While traveling on a trip to China and Asia, I discovered the ambient orchestral folk sounds of Surface Of Atlantic while scouring for local music in Taiwan.  It was playing while I was deeply rummaging unsuccessfully through their sample music stations at the Taiwan National Film Centre.

After speaking broken English/Mandarin with the friendly staff to figure out who the artist was playing in background, I later found out that the band was from Montreal. Who would have thought i’d have to go around the world only to find out about a great band right by my doorstep?

The staff were unwilling to sell me their only copy, so I ended up waiting till arriving back home to get the album.  With no local stores having them in stock, I ended up contacting the band directly for a copy.  That proved to be a challenge since the .com site was all flash and no substance, their online ordering process looked sketchy, and their myspace page was tough to find a contact or much information about them. It was also nearly impossible to find any reference to their debut album, Ephemeral As We Speak without contacting the band directly (or through a backdoor entry to their site, listed below). Luckily they had a facebook fanpage where I could contact them, and when I did they were quite friendly.

Boy, was it worth the effort.

I’ve yet to receive their 1st album coming in the mail, but their latest release “A Frame Per Season” has kept me happily tied over. The album blends a soothing mix of strings, horns, guitar, vocals and marching snare drum that is simply intoxicating.  Each track ebbs and flows into the next, transporting the listener into their dreamy soundtrack. With echo’s from Sigur Ros, Broken Social Scene (Feel Good Lost album) and Godspeed!, this 10-piece band has produced a stunning album that you have to listen from beginning to end.

Although tough to choose, some standout tracks from the album would be A Frame Per Season, No Sleep, Walk  and Cloudbreak.

Sadly, they have no 2011 shows in Toronto booked to date, so may it have to part of a road trip to Montreal to see them. As soon as they do set a date in Toronto, you all will be the first to know!

-Myspace: www.myspace.com/surfaceofatlantic
-Website: www.surfaceofatlantic
-Website (to listen to their debut album): http://www.surfaceofatlantic.com/index_surface.swf

- Robb

Check out J. Tillman (from the critically acclaimed Seattle band Fleet Foxes, self described as “Baroque harmonic pop jams”).  He’s currently on tour promoting some of his solo folk work, performing at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern tomorrow.

I’ve yet to hear much of his work, but from what I’ve heard he has taken a very delicate, melodic and lyrical direction.  Check out some of his work:

http://www.myspace.com/jtillman

J.Tillman w/Pearly Gates Music
Horseshoe Tavern
$15 at the door
SETS: J.Tillman @10:30p, PGM @9:30p

My favourite summer indie/folk festival of the year, Hillside Festival, have announced the performer list for their1-day winter event.  Hillside Inside is celebrating its 3rd year, giving concert goers a winter music festival to boost them through the dark and gloomy winter months… and hold them over till the full 3-day festival in July.

This year’s event is held on Saturday, February 6th, 2010 at the Sleeman Centre in Downtown Guelph. Tickets on sale Nov 7th, 2009.

Performer list to date (more to be announced).

Ani DiFranco

(her only Ontario appearance!)

Ani DiFranco has written hundreds of songs, played thousands of shows, captured the imaginations of legions of followers, and jammed with folkies, orchestras, rappers, rock and roll hall-of-famers, jazz musicians, poets, pop superstars, storytellers and a martial arts legend. She’s “fixed up a few old buildings” and minimized her carbon footprint before it was trendy – from installing a geothermal heating and cooling system in the renovated church that her label calls home to using organic inks on all the t-shirts she sells.

Hawksley Workman

A musician of incredible velocity, Hawksley Workman is at the top of his game when he has the solitude and serenity to write and record his music in atomic bursts, focused into monastic postures, accessing grace and brilliance in fluid, sweeping motions. With his increasing rock triumphs, growing fan communities and formidable body mass, Workman has evolved from the slight, pin-striped oddball with a critically-acclaimed diamond voice, to the panoramic, guitar-punishing superstar with no performance limits.

Final Fantasy

Owen Pallett’s live violin-looping project was named Final Fantasy, in tribute to the melodramatic videogame series. His sophomore album He Poos Clouds, written and arranged for string quartet, is a satirical song cycle based on the eight schools of magic of Dungeons and Dragons. The Village Voice praised it as having “the best lyrics of the year”. Final Fantasy was awarded the inaugural Polaris Prize for best Canadian full length album.

Martin Sexton

(his only Ontario appearance!)

