Great Lake Swimmers

Mojo
"Beautiful, bittersweet, drifting, late-summer melancholia."

Product Description
With the buzz of crickets, Great Lake Swimmers’ self-titled debut opens with the subtly intoxicating "Moving Pictures, Silent Films." Plucked acoustic guitar weaves with sparse piano while crickets whisper in the background and songwriter Tony Dekker’s warbling voice hovers overtop; this could easily be the lonely soundtrack to a long-lost silent film. Recorded in an abandoned grain silo in southern Ontario, this haunting album finds its roots in classic folk music, and while mention of Nick Drake is undeniably loaded, it’s an unavoidable comparison. Throw in a pinch of Neil Young’s quieter moments and a touch of Cass McCombs and My Morning Jacket at their most sedate, and the result is the gorgeous sound of Great Lake Swimmers. With subtle colorings of acoustic guitar, piano, lap steel and accordion, it’s Toronto-based songwriter Dekker’s voice that carries the band. The reverby echo of Dekker’s vocals is the perfect accompaniment for a dark night on a moonlit porch or a long drive lit only by the dim glow of headlights. Addictive like the finest narcotics, this debut is an emotional, stirring album that is not just meant to be listened to…it’s meant to be soaked in.

Great Lake Swimmers,Great Lake Swimmers,Misra Records,Indie Rock,Pop,Rock,Rock/Pop,Sadcore

---

Great Lake Swimmers

Average customer rating: Buy it! You won't be sorry. Listen unsure but loving it!

Ongiara Great Lake Swimmers Manufacturer: Nettwerk Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Folk | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Similar Items: Great Lake Swimmers Emotionalism The Reminder New Moon Sky Blue Sky ASIN: B000OHZKB8 Release Date: 2007-05-08

Tracks:

1. Your Rocky Spine
2. Backstage With The Modern Dancers
3. Catcher Song
4. Changing Colours
5. There Is A Light
6. Put There By The Land
7. I Am Part Of A Large Family
8. Where In The World Are You
9. Passenger Song
10. I Became Awake

Customer Reviews:

Buy it! You won't be sorry........2007-07-16

It's been a while since my husband and I have come across such a beautiful and entrancing compilation of work. The lyrics and banjo-guitar accompaniment are beautiful. Wonderfully voiced, I could listen to this all day. There's not a bad track on the cd. This is definitely an extremely mellow and "chill-out" work, but it would appeal many; indie, bluegrass and country-music listeners alike.

Listen.......2007-07-02

I am ashamed to say that I was not aware that the Great Lake Swimmers existed until a couple of months ago. As a musician and someone who prides themselves in keeping an eye out for great music, how they, or shall I say Tony Dekker, slipped by me is a mystery. Long story short, I'm glad that I read a review in Paste magazine that prompted me to go out and buy this CD. Without question this is the best CD I've heard in 2007... IN ANY GENRE. In fact, I would be willing to say with authority that I would rank this CD with just about any of the great singer/songwriter CD's of the 70's (e.g., Late for the Sky, Pink Moon, Old. No.1, Flying Shoes, etc.)Yes, it's that good. From the first song, "Your Rocky Spine", you know you are in for something special. By the time you hit the end of the second song, "Backstage With the Modern Dancers" and Dekker pulls out the line, "And out there on the wooden floors, the sweat from their pores, I'm writing a list of songs I can sing by myself", I don't know about anyone else, but I think that's about as good as it gets, whether it be song lyrics or poetry. There's a spirit of deep longing and melancholy throughout this record, but there is also a feeling of "all is not lost", a spirit of hope that plays off of the loneliness as well. The songs are recorded using spare instrumentation (mostly acoustic guitar, banjo, double bass, and drums played with brushes). You do hear an electric guitar here, a keyboard there, an occasional orchestral instrument, but the arrangements are very understated. The vocals sound distant and are delivered with a sense of urgency and yearning. This is Americana, New Traditional Music of the highest order. As a songwriter myself, what I love about this record is how lyrically open it is and how musically simple the approach is. Dekker takes the kind of chances I still don't have the courage to (or anyone else that I know) as a writer. Lyrically, he writes very cathartically, but it is literate, not contrived or derivative. His musical arrangements are astonishing in their simplicity, but innovative at the same time, such as when the banjo parts are played to create the sense of piano/keyboard single notes or chordal phrasings. All of the songs are great, but the first five come out of the box so powerfully, that he really has you in the palm of his hand at that point. For anyone who enjoys deep lyrics, beautifully crafted music, and a unique listening experience, this is a must.

unsure but loving it!.......2007-06-11

I give it four stars bec ause it's still new and musically it doesn't seem as safe as the last two. They're trying new stuff and I'm not sure if the lyrics are as well thought out or if its good and I don't get it. I do know there's a lot of beautiful moments so if your a fan then you must buy it!

