When Ottawa, Canada music scene staple Ben Wilson (aka That’s the Spirit) released his first, ultra lo-fi cassette E.P. ‘I Like His Older Stuff’ on a whim, he didn’t figure much would happen. ‘Older Stuff’, after all, was recorded with two ghetto blasters, a broken Radio Shack mic, a cracked classical guitar and an ancient delay pedal that caught fire during recording.
A while later, though, a web search revealed the uniquely haunting basement recording was hitting the top 10 on college radio charts, leading him to set out recording a proper solo album in early 2008 — written, recorded, mixed and produced himself in true DIY/control-freak fashion. This time with more higher-fi studio trickery he’d picked up as a recording apprentice, and without anything exploding.
The press, radio and blog love-in that has followed the release of ‘Staying Places’ has been exponential since the original release: the UK’s Line of Best Fit called it “a spotless, near-perfect release”; The Ottawa Sun called it “breathtaking” and Soundproof Magazine called it “one of Wilson’s most inspired projects to date.” Described by NPR’s All Songs Considered as “gorgeous [with] intricate arrangements”, ‘Staying Places’ is played on stations from commercial radio in the UK, to the BBC, to the CBC, to college radio in Canada and the U.S. In the summer of ‘09 the five-piece space-folk outfit was selected to play some of the hottest festivals in Canada, including a showcase at Toronto’s North by Northeast and Pitter Patter Festival, and at Calgary’s Sled Island Festival, and was hand-picked by Apostle of Hustle to open a tour spot. Most recently, the band was a pick of the month in Electronic Musician Magazine, and the song “Head for the Hills” was chosen to be featured on Degrassi: The Next Generation, airing in 130 countries.
A travel-themed album, made ‘for explorers and armchair travellers alike’, ‘Staying Places’ is charting new courses for Wilson and his band. | |
