Champions League set for revamp...

As per the BBC...

Uefa is set to revamp the Champions League today with the top three clubs in the
Premier League qualifying for the group stages from 2009.
Under the plans, the fourth-placed side will now face a play-off against a team from another of Europe's leagues.

Previously in the Premiership, the top two sides qualified by right and the next two joined the third qualifying round.

It is likely the fourth-placed Premier League side will face a tougher play-off compared to
playing in the third qualifying round of the Champions League against weaker opponents.

Hahaha, great news this - because it now means that the Scouse-Scum whom I detest*** so much wont be in the Champions League next season.

This gives me an excuse to post the prodigal son's goal against his former club in injury time on Tuesday night.
He did it to his former club twice this season and what a fucking goal.
The face he makes after scoring it was priceless...
I give you the Number 7 shirt...Cristiano Ronaldo!




***Detest is still a very weak work to describe my hatred for that club.

Nothing Worse...

Than being Irish but thinking you're Canadian...

I fucking love Craig Norris. He hosts the CBC Radio3 Video Podcast.
This one is a particular favourite of mine because it is funny as fuck.
Craig shows you what really goes down when bands play gigs.
It's not about the drugs, the fights, the groupies, the music, the Winehouse et cetera...
It's all about the mother-fucking load-in...
That is where the magic happens and Craig shows it to us in all of its glory...
Rollie Pemberton also makes an appearance...
Good times.

You can either click me and watch it on the net or right-click me and download it.


P.S. Hannah Simone is the very fit girl in the picture at the start of the post.
She's a Londoner (England London, not Canada London) but now resides in Toronto as she is now the nationally-seen VJ for the truly magnificent MuchMusic specialty service in Canada.

Grey Cup Championship...!

For all you out there who are fans of the Canadian Football League (and there is a lot of you, believe me)...
I see the Saskatchewan Roughriders kicked Winnipeg Blue Bombers ass in the final:
Saskatchewan 23 - 19 Winnipeg...

Go Riders!
They're awesome. Game got a little bit tetchy towards the end but it was a great victory for Saskatchewan...

Highlights in the video below...

Who fucking wants NFL?!! CFL is sooo much better!

Goodbye OC - Hello Hollywood...

Or India rather...
Following on from the Phantom Planet/Jason Schwartzman paper trail I have left in the path beneath me...
I bring you an in-depth, accurate, delicate, intricate, enthusiastic, thrilling and complex review of Schwartzman's current project:The Darjeeling Limited...

Not really though. I'm not a critic, nor am I a reviewer - so I wont divulge too much about the film...
If you want to read a good review then go to The Observer's review of it from yesterday's paper...

Sunday's are shit.
Nothing to do except smoke cigarettes, drink ridiculous amounts of coffee and read the Observer...
Yesterday was better than most Sunday's though...
Because in the Observer's magazine was a front-cover feature with Natalie Portman...



Portman has jumped a couple of spots and is now joint top with Shannyn Sossamon for the coveted Shapes & Shadows number 1 spot of "Hottest Female on the Planet"...
After reading the interview, I found her to be even more incredible than I had thought and so I became desperate to see "The Darjeeling Limited" as she is in the short which appears before the movie...

The main reason I have a crush on her though is because her music taste rocks...
This next part wont be new to you - but let's just recap:
To benefit FINCA - an organization that fights poverty by providing microloans to entrepreneurs worldwide - Natalie compiled a selection of tunes from artists who are part of the Independent Online Distribution Alliance (IODA), as well as tracks from a few of her buddies.
The listing is as follows:

1. Tokyo Police Club - Be Good
2. Beirut - My Night With the Prostitute From Marseille [exclusive]
3. Tom Brosseau - Plaid Lined Jacket
4. Curumin - Tudo Bem Malandro
5. The Shins - Australia (Bjorn Yttling Mix) [exclusive]
6. Brett Dennen - Ain't No Reason
7. Sean Hayes - Turnaroundturnmeon
8. Thee More Shallows - Oh Yes, Another Mother
9. Angus & Julia Stone - The Beast
10. Antony & The Johnsons - Paddy's Gone
11. Vetiver - Idle Ties
12. Norah Jones - Broken
13. Devendra Banhart - There's Always Something Happening [exclusive]
14. M. Ward - What Is a Soul? [exclusive]
15. Wooden Wand - Forgiveness Figg (Bethany Hotel Blues)
16. Rogue Wave - How We Landed [exclusive]

Tokyo Police Club first on the list!!
And it's their best song.
A girl after my own heart.

