Emm Gryner is a radiant gem
hidden in the bushel that is the Canadian indie music scene.
Demos and
fruit baskets led to a major label gig
for one album
but she prizes her independence above all
and so, prior to it, and ever since
she’s put out her records on her own label, Dead Daisy Records
Motto: "DIY or die"
For the time being we have her almost exclusively to ourselves
but some day the makers
of the next big Hollywood blockbuster
will be looking for one more tune to fill out the soundtrack and
someone will remember that chick
who used to sing back-up with Bowie.
She’ll write a new standard
get the Oscar nom for best original song,
appear on the Academy Awards and be
snatched away to universal stardom.
If you’re new to her music I’d recommend you pick up
the aforementioned major label release first.
It’s called
Public.
You’ll fall in love with "Summerlong"
and "Hello Aquarius"
and "89 Days of Alcatraz"
and next you’ll be wanting
Science Fairand
Asianblueand then the record that stands as her masterpiece
to date, IMHO,
Girl Versions.
A covers record wherein she renders
80s lite metal radio fodder as existential melancholia,
reveals, beneath the inchoate gesture of
The Clash’s "Straight to Hell",
a devastating protest dirge
and creates elegant exit music
of Thrush Hermit’s
scuzzy epic "The Day We Hit the Coast".
As it happens this week
I’ve been doing my annual
Re-airing of discs that didn’t
catch fire for me the first time around
To see if there really was a spark in there
I missed. I’d been a little disappointed with
Songs of Love and Death back in January,
hearing a record about limitation and
marking time between 'major' releases but I think
perhaps I missed the boat, I mean really missed the boat,
cause now I’m hearing a gorgeous
little miniature which as always with Emm
has a logic all it’s own. And so now
I so
cannot wait for my copy of
The Great Lakes to arrive in the mail!
P.S. – Apologies to Emm for the attempt to cop her inimitable
style.
