Admittingly, my knowledge of Virginia is extremely limited. When I hear the name itself, my initial thoughts are not of the state but of the pop band Train and their 1999 radio friendly unit shifter. You know the song: her hair’s a mess, she smokes a pack a day, blah blah blah. I think I also read somewhere that she is highly suspicious about the existence of Santa Claus, but I just may be mixing up my Virginias.

I know even less about the state of Virginia. Hell, if you asked me to place it on a map, I would place my entire thumb over the eastern U.S. coast as a piss-poor attempt to hide my piss-poor geographical knowledge. What I do know is that, as a child, God lived there for a while before he grew up to play drums in Nirvana and later form the Foos. You can probably imagine how surprised I was when I stumbled on the fact that Richmond, VA is indeed the indie-folk capital of the world.

Sometimes it’s the littlest of mistakes that lead to the biggest of discoveries. I was googling Trouvere, an up-and-coming indie-pop duo from Nashville, TN, trying to track down their excellent La-La-La Love EP. Instead of the bouncy She & Him pop style I was anticipating, I was directed to the webpage of Trouvére, an up-and-coming countrified folk-rock quintet from Richmond, VA. There is a big difference in that little accent over the “e”. The band photo displayed beards, bowler hats, and whiskey, so naturally I gave their Wandering EP a spin. Immediately liking their Americana stylings, I went looking for more material. A couple of clicks further on the band name brought me not to a back catalogue of Trouvére, but to the entire catalogue of the indie label Church Hill Records; a collection of LPs, EPs, compilations and 7”s from Richmond based artists that ultimately consists of an array of stompers, ballads, anthems, and instrumentals. I spent the remainder of the day with Church Hill as my soundtrack. There is a lot of material there, so I took the liberty of noting of some of the highlights from the releases and have compiled a Church Hill taster for your listening pleasure.

Trouvére

First up is the band that is responsible for this post. As mentioned above, the Wandering EP is a successful mix of Americana, country, folk, and indie-rock. The cover of the album shows a black bear swaddling a baby while walking through an open stand of birch. ‘Nuff said.

Rise Within the Rain – (Forcibly) take the reefer away from the Fleet Foxes and replace it with moonshine you have the fifth song off of the EP. Brilliant.

Ghosts – The opening track is county-pop fusion with an eerie falsetto backing vocal, a nice simple fiddle riff, and is driven by a bouncing snare. This has complete radio potential as a commercial hit.

Dogs on Main Street

From what I can tell, Dogs on Main Street is the alias for Mac Rowe. From the opening track on his album Bound in Blood you can assume that Rowe is well-versed in the early recordings of Dylan. One man, one guitar, with some simple string arrangements layered underneath.

Riverside Prophet – This song reminds me of a stripped down version of the Gaslight Anthem’s masterpiece Old White Lincoln. I guess that explains why I’m so obsessed with it. If you ask me, Mac and Gaslight’s Brian Fallon seem to be cut from the same cloth. According to Google Maps, Jersey and Virginia are only 6.5 hours apart. Hopefully they can meet sometime in the middle; in Washington perhaps, over a quick pint and a split EP.

Highwayman’s Farewell – DOMS’s kick at the age-old folk topic of The Rambler. AKA The Drifter. AKA The Vagabond. This finger picked ode to the nomadic life is the last song on the album where he timely sings “I’ve overstayed my welcome once again…” No you haven’t. With tracks like this, you’re not even close.

Blood Brothers – In an bottomless sea of Springsteen covers, this song lifted from the Boss’ 1996 EP of the same name is not only treading water, but is afloat on top of most others and probably sipping boat drinks. 6 minutes and 28 seconds of hauntingly beautiful guitar picking, harmonica, and a stripped down vocal track.

Dave Watkins

Watkin’s album When No One Else Is Here And Everyone Is Asleep is heavily laden with instrumentals and lightly peppered with a few vocal tracks. It leans mostly in the direction of progressive folk guitar instrumentalism in the likeness of John Fahey, but includes a couple piano driven shoe-gazers, multi-instrumental percussion, and more mandolin than at a Renaissance fair. And if you listen carefully you can literally hear birds chirping and wind blowing through the trees in the spaces within the songs. That’s not some cheesy attempt at poetic critique. You actually can hear it. I’d put money on that this was recorded outside and if not, he sure fooled me with his black-magic level of studio sorcery.

Pangaea’s Revenge – Smack-dab in the middle of the album is a pretty little ballad that combines the said nature sounds with the mandolin. Pangaea starts off as simple love song, where one longs for a love on the other side of a vast ocean. Then, approximately a third into the track, the good ol’ back up boys suddenly belt in. I instantly see imagery of toothless, white-stubbled prospectors in red trapdoor long-johns and wide-brimmed Stetsons; sitting around the camp fire, singing along as the whiskey spills from tin cups and beans are eaten from a can.

The Low Branches

Atmospheric and stunning, the Sinking, Rising EP consists of Christina Gleixner’s mesmerizing voice textured on top of cello, acoustic guitar and minimal percussion. This EP is much too short and never too sweet. If you were to listen to one full stream out of all these recommendations, let this be the one.

Dipsacus Fullonum – A poppy xylophone riff on top of a chugging cello. Christina’s voice melts like fire to ice. The style and arrangement of the song reminds me of Belle and Sebastian in some ways, but her voice takes it up to an entirely higher level.

Piscataway Creek – To me, this song sounds truly modeled after the 60’s folk offerings of Simon & Garfunkel, early Joni Mitchell, and Nick Drake. It’s a picturesque, slow burning, and simplistic all at once.

Tyler Crowley

Every once in a while you come across a musician who just has the uncanny ability to mentally hear arrangements and instrumentations and can pull them seamlessly out of his/her head and into an immediate composition. Listening to this album, I like to think that Tyler is one of these people. I think this guy could shape-shift into any sound, and genre, at the drop of a dime. It should also be noted that Tyler has either spent many years in Europe or has watched many, many, foreign films. Days and Dreams is full of waddling tubas, slowly drawn accordions, and soft humming horns.

Louise – Built on a slow finger pick, love-sick moaning accordions, gentle horns, and snare brushes. If I was a young lad pursuing the courtship of a young lady, this track would definitely make my mixtape offering in effort to woo the damsel. (Do people even still do that anymore, or am I just out of touch? These days I assume you just file transfer her a playlist attached with a $5 e-coupon to Yogen Früz)

Western Sky – This is Crowley getting his Jackson Browne on. But imagine if Jackson Browne’s back-up singers consisted of all of the Disney Princesses from the 30’s through to the 60’s, complete with their furry and feathered friends of the wood. That may sound like a dramatic stretch. Take a listen.

