Skip to main content

Maverick Ad

Home

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Cover Stories
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Legacy Awards
  • Past Covers
  • Weekly Archive
Alexander and the Great Ones Release Single 2 Yung 2 b in <3 from SUPER TURBO Album

Breadcrumb

  • Home
  • Alexander and the Great Ones Release Single 2 Yung 2 b in <3 from SUPER TURBO Album
Super Turbo Alexander and the Great Ones
Super Turbo Alexander and the Great Ones
Fri Oct 11, 2019
Submitted to Cashbox Canada

Canadian art-popsters Alexander and The Great Ones have unleashed their all-you-can-hear sonic buffet, SUPER TURBO and sophomore single “2 Yung 2 b in <3.

“I explored the sounds of the last century not as they were, but as they are,” says frontman Alex MacNeil of the outfit’s debut LP. “Think: heart still pumping, but flecked with rust.”

It’s an anticipated release from a group MacNeil affectionately dubs “desperate rogues” and “roving strays”; CBC’s Carsten Knox named Alexander and The Great Ones as “Artist to Watch For” and The Coast lauds them as a “Young Upcoming Artist.” “This was recorded with the help of many of Nova Scotia’s finest musicians. And locally produced gins.

“Adulthood was like falling down a steep set of stairs,” he continues, recalling how this all came to be, punked-up cherub cover art and all. “It happened so abruptly and before I knew it.”

If there was a plotter following along, they’d map beginnings in what MacNeil describes as Nova Scotia’s industrial northern mainland; from there, he’d complete music school in Sherbrooke, Quebec before venturing on to Grahamstown, South Africa.

“I played countless jazz clubs and studied classical music,” he says of his time studying with JUNO Award winning composer Andrew MacDonald and South African jazz luminary Marc Duby, and later in New York to study with guitarist Matthew Stevens (Esperanza Spalding, Terri Lynne Carrington, Christian Scott). “Then, the East called again.

“I came back to Canada and lived in a small cottage at the base of Signal Hill in Newfoundland, working at the famous Duke of Duckworth Pub, and leading a variety of R&B and jazz groups around the city.”

Alex
Alex

That cozy little cabin was just the ticket for a few years, but soon heartbreak and wanderlust set in. He landed in Dawson City, Yukon, with no more than a plywood guitar, a tent, and a leather jacket. “My most restful state was a bit shattered, so I went careening westward,” he shares. “I was mourning a few losses, including my early academic musical prospects.”

“I started bartending in a local hotel and I’d hammer away on the old piano that sat against its saloon walls.”

“So I started to do something I hadn’t done since high school… I started putting words to music.”

Within a few weeks, MacNeil was on the circuit, playing gigs and sharing new music from the live stage. “My love for music was definitely reinvigorated out there,” he says of the northern Canadian city. “There was a new sense of self rising from the old.”

In amongst this, MacNeil had been introduced and was corresponding with noted producer Dale Murray (The Guthries, Hayden, Matt Mays, Christina Martin). “I sent Dale a slew of demo tapes made on that old saloon piano. They were all done on my iPhone.

“He encouraged me to keep writing and discussed the possibility of making a record together.”

That record would come to be SUPER TURBO, a coy and confessional concoction that lands as self-aware before toe-dipping into indulgent realm of camp. “I love theatrics and film and literature,” he muses. “They have a massive influence on my style.”

Watch 2 Yung 2 b in <3 video here: https://youtu.be/CAqBaJU4R-0

For more visit: https://www.alexanderandthegreatones.com/

Reviews
Album
Alexander and The Great Ones
Month: Apr 2021
The Divorcees Country Outlaws The Divorcees Serve a Double Shot of Blue-Collar…
Month: May 2021
The Garrett Band Powered Up West Coast Outfit The Garrett Band Issues “The Warning”
Kayla DiVenere Kayla DiVenere Spins Teen Fantasy in Nostalgic, Youthful Obsession with New…
The James Clark Institute – Next Best Thing The James Clark Institute – Next Best Thing
Jonathan Chandler & The Bandwagoners Jonathan Chandler – Faded Blue Ink
Huguette Lavigne Ottawa-based Composer Huguette Lavigne Makes Her Piano Dance on the “Rails”
Teresinha Landeiro Fado Singer/Songwriter Teresinha Landeiro Looks to Tomorrow on New Single “Amanhã…
Elina Filice Teams Up with Neolithic for IGroovy Elina Filice Teams Up with Neolithic for IGroovy New Single, ”Everything About You”
Conrad Bigknife Award-Nominated Indigenous Country Artist Conrad Bigknife Releases New…
Arsenal Mills Charlottetown Rockers Arsenal Mills Refuse to “Cry No More” in Rockin’ New Single…
Bob Lord Prog-Rocker Bob Lord Unleashes Decades of Creative Invention with New Album…
Brendan Scott Friel Folk Singer/Songwriter Brendan Scott Friel Releases New Album, Summer Moons…
Douglas Von Irvin Douglas Von Irvin’s Carnival Sink their Teeth into Negativity with New Ballad…
Green Grizz Hip Hop Artist Green Grizz Lets the Vibe Flow with New Single, “The Drip”
Kate Koenig Folk Singer Kate Koenig Gives Voice to a Very Old Soul in “Young with Ancient…

Pagination

  • First page « First
  • Previous page ‹ Previous
  • …
  • Page 36
  • Page 37
  • Page 38
  • Page 39
  • Current page 40
  • Page 41
  • Page 42
  • Page 43
  • Page 44
  • …
  • Next page Next ›
  • Last page Last »

CEO/PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEF
SANDY GRAHAM

email:sandygrahamemg@gmail.com 

Canadian Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Don Graham
email: dongrahamwriter@gmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Lisa Hartt
email: lisahartt87@hotmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada 
Michael Williams
email: greydread@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

International Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Malin Osth
email: malin@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Jonas Tancred
email: jonas@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - USA
Rob Durkee 
email: rockster2746@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Web Developer/Technical Support
Chris Wardman

email: info@chriswardman.com
website: chriswardman.com

Cashbox Cover Design and Graphic Artist
Jain McMillan

email: jainmcmillan@gmail.com

Contributing Photographer 
Tracey Savein - South Paw Productions
southpawproductions@rogers.com

 

 

 

Footer menu

  • Home
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Archive
  • Issue Archive
  • Past Covers