the james clark institute

"On Sideshow Unattraction, James Clark, namesake singer-songwriter for Toronto folk-rock outfit The James Clark Institute, laments the drowning death of his heart on 'Lake Monona Last Night' and reminisces on the acoustic ballad "Monstrous" (shout out to Neil Young's greatest hits and REM on cassette), in the Thailand-laden imagery of "Bettie Page Rides A Donkey" and declares his wish on the sprightly 'Girl Heroine.' The guy should start writing a novel."
- Karen Bliss - Freelance Music Journalist
“Here is a left–field gem that sounds like it could have been recorded in 1971 off of Sunset Boulevard. This is a vaguely country-rock-ish styled CD that is grounded firmly in the sounds of sunny California from another time. The songs embrace bathes the inner ear in an elegant hushed warm surrender to their charms. Very highly recommended.”
- Bruce Brodeen - Not Lame Recordings
“…one of Canada’s finest and highly individual songwriters.”
- Colin Lynch - RCAT International Online Music Magazine.
"...a witty, concise and sometimes acerbic lyricist with moving, memorable and often hilarious songs".
- Blair Packham - Producer; Singer/Songwriter; Composer; Educator.
While confronting the ghosts from his past, James Clark puts them to song and twists and turns them into witty rootsy pop tunes. With his tongue planted firmly in his cheek, James gives a nod to Toronto’s Infamous Clarke Institute Of Psychiatry via his namesake. His strong songwriting sensibilities have been compared to Elvis Costello; Ray Davies and Warren Zevon.
At the young impressionable age of eight, little Jimmy Clark was taken by his parents to see Johnny Cash live in concert. Two years later he was in a crowd of screaming preteen girls (along with his much disconcerted father) at a David Cassidy concert. These two incidents, although at opposite ends of the musical spectrum, helped to shape James Clark’s musical journey. Already interested in rock and roll via his older brother’s record collection, it was when his father arrived home from his job at the Regal Toy factory with a makeshift drum kit wrapped in plush fur that his career direction was confirmed in his young mind. Through his troubled teenage years, which were complicated by his parent’s divorce, James withdraw further into the world of music, art and expression, playing drums with many suburban basement bands. But it was shortly after his father’s death that James began to take his songwriting more seriously. He taught himself guitar and his compositions became more and more introspective.
While spending six years as the drummer for Toronto’s western Surf band The Sin-Tones, James was also busy writing songs of his own, some of which would eventually end up on 2004’s ‘Home is Where the Heart Attack is’. In 2005 that record received airplay on campus radio across Canada and charted in Ontario. Tracks from the CD also received considerable airplay and widespread recognition on internet radio stations around the world. The song ‘The Worst Photograph Ever Taken Of Me’ hit 5 on MP3unsigned.com operating out of the U.K. and the CD reached 3 on the Pop Album charts of MP3.com.au based in Australia.
Full of sardonic bite and heartfelt sadness, the latest James Clark Institute record is an exorcism of emotions felt after a long term relationship went south. ‘Sideshow Unattraction’ began merely as a therapeutic exercise in the fall of 2005 but by early 2006, 25 songs had been written. Conjuring up the same spirit as John Lennon’s ‘Walls and Bridges’; Frank Sinatra’s ‘In The Wee Small Hours’; Beck’s ‘Sea Change’ and Bob Dylan’s ‘Blood On The Tracks’, this farewell record to a lost lover/friend was released in the spring of 2008, charted on Canadian campus radio and has recently been added to Not Lame Records’ roster of independent record releases.
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