Days and Dreams – The title track is Crowley going full-Europe (the continent, not the band, but that would be awesome). Everybody knows you’re never supposed to go full-Europe, but he does. And he pulls it off with flying colours. Best played in the company of a romantic interest, while in a gondola, sipping 10 year old Bordeaux, and nibbling on Gruyère cheese. Or not. This song is so romantic you could sit in a dingy and shovel him/her with some cooking sherry and a full pack of processed cheese slices and they would know none the difference.

Luke Saunders

If I put my 2 and 2 together correctly, I do believe that Luke is the lead singer of Trouvére. The Green to Golden Brown EP pre-dates the Wandering EP by 5 years and you can tell. He hasn’t yet found the voice he will eventually achieve for Trouvére, but this is a solid effort none-the-less.

Hummingbird – Luke saved this song and later re-recorded it for the Trouvére Wandering EP. The new 2013 recording is fuller-sounding and is awesome, but this first version is stripped down and raw. The electric guitars take a backseat, and a harmonica shares the limelight with the fiddle. I’d love to hear this song played either way live.

Labor Day – Every artist eventually does its version of Zeppelin’s ‘Going to California’ at one time or another. Nobody ever comes close, as nobody ever could, but that’s not the point. The point is to use the formula to result in an easy-listening song that people will play on long drives, rainy days, and autumn walks. Luke achieved the result here. He wrote a great song.

Ferdinand Thomas

On his War Within a War EP, can Ferdinand hold of his singing notes? Nope. Shit, can he even hit them all? Not a chance. Does it matter? Who cares. History is full of singers who stood against perfection: Johnny Rotten, Shane MacGowen, Biz Markie, even Cobain half of the time. But this guy can write a song. I mean, REALLY write a song. Throw his subtle voice on top of one of these brilliant songs, and the result never sounded so honest and vulnerable.

Wooden Eyes – Indie rock in the vein of Hey Rosetta!, Joel Plaskett, Tom Fun Orchestra and the other east coast Canadian artists I’m familiar with. This is the first east coast Celtic influence I hear in the Church Hill album releases.  Mandolins and fiddles have been played up to this point, but Thomas’ style is the first time I get that feeling that the musician is playing while sitting on the side of a wharf, bare feet dangling over the Atlantic. It’s not like it’s an Irish jig or anything, far from it, but the small eastern nuances are there, and I’m picking up on them. I grew up in Newfoundland. I know it when I hear it (or at least I like to think I do, and I’m fine with that).

War Within a War – Not much else to say here other than to reiterate that this guy is a fantastic song writer. His chord progressions and song build-ups keep me attentive and on my toes. I’m having trouble writing this paragraph because his songs demand full attention and my focus is entirely on my headphones.

Oh God! – Please see comment above, and the comment above that. Thank-you.

And some of the rest….

Josh Small – Richmond Day Parade: A voice and a rolling guitar sound lifted directly off of the late 70’s/ early 80’s AM radio. This reminds me of family summers at the cabin as a young’un. Sideburns, stubby beer bottles, and my Dad and uncles burning paper-thin processed burgers over too much charcoal. I think I just teared up a bit.

Speckled Bird – You and Me and Jack: This screams ‘Beatles ballad’ to me. Not that that is a bad thing, by no means. Read my comments for Luke Saunders’ Labor Day. Switch “Going to California” with “Two of Us”, remove Ringo’s foot stomp, and slow it down a little. Then, ditto.

Speckled Bird – The Lamb and Sparrow: If you listened to the first track you might as well spin this one too. The song is a quick musical jaunt that sounds like it could get away with being played in ANY genre. The guy here has a new-traditionalist country voice. To me that means not quite New Country but somewhere mid-early 90’s before the C&W boat sank to the inescapable depths of the abyss. Anyhoo, great song.

Homemade Knives – Sea-Sand: Another kneeler at the altar of Bruce. I thought this was the Springsteenization of Harry Nilsson’s 1969 folk-pop hit Everybody’s Talkin’. The Bruce voice is evident, but an immediate listen to Nilsson didn’t confirm my Springsteen-Nilsson hypothesis. But something in this song clicked and got me thinking, and that’s what good music does.

Well, that’s my initial thoughts of the Richmond, VA indie label Church Hill Records in a nutshell. If something did catch your ear, please be sure to follow through with a full album stream. This roster definitely deserves full exposure. Most of the roster is from 2011, and I’m not sure which artists are currently with Church Hill or which were only one-off recordings. What I do know is the folks over at Church Hill definitely have an ear for good music. In the meantime, I’ll be keeping my ears on them, as well as the artists that they have, are, and will continue to release, and the entire entity known as The Richmond Scene from here on in.

@PBClarke

For those who don’t know me, I’ve been a Sonic 102.9 fangirl since the beginning – well, the beginning for me was December 2005 – I remember being a small town girl moving to the big city; fascinated with traffic lights and stores that were open on Sundays, let alone places that were open for 24 hours – and FM radio. Wow, did I fall in love with that.

I didn’t know anyone in this city, and the voices on the radio became my closest friends for a long time. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to call most of them my friends, not just voices and personalities.

I remember catching the end of an evening show with Adam Thompson one night waaaay back. It was going to be his last on-air shift. He was leaving to travel the world I think. He was taking calls for suggestions on what his last on air song should be. I remember calling in with a (very likely lame) suggestion, but I can’t remember what it was exactly – and then, it was time. His last song on air.

This was a pretty defining moment for me, as silly as it sounds. I no longer pondered “what would be on my ryder” and started to think about the songs I would play, first and last, if I ever woke up one day in a radio chair.

And then it started, You Only Live Once by The Strokes. YES! Perfect. I had recently discovered this band on a recommendation from the then evening radio host. Clearly, there was a reason Adam was on the air and I was not. He has this incredible ability to absolutely make you feel connected to the music.

It wasn’t long before Adam was back in our beautiful city and answering my many “what should I be listening to” emails. He is always bang on – every time. I remember the first time he sent me to listen to Christian Hansen & The Autistics. It was a myspace page, and I was sure he was playing a joke on me…. But, this was the same guy who sent me a link to Faunts, Library Voices & A.C. Newman – I had to trust it. And I did, as I have for every other recommendation. I don’t think I’ve ever not liked what he’s suggested to me. Some people just have natural talent for knowing these things, which is really great for Adam considering his career choice!

