Our kinda tunes

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/05/2002 (8792 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EVER since digital tech made it stupendously simple for anyone with seven functioning neurons to build a home studio, Manitoba recording acts have been spitting out about 100 new CDs every year.

Big names such as Remy Shand, Chantal Kreviazuk and The Watchmen are responsible for just a handful of these titles — most new discs belong to indie acts who don’t have the benefit of big-budget, major-label publicity campaigns.

Obviously, it’s impossible to review every made-in-Manitoba record that comes out every year. An average of 25 CDs arrive here every week, and only eight or nine of them are reviewed. Do the math, and that’s 1,300 titles a year, which in turn represents but a fraction of the estimated 100,000 new albums released in the Western world alone.

The odds really are staggering. But in an effort to give the local music scene its due, I’ve compiled a list of recent home-grown music for your perusal.

Most of these titles were released during the past six months; a few are slightly older, but managed to fall through the cracks (which means I didn’t write about them but probably should have, in that ideal universe where there’s enough time to listen to everything and bathe).

If anything piques your interest, head down to an indie-friendly record store and buy something Manitoban. Music Trader and Into The Music in Osborne Village have the widest selection of indie CDs, but you can also find local product at downtown HMVs, Music Baron Downtown, CDplus.com, dance music outlets such as Nyce Records and Frenzee or anywhere that takes special orders on demand.

MADE-IN-MANITOBA MUSIC:

THE MASTER GUIDE FOR EARLY 2002

AUDIOCHROME Fears (Independent):

Slightly rootsy guitar-based rock with a serious moody streak. Produced by Joe Serlin, guitarist for The Watchmen.

AVENUE 1 Avenue 1 (www.avenueonemusic.com):

Ultra-mellow, semi-ambient mood rock from a Toronto-based outfit featuring former Watchmen drummer Sam Kohn.

JACKIE BROWN Treasure (Independent):

Gentle acoustic folk by a Winnipeg emigr to Japan.

D.RANGERS D.Rangers (Dollartone):

Bluegrass and western swing from a Winnipeg quartet with a serious hankerin’ for southern U.S. kitsch. Look for an upcoming review in respected folk music publication Dirty Linen.

MITCH DORGE As Trees Walking (Independent):

The solo debut from Crash Test Dummies drummer Dorge features no drums at all. It’s a serious, semi-ambient set of moodspheres based on piano and programming.

FASCADE@137db The Premonition EP (Conversion Theory):

Winnipeg electronic producer Waylon Wityshyn serves up laid-back trip-hop, Radiohead-style noodlings and busy, Ninja Tune-style jazzy hip-hop on an impressive, six-song debut.

FLESH TONE ROCKETS Flesh Tone Rockets EP (Independent):

Slick, radio-ready dance-pop from one of the few Winnipeg Top 40-circuit bands with the jam to record original material.

BLAIR HORDESKI SANDWICH Fresh Daily Specials (Studio 11):

Portage la Prairie’s Hordeski serves up soulful blues rock that sounds like a joyfully manic hybrid of Winnipeggers Mark Reeves and The New Meanies.

THE GUMSHOE STRUT Clock/Works (Your Brothers):

A definitively Winnipeg-sounding, mellow hip-hop record by a member of up-and-coming MC collective Your Brother In My Backpack. A nice little gem if you can find it.

HCE How To Break Out Of Prison (Reversed Records):

Deliciously loud heavy rock, and clean production, too.

KRAINK Arme Lunaire (Independent):

Francophone modern rock from LaSalle. Enough musical twists and turns to warrant prog-rock comparisons.

CHRISTY KIM Sway (Independent):

New Country.

LIVID Daylong Apathy (Independent):

Straight-up guitar rock. Demo-quality sound.

LONGBOTTOM River Road (Longbottom/Festival):

The second big-budget CD by Selkirk folksinger and storyteller Ted Longbottom, the unofficial bard of Manitoba.

