Tag Archive for: Rah Rah

A Favorite Year-End Music List

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The music blogger with the Twitter handle @PhillyPartTwo did a terrific year-end list, with 60 great songs. I tweeted about it earlier today, and am happy to share it here. He gives top billing to one of my most favorite bands, Rah Rah, who makes his two top faves songs from their 2015 album “Vessels.”

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Fall Live Music Lineup Already Filled w/Highlights like Frazey Ford at Joe’s Pub Nov 11

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As the end of August hoves in to view, one of the most welcome signs of fall is the upcoming return of touring Canadian musicians to NYC music venues, as it seems many acts seemed were off the road for much of the season. Actually, I know where many of my fave Canadian artists have been: playing in and partaking of the great summer festival season that stretches across the great land to the north. Happily, my fall music calendar already includes the Strumbellas at Rockwood Music Hall on Sept 10; Kathryn Calder at Mercury Lounge on Sept 11; Corb Lund on Oct 8 at Mercury Lounge; Rah Rah (on a bill with Dear Rouge) in the Studio at Webster Hall on Oct 21; The Sadies (with punk legend John Doe) at Hill Country on Oct 24; and Elliott BROOD at Mercury Lounge on Nov 14.

And tonight I learned that Frazey Ford will be at Joe’s Pub on November 11. If you haven’t heard her yet, she’s really terrific, singing with a warm, dusky voice and consistently interesting phrasing that always projects her lyrics into interesting sonic space. Her latest album is called “Indian Ocean,” an infectious blend of Memphis soul and Canadian folk. Here’s a link to a video of a live set she did for radio station KEXP in Seattle, including several songs from the new release. I hope you like her sound. If you’ve already been to live shows at Joe’s Pub, you know what a classy venue it is. I wrote up Jill Barber’s show there in 2013. If you haven’t been to Joe’s Pub yet, I recommend you try fitting the Nov 11 show into your budget and your schedule. You’ll be in for a treat, with the great Frazey Ford at Joe’s Pub, a live music room with superb acoustics and ambience.

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New Rah Rah Single, “Good Winter,” from their Forthcoming Album, “Vessel”

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Rah RahI was excited to just get an email from a publicist working with one of my favorite bands, Rah Rah, announcing the first single from their new album, “Vessel,” coming out in 2015. The new song is called “Good Winter” and is streaming here. The press release quotes frontman Marshall Burns:

“This song is a romanticized reimagining of being a young adult in a small Canadian city. The overly nostalgic tone is meant to underline the dichotomy between the ‘good winter’ described in the song and the reality of the harsh cold, boredom and loneliness that, in actuality, accompanies a typical winter (particularly in our hometown of Regina, Saskatchewan). The song aims to be a reminder, to ourselves as much as anyone, of the unique and positive aspects of those cold, long winter months.”

Listen to “Good Winter” here on the Soundcloud page of label Hidden Pony. I took the above photo when I heard Rah Rah live in NY at the Mercury Lounge on Nov 3. For a lengthier report on Rah Rah, here’s a post I wrote in 2012, after seeing them open for the Weakerthans. Finally, here’s the art Rah Rah created to go with the single, which can be bought on iTunes: Rah Rah, "Good Winter"

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