After years of stopping by the station, scoping out the new stacks of albums on his desk and making mental notes to get them ALL on my way home, Monday’s visit was different. The stacks of new albums were still there (though I still disagree on the new Strokes album…) and yes Nicole – O’Joes at 2pm on April 7th really is on the calendar! – but this time the office door closed, and all I could hear was the song from Adam’s last departure playing in my head.

In just a few short weeks, Adam Thompson will be taking on a new challenge – well, seriously, let’s just call it what it is – DREAM JOB – in Toronto as the Program Director for a true Indie station. I’m starting to think Toronto is the new Edmonton, but let’s not all jump ship just yet. You can listen to this great new station, which is currently in demo stream. It won’t be too much trouble, since that’s how most of us listen to music anyway, right?

Please help make sure Adam feels the love. I know that he will carry a torch for our city all the way to his new one.

Adam – you have been so many things to so many people. Edmonton has been so lucky to have you, and I’m so lucky to have gotten to know you. I wish you the absolute best of luck in your new adventure in Toronto. Just make sure you learn how to use Twitter before you get there, okay?

e.

As we pass the first quarter of 2013, I figured now is as good a time as any to start compiling my favourite music of the year. There’s been plenty of it – a few old favourites, and some outstanding new discoveries. Hopefully you’ll find something you like here as well.

Electric – The Men

Wasting no time after releasing last year’s fantastic Open Your Heart, The Men are back with New Moon, and the lead single, Electric, certainly picks up where they left off. However, this album surprises with its infusion of country-folk into their signature noise rock sound, yet they manage to pull it off in spades.

Faithful Heights – Night Beds

An arresting a cappella intro into one of my favourite songs last year. It segues so seamlessly into Ramona that I feel like I’m cheating a little bit by including it here, but heard on its own, it really showcases the raw vocal talent of singer Winston Yellen.

Holy – Frightened Rabbit

Given how this month has gone weather-wise, I probably should’ve picked Late March, Death March, but Holy has been my initial favourite on this LP. Check out the alternate version the band released as well; I’m having trouble deciding which one I like more.

How The Other Half Live – Tribes

The first track off their forthcoming album. If this is any indication, Tribes will be back on my Best Albums of 2013 again later this year. (Recorded at Sound City for those of you interested in useless trivia.)

Medication – The Rouge

A delightful new find in February. There’s no misses on this new EP Blurry from Nashville-based The Rouge.

Miracle Mile – Cold War Kids

The only tune on the list that I first heard on the radio. SONiC has been giving this regular airplay and deservedly so. Take note JT and Julian, this is how you release a lead track.

Muchacho’s Tune – Phosphorescent

Brooklyn-based (has the entire music industry moved there in the past year?) Matthew Houck is back with more vulnerable melodies of heartache and woe… and I couldn’t be happier. This album is ridiculously good.

Ride On The Train – Hollis Brown

Cheating a little with this tune. Yes, it was released in 2012 (on my favourite EP of the year I might add), but it’s also the title track of the new album so that should get me off the hook. If it doesn’t, listen to Down On Your Luck, equally as awesome.

Running For Cover – Ivan & Aloysha

My good friends over at Ear To The Ground recommended Ivan & Aloysha earlier this year, and they didn’t disappoint. Looking forward to hearing this live in a few weeks.

Saturday Night – Wyldlife

Straight-up party anthem of the year. Rich Russo says they’re the best power punk band to come out of NYC in the last 20 years. If this track is any indication, I’m inclined to agree.

She Will – Savages

I heard they melted faces off at SXSW. Looking forward to hearing more from this British post-punk act later this year.

Smashed To Pieces In The Still Of The Night – Esben & The Witch

Layers and layers of texture on this Eastern-influenced techno pop tune. This building crescendo is the perfect climactic bookend to the latest LP from the British goth rock trio.

Teenage – Veronica Falls

The opening reminds me of Bryan Adams’ Back To You, at least until Roxanne Clifford starts singing on this breezy indie pop number.

The Night’s So Cold – El Sportivo & The Blooz

A country-infused blues rock number from this Brooklyn act. Love the guitar work here; it really accentuates the melancholy of the tune.

Thick As Thieves – Widowspeak

Singer Molly Hamilton of this Brooklyn-based dream pop duo invites comparisons to Mazzy Star on this simple melody filled with lament.

This Disorder – The Features

Despite how catchy it is, their latest single will likely do nothing to combat our obsession with being plugged in. I wonder if this is available as a ringtone yet?

Tracks – Trapper Schoepp & The Shades

I first heard of Trapper around Christmas when I saw this video – The Ballad Of Olof Johnson – a beautiful song he wrote about his great-great-grandfather. Since then, he and The Shades have popped up on my radar a few times, and just last week they released this video for Tracks.

Vaya – EdTang

I feel like I’m doing Ed a terrible injustice by only picking a single song off his album Goodbye, Zen 5, Sushi Diner. Tinged with influences of Frank Turner, Brian Fallon, Ben Nichols and Jake Smith, the nine tracks juxtapose from alt-country to rock to traditional country so effortlessly, it’s difficult to select just one highlight. It is simply an outstanding album and my favourite of 2013.

So that’s the start of 2013 for me. Feel free to leave me a comment or tweet at me to let me know what I’ve been missing.

Our last “Best of” category is songs: songs we kept on repeat for days, songs that moved us (emotionally or physically!), songs that will be remembered as from the year 2012. If you’re an Rdio subscriber, you can play the whole list*.

(*songs -or versions- that weren’t available are linked below)

Brad:

1. Faithful Man (Lee Fields) – Yours Truly Session

and in no particular order:

Party Hard (Grouplove – AV Club Covers)
B.B. Guns and Dirtbikes (White Buffalo)
New Tattoo (Brad Fillatre)
Miriam (Norah Jones)
Islands (Hey Ocean)
I Shall Not Be Moved (Public Enemy)
Birmingham (Shovels and Rope)
Chase the Light (Matt Mays)
Animal Mask (Tom Fun Orchestra)

Marc:

1. Watch the Corners (Dinosaur Jr.)
2. Fire’s Highway (Japandroids)
3. Flaggin a Ride (Divine Fits)
4. National Anthem (Gaslight Anthem)
5. The Great Exhale (Great Lake Swimmers)
6. Slow It Down (The Lumineers)
7. Busy Bees (Silversun Pickups)
8. Love Interruption (Jack White)
9. Medicine Shows (Wool on Wolves)
10. All Too Well (Taylor Swift)

Erin B:

1. Continuous Thunder – Japandroids
2. Laura – Bat For Lashes
3. King and Lionheart – Of Monsters And Men
4. A Soft Place To Land – Kathleen Edwards
5. Let Your Heart Hold Fast – Fort Atlantic
6. Gun Has No Trigger – Dirty Projectors
7. Prairie Girl – Rah Rah
8. The Stairs – Family of the Year
9. Master’s Thesis – John K Samson
10. You Know Me – Air Traffic Controllers

