VINYL

 Some consumers in the UK are switching tracks as sales of vinyl albums for 2011 have surpassed last year's figures. Recent offerings by PJ Harvey, Arctic Monkeys and Bon Iver have spurred English record buyers to purchase close to 250,000 units so far in 2011. It's a far cry from 1975, when vinyl sales totaled over 91 million.

Here is the Official UK Vinyl Album Top 10 for 2011 according to The Official Charts Company.

1. ‘The King Of Limbs’ - Radiohead
2. ‘21’ - Adele
3. ‘Different Gear Still Speeding’ - Beady Eye
4. ‘Suck It And See’ - Arctic Monkeys
5. ‘Let England Shake’ - PJ Harvey
6. ‘Bon Iver’ - Bon Iver
7. ‘Submarine (Ost)’ - Alex Turner
8. ‘Director's Cut’ - Kate Bush
9. ‘Build A Rocket Boys’ - Elbow
10. ‘Nevermind’ – Nirvana

In the US, music sales increased 8.5% for the first half of 2011 when compared to the same period in 2010. This is the first uptick in US music sales since 2004. The mini-resurgence included an 11% increase in digital music sales and a 44% jump in vinyl units moved when compared to 2010. Surprisingly MP3s account for only 1 out of every 3 albums sold. CDs remain the most popular form of music purchase.

Below is my article on vinyl and Birdman Sound's John Westhaver which originally appeared on soundproofmagazine.com. In addition a condensed version was published in 24 Hours Ottawa.

John Westhaver of Ottawa's Birdman Sound has been carving his path through the vinyl for 20 years. Contrary to popular belief, the business of selling tunes on wax has a few more revolutions to go. With the popularity of MP3s, torrents and the iPod increasing, you may think the death of the underground record store is imminent.

Think again.

According to Nielsen SoundScan, nearly one million LPs were bought in the United States in 2007. That's an increase from 858,000 in 2006. In 2008, 89% more records were sold than in 2007, with Radiohead's In Rainbows taking the top spot. Regardless of what musical medium they are seeking, audiophiles continue to flock to Birdman Sound and the increase in sales hasn't made Westhaver change his business style one bit.

"This store is an old school store," says Westhaver. "I cater to people that really did music of all kinds, mostly obscure. If you go through the bins, there are tons of well-known artists but in a more underground way." Which means John Coltrane and Miles Davis are in while crooners like Diana Krall and Harry Connick Jr. are out.

Westhaver has a particular methodology when choosing what to stock in his humble yet inviting store.

"It's an educated and semi-scientific approach," says Westhaver. "The science would be based on having done this since the 1970s, and not trying to be somebody that has ever purported to be the be-all and end-all for everybody who walks through that door. It's virtual financial suicide, not to mention insulting to most intelligent people to try and carry everything. It's impossible; there's too much music. With a store these days it's not trial and error—that's a ruination path. You have to start some way, with what you want to do, see what happens, and hopefully develop a clientele and then you have to nurture that clientele."

Yet no amount of good intentions can circumvent the fact that a record store operator will always be at the mercy of suppliers.

"If you have good connections and you have access to tons of stuff that you don't necessarily bring in, of course, once you develop relationships with your clients and you get to know them and they request a copy of something specific, you just do it. You don't go ‘Yeah, I'll do it' and not do it. It's not as simple as saying ‘Yeah, I'll get it' and have it here next week. It sometimes doesn't work that way. I've seen stuff go on back order for a year before it comes in. It has always been like that. It's a big world and there is a lot of music. After I do my bit and put the order in I have to rely on other people who are also relying on other people. The chain can be long. That's just the way it works. It depends on what the customer wants."

Westhaver has definitely amassed a loyal following. Male, female, young, old, the customers who choose Birdman do so for the selection and quality and Westhaver has achieved this following with absolutely zero advertising.

"It's pretty much by word of mouth," Westhaver explains.

He goes on to say that while the production of records has never ceased, he's aware that records will never regain their number one spot as a musical medium. "It would be preposterous to think that all of a sudden the entire music buying population is going to say that CDs suck and MP3s sound like shit, we're all buying records again and all of a sudden everyone is dusting off their record presses."

Westhaver has observed that while many baby boomers still buy records, a lot of younger people are dropping the needle.

"A lot of young people are not buying CDs. Some of those young people are buying records. Many of those kids live in houses with parents who are perhaps my age, and they grew up with their parents listening to records. And if that parent has a big record collection and that child has a good relationship with that parent, there may be some influence there."

No amount of influence can correct the portability problems the record player faces and, surprisingly, Westhaver isn't about to knock the iPod.

