Right now I'm incredibly frustrated knowing I have plenty of things I'd like to post on, but that first I need to go back to the folks' house to get albums out of the mail and photos (from Georgie James, etc.) off my camera and onto my computer. So I'm putting out a whole bunch of releases that I don't want to write about in detail when so many other bloggers have done them justice already. 1990s: Cookies ( Buy it! ) Hailing from the U.K., these kids know how [...]
Hello everyone. I am very happy. Because as of tomorrow I am going on holidays for 3 weeks and my first destination is pictured above. Portland, Oregon. I first visited there in 2005 and quickly fell in love with the place. Safe, extremely friendly, environmentally sound, community minded, surrounded by greenery and mountains, great music, cool shopping, etc, etc. Luckily while I am there I will attend the Pickathon Music Festival for one day where I will catch Horse Feathers and Langhorne Slim , amongst others. Also I will see Bishop Allen and [...]
Holy Smokes! It is just a shade over one month until the Wolfe Island Music Fest and I am really, really getting excited for it - and you should be too. Why you ask? Well, here are thirteen reasons why, aka the lineup: Friday August 10th – 8:30pm Hootenanny Review featuring Jenny Whitely Luther Wright Julie Fader Jim Bryson Saturday, August 11th – gates –12pm Wolf Parade [...]
Last week I made a conscious decision to start reading every future email that I would receive. I decided to start from a clean slate by clearing out every single email that was festering my inbox. It seemed like a great idea at the time because I was reading everything within the first couple of days. Let's just say experiment didn't last too long, because I have about 100 unread emails right now. This proved advantageous for the simple reason that I actually found some decent listening material. [...]
Legendary vid director Sophie Muller (with a resumé too deep to detail, including Björk, No Doubt, the Raconteurs, Blur, the Cure) sets the man who penned "Gay Messiah" as a matinee idol in his own right throughout the first clip from Release The Stars . "Going To A Town" toys with enough Christian imagery (a burning rose bush, a crown of thorns) to keep a Sunday school grad busy for a spell, though it's mostly Wainrofolo doing what he does best: soaking up the spotlight. (Thanks Obtuisity for the heads up!)
More than any other band I can think of, the sound of Great Lake Swimmers is defined by their environment. Their self-titled debut was recorded in an abandoned grain silo and the music reflected that rural setting (though the crickets that open the record certainly helped the vibe) and the follow-up, Bodies And Minds , could be said to have a more spiritual flavour to it though equally austere, having been recorded in a church on the shores of Lake Erie. The new record, Ongiara , [...]
This song doesn't really attract attention until the drums break into a syncopated lope.Then you get the idea that something is going to happen here and it does. It takes you back to New York in the late 70's, giving you an idea of what a touch of Talking Heads forced through fellow New York band Television's head would sound like. I love this song... "What People Do". what people do [ mp3 ] this sentence [ mp3 ] [...]
Funny how things go in circles - that CMW showcase at the 'Shoe a couple weeks ago had 3/5 of the same lineup as the NxNE show I saw at The Boat last June . And then, last Thursday at the 'Shoe, I saw the last two bands from that bill, Born Ruffians and We're Marching On . I didn't actually stick around for We're Marching On (WAMO to their friends) at that show so this was my first time seeing the Guelph-born outfit, also their first gig in some [...]
You know that on any given weekend there is probably something cool happening in town and chances are that things are going down at the Grad Club. This week is no different and there is a show on Saturday that I want to draw your attention to featuring two rather exciting bands. The evening's headliners, the Born Ruffians , are blowing up all over the place. And rightfully so. They have a great combination of infectious hooks, a very visible rhythm section which will get your feet a-movin', quick-fire changes [...]
Born Ruffians , died on a couch watching Search For The Next Pussycat Doll . W 03.21 As The Poets Affirm * with The Dudes, at Zaphod's --> As The Poets Affirm - Awake Chaos ( website , myspace ) --> The Dudes - Dropkick Queen Of The Weekend (hheyyy!) Jason Collett , at Bar 1848 (at University of Ottawa) [...]