Anyway, she stars in the short film before The Darjeeling Limited with this bloggers new friend Jason Schwartzman.
It's called Hotel Chevalier and is pretty damn awesome.
Cinematography is every inch of perfection and something we have come to expect from Wes Anderson.
Get down to the film early so you can see this short (and Portman's ass because she goes nude in it).
It's an intriguing little 13 minute spell of emotion and a great leeway into the actual film.



Yes.
Please...

Here is an MP3 of Natalie's first choice song for her itunes album.
It's their best track and with a debut album on the way next year - it's exciting times for the Canucks.

Tokyo Police Club - Be Good Right-Click...

The Good Ol' Days...

Courtesy of mine & Jacks embarrassing girl-like conversation in the post below...
Well I just had to make this post.
We reminisced about Phantom Planet and that kick-ass song they had out years ago called California...
You remember it, the one that the OC raped until it lost it's beautiful appeal.

Our collective movie knowledge got the better of us and that's how we landed up here..
Frontman Alex Greenwald starred as the school bully in Donnie Darko...
And ex-drummer Jason Schwartzman was the protagonist in Wes Anderson's Rushmore and is also one of the star's in his new movie: The Darjeeling Limited.

Shiiiit, this song brings back memories of Phantom FM back in the day and how they used to play it every Sunday night, right before the Two Pete's Talk Rubbish!

I.
Love.
This.




I want to post the live version they did of it on Letterman too.
Just for Jason Schwartzman's performance on drums alone.
How many drugs had he taken before he did this?
Totally awesome!

Suuucks man!

There is no where good to skate in this city.
The skate parks are shit and the roads treacherous.
If it's not the dodgy cobble-stones then it is the Gardaí being dicks.

Anyway, for those of you who skate - you should go out and buy Pretty Girls Make Graves three albums.
The perfect music to listen to when you are out on your board.

Probably the best band Matador Records has ever signed (yes, even better than the God's themselves - Interpol)!
Unfortunately, they split about a year ago.
I think they actually only ever played here once.
There was about 30 of us watching them in a tent in Oxegen back in 2006.
Fucking amazing set by one of the truly best bands of my generation.
Named after The Smiths song of the same name (which itself was named after a quote from Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums)

If you have no interest in what I have just said, then I implore you to:
Buy Pretty Girls Make Graves' three albums.
Stick them on your ipod (or something similar).
Buy a skateboard.
Then come back and thank me.
;)

Pretty Girls Make Graves

Southend...

Yesterday I was singing about Dan le Sac & Scroobius Pip and also about These New Puritans and how they are giving chav-central (see image above) - "Southend" a make-over by, well being really fucking brilliant.
The best way to kill chavs off is to have a really good music scene in the area, thus, enabling it to be a cool hang-out spot for the scenesters.
You only have to see what Klaxons have done for New Cross (miserable fucking place).
Or every other shitty London fucking band and what they have done for Hackney, Shorditch, Hoxton etc.

Back to the point:

I have just realised that Southend hasn't always been the god-awful shithole I have been portraying it as.
The most diabolical band to ever come out this side of the millennium was from Southend.
Yup, you guessed it - these jokers are from there!!!



Horrifying (bah-dum) band. But they were changing the image of Southend long before Dan, Scroobius & TNP.
And yes, I know. They are absolute dirt.

Luckily, I have just discovered that 2 fantastic artists I am a big fan of also hail from the Essex town:
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly & Theoretical Girl.

Get Cape... is the moniker & stage name for Sam Duckworth and his band. Great acoustic act with the use of trumpets & laptops. And if you really needed a reason to like this kid, then just read a quote from an interview he did a couple of weeks ago where he is describing the sound of his new record (out next year):

"Duckworth revealed that 'Searching for the Hows and Whys' would be a departure from the sound that brought him to the attention of so many. "Laptop beats and acoustic strings just don't cut it anymore, they don't fit in with my image. Look at Kate Nash - she stole my whole sound and had even had the gall to have her beats manufactured by kids in Bangladesh high on ecstasy for 2p an hour."

Best.
Quote.
Ever.

Yeah, fuck you Kate Nash. You're shit!

Get Cape's Myspace Profile...



