To-Do List | DOminiONATED May 2020
2020 • 05 • 01
▶︎▶︎ LPS / EPS
Jacob Bihun, Paper Flowers (Waterloo/Toronto ON)
Jacob Bihun fuses moody lyrics and bluesy instrumentals to convey stories. Paper Flowers tackles losing love because of trauma and unhealthy coping mechanisms. The EP comes together mostly in “Front Door” when misunderstandings get taken a bit too far, and “Midnight Mornings” when Bihun explains precisely how he deals with his demons. It's a good example of a bad relationship.
Alyssa Gelata
Darkest Horse, Darkest Horse (Victoria BC) ◀︎ BUY IT ON BANDCAMP
There's a sincere warmth and comfort emanating from the self-titled debut album by Victoria-based duo, Darkest Horse. Songwriter Jon Reid entered Adam Southerland's studio “armed with nine songs, a broken heart and a determination to move forward," and the result is a solid and sturdy collection of alt-rock anthems. It's the kind of album that stops this maddening world from spinning the second you put it on.
Jim Di Gioia
Sherman Downey, New Beautiful (Corner Brook NL)
Newfoundland and Labrador’s Sherman Downey unabashedly embraces his AOR-ness on New Beautiful, his, er, beautiful new long-player. Starting with “Front Porch”, as casual and breezy as its name implies, each successive song on New Beautiful further ingratiates itself to even the most hardened and stubborn (i.e. snooty) of listeners. The pristine, clean production of deep cuts “Romancer” and “To-Do List” serves to highlight Downey’s subtle, Sexsmithesque songwriting prowess. New Beautiful is an unassuming reminder that music doesn’t have to be weighted with meaning in order to be momentous.
Jim Di Gioia
Shelby Lamb, You Knew Me When (Toronto ON) ◀︎ BUY IT ON BANDCAMP
You Knew Me When, Shelby Lamb's first release in over ten years, is a collection of carefully examined feelings and moments. In a mix of piano and guitar-focused songs, and, unexpectedly, two tracks that blink with electronic beats, Lamb's honesty is powerful ("Do you want love or do you want perfection?" she asks on "Feeling Emotional") and deeply touching.
Laura Stanley
LUCA, Your Name is Jim (Toronto ON) ◀︎ BUY IT ON BANDCAMP
What’s in a name? PLENTY. Let’s start by unpacking LUCA, the name Jim Perrott and Matt Campbell are using for their project. Short for Last Universal Common Ancestor, it’s a reference to the four-billion-year-old microbe that all life on earth eventually sprang from before nature sent everything branching off into different evolutionary tracks. Recorded with Evening Hymns’ Jonas Bonnetta at his remote Port William Sound studio, Your Name is Jim feels like an exploration of the common musical roots: reflective folk, post-rock, ambient pop. Its sound is universal in the best sense of the word, finding ways to connect with a myriad of musical sensibilities. And who doesn’t love an album named Jim?
Jim Di Gioia
▶︎▶︎ SONGS
“(k)night” by Blxck Cxsper (Montreal QC)
Charlie 'Kyng' Rose's music has always been about subverting social expectations with their music, and that continues under the nom de plume Blxck Cxsper. Their self-produced trap instrumental floats along with the ease of an affable apparition while Kyng gives voice to their sexuality (overtly) and their transness (subtly). I'm looking forward to hearing the upcoming collection of songs from Blxck Cxsper and the continued reclamation of their body through music.
Jon Neher
“Sea Spells” by Andrea Cormier (Halifax NS) ◀︎ BUY IT ON BANDCAMP
It doesn't take much to transport a listener to the water in the aptly named “Sea Spells”. Cormier casts a spell (sorry) with just her voice and a 12-string guitar, weaving together a soft, hypnotic song full of imagery of nature bursting forth. Her upcoming debut album looks more and more enticing.
Michael Thomas
“Sesame” by Michael C. Duguay & Owen Davies (Montreal QC) ◀︎ BUY IT ON BANDCAMP
Though written spontaneously and recorded quickly, this collab from our favourite mystic-folk singer Owen Davies and the prolific Michael C. Duguay feels careful and beautiful. “Sesame” is a song about isolation and regret, expressed clearly in Duguay's lyrics and in vivid imagery in Davies'. The sparse guitar and a trombone solo make this a beautiful little pearl created on the fly.
