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Calgary Rockers Sea of Lettuce Capture Breezy Vacation Vibes on “I Gotta Know” From Any Day Now Album

On their new single “I Gotta Know” – available now – Calgary-based indie rockers Sea of Lettuce practically roll out your towel and hand you a piña colada. Such is the beachy-ness of their vibe, which conjures ocean breezes, warm sun, and total paradise.

Spending seven days in heaven
Just about every week
This really got me thinking
Maybe you’re meant for me
I never thought that it could be like this ’til now

Full of easy beats and heavenly harmonies, “I Gotta Know” is part of a larger theme of relaxation in spite of struggles on Sea of Lettuce’s upcoming new album Any Day Now, which began to develop during a vacation band member Daniel L’Amarca took to Hawaii.

“While on this trip away from my day job, many of these thoughts and feelings about the future crossed my mind,” L’Amarca recalls. “The thought of returning home and diving deeper into a monotonous career while slowly fading away from my true passion of making music started to surface.”

Thus Any Day Now is infused with a beachy sound throughout, from the surf-inspired, pulsing opening track “Future Endeavours” to the tropical guitar line on “I Gotta Know.”

“The pressure that comes in your 20s to start figuring out your long-term plans played a central role in the development of this project,” L’Amarca said. “Conflicting emotions about thinking of the future while trying to stay grounded in the present can be found throughout the album.”

The title Any Day Now was the final piece that brought these concepts together, representing the overall sense that it’s only a matter of time until the uncertainty in our future gets resolved – and, therefore, relaxation really is possible.

Coming from a cold basement in Calgary, Alberta, Sea of Lettuce is an alternative group with a fresh spin on the genre’s typical sound. Having formed in late 2016, this group of longtime friends have released three full-length albums and two EPs. The band consists of Daniel L’Amarca (producer/bassist/keyboards), Wojtek Musial (vocals, rhythm guitar), Dylan Hameluck (lead guitar), and Caolán Ayres (drums).

Ryan Shane Owen Invites You On A Vibrant Mediterranean Journey With Electro-Classical-Folk ‘Summersong’ Album

Following his acclaimed 2023 release ‘Wintersong’, independent Canadian musician Ryan Shane Owen has unveiled ‘Summersong’. This new album is a rich tapestry of musical genres, from classical opera to traditional folk, evoking the sun-soaked ambiance of Mediterranean countries. Produced, arranged, and performed entirely by Ryan himself, the album showcases his versatile vocals in 10 languages.

Ryan Shane Owen has been immersed in music since childhood, mastering piano, guitar, and vocals over his 25-year career. After exploring dance-pop with albums like ‘Rhapsody for the Disco’, ‘Symphony for the Stereo’, and ‘Concerto for the Underground’ between 2021 and 2022, he returned to his classical and folk roots. However, he reimagined these timeless pieces with a contemporary twist, infusing them with electronic elements for a fresh, modern sound.

‘Summersong’ kicks off with ‘La Paloma’, a Spanish classic dating back to the 1800s, celebrated for its numerous renditions throughout history. The album continues with ‘Santa Lucia’, a beloved Neapolitan song praising the beauty of Naples, and ‘O Sole Mio’, another iconic Neapolitan piece famously adapted into Elvis Presley’s hit ‘It’s Now Or Never’.
Ryan’s innovative approach extends to ‘La Golondrina’, commemorating Mexican exiles with a disco-infused reinterpretation, and ‘Habanera’ from Bizet’s ‘Carmen’, traditionally sung by women but transformed by Ryan’s unique vocal style and modern beats.

In ‘Duo Des Fleurs’ from Delibes’ opera ‘Lakmé’, Ryan brings a dreamy, surreal touch reminiscent of artists like David Lynch and Lana Del Rey. He also tackles Handel’s operatic gem ‘Ombra Mai Fù’, blending its majestic melody with contemporary flair.

The album features the Hebrew song ‘Hineh Ma Tov’, offering a reggae-inspired twist on its melancholic lyrics, and explores Greek influences with ‘To Gelakaki’ and the lively folk dance ‘Palamakia’. Ryan’s rendition of ‘Misirlou’, known for Dick Dale’s surf-guitar version and featured in ‘Pulp Fiction’, showcases his eclectic musical palette.

From Verdi’s opera ‘La Traviata’, Ryan presents the joyous drinking song ‘Libiamo Ne’ Lieti Calici’, and ‘Va Pensiero (Sull’ali Dorate)’ from ‘Nabucco’, a poignant chorus reflecting on the Babylonian exile.

The album concludes with ‘Ti Ipermaho’, an ancient Greek Orthodox hymn dating back to the 5th century AD, providing a majestic finale to Ryan Shane Owen’s musical odyssey on ‘Summersong’.