Theoretical Girl is just really fun and catchy.
She doesn't have a quote I can use about her slagging off another singer, so instead - I'll just point you towards her THREE Myspace Profiles (because she has too many songs for just the one!)

Myspace Profile Number 1
Myspace Profile Number 2
Myspace Profile Number 3

Beat Pyramid...

These New Puritans are going to release the first record next year that you will fall in love with...
BP doesn't disappoint as a debut album and contains all of the skips & beats you'd expect from a band of their calibre & potential...

Many of you would have heard their current Double A-Side single (Numbers/Colours) and would have most likely danced your arse off to both songs...
Well Beat Pyramid has a further fourteen tracks along the same vein...
So "get on your dancing shoes, you sexy little swine..." and be ready for 'em...

Dan le Sac & Scroobius Pip put Southend on the map in 2007...
These New Puritans will follow suit in 2008...

Expect greatness from both of their debut albums.

These New Puritans myspace profile...

This is a live video of my favourite song from the TNP record...
Track is called Elvis...
Sound is a little shoddy...
Enjoy.

Jonny Jonny!

People are always quick to remind me not to slag off the CDs & Vinyls my parents owned as I was growing up
because, eventually I would live by this music.
I had to listen to some awful music (Correction: I thought it was awful at time) when I was growing up.
Born in November 1985, by the early nineties I was forced to sit and listen to such songs:

Queen - The Show Must Go On...
The Mamas & The Papas - California Dreamin...
The Eagles - Hotel California...
Prefab Sprout - King of Rock n Roll...

Out of the above four examples, one in particular has a special place in my heart now.

Prefab Sprout are one of my favourite bands of all-time.
They haven't exactly "broken up" - so there's a chance they can still do some more live dates.
And seeing as the Electric Picnic is renowned for having recently re-formed bands perform at their mighty festival, I would like to propose that the organisers get Prefab Sprout to perform at the 2008 Festival.
Pleeeeeeease!

The video below is proof that front-man & chief Sprout Paddy McAloone is a fan-bloody-tastic lyricist.
Taken from their second album (and possibly their best) Steve McQueen - this is my favourite song by Prefab Sprout:

Goodbye Lucille #1:

It's just fun. Plain & Simple...

I can't get enough of The Ghost Frequency right now.
Throughout the Summer, their single "Nightmare" was one of the most listened to songs on my ipod.
And if any of you were paying attention, a certain Irish Journalist was playing the single on his show a very long time ago!!!

I don't want to go into a long & terribly boring explanation of where they came from, how long they've been a band et cetera et cetera, it's the music that matters.
And these tunes are great.
Zombie/Electro/Rockabilly/Dance - it's all here and I fucking love it.

Singles "Nightmare" and "Never Before Have I Seen A Man Alive That Looks So Exactly Like A Skeleton" will have you dancing like a motherfucker.
Reminds me of the legendary Test Icicles.

Some of the band's sites:
Their Blog!!! and their Myspace!!!

The video to the amazing single Nightmare:


And here is the brand new video to the current single Never Before Have I Seen....:


Here's a demo song for you to download too Ghost Frequency - Money on the Fire

Seeing as TGF remind me of the super-duper Test Icicles and seeing as this blog is named after their cracking single, download it if you haven't already: Test Icicles - Circle Square Triangle

See any similarities between this video & the last Ghost Frequency one...?

Half it in the bag...

The ever-exciting and truly talented bunch Halfset are back gigging this week with a date on Friday in the Sugar Club.
One of my favourite moments of this years' Electric Picnic was seeing them perform on the Saturday night in the Body & Soul area.
Definitely a gig not to be missed, so make sure you get your arse into gear and catch them live.
They're getting on now so you never know, this could be the last time you get to see them live - they're not that young anymore!
;)

Halfset's Myspace: Click...



**P.S. Watch out for their drummer. He's renowned for throwing hissing fits if things don't go his way.
Very entertaining.


***P.P.S. Apparently Carly Sings is totally hot and really awesome live so make sure you catch her set too.

Icons of the past...

But who will be the next Rock God/Pop Star/Cultural Icon...?
That's the question which has me in a fit of laughter.
The Guardian blog asked it and people have disagreed and argued to no end.

The Guardian have their list as the following:

1950s: Elvis Presley
1960s: Bob Dylan
1970s: David Bowie
1980s: Madonna
1990s: Kurt Cobain
2000s: ???

Shocking list from Graeme Thomson.

