06-07-2010, 06:00 PM
Gord is on Q107 tomorrow to chat with Kim Mitchell. No word on the time.
The Grand Bounce - Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles
06-07-2010, 07:42 PM
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/820255--the-self-explanatory-gord-downie">http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/ar ... ord-downie</a><!-- m -->
The self-explanatory Gord Downie
Tragically Hip frontman has made a new album with his friends, the Country of Miracles
By Ben Rayner
Pop Music Critic
It’s gone out of fashion to admit it, perhaps, but fashion be damned: Gord Downie is still one of the coolest customers in Canadian music, right up there with Leonard Cohen and Neil Young.
He’s a superb rock ’n’ roll frontman, as the singer and lyricist for The Tragically Hip, the public face of one of the biggest bands in this country’s history. His solo soul-searching, though, has been equally if not more compelling; resulting in the poetic obscurantism of 2001’s Coke Machine Glow and 2003’s endearingly rough-hewn Battle of the Nudes, an album recorded with a handful of underdog friends dubbed the Country of Miracles. Had it not been associated with the name Gord Downie, it could have easily passed for the work of one of the many younger acts contributing at the time to a post-millennial boom in homegrown indie-rock.
And while its commercial heyday is behind it and old-guard fans grumble — as they’ve grumbled since, oh, 1994’s Day for Night — that The Tragically Hip no longer sounds like The Tragically Hip, even that particular CanCon institution has been on a creative upswing of late. Indeed, its last record, 2009’s Bob Rock-produced We Are the Same, often sounded like the work of an entirely different band, no small achievement for an act in operation for more than 25 years.
Tuesday, Downie and the Country of Miracles officially unveil their newest offering, The Grand Bounce. Eclectic, upbeat and suffused with Downie’s literate pride of place in being a father and family man and a Canadian citizen, it sounds like the work of an artist still driven to advance his art. Moreover, it sounds like the work of an artist having fun.
“Bob Rock taught me a lot. His friendship has taught me a lot about what you should expect from a recording session and, more importantly, how you shouldn’t expect anything less than absolute joyousness,” says Downie, 46, sipping a coffee after a brisk morning bike ride to a Distillery District patio. “You should feel great. You should feel 14 to be doing it. It’s true and it’s rare . . .
“We’re not building a nuclear reactor here. We’re not drilling a mile beneath the surface of the ocean with no plan in case something goes wrong. This is making music, this is melodious air and people can hear what goes into it. When someone says ‘I feel good,’ you say: ‘I know, it shows.’ You want it to feel good so it’ll show.”
Downie already knew that making music with the Country of Miracles — an on-again, off-again ensemble that includes Julie Doiron, Skydiggers’ Josh Finlayson, and Dale Morningstar and Dave Clark of The Dinner is Ruined — gave him a good feeling.
Thus, when a meeting with Death Cab for Cutie guitarist and producer-at-large Chris Walla at the Pemberton Festival in 2008 left him with similarly positive vibes, he figured that it might be time to start thinking about making another solo record.
“He sought me out backstage. I guess as a kid growing up in Seattle, he and his buddies had listened to the Hip coming across the border,” Downie recalls. “We talked very amiably and easily for a couple of hours, and I just came away from it thinking: ‘I want to see that guy again. I want to talk to him some more. I want to hang out.’ And that got me thinking about how I would do that.
“It just got some hunches rolling, really. I thought he’d really get along with these guys in the Country of Miracles. And I thought initially his sonic sense, with less to go on, would really mesh well with their sense of spirit. And in the end he brought so much more than just a sonic sense; he brought a sense of spirit. They all got along famously, so it was a hunch that worked out.”
Walla visited Downie last summer. The two went through the songs Downie had in hand. He doesn’t distinguish between material for the Hip and the material he releases under his own name, Downie says (“I generally use it up, as Raymond Carver would say, and don’t save a thing for later.”)
Walla offered up suggestions on where to take the material. “East Wind,” he thought, should open with “a thousand acoustic guitars off the top,” for instance, while “Drowning Machine” should sonically reference P.J. Harvey.
Downie was happy to surrender to another’s instincts, as was the Country of Miracles, so the whole troupe convened at the Hip’s lakeside Bathhouse studio near Kingston and whacked the whole album out over two weeks last August.
The entire session was “driven by camaraderie and friendship and spirit,” says Downie, who actually emerged with a more Hip-like and listener-friendly album than his previous solo fare. Nevertheless, he’s philosophical about the fact that some longtime fans might not know what to make of The Grand Bounce.
