Episode 48
Vivek Shraya and Donovan Woods – Colonizer
Faye Webster – But Not Kiss
The Comet is Coming – Summon the Fire
Glorious Sons – Mercy Mercy
Housewife – King of Wands
boygenius – Leonard Cohen
Fefe Dobson – HUNGOVER
Valley – Have a Good Summer (Without Me)
Moonlight Benjamin – Taye banda
Vivek Shraya and Donovan Woods – Colonizer
From the Toronto Star no less!
Vivek Shraya is new to me and her songs are really good! I have never been a fan of Donnavan Woods, but here he is OK. Her voice is especially good!
TORONTO – Poet, playwright and musician Vivek Shraya has contemplated the layers of white supremacy in her work, but on a new project, she’s getting far more personal about the subject.
“Colonizer,” a duet with Juno Award winner Donovan Woods, is an upbeat love song that reflects on the “the complexity of being in an interracial relationship” told from two perspectives.
The track is a half-acoustic, half-electric pop-rock effort that exchanges perspectives on the subject between Shraya and Woods, who appears as a stand-in for Shraya’s partner.
And this is from her interview with Tom Power on CBC where she is sometimes a fill in host.
Musician, writer, performer, professor and occasional Q guest host Vivek Shraya has just released a new album, Baby, You’re Projecting. She joined Tom Power to introduce us to a song off the record. It’s a duet with Canadian singer-songwriter Donovan Woods, titled Colonizer. Shraya shared why pairing with the country troubadour was the right choice for her record.
You can hear the interview and read the rest here
Colonizer is from Shraya’s album Baby, You’re Projecting, released last month via Mint Records.
Another good article here from Exclaim!
Looking for another song by her this is a great one He Doesn’t Listen to Me
The Comet is Coming – Summon the Fire
pretty cool video and I love this song!
The members of the band use the pseudonyms “King Shabaka”, “Danalogue”, and “Betamax” to respectively refer to saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, keyboardist Dan Leavers, and drummer Max Hallett.[3] (thanks Wikipedia)
Watch them here at Glastonbury in 2019, it would be so great to go to this!!
More than just a display of herculean stamina, there is a deep musicality in the machinations of a Comet Is Coming live show. This is most obvious when each member takes the time to solo. Leavers’s solo, for instance, channels everything from prog-rock mysticism to the squelchy sounds of 808 acid synths, igniting 90s dancefloor nostalgia, while Hallett’s drum break cascades through the toms, cymbals and snare while always coming back to the anchoring stability of his punchy groove. The highlight is Hutchings’s fantastic minute in the spotlight, switching octaves on his sax from moment to moment and wrestling his squealing horn into submission. He evokes the guttural free jazz of Albert Ayler as much as Charlie Parker’s fast-paced bebop dexterity.
Housewife – King of Wands
Housewife is Brighid Fry. Toronto-based musician.
From Canadian Beats:
Toronto-based indie rock outfit Housewife unveils their new single “King Of Wands,” out today via Hazel Street Records/The Orchard. The spirited and dynamic new track follows the previously released hit ‘Fuck Around Phase’, and continues the evolution of Housewife’s sonic journey to a more mature and intentionally genre-blending sound.
This is a really terrific track. She is touring this summer including a spot at Canada House in London for July 1st.
what is the song about?
“King of Wands” is a song about patriarchal attempts to diminish women’s confidence in their own intuition. Women’s intuition, spirituality and solidarity are things that keep us safe and make us thrive – I wanted to write a song to reclaim all of that.
Fefe Dobson – HUNGOVER
from She Does the City
Fefe Dobson returns to punk roots with new single ‘Hungover’
One listen of Fefe Dobson’s charged new single “Hungover” and we were instantly hooked.
Returning to her pop-punk roots, “Hungover” contains a grittier feel than Fefe’s earlier hits, giving off an energy reminiscent of 90s feminist anthems like Bikini Kill’s “Rebel Girl” and Le Tigre’s “Deceptacon”, and also had us thinking about the early work of rock-punk pioneer Poly Styrene.
