May 27 Montreal @ Casa Del Popolo
May 28 Kingston @ The Mansion
May 29 Toronto @ Sneaky Dees
May 30 Guelph @ Van Gogh’s Ear
May 31 Hamilton @ Casbah
June 1 Trois Rivieres @ Gambrinus
June 3 Moncton @ the Paramount
June 4 Saint John @ Peppers
June 5 Fredricton @ the Capital
June 6 Sydney @ st patrick’s museum
June 9 Sydney @ the Upstairs
June 10 Halifax @ Gus’s Pub
June 11 Chicoutimi @ TBA
June 12 Ottawa @ Cafe Dekcuf

Go to Exclaim to see the full review. Or scroll down:

From the opening lines of “First Class,” this latest effort from MacPherson feels almost like a Tom Clancy thriller. The Winnipeg singer-songwriter has always been noted for injecting political intrigue into his music, but Mr. Invitation may be the first of his four albums to musically match the power of his pen. Although sonically sparse, MacPherson and his trio zero in on the core of each track, and extract meaning from each note. These are not songs that can be easily ignored, even when MacPherson dials down the drama, as on “Travelling Style.” The end result is an artist in full command of his creative faculties, and knowing it. It would be easy to compare Mr. Invitation to the best work of the Weakerthans or the Tragically Hip, but that would be doing MacPherson a disservice, since many moments on this album are better. Now is the time when MacPherson needs to be considered amongst the best Canadian singer-songwriters on the scene today. (Smallman)

Click the link for the interview. http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/generalarticlesynopsfullart.aspx?csid2=844&fid1=43648&csid1=0

Here is the full listing of things we just happened to stumble across. Highlights include Propagandhi’s cover choice as year end band of the year for Exclaim; Kent Monkman’s album artwork on Supporting Caste being chosen as one of the best album covers of the year; and Paste Magazine’s Top 100 band names including Propagandhi. (*Disclaimer: this list is not an endorsement of any of these sites by anyone including my mother or the office cat, Dr. Puddles. Although, Dr. Puddles has been known to endorse things behind our backs - eucalyptus massage oil? Really? Come on, Dr. P…).

SIGHTS & SOUNDS TOP 10
http://www.terrorizer.com/content/james-hoares-albums-2009-part-one-four
http://grindingtheapparatus.net/component/option,com_fireboard/Itemid,65/func,view/catid,522/id,33491/
http://log.thedom.net/archive/2009/12/25/das-war-2009-musik
http://thomyerk.tumblr.com/post/301240961/best-of-2009
http://www.chartattack.com/features/78067/chartattack-staff-top-10-album-lists-for-2009 (travis Persaud)
http://www.asice.net/specials/350/
http://www.blistering.com/fastpage/fpengine.php/link/1/templateid/18078/tempidx/5/menuid/3
http://vowtoremember.com/brooksreynolds/blog/?p=600
http://happinessbythekilowatthan.blogspot.com/2009/12/so-this-is-new-year.html

