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what a disappointment, I thought there would be so much more

Posted in music, tagged Plants and Animals on January 18, 2012| 2 Comments »

When did I first see Plants and Animals at Lucky Bar? Part of me thinks I saw them with Coral and I wanna say 2008 sometime. I am pretty sure Madelyn was alive and I am pretty sure Coral and I got to sneak away to see them.

I do remember being surprised. They were “less” on stage than I expected. They were three rock & roll shaggy looking fellas. Not the Arcade Fire-esque band I had dreamt of.

Their sound that night was perfect. The style was a raucous, joyful, style of rock. On record, they remind me of a hillbilly version of the Arcade Fire…I guess that’s why I thought they’d look like them too.

Plants and Animals will rumble back to life with a new record called The End of That (Feb 28th, Secret City Records). The first single will get the 7 inch treatment (so that means I MUST have it). The song is called “Lightshow” and it’ll be backed with a cover of Wolf Parade’s “I’ll Believe in Anything.”

Plants and Animals – “Lightshow”

Download MP3 >> 04 Lightshow 1

Plants and Animals will be in Victoria for a show on March 20th at Lucky Bar. Not sure my schedule that day, but I’d like to go. I am listening to 2008’s Parc Avenue right now… oh, good memories with this record. So pleasant.

***

The snow was falling (at times) fiercely in Victoria today. I skipped out of the office for a few moments today and asked friends on Quadra Street what they thought of the snow for a segment I am going to call… “Living in the City.”

Have a listen from my new Soundcloud>> Living in the City: Snow

If you are into it… maybe leave a comment or share the link or whatever. Having a new social media thing is always a slow grind at the beginning. But I love how slick Soundcloud is… so that will be the new home to short features. Long features and mix tapes will continue to live on Mixcloud.

Right, so mixcloud AND soundcloud. Basically the same thing? neat.

I’ve been hoping to get a new Hockey! segment done, but having a dilly of a time trying to get Jordie Benn nailed down for an interview. But if that sorts itself out… then coming soon…

***

Lastly, Coral has been all about Pinterest. Seems like it might be yet another social media type thing to corral into the mini-media empire. Huzzah! I requested an invite. How professional. If they accept me, then maybe I’ll try it.

Go with yourself.

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Mixtape >> Sad Bastard Music (and an MP3)

Posted in music, tagged cover, Horrible Crowes, Katy Perry, Mixtape, MP3, Sad, Teenage Dream on January 16, 2012| 2 Comments »

Back in September, Brian Fallon of Gaslight Anthem fame released a side-project record as The Horrible Crowes. At the time, we spun the feature song a bit on the Zone and I remember Dave Sawchuk being a bit of an early convert on the project.

It never really jelled on the Zone, song went away to be replaced by the next “it” thing in modern rock and I didn’t think too much about it. Till about a week ago.

Talking with my sister-in-law Alyx… she was telling me that she LOVES the Horrible Crowes Elsie. “OK, I’ll give it another listen,” I says to her.

A day or two after that… outta the blue! Homeboy Tyson sends me a text saying… check out the Horrible Crowes. Great sad bastard music.

He was right. Great sad bastard music… and the launch point for today’s mixtape.

Mixcloud: Mixtape >> Sad Bastard Music

Using the Horrible Crowes’ dark sad sack tale of woe as a jumping point… I went on Facebook and twitter to ask best friends for their sad bastard songs to add. here we go. Strap in, its about to get sad.

01) The Horrible Crowes – Lady Killer (me)
02) Nada Surf – “Inside of Love” (Adrienne)
03) Farside – “I Hope You’re Unhappy” (Jared)
04) The Low Anthem – “To Ohio” (Simon)
05) The Helio Sequence – “Lately” (Simon)
06) Hayden – “Bad as they Seem” (me)
07) Hayden – “Stem” (Alix)
08) Frightened Rabbit – “Backwards Walk” (Me)
09) Jeff Buckley – “Hallelujah” (Carrie)
10) CKY – “To All Of You (Acoustic)” (Conner)
11) Pete Yorn – “Lose You” (Chelsea)
12) Damien Rice – “The Blower’s Daughter” (Geoff)
13) Radiohead – “Creep” (Krysta)
14) Morphine – “I’m Free Now” (Sean)
15) The Horrible Crowes – “Teenage Dream” (Me)

So many great songs. Many of these new to me and I hope you’ll hear a few new ones to you.

Reading about the Horrible Crowes I was excited to discover they will be releasing “Lady Killer” as a 7 inch single in February. B-Side…. their cover of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream.” Wow.

Download MP3 >> 02TeenageDream

OK, happy listening? Sure.

Go with yourself.

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I love living in the city

Posted in music, tagged Fear on January 15, 2012| 3 Comments »

This anti-anthem rattles around my brain all the time. Oddly, as an anthem. Listening to Fear’s 1977 proto-hardcore single “I love livin’ in the city,” its hard to tell if this is an ode to city living or a damnation.

The chorus is a pretty rousing repetition affirming city living. And that’s what sticks with me.