THE MAILMAN’S CHILDREN Maritime Sun (Independent):

Mid-tempo, semi-acoustic guitar pop.

NO DELUXE NOTHING No Deluxe Nothing (Independent):

Former Liquid Bone Dance guitarist Damon Hill’s latest project cranks out dynamic, purposeful modern rock.

QUERKUS No Direction EP (Independent):

Winnipeggers Karen Dunham and Edgar Ozolins sound-checks the likes of Kate Bush and Tori Amos on an ambitiously left-of-centre EP based on piano and atmospherics.

ROSALIE RATTAI Soar (Independent):

Heavily produced adult-contemporary pop and MOR soul.

ROWDYMEN Rowdy Duty (Stringbreakin’ Record):

Hard-driving rockabilly recorded live last June at Main Street’s Times Change(d) High & Lonesome Club.

SAVING ISAAC Saving Isaac EP (Independent):

More guitar rock.

SIXTY STORIES/PAINTED THIN Different Places To Sit/A Loveless Kiss (Smallman):

A double-blast of indie rock featuring seven songs by the only local band signed to Winnipeg-based Smallman, plus a few tracks recorded in Germany by drummer Paul Furgale’s previous band, Painted Thin.

SLOWJAM The Mullet EP (label):

Still more guitar rock.

SONIC BLOOM Hurry (Independent):

Clever engineering bolsters the sound of this mid-tempo rock outfit, which grooves off post-grunge guitars. Don’t be put off by endless between-song interview clips — the anthemic Bottom Of The Bay is a buried commercial-rock treasure.

STEEPLE CHASER Pilot EP (Independent):

The band formerly known as Seven plays straight-ahead guitar-based pop in the same vein as Collective Soul or Matchbox 20.

TODD HUNTER & THE TOURISTS Cold Winter Days (Independent):

Rootsy guitar pop.

VARIOUS Friends Of The Forest (Conifera):

A wide-ranging local indie sampler featuring a few better-known names, such as Evie and Nathan.

VARIOUS In Between: The Sound of Music (Video Pool):

Audio experimentation, musique actuelle and DJ/producer shenanigans are among the broad range of sound art compiled on this all-Winnipeg affair.

VARIOUS Peg City Skank (Bacteria Buffet Records):

Winnipeg’s ska community shines of this value-packed, 63-minute disc featuring music from seven local acts. The best indie sampler out of Winnipeg this year.

VIBERIDERS Viberiders (Independent):

A demo-quality funk-rock debut. Guest scratching on one track by turntablist Grant Paley of Moses Mayes & The Funk Family Orchestra.

PREVIOUSLY REVIEWED BY THE FREE PRESS

EQUANIM Title (Balanced):

“Challenging electronic music able to create a sense of tranquillity and openness.” — Anthony Augustine

CHRISTINE FELLOWS The Last One Standing (Six Shooter):

“The perfect combination of orchestral sweep and cabaret intimacy, marrying lambent melodies to dramatic, spacious arrangements.” — Jill Wilson

INDY NOSE BONE Indy Nose Bone (Independent):

“A startling degree of lock-step rhythmic unity.” — Bartley Kives

GREG MacPHERSON Good Times Coming Back Again (G7 Welcoming Committee):

“Concise songwriting, well-suited for the spare arrangements of a rock trio.” — B.K.

DJ OXIDE Urbnet.com/Housemix V1 (Shoreline/Koch):

“Hip-shaking rhythms and soulful, deep house vibes mixed and compiled by Winnipeg’s DJ Oxide.” — A.A.

JEREMY PROCTOR Sundays And Mondays (Independent):

“Plaintive voice eerily recalls that of Jackson Browne.” — Morley Walker

STEVE SCHELLENBERG Princes & Kinds (Independent):

“Well-crafted lyrics straddles the line between mainstream folk and light pop.” H — M.W.

WAKING EYES Combing The Clouds (Endearing):

“Intricate psychedelic pop songs lifting sounds and sensibilities from The Beatles, Burt Bacharach and Queen.” — B.K.