Frightened Rabbit are back with the first single from their follow up to The Winter Of Mixed Drinks, as well as EP titled State Hospital leading into the LP. The first single is also called "State Hospital" and the video is posted below featuring dark and emotional content, which is what FR does best.
Here is what the gentlemen from Frightened Rabbit have to say about State Hospital and the upcoming album:
"The fruits of our labour are nearing your ears. That is to say, we're releasing our tidy wee EP 'State Hospital' very soon and wanted to let you know a few things about it. It contains five songs. The title track is the first snippet from our next album, but the rest of the tracks are unique to this release, even though they were all contenders for the full-length at one point or another. I suppose certain songs just don't fit in to an album, but we thought these four still deserved to be given more than simply 'B-side' status. Because we had been writing and demo-ing for this record for some time, we found ourselves sitting on a lot of songs at the beginning of the year. Too many really, if there is such a thing. You'll be glad to hear that we didn't even toy with the idea of a double album, probably because we weren't taking any drugs. So this seemed like the best way to show off the extras and give you a taste of things to come. So, a bit about those other 4 songs then...".
Toronto dream pop duo Southern Shores will be releasing their second EP New World on October 2nd through Cascine. The first song is a nice, airy summer tune... even though summer is coming to a close. Shoot.
Check out the latest track from Western Canada's, Aidan Knight. The song is called A Mirror, and it will be on his upcoming album entitled, Small Reveal and will be released on October 23rd. Stream the track below:
You can read more about the album below via Killbeat music:
Two years can go by in the blink of an eye, or can stretch into a prolonged series of cross-country tours, weddings, funerals, rehearsals, odd jobs and getting your drivers license. Just ask Aidan Knight, the 25 year old songwriter and namesake of the Victoria-based band who unveil their second album Small Reveal on October 23rd
The roots of Small Reveal began in early 2012, in a similar rustic surrounding to that of their critically acclaimed debut album “Versicolour”: A cabin without running water on in rural British Columbia. Armed with hundreds of pounds of recording equipment; Olivier Clements, Julia Wakal, David Barry, Colin Nealis and Knight (via many wheelbarrows) set up in a gorgeous forest location with a cast iron stove and nearby swimming hole. After a week tucked away from society, armed with 15 brand new song ideas, they loaded the mountain of preamps and compressors back onto the ferry, returned home to Victoria, and spent the next 5 months quietly reworking the music.
Finally, in May of 2012, the band, joined up with producer and engineer Jonathan Anderson who was at the helm of Versicolour. Using the natural reverberant sounds of hanging guitars in a empty music store and the echoing distance of hallways in family homes, Knight and his collaborators created the swirling cinematics of Small Reveal in a whirlwind 10 days in 10 different recording spaces. The comraderie and the contributions of the band were integral to the process, Aidan explains; “Everything from horn arrangements to drum fills, they're things that I could never make up on my own. They're impossible; Only happening because of those 5 people in that certain space. I think the most powerful ideas are the ones that we never could have expected. As someone who's worked primarily on his own up until this point, I'm so glad that my best friends are the ones I can share and learn from now”.
Small Reveal presents the themes of inward thought and creativity, escapism, longing for success, and belonging. The result is an exciting yet dreamy, lushly-arranged record that swells and ebbs around the captivating focal point of Aidan’s voice. “The first time I was able to listen to the songs roughly put together…discovering what we had all made together. We had created something personal but omniscient, something ragged but polished, something that was reflective of what it means to spend a year crafting something that isn't revealed until the weeks. Unhurried. This is an album of music about creating music, the escapism in it and the uncomfortably honesty that hopefully shows itself.”
Jared Followill (Kings of Leon) has teamed up with Nick Brown (Mona) for the newly released single No Tell. The side project is called Smoke and Jackal and you can stream the aforementioned single below:
The Orwells are five kids from suburban Chicago. These teenagers have a really stellar garage rock sound that I am digging. Check out the song "In My Bed". The album, 'Remember When', came out August 7 via Aquarium Drunkard‘s Autumn Tone Records.
Check out this track called 'Strange Love' by Karen O for the new Tim Burton film coming out via Disney called Frankenweenie. Here is how Karen O describes the track:
"Tim [Burton] wanted an unconventional unconditional love song. My music inspiration came out of the same era of B movie fright film references sprinkled throughout the film. I went in the direction of exotica and calypso stylistically because it's quirky, good vibes music of that era and when you throw in a theramin solo it's a marriage made in heaven. I remember Beetlejuice introducing me to the genius of Harry Belafonte's calypso record so I wanted to give a nod to that too. We ended up with a love song for the end of the film to the film! Frankenweenie is so special, it's an unbelievable honor to be involved with it."
