I was first introduced to Fred Falke a couple years ago when i heard him remix New in Town by Little Boots. It is still a song that I can go back and listen to at any time without getting sick of it.
Fred Falke is back with a new album entitled Part IV which is available for your streaming pleasure below. I hope you enjoy this French DJ/House Producer as much as I do (Check out Aurora if you can't stream it all)
As I sit here listening to How The Land Lies, Matt Paxton's sophomore album, I think to myself how did I not discover Matt Paxton till now. He is a Canadian musician from residing in Vancouver hailed for his songwriting. And How The Land Lies is no exception, released April 29th, it is "eight tracks that look beyond the window, through reflection, into the deep, dark and blue." The album is available from Matt Paxton's Band Camp for a price of your choosing or you can listen below. I suggest "Habour Town" if you don't have time to check out the whole album at this time.
You give them an email address, they give you 5 songs to stream (2 of which have already been posted previously here). Pretty darn good deal in my opinion. You can listen to Lonely Boy, Run Right Back, Gold on the Ceiling, Little Black Submarines and Sister.
I started listening to Sea Wolf shortly after his release Leaves in the River in 2007. He also came to Calgary a couple years ago and played a set at the Marquee Room which Spencer and I had the privilege of seeing. Sea Wolf released a limited edition 7" vinyl on Record Store Day - Black Friday last week with two rare tracks on it. You can catch one of those songs below and you can also head to the Sea Wolf Soundcloud Page to stream all of their music. I suggest you start with the album, Leaves in the River. Also, as the title of this post suggests, look for a new Sea Wolf release in 2012.
Emm Gryner is a Canadian indie-pop veteran with over 10 LPs released over 15 years. Although she has never reached the success that similar artists like fellow Canuck Chantal Kreviazuk, she is considered by many as one of Canada's best female songwriters. On September 6, 2011 she self-released her 13th LP Northern Gospels featuring undeniably catchy "Ciao Monday". Check out Northern Gospels in its entirety below.
Toronto based indie-rock band Zeus released their lead single from their upcoming sophomore record due in early 2012 (via Arts & Crafts). Their previous album Say Us was on the Long-List for the 2010 Polaris Prize and they have recently opened for Sam Roberts on his tour across Canada.
Last night I had the privilege of watching Feist play at the Jack Singer Concert Hall in Calgary, Alberta. It was my first time seeing her live and I am glad I went to see her. The Calgary crowd kept their emotions fairly repressed during her songs simply absorbing what she offered; people wanted to listen. However, after every song ended everyone offered up their thanks with loud applause and cheering.
It's funny how a mood can be set collectively from a thousand people. Some concerts people seem ready to cheer and be loud throughout the concert, while at others the crowd wants to sit in silence.
The quiet mood at the Feist show may have been in part to the opener, Bry Webb. This ex-lead singer/guitarist of The Constantines opened the show and sang to crowd slowly strumming his guitar with a slide guitar crying in the background. It reminded me remotely of Damien Rice's style of music. I really enjoyed his stuff and am planning on picking up his new album.
You can check out a couple tracks below (I suggest Rivers of Gold) from his new album Provider (Nov 15th).
Happy Friday everyone. Small Black released a mixtape on 11/11/11 and you can stream/download the whole thing below. I hope it makes your Friday afternoon fly by (so to speak).
Last night I had the pleasure of going to see The tUnE-yArDs in Calgary. The opener for the show was Pat Jordache who I had never heard of. I had trouble classifying their sound; It was this 80s experimental stuff (for lack of a better word). Their live show was nothing to rave about, but they attracted a niche market of listeners who really enjoyed them. I have posted their most recent full length for you to judge. If you want to take a 'stab' at classifying their music leave me a comment on this post.
The tUnE-yArDs led by Merrill Garbus put on a great show. She was engaged throughout the concert and everyone in the venue responded.
When I first heard The tUnE-yArDs I knew I had to see this band live and I suggest that anyone who has a chance to go see them live should go. Here are a couple videos to give you an idea:
For a band with just one release Grouplove has achieved a lot of milestones. They have several songs featured in both major motion pictures and video games. Their most popular song is called Colours and I have posted it below along with previews from the full album entitled Never Trust a Happy Song (2011) for your listening pleasure.