Average customer rating: Music For the Comfort Zone. Where have these guys been hiding? phenomenal first album Sirens songs Great Lake Swimmers folk pop debut

Great Lake Swimmers Great Lake Swimmers Manufacturer: Misra Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Similar Items: Ongiara The Reminder The Crane Wife Welcome, Convalescence Fort Recovery ASIN: B0007UDCJO Release Date: 2005-04-05

Tracks:

1. Moving Pictures Silent Films
2. The Man With No Skin
3. Moving, Shaking
4. Merge, A Vessel, A Harbour
5. I Will Never See The Sun
6. This Is Not Like Home
7. The Animals Of The World
8. Faithful Night, Listening
9. Three Days At Sea (Three Lost Years)
10. Great Lake Swimmers

Album Description

With the buzz of crickets, Great Lake Swimmers' self-titled debut opens with the subtly intoxicating "Moving Pictures, Silent Films." Plucked acoustic guitar weaves with sparse piano while crickets whisper in the background and songwriter Tony Dekker's warbling voice hovers overtop; this could easily be the lonely soundtrack to a long-lost silent film. Recorded in an abandoned grain silo in southern Ontario, this haunting album finds its roots in classic folk music, and while mention of Nick Drake is undeniably loaded, it's an unavoidable comparison. Throw in a pinch of Neil Young's quieter moments and a touch of Cass McCombs and My Morning Jacket at their most sedate, and the result is the gorgeous sound of Great Lake Swimmers. With subtle colorings of acoustic guitar, piano, lap steel and accordion, it's Toronto-based songwriter Dekker's voice that carries the band. The reverby echo of Dekker's vocals is the perfect accompaniment for a dark night on a moonlit porch or a long drive lit only by the dim glow of headlights. Addictive like the finest narcotics, this debut is an emotional, stirring album that is not just meant to be listened to…it's meant to be soaked in.

Customer Reviews:

Music For the Comfort Zone........2006-10-16

The sun had already set on the Summer of Love when the apocryphally named,'America' wormed their anthemic mantra,'Horse With No Name' into popular consciousness. As banal as,'American Pie' but lacking pretentious obtuseness, we hummed along, similarily unfazed by its absurdities. This was surrealism without the joke. Which is what? An adolescent nursey rhyme looped in limbo. Which brings me to,Great Lake Swimmer's,'Bodies & Minds'. Dekker and his dudes look to be serious youg guys and they sound gorgeous. It's recorded in the suitable surrounds of an Ontarian Church. In fact the simplistic ambience of latterday Christianity is where the Decemberist's pitch is. For all the alleged Neil Young ancestry, their grittless lyrics bear about the same resemblance to their fellow Canadian as Kahil Gibran's spirituality does to the rhapsodic love poetry of Rumi. A matter of taste? What isn't. There will be plenty of advocates for these singalong pleasantries, just as several generations on, surrealist grunt and bite has devolved into prolific advertising kitsch. Singalongs are terrifically comforting and this is music for the comfort zone, at best a pale aphrodisiac. If only the Great Lake swimmers were joking.

Where have these guys been hiding?.......2006-10-09

Or have I just been living in a bubble?

Great Lake Swimmers is one of the better bands I've heard in a long while. A refreshing deviation from the overhyped, mainstream offerings currently playing over the airwaves.

I agree with some that the songs are definitely not going to make you feel like all is sunny and sparkling in the world. They are, however, extremely beautiful and Tony Dekker's voice has a soothing quality about it that is very appealing.

I definitely hear some Neil Young influence. They also remind me a bit of South San Gabriel (specifically, Will Johnson).

