While this one-upmanship may suggest that Smith and Woodpigeon’s Mark Hamilton have a competitive relationship (which may well be the case) the pair of them actually get along quite well and are collaborating on not 1 but 2 EPs to be released in 2010. Christopher Smith + The Beckon Call will also open Woodpigeon’s Vancouver CD release show on January 16th at the Biltmore in support of Die Stadt Muzikanten out earlier that week.

Smith’s debut album, The Beckon Call, will be released in the Spring of 2010. The Keepsake EP is available here, or through iTunes and emusic. While “Christmas Day” isn’t on either, you can download it free below.

• Downloads

• “Christmas Day” for Christmas
• “Piece by Piece” from Keepsake

Video

A Jason C Myers production in collaboration with Jon Morris and Todd M Duym of elevater.tv.
Special thanks to Monitor Digital Solutions, William F Whites, Grip Brothers, Filmgroup, Hearing Protection Required, Jen Gordon, Alexis and Eric Hoffman.

Pre-order Die Stadt Muzikanten before the end of December and you will receive the album before release date, PLUS you will be emailed with a special access code to download exclusive songs leading up to the release. The exclusives include solo acoustic performances of songs from Die Stadt Muzikanten, and each comes with a new illustration by Mark.

The first 100 copies sold will include a Die Stadt Muzikanten poster featuring the art of Jeff Kulak.

Songwriter Mark Andrew of the Hamiltons, breathes a glorious new life into Die Stadt Muzikanten, an album both inspired by an extended stay in Germany and of the comparative lives of his ancestors. Hamilton found himself fascinated by the endless inspiration as he recollected thoughts of his childhood and took in the sounds and smells of a place once inhabited by his grandparents, to whom the album is dedicated. “I started thinking in terms of couples,” explains Hamilton of his time in Berlin, “of people coming and going, of walls and windows. Images of boating across the ocean to an unknown new life, and how so many of the movements I took run in the opposite direction from theirs.” Upon his return to his small Calgary apartment, the songs revealed themselves and Die Stadt Muzikanten was born.

Recently included in the CBC Radio 2 ‘Great Canadian Song Quest’ competition, Woodpigeon is one of 5 artists from the province of Alberta who may be chosen to compose a song inspired by locations as chosen by Canadians. You can hear the first sampling off Die Stadt Muzikanten, and vote for Woodpigeon now by going to http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/songquest/.

So it seems very fitting that we post this song off Die Stadt Muzikanten recorded for a CBC Radio 2 live taping, which is coincidentally about a place in Alberta.

• Downloads

• Morningside CBC Radio 2 live recording of a song from Die Stadt Muzikanten

This Thursday afternoon Christopher Smith and his band, The Beckon Call, will board a BC Ferries vessel and will make their way to Victoria where they’ll play their first show ever outside of their hometown.  Smith will open for Final Fantasy in the Alix Goolden Performance Hall, an 800-seat theatre and former church sanctuary.  No pressure!

While Smith’s debut album (also called The Beckon Call) isn’t due out until February, we thought we should release something to commemorate Thursday’s show.  So yesterday afternoon 4 of us, Smith included, gathered ‘round to handmake 100 copies of the Keepsake EP.   This extremely short run of gocco-printed EPs will be available offstage and online through the Boompa shop. The EP will also be available digitally on November 3rd, minus the bonus cover song downloadable below.

Upcoming Shows

Sep 24: Victoria, BC - Alix Goolden Hall w. Final Fantasy, Timber Timbre
Sep 26: Vancouver, BC - Little Mountain w. Woodpigeon, Thighs

• Downloads

• “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”
  from Keepsake

While Smith’s debut full length release, The Beckon Call, won’t be out until February, you can expect to hear a lot more of him in the months to come, starting with this live recording of “Piece By Piece”.

If you live in Vancouver you should put on your rubber boots and come down to the Grace Gallery tonight to see Christopher Smith and The Beckon Call. Doors are at 8, it costs $5 and Andy Dixon is opening.

Upcoming Shows

Aug 13: Vancouver, BC - Grace Gallery w. Andy Dixon
Sep 24: Victoria, BC - Alix Goolden Hall w. Final Fantasy, Timber Timbre

• Downloads

• “Piece By Piece” from Garage Sessions

An accomplished pianist, agile vocalist, and adept guitar picker, Patrick Brealey is a natural performer. His ability to engage an audience is a signature of his live shows. Captivating crowds and moving them to react is a true testament to his belief that art is nothing without an audience. And surely the fact that he offers his own homemade pickles and preserves at his shows doesn’t take away of his charm. (Visit The Dakota Tavern and Henhouse in Toronto to taste for yourself!)

Patrick’s latest album Mercury in Songbirds is a collection of songs born in a different era, raised today and fed by the influence of songwriters like Lyle Lovett, Tom Waits and Willie Nelson. From the early rock and roll swagger of “I Don’t Want to Hear Another Love Song” to the laid back dobro on “Castaway Heart” and the country heartache of “Please Don’t Love Me with that Love”, these songs reminisce of days gone by while carving a distinctive niche in today’s Canadian folk and roots scene.

Upcoming Shows

July 09: Comox, BC - House Concert
July 10: Ucluelet, BC - Wild Heather Books
July 12: Duncan, BC - Duncan Garage Showroom
July 13: Saltspring Island, BC - Treehouse Cafe
July 17: Vancouver, BC - St. James Hall - CD Release Party
July 18: Winlaw, BC - Cedar Creek Cafe
July 21: Calgary, AB - House Concert
July 22: Saskatoon, SK - The Hayloft
July 23: Edmonton, AB - The Haven Social Club
July 24: Saskatoon, SK - House Concert

• Downloads

• “I Don’t Want to Hear Another Love Song” from Mercury In Songbirds

Download “Petrified World” below, and if you like what you hear you can order the album here.

