Or launch our Standalone Music Player
Must allow popups (it opens in a popup window.) Allows you to browse the site (or even away from the site) while listening to our music!
Major News
May 26, 2008: NXNE Festival 2008 Dates Confirmed
* Lee's Palace on June 13th at 9 pm with Besnard Lakes, Swervedriver, Uncut
* Friday June 14th at NXNE Island stage on Toronto Island at 7 pm
We are floored that we're playing Lee's Palace with Besnard Lakes & Swervedriver. We plan to rock, folk, experimentalize the place to the ground. Special thanks to John Kaster & Crispin Giles for their ongoing support and interest in our band!
May 25, 2008: Ours To Destroy Live @ Broken City Video Released
A long time in the making, but Gordon McDowell did a fabulous job filming & editing our performance and interviews from our gig at Broken City in December 2007.
Watch It Now!
May 15, 2008: Ours To Destroy Live @ Vern's in Calgary
As a sendoff to our tour out East to Toronto for this summer's NXNE festival we will be opening for Larry and His Flask on June 8, 2008 at 8 pm. The address is 622 8th Avenue SW and there is a small cover charge of $6. Hope to see you there!
May 10, 2008: Ours to Destroy at NXNE June 12 to 15, 2008
We're playing the Black Bull at 298 Queen Street West in Toronto at 9 pm on Friday June 13, 2008. In celebration we've released a demo of Alien Man on our myspace site. Now you can hear new sounds by Ours To Destroy!
April 29, 2008: New Downloads
There's a new station ID available for download on our downloads page. We did it for CFBX out of Kamloops BC. We challenge you not to laugh when you hear this one!
Next up by this Sunday May 4, 2008 we will be posting our entire first album for free download in 128 kbps mp3 format. If you want to get better audio quality versions you can still purchase the album in good quality digital format through ITunes ($9.99 US) or CDBaby ($6.00 US). You can also buy the physical CD with all its sexy artwork through CDBaby ($8.00 US).
April 28, 2008: NXNE Dates Confirmed
We will be playing the Black Bull on 298 Queen Street West at 9 pm on Friday June 13th. We will post more dates as they become available!
April 22, 2008: Ours To Destroy Hit the Studio
We went into the Beach Studio here in Calgary and laid down drums to the first recording that will be included on our next album Alien Man. The following evening we overdubbed vocals, guitars, keyboards and now have a shiney new song. Sweet. It's quite a bit different from anything else we've recorded to date with a dancy/disco verse and straight up pop rock chorus and a really heavy/rocking bridge. This song will be posted on our Myspace page in May 2008.
Songs planned for our second album:
1) Secrets & Lies
2) Haskell That Rascal
3) Alien Man
4) Rat Sack
5) Under the Ground
6) Saddest Guy in the World (spoken word read & written by Todd Michael Cox)
7) Kill the Man
Beyond that we are just enjoying the whole writing process! In the meantime check out the following musical tidbits:
Ripe for Shaking: Todd Cox did a spoken word piece that will be included on our next album. He's an author that delves into sensational imagery...and it turns out he's a musician in his own right.
March 31, 2008: Ours To Destroy to play NXNE 2008!
Wooooo! We have booked our flights to Toronto for June 11th to 20th and plan for an Ontario tour. We’re working on dates in Ottawa, Barrie, and the Toronto region on top of the dates we’ll be playing as part of the NXNE festival.
We seriously can’t wait to rock out in Toronto. Thanks to John Kastner for his ongoing interest & support of this indie band from Calgary!
March 25, 2008: Alberta Foundation for the Arts funds our next album!
Our application to the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) to fund the recording phase of our second album was approved! We are currently in major song writing mode with hopes of hitting the studio next month to record three of the planned tracks!
More news as we get the ball rolling on album number two.
March 24, 2008: Ours To Destroy on Koop 91.7 FM Texas This Great White North
Who would have thought that there would be a show called This Great White North on an FM radio station out of Austin Texas? There is thanks to the efforts of Doug a transplanted from Winnipeg. The show plays all sorts of Canadian music from the completely underground (like us or Torngat out of Montreal) to the more mainstream like Feist.
You can listen to KOOP online or visit Doug’s Myspace page and make him a friend.
Thanks to Doug for sharing wicked Canadian Music with our friends down south and for spinning Ours To Destroy’s Prairies on his show!
February 3, 2008: Ours To Destroy @ Vern's Tavern in Calgary
The show went off with electronic musical fireworks. We shared the stage with Flora & SoShul out of Edmonton. It was a very diverse gathering of musicians us being the only band with a drum kit and real instruments (except SoShuhl who had an acoustic guitar).
January 15, 2008: Ours To Destroy @ Vern's Tavern in Calgary
We're playing February 2, 2007 at Vern's Tavern in Calgary with SHO-shu, Westfalia, and Flora. The show will start around 9 pm and the address is 622 8th Ave SW. Hope to see ya there!
December 31, 2007: Radio Campaign Ends
The radio campaign went well, but not as well as we'd hoped. If we were to do it again, we would do it ourselves instead of hiring a radio promo company. The cost simply isn't justified given the results. On the plus side, it was a cool experiment and we got to do a bunch of Station IDs which we published on our downloads page. Check them out for a laugh!
