CANALS MAGAZINE
by Sean
Please note: MP3s are only kept online for a short time, and if this entry is from more than a couple of weeks ago, the music probably won't be available to download any more.


 

Bostwicks Lessor Tree Cuddler, by Axel Poignant


Jah Youssouf & Bintou Coulibaly - "Faco".
Jah Youssouf & Bintou Coulibaly - "Sabou".

This music is just claps, voices, snaps of fingers, a dry calabash guitar. Youssouf and Coulibaly are husband and wife. Their love is shown in the most plainest way: They sing together; Their voices trade like glances. But in a way, the recording is the thing that makes us believe them. We hear the sounds of their house, the wide silences and domestic clatter. We hear quiet and loud. It is impossible to imagine artifice in the place where these songs were recorded. it is impossible to imagine dishonesty, lie. There would not be enough space between the roof and the floor.

[buy the exceptional Sababou from Tall Corn Music: digital/cassette/vinyl]


Liz Cronin - "Quack".

"Quack" is a team-up by Cronin and Idlewild's Rod Jones, part of a project by the Fruit Tree Foundation, a Scottish mental health charity. With blur, crush & chorus it invokes many different colours of 90s college rock - the headbanged churn, the murmured inspirational, the goofy chirrup. It's not rocket-science, the structure of a song like this; but the little choices are what make it outstanding - the guitar-pedals, the chords, the Buddy Holly hiccup, the particular instinct of quiet into loud. I cheer at the thought of this as a lip-dub, at a battle of the bands, as part of a coordinated demolition. Also, it's a song about battling depression called "Quack"; Rivers Cuomo should buy himself a time-machine and bring these kids on tour. Great tune.

[download the rest of the New Branch EP, which also got help from James Yorkston and Withered Hand's Dan Wilson / more of Liz @ Facebook]

---

Other things:

Really enjoyed This Camera's simple, effective (and disquieting) video for Jennifer Castle's "Misguided":

And finally, I'm beginning to assemble my best songs of 2011 list. (I know, it's only mid-November.) As always, I rely on your help. There's no way for one person to hear everything that's wonderful. So - What's your favourite song of this year? From mumbly folk to mainstream pop, bassy hip-hop to Icelandic blubstep, please send me the best MP3s, as email attachments: sean@saidthegramophone.com. I'm grateful for everything, but particularly if you avoid sending me videos, MySpace links or lists of tunes - please, just the mp3s!

(Common sense: please don't send songs from records I've written about on Gramophone, or multiple tracks from the same album - just the very best!)

Thank you!

(photo by Axel Poignant

Posted by Sean at November 17, 2011 12:20 AM
Comments

Looking through 2011 music for songs to suggest: "How about this? This is such a great song! Oh, nevermind I got this from Sean." x20

Posted by _Constantinople at November 17, 2011 7:17 PM

You know one thing I really love about this website? The music.

Posted by Sean at November 20, 2011 2:25 AM

Backhanded compliment?

Posted by Sean at November 20, 2011 1:37 PM

I didn't mean it to be. I just meant it as a regular compliment. Sorry.

Posted by Sean at November 21, 2011 6:29 AM

no sweat! thanks!

Posted by Sean at November 22, 2011 10:32 AM

Glad we sorted it out.

Also, I ordered Sababou. Seriously - in terms of loving the music here - I have always found it difficult to find new stuff to listen to but I love it when something clicks. I have frustratingly inconsistent taste. But you guys consistently come up with the goods. A whole bunch of stuff that I now love that I never would have heard of if it weren't for StG. Big time thank you.

Posted by Sean at November 25, 2011 4:17 AM

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(Please be patient, it can be slow.)
about said the gramophone
This is a daily sampler of really good songs. All tracks are posted out of love. Please go out and buy the records.

To hear a song in your browser, click the and it will begin playing. All songs are also available to download: just right-click the link and choose 'Save as...'

All songs are removed within a few weeks of posting.

Said the Gramophone launched in March 2003, and added songs in November of that year. It was one of the world's first mp3blogs.

If you would like to say hello, find out our mailing addresses or invite us to shows, please get in touch:
Montreal, Canada: Sean
Toronto, Canada: Emma
Montreal, Canada: Jeff
Montreal, Canada: Mitz

Please don't send us emails with tons of huge attachments; if emailing a bunch of mp3s etc, send us a link to download them. We are not interested in streaming widgets like soundcloud: Said the Gramophone posts are always accompanied by MP3s.

If you are the copyright holder of any song posted here, please contact us if you would like the song taken down early. Please do not direct link to any of these tracks. Please love and wonder.

"And I shall watch the ferry-boats / and they'll get high on a bluer ocean / against tomorrow's sky / and I will never grow so old again."
about the authors
Sean Michaels is the founder of Said the Gramophone. He is a writer, critic and author of the theremin novel Us Conductors. Follow him on Twitter or reach him by email here. Click here to browse his posts.

Emma Healey writes poems and essays in Toronto. She joined Said the Gramophone in 2015. This is her website and email her here.

Jeff Miller is a Montreal-based writer and zinemaker. He is the author of Ghost Pine: All Stories True and a bunch of other stories. He joined Said the Gramophone in 2015. Say hello on Twitter or email.

Mitz Takahashi is originally from Osaka, Japan who now lives and works as a furniture designer/maker in Montreal. English is not his first language so please forgive his glamour grammar mistakes. He is trying. He joined Said the Gramophone in 2015. Reach him by email here.

Site design and header typography by Neale McDavitt-Van Fleet. The header graphic is randomized: this one is by Neale McDavitt-Van Fleet.
PAST AUTHORS
Dan Beirne wrote regularly for Said the Gramophone from August 2004 to December 2014. He is an actor and writer living in Toronto. Any claim he makes about his life on here is probably untrue. Click here to browse his posts. Email him here.

Jordan Himelfarb wrote for Said the Gramophone from November 2004 to March 2012. He lives in Toronto. He is an opinion editor at the Toronto Star. Click here to browse his posts. Email him here.
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