Welsh septet Los Campesinos! are currently on the North American leg of their tour in support of their fourth album, Hello Sadness . Intrepid Ca Va Cool correspondent Kevin Kania caught up with guitarist Neil Campesinos! before their show at London Music Hall in London, Ontario to discuss growing up with fans, destination recording, and the pains of making a music video. Los Campesinos! - By Your Hand Los Campesinos! - Hello Sadness Kevin : You played Letterman last week, was that [...]
Photograph by Jason Halstead Provincial is John K. Samson's first full-length solo album. Collecting re-recorded versions of songs from his previously released EPs City Route 85 and Provincial Road 222 , along with a few extras, the Weakerthans' frontman finds himself able to explore a bit musically and indulge in a bit of weirdness. Not that anything here would be particularly out of place on a Weakerthans album, but the subject matter is certainly more varied, and as a whole the album is more subdued. Most noticeable is [...]
Photograph by Jason Halstead Provincial is John K. Samson's first full-length solo album. Collecting re-recorded versions of songs from his previously released EPs City Route 85 and Provincial Road 222 , along with a few extras, the Weakerthans' frontman finds himself able to explore a bit musically and indulge in a bit of weirdness. Not that anything here would be particularly out of place on a Weakerthans album, but the subject matter is certainly more varied, and as a whole the album is more subdued. Most noticeable is [...]
Photograph by Jon Bergman With no obvious favourite as in past years , we here at Ca Va Cool were left to our own devices when choosing the ten best albums of 2011. Much like the first half of our list , the top ten features a stylistic array from the year's offerings. Plenty to enjoy, from sincere and contrived chill vibes to literary-rock, dubstep to soft-rock verging on quiet storm, and our first top album to be a debut. As always, thanks for reading. See you in 2012. [...]
Photograph by Anna M. Campbell As Ca Va Cool concludes its fifth year and the arbitrary music-ranking period of 2011 comes to a close, the gang assembled (virtually) once again to bring you our twenty favourite albums of the year. The bottom half of our list features riot grrrls old and new, an R&B resurrection, and, interestingly, most of the Philadelphia rock scene. Stay tuned for the conclusion of our list with the ten best albums of 2011, when we get around to it. 20. The Rural [...]
Photograph by Jill Wilcott Being in Hey Rosetta! means being awfully busy. Even on one of their rare days off, when I met up with frontman Tim Baker and cellist/guitarist/utility outfielder Romesh Thavanathan for a traditional Toronto burrito lunch, they were in a whirlwind of interviews and miscellaneous band duties. As of this writing they're back to touring their ambitious Can-rock as they have been, virtually non-stop, for the past few years. The hard work is paying off, as it sometimes does. It's earned the band a spot on the Polaris Prize shortlist for [...]
Photograph by Chris Graham Who are Library Voices? They are a seven-piece pop group from Saskatchewan whose new album Summer of Lust should be popping up on a number of Best of 2011 lists. They are fun-loving literary types who will probably kick your ass at shot chess. They write with one foot in the 1960s and the other in the not-too-distant future. In short, they're a bit like Vampire Weekend, except that they're Canadian and don't give you a mild urge to punch them in the face. [...]
Photograph by Jonathan Taggart In the spirit of the season, let's take a moment before we get started to thank Dan Mangan for giving the world ' Robots '. There may not be anything quite as wonderful on Mangan's new album Oh Fortune as that track from his last release, a plea on behalf of our mechanical friends for the oft-overlooked affection they so require – but so it goes. Oh Fortune is still a gorgeous neo-folk album that surpasses Nice, Nice, Very Nice on points, comparing favourably [...]
Photograph by Alex Cairncross As summer dies down, Library Voices return with their second LP, Summer of Lust. Produced by the Besnard Lakes' Jace Lasek, who is becoming the go-to guy for Canadian indie rock, Summer of Lust feels more reined in and focused than Denim on Denim, which is surprising for a band of seven people. On Summer of Lust , Library Voices have managed to maintain their pop sensibilities and make another solid, if brief, album. Playing up their literary moniker, the album is introduced [...]
September 3-5, 2011, Seattle, Washington — To say that I enjoyed myself at Bumbershoot 2011 would be an understatement. In their four years co-producing the event, One Reel & AEG Live have truly achieved something special incorporating numerous venues inside the seventy-four-acre Seattle Centre over labour day weekend. Bumbershoot's greatest assets are its use of space, the variety of musical acts, presentations of other mediums of art, Paul Allen's Experience Music Project, and beer gardens with great stage views. On the first day, Seattle sextet Pickwick played two dazzling shows filled with their mixture sultry garage hodgepodge, while Swedish act [...]
