The Provincial Archive – It’s All Shaken Wonder

provincialarchive

The Provincial Archive from Edmonton is one of my new favourite bands. I found them some time last year, bought their back catalogue and have spent a lot of time listening to their early albums. It’s just totally my kind of band. My somewhat obsessive music collecting started with pop music and have since drifted more and more towards folk music. The Provincial Archive is like the best of both worlds. Okay, maybe folk-tinged pop groups aren’t really a rarity these days. However, most of them fall into that “this is nice, but not much more than that” category. The Provincial Archive stands up from the crowd by writing brilliant songs and delivering them beautifully. Their new album will be released in their homeland Canada later this month, but it’s been out in Europe since May. I picked up a copy from the local store a month ago and I really like it. Especially the singles Common Cards and Daisy Garden are really gorgeous. I posted Common Cards sometime last year and therefore I’ll go with the album opener Daisy Garden this time around. The struggles of aging and the alzheimer’s disease aren’t the easiest subjects to tackle in a pop song, but The Provincial Archive does it incredibly well.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zmx7CxJH_n0]

The Provincial Archive Website

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The Wicked Whispers & Stephen Steinbrink

wickedwhis

The Wicked Whispers is a band that I’ve liked from the start and have been following them in here since the debut EP. This Liverpool-based group do this psychedelic pop thing rather brilliantly. They are finally ready to release to their debut album Maps Of The Mystic. It will come out on Electone Records on September 22nd. You can pre-order the album from the label’s website starting today. This is the latest single and opening track of the album Chronological Astronaut.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voPV7pENJQY]

The Wicked Whispers Website

stephenstein

Stephen Steinbrink is a new find for me, but lately I’ve been creating an obsession towards his beautiful new album Arranged Waves. I usually try to run away, if I hear the word experimental. Thankfully I didn’t this time around, because this experimental pop songwriter has created a pop treasure. This is the opener Now You See Everything.

Stephen Steinbrink Website

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Otis Gibbs – Souvenirs Of a Misspent Youth (+ Thanks For Giving a Damn)

otisgibbs

Even though I don’t know the man personally, it feels like Otis Gibbs is a dear friend of mine. Actually it feels like his whole family (pets included of course) are friends of mine. The reason for this one-sided friendship and affection is of course his brilliant Thanks for Giving a Damn podcast where he chats with wonderful singer-songwriters, musicians etc and tells little stories about his life and his pets. I’ve never had any ads on this page, because I kind of hate them, but sometimes I think of adding a gigantic unpaid Thanks For Giving a Damn with Otis Gibbs banner on the front page. That podcast is something that I believe so strongly that I actually might change my no ads policy.

Besides being the world’s greatest podcast host (and even more importantly), Otis Gibbs is obviously a first class singer-songwriter as well. That’s how I first got to know him. I bought his album Joe Hill’s Ashes back in 2010 and have bought each and every release ever since. Therefore I was also happy to participate in the Kickstarter project for his latest album Souvenirs of a Misspent Youth. The album is now officially out in Europe. US release will follow in August. Otis Gibbs is also regularly touring in Europe. Maybe next time he is going to Sweden/Norway, we need to try and convince him to visit Finland as well. Meanwhile we can listen to his new album Souvenirs of a Misspent Youth. This is excellent Ghosts Of Our Fathers from the new album.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc4zWf7AnGU]

Otis Gibbs Website

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Michael Claytor – My Trespasses

claytor

I’ve been waiting for this one for quite a while. Well ever since I first heard Michael Claytor and Sam Moss singing Hairpins several years ago. Something like 2011 or thereabouts. That little youtube video is something that I always return to time and time again. This folk singer-songwriter from Gainesville, Florida won my heart that easily. Therefore I youtube search the name Michael Claytor every now and then and thankfully I’ve found several new videos over the last few years (mostly thanks to Eric Atria). This time there’s something far more exciting than just a video though. Michael Claytor just released his new album My Trespasses this weekend. At the moment it’s available in digital format at Bandcamp (CDs will be there later as well). I bought and downloaded it earlier today. The task for the next few days is to fall in love with it. I’m not expecting that to be hard at all. I’m fairly sure it’s going to be one of the easiest tasks I’ve had this summer. This is Pines, Pines, Pines from the new Michael Claytor album.

Michael Claytor at Bandcamp
Michael Claytor at Facebook

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