New music!  YES.
Our album out early 2009 and an e.p. out late 2009.
It somehow seems so sweet.

The E.P. is called Heavy Head and will be available in digital format only, at all your favorite digital buying locations i’m sure.

The Deal.
The E.P. contains six songs.
We release the first two, on Nov. 10th.  They are both cover songs.
We release the next two on Nov. 17th.  They are both ‘b-sides’.
We release the last two on Nov. 24th.  They are both remixes.
THEN, finally, we release the whole thing on Dec. 1st.  All six songs.

One thing i’m most excited about is that each release is accompanied by it’s own artwork done by the one and only, my friend and yours, Tyler Clark Burke.  The mind responsible for Miracle Fruit Parties, Santa Cruz, and, my old label, Three Gut records.
http://www.myspace.com/tylerclarkburke
You can take a look at the final cover RIGHT NOW.
http://www.arts-crafts.ca/releases_spotlight.php?search=ACX041

The second thing i’m excited about is if you come to see us on our massive tour with the HIdden Cameras, we’ll be selling download cards where you can purchase the whole E.P. right away!  Starting Oct. 29th in Ottawa.  All six songs.

Am ecstatic to have new music for you to hear.
You will like it.

Will blog more specifics about the songs themselves in the near future.


reg
x

So i realize i just two days ago released a video to the interweb, but now we have a whole NEW video to show you.
And Pitchfork is premiering it all week for us. http://pitchfork.com/

Look in the Pitchfork T.V. section.

It stars Katie Sketch and Liz Powell as Boxers.  Lex Vaughn as the referee.  The band as coaches.  John Caffrey as a workout hunk. Margot as score keeper.  And myself as a singing boxer.

And it's all done with photographs.  Which were then animated.  VERY technical.  You don't even know how to do it.

Was Co-directed by myself and Jeff Harris.  Lee Towndrow was the cinematographer.
Was animated/edited by Tantrum.  http://www.throwatantrum.tv/


This week its on pitchfork, then it will be everywhere!

reg

We have another video for your viewing pleasure.
Shot on VHS in last summers heat in the cheapest motel we could find.
Finally we are releasing it to the online world.
Shot by Iris Fraser and directed by Victoria Cheong, both of whom i've worked with on past videos.

For the song Rewind off of our Jet Black album.
Starring myself, Greg Millson, and Katie Sketch.
Very simple concept for a very simple look.

Hello all.  While we wrap up our three-week tour with A Camp tonight in LA, we are excited to announce today that we will be performing at the Osheaga Festival in Montreal on Ile St. Helene, Saturday, Aug. 1st.  Should be an amazing day.  Lots of outdoor fun planned for the summer actually back home in Canada.  June 27th at we are part of Pride Toronto, 9pm on the South Stage.  July 10th we are at the Winnipeg Folk Festival.  June 25th back in Toronto at the Harbourfront Centre with Amy Millan of Stars.  And the following day at the lovely Hillside Festival in Guelph.  Hope to see you there

Touring Jet Black has begun.
We waited a few months after release date to hit the road so that we could be more prepared, give people a chance to hear the record and learn the songs.  The learning being quite the feat as no one in this touring band actually played on the record.  So there’s been lots of recreating and inventing.    But we finally came up with a live version of ‘Thunderstorm’ that we’re all happy with.  And that was the biggest hurdle really.
This is a band of five.
Francois Turenne on guitar (The Hylozoists), Dana Snell on drums (the Bicycles), Kelly McMicheal on keys (Rouge), Paul Lowman on bass (Cuff the Duke/Hayden)
For once i don’t have to play guitar on every song so i get a little body freedom.  Which of course poses a whole set of questions about what to do with my body sans guitar, nothing to hide behind.  But not playing is guitar is something i’ve wanted to do forever.
 Four of us sing, double what i’m used to.   So we’re fully taking advantage of harmonizing three or four parts.

Headed to Seattle.  Seeing snow and mountains and cows on the run.
Bumper sticker ahead reads ‘If it’s not a dog...it’s a cat....dogs chase cats.‘  
None of us understand what this means.

We meet up with The Stills friday for our western Canadian dates with them.
Hopefully we’ll see you there.
reg

“The only way to get rid of a parasite is to kill the host”
paul lowman.

See the original here

Gentleman Reg
Jet Black [Arts & Crafts; 2009]

7.3


If you stumbled upon Gentleman Reg Vermue's SIM Card, you'd likely be able to prank-call most of Canada's indie rock luminaries: Arcade Fire's Tim Kingbury (with whom he was in an early band); the Hidden Cameras, Final Fantasy, and Broken Social Scene, with whom he's performed; and the Constanines' Bry Webb (Reg's first two albums were on Three Gut), Land of Talk's Elizabeth Powell, Greg Millson from Great Lake Swimmers, and Katie Sketch from the Organ, all of whom guest on Jet Black, Vermue's first album for, you guessed it, Arts & Crafts. "To Some It Comes Easy" might even trigger some to reach for the liners to check if they're hearing Kevin Drew on guitar and Emily Haines on vocals.

