{"title":"Whitney K","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"two-years","title":"Two Years","description":"\u003cp\u003eA Rough Trade Shops tip for 2021. Rolling through life, an open mind like an ocean, an infinite ride that comes furiously crashing to a halt. This is Whitney K’s \u003ci\u003eTwo Years\u003c\/i\u003e, a deep dive into the Canadian songwriter’s journey through vulnerability, change and ultimately letting his guard down. Whitney K is the wandering stalwart Konner Whitney, a Whitehorse Yukon resident who has spent time in Vancouver, Montreal, Burnaby and Los Angeles. We met the character in 2016 through his intoxicating 4-track recorded manifesto\u003ci\u003e Goodnight\u003c\/i\u003e, a head on collision into 24 hours of illusioned romance and modern day escapism. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFast forward to 2021, lift those curtains, aptly titled \u003ci\u003eGood Morning \u003c\/i\u003eis the opening track on \u003ci\u003eTwo Years\u003c\/i\u003e, a different cracker, a deliberate record about transformation, where to put it simply, Whitney K has arrived. Enlisting the aid of main collaborator and bandmate Josh Boguski, the focus has been shifted, folklore and realism becoming reckoning and truthfulness, what was outsider folk is now political poetry, life in motion delivered through a freeway ridden baritone voice that transforms the mundane into extraordinary. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWritten with a completely different mindset and a conscious effort to break with the traditions of a corrupt, hypocritical, and hateful society\/lineage, Konner’s pen is precise and daring, uniting the earnestness of Willie Nelson and the comedy relief of Harry Nilsson on the beautiful \u003ci\u003eMe Or The Party #165\u003c\/i\u003e, or when painting Canada’s colonial past and heartland image on the primitive rock’n’roll anthem \u003ci\u003eTrans-Canada Oil Boom Blues.\u003c\/i\u003e There is no avoidance, no excuses, whether your self portrait in the mirror resembles a five dollar caricature sold on a boardwalk, the John Cale-esque opener ‘Good Morning’, or whether you learn you are worthy of love like on the poignant vignette \u003ci\u003eMaryland,\u003c\/i\u003e the beautifully arranged album closer that echoes Tin Pan Alley with Lou Reed’s grit. \u003ci\u003eTwo Years\u003c\/i\u003e also presents plenty of fun, the perfectly stumblin’ garage rocker \u003ci\u003eLast Night #2\u003c\/i\u003e, the honky tonk blues coming-of-age episode \u003ci\u003eCowboy City Rocker\u003c\/i\u003e and the cello \/ violin belter \u003ci\u003eHit This Pipe\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne of Whitney K’s many gems is \u003ci\u003eThe Weekend\u003c\/i\u003e a minimalist spectral ode to hope where the band’s restriction brings out the pure force and vocal command of the ramblin’ troubadour. Time to open your arms, he’s coming out of no fun city and aiming straight for you.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maple Death","offers":[{"title":"Orange | LP","offer_id":50467462611275,"sku":"1107418","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50467460055371,"sku":"1107417","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50467461890379,"sku":"1107416","price":6.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/22e9e92d-b9b5-4991-a670-3f17734d3e85_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727338299"},{"product_id":"vivi","title":"Vivi!","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhitney K and band are back with an electric live album that captures the best from their classics \u003ci\u003eTwo Years \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eHard To Be A God\u003c\/i\u003e, including a few nuggets from the back catalog and the unreleased tune aptly titled ‘Dire Straits’. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf \u003ci\u003eTwo Years\u003c\/i\u003e was the thunder, the rawness and the spirit, a combination of outsider folk, modern psych, grit, humor and everything in between, \u003ci\u003eHard To Be A God\u003c\/i\u003e was the sophistication, the dedication, the mind traveling far and beyond…\u003ci\u003e Vivi!\u003c\/i\u003e is the hot sauce missing, the perfect setting, the inevitable gift, really putting the word ‘motion’ behind the poetry, the electricity carrying the rollicking combo, the road opening up literally wide and infinite and the wide-eyed dreams becoming a coliseum standing in front of the chaos. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRecorded live in Montreal upon returning from Whitney K’s first European month long tour, ‘Vivi!’ is a vivid, exuberant and jarring photograph of a band that’s lived to see the force of ‘togetherness’, a ritual, a communion of sorts where emotions run free and into the unknown. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eVivi!