HAYDEN

About a decade ago, I wrote a review for an obscure little CD called EVERYTHING I LONG FOR. It had a rather elaborate intro (the review, not the CD) (perchance I was transfixed by drink)...

"Everybody knows HAYDEN. Hayden's our neighbor. Hayden takes in our papers, walks our dogs, and waters our lawns when we're away on vacation. Every time we drive by Hayden's, Hayden waves.

But Hayden harbors a heavy heart. Hayden gets angry. Hayden plots complicated, petty revenges that will never see the light of day.

Because Hayden is lazy. Hayden is so beholden to inertia he can barely be bothered to breathe, let alone carry out complicated, petty revenges. Hayden lacks the courage of his convictions. Hayden lacks the convictions to begin with.

And Hayden is horny. Late at night, Hayden downloads Danish porn and watches through binoculars as our underage daughters undress for bed.

But Hayden is harmless. Takes in our papers. Walks. Waters. Waves. Like Norman Bates. Or John Wayne Gacy.

Yes, everybody knows Hayden. Hayden's our neighbor. And sometimes, let's face it: Hayden is us.

*********************************************************

Hayden is Hayden Desser, a twentysomething Canadian whose self-produced debut plants him firmly in the freakish family-tree between VIC CHESNUTT's bastard-slacker stepson and BECK's heavily-medicated second-cousin."

After that, miracle of miracles, I actually wrote for a while about Hayden's music. Which was stripped and insular. Deep, deep, man-child voice singing intimately of dating futility & Denny's breakfasts. But that was ten years ago. Hayden is thirtysomething now and has surely moved out of his parents' basement to bigger & better things. He tends to sing a little less low; his arrangements sometimes feature more than an instrument or two. But he still has issues. He is actively working on his issues. The music helps him with his issues. Almost always, he would rather sing to you than shoot you in the face.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Love, Hayden.

From the LP IN FIELD & TOWN, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "Worthy of Your Esteem"
[MP3] "Lonely Security Guard"

From the LP ELK-LAKE SERENADE, 2004 >>>
[MP3] "Home By Saturday"
[MP3] "Hollywood Ending"

From the LP SKYSCRAPER NATIONAL PARK, 2001 >>>
[MP3] "Carried Away"
[MP3] "I Should Have Been Watching You"

From the LP THE CLOSER I GET, 1998 >>>
[MP3] "I'll Tell Him Tonight"

From the EP MOVING CAREFUL, 1997 >>>
[MP3] "Middle of July"

From the LP EVERYTHING I LONG FOR, 1996 >>>
[MP3] "Tragedy"

GORDON LIGHTFOOT

[Second part of a two-parter. A mere 33 hours later than intended. Gotta love these December power outages....]

Next stop on today's Canadian gravy train: GORDON LIGHTFOOT.

(When I was but a wee lad, I think I may have thought that Mr. Lightfoot played the lead character in "Grizzly Adams" [see photo above]. No offence, Dan Haggerty.)

(Despite today's winter theme [see "ANNE MURRAY" below], Mr. Lightfoot's early standard, "Song for a Winter's Night" [1969], has rather inexplicably failed to make the grade. No offence, Gord. Have some more moose meat.)

(Go [HERE] to find a whole slew of delightful recipes using moose, e.g. "moose stew," "braised moose," and, our personal fave, "moose nose in jelly.")

[MP3] "If You Could Read My Mind" [1970]

[MP3] "Sundown" [1974]

[MP3] "Rainy Day People" [1975]

[MP3] "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" [1976]

ANNE MURRAY

[First part of a two-parter....]

It's official now: Winter is upon us. And nothing evokes winter for me more than that vast frozen tundra to the Great White North... Canada. Few people know this, but from December to May, Canada gets no natural sunlight whatsoever. They make do with what little they are able to import from Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Philadelphia (which, in all honesty, is barely enough to power their Zambonis).

So... sitting in their dark, frigid igloos, the Canadian populace sups on moose meat and Labatt Ice and takes solace in the warm, golden throats of their non-hockey-playing heroes. First up: ANNE MURRAY.

(Despite today's winter theme, Ms. Murray's early standard, "Snowbird" [1970], has rather inexplicably failed to make the grade. No offence, Anne. Have another Labatt.)

(Few people know this, but Labatt -- while brewed in Saskatoon -- is actually bottled in Guadalajara. Highly inefficient, but that's NAFTA for ya....)

[MP3] "Danny's Song" [1973]

[MP3] "You Needed Me" [1978]

[MP3] "I Just Fall in Love Again" [1979]

[MP3] "Shadows in the Moonlight" [1979]

[MP3] "Just Another Woman in Love" [1984]

HOT SPRINGS

From Brooklyn (home to this morning's LES SAVY FAV), we're taking I-87/AUT-15 north to that tres French mecca de musique exotique, Montreal. Here, we look forward to rendezvous-ing with up-and-coming, psychedelic pop-thrashers -- comment vous dites? -- HOT SPRINGS.

