Go Get Your Pants On - New Mackenzie MacBride Album EP - Now Available
The new EP An Outsider's Heart (A Short Alt Rock Opera – Opus 5) is now available in stores (see store locations below) and online at ITUNES as a Limited Edition, for a limited time.
Yes, An Outsider's Heart ...
- the playlist for rebels, shut-ins and skeptics, the sarcastic, the wretched, and the just plain fed up…
- the soundtrack to add 27 minutes of intrigue and angst to a dull Sunday afternoon…
- the sing-a-long mix tape for morning showers and evening battles with dirty dishes…
which was voted "Honourable Mention - Best Country Album" in the Ottawa Xpress Magazine 2008 Reader's Poll is now up for grabs.
An Outsider's Heart is, as the button on my hat says, "Here Today, Gone to Maui." So don't miss out.
Inside The Box, Outside The Lines:
This is a 5 song record I completed on Halloween Day 2008 that features a selection of the songs that were crowd favourites when I performed them live.
So, I present this record as a present and a souvenir to fans of music I've made, and a primer to those of you who are just now discovering the fun question marks "outsider music" can paint on your faces.
Dramatic Thematics:
The themes of the songs on An Outsider's Heart cut zig zags acrosss the front lawn of the human condition including:
- Questions of whether love can be as intense as it was in high school, even as it stares it the face of park bench infidelity.
- The lost and found of friends we hung out with in small apartments.
- Moments of Marilyn Munroe-esque glory snatched away at their crescendo.
- The frozen peas we jam into our ears, and other vices we jam into our hearts.
- The rollings around on beds, dance floors and yoga mats that we do to try to come to grips with our searches for people and feelings that we've already found, but thrown away.
Big News on Subversive Soundz:
For the first time on any of my records, real acoustic instruments are played throughout An Outsider's Heart. From pianos to percussion, this is live heart music. The musicians were a group of excellent players that I located in various obtuse locations, including the dim corners of folk cafes, the practice rooms of university music programs and the blissed out jam sessions of hippie hangouts.
As well, for the first time, this CD was professionally manufactured, so it will be sure to both play, and play real loud on your home stereo.
Fine Print Reading List:
There's also a booklet with all of the song lyrics (without typos) and pictures of me standing in a snow drift in my bare feet, like an idiot, I mean "artist."
Genres, Influences and Punches:
An Outsider's Heart was influenced by, and occasionally breaks bread with these genres: - Outsider Music
- Alternative Country
- Heart Music
- Eccentric Story Songs
- Freak Folk
- Avant Pop
(those last two descriptions are new ones on me, that I read about in, of all places, Manitoba, so let's throw them in as well).
What It Aint:
A lot of the "chick with piano" CDs that I've bought recently technically "work", but at the end of the day are really just records to "pass the time"; they don't go anywhere other than the usual cliché "Baby Be Good To Me" places.
An Outsider's Heart is not meant to be "safe" background music for doctor's offices or public broadcasters. It's meant to match the gritty moments of your life, when you need heartfelt music and subversive singing to stir you into action, not put you back to sleep.
I'd also like to think that this CD is not the female equivalent to "Sad Bastard" music, as, contrary to the pablum of that genre, this record does have at least a unique character and a spirit of hope that is meant to inspire you "onward", even if you're missing a literal or metaphoric shoe.
If You Like:
If you like any of these artists, you would probably like parts of, or all of An Outsider's Heart
- Dolly Parton
- Regina Spektor
- Antony & the Johnsons
- Tracy Chapman
- Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Holdin' Your Own:
The price on the store shelves in Ottawa is $7.99. In Toronto it's about $8.99. My father always used to say, "You don't like it because it's cheap!", which I guess is a mentality that does exist.
So, even though my father was yelling about hamburgers at a Friendly's Restaurant when he leveled this enduring quote against snobs of commerce far and wide, I would like point out that I would only put this record out if I knew it could have some soul-value for people who are open to receiving it.
Okay, it is cheap, I agree. For the price of a coffee shop snack you can have: - a new coffee table conversation piece
- epic sing-a-longs
- an artifact of Outsider Canadiana
- some sounds of New York City's underground
When I say, Limited Edition, Limited Time, I mean these record store locations have about three copies each, and the deal is once they are gone, they are gone.
So I hope you will treat yourself and own An Outsider's Heart, the very first chance you get to go shopping this weekend.
CD/ Hard Copy Locations:
Ottawa, ON –
Sounds Unlikely:
5 Arlington Avenue
Ottawa, ON
(613) 565-1661
Compact Music:
785 1/2 Bank Street
Ottawa, ON
(613) 233-8922
(Glebe Location Only)
Toronto, ON –
Criminal Records:
493 Queen Street W Toronto, ON
(416) 364-5380
As well as other independent record stores in Toronto (shop around, or contact me if you need another location.)
If you are not in Ottawa, ON or Toronto, ON, then for a limited time / limited quantity you can catalog order, "An Outsider's Heart" directly from:
HMV Music Store (across Canada)
Amazon.ca (Across North America)
Digital Downloads:
If you prefer a digital download of "An Outsider's Heart", the price is approximately $3.99 and is available from many online music retailers including these, and many more:
ITunes – Available Worldwide
Here is the direct link to get "An Outsider's Heart" from ITunes
http://www.apple.com/search/ipoditunes/?q=mackenzie+macbride
More Digital Download Options:
OD2 (Loudeye) - Europe
Pure Tracks - US and Canada
R2G - China
Rhapsody- World
Rogers Wireless- Canada
Sprint - US
Virgin Mobil - US
Virginmega.fr - France, Monaco