If you like Iron & Wine (Sam Beam)or the artists referenced above, you'll likely enjoy this album.

phenomenal first album.......2005-09-20

After having massively warped my copy of "Bodies & Minds," their newest release, from overuse in my car stereo, I recently caught a GLS show at a small local music café, where tragically there were less than 20 people in attendance, and where I was first introduced to the 10 ethereal, overpowering songs from this album, their first. Tony Dekker, finger-picking a very cello-sounding Seagull guitar, laid waste to the place. His vocals alone were enough to make you put off that bathroom break for painfully long stretches of time, striking a balance between the hushed intimacy of Sam Beam's whispered lullabies and the impressive range of Tim Buckley's operatic tenor. "Moving Pictures, Silent Films," a song in which the chord progression tumbles down the pentatonic scale in 3 sorrowful little movements, put more than a few lumps in the throats of those listening. And if "Merge, A Vessel" didn't leave the entire audience grief-stricken, "This is Not Like Home" left most digging in their pockets and purses for Kleenex, or choking down beer to regain composure. While I might be making their music sound like a trip to the funeral home, consider the monumental difficulty in creating something that has both the emotional and personal resonance as such a deathly event. Then consider whether or not it is time to stop ingesting sugar-coated, sunny pop numbers that deny a dismal reality for songs that look it square in the eye and embrace it.

Sirens songs.......2005-07-08

A great album for days spent endlessly wondering if she'll ever come back to you - if things will ever be. But be careful, it must be followed by the likes of James Brown, Sugarman 3, disco or heartfelt rock cause only real funk can break the funk you may find yourself in after listening to this beautiful overlooked best album I've discovered this year.

Great Lake Swimmers folk pop debut.......2005-05-16

If beautiful and haunting is your thing, this self-titled debut is right up your alley. 'Great Lake Swimmers' wallows in brooding introspection, sparse acoustic guitars with smokey mellow vocals, falling somewhere in between Chris Martin and Gomez's Ben Ottwell. The songs lope and swirl along at post-rock-like Mazzy Star pace, with a twinge of My Morning Jacket/Grandaddy country twang. From the first track on, the Great Lake Swimmers overwhelms you soothing, reflective, meditative balladry.

Average customer rating: Epically Modest A step up from their first Loving this so far Only halfway This Album is Great!!!

Bodies and Minds Great Lake Swimmers Manufacturer: Misra Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Similar Items: Great Lake Swimmers Ongiara The Crane Wife Fox Confessor Brings the Flood Palo Santo ASIN: B000BCKFNY Release Date: 2005-10-11

Tracks:

1. Song for the Angels
2. Let's Trade Skins
3. When It Flows
4. Various Stages
5. Bodies and Minds
6. To Leave It Behind
7. Falling into the Sky
8. Imaginary Bars
9. I Saw You in the Wild
10. I Could Be Nothing
11. Long into the Evening

Customer Reviews:

Epically Modest.......2007-02-01

Bodies and Minds is like a long walk through a foggy, wet valley.
It's beautiful, refreshing, seemingly endless... and at certain times, flat. If you choose to purchase the album, which I highly recommend, don't expect much in the way of diversity.
It is, at times, painstakingly simple.
What you have to keep in mind is: simplicity can be beautiful.

The high points for me on this album are the moments filled with reverberating, modest vocals. However, if you don't have a taste for simple, emotive, vocals / guitar / folk /indie music- then I would suggest proceeding with caution. If you're interested in bands like Bright Eyes, Calexico, and Jose Gonzalez- then I would definitely recommend Bodies and Minds.

It's a beautiful glimpse into what GLS is capable of. I can't wait to see how their songwriting continues to develop.

Best moments: I Could Be Nothing, Song for the Angels

A step up from their first.......2007-01-04

An overall improvement from the first GLS long player. Gotta say I like it more than something like Iron & Wine. To take nothing away from Iron & Wine, the GLS sound is just a bit more consistent and pleasing to the ear. Why should you buy it? Because after a long day at work, this is excellent dinner-cooking and dinner-eating music for people who don't want to listen to Miles Davis. Also, the babes will think you're cool.

Loving this so far.......2006-12-13

Beautiful, dreamy music - ideal for headphones during insomnia. This guys voice is really something too. What is with these Canadians - seems like all the great indie music is coming from up north!