More – While lyrics like “I’m too hungover to talk, I’m too hungover to fuck” and “if I’m alive or I’m dead, it makes no difference, I’ll do this shit all over again” allude to a bigger problem with alcohol (we couldn’t help but think of Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab”), the catchy song provides the kind of instant release that life in 2023 calls for, immediately diffusing pent-up feelings of frustration, resentment or rage.
She started in 2003 and has written for others:
“Start All Over“, a song co-written by Dobson[30] and featured her background vocals,[31] was recorded by Miley Cyrus for her album Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus (2007)[32] and was released as a single,[31] reaching number 57 on the BillboardPop 100.[33] During a 2009 interview Dobson said, “I wrote a song, she dug it, and she sang it. But I didn’t want it for my record. It just wasn’t right for me, and I just felt like it was better for someone else, and she does a great job on it. I was really impressed. She sounded great. I’m actually happier she did it than I did it.”[34]
The track “As a Blonde”[41] is covered on the Selena Gomez & the Scene debut album Kiss & Tell (2009).[42][43]Sunday Love finally received a digital release on December 18, 2012.[44]
Writers she collaborated with during the recording process include Holly Knight, Nina Gordon, Kay Hanley, John 5, Billy Steinberg, Matthew Wilder, Cyndi Lauper, Courtney Love, Joan Jett, and Rancid‘s Tim Armstrong.
again from Wikipedia
(born February 28, 1985) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Born in Toronto, Ontario, she began performing as a teenager, during which time she received and refused an offer from Jive Records for a recording contract. Dobson signed with Island/Def Jam soon after and released her self-titled debut album (2003) (Platinum)
this is her first release in 8 years
Moonlight Benjamin – Taye banda
Moonlight Benjamin describes her music as a blend of voodoo and rock’n’roll. Born in Haiti and living in France, she is both a voodoo priestess and a powerful singer-songwriter with an impressive vocal range. Benjamin sounds thrilling, thoughtful and, at times, downright spooky. Title track Siltane is one of the songs of the year. It starts as a brooding, bluesy Haitian rock ballad and slowly builds, with a controlled power and sense of danger and theatricality that makes her sound like a Caribbean Patti Smith.
Guardian’s review of Siltane, her 2018 album. …this is an album of no-nonsense Haitian blues-rock, with stories of the voodoo spirit world or life in Port-au-Prince mixed in with lyrics by Haitian writers. All of it is dominated by Benjamin’s exhilarating voice.
boygenius – “Leonard Cohen” from The Record
This is the third track from boygenius’ marvellous debut record featured on our podcast. boygenius is sort of an American indie rock super group composed of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. “Leonard Cohen” is short number whose meaning is theorized here.
I have always loved songs that reference other artist and their work. Vulture magazine has a different take on boygenius’ effort.
You be the judge….
Valley – “Have a Good Summer Without Me” from Lost in Translation
This is taken from Valley’s latest album that was released a mere 24 hours ago. The song is a great way to kick off the summer season
. The Toronto band are reviewed yesterday in Exclaim. This is Indie pop at it’s finest
Faye Webster – “But Not Kiss” single
Faye Webster is an American singer-songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia. She has released four studio albums. Her last album was 2021’s I Know I’m Funny Haha. “But Not His kiss” is her first release
since. I am not sure if this is straightforward love song or a satirical anti-love tune.
She’s going to be touring and will be in toronto in the fall.
Glorious Sons – “Mercy Mercy” from the upcoming lp “The Glory”
The Glorious Sons are a Canadian rock band from Kingston, Ontario. No strangers to Old Fellas, The Sons are on the the verge of releasing a new album and embarking on a huge North American tour.
“Mercy Mercy” (not the Marvin Gaye song) is after the first few seconds, unmistakably a new Glorious Son’s classic. The hometown Kingston Herald elaborates
Whole-Hearted 
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