The Big Pink are set to release the follow up to their debut album A Brief History of Love. The new album Future This will be out on January 17th in the new year via 4AD. Check out videos the first two singles "Stay Gold" and "Hit the Ground (Superman)" from the Future This below, I particularly enjoyed "Hit the Ground (Superman)", both the song and video.
Childish Gambino aka Donald Glover released Camp today via Glassnote Records. You can purchase the album digitally through iTunes or Amazon now or on vinyl on December 6th. But you can also stream Camp in it entirety right now at NPR. Enjoy!
I was first introduced to the musical whirlwind that is King Khan in 2008 with the release of The Supreme Genius of King Khan and the Shrines. The crazy style of garage rock used in the album had me hooked at the first listen.
Now the King is back with a new EP and I thought it was time to introduce you all to this Montreal based mastermind!
You can stream a new track which is on The King Khan Experience EP (NOV 1/ Scion A/V) for yourself below and even download it!
Joesph Gordon-Levitt is much more known for his acting in entities such as Angel in the Outfield, 3rd Rock From The Sun, and more recently (500) Days of Summer and Inception. However, he is also the master mind behind HitRECord, an open collaboration network in which Musicians, film makers and artist of all sorts can work together to create, well, art! I will let Mr. Gordon-Levitt explain HitRECord better then I can.
Now that you have learned a little more about HitRECord, check out Joe's rendition of R Kelly's "Ignition (Remix)" played live at a recent HitRECord show and your lying to yourself if this doesn't brighten your day.
Everyone's favorite lesbian (not with each other), identical twin sisters, Calgarian, Canadian indie pop duo Tegan and Sara have developed, in association with WB Records and Superclose films, a documentary that breaks down the up's and down's of being involved in such an intimate band. Detailing both sister's struggle to find identity apart from being "Tegan and Sara" through a tour of India, massive stadium shows, and the creation of a live album in a intimate, fan focused, talk and play show in Vancouver, BC. The film and live album titled Get Along is to be released next Tuesday, November 15th but you can pre-order the deluxe package through teganandsara.com. The deluxe package for $49.99 includes:
It is definitely a cool package about a great Canadian Indie band which would make a great gift with Christmas right around the corner or just pick it up for yourself. I only wish the they released the live album on vinyl! But in the meantime before the November 15th released date you can check out the trailer for Get Along and the live recording of "Back In Your Head" from film and album below.
We recently posted the first single "Lonely Boy" and it's awesome video from The Black Key's upcoming LP, El Camino for your listening enjoyment. In addition to "Lonely Boy", the second track was released today called "Run Right Back". You can stream it via Listen Before You Buy right now. Enjoy!
Drake's new album Take Care is set for release this November 15th (even though it was leaked a couple days ago). This Canadian rap heavyweight saw a lot of success from his last album and that success listed him with the best that North America has to offer. You can check out the track Lord Knows below and see what you think.
Well, it has been one year since Spencer and I decided to start this music blog. The idea behind this operation was simply to spread what we considered good music. We did not care if anyone read it because in its most basic sense we could at least share music between the two of us.
A lot has happened over the past year to this blog. We have had months where the two of us have made 40+ posts and others where we have had a mere 3 posts. We have had days where no matter what we post people just aren't coming and other days where the hit counter goes through the roof for no apparent reason. This can be compared to the discovery of music. There will be days when we have to 'bat' away good music and others where we have to scrounge for hours just to find one good track. This is music blogging.
To tell the truth, this blog had no direction when it started. The two of us had talked about a general direction, but we only were able to decide on one thing. That was that there are already enough music blogs out there posting on the 'bigger' bands. We didn't want to simply echo what had already been said, we wanted to blaze blindly throughout the vast music world and see what we could find. This the beauty of the blog. There is no agenda, no rules. We simply go and post what we feel like and hope that we 'leave you feeling good.'
With that being said, as we head into the next year we want to hear your opinions and suggestions for the blog. You can send us a Tweet or an email. We want to improve this blog so that both the look and content evolves as time and music progresses. We want our readers to be a big part of that.
