Ron Hawkins - New CD called 10 Kinds of Lonely Coming Out - Release Shows at Graffiti's

I was, and still am, a huge Lowest of the Low fan. If you're not familiar with them, they were part of a first wave of indie music in Canada. The Low, along with artists such as Barenaked Ladies and Moxy Fruvous sold huge numbers of their tapes, and later CDs, at shows. Record stores began to have indie music sections. My old band's tape was one of them. More history of the band can be found at their wikipedia page.

Lowest of the Low wrote some of my favourite songs. Some of my favourite concert memories are from seeing Lowest of the Low at venues like The Horseshoe and Lee's Palace. The New Year's Eve show I saw at The Horseshoe probably goes down in the books as my favourite concert ever. They are the only band that I really wish was still gigging and recording together regularly. I'll certainly feature an "Origins" article on Lowest of the Low in future.

Even though Lowest of the Low is gone, Ron Hawkins, the band's principal singer and songwriter, is quite prolific and has been putting out great music in between Lowest of the Low breakups. He performs as a solo artist and as Ron Hawkins and the Rusty Nails.

The other day, my in-box was graced with an email from Ron:

Hey Folks,

This will seem like Christmas eve... or the day you found out John Lennon was killed, depending on whether or not you like my new disc.

But anyhow... they're here!

And to send them off with a bang I've got a series of shows lined up at Graffiti's in Kensington Market, Toronto.

Two shows are scheduled for Friday August 7th - a matinee (all ages) at 6pm and an evening show at 10pm.

And one show on Saturday August 8th at 10pm.

Come on out, get a copy of 10 Kinds of Lonely and see openers Too Many Sisters and the Benvereens.

The disc will be available through VictimlessCapitalism as of Monday August 10th as well.

Hope to see you out.

Cheers,
RJH

Tickets for the show can be purchased from the online store at Ron's site.

For your listening pleasure, here are a bunch of Lowest of the Low, Ron Hawkins and the Rusty Nails, and Ron Hawkins tunes. If you like their music, CDs can be purchased from Ron's website and digital Lowest of the Low music is available on emusic.

"Bite Down Hard" from the Ron Hawkins and the Rusty Nails album Crackstatic


"Small Victories" from Ron Hawkin's most recent solo release, Chemical Sounds


"Last Recidivist" from Lowest of the Low's last album Sordid Fiction


A classic from Lowest of the Low's first CD, Shakespeare My Butt called "Salesmen, Cheats and Liars"


See you at the show!

Photo from ronhawkins.com

Gossip’s New Album Music for Men – Their Best Yet

I first saw the band Gossip on The New Music, which is a TV show that had a long history of introducing Canadians to new music, now relegated to the blogosphere. (All a mystery of it’s own that I may get into at a later date – but really, in an age when music discovery is harder than ever, why would this show not have the viewership required for it to survive?)

Beth Ditto has impressive stage presence and an impressive set of pipes. The song they featured, naturally enough, was "Standing in the Way of Control" from their 2005 release of the same name. Watching Ditto strut-dance across the festival stage, belting out this song, was instantly engaging. It is a great song from a solid album that impressed me from the first listen. If you want to pick it up, or listen to song samples, the album is available on emusic.

Emusic also has Gossip’s, then called The Gossip, 2000 release That’s Not What I Heard. It’s more raw, garage-y and directly blues based than their later albums.

In 2007, The New York Times featured an article on Rick Rubin, who had then been named co-head of Columbia Records, Gossip had been signed and Rubin was working as producer of the new Gossip album. With Rubin’s impressive production track record, I was looking forward to new music from Gossip.



Their new album, called Music For Men, came out on June 23 and is available at iTunes. The first single, "Heavy Cross", was released ahead of the album, at the end of April. It’s a great song, and based on a few listens, the album sounds great, too. The band continues to hone it’s songwriting craft. The songs are more accessible and polished with more emphasis on groovy drum and bass parts, and crunchy guitars. There’s less of the bluesy and garage-y aspects of Gossip’s previous releases. I’m sure there will be those that accuse Gossip of “selling out” and becoming more commercial, but I just think they sound great. Beth’s voice continues to shine on all tracks. I started writing out a list of song highlights and realized that pretty much every tune on the album is a highlight. I’m definitely enjoying this one!



Check out the way the crowd goes bananas at the beginning of the song. Then Beth belts it out, enthralls the crowd like a southern preacher, gets hands on with the audience and lets them sing along.



U.S. tour dates have just been announced by Spin. More dates are available on Gossip's web site.

10/7, Washington, DC (9:30 Club)
10/8, Philadelphia, PA (TLA)
10/9, New York, NY (Terminal 5)
10/11, Boston, MA (Paradise)
10/15, Detroit, MI (Majestic Theater)
10/16, Chicago, IL (Metro)
10/17, Madison, WO (Orpheum)
10/19, Denver, CO (Bluebird)
10/20, Salt Lace City, UT (Urban Lounge)
10/23, Seattle, WA (Showbox)
10/24, Portland, OR (Wonder Ballroom)
10/25, San Francisco, CA (Regency Ballroom)
10/26, Los Angeles, CA (Henry Fonda Theater)
10/29, Austin, TX (Emo's)
10/30, Little Rock, AR (Vino's)

Photos and videos from www.gossipyouth.com

Rickrolled Again, Nirvana Style

It brought a smile to my face...

Mercury Prize Short List Announced!

I always love this time of year - the Mercury Prize short list is announced. There are usually a few artists that I'm familiar with and I can give a nod to. And there are some artists I'm not familiar with. I've had some good finds from previous Mercury Prize lists including Guillemots, Bat for Lashes and The Zutons.

guardian.co.uk has posted the Nominations for the Mercury Prize 2009 (with odds from bookmaker William Hill)

Florence and the Machine – Lungs 5/1

Kasabian – West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum 5/1

Bat for Lashes – Two Suns 6/1

La Roux – La Roux 6/1

Glasvegas – Glasvegas 6/1

Speech Debelle – Speech Therapy 8/1

Friendly Fires – Friendly Fires 8/11

The Horrors – Primary Colours 8/1

Lisa Hannigan – Sea Sew 8/1

The Invisible – The Invisible 10/1

Led Bib – Sensible Shoes 10/1

Sweet Billy Pilgrim – Twice Born Men 10/1

Although I'm sure to find some interesting new music amongst the nominees that I don't already know, here are a few videos from the nominees I do know.











Update: I should have mentioned that the Awards Show and Winner Announcement is September 8, 2009.

Robyn: Versions of Her Great Pop Songs Delivered in an Intimate Setting

I like a good pop song, and Robyn delivers good pop songs. Several months ago, I saw this video of an intimate performance of a different take on her song "Bum Like You". I love the immediacy of the performance and the way that the shift in instrumentation and tempo, combined with Robyn's emotive delivery, really elevated the song.



The songs are part of something that Cherrytree Records puts on called The Cherrytree House. They’ve also been released as an EP that’s available on iTunes. The original versions are on Robyn’s eponymous album, also on iTunes.

"Bum Like You"




"Be Mine!"



"With Every Heartbeat"