One Hundred Dollars - Regional 7" Series

If your musical listening tendencies have ever leaned towards the country side of things, if your ears perk up when you hear a pedal steel, or if you like your music with a side of REAL, then this band is for you.

One Hundred Dollars have recently issued the 2nd installment of their Regional 7" Series via Vancouver based Deranged Records and it's a barn burner.  The idea behind the series is to write a song about the area from which the record label is based, in this case Vancouver's lower east side is the setting and life on its streets is the subject.  Heavy stuff to say the least, and Simone Schmidt's vocals paint a grim picture.  This is something this band does really well, their subject matter is often dark and deals with the not-so-sunny side of life, as I mentioned earlier ..... REAL.  There's nothing overly flashy about the playing on this single, the music serves the song the way only true country can.  Stew Crookes is killer on pedal steel and the rhythm section holds down a steady groove.  What really makes this band unique is Simone Schmidt's vocal delivery, no one sounds like this girl, her voice is instantly recognizable and suits this genre incredibly well.  Venture over to exclaim! to hear this tune then order yourself a copy of this single, you'll be glad you did.  If you like what you hear you can also grab the first installment of the Regional 7" Series over at the Blue House.

The band released a full length album titled Forest of Tears on Blue Fog Recordings back in 2008 which is a great album in it's own right, although it's odd it hasn't received a vinyl release considering it's on the Blue Fog label.  Hopefully that's in the works for a future release.  Check out the band in action at Rick White's elder schoolhouse during the recording of their lp.

Andre Ethier s/t 12" EP

When searching for new music I often find myself browsing the rosters of the record labels of bands that I really like. A perfect example of this is my fairly recent discovery of Andre Ethier's music. I've been a fan of Rick White for some time, and the label he's called home for the past decade or so has been Blue Fog Recordings. After visiting their MySpace page I quickly realized that they had a spectacular back catalog with artist such as the Unintended, One Hundred Dollars, Castlemusic, and several others including our subject for the day Andre Ethier.

Andre is the former lead singer of seminal Canadian garage rockers the Deadly Snakes. Upon that bands demise he started releasing solo records and although he still has some bite to his vocals the music itself is a little more laid back, much the same way Dylan pulled back the reigns after Blonde on Blonde. He has four solo albums to his credit, the first of which Andre Ethier With Christopher Sandes Featuring Pickles and Price was released in 2004 while he was still with the Deadly Snakes. 2006's Secondathalam, 2007's On Blue Fog, and 2008's Born of Blue Fog all followed with each record being better than the last. Acoustic guitars, keys, percussion, and horns can all be found in Ethier's mixed bag of tunes, his melodies and earnest vocal delivery always giving each track their own unique flavor.

His albums are available on CD from Paper Bag Records and Sonic Unyon, but finding some of his music on vinyl has proven to be a difficult task. He put out a ltd 7" single on Dull Knife last year which sold out very quickly from what I've read, and recently Les Disques Steak issued a 4 track 12" EP compiling songs from his Blue Fog releases. As far as I know this is a Euro release only, but thanks to the wonders of the internet buying a copy shouldn't be too hard so long as you act quickly, they're ltd to 500 copies. I received my copy this past Friday from Germany's X-Mist mail order shop and the sound quality is nothing short of stunning.

For your listening pleasure I present to you Pride of Egypt, a track that appears on the s/t 12" EP and originally released on the On Blue Fog album.  Following that is a live version of Cop Killer.