Bow before 2007 Polaris Music Prize winner Patrick Watson. He is the second coming of Sam Roberts (visually at least....his music is actually 875.69% better than that of Roberts). Just as Sam Roberts discards of the beard that made him so scruffily adorable (in exchange for more adult contemporary notoriety...there is an entirely different music world that exists in the ad-con [my slang for "adult contemporary] bubble of MuchMoreMusic...a place where Sarah McLachlan is still putting out albums and James Blunt is considered more than just background music for Grey's Anatomy) Patrick Watson emerges, bearded and all.
Last July, I was so overanxious to see Emily Haines in all her splendour (and believe me, there is a LOT of splendour emitted from Ms. Haines....I think she sweats it out and it smells like incense, but not the cheap kind that Jamaican guys try to sell you in Kensington, I mean the good stuff) that I nearly overlooked opener Watson in lieu of my forward-thinking erection for Haines' set. In retrospect, Watson was fantastic and now I feel like a jerk for only saying so after his winning the Polaris. Fie on me! Fie!
His fantastic album Close To Paradise evokes a certain dreamy similarity to Coldplay's Parachutes album. It is soft music that has an underlying edge, like a butterknife that can still be used for murder, or at least can cut through a tough steak. As well, he incorporates a fantastic wall of sound, layering theramin, strings, horns, organ, accordian, and soforth.
Interestingly, after reading his wikipedia page, it turns out that Watson had a song featured on Grey's Anatomy. Should I swallow my tongue for my bracketed jab at James Blunt now? Is my own brand of medicine (Ian's Cervix Serum) delicious? Well, fuck James Blunt, high-voiced scoundrel that he is. Yes, I know, he was a NATO "peacekeeper" (that term is questionable when you're a soldier wielding an AK-47) and I should cut him some slack and rub his balls or something. Well, NATO's mission in Kosovo was misguided and "You're Beautiful" sucks giant wang. So fuck that.
Watson's album is fantastic for a rainy day such as this (or if you're in Korea, everyday). Enjoy.