December 3, 2007: Ours To Desstroy Breaks Broken City
On December the 3rd, Ours To Destroy hit the Broken City stage and rocked out for their first live performance as a full band. The audience was great, and enjoyed our unique blend of folk, rock and noise. Watch for a video featuring live performances & interviews in the coming months as well as photos from the gig! A big thanks to all who came out to watch us play on a cold and frigid Monday evening. Also thanks to Broken City for making us feel especially welcome!
November 7, 2007: Radio Campaign Kicks Off
We decided to see if we could get any traction on radio stations across North America. Our CD is now in the hands of over 300 radio stations across the US and Canada. You can contact any of the kind folks at the numbers/email addresses below & request an Ours To Destroy tune (we'd love you long time if you did so). Also, if you have a local radio station that you think should be playing us, let us know and we'll send them a CD.
We'll keep updating this list as we (hopefully) get more 'adds'.
1) 3Wk.com Underground Indie Radio
Email Wanda with our name, a song title, and the time you'd like it played. Give her some space and time to set it up...she's a busy lady!
2) 88.1 WKNC North Carolina State University College Radio
You can hit this link and fill out the online form to request Ours To Destroy's tunes - DJ Godrik is the DJ spinning Two Thousand Sunsets so you may want to route your request to him.
3) WUMM 90.5 FM University of Maine College Radio
You can hit Their MySpace Page, befriend them & request tunes that way.
4) The Band House Live
It's really easy to request tunes, just hit This Link and scroll down to Ours To Destroy then click on one of our tunes (Happy Now, Two Thousand Sunsets, or Prairies). The more requests we receive the greater the chance that we will be next month's featured artist.
5) WIDB The Revolution: Carbondale, IL
You can call the station at (618) 453-WIDB!
6) WRDP
Fax Number: 773 325 7399, phon: 773 325 7341, Email. Listen online.
7) WGBK Radio 88.5 FM Chicago
8) WAQU Grand Rapids 1590 AM
9) WRRC Lawrenceville NJ
2083 LAWRENCEVILLE RD. Lawrenceville, NJ 08648. Phone: 609-896-5369 Fax: 609-219-4724.
10) WMCR -1 (was WMAR) Poughkeepsie, NY
11) CFRE Mississauga
Tenni Gharakhanian, Music Director or Song Requests.
12) KMUN Astoria OR
Elizabeth Grant - she seems to like the song two thousand sunsets.
13) KWCR 88.1 WEber FM
You can email them at Requests at KWCR.
14) WMUR Marquette Radio
You can contact them using this nifty form or phone them at (414) 288-7MUR.
October 20, 2007: Ours to Destroy Live at the Broken City
Monday December 3rd, 2007 starting at 10 pm!
Come on down, it's a free show. You'll still make it home early enough to catch some z's and you'll be seeing us in our brand new format as a full four piece band. We're gonna rock, folk, and country-ize the joint. It's at The Broken City in Calgary.
September 19, 2007: Ours To Destroy welcomes Eric Ewin & Roland Griffith into the fold
Eric Ewin has joined the band lending his wicked voice for harmonies & vocals as well as his bass playing skills. Roland Griffith is a phenomenal percussionist (and a good vocalist too) whose previous/current bands include Ground & the Greg Gescha Trio. Both will be involved in the writing & recording of our upcoming second album...let the games begin!
We're now rehearsing up a storm for our upcoming gig at Broken City on December 3, 2007 starting at 9 pm. We're also looking for more gigs in the Alberta region so if you're looking for a wicked and unique sounding band to open for your act, look no further.
September 17, 2007: New Demo Songs to Be Released
There's never been a better time to contact the band using the form to the left or by email. Over the next week we will be adding Kill The Man & Under the Ground to our exclusive non-public page available to those that take the time to contact us. In addition, we will be adding higher quality mp3 versions (320 kbps instead of 128 kbps) of the downloads currently available on our public page.
So, by contacting us, you get better quality mp3 files of tunes from our current album as well as access to four demo tunes (Kill the Man, Haskell that Rascal, Under the Ground, and Secrets & Lies) that no one else has even heard yet!!
September 4, 2007: WDYN now Spinning Ours To Destroy
WDYN online internet radio is now playing Ours To Destroy. You can email the DJ's and request any song from our first album between 9 AM and 5 PM Monday to Saturday.
Listen Online and find wicked Indie Music 24/7:
Direct connection with Live 365
Direct connection with Helix Real Audio
Direct connection with Windows Media
Direct connection with Music Match
Direct connection with Windows Media
August 31, 2007: Ours To Destroy's Prairies New Music Canada's Track of the Day!
Amanda Putz, host of CBC Radio One's Fuse, selected Prairies as her track of the day for New Music Canada on August 8, 2007. It's a widely syndicated podcast so we're very happy for the breadth of exposure on this!!
Ours To Destroy on CBC Radio 3's New Music Canada
Her Comments:
I wanted to discover someone/something new that exemplified Saskatchewan to me. After searching through quite a few different songs yours played like a brilliant beacon on a dark, flatland highway. It is a FABULOUS song and I can't wait to hear more from Ours to Destroy.