Fear – “I Love Livin’ in the City”

Fear is a band I don’t know a ton about other than they were there at the beginning of punk rock and Southern California hardcore. Flea of the Chili Peppers played for Fear for a bit….

The song’s basic premise of loving living in the city is why I find the song interesting. This morning I woke up bright and early to wander downtown in the dusting of snow we had overnight. I snapped a few pictures with my iPhone and this song jumped in my head. I love living in the city.

I think I’ll use the song as a theme song to a radio segment I’ve always batted around in my brain. This week looks like the first week in a long time where I’ll get some-what normal hours and time to create.

Alright… I think I wanna source a “sad bastard music” playlist… so this blog has to wrap.

Go with yourself.

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if you love a soul more than fame and gold…

Posted in music, tagged 4 Seasons, 45s, Alan Cross, Penny and the Quarters, Zombies on January 10, 2012| 1 Comment »

I don’t know why, but I love 45s. I think because they’re little, and old… they don’t make any sense and they’re annoying as fuck to play at home. You can’t just hit go. You have to sit there at the record player and flip’em over and change the disc all.the.time.

At the same time… its kinda fun to play DJ, and sit there and listen to music. I love them during all vinyl DJ sets. Man, two record players going at the same time is heaven with 45s. Those stupid spindle/spider 45 adapter things in the middle are a pain. God bless Simon for giving me that yellow one pictured above. I had like three of them at one time, but during a DJ set at Smiths I lost a bunch. If not for this one that Simon gave me, I’d be begging for more. Finding a puck is impossible in 2012. I wish I had a bead on how to make my own. I think that would be a good cottage industry. Selling record pucks online. The Morning After Show needs a commemorative puck! Or the Zone!

On Saturday I went record shopping with Mads and we bought three new 45s for the collection.

I saw the 4 Seasons and bought that one for Coral. She saw the Jersey Boys play in London with Alix and has always had a spot in her heart for the music. I saw the record and thought we needed that one in the collection.

I love the Zombies. I have another Zombies 45, but not “She’s Not There.”

And the final one is a weird record. I remember Alan Cross blogging about it back when he stilled worked at Explore Music. Penny and the Quarters were a discovered R&B group that cut a demo in the early 70s. but the record never saw the light of day… says the legend. The man with the studio that recorded it had the original demos stuffed away on a box till he passed away. Upon his passing, all of the tapes were sold whole-sale to some company that buys such things, I guess mining for forgotten musical treasure. They “released” this song on a compilation of forgotten soul and R&B.

Actor Ryan Gosling heard the song and brought it to the attention of the music supervisor or director of the film Blue Valentine. And here we are.

Neat story. AC had a hunch that it could be a cooked up stunt from a Hollywood publicist. But I mean… it could be real? and I hope it is. The song is adorable.

Penny and the Quarters – “You and Me“

There I am at Ditch records… see this title and go… “where do I remember this band from?” The legend floods back to me and I go, “huh…” then bought it.

“You and Me” is such a pretty and romantic song. If the legend surrounding the song is true, it just adds so much more to the drama. I’ll take this one on faith and chose to believe till I read otherwise.

Go with yourself.

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Things can really get rough, when you go it alone

Posted in music, tagged Nada Surf, Shins on January 9, 2012| Leave a Comment »

The Shins are what? Basically a James Mercer solo show by now right? One of the guys ~~left~~ got kicked out to be a professional hot air ballooner (yes kids, if you can dream the job, it is out there). One of the dudes has a taco truck in Portland! (I interviewed the host on my radio show… weird. Also this show pre-dates Eat St. by a lot.. but I still LOVE you Eat St.)

New Shins song started bouncing around the intertron today. Click play on the reel-to-reel machine. How vintage.

The reel-to-reel machine is kinda fun for us radio nerds of a certain age. I started my radio broadcasting career using reel-to-reel to create any radio production for my first radio show. If you order the new album, The Port of Morrow, off the Shins website it comes with a limited edition reel-to-reel tape version. Impractical but neat. There is a reel-to-reel machine at the Zone, so technically I could fire it up.

The first single is “Simple Song.”

The internet is all in a lather about this song. Personally… I prefer the new Nada Surf, if liking music were an either/or game. Luckily its not! So I can enjoy both.

The Shins will be bigger, Nada Surf is better. Both make adorable indie pop.

Oh, “Phantom Limb” came on my iTunes now. I like that song. And how about Chutes Too Narrow? I think I got that record collecting dust on a CD shelf or in a milk crate somewhere…. I should track that record down!

Go with yourself.

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This song glitters

Posted in music, tagged Breaking Dawn, Running, The Features, Twilight on January 4, 2012| 5 Comments »

Well god bless those sexy vampires… if there is something to take away from the Jabob and Wilhelm and Clumsy and… I can’t remember all their names…. Twilight puts a little effort into their soundtrack when it comes to finding something kinda interesting to expose all the 12 year-old-girls, their moms and radio DJs too.