Only halfway.......2006-08-26

This album only half does it for me. I like his voice and lyrics but found it a bit slow.

This Album is Great!!!.......2006-08-12

I discovered this album few days ago and fell in love with it. Beautiful songs, with catchy melodies over lovely folky background and soft banjo playing.
The vocals are airy, sensitive and touching.
One of the best albums I've recently heard.

Average customer rating:

Ongiara Great Lake Swimmers ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Folk | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music ASIN: B000O5AY5M Release Date: 2007-05-08

Tracks:

1. Your Rocky Spine
2. Backstage with the Modern Dancers
3. Catcher Son
4. Changing Colours
5. There Is a Light
6. Put There by the Land
7. I Am Part of a Large Family
8. Where in the World Are You
9. Passenger Song
10. I Became Awake

Average customer rating: Haunting...

Bodies & Minds ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Rock | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: Great Lake Swimmers ASIN: B00081BDN4 Release Date: 2005-04-05

Album Description

Great Lake Swimmers return with a warm second album, Bodies and Minds, filled with songs of heartbreak, rural nostalgia, and the search for spiritual transcendence. The album picks up where Great Lake Swimmers' critically-acclaimed 2003 debut left off, featuring gentle, thoughtful compositions and understated instrumentation, while also moving fluidly into alt-country pop territory with sweet harmonies, light orchestration, and even a few up-tempo numbers. (Think Mark Kozelek playing Neil Young, or the delicate Nick Drake delivered with the heart of Gram Parsons.) Bodies and Minds was recorded in a lakeside church in rural southern Ontario, continuing the emphasis on atmosphere from the debut album (which was recorded in an abandoned grain silo). Engineered by Andy Magoffin (Constantines, Royal City) and mixed at his celebrated House of Miracles, the record has a sparkle and shimmer that is due in part to the cavernous surroundings in which it was captured. Outside Music. 2005. * No US releases scheduled until August 2005.

Customer Reviews:

Haunting..........2005-04-12

Haunting, melancholic, simplistic, breathtaking. Tony Dekker takes you on an introspective journey. Bravo!

Average customer rating: A very Canadian record Excellent

Great Lake Swimmers Great Lake Swimmers ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music ASIN: B0001M1KFQ

Tracks:

1. Moving Pictures Silent Films
2. Man With No Skin
3. Moving, Shaking
4. Merge, A Vessel, A Harbour
5. I Will Never See the Sun
6. This Is Not Like Home
7. Animals of the World
8. Faithful Night, Listening
9. Three Days at Sea (Three Lost Years)
10. Great Lake Swimmers

Album Description

Easily the most captivating combination of ghostly vocals, hypnotic songs, and environmental atmospherics in a long time. Goose bumps guaranteed! Recorded in an abandoned grain silo. Tony Dekker's songs and singing have been compared to Mojave 3's Neil Halstead as well as a quiet My Morning Jacket. Ten tracks packaged in a digipak. Fargo. 2004.

Customer Reviews:

A very Canadian record.......2004-07-13

With the execption of a few songs, Tony Dekker is the soul musician behind this very melodic and beautiful CD. Knowing that the songs were recorded in an abandoned farm silo in rural Ontario gives it a truly haunting feel. If you listen carefully you can hear a chorus of crickets in the background through out.

Excellent.......2004-06-13

Drenched in reverb, like My Morning Jacket, but much softer and with kick-ass melodies. Definitely worth listening to, especially if you are a fan of After the Gold Rush-era Neil Young.

Average customer rating:

Great Lake Swimmers Great Lake Swimmers ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Rock | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B0000DIGND Release Date: 2003-01-28

Tracks:

1. Moving Pictures Silent Films
2. The Man With No Skin
3. Moving, Shaking
4. Merge, a Vessel, a Harbour
5. I Will Never See the Sun
6. This Is Not Like Home
7. The Animals of the World
8. Faithful Night, Listening
9. Three Days At Sea (three Lost Years)
10. Great Lake Swimmers

Album Description

Easily the most captivating combination of ghostly vocals, hypnotic songs, and environmental atmospherics in a long time. Goose bumps guaranteed! Recorded in an abandoned grain silo. Tony Dekker's songs and singing have been compared to Mojave 3's Neil Halstead as well as a quiet My Morning Jacket. Ten tracks packaged in a digipak. Fargo. 2004.

