While it has been widely ignored, the post Britpop / pre "The Libertines/The _____/garagey" band era was kind of a dark period in UK music. UK had just witness one of the greatest talent and musical explosions of all time in the early 90s but by the late 90s, those bands had all either broken up, started to suck or completely change their sound. During this time, bands found it hard to garner success, specially with the charts being dominated by the Spice Girls/Westlife/whatever. To put it into perspective, Stereophonics was considered one of the biggest acts from the UK [...]
English duo The Big Pink released their second record Future This a few weeks ago. I wasn't sure what to expect from the group after their hit album A Brief History of Love . Would they be a one album wonder like Glasvegas or will they build on that album into something better? Luckily for us, the new record expands on the Big Pink sound and the result is a really good album. The album has surprisingly dropped some of the shoe-gaze/wall of sound elements that made their first album popular, and replaced it with [...]
English duo The Big Pink released their second record Future This a few weeks ago. I wasn't sure what to expect from the group after their hit album A Brief History of Love . Would they be a one album wonder like Glasvegas or will they build on that album into something better? Luckily for us, the new record expands on the Big Pink sound and the result is a really good album. The album has surprisingly dropped some of the shoe-gaze/wall of sound elements that made their first album popular, and replaced it with [...]
The dress code Tuesday night at Lincoln Hall was glitter. Although I, and most of my fellow concert-goers, didn't get the memo until too late, each of the band members of The Asteroids Galaxy Tour rocked a glittery accoutrement: the horn section sported glittery bowties, the percussion section rocked a glitter lined denim jacket, the guitarist wore a glittery vest and the lead singer jammed in a glittery tunic and sparkly jeggings. The band shone. Literally and figuratively. It didn't hurt that the evening was peppered with unexpected and awesome instruments which included a saxophone, a [...]
Iceland might be in an unrecoverable recession, but judging by the happiness that exudes from six piece band Of Monsters and Men 's music, you would think that it's all parties and good times on this quaint little island. Exhibiting upbeat folk-rock meets chaotic group chorus sensibilities, the Iceland band has literally exploded (like the volcano) in terms of positive press the past few weeks and have clearly paced themselves as one of the front runners for "most absurdly packed debut showcase" at SXSW . It's easy to see why they are [...]
After seeing Theophilus London and opener Phony PPL perform on February 6th at the 9:30 Club I was just too overwhelmed by the high-energy fantasticness of the show to craft a coherent paragraph-style review. So here goes: my first (perhaps the world's first?) experiment with Concert Review Jeopardy. Alex Trebek, eat your heart out. Category: Apparel Seen on Stage at the show Correct Response: What are a vintage Stockholm Olympics sweater, a leopard-print bath robe, a "F*ck the Police" T-shirt, a gold-embroidered-elephant vest, argyle socks, and a New York Giants baseball cap? [...]
BBC Radio 12s yearly Live Lounge collection always seems to come up with a few gems. For those not in the know, the compilation is a collection of live tracks that were played at the Radio 1 studios. At some point during the Radio 1 sessions, someone decided it was a good idea to record these tracks, so starting in 2006, they released a yearly compilation of the best bits from the year. Now a lot of artist travel through Radio 12s land and they often like to do covers for some reason so every year, you see [...]
Trust is Toronto based duo Robert Alfons and Maya Posteps, who judging by their press photos, are also daytime Urban Outfitter models. I have a hard time deciphering what their actual name is but I think they should make it more distinct since there is also a French and Belgium band with the same name. Either way, the duo was signed to Arts and Craft last year and will release their debut record at some point this year. In preparation for this luminous event, the band will be playing a host of shows in early [...]
Does anyone remember when twitter had #musicmonday? Me neither. We first wrote about Australian act San Cisco last year , and then they released an EP earlier for which Halley did a song of the day for. Well, we are back again! San Cisco's EP Awkward has been steadily in my rotation this year. It's one of those sneaky rotation events that you don't necessarily expect but are glad it turned out that way. I've been trying to figure out why I like the the EP so much and I've finally [...]
Once in a while, we all need to take a trip to Pyschic City For Torontonians, that opportunity comes on February 23rd at the Wrongbar. Of course, I'm talking about Portland band Yacht , who will once again bring their super awesome live act to Toronto once again. It'll be their first show here since they released their third record Shangri-La (second if you only count what's on DFA). They'll be ready to go, and certainly ready to roll and we would like you to be there. We have a pair [...]
