Quick hits: Pondering Polaris edition, Pt. III

I received a complaint that yesterday's post was a little "joyless", and, on reflection, it kind of is. To make up for it, I figured I'd do another mega-post about albums I'm thinking of for the Polaris Prize, but this time I'd only do bands that make me feel happy.



It's hard to think of a better way to start off a happier-sounding review than by talking about TMDP's self-titled debut, since their album really does make me feel happy. Of course, given the fact I know next to nothing about electronic music, I can't really discuss it very knowledgeably or at any length, but that's never stopped me before.

Besides, I can state with absolute confidence that it's an album I enjoy from beginning to end. I wouldn't be able to tell you exactly where they fall in the electronic music spectrum (though, if it helps, others have compared them to Justice and described the band's sound as a cross between electro, disco, progressive house and 80's pop), but I can say without hesitation that tracks like "Montage" and "Running". I'm fairly certain that the album won't make it anywhere near my list of final nominations, but I'm equally sure that TMDP have made an album that I'll be going back to again and again.



I feel a similar way about Manifesto, the most recent album from The Souljazz Orchestra. The odds of it making it onto my final ballot are fairly slim, but at the same time, there's no denying it's a phenomenal album. The band specialize in fun, catchy afrobeat, but anything more than a cursory listen reveals them to have also have a pretty strong political side.

Luckily, that whole fun, catchy thing basically makes them a living response to this particular saying. It's a rare band that can make a song about anti-colonialism without sounding hectoring or ranty, but "Interested Benevolence" shows that The Souljazz Orchestra know how to do just that. Other tracks, like "Parasite" and "Kapital", are pretty firm denunciations of the whole capitalist system, but even the staunchest neo-con would have trouble not dancing to their rhythms. It's strange to think that something so fiery and passionate could come out of Ottawa, but Manifesto is physical proof that it can happen.



By contrast, I can totally believe that Leif Vollebekk comes from Ottawa. After all, as Inland demonstrates, he's a pretty straightforward folkie, and this city has more than its share of those.

What it also demonstrates, however, is that even if he's not doing anything drastically different than most of those folkies, he's still doing it significantly better. Songs like "Michael Robartes & the Dancer" and "Northernmost Eva Maria" show off everything that makes Vollebekk worth listening to, including his jazz-tinged vocals and his knack for writing songs that can go from brisk and breezy to slow and contemplative in the blink of an eye (without ever losing a beat). Given the sheer number of people with guitars who fancy themselves to be folk singers, there's certainly no shortage of competitors that Vollebekk needs to stand out above in order to make his voice heard, but Inland should be good enough to help him do that.



Of course, he still has a ways to go before he catches up to the man who's arguably the best folk artist in the city -- if not all of Canada -- Jim Bryson. I still think Bryson was robbed of a Polaris nomination a few years ago, when the outstanding Where The Bungalows Roam didn't make the Short List, and I have a sinking suspicion that his most recent offering, Live at First Baptist Church, will be similarly ignored.

If that happens, it'll be doubly unfortunate. After all, as great as Bryson is on record -- and he's very, very great -- he's even better in concert, as anyone who's had the fortune of seeing him can attest. Not only are his songs uniformly fantastic, you also get the added benefit of hearing his banter, which is hilariously awesome. All that is captured on Live at First Baptist Church, which makes it even more essential than Where The Bungalows Roam was (and that one was a must-have as it was). I know that I tend to spend most of my time writing about exciting new bands, but it's easy to forget that it's often just as much fun to see/hear someone who's an old pro doing their thing. As Live... shows, Bryson is one such a pro, and it makes the album well-worth picking up.

(And if you need further enticement, then check out the songs below, from Bryson's performance at a recent CBC Radio 2 Acoustic Waves show, taped at Ottawa's Great Canadian Theatre Company. If you can listen to it and not desperately want to get Live at First Baptist Church immediately afterward, then you're a stronger person than I am.

1. Banter
2. By The Bridge
3. Firewatch
4. Pissing On Everything
5. Lost Occasional
6. Impaler
7. Freeway
8. The Wishes Pile Up
9. Somewhere Else
10. Wild Folk
11. Sleeping In Toronto
12. The Options
13. Flowers
14. One Cigarette
15. Fallen Leaves

Enjoy!)