Michael Thomas
“Listen” by Laura Hickli (Calgary AB) ◀︎ BUY IT ON BANDCAMP
Laura Hickli's latest single is imbued with fresh mountain air from a residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. The woodwind and synth textures take me to the cold fall mornings I was fortunate enough to spend at the Banff Centre earlier this year. Things are not all misty mountain sounds in “Listen”, however, with bold angular piano throughout offering various flavours of tension. While I think this song's natural habitat is a concert hall, headphones on a solo morning walk might be the next best thing.
Jon Neher
“Motion Sickness” by Lottery (Toronto ON)
“Motion Sickness” is a treat for the patient listener. Clocking in at seven minutes, the debut track from the Toronto-based duo (Elyse Parr and Yoyo Comay) is a gauzy folk song that feels even more special because of the pair's superb vocal harmonies. The song's waltzing pace makes you feel like you are spinning in slow motion, which is a nice change from the hurried tempo of everyday life.
Laura Stanley
“The Ridge” by Julian Taylor (Toronto ON)
Julian Taylor describes a bucolic paradise on “The Ridge”. Specifically Maple Ridge, BC, where Taylor's grandparents lived and the happy place he goes to in his mind. Fittingly the song has a country twang to it that's accentuated by the fiddle and pedal steel accompaniment while the steady pace of the softly brushed drums mirrors the rotations of a tractor's wheels. There's something ominous that lingers at the edge of this song - a storm or maybe the encroaching world - but it makes the beauty of “The Ridge” feel even more powerful.
Laura Stanley
“anywhere you go” by summersets (Sault Ste. Marie ON) ◀︎ BUY IT ON BANDCAMP
Kalle Mattson and his long-time friend Andrew Sowka are making music together as summersets. Don't let the lower-case stylizing fool you into thinking “anywhere you go” is anything less than the stellar songwriting you've come to expect from Mattson; he and Sowka sound superb together.
Jim Di Gioia
🔥Slow ManTofu, Soft Melody Maker (Kingston ON) ◀︎ BUY IT ON BANDCAMP
The only thing we love more than former DOMINIONATED contributor David Parker’s unique insights and distinctive album reviews is his equally idiosyncratic music as Slow Man Tofu. Soft Melody Maker, his second full length under the moniker, is a righteous slab of Parker’s unhurried style, allowing the colours of folk and country to run into a lo-fi wash to create a vibrant and wondrous canvas of colliding sounds and styles. Do yourself a solid and play this record from front to back, but pay close attention to track two, “Meat Birds”: if you’re not sold on Slow Man Tofu by the time its coda cascades into the ether, check to ensure you’re human and not an emotionless automaton.
Jim Di Gioia
🔥“Everybody Tells Me” by Fortunato Durutti Marinetti (Toronto ON) ◀︎ BUY IT ON BANDCAMP
You will hang onto every word that Fortunato Durutti Marinetti quietly utters on “Everybody Tells Me”, a sprawling and gritty song from his new record Desire. You will find yourself instinctively leaning into Marinetti as if he suddenly appeared before you, a soft-spoken man. He is frustrated by excess, capitalism, and the advice he receives. He hopes you understand.
Laura Stanley
▶︎▶︎ LPS / EPS
Jacob Bihun, Paper Flowers (Waterloo/Toronto ON)
Jacob Bihun fuses moody lyrics and bluesy instrumentals to convey stories. Paper Flowers tackles losing love because of trauma and unhealthy coping mechanisms. The EP comes together mostly in “Front Door” when misunderstandings get taken a bit too far, and “Midnight Mornings” when Bihun explains precisely how he deals with his demons. It's a good example of a bad relationship.
Alyssa Gelata
Darkest Horse, Darkest Horse (Victoria BC) ◀︎ BUY IT ON BANDCAMP
There's a sincere warmth and comfort emanating from the self-titled debut album by Victoria-based duo, Darkest Horse. Songwriter Jon Reid entered Adam Southerland's studio “armed with nine songs, a broken heart and a determination to move forward," and the result is a solid and sturdy collection of alt-rock anthems. It's the kind of album that stops this maddening world from spinning the second you put it on.
Jim Di Gioia
Sherman Downey, New Beautiful (Corner Brook NL)
Newfoundland and Labrador’s Sherman Downey unabashedly embraces his AOR-ness on New Beautiful, his, er, beautiful new long-player. Starting with “Front Porch”, as casual and breezy as its name implies, each successive song on New Beautiful further ingratiates itself to even the most hardened and stubborn (i.e. snooty) of listeners. The pristine, clean production of deep cuts “Romancer” and “To-Do List” serves to highlight Downey’s subtle, Sexsmithesque songwriting prowess. New Beautiful is an unassuming reminder that music doesn’t have to be weighted with meaning in order to be momentous.
