Pre-Polaris, day five: Buffy Sainte-Marie, Viet Cong

The 10^th Polaris Music Prize gala is next Monday, Sept. 21, at the Carlu in Toronto, where 11 jurors locked in a room will decide which one of these 10 artists will get $50,000 and a gig with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2016. All other nominees receive $3,000.

Every day this week I’ve been looking at two of the shortlisted albums, assessing their chances, and celebrating two albums that didn’t make the short list—or, in some cases, even the long list.

Day one is here; day two is here; day three is here; day four is here.

Buffy Sainte-Marie – Power in the Blood (True North)

The album:

This is the one. There are many peripheral reasons to want this award to go to Buffy Sainte-Marie. She’s a 74-year-old legend who’s often left out of the canon comprised of her peers: Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen et al. She’s made a vital, political album in the era of #IdleNoMore and daily reminders of the urgency of Aboriginal issues. She gives great interview. Her live show is amazing. Tanya Tagaq announces this year’s winner—that would be a great moment to witness were it to be Buffy.

But we’re not talking about that, are we? We’re talking about the kickass album she put out in 2015, one of the best in her 50-year career. She’s been on the comeback trail lately, with an overdue and worthy collection of her “lost” mid-’70s albums, 2010’s The Pathfinder, and 2008’s Running For the Drum. But she’s never sounded as good as this, thanks to the sonic consistency of Michael Phillip Wojewoda’s mixing job (he’s also one of three producers here, including her long-time collaborator Chris Birkett.) She revisits and rewrites some earlier songs, writes some powerful new ones, and throws in a couple of covers. It's eclectic, it's soul-stirring and powerful music.

I could go on, but I said much of it in this May review.

I also had the immense pleasure of interviewing her for this article in Aux; the full, exuberant transcript is here.  

After OD’ing on this album after its release, I put it down until a few weeks ago—and by the time I hit the rousing closer, “Carry It On,” it literally made me weep with joy all over again. Buffy is the boss. Let’s do this.

The chances: Excellent.

Viet Cong – s/t (Flemish Eye)

The album:

Hoo-eee, here we go.

First: the music. I’d heard their debut EP and kind of liked it as a retro-’80s darkwave artifact. I heard the full-length and it bored me to tears: dour, dreary and punishing, though the drummer’s pretty good and I like some of the production. The closing track is called “Death.” Well before its 10 minutes are over, I’d prefer the real thing to hearing this song ever again.

But we need to talk about what everyone who has never heard their music is talking about: why on Earth is there a band of white Calgarians called Viet Cong?

Before we go any further, please read this excellent article by April Aliermo in Exclaim. It’s essential reading.


VALUABLE UPDATE: The name will change, the band announced on Sept. 20.

When I first heard this name, knowing that some of these guys used to have a band called Women, I thought it was a silly punk move, trying to be somewhat shocking by adopting the name of America’s enemy in the Vietnam War. Smug Canadians love to rail against the sins of American imperialism, therefore the enemy of America must be countercultural and cool, right? (See: Che Guevara.) There’s also a Montreal band called USA Out of Vietnam (no word on if these two have ever played a double bill).

It’s kind of like calling your band al-Qaeda. Or the Taliban. Except that outside of Hollywood caricatures, most white North Americans really have no idea who the Viet Cong were, what they did, or why all those Vietnamese Boat People of the late 1970s risked their lives to leave Vietnam in the first place. Suddenly during the Syrian refugee crisis, those Boat People are the source of great Canadian pride, a reason to pat ourselves on the back for our altruism 35 years ago.

Yes, white people in general—like all people, really—are ethnocentric and ahistorical, so no, I’m sure these rubes had no idea what they were walking into when they chose this name. Are they racist? Not sure, but they’re definitely ignorant. All racists are ignorant. But are all ignoramuses racist? Discuss.