August 24, 2007: Ours To Destroy's CD on Sale for $9!
In case you weren't aware we are just starting to record our second full length release. In celebration and also
to help fund studio time we put it up for sale for $9! at CDBaby. There's never been a better time
to buy our album and help support the creation of new and completely independent music!
On that note, we're still looking for your involvement in this process. We've been publishing notes and song
sketches to a nonpublic page here on OursToDestroy.com. Those that email us will be granted access to it. From
there you can give us your opinions on everything from instrumentation to lyrics. Be as involved as you want to
be, we'd even just like to hear what songs you hate, love, etc!
Email us or use the form to the left to get in on the action!
Remember, the most active 20 listeners will get a free CD!!!!
August 22, 2007: ILR Radio & TV Australia puts Ours To Destroy into heavy rotation
Our song "Two Thousand Sunsets" charted on their Breaking USA/UK charts back in February 2007. In the past month they started spinning the album in its entirety and every song on it received a whopping 11 plays for the seven days ending August 20, 2007!
You can generate the playlists here just search on the band name "Ours To Destroy."
August 21, 2007: Indie EZine features press release about our 2nd Album
Indie EZine published an article about our plans to get listener/fan involvement in the recording of our second CD (currently on going) - you can read it here as well as listen to Prairies, Happy Now, and Two Thousand Sunsets from our first album.
It's not too late to get involved, we're still looking for listener involvement, all you have to do is fill out the form to the left or email us at info@OursToDestroy.com. The twenty most involved listeners will get a free CD!
July 30, 2007: Jeff of MusicOpinion.org Digs Ours To Destroy
Jeff from MusicOpinion.org wrote a bit about our music on his website.
His comments: "In a freak accident i came across this band called, Ours to Destroy, click here to go to the website. Or, check out the media player for one of their songs called, Skipping Rope of Daises. I am so freaking glad i came across this band because i am in awe of how good the music is. They claim that the music is all inspired by Wilco which is awesome but i think they could have done it all on their own if they wanted. Lots of talent and the sky is the limit. Enjoy the track and check out the site if you like it. Oh, and on the plus side, their first CD is only 10 bucks!" (note: the CD is now on sale for $9 at CDBaby.
As an aside, we also learned about Noel, an accomplished songwriter & wicked musician, through an interview Jeff did with her on MusicOpinion.org. She is an extremely talented musician with wicked music (not only that, she's also very, very cute)! You can listen to her music at her myspace page where a floating heart will greet you...how sweet!
(I wish I new how to make that little tilde symbol above the e!)
July 3, 2007: Moore's Magazine (a Dutch Publication) Reviews our Album
This one's for any Dutch readers/listeners out there!
As an aside if anyone can tell me what a "sent guitar" is and whether Holly Moors was hacking on Damo when the
Babblefish translation returned "the pin have feeling for melody."
Ours To Destroy is een duo. Steve Dodd en David Morley maakten samen een album dat qua sfeer nog het meeste doet denken aan psychedelische undergroundalbums uit de jaren zestig. In die periode in de popmuziek, die we gerust als ongekend creatief kunnen aanduiden, werden ook vrij gemakkelijk allerlei elementen en idioterieën in de muziek toegelaten. Hier horen we niet alleen de nu ook wel gebruikelijke samples - fragmenten van radioreclamespotjes, stadsgeluiden, natuurgeluiden - maar ook vreemde percussie, overstuurde gitaren en veel onbekend geluid dat mooi in de muziek wordt verwerkt.
In een nummers als Happy Now komt alles wat deze band zo leuk maakt wel zo'n beetje samen - een mooie catchy melodie, zachte balladachtige passages en stukken snoeiharde hardrock, met een paar hele mooie riffs. De heren hebben gevoel voor melodie, zingen fraai tweestemmig en gooien vaak hun stemmen in de strijd om ongewone achtergrondkoortjes te vormen ("hoejahaha hoejahaha, hoeja hahahee"). En soms komt er ook gewoon een prachtig ingetogen liedje langs, begeleid door twee tokkelende gitaren. Maar meestal zijn de arrangementen toch wat vreemder en avontuurlijker. Af en toe doen ze wat denken aan de Holy Modal Rounders - psychedelische folkrock dus, met in dit geval regelmatig snoeiharde randjes. Geen geluidsbehang dus, maar zeer geschikt voor iedereen die mee wil op een avontuurlijke muzikale ontdekkingsreis.
Translation (or is that mangulation) through BableFish:
Ours To Destroy is a duo. Stern Dodd and David Morley made together an album that think does as for atmosphere yet most of psychedelische undergroundalbums from the years sixty. In that period in the rock music, that we indicate can easy as unprecedently creatively, also freely easy all sorts of elements and idioterieën in the music were permitted. Here we hear not only the now also well customary samples - fragments of radio advertising derision, cities sounds, nature sounds - only also strange percussie, sent guitars and many strange sound that processes becomes well in the music.