“I guess I want people to see me and to try to explain myself, and you don’t always get the chance,” he says. “Sometimes you don’t get the chance and maybe no one ever gets the chance to really explain themselves, to have people see them. But I guess I’m doing that or I’m in the process of doing that. What you’re hearing now is a guy in the process of trying to explain himself.”
Judging by the quote about Chris Walla listening to the Hip as a kid in Seattle, and how much Downie seems to dig this guy, I'd say it's very likely that Walla will produce the next Hip album. Just a hunch that I have.
The self-explanatory Gord Downie
Tragically Hip frontman has made a new album with his friends, the Country of Miracles
By Ben Rayner
Pop Music Critic
It’s gone out of fashion to admit it, perhaps, but fashion be damned: Gord Downie is still one of the coolest customers in Canadian music, right up there with Leonard Cohen and Neil Young.
He’s a superb rock ’n’ roll frontman, as the singer and lyricist for The Tragically Hip, the public face of one of the biggest bands in this country’s history. His solo soul-searching, though, has been equally if not more compelling; resulting in the poetic obscurantism of 2001’s Coke Machine Glow and 2003’s endearingly rough-hewn Battle of the Nudes, an album recorded with a handful of underdog friends dubbed the Country of Miracles. Had it not been associated with the name Gord Downie, it could have easily passed for the work of one of the many younger acts contributing at the time to a post-millennial boom in homegrown indie-rock.
And while its commercial heyday is behind it and old-guard fans grumble — as they’ve grumbled since, oh, 1994’s Day for Night — that The Tragically Hip no longer sounds like The Tragically Hip, even that particular CanCon institution has been on a creative upswing of late. Indeed, its last record, 2009’s Bob Rock-produced We Are the Same, often sounded like the work of an entirely different band, no small achievement for an act in operation for more than 25 years.
Tuesday, Downie and the Country of Miracles officially unveil their newest offering, The Grand Bounce. Eclectic, upbeat and suffused with Downie’s literate pride of place in being a father and family man and a Canadian citizen, it sounds like the work of an artist still driven to advance his art. Moreover, it sounds like the work of an artist having fun.
“Bob Rock taught me a lot. His friendship has taught me a lot about what you should expect from a recording session and, more importantly, how you shouldn’t expect anything less than absolute joyousness,” says Downie, 46, sipping a coffee after a brisk morning bike ride to a Distillery District patio. “You should feel great. You should feel 14 to be doing it. It’s true and it’s rare . . .
“We’re not building a nuclear reactor here. We’re not drilling a mile beneath the surface of the ocean with no plan in case something goes wrong. This is making music, this is melodious air and people can hear what goes into it. When someone says ‘I feel good,’ you say: ‘I know, it shows.’ You want it to feel good so it’ll show.”
Downie already knew that making music with the Country of Miracles — an on-again, off-again ensemble that includes Julie Doiron, Skydiggers’ Josh Finlayson, and Dale Morningstar and Dave Clark of The Dinner is Ruined — gave him a good feeling.
Thus, when a meeting with Death Cab for Cutie guitarist and producer-at-large Chris Walla at the Pemberton Festival in 2008 left him with similarly positive vibes, he figured that it might be time to start thinking about making another solo record.
“He sought me out backstage. I guess as a kid growing up in Seattle, he and his buddies had listened to the Hip coming across the border,” Downie recalls. “We talked very amiably and easily for a couple of hours, and I just came away from it thinking: ‘I want to see that guy again. I want to talk to him some more. I want to hang out.’ And that got me thinking about how I would do that.
“It just got some hunches rolling, really. I thought he’d really get along with these guys in the Country of Miracles. And I thought initially his sonic sense, with less to go on, would really mesh well with their sense of spirit. And in the end he brought so much more than just a sonic sense; he brought a sense of spirit. They all got along famously, so it was a hunch that worked out.”
Walla visited Downie last summer. The two went through the songs Downie had in hand. He doesn’t distinguish between material for the Hip and the material he releases under his own name, Downie says (“I generally use it up, as Raymond Carver would say, and don’t save a thing for later.”)
Walla offered up suggestions on where to take the material. “East Wind,” he thought, should open with “a thousand acoustic guitars off the top,” for instance, while “Drowning Machine” should sonically reference P.J. Harvey.
Downie was happy to surrender to another’s instincts, as was the Country of Miracles, so the whole troupe convened at the Hip’s lakeside Bathhouse studio near Kingston and whacked the whole album out over two weeks last August.
