song of the moment

Cool stop-motion video for the song "Restoration" by The Acorn:

happy canada day!

Hey everyone, HAPPY CANADA DAY! To celebrate, here are some of my favourite songs from the past year or so by Canadian artists:

The Acorn: Slippery When Wet from No Ghost
Born Ruffians: Retard Canard from Say It
Diamond Rings: All Yr Songs from Diamond Rings/PS I Love You Split 7"
Great Lake Swimmers: River's Edge from Lost Channels
The Hidden Cameras: Underage from Origin:Orphan
Japandroids: Art Czars from Art Czars 7"
Propagandhi: Dear Coach's Corner from Supporting Caste
Timber Timbre: We'll Find Out from Timber Timbre

...and The Thermals: Canada, they are not Canadian, but it’s a wicked song about Canada!

the acorn: no ghost

Everything that I loved about The Acorn’s 2007 release, Glory Hope Mountain—the genuine and emotional lyrics; Rolf Klausener’s soft, pure and controlled voice; and the rhythmic melodies—is back in the band's latest album, No Ghost. Unlike Glory Hope Mountain, No Ghost is not a concept album and it does not revolve around one or two major theme(s). Thus, this allows the band to explore various styles to create a more diverse sounding album. Songs like "Restoration" and "On The Line" are still very Acorn sounding; but you get some really upbeat tracks like "Crossed Wires" and "Bobcat Goldwraith"; the former has a fast pace Dodos-like acoustic strumming and rhythms while the later has wicked cricket noises and horns! "No Ghost" is another louder/more upbeat track, it is like a My Morning Jacket, Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective hybrid. There is also "Slippery When Wet", a wonderful Iron & Wine-like song with beautiful strings. No Ghost is a fine follow-up to Glory Hope Mountain, it is everything a fan could ask for, familiar music with fresh additions and experimentations; it is another gorgeous album by The Acorn.

No Ghost [wicked-cool song]

visit The Acorn's MySpace here
buy No Ghost here

extended holiday

This might be a little late, but if you are still in the holiday mode/want more of it, The Acorn is offering two free recordings for your holiday indigestion.

Here is Rolf Klausener’s reasoning for the recordings:
"I woke up on the morning of December 24th with the urge to drop 12, thirty-second songs inspired by the myriad of friendships and experiences I've been blessed with this year; it's called Ear Worms. You'll also find a short 4-song EP called Little Elms, written this fall."

You can get both recordings from this link.

anything could happen and it could be right now

Tour only releases are usually pretty special for those who could make it out to see the bands; otherwise they could be pretty annoying for fans of the bands that did not schedule nearby dates.

Los Campesinos!, No Age, and Times New Viking teamed up for a very limited 7” to celebrate the Shred Yr Face tour. I have been dying to hear Times New Viking's cover of The Clean and after weeks of searching for this 7”, I have finally got my hands on it! (This one is pretty much not available anywhere, that is why I am posting all three songs from the 7”)

Los Campesinos!: Death To Los Campesinos! [Napoleon III Remix]
No Age: Revolving Credit For Kitty
Times New Viking: Anything Could Happen (The Clean cover)


Conor Oberst is offering Gentlemen's Pact EP during his current tour.

Gentlemen's Pact
Synesthete Song


The Acorn/Ohbijou Split 12" is available at one of the bands’ remaining Canadian dates. The two bands covered each other’s song on the split and they both have a brand new song to showcase as well.

The Acorn: Burrows [wicked-cool song]
Darcy (The Acorn cover)
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

cover song of the moment

OMG! Rolf Klausener of The Acorn recently recorded his version of "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough"! Download it now!

The Acorn: The Goonies 'R' Good Enough (Cyndi Lauper cover) [wicked-cool song]
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit



More Acorn news...
The Acorn made the Long List for the Polaris Music Prize!
Paper Bag Records will be releasing a collection of hard-to-find live recordings + demos + covers in the near future.
The band will be touring across Canada with Ohbijou in the fall and the bands will be releasing a split 7" featuring one new track and a cover of each other's tunes!

Summer festival dates:
July 6th - Ottawa Blues Fest
July 11th - 13th - Winnipeg Folk Festival
July 25th - 27th - Hillside Music Festival (Guelph, ON)
August 1st - SappyFest (Sackville, NB)
August 2nd - Quebec Folk Festival
August 9th & 10th - Wolfe Island Festival (Kingston, ON)

the rushing river rattlesnakes your legs

Watch The Acorn's beautiful video for "Flood Pt.1":


Flood Pt.1 [wicked-cool song]
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

visit The Acorn's MySpace here
buy Glory Hope Mountain here

as you wake up see the river skins the valley

The Acorn has added some upcoming dates:

Wed Feb 27 Brooklyn, NY Union Hall
Thu Feb 28 Hoboken, NJ Maxwell's
Fri Feb 29 New York, NY Mercury Lounge
Thu Mar 6 Toronto ON CMW 2008
Sat Mar 8 Chicago IL Shuba's
Tue Mar 11 Denton TX Dan's SilverLeaf
Wed Mar 12 Austin, TX South By Southwest Music Conference
Thu Mar 20 Guelph ON E-bar
Sat Mar 29 Wakefield, QC Black Sheep Inn
Sun Mar 30 Wakefield, QC Black Sheep Inn (all ages afternoon show)
Fri Jul 11 Winnipeg, MB Winnipeg Folk Festival
Sat Jul 12 Winnipeg, MB Winnipeg Folk Festival

Hold Your Breath [wicked-cool song]
Oh Napoleon [wicked-cool song]
Lullaby (Mountain) [wicked-cool song]
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

[review]
[buy]

washing the blood that has covered and stained me

Since discovering Glory Hope Mountain by The Acorn about a month ago, I have not been able to put it down. Oddly, I was skeptical about the album at first and it did take me a few listens to get into The Acorn's latest. So, just a little caution, if you are not too trilled about this record after the first listen, don’t give it up... trust me... you will not be disappointed again! Glory Hope Mountain is a beautifully constructed concept album that’s based around Rolf Klausener’s (lead-singer) mother, Gloria Esperanza Montoya, and her struggles and hardships she experienced growing up in Honduras. The first thing that struck me about The Acorn’s latest is Klausener's gorgeous voice; he has one of those very controlled and soft style very similar to Tony Dekker... and we all know how much I love Dekker’s majestic voice! Luckily for Klausener, his vocal is further enhanced by the equally exquisite instrumentations by the rest of the band. Unlike some of the vocally driven projects out there, where the music is secondary; the music is a vital component of Glory Hope Mountain as it very much structures the overall mood. If you are a sucker for the folk country/indie sound like Great Lake Swimmers and Wilco, Glory Hope Mountain is definitely for you.

The gang from Ottawa will stop by Toronto for an in-store event at Soundscapes this Saturday at 5pm and they will also be playing a show at the legendary Horseshoe Tavern that same night!!!

Crooked Legs [wicked-cool song]
Antenna [wicked-cool song]
Flood Pt.2 [wicked-cool song]
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

buy Glory Hope Mountain here