Strange Love
Here is the song list for the soundtrack:
Frankenweenie Unleashed!:
01 Karen O - "Strange Love"
02 Neon Trees - "Electric Heart (Stay Forever)"
03 Mark Foster - "Polartropic (You Don't Understand Me)"
04 Passion Pit - "Almost There"
05 Plain White T's - "Pet Sematary"
06 Kimbra - "With My Hands"
07 AWOLNATION - "Everybody's Got a Secret"
08 Kerli - "Immortal"
09 Grace Potter feat. the Flaming Lips - "My Mechanical Friend"
10 Imagine Dragons - "Lost Cause"
11 Grouplove - "Underground"
12 Skylar Grey - "Building a Monster"
13 Robert Smith - "Witchcraft"
14 Winona Ryder - "Praise Be New Holland"
Check out the video for the first new track, "Today's Supernatural" from the new Animal Collective album, Centipede Hz; out 09/03/12 internationally and 09/04/12 in the U.S. via Domino.
I have been meaning to post about Divine Fits for some time now. Their first two singles were released a while ago and now their whole album is up for stream on NPR, First Listen. Divine Fits is composed of Britt Daniels of the awesome band Spoon, Canadian Dan Boekner of Wolf Parade and Sam Brown who plays in Columbus.
You may remember my post from a couple days ago on Cuff the Duke's upcoming album, Union. They have just released a "Paper Bag Session" for their new song which is called, Side by Side. You can check out the video for that song below... but this isn't the finished product, the album version will feature Basia Bulat.
The Japandroids have released the video for their epic track "The House That Heaven Built" today, which also happens to be my favorite song of 2012 to this point. The video features clips of their shows, touring, with little boating and cabin vacation time snuck in (something Bryce, Matt and I relate to very well). All the while the boys from Vancouver are enjoying a few brews.
And if you want to see what the festivities of this video are like in person, Japandroids have embarked on a massive tour across Europe and North America. Including dates in Canadian cites Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary. Check out the tour dates below:
Tour Dates:
08-14 Ponte Do Lima, Portugal - Paredes De Coura 08-16 Dublin, Ireland - Workman's Club 08-17 Belfast, Ireland - Mandela Hall 08-18 Skipton, England - Beacons Festival 08-19 Leicester, England - UK Summer Sundae Festival 08-22 Reykjavik, Iceland - Gamli Gaukurinn 08-24 Hannover, Germany - Bootboohook Festival 08-25 Dornstadt, Germany - Obswiesenfestival 08-27 Frankfurt, Germany - Zoom 08-28 Dresden, Germany - Beatpol 08-29 Berlin, Germany - Magnet 08-31 Poznan, Poland - Fabrika 09-01 Warsaw, Poland - Hydrozagadka 09-03 Budapeset, Hungary - Akvarium 09-04 Vienna, Austria - Chelsea 09-06 Ljubljana, Slovenia - Kino Siska 09-07 Graz, Austria - Postgarage 09-08 Zagreb, Croatia - NKC Park 09-10 Prague, Czech Republic - Lucerna Music Bar 09-11 Munich, Germany - Feierwerk 09-12 Luzern, Switzerland - Treibhaus Luzern 09-14 Brussels, Belgium - La Chocolaterie 09-15 Leffinge, Belgium - Leffingeleuren Festival 09-16 Tilburg, Netherlands - Incubate Festival 09-18 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso 09-19 Rotterdamn, Netherlands - Rotown 09-21 Hamburg, Germany - Reeperbahn Festival 09-22 Munster, Germany - Gleis 22 09-23 Cologne, Germany - Luxor 09-25 Copenhagen, Denmark - Pumpehuset 09-26 Aarhus, Denmark - Voxhall 09-28 Gothenburg, Sweden - Pustervik 09-29 Stockholm, Sweden - Strand 09-30 Oslo, Norway - John Dee 10-12 Madrid, Spain - El Sol 10-13 Barcelona, Spain - Sala Apolo 10-15 Winterthur, Switzerland - Salzhaus 10-16 St. Gallen, Switzerland - Grabenhalle 10-18 Rome, Italy - Lanificio 159 10-19 Bologna, Italy - Covo 10-20 Padova, Italy - Loop 10-24 Athens, Greece - AN Club 10-26 London, England - Heaven 10-27 Manchester, England - Sound Control 10-29 Sheffield, England - The Harley 10-30 Birmingham, England - Hare & Hounds 11-01 Paris, France - Pitchfork Music Festival 11-04 Austin, TX - Fun Fun Fun Fest 11-05 Dallas, TX - Trees * 11-07 Scottsdale, AZ - Martini Ranch * 11-08 Los Angeles, CA - Fonda * 11-10 San Diego, CA - Porters Pub * 11-12 San Francisco, CA - Fillmore * 11-13 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom * 11-15 Seattle, WA - Neumos * 11-17 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge 11-18 Denver, CO - Bluebird 11-20 St. Louis, MO - Firbird 11-21 Nahsville, TN - Exit / In 11-23 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree 11-24 Memphis, TN - Hi-Tone 11-25 New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jacks 11-27 Orlando, FL - The Social 11-28 Tampa, FL - Crowbar 11-29 Gainesville, FL - High Dive 12-01 Atlanta, GA - The Earl 12-02 Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle Tavern 12-04 New York, NY - Webster Hall 12-07 Washington, DC - Black Cat 12-08 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer 12-09 Boston, MA - Paradise 12-10 Montreal, Quebec - Cabaret Mile End 12-11 Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix 12-13 Chicago, IL - Metro 12-14 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock 12-15 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock 12-17 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Pyramid 12-18 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Louis Pub 12-19 Edmonton, Alberta - Starlite 12-20 Calgary, Alberta - Republik 12-22 Vancouver, British Columbia - Rickshaw
