Day 2 of the road trip: Revelstoke, BC to Swift Current, SK
Today’s Canadian indie song is “Your Rocky Spine” by Toronto’s Great Lake Swimmers, featuring the quintessentially Canadian metaphor of geography, from their 2007 album Ongiara. It’s my song du jour as I cross over the Canadian Rockies and enter the Prairies. Great Lake Swimmers have a Polaris-Prize-nominated new album out, Lost Channels, and the video above is for the new single, “Pulling on a Line.”
Two bands I love are both playing tonight (Tuesday, March 31st) in Seattle – somewhat to my dismay, since I’m in Boston.
If you happen to be in Seattle, this is the plan: Head to the High Dive in Fremont around nine, to catch Mother Mother, the opening act for Sam Roberts. Then quietly sidle out (you can see Mr. Roberts next time) and head two miles up NW Leary Way to the Tractor Tavern in Ballard to catch Great Lake Swimmers (above). They’re supporting their spanking-new album, Lost Channels, out today. Go see both bands if you can.
MP3: Mother Mother – Body of Years [buy]
Michael McGowan’s film, “One Week” opened last Friday. It’s a road-trip movie about twenty-something Ben Tyler (played by Joshua Jacobs) who, upon learning that he has aggressive and probably-terminal cancer, buys a motorcycle and rides from his home in Toronto to Vancouver. Canadian independent movies have a reputation for being painfully earnest, and this one looks like it’ll fit that stereotype. But, as you can see from the trailer (above), it’s also a love song to Canada – gorgeous shots of the landscape are interspersed throughout—and to Canadian independent music. The movie features songs by bands like Stars, Great Lake Swimmers, and Wintersleep. You can read more about the music in the movie here.
It’s only been released in Canada (unsurprisingly), but you can already add it to your Netflix queue. Or, of course, you can go on a north-of-the-border road trip of your own.
MP3: Wintersleep – Weighty Ghost [buy]
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