Jansen, Shuyler

***“I'll be the first to admit I never made the effort to check out Edmonton's legendary OLD RELIABLE when they were around. They were rumoured to be Canada's best roots/alt-country whatever band, but by the early 2000's I wasn't sure we needed anymore indie twang, regardless of how good it was. It's funny how things work as I now go backwards with the music of Old Reliable's co-leader SHUYLER JANSEN. A demo of a few songs Shuyler was working on with John Collins and Dave Carswell crossed my path sometime in 2009, and I was stunned with what I heard. These were fully realized downcast yet hooky songs of rich psychedelic thick swirling epic proportions. And that voice! Who was this Shuyler Jansen? A guy from an Americana band? Well he's come a long way. And just what the heck kind of music is it? Hayseed spacerock? I'm really not sure if these are rock, or pop, or country, or electronic songs. They have conventional stringed and keyed and plucked and bowed instruments yet the overall sound is expansive in a floating, comforting (yet unfamiliar) way. The songs of course on that demo were flushed out and finished and became this otherworldly gem of a new album. It is incredibly catchy in a warm and weird way. I continue to listen to it and hear new things, and I've heard it dozens of times now. And how to do I bring it back to Old Reliable? Well, I have went backwards listening to Shuyler's previous albums that hint at the fully realized beauty he achieves here, and I have fallen in love with the one Old Reliable album that is all Shuyler all the time (Pulse of Light) and I now have a better understanding of the journey he went on to make this amazing hazy album of dense, cinematic, futuristic country noir.”—Scratch