When Cuff the Duke released Morning Comes last fall they noted that it was the first part of 2 albums to be released. Today they announced the second half of the project and the album is called Union. Here is what Cuff the Duke has to say about it.
Cuff The Duke is excited to announce details of their new album, Union, which will be released in Canada on October 2nd on Paper Bag Records. As promised, Union is the second part of a two part album project that stared with the release of Morning Comes late last year. The two albums relate lyrically and visually. A number
of the songs on the new album act as a response to the songs from Morning Comes. Union's 'Rise Above'relates to 'Standing on the Edge' and 'Something For Free' relates to 'Time Is Right'. Basia Bulat guests on album stand-outs 'Side By Side' and 'Stay'.
"On Union,
we moved away from our usual-sounding song structures, rock solos and
harmonies by adding more sonic textures," says the band's Wayne Petti. "Morning Comes was
more acoustic-based, this album is more electric-based. Instead of
trying to find the perfect tone, it was more about exploring interesting
sounds."
Tracklisting:
1. Live My Life
2. Side By Side
3. Where Did We Go Wrong
4. Open Your Mind
5. Stay
6. Carry On
7. Something For Free
8. All I Want
9. Rise Above
10. Night After Night
Order the limited edition 180g green vinyl at the Paper Bag Store!
Next to join the likes of Swedish Female superstars such as Lykke Li, Robyn and First Aid Kit maybe the duo Icona Pop. These two ladies are creating some very infectious indie-pop tracks, especially their new single "I Love It". To date Icona Pop have only an EP titled Nights Like This but a full length should be out in the near future. Check in for more information as it becomes available, but for now check out the video and soundcloud for "I Love It" below.
Fast Forward Weekly (FFWD) is a news and entertainment weekly which provides news, alternative viewpoints, entertainment information, review articles (including local music reviews) and specialized advertising. It is distributed throughout Calgary, Banff and Canmore. Last week FFWD had an article that looks at the Polaris Prize and the direction taken to award one band the prize. It challenges the process, who has been selected to date and most of all, the culture of Canadian music. I don't necessarily agree with it all, but it gets you thinking. Also check out the comments after the article. They are really interesting. Read the article HERE.
Jason Collett is planning to release his new record entitled Reckon, on September 25th of this year via Arts & Crafts. The first single has been released and it is called I Wanna Rob a Bank.
Check it out, below:
Here is what Jason Collett has to say about Reckon:
The consistent thread throughout this record is loss. The love songs are largely emotive reflections of the ‘political’ songs. All written through the distillation of events since the economic calamity of 2008 and it’s insidiously long looming shadow. I’ve seen first hand the kind of devastation this crisis has wrecked upon much of the world I’ve toured these last few years. The shut-down-shops and foreclosed homes on the suburban fringes as I’ve made my way to and from cities I’ve played. This record is a personal reflection of the crisis we’ve all witnessed and read about every day in the paper. Calling it Reckon is an acknowledgement of loss ... lost jobs, lost homes, loss of faith in our political and financial institutions and in turn, loss of illusion.
It seems politics are unavoidable if you choose to write about or engage with the world in front of you. I didn’t set out to make a record with these overtones, but neither did I try to stop it. I just did my best to avoid the shrill rhetoric that makes most political songwriting unlistenable.
There’s a poetic serendipity to the fact that I started recording this record during the same month that Occupy Wall Street began. I have felt a genuine solidarity with the passion of this movement in these precarious and volatile times.
