Music

Morning Noon Night: Jenny Omnichord at The Garrison

by Colin Medley

My favourite record label Out of this Spark celebrated their 3rd anniversary in January with a concert at the Garrison, with performances from their entire roster: Jenny Omnichord, Evening Hymns, Forest City Lovers and The D’Urbervilles. At the end of the evening, all the bands returned to the stage to play a few songs together, including this one by Jenny Omnichord called “Pain of Maybes.”

Let me tell you a little bit about Jenny Omnichord in case you aren’t familiar with all that she’s done. Her old band, The Barmitzvah Brothers, released five albums between 2000 and 2007. Their last album together, 2007’s Let’s Express Our Motives: An Album of Under-Appreciated Job Songs, is one of the best albums of the last ten years if you ask me. It’s pretty much perfect. Each song tackles a different occupation, from library page to janitor to rodeo clown, using a wide range of styles to capture the essence of each job. Since then, Jenny has released two more full-lengths and a few EPs, her most recent being Charlotte or Otis: Duets for Children, Their Parents and Other People Too, which featured collaborations with Jim Guthrie, Tony Dekker, Shad and many more.

Based off of Jenny’s almost annual output, we should be due for another album this year, and I for one can’t wait! As for Out of this Spark, it looks like it will be a pretty busy year, with new albums from Forest City Lovers and The D’Urbervilles anticipated for the fall.