Carol:

Renato:

1. Adorn – Miguel
2. Pyramids – Frank Ocean
3. Running – Jessie Ware
4. Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen
5. Love Sosa – Chief Keef
6. Look Right Through (MK Don’t Talk To Me Dub) – Storm Queen
7. Turn on the Lights (Future)
8. Inspector Norse (Todd Terje)
9. Run My Heart (Twin Shadow)
10. Aaliyah (ft. Jessie Ware) – Katy B

Heather:

1. Ghosts That We Knew – Mumford and Sons
2. Classy Girls – Lumineers
3. Summertime Sadness – Lana Del Rey
4. Faithful Man – Lee Fields
5. Heaven – the Walkmen
6. Change the Sheets – Kathleen Edwards
7. Hurricane – Owls by Nature
8. Tides – The XX
9. Yet Again – Grizzly Bear
10. Not With Haste – Mumford and Sons

Deej:

1. If It Ain’t Me – Hollis Brown
2. Beam Of Light – D A W N S
3. Let Me Go – Hacienda
4. Hear Them Fear Them – The Indecent
5. Birmingham – Shovels & Rope
6. Medicine Shows – Wool On Wolves
7. New Tattoo – Brad Fillatre
8. Port Song – Adam Arcuragi
9. Pull You Through – John Taylor
10. Soul & Body – The Parlotones

Nicole:

1. I’m Not Talking (A.C. Newman)
2. The Once And Future Carpenter  (The Avett Brothers)
3. Lost In the Light (Bahamas)
4. Keep Me Drunk  (The Crackling)
5. Emmylou (First Aid Kit)
6. Call Me in the Afternoon (Half Moon Run)
7. Resuscitate (Wintersleep)
8. Wild Country (Wake! Owl)
9. The House That Heaven Built (Japandroids)
10. Call Me Maybe (Carly Rae Jepsen)

Michael:

1. When the Lilies Die (IO Echo)
2. Default (Django Django)
3. Know No Violence (Spanish Prisoners)
4. Morning Angels (My Violaine Morning)
5. Keep It Low (Hundred in the Hands)
6. Art and a Wife (Rah Rah)
7. Doused (DIIV)
8. The House That Heaven Built (Japandroids)
9. Young and Wild (Mean Creek)
10. Slow It Down (Lumineers)

With little over a week left to 2012, I figured it’s about time I post Part II to what I started back in July with My Favourite Songs of 2012… so far.

After writing that post, I thought there’s no way the second half of the year is going to be as good as the first, but I’ve been (quite happily) proven wrong. Tune after tune, album after album, month after month, this has just been an incredible year for discovering new music.

As with the 33 tracks that made up Part I, I had trouble restraining myself again. I managed to cull this list down to 42, so, coupled with the others, I have a nice round number of my favourite 75 songs for 2012.

Once again, presented alphabetically because I hate to offend, here’s what stood out from July to December:

All I Want - Kodaline: A beautiful pop ballad with the type of slow-building crescendo that I typically love. (The accompanying video is the type MuchMusic would’ve ran for days… back when they actually aired them. That dog gets me every time. Right in the feels.)

Animal Mask - Tom Fun Orchestra: The first of a few tunes on this list that I had the good fortune of @pbclarke introducing me to. A crazy frenetic tempo with a riotous chorus, I defy you to sit silently while listening.

Birmingham - Shovels & Rope: Another @pbclarke recommendation, I had originally passed on this LP because I didn’t like the band’s name. Dumbest. Reason. Ever. Boy was I wrong. This track is one of a number of standouts on an LP that just missed my top 10 of the year. (Just announced to play Edmonton in April and I can’t wait to hear this live!)

Boozophilia - Low Cut Connie: A retro piano-rock track with rollicking, sing-along lyrics. Perfectly written for those times when a happy hour kind of gets away from you and you don’t want to go home.

Bow And Arrow - Reuben And The Dark: Calgary native Reuben Bullock (no relation to Seth that I know of) leads his folk quartet on this enchanting melody that ebbs and flows through the verses like an ocean swell.

Carry Me Home - Hey Rosetta!: Debated whether a Christmas song could make my list. Well, this isn’t really a traditional Christmas tune, and honestly, it’s too good to pass up anyway. (Plus, I actually like Christmas music, so there’s that.)

Cold Winter Song - Jay Sparrow: Catchy. As. Hell. If Edmonton ever gets around to having its own anthem, this’ll get my vote. Love the synths and the back-up harmony on this – if I can only figure out who she is.

Counter Charm - She Keeps Bees: A bluesy garage-rock number from this Brooklyn duo that reminds me of two of my favourites, The Kills and The Pack a.d. A voice low and sultry, distorted guitar hooks, and crashing drums – what’s not to like?

Drinkin’ - Holly Williams: A classic country tune of hurtin’ and woe – Holly Williams certainly has the pedigree for it. This sneak peek off her next LP has me counting down the days till its February release.

Easy Money - Bruce Springsteen: A fantastic album with so many great tunes to chooses from. Love the Celtic influences throughout, but fell in love with this particular track because it reminded me of something Steve Earle could conceivably write. (Don’t worry; that makes no sense to me either.)

Faithful Man - Lee Fields: This particular live version outshines the entire album, and that’s not an easy thing to do given how good the LP is. Recording since before I was born, this track has enjoyed regular airplay lately as I try to make up for lost time.

Flower Bomb - Ryan Bingham: There are other tracks on Bingham’s latest that may be more popular (Guess Who’s Knocking comes to mind), but I kept being drawn back to this Americana tune over and over. The gravel-voiced roots rocker keeps it simple here, and it shines.

Friends Of Friends - Hospitality: Yet another Brooklyn group on my list. Delightful horn and guitar riffs meld together nicely on this indie pop number that marries a curiously ‘sounds old, but feels new’ vibe.

Funeral Song - Fast Romantics: Another group of Calgary natives behind this catchy indie rock number. The guitar work and keys harmonize perfectly on an uplifting melody that’s probably more suited for a wake instead of a funeral.

Hear Them Fear Them - The Indecent: So many great EPs this year, and this one definitely ranks near the top. Alternating at times it seems between Hole and Cranberry influences, the sisters Brout from NYC still know how to deliver their own rock goods. Hear them fear them indeed.

Hurricane - Owls By Nature: Local guys that managed to get some radio airplay with this track, and it’s easy to see why. Catchy folk-rock that can make you wonder why you bought Babel.