\u003c\/i\u003e encapsulates everything that makes Whitney K unique, the freewheelin’ songwriting,  visions painted with utterly precise strokes, rock’n’roll bravado, sonic interplay, feedback and shimmer, velvet touches and goldmines, Modern Lovers, Television, Fred Neil, Harry Nilsson, Karen Dalton and the jingle-jangle of tomorrow. Played beautifully by Konner Whitney, Joshua Boguski, Marlon Kroll and Avalon Tassonyi, there is no way back, only one way in and it’s positioned crystal clear right in front of us. Alive\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maple Death","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50489103679819,"sku":"2048013","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/WHITNEY_K_-_VIVI_-_MDR70_-_PACKSHOT_64fa2af2_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727636556"},{"product_id":"hard-to-be-a-god","title":"Hard To Be a God","description":"\u003cp\u003eDon’t ya know it’s hard to be a god. No reason to sugar coat it, what you’re getting is peak Whitney K, poetry in motion and masterful writing where words, harmony, arrangements all dance in the same direction, free flowing through songs about change and memory. A voice as an instrument. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eHard To Be A God \u003c\/i\u003eis the new mini-album by Whitney K and follows 2021’s acclaimed \u003ci\u003eTwo Years\u003c\/i\u003e. Now based in Montreal, once again Konner Whitney is accompanied by friend, musician and all-hands-on-deck collaborator Joshua Boguski and by multi-instrumentalist Avalon Tassonyi. This five track release is a massive leap forward in both sound and songs. It's full of lonesome and heartfelt sounds with Lou Reed esque delivery vocally\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the opening notes of ‘While Digging Through The Snow’ it’s apparent that something magical is happening, like witnessing a “state of grace”, a breathtaking delivery where the game has slowed down and the band is dazzled while proceeding in trance through the experience. This is ‘a moment’, a future staple, a daydreamer ballad where reassessing one’s life stock and its surroundings gently evolves into a wider narrative, one where you are left contemplating colonial legacy and its inevitable conclusion. ‘Not Unlike A Rock’ is a rollicking bongo cruiser plateauing with mixolydian guitar licks that would make deadheads realign; the cartwheeling percussion on ‘Two Strangers’ nervously advances carrying Queen Victoria on her drive, another abstract metaphor for colonialism in Canada. ‘Hard To Be A God’... well, it does take a while for a lesson to sink in. ‘Song For A Friend’ is the epic closer, a stunning majestic beautifully orchestrated song about losing that someone to another more desirable city… or is it about the feeling of being left behind? Another hypnotic performance soaring above a wash of strings and piano weaving. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eHard To Be A God’s\u003c\/i\u003e hallucinatory pastoral album cover, a painting by Caro Deschênes depicting a rearing dog soaring above the deceased bodies of Bob Dylan, Lou Reed and Kris Kristofferson, epitomizes in many ways Whitney K’s approach. This is not simply a ‘kill yr idols’ situation, this is an open conversation, where storytelling becomes visionary and frames personal, poetic and often playful dérives through the histories of their imagination, bending and elevating a whole serious inventory of dreams. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maple Death","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50520320246091,"sku":"1147386","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Red | LP","offer_id":50520320475467,"sku":"1147387","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/537359ca-a948-4cc8-8c64-1e290596e229_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727982933"},{"product_id":"bubble","title":"Bubble","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhitney K returns with \u003cem\u003eBubble\u003c\/em\u003e, his first album for Fire Records and follow-up to 2022’s acclaimed \u003cem\u003eHard To Be A God\u003c\/em\u003e. Whitney K continue his migrant mind games, summoning up a series of intriguing characters, littered with everyday foibles and fantasies. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlong the way, he pens a journal of possibilities as he travels further into transient America, touching on everything from bar room chatter, rumour and distortion to misinformation, daydreams, misunderstanding and self- realisation; with anecdotes lifted from the paperback in his back pocket and his half-forgotten past.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBubble\u003c\/em\u003e is a 13-part cerebral mystery that unravels on songs that bring to mind the gruff sentimentality of the late Kris Kristoferson, Lennon’s ‘Jealous Guy’, Eels at their most troubled and the American Gothic sketches of David Ackles; the perfect soundtrack for a Raymond Carver book club.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Fire Records","offers":[{"title":"LP - Ultra Clear | Rough Trade Exclusive","offer_id":51967637291339,"sku":"R0483-0810","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP - White","offer_id":51967637258571,"sku":"R0483-3822","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/WhitneyK-BubbleCOVER.jpg?v=1749193610"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/collections\/whitney-k.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}