PROPAGANDHI TOP 10
http://theperfectsausage.blogspot.com/2009/12/andys-top-ten-albums-of-2009.html
http://www.rocksound.tv/news/article/top-75-albums-of-2009-part-two
http://rantatter.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-favorite-releases-of-2009-by-month.html
http://matview.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-top-100-albums-of-2009.html
http://morningaftershow.wordpress.com/2009/12/10/top-10-records-of-2009/
http://betterofftoday.blogspot.com/2009/12/best-of-2009-strung-outs-jordan-burns.html
strung out drummer, who also names his own album in the top 10
http://houseofd.wordpress.com/2009/12/12/records-of-the-year/
http://cjscrisis.blogspot.com/2009/12/top-5-for-2009.html
http://chrishibbard.wordpress.com/2009/12/15/best-albums-of-2009/
http://www.hour.ca/music/music.aspx?iIDArticle=18997
http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/music/81522/best-and-worst-music-of-2009 (Hank Shteamer)
http://www.undergroundscene.co.uk/forum/play-list-music-feedback/56670-top-10s-2009-a.html
http://www.alterthepress.com/2009/12/albums-of-2009-lists.html (frank turner and mike moak, Justin hacki)
http://elliotimes.blogspot.com/2009/12/top-10-of-year.html
http://taicligh.wordpress.com/2010/01/05/2009-best-of-the-rest/
http://beverstine.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/my-late-best-of-2009/
http://beverstine.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/my-late-best-of-2009/
http://flatlinemusic.blogspot.com/2010/01/brads-top-ten-albums-and-five-honorable.html
http://vandallane.blogspot.com/2010/01/top-20-albums-of-2009_02.html
http://www.codaclothing.ca/?p=1244
http://picassoblueyo.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-year-in-music-2009.html
http://virulentstain.blogspot.com/2010/01/top-ten-too.html
http://onesidedwar.blogspot.com/2009/12/top-10-albumseps-of-2009.html
http://sonicdiet.wordpress.com/2009/12/31/wmse-dj-picks-of-2009/
http://thesilvertongueonline.com/?p=5751
http://signalmag.com/main/?p=150 (various writers)
http://exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid1=139&csid2=864&fid1=42694
http://breakdownslam.blogspot.com/2009/12/sygs-best-of-2009.html
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/entertainment/music/aught-nine-oughta-hears-80254282.html
http://www.cerebralpop.com/2009/12/top-5-well-duh-albums-of-2009.html
http://flatlinemusic.blogspot.com/2009/12/brads-top-ten-songs-of-2009.html
http://myownpirateradio.blogspot.com/2009/12/another-year-another-list.html
http://www.bringonmixedreviews.com/?p=4882
http://am138.blogspot.com/2009/12/top-5-albums-of-2009.html
http://dailymusicreviews.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-best-of-2009.html
http://hugthedark.blogspot.com/2009/12/top-20-of-2009.html
http://nastynatmusic.blogspot.com/2009/12/best-of-2009.html
http://blendingwithmachinery.blogspot.com/2009/12/best-music-of-2009.html
http://www.blurt-online.com/features/view/525
http://bobdylanwrotepropagandasongs.wordpress.com/2009/12/24/top-50-songs-of-2009-26-50/
http://thosewhowander1.blogspot.com/2009/12/best-of-09.html
http://familiarizeyourself.com/2009/12/22/2009-in-recap-the-list-edition/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=2009-in-recap-the-list-edition
http://amusicallyrelatedblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/018-another-year-another-number.html
http://vowtoremember.com/brooksreynolds/blog/?p=600

BEST BAND NAMES TOP 100
http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2009/12/the-100-best-band-names-of-all-time.html

COVER OF THE YEAR LIST
http://www.redefinemag.com/music/reviews_cover_2.php?artist=46-Fantastic-Album-Covers-From-2009,-Part-Two&id=1378

Ooooh. First big announcement of 2010. It’s not really a secret as we’ve been working on this album for the past 10 months already but it is now finally done and we’ve got a release date set. So we can officially announce that Greg Macpherson will be releasing his latest full length - Mr. Invitation - with Smallman on March 30, 2010. For those who don’t know Greg, he’s a fantastic singer/songwriter that falls somewhere between Steve Earle, Hayden, Billy Bragg and The Weakerthans.

The new album contains 10 new tracks goes across the spectrum musically and lyrically. We’ll have some music to listen to shortly, as well as some upcoming tourdates (including a hometown CD release show in April) and some info on pre-orders. For now, the tracklisting will hopefully suffice:
1. First Class
2. Outside Edge
3. Smoke Ring
4. Mr. Invitation
5. Travelling Style
6. Backflow
7. Broken Dreams
8. Big Skies
9. West End
10. Visitor

Full dates below:
22.01. POR- Lissabon, Coliseum (w Billy Talent)
23.01. ESP- Madrid, Palacio Vistalegre (w Billy Talent)
24.01. ESP- Barcelona, Sant Jordi Club (w Billy Talent)
26.01. FRA- Bordeaux, Theatre Barbey (w Billy Talent)
27.01. FRA- Paris, Bataclan (w Billy Talent)
29.01. NL- Amsterdam, Melkweg (w Billy Talent)
30.01. LUX- Luxembourg, Rockhal (w Billy Talent)
01.02. BEL, Brüssel, AB (w Billy Talent)
03.02. NOR, Oslo, Sentrum Scene (w Billy Talent)
05.02. SWE, Gothenburg, Liesberghallen (w Billy Talent)
06.02. SWE, Stockholm, Arenan (w Billy Talent)