It’s Real - Wild Ones: Mix a little Imaginary Cities with a little Weepies, and you may get Wild Ones – bursting with pop whimsy. They call their sound funeral pop, and if this particular hymn is any indication, I can’t wait to hear their album next year.

Live And Die - Avett Brothers: The biggest standout for me on what was a somewhat disappointing album release. Saw this performed live at ACL – albeit streaming on YouTube – and they just crushed it.

Mean To Me - Ben Kweller: Opening with a blown-out guitar riff reminiscent of CCR’s “Up Around the Bend”, this is classic power-pop at its finest. If Sloan still wrote songs like this, I’d probably still be listening to them.

Medicine Shows - Wool On Wolves: Their first LP made my best-of list back in 2010, and with tunes like this one, they made another very strong run at my 2012 list. It’s quite something to hear the ending chorus being sung live.

Modern Times - RNDM: Jeff Ament took a break from his full-time job to go off and record some Pearl Jam rejects… and after listening to this track, you’re left wondering why Eddie and the boys didn’t want to play them. Their loss obviously.

Mystic Portal II - JEFF the Brotherhood: Brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall form this garage rock two-piece, and their latest – produced by the indefatigable Dan Auerbach – has received some heavy acclaim. Rightfully so, and I’ve enjoyed this fuzzy guitar-driven number in particular.

Nancy Lee - Vintage Trouble: This tune’s been around for a couple of years, but was finally released in North America in 2012. What have we been waiting for? Love the retro soul sound here, but it still manages to feel charmingly fresh.

New Tattoo - Brad Fillatre: Very hard not to like this song by a fellow Newfoundlander. Bryan Byrne should be worried about his ‘favourite son’ status on the west coast if Fillatre keeps releasing tunes this good.

No Tell - Smoke & Jackal: Jeff Ament wasn’t the only bass player to form a side band to play cast-offs in 2012. Jared Followill kept busy while his brothers took a break from Kings Of Leon, and well, didn’t stray far from his roots. Surprised this didn’t get more attention from modern radio actually.

Old Friend - Sea Wolf: I can hear a little Hey Rosetta! in this one – particularly in the opening – and when has that ever been a bad thing?

Oscillation - The Men: Sometimes great songs don’t need lyrics… like this one. That’s not entirely true, but by the time they get around to singing them on this instrumental, it doesn’t matter – you’re already enthralled. So much goodness coming out of New York recently, this is one of my favourite albums of 2012.

Pioneers - The Lighthouse and the Whaler: Independent folk-pop rockers from Cleveland garnered attention with this upbeat melody. Perfect summer patio music to get your feet tapping and head nodding.

Ramona - Night Beds: Written in June and Johnny’s old home, this up-tempo guitar pop number by Winston Yellen soars wonderfully between sorrow and despair. I think The Man in Black himself would approve.

Runaways - The Killers: If the Boss wrote a pretty decent Steve Earle song with Easy Money, then The Killers managed to finally pull off the quintessential Springsteen tune with Runaways. Can’t listen to this without hearing Bruce singing it.

Skipping Stone - Good for Grapes: Mixed-tempo folk rock with a rousing chorus, I thought these guys were from the other coast of Canada when I first heard this tune. They would absolutely kill there if they ever made the trip.

Spitting Image - Freelance Whales: First heard these guys at Lolla in August – again via YouTube unfortunately – but was impressed, and intrigued to hear their new album. It didn’t disappoint. This baroque pop melody found its way onto my most played tracks of the Fall.

Teenage Icon - The Vaccines: They released my favourite album of 2011, so this was easily one of my most anticipated LPs of 2012. Yes, they’ve come of age, but this song reminds me why my choice 12 months ago still feels right today.

That Old Black Hole - Dr. Dog: “I don’t know how to say it but I know that I can show you.” Just watch and see.

The House That Heaven Built - Japandroids: Mildly disappointed that their garage-rock sound picked up more polish with Celebration Rock, it’s hard to stay upset with these guys when this tune comes on. Hands-down the best track on the LP.

The Stairs - Family Of The Year: Props to @dylan_redekop and his “Five Songs You Just Might Like” series for including this ditty in one of his weekly lists earlier in the Fall. Like it indeed.

Throwdown - Nuela Charles: Local soul songstress Nuela Charles croons her way through this trippy R&B number. The accelerated piano playing almost reminds me of fast-forwarding though the Eyes Wide Open score. It’s ominously foreboding, yet the only thing to worry about here is how quickly this silky number will end.

Upon Viewing Oregon’s Landscape With The Flood Of Detritus - Titus Andronicus: High expectations on these New Jersey punk rockers after their last release, The Monitor. This is not The Monitor. It’s different… and it may be even better. Front man Patrick Stickles yells ‘Built to last ‘ repeatedly on the first chorus; rather apt regarding this song and LP.

Walking Home - Rain Over St. Ambrose: Easily one of the best rock n’ roll bands in the Maritimes these days. A fantastic album full of mainstream rock tracks, I really enjoyed this anthemic number with its beefy guitars and booming vocals.

Watch The Corners - Dinosaur Jr.: A lot of reunions don’t work out so well, but these alt-rock dinosaurs from the ’90s show they still haven’t lost their distinctive guitar sound. Word is they tried to release this track a few times on previous albums, but it never worked out. Happy to hear they persevered.

When I Write My Master’s Thesis - John K Samson: Likely more well-known for his band work with The Weakerthans, that’s been changing quickly with his latest solo release, Provincial. This lively pop-rock melody with a driving guitar riff shows why he was so deserving of his long-listing for this year’s Polaris Music Prize.

Years - Amelia Curran: This Juno award winner from Newfoundland continues to show her singer-songwriting chops with her latest release, Spectators. As she talks her way through much of the lyrics and finally sings, “Baby, we got years”, I imagine she’s answering my question of how long she plans to be around. Swoon.

And that’s it. Once again hopefully there’s something in there for everyone, but if not, go ahead and berate me on Twitter.

Happy holidays to you and yours, and here’s to a prosperous new year filled with even more great music. I know I’m excited!

We see a lot of live music so it’s rather cruel to try and narrow down to our top 5 gigs of the year. Nevertheless, here they are.

