This week's feature: Videotape

Videotape, My Favourite Thing (Self-released)

WHO

Experimental rock trio from Ottawa/Toronto.

DISCOGRAPHY

My Favourite Thing (Self-released, 2008)

IN A NUTSHELL

Former members of As The Poets Affirm find a way to combine catchiness to shoegazing, droning ambient rock. Potential greatness ensues.

THE STORY

To some extent, a lot of what was said in last week's feature about Women could also be said for the subject of this week's feature, Videotape. After all, both bands' debuts feature a strong dose of '60s-influenced lo-fi pop, coupled with a heavy dose of...well, heaviness.

The difference, however, is that Videotape take things a lot further on My Favourite Things -- and consequently, in my mind, are whole a lot better. Take opener "Night Lights, for example: it starts off sounding like a lost artifact from four decades ago, but as the vocals and melody repeat over and over again for five minutes, the whole thing starts sounding like a hypnotic drone. It's eerie and ominous, but surprisingly catchy at the same time, as if the trio attempted to compress Velvet Underground's entire catalogue into the span of one song.

The same probably could be said for any other song on here, if not the whole album. Despite this, however, Videotape never let their love of acts like VU and Sonic Youth cross over into the category of thinly-veiled rip-offs. Rather, they seem bent on making shoegazing, droning, ambient post-rock that's also improbably catchy.

Surprisingly, they succeed at this. At the album's lowest point (probably "Visions"), the mixture comes off as acceptably grungy, kind of dull alt-rock. And when Videotape hit the combination right on -- as they do on tracks like "Glow" or "Spin Away" -- it's as if you're listening to a particularly hip religious revival. Heck, if some obscure sect ever decided they wanted to recruit hipsters as members, they could just play "Underwater" and they'd have masses of them dancing in an ecstatic frenzy in no time.

Or maybe it's not so surprising. After all, the trio used to be members of the dearly-departed Ottawa institution As The Poets Affirm, they had Acorn/Kathleen Edwards/Jim Bryson producer Jarrett Bartlett behind the boards for the album's production, and drummer Nathan Gara comes from a pretty impressive indie rock family tree. But My Favourite Thing goes far beyond even those connections to a whole other level. Videotape legitimately deserve to be mentioned as heirs to a tradition that goes far beyond Ottawa's borders (and well into those of New York City), and this album suggests that they have the potential for a pretty impressive career. By all means, keep an eye (and ear) on them, and be ready to be amazed.

Want to win a copy of My Favourite Thing? Thanks to Videotape, i(heart)music has a copy to give away. To enter to win it, just e-mail me your name and mailing address, and I'll pick a winner randomly!