"STRANGER" REVIEWS
    "One of the top 10 albums released in Canada this year."
    - Matt Tunnacliffe, Definitely Not the Opera, CBC Radio, Dec. 2001
    "One of the top four albums produced in Winnipeg in the year 2001"
    - Bartley Kives, Winnipeg Free Press, Dec. 2001
    The Ottawa Citizen - November 30, 2002
    Winnipeg quartet Nathan crafts delicate pop wrapped in acoustic instrumentation and bewitching melodies.
    The album opens with the lurching tune Measure Me, giving some indication of the disc's overall subversive tone. Songwriters Keri McTighe (guitarist/vocalist) and Shelley Bilewitch (guitar, accordion and back-up vocals) create a perverse blend of sweet and sour. The mix is at its sharpest on Pick Me Up Suzie, which seems to be about the forensic investigation of a murder told from the perspective of the victim. McTighe's vocals are so soothing that the grisly lyrics ("Tell my daddy how I cried when Johnny pulled out his knife/and daddy wraps blankets on his chewed-up daugher:) will cause a double-take. Actually , this whole album will provoke double-takes.
    -Wes Smiderle  (4stars)
    Georgia Straight - Vancouver, BC - Dec 2002 "This Year's Best"
    The young Winnipeg quartet fearlessly crosses styles and genres and comes up with winners in just about everything it tries. Without a doubt the most charming debut I heard all year, topped off with the heavenly pop hit “Ballyhoo”. 
    - Shawn Conner 
    Umbrellamusic.com
    (December 2002)  UmbrellaMusic Top Ten Or So:
    Below are songs by Canadians that we really, really, really liked in 2002 
    The numbers are only there for the people that need to see numbers in descending order this time of year:
    10. The Riff Randells, 9. Brian Borcherdt, 8. Jim Guthrie, 7. Broken Social Scene
    6. Nathan, 5. The Weekend, 4. Christine Fellows, 3. Kinnie Starr, 2. The Heelwalkers
     1. Skydiggers

    There Is No Cat .com - Tinton Falls, NJ 
    Fear of Music Wednesday, December 18, 2002

    As 40 approaches me fast, I think sometimes about my dedication to seeking out new music, something I've always done. The past few years, it seems to happen less and less often that I stumble across a band who really takes my breath away. I have this fear that I'm turning into someone I've always felt sorry for, someone whose musical taste is stuck at a particular moment in time (usually whenever they turned 20 or so). Am I doomed to listen to the same bands I liked when I was 35 forever? So perhaps I get a little extra thrill from the sensation of cheating impending brain death when I find a new band whose music sends chills up my spine. A band like Nathan, from Winnipeg, Manitoba. I heard a track of theirs on CBC Radio 3 a few weeks ago that's been sticking to the roof of my brain like peanut butter. I gotta love a band that includes tuba and accordion in its repertoire, even if you don't. But don't let that scare you away. The three tracks by them on CBC's New Music Canada web site sound quite different from each other, with the main connecting thread being the gorgeous female harmonies. "Measure Me", the track I heard on Radio 3, is a waltz, with the aforementioned accordion and tuba, and swings like crazy. "Australia", on the other hand, sounds like a sweet pop tune until the fifth or sixth listen when you figure out that it's about someone who's crazy, inserting herself into her new boyfriends past photographs. The tunes are catchy as hell. I think I'm in love. It appears that their main outlet here in the US is through CD Baby, who seem to specialize in less-well-known bands with poor distribution (hi, Shirley). Anyway, I look forward to someday (soon) hearing the rest of their CD. If it's anything like the songs I've heard so far, or even if it sounds completely different but has the same attitude, it sounds like the sort of thing I'll have to pry out of my CD player with a crowbar. And I feel a little bit more alive.
    - Ralph Brandi


