
Frederick Squire 's new album is called Frederick Squire Sings Shenandoah and Other Popular Hits . Wait, he sings what? I've never heard of "Shenandoah," but Wikipedia tells me that it's an old folk song. Huh. Well, "popular hits" or not, this one is still well worth checking out. As a member of Daniel, Fred & Julie , Squire has already proved that he's a master of vintage folk. The slow, eerie "All Things Past Serve to Guide You on Your Way" is no exception. Hear Squire's dusky baritone [...]

Toronto - We here at the Panic Manual are mostly Canadians, with a few randoms thrown in. So in honor of Canada Day, here is a tribute in images, since we are still too lazy to compile a proper list. [...]

This morning I woke up at 4:40 AM. That is a very bad time to wake up. I'm not sure if it's very early today or very late yesterday. Since then I've worked a full day and I'm beat. Speaking of being awake early in the morning, Daniel, Fred and Julie didn't go on until past midnight when I saw them a couple of weeks back. It was a Wednesday night and I was due to start news writing at 8 AM the next morning. Life is hard sometimes. Now that I've [...]

This week I've rounded up new music videos from Zeus, Tokyo Police Club and Mantler; live footage featuring The Darcys, Forest City Lovers; a Garageland episode starring D-Sisive; a DJ mix from ProF featuring RJD2, Manitoba, Daedalus and more; plus mp3 downloads of live performances by Anagram and Daniel, Fred & Julie.

Apollo Ghosts :: Mount Benson - review I've been riding Apollo Ghosts hard these last few months, including a constant barrage of tweets/posts to the Polaris jury hoping to help push them onto the short list. Mount Benson is a rough album in construction, but one that's almost perfect in its fragmented nostalgia. Every moment is presented with vivid honesty and no embarrassment is hidden in an attempt to . The record is a highly personalized look back at a time in Adrian's life that he couldn't forget [...]
Jun 15, 2010, 4:44pm
MBV

Frank Yang This past Saturday night was one of those evenings with absolutely no shortage of options for Toronto concert-goers - and that's even before Arcade Fire showed up to siphon off another 1000 people or so to the east end - so I wasn't sure how well the Toronto debut for both Sweden's First Aid Kit and Oklahoma's Samantha Crain at The Rivoli would do. Any concerns about possibly being the only one there, however, evaporated when I got to [...]

Frank Yang This past Saturday night was one of those evenings with absolutely no shortage of options for Toronto concert-goers - and that's even before Arcade Fire showed up to siphon off another 1000 people or so to the east end - so I wasn't sure how well the Toronto debut for both Sweden's First Aid Kit and Oklahoma's Samantha Crain at The Rivoli would do, particularly since I heard that First Aid Kit's free in-store at Criminal Records earlier that afternoon [...]

My first ballot for the Polaris Music Prize is due today. After much deliberation, here are the five albums I'm going with. This list covers a fairly wide cross-section of Canadian music. Four provinces are represented. I've got fuzz pop, folk, jangle punk and dance music. There are albums that sound like they were crafted painstakingly in the studio and albums that sound like shit. That's Canada for you, I guess. 1. Little Girls - Concepts Many DIY musicians have cranked [...]

For Canadian music bloggers lucky enough to be selected to submit a ballot for our Nation's coolest music prize , the last few days have been a hectic time. With so many people screaming suggestions, it would be hard not to revisit your choices and the names you hear around the ole cyber water cooler before hitting submit. As it was, my list was pretty locked in and really, the only shifting was for the coveted number 5 spot. Being the transparent blog we are, I figured I'd share my picks with you [...]

