Sarah McLachlan; Nettwerk

[Justin Bur <justin@iro.umontreal.ca>]

Sarah McLachlan is currently touring Canada.  Last Saturday evening at
le Spectrum de Montreal she started with My Lagan Love (!), sung a
capella.  The band consisted of a drummer, keyboardist, guitar, and
bass; Sarah usually played 12-string guitar as well as singing.  Ben's
Song, with Sarah on keyboard and one accompanying guitarist, and Sad
Clown, with red and white spotlights, were particularly impressive (I
thought!).  Apart from her own material, she also did Simon &
Garfunkel's For Emily... and Peter Gabriel's Solsbury Hill.  The
audience was very enthusiastic and Sarah seemed very pleased and a
little surprised!  She didn't expect to be asked for a second
encore...  Upcoming dates: Wed 26, London, Ont.; Thu 27, Kingston,
Ont.; Mon 1 May, Toronto (at the Diamond); Tue 2, Peterborough; Fri 5
& Sat 6, Halifax (homecoming concerts); and (not sure of the date) Wed
10, Vancouver (AIDS benefit).

Note on the Touch album: first released last fall by Nettwerk (dist.
in Canada by Capitol).  The CD has Ben's Song (78 Remix) as a bonus.
Released in the USA in March 1989 on Arista, with a new version of Vox
as the bonus for the CD, only one version of Ben's Song, a completely
new song (Touch), and the whole album remixed.  This version was
released in Canada in April on Capitol/Nettwerk.

Another Nettwerk group worth listening to is the Grapes of Wrath.
Their second album, Treehouse, came out at the end of 1987.  A new
album is due 22 June (according to CBC's Brave New Waves program).  I
suppose the label `folk-rock' fits the Grapes well.  They, too, are
part of Nettwerk's `softer' repertoire.

White-Out Conditions by Bel Canto was first released in Europe by
Crammed Discs of Brussels.  Given the names of the band members and
the lyrics of one of the songs on the album, I expect that Bel Canto
is from Norway, though, not Belgium.  The CD bonus track is completely
unidentified on the Crammed Discs CD & booklet; Nettwerk at least
gives it its title on the disc itself.  A very good icy-cold album...

justin