The addiction process is a long and painful one. However, this one is unlike the hard drugs – you’re not hooked from the beginning, and you know that you can stop at any time. At least at first. But it’s not like alcohol. It’s not acceptable – you can’t tell any of your friends about what you’re doing and soon, it takes over your life and you’re unable to think about anything else.
Canadian music fans do not have a guilt-free addiction. Listening to such a limited subset of popular music seems crazy to many people. Even in Canada, it takes regular government intervention in order to keep the northern airwaves from succumbing to Anglo-American dominance. The worst part is that once you discover a band, chances are you’ll never find anyone else who’s heard of them. But the Internet changes everything.
Today, Buffalonians are no longer the only ones lucky enough to get the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio station. Streaming and podcasting makes a wide variety of Canadian music available to American playlists and iPods without delay. Suddenly, devotees can share their problem openly with the world.
The CBC Radio 3 – normally available Saturday nights on the Radio 2 or on Sirius – is the best place for new listeners to start. They broadcast a 24-hour, high-quality, free streaming service on their Web site at http://radio3.cbc.ca/.
In this new column, I’ll be bringing you a sampling of some of the best new Canadian releases, and I’ll also let you know about upcoming tours and events.
One of the first bands that grabbed my attention when I started listening to the Radio 3 podcast was Toronto’s Tangiers. The first song I heard was the title track from their October album, “The Family Myth.” On first impression, it sounds like a typical song from their genre. However, the melody caught my interest – extremely catchy, but far more complicated than I’ve come to expect. In the two weeks since I’ve heard it, I’ve yet to accurately pick it up but have failed to keep it from running through my head.
The group has been around for about three years, carving out a following within T-Dot’s large indie pop scene and releasing two small albums. Increased publicity of their third album has finally started getting them some more airplay, especially across Ontario.
The album as a whole suffers a bit from homogeneity. Only the title track and “That Russian Bastard” stood out to me on my first listening. Yet, if it lacks variety, it succeeds by being a coherent album. Every song is worth hearing, if not deserving of a close listening.
Tangiers is planning their first North American tour this fall, and it will be interesting to see if some exposure affects their style and invites a little more experimentation.
“The Family Myth” is available through French Kiss Record’s Web site, and is still on Radio 3 rotation. The album is also available on UR’s Napster service.
Brown can be reached at cbrown@campustimes.org.