It's Polaris season and, as I've previously discussed, I've been catching up on some albums I missed over the past twelve months. Over the weekend, I took a tip from Bryan at Herohill and checked out the self-titled LP by Daniel, Fred & Julie (aka Attack in Black 's Daniel Romano , Calm Down It's Monday 's Fred Squire and ex- Eric's Trip songstress Julie Doiron ). Wow. I initially wasn't convinced if an album of traditional folk songs with only two [...]
You know, although this space is a little quiet, or, just not updated as frequently this passed week- my life has been consumed by music. I am moving out of San Diego, so that means everyone I ever knew gets a mixtape. I know, right? I'm such a pal. But the mixtape process takes forever, especially when it comes to personalizing them, and cutting and pasting the album artwork, tracklist and letters inside. Whew.. But it's been fun, and bitersweet. In the midst of all this, I've come across some epic music that I will eventually share with you all. [...]
Here is another installment of the singles chart. There is no change in the Top 5. Mostly a jump from Broken Social Scene and The New Pornographers due to both albums being out on May 4th. New entries from Stephanie are The Love Language, Harlem and Hanoi Janes. While my new entry is Kelis's Acapella and the link for the Youtube is the Bimbo Jones Remix. Here is this week's Top 10 for the week of May 9-15. This time you can listen to the songs and added the "Bubbling Under" in this entry. [...]

Whether it's as 1/4 of Attack In Black, 1/3 of Daniel, Fred & Julie, or in his newest solo incarnation, Daniel Romano has undoubtedly become the music man to watch in 2010. Romano has announced the June 1 release of his solo record, Workin' For The Music Man , the most intimate set of songs he's written, and perhaps his greatest musical achievement to date. The album was recorded in his fully functional 2″ 16 track basement studio. It features performances by his father, David, his aunt, Darlene, Misha Bower of Bruce Peninsula [...]

Mark Seliger Perhaps cognizant of the fact that their new record would be ripped and leaked to the internet approximately 41 minutes and 20 seconds after the first store opened up on Saturday for Record Store Day and the first of those 600 limited edition LPs sold, The Hold Steady have made Heaven Is Whenever available to stream at NPR in its entirety, more than two weeks ahead of its official May 4 street date. The record is their first since the departure of keyboardist [...]

MySpace Their billing isn't anything more than their names - Daniel, Fred & Julie being Daniel Romano of Attack In Black , Fred Squire of Shotgun & Jaybird and Calm Down It's Monday and Julie Doiron , all-around Canadian indie-rock heroine. Their album of the same name is just as simple and unpretentious, captured to tape in monophonic sound at Squire's Sackville, New Brunswick garage and featuring three talents strumming and singing old standards and a couple of original compositions. It's a simple and lovely [...]

Honestly, last night the music we heard couldn't have been much better. Starting with a set from Baby Eagle (apologies to Laura Peek for missing the set), the tiny, North End church was packed with fans of the talented musicians, no one sure how a set from three friends playing classic songs would unfold. What we heard was memorable. Daniel Romano , Fred Squire and Julie Doiron played with smiles on their faces and a relaxed demeanor. Honest harmonies and guitar work more than overshadowed the slight laughs when the odd [...]

The fact that you might not know who he is or have a hard time finding information on Fred Squire is a problem. Possibly the only problem with Fred Squire. Outside of Sackville, NB and area (Eastern Canada) you might find yourself not knowing Mr. Squire at all or possibly only knowing him due to his efforts with Canadian indie darling Julie Doiron. While all good and well (A LOT of people can do worse than having Julie Doiron as a collaborator!) I need you to stop and see Fred(erick) Squire himself as your center of focus. [...]

I'm not sure there is much more I can say about the lovely record Daniel, Fred & Julie created last summer in Sackville . Their stripped down take on folk classics has dominated my listening patterns for the last 6 months, and in that time I've given you a review , a track by track breakdown from Daniel Romano ( Attack in Black ), dubbed the LP as the #2 in Canada last year and earmarked it for my Polaris ballot. And truthfully... part of me still feels like [...]

There's a moment about half way through "The Gambler and His Bride" where someone who's paying close attention to the song can travel back through time and space to the day last summer when Daniel Romano, Fred Squire and Julie Doiron were recording it in Squire's garage. Amidst the gentle plucking and raw harmonies you can hear the rumble of a motorcycle's arrival (or a passing car), and it sounds like the musicians paid it nary any mind, content to finish what was started. There's an impulse to say that the recordings they made that week out in Nova Scotia [...]