(Scroll down for more recent reviews of
A Date With a Smoke Machine)
Review from Americana-UK:
Another Canadian
... Another Great Record
A thread in the Americana-UK forum late last year started to debate why Canada produces so much very good music. After a few suggestions (no X-Factor was one) it turned into a list of great Canadian musicians. Chris Page wasn’t on that list – he should be.
'A Date with A Smoke Machine' has (and I’m using my broadest of broad brushes to paint this picture) two types of track: the acoustic track and the electric track. The beauty of this is that Page seems to have written each song with whatever was a hand at the time. If there was something to plug the Gretch he is holding on the back cover of the album into, then it was electric, if there wasn’t it was acoustic.
Page would seem to be the sort of guy who, if he were hungry, would wander down to the local grocery store with just a vague idea of want he wanted to eat, would have a look around to see what looked good then take it home and cook it. He’s not the sort who would ponder for hours over the latest celebrity chef’s book, make an extensive list then give up because he couldn’t get the right colour pepper. He has the ability to move from the tender folky acoustics of 'Closets Overflowing' to the rockiness of “Fall Back Morning” without missing a beat or breaking sweat.
'A Date With A Smoke Machine' with it’s mix of folk and rock and punk gets better and better with every listen.
"9 out of 10"
- John Hawes, March 2010
CHRIS PAGE BIO FROM KELP RECORDS:
A Marshall cabinet, speaker cloth spray-painted and torn, Cons
six inches off the floor, a Townshend-heavy riff crashing down off
the stage like a wrecking ball. This is how I first remember Chris Page, a small basement club somewhere in Ottawa,
rock ‘n’ roll played as if life depended on it.
Now, years later, I take a walk with Page's new solo album
"A Date With a Smoke Machine."
The crushing guitar of his
legendary Glengarry punks The Stand GT or current
alt-anthem machine Camp Radio only lurks at the corners here.
Front and centre is Page's songwriting, accompanied by
acoustic guitars and noisy curios that sound plucked from dusty
rec rooms. Plaintive, thoughtful, at times nostalgic, this is music that
plays with memories of beginnings and endings, and might just
be as crushing as a 100-watt wall of sound.
With a new Camp Radio album slotted for release in late 2010,
high kicks and high volume will soon return to the Page camp.
But in the meantime, "A Date With a Smoke Machine" is something
we should take time to savour. Here, in story and in sound, we find
a songwriter perfecting his craft. Here, layers peeled back, we find
songs that need second and third listens, melodies to hum,
words to remember.
MORE REVIEWS:
Not only will the sexy, tormented voice of Chris Page make you melt, but that guitar work of his is pure greatness. A Date with a Smoke Machine is haunting. The songs cling to you as the memories that made them must cling to Page. And there isn’t a single letdown in the bunch. It’s poetic and moving and constantly surprising you with lyrics like, “I creep into your sleep with panic stricken song.” Page even provides the back story for each song, revealing that even his point of view is poetic. He borrowed a friend’s guitar while on tour and used it to write the introduction to a song. He admits, “I’m not sure if taking songs out of someone’s guitar is fair game.” All’s fair in love Chris, and I love this CD. It’s a new staple for road trips and lazy Sundays.
STACEY LAWRENCE
See Magazine, Edmonton
January 2010
"Coax the Ending Day"
This standout from an upcoming solo album by one-third of the underappreciated Ottawa pop-punk band Camp Radio is so propulsive, it's a shock to belatedly realize that the arrangement has no drums. If you can imagine a cross between Billy Bragg's "Levi Stubbs' Tears" and The Shins' "Kissing the Lipless," you'll be about halfway there. (From A Date With a Smoke Machine, out Feb. 16, http://chrispage.bandcamp.com)
- John Sakamoto, Anti-Hit List
January 2010
Toronto Star
“The songs will stick with you…the pop sensibilities compliment the brilliant lyrics…” – Ottawa Xpress
"When your head starts bobbing, you realize the 1:47 song (Two Twenty-Twos) is kind of like a musical Lay's chip. You can't listen just once." - Herohill.com
“…he doesn’t perform your garden-variety singer-songwriter solo material. It’s more mature-sounding pop, not completely removed from the poppy garage-ish stuff he did with The Stand GT.…he pounds his guitar and sings loudly, but mournfully barely keeping his guitar playing from going out of control. – Keith Powell, shredmusic.com
the video for the song 'coax the ending day'. this is from the forthcoming 'a date with a smoke machine' record....released feb. 16 2010.
