just in case anybody needed to know
I wrote about Leeroy Stagger's Tales From The Back Porch EP way back before Christmas, when the fine folks at Boompa were kind enough to send me a copy way in advance of its Canadian release date (which according to an ad in Exclaim! was last week, and according to Amazon was this week). Now that you can (or will soon be able to) pick up the EP in stores, I wanted to make another pitch for you to spend part of your record budget on it.
If you've never heard Leeroy, go over to his official site and grab a couple .mp3's right now. If you're too lazy to do that (or at work or something), think Whiskeytown-era Ryan Adams penned tunes and older Jason Collett stuff; gritty, country-tinged, rock.
If you have heard Leeroy and you already own his second LP, Beautiful House, you're probably wondering why you should care about an EP without a single song that doesn't appear on the full-length on it. That's right: all the songs on Tales... are plucked straight off of Beautiful House. What makes this worth purchasing though, are the arrangements. Tales... was recorded over a weekend in a "purposefully rough-around-the-edges manner," and the speedy and relaxed process definitely helps kick the songs up another notch.
No offense to Danny Michel, but I've never been a fan of his production. In fact, everytime I've seen him perform live and then gone home and thrown on one of his records, I'm always amazed at how something that was so intimate and enthralling live, can get glossed over by the slick production. Beautiful House doesn't suffer to quite the same extent. It's hard to cover up Leeroy's whiskey soaked vocals, no matter how you twiddle the knobs on a mixing board, but while the songswriting is an impressive step up, the record's sound doesn't quite match up to Stagger's debut, Dear Love.
Tales From The Back Porch is like the best of both worlds. It's those same songwriting achievements, but it sounds a little dirty, and - forgive the cliched term - warm. While both records are obviously studio recordings, on newer versions, it sounds like the songs have finally been set free.
I'm amped for Leeroy's forthcoming release (out in September, with the same guy who produced the Be Good Tanyas behind the boards), but this will tide you over until then. Don't view it as a stop-gap release though, it's a great record in it's own right.
download: Leeroy Stagger - Just In Case (Tales From The Back Porch Version)
download: Leeroy Stagger - Just In Case (Beautiful House Version) (via Boompa)
Leeroy will be part of New Music West's SOCAN Songs and Stories show, tomorrow at the Centre for the Performing Arts at 2:50pm. Unfortunately it's part of the NMW speaker series showcase, which means it'll run you a whopping $55... but hey, you'll be able to hear Raine Maida and that psychiatrist from the Metallica movie too... great.
now playing: Neil Young - Flags of Freedom
3 Comments:
more island music! leeroy is also an amazing hair dresser!
By 
, at
2:02 p.m.
Did you go? I was wondering what Daniel Cutler had to say because 10mins before he was set to go on (or rather Spencer Proffer sort of extended his speech time..), I had to run to work at the [terrible] Rosette show..... I met up with him for a bit before he went on and he seemed really cool and interesting. If you were there, please let me know. Thanks!
By , at
4:14 p.m.
i didnt go, no... i couldn't think of a way to get in without paying, and $55 was a tad steep.
By 
Quinn, at
12:44 a.m.
