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Earlier this summer we brought you “No You Don’t,” one of the new tunes from the upcoming Islands record. Now we’re pleased to let you get a listen to “Vapours.” It’s a lot more stripped down, at least in comparison to the Arm’s Way, which allows Nic’s genius to shine on through. Give it a whirl before the album comes out in September.
Download: Islands – Vapours [MP3]
We’ve been closely following news that Islands will be releasing Vapours this September on Anti Records. Anything Nic Thorburn lays his hands upon turns up to be genius in our books, be it this band or Human Highway or the much missed Unicorns. This new track is a different approach to songwriting for him, with the empty space left open for his voice to soar.
Download: Islands – No You Don’t
So when we thought making an albums of the year post was hard, this one proved to be even harder. How do you take literally thousands of songs and narrow it down to the best 40 of the year? Not too sure how to answer that question, but we tried. Each of these songs scream 2008 in our ears. As evident by this list, the year in music was quite a good one and we had some tough choices to make. We’ve got some of the songs streaming for you or links to the song on youtube. Follow the jump to see if your favorite tune of the year made the list.
ATH photographer Jonathon Edwards took some fancy pictures this past weekend at Fun Fun Fun Fest, and we tried to compile a few photos of each of our favorite acts. If you like what you see, say hello to Jonathon on Myspace. Follow the jump to check out all the hot shots.
Anti Records is doing there part to remind you about some of their better releases of the year by giving away a free end of the year sampler. The sampler features pretty solid stuff from Islands, Devotchka, Billy Bragg and a bunch of other great artists. You can read the entire track listing on the Anti Records website or download the whole thing from their blog. Here’s a standout track from the sampler called “Big Mistake” by Tim Fite.
Download: Tim Fite – Big Mistake [MP3]
During our triple the fun weekend at Fun fest, ATH had the good fortune of speaking with Nick Thorburn and Patrice Agbokou of the Montreal based band Islands. Nick and Patrice offer insight into a few various topics about Canada, music and some secret new side projects. Follow the jump to read our entire interview.
We here at ATH are getting really pumped about this weekend’s Fun Fun Fun Festival. But, as we all know, it’s difficult to figure out who to see when there are so many bands playing. You have time conflicts, you don’t know who some of the bands are and you wonder who will put on the best show? Well, our Friday Top 5 is a compilation of bands that ATH is excited to see. Hopefully this helps you make some decisions before you head out to the festival. We’ve also got some MP3s you can stream for each band in the list, so fire up the ATH Radio and enjoy.
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This album didn’t receive too much press, nor did the band, but this is definitely an ex-Unicorns side project worth noticing. Human Highway consists of former Unicorn–Islands front man Nick Thorburn and singer-songwriter Jim Guthrie–it’s about as Canadian as you can get.
Opening track, “The Sound,” will probably make a cut for many singles of the year lists, and probably mine. It’s got sort of an island feel to it–by that I am referencing the volcanic ocean formations rather than Thorburn’s band, though that is there too. Guthrie closely resembles Patrick Wolf here, but the overall feel pushes you for a little beach time. It’s probably the most upbeat song on the album.
From here they go on to pursue their original intentions in creating this record, that of chasing after the harmonies of 50s/60s R&B groups. They can achieve this fairly easily considering Thorburn’s abilities to tie harmonies in twisted knots, and they do this throughout the record. In fact, this really is the record for the most part. It’s a stripped down affair full of matching harmonies with accompanying guitars and minimalist percussion.
Those of you searching for the awkward catchiness of the Unicorns and Islandswill probably have a momentary lapse of judgment when you listen to this album. Immediately, it won’t be accessible to your ears, but I beg you to go on for a few more listens. This album resembles all those bands and projects you love from Thorburn, but in a more traditional singer/songwriter vein. It’s like an acoustic Islands album, which probably garners it more longevity than Arm’s Way–the album by the aforementioned band that came out this year.
You’ll find all the great harmonies you’ve come to love, and you will find Thorburn’s vocal styling all over the place–he frequently goes from casual crooner to that soft whisper we’ve come to know so well in his productive career. I don’t want to take away from Guthrie’s presence here either–his heavier voice, though gentle, definitely adds a sublime contrast to the higher pitched Nick T. And of course, you will find that the lyrics, though a bit more personal, still have that hint of absurdity.
At the end of the day you will come to find that this album is hard to put away. Each song continuously unfolds for me, turning me into fans of different songs throughout the day, only coming back to revisit the album in its entirety. I might be on an island all by myself listening to this, but damned if I don’t enjoy every instant.
Nick Thornburn’s (Islands) latest side project with folk singer Jim Guthrie, Human Highway, has their entire new album Moody Motorcycle streaming over on myspace. A lot of critics are raving about Mr. Thornburn’s newest venture. What do you think? You can take the song “The Sound” along with you if myspace crashes your computer as much as mine.
Download: Human Highway – The Sound [MP3]
Islands are forever. Islands showed me at Waterloo on Monday what they were trying to do with the new album. If you read our review of their most recent album Arms Way, you know that we were kind of indifferent to the new direction the band was taking. We don’t hate the songs, but we don’t love em either. After Monday, Islands changed my mind about the album as so many bands can do when playing new material live. Read more
