NSX: the Nova Scotian Xperience

I hate to butt in on Immaculate Machine and Novillero who haven't even had one week on the chart (as I'll call it), but I've got late-breaking news from the world of Canadian indie music! News that I must share with the devoted one or two people that read my blog! Remember, you heard it first here!

What happens when you cross two of the best Canadian acts out of Nova Scotia, Matt Mays and Buck 65 (for some strange reason I'm talking about the best acts out of N.S. without mentioning Joel Plaskett?)? Well, as the song title says you get: When The Angels Make Contact, a solidly rocking number from Matt May's new album by the same name. Known for his solo work as well as his CDs with backing band El Torpedo, Mays is the definitive Canadian indie hard rock act in a scene that has long abandoned hard rock to the cheesy odes of Nickelback or the to the dinosaurs of The Tragically Hip and Rush (not to mention whatever whale song Randy Bachman is turning out on some pacific island). In fact, the indie scene, as varied as it gets here with everything from "death country" (Elliot BROOD) to electronically-manipulated violin and piano (Final Fantasy) doesn't have much room for traditional crunchy guitar riffs and Chris Cornell-esque screams. Which in fact, is usually fine with me. As much as hard rock was my genre of choice as a teen its been so-constantly-and-consistently bastardized throughout the late 90s and 2000s that leaving it to die a cold and anonymous death seemed best, lest it pollute the glorious pride of Canada's budding scene.

Thus for me, Matt Mays has only been a passing interest. I saw him live (but not purposely) in Vancouver opening for Plaskett and again at V-Fest Toronto where he was relegated to the B-list stage (and put on the best performance I witnessed on that stage). His tunes were good but not great, they provided the kind of hard rock background noise that might as well come from Nickelback. The songs just did not stand out, against one another or on their own.

Buck 65, on the other hand, is a Canadian legend, as far as that goes. The Eminem of the Canadian East, sans lyrics of strangling wife and child naturally. In fact, Buck 65 easily transcends the category of rap, with a brisk spoken-word pace that sounds like its tinged with slam poetry as much as conventional rap. His music itself is never satisified with being a simple beat to his vocals, and he takes on a number of genres from the electronically synthezied Devil's Eyes to his cowboy-rockin' Road House Blues. The bilingual Buck also slips between French and English on his latest CD Secret House Against the World...

So what happens when you mix this overly-potent talent with up-and-coming Matt Mays: an extremely solid effort that ends up overshadowing (if possible) Buck 65 and illuminating the potential of hard-rock greatness in Mays. Starting with the grittly churning guitar riffs Mays' voice and lyrics immediately stand to be recognized. Buck 65's brief interlude provides a great dimension to a song that, even without his touch, would stand well on its own. Mays' final howl and the minute-long guitar solo that follows make me wish I owned a lighter.

Find out some more information about the artists from and then give the MP3 a whirl.

Matt Mays:

Matt Mays & El Torpedo is Matt Mays (guitar, vocals), Jarrett Murphy (guitar, vocals), Andy Patil (bass, vocals), Rob Crowell (keyboards) and Tim Baker (drums). MM&ET have spent the last four year touring the country endlessly. In that time the band has moved from opening shows for acts such as Blue Rodeo and Sam Roberts to headlining their own sold-out shows. The group recently took home four awards at the 2006 East Coast Music Awards. They are touring Canada with The Black Crowes in May 2006.

With Patil and Baker's driving rhythms supporting Crowell's organ swells and the squalls Murphy & Mays' dual guitar attack, MM&ET's sound is a soulful eruption of roots rock. From the first listen, it's obvious that they have that indefinable element that carries a group's music beyond the sum of its parts. "It's one of those things that you couldn't really construct with anyone," claims Mays of the band's chemistry. "It's a really natural solidification in music of five friends who like, listen to and laugh at all the same things."

MattMays.com

Buck 65:

Buck 65 is old. He started out as a b-boy back in '82 while living in Small Town, Nova Scotia, but today this no-nonsense white boy is the Jimmy Castor of hip hop. Handling production, lyrics, and Djing duties by himself, Buck may be the man to single-handedly rescue hip hop. Many regarded Buck as somewhat of a weirdo because his subject matter includes fashion design, freestyle BMX, baseball, and ichthyology. Maybe he's a throwback, maybe he's the future, but you can't hear any death threats or hollow boasting coming from this honky. Forget about it. This is music that picks up where the rap performance in Revenge of the Nerds left off.

NewMusicCanada.com

So without furhter ado, please enjoy When The Angels Make Contact.mp3