Pick of the Week #47: The Acorn

With all that's been going on lately I haven't been listening to a whole lot of new stuff and rather than forcing a Pick of the Week -- picking something that I can't completely get behind -- I've opted to go with something from archives...

If you're a regular around here you'll likely recall me discussing Ottawa's The Acorn at one point or another, but often I find that it takes me hearing a name 2/3/10 times before I actually get around to giving something a try. So, more than anything I was hoping with this week's pick would remind you how excellent this group of Ottawanians is.

Their last album, Glory Hope Mountain, was released in 2007 and I ranked it as my 19th favourite album of that year. And certainly that isn't a bad ranking, but looking back at my list I'd be inclined to re-rank it inside the top-5 with the note that it is likely my most listened to album from 2007.

Wouldn't that make it my favourite you'd ask? Well, I dunno. I guess the way I look at it is that there are albums on the list i.e. Kanye, The Besnard Lakes, Panda Bear, that have, in my opinion, higher highs and more 'wow' moments. So, the others may be more interesting, at times, but you've really got to be in the right frame of mind to listen to them. I mean, I thought No Country for Old Men was a great movie, possibly my favourite of 2007, but I haven't watched it nearly as many times as I've seen, say, Role Models, mostly b/c with NCfOM you've got to be in the mood for a movie that demands that much attention.

Now, I wouldn't suggest that Role Models is the musical equivalent of the Acorn or Glory Hope Mountain, but it could be. And by that I mean that Glory Hope Mountain is constructed in such a way that you can shut your mind off, go on auto-pilot, and enjoy the gentle guitar picking or you could turn up the volume in your car and tap away to the tribal drums. The album might be background music while you do whatever is it you need to be doing (sleeping, driving, it, etc.), but it also has the ability to be something that you could really sink your teeth into. The album, which is a tribute to the lead singers mother (R.I.P.), also has the emotional weight of albums like Funeral, Everything All the Time, and the new (and excellent) album by the Wilderness of Manitoba Hymns of Love and Spirits.

Whatever you want to do with/to Glory Hope Mountain it's certainly an album that, if you give some time, you'll enjoy more on the 50th spin then you will on the 1st.

"Dents"


[mp3] The Acorn - Crooked Legs
[mp3] The Acorn - Glory (live)

Pick of the Week #1: Ketch Harbour Wolves
Pick of the Week #2: Rah Rah
Pick of the Week #3: Glasvegas/Animal Collective
Pick of the Week #4: Bruce Peninsula
Pick of the Week #5: The Antlers
Pick of the Week #6: The Darcys
Pick of the Week #7: Ohbijou (Swift Feet for Troubling Times)
Pick of the Week #8: Gentlemen Husbands
Pick of the Week #9: Chris Whitley
Pick of the Week #10: Alela Diane
Pick of the Week #11: K'naan
Pick of the Week #12: TOR/Sufjan Stevens
Pick of the Week #13: Timber Timbre
Pick of the Week #14: Justis
Pick of the Week #15: Hibiscus & Rosehips Compilation
Pick of the Week #16: Patrick Watson
Pick of the Week #17: Olenka and the Autumn Lovers
Pick of the Week #18: The Liptonians
Pick of the Week #19: Sunparlour Players
Pick of the Week #20: Black Hat Brigade
Pick of the Week #21: Howie Beck
Pick of the Week #22: Pink Mountaintops
Pick of the Week #23: Still Life Still
Pick of the Week #24: Hayden
Pick of the Week #25: Snailhouse
Pick of the Week #26: Dog Day
Pick of the Week #27: Ohbijou (Beacons)
Pick of the Week #28: Dog is Blue
Pick of the Week #29: Parkas
Pick of the Week #30: The Wooden Sky
Pick of the Week #31: Bowerbirds
Pick of the Week #32: Miss Maya
Pick of the Week #33: Ben Folds Presents ...
Pick of the Week #34: Mantis
Pick of the Week #35: Diamond Rings
Pick of the Week #36: The Wilderness of Manitoba
Pick of the Week #37: Asher Roth
Pick of the Week #38: Julie Doiron
Pick of the Week #39: Chad VanGaalen
Pick of the Week #40: That's the Spirit
Pick of the Week #41: The Ghost is Dancing
Pick of the Week #42: Dan Mangan
Pick of the Week #43: Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
Pick of the Week #44: Said the Whale
Pick of the Week #45: Noah and the Whale
Pick of the Week #46: Mos Def