The World Provider mixes next-level performance art with oldschool Broadway/Vegas showmanship, fine-tuning the irresistible combination of catchy tunes, cheap-keyboard sonics, and over-thetop theatrical performance.
The superheroic alter ego of mild-mannered writer/filmmaker Malcolm Fraser, the WP got started in Toronto in 1999, coming up alongside some friends you might have heard of – Peaches, Feist, Gonzales, Mocky, Taylor Savvy. Eventually they all moved on to Europe and varying degrees of fame. The WP, in a misguided display of non-conformity, stayed on these shores, relocating to Montreal.
Since then, the WP has released Enabler in 2004 and the Lost Illusions EP in 2006, featuring the CBC Radio and Pitchfork fave “Valentine” (featuring Feist), both on Montreal’s Ta-Da Records.
Originally a one-man band, the WP has in recent years expanded to various lineups, appearing either as a duo with wife/collaborator Stacey DeWolfe or with a full band featuring Stacey, Montreal indiefilm queen Kara Blake on keys and Besnard Lakes rock goddess Olga Goreas on drums.
HARD FEELINGS is the new, self-released WP album, featuring “Valentine” and two other Lost Illusions tracks plus nine previously unheard songs.
It was recorded between 2006 and 2008 under the watchful eyes of Jace Lasek and Dave Smith at Montreal’s reknowned Breakglass Studio. It also features contributions from Montreal indie-rock luminaries such as Steve Raegele (The Besnard Lakes), Mike Feuerstack (Bell Orchestre, Wooden Stars, Snailhouse) and Warren Auld (Royal Mountain Band).
Hard Feelings is released in the form of a Super Fun Activity Book with puzzles, cartoons, jokes and skill-testing questions. The musical element is available as a download from leading Canadian online label zunior.com.
The Critics Say
“What
TWP does is so free of outside judgment, so punk-withoutpunk, assertively
goofy and yet unpresuming of any other standards of cool, rock and
yet anti-rock, with super riffs and melodies and yet no polish whatsoever,
a willfully stupid parody of rock frontmanship that is also great
rock frontmanship… TWP's performance is all about the fact that
you don't have to pass any tests to be valuable, to be loved, to be human.” –Carl
Wilson, zoilus.com
“Fraser finds ways to excite the keyboard to not only make you dance, but also make you think… creating a fluidity unheard of in most indie–meets–dance music.” –Shain Shapiro, Echo Weekly
Links
www.theworldprovider.net
www.myspace.com/theworldprovider
