Lost Channels by Great Lake Swimmers

I've been a big fan of Tony Dekker and Co. for a good long time. I think the first time I saw Dekker was opening for Hayden back in 2004, and despite the fact that I was late, it was pretty apparent how mesmerized everyone was my his sound (note: it was at the WinterGarden Theatre here and TO and mesmerized could very well be replaced with 'didn't want to seem rude').

The next time I saw Great Lake Swimmers - I'm pretty sure it was the same year - was in the upstairs of a really tiny bar on Talbot St. (in London) where the power went out 30mins into the set. Tony re-grouped, played the rest of the set (or at least that's how I remember it) acoustically, and it was really impressive. So, what I'm really trying to say is, I'm so far in the fan-zone with the GLS you may want to take the next paragraph with a grain of salt.

Lost Channels is definitely their best album so far. Maybe its because I like upbeat, happy Tony better than I like sad, sounds-like-he-might-off-himself Tony. Anyone who's listened to the s/t album or Bodies and Minds would probably have to admit those albums are pretty sad. There are some great songs on those albums, but, I'm not playing them for Grandma in the nursing home, if you know what I mean... And, its easy to see why Dekker and the GLS are happier: touring with Feist, their albums are widely reviewed, they're selling out shows everywhere (and by "everywhere" I mean "at least in Toronto" so I assume they're selling out everywhere) etc., etc.,

In short, terrific album. If you like any sort of singer-songwriter type tunes, I'm pretty convinced you'll like Lost Channels. And if you don't your mom will...

[mp3] Great Lake Swimmers - Pulling on a Line
[mp3] Great Lake Swimmers - Everything is Moving So Fast (ft. Kate Maki?)

Note: This definitely would've been my "pick of the week" this week were it not for the fact that: someone else is reviewing it for AWmusic, and I've got something equally worthy for tomorrow.