Experience the timeless melodies and innovative spirit of ‘Summersong’ as Ryan Shane Owen invites you to immerse yourself in the cultural richness of the Mediterranean through his electrifying new album.

Michael Lawson Records At Legendary Muscle Shoals Studio For New Album ‘Tennessee River Shakedown’

It’s a roughly 36-hour drive from Michael Lawson’s original hometown of Seattle to the legendary Muscle Shoals recording studio – FAME Studios – in Alabama. But the roots musician was inspired by a body of water about a three-mile drive further east: the Tennessee River. The result is an infectious new single entitled “Not Alone” from his new studio album Tennessee River Shakedown out now.

“The goal was to write a collection of songs that captured the history and spirit of the music of the Tennessee River,” Lawson says of the album, produced by Jimbo Hart (Jason Isbell). Lawson worked with what he called “the Dream Makers,” a group of Muscle Shoals session musicians and Hart that Lawson used to perfectly capture a sound that’s simultaneously current and timeless.

“Playing with session guys of that caliber gave me a new way to think about songwriting,” Lawson says. “Since those guys could play everything, it meant that I could write anything. And because we all mesh so well as a band in the studio, the songs always seem to work.”

What definitely seems to work is the first single “Not Alone.” Citing influences such as Bob Seger, Elvis and Boz Scaggs, Lawson crafts this nugget to perfection, bringing to mind credible contemporaries like Matthew Sweet and Collective Soul’s Ed Roland. Thanks to a steady beat by drummer Justin Holder, Lawson glides into the song effortlessly with its sweet, gorgeous melody and almost cavity-inducing arrangement.

Lawson says the song, which he co-wrote with Hart, is about “the craziness of today’s world and especially how easy it is to get down,” leaving one losing sight of their dreams and aspirations. “Ultimately, this tune is fundamentally about rejecting the pressures and pitfalls associated with today’s world and having the courage to forge one’s own path and identity,” he says.

It’s also a song he “channeled,” simply being more a vessel for the delectable pop gem. “Not Alone” exemplifies his earnest, roots-saturated approach to songwriting and evoking memories of the artists who recorded in Muscle Shoals including the Rolling Stones, the late Greg Allman, Drive-By Truckers and Isbell among others.

Both the single and album are a culmination of a 25-year absence for Lawson from the music scene. Cutting his teeth with a pre-grunge group in Seattle called SGM, the musician co-fronted an alternative rock group that dissolved in 1995. “I was so heartbroken I took about a 25-year break,” Lawson says.

In 2019, Lawson returned to music, playing open mics and honing his craft. Then the pandemic hit. Undeterred, Lawson called Rodney Hall of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals out of the blue, sending him a demo and wanting to record at the legendary space. Hall agreed, and Lawson was on the right path. “My life was forever changed.”

Tennessee River Shakedown is the first full-length effort from Lawson after three EP releases and an album the musician is keen to tour behind. “The songs are great, and I for one, am ready to work.”

Prog Rockers The John Hubcap Band Release “Grillslinger” From ‘Don’t Call’ Album

There’s something sick going on out there in the sticks. And as Montreal-based purveyors of hard-edged prog the John Hubcap Band describe it on their grinding “Grillslinger,” it’s a phenomenon that should have you looking around nervously at your next backwater barbecue.

Oh, things start out innocuously enough, all right. “Grillslinger, bring me a steak,” singer/guitarist Travis Arnold croons melodramatically, like the love child of Mike Patton and Danny Elfman. “For taste that lingers, I feel great.” But soon enough, his Coors-lubricated ruminations take a turn for the worrisome:

Chicken pickin’, beer drinkin’, truck thumping, mud humping
I drive cheap cars, I like to starve
I’m so honest, I’m so conscious
Let me be you, yes I want to!
Irresponsibility, come on and get the best of me
Citizen of the 21st century
Extravagance won’t become of me

It’s like a therapy breakthrough arrived at while holding an ear of corn. And it’s typical of the lyrical thrust of the band’s new album, Don’t Call, which takes a poetic approach to finding the troubling in the mundane. Opening number “$20” references the paltry amount that can mean life or death to the average Joe, “Hogwash” compares the serfs of society to pigs being led to the slaughter, and “Boots” laments the lack of lifestyle options you enjoy when your footwear is your “only ride.”

But don’t let the dour worldview fool you: The record is a stone gas to listen to (and not just because of the interstitial skits the band has incorporated into the tracklist that emulate frantic, panicked phone calls, thus giving the album its name). While the single is detuned and foreboding, its lockstep rhythm offers just a hint of the almost jazz-like groupthink the JHB gets up to on the other eight original tunes.

Arnold and fellow six-stringer Michael Oates pull off some intricate, immaculately performed harmony lines while crackerjack bassist Gordon Latham and drummer Vincent Poirier revel in a state of simpatico that never sacrifices the groove, no matter how herky-jerky the pattern might be.

