{"id":894,"date":"2010-06-03T07:23:29","date_gmt":"2010-06-03T13:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stylusmagazine.ca\/?p=894"},"modified":"2010-06-03T07:23:29","modified_gmt":"2010-06-03T13:23:29","slug":"review-chris-page-a-date-with-the-smoke-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/2010\/06\/03\/review-chris-page-a-date-with-the-smoke-machine\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Chris Page – A Date with the Smoke Machine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Finally, a new Chris Page record! I popped this one in the minute I ripped open my mail. Then I laid in bed, listened and smiled. Page has a voice that hides nothing. The emotions and feelings are real and right there. Speaking of standing out stark, this is also just a man and his guitar. Pure rock, through and through. Compared to his more rocking last release, Decide to Stay and Swim<\/em>, Smoke Machine<\/em> is a retreat to the cabin at the lake. It\u2019s an introspective record, sometimes melancholy, and driving that home are song descriptions instead of lyrics (which are clear enough to warrant the lack of lyric sheet) that paint a picture of what the songs mean. But onto the songs. Leading off with \u201cPatio to Stereo,\u201d Page sets the stage with voice and masterful acoustic guitar. You can hear the buzzing of a fuzzy electric waiting to pop out from beneath the carpet, and when it does you\u2019ll get goosebumps that\u2019ll come back song after song. Reaching into his back catalogue, both Glen Nevous solo and from the Stand GT, Chris pulls out and puts the unplugged feel on some already powerful songs. \u201cGood on the River\u201d is a killer loud-LOUDER number and \u201cHello, Danger Bay\u201d is the most drastic, putting the brakes on the anthemic heart-on-sleeve rocker and delivering it as a stripped-back on a front-porch at sunset lullaby. Kelp compilation track \u201cKeep Me on Your Radar\u201d is redone and even better than it was a year ago. Everything Page does, whether solo or with Stand or Camp Radio, is essential. What he can wring out of his chords, both vocal and guitar, is magic. Chris Page of our country\u2019s hidden charms who\u2019s been in plain sight for the better part of two decades. You\u2019d be a fool to not take notice after a record like this. (Kelp Records, www.kelprecords.com<\/a>) Patrick Michalishyn<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finally, a new Chris Page record! I popped this one in the minute I ripped open my mail. Then I laid in bed, listened and smiled. Page has a voice that hides nothing. The emotions and feelings are real and right there. Speaking of standing out stark, this is also just a man and his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}