Hey guys, here are some great musicians that I think you should check out. Now it’s time for me to take off my weekend clothes (flannel, jeans, and cherry red Keds), layer myself in office-appropriate pastels & bows, and wait until next weekend to indulge in such luxuries as new music.
Have a great week!
WHO THEY ARE:Emma Grace FROM WHERE: Toronto, Ontario WHAT THEY SOUND LIKE: Your best friend’s garage band RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Dr. Dog, Miniature Tigers
WHO THEY ARE:Wacos Brothers & Paul Burch FROM WHERE: Chicago, Illinois WHAT THEY SOUND LIKE: The clink of toasting beers around a campfire RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Zeus
WHO THEY ARE:The Planes FROM WHERE: Brooklyn, NY WHAT THEY SOUND LIKE: High school art rockers in a seedy bar RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: The Unicorns
WHO THEY ARE:Heyward Howkins FROM WHERE: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania WHAT THEY SOUND LIKE: A hummingbird hovering over nectar RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Andrew Bird
WHO THEY ARE:The Candy Strypers FROM WHERE: Manchester, UK WHAT THEY SOUND LIKE: The school bell on the last day before summer vacation RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Belle & Sebastian
Music Between Friends is two years old now, which means we’re teething, drooling, and causing general mischief with cereal.
In my first post, which was written exactly two years ago, I wrote about Vetiver, Hey Champ, Sleigh Bells, and Sonny and the Sunsets. Even now, I listen to all of those songs and they still feel as fresh as they did then.
It’s strange how some songs grow stale whereas some remain timeless.
I’ve been really busy for the last few months. I took up yoga three times a week. I’ve been running at sunset and dawn. I knitted a scarf (not just a dog-sized one) and I’M GONNA KNIT MORE. I remembered how to tell jokes (I had been doing that thing where you think that you’re a funny person, but then you realize that you’ve been stiff and weird and severe as a widow’s peak with a pole up its butt).
Somehow over the last year, I learned to assert myself. I used to be scared of trying to understand myself and the way my brain works sometimes. I still get scared, but at least I can deal with the fact that I’m shitting bricks, and maybe one day I’ll be productive and learn to build a brickhouse.
I used to think that maybe I wasn’t cool enough, but then I realized that everything I thought was cool wasn’t really cool anymore, and that I’d never be current enough to be a trending topic.
Trying to figure out what’s hip is about as easy as going back in time (an apt metaphor, since all you have to do to predict clothing and music trends is begin traveling backwards, starting with 90′s hip hop and swimming slowly through the eighties and seventies and beyond (keep dreaming steampunk. It’s never gonna happen.)
I used to use music as escapism; I’d put on a good song and it would make me feel less miserable, less manic, less anxious, less disturbed, less jittery. I still use music as a low grade, over-the-counter drug, especially when I’m running that sixth kilometer, or I’m lying in a pile of dirty laundry surrounded by electronic devices and Cheestring wrappers.
I’d like to celebrate two years with an “I’m still here!” moment. I changed cities, I changed jobs, I changed friends, but my music taste has remained consistent. I still like the undefinable, the indefinite, the ambiguous “Indie Music” that brings hordes of deliberately-dressed twenty-somethings into basements soaked with beer and chopped haircuts and thrift store t-shirts, collectively standing but not quite touching because that would involve actually connecting with another human being.
So here’s to two years. This blog is still here. I’m growing up and it’s harder to write short one-off posts. It’s even hard when all of your fan mail comes from musicians trying to get featured. (Really, I just do this for fun! I’m not one of those stay-at-home moms who makes a thousand dollars a week from Google Belly Flab Secret Teeth Whitening)
Here is what I’ll be listening to this long weekend, after I wake up at noon and shove my face with costco sized portions of mini-eggs. Hope everyone has a great weekend.
MiikeSnow’s new album Happy to You, is a must purchase/listen for me. It like the perfect medley of music/songs for the summer– I haven’t been bored with it yet since I got it and if I were introducing someone to the album for the first time I’d probably get them to listen to: Vase, Paddling Out, and Archipelago next.
My favourite on this album is You Lost Me, but I wasn’t able to find a hostable version of it– you can download it from this link and take a listen, though. This album was a little less bad ass then Treats in my opinion, but still a really good follow-up to grab if you liked their first.
I try to be an adult, and not giggle after reading the name of this song out loud, but I’ll forever be an adult-child and I’m okay with that. This is another newer album I’ve been listening to a lot and really like. Another favourite on the album (Katie played it on her show before) is Friends of Friends:
I’ve also been listening to a lot of Black Keysand Arctic Monkeys since seeing them at the ACC — not usually my favourite concert venue– but we had GA tickets and had spots so close to the stage I could have backhandedly brushed Dan Auerbach’s beard if I wanted to. One of the best concerts I’ve been to in a while, so the afterglow hasn’t worn off and both bands have been in heavy rotation. Click HERE and HERE for my favourites to listen to right now from each band.
Although I can’t embed this video, I STRONGLY ENDORSE YOU CLICKING ON THE LINK BELOW.
