SPOTLIGHT ON EMILY HAINES (“METRIC”)
Posted on September 17th, 2007 by ekkoIt’s good to be Emily Haines in 2007. It’s good to listen to her any year, whether it’s when she’s playing with Metric or on one of her solo projects, Emily has a crisp voice with precise technique that favors pop over the typically more wanderous vocals of female artists.
Metric released only three albums: Grow Up and Blow Away (2002); Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? (2003); and Live It Out (2005). But Grow Up was out of print for a long time, and hard to find, until this year when it has been re-released. You can find it here.
The re-release alone makes this year a good one for pop music. But this year Emily followed up her fantastic 2006 solo album (Knives Don’t Have Your Back) with an EP of outtakes from that same session, titled, “What Is Free To A Good Home.” Far as I know, you can only get it on iTunes. And it’s worth every penny of the $5.94 it will cost you to get it in the U.S.
Emily has long been one of my favorite pop singers.
Check her out.
P.S.: I know she was part of the Broken Social Scene collective. I just don’t dig them.
The Twist-Metric (From Grow Up and Blow Away)
Mostly Waving (TodorK Remix)-Emily Haines (From What is Free to a Good Home, available on iTunes)
Bonus covers:
Expecting to Fly (Neil Young cover)-Emily Haines
Between the Bars (Elliot Smith cover)-Emily Haines
Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright (Bob Dylan) (acoustic)-Metric
Bonus concert: A high quality Metric show from March 4, 2006.
A few tastes, and a zip:
Live it Out
Glass Ceiling
Wet Blanket
Too Little Too Late
Poster of a Girl
Patriarch on a Vespa
Ending Start
Monster Hospital
Handshakes
The Police and the Private
On a Slow Night
Hustle Rose
Combat Baby
Dead Disco
Comment By: ap.
September 18th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
fantastic! i always liked metric since i first heard combat baby. thanks for the info and sharing.
Comment By: ev
September 20th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
who is singing with her on that Dylan cover?
Comment By: Katherine
September 22nd, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Grow Up and Blow Away was never released in 2002. It was set for release–on Restless Records, I believe–but it fell through, making this year its first official release. The band started performing songs from the album in 2006 when Last Gang obtained the rights. Anyhow, Emily Haines is awesome. And it’s Jimmy Shaw with her on the cover.
Comment By: ekko
September 22nd, 2007 at 6:58 pm
Are you sure about that, Katherine? Because I’m pretty sure I downloaded it from iTunes in 2002.
Comment By: Katherine
September 23rd, 2007 at 12:55 am
Oh, interesting; I hadn’t even thought of the possibility of a digital release. In that case, I’m not positive, but I’ve always been under the impression that it was a leak, even based on band interviews. Again, though, not sure.
Comment By: Travis
September 23rd, 2007 at 11:45 pm
Empty, track 14 is missing from the recording/ZIP file. Why? Can someone resolve that?
Comment By: ekko
September 24th, 2007 at 8:57 am
There is no track called Empty on here.
Comment By: Travis
September 24th, 2007 at 11:34 pm
I know that. Empty was part of that set list back then, and you can clearly tell from listening to Combat Baby to Dead Disco, that it’s missing.