The Vinyl Hysteria crew is off to the Pacific Northwest for some good ol’ record shopping. While we’re gone, the site won’t be updated, but we’ll be posting plenty from our Instagram and Twitter accounts. Follow us there, if you don’t already, so you can keep up with our travels and our vinyl finds.
It’s been a pretty good week for new releases. We got new tunes from The National, Prawn, Florist, P!nk. We even got a new track from a favorite of mine, Tori Amos, though I can’t say I’m crazy about the song. It feels too sterile, too produced, to hit me in the gut the way Tori normally does. And I suppose you could say the same for the new P!nk track — it is fairly predictable, a standard pop tune. But her voice is strong enough to pull me in.
If you haven’t had a chance to check any of these songs out, give ’em a listen. And happy Friday!
The National – Carin at the Liquor Store
Florist – Glowing Brightly
Prawn – North Lynx
P!nk – What About Us
Tori Amos – Up The Creek
I’ll be back in the PNW in a couple of weeks, and by some crazy awesome luck, I’ll also be seeing two fantastic bands perform while I’m there: Filthy Friends, and Wimps. When I booked my airfare eight months ago, I hoped that there would be some good shows taking place while I was out that way. There’s always great music happening in Portland and Seattle, but I didn’t expect to see some of my faves. When I found out Filthy Friends (the supergroup headed by Corin Tucker and Peter Buck) was performing in Eugene, I grabbed tickets. We’d planned a day in Eugene anyway to check out the local record shops, so it worked out perfectly. And then I found out Wimps would be opening for them — hooooo, that’s gonna be a good show.
Also, last time we were in Portland, we were supposed to go see Wimps, but then some assholes broke into our house back home and we had to fly out immediately. So this makes up for us not getting to see them last time.
For those readers who don’t know these bands, here are some tunes you can check out.
Wimps – Repeat
Filthy Friends – The Arrival
Wimps – Old Guy
(yeah, this might be me at the show that night)
Filthy Friends – Despierta
Wimps – Couches
By Laura S. Marshall, contributing writer
On March 21, 2016, a keening sound rose into the air over Canada as music lovers learned that that summer’s Wolfe Island Music Festival had been cancelled. Fans and artists alike worried that the small but passionately beloved festival was gone for good: No more basking in music from favourite bands under the extra-blue skies of Marysville, Wolfe Island, Ontario? No more discovering new favourites to follow after the fest? No more communing with fellow festivalgoers? We all went into mourning.
Artistic director Virginia Clark promised it was a hiatus, not a permanent goodbye, but it was hard not to wonder: Would WIMF really ever return?
Well, we can all rejoice, because it’s back! And it’s soon. The festival will be held Friday and Saturday, Aug. 11 and 12, in Marysville, Wolfe Island, Ontario.
This is a special fest. It’s held on a baseball diamond in a small village on an island where the St. Lawrence River meets Lake Ontario. You take a 20-minute ferry ride from Kingston, Ontario, and walk or bike (or drive your camper) a couple blocks to the site. You get to camp on the grounds, if you want, so you can live a night of musical magic and then cuddle up under the summer stars; alternatively, you can take the ferry back to Kingston and crash on a friend’s couch (or in a hotel or rental nearby). Everyone is friendly and carefree. And Clark brings in top-notch acts, from well-known artists to artists who will be well-known very soon. As the sun goes down, everyone revels in the music, the beauty, the connection.
Clark makes a point of bringing in Canadian musicians for the festival, and why not? Canada has always has a rich musical landscape. “It’s a large country, but a [small] music community,” she told the Queen’s Journal in a June 2017 article. “We support each other. It’s the only way it should be.”
Even better: Women and female-fronted bands comprise nearly half of this year’s lineup, which includes perennial Vinyl Hysteria favourites Land of Talk, Hannah Georgas, and Forty Seven Teeth. Here’s a peek at the artists:
FRIDAY, AUG. 11
The Waterkeeper Showcase: Swim Drink Fish Canada presents:
Flying V Productions presents:
Frontenac County presents:
Hand Drawn Dracula presents:
SATURDAY, AUG. 12
Oasis Juices presents:
Tickets and more information are available at www.wolfeislandmusicfestival.com.
vinylhysteria.com 