It's shortly after 2 am as I write this and I'm at the tail end of a damn cold night in downtown Toronto. Having gone out for cheap martinis to celebrate a friend's birthday I did my best to bundle up, but the ever-piercing winter was insatiable as I trudged to the subway. On a whim I ended up listening to Gabriel Minnikin 's Wandering Midnight during my travels. This proved a wise decision indeed. To be honest, I haven't given Minnikin's sophomore release much of a listen since it came my [...]
(Independent, Feb. 26, 2008) What can I say about the latest release from The Superfantastics that hasn't already been said by stalwarts like Hero Hill and i (heart) music ? To be honest, not much. Thankfully for the band, that's a good thing, as it seems everyone is enjoying Choose Your Destination . Of course, that really isn't a difficult task, given that this is a great little EP that will only serve to further endear this Halifax duo into your music-lovin' hearts. A nice bit [...]
Date: Feb. 15, 2008 Venue: The Cameron House The bad news about Friday night was that I couldn't fit in shows by both Kate Maki and The Boy from ET (next time!). The good news was that once Kate Maki and the gang got going all my thoughts of other shows immediately dissipated. Celebrating the vinyl release of her third album, On High , Maki was in infectiously high spirits throughout the evening. This was evident from the get-go, as [...]
(Independent, Dec. 2007) I was going to write about this album last night, but I ended up being a offered a free ticket to see the Raptors (they destroyed Vince Carter and the Nets, by the way). That said, last week I promised to delve further into Olivier Jarda 's debut solo album, Diagrams (when I featured the lead-off track, " Victorian Faces " as my song of the week), so here I am-better late than never. Thankfully for me Diagrams is an album that I've pretty much [...]
Looking for a quick dose of energy to help with your snow-shoveling? Look no further than this latest single from UK indie-pop specialists, Los Campesinos! As the lead track from their upcoming debut full length, Hold On Now, Youngster... , "Death to Los Campesinos!" is nothing short of the frenetic and palpable energy that we've come to expect from these Cardiff kids. "I invented you and I will destroy you!" Los Campesinos! - Death to Los Campesinos! [...]
Feist may have come home from the Grammys empty-handed, but the East Coast Music Awards made sure that at least a few notable Canadian names got to take home some paper-weights and door-stops last night. I don't really give much credence to award shows, but for the purposes of blog-posterity I thought I'd check in with the 2008 ECMAs to see how things went down. Unsurprisingly, Joel Plaskett was the big winner, taking home six awards including SOCAN Songwriter of the Year (for "Fashionable People" ), FACTOR Recording of the Year and [...]
So my post on the track listing for the upcoming Constantines album, Kensington Heights , has been getting a ridiculous amount of hits lately. At first I went around looking for an official announcement from the band or their label, Arts & Crafts , with regards to the album, but couldn't find anything. I was stymied as to where the sudden rush of interest had come from-it had been a month since I published that post and it's not like I gave away a track from the new album. Then I checked [...]
( Forward Music Group , Jan. 2007) Released just over a year ago, The Olympic Symphonium 's debut, called Chapter 1 , is likely nothing new to those on the East Coast, but it's just made its way to my headphones, so that makes it fair game for me-and I can't get enough of it. Basically, the three-piece, hailing from Fredericton, New Brunswick (a city that I have a soft spot for since the odd childhood RV trip), have crafted a layered and inviting listen that is the sonic equivalent of [...]
Obviously sub-categorized under the "for what it's worth" heading, the 2008 Juno nominations went out today. Looking at things from an indie standpoint this unsurprisingly isn't any case to bat an eyelash, but there are a few notable mentions among the seemingly arbitrary list. As expected, Feist and the Arcade Fire are way up there among the nominees (though no one can hold a candle to the almighty Céline, who has six-including two nominations for Album of the Year...another nail in the coffin of credibility, or am I just being harsh?), [...]
Coming seemingly out of nowhere, Olivier Jarda 's debut solo album, Diagrams , has hit me like a ton of bricks. I easily could have chosen just about any of its excellent tracks to feature, but "Victorian Faces" is the one I've gone back to the most. Crashing and melodic, this song is the explosive epitaph for a respected nemesis-or ex-girlfriend ( "You had a Napoleonic run, but like Napoleon you're done" ). You better believe you'll be hearing more about his album from me! Olivier Jarda - Victorian [...]
I admit, lately I haven't been going to as many concerts as I'd like. Granted, some of this is due to my own inherent laziness, but I can honestly say that between weddings, funerals and other unavoidable commitments to family and friends there just hasn't been much time for the shows I wanted to see. In fact, I had intended to check out the Sunparlour Players at the Drake tonight (as part of a benefit show to ban Styrofoam), but instead find myself house-sitting in the suburbs. Unfortunately this trend looks like it will continue in [...]
As I've said numerous times, while primarily a digital guy I still really enjoy having my favourite albums on vinyl. The reason I'm mentioning this again now is because listening to Tricot Machine 's fantastic self-titled debut brings up a similar dynamic when it comes to language. You see, I'm an anglophone who rarely ever leaves my English-speaking environment, but I still take pride in a working knowledge of French. Unfortunately, much like my turntable, my French-speaking ability is in a slight state of disrepair. This idea of wanting to rehabilitate my limping knowledge of [...]
( Delorean Recordings , Dec. 15, 2007) Strange as it sounds, Shotgun Jimmie was the student council president of my high school when I was in the 10th grade. Needless to say, that fact definitely adds an extra layer of context to my take on his latest solo release, The Onlys. Back at our old alma mater I knew Shotgun Jimmie simply as Jim Kilpatrick, but I honestly don't remember much about him other than the fact that he was the strange older kid who [...]
Last week venerable Canadian blog, Hero Hill , began an amibitous and commendable undertaking by way of the Canadian Mixtape Project . The goal here is to give exposure to great Canadian artists by providing collections of tracks organized by their province of origin. I'm not sure if each province/territory will be featured, but, if the first installment is any indication, it's going to be a great way to discover some excellent Canadian music that you otherwise might not have had the opportunity to check out. Beginning with Nova Scotia, the first mixtape is [...]
Date: Jan. 12, 2008 Venue: The Horseshoe Luther Mallory is my homeboy. Hell, the guy's practically in my family. It's for that reason that I've got to be careful when I post about his band, Crush Luther (which is why it's taken so long for me to write about this show), as, on the one hand it could lead to accusations of favouritism (from my 3 regular readers), but more importantly it could cause some trouble when I admit that I'm not a big [...]
Taken from the latest Shotgun Jimmie solo release called The Onlys (a full review is forthcoming), "Bedhead" is the perfect soundtrack to an early morning road trip where the sun needs just as much help rising as you do. Undeniably charming and fun, this ought to be mandatory breakfast listening for everyone. Shotgun Jimmie - Bedhead He doesn't have any Toronto dates in the works for the near future, but if you're on the East Coast check out Shotgun Jimmie's Myspace [...]
( Forward Music Group , Jan. 15, 2008) Some days I really just want to pack up shop and move to the East Coast. Call it the whimsy of being near the ocean or simply the draw of great east coast indie rock coming out of places like Halifax, either way I'm gradually living vicariously through the imaginary version of myself who romantically schleps fish in the Maritimes. My latest reason to seek a breath of sea-salted air comes by way of Turn Into Vapour , the new release from Halifax's [...]
Wolves, Hawks and Kites
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[LISTEN] Gotye (Passion Pit Remix)
Big Boi & Theophilus London (feat. TRE LUCE) - 'She Said OK'
