Big Rock Finish… reviews of independent music

Name: Alyson Greenfield
Album: Tuscaloosa
Released: 2008
Members:
Alyson Greenfield - piano, guitar, keyboards, tambourine, handclaps, vocals
Jason Mercer - bass
Geoff Hug - drums
Denise Barbarita - background vocals, bowed guitar & guitar
Rich Kulsar - percussion
D-Sharp# - Viola

Website: www.alysongreenfield.com
Favourite Song: School (Track 4)

Again, an artist who was actually happy with the idea of me reviewing them, enough to send a second effort to me. I’m honoured and grateful! Since it’s getting tough to get music from the masses (seeing as how… well what can I say, Myspace kind of sucks these days) so here we go. Let’s listen to some more Alyson Greenfield! Oh, but one thing I just have to mention. I hate plastic wrap. Drives me insane because it’s nearly impossible to open. I received a CD opener as a gift from a management company that has been invaluable (sorry to them, I scratched the name off!) but it wouldn’t work with Alyson’s CD since it didn’t fit. And it took me… about 20 minutes to get the plastic wrap off since I had no sharp utensels at my disposal.

You know I probably won’t agree with any type of label that Alyson Greenfield has set for herself? Every song sounds so different from everything else. And every song I’ve heard so far from her defies logic. The strangest thing is her songs remind me of how the Simpsons are written. How… the beginning of a song and the end to a song sound completely different, and only in hearing the whole thing at once will you be convinced it’s the same song. But there’s no defining moment where it changes.

Honestly, anyone who knows me knows that I was made to play the piano for many many years of my life. And I never found anything beautiful about the music that would come out when I sat near the thing, because I never really considered myself a musician. And because of that, I think I am always in a type of disgusted awe where beautiful music is able to come out of the instrument, and how I was not one of the people able to do it. Quiet jealousy probably.

Alright, so where I would listen to Alyson Greenfield, I honestly don’t know. I can think of a pretty wide collection of friends of mine who would really love to give a listen, and I’ll probably pass the CD along to at least a few of them. I’m starting to think of new music in terms of who else might enjoy it. And at this point, I’m thinking of the people who are a little bit hippy-ish, and those who always have had a penchant for all things “on the strange side of normal.”

Name: The Pinetree Line
Album: Sunrise and Streetlights
Released: 2007
Members:
Lindsay Dagenais - bass
Jordan Lane - drums, percussion
Paul Taylor - vocals, guitar
Jason Van de Water - keyboards

Website: www.thepinetreeline.com
Record Label: The Pinetree Line Records
Favourite Song: Heartbreaker (track 5)

Alright, so everyone by now knows that I rely on the band and Myspace a lot to figure out, usually the genre of the band because I’m a horrible judge of that. But this I think was one of the very few times where I needed something (specifically iTunes) to figure out the album name. I couldn’t find it anywhere on the liner notes or on the CD case. Maybe it’s on the CD itself (which is in my CDrom currently) but iTunes says the album name is Sunrise and Streetlights. So that’s what I’ll put!

The Pinetree Line write themselves up to be a mix of Rock, Country and Blues. And I’ll agree with them, judging by the fact that they’re from Calgary, you really have to have some expectation of at least a little bit country and a little bit rock & roll. Ughs. That wasn’t supposed to be there. But it’s a nice mellow mix. I like it. I like a lot of things though. And if this is “country” I’m going to take a wild stab at the idea that it’s “new country” and not “old country”… which apparently Jessica Simpson has gotten herself into. I digress.

I said it before, and I’ll say it again The Pinetree Line is a mellow kind of rock. Just enough country for me to agree with the fact that they’re from “Cow-Town” AB. I think it’s just a few of the guitar riffs that makes me think country, otherwise I really wouldn’t. And while I really don’t like making comparisons, I can actually see myself thinking many of these songs are written in the same mindset as my favourite singer/songwriter of all time, Tom Cochrane. Someone else who a lot of people tell me has a bit of a country flair, which I can never see.

Where would anyone listen to some easy listening kind of rock? Everywhere! Seriously. There’s not a place I wouldn’t really mind listening to The Pinetree Line, and that’s a fact. I’d have no problem taking them to the gym on the treadmill, or just strolling through downtown Toronto. They’ll probably end up in my car CD rotation pretty shortly. I mean, my yoga studio probably won’t like them, but they don’t seem to like anything with words. At least not during class.