie Cosmos and Good Morning take a country shuffle through “Take a Picture,” entwined vocals falling over the rhythmic skips with perfect romantic relish. Over the last few decades, it has become increasingly clear just how good Guryan was, how sturdy her songs have been amid varying tides of taste. Like Someone I Know offers absolute validation, a testament to the enduring relevance and brilliance of Guryan's work. 

Get a copy of the new tribute album Like Someone I Know: A Celebration of Margo Guryan and check out a few tracks via Bandcamp right here. Watch the animated video for Empress Of's version of the title track along with audio clips of TOPS doing "Sunday Morning" and Margo Price's version of "California Shake" after the tracklisting. 

Like Someone I Know: A Celebration of Margo Guryan

1. TOPS - Sunday Morning 2:26

2. Rahill - Sun 3:34

3. Clairo - Love Songs 2:58

4. June McDoom - Thoughts 2:54

5. MUNYA and Kainalu - Don't Go Away 2:20

6. Frankie Cosmos and Good Morning - Take a Picture 3:02

7. Kate Bollinger - What Can I Give You 2:25

8. Pearl & The Oysters - Think of Rain 2:11

9. Bedouine and Sylvie - Can You Tell 2:20

10. Empress Of - Someone I Know 2:04 

11. Barrie - Love 2:51

12. Margo Price - California Shake 3:37