In a numbers as Happy Now comes everything this tie so nicely makes well such bit together - a beautiful catchy melody, soft balladachtige passages and pieces snoeiharde hardrock, with a few whole beautiful riffs. of. The pin have feeling for melody, sing beautifully two sober and throw to form often their votes in the fight unusual background choruses ("hoejahaha hoejahaha, hoeja hahahee"). And sometimes comes there also normally a beautiful modest song along, accompanied through two strumming guitars. Only mostly are the arrangementen really a little stranger and more adventurous. Finished and closed do they what think of the Holy Modal Rounders - psychedelische folkrock thus, with in this case regular snoeiharde edges. No sounds wallpaper thus, but sore arranged for everybody that with will on an adventurous musical voyage of discovery.
Source:
Moors Magazine
June 27, 2007: Help us get our video on TV
There are two opportunities that you could help us out with.
The first: CBC is launching a new program called Exposure to showcase videos & film by indie film makers. We uploaded our video "Skipping Rope of Daisies" to the website. If there are enough votes for it, it will be aired on the show. You don't even have to register to vote, so hit this link and vote away!
The second: My30Seconds.com is having a contest called "The Great Canadian Band Challenge" the top five bands, based on website activity, will be flown to Toronto to play live. That's a whole lot of exposure for an indie underdog like us. You can register, vote, and become 'our friend' by hitting this link.
June 15, 2007: Ours To Destroy live at the Plaza, Ours To Destroy played for the YES MEN live event
Ours To Destroy played live in a two piece acoustic format outside of the Plaza on June 15th. The Yes Men came
to town to speak about their adventures and we were fortunate enough to have been invited by the great folks of
Calgary Dollars (Gerald & Kirti).
It went off without a hitch other than Damo almost being squished & killed by the planet earth. Damo & Dodd are now rethinking their commitment to saving the planet earth given its proclivity for attacking upsuspecting humans.
Special thanks to Arusha, Calgary Dollars, the Yes Men, Kirti, and Gerald.
May 21, 2007: Review by Rusty, The Plugg: Music & Entertainment Blog
Ours to Destroy –
Ours to Destroy came highly recommended by a good friend. The minute I clicked play on their song ‘Two Thousand Sunsets’ it completely took me away from what I was doing and put my mind somewhere in the desert, driving a broken down Ford thinking of the next chapter in my journey. Their music is very eclectic and you won’t find one song similar to another. From their BIO: “Ours To Destroy’’s anarchist folk abstract is a unique juxtaposition of introspective folk with more aggressive experimental rock and melodic pop.” Check them out:
Ours to Destroy - Skipping Rope of Daisies
May 9, 2007: Ours to Destroy @ NXNE? so close yet so far
The biggest opportunity of our little band's life came rolling in via email in May of 2007 - an unsolicited offer to play at NXNE from the programming director John Kastner. Fabulous guy and a fabulous opportunity. Unfortunately, the offer came about a month before the date we would play and by that point in time two of the band's members were unable to free up their schedule. It's definitely a shame as we would have opened for The Soundtrack of Our Lives and played at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto...a venue with so much musical history we have all dreamed about playing at it.
Such is life. We are kicking it into high gear this coming fall to play more gigs locally here in Calgary with an eye to playing next year's NXNE event in Toronto. That's if John's offer still stands! Here's to John and NXNE for opening the door to our unique sound!
May 8, 2007: Ours to Destroy @ the Calgary Folk Fest Songwriting Competition 2007?
Ours To Destroy hit the stage in four piece format on May 8, 2007 as part of the annual Calgary Folkfest Songwriting Competition at the Ship and Anchor. We didn't win. The money would have gone a long way to help finance our upcoming 2nd CD but the competition was fierce, there's a lot of talent in this here city.
As an aside, it does seem that the judges seem to prefer songs that are humorous, upbeat, and lively. Unfortunately for us, the song we submitted & played was none of those things - more lowkey, downtempo, and sad. I still think we should have scored points for originality in that there was no one that had a sound quite like ours...to destroy.
April 22, 2007: Review by John Simmonds, WornRecords.ca: Steamroller
Ours To Destroy describe themselves as an "anarchist folk abstract". In fact on their website, they reach out for fan participation in classifying their genre, as well as contributing to their next album. I was actually quite impressed with their website, even though I'm supposed to be reviewing their music.
Keeping in mind that this band is not your average pop/rock band, I was instantly intrigued by them. Having been my given my choice of band to write about, after hearing 10 seconds of "Checkmate", I new this was the band for me. As I listened more and read more about them I realized why I like them so much. They list their influences as Modest Mouse, Wilco, Ween, The Eels, the Flaming Lips, and Mark Lanegan. I can hear all of these bands within their sound and would even add Frank Zappa and The Drive By Truckers. I really enjoyed the folk country feel of "Two Thousand Sunsets", and "Skipping Rope OF Daisies". Our To Destroy seem to pride themselves on creating a mood with each song.
Out of the 5 songs on their website I would have to say "Exorcising Demons" was my favorite, but each is so different form the last it's truly difficult to pick a favorite. They are all so much their own sound, and they are all "bridged by sound montages captured during several guerilla recording sessions on the streets and in the malls of Calgary during 2005", according to their bio.
