Quick, Before It Melts.

I've been meaning to write about Toronto's Justin Rutledge for months now, and every time I've sat down to work on a post, I've been distracted by something else, so today, I've sequestered myself into my blogging think tank, locked the cats on the other side of the door with a fresh bowl of milk and some new rubber mice, turned off the iPhone (Okay, I just silenced it, but that's like turning it off, right?) and have dedicated myself to the task of introducing QBiM readers to the man voted Toronto's best Singer/Songwriter in 2006.

Rutledge is sometimes referred to as Canada's Ryan Adams, and though the comparison is apt, Rutledge's brand of Americana alt-country has a decidedly literate flavour to it. That's probably because his background as the editor-in-chief of a literary journal at the University of Toronto, and that his latest album, Man Descending, is inspired and based on the novel by Guy Vanderhaeghe. It is a somewhat sombre and sober look at the darker corners of life, but rendered beautifully. Man Descending was longlisted for this year's Polaris Music Prize, but unfortunately didn't make the shortlist. Don't interpret that as a negative reflection on the 10 songs herein, but rather see it as a strength of the Canadian albums released in the last year, of which, Man Descending is one of the best.