CMW Preview 2013: Esther Maria

Can you believe that this year's Canadian Music Week is less than a month away? Time flies! This year it takes place across the city with countless talented musicians from all over the world between March 19th-24th. Music Psychos will ensure to provide you an inside scoop of the festivals.

My first CMW preview of the year is Denmark singer songwriter,

 Esther Maria

With the recent release of her new album, The Abyss, Maria has showcased her cinematic portrayal of each story with her profound and plaintive vocal. Her voice echoes with soft-touch guitar jams as if the voice was crafted not from vocal cords, but the bottom of her heart, while her soul is wrapped in a leaf of words. The level of expression that she can bring to a song is superb. 

Watch her music video, Arms Above 

Esther Maria is performing during CMW on Saturday March 23, 2013 @ 8:30PM

Tranzac (Back Room), 292 Brunswick Ave. (19+ All wristbands accepted)

Born Ruffians: Needle

Are you one of the 100,000 listeners who embraced the release of the new single, Needle by Toronto pop rock band, Born Ruffians? The single is off of their new album, Birthmarks, which is set off to be unleashed on April 16th. 

The intro has a Fleet Foxes reminiscent melodic folk harmony, which leads to an intriguing pop sensation. I'm sure that I am not the one one who is dying to hear the entire album and see them at a live!  

Kishi Bashi at the Great Hall on February 11th, 2013

" We've decided to come up to Toronto in the middle of winter and we are so glad that we made it"-excitedly exclaimed K Ishibashi, Seattle born violinist, who leads an experimental pop project,  Kishi Bashi. They'd safely arrived to Toronto in the severe winter weather in the North East region and wowed its audience at the Great Hall on Monday Feb 11th. 

The stage was gradually filled up with smoke prior to the set as a part of the visuals, which created a very artistic feel in the venue. The excitement reached its peak when a blond soft mohawk violinist, lushly dressed up in a black shirt with bold bow tie and spandex, appeared on the stage with two fellow musicians. He instantly started crafting beautiful melodies with his violin and his dreamy voice, while his members sugarcoated it with lively banjo, keys and percussion.

When I listen to the latest album, 151a, I imagined his performance to be created by tons of musicians filling a stage (sort of like a orchestral setting.) Instead, only three talented musicians maneuvered their instruments while K looped layers of flawless violin waves, his mellifluous harmonies and captivating beatbox, which expanded the sounds of the trio to the fullest. When they performed quieter songs, such as Wonder Woman, Wonder Me and I am Antichrist to you, the entire venue was withdrawn to the world of Kishi Bashi, where a pin drop can be heard. On the other hand, the audience enjoyed dancing to the jubilant up-temp tunes, including Bright Lights. "I wrote a song back in 1987 about the Orinoco River..." Jokingly introduced the cover song, Orinoco Flow by Enya,  K sang it as if he put his heart out on the song. He finished his set with a resonant melodic sensation, Manchester, which added the emotive finish to the breath-taking show. 

Kishi Bashi's latest album is called 151a, which is pronounced it as "Ichigo Ichie."-(一期一会) This word means one time in one life time. The concept of the word derived from the world of Japanese tea ceremony- the motto for tea master to make each tea serving unique and special. In this world, it is almost impossible to gather the same people in one room again, especially a big show like this one. The experience of Kishi Bashi was definitely served as Ichigo Ichie, which will always stay somewhere in my memory.