| CD REVIEW Patrick Watson |
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Band : Patrick Watson According to the label’s bio, Montréal based Patrick Watson is “a musical mad scientist”, and they go on to claim that he’s an internationally acclaimed singer, composer, songwriter, and producer, but forget to tell us whence we are supposed to know him. So I went on a small Internet search and found: during the ‘90s, and while only in highschool, Watson was the lead singer for Ska act Gangster Politics, he released his solo debut Waterproof9 in 2001. as far as I know, he’s also contributed to the writing sessions of The Cinematic Orchestra’s 2007 album Ma Fleur, a couple of movie soundtracks, and toured with the likes of John Cale, Phillip Glass, Feist, Steve Reich, and even James Brown (Summer 2006). Anyway, Patrick Watson is also the bandname for the band, consisting of guitarist Simon Angell, whom Watson knows from his childhood year when they were barely teens, and whom has been a constant collaborator ever since…and rhythm section Mischka Stein and Robbie Kuster, whom Watson met at Vannier College in the late ‘90s, where Watson finished his studies of Classical and Jazz piano performance, arrangement, and composition (his first project being an experimental suite of music set to a series of photos bt Quebecan artist Brigitte Henry), and anyone honest enough to recognize it with tell you that Classical training comes through even in his most Pop oriented songs. First occasionally used to fill in the sounds at live performances, the chemistry between the musicians to the point where, although Patrick Watson, the band, is still considered Watson’s baby, the others now have an active part in the re-arrangement of Watson’s compositions. This eventually led to their recording of the self-released full-length Close To Paradise, which saw its Canadian release in September 2006, ended up selling over 100,000 copies there, won the band several awards (among which the much coveted Polaris Music Prize for best album in 2007), and was then internationally released in September 2007! The band’s music is often described as being cinematic and wildly eclectic…which ain’t surprizing, as Watson combines his Classical training with influences drawn from Cabaret Pop and the likes of Rufus Wainwright, Nicke Drake Jeff Buckley, and Pink Floyd…to whom the band has been compared. Songs can be quite different, some only have the classical instrumentation of violins, cellos (and piano and/or acoustic guitar), others will have some percusion/ drumming added…and yet other songs will have a more modern Pop orientation (never too “heavy”) with the inclusion of electric bass and (slide) guitar, giving those tracks an Indie Rock touch. On top of it all, you get Patrick Watson’s falsetto-ed singing style, giving the whole an eerie face of its own! You can check out a couple of tracks off the new album (and the previous one, as well as a host of videos, including an almost 31-minute recording of one of the band’s street performances throughout their hometown) at myspace.com/patrickwatson. One small warning : if you happen to be a Metal, Hardcore, Punk (or generally a lover of more aggressive music) purisr, you’ll nevertheless risk being in/af-fected by this artists’ catchy and wonderfully beautiful music…just by liistening to it! Great stuff, and well deservant of a year-list nomination…but since the album was actually already released in 2008, I’ll have to add Wooden Arms to thóse listings! Meanwhile, Wooden Arms has already been announced as finalist for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize awards! I lóve this! 98/100 Tony. |