In my opinion, Michael Jackson was surely more iconic and influential than Madonna?!
What about Led Zeppelin and the God Jimi Hendrix...?!?!?!?





For the noughties, I can honestly only come up with 2 people right now:
Eminem & Jack White.

The Radio-heads (see what I did there?!?) will obviously think Thom Yorke.
And fair enough, but I think Marshall Mathers and Jack White have had the biggest influence on music since the turn of the millenium.

Check out the Guardian blog for yourself and see what you think.

When you have no taste...

Yours truly has recently met a ridiculously hot girl...
After our first date, we established that she doesn't really know too much about music.
She name-checked (God love her), fucking Kings of Leon as one of her favourite bands.
As you can tell, this is actually quite serious.

It's terrifically cliché but I have got to make her a mixed CD.
I mean, I feel sorry for her. Nobody should have to list KOL as one of their favourite bands.
I don't know how many songs will suffice - so all of your collective knowledge & expertise will be much appreciated for this.
If you make mixed CDs for friends/lovers/potential partners quite frequently, then let me know what songs you use.
The songs must be fairly recent. Let's say 5 years or thereabouts...

Oh, remember that this is a mixed CD for someone with little knowledge of music or bands...
So don't get it confused with being a mixed "I love you" CD.
Which unfortunately means that Marvin Gaye can't grace the tracklisting.

I'm thinking (so far):

Adele - Hometown Glory
Animal Collective - Fireworks
Arcade Fire - My Body is a Cage
Beirut - In The Mausoluem
Bloc Party - She's Hearing Voices
Broken Social Scene - It's All Gonna Break
City & Colour - Serravalle
Cocorosie - Werewolf
Death From Above 1979 - Pull Out
El Ten Eleven - Sorry About Your Irony
Elliott Smith - New Disaster
Hauschka - Paddington
Hot Hot Heat - Talk to Me, Dance with Me
Incubus - Are You In?
Interpol - (Fuck that, Interpol deserve an entire CD full of their best songs on its own)
Jamie T - Here's Ya Getaway
Joanna Newsom - En Gallop

This is much more difficult than I imagined - we (yes, that's right. We're all in this together now) have only made it to the letter J so far and already we've clocked up about 20 bands.
It'll have to be split into 2/3 parts.

Break out the vinyl collection and get thinking.

Get in the right 'lane...

Read it & weep.
The fantastic four "Electrelane" are no more.
Brighton's sexiest exports have decided to go on an "indefinite hiatus"...
I don't even know what that means?
Have they called it a day? Or are they taking break?
At The Drive-In are still on one of those indefinite things.
So is Blink 182 (whose last album was awesome!!!).



So this is what they had to say about it:

"INDEFINITE HIATUS

We have decided that the upcoming gigs will be our last for the foreseeable future.
After ten years of much fun and hard work, we have realised that we all need a break and time to do other things.
This was a tough decision for us to make, but ultimately a positive one.
A big thank you to everyone who has come to our shows, put on our shows, and bought our records over the years.
It means a lot to us. We're really grateful to have had the opportunity to play gigs all over the world and to meet so many lovely people.
This last year has been especially enjoyable and we feel happy about moving on with all these good memories to look back on. At the moment we haven’t made any band plans for the future, but we’re going to have a break and see what happens. Love, Electrelane"

You have to wonder, has this happened because of Vera November?!?
Vera November is the solo project of Electrelane’s front-woman and multi-instrumentalist Verity Susman.
Her sound is a unique and exciting rebirth where old and new joyously collide, strings soar over furious synth drum beats and accordions cavort , ethereal vocals float in a world of their own and stark keyboard melodies haunt and bewitch....
...
...
...Or something a little less pretentious.

;)

Music should sound this good. Always.

Find me a better a song than the one you are just about to download.
Seriously, I dare you...

Berlin is the city...
Ter Haar is the band...
Sinnbus is the record label...
Fabriken is the song...



Sinnbus Records: Click Me...
Ter Haar Myspace: Click Me...

Fabriken MP3: Right-click and download the fuck out of me!

The weird & the wonderful...

Following on from the theme of gothic-folk, here lies an immortal, psychic-folk artist (if there is such a thing)!
It's a little too late for a Halloween related post, but fuck - this girl can't go un-noticed.
Her name is Nora Keyes and she is a little bit eccentric (to say the least).
Unsigned & with a very acquired taste, to be honest, I don't think I have heard anything quite like her before.

