There’s a moment in Winning America , the documentary which follows Vancouver band Said The Whale through their journey to the 2011 SXSW music festival, where singer/guitarist Tyler Bancroft is seen walking through the chaotic streets of Austin. He turns to the camera and says, “It’s crazy. It’s like the Olympics of music.” Well, on their new album Little Mountain , the four-guy, one-gal band have delivered a gold medal recording. The album is a journey of non-stop sound, and it highlights their exceptional vocal harmonies. Their songs are filled with colour, and they paint pictures of places you may never have seen, but once you’re there, you want to stay and get to know the locals. As Said the Whale weave tales of both wellness or woe, their music has a deep sense of joy within it. With this being an Olympic year (the Summer Games begin on July 27th in London), one is reminded of another Vancouverite, high jumper Greg Joy, who won a silver medal for Canada in Montreal at the 1976 games . Like Joy did at the closing ceremonies, Said The Whale are perfect flag-wavers for the unique art our country is known for producing. The band will play a sold out show this Friday night at Toronto’s Great Hall, and they’ll return to town before the London Games, with a slot at Edgefest on July 14th at Downsview Park.
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CARE ABOUT HARD CORE LOGO 2
Speaking of award-winning quality Canadiana, Bruce McDonald’s 1996 rockin’ mockumentary Hard Core Logo touched all the bases in its depiction of a reunited punk band on a tour that ends in tragedy with the suicide of the band’s lead singer Joe Dick (portrayed by Hugh Dillon). The film is also responsible for inspiring a young band named Pezz to change their name to Billy Talent , the name of the band’s guitarist (as portrayed by Callum Keith Rennie). The sequel, Hard Core Logo 2 , centers around the band Die Mannequin and their lead singer Care Failure, who feels she’s been possessed by the spirit of Joe Dick. The film is the subject of a special screening this Friday at the TIFF Bell Lightbox (350 King Street West) at 7:15 p.m.
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PUCK PREVIEW ROCKS
With the NHL playoffs starting Wednesday night, you can expect a glut of playoff preview shows to air in the next day or two. The CBC has remembered we like to whistle while we work on our hockey pools. On Tuesday night at 8 p.m., the MotherCorp’s Stanley Cup Countdown will not only set the stage for this year’s Cup run, it will also feature the music of Oshawa roots-rockers Cuff The Duke throughout the show. The band will spend most of the playoffs touring behind their Greg Keelor-produced LP Morning Comes , which hit stores last October. Here’s a fantastic interview, which aired on Saturday, that Hockey Night In Canada producer Tim Thompson did with Gordon Lightfoot about the iconic songwriter’s love of hockey and the Leafs. Great stuff!
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