From a production standpoint, everything sounds polished and professional. The performances are all excellent, with at some times so much going on it leaves you having to listen again just to catch what you missed the first time around. There is some really nice guitar work, and vocally everything seems to fit. The samples are very tasteful, and a great use of percussion.
Ours To Destroy won't be for everyone, but anyone with an appreciation for good writing, and originality should give them a listen.
"saved by the bell - rock rating"
Zack <=== that's the best rating on Steamroller! Thank God we didn't get Screech.
April 21, 2007: Ours to Destroy Live at the Climb For Wilderness
Ours To Destroy wowed a Dancing Beaver at the Annual Climb for Wilderness event at the calgary tower. Colleen Cole, Greg Gescha, and Mississippi Miko and the Black
Lung All Stars also took the stage and blew the audience and critics away.
Much fun was had by all and we look forward to playing again next year.
April 15, 2007: Ours to Destroy are Finalists in the Calgary Folk Fest Songwriting Competition!
We submitted the song sketch "Secrets and Lies" to the Calgary Folk Fest Songwriting Competition and are finalists in the category "Best Song by a Newcomer." Come see us play it live & cheer us on at the Ship and Anchor on Tuesday May the 8th starting at 7 pm.
You can download and listen to the tune by emailing us. Not only that, but you can become an integral part in the creation of our second full length album. After emailing us, we'll send you a link where you can access song sketches, album art, and other album information that is available only to those who take the time to contact us!
April 1, 2007: Live Rendition of Haskell That Rascal Released
Thanks to everyone for their wicked feedback to date on our next release. Since it's going well, we've released another track that we are considering for our second album called "Haskell That Rascal." It's a live version that we played at the Ironwood on Feb 2, 2007. If you want to hear "Haskel that Rascal" & "Secrets and Lies" you'll have to email us!
February 19, 2007: Help us Create our Next Album!
Good news for all those who take the time to contact the band!
Over the next year we will be publishing song sketches, album artwork, and album information for our next full length release. We hope to enter into a musical conversation with you by getting your feedback and incorporating your ideas into it (think album name, instrumentation, lyrics, and arrangment for the songs, song order, etc.)
As of right now there is one song sketch called "Secret and Lies" on this exclusive page so contact us now or use the form to the left to gain access to this non-public page and to help make our next release even better than the first! We will contact you as we add new sketches or new information about the album to this non-public page.
Even cooler than helping to craft Ours To Destroy's sonic and image direction, everyone that provides feedback will be given credit in the liner notes to the CD & the twenty best ideas will be mailed a free copy of our second CD when it is published.
February 15, 2007: New Internet Only release
We just released "Our Apologies to Fat Elvis" on our free downloads page. This tune is only for those with a highly developed sense of humour and for those that are not fanatical in their worship of all things Elvis!
February 6, 2007: Gig At Ironwood & Upcoming Updates
We played live at the Ironwood in Calgary as part of Colleen Cole's CD release party and had a most festive time. Ours To Destroy hit the stage at 9 pm and either 'wowed' or confused the audience...perfect. Pictures & hopefully some audio of the gig will be posted in the near future so please check back mid-February.
In addition to pictures & audio from the gig we will be releasing a new tune for free download called "Our Apologies to Fat Elvis."
January 10, 2007: Ours To Destroy LIVE at the Ironwood Stage & Grill
Ours To Destroy are playing LIVE at the Ironwood Stage & Grill in Calgary Alberta (1429, 9th Ave SE) on Friday February 2, 2007. Doors open at 8 pm and Ours To Destroy are scheduled to play at 9 PM sharp followed by the Black Lung All Stars and Colleen Cole.
The whole evening is in celebration of Colleen Cole's freshly minted CD. Both Dodd & Damo (the members of Ours To Destroy) were involved with the creation of the album with Dodd producing, mixing and mastering most tracks (in addition to playing some form of instrument on them) and Damo playing on a couple (bass, keyboards, backing vocals & guitar) and mixing one (Cynical Sister.)
Cover is $5 at the door. That's cheaper than taking your significant other out for a highly processed chicken nugget meal.
January 1, 2007: OTD on Pandora.com
Pandora.com is the music genome project. Their mission is to expose you to new music based on your existing preferences. How they do this is all very complicated.
Far easier to understand...they are a broadcaster that creates custom radio stations based on your existing tastes. For example, you can start by building an Ours To Destroy radio station. The station will start with a random tune from Ours To Destroy and then begin playing other bands you may or may not have heard of that are musically related to that song.
It's all pretty cool and a great way to find new music. We're just glad to be a part of it.
December 27, 2006: OTD Reviwed on CreativeLoafing.com
Written by Scott Harrell
A couple of Calgary songwriters/producers get clever with folk, found sounds and a yen for adding a modern indie edge to early Pink Floyd-inspired art rock. Yeah, that's a pretty ambitious sonic recipe, but this alternately sprawling and intimate full-length -- which took three years to complete, and includes aural esoterica captured at Calgary's various malls -- attains buoyancy more often than it sinks beneath the weight of its intentions. For every misguided "Exorcising Demons," there's an engaging "Checkmate" and a "Happy Now," and the duo is at its best when its more straightforward, melodic influences (Dylan, Eels) shine through the interesting noise, as on "Skipping Rope with Daisies" and "There Are No Words for Here." (ourstodestroy.com)
3 stars/5 stars.