The entire session was “driven by camaraderie and friendship and spirit,” says Downie, who actually emerged with a more Hip-like and listener-friendly album than his previous solo fare. Nevertheless, he’s philosophical about the fact that some longtime fans might not know what to make of The Grand Bounce.
“I guess I want people to see me and to try to explain myself, and you don’t always get the chance,” he says. “Sometimes you don’t get the chance and maybe no one ever gets the chance to really explain themselves, to have people see them. But I guess I’m doing that or I’m in the process of doing that. What you’re hearing now is a guy in the process of trying to explain himself.”
Judging by the quote about Chris Walla listening to the Hip as a kid in Seattle, and how much Downie seems to dig this guy, I'd say it's very likely that Walla will produce the next Hip album. Just a hunch that I have.
06-07-2010, 11:09 PM
"Judging by the quote about Chris Walla listening to the Hip as a kid in Seattle, and how much Downie seems to dig this guy, I'd say it's very likely that Walla will produce the next Hip album. Just a hunch that I have."
yes please.
good article. lots of good reviews.
it's 12:10... why isn't my pre-order here yet?!!
yes please.
good article. lots of good reviews.
it's 12:10... why isn't my pre-order here yet?!!
06-08-2010, 04:41 AM
borgs Wrote:"Judging by the quote about Chris Walla listening to the Hip as a kid in Seattle, and how much Downie seems to dig this guy, I'd say it's very likely that Walla will produce the next Hip album. Just a hunch that I have."I agree Mike! And it's now 5:41am.... Still no sign of my preorder!!
yes please.
good article. lots of good reviews.
it's 12:10... why isn't my pre-order here yet?!!
06-08-2010, 08:22 AM
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.snobsmusic.net/2010/05/gord-downie-country-of-miracles-grand.html">http://www.snobsmusic.net/2010/05/gord- ... grand.html</a><!-- m -->
Gord Downie & the Country of Miracles: "The Grand Bounce" (album review)
For someone of my generation it's hard to imagine a Canadian musician as iconic as Gord Downie. During most of my teenage years, The Tragically Hip in this country rivaled international supergroups like U2 in popularity.
In the last decade or so though, it could be argued that The Hip have been coasting on reputation. Over that same time Downie has delved into other project including solo albums and poetry. On June 8th, he releases his third solo record, The Grand Bounce.
Once again this album sees Downie backed by the ever capable Country Of Miracles. What is new this time around though is the assistance of Chris Walla of Death Cab For Cutie fame.
Through the vast majority of the album it's difficult to see what, if anything Walla's presence brought to the table. The songs sound like typical Downie. It's poetry filled with Canadian imagery and character studies set to run-of-the-mill folk and roots rock. The melodies are pleasant, but unexceptional. The energy level is barely measurable. As a whole it feels like we've been hearing these same songs from Downie since the mid-90s.
The hard driving "The Drowning Machine" and the Hip-style rocker "Night Is For Getting" are among a handful of tracks jerk you out of the rut. The album's only real innovation comes in the form of "Moonslow Yer Lashes", a track that sees Downie add an almost New Wave element to his folk rock repertoire. Aesthetically the results aren't perfect, but they are fascinating from an artistic perspective.
If you view music as a platform on which to deliver poetry (and you don't like it very intense), then you'll enjoy The Grand Bounce. In the end though, the album does precious little to add or detract from Gord Downie's musical legacy.
Best tracks: "Moonslow Yer Lashes", "Moon Over Glenora"
Track listing for The Grand Bounce:
The Grand Bounce
Moon Over Glenora
As A Mover
The Dance And Its Disappearance
The Hard Canadian
Gone
The Drowning Machine
Yellow Days
Night Is For Getting
Moonslow Yer Lashes
Retrace
Broadcast
Pinned
6.0/10
"We're forced to bed, but we're free to dream"
Dana
06-08-2010, 08:51 AM
Hello, I though I might as well post this here...Gord is going to be on CBC Radio 2 drive today anywhere from 3 pm to 7 pm to talk with Rich Terfry...The following link is source of this infomation.
http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/programs/2010/06/gordbuck.html
http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/programs/2010/06/gordbuck.html
06-08-2010, 08:56 AM
Via iTunes you can purchase an acoustic version of The Dance and it's Disappearance.
If you live in Canada.
If you live in Canada.
