Julian Koster's Singing Saw

12/02/08 5:57pm

by Steve McLean (CHARTattack)

The Music Tapes leader and former Neutral Milk Hotel and Olivia Tremor Control member Julian Koster came to my place last night — and he brought a badger.

No, there wasn't a wild, four-legged carnivore running around my downtown Toronto townhouse. Badger is what Koster calls the saw he used to play selections from his new album with The Singing Saw Orchestra, The Singing Saw At Christmastime.

The symphony couldn't make it, but the quirky Koster didn't need accompaniment to impress and entertain me, my friends, MuchMusic's Matt Wells and his cameraman, and two strangers who showed up, Tara and Jordan (emphasis on the "dan"), with his saw prowess and tall tales about Sylvester Stallone hanging fruit and other oddities.

After performing a few favourite carols on the saw, Koster switched to banjo and played some of his original songs. He ended the recital with another saw number and a story about a man who said his hat was a cow.

Koster's performance, which I turned into a Christmas party and fundraiser for The Kidney Foundation Of Canada, was part of a home caroling tour that will continue in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

You can view photos of the party here, and look for video coverage of the event on CHARTattack later this month.

MuchMusic's coverage of the hoedown will air on MuchNews during Much On Demand from 5 to 6 p.m. ET on Dec. 22.