Secondary question: regardless of your ethnicity, do you know why it would be a colossally bad idea to name your band Khmer Rouge? What about Tonton Macoute? Tutsi Cockroaches? The Lord’s Resistance Army? John Birch Society? Idi Amin? Any of those names ring any bells? Chances are most people—most young rock fans in particular—without an acute sense of history would have no idea why any of those potential band names might be offensive. That doesn’t excuse any musician who would choose those names, but you can understand why everyone around them might turn a blind eye.

The band’s defenders bring up Joy Division and Gang of Four—beloved and influential bands we all take for granted. Most rock fans actually have no idea what horrors those names refer to (if you don’t, please look it up). We were all fine with those bands, weren’t we? That doesn’t matter. Lots of old jokes aren’t funny anymore. Original London punks wore swastikas. There was a Toronto punk band called Battered Wives. There is still a football team called the Washington Redskins. None of that shit is cool. It’s juvenile bullshit. So is Marilyn Manson and his backing band named after serial killers. So is Dr. Dre’s misogyny. So are Eminem’s endless lyrical fantasies about killing the mother of his child. So is Tyler the Creator and LOLs about rape culture. Offence is everywhere.

So yes, as a white Canadian, I didn’t give the name much thought. I regret that. Like any limp-dick, adversity-averse Canadian man, I hoped the band would fade away into the margins from whence they came.

This album didn’t end up on the shortlist by accident. There was heated discussion among Polaris jurors. Both sides were, I believe, heard out. I tuned out, mostly because I didn’t like the album to begin with, and it didn’t seem like anyone’s mind was being changed. But to suggest, as the Exclaim! article does (and, ahem, a certain other article that made the rounds this week), that this issue was on no one’s mind would be inaccurate. The fact, then, that the album ended up on the shortlist does speak volumes about privilege—mine and fellow jurors. That worries me.

Part of the Polaris process is trying to ensure that we’re talking about the actual music: not whether or not someone “deserves” the award, not the marketing budget (or lack thereof) behind Artist X, not how much of a dick someone might be, not whether or not their lyrics are supposed to be autobiographical, not the album art. But just as I think it’s wrong to look the other way and say “it’s all good” when talking about Action Bronson or whoever, it’s ridiculous to suggest that—in 2015—we can ignore this band’s name and listen only to the music.

Having said all that: I’m kind of glad this is happening. The fact that they’re on the shortlist and playing at the gala has brought the issue to the forefront, whereas before they were a band you could easily ignore. Now we’re all forced to talk about this.

The chances: 

Before this week, I’d have said they had a mild shot. Now they’re totally toxic. [Update, Sept. 20: Despite their recent contrition, I still think this is the case.] Have fun at the gala, boys! I’m dying to eavesdrop on your conversation with Buffy Sainte-Marie.

Two of the should’ve, could’ve beens:

Siskiyou – Nervous (Constellation)

The album:

This would have slipped under my radar had my esteemed colleague Carla Gillis not championed it. She was very convincing. One listen and I was hooked.

My May review:

Sure sounds nervous. Anxious, even. Worried. And yet determined to plough through whatever weird situation we all find ourselves in, surrounded by spooky soundscapes on this, the third album by Vancouver’s Siskiyou. Fronted by former Great Lake Swimmers drummer Colin Huebert (and featuring that band’s string player, Erik Arnesen), Siskiyou maintains a tension throughout Nervous, regardless of tempo or arrangement, major key or minor. Opening track “Deserter” begins with a haunting children’s choir, leading into a bass line borrowed from The Cure’s “Fascination Street” before Huebert’s hushed vocals begin the verses. The tune gets more animated as it proceeds, with the choir singing off-beat shots, Colin Stetson’s baritone sax taking the solo, and ending with a ghostly coda with just Huebert and electric guitar. Nervous was written after Huebert, who suffers from anxiety and panic attacks, was also diagnosed with a severe inner-ear condition. He took a songwriting workshop residency in the Yukon and crafted this material during a silent retreat. When he came back to Vancouver he rehearsed the material at low volume—even though this is not a quiet record; that explains the tension. The result sounds like an artist throwing everything they have into one final project, just in case it’s their last. He employed Stetson, Owen Pallett, Destroyer trumpeter JP Carter, and renowned producer/engineer Leon Taheny (Owen Pallett, Austra, Bruce Peninsula) to flesh out his grand sonic vision.  It makes for a great creation story—but the music itself is even better.

Why it didn’t make the short list:

I’m ecstatic it got on the long list. It’s an unsettling listen at times, and unless “Heroes” is your favourite Bowie song and you enjoy the voice of a man who sounds like he’s on the verge of wigging right out and you like your spooky, art-damaged, backwoods folk-rock mixed in with some big rock guitars, this might not be your bag.

Whitehorse – Leave No Bridge Unburned (Six Shooter)

The album:

Wow, that would make a great Viet Cong album title, wouldn’t it?

My Februrary review:

Who’s burning bridges here? Not Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland, whose second full-length as Whitehorse is as welcoming and accessible and brilliant a mainstream rock record could imaginably be in 2015. Start with the obvious: both are undeniably gifted musicians, handling all guitars, keyboards and percussion, as well as impeccable harmonies. On top of that, Doucet also holds a trump card: he is one of the best guitarists working anywhere in the world today. Anyone who’s seen their stripped-down live show, utilizing live looping and layers, knows all this.  On top of that, since ditching their solo careers and rebranding themselves they’ve also stepped up their songwriting game. This time out, producer Gus Van Go reportedly rejected their demos and told them to “go home and write ‘real’ songs,” Doucet told Exclaim!. Weird: this record is no better or worse than their near-flawless 2012 debut, The Fate of the World Depends on This Kiss. If it’s to Van Go’s credit that he made them live up to their own standards, so be it.  Whitehorse already had a perfect package, so there are no complaints if they returned with more of the same: McCartneyesque melodies, Duane Eddy guitars, Emmylou-and-Gram harmonies, rockabilly shuffles, Blue Rodeo rockers, Pixie-ish oddball twists (the track “Evangelina” owes a debt to “Where Is My Mind”) and—well, you know, lessons learned from the last 50 years of classic rock albums. Expect Whitehorse’s discography to join that legacy sooner than later. (Feb. 19)

Why it didn’t make the short list:

Again, a mystery, especially considering the last one made the short list. Where did the mainstream votes go this time out? All to Buffy? To the New Pornographers? To (gulp) Tobias Jesso? Were they split between Whitehorse and Bahamas and Frazey Ford and Lee Harvey Osmond and Patrick Watson and The Weather Station?

May 2015 reviews

Highly recommended this merry, merry month of May:

(reviewed earlier) Buffy Sainte-Marie, Mac McCaughan, Afiara Quartet + Skratch Bastid

(reviewed below) Boogat, Jean Leloup, Siskiyou, Young Guv

And as excited as I am that Shamir’s debut full-length is finally out and getting tons of deserved attention—like, say, this article I landed in Maclean’s—only half of Ratchet hits home for me.

Boogat – Neo-Reconquista (Maisonnette)

Boogat! Why this Mexican-Montreal MC doesn’t have an exclamation mark as part of his brand, I have no idea. He should. His electro mix of cumbia, reggae and pop is a perfect soundtrack for spring thaw, with rich percussion and horn sections and killer grooves, most co-programmed with Ghislain Poirier, a man who loves music from any part of the world that emphasizes bass. Jean Massicotte (Patrick Watson, Lhasa, Arthur H) produces. Boogat raps in Spanish, so I have no idea what’s going on here lyrically, but I do appreciate the title “Los Tabernakos.”

Boogat might hail from a city renowned for the more off-beat elements of electronic music, but Neo-Reconquista is slick enough that it could be a totally mainstream album—of course, assuming the Canadian mainstream would ever embrace Latino sounds that didn’t come filtered through an American pop star singing in English. (May 7)

Download: “Los Tabernakos,” “Los Presidentes” (feat. Heavy Sounds), “Londres” (feat. Pierre Kwenders)

Leonard Cohen – Can’t Forget (Sony)

No, Leonard, you’re right: we can’t forget. BECAUSE YOU KEEP REMINDING US.

This is Cohen’s third album in the last six months—the second of two live albums, and the Juno-winning Popular Problems, a collection of new songs. Not only that, this is the fourth live album since his 2008 comeback. Leonard Cohen now has more than half as many live albums (eight) as he does studio albums (13). The 80-year-old appears to be on a mission to re-record his entire catalogue before he shuffles off this mortal coil.

So here we have him souping up “Tower of Song,” offering two new lacklustre blues songs, covering country legend George Jones and Québécois icon Georges Dor, and dipping deep into his catalogue for “Joan of Arc” and a best-forgotten track from 1992’s The Future.

At least the cover art is clever. But that alone certainly won’t give even the most diehard fan a reason to tune in here. (May 21)

Download: “Choices,” “Tower of Song,” “La Manic” 

Jean Leloup – A Paradis City (Bonsound)

I don’t have to tell you that Quebec has its own, enormously popular francophone rock stars that are largely—if not completely—unknown in The Rest of Canada. If you’ve never heard of Jean Leloup, well, then, it’s a safe bet that there are no francophones or Québécois in your social circle.

Leloup has been around since 1989; he took a brief hiatus in the mid-2000s and this is his eighth album. He’s the kind of carefree, globe-trotting troubadour who tries his hand making documentaries about monkeys in Costa Rica for six months, just because. He’s not wrapped up in rock stardom, despite his iconic status in his home province.

That’s why A Paradis City is such a refreshing, welcoming record: Leloup exudes confidence and charisma, and writes anthemic songs that never succumb to bombast or weighty instrumentation—even when he calls in the choirs or string sections. Leloup makes it sound easy—hell, he even makes it look easy, by providing chord charts in the liner notes, and there are vocal-free karaoke versions up on his website. A Paradis City is the sound of a guy who could dial up the drama if he wanted to, but prefers more subtle strengths. There are quiet folk songs here, midtempo rockers, and a triumphant title track that shows, among other things, how much Sam Roberts learned from Leloup.

Jean Leloup is only playing seven shows with his band this year, five in Montreal and two in his native Quebec City. They’re not until November, and they’re all sold out. But just because he’s not going to come here and beg for anglo attention doesn’t mean we can be excused for ignoring him. (May 28)

Download: “Zone zéro,” “Petit papillon,” “Paradis City”

My Morning Jacket – The Waterfall (Universal)

Now that we’ve heard all of My Morning Jacket’s greatest tricks—the soaring majesty of Jim James’s voice, the epic guitar jams, the detours into new wave, reggae, and odes to black metal, all wrapped up in the haunting, reverb-drenched psychedelic folk-rock that started it all off 15 years ago—what can MMJ do in 2015 to impress us? Maybe they can start by impressing themselves.

For such a creative, curious band, MMJ sound oddly bored. With precious few exceptions, there’s an audible lethargy here, even on the ostensibly up-tempo tracks. From the vocal harmonies to the guitar grooves to the stadium-rock drums, so much of The Waterfall sounds like ’70s rock clichés that this band successfully avoided, or subverted, in the past. The only songs here I ever want to hear again are the ones that are the most stripped down, the ones that might as well by Jim James solo tracks, the ones where the power and glory of his band aren’t even in play.

That doesn’t bode well—but apparently the follow-up album is already finished and scheduled to come out in the next 12 months. (May 7)

Download: “Get the Point,” “Compound Fracture,” “Only Memories Remain”

Shamir – Ratchet (XL)

Music can disguise so much about ourselves. Certainly, we never know the nationality or gender or any other identifying factor of an instrumentalist. Vocals betray much more: accents, vocal range, regional tics. Then there are singers that sound utterly alien, beyond gender or geography or sexuality. Shamir Bailey, a 20-year-old phenom from Las Vegas, is one of those lovable aliens.

He’s been picked to click in 2015 ever since his 2014 indie EP Northtown built underground buzz; he’s now signed to a big label, has flashly, colourful videos (in one of which he’s remade into a muppet), and has been profiled by every magazine that matters. It’s not just because of his songs, which are a throwback to early house music—in part because he made his tracks on ancient equipment, and all drum machines and synths are programmed manually. No, it’s because his backstory is fascinating, as is his eclectic musical taste: Nina Simone, Taylor Swift and Mac DeMarco are equal touchstones for him.

Shamir seems unstoppable, and there is plenty of ammunition here to vault him in the mainstream, not unlike the way Lorde came from nowhere with her wise-beyond-her-years appeal. Lead single “On the Regular” is incredibly catchy, and proves that Shamir oozes charisma even while goofing off by trying his hand at rapping. Vegas is a poison love letter to his hometown. “Make a Scene” and “Hot Mess” are party anthems for bored youth. “Demon, if it wasn’t draped in a synth soundscape,” could be a killer country music ballad. (Shamir covered Lindi Ortega on his EP.)

That said, Shamir is best in small doses: half of Ratchet falls a bit flat, displaying that despite all his talent, he’s still young as a songwriter. But rest assured this is only the beginning of a long, eclectic career. (May 21)

Download: “On the Regular,” “Vegas,” “Demon”

Siskiyou – Nervous (Constellation)

Sure sounds nervous. Anxious, even. Worried. And yet determined to plough through whatever weird situation we all find ourselves in, surrounded by spooky soundscapes on this, the third album by Vancouver’s Siskiyou. Fronted by former Great Lake Swimmers drummer Colin Huebert (and featuring that band’s string player, Erik Arnesen), Siskiyou maintains a tension throughout Nervous, regardless of tempo or arrangement, major key or minor.

Opening track “Deserter” begins with a haunting children’s choir, leading into a bass line borrowed from The Cure’s “Fascination Street” before Huebert’s hushed vocals begin the verses. The tune gets more animated as it proceeds, with the choir singing off-beat shots, Colin Stetson’s baritone sax taking the solo, and ending with a ghostly coda with just Huebert and electric guitar.

Nervous was written after Huebert, who suffers from anxiety and panic attacks, was also diagnosed with a severe inner-ear condition. He took a songwriting workshop residency in the Yukon and crafted this material during a silent retreat. When he came back to Vancouver he rehearsed the material at low volume—even though this is not a quiet record; that explains the tension. The result sounds like an artist throwing everything they have into one final project, just in case it’s their last. He employed Stetson, Owen Pallett, Destroyer trumpeter JP Carter, and renowned producer/engineer Leon Taheny (Owen Pallett, Austra, Bruce Peninsula) to flesh out his grand sonic vision.

It makes for a great creation story—but the music itself is even better. (May 28)

Download: “Deserter,” “Wasted Genius,” “Violent Motion Pictures”

Patrick Watson – Love Songs for Robots (Secret City)

Fewer bells, fewer whistles, fewer bicycle wheels: that was the intention on Patrick Watson’s 2012 album Adventures In Your Own Backyard, where the Montreal singer and his band downplayed the novelty instrumentation that made them such a creative force, and focused on strong melodies, the kind Watson said he wanted to give him goosebumps every night on tour. Mission accomplished: the album was easily Watson’s finest, even if earlier works won big prizes and sold more records.

Love Songs for Robots is Watson’s first album without founding guitarist Simon Angell, who left to form Thus:Owls; newcomer Joe Grass might not conjure the otherworldly sounds Angell did, but he provides plenty of Lanois-esque texture and fluid leads. He brings the band closer to the classic Pink Floyd albums that their fellow Québécois love so much.