A native of Syracuse, New York, Martin Sexton grew up in the 80’s, uninterested in the sounds of the day, and fuelled his dreams on the timeless sounds of classic rock and roll. Sexton eventually migrated to Boston, where he began to build his following singing on the streets of Harvard Square and gradually working his way through the scene. His 1992 collection of self-produced demo recordings, In The Journey, was recorded on an old 8-track in a friend’s attic. He managed to sell 20,000 copies out of his guitar case busking. John Mayer raves that Sexton is “The best live performer I have ever seen”.

Basia Bulat

Since the age of three, Basia has been sitting on piano stools and trying to hammer things out. It started with her piano-teacher mum, but along the way Basia’s picked up guitar, autoharp, banjo, ukulele, sax and flute. In high-school her instrument was the upright bass a lone girl among “eight-foot-tall guys, goofing off with the tubas”. There’s a sense of play that still suffuses her music, jostling under the songs of regret and love, want and joy. When her brother began in his teens to play drums with punk bands, Basia would be there with her Demerara voice, joining happily in the jam. When she left for university in London, Ontario, musicians began to drop by her downtown apartment. Many nights were spent with these classically-trained friends, laughing and singing, and together they made a glad, bright noise.

Bahamas

Afie Jurvanen, aka Bahamas, spent two weeks in the winter of 2008 making his debut album, Pink Strat. It is named after his childhood guitar, which he still plays. In addition, he plays bass, drums, piano, various percussion, organ, slide, acoustic, and nylon string guitars on the album, and is joined by his friends from zeus, The Great Lake Swimmers, and Feist on a few of the tracks.

Woodhands

Woodhands is dirty electronic music. “We are interested in emotional, sweaty dance floors. We want to make you cry while you’re having sex, and it’ll be the best damn sex of your life. And you’ll be dancing”.
Woodhands started in a basement in Montreal, moved to Europe, and is now making love to Toronto and its environs.

Delhi 2 Dublin

Vancouver-based Delhi 2 Dublin is a group of five musicians who mash up electronica and world music, keeping it heavy on the Bhangra, Celtic and Dub flavours. Fusing tabla, fiddle, dhol, Punjabi vocals, and electric sitar with scorching electronic beats – ranging from reggae to drum and base – the crew takes listeners on a wild ride through global sounds and synchronicities.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM HILLSIDE INSIDE 2009

Click here for Previous articles on Hillside

-ROBB ENG

Along the wave of pop-synth came a brooklyn duo called Matt&Kim.  I was lucky enough to squeeeeze into the Whippersnapper Gallery by College and Clinton during the 2009 North By North East Musical Festival. Due to technical issues at the start and a the runs from some bad Thai Food earlier in the day, the duo put on a shortened set, but still made it the best 25-minute dancy bang you could ask for.

Matt plays synth and sings. Kim bangs on the drums.  It’s a simple yet super fun combo that had the crowd jumping and playfully singing along.  M&K are starting to get some exposure with their hit single “Daylight” being featured on a Bacardi video, and were recently on Jimmy Kimmel live in August. Not bad for a little dynamic pop duo.

Be sure to check them out before someone like Apple gets a hold of them!

Matt&Kim
Thursday, Oct 1 @8PM
Reverb
$13.50

Tickets available at: Rotate This!, Ticketmaster

What a way to spark up a freezing Wednesday night.  A trio East Coast artists put on a show at the Horseshoe, showcasing great breadth of music and talent emerging from the East.  Opening the set was Oh No Forest Fires, a firey indie punk band, with as much ragged bounce as it’s lead singer’s hairdo.  Although I only caught the last 2 tracks of their set, I could tell they could’ve gone all night. 
Following up was Museum Pieces.  Although they had a few technical issues and temperamental front man right out of the gates, they put in a decent set.  Essences of Northern Lights and prog rock shimmered through, but overall I had trouble deciphering variance between songs, to a point where everything simply melding into one.  Their rolling instrumental proggy sequences that never climaxed, and with mediocre on-stage performance, the band had trouble connecting to and engaging with audience.  We never really got past their name, let alone their live set.

The Earnest East coasters roots rock band Hey Rosetta! headlined the night with an high energy set promoting their newest album produced with Hawksley Workman, Into Your Lungs.  Yet again the kids from Halifax New Foundland delivered a foot stomping, hand clapping show stopping set.  With a handful of devote fans leading the way, highlights included “New Goodbye”, “Handshake the Gangster”, and ‘oldies’ “Another Pilot” and “Simplest Thing”.

I just can’t seem to get enough of this band – Each song works like chapters in harmony with one another.  Each musician is equally gifted in their own way and you can hear elements of classical training adding in depth, intricacy and sheer genious when it’s all stitched together.   HR! on stage presence is strong and you can see their love and passion for the music and stage.  It’s a brand of earnest musicians that love what they do and don’t let the their new found success and hype go into their lungs.