Thanks to all our readers for your support!!
Big shout out to our friend Nathan for the banner. He did a great job.
Coeur de Pirate (aka Béatrice Martin) just released her new album Blonde on November 07, 2011. Based out of Montreal this 22 year old has a lot to offer to the Canadian and International music scene. You can check out the official video for the single Adieu below or you can head to her Bandcamp page to check out more.
Tour:
2011-11-08: COEUR DE PIRATE @ Montreal, Quebec Rialto Theatre
2011-11-09: COEUR DE PIRATE @ Quebec City, Quebec City, Theatre Petit Champlain
2011-11-11: COEUR DE PIRATE @ Toronto, Ontario, Mod Club
You may have heard rumblings about Of Monsters & Men across the "blogosphere" or if your Icelandic, this will more then likely be old news. For the rest of us, Of Monsters & Men of Iceland have been creating a lot buzz in North America with their single "Little Talks", which sounds as if it was created by the illegitimate lovechild of Edward Sharpe and Magnetic Zero's and Mumford and Son's. Their debut album My Head Is An Animal was released in September of this year in Iceland and does not have a official North American released date as of yet, however "Little Talks" is available through iTunes or you can download it via Soundcloud for free. In the mean time, check out "Little Talks", "Dirty Paws" and "King and Lionheart" below and keep posted for more information on a full release date and tour information. Happy listening!
Thanks to the CBC Radio 3's The R3-30 I recently discovered Adam & the Amethysts out of Montreal. The band released their second LP, Flickering Flashlight on October 4th. I'm not sure how you describe Adam & the Amethysts' sound, could be psychedelic folk or pop but either way I am definitely enjoying the sound and I will let Radio 3 try to describe Flickering Flashlight better then I can. You can stream the full album right now via Exclaim.
"Flickering Flashlight is the highest-fi lo-fi record you'll hear this year. Much as it evokes Van Dyke Parks' ensembles and Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, this bold blushing sound was recorded in a single tiny room at the front of Adam's apartment; an office stuffed with guitars, amps, patch-cords, a giant vintage map of Lake Superior. No, it wasn't soundproofed; yes, you can "definitely hear some garbage truck". There are distant creaks, closing doors, moth-wings. "When you listen to the record it's kind of like sitting in my house and listening to my house, with music playing over it," Adam says. "I was trying to achieve sounds that on the one hand transcend the circumstances, grander and more interesting, but on the other hand remain true to what's going on: which is a guy making music in a 5' x 8' room, overlooking the street." - CBC Radio 3
Hailing from Australia, WIM released their self-titled album back in May of this year in Australia. The album is now being released in North America on the 15th of November. WIM has been receiving lots of love for this album in Australia so I think it is time we heard it here. They are described by the LA Times as "Rufus Wainwright fronting Grizzly Bear."
Some of my favorite tracks from the album are Colossus, See You Hurry, Something for You, In The Morning and Monster and Me.
The White Buffalo (aka Jake Smith) is back with new music this month. He has released a new single called The Pilot and his website says that his new EP is due out this month and a full length entitled Once Upon a Time in the West is due out in the new year. You can stream the single below and grab the mp3 for yourself from the widget.
Tour:
11/01 - Tin Angel, Philadelphia, PA
11/02 - TT The Bears, Boston, MA
11/04 - Rockwood Music Hall, New York, NY
11/05 - Nightcat, Easton, MD
11/06 - Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ
11/11 - The Walnut Room, Denver, CO
11/14 - The Horned Hand, Bend, OR
11/15 - Tractor Tavern, Seattle, WA
11/16 - The Woods, Portland, OR
11/18 - Slim's, San Francisco, CA
This fall has sure proven to be a good one for new Canadian music. A band I want to write about today has just released their second studio album called Michigan Left. Arkells has been around for about 5 years now and have toured their share of Canadian ground both headlining and opening for a long list of bands.
Below I have posted their whole album for your streaming pleasure.
A couple of my favorite tracks off of their new LP are Kiss Cam and Whistleblower. Enjoy.