December 18, 2006: OTD Reviwed on LucidForge.com
Written by Stephen J. Noel
Ours To Destroy is Steve Dodd and David Morley. They are currently offering their self-titled, debut album as “a unique juxtaposition of folk
with more agressive experimental rock and melodic pop.” If you are looking for great value in an indie recording, and your musical tastes take
you out of the mainstream, you might want to add this CD to your collection. Many of the songs are about dreams, staying grounded, and the
nether regions of the human psyche.
David Morley is also known as “Damo”, the perfect handle for a lyricist with a penchant for intensity. If lyrics are your thing, it won’t take you
long to figure out that this guy gets peed off, not in a death-metal kind of way, but he certainly seems to be carrying around some baggage
(ironically, his contributions include “suitcase percussion"). That’s not to say that I don’t share some of his concerns, or that the album is negative;
however, I could have lived without its “obligatory" shot at George dubya. But in fact, the album is great fun. Anyway, I don't spend a great deal of
time listening to lyrics that aren't already right in my face, and if they turn me off, say, in a Bruce Cockburn kind of way, I’m always happy to
reciprocate. (NOTE: Those who know me well know that I have my fair share of “good causes" and that I actively promote them. I’m just not into
psuedo theme songs for “social responsibility” of the
I-don’t-care-that-this-is-the-first-time-in-13-weeks-a-blue-sky-has-coincided-with-your-day-off-you-have-to-listen-to-me-drone-on-about-
pollution-caused-by-say-artificial-fabrics kind, not that OTD is into that sort of schtick; they’re not, or at least they don’t seem to be.)
OTD definitely doesn’t bum me out. This is one of those recordings with so much going on that I can effortlessly focus on any number of elements, all of which are delivered with a great measure of expertise and synergy, and without the sense of contrivance sometimes present in independent releases. For me, OTD is background music deluxe that will keep on giving over the long haul of my collection—comedy and drama punctuated with subtlety and nuance, with a healthy amount of noise to keep me interested when nothing else will.
Damo sings the lyrics he writes and plays rhythm and bass guitars, keyboards, and suitcase. He also shares programming with Steve, who plays lead guitar exceptionally well. Steve contributes to the rhythm section, as well as the vocals, keyboards, and percussion. He plays drums, plucks a veena, and produces great effects and wonderful noises. Steve and Damo produced this collection by themselves in Calgary, Alberta.
The OTD website categorizes the songs as Pop, Folk, and Rock. More specifically, that would be Storytime Rock, Creepy Rock, Hard Rock, Experimental Rock, Groove Rock, Punk Rock, Dark Folk, Political Folk, Instrumental Folk, Experimental Folk, Folk Pop, Pop, and a Ballad. That seems to be quite a mix, but because the quys like to tell stories, I’d say they were just experimental balladeers who enjoy playing acoustic guitars as much as they do plugging into a crazy amplification system. The opening number is decidedly garage with Lou Reed-ish vocals. The instrumental chorus promises an album of many surprises, which are, in fact delivered over the next fourteen songs. Next up is “Two Thousand Sunsets” the big picture tale of a country boy’s move to the big city, where “life goes down." Johnny eventually goes home, but he must have seen a few things while he was away because the next song, “Dread”, seems to take place in an alley somewhere where someone, maybe “Johnny", is trying to think of someone to blame. The organ is a great addition. After all this grittiness, I just wasn’t expecting the Betty Boop-inspired, Grateful Dead-style of psychedelia I found on “Skipping Rope of Daisies” or the totally off-the-wallness of “Happy Now”, one of OTD’s more nihilistic offerings; it’s about the merry-go-round of contemporary life on which we sometimes find ourselves. If the inter-track sound effects haven't convinced you that OTD also has a sense of humour, the movements in this song will. I enjoyed the rest of the songs on the album, as well. I found the imagery created by “Exorcising Demons” to be exceptional.
Ours to Destroy is an excellent value, not only because the album was three years in the making, but also because they used this time productively to develop their studio skills. I fully expect that this investment in experimentation will pay off nicely. Watch for new efforts from Dodd and Morley.
4 stars/5 stars.
December 5, 2006: Ours To Destroy on SrangeRoad.com!
StangeRoad.com features poetry, music, stories, art and film. They publish new content monthly and we were lucky enough to be included in their December issue! It's an honour given the other wicked bands & writing featured there. Go take a look, it's time well spent (as opposed to wasted.)
November 20, 2006: Don't Magazine Issue # 3!
Don't Magazine's Issue # 3 featuring Ours To Destroy is now online! Check out Happy Now and Skipping Rope of Daisies as well as an interview with the band, all synched up to wicked Flash animations. How cool is Dont Magazine? Too hard to describe, go waste some time there.
November 19, 2006: MySpace Redo
Yep, like all cool bands, Ours To Destroy is on MySpace. Head on over there to look at our new layout and listen to a few choice tracks. Oh ya, while you're there, Befriend Ours To Destroy.
Both members of Ours To Destroy, Steve Dodd and David Morley, are also on MySpace.
