Blog: From Blown Speakers

Jody Glenham - "Snow in New York City" One of the things that sort of turns me off a lot of singer/songwriter stuff is the way it's produced. I guess, save for maybe alt-country types, there's not the same "jump in a van and tour" culture as there is for bands of other stripes, so, even in today's climate, they're more likely to feel like they have to "play the game" when it comes to making records. With that said, I really love the way this track sounds. There's nothing slick about the bedroom recording (and, Hell, [...]

Since it's almost that time, here's a quick recap of what's going down on New Year's Eve: The Biltmore hosts the 4th(?) edition of the Winter Social , Ice Cream Social's annual December 31st bash. Tix are available at Scratch, Red Cat, Zulu, and the Biltmore off-sales counter. Unfamiliar , eatArt , Love Dancing , and Arbutus records are throwing a pretty great looking party at the eatArt labs. Paula from Silly Kissers, Blue Hawaii, Grimes, Resorts, Makeout Videotape, and Sean Nicholas Savage all play live and Cadence Weapon [...]

This isn't a live show, but Saturday, if love all things Morrissey, or alternately, like me, think he's a bit of a dick, but love his music, head down the the Astoria on Satruday for Merry Smithsmas: the Smiths Xmas Party . It's $6 to get in, but if you wear a Moz style shirt or come clutching a bouquet, you'll get a break on cover. It's free if you have a Smiths or Morrissey tattoo. Speaking of free, Zulu hosts a free show with the Salteens on Sunday. Show starts at 6pm. [...]

Earlier this month, I put out the call to let some people know that after a three year hiatus , I was bringing back the (once) annual poll of local favourites . As with past lists, contributors were asked to list their top ten "hottest" local acts, ranked 1-10, with 10 points being assigned to 1st (9 for second, etc) and both "hottest" and "local" being up to them to define. In the end, 84 bands all got at least one of the 150 possible votes. So, while there was some agreement at the [...]

Leah Abramson - "Joey (Concrete Blonde Cover)" This and a whole bunch more photos from the CiTR Fundrive Finale at the Biltmore on the CiTR website .

I'm working on something else right now, but here's a quick recap of Black Mountain last night. I made it to the Commodore about halfway through Black Angels' set, which was, as expected, a very droney affair. They did a good job of complimenting the headliners without being too similar, dialing back the Sabbath influence and filling it in with a healthy dose of Spacemen 3. If you're from Vancouver, you probably already know that Black Mountain are one of the best bands in the city. And, they had no trouble proving it again last night. [...]

A reminder that Fine Mist finally celebrates the release of Public Domain tomorrow night at Glory Days at the Biltmore. No Gold also plays and doors are at 10pm instead of the usual 11pm, so get there early. Megan and Jay will be performing the whole record with a full band. Also, check out their BandCamp page, where any aspiring producers (or people who just really like Megan's singing) can download just the vocal tracks from the record for easy remixing. Last night, I made it [...]

On Saturday at the Astoria, there's a show that some of you might be interested in. "North American Spearhead" and "Wolvozomberine" headline a show with Gloryhole and Broken Hands. Advance tix are at Bonerattle Music on the Drive. On December 12th, the Biltmore hosts a vintage good fair and also music by Juvenile Hall, the Burnettes, and Eating Out. It goes from 10am-5pm, presumably with the music spread out over the afternoon. And, last but not least, extend the season in which you got to work all bleary eyed and hungover every [...]

Saturday, 79 E. Pender hosts Alternate Realities , a night of film and music with Josh Stevensen, Mel Paget, Cameron Borthwick, Sean Orr, Tom Whalen & Ben Jacques, Rob Ondzik, and Evan Mcdowell & Felix Machinations all trying their hand at performing live scores to various visuals. On Sunday, head down to VIVO between noon-4pm for a record swap that's part of the CiTR Fundrive (which is on now). Mint celebrates their annual "Ridiculously Early Xmas Party" on December 3rd with the Evaporators, Hot Panda, Carolyn Mark, Fanshaw, Kellarissa, Geoff [...]

