5 things to know about Colin James’ Open Road
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Where so many blues-based rock bands never seem to go beyond guitar heroism, Colin James has always focused on song above all else.
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Colin James
Open road | Stony Plain Records
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Kind : Blues rock
Key track : Leave this house
It’s said that blues musicians don’t really hit their mark until they’ve been playing for decades. A staple of the Canadian music scene, Colin James achieved long-awaited international success with his acclaimed 2018 album Miles to Go.
This release reached the Billboard Blues Charts, iTunes Blues Chart, won six Maple Blues Awards, and earned the artist another Juno. Down At the Bottom, his 20th studio release, continues to showcase this talented player at the top of his game.
Where so many blues-based rock acts never seem to go beyond guitar heroism, James has always focused on song above all else.
That’s not to say he can’t shred with the best of them, he just enjoys how those solo guitar riffs land when the melody has room and space to groove. Blending classics from legends such as Tony Joe White, Bob Dylan, and Albert King with originals, the 14-track release covers a lot of ground that fans are sure to embrace.
Here are five things to know about it:
1: As the crow flies . The session begins with a very tasty take on Tony Joe White’s classic. Rather than the more acoustic style of the original, James goes for a full slinky boogie with the keyboard training the groove alongside his own guitar. The rock atmosphere of the marshes is carried by really biting solos.
2: down . The first single is the kind of smooth roots rock track that finds a big following. The sparse production adds a dynamic sparkle to the song and James gives a powerful voice. It has elements of classic 70s southern rock on the chorus that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Tom Petty album. Large accessories for the bass player to be in the pocket throughout the song.
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3: I love you more than words can tell . Picking up a classic from the late Otis Redding can be a daunting task. You have to nail that soulful sound, whichever direction you choose to take the track. James plays it very directly and throws himself into the lyrics. When he drops the line of living without you being so painful, you believe him. Solo keyboard killer around the three minute mark. This song could really explode with horns.
4: leave the house . You can’t have a blues rock album without some classic barrel boogie and that’s it. Honky tonk piano, chicken riffs and Chuck Berry riffs and a beat that begs your foot to start keeping time. The low-key, almost country picking that James offers here is one of the best guitars of the entire session.
5: There is a fire . James tends to always include a song on every album that taps into the territory the late Texas legend Stevie Ray Vaughan called his own. In other words, a moody, reverb-laden guitar practice that rocks the room. This last number is that track, leaving the musician to run wild with fiery intensity. More than half of the melody is solo, sweet.
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Astrocolore
paradise | Amélie Recordings
Kind : Psychedelic groove
Key track : Aperitif
This Vancouver Island unit continues to produce smooth, funky jams that sound like so many earworms after just one listen. The Mile High opener blends spaced vintage keyboards and near-afrobeat vampage in a dance break. The single Paradise with singer Cayley Thomas sounds like a missing song from a 60s swing caper flick, and Catamaran could be the relaxing soundtrack after the party. Obviously, this band’s paradise is a tropical dream landscape of cool cocktails, lazy instrumentals, and scorching, scorching fun.
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Gold and youth
dream baby | Paper bag folders
Kind : Electro pop
Key track : The worst is the best
Like a time machine at the height of the new wave of the ’80s, Vancouver’s Gold & Youth quartet transforms big beats, soaring keyboards and oh-so-coy lyricism into a pretty addicting pop album. The fact that the sound is so familiar might not allow for long-lasting listening, but it’s hard not to want to hit the air behind the wheel of The Worse the Better, or to appreciate the nonchalant detachment of the soaring chorus of Dying in LA Matthew Lyall, Louise Burns, Jeff Mitchelmore, and Murray McKenzie are definitely on the right track.
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The Aubrey
Karaoke only | AWAL
Kind : Pop
Key track : Karaoke Only
A dozen short, breathtaking songs from the latest group featuring Vancouver actor / musician Finn Wolfhard and his longtime friends Malcolm Craig. Less Pixies than its previous group Calpurnia, The Aubreys has a decidedly more psychedelic bent as the title song skillfully demonstrates. The songwriting duo certainly know how to invent catchy hooks associated with slacker vibes, as the marvelous Kiss A Cross demonstrates, while they can even venture into Velvet Underground territory as well as Face To Face. Fun and laid back, The Aubreys is sure to appeal to fans of everything from Animal Collective to Tunng.
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Specters
Hindsight | Artifact records
Kind : Post-punk
Key track : Remote viewing
If there’s one sound that never goes out of style, it’s Joy Division’s taut, angular disc. They are certainly the first group that comes to mind to hear the latest news from this longtime Vancouver group. But the lyrical content of ragers like the Cold War opening takes a much more hardcore orientation with their mention of how easy it is to believe in revolution when you’re young, rich, and white rather than in the underclass. These themes continue to be explored in songs such as Visions of a New World, Crosses and Wreathes⦠and others. That said, the band can also get airy and singsong, as Provincial Wake proves. Based on the sound quality of the live remote viewing, this is a band to see live.
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