November 1, 2006: Accent On Tampa Bay Magazine
Ours To Destroy written up in Accent on Tampa Bay Magazine. Not bad for a little band from Calgary to reach listeners so far away.
October 11th 2006: Did we tell you Don't Magazine Rocks?
Ever since Kip (music editor of Don't Magazine) stumbled on our site through a google ad, we've been developing a warm relationship with him & and Don't Magzine itself. The Magazine exemplifies how to use all the wicked features of the Internet to deliver rich media content (seamless integration of images, motion, sound, text and colour) while still retaining the requisite focus on music, fashion, entertainment, & arts. Don't Magazine may be wicked eye candy but it's also more than that, as it isn't eye candy for the sake of eye candy. So while Don't may be considered art itself, it's subject matter is also art, which, seems to me, is the best way to explore art.
Perfectly clear?
Probably not, how about an allegory? Don't is NOT like the Star Wars prequels where the focus is on mind blowing special effects but the story, the most important part, is mind numbing and insipid and you find yourself walking out of the theater. It's more like Empire Strikes Back where everything - effects, story, & acting - fall precisely into place.
Don't is currently on issue # 2 and we eagerly await future issues.
October 10th 2006: Review in Indie-Music.com
Featured Review on Indie-Music.com: Review by Charles Martin
Music lovers live to unearth obscure gems amidst piles of albums at record stores. The pleasant surprises are what keeps aficionados digging, and Ours To Destroy is going to make more than a few hipsters happy.
Their latest self-titled album is a slow-cooked collection of divergent herbs and spices, drawing inspiration from Lou Reed, Wilco, Johnny Cash, and The Pixies among others. Some found sounds collected at a mall are sprinkled in for texture, and the result is a layered album that began acoustic and ended up in the further reaches of the indie rock soundscape.
Steve Dodd and David Morley began recording the album at The Sound Mind Studio (owned by Dodd) in Calgary. Morely’s vocals can have a strangled speak-sing sound reminiscent of Reed, and at other times he will seem Cash-esque, like in his convict country turn in “Two Thousand Sunsets.”
Dodd and Morely are definitely music lovers of their own right and have no problem revealing their influences. Though they certainly put their own voice in all these songs, you can tell who the band was listening to during the various phases of recording.
Two versions of “Happy Now” are included, one radio-friendly and the other unfiltered. The track is classic Pixies coil-and-spring, with the feel of adolescent mood swings bouncing between aggressive, playful and bored.
The best moment of the album is one of the found sounds at the end of “Plastic Sparkles” where their mission to find sound clips in the mall comes to an abrupt end.
“Security to camera 4, security to camera 4,” an urgent security guard calls.
“Ooh, I bet that’s us, we should get out of here,” the band mumbles and chuckles.
This album is not merely a grouping of send-ups to their favorite bands, but a studied exploration of music that excites them.
Early October 2006: GarageBand Experiment
Exorcising Demons Reviewed on GarageBand.com
We decided to stick track # 8, Exorcising Demons up on GarageBand.com to see how the ultra picky wannabe rock stars would take it. The results were mixed with most digging it as 'ultra creative' & unique & interesting unfortunately, for every couple good reviews we also received "this is the most boring song" type one sentence reviews. If you go to our page on GarageBand.com you will see a prime example with one interview titled "Interesting" and the immediately following one entitled "boring." So which is it??
The song has now exited the contest but did fairly well peaking at #29 out of 192 tracks in Experimental Rock and was awarded best male vocals, best guitars, best bass, best lyrics, best melody, best beat, best mood, most original, and potential soundtrack awards in the Experimental Rock genre.
September 2006: More Reviews...good news for people who love bad news
Reviews Published during September 20006:
1) Brock Press: Review by Rebecca Lazarenko
Out of 15 tracks on the album, I could not find one obvious single or conventional radio hit from Ours to Destroy's self-titled debut. More accurately, I could not find a Top-40 radio sensation that would be overplayed on genre-neutral stations. In other words, it was refreshing. As your average listener, I consume a lot of mainstream music and enjoy it along the way. This CD, however, seemed to challenge all genres at once, mixing a distinctive type of heavier folk rock with a hint of almost electronic-style pop - both of which I usually have no interest in. Screaming examples of this are songs such as "Skipping Rope of Daisies" and "Plastic Sparkles".
I do not want to say that this band is beginning to find their voice as that sounds as if they are only starting out and have no business in making a record yet - and these guys do. I am actually rather surprised that this band is not more popular. Instead of releasing a debut album of safe bet rock riffs and simple lyrics, Ours to Destroy has taken the chance of being distinctly apart and rather political right out of the gate. Many of the melodies are really very beautiful, others equally passionate, and the lead vocalist has this old crooner sort of vibe that can pull off a lyrical storyline. This is certainly a band you want to start following now; there is really no telling where they go from here and if this CD is any indication, it is certainly worth coming along for the ride. (The Sound Mind)
2) Reviewer Magazine: Review by Kent Manthie
What a good time to be alive, especially if you love music. Thank gawd for independent, underground labels and for the new technologies that make it possible for bands and artists to produce and distribute their own stuff, via media like the internet, self-promotion, mail and indie record stores that help sell the stuff on the street.
