Timber Timbre at The Vogue

This was my first visit to the The Vogue and it is quite a spectacular spot to listen to some music. Sound was great and it has that big theatre feel which brings a nice level of mystique to a show. This was the third time seeing Timber Timbre. Last saw him last year at the Vancouver Folk Festival. They recently released Creep on Creepin on, to much more fan fare then I expected. I suppose with the backing of the big label, Arts and Crafts, and with such a unique sound that it was bound to develop a strong core of fans.

Timber Timbre did not overwhelm me the first time I saw him and would have to say it was much the same this time. There is no doubt that there is nothing quite like him right now in Canadian music but his music somewhat blends into one song when you see him live. They tend to draw out the endings to some songs and he uses many of the same techniques throughout the performance. There is a shift in the new tunes with more back-up electric guitar than lapsteel and more back-up keyboard over violin, and this allows for a larger sound on many songs, but ultimately it is very similar.

Although I was underwhelmed (may have been slightly due to seeing the great Jenny and Johnny show three nights before ), the bands talents were still evident and he did give me a couple of chills with his vocal range on some of his better songs. ‘Black Water’ and ‘Demon Host’ were my particular favourites.

Jenny and Johnny at the The Venue

These two combined to start making music together after being a couple and touring separately. Johnathan Rice was born in Virginia but has slight Scottish accent due to spending most of his childhood there. His Further North album is one of my favorites. He plays a type of folk/country/rock which Ive always quite enjoyed. Jenny Lewis is from Cali, and was the lead singer of indie-pop band Rilo Kiley, whose album Under the Blacklight is also one of my favorites in my record collection. So when these two combined i knew I would love their stuff. Why I hadnt bought their album before going to see them last night is beyond understandable. They make an amazing partnership, two of the best voices you'll hear, and the success of the combination is no surprise because they helped each other out on previous records with great success. Solid entertainment all around, and the night was capped by an amazing rendition of Jenny's Rilo Kiley song 'Silver Lining'. I forgot to bring my camera but i found the below on youtube, I did take some pics and maybe I will post those later. I think the rendition last night was even better than the youtube one with just Johnny on guitar and Jenny singing (or maybe I was just so caught up in it I thought it was sublime).

So you may have noticed that the nation is getting into the Olympic spirit and especially the city of Vancouver. I hope you were able to catch the opening ceremonies which was an exciting display of some great culture, graphics and symbols of Canada. There was a Canadian music connection in the ceremonies, and Im not talking about Nelly Furtado. Shane Koyzcan, the guy who had the long poem about the nation of Canada, can be found on one of Dan Mangans albums. The track Tragic Turn of Events/ Move Pen Move is a great combination of Mangans great song style with the talents of Koyzcans poetry. A moving song from the Roboteering EP which is a definite switch on a great album. Ive posted a live version of the song below.

...Olympic Size Music Lineup

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, Ive been...not blogging. Wanted to share my excitement for the event about to hit Vancouver. Not necessarily the Olympics, but the music that is coming with it. The list is huge and includes Malajube, Deep Dark Woods, The Arkells, Mother Mother, Dan Mangan, Said the Whale, Jill Barber, Constantines, Coeur de Pirate, Wil, Sam Roberts, etc. Highlights for me include the lineup of Tokyo Police Club, Hey Rosetta and Wintersleep all in the same night. In addition, I have purchased tickets for a Belle Orchestre show which should be a couple hours of instrumental genius on stage. This band boasts some musical heavyweights with Arcade Fire members (who are geared up for a HUGE year with their HUGELY anticipated follow up to Neon Bible) and Mike Feuerstack (who I mentioned in the Snailhouse post below). Unfortunately, the Orchestre show occurs on the same night as a Neil Young tribute with all kinds of musical draws (including Land of Talk, Sun Kil Moon, Jason Collett, etc.). This seems like an event which someone would not want to miss but with a ticket price of 60 and up, this unemployed fella will not be going. I hope to see a lot of music during the games and although I dont have a media pass to report on the games, I'll give you an update on the good sounds.
Some other news of interest, I saw that Land of Talks video for Its Okay landed on Time magazines Top 5 music videos of 2009. This is the video I posted below, only days after it had been released, so dont say Ive never handed you anything of noteworthy value.