‘Tis the season to not have enough time to get everything done, but tonight I’m making time for a music review. Not just a music review either – a coveted concert review as well! To read that just scroll down
Disc 1790 is…Living Thing
Artist: Anna Tivel
Year of Release: 2024
What’s up with the Cover? A whole lot of huggin’ Last week I received a hug from the best hugger in the world (you know who you are) so this cover is timely.
The hugs depicted here look pretty great also. Not a lot of half-assed side-hugs or awkward steepling going on. Just good clean body hugs that are firm and heartfelt, but don’t stray over the line into creepy.
How I Came To Know It: I have been a fan of Anna Tivel for a long time, dating back to 2017, so this was just me buying her new album when it came out.
How It Stacks Up: I have five Anna Tivel albums and am on the lookout for a sixth. Of the five I currently have, “Living Thing” comes in at…#5. Hey, something had to be last.
Ratings: 2 stars but almost 3
Most of my listens to “Living Thing” were in my car driving to and from work. This was not ideal, as Anna Tivel has a gentle grace, and her albums require a bit of quiet around you for best effect.
Despite the growl of engine and surrounding traffic, Anna Tivel still brought me under her spell yet again. “Living Thing” has a bit more production and “to do” than I’m used to on her records, but her thoughtful folk music still shone through in key moments. Perhaps it is singing over all the extra instrumentation, or just Tivel finding increased confidence with all those other records under her belt, but she sings here with more force and richness than on previous records.
At times I missed the predominant whisper vocals from earlier records, but this loss is offset with her showcasing just how sneaky good her voice is. Besides, there is still plenty of whispered brilliance mixed in.
Subject-wise, there aren’t as many great character studies on “Living Thing” as with previous work, replaced with a bit more straight-up philosophy. Tivel’s thesis seems to be some form of “life’s a mix of good and bad – embrace the journey”. Not overly creative, but a welcome message overall.
The best song on the album is “Disposable Camera” an up tempo (for Tivel) song that takes soft rock disco-adjacent radio from the early eighties and folk-i-fies it. I liked the effect – like if Blondie was really relaxed and singing to you in a library. In the song Tivel reminds us that life’s mysteries may never fully reveal themselves to you, and that’s OK. It isn’t particularly profound, but Tivel’s vocals have a “I’m sharing secrets” kind of tone to it that leaves you feel a bit wiser just by listening.
All of this was most welcome, but the vaguely electronica elements that intruded on other songs was unwelcome to my folk-anticipating ears. Anticipation is a bastard like that. Try as I might, I couldn’t shake my initial and insatiable desire for less.
Despite all this, the album was cruising for a three-star review when the final track took six minutes to do very little, and the part that didn’t do anything was just the sound of heavy rain on a roof. This, I could not abide and resulted in what was probably an uncharitable ranking for the otherwise always charming and thoughtful Ms. Tivel.
Best tracks: Real Things, Disposable Camera
The Concert – December 14, 2024 at the Royal Theatre, Victoria
This is not an Anna Tivel concert, per se, but it was for me. She was the first opening act during the 16th annual Jon and Roy Christmas concert. Jon and Roy are a bit of a Victoria music institution for the past twenty years and are widely loved through the town.
Six of us attended (three couples) with each of my fellow concertgoers looking for something different. I was there for Anna Tivel, one of us wanted to hear M. Ward (the next opening act) and a couple more people were Jon and Roy fans. In the end we all got what we came for.
Anna Tivel
Anna Tivel came on stage first, her slight unassuming frame swimming in the ill-fitting but comfortable clothes her generation prefers, all the way down to white socks, no shoes.
Tivel has a quiet grace about her records, and this translated and then some into her live performance. Within a few notes she had the audience quietened down and eating out of the palm of her hand.
The guitar work was dead simple, but well played, and Tivel’s vocals came off in that quiet but powerful way that makes me a fan. Despite the simple arrangement and melody of her work, she hit a couple of surprising notes in there that were sublime.
Tivel didn’t play my favourite song of hers (that would be “Dark Chandelier”) but she did play some favourites. Notably “Riverside Hotel” about a homeless man watching a building get constructed, and a song about New York street life that I recognized but couldn’t name. Tivel didn’t say what the songs were called (I had to look up the name of “Riverside Hotel” after the show) but they still cut through the night.
As an opener to an opener Tivel only played five songs. I knew this was going to happen going in, but it was still hard to watch her part the stage so soon.
Usually I save the merch table comments to the end, but since I don’t care overmuch about the other two bands, I’ll cover it here. Tivel’s merch selection was…not great. Basically it was just her last couple of records, which I had. I was really hoping for a copy of 2014’s “Before Machines” or failing that, a t-shirt, but came up empty on both accounts. Still, a great show.
M. Ward
My favourite M. Ward music is from his partnership with Zooey Deschanel as one half of “She & Him”. Given “She & Him” had done a Christmas record, and this being a Christmas concert and all, I thought there was a chance (maybe 5%) that Zooey might show up to sing. Sadly, no.
That left me with M. Ward. I had bought his album “Post War” (reviewed way back at Disc 1121), for the song “Chinese Translation” but didn’t love the record and long ago parted with it.
But how would it go live? Turns out very well. M. Ward surprised me with his virtuosity on the guitar. Many of his songs were completely or largely instrumental, but he was so talented, and the melodies were so soothing, I never once felt like me was noodling without purpose. He also did some funky “record and loop” antics to add his own background players.
M. Ward did play “Chinese Translation” but it sounded forced and uninspired. I suspect he’s had to play that song a lot, and it may be time to retire it for a while. The Who did that for “Magic Bus”, M., and you can too.
He also played a version of Buddy Holly’s “Rave On” which I did not like (too slow/plodding) but overall it was solid.
Jon and Roy
As I mentioned earlier, Jon and Roy are a bit of a Victoria institution, and the welcome from the crowd was full throated and joyous. People were definitely amped for the experience, and despite my earlier encounters with their music being of the “didn’t dig it” variety, I was initially hopeful.
Sadly, that optimism was short lived. Jon and Roy are a mix of folk, alternative nineties rock and reggae. That should be a fun mix, but they insist on turning every promising start to a song to a sludgy jam session. I felt like I was hearing the same song over and over again.
They could play well enough, and the singer’s vocals are big and bold (sort of Gord Downey crossed with Kurt Cobain) but the songs had very little dynamics, and quickly bored me. They did establish a groove (the reggae part) and did that well, but I wasn’t feeling it or when I was feeling it, I was done with the feeling long before J&R were done with the groove.
What I was feeling was the guest trombone player. Yeah - there's a reason the photo above features him centre-stage.
I didn’t know who this dude is (but later found out his name was Dave St. Jean from another article by someone obviously more in the know than me) but he was the true star of the show.
When not featured in a song, he would stand on a riser in the back with his trombone in his hand making every groovy dance move known to man that doesn’t require you to move your feet. Head sways, hip sways, arm shifts, Dave had it all.
When he was called on to lead or solo, he thrust himself to the front of the stage like a force of nature, pumping that trombone with a jaunty fury. He was a joy.
Sadly, he was the only joy. Inevitably, Jon and Roy would return with their soupy mood grooves and lose me all over again.
I will say I was in the minority, and the room was full of J&R disciples, many of whom were up out of their seats by the end, gyrating away to what approached a religious experience.
Having long marveled at how beloved Jon and Roy are in this town, this could have irritated me but did not. I am a Frank Turner fan, and have many times been overly effusive in the face of other attendees wondering what the hell all the excitement was about. I’m glad those super fans had a great time, even if I was left, once again, in a profound state of “didn’t dig it”.
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