Dear Patients: Last week at Manhattan's very own Mercury Lounge I caught a set by the Torontoianites, the "Born Ruffians". I heard these guys over the PA back in November before the "Rosewood Thieves" were set to record their KEXP radio session. The song was "This Sentence Will Save/Ruin Your Life." An incredibly catchy song. The sound may be a bit harder to explain. But think of a ritilin aided bundle of nervous energy with a side of David Byrne vocal stylings. Here's the bands bio taken from their myspace page. "When four musical boys get [...]
Denton, Texas' Midlake has had a hell of a time trying to come to Toronto - they were originally scheduled to open for The Hold Steady in July of last year, but begged off that gig for whatever reason but arranged a make-up date opening for The French Kicks in September. But they then bailed from THAT date in favour of an engagement as the opener for Keane on a ritzy theatre tour. Can't fault them for that, except it didn't really work out - Keane singer Tom Chaplin turned [...]
Born Ruffians "Hedonistic Me" - The Born Ruffians' debut EP definitely sounds better to me now than when I first heard it, but it's easy to understand why it didn't grab my attention in the same way that their live set did on Monday night. For one thing, the most exciting songs from their show are not on the record, and tracks they have released only hint at the quality of the melodic yet rhythmically complex material that they performed at the Mercury Lounge. "Hedonistic Me" was played in the set, and comes the [...]
Monday: Peter Bjorn & John @ Mercury Lounge 10pm SOLD OUT This show has been sold out for months, but I'm recommending it for two reasons. The first reason is that there really is no other alternatives to this show, it's a weak day so if you're not here you'll probably be home watching Heroes or 24. My main reason for picking it is that I will be at this show and have been looking forward to it for over a month now. Not only was Writer's Block one of my favorite albums of last [...]
Arcade Fire Five Years (live David Bowie cover) Hansome Furs The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack (live Liars cover) Bishop Allen Ring of Fire (live Johnny Cash cover) Eliane Elias Tropicalia (Beck cover) Born Ruffians Knife (Grizzly Bear cover) José Gonzáles Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division cover) Xiu Xiu Fast Car (Tracy Chapman cover)
Born Ruffians, photo courtesy of Kate Chapman Every Monday-Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. The podcast features exclusive in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent musicians that KEXP DJs think listeners should hear, along with songs from more well-known artists. Today's featured selection is from Born Ruffians ... Born Ruffians - This Sentence Will Ruin/Save Your Life ( MP3 ) Listen to an exclusive in-studio performance on 12/2/06 - ( [...]
DOWNLOAD (MP3s) Shy Child - Break Your Neck Shy Child - Summer <---CATCHY Born Ruffians - Hedonistic Me <--- sort of catchy too Shy Child (from their Myspace ) NYC band/duo Shy Child are going on a tour of the UK in February, but not before they play a hometown show at Mercury Lounge on January 31st. Born Ruffians [...]
I Guess I'm Floating ( http://iguessimfloating.blogsp ot.com/2006/08/born-ruffians.h tml), and Another Form of Relief, who put This Sentence Will Ruin/Save Your Life...
#19 Emmy The Great 'Paper Trails' Download MP3 Website Myspace I've really tried to get into the music of Emmy the Great, but I can't seem to do it. Maybe I've been hearing the wrong songs or something, but all of the tracks that I've picked up from various blogs haven't done very much for me. All except this one anyway. It's quite a feat for an artist I don't particularly like to get to [...]
NME reports that Brazil's Cansei de Ser Sexy (CSS) will cover Grizzly Bear 's amazing song, Knife. The band's Adriano Cintra told NME their "Knife" cover will be a "EuroTrashHouseMeetsTalkingHea ds kinda thing". That sounds good to me! The Brazilian electro-rock band, responsible for such profound and emblematic songs as "Let's Make Love to Death From Above" and "Music is my Hot Hot Sex" has gotten Grizzly Bear's permission to make the cover available as a B-Side or a download. In return, the guys from Grizzly Bear agreed to cover one of CSS' [...]
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The Yellow Stereo
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Chromewaves
*SIXEYES
>Dial 6-1-3_
Doctor Mooney's 115th Dream
Fluxblog Is So Hot Right Now
Pop Tarts Suck Toasted
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BrooklynVegan
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Another Form of Relief
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Sound of Summer (v. 3.1)
Maetrik - The Reason (Original Mix)
[REMIX] Dragonette – “Let it Go (Faustix Imanos Remix)”
When Florence danced with Calvin