"We're forced to bed, but we're free to dream"
Dana
06-08-2010, 08:58 AM
ninee_luv_fm Wrote:Hello, I though I might as well post this here...Gord is going to be on CBC Radio 2 drive today anywhere from 3 pm to 7 pm to talk with Rich Terfry...The following link is source of this infomation.I was just about to post this! Thanks.
http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/programs/2010/06/gordbuck.html
And here's a pic from the coffee shop I'm assuming all/most of the interviews took place in:
![[Image: 8814273.jpg]](http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/programs/8814273.jpg)
06-08-2010, 09:06 AM
chris Wrote:And here's a pic from the coffee shop I'm assuming all/most of the interviews took place in:
"We're forced to bed, but we're free to dream"
Dana
06-08-2010, 09:08 AM
Tthip Wrote:I prefer the way I framed the image.chris Wrote:And here's a pic from the coffee shop I'm assuming all/most of the interviews took place in:
[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]
06-08-2010, 09:13 AM
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://kingstonherald.com/entertainment/the-hips-gord-downie-releases-solo-albu-20103827/">http://kingstonherald.com/entertainment ... -20103827/</a><!-- m -->
The Hip’s Gord Downie Releases Solo Album
By Courtney Hart in Celebrities, Entertainment on 2010/06/07 at 11:07 pm
The new solo album from Gord Downie, lead singer for the Tragically Hip, goes into wide release this Tuesday.
Its titled “The Grand Bounce”, is a term for desertion that comes from Evan S. Connell’s biography of General Custer used because, as Downie explained in a recent interview “we (Canadians) live in a deserter’s paradise here”.
The lyrics for its opening track, The East Wind, were developed from a notebook of phrases he keeps. Once he had the melody in his head, he discovered on a phrase used by a neighbour that he’d written down, about how the east wind “doesn’t go around you; it goes through you.”
This line yielded the song’s chorus, and other quotes on that same notebook page – from Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s Western novel The Ox-Bow Incident and from Al Purdy’s poem Necropsy of Love – were also used, initially as placeholders but then kept for the final song.
“It’s like quick-drying cement,” Downie said in that same interview. “You’re really loath to change it after the fact.”
The Grand Bounce is available on vinyl now, and in wide release on Tuesday
The Hip’s Gord Downie Releases Solo Album
By Courtney Hart in Celebrities, Entertainment on 2010/06/07 at 11:07 pm
The new solo album from Gord Downie, lead singer for the Tragically Hip, goes into wide release this Tuesday.
Its titled “The Grand Bounce”, is a term for desertion that comes from Evan S. Connell’s biography of General Custer used because, as Downie explained in a recent interview “we (Canadians) live in a deserter’s paradise here”.
The lyrics for its opening track, The East Wind, were developed from a notebook of phrases he keeps. Once he had the melody in his head, he discovered on a phrase used by a neighbour that he’d written down, about how the east wind “doesn’t go around you; it goes through you.”
This line yielded the song’s chorus, and other quotes on that same notebook page – from Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s Western novel The Ox-Bow Incident and from Al Purdy’s poem Necropsy of Love – were also used, initially as placeholders but then kept for the final song.
“It’s like quick-drying cement,” Downie said in that same interview. “You’re really loath to change it after the fact.”
The Grand Bounce is available on vinyl now, and in wide release on Tuesday
"We're forced to bed, but we're free to dream"
Dana
06-08-2010, 10:07 AM
Tthip Wrote:Tuesday at 8:30 AM or so - Gord will be on Y108: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.y108.ca/Music/GordDownie.aspx">http://www.y108.ca/Music/GordDownie.aspx</a><!-- m -->
"We're forced to bed, but we're free to dream"
Dana
06-08-2010, 12:07 PM
Just Tweeted:
Gord will be on on Q107 at 6:30pm and The Edge at 7:00pm tonight.
Gord will be on on Q107 at 6:30pm and The Edge at 7:00pm tonight.
06-08-2010, 12:13 PM
chris Wrote:Just Tweeted:
Gord will be on on Q107 at 6:30pm and The Edge at 7:00pm tonight.
So we're all going to Yonge and Dundas at 6:40 to say hi? 8)
06-08-2010, 12:22 PM
let_me_out Wrote:If you do... please ask him about the Maritimes? :wink:chris Wrote:Just Tweeted:
Gord will be on on Q107 at 6:30pm and The Edge at 7:00pm tonight.
So we're all going to Yonge and Dundas at 6:40 to say hi? 8)
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