"The whole iPod thing—I can see why it exists and I don't really have a problem with it existing. The reason why downloading and the iPod have become so popular is because it is a convenience issue. I think all of these storage forms can co-exist together quite comfortably. There's always something, right? And there will be other things down the road that people will come up with to store your music or to get your music. It's just going to happen. I think it's still good that people are offered choices, because with many things in life there are not many choices."

Major labels have taken notice of the increase in record sales and are offering consumers these choices. Many labels are including download codes or CDs with the purchase of a record.

"I've had a lot of customers say that they don't really buy a lot of records but they would buy a certain album especially if it came with a download code."

Just as labels are offering more options to consumers, Westhaver has a varied career that goes beyond his Bank Street store. Westhaver has worked as a talent booker, promoter, as a musician in bands such as Resin Scraper and "the band whose name is a symbol," and has hosted a show on CKCU-FM Radio titled Friday Morning Cartunes for close to two decades.

"John is a world-class programmer who presents a well-researched show," says Matthew Crosier, CKCU's station manager. "He's been with us for years and he pays homage to the past as well as touching on the present."

A graduate of Algonquin College's broadcasting program, Westhaver has taken the Friday morning time slot on CKCU and transformed it into what many now regard as an institution.

"What I choose to present on that program is what my musical diet is the week leading up to it," says Westhaver. "I don't pull any punches with that. I may start the show with some of the heaviest psychedelic doom rock. I've started my show with Black Sabbath at 9:30 in the morning. People don't have a problem with that. The beauty of radio is if you don't like it you can turn it off. I have fun doing it and I know a lot of people enjoy listening to it. I do it for myself because I really like doing it and there is no self-important bullshit that is connected to it. I'm in a position to be able to elevate people's interest and knowledge in music; it's kind of like instructing or teaching. I think it's providing a valuable resource."

With so many choices surrounding music and with mediums on which to listen to music changing, skipping like a scratched record, Westhaver has always and will continue to stick by his records.

"I personally have always believed that records sound superior to CDs or digital and you do not need an expensive system to appreciate that difference. It's amazing to me how many young people not only believe that as well but also have that conviction."

Westhaver and the sales figures speak for themselves.

MADRID

This interview with Duncan Christie originally appeared on Soundproofmagazine.com.

Christie (left) and Perry. Photo courtesy of Madrid.

 
 Duncan Christie has a message for fans of his electro-pop band Madrid. Although it has been eight years since Madrid's debut, Warm Waters, they did release an EP in 2007 titled First Message. First Message was a precursor to their recently released full length Original Message.

 Christie says the time between albums is due to the fact that Madrid, which also features Adam Perry and Eric Lightfoot, chose to make the music found on their new record in a completely different way than the sounds they had previously created.

 "We are definitely traveling uncharted waters in a sense that there's no formula for our music," Christie said. "So the recording process takes a lot more time. We're inventing genres and styles as we go. We're not following any kind of traditional way to make music. I think that Original Message has a wider range of influences. Warm Waters, I think was a great album because it was very singular; whereas with Original Message, we kind of opened our song writing process to all kinds of other influences."

 The change in Madrid's sound influenced the band to switch labels after Warm Waters. The group started out on Aporia Records but now calls YYZ home.

 "Being on Aporia for our first record was perfect," Christie explains. "We were pretty new to the game and they had a roster that was ethereal kinds of music and we fit in to that. Yet we knew that when we started working on new sounds that we had to be in the hands of someone more entrenched in the electronic scene."

 In addition to making music Christie is also a prolific player in the Canadian film industry. Christie attended Humber's film program and says he is fortunate he went to Humber during the time period that he did.

"In the film course I was able to make movies on 16mm film; which was great freedom. A lot of people going to film school now don't use the same sort of old technology and learn the basics that way. I feel fortunate that I was in one of the last years that were able to truly call it a film school," Christie said.

 Christie worked extensively on the cult show Kenny vs. Spenny and directed the cult film Confessions of A Porn Addict.

 "I was working with some really close friends on that project" Christie said of Confessions of a Porn Addict. "Part of our shoot was in Toronto; here we had time and structure. The second half we shot in Los Angeles and the atmosphere was crazy while we were there. It was ultra-guerrilla film making. We had no real structure; we had no real support in place. It was five guys running around the San Fernando Valley chasing after these weird porn people and making a comedy at the same time so it was a ton of fun."

With all of his success in the music and film industries, Christie likens the rhythm that comes with playing music to the rhythm ones needs to edit film.

