Best of Vancouver 2006
It’s that time of year again when people tally up their votes and choose the best albums, acts or songs of 2006. I am about to take a different spin on this, because I have seen some amazing acts in the last little while that have become my favorites. Out of all that I have heard this year, my tops all happen to be in Vancouver, so I will take this opportunity to honor these artists that may be emerging but are absolutely phenomenal in my books.
5) Headwater - High-energy duo (Jonas Shandel & Matt Bryant)
slick with Canadiana blues & roots skills with banjo, guitar, mandolin, bass, accordion, drums. This act is polished, with strong playing skills and charming stage presence. The music has a soulful twang marked with textural instrumentation and story-like lyrics.
www.headwaterband.com
(James Lamb) captivates his audiences with his sultry melodies, excellent combination of musicians and instruments (Aaron Joyce on Dorbo & Wiesenborn; Richard St. Ogne on Cello, Sarah Ciantar on Accordion & Vocals). His finger-aerobics style mixed in with the other voices makes the whole experience quite symphonic. The songwriting is peerless and completely catchy and I have been raving about this guy since I have seen him play. Let’s hope word of mouth catches on!
www.myspace.com/jameslamb
3) Randy Ponzio with Quest Poetics
This is the newest project on here and, believe me, it can’t go unnoticed. Randy Ponzio has created a flow of music that introduces reggae to hip hop, creating his own sub-genre, he multitasks his drums, bass and guitar tracks through digital delays, loops and sings in his reggae chant poise. Recently coupling the music with
MC Entity aka Taygen (female MC/ poet) the music has found its match. The two take turns with the mic and create the rock-and-gock feeling at live shows.
www.myspace.com/questpoetics
2) Interior Design
Jazz guitar ambience is the main portion of Shockk’s method (also from the well-known Vancouver rock group Mongoose). Shockk is a self taught jazz guitarist who will blow your mind away with his abilities and his creativity. He created the music as a sit-background drone of guitar but when you pay attention to all of the layers he can create on the spot you realize that all of those sounds are in fact his guitar. He creates an atmosphere that is obsessive and adoring. It’s not hard to tell that he’s a quality player and is polished in his art either. This is a CD everyone should own, it’s chic and completely new.
www.myspace.com/interiordesign
1) Kytami- Ask Kytami what she plays and she’ll say ‘electric violin’ because even though she’s classically trained, everything she does has a beautiful effect to send the sounds sailing into an abyss of cultural beats. Think Thievery Corporation except she’s not stealing anything, she can make her violin sound like a bass, like percussion, and also she can fiddle through any track. It’s passionate, indefinable and sends you blood flowing through your veins in a completely different energy. Such rich combinations, it’s so to date but almost timeless, Kytami is in high demand in Vancouver and it’s obvious why.
www.kytami.com
Let’s cap it off and see a quick rundown of my Vancouver favourites, soon to be taking over the airwaves:
- Kytami- Electric Violin, Fiddling with effects over World Beats
- Interior Design- Ambient Jazz Guitar
- Randy Ponzio’s Quest Poetics - Hip Hop Reggae Chants
- James Lamb- Folk inspired Singer/songwriter
- Headwater- Blues & Roots Canadiana
Vancouver’s music scene is throbbing with new acts everyday and there’s not enough time to appreciate it all. I want to do a small list of honorable mentions at this point, there’s too much talent to report on it all:
- Chris-a-riffic (Tell-All Singer/Entertainer Piano, Rhodes Solo act)
- The Doers (Acoustic Punk Indie Trio)
- The Wintermitts (Artsy-Folk Quartet)
- Mongoose (High Energy Solid Rock Quartet)
- A Ghost to Kill Again (Another High Energy Solid Rock Quartet)
- The Wind Whistles (Acoustic Folk Duo)
- Smaqu-2 (A live Hip Hop Experimental Quartet)
- The People Versus (Trendy Garage Rock Duo)
- Ladyhawk (70’s inspired Rock Quintet)
- Julie Dorion (Pop-Folk-Hop Singer/songwriter)
- Go Ghetto Tiger (Metallic Disco Trio)
2006 was a happy one… happy 2007!!! We’ll get lots more good music next year Vancouver!