I don't even know how to describe her songs.

If you can imagine living back in the 17th century, in a secluded village surrounded by forgotten woodlands.
And these woodlands are apparently habited by a witch.
A witch who likes to sing and play music to an army of ghosts, if you think along those lines then you'd be on some-sort of path toward understanding what she sounds like.



As the singer of LA neo-new wave goth-punk band the Centimeters, Nora Keyes’ vocal style ranged from Casio-cute to downright vampiric. But on her elaborately titled solo record, Songs to Cry by for the End of the Golden Age of Nothing, Keyes’ freaky-deaky delivery sincerely creeps the fuck out of you, for lack of nicer language. Cackling like a witch or purring like the ghost of a dead little girl stuck in some musty, Victorian-era purgatory, she renders decrepit vaudeville tunes over a droning pump organ accompaniment. The sinister, spooky quality of these instrumentals suggests rotting homes and shadowy nightmares, and her haunting lyrics and gloomy, sepia-toned melodies give the impression that if punk had never happened, she would have been destined to become the eccentric madwoman who never leaves the big, dark house on the corner

I really shouldn't like this, but I can't help it.
She is ridiculously unique, and I like that in my music.

Check out a couple of her songs on her myspace profile.
I must warn you that the cackling on the song Small Apart is terrifically eerie.

;)

The Valerie Project...

Hold onto your shrooms and brace yourself for some Psychedelic, experimental, gothic-folk.
Yes, gone are the days of nu-rave & indie pop (Fuck off Klaxons and Kate Nash already!)
There's a new player in town and it will suck you into it's fairytale-esque / Brothers Grimm sound.
May I present to you, The Valerie Project. An idea so terrifically esoteric, it's an absolute joy that it was conceived in the 21st century.

What is The Valerie Project I hear you yell.
Settle down for a history lesson & I shall fill you in.

Valerie and Her Week of Wonders was a novel written in 1935 by surrealist Czech writer Vítězslav Nezval.
Vítězslav is still regarded as one of the most prolific Czech writers to this day (even after his death in 1958).
Within the novel, Nezval explored oblique gothic themes and settings (think F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu for example).
By Nezval's own admission, the depth of the tale is not in story itself, but in the dark evocations caused by the mise en scene. It is a tale of folklore, mystery and allegory that unfolds as much in the mind as on the page.

In 1970, the novel was made into a feature film by Czech director Jaromil Jireš.
Jaromil didn't walk down the dangerous path of changing many of the novel's themes when he directed the film.
If there was ever a time to use a quote, this is it:
"Director Jaromil Jires was unerringly faithful to Nezval's myopic approach, lingering on expressions, oblique gestures, the subtle nuances of actor performance and the rich, complex set design of Ester Krumbachova. Lubos Fiser's original score is so perfectly woven throughout the action it becomes the atmosphere within which Jires' actors exist. While a 35mm transfer of the film still eludes the DVD market, one can bask in the splendor of Fiser's (and composer Jan Klusak's electronic contributions) masterwork via the newly re-issued soundtrack on Finders Keepers/ B-Music."



This now takes us to The Project...
The Project Series started with a simple concept; that of recontextualising the filmic meaning and impact of a particular work through the substitution of a newly composed soundtrack. The new soundtrack is meant to be performed live to a sound film, with the original soundtrack turned off or the original music removed. This element is unique in that most live film soundtracks are perfromed to silent era films.
The genesis of the project came more out of a complete infatuation with Jaromil Jires' 1970 dream poem than from any intellectual conceit. The film's relevence to a new generation of folk musicians made it an obvious choice also.

The talented women & men who created this brilliant idea:
Jim Ayre (Fern Knight / Rake) on Percusssion.
Tara Burke (fursaxa) on Vox.
Charles Cohenon Electronics.
Helena Espvall-Santoleri (espers) on Cello & Vox.
Mary Lattimore on Concert Harp.
Brooke Sietinsons (espers) on Acoustic Guitar, Omnichord, Jew's Harp, Autoharp & Space Echo.
Jesse Sparhawk: (Fern Knight / Jesse Sparhawk) Electric Bass.
Greg Weeks (espers / Greg Weeks): Electric Guitar, Rhodes, Recorder, Arp Odyssey, Univox, Mini-Korg & Metallaphon
Jessica Weekson Flute & Rhodes.
Margaret Wienk (Fern Knight) on Cello, Vox & Harmonium.

