Wintersleep
Welcome to the Night Sky

By Chris Whibbs

People want to look to producers like Dave Fridmann or Diplo as people who really make or break an album but what these immensely talented people have really done is awoken the talent that had been shivering inside the musicians. Here, Tony Doogan (of Mogwai fame) certainly helped with an outside opinion but, really, it’s Wintersleep that have risen to the occasion, as this is one of the best Canadian rock albums this year. Possessing a crystal clear vision and with nary a note misplayed, each song sparkles with an energy and verve that literally lifted me off my chair with glee. “Archaeologists” starts off unassumingly but when the drums get frantic, with the ever-present ringing guitars and Paul Murphy bellows out “Belly up around/belly up around!,” you want to scream as well. The best indicator of Wintersleep’s mastery of melody on this album comes in the lightest piece, “Weighty Ghost,” where the pronounced beat and jangle-y feel give this pop song a great elegiac feel. When Murphy notes, “What will become of us?” on the fabulous “Oblivion,” it feels like a meaningless query, as they’ve just made a flawless record. (Labwork, www.labworkmusic.com)

What did you do differently this time around?
Guitarist Tim D’Eon: We pretty much took a song a day and we would try and finish the song, so we’d get a different sense for the drums and the guitar sounds each day. It was kind of cool to work on it like that since for our other records we’ve done all the bed tracks in the first couple of days, like all with the same type of sounds, and with this record we took each song as an individual entity and record it that way. We were able to play with different sounds, especially on the drums and guitars.

How did Tony Doogan get involved? We’re all huge fans of Mogwai and Belle & Sebastian, so when we found out that he was available it was a really easy choice. He was quite excited because he’s a big fan of The Trailer Park Boys and we managed to round up a signed DVD for him and he was ecstatic about this because his buddies over there, like the Mogwai guys, are right into The Trailer Park Boys. (Labwork)

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A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Scribble Mural Comic Journal / Tout New Age
As Cities Burn - Come Now Sleep
Athlete - Beyond the Neighbourhood
Augie March - Moo, You Bloody Choir
Babyshambles - Shotter’s Nation
Barmitzvah Brothers - Let’s Express Our Motives
Basia Bulat - Oh, My Darling
Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
Benjamin Biolay - Trash Yéyé
Better Friends than Lovers - Great Loves
Biffy Clyro - Puzzle
Black Francis - Bluefinger
Bob Bryden - Polaroid Verite
Bruce Springsteen - Magic
The Cake Sale - The Cake Sale
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Cass McCombs - Dropping the Writ
Celebration - The Modern Tribe
Chow Chow - Colours and Lines
Club 8 - The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Dreaming
CPC Gangbangs - Mutilation Nation
Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
The Diableros - The Diableros Aren’t Ready For The Country
Dick Rivers - La Légende
Doveman - With My Left Hand I Raise the Dead
The Dragons - BFI
Enon - Grass Geysers... Carbon Clouds
Euros Childs - The Miracle Inn
The Fiery Furnaces - Window City
Fire Engines - Hungry Beat
Five Blank Pages - Last Blush
Ghastly City Sleep - Ghastly City Sleep
Giantess - Giantess
Good Life - Help Wanted Nights
The Heights - Toys & Kings
His Name Is Alive - XMMER
I See Rowboats - Hide & Seek Behind the Throne
The I Spies - In the Night
Imani Coppola - The Black and White Album
Joe Lapinski - Sundries
Johnossi - Johnossi
Junius - Junius
KT Tunstall - Drastic Fantastic
Lazarus - Hawk Medicine
Little Name - How To Swim and Live
Loney, Dear - Sologne
The Luyas - Faker Death
Magik Markers - Boss
Manvils - Strange Disaster
Meneguar - Strangers In Our House
The Midway State - Met a Man on Top of the Hill
Most Serene Republic - Population
Múm - Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy
New Amsterdams - At the Foot of My Rival
New Young Pony Club - Fantastic Playroom
Octopus Project - Hello, Avalanche
Office - A Night At The Ritz
Old Soul - Gold
Old Time Relijun - Catharsis in Crisis
Pere Ubu - Why I Hate Women
The Pipettes - We Are The Pipettes
Plants and Animals - with/avec EP
Plastiscines - LP1
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Real Tuesday Weld - The London Book of the Dead
Richard Hawley - Lady’s Bridge
Robert Pollard - Coast to Coast Carpet of Love / Standard Gargoyle Decisions
Robert Wyatt - Comicopera
Run With The Kittens - Bangers and Mash
Samara Lubelski - Parallel Suns
Saturday Looks Good To Me - Fill Up The Room
The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir - The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
Scout Niblett - This Fool Can Die Now
Sea Wolf - Leaves in the River
Siberian - With Me
Simon Wilcox - The Charm & The Strange
Siouxsie - Mantaray
Small Sins - Mood Swings
Soulsavers - It’s Not How You Fall, It’s The Way You Land
Southeast Engine - A Wheel Within A Wheel
Spiral Beach - Ball
Square Root of Margaret - Teragram Photeur
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Stars - In Our Bedroom After The War
Thrice - The Alchemy Index, Vols. I & II: Fire and Water
Turbo Fruits - Turbo Fruits
Two Lone Swordsmen - Wrong Meetings
Two-Minute Miracles - Volume IV: The Lions of Love
Various Artists - Little Darla Has A Treat For You, V. 25
Various Artists - The Fruit of The Original Sin: A Collection Of After Hours Preoccupations
Various Artists - NO-FI Presents 100% Solid Gold Hits
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