Oh Canada, again

Moments Of Protest by The Remains Of Brian Borcherdt

The Remains Of Brian Borcherdt is one of many bands Brian Borcherdt is involved with - as you will recall, I first talked about him and one of his newest projects, Holy F*ck a about a month back - he's also been in By Divine Right, Trephines, Burnt Black, and Chiselhand - he certainly keeps busy, and seems to have little trouble finding outlets for his creativity.

'The Remains' project was apparently started as a tribute to a fallen comrade and collaborator, with Brian writing, recording and releasing an EP in 2002 that earned him lots of praise. Since then, he's put together two full-length albums with the help of his brother Adam, and other friends of his adding layers of instrumentation (drums, horns, organs, bells, etc), working in various locales in Eastern Canada (Toronto, Ellenwood Lake in Nova Scotia, and London Ontario), and releasing two volumes of The Remains, one in 2004, and one earlier this year (where this song comes from) on his Dependent Music label.

Both records are really very good, with songs that go from quiet and melancholy, to big rocking tunes that are both sad and sweet. Some songs are stripped down to just guitar and Brian's great multi-tracked vocals, then others sometimes huge, layered rock freakouts. Although the songs can be kind of heavy at times, its also worth noting that Brian is also a really funny guy - just look at the video for "Can't Stop Lovin' You" on his website... a guy in a bunny suit that can't stop humping everything? Helloooo?

You can purchase The Remains Of Brian Borcherdt Vol. 2 and his other albums (and lots of other sweet sweet Canadian rock music) at the Dependent Music online store - Dependent is a collectively-run label that supports independent music across Canada, which is something I support fully. Oh, Canada.