Julie Doiron's new album I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day starts and ends enthusiastically, with "Life of Dreams", a plucky minute-and-a-half complete with bird-chirps, and "Glad to be Alive", a list of reasons she's . . . well, you know. If you're a fan, your heart swells upon first listen; anyone who has followed her knows of her emotional ups and downs, so to hear her sound up is like knowing a dear friend is in a good place. This collection runs the gamut between her early 90s noise and her more-recent skeleton-purging autobiography.

Doiron is as straight forward as they come. No bullshit, she's a genuine lady whose made a serious mark on the Canadian music landscape. From her early days in Eric's Trip to the misery-ridden era under the Broken Girl moniker to Indie Soccer Mom moments on more recent albums, she writes and records from a startlingly raw place. Few modern artists are as laid-bare, sometimes to the point of indiscretion. There's almost nothing we don't know about her, from her issues with booze to her children to her recent divorce. Somehow it never reads as self-indulgent, but rather, a reminder to note the particulars of daily life, or sometimes as a cautionary tale.

This album is, often, considerably more amped-up than recent releases. With nods to her days in Eric's Trip, she shouts and sings in full-voice atop a band full of guitars and drums and a cacophany of fuzz. (It might seem strange to those who don't know her, but suggesting she sings in more than a whisper is saying something. In concert, crowds are hushed as she fumbles charmingly through her catalogue and awkward stories between. It's one of the most intimate concert experiences available, catch it if you can.) "Consolation Prize" is full-on, and, for me, edging into a genre I have trouble with. Picks scraping along strings and the sound of a rotary telephone being thrown through an amp are just a bit hard for me to get behind, and perhaps even a bit overwrought. I'll likely stick to songs like "Blue", a ghostly dirge laced with harmonies. "Heavy Snow" bridges the two perfectly.

For me there are artists who can do no wrong. Julie Doiron is one of them. While my favourite part of her discography will likely always remain the gorgeous 2002 companions Heart and Crime and Desormais, I appreciate it all. Everything from Julie sounds like a secret, and thus, an honour to be privy to.

Download: "Blue"

Rating:

Julie Doiron - Heart and Crime (2002)
Sending the Photographs









Emily Haines - Knives Don't Have Your Back (2007)
Reading in Bed









Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue (2008)
Trying My Best To Love You
(2008)








Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand (2007)
Rich Woman









Tegan and Sara - The Con (2007)
The Con

I will swipe my first entry from These Roving Eyes. Cheap, I know.

A little Winter Mixed Tape for y'all. A collection of songs I'm loving - some old, some new, all receiving constant play in my world. Enjoy and check these artists out on iTunes.

1) Epilepsy is Dancing – Antony and the Johnsons
2) Went Walking – Bosque Brown
3) Tailor – Julie Doiron
4) Hold Time – M. Ward
5) Mykonos – Fleet Foxes
6) Paddy’s Gone – Antony and the Johnsons
7) Broken Chair – Jim Guthrie
8) He Doesn’t Know Why – Fleet Foxes
9) Another World – Antony and the Johnsons
10) Prescilla – Bat for Lashes
11) Aeon – Antony and the Johnsons
12) You Are Free – Cat Power
13) Streetlights – Kanye West
14) Oh My God – Gentleman Reg
15) Gossip in the Grain – Ray LaMontagne
16) Man Under the Sea – Patrick Watson
17) Oh Lonesome Me – M. Ward
18) Little Tornados – Aimee Mann
19) Call it Off – Tegan and Sara
20) Magpie to the Morning – Neko Case

Download the zip!