Average customer rating:

Bodies & Minds ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music ASIN: B000CCUFKQ Release Date: 2006-01-24

Average customer rating:

Songs For Another Place Various Artists , Songs For Ulan , Prague , Giardini Di Mirò , Midwest , Satellite , Hogwash , Franklin Delano , A Toys Orchestra , and Goodmorningboy ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music ASIN: B000NL2NHO

Product Description

Songs For Another Place! 2006 Import Double CD Set! TRACKS: A01 You Must Stay Out / Songs For Ulan [2:46]; A02 Smothering Times / Prague [4:54]; A03 The Rainy Session / Giardini Di Mirò [5:03]; A04 The Horsefly's Corner / Midwest [2:44]; A05 A Place Where Nobody Cares (A Song For Phil) / Satellite [4:53]; A06 My Dear December / Hogwash [4:24]; A07 You'll Never Get / Franklin Delano [5:13]; A08 Nena Iena / A Toys Orchestra [4:58]; A09 Parallels / Goodmorningboy [4:44]; A10 They Killed Storius In Roselina Mare / Rosolina Mar [7:22]; A11 Have A Bee In One's Bonnet / Ultraviolet Makes Me Sick [3:40]; A12 My Dream Doesn't Lie To My Soul / Blessed Child Opera [3:32]; A13 Speak Of Love / Cesare Basile [4:01]; A14 A Chasing Shadow / Gea [4:00]; A15 Silly Things / Psyco Sun [1:46]; A16 Tricks For The Audience / Buzzino/Lorenzo Corti [3:19]; A17 Spiderland / Edwoods [3:01]; A18 Song For Another Place / Softone [3:34]; B01 Move On / Faris Nourallah [3:00]; B02 Song For The Angels (Miracle Version) / Great Lake Swimmers [4:26]; B03 The Disappeared (Acoustic Version) / Strugglers [2:51]; B04 Dangerous / LUCA [3:32]; B05 Steven Knows That I Will Be / LaZarus [3:54]; B06 The Schizmatists' Curse / Will Johnson [3:24]; B07 Jenny Play Your Bets (Live) / Dolorean [4:38]; B08 Without / Jeffrey Luck Lucas [3:45]; B09 Fill The House / Hirsches [4:32]; B10 Fast Is A Blast / Tobin Sprout [3:40]; B11 Leaving Time / Barzin [6:38]; B12 Reclutant Angel / Swearing At Motorists [1:59]; 1B3 One Of My Turns / Phosphorescent [4:22]; B14 Lights Over Water / Hotel Alexis [2:27]; B15 Dental Hygienist / Unbunny [1:27]; B16 Neon Wells / Tracker [4:09]; B17 Turned Away / Holy Sons [4:09]; B18 Flashlights / Everything Is Fine [3:14]; B19 Alice / The Cannery [4:34]; & B20 Friendship Alliance / Elephant Micah [3:10].

Average customer rating:

Great Lake Swimmers Great Lake Swimmers Manufacturer: Phantom Sound & Vision ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B000BRIJIC Release Date: 2004-12-07

Rap Music:

1. Heat of the Moment [CD-single]
2. Hold on Love [Enhanced]
3. Home, Home on the Road/Brujo [Original recording remastered] [Import]
4. Invisible Ones [Enhanced]
5. Iron [Import]
6. Jerry Garcia Band [Live]
7. Just Another Band from East L.A.: A Collection [Box set]
8. Lamf [Limited Edition]
9. Lawn Boy
10. Little Criminals

Rap Music

rap music

Recommended Music:

Music Review: Absolute Almighty V.10 [Import]

Romantic Tone Poem [Enhanced]

Missing Chapters, Vol. 4: The Red Cavalry March

Music: Piano Music

Metal Rhythm

Militia

Reach for the Son

Meat Is Murder

Luiz Carlos da Vila [Import]

Mozart: Clarinet Concerto; Oboe Concerto

Live at Montmartre, Vol. 1 [Live]

More Real Gone Girls

Make It Right [CD-single] [Import]

The Best of Tommy Ellison

Eartha Kitt - Greatest Hits