 "I think there are a lot of the same sensibilities. Especially with editing, it's rhythm. It's very musical the way I approach it. I think the two definitely go hand in hand. I've been fortunate that I've never had to choose between the two careers. They just both co-exist side by side. I approach it creatively from the same place."

Out To Sea


Easy

THORN

 This article on Marion Arthur and Nicolette Lagace of ThOrN originally appeared on Soundproofmagazine.com.

Photo courtesy of ThOrN.

 
 There are plenty of roses growing in the Ottawa-valley region and with those roses come many thorns. Together Cellist Marion Arthur and pianist Nicolette Lagace comprise ThOrN. The classical grunge music they create, while sharp enough to draw blood, is simply too hip for the conservative community where they reside. Yet that hasn’t stopped these talented girls from branching out and finding audiences in Ottawa and beyond.

 Both Arthur and Lagace are classically trained in the performance of their respective instrument and come from musical families.

 Arthur studied at the University of Toronto where some days she would practice for six hours on top of playing in ensembles, orchestras and attending classes. While thankful for the solid classical background she has from attending U of T, Arthur found that, like many who reside in the Ottawa-valley, the school faculty had conservative attitudes towards music.

“I performed some of my own songs in my third year recital, but my jury of two seasoned, classical musicians was not impressed,” Arthur laughs.

 Arthur now utilizes her experiences as a student to teach with Kindermusik; a music and movement program for children aged 0-7 and their parents.

 “Children are exposed to songs, percussion instruments and dances in class. This helps support their brain development by challenging them in many ways and is just plain fun for parents and children alike,” Arthur said. 

 Lagace was snared by all things symphonic at an early age. While attending a Christian school as a child she took a liking to tickling the ivories. She began piano classes at age 9 and eventually enrolled in Royal Conservatory classical piano lessons. 

 “That was my parent’s way of instilling and fertilizing those talents,” Lagace said.

The two met when Lagace was looking for a cellist to appear on her last solo album, Love in a Box. Lagace was impressed by Arthur’s cello lines and they decided to create a new project, giving rise to ThOrN.

“ThOrN is a project that started as recognition that Nic and I have a similar emotional vibe,” Arthur said. “Both Nic and I write quite dark music and the piano and cello create an ethos that is compelling. Even though I'm revisiting songs that I played as MEA [Arthur’s solo moniker], Nicolette brings an organic darkness to the project that wasn't there on my album Cocoon to Butterfly. I feel like the emotional landscapes are greater than I've created in the past.”

 Lagace agrees saying that the music she created with her former band was mostly prog rock-based and ThOrN is more low-key. The label of classical grunge came about because the duo feels their music is a combination of classical, rock, pop and progressive rock.

 While innovative and interesting, ThOrN’s music isn’t what most communities in the Ottawa-valley are up for.

 “It’s definitely a challenge here” Lagace said. “In Pembroke and the small surrounding areas there are not a lot of venues that are open-minded to what we offer. Even for my previous band it was always a challenge to try and find a show. People here just weren’t sure because it wasn’t cover tunes or country music. It was something totally off the wall for this area.”

Silent (live)

TYLEAN

 This interview with TyLean originally appeared on Soundproofmagazine.com. Her latest album The Unforgivable, The Unforgettable is available now via her official site. Death Disco presents TyLean at Ottawa's Avant-Garde Bar April 15. She will then bring her operatic sounds to Peterborough April 16 and Toronto April 24.

Apologies for the spacing errors in the text. 

Photo courtesy of TyLean.

 Pianist TyLean's music comes with the disclaimer that it is ‘not for casual listeners.' Her latest offering, The Unforgivable, The Unforgettable, combines elements of the caustic and the celestial; a melding of genres that has amassed TyLean a following on both sides of the Atlantic.

 Originally hailing from small town Pennsylvania, TyLean now resides in London. A self-taught pianist since the age of 14, she began experimenting with the cello at 24.

  "I am not a cellist and have never called my self such. People assume because I'm classically trained" - a phrase she detests - "that I must be by default classically trained on the cello. I don't play cellos. I rape them. It's a phenomenal instrument for exploiting and creating horrific soundscapes."

 The landscape of TyLean's childhood was a lonely one. Living in such an insular place with siblings too old to bother with her, she retreated into the fantasy world of film.

 "Film was my first passion, because watching movies kept me company," she says. "That was what I wanted to do, but since there were no films being made in my part of Pennsylvania and I couldn't convince my family to move, I got into children's theatre as a matter of compromise. From there I got into musicals and eventually came to be very passionate about orchestral music and opera."

