JM: Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica Stefan: Guitar, Mandolin, slide, cello Shin: Drums Dave: Bass, Back Up Vocals Stein: Guitar, Clarinet
Violin on Mercury in Retrograde by Jacques Mindreau.
Influences
Bob Dylan, Sonic Youth, Neutral Milk Hotel, Primus, Built to Spill, The Sadies, Captain Beefheart, Frank Sinatra, White Stripes, Misfits, Gun Club, Velvet Underground, Okkervil River, Old 97's, the Buzzcocks, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Led Zeppelin, MC5, Wilco, Phil Ochs, Modest Mouse, the Smiths, The Stooges, Tom Waits, Blood Ceremony, The Shins, Lonnie Johnson, The Beatles, David Bowie, Neil Young, Pavement, Harry Nilsson, The Stoics, Moby Grape, Townes Van Zandt, M Ward, Jefferson Airplane, Dire Straits, Sunset Rubdown, The Greenhornes, Blind Willie McTell, Frank Zappa, Fairport Convention, Tomorrow, T-Bone Walker, the Tragically Hip, The Zombies, Django Reinhardt, ...
Sounds Like
A high noon showdown between your left and right brain, in the middle of an electrical storm, when the carnival is in town.
"SEVEN ACROSS THE SEA" by KEY WITNESS will be out on March 21st.
"There’s never the sense of experimentation for experimentation’s sake - Sea may take an unexpected route to get where they’re going, but considering the intense and frequently exhilarating record that results, there’s no doubt that they’ve got the map and know exactly where they’re going." - Chromewaves
PRAISE FOR “MERCURY IN RETROGRADE” by KEY WITNESS
“Best indie effort [of 2007]: Toronto’s Key Witness’s Mercury in Retrograde is a great combination of modern rock and alt-country.” - Vue Weekly (Edmonton)
“Album highlight ‘Desert Novel’ [is] a seven-minute epic that exceeds anything on the Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible in musical scope and lyrical depth...A potent brew equally as influenced by A Silver Mt. Zion as Johnny Cash and Sonic Youth, Mercury In Retrograde is easily one of the most overlooked albums of 2007.” - Exclaim!
“**** (out of 5) This sextet blends a perfect mix of alt-folk rock and infectious pop melodies, sewn together by the sweet and sometimes frenetic sounds of the violin.”
-Metro News (Toronto)
“Mercury in Retrograde is a splendid mix of art rock with a hint of country that is rich with rustic guitar twangs, husky vocals and elegant string work...I think Mercury in Retrograde has enough substance and boot stomping pop to appeal to more than just the indie crowd.” - Two-Way Monologues
“Desert Novel is enough to make this album a worthy purchase — the seven-minute track is soaked in Sonic Youth, wrapped in Arcade Fire and covered with enough of their own seasoning to create a distinctive, powerful song. Diversity can be a beautiful thing."
-Eye Weekly (Toronto)
Sold at:
Sonic Boom (512 Bloor St. W Toronto)
Soundscapes (572 College St. Toronto)
Also available through amazon, napster, emusic and itunes.
Key Witness is a Toronto quintet most commonly labeled as folk-rock, but sometimes referred to as math-rock, folk-punk or gothic-country. They feel most comfortable with the "-".
Since 2005, the Key Witness live show has gathered a cult following with its enormous energy and eclectic soundscapes. Their interdisciplinary ethos consistently gazes into separate horizons while keeping one foot grounded in folk. Bus boys, mathematicians, filmmakers, and deportation dodgers; this assortment of highly-skilled musicians finds inspiration in everything from an expanding/collapsing universe to reruns of The Twilight Zone.
They’ve played at the NXNE festival with King Khan and his Shrines, and opened for such bands as Japan's Zoobombs, The Willowz, Plants and Animals, The Dodos, Polaris Prize Winner Patrick Watson and Swedish rockers the Soundtrack of Our Lives.
The band's debut album "Mercury in Retrograde", produced by Jay Sadlowski and Key Witness, was recorded at Toronto's Chemical Sound and independently released in 2007.
Hey all, judgement day is upon us! Well, maybe not BUT our grand spankin CD RELEASE show is tomorrow night (saturday july 11th) at the Lengendary Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto! On top of that, we have 4 brand new songs from the album on <a href="http://www.myspace.com/sychologic">our myspace</a> , take a listen, do a little jive and than get ur ass to the Horseshoe or listen to our 4 new songs on repeat till you buy our album. We hit the stage at 10pm!
wow do I sound like sinead o'conor or what? oh yes, and yadda yadda everything sounds (profanity) amazing, duh. I have managed to faint through your last two shows but I will certainly be at the cd release!
That was a great set at The Silver Dollar. A commanding fusion of infectious energy, that dips into rock, folk, bound together by that roots-based spirit. A communal merging of musical souls, this is a carefree celebration of both the traditional and contemporary, illuminating the darkest corners with a warm sheet of sunlight.
Hey! Thanks for the friendship! Just want to let you know the first single off my debut album has been released; it's called "My List"...hope you can catch it! Hope all is going great for you. Stop by and let me know how you are, and if you have time, please click the DEMAND widget on my page; maybe I'll be coming to your home town! Thanks...Take care & God Bless, ~Heidi www. heidiraye. com
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