Brent Randall & His Pinecones
date: January 20, 2009
label: Endearing / Just Friends
downloads: (right click and "save link as")
mp3 - Strange Love (Don't Be Lazy)
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tracklist:
1. Strange Love (Don't Be Lazy)
2. For In The Shadow of a Moonbeam
3. Bluebirds, Flowers, and Other Things
4. Snowdrops
5. The Nightingale and The Rose
6. Lions Valley
7. Daylight
8. This House
9. Sweet Thames
10. Slumberjack
11. This Absence of Mine
12. In Our Red Balloon
13. A Sunbeam Song
myspace
Arriving fully formed, Brent Randall & His Pinecones released the expertly crafted debut EP, Quite Precisely, in late 2004. The seven songs on the album showed a style of song and depth in writing rarely seen since Brill Building era pop. Randall quickly became a enigmatic yet renowned character throughout the East Coast.
Along with His Pinecones, made up of Laura Peek, David Ewenson, Joel Goguen, Brian O'Reilly and Jess Lewis, he played several legendary shows in the years that followed, previewing new songs from an ever forthcoming LP that never seemed to materialize.
Five years later, and the wait is finally over.
From the first listen of "Strange Love (Don't Be Lazy)," it's apparent that the time spent honing the songs on We Were Strangers in Paddington Green was not in vain. The track's cabaret inspired delivery balances camp and beauty with equal grace. Produced by Jason MacIssac (Jenn Grant, The Heavy Blinkers), the song's lush sound is reminiscent of peak era Paul McCartney and Harry Nilsson. Randall's penchant for grandiose arrangements delivered over classic songwriting continues throughout the rest of the album. From the epic chorus of "This House" to the more crestfallen "Slumberjack," We Were Strangers in Paddington Green never reveals the hand print of its formation. It instead is a beautifully complete document, balancing emotion and sound into one forward striding and backwards looking collection of songs.
Although the past two years were spent recording, Brent has kept busy with the live band. Brent Randall and His Pinecones completed two national tours in 2008, as well as a number of East Coast and Ontario tours. They’ve shared the stage with such acts as Wintersleep, M Ward, The Hylozoists, Two Hours Traffic, The Meligrove Band, Dog Day, and Germans. Over the past few years Brent has played most of the best alternative music festivals, including Coast to Coast in PEI, Stereophonic in Sackville NB, Pop Montreal in Montreal, Pop Explosion in Halifax, Juno Fest in Halifax, and the QuebecOff in Quebec City. National tourdates and CD release shows will be announced in early 2009.
Strange Love Video