Chad VanGaalen, TUNS, and Major Funk
Chad VanGaalen
World’s Most Stressed Out Gardener // Flemish Eye Records
I can see myself listening to World’s Most Stressed Out Gardener in the back of a 1980 Chevy Vandura (which will have a viking maiden in a chain-mail bikini riding on a tiger painted on the side), while watching the stars. It’s a little bit of that sci-fi mysticism intertwined with soothing spacey instrumentals and peppered with quirky psychedelic adventurism. It’s like Chris Isaak on acid.
The album does not take itself too seriously which is like a breath of fresh air in a world that definitely takes WAY TOO MUCH seriously. Don’t overthink it, just listen and watch the flowers or the stars, because it truly is headphone music. The eclectic sounds coming through your speakers will make you wonder what kind of gizmo he created to make that sound. Is that copper piping made into a xylophone in “Samurai Sword”? I believe it is! “Inner Fire” will get your blood pumping with its digital didgeridoo sounding instrument and synthy horns. “Spider Ink” will have you skipping through the park on a spring day, stopping to smell the flowers and look at the sky, then make your arms start to flail when the rest of the instruments kick-in. I would like to sit on a bench in said park and watch this unfold. “Earth from a Distance” is the perfect soundtrack for my star-watching Chevy Vandura escapades with its Sigur Rós in-space vibes.
An established and renowned artist, illustrator and animator, there really isn’t anything that he can’t do. He records all his music himself in his Yoko Eno home studio, creates instrumental work for TV programs (Dream Corp’s), music videos for himself (check-out his latest video for “Starlight”) and others (Timber Timbre’s "Beat the Drum Slowly" is one of many), writes feature-length animated science fiction films and plays in two bands with his two daughters (an improvised hardcore punk duo, Crocodile Teeth & The Snugglers, and the live techno band, Banana Bread). He is a multi-talented renaissance man of the 21st century.
World’s Most Stressed Out Gardener is a beautiful, unpretentious soundscape, best to be eaten, as per VanGaalen’s own directions, “directly off the plant. I get down on my knees and graze. It’s nice to feel the vegetables in your face”. I couldn’t agree more.
- Mo Lawrance
TUNS
Duly Noted // Murderecords
Composed of three seasoned musicians who had already made names for themselves in Canadian music, TUNS is the work of friends and peers who came together through a mutual respect and passion for their craft. Inaugurated in 2015 at an all-star benefit show at Toronto’s Massey Hall, Chris Murphy of Sloan, Matt Murphy of Super Friendz and Flashing Lights, and Mike O’Neill of The Inbreds have since released a full-length album as TUNS and their second, Duly Noted, came out on March 26th. Their first album, self-titled, was very well-received, with the single for the project reaching the first spot on CBC Radio 2’s top 20 chart.
Musically, Duly Noted is far from being an album by musicians who have passed the peak of their respective musical careers. Instead, TUNS is the work of artists who have nothing left to do but enjoy their process and everything involved. It’s decidedly fun, high energy, not overthought, and whatever it wants to be. As you might expect, the highlight of this album is the myriad of high quality guitar riffs. Matt Murphy’s guitar shines and glistens across this album, setting the fun, upbeat tone throughout Duly Noted. The vocals are wistful and easygoing. The whole sound of the album comes together in conspiring to be fun more than anything, simply laid out and engaging.
TUNS covers the highs and lows of a relationship over the course of this project, from heartbreak to meeting someone new, to the early stages where one might be interested in “keeping options open”. The two singles for Duly Noted, “We Stand United” and “My Memories”, are bittersweet in a similar vein to the rest of the album. TUNS croons on “We Stand United” about finding solace in a partner despite the hardships of life that plague them both, and on “My Memories” laments the past and has trouble looking forward. My personal favourite is “Flag For a Curtain” which reprimands a friend for being the “same old fella who’d hang a flag for a curtain” and have “a room full of road signs”.
Ultimately, TUNS has earned and maintained their status as a supergroup. Duly Noted is a full project that is unafraid to experiment within it’s sound, while clearly evoking the Eastern Canadian scene that it’s members helped to shape. Sugary, wistful, and competently composed, Duly Noted is a worthwhile contribution to Canadian music.
- Devon Acuña
Major Funk
Is That You? // Self Released
Who said the Yukon didn’t know how to play funk? Nobody said that, but if someone ever did I could use the band Major Funk to prove them wrong, binding them to a chair as I forced them to listen to their debut album, Is That You?. It would certainly be an awkward encounter, but after listening to it, I’m sure they would see where I was coming from.
Major Funk is a 7-piece funk band originating from Whitehorse, YT. Band founder Étienne Girard says, "Together we make old school music with a modern spin.” Taking inspiration from traditional and modern funk alike, Major Funk takes a sound that shares elements of jazz and pop and creates an album chalk full of danceable songs.
From the first track, “Stand Up”, the band immediately establishes a feel good party jam featuring the soaring vocals of Selina Hayligers-Hare, along with a jazzy saxophone solo by Andrew MacKelvie.
However, not all is fun and games in Is That You?. While you’re dancing along to Girard’s groovy bass lines, hidden in this funky exterior are lyrics of love, heartbreak, and vanity. This is shown best in the more lyrically-sombre tracks of the album, “Heavy” and “In Control”.
This theme of harmony in conflict is also shown in Hayligers-Hare’s powerful, sensual vocals, compared to the quirky, crooner styled vocals of Adrian Burrill. Their harmonies have a charm where you can’t help but smile as you listen, best seen in the fast paced chorus of “Got to Get Through”.
If you’re a fan of ska, motown, trumpets, or anything that makes you feel like you’re Humphrey Bogart sipping martinis in a ball room, then Is That You? is an album that I would highly recommend. You’ll be dancing the whole way through and left begging for more.
- Brandon Kruze
