I trust you're all recovering/resting/relaxing today. Whether you welcomed 2012 with a quiet night at home alongside family and friends, or joined some raucous, drunken celebration at a house/club/bar, I'm sure it was a great time. If you must know about my night, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Considering New Years last year was probably the [...]

the holidays should be about family, friends and cheer. they're also a time where we give thanks to everything and everyone that has helped us along the path of our lives. booze and gifts are nice too. this is a playlist for you, dear reader. take it with you on your road trip to grandma's house or chill with it at home with a nice bottle of brandy. cigars are optional but highly suggested. Hail Santa - a together in digital dreams holiday mixtape
Click image to download more songs by this artist Sounds like: Apostle of Hustle, Stars, Do Make Say Think "Broken Social Scene - The World At Large (Modest Mouse Cover)" What's so good? Last night Broken Social Scene played a 40-minute set atop an "Occasionally Perfect" Heineken billboard in Chicago across the street from Wrigley Field. With an impending hiatus looming, it was a fleeting opportunity [...]
Things I learned this weekend: Apparently it's grounds for an ass-kicking when you're black-out drunk at a bar and you tell a girl her boyfriend is "limp dicked" and ask her if you can "put a little baby in your tum tum." Good thing I was in a large group of people who would have [...]

I'm very much an advocate of escapism in all forms. You can see hints of those deep-seeded desires hidden in my daily life—for example, the page in my journal comprised of a long list of places in the world I want to visit before I die, or how I sometimes procrastinate by perusing articles from the travel section of the New York Times. Having grown up out in rural New Hampshire, something about unplugging and venturing out into the unknown appeals to me on an almost spiritual level. So, it's only natural that I would also love music that features [...]
One of the things that I love most about underground metal is that so many diehard fans fulfill so many roles within the metal community. A lot of the kids that you see at the grind show are also in bands. The dude rockin' out at the front might own a distro. That girl might [...]

Click image to download full album Sounds like: Kevin Drew, KC Accidental, Stars "Broken Social Scene - Almost Crimes" What's so good? I love discovering old albums again. You know, the ones that were on daily repeat for a while but then suddenly were gone from your life, and (almost just as quickly) are back again. These are the best types of albums - ones [...]
Cougar Microbes caught up with Little Tybee's vocalist Brock Scott to discuss the "nuclear" family, viral hysteria, bringing back the mullet and LA rich little white girls. Here is how it went: Cougar Microbes: What time did you wake up today? Was it out of choice or necessity? Little Tybee: I woke up at 8 [...]
I am currently listening to Do Make Say Think, and it's got me thinking. A few months ago, I had the opportunity to see the group on tour, and, despite having high expectations, I have to say that I had mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I genuinely enjoyed the performance. I am a [...]
Limited to 1000 copies, this is easily the rarest Do Make Say Think release. It also happens to contain one of the best grooves the group has ever laid down, "I Love You (La La La)". Three of the songs were recorded to 8-track in Toronto, culled from over 20 hours of music put to [...]

Click image to download full album Sounds like: Mogwai, Sigur Ros, Do Make Say Think "Explosions in the Sky - Trembling Hands" What's so good? If you've never heard Explosions in the Sky, then you're in for a sonic treat and an aural, cinematic experience worthy of the band's chosen name. This instrumental band boasts enviable musical chops and a freeform approach to their albums [...]

Appears to me that post-rock is going through a particularly barren patch at the moment. Take the most recent evidence and Mogwai appear to have settled into a tired groove, while the new EITS album hasn't yet done anything to remind me of their best work (still hoping though). You probably have to look to the early part of the century for the genre's classics's, albums like 'Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place', 'Happy Songs For Happy People' (although 'Ten Rapid' is their true genius), 'Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven' and the album this song is [...]
I'll always have a soft spot for bands that make singles without lyrics. Especially in Stuart Braithwaite's case, it's not for lack of opinion. From selling "Blur Are Shite" shirts to flattering comparisons to Radiohead, perhaps the best way to get noticed is by staying relevant through music. Glasgow's Mogwai have been around since 1995, which makes them ancients in terms of charts. They're typically compared to Low, My Bloody Valentine, and Slint, sometimes borrowing a vocalist or producer; though, I've heard more bands sounding like Mogwai lately than any of these in particular. Like Sonic Youth, Mogwai has made [...]

The decade spanning from 2000 to 2010 saw a great number of changes in the prevailing styles of the indie rock scene. It started with the "garage-rock revival", in which music critics heralded bands like The White Stripes and The Strokes as rock's last great hope. Then came the era of the indie epic, when artists like Arcade Fire and Sufjan Stevens wrote grandiose songs meant to embody a generation. Finally, in its later years, coinciding with the apparent collapse of the traditional music industry, a proliferation of indie bands focused on self-marketing and high quality single production changed the [...]

jmonae.com Back in mid-December , I pointed out that the website for the 2011 edition of Canadian Musicfest had gone live with the first batch of showcasing artists for the festival. And while there was enough in that initial list to get my attention, in the last couple of weeks the information available has really ramped up and, methinks, another round-up of acts who will be filling Toronto clubs from March 9 to 13 is in order. Perhaps most exciting is the return of cyber-soul firecracker Janelle Monáe , though if [...]

relaxin' on the east coast Do Make Say Think - Soul And Onward Gil-Scott Heron - I'll Take Care Of You Glasser - Apply Sean Carey - We Fell Wise Blood - Hannah Motown Lia Ices - Grown Unknown Dilute - Apple

Norman Wong As of right now, I'm perfectly happy to see the 2010 concert season - as wonderful as it's been - winding down, but talk to me in a few weeks when resting up begins to turn into getting bored, and I may be getting itchy for something to do or see. Which is where The Drake Hotel has come in handy since 2006, running a week of (mostly) live music programming in The Underground for the next-to-nothing cover charge of $5. This year's lineup was just unveiled and as always, [...]

Click on any image to enlarge | All photographs by Ro Cemm What do you think of when someone says Switzerland? Cheese? Chocolate? Bankers maybe? Bet the chances are Canadian indie bands wouldn't be very high on your list. Yet last week the little town of Vevey, situated on Lake Geneva between Lausanne and Montreaux played host to some of the biggest names in indie rock. What started as a dream for local record store owner Pascal Roth and his partner just a few months ago became a reality. Over four nights, the Salle de Castillo [...]

Words by Jacob Barron Since graduating and getting a real job, I've almost completely jettisoned lyrics from my iPod. Seriously people, I have 8 gigs of space on this baby and I've exhausted 6 of those gigs with wordless music. I just can't work when someone's saying or singing things. It may just be the fact that I'm a writer, and am prone to absent-mindedly typing out the things I hear in my ears, rather than the things I'm constructing in my head. Like, I'll be listening to Bob Dylan while writing [...]