What we have here is one of those rare occasions when a band relies on jam sessions to hammer songs into shape and the activity turns into something well-formed and listenable, instead of an indulgent, amorphous mass. Take first single “Birdsong,” which the band says was birthed from a series of free-form musical explorations:

“The improvisations turned into riffs, the beats turned into grooves and the melodies turned into one of the catchiest earworms the band has concocted. The jam was a great way to master the art of dynamics, which gave not just this song but all our songs more depth and allowed the grooves to hit a lot harder.”

Arnold and Latham have been searching for that kind of hivemind experience since 2017, when they met in Vancouver and started doing demos together. But the project didn’t really take off until they moved to Montreal and hooked up with Oates (an émigré of Newcastle, UK) and Poirier (late of St-Anne de Roquemaure, Quebec). Their first show as a unit was at a small punk venue “with no fixed address”; getting a warm reaction from a crowd that was an odd mélange or punks, metalheads and straight-ahead rockers convinced them that they were on to something special.

“Don’t Call represents the dream each member had,” the band says. “Each one of us envisioned creating a sound that breaks the mould of traditional rock and combining our eclectic influences and tastes to make something bigger than the sum of our parts.”

Looks like they’ve done it. To paraphrase their hapless, barbecue-loving protagonist, the John Hubcap Band has indeed found the taste that lingers. And that’s a genuine reason to feel great.

Odario Drops Serene Single ‘Sunset Flicks’ as Prelude to Upcoming EP “The Balm”

Winnipeg-born and now Toronto-based musician Odario releases his latest single “Sunset Flicks” in anticipation for the upcoming extended play The Balm.

Produced by Alister Johnson, “Sunset Flicks” is an homage to the beauty of golden hour, that time just after sunrise or just before sunset, and seeing Toronto thaw out of the winter into the dreamy summertime. In his own words, “Sunset Flicks embraces escapism after long dark winter episodes… rollin’ thru town with a loved one and getting reacquainted with your city”.

Odario is a staple in Canada’s hip-hop and R&B scene, collaborating with the likes of Polaris Music Prize Winners, Cadence Weapon and Haviah Mighty, Posdnuos of De La Soul, Shad, The Halluci Nation, Mad Professor and legendary Toronto rapper Saukrates.

“Sunset Flicks” too features collaborations with prominent Toronto musicians like Adrian X, guitar master, well known for his work with Liz Lokre, The Weeknd and co-writing with Drake. On this track, Adrian X contributes bluesy tones to “Sunset Flick”’s slower bounces. Accompanying Odario on vocals is Toronto artist Lala Noel, who is known for her work with Canadian rockstars July Talk, rising star Aysanabee and Queer Songbook Orchestra. Noel contributes the dreamiest tone thus painting the perfect picture of a summer evening.

Odario began his career as a part of the hip-hop band, Grand Analog, in 2007. True to his Guyanese heritage, Odario wears many hats as the host of CBC’s popular nightly music program Afterdark. As a solo artist, he released the extended play Good Morning Hunter in 2020, produced by film composer Todor Kobakov.

Next month, Odario will be performing at the Winnipeg Jazz Festival (June 19) and the Vancouver Jazz Festival (June 23). The Balm, Odario’s next release, is set to come out in Fall 2024.

Blues/Folk Artist D.M. LAFORTUNE Releases “Mr. Businessman’s Blues” From Upcoming 25th Anniversary Edition of ‘Beauty And Hard Times’

There are plenty of reasons for an artist to want to revisit their work, and many of them go beyond simple OCD. As she marks the 25th-anniversary rerelease of an album she’s issued twice already, under two different titles, Indigenous Toronto blues-folkster Diem (D.M.) Lafortune has more of those reasons than most—some good, some bad, but all of them as bracingly honest as her eternally vital music.

The forthcoming remastered edition of Lafortune’s Beauty and Hard Times represents a new lease on life for a record that was hailed in 2013 as “an overall musical masterpiece that will demand you listen to [it] over and over before you truly comprehend how good it really is” by reviewer K. Kanten of the Indigenous publication Windspeaker. And that was when the album was already on its second go-’round, having originally been issued with a different mix as in from the cold all the way back in 1996.

That first version had earned Lafortune a Harry Hibbs Award for Perseverance in Music and Songwriting from the Maple Blues Society. But she herself was never fully happy with the record. Put some of that down to the constant striving for perfection that’s part and parcel of the creative spirit. The rest, she freely admits, was caused by lingering trauma from a seriously dysfunctional childhood. Lafortune was raised in a household that was not just adoptive, but horrifically so: As an infant, she had been taken from her Aboriginal single mother and given to a white family, by what she now snarkily refers to as “the Catholic Children’s Abduction Society.” Her birth mother was told she had died, and her new parents didn’t hide their disappointment at the quirky, damaged child they had gotten in the bargain.