The incredible instrumental-compostion has 30 tracks on it.
Each one more beautiful than the last.

The myspace profile where you can listen to some of the tracks is here...

The 4 following MP3s are available for download.
They are taken from the very first performance of the Valerie Project at the International House, Philly, PA on Sept 18, 2006.

Intro - Right-click me...
Fire Fountian - Right-click me...
Grandmother's Theme - Right-click me...
The Feast - Right-click me...

Bucky!!!

My obsession with all things Canadian runs deep.
Too deep some might say.
There's a time and a place to discuss anything related to music from a Canuck - and that time is now, and that place is here.

A tiny reminder of what CBC Radio 3 is and why I never shut up about it:

CBC Radio 3 consists of three major parts all devoted to Canadian arts and music: a Sirius Satellite Radio station, a weekly podcast from the CBC Radio 3 website, and streaming audio on the same website. The satellite network does air some music by international artists in its playlist, but is primarily Canadian content; the webstream and podcast are 100% Canadian music. The podcast and the CBC Radio One program Fuse also air as programs on the satellite radio channel.
The network's unofficial mascot is Bucky, a cartoon creature with the body of a duck and the head of a moose. Bucky is primarily seen in the introduction to the network's weekly R3TV video podcast, and also lends his name to the network's annual year-end music awards.

Which is why I have written this post. Literally announced about 5 minutes ago, it's the inaugural (and prestigious) CBC Radio 3 Annual Bucky Awards for 2007.

As if I needed another reason to love Canadians, just look at the categories.


Song Most Likely to be a Future Classic:

Arcade Fire - Intervention
Feist - 1 2 3 4
Handsome Furs - Cannot Get, Started
The New Pornographers - My Rights Versus Yours
The Weakerthans - Civil Twilight


Best Song to Listen to in the Fetal Position:

Camaromance – 28 Balloons
Dustin Cole w/ the Specialest – Oh! My Captain
Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton – Doctor Blind
Lightning Dust – Listened On
Octoberman – Run From Safety


Best Rap:

Abdominal – Pedal Pusher
Grand Analog – I’ll Walk Alone
Josh Martinez – Last Train
Notes to Self – Lifelines
Politic Live – Block O RMX (feat. Rochester aka Juice, Shad, Jerys & Oozeela)

Best Yacht Rock:

Andrew Rodriguez – Astonished Heart
Krief – What We Wanted
Patrick Watson – Drifters
Peter Elkas – Fall Apart Again
Young Galaxy – Swing Your Heartache


Best New Band Name:

Better Friends Than Lovers
The Got to Get Got
The Rural Alberta Advantage
Said the Whale
The Sweet Homewreckers


Best Gang Vocals:

The Besnard Lakes – Devastation
Carbon Dating Service – Starbeat Academy Graduation March
The Choir Practice – Red Fox
The Junction – Components of Four
Tokyo Police Club – Your English is Good


Best Lyric:

Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton – The Bank:
Whatever it is, spit into a bottle and sell it to me/ I’m looking to buy freedom from my sobriety/ Just like Huey Lewis, I need a new drug.

Great Lake Swimmers – Your Rocky Spine:
I traced my finger along your trails/ your body was the map, I was lost in it/ Floating over your rocky spine/ the glaciers made you and now you’re mine .

J-Bru – Put My Work In (feat. Classified and White Mic):
Excuse me, are you from Canada?/ Oui, yes sir/ I got the heart of Trudeau/ but look like Guy Lafleur.

The Two Koreas – U-Boat Commander:
You rushed the stage at the Morrissey show/ but you only touched the bassist.

The Weakerthans – Civil Twilight:
For the most part I think about golfing and constantly calculate/ all the seconds left in the minutes, and so on, etcetera/ Or recite the names of provinces and Hollywood actors/ Oh, Ontario, oh, Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Most Unpronounceable Name:

Anemones
Basia Bulat
Camaromance
9Nyne
The Phonemes


Best Road-Trip Song:

Jason Collett – Reunion
Maybe Smith – Hearts Like Bears
Po’ Girl – 9 Hrs To Go
Stars – Take me to the Riot
Two Hours Traffic – Backseat Sweetheart


Best Falsetto:

Caribou – Melody Day
The Joel Plaskett Emergency – Fashionable People
Miracle Fortress – Have You Seen in Your Dreams
Patrick Watson – Luscious Life
Two Hours Traffic – Nighthawks