Nicole:

1. Avett Brothers – The Orpheum (Vancouver)
2. Whitehorse – The Haven Social Club (Edmonton)
3. Kathleen Edwards – Myer Horowitz Theatre (Edmonton)
4. Bahamas w/ Wake Owl – The Artery (Edmonton)
5. Bon Iver – The Jubilee Auditorium (Edmonton)

Brad:

1. Roger Waters – Rexall Place (Edmonton)
2. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Thursday night show – Rexall Place (Edmonton)
3. Puscifer – Jubilee Auditorium (Edmonton)
4. Metallica – Rexall Place (Edmonton)
5. Coldplay – Rexall Place (Edmonton) TIED with Tom Fun Orchestra – Avenue Theatre (Edmonton)

Michael:

1. Wilco (Boise, Idaho)
2. Band of Skulls – Starlite Room (Edmonton)
3. Smashing Pumpkins – Saddledome (Calgary)
4. Tragically Hip – Stampede Roundup (Calgary)
5. Yamantaka//Sonic Titan – Sled Island (Calgary) TIED WITH Paul McCartney – Rexall Place (Edmonton)

Heather:

1. Bands of Skulls – Starlite Room (Edmonton)
2. Coldplay – Rexall Place (Edmonton)
3. Owls By Nature – Pawn Shop (Edmonton)
4. the Pack a.d. – Starlite Room (Edmonton)
5. Smashing Pumpkins – Rexall Place (Edmonton)

Marc:

1. Sasquatch Festival (Notable acts: The Walkmen, Of Monsters and Men, Explosions in the Sky, Beck, Santigold, Deer Tick, The Roots, Jack White)
2. Bruce Springsteen – B.C. Place (Vancouver)
3. Paul McCartney – B.C. Place (Vancouver)
4. Frank Turner – Winspear (Edmonton)
5. Wheat Pool – Pawnshop (FINAL SHOW) (Edmonton)

Aaron:

1. Coachella (Notable Acts: Pulp, Refused, At The Drive-In, Godspeed You! Black Emperor)
2. Bruce Springsteen – B.C. Place (Vancouver)
3. Swans – The Hawthorne Theatre (Portland)
4. Willis Earl Beal – The Ironwood Stage & Grill (Calgary)
5. Fucked Up – Doc Martens In-Store (Portland)

Deej:

1. Old Reliable – The Haven Social Club (Edmonton)
2. John Fogerty – Rexall Place (Edmonton)
3. Roger Waters – Rexall Place (Edmonton)
4. Coldplay – Rexall Place (Edmonton)
5. Metallica – Rexall Place (Edmonton)

Andy:

1. Paul McCartney – Rexall Place (Edmonton)
2. Coachella (Explosions in the Sky, Refused, Flying Lotus, Jeff Mangum)
3. Dean and Britta – MTT (Calgary)
4. Sled Island (Thurston Moore,  Yamantaka // Sonic Titan)
5. Jack White at Sasquatch Festival

Chris G:

1. Paul McCartney – Rexall Place (Edmonton)
2. Jack White – Sasquatch
3. Explosions in the Sky – Sasquatch
4. M83 – EEC (Edmonton)
5. Japandroids – Starlite Room (Edmonton)

Erin B:

1. Steve Earle – Memorial Centre (Red Deer)
2. Library Voices – Starlite Room (Edmonton)

1. Rich Aucoin – Starlite Room (Edmonton)
2. Cat Empire – Starlite Room (Edmonton)
3. Jordan Klassen – Wunderbar (Edmonton)
4. Barr Brothers – EFMF Mainstage
5. Bahamas – EFMF Sunday Side-stage

These albums are the ones #yegmusicclub listened to the most in 2012, they are the musical journeys and stories that captured the year and they will likely remain in our headphones for years to come. To sum up, each of these albums comes with our stamp of approval.

In no particular order (of club member), here we go!

Carol:

1. Half Moon Run – Dark Eyes
2. Bahamas – Barchords
3. Jordan Klassen – Kindness EP
4. Andrew Bird – Break it Yourself
5. Of Monsters and Men – Little Talk
6. Mumford and Sons – Babel
7. Hey Rosetta – A cup of kindness yet EP
8. The Lumineers – Lumineers
9. Husky – Forever So
10. The Maccabees – Given to the Wild

Michael:

1. Fort Atlantic – s/t
2. Lumineers – s/t
3. Smashing Pumpkins – Oceania
4. Japandroids – Celebration Rock
5. Hundred in the Hands – Red Night
6. Grimes – Visions
7. Big Sleep – Nature Experiments
8. Wave Sleep Wave – self-titled
9. Eternal Summers – Correct Behaviour
10. Prince Rama – Top Ten Hits of the End of the World

Brad:

1. First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar
2. Michael Kiwanuka – Home Again
3. Heavy Horses – Murder Ballads and Other Love Songs
4. Strumbellas – My Father the Hunter
5. the Lumineers – s/t
6. Foxy Shazam – Church of Rock n’ Roll
7. the Avett Brothers – the Carpenter
8. Of Monsters and Men – My Head is an Animal
9. Half Moon Run – Dark Eyes
10. Andrew Bird – Break It Yourself

Heather:

1. Mumford and Sons – Babel
2. Alabama Shakes – Boys and Girls
3. Band of Skulls – Sweet Sour
4. the Lumineers – s/t
5. Sharon Van Etten – Tramp
6. the XX – Coexist
7. Kathleen Edwards – Voyageur
8. Hives – Lex Hives
9. Stars – the North
10. Japandroids – Celebration Rock

Renato:

1. Frank Ocean – Channel Orange
2. Twin Shadow – Confess
3. Miguel – Kaleidoscope Dream
4. Jessie Ware – Devotion
5. Chromatics – Kill for Love
6. Kendrick Lamar – Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City
7. Wiz Khalifa – Taylor Allderdice
8. Gucci Mane – Trap Back
9. Starkey – Orbits
10. Future – Pluto

Andy:

1. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
2. Swans – The Seer
3. Animal Collective – Centipede Hz
4. Purity Ring – Shrines
5. Grimes – Visions
6. Kendrick Lamar – Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City
7. Jack White – Blunderbuss
8. Flying Lotus – Until the Quiet Comes
9. Tame Impala – Lonerism
10. Cloud Nothings – Attack on Memory

Marc:

1. The Helio Sequence – Negotiations
2. Dylan LeBlanc – Cast The Same Old Shadow
3. Of Monsters and Men – My Head is an Animal
4. Japandroids – Celebration Rock
5. Dinosaur Jr. – I Bet on Sky
6. Matt Mays – Coyote
7. John K. Samson – Provincial
8. The Lumineers – s/t
9. First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar
10. Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball

Erin B:

1. Japandroids – Celebration Rock
2. Sharon Van Etten – Tramp
3. Purity Ring – Shrines
4. The Lumineers – s/t
5. Titus Andronicus – In A Big City
6. Kathleen Edwards – Voyageur
7. First Aid Kit – Lion’s Roar
8. King Tuff – s/t
9. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!

