Oh Susanna – Namedropper
Seven albums into her career, Suzue Ungerleider — better known by her stage name of Oh Susanna — is a well-travelled and well-loved veteran of the Canadian music scene. Over the years she’s played with just about everybody from Blue Rodeo to Justin Rutledge, and lived on both sides of the country.
Namedropper sees Oh Susanna capitalizing on those connections with a unique concept for an album: every song on the album was written by another artist, specially for this album. None of the material has been released before. The songwriters in question make up a “Who’s Who” of the Canadian music scene: there are tunes penned by Joel Plaskett, Luke Doucet, Ron Sexsmith, Jim Cuddy and more — 14 in all. (You can get a bit more detail on the album’s Kickstarter page.)
The result is an album that, had it been released just slightly earlier and before the deadline for such lists, would have easily made my Top 10 of 2014. This is no small feat in a year where I agonized over which album to push out of the top ten either.
The album’s stunningly understated opener “Oregon” was written by Jim Bryson, who also produced the album. The song opens with the line, “She says days like these / are mostly built for coffee and for dreaming,” before unfolding into just about the most perfect song about the Pacific Northwest you can imagine. With just a hint of piano layered underneath Oh Susanna’s beautiful voice, it invites repeat listens and serves as a fantastic opener.
Namedropper isn’t a covers album: there’s no “original” to compare the renditions here too. The album invites a fun game of “guess the Canadian songwriter” and it’s true that the songs retain the characteristics of their composers: Ron Sexsmith’s and Melissa McLelland’s contributions in particular stand out in this respect.
Bryson’s production work is a significant contribution to the album’s success: an album like this could have easily sounded disjointed but Bryson has deftly avoided that. If you’re not familar with Bryson’s solo work — he may be better know for his role as sideman to Kathleen Edwards (though that word doesn’t even begin to describe the significance of that relationship — you owe it to yourself to check it out. He’s one of Canada’s hidden talents.
Namedropper is a collection of 14 interpretations of new songs collected into a single coherent whole that makes for a near perfect listening experience and and album that shows that mixing two great things together can produce something wholly different and often stunningly beautiful. This may be the must have album of the fall.
Namedropper is available on iTunes now and Oh Susanna are starting a Western Canada tour in support of the Album’s release this week. Tour dates are on Oh Susanna’s website.
Mama Kin – The Magician’s Daughter
Hailing from Australia, Mama Kin’s The Magician’s Daughter made it’s way overseas mid-summer, but I’m just catching up to the release. The album comes by its name honestly: Mama Kin’s grandfather was a magician in World War II, and her mother performed with him as an assistant.
It’s an apt name too for an album that defies conventional labels: the album blends a blues sound with pop sensibilities quite nicely. The result is a sound that’s vaguely reminiscent of Jolie Holland at times — not a bad thing in my books.
The Magician’s Daughter marks the international debut for Mama Kin, and puts a strong foot forward. The collected songs here show a diverse range from the quiet and moody “Cherokee Boy” to the moody, ethereal blues of the lover’s lament “One Too Many.” Mama Kin is at her best when the beat picks up a bit and the rhythm swings in classic style.
The Magician’s Daughter is a fine international debut and one that’s perfect for a stormy night with a good book and a glass of smokey whiskey beside you — it’s good accompaniment for that kind of mood.
Ash & Bloom – Let the Storm Come
From Simon & Garfunkel to the Everly Brothers, to the Milk Carton Kids, the pairing of two distinct male voices with guitars has a long tradition in popular music. Hailing from Hamilton, Ontario, Ash & Bloom are forging their own path within this tradition and doing a fine job of it on their debut album.
The duo are a welcome addition to the tradition too: Let the Storm Come showcases some beautiful songwriting, with the album’s eponymous first track serving as a particular standout that showcases the duo nicely. the pair’s voices complement each other nicely. The album picks up fairly quickly from the quiet opener with “Manna for your Soul” — an upbeat audience clap along — and “Heaven Is a Ghost Town,” which shows Celtic influences that would see it slotting in nicely beside the kind of multi-million selling tune penned by Mumford & Sons.
This range is nice to see: it’s easy for this kind of duo to slip into sounding like a Simon & Garfunkel tribute band. But let’s face it: the world’s seen enough tributes to “The Sound of Silence” already, and it’s nice to see Ash & Bloom push beyond the traditional limits of the band’s structure.
I caught the band live a couple of months ago on their first visit to Vancouver’s Railway Club, and the diverse material made for a fun engaging live set too. The album’s material translates nicely live, and the duo have a fun, witty stage presence that compliments the music nicely.
The album’s standout tracks include the title track, the eminently sing-alongable “Endless Pursuit of Cool,” and their tribute to “This Town” (Hamilton).
Ash & Bloom’s hometown of Hamilton is a bit of a hotbed of musical talent these days. Located about an hour out of Toronto, it’s become home to many musicians who need to big close to the city but not in it. This make it no surprise that Let the Storm Come features such strong songwriting: in a crowded market, talent always stands out.
Let the Storm Come shows a level of songwriting maturity that belies its origin as a debut album from a couple of guys in their 20s: it’s the kind of debut that you should take notice of because it seems likely that the band will only get better.
Let the Storm Come is available now on iTunes. Ash & Bloom have just gotten back from Australia and are touring Eastern Ontario and Quebec at the moment. You can find complete tour details on their web site.