Best Song Title:

The Consumer Goods – Looking for Love (while) in(vading) the Muslim World
Donovan Woods – My Cousin Has a Grey Cup Ring
The Got to Get Got – No One Riots in Winter
Tacoma Hellfarm Tragedy – True Love Killed My True Love’s Love For Me
The Wet Secrets – Grow Your Own Fucking Moustache, Asshole


Best reason to learn French (excluding Giselle Webber):

Les Amis au Pakistan – Mon soldat de plomb
Karkwa – La fuite
Numéro# – J’aime la bourgeoisie (vive le rock)
Omnikrom – NaNaNaNah
We Are Wolves – Magique


Best Sweatin’ to the Indies Workout Song:

Champion – Keep On (Champion’s Alternate Take)
Chromeo – Fancy Footwork
Numéro# – J’aime la bourgeoisie (vive le rock)
Pride Tiger – Let 'Em Go
The Wet Secrets – Secret March


Best Bass Line:

Pride Tiger – Sweet Dreams
Tokyo Police Club – Your English Is Good
Two Koreas – U-Boat Commander
The Western Investor – If You Wanna Go
The Wet Secrets – Secret March


Catchiest Hook:

Akido – Dancing in Chains
Buck 65 – Indestructable Sam
Feist – I Feel It All
The Saint Alvia Cartel – Don’t Wanna Wait Forever
The Western Investor – If You Wanna Go



Get voting here.

Remember, keep supporting & loving Canadian artists & their music.


There is only one possible way to end this post.
A few Pictures of hot Canadian artists.
Enjoy.

Lisa Lobsinger


Emily Haines


Regine Chassagne


AVRIL LAVIGNE!!!


Fuck it, Avril AGAIN!!!

Internet Brothers...

Our Brother The Native is:
John Michael Foss (guitar, drums/percussion, piano, bass)
Joshua Bertram (guitar, bowed banjo, sounds/samples, synth, vocals )
Chaz Knapp (piano, guitar, bass)
They are three young Americans (two aged 17, one 19) who write shockingly beautiful music. The ever-exciting Fat-Cat Records is responsible for discovering OBTN towards the end of 2005.
Their debut album "Tooth & Claw" was formed of thrilling, beautifully jumbled gushes of ideas and emotions – its campfire clap-alongs, skewed vocals, and use of circuit-bent children’s toys saw John, Josh & Chaz coming on like the kid brothers of Animal Collective or CocoRosie.

Following on from that release, yet marking a major shift and forming very much its own space, their new album Make Amends, For We Are Merely Vessels is a bold and expansive record that ebbs and flows with huge power and considerable skill.
The eight songs here clock in at between six and fourteen minutes each and take their cues more from expansive post-rock / white noise rather than any freaked folk scene. It was self-recorded in Josh’s dimly-lit Michigan basement between May – December 2006.
Where the previous album was all jagged / ruptured songcraft, ‘Make Amends…’ is a much more fluid, immersive affair, a dense weave of layered (and partially buried) sounds worth a deliberate and slow building grasp of dynamics. Devoid of regular verse / chorus structuring, its songs sprawl out and unfurl with their own particular logic, mixing rich drones and flickering detail with brief but swollen, almost anthemic bursts of emotion, and the simmering threat of explosion. At different points it recalls the likes of Sigur Rós, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Stars Of The Lid, Popol Vuh, or Black Dice circa ‘Beaches & Canyons’.

Whilst ‘Tooth and Claw’ was recorded and pieced together through internet to-ing and fro-ing, before Josh had even met Chaz and John Michael, let alone played any shows, ‘Make Amends’ was carefully planned out. Before recording, the band had been playing these songs together live for over a year, allowing them to change shape and grow from show to show (a process that’s ongoing), and had a good idea of how they wanted them to sound on record.

Brilliantly controlled and hugely ambitious for a group so young, ‘Make Amends..’ is a deep and powerful album that deserves your attention.


***About the video below - 'My Daughter the Sun' (Pappa Bones track):

"Captured live on February 11th 2006, on the second day of the FatCat 'Open Circuit' festival at Kunstencentrun BELGIE in Hasselt, Belgium. This show was notable as being the first time Our Brother The Native had ever played together. Having previously collaborated by sending files over e-mail, the three had in fact only all met a couple of days before the show, and only had a couple of hours to practise. Nevertheless, they sounded just great and went down a storm."