Video: Islands - Rough Gem

There are two new events to go along with the Islands show set for June 27th at Music Hall of Williamsburg, which is part of the Northside Festival ( Tickets still on sale). For one, the band will take part in the next Radio Happy Hour at (Le) Poisson Rouge on June 15th along with actor Eddie Kaye Thomas (aka Finch from American Pie). Tickets are on sale . The last monthly Radio Happy Hour show featured David Bazan and Jesse [...]

Islands - Vapour Yeah, I've expressed concern over the pending leak of the new Islands album Vapours . I loved the first song out, and now the second one, the title track "Vapours" comes out and I love it too, it's a fun little bouncy song, with brass and everything. BUT for some reason, until I hear the whole album, I'm still being nervous. Why? It all stems from what I perceive (hopefully, wrongfully) that the album was built as a reaction to the less-than-positive reviews of Arm's Way [...]

• Islands - Vapours

In an effort to eradicate world fleas in our lifetime, this week's video isn't new at all. "Rough Gem" by Islands from their 2006 album Return to the Sea . Check it out to the right or by clicking this shiny little link . For the moment I like this stuff more than Arm's Way , but only time will tell if the newer stuff ends up growing on me like a pile of dirty moss. Islands - "Rough Gem" from Return to the Sea

Tomorrow is Canada Day, so here are some Canadian tunes! (For the most part, locations are given for where either the band was formed or the individual singer was born.) CSNY "Southern Man" -- The song that inspired Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama." (Neil Young is from Toronto; Crosby was born in LA; Stills, Dallas; Nash, Blackpool, England) Sloan "Losing California" (Halifax) [...]

After catching Islands a couple of times at SXSW, I have been on a serious tear with them lately. There is something special about an album that I can legitimately get obsessed with two seperate times. From the ashes of The Unicorns when Alder Penner left the band, Nicholas Thorburn and drummer Jamie Thompson formed Islands in 2005, and they recorded this instant classic album. Featuring guest appearances from members of Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade , I think that Return is a paradigm of how great music has [...]

• Islands - Creeper
• Islands - Swans (Life After Death)
• Islands - Volcanoes

Before we get lost in a sea of "Best of 2007" lists, I'm gonna put up a favorite of mine from 2006. Islands was atop my list last year, largely on account of their chipper pop tune "Rough Gem." The video, which is more innocent than this puppy , chronicles the bands trip to space.

And the nominees are... New Pornographers - "Use It" Wolf Parade - "Modern World" Islands - "Rough Gem" OK Go! - "Here It Goes Again" [...]

And the nominees are... Cold War Kids - "Hair Down" Lily Allen - "Smile" Forward, Russia! - "Eighteen" Band of Horses - "The Funeral" [...]

Islands ' Return To The Sea is by far one of my favorite releases of the year...so naturally whenever that becomes apparent and the album's tracks can no longer hold me over, I begin a relentless search for b-sides. They may be castaways, but they aren't bastards. Specifically with an album like this one, where much of the music follows a similar suit, some songs even pulling harmonies and melodies from others, it's interesting to see the tracks that didn't make the final cut...because they usually end up being much different, not to say 'worse', than [...]