Death Vessel sounds like the name of a marauding metal combo. And, given the flowing mane of DV main-man Joel Thibodeau, immediate metal misconceptions are given a vote of tonsorial confidence. But even the briefest of listens to Death Vessel reveals something most un-metal.

Thibodeau plays gentle, folksy songs, preferring a more delicate aesthetic than turning things up to 11. And the tiny man with the big hair has one distinctive musical quirk: his voice. Going above and beyond even Geddy Lee's dreams, Thibodeau sings in a high, clear, choirboy's voice, getting routinely mistaken for a girl.

Sub Pop recently released Thibodeau's second Death Vessel album, Nothing is Precious Enough for Us, and the songsmith is currently in the midst of run of North American shows in support of it. Before he set out a ramblin' on the road, I spoke to Thibodeau about life as Death Vessel, his new disc, and, of course, his ultra-unique voice.

Photo © [Lisa Corson]

Though their all-male membership totals naught but four strapping young Stampede City lads, Calgary quartet Women still trade by the name, uh, Women. And under the name, uh, Women, these men of the New Zero Kanada crank out some seriously delicious noise, a rattling kind of garage-psych bathed in the hum of tape-hiss.

Due for an October 7 release on the Secretly Canadian-pimped Jagjaguwar imprint, Women's self-titled debut album is all of 29 minutes long; a staunchly-rhythmic set whose bashed-out, in-the-red repetitions recall riffs ripped out on old German kraut-rock records, and by the legendary British post-punk outfit This Heat.

The LP was "produced" by fellow Calgarian Chad VanGaalen —who, not so incidentally, has a smokin' hot new platter, Soft Airplane, being served up by Sub Pop next week— over a period of four months. VanGaalen captured Women on an array of old ghetto-blasters and reel-to-reel recorders, rolling magnetic tape "in his basement, an outdoor culvert, and a crawlspace." The result is a righteous racket, and another entry in 2008's analogue-loving lo-fi revival.

Women Track List
1. "Cameras"
2. "Lawncare"
3. "Woodbine"
4. "Black Rice"
5. "Sag Harbor Bridge"
6. "Group Transport Hall"
7. "Shaking Hand"
8. "Upstairs"
9. "January 8th"
10. "Flashlights"

Photo © [Lindsey Baker]