Brooklyn’s Chairlift has made a Choose Your Own Adventure, 100% interactive music video for Met Before, the single for Something, their third studio album (released January 2012).
Here are some of the adventures that I’ve put the band through:
- I let Caroline Polachek die from a bee sting
- I allowed Patrick Wimberly to trip balls on some forest mushrooms
- I allowed Caroline Polachek live out some sort of Ready Or Not/Freaks & Geeks fantasy with a dirty blonde hipster with a bee fetish and cokebottle glasses
What will these hipsters do next?The choice is yours…
Click here for Chairlift’s interactive video for Met Before.
I was excited that the entire Lands & People album, Pop Guilt, can be streamed on Hype Machine via this link. My personal favourite on the album is In Living Colour — since it’s the song that turned me onto this band but the entire album is worth a listen.
If you like layered vocals (think Grizzly Bear), and music that borderline puts you to sleep–but in a good way (think Bon Iver) then you may like this album. Plus, it’s a free stream, so you get to listen to an album without buying it, or downloading it illegally and having it take up space on your precious computers. It’s a win-win.
If you’re looking for instant gratification, without clicking through to Hype Machine then here is some of their older stuff. My personal favourite is Everyday.
I got my Weekend Pass during the pre-sale today and it’s safe to say that I’m going to have the time of my life. Between this, Radiohead, tUnE-yArDs, Beirut, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, and Patrick Watson, this concert season is shaping out to be the best one I’ve ever had.
Is anyone else thinking that this year’s Osheaga lineup could kick Coachella’s ass? I’d rather be chomping on a Montreal bagel on my way to a scenic city park than sweating my balls off with a bohemian leather thong up my ass.
Some people are so talented that their creative light shines through in everything they do. Colin Caulfield aka Minnesota’s Young Man is only 22 but has already played with Fanfarlo, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and GIRLS. He’s been interviewed by rag-du-jour NYLON and he’s coming out with (yet) another fantastic album Fate on May 23rd. With a voice somewhere between Luke Lalonde and Noah Lennox, his lo-fi, warm sound is perfect for melting in the sun and driving with the windows rolled down.
Check out the video for Nothing, a track off his upcoming album.
Forget the old adage about eating crap and watching infomercials to dull the pain of the previous night’s imbibing.
My time-tested hangover cure is boisterous, messy music that reminds you of the night before.
Hamilton trio The Dirty Nil came to Oshawa’s E.P. Taylor’s last night to open for Sweet Mack, Teenage Kicks, and Topanga. Although the crowd was small (mostly musicians and Riot Radio DJs), the band delivered squealing guitar licks, spastic showboating, and louder-than-loud sound quality.
Their set was only 24 minutes long (they tossed an electrifying David Bowie cover into the mix) but they didn’t even pause to wipe the sweat from their dripping faces. The only downtempo song was Caroline, a sweetly fuzzed out love ballad (check out the Hahn’s Basement recording). Watching this set gave me the same feel-good vibe as fellow Canadian bands Zeus and Born Ruffians, so I’m confident that Dirty Nil has a bright future. I’ll be on the lookout for their full-length.
Here’s how much I need a vacation… it’s 10pm on a Tuesday night and I’m still tapping away on my work laptop. I’m about three seconds away from eating my feelings.
Okay, so now I have two oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in my mouth and I’m listening to some music. I recently came across this nice little song by Vacationer that really speaks to my vibe right now. The whole PLZ TAKE ME AWAY FROM CANADIAN WINTER because I have salt stains on all my shirts and have calluses from where my legs shiver together.
But Trip by Vacationer is a good pseudo-escape. The band will be playing at SXSW at the All Things Gold party with Chiddy Bang, Clock Opera, and Incan Abraham. I never used to consider SXSW a festival worth going to, mostly because NXNE has never been that great. It seems like nobody wants to hit up Canada. Fine, you can have your desert sand and hallucinogenic drugs! I’ll be sitting here, shivering on the curb outside a club. NOW TELL ME WHO’S THE TRUE MUSIC FAN?
Speaking of work, today one of my coworkers randomly walked up to me and said, “So I heard that you’re a fan of music…” BUT DIDN’T ACTUALLY FOLLOW UP WITH ANYTHING ELSE. I said, “Yes…” and we proceeded to stare at a particularly grey part of the carpet until he said he listened to rap and opera but his girlfriend was completely narrowminded. Awkward coworker conversations, hurray!
1. Free My Mind (RAC Remix) – Katie Herzig
2. Sitting – White Denim
3. Neighbor Crimes – Capybara
4. The Sun – SURES
5. Brand New Start – Concrete Knives
6. Paddling Out – Miike Snow
7. In Decay – Phedre
8. My Better Self – Tennis
9. Breathing Out – Doveman
10. Unless You Speak From Your Heart – Porcelain Raft
11. Stones In The Attic – Mr. Little Jeans
12. You Need Me On My Own – Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
13. Sweet Cheeks – Digital Leather
14. Top Bunk – Gauntlet Hair
15. Little By Little (Caribou Remix) – Radiohead