The long and painful journey to self-acceptance took Lafortune down many roads, some of which tended looked like blind alleys. Call her a wanderer, or a polymath, or a Renaissance woman, but she’s worn a lot of hats in her day: From musician to attorney, from social-justice advocate to photographer to theatre artist. Along the way, she’s experienced several serious psychological crises—and emerged with an enhanced understanding of the human heart that makes her art and activism so fiercely passionate.

Especially in its 2024 form, Beauty and Hard Times plays like a debt repaid for the companionship she’s always found in and from music. Being taken in by some of the stalwarts of Canada’s jazz and folk scene while in her early teens gave her some semblance of stability; even before that, she delighted in the Acadian melodies her adoptive father played and danced to in their home (on the precious occasions when he wasn’t away for work). His death in 1982 lit the spark of “Mr. Businessman’s Blues,” the re-redone album’s advance track and a Dylan-esque broadside that’s all the more biting when you’re in on her background as an exotic hostage in a white-bread world:

Tell me Mr. Businessman, how does your money grow?
How much sweat is on your brow? How weary are your bones?
How much toil to dig this Earth, to slash, enslave, control?
When you’ve used up our great resource, do you plan to work your gold?

No doleful lament, the song has an electric snap that’s particularly palpable in its latest version. Leading the inquisition on vocals and guitar, Lafortune gets nimble support from her backup crew of Denis Keldie (accordion and keys), Rick Lazar (percussion), Bryant Didier (bass), Rob Greenaway (drums) and Neil Chapman (guitar, and Lafortune’s collaborator for 50 years now).

“It took me 25 years before I started my first record and another 25 years to get it right,” Lafortune says, sounding content at last. “I am releasing the 25th-anniversary edition of that fabulous CD now. I feel good about it. And it means I can now move on to my next one. I probably have four more almost ready to go.”

In other words, check this D.M. for updates. It sounds like there’ll be plenty.

Photo Gallery: Caifanes with Café Tacvba at Toronto’s Budweiser Stage

Caifanes

All photos by Mini’s Memories. You can contact her through Instagram or X.

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Watch Olivia Newton-John, Andy Gibb and ABBA Sing Together In 1978

In May 1978, the music world was ablaze with excitement as Olivia Newton-John, on the brink of turning 30 and already a chart-topping sensation with five Top 5 singles in the U.S., prepared to storm the charts once more with “You’re the One That I Want,” her electrifying duet with John Travolta from the upcoming blockbuster musical, Grease, slated to hit theaters on June 16. Meanwhile, Andy Gibb, the 20-year-old heartthrob, continued his meteoric rise with “Shadow Dancing,” marking his third consecutive #1 single within a year, hot on the heels of his just-released album of the same name. And then there was ABBA, the Swedish pop phenomenon who had conquered Europe and now America with hits like “Dancing Queen.” This stellar lineup converged on May 17 for the TV special “Olivia,” directed by Steve Binder and aired on ABC, promising an hour of pure musical bliss. The show, filmed at Columbia Studios in Los Angeles, featured Olivia’s hits “If You Love Me (Let Me Know)” and “Have You Never Been Mellow,” Gibb’s soulful “I Just Want To Be Your Everything,” and ABBA’s infectious tunes “Fernando” and “Take a Chance On Me.” The highlight was a spirited jam session where the stars, including Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock” and a surprising operatic display from ABBA’s Anni-Frid during The Barber of Seville, showcased their immense talent and camaraderie, making it a night to remember.

Watch This Tour Of Walt Disney World In 1972

RetroWDW has brought back to life the iconic “Magic of Walt Disney World” 16mm tourism film from 1972, now restored in stunning high-definition video. Narrated by actor Steve Forrest, this film provides a captivating journey through the Disney Park in Florida.

Prepare to witness the clearest, most pristine version ever seen. Discover new details, experience moments that will make you laugh, and feel a wave of nostalgia that will transport you straight back to 1972. Get ready to embark on a nostalgic trip down memory lane like never before!

A Recording of the First Computer To Actually SING Computer in 1961

In a groundbreaking moment of technological innovation and musical history, the IBM 7094 at Bell Labs in New Jersey made history in 1961 as the first computer ever to sing! The iconic song chosen for this milestone was “Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)” by Harry Dacre. Engineers John Kelly Jr. and Carol Lochbaum programmed the vocals, while the music pioneer Max Mathews contributed the accompanying melody. This early demonstration of computer speech synthesis marked a pivotal moment in the intersection of technology and music, paving the way for future advancements in artificial intelligence and digital creativity.

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That Eric Alper
6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week, a 16-time JUNO Award winner overseeing PR campaigns, and have also been truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.

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