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When you think of alt-country, what city comes to mind? Is it Portland, due to The Decemberists? Maybe, Chicago, home of Wilco. Or maybe some other US city like Tulsa, Austin or even Omaha. You might be a little surprised to find out that Toronto has a blossoming scene of alt-country music. (If you’re still a little confused by what I mean by alt-country, think sensitive, for the most part, hipster guys who’ve been listening to a lot of Hank Williams and Merle Haggard, not to be confused with the utter garbage currently being churned out by Nashville.) I’d call the scene burgeoning but truth be told, bands like Cuff The Duke, $100, Elliott Brood and The Wooden Sky have been doing this for a number of years. You could even throw SilentTalkieRadio favourite Silver Speakers in there if you wanted. I’m not sure why musicians in Toronto have adopted this sound as their own. Toronto isn’t a Western town by any stretch and you won’t hear much Country music on the radio here (other than the odd modern Johnny Cash song), but for some reason, the idea of a troubadour singing songs about being troubled just seems to appeal to the urban Torontonian (and sub-urban too with Cuff The Duke starting out in Oshawa). The Wooden Sky’s If I Don’t Come Home, You’ll I’m Gone was one of my favourite albums of 2009 and 2010. I spun that record a lot. It’s necessarily a spectacular record and if someone asking for some Torontonian alt-country, I’d probably send them to Cuff The Duke or $100 first, but I really connected with that album. I was excited to see this week when they released a new EP, in preparation for heading out on another Canadian tour. If you catch them on this tour, they’ll have the EP for sale on cassette (not sure why they’re selling it like this, unlike vinyl, I have no idea why this medium is coming back) and I’d recommend checking them out. Here’s what you’re hearing this week:
Esmarine – A Dog River from “La Lechuza”
The National – Twenty Miles To NH Part 2 from “If A Lot Of Bands Play In The Woods…” (Download it here.)
David Bazan – Make It Rhyme
The Wooden Sky – Angelina from “City of Light” EP
Washed Out – Call It Off from “Amor Fati” (Download it here.)
Matt Haimovitz & Christopher O’Riley – 3 Libras from “Suffle.Play.Listen”
Dorena – To Floor Thirteen, Part 1 from “Holofon”
Hammock – Sinking Inside Yourself from “Asleep in the Downlights”
Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next week.
Jared (@mtroads1)