• Downloads

• “Petrified World” from Everything Is Real

Check out this unreleased remix of “Dancers” (Anoraak vs Russ Chimes Remix) climbing the Hype Machine charts. Download the Juan Maclean’s remix of “Hey You Guys” below or on the Downloads page.

• Downloads

• “Hey You Guys (The Juan Maclean Remix)” from Hey You Guys 12”

It took a little while to finish (a few years) because the band was spread out across the country studying math and architecture and art and such, and vocalist Lisa Lobsinger toured the world with Broken Social Scene more than once. So they were busy, and we waited patiently.

We listened to their self-titled debut EP over and over and over again, and are glad that come May 26, when it’s released digitally worldwide complete with a new bonus song, you too will be able to put the EP on repeated play. And even better, on June 23rd the very long-awaited full-length follow-up to the aforementioned EP, which is also self-titled, but is even more awesome will finally be in stores both online and off. You are welcome.

• Downloads

• “Rip The Universe” from Reverie Sound Revue EP

Reverie Sound Revue

01. An Anniversary Away
02. We Are The Opposite of Thieves
03 Prelude To A Debut
04. Pretty One Play
05. Arrows
06. In Hotel Homes
07. Off Rooftops
08. I Could Be Dangerous
09. You Don’t Exist If I Don’t See You
10. May Be First, May Be Second
11. The Leisure Lost

Reverie Sound Revue EP

01. Walking Around Waiting Downtown
02. It’s All The Same
03. Rip The Universe
04. Passes & Passports
05. The A.M.
06. One Marathon
07. In The New (floor mix)

Circlesquare: Songs About Dancing And Drugs

Today is the day that Circlesquare’s highly anticipated record Songs About Dancing and Drugs is finally available in Canada. This is the kind of album that comes around once in forever, and we are proud to partner up with electronic label K7! on its release. Visit the Boompa online shop and order it now now or visit your local record store and grab a copy. We also be releasing an amazing video for “Dancers” in the upcoming weeks featuring So You Think You Can Dance Canada top ten finalists Miles Faber and Vincent Noiseux, so keep your eyes peeled.

Boompa.ca: loved and mugged

The Boompa site got a face lift a few months ago, complete with pigeons and watercolours, mountains and rain (very Vancouver). A few days ago the site was included in Smashing Magazine’s Web Design Trends For 2009. The Boompa site was designed by our own Erin Nicholson who reads Smashing daily, and is very excited about all this. The site design has been so well received that it has even been stolen by a music blog. How flattering! The case has been brought to the court of public opinion that is the Beggars Group’s Soundalak Musak: Wordpress Theme Edition. Thanks Adam F, you are the favourite!

Woodpigeon: Treasury Library Canada

Woodpigeon’s double CD Boompa debut, Treasury Library Canada c/w Houndstooth Europa, will be released next week. We love Woodpigeon and think you will too. They make the loveliest orchestral indie folk around and will make you feel good about life. You can order it in advance through the Boompa shop now and you can get a free 7-song Woodpigeon EP called La Commission Scolaire, through emusic. If you happen to be in Vancouver next weekend you can see Woodpigeon perform on Friday night at Little Mountain with Chris Smith and Jody Glenham, and on Saturday at Performance Works as part of the PuSH Festival. If you aren’t in Vancouver, or any of the European cities they stop off in during their February old-continental tour, you can watch the video for “A Moment’s Peace For Mary Christa O’Keefe”. You should just watch it. It’s very, very Canadian.

Coming Up

April: Leeroy Stagger - Everything Is Real
June: Patrick Brealey - Title TK
August: The Scott Walker Band (aka The Salteens) - Title TK
September: Woodpigeon - Die Stadt Muzikanten

• Downloads

• Knock KnockWoodpigeon - Treasury Library Canada
• “Lay All Your Love On Me”Woodpigeon - ABBA cover

Video: Woodpigeon - “A Moment’s Peace for Mary Christa O’Keefe” from Treasury Library Canada

Well, I can’t make that happen for you sad parent, but I can help! The Salteens have just finished 2 kids songs, and like all the other music the band has recorded this year, they’re free for you to download. While “All My Friends” and “Count On My Hands” are not “I’m So Happy”, we hope your little ones will like them all the same.

As always, the cover art was illustrated by the awesome Sasha Lewis. She just set up an Etsy shop selling her hand-screened prints. It’s called Malted, and while some of the prints fall in the adult swim department, the super cute bear print titled “a little more fat a little less educated” would be pretty sweet in a kids room.

In other related news, October 14 will also see the iTunes release of a digital-only Yo Gabba Gabba! soundtrack. Does it include “I’m So Happy”? NOOOOO! But it does include The Salteens’ “Be Nice To Animals” and we do think your kids will like it a lot.

Here’s the tracklisting:

1. Party In My Tummy – Yo Gabba Gabba!
2. Hey, Won’t Somebody Come Out and Play – The Little Ones
3. I Like To Dance – Yo Gabba Gabba!
4. Train Ride – Tahiti 80
5. Get The Sillies Out – Yo Gabba Gabba!
6. Happy Birthday – The Ting Tings
7. Biz’s Beat of the Day – Biz Markie
8. Be Nice To Animals – The Salteens
9. I’m So Sorry – Yo Gabba Gabba!
10. Lovely, Love My Family – The Roots
11. Pool Party – The Aquabats
12. Goodbye Song – Yo Gabba Gabba!
13. Bedtime Lullaby – Mark Kozelek