 The influence of operatic music can be heard on her debut, the When All Else Fails EP. Although many called When All Else Fails ‘hauntingly beautiful,' TyLean describes the reaction to her debut as confused.

"It was my first release. I had no fans, no supporters and no one who understood who I was and what I was about. I don't even think I understood who I was and what I was about yet. The lyrics were either too dark for them to accept or too intelligent for them to understand. In addition, I was from small town Northeast Pennsylvania. I knew people who had tattoos of the local ‘80s cover band who they would support tooth and nail in a fight. Just the fact that I was recording and releasing original music was well beyond their ability to comprehend."

It was small-mindedness like this that inspired TyLean to seek refuge in another country. For as long as she can remember, she has wanted to flee the US.

 "I don't like America," she says. "I was hell-bent on becoming an ex-patriot since I was 7 years old and was able to understand what countries were and just how far away the other side of the Atlantic was."

 Her move across the pond has given TyLean an insight into the habits of the international music fan. She says American, English and Canadian music lovers all absorb music differently.

 "In the UK, people are more passive about their music than in the States, where people define themselves by the music they listen to. In the States, people tend to be more dedicated to a genre than their own ability to think whether they like a piece of music or not. The UK is also slightly like this, though not nearly to such a degree. Canada, however, is completely the opposite. Music fans are open minded and accepting of anything they happen to like, despite what genre it falls into."

 Once of a member of prolific darkwave band Attrition, TyLean and founding member Martin Bowes had a falling out over his veganism.

 "We parted ways over an incredibly silly difference of diet. Martin Bowes is a vegan. I think we should eat endangered animals before there are no more left to taste; humans too. I'm at odds with the accepted belief that humans are special and important. We are shit-throwing monkeys who if we hadn't evolved to say derogatory things about one another, we would still be flinging poop. One day the usual banter turned into an actual disagreement and that was that for Attrition. We were both probably being too headstrong for our own good."

 However TyLean says she loved the experience of performing with the band, which has been active for three decades, and looks forward to connecting with Bowes again in the future.

 After the upcoming Death Disco dates TyLean is heading back to England to appear at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August. Look for a new EP, tentatively titled Formaldehyde, to appear this summer.

Corner of My Eye


Love Always Dies (live)

YOUNG GALAXY

This article originally appeared on Soundproofmagazine.com. Visit Young Galaxy's official site for tour dates.

Photo courtesy of Young Galaxy.

  With their latest album Shapeshifting, Montréal based trio Young Galaxy have made a conscious decision to move in another direction.
  
 Shapeshifting combines upbeat drum arrangements and electronic-based melodies- which may seem like a strange choice as their last album, 2009's indie rock-based Invisible Republic, was long listed for the Polaris Music Prize. However this time around Stephen Ramsay says the band, which also features Catherine McCandless and Stephen Kamp, resolved to challenge their own musicality; which is why the sublime sounds on Shapeshifting are noticeably divergent from the music found on Invisible Republic.

"We saw ourselves making similar choices every time we would make music. For this record we wanted to move away from the easy choices," Ramsay recalls. "So the evolution in some ways was a sort of very calculated choice. To move away from the way we made music in the past. So everything changed from the process of how we approached the writing to how we recorded it. The whole process of how we make music has been inverted in a way. So what you see is almost a negative impression of what we used to do and how we used to make music."

 Ramsay and McCandless founded Young Galaxy in 2005 while residing in their native Vancouver. Their debut EP Swing Your Heartache was released in 2006 and Ramsay says Young Galaxy's inception was marred by hesitation and fickleness. Ramsay and McCandless began as friends, eventually becoming an item, and Ramsay encouraged McCandless to rock the mic.

 "When the project began it was really just me working out my own initial interest in writing songs," Ramsay said. "Catherine was quite a shy singer and I always tried to get her involved. I knew she could sing but she wouldn't sing in front of people. We didn't really have any ambition. We just wanted to make music and write together. It was a good exercise for us as friends and as a couple. What you hear a lot in our early attempts at songs is me singing, but now Catherine sings mostly. At that time she was very shy and not as involved in the whole process. It was a gradual thawing out of our creativity until we were equals and that is where we are now."

 When Ramsay was invited to play with Montréal super group Stars, the duo made the move to La Belle Province. In addition to the opportunity with Stars, Ramsay chose Montréal for the opportunities the city offers.

"We were trying to think of somewhere exciting to move to within Canada. Montréal is kind of the anti-thesis to Vancouver," Ramsay laughs. "The community and the city are ones we love and I think we will stay here for a long time."