Ours to Destroy, a two-man band from Calgary Canada, is just such an underground duo that has much merit and has just put out this self-titled debut CD full of great stuff. OTD is a kind of neo-psychedelic rock band, with a certain quirkiness that recalls Guided by Voices, but they have gone their own way and followed their own muse and that is usually what brings out the best in people, this being no exception. A couple examples of bliss from this CD are: “Happy Now”, the opening track, “Checkmate” and one I really enjoyed a lot: “Exorcising Demons”.
I hope they keep on enjoying what they’re doing and continue to make good records.
Please do check out their website, you can go straight there: http://www.ourstodestroy.com – KM.
August 2006: Major Site Facelift & Initial Reviews
It's getting closer to having the reviews in. The first review has already been published on NightFlying's Records of Note. Woo, we made their Records of Note list - no small feat given that they receive over 100 CDs a week and end up writing about 10 of them. More updates about the reviews as they come in.
We did a MAJOR facelift on the site. Hope you dig it. This update included better descriptions of our music, including our promo mail out materials, etc. So, hit our downloads page to get your very own Ours To Destroy wallpaper or to print yourself a poster. All the cool kids are doing it.
July 2006: Marketing Launch
Created a mini-press kit and mailed out 50 copies of it and our CD (you can see the photos from it on our downloads page...man that was even less fun that sending out all those emails. The website is in need of an update but we are too focused right now on getting our CD out into a few hands that are willing to listen to it and possibly do a write-up.
From the sounds of things we will end up with somewhere between 5 and 10 reviews. So, math is, 200 emails = 100 replies = 50 willing to listen to an indie release = approximately 10 reviews. Excluding time invested to do all of this (which is a hugely significant amount of time) the cost per mailout is about $14. It ain't cheap this music business thing.
June 2006: Marketing Preparation
This month was spent preparing a major mail-out to reviewing magazines across North America. I've never had to spam so many people at once. Out of 200 emails sent to editors/music critics/etc only 100 replied. Out of those 50 replied that they'd be willing to give the CD a spin for a possible review. That's where we sent em. Thanks to those people that took the time to reply to our inquiries...it's appreciated!
May 2006: Other People's Music Section Added
1) We've added an Other People's Music section on our website. This currently features Gregory T Scruggs and Floweezy. Both bands, although completely different sonically, create wicked music and happen to be great people as well. Take a moment to spin their music.
2) Ours To Destroy's music can now be purchased on ITunes if you prefer instant gratification. Also, if you happen to live in Calgary, you can buy the CD at MegaTunes on 17th Ave for $11 Canadian.
3) We now have a Free Music And Video download section! It currently features a live rendition of track # 10 Prairies AND we added the album version of Prairies to our music player so check it out and compare it with the stripped down live version.
April 2006: Influences Section Added
It's hard explaining your music to those who have never heard it before. So we've added detailed pages for bands that have helped shape our sound, including:
1) Eels the Band
2) Wilco
3) Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees & Queens of the Stone Age)
More pages will be added as we have the time under the Influences section.
March 2006: Musicians Resources Section Updated
We've updated the Musicians section of the site including:
1) an article on Marketing Music Online
2) A list of Music Sites on which to register your band
3) A list of Free Band Lists on which to list your band
4) Companies providing Distribution Services
5) Places that provide excellent Online Advertising.
Take some time to peruse the info there and save yourself some of the frustrations we've experienced! The lists for band sites, music sites, distribution, and online advertising will be updated going forward so you will have one easy place to find a bunch of sites to list your indie site when you're ready instead of doing continuous searches to find them.
February 2006: Ours To Destroy CD Released Through CD Baby
Ours To Destroy's music is a unique juxtaposition of introspective folk with more aggressive experimental rock and melodic pop. Ours To Destroy's first self-titled CD is available at CD Baby. You can listen to two minute samples of every track on the album there. The CD itself was professionally manufactured by Indiepool.ca and includes a 16 page booklet featuring the artwork of Natalie Marsh and Colin Whitney.
You can Listen To four full length tracks here on OursToDestroy.com and view lyrics and artwork from the album. If you need any further convincing as to why this CD is essential for your collection, then EMail Us.
January 2006: Ours To Destroy's First Video - Betty Boop in Skipping Rope of Daisies
Betty Boop in Skipping Rope of Daisies. Do you like Betty Boop? Do you even know who Betty Boop is? Either way, Ours To Destroy will reintroduce you to some classic Betty Boop footage in their new video Ours To Destroy's Betty Boop in Skipping Rope of Daisies.
December 2005: Web Reviews and Feedback
1) Two Thousand Sunsets (track #2)
We stuck this on Garage Band for the hell of it...it was 'track of the day' on December 14, 2005:
Best Mood in Americana Week of Dec 12, 2005!
Our favorite review so far:
Haunting
A lot of tension in this recording. The singer sounds on the verge of of something dangerous. Very cool. Nice soundbite from Animal Planet on the end. The guitar playing was superb.
Reviewed by: papaearwig, Los Angeles, California
2) Exorcising Demons (track #8)
Editor's Pick on Download.com.