Given that this was Conor Oberst's last tour under the Bright Eyes name and the relative dearth of acts to make their way through London this summer, it seemed only logical to make the trek down Richmond Street. Prior to the show, I was only a casual Bright Eyes fan, but they managed to exceed my expectations and shatter my concept of what a Bright Eyes concert was. Well, if you ignored the legion of teens that were in attendance, which forced me to sip my beer behind a velvet rope. Serving as openers were Toronto's own purveyors of old-school [...]
Photograph by Alex Southam I Break Horses are Swedish duo Maria Lindén and Fredrik Balck, who, as the story goes, met online while both were visiting a medical site catering to hypochondriacs. The two were able to connect and decided to put their worries into music. The resulting catharsis is Hearts . Finding themselves labelmates with Fleet Foxes and Explosions in the Sky on Bella Union, I suspect they feel pretty good right about now. The first two singles 'Hearts' and 'Winter Beats' have been available for some time, and being a devout follower of [...]
Photograph by Sabrina Diemert Toronto's North by Northeast - or NXNE - is the younger cousin and orienteering opposite of the behemoth Austin music extravaganza South by Southwest. Over its 17 years, the festival has swollen to 7 days of concerts (ranging from cozy church acoustic sets to sprawling punk moshing at Yonge and Dundas Square), films (mostly music-centric documentaries, including this year's highly touted Better Than Something: Jay Reatard ) and interactive conferences (if you were a musician and could get advice from Brian Wilson, wouldn't you?). As with any event attempting to [...]
Photograph by Sabrina Diemert Toronto's North by Northeast - or NXNE - is the younger cousin and orienteering opposite of the behemoth Austin music extravaganza South by Southwest. Over its 17 years, the festival has swollen to 7 days of concerts (ranging from cozy church acoustic sets to sprawling punk moshing at Yonge and Dundas Square), films (mostly music-centric documentaries, including this year's highly touted Better Than Something: Jay Reatard ) and interactive conferences (if you were a musician and could get advice from Brian Wilson, wouldn't you?). As with any event attempting to [...]
Last week I posted twelve of my recent favourite tracks , seven of which were by Californians, earning the mixtape the name California Sunrise . It varied from electropop to reggae and soca-infused funk and there's an equal variety to be found in part 2 of the Summer mixtape series. If part 1 was the build-up, then part 2 is the break-down. I've tried to stack this mix with a few more mellow jams on the back-end, to pair with those inevitable late-July lamentations of the "summer's half over already!" variety. Youth Lagoon is a fantastic band name [...]
Last week I posted twelve of my recent favourite tracks , seven of which were by Californians, earning the mixtape the name California Sunrise . It varied from electropop to reggae and soca-infused funk and there's an equal variety to be found in part 2 of the Summer mixtape series. If part 1 was the build-up, then part 2 is the break-down. I've tried to stack this mix with a few more mellow jams on the back-end, to pair with those inevitable late-July lamentations of the "summer's half over already!" variety. Youth Lagoon is a fantastic band name [...]
Photograph by Danny Clinch UPDATE: This contest is now closed, the winner has been notified by email. Codes and Keys marks a new chapter for Death Cab for Cutie, mostly due to Ben Gibbard being happy for a change. Being married to Zooey Deschanel may help with that. As the title suggests, the album makes more use of keyboards and studio experimentation than their previous Narrow Stairs. The band previewed Codes at a relatively intimate show at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto this past May, and they [...]
Photograph by Danny Clinch UPDATE: This contest is now closed, the winner has been notified by email. Codes and Keys marks a new chapter for Death Cab for Cutie, mostly due to Ben Gibbard being happy for a change. Being married to Zooey Deschanel may help with that. As the title suggests, the album makes more use of keyboards and studio experimentation than their previous Narrow Stairs. The band previewed Codes at a relatively intimate show at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto this past May, and they [...]
Photograph by Danny Clinch When Death Cab for Cutie released their first single from Codes and Keys , 'You Are a Tourist', I wasn't very into it. It sounded like a hit single with its melody and lyrics written for a third grade school choir, but I was worried that it would be a case of releasing the best song first, much like the Strokes earlier this year with 'Under Cover of Darkness'. While it may be the lead single, it is also the weakest song on the record. A week or so later Death [...]
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Watch: Trailer for Dave Grohl’s documentary, Sound City
Childish Gambino - "Heartbeat" (Official Music Video)
First Aid Kit – Emmylou
Hardwell Bootleg Pack 2012
James Blake – Live Album
