relationship the singer cynically suggests that the
emotionally distant couple revel in the only compo-
nent of their realtionship left to them, their physi-
cality.

The last tune in the suite is the melancholy
‘Streetlight’ This is one of my personal favourites
in performance and on her CD, The lyric evokes a
postcoital glow as the song tells us of the practical
love (Is that a contradiction in terms?) between two
people as they share their lives but live apart, com-
ing together to share their experiences and in the
sharing to lift one another's soul. In all, a bluntly
romantic song which would normally stick in my
jaded sensibilities like a rock in my shoe, but here
the musicianship and songcraft exhibited eliminated

Time Waits

CD Release Party @ the Anza Club

any cynicism on the part of this listener.

The set at the Southhill was well received by
those in attendance and bodes well for this budding
diva’s career. If you would like to purchase this CD,
it is available at HMV on Robson, Sam the Record

_ Man on Seymour downtown (but if you go to any

Sam’s in a mall, they can have it ordered in for
you), A & B Sound on Seymour (next to Sam’s)
and hopefully soon at the Virgin Megastore on
Burrard. You can also order it by calling Miriam’s
contact line at 321-0405. Her next gig is
Thursday, May 28 at the Cafe Deux Soleil, 2096
Commercial Drive (Fifth and Commercial area),
with her set starting at around 10:30 pm. CDs will
be for sale at the gig. See ya there.

one of nothing else immediately. This is a good thing.
The tempos of the songs don't stray beyond the
mid to slow groove but I didn’t find myself getting

bored or craving some peppier numbers. This is testa-

Apr. 24, 1998 ment to the thoughtful pacing of the set and to the

ELIJAH BAK

band’s chief songwriter Jane Gowan’s ability to craft

 

his was my first exposure to this bright four piece,
but as the cliche goes it won't be my last. Their
sound is reminiscent at times of Portishead or even

Sarah McLachlan, but these comparative descriptions are too
reductive of this band’s sound. Their writing varies from

trip-hop to bluegrass inflected
balladry to light funk and is
consistently melodic and pleasing
to the ear.

They took the stage at around
nine and with an accompanying
slide show of photographs on the
walls above and beside the stage
they played their entire nine track
CD for their first set. With
Eduardo Ottoni on drums, James
Ong on viola da gamba (essentially
a six stringed viola), Jane Gowan
on keyboard, accordion and trum-
pet and Koralee Tonack on vocals
and rhythm guitar, this band has a
marked distaste for the instrumen-
tal and timbral conventions of the
rock genre. Eschewing the guitar,
bass and drums set-up, Time Waits
has a look and sound that reminds

 

memorable tunes in a variety of styles that doesn't pander to
current attitudes or market demands.

The multi-instrumentalist Gowan and singer Tonack were
all that existed of this band three years ago when they start-
ed out as a duo. The next addition to the group was drum-
mer Ottoni, whose rhythmic sensibilities gives the songs a
highly danceable groove without

being obnoxious. Viola da gamba
player Ong was working at the
Southhill Candy Shop where the
early incarnations of Time Waits
were gigging on a regular basis. He
joined the group to add a bass
tone that wasnt actually bass as
well as the viola’s lighter bowed
sounds and textures.

The most pleasing aspect of
this group's impressive musician-
ship is its ability to sing four part
harmony, which is beautifully
demonstrated on the album’s clos-
er, Dance Before the Dawn:
Brecht/ Weill-like ballad is

arguably one of the most beauti

   
    

tunes that I have heard from a po