Jim Di Gioia
Shelby Lamb, You Knew Me When (Toronto ON) ◀︎ BUY IT ON BANDCAMP
You Knew Me When, Shelby Lamb's first release in over ten years, is a collection of carefully examined feelings and moments. In a mix of piano and guitar-focused songs, and, unexpectedly, two tracks that blink with electronic beats, Lamb's honesty is powerful ("Do you want love or do you want perfection?" she asks on "Feeling Emotional") and deeply touching.
Laura Stanley
LUCA, Your Name is Jim (Toronto ON) ◀︎ BUY IT ON BANDCAMP
What’s in a name? PLENTY. Let’s start by unpacking LUCA, the name Jim Perrott and Matt Campbell are using for their project. Short for Last Universal Common Ancestor, it’s a reference to the four-billion-year-old microbe that all life on earth eventually sprang from before nature sent everything branching off into different evolutionary tracks. Recorded with Evening Hymns’ Jonas Bonnetta at his remote Port William Sound studio, Your Name is Jim feels like an exploration of the common musical roots: reflective folk, post-rock, ambient pop. Its sound is universal in the best sense of the word, finding ways to connect with a myriad of musical sensibilities. And who doesn’t love an album named Jim?
Jim Di Gioia
▶︎▶︎ SONGS
“(k)night” by Blxck Cxsper (Montreal QC)
Charlie 'Kyng' Rose's music has always been about subverting social expectations with their music, and that continues under the nom de plume Blxck Cxsper. Their self-produced trap instrumental floats along with the ease of an affable apparition while Kyng gives voice to their sexuality (overtly) and their transness (subtly). I'm looking forward to hearing the upcoming collection of songs from Blxck Cxsper and the continued reclamation of their body through music.
Jon Neher
“Sea Spells” by Andrea Cormier (Halifax NS) ◀︎ BUY IT ON BANDCAMP
It doesn't take much to transport a listener to the water in the aptly named “Sea Spells”. Cormier casts a spell (sorry) with just her voice and a 12-string guitar, weaving together a soft, hypnotic song full of imagery of nature bursting forth. Her upcoming debut album looks more and more enticing.
Michael Thomas
“Sesame” by Michael C. Duguay & Owen Davies (Montreal QC) ◀︎ BUY IT ON BANDCAMP
Though written spontaneously and recorded quickly, this collab from our favourite mystic-folk singer Owen Davies and the prolific Michael C. Duguay feels careful and beautiful. “Sesame” is a song about isolation and regret, expressed clearly in Duguay's lyrics and in vivid imagery in Davies'. The sparse guitar and a trombone solo make this a beautiful little pearl created on the fly.
Michael Thomas
“Listen” by Laura Hickli (Calgary AB) ◀︎ BUY IT ON BANDCAMP
Laura Hickli's latest single is imbued with fresh mountain air from a residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. The woodwind and synth textures take me to the cold fall mornings I was fortunate enough to spend at the Banff Centre earlier this year. Things are not all misty mountain sounds in “Listen”, however, with bold angular piano throughout offering various flavours of tension. While I think this song's natural habitat is a concert hall, headphones on a solo morning walk might be the next best thing.
Jon Neher
“Motion Sickness” by Lottery (Toronto ON)
“Motion Sickness” is a treat for the patient listener. Clocking in at seven minutes, the debut track from the Toronto-based duo (Elyse Parr and Yoyo Comay) is a gauzy folk song that feels even more special because of the pair's superb vocal harmonies. The song's waltzing pace makes you feel like you are spinning in slow motion, which is a nice change from the hurried tempo of everyday life.
Laura Stanley
“The Ridge” by Julian Taylor (Toronto ON)
Julian Taylor describes a bucolic paradise on “The Ridge”. Specifically Maple Ridge, BC, where Taylor's grandparents lived and the happy place he goes to in his mind. Fittingly the song has a country twang to it that's accentuated by the fiddle and pedal steel accompaniment while the steady pace of the softly brushed drums mirrors the rotations of a tractor's wheels. There's something ominous that lingers at the edge of this song - a storm or maybe the encroaching world - but it makes the beauty of “The Ridge” feel even more powerful.
Laura Stanley
“anywhere you go” by summersets (Sault Ste. Marie ON) ◀︎ BUY IT ON BANDCAMP
Kalle Mattson and his long-time friend Andrew Sowka are making music together as summersets. Don't let the lower-case stylizing fool you into thinking “anywhere you go” is anything less than the stellar songwriting you've come to expect from Mattson; he and Sowka sound superb together.
Jim Di Gioia
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