Sam Casey and her band will be performing at the Garrison in Toronto on Wednesday, August 17th to celebrate the release of her debut EP, New Company. The show will also include special guests TANDM.
Advance tickets are available here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sam-casey-new-company-ep-release-show-tickets-383588733227
On July 29th, Sam Casey drops her first original single and video, New Company. Produced and co-written by Bristol, UK based Joe Thompson, the song details Sam’s realization that someone she was seeing was never going to give her the time and commitment that she needed from them. So, she wrote New Company late one night in her dorm room during her first year at university.
You can pre-save the track here: https://smarturl.it/samnewcompanysingle
Martha and the Muffins’ new single is an effervescent version of the English Beat song Save It For Later. It is from the forthcoming COVERAMA album which is being released on our Confidence Emperors record label imprint. “We originally recorded Save It For Later at the suggestion of a UK music supervisor to pitch for the season 3 trailer of the Netflix series Sex Education. Between Martha’s vocal arrangements and the guitars and keyboards, there are a lot of additional little hooks that didn’t exist in the original that we think makes our version almost like an early Martha and the Muffins song.”
You can check out the single and video here: https://smarturl.it/MATMsaveitforlater
This Friday, we are releasing the debut single by Alex Exists. Rock On is a “fun exercise in rock n roll post-mortem revival with an unexpectedly modern twist”. This rambunctious version of the David Essex classic was inspired by the idea that, “if aliens came to earth years after rock n roll died, found this record, fell in love with it, took it back to their planet and started making their own interpretations of it, how might it sound?”
Link to single and video: https://smarturl.it/RockOnAlex
Something special is happening on March 3rd at 8:00 PM EST. The Directors Guild of Canada is presenting a must see Masterclass with Odario in conversation with Questlove about the director and executive producer’s film, Summer of Soul. If you haven’t seen this film yet, we urge you to do so ASAP. It is filled with amazing performances from Sly and the Family Stone, the Chambers Brothers, Nina Simone, the Staple Singers, the 5th Dimension and many others. Stream it on Disney.
Mark Gane discusses how he wrote Echo Beach in the UK’s Songwriting Magazine. The song has hit 30 million streams worldwide on Spotify, was a top 10 international hit and won a JUNO for Single of the Year. It has had cultural impact as well. There is a venue in Toronto called Echo Beach, a German record label, a UK television series, an Irish show jumping horse, an American surf film, hotels in Bali and Zanzibar and an Australian youth hostel.
You can check out the interview here: https://www.songwritingmagazine.co.uk/how-i-wrote/echo-beach-martha-and-the-muffins-mark-gane
Today is a sombre day for JUNO-nominated and Toronto based band, The Wilderness of Manitoba. They release Farewell To Cathedral on Popguru Sound & Vision, their first album following a three year hiatus, but also face heartbreak with the sudden passing of their bandmate, brother, and drummer, Adam Balsam.
“We are heartbroken by the sudden loss of our bandmate and brother, Adam Balsam. Since joining the band in 2018, Adam has been a constant source of enthusiasm, boundless creativity and encyclopedic music knowledge. He was a truly gifted and deeply musical multi-instrumentalist whose playing was filled with passion and love.
Today is a bittersweet day because we are releasing Farewell to Cathedral, and Adam is not here to celebrate with us. He worked hard on the album and was so excited to share this music with everyone. We offer our heartfelt condolences to his family, and we are dedicating this release to his memory.
Adam’s contribution to the band’s growth is immeasurable and he is sorely missed. We love you, Adam.”
Farewell To Cathedral is available to purchase and stream now, and you can listen to it here. In addition, today the band shares the standout track, The Well Has Run Dry. Listen here and watch its live acoustic rendition. The Wilderness of Manitoba will also be airing a live stream digital concert (Adam’s final performance with the band) on Saturday, November 6, as a part of The Popguru Revue – an engaging new live event series streamed for free from Revolution Recording in Toronto. You can watch the weekly event series here and learn more in this recent announcement.
“Farewell To Cathedral is about leaving your safe space in order to grow and move forward,” says Will Whitwham, singer, songwriter and founding member. “It deals with the oblivion and uncertainty while remaining hopeful and melancholic. The themes centre around seasonal change and the parallel passing of time in its reflection.”
The album was recorded in just two days at Revolution Recording in Toronto, which was completely unprecedented. In the past, Whitwham felt he laboured over a lot of the sonic details, often adding overdub after overdub. But for this album, the songs were captured at their most live and purest stage. The results show that, at the end of the day, the quality of the songs is not necessarily contingent on the recording process. This can be heard in the already released singles, The Alchemist, Sometimes and Oblivion.
On Farewell To Cathedral, Will adds: “There was this beautiful Ukrainian cathedral I would always see from my window. The cathedral became a symbol to me of something I was leaving behind when I decided to move out of that house. It was the longest place I’d lived in my entire life and leaving was hard in some ways. The cathedral was a symbol of a safe place that I was constantly able to return to and I think that we all need some kind of version of that; whether it’s tangible, literal or metaphorical. Many of the album’s songs deal with loss through the eyes of hope and I’ve always believed in the hope one can find through melancholy. Farewell To Cathedral is about leaving your safe place in order to move forward and grow.”
Described as “one of the most innovative of their era,” iconic Canadian artists Martha and the Muffins have announced the release of their new album, Marthology: In and Outtakes — available November 5th!
Groundbreaking from inception, Martha and the Muffins formed during the early days of Toronto’s punk / new wave / art pop scene in 1977. They were the first Canadian band to sign to a UK label, recording their debut, Metro Music, at England’s The Manor Studio, and would go on to tour and receive more than three decades worth of critical acclaim worldwide.
Founding members Martha Johnson and Mark Gane revisited their extensive archives recently, selecting 12 rare or never-before-heard singles, B-sides, and unreleased songs for what has ultimately become Marthology: In and Outtakes — their ninth album, and first in eleven years.
Spanning 35 years of recordings, the 12-track compilation includes previously limited releases of “Summer Of Song,” “Big Day,” and “Do You Ever Wonder,” as well as the 30th anniversary version of JUNO-winning single, “Echo Beach.” In addition, the CD includes the bonus track, “I Am Vertical!”, a demo recorded in 1988 but never released.
Marthology: In and Outtakes is available November 5th, 2021.
// Marthology: The In and Outtakes Track Listing
“On A Silent Summer Evening”
“Summer Of Song”
“Do You Ever Wonder?”
“Act Like A Woman”
“Don’t Monkey With My Love”
“Talking Through My Hat”
“Big Day”
“There Comes A Day”
“Fighting The Monster (Alt. Version)”
“Resurrection”
“Delicate”
“Echo Beach (30th Anniversary Version)”
Bonus track CD only: “I Am Vertical!”