 Ramsay credits Stars with kick starting Young Galaxy's career and in 2007 they released their self-titled full length debut on Arts & Crafts. Yet after their self-titled release, they were told they were a losing endeavor economically and went independent with Invisible Republic, which would eventually find distribution through Fontana North. When Invisible Republic was long listed for the Polaris Music Prize, no one was more surprised than Ramsay.

 "It didn't matter in a way," Ramsay said of their Polaris nomination. "We didn't need validation but in a way it was validating. It wasn't a question of whether the record was any good. It was more just the fact that not many people had heard it. So when that came along it came a long time after the record came out and we had no expectations."

 Fan's expectations for Shapeshifting are high as Dan Lissvik, of the band Studio, produced the album over nine months in Sweden.

 "We knew he would be able to hone it into something that was ready for listeners," Ramsay said.

Witness a supernova on the stage, featuring a pregnant McCandless, when Young Galaxy comes to a city near you in March. Their tour includes stops in Ottawa, Toronto and American dates.

Peripheral Visionaries


Cover Your Tracks

GARFUNKEL & OATES

 This article originally appeared on Soundproofmagazine.com. Garfunkel and Oates' album All Over Your Face is available now on iTunes.

Micucci (left) and Lindhome. Photo courtesy of the artist.

 If you are confused by the moniker Garfunkel and Oates, you wouldn't be the first. Comedy duo Riki "Garfunkel" Lindhome and Kate "Oates" Micucci took their stage name from two of music's most prominent second bananas. Once Tom Arnold booked them; thinking they were actually Art Garfunkel and John Oates. Now that their self-released album, All Over Your Face, has debuted at #1 on iTunes Comedy and HBO has tapped the team for a pilot, it is unlikely that mistake will be made again.

 Micucci and Lindhome met at the Los Angeles chapter of the Upright Citizen's Brigade in 2007 and quickly began working together on the musical film Imaginary Larry. When the excerpts of that collaboration amassed legions of fans on youtube, the two decided to pursue further musical ambitions.

 "That was really exciting for us," Micucci wrote from L.A about All Over Your Face's iTunes ranking. "We made this album all on our own without a record label."

 They did create a fictitious label, "No One Buys Records," to release the album on and it's this type of irreverent humour that landed Garfunkel and Oates on Jay Leno's Tonight Show on four separate occasions. Their lyrics frequently tackle social taboos like unconfident sex ("Handjob, Blandjob, I Don't Understandjob") drugs ("Weed Card") and pregnant envy ("Pregnant Women Are Smug.")

 "It usually starts with the subject of the song," Micucci, who is originally from Pennsylvania, wrote about the Garfunkel and Oates writing process. "We just start spitting out ideas. Some songs come out really quickly but most take a lot of time and thought. 'Handjob Blandjob, I Don't Unerstandjob' took months to finish. We began writing that song on an airplane. We were discussing in great detail our confusion about hand jobs and the poor lady sitting next to us seemed really uncomfortable." 

 The pair recently wrapped shooting a video for Weed Card, a song that was written in sex columnist Dan Savage's basement. However Garfunkel and Oates' celebrity ties don't end there. Micucci and Lindhome were invited by the Oates of their namesake to perform as his opening act.

"John Oates is just so cool. And one of the nicest guys, too," Micucci wrote. "We both grew up listening to Hall and Oates and they still are one of our favorite bands, so we were flipping out when John reached out to us to see if we wanted to play music with him.  We opened for him when he played in Southern California and then last September he invited us to play at his Songwriter Festival in Aspen."

 The only stipulation for the girls using his name is that John Oates requires free beer at all of their shows. While Art Garfunkel has yet to contact the duo, Micucci adds that they wouldn't turn down an opportunity to work with him.

The opportunity to ink the deal for their pilot at HBO came from a partnership with Richard Keen. Keen has previously worked on the web sensationTom Cruise is a Cock Block and Comedy Central's Important Things With Dimitri Martin. If Garfunkel and Oates' series is picked up, a portion of the series will be web-based.

 Both women have established ties with HBO. Micucci has a reoccurring role on Bored to Death as Zach Galifianakis' elfin love interest and Lindhome will appear in the upcoming Laura Dern-starring comedy Enlightened. Micucci has also appeared on the sitcoms Raising Hope, Scrubs and Weeds and you may remember Lindhome as the murderous maven Sadie in the recent remake of Last House on the Left, or from guest spots on sitcoms such as Single Dads and $H*! My Dad Says.

 In addition to upcoming shows in LA, Garfunkel and Oates will be appearing at the Melbourne Comedy Festival this spring and hope to release another full length album by the end of the year.

Weed Card


Worst Songs Ever Medley