Originally released in 2009 as digital EP (and reissued several months later in conjunction with Record Store Day 2010), The Legion Sessions takes its set list from a live performance at the Royal Canadian Legion Pub.
At the time of its recording, Great Lake Swimmers had just put the finishing touches on Lost Channels, and they booked the Legion Pub to road-test the material in front of a small audience.
The result is a “warts and all” album, at times more reminiscent of a bootleg than a polished concert recording, with moments of hesitation bumping their heads against inspired performances.
The bandmates are obviously new to the material, and the songs sound a bit dry without Andy Magoffin’s reverb-heavy production.
Even so, the wistful, panoramic appeal of Lost Channels comes through loud and clear on these tracks, particularly “Everything Is Moving So Fast” and the heartrending “Still.” Only “River’s Edge” and “Unison Falling into Harmony” are missing from the bunch, and those that do make the cut are rough around the edges in an earnest, organic way that recalls the band's influences.
The Legion Sessions may be imperfect, but it’s nice to hear the Swimmers get their sea legs in concert.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PalmistryTony Dekker | Great Lake Swimmers | Play | 02:42 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Everything Is Moving So FastTony Dekker | Great Lake Swimmers | Play | 04:09 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | Pulling on a LineTony Dekker | Great Lake Swimmers | Play | 03:25 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Concrete HeartTony Dekker | Great Lake Swimmers | Play | 03:41 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | She Comes to Me in DreamsTony Dekker | Great Lake Swimmers | Play | 04:09 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | The Chorus in the UndergroundErik Arnesen, Tony Dekker | Great Lake Swimmers | Play | 03:14 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | Stealing TomorrowTony Dekker | Great Lake Swimmers | Play | 03:55 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | StillTony Dekker | Great Lake Swimmers | Play | 02:59 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | New LightTony Dekker | Great Lake Swimmers | Play | 03:41 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 31 mins | 73 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tony Dekker | Composer, Lyricist, Musician |
| 2 | Erik Arnesen | Composer, Musician |
| 3 | Julie Fader | Musician |
| 4 | Great Lake Swimmers | Primary Artist |
| 5 | Sean House | Layout |
| 6 | Kim Kinakin | Layout |
| 7 | Greg Millson | Musician |
| 8 | Parker Saltiel | Artwork |
| 9 | Graham Walsh | Engineer, Mixing |
| 10 | Darcy Yates | Musician |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |