1. Sandro Perri – Tiny Mirrors
As Polmo Polpo, Perri was the voiceless creator of beautifully submerged, amorphous music. So it's somewhat shocking to see just how nuanced a singer and songwriter he actually is. Hints of the great potential for Tiny Mirrors have been littered across CD-R releases and 2006's strong Sandro Perri Plays Polmo Polpo, not to mention his always excellent supporting cast of players. But that voice! Bringing to mind such singers as Arthur Russell and Talk Talk's Mark Hollis, Perri's voice is simply a revelation and Tiny Mirrors marks its strongest step into the world yet. Makes you wonder what other tricks he's hiding.
2. Andre Ethier – On Blue Fog
The third solo album from ex-Deadly Snakes frontman Andre Ethier is a watershed moment. While still in the realms of classic Dylan, Van Morrison and Woody Guthrie, On Blue Fog has a swagger that makes his past releases seem like the work of a boy. His voice, as a singer and a songwriter, is fully formed: rich, touching, and generous in tone. His lean folk style is now well balanced by vibes, stabs of manic saxophone, and Highway 61-esque electric workouts. As the closing stomp of "Pride of Egypt" fades from view, you know that this half-hour gem is nothing short of a treasure.
3. The Silt – Cat’s Peak
Doug Tielli, Marcus Quin, and Ryan Driver are three guys who know a thing or two about collaboration. As a part of Toronto’s Rat Drifting collective, each shares their talents in a myriad of configurations as members of The Reveries, Double Suicide, and Drumheller. Although released on new label Fig Records, the spirit of their old home is alive and well here. Situated somewhere between improv, folk, Renaissance, and soul music, Cat’s Peak is the type of tender, understated album that happens when three friends make music with equal measures of comfort and curiosity.
4. Timber Timbre – Medicinals
The second album from Toronto songwriter Taylor Kirk feels far removed from this part of the world. A near-perfect blend of closing-time New Orleans jazz horns and Appalachian porch-folk suffering from sun-stroke, Medicinals is all haze and the cracks of light which illuminate it. While only a half-hour long, the album is deeply engaging and stays with you long after it ends. Pairing songs about winter, devils, and spells with this sort of music is nothing new, but Kirk takes to it like an old soul. The result is an album which is short, but never rushed: simply lovely.
5. The Sadies – New Seasons
The music of Toronto's Sadies is the pure resurrection of spirits from a 1950s rock n' roll cemetery. This is not the clunky, Frankenstein's monster of a weekend-warrior cover band. This is a time machine, a communion with the dead, a seance so real that you can shake hands with the deceased as their spirits float through your body. Not that this is morbid music in any way: it's just heavy. That's because The Sadies are now more than just a "band". So schooled are they in their style of music, that they are at that moment where the ardent students have become the teachers. School's in suckas.
Soundscapes is an independent record store in Toronto. In fact, it is the best record store in Toronto.
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