the choir practice

The Choir Practice
Recordings By Adrian Mack
Publish Date: April 26, 2007
The Choir Practice (Mint)
For most of us, choir practice was a nightmare-a screaming drag of epic proportions made up of flat singing and the smell of wet kids in overlit assembly halls. Mercifully, the Choir Practice's eponymous debut doesn't invoke those feelings, instead conjuring a sort of a '60s utopia of beautiful and talented women, tambourines, and men in crisp white pants. No big surprise, really, since this Choir Practice comes from the Mint Records sunshine factory. Led by the Gay's Coco Culbertson and Larissa Loyva of P:ano, along with 12 colleagues and friends, including Ida Nielsen, Love and Mathematic's Shane Turner, and photographer Karin Bubas, the Choir Practice is equal parts goofy and uplifting, as well as self- consciously kitschy in the manner of a lot of Mint product.
The rhapsodic vanilla gospel of the New Seekers-mixed with Godspell and the quavering infant voices of the Langley Schools Music Project-seems to have inspired this bunch. Culbertson provides most of the songs, and her efforts are smart and often funny. "Pretty" and "Up All Day" stand out-especially the latter, which is a sugar- candy sibling to the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream". Carl Newman also provides one striking track, the woozy "Failsafe", while Loyva's three songs give these voices their most satisfying workouts, especially the euphoric "I See Things" and the stately "Things I Say", with its exhilarated chorus rising above a Hammond organ. The hypothesis is that a bunch of people singing their lungs out is irresistible, and based on this it's hard to argue the point.
- THe Georgia Straight

CITR 101.9 MHZ - Vancouver

* indicates Canadian artist. Chart ranking reflects airplay during the week ending 01-May-2007.

Top 30
01-May-2007
RANK ARTIST TITLE LABEL
1 The Choir Practice* S/T Mint
2 Detroit Cobras Tied and True Bloodshot
3 Frog Eyes* Tears Of The Valedictorian Scratch
4 I'm From Barcelona Let Me Introduce My Friends Mute
5 Joel Plaskett Emergency*Ashtray Rock MapleMusic
6 Junior Major* Tic Tac Heart Independent
7 The Hits* Hello Everybody, We Are... Independent
8 The Ponys Turn The Lights Out Matador
9 Various SC100 Secretly Canadian
10 Junior Boys* The Dead Horse Domino
11 Electrelane No Shouts, No Calls Too Pure
12 Low Drums And Guns Sub Pop
13 Love Of Diagrams Mosaic Matador
14 The Pack* Tintype Independent
15 Chromeo* Fancy Footwork Last Gang
16 Blonde Redhead 23 4AD
17 The Superfantastics* Pop-Up Book Independent
18 TV On The Radio Live At Amoeba Music Interscope
19 Amy Honey* Pioneer Woman Self Righteous
20 The Brains* Hell n' Back Stumble
21 Twink Ice Cream Truckin' Mulatta
22 Ted Leo & The PharmacistsLiving With The Living Touch & Go
23 Apostle Of Hustle* National Anthem Of Nowhere Arts & Crafts
24 Dntel Dumb Luck Sub Pop
25 You Say Party! We Say Die!* Lose All Time Paper Bag
26 Throbbing Gristle Part Two Mute
27 Various* The Secret Sessions: Rheostatics Tribute Zunior
28 Various Manoeuvres 1 So Called Recordings
29 Bill Callahan Woke On A Whaleheart Drag City
30 Daddy's Hands* Welcome Kings Kill Devil Hills


courtesy earshot-online.com


Luke Meat
Music Director
604-822-8733
CiTR 101.9 FM
233-6138 SUB Blvd.
Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1G8
citrmusic@club.ams.ubc.ca
- citr charts

Video: The Choir Practice: "Failsafe" (New Pornographers cover)
..

Glee clubs: not just for twee kids anymore. These days pop chorales Polyphonic Spree and I'm From Barcelona are merely the tall kids in the front of the Langley Schools choir room...the tip of the choir, um, iceberg. In the past couple of weeks alone, Feist performed with a white-clad all-Internet-star ensemble on "Late Show With David Letterman", Dirty Projectors and Beirut lent a hand for Grizzly Bear's new "Alligator (Choir Version)", and Diplo included a choral version of the Knife's "Heartbeats" on his Pitchfork mix. What, you really thought the Next Big Thing was supposed to be whistling?

Vancouver's the Choir Practice released a version of Carl Newman's "Failsafe" on their self-titled debut even before Newman's New Pornographers got around to issuing the Kathryn Calder-fronted rendition on Challengers. Led by former the Gay and A.C. Newman member Coco Culbertson, the Choir Practice includes New Pornographers drummer Kurt Dahle, Sydney Vermont (of Dan Bejar collaboration Hello, Blue Roses), and P:ano's Larissa Loyva, plus members of Blood Meridian, Love and Mathematics, Great Aunt Ida, and Heartbreak Scene, among others. The group's recording of "Failsafe" leaves out the New Pornos' "How Soon Is Now" guitar tremolo, instead layering sweetly sung vocals over a lone guitar and handclaps. Panning from face to face, the video plays like a Canadian equivalent of "We're From Barcelona". - Pitchfork Media

http://www.cbc.ca/radioshows/VINYL_CAFE/20070628.shtml

To quote Stuart Maclean on his June 28th show, "Here's one of my new Favorite bands, The Choir Practice with 'I See Things'"

- CBC Radio 1