Yet despite the fact that Vermue's a walking Six-Degrees-of-Canadian-Indie, he more than distinguishes himself on Jet Black. The first thing you'll notice is the tranquil, whispery vocal style that threads throughout the record, scarcely shifting from the crunchy T. Rexisms of "Coastline" to the wistful "Rewind", paired with only acoustic guitar. Black's axes are another of its distinguishing traits: There's plenty of color and variation, highlighted by production with an immaculate sense of space. The album's production and Vermue's economical, buttoned-down songwriting offer plenty of tonal and genre variation, but everything still feels like it's hitting the same mark.

Vermue's paid his dues to get to this point-- he labored for a couple of albums and moved from tiny Guelph, Ontario, to much wider recognition in a Toronto's overcrowded indie network-- and Black's overriding sentiment reflects his creative drive, filtered through the shifting dictates of life within a scene. He constantly resists the urge to second-guess himself, as on "To Some It Comes Easy" ("Try to believe/ That I hit the right track/ And don't look back") and "You Can't Get It Back" (But I don't waste time/ You can't get it back/ And there's no ownership line"). On the album's best song, the minimalist power-pop groover "How We Exit", he begins by admitting his capricious decision-making skills might be a bit off, but rectifies that problem quickly, trusting his gut and splitting. When he decides to stick around, as on the disco-tinged "We're In a Thunderstorm", Vermue makes the best use of his time, extolling the virtues of simply dressing yourself up and running around.

Though his earnestness might come off as humorless, a quick glance at the contradictory messages contained within Jet Black's album cover alone suggest otherwise. The title pokes fun at Vermue's unique appearance and the preternatural smoothness of his voice, both of which were enough to land him a brief spot in Shortbus (he's not a Canadian, but add John Cameron Mitchell to that list in the first paragraph). In a recent interview, Vermue said of the title that he "wanted something tough, muscular, and rock'n'roll. People think that's funny, knowing me." That's the key to why Black is such an effective introduction to a wider audience: what looks, in a certain light, to be a top hat and tails, in another is a tuxedo t-shirt.

— Eric Harvey, April 9, 2009

Video number one.
It's time.
With three in the can and yet another shoot tomorrow beginning at 8am...it's time to put some of the beautiful visuals meshed with music out into the world.

This one was conceived of, shot, directed, and stars,  Anthony Schrag and Alice Finbow.
Our first collaboration together, but not theirs.
Collaboration through emails.
Me in toronto, them in Glasgow and London.
I wish i'd been there with them, but i wasn't.

This is their baby. The credit and silliness goes to them.
I love it.
I wanna be physical too.

check them out.
anthonyschrag.com
alicefinbow.com

Hello Gentleman Reg fans! With the new album Jet Black now available in stores, we wanted to give you an opportunity to showcase your remix talents on Reg's fabulous dance track, "We're In A Thunderstorm". We've provided the song stems in two formats, depending on your skill level: AIFFs (Pro Tools) and MP3s (Garage Band). Proceed to the "Download The Parts" section on the link below, and now it's your turn to get creative! We invite you to mutate, warp, extend and crumple, add instrumentation or vocals, or take it all away and leave the track stripped bare!

Upload your remix. Once Reg himself has reviewed your submission, we'll be posting your remix up here for everyone to hear and rate in real time. Don't forget to tell your friends to come and vote for you! The lucky winner of the Gentleman Reg remix contest will have their track featured on Arts & Crafts 2009 Summer Sampler.

For more info and to enter the contest click here

The day of release. Feb.24th.
I'm in a little bit of shock it's finally here.
The
day people finally get to hear the thing that has been worked on and
worked on. It's like having a secret, and only a couple people got to
know about it, got to hear bits of it. And now it's all out in the
world.
Jet Black. Hope you like it. Hope you like the way it looks
too. The art always takes way longer than you think it will. And it
certainly did this time too. Many versions were made to get to what you
now see.
Eleven songs.
It's also on Vinyl. The first Gentleman
Reg album to be released on Vinyl. We made buttons and we put a little
picture of a record player on one of them.

This day we celebrate and play in a record store. Soundscapes on College.
Then
we play CMW, then head to Austin for SXSW, and then who knows? As of
this writing i'm not sure what the shows will be, where they will take
place or when we'll do them. But trust me, there will be LOTS of them.
so stay tuned.



reg


........

Jet Black, Gentleman Reg's Arts & Crafts debut, will be available on February 24th. The fourth overall full-length from Reg is the first since 2005’s acclaimed Darby & Joan and marks the first official release outside of Canada.  Here is the track listing:

Coastline
To Some It Comes Easy
You Can't Get It Back
When Heroes Change Professions
How We Exit
Rewind
We're In A Thunderstorm
Falling Back
Oh My God
Everlong
Rudy