the video for 'slideshows' - a video for the demo of the song 'slideshows' by chris page, courtesy kelp records. this was filmed on two scooters in ottawa, canada, one summer evening in 2004.
kelp records bio 2004:
We are delighted to welcome Ottawa electric troubadour Chris Page to the Kelp fold this fall. Page has an enviable rock pedigree, which stretches back to his teens, when he helped form Glengarry, ON punk outfit The Stand GT. The Stand GT's blue collar DIY ethic was a thing of legend. The band toured Canada countless times in the early 90s, releasing several cassettes, records and CDs on various International imprints, and convincingly carved their names into the CanCon tree. With The Stand GT becoming less of a focus, Page has three solo releases including 'You Clean Up Pretty Good' (2001), 'Sell Out Slow' (2002) and 'Decide to Stay and Swim' (2004). On his own with an electric guitar, Page sounds equal parts punk, rock and folk, and Billy Bragg is a common reference point. A closer listen reveals elements of Superchunk, Joe Strummer, and the urgent guitar calisthenics of Malcolm Young.
'Decide to Stay and Swim' has softer tones as well though, and the album careens into balladry at the end of its course, showing a maturity unheard on previous recordings. Chris Page has made a highly textured and diverse record in 'Decide to Stay and Swim', and will certainly win new fans as it makes its way into stereos soon. (kelp records, 2003)
“His stripped-down sound inevitably draws comparisons to early Billy Bragg, but Page’s voice is much smoother…”
- Phil Duperron, Edmonton
“It’s official…one of the best albums of 2003”
– Allan Wigney, Ottawa Sun
Follow Chris!
sell out slow
slag-o-matic/kelp
2002
01. country mothers in disguise
02. breaking out of replacement therapy
03. resemblance
04. feel like caving in
05. the trouble with thursday anne
06. quit while i'm behind
07. try to coax the world
08. guilt trip fashion
09. the opeechee contender
10. i own the board
11. motor skills fading
12. for emily, whenever i may find her**
you clean up pretty good
slag-o-matic/kelp
1999
01. breaking out of replacement therapy
02. i own the board
03. rocks to stones
04. guilt trip fashion
05. feel like caving in
06. quit while i'm behind
07. the drugstore record machine
08. bushpilot*
09. august 2nd, 5am
all songs written by chris page, SOCAN except *by superconductor and ** by paul simon
ottawa, ontario, canada's incredible kelp records. home to much of the music on these pages and so much more. speak to jon bartlett about having a party on your road.
home to amazing vinyl releases and kelp's western canada partners in crime. come to one of our bbq's and you'll get a taste! toronto, montreal, austin and counting. rebels united!!
great web space for me, camp radio and the stand gt. but get in there and explore all the fantastic indie canadian talent (andrew vincent's 'bahamas' is streaming on web radio as i type this. good vibes? good vibes).
a guy i know knows a guy who helped start this in the uk. he's probably doing well now. i always say i need to spend more time in here, and you should too.
you can only have so much web presence right? i mean, after all, how the hell do you keep it all up? one day we can all decide on some internet gathering utopia and settle. 'til then, there are places like myspace. no, i'm not on facebook. see? i drew a line.
all stuff copyright 1999-2012 chris page, the stand gt and camp radio > contact us.