While that potentially disruptive lineup change has gone smoothly, Watson doesn’t meet his previous melodic standard here: much like his earlier albums, we must be content to hear his gorgeous voice and incredible band do all the heavy lifting. As a result, Love Songs For Robots is neither experimental enough to turn heads or pop enough to embed into our consciousness: it’s just there.

Five albums in, Patrick Watson is undoubtedly more compelling on stage than he is on record. But being the intensely curious fellow he is, there is always time for more mischief. (May 28)

Download: “Love Songs For Robots,” “Bollywood,” “Know That You Know”

  

Young Guv – Ripe 4 Luv (Slumberland)

Despite the fact that internationally acclaimed Toronto hardcore punk band F--ked Up has a growling frontman who rarely sings melodies with more than one note, the band’s songs are unusually catchy—no doubt a large part of their appeal outside a genre niche. So maybe it’s not that surprisingly that guitarist Ben Cook ghostwrites pop songs for mall-punk bands and mainstream pop artists—or so he says. It’s really not the least bit surprisingly when you hear these eight summery pop songs, most sung in a falsetto and with Teenage Fanclub harmonies, many of which sound like they belong on some 1982 AM-radio mix tape with Prince, Rick Springfield, Adam Ant and Lindsey Buckingham. Things take a slightly weirder turn on closing track Wrong Crowd, with its meandering saxophone and someone mumbling in French over a pseudo-Sade groove. Whether or not Cook does write songs for Taylor Swift, Maroon 5 and Kelly Clarkson—his claims don’t stand up to a cursory fact-check—Ripe 4 Luv shows that he most definitely should be, if he isn’t already. (May 28)

Download: “Crushing Sensation,” “Ripe For Love,” “Crawling Back to You”

Polaris pondering, prior to the 2015 long list

Siskiyou - Nervous

It's almost time to submit my five-album ballot for the 2015 Polaris Music Prize. It's always hard to whittle diverse genres of music down to five albums that I'd place over all others: usually there are two or maybe three albums I think are near-perfect: encapsulations of an artist's (assumed) intent, reflecting the zeitgeist and/or something I keep coming back to again and again and hearing new delights. Then there's a bunch of very good albums that fill out the rest of my ballot. 

These are by no means all the good Canadian records released between June 1, 2014 and May 30, 2015, but these are the ones that I found completely captivating, and the ones I'm considering for my ballot. Of course, I'd love it if these 20 records composed half the long list, but my track record suggests that's not going to happen. 

And of course there are records I haven't heard: procrastinating Polaris jurors suggested no fewer than 20 albums in the last week. Frankly, I'm not going to listen to any of them I hadn't heard already—or at least not for Polaris purposes. With three exceptions (all May releases), I've been sitting with the records below for many months now. No matter what shakes down between now and the Sept. 21 gala, you should get to know them, too.

Here's my dance card, in alphabetical order:

Afiara Quartet + Skratch Bastid – Spin City (Centrediscs)

Lydia Ainsworth – Right From Real (Arbutus)

Bahamas – Is Afie (Brushfire)

Boogat – Neo-Reconquista (Maisonnette)

Jennifer Castle – Pink City (Idée Fixe)

Leonard Cohen – Popular Problems (Sony)

Ian William Craig – A Turn of Breath (Recital)

Amelia Curran – They Promised You Mercy (Six Shooter)

Keita Juma – Chaos Theory (independent)

Pierre Kwenders – Le dernier empereur bantou (Bonsound)

Daniel Lanois – Flesh and Machine (Anti)

Lee Harvey Osmond – Beautiful Scars (Latent)

Jean Leloup – A Paradis City (Grosse Boite)

Terra Lightfoot – Every Time My Mind Runs Wild (Sonic Unyon)

Native North America – Various Artists (Light in the Attic)

Sagot – Valse 333 (Simone)

Buffy Sainte-Marie – Power in the Blood (True North)

Siskiyou – Nervous (Constellation)

Tre Mission – Stigmata (Big Dada)

Whitehorse – Leave No Bridge Unburned (Six Shooter)