The latest installment of the Twilight saga’s soundtrack features a Tennessee band called The Features. Coral and I have been jamming out this song on Alt-Nation for the past little while and grooving on it. I thought I better download and hopped on iTunes. Fiddlesticks! It wa son the Twilight soundtrack which… made me feel like an idiot. Damn you constructed fake indie hipster Hollywood-ism! damn you! They tricked me… but whatever, I like the song so here it is.

The Features – “From Now On”

A fun, bratty, pop-rock song. I dig it. I don’t dig that the single is not available for legal download or included on any Features records or LP. You MUST buy into the Twilight world to get it. I might suggest you find clandestine means to source the song.

***

Also… I tried to go for a run last night. My twitter and Facebook feed is (or are) constantly bombarded with people bragging about how they are “runners.” I thought maybe it was fun club to be in. Its not… man, its a lot of work and I am a fat mutha fucker.

That’s all I got… Go with yourself.

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When I was young, I didn’t know if I was better off asleep or up.

Posted in life or something like it, music, tagged Nada Surf, Snow Shoeing on January 3, 2012| 4 Comments »

I’ve been thinking I should write a “new years” post… you know, something to reflect on 2011, or maybe, what I plan and hope for in 2012. I had some ideas rattling around in my brain the past couple days but in the end decided to try and focus on myself and stay off the internet as best I could. (well I was on twitter and Instrgram… but for some reason I don’t count them).

Parts of 2011 I was not into…. But I feel a little wiser, and a little more excited on some projects. Mostly it is about starting small… being a contact hitter, getting on base. I’ll leave the long ball for the guys that….

Today I found a song in an amazing twist and a click. Reading about the records to look forward to in the winter of 2012 and spied a new album from Nada Surf.

The end of January will feature a record called “The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy.”
Have a listen to “When I Was Young.”

Give an email, get a download: Nada Surf dot com

“Came home early, quatre to two. I don’t need more wine, I’m coming for you.”

Magical….

That has to be one of the more romantic lines I’ve heard in a song in quite some time. Nada Surf always seems to paint landscapes that I want to live in. I’d imagine if I knew these guys in real life, we’d be friends…probably bitch about the same things and pretend to be into rock climbing together.

Its Day 03 of 2012 and already a few things are coming up Milhouse. I went snow shoeing on January 1st… and on the 3rd… a fantastic MP3. I wonder what’s up for tomorrow?

Go with yourself.

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Let me occupy your mind

Posted in music, tagged downloads, Gotye, Hearts a Mess, MP3, remix, Somebody That I Used to Know on December 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Gotye is quickly becoming one of the biggest things on the radio in Western Canada right now.

The Melbourninian one has a bit of history. I got an email from my man Michael in Edmonton imploring me to check out the Supermayer Super Mess remix of an early 2008 single… “Hearts a Mess.”

Gotya – “Hearts a Mess (Supermayer Super Mess Remix)”

Download MP3 >> Gotye – Hearts A Mess (Supermayer Supermess Remix)

Oh this song sounds sensual. Locks into a nice groove that ever so delicately builds. I can already tell that this will be a big part of my lounge sets. Hearing this interesting remix got me wondering if there are any remixes of the hot jammer “Somebody That I Used to Know” on Soundcloud. Yup… a whole bunch. Here are a few faves from my audio adventures this evening.

Downloads MP3:
Somebody That I Used to Know (Rishi’s REMIX)
Somebody That I Used To Know (Starfuckers Remix) – Gotye
Somebody That You Used To Know (Arcade Riot Remix) 18-22-01

If you have the song earwormed in your head like I do…then maybe these remixes will be useful to you. I know they’ll be pulling stud duty in my DJ sets for the next little while.

Go with yourself.

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you’re getting bludgeoned by the policy

Posted in music, tagged Seasick, Silversun Pickups, Swoon on December 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »

This close to Christmas… it just ain’t right to by yourself things. But come on, new Silversun Pickups single is just a $3 digital download. I’ve tipped more money for brutal service.

For Black Friday Record Store Day the Silversun Pickups packaged up a few b-sides from the Swoon sessions. These songs would become the “Seasick” 10 inch single. The songs became available on Tuesday as a digital download and I finally find myself with a few minutes to listen.

So lets hit play shall we.

“Seasick”

“Broken Bottles”

“Ribbons & Detours”

The lead and namesake single is a big meandering Silversun jam. “Seasick” might be on the a-side, but this song doesn’t scream radio single. It is pretty and melodic… but not propulsive. Maybe too cerebral for a modern rock radio station.

“Broken Bottles;” now here is a song that could work on the radio. A lot of energy. Fuzzy, twisted guitar. Gets punchy. I heard this song in the mix of Alt Nation on XM, sounded rad.

The final song is a slower paced cut. “Ribbons & Detours” sounds like Nikki Monninger singing. Once agin, this song returns to a more meditative state.

All sounds good to my ears and a great little $3 investment between records. SSPUs are in studio working on their third full length which is due in the Spring of 2012. Right now they’re calling the record ‘3.’ Easy peasy.

Go with yourself.

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