Deej:

1. The White Buffalo – Once Upon A Time In The Old West
2. The Lumineers – s/t
3. Tribes – Baby
4. The Strumbellas – My Father The Hunter
5. Air Traffic Controller – Nordo
6. Ravens & Chimes – Holiday Life
7. The Men – Open Your Heart
8. Rain Over St. Ambroise – Truth for News
9. Tom Fun Orchestra – Earthworm Heart
10. Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten

Chris G:

1. Japandroids – Celebration Rock
2. Tame Impala – Lonerism
3. Grimes – Visions
4. Purity Ring – Shrines
5. Grizzly Bear – Shields
6. Animal Collective – Centipede Hz
7. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
8. Fiona Apple – The Ilder Wheel [...]
9. Julia Holter – Ekstasis
10. Yeasayer – Fragrant World

Aaron:

1. Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light
2. Swans – The Seer
3. Willis Earl Beal – Acousmatic Sorcery / Principles of a Protagonist
4. Japandroids – Celebration Rock
5. Godspeed You! Black Emperor- ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
6. Cloud Nothings – Attack On Memory
7. Titus Andronicus – Local Business
8. Scott Walker – Bish Bosch
9. Leonard Cohen -  Old Ideas
10. Ceremony – Zoo

(Aaron’s full list can be found here)

Nicole:

1. Kathleen Edwards – Voyageur
2. A.C. Newman – Shut Down the Streets
3. John K. Samson – Provincial
4. Bahamas – Barchords
5. Half Moon Run – Dark Eyes
6. Whitehorse – The Fate of the World Depends on this Kiss
7. Hannah Georgas – s/t
8. Divine Fits – A Thing Called Divine Fits
9. Benjamin Gibbard – Former Lives
10. The Avett Brothers – The Carpenter

Willis Earl Beal (Photo by Aaron Vanimere)

There was too simply too much great music that I listened to in 2012 for me to contain it to a 10 album/5 concert list. Hopefully this isn’t too much of a slog to wade through. As always, this is a list of “favourites” and not necessarily a list of “best”. Judge away and enjoy!

Albums

I could have listed 100 albums with ease, but there was a natural break in the list after The Walkmen, and 50 seemed like a nice, round number to use. Honorable mention to Solange, Jessica Pratt, Code Orange Kids, and all the other albums that came out in the last few weeks that I wasn’t able to spend enough time with and were excluded as a result.

• 50. The Walkmen, Heaven
• 49. Lotus Plaza, Spooky Action
• 48. Dexys, One Day I’m Going To Soar
• 47. Ty Segall, Twins
• 46. Bob Mould, Silver Age
• 45. mewithoutYou, Ten Stories
• 44. Pallbearer, Sorrow And Extinction
• 43. Deftones, Koi No Yokan
• 42. Elfin Saddle, Devastates
• 41. Blut Aus Nord, 777: Cosmography
• 40. Evoken, Atra Mors
• 39. Various, Nick Cave & Warren Ellis Present: Lawless Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
• 38. Mount Eerie, Clear Moon
• 37. Lana Del Rey, Born To Die
• 36. Bruce Springsteen, Wrecking Ball
• 35. Mark Lanegan, Blues Funeral
• 34. The Men, Open Your Heart
• 33. First Aid Kit, The Lion’s Roar
• 32. Sharon Van Etten, Tramp
• 31. The Menzingers, On The Impossible Past
• 30. Lambchop, Mr. M
• 29. Merchandise, Children Of Desire
• 28. Death Grips, The Money Store
• 27. The Evens, The Odds
• 26. Damien Jurado, Mariquopa
• 25. The Mountain Goats, Transcendental Youth
• 24. Baroness, Yellow & Green
• 23. Forgetters, Forgetters
• 22. Islands, A Sleep & A Forgetting
• 21. Xiu Xiu, Always
• 20. …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, Lost Songs
• 19. Frank Ocean, Channel Orange
• 18. Converge, All We Love We Leave Behind
• 17. John K. Samson, Provincial
• 16. Sinead O’Connor, How About I Be Me And You Be You
• 15. Tyler Butler, Winter King / Violence EP
• 14. The xx, Coexist
• 13. White Lung, Sorry
• 12. Perfume Genius, Put Your Back N 2 It
• 11. The Smashing Pumpkins, Oceania
• 10. Ceremony, Zoo
• 09. Leonard Cohen, Old Ideas
• 08. Scott Walker, Bish Bosch
• 07. Titus Andronicus, Local Business
• 06. Cloud Nothings, Attack On Memory
• 05. Godspeed You! Black Emperor, ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
• 04. Japandroids, Celebration Rock
• 03. Willis Earl Beal, Acousmatic Sorcery / Principles of a Protagonist
• 02. Swans, The Seer
• 01. Spriritualized, Sweet Heart Sweet Light

Concerts

I went on quite a few trips to see shows this year, and there was simply too much to try to jumble all together into one comprehensive list. Sorting them by city seemed like the easiest way to do it. For acts that I saw in multiple cities, I went with which show was my favourite of the two (thus Refused, Paul McCartney, and The Smashing Pumpkins didn’t make my Edmonton list). I picked 5 for each city because 5 concerts is the standard used for the rest of the club’s lists, and 10 for Edmonton because I didn’t want it to look like I ignored my city this year. Also, there’s a huge asterisk with the Edmonton list as I’m posting it a week before the Japandroids show that will surely be excellent.

• Coachella

1. Pulp
2. Refused
3. At The Drive-In
4. Godspeed You! Black Emperor
5. Flying Lotus

• Vancouver

1. Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band @ Rogers Arena
2. Paul McCartney @ BC Place
3. Jack White @ The Queen Elizabeth Theatre
4. Spritualized @ The Rickshaw Theatre
5. Xiu Xiu @ The Biltmore Cabaret

• Calgary

1. Willis Earl Beal @ Ironwood Stage & Grill
2. The Smashing Pumpkins @ The Scotiabank Saddledome
3. Hot Snakes @ Dicken’s Pub
4. Craig Finn @ The Palomino
5. Dean & Britta @ The Royal Canadian Legion No. 1 Branch

• Portland

1. Swans @ The Hawthorne Theatre
2. Fucked Up @ The Doc Martens Store
3. Ceremony @ Backspace
4. Against Me! @ The Hawthorne Theatre
5. The Hives @ Doug Fir Lounge

• Edmonton

1. Leonard Cohen @ Rexall Place
2. Touché Amoré @ The Pawn Shop
3. Ghost @ EEC
4. Wagons @ Interstellar Rodeo
5. Gillian Welch @ Interstellar Rodeo
6. White Lung @ DV8
7. Cabin Songs Launch Party (Tyler Butler, Mike Tod, Liam Trimbe, Nathan M. Godfrey) @ Rutherford House
8. Emmylou Harris @ The Edmonton Folk Music Festival
9. Nü Sensae @ Wunderbar
10. Mount Eerie @ Wunderbar

Venues are obviously a big part of the live music experience. We all have favourite spots to see bands play and we all seem to have those venues we can’t stand. Edmonton has a variety of venues and each handles their shows differently. Something that plays into our love/hate for a venue (amongst other things) is set times. Advertised vs. actual.