My sister and I are only collectively half the writer of our esteemed and fearless leader Ricky, so we decided in lieu of a top ten list, we would assemble a list of the top 5 ways to waste 5 minutes on youtube. And now - the internetz: 1) JbDubs – I hate my job. What do you get when you combine single ladies + camp + the Boston Ballet? For one thing you get the most impressive display of impeccable male legs in red high heels we've ever seen. [...]
Chicago - What better way to spice up the middle of a blah week than skip your night class and go to a concert? Who needs education anyway right? Wednesday was the eve of my dear friend's 30th birthday. She has this whole long list of things that she's not allowed to do after she turns 30 (eat PB&J, play drinking games, take shots for her age, wear glitter makeup, pretty much everything that makes life worth living) so I bought her some Wonderbread, some Smuckers, and some Jif and brought her to the House of Blues for a [...]
It's often said that the perfect remedy for a brisk and dull Tuesday night is a dance party. Who often says this? I don't know. People way cooler than I am. Last Tuesday was unbearably cold and considerably dull, so I decided to heed to the advice of the cool and attend a dance party. A four piece act who recently released their forth album Ventriloquizzing , Brighton band Fuijiya and Miyagi would be our sheppards for the evening. Dirty bass lines pared with David Best's breathy Robert Del Naja-ish voice are the driving [...]
While its been a good few years since the French Valerie electro disco scene threatened (and failed) to take over the indie music world, the memories of that moment has remained in the minds of many. It's certainly remained in Nicolas Winding Refn's mind as the director chose to soundtrack his movie Drive with a strong sampling of this genre of music. One of the tracks from that movie was the opening of the movie, where the Kavinsky track Nightcall is featured prominently as Ryan Gosling drives his car around night time [...]
With the Oscar announcements this week, Halley decided to go with a movie themed top 10! 1) You can't go to concerts every night. I mean, 24/7 concert-going is, in theory, the ideal. But sometimes there's just not a good band playing when you need an evening activity. So why not switch stage for screen every once in a while? 2) Cool kids don't see top ten blockbusters. It's against every grain in the 'under-the-radar-super-hipst er' gene code. 3) This new-fangled 3-D technology. OK, so I was not sold on the 3-D [...]
Toronto - Honestly, this was a bit of a crazy night. I started off the evening at the Monster Jam monster truck show, followed that with Anamanaguchi 's set at Wrongbar, and then capped off the night with a trip to the Bovine. That's at least one too many things for one evening, yet i did it anyways. Consider it conditioning for all the club hopping I'll be doing in a couple months' time for SXSW and CMW. Except without the monster trucks. Really, SXSW should have monster trucks though. I mean, it is in Texas after all. Everything's [...]
Today, is Robbie Burns Day . It is celebrated by Scottish and Anglophiles all around the world. Now I don't really know why he's so special that everyone celebrates his birthday but any excuse to gather around a bar and drink scotch is good for me, although I don't think many Scottish people really need an excuse. For a country that isn't very large, it has done very well for itself in establishing themselves into our everyday culture. So without further delay, here is our tribute to Scotland, in images. The Scotch Egg - I [...]
Toronto - Before I begin with the review proper, allow me to digress right away and launch into a story about the last time I saw Herman Dune . It was in Paris, so of course the band was speaking French (because, you know, they are French) and it was a good show, of course, but the reason I'm telling this story right now is to let you all know that playing the role of confused foreigner can work wonders for you sometimes. Having shown up at the show late, I approached the ticket vendor guy and, in my best French, [...]
I played this track for my friend Jess (of Roundletters / Static Zine ) and she said it was my type of song. I was like, "what's my type of song" to which she shrugged (online). So I started thinking..what is my type of song? Well, taking a look at this single from English act Clock Opera , I guess it would feature the following - lots of OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHs - glorious cathartic rousing choruses - uplifting synth lines - tracks with anthem potential - great vocal work [...]
Chicago - A woman and her guitar. That's all it was at Schubas on Thursday night – no props, no synthesizers, no suits, no suspenders, no nothing. It was lovely in its simplicity. Jaymay made her way through the small crowd in the intimate quarters at Schubas Tavern and took the stage in jeans and a blouse and immediately started loving on Chicago (smart woman.) The theme of the night was low key – Ms. Jaymay chatted and interacted with the audience throughout, and she simply brimmed over with charisma. Being a singer songwriter, she has many [...]
The Panic Manual
The Kills on Letterman (Video)
Download: James Blake Live Album (Unofficial)
My Funny Valentines
Lana Del Rey - Without You (Kill Paris Remix) [Dubstep]
