Vancouver Trendz [THURSDAY]

All in the Family

Thursday, September 21, 2006

If Ida Nilsen really was your relative, she'd be that super-cool aunt who lives on one of the Gulf Islands in a little cabin, always stocked with criminally-yummy homemade jam and a room full of instruments, that was your favourite place to hang out when you were a kid. At least, that's what it sounds like when you listen to her music.

In real life, Nilsen is a twenty-something Vancouver musician who performs with her bandmates as Great Aunt Ida, a name that inevitably gets one wishing your family tree had an extra branch. Because if Nilsen really was your aunt, you'd probably get to hear her delicate, magical songs at family reunions, barbecues and camping trips. For now, though, you'll have to make do with the release of her second CD, How They Fly.

Great Aunt Ida's 2005 album Our Fall was sombre and sparse. How They Fly keeps the simplicity--humming along with songs quickly becomes an automatic response--but reveals a more uplifting aspect to Nilsen's song writing. We're not in Hallmark card territory or anything, but the melodies that flow out of her piano, accompanied by gentle drums and trumpet, arc upwards this time around.

A beautiful album for autumn nights and dark bus rides through the West Coast rain, How They Fly is essential listening for any Vancouverite. Check Scratch Records on Richards Street for the CD and take in at least one of the two CD-release shows this week.

Great Aunt Ida plays tonight, September 21, at the Railway Club with avant-garders Fond of Tigers, and with the Fits at the Western Front on Saturday, September 23.

Check out Great Aunt Ida's website www.greatauntida.com and listen to some streaming tunes at www.myspace.com/greatauntida