    Mote Magazine - Edmonton, Alberta
    Keri McTighe and Shelley Bilewitch have the most bewitching vocal styles. High and some kind of old '30s country, but with a pop cadence, some circus melodies, and the pretty-beyond-sweetness of a Bjork. It's hard to find the highest point in a CD of highlights. Even when they slow it down to a Cat Power-shuffle ("Merritte") on a song that ends with "like a fairy tale cut short like a young girl's grave" Nathan is completely compelling. Imagine Julie Doiron and the Carter Family jamming with gypsy band Taraf de Haidouks. That isn't quite it. You'd have to add some Geoff Berner, Freakwater, and John Southworth to get closer to approximating their sound. Despite the vocals being so high and dreamlike, the rest of the band isn't lost in a washy pop sound. The drums are crisp and the accordion doesn't compete with the piano for attention. The music is dense, but not cluttered, and sometimes it's breathtakingly appropriate. It has the sound of a veteran band, not the independently produced debut by a young Winnipeg five-some. I thought my excitement would wane, that their uniqueness would wither, but the more I listen to this CD the broader the pleasure. That first line of "Ballyhoo" surprised me every time. "Glorious Exhaust" is divine. This should be on many top 10 lists for the year. 5/5
    - Gabino Travassos, December 2001
    Uptown Magazine - Winnipeg, Manitoba
    The debut CD from Winnipeg's Nathan is a lovingly crafted musical delight. Stranger immediately pulls the listener in with the gentle oom-pah-pah of the first track, "Measure Me," and weaves a hypnotic spell from there on in with its loping and laid-back folky/country pop. Intriguing twists of wispy girl vocals and sweet harmonies contrast with sometimes startlingly harsh lyrics nuanced with violence, longing and discovery. These, coupled with excellent musicianship and interesting instrumentation (accordion is an important player and there's even a bit of tuba for good measure) elevate Stranger well above the ranks of debut CDs, showing a maturity that one wishes most bands would achieve before releasing a disc. There are beautiful songs and moving stories here that deserve to be heard, and with one listen you'll be bewitched. - 4/5 Barb Stewart, September 2001 
    New Winnipeg.com
    I write a fair number of reviews and interviews, and I'm seldom at a loss for words once I've begun. I sat down to write this review of Nathan's debut album "Stranger" and I couldn't decide what to say. I own the disc. I bought it at a show. I know all the songs. 

    I guess what I'm trying to say is, well I'm nervous about writing this review because I'm a huge fan. I want you to sit down and read this very slowly and carefully: Nathan is a terrific band that writes the best bittersweet pop songs in this part of the world. 

    Nathan's laguid, spacious and simple-not-simplistic sound is elevated by the wonderful vocal harmonies of Keri McTighe (vocal,guitar) and Shelley Bilewitch (accordion,vocals,guitar). 

    Nathan's opaque lyrics remind me of an impressionist painting, where you're perspective determines what you'll get out of it. The words have a serious depth that is handled in a sometimes-dark, sometimes- childlike way. 

    I really appreciate Nathan's patience in not rushing toward simple beautiful moments. Joanna Miller (drums, though Daniel Roy plays on the disc) Devin Latimer (bass) and Bob Filep (keyboards) are to be commended for creating this space for outstanding vocals. All the tracks are good, so pick your own favorite. Mine is "Australia". 

    Check out their website for news on where they are being played nationally, where they're playing locally,and follow their progress after winning the prairie division of the CBC Big Break Contest. I love "Stranger". 

    It is one of my favorite discs of 2001. 
    - by Rob Vaarmeyer

    Stylus Magazine - Winnipeg, Manitoba
    There has been a great deal of buzz concerning the release of Stranger, Nathan's debut full-length CD. And it is not without reason; this is undisputedly one of the top albums produced in Winnipeg this year. Nathan walks several fine lines: producing catchy pop that maintains depth and sincerity; producing an excellent variety of songs (each listen of the album gives me a new favourite) within a coherent and distinctive indie/alt-country/folk infused sound; Keri McTighe's and Shelly Bilewitch's pretty vocal harmonies that are touched with sadness and yearning. And tasteful accordion. 
    - Tom, December 2001
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