These folks are a new discovery for me, and -- first time through, at least -- I found myself drawn to their debut LP, VOLCANO. Dense production. Thick licks. Sometimes sounding like '70s hard rock/sometimes like modern-day indie-pop/sometimes both/sometimes both within the same song.

Singer-guitarist GISELLE WEBBER is the star attraction. Evoking everybody from KAREN O to BJORK to FEIST, her arresting, rebelette yell joins innocence (breathy coo) with decadence (cigarette rasp) in all the right ways. Methinks we'll be hearing more from Hot Springs in the days/weeks/years ahead....

HOT SPRINGS on MySPACE.

HOT SPRINGS thrashing this way 'n' that >>>

Oct 25 2007 8:00P/Vieux-Clocher/Sherbrooke, Quebec
Oct 26 2007 8:00P/Le National/Montreal, Quebec
Oct 27 2007 8:00P/Théâtre Petit/Champlain, Quebec
Oct 28 2007 8:00P/Théâtre Petit/Champlain, Quebec
Nov 3 2007 8:00P/L’Azile/Joliette, Quebec

[MP3] "Headrush"

[MP3] "Annimystique"

TREBLE CHARGER

More Canadians! And why the hell not?

Alas, like CRASH VEGAS, power-pop Torontoans TREBLE CHARGER are no longer a going concern. In fact, they've been disbanded since 2002. I never got the memo, so I will not be dissuaded....

From the LP WIDE AWAKE BORED, 2000 >>>
[MP3] "More's the Pity"

From the LP MAYBE IT'S ME, 1997 >>>
[MP3] "Ever She Flows"
[MP3] "Christ is on the Lawn"

CRASH VEGAS

It's Thanksgiving in Canada today. I'll refrain from informing them that the REAL Thanksgiving isn't until November 22; that little revelation just might break their kind, gentle hearts.

CRASH VEGAS is a Canadian group. They're not together anymore. When they WERE together, they trafficked in folk/shoegaze pop. You can hear a bit of that below on the quite pretty "Beguiling." "On and On" has an autumnal, "California Dreamin'" thing goin' on. And "Pocahontas" is downright perky.

We thank you, Canada. For Crash Vegas, NEIL YOUNG, and ice hockey, just for starters....

[MP3] "On and On (Lodestar)"

[MP3] "Pocahontas" [NEIL YOUNG cover]

[MP3] "Beguiling"

IMMACULATE MACHINE

British Columbia, Canada's IMMACULATE MACHINE are a dual-gendered, indie-rock trio with multiple ties to the THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS. At the most basic level, group members BROOKE GAULLUPE (vocals/guitar), KATHRYN CALDER (vocals/ keyboards), and LUKE KOZLOWSKI (vocals/drums) share a record label (MINT) with their more famous countrymen. They've also shared producers with them and supported them on tour. Ms. Calder, specifically, has filled in for NEKO CASE both on the road and on disc (TWIN CINEMA). Oh, and... Calder just happens to be A.C. NEWMAN's niece -- a fact the two of them discovered only recently.

One could also say that there's some common ground when it comes to the two groups' sound(s). All three members of Immaculate Machine write and sing, and there's a certain rollicking, seemingly-loose-yet-completely-controlled quality to the harmonies and melodies that is resonant of the Pornographers.

Immaculate Machine's second full-length album, FABLES, was released June 12 and features guest help from FRANZ FERDINAND's ALEX KAPRANOS and ARCADE FIRE's OWEN PALLETT.

IMMACULATE MACHINE on MySPACE.

IMMACULATE MACHINE on the move >>>

Jul 26 2007 10:00P/Townehouse Tavern/Sudbury, Ontario
Jul 27 2007 9:00P/Zaphod Beeblebrox/Ottawa, Ontario
Jul 28 2007 8:00P/Hillside Festival/Guelph Lake, Ontario
Jul 31 2007 8:00P/Alex P. Keaton/London, Ontario
Aug 1 2007 9:00P/Horseshoe Tavern/Toronto, Ontario
Aug 2 2007 9:00P/The Jane Bond/Waterloo, Ontario
Aug 3 2007 8:00P/Ford Plant/Brantford
Aug 5 2007 9:00P/Divan Orange/Montreal, Quebec
Aug 8 2007 9:00P/Gus' Pub/Halifax, Nova Scotia
Aug 9 2007 9:00P/Brennans/Charlottetown, Prince

From the LP FABLES, 2007 >>>
[MP3] "Dear Confessor"
[MP3] "Nothing Ever Happens"

From the LP ONES AND ZEROS, 2005 >>>
[MP3] "Latest Breaking News"
[MP3] "Phone No."
[VID] "So Cynical"