Julie Doiron/Calm Down It's Monday - Split 7"

Juilie Doiron/Calm Down It’s Monday – Split 7”

K Records, 2009

Acquired: KJHK Music Staff, New, 2009
Price: $0

 

Jenny is a HUGE Julie Doiron fan. When I went to SXSW in 2009, shortly after we started dating, I went to see Julie Doiron and I think Jenny was almost mad. So jealous. The hardest thing for a singer/songwriter isn’t writing the songs or being a talented musician, it’s separating oneself from the throng of singer/songwriters who threaten to swallow you up. Julie Doiron is good at the songwriting and musicianship bits and has a lovely voice that is both sweet and earthy, but I think it’s the production that allows her songs to have space. To let her voice really breathe. It’s that and the fact that she’s been working in the trenches for years and is a total pro. From Eric’s Trip to that jawdroppingly great album she did with Phil Elverum and Fred Squire (Lost Wisdom, check that one out if you haven’t). Both of Doiron’s tracks on this split are from her album I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day ("Oh Heavy Snow" and my favorite track from ICWWYDWYD "It's Nice To Come Home"), and since I don’t own that album I’m not bummed about that. It’s always a bummer when a single is just album tracks. SURELY YOU HAVE A B-SIDE SOMEWHERE! Even so, the Calm Down It’s Monday side is basically I two-track b-side (b-side like the song not like the actual side of the record) since it’s a duo comprised of Fred Squire and Julie Doiron. This was their only release. It’s really nice. Squire handles the vocals and I think he’s pretty good but it’s easy to see why he doesn’t sing much on Lost Wisdom (but Elverum and Doiron are pretty much vocal powerhouses in their own little way).

Here's the aforementioned "It's Nice To Come Home" which is a great example of the depth Doiron can achieve with something so simple.

From what I read, Calm Down It's Monday were working on a full-length that never materialized. Here's a live version of 7" track "Sweetest May," which is kind of sad because their stuff is really lovely.