International music, News

Video of the Day #86: Daniel Ledwell & Jenn Grant

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I remembered Daniel Ledwell & Jenn Grant today, because Jenn Grant’s album (which was produced by his husband Daniel) was nominated for a Juno award. I have the first two Jenn Grant releases Goodbye Twentieth Century and Orchestra for The Moon and I really like them. However, I had never heard of Daniel Ledwell until I red Herohill’s blog post sometime late last year. I was immediately hooked and then I kind of forgot about it because I couldn’t track down a physical copy of the album. Were there even any? I think I just I need to buy the download, because this still sounds marvellous to me. Do note that this isn’t actually new. It’s from 2008 I think, but still worth all the praise. I’m sure Daniel is a wizard behind producer’s desk, but let’s hope he keeps on writing music as well, because Two Over Seven sounds like a little folk / indie treasure. Kind of something like Liam Finn’s beautiful debut on Yep Roc. This one is entitled Daisy, You’re a Liar.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwamdGVY-_Q]

And this is the latest video Baby’s Been Away from Jenn Grant’s Juno nominated album Honeymoon Punch. Starring Jenn Grant and Daniel Ledwell.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQZfbyqaR38]

Daniel Ledwell Website
Jenn Grant Website

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International music, News

Bro. Stephen – Baptist Girls

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I finally did the right thing and ordered a vinyl copy of this beautiful album. I was pretty much hooked instantly after I red Slowcoustic’s post and listened to the song Tears on Tape. That song is a slow and beautiful folk treasure. I’ve only listened the rest of the album once or twice, because I prefer to use streaming services as a small introduction. I’ll wait for the physical copy until I fully introduce my heart to Bro. Stephen’s music, but I’m already extremely convinced that I needed to press that buy button. This is Tears on Tape.

Bro. Stephen at Facebook
Bro. Stephen Website

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Album of the Month, International music

Album of the Month: John K. Samson – Provincial

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Oh my. I should already be selecting the next album of the month and I still haven’t found the time to write about this magnificent album. So a few quick words about this masterpiece.

Canadian John K. Samson is one of my favourite songwriters. He is best known as the frontman of the mighty The Weakerthans. I’ve pretty much loved everything they’ve ever done and their last three albums have all been on my top 10 albums of the year lists. Provincial is his solo debut and it is equally amazing. The only minor “bad” thing about it is that the fans already know several of the songs by heart, because they’ve been released on two EPs beforehand. I wouldn’t have minded hearing twelve brand new John K. Samson originals. Not that it is a big deal, because a) they’ve been re-recorded b) are important part of this provincial concept c) are simply just way too awesome to be left out.

Without further ado, here’s a couple of stunning songs from John K. Samson’s solo debut. If you are looking for literate folk / indie rock of the highest order, it really does not get much better than John K. Samson and/or The Weakerthans. This album will be tough to beat in the album of the year contest.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhzguOsr7WI]

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/30524442″ iframe=”true” /]

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