Winnipeg music & culture since 1989
by Gil Carroll
Local indie rockers Animal Teeth take the stage at The Union Sound Hall on Thursday, January 16th, sharing the bill with The Bokononists and Montreal’s The Luyas. Stylus checked in with guitarist and vocalist Stefan Hodges about the release of their EP, and what is in store for 2014.
Continue reading “Animal Teeth :: Raw sentiments & Delayed reactions”
by Sheldon Birnie
Prolific. Tireless. Uncompromising. Cantankerous. These and many more words could, and have, been used to describe Fred Eaglesmith, one of Canada’s finest songwriters and bluntly honest performing musicians alive today. For over thirty years now, Eaglesmith has been charting his own course in the Music Business. Fiercely independent and uncompromising in his artistic and commercial vision, Eaglesmith’s name is revered by songwriters and folk music fans, and simultaneously “cussed” by many in the Business. From his genre defining albums Things is Changing, Drive-In Movies, and Lipstick, Lies, & Gasoline to experiments in style like Dusty, Tinderbox, and Cha Cha Cha, Eaglesmith’s writing is always finely honed, throwing a light on the heartaches that fester behind small town diner counters, in dark corners of collapsing barns, and on the backroads, freeways, and Interstates of North America.
It’s no secret that Eaglesmith is held in high regard here on Hillbilly Highway, not just by myself, but among many of the artists I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with on my own travels. From Todd Snider to Andrew Neville, Hayes Carll to the Reverend Rambler, Eaglesmith’s reputation as an artist is held in the highest esteem. And now, as he prepares yet another tour, in a cycle of seemingly endless touring, to promote his latest album, Tambourine, Fred took some time out to speak with us here at Stylus about charting his own course in the Business. He takes no prisoners. While we in Winnipeg might have to wait a while yet before his next appearance, he provides us here, and on Tambourine especially, with plenty to chew on and ponder until then.
I admit to having picked up this disc for review simply based on the enigmatic cover image, with no background knowledge about the band. Continue reading “His Electro Blue Voice – Ruthless Sperm”
The press release for Prayer of the Woods takes great pains to reassure fans that Tony Dekker’s first solo album is little more than a “musical interlude” and “personal tangent” between Great Lakes Swimmers releases. Continue reading “Tony Dekker – Prayer of the Woods”
When I first received this disc it didn’t register with me that this was an artist that I had heard beforehand, but when I listened to it the music was instantly recognizable. Continue reading “Sean Christopher – Transcendence”
Somewhere far, far above the hustle and drone of washed out city streets, you stand alone on a high cliff in northern Iceland, overlooking the Norwegian Sea. Continue reading “Julianna Barwick – Nepenthe”
It takes some juice to get a debut album released by an indie label with national profile so if you’ve never heard of Tough Age here’s the part where you learn it was formed by Jarrett K. Continue reading “Tough Age – Tough Age”
by Sheldon Birnie
Part of the excitement at a volunteer driven organization like CKUW is that things are always changing. Volunteers come and go, the ones who stay learning new skills and developing new interests. New volunteers always bring with them fresh enthusiasm, and new ideas. While many CKUW volunteers have been with the station for years — some of them at the helm of shows that have been around since the station went FM in 1999 — there are always new volunteers eager to get their feet wet.
Continue reading “CKUWho :: New volunteer driven shows on the airwaves”
Recorded live off the floor in a cabin on the lower lake of Kananaskis, Alberta, Miesha & The Spanks’ Girls, Like Wolves sounds vaguely reminiscent of The Runaways. Continue reading “Miesha & The Spanks – Girls, Like Wolves”
If you have been to an airshow featuring a performance by the Snowbirds, Canada’s air acrobatic team, within the past sixteen years then chances are you have heard the music of Steven Vitali, who composed the stunning music that accompanies their performances. Continue reading “Steven Vitali – Language of the Soul”