Tight Solid are offering their new record, Walk it Off as a free download. Stream it above or click through to download the tracks. I actually haven't had a chance to listen to it myself yet (though that's going to change at work tomorrow), but when you can grab the whole thing, you don't need my opinion. now playing: White Lung - Atlanta

Starting things off on a sombre note, with the news that the "force behind the scenes" at Copperspine Records , Tony Luscombe, passed away suddenly last week. Some of his friends are getting together to remember Tony at a show on November 14th at the Railway, where you can come down to celebrate his life and enjoy some of the great music he helped put out. I hope you'll join me in sending sincere condolences to his friends and family. Here's Leah Abramson performing a song from my favourite Copperspine release. If you [...]

It's Friday, here's some new(ish) and free music: Jody Glenham 's new video for "Buttons" And, on a slightly different musical wavelength, an entire EP from Crystal Swells , just in time for their show tonight. now playing: The Knocks - Dancing with the DJ

Just a heads up that Women have canceled their early show at the Biltmore. Nu Sensae and Makeout Videotape have now been added to Glory Days, which opens at 9pm instead of midnight.

In case you forgot, Halloween's right around the corner. Here's (most) of what's going down... Friday: New My!Gay!Husband! weekly XO christens the brand new Waldorf one day ahead of the official grand opening. Black Wizard, Heavy Chains, and War Baby play live early (8pm-midnight) and there's DJs in all three rooms until 2am. Check the Facebook event page (which, appropriately, currently boasts 666 "attending") for all the details. Fortune hosts the Team Canada DJ's Happy Ending Halloween. No live acts, but you can get the whole DJ line up [...]

Suspiros de Chile from basketball on Vimeo . New stuff from Basketball . "Suspiros de Chile" is another insane, electro banger from the worldly (now) quartet. A new song from Basketball is always good news in my books, but this one is extra special, because it's the first release from their forthcoming full-length. Check the video above and download the mp3 here .

There are a lot of things I could say about a given band, but one of the strongest statements you can make about anything is to put your money where your mouth is. So, while I've sung the praises of Fine Mist on many occasions, this time my opinion comes backed by sizable chunk of my expendable income. Quite a few months ago now, I was drunkenly (the state when all of my best/worst music related ideas are formed) chatting with Megan about the album that she and Jay were putting the finishing touches on. As my state [...]

First, bad news: the old Scratch space (christened, appropriately, Scratch on Dick's after the retail space moved to Gastown and it started hosting shows), is no more . The Duffy & the Doubters show scheduled for this Saturday is now at Anti-Social and they're looking for venues for the rest. Now, good news: the Waldorf celebrates its reopening (though they'll be officially be open for business the night before) with a massive free Halloween party on October 30th. Rodney Graham, Animal Bodies , and Joyce Collingwood perform live, but [...]

On Friday, I made the drive down to Seattle to catch a couple of shows. The first, was at the Showbox Market for Corin Tucker 's first tour post-Sleater-Kinney. The show was a lot like the album; if you were expecting S-K, you probably came away disappointed, but taken on its own merits, it was pretty great. Since 1,000 Years is her solo debut, she played it (I think) in its entirety, with lead off single "Doubt" being the predictable highlight. The encore was made up of a trio [...]

Tonight the Chapel kicks of a month's worth of Thursday (art and music) shows called Heebeegeebees . Babe Rainbow and Tassels are up tonight, White Lung and Koban (that's enough to get me out on a weekday) follow on the 14th, Myths and Haunted Beard play the 21st, and Raccoons and DBL Dragon play the 28th. The whole thing concludes on the 30th for a Halloween party featuring Love & Electrik and Peter Breeze. Ache records is turning 10 years old this year! To celebrate, they're having a massive sale [...]

So, I'll be the first guy to tell you that I haven't been on top of new music lately, so forgive me if you've heard this one already. But, I would be remiss if I didn't mention how great Oh No! Yoko was on Friday at the Astoria. They're a trio and they make wonderfully catchy, frantic sounding pop songs. And, perhaps the most encouraging part is that they're not even out of high school (hopefully that doesn't get the bar in trouble), so they've got many years ahead to hone a craft that sounds pretty goddamn honed [...]