We’ve all been there… you hear the opener is slated to begin at 9pm so you diligently show up at 8:30pm. When they don’t play til 10, you’re already a little antsy and perhaps a bit annoyed. Especially if it’s a Monday and you have work the next morning.

While I know there are venues that deliver prompt set times (with pretty much any of our theatre/orchestra spaces you know the show is going to start when they say it will- the Winspear Centre, the Jubilee, the Myer-Horowitz are all examples to aspire to), I’d like to gather info on bar shows and other venues. Why? So I know that when I attend a Starlite show on a Tuesday or Pawn Shop on a Thursday, I can be relatively certain of when is an appropriate time to show up. And so I can call them on it

So I need your help. I need your data to build this theory. Want to fight in the war against set time creep? Please send or tweet your concert data with the following info:

Venue: Brixx
Date: November 5, 2012
Opener: Mynabirds
Advertised set time: 9pm. Actual set time: 9:10pm

Headliner: A.C. Newman
10pm / 10:22pm

Precision is important: 10:51 is better than 10:45…ish. Bonus points for time the show ends. And yes, the A.C. Newman show is real data – the first of many. Thanks for your help and I’ll keep you posted!

Rarely does something get me angry or move me enough to start writing about it. Writing more than 140 characters at a time, that is.

That changed this week, when I heard about Amanda Palmer and her current tour – she’s asking for “professional-ish horns and strings for EVERY CITY to hop up on stage with us for a couple of tunes”. For free. And part of the kicker, for me, is that this is the same Amanda Palmer who just raised over a million dollars on her last Kickstarter campaign. Apparently, she can’t afford the $35,000 it would cost to pay professionals to play for the whole tour. Somehow that math seems a little bit fuzzy to me.

I’m angry about this for a whole bunch of reasons.

1. Amanda Palmer, you are devaluing the skills and training of professional musicians.

The argument is being made that if Amanda Palmer asks people to come play her shows for free, it’s her problem if she gets a crappy band, and it’s each individual musician’s problem if s/he chooses to take a free gig.

Here’s the thing. Amanda Palmer is kind of famous. With that kind of fame, people look up to you, and whether you like it or not, you set an example and a precedent for those not as famous as you. So as soon as Amanda Palmer – Kickstarter millionaire and famous rock star – asks musicians to play for free, and suffers no consequences, this sort of thing starts to happen: “Well, if Amanda Palmer can get volunteer musicians on her gig, then why shouldn’t I?” After a bit of this, everyone expects musicians to work for free. Pros won’t do it, so hobbyists start to take over the music industry, bringing down the quality of live and recorded music that is produced, and those who have trained, practiced, and dedicated their lives to being great at their instruments are left out in the cold.

I’m a member of the musicians’ union, or the AFM. I pay my union dues and am choosy about the gigs I take because it’s important to me that musicians can continue to make a living wage playing music. The AFM exists so this Amanda Palmer crap doesn’t happen to us, and it works the best the more members and voices it has – it’s a union, for goodness sakes, you know how they work. I’m saddened that the people who are choosing to play for Amanda Palmer don’t seem to understand that their choice affects the rest of us working musicians, too.

2. Amanda Palmer, you’re kind of a hypocrite.

Some internet fact-checking person was smart enough to dig up this previous blog post by Amanda Palmer. In it, she rants about how hard it is to be a poor starving artist and trying to make money. And I quote: “artists need to make money to eat and to continue to make art.”

Yeah, Amanda, they really do! And I’m super happy that you understand! So now that you are in a position to be able to help more artists pay their bills, just like many people once helped you do the same, you’re choosing not to do it? Kind of wishy-washy in your values, there. Kind of lame. Kind of makes you a terrible person in my book.

Artists have to help each other out. It goes both ways – asking for help when you need it most, and giving help when you’re on the top and have the resources. Amanda Palmer wants us to think she’s still on the bottom. It’s upsetting that she wants us to believe that big of a lie.

3. Amanda Palmer, asking fans for favours is not the same as asking your buddies.

In this blog post, Amanda Palmer makes the comparison that asking fans to volunteer their time and talents for her shows is the same as when she and her buddies jam on each others sets, or when she took a free opening slot for Nine Inch Nails…

Nope. There’s a big difference between doing a favour for your friends – your equals in terms of fame, ability, influence – and asking your fans, who are nowhere near your equals. I’ve done musical favours for my buddies lots, and I ask things of my musical buddies sometimes, and that will continue. But the people who ask me, and the people who I ask, we’re equals, and we know it, and that’s why it works. That’s why it works between Amanda Palmer and her buddies, Ronald Reagan and Nine Inch Nails. Nobody’s being taken advantage of in that situation – no pressure, no exploitation. Not so with her call for a volunteer orchestra.

People volunteer for lots of things all the time, and it’s good to volunteer. But – as many people commenting on her blog post have said – with volunteering comes a code of ethics, a set of rules in place for the people who recruit volunteers. It’s there so that the volunteers don’t end up being exploited, and so that organizations can’t just recruit more volunteers to take the place of paid staff – which is exactly what Amanda Palmer’s doing.

++

I’m starting to think that this whole thing was orchestrated as a publicity stunt. I’d never head of Amanda Palmer until this whole not-paying-your-band thing started to make the rounds on Twitter, and hey, now I’m blogging about her. Seems to me that’s exactly what she intended, especially since she seems to be so gung-ho about new ways to actually be profitable in the music industry. Good for her… I just wish she’d share some of those profits with the musicians that are going to help her make them.

++

UPDATE: after the entire internet angrily blogged at her, Amanda Palmer has apparently changed her tune. The musicians she originally recruited to play for free are now being paid, and the musicians who played for free before are being paid retroactively. (She doesn’t say how much, but I guess that’s not really our business. I hope it’s somewhere close to scale, but I guess I’ll never know!) Whether it was a true change of heart on her part, or simply a shrewd PR move, it doesn’t really matter to me. The musicians are being compensated, and that’s what counts.