After a short hiatus (the beauty of never promising deadlines), Acts of Volition Radio is back. This session is mostly comprised of Canadian indie rock and pop – but some Pedro the Lion got in there too (maybe they’re Canadian in temperment).
Canadian content (mostly). Recorded Thursday, April 29, 2004 by Steven Garrity. Run time: 34min.
Session Nine Playlist:
- Pedro the Lion – Backwoods Nation
- The Weakerthans – Pamphleteer
- Weeping Tile – Westray
- Sarah Harmer – Almost
- Hawksley Workman – Autumn’s Here
- Hawksley Workman – We Will Still Need a Song
- Buck 65 – Driftwood
For more, see the previous Acts of Volition Radio sessions.
/
RSS Feed
Steven – haven’t listened to #9 yet, but are Pedro a ‘Christian’ act? I thought I read this somewhere. Maybe you address this in the show………?
I’m really liking what I have heard from the Weakerthans, thanks for the tip.
Great stuff, Steven. Looking forward to more.
I’m getting reports (well, one report – but I’ve confirmed it) that there is a short bit of dead air around 0:30-1:10 when played in iTunes.
I’m working on it now. Thanks for your patience (you imaginary audience).
Not sure if Steven addresses it (the dead air kicks in around that time — it’s on Winamp, too), but Pedro the Lion’s music is deeply inspired by David Bazan’s faith — though I don’t think he’d describe Pedro as a Christian rock act. There’s an old, but insightful interview with him on the topic.
Dead air should be fixed now.
Another good session. thanks for sticking Hawksley Workman in there. I’ll probably catch his/their act at the Tulip Festival next month and I wasn’t too familiar with their stuff aside from their Much video (Jealous of Your Cigarette). The Pilate link on the left is appreciated as well since they’ll also be here at Tulip Fest.
Ah! A new AOV Radio session at last!
I was about to e-mail you and ask why you’d stopped 🙂
I’m downloading it right now…
Great work yet again, Steven. This is potentially your most gangbustin’ session yet.
I especially enjoy the inclusion of ‘Pamphleteer’, my favourite Weakerthans’ track. You make a great point about the Ralph Chaplin allusion. It ties in nicely with another famous allusion in the tune: “A spectre’s haunting Albert Street”, which refers to the opening line of the Communist Manifesto.
And those Weakerthans do put their money where their mouth is, so to speak. A recording engineer I’ve worked with recounted a story of John K. Sampson not wearing shoes for a few years as a form of protest against something or other. I’ll admit this guy has a flare for exaggeration, but I somehow don’t doubt him on this one.
The passion and commitment of The Weakerthans is often imitated but never duplicated by other “socialist” Canadian rockers (who will remain unnamed) and their contribution, musically and otherwise, to Canadian culture is currently second-to-none.
Sorry for the rant… But I guess that’s what the Weakerthans can do to a fella. 🙂
P.S. I never noticed the monstrous cow-bell in the Weeping Tile track before. Where’s Bruce Dickinson when you need him? 😉
Woo! The man is back on the air! My iPod was getting separation anxiety…
Thank you so much for introducing me to Sarah Harmer’s music!
Steven, I’d just like to thank you for helping me discover new artists such as Weeping Tile, Sarah Harmer, and Gene Eugene (last session).
If there are any good places to buy/download any of their music, could you post them here?
Thanks again; I can’t stop listening to songs from the last two sessions.
If you want to find any Gene Eugene projects try radrockers.com and use the advanced search. The regular search usually doesn’t work. Check for Adam Again, Lost Dogs, etc. You can get Sarah Harmer at pretty much any Canadian music store or Candian music website. For example, Future Shop has lots of Sarah Harmer and Weeping Tile. Those suggestoins all involve buying entire albums though.
I wasn’t too sure about Acts of Volition Radio in the beginning, but this session has made me go back and listen to all the previous, and I realize now what great compilations they’ve been.
I’ve been listening to them in my car lately and — maybe someone has said this already — I can hardly hear your voice, too deep or quiet. Something fixable? And it’s annoying cueing through each song to get the one you want, because it’s all one file, but I’d also rather download one MP3 instead of eight, so maybe technology will catch up soon.
Also, I like hearing quotes from the artisits/backstory, very interesting.
Excellent write-up on Pedro The Lion here: http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/09/161756.php
Wayhay! AOV Radio is back! I had almost given up checking your RSS feed. I’ve just started listening, and i’m sure it’s gonna be great!
Hey, I was wondering, since you have played a few covers of L.Cohen songs if you were a fan of his, and if you would play some. He is a hell of a songwriter.
I love this idea, the music, everything.
great selection of tunes, steven! congrats on aov radio!
So so so good! I’ve been listening to different sessions (actually all of them in some chaotic order), all week now at work. Keep it up Steven!
Hey Steven, great taste in music… I saw Hawksley Workman in Halifax at the Hope beachvolleyball festival… He rocked as usual…..
Sarah Harmer’s song is “Almost” as you say on the podcast, not “Always” as you wrote above.
Great collection of songs, remembered listening to it last year.
I heard Sarah Harmer recently in Starbucks, and dismissed it as generic pop
Interesting how the medium, a personal podcast with background details, gives a much more powerful effect than the same music played by a large corporation.
You make a great introduction to canadian music, from my scottish perspective.