I was poking around some old files and found this recording that Black Tie Social did for my old Capital Rock City podcast. The talk was this would be the last BTS show… opening for Theset at Big Fernwood.
Black Tie Social – “Silver Screens” (live)
Just wanted to share because I love them.
Posted in Capital Rock City, music | Tagged Black Tie Social, theset | 2 Comments »
Here is something catchy from Sweden. The group is called Nonono or No NO No, or NONONO… female vocals and couple dudes producing.
The first song I heard is called “Pumping Blood.” I heard it compared to Imagine Dragons.
Pop Justice says that song could be one of those jams that eternally bounces around the blogs…but it might just be catchy enough to show up on the radio. I dunno, what do you think? I mean we got a radio station antennae, do we pump NONONO over the air?
They posted this b-side a few days ago and its already sitting at 50,000 plus plays.
Go with yourself.
Posted in music | Tagged NONONO | 2 Comments »
Friend of the show Georgia Murray stopped by The Zone Afternoon Show to lay down an amazing live off the floor cover of Lana Del Rey‘s “Blue Jeans.” Murray began her song by layering some vocal loops using a TC Helicon Voice Live Touch 2. I hope you enjoy!
Go with yourself.
Posted in Capital Rock City, music | Tagged Georgia Murray, Lana Del Rey | 1 Comment »
Victoria’s Handsome Distraction are set to release their new record A Mighty Roar today with a concert tonight at Lucky Bar.
HD are a group that have always demonstrated a great energetic rockshow. Their previous record, though good, was not great…it lacked that sonic x-factor you need to pull you through the speakers.
This time the guys tackled that short coming. Their record sounds outstanding with a couple songs that first listen had me engaged. Lead singer Devin told me the focus cuts might be “No False Alarm” or “Promises.” I liked “No False Alarm.”
The Indie Machine wrote about the record and pulled out similarities to the Foo Fighters (I agree) and Queens of the Stone Age (I don’t hear that). But an interesting thread they found was a sound that might remind you of Cursive. O RLY? Listening to some of their songs on A Mighty Roar, you do hear that mid-2000s angular, or jangly indie guitar sound. Especially on the song “Stricken.” With “Stricken” you’re getting propulsive indie, palpitative and sharp drum crack, but with the bigger vocal hooks of today’s modern rock bands. This song was created for a friend of the band Mike Box, who continues a battle with cancer. To me, the standout on the record.
The whole record clocks in at what? 20 minutes? I need three of these for my run Handsome Distraction!
Go with yourself.
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Our cover song freakout continues on this perfect sunny Thursday with a song originally made famous by Paul Simon.
James Sutton posted a youtube clip of Newfoundlanders Hey Rosetta in Chicago. They were at a place called Music Exchange (is that store?) and they did this gem of “Graceland” live off the floor.
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I am loving Mikal Cronin‘s new record MCII. Downloaded the thing last night and it was so perfect during my nighttime run.
(my run last night, not the best… I think I’ve been going too much, felt really drained)
His music is just fun, easy, groovy guitar melodies. And he is one rad dude.
Yesterday Stereogum posted a couple covers that Mikal recorded for his girlfriend who is/was living away from him. He says to Stereogum that they both play ukulele and both share a love of 80s and 90s rom-coms. Mikal recorded these songs for a mixtape that he sent her.
You know what movies these are from right?
The first one is the epic song about the distance between us… The Proclaimers “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” from Benny and Joon. Our second song is from the soundtrack to 1999’s nerd girl makes good by ditching her glasses classic… She’s All That. Sixpence None The Richer “Kiss Me.”
Adorable.
Go with yourself.
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I finally had to buy into the hype that is Savages. The London post-punk group channel a lot influences from styles and bands that I love. A real heavy 80s alternative vibe.
I like the dark, abrupt, and repetitive music and lyrics.
Last night I went for a run…I am starting to really look forward to my night runs. I just run around a track, boring stuff. Generally no music. I just like the sounds of the neighbourhood and my thoughts. I read this great article the other day in Backpacker magazine about Thru-Hiking. They had this story about an army veteran from the Iraq War who returned to the US. He wasn’t really sure how he wanted to re-integrate into civilian life so he just did the Forrest Gump thing… and started walking. And he hiked the Pacific Crest Trail. The magazine said a fit hiker could maybe do it in 4 months, but it likely would take 5 to 6 months of walking everyday. The hero of the story talked about the clarity of being alone, everyday, sun-up to sun-down, with your thoughts. He hit this zen-like head space.
I respect for many people, the thought of camping coffee for 4 months plus would not sound appealing. But the idea of a total reboot of the brain (not to mention that amazing shape you’d be in) sounds appealing to me. If I could only find the time (and money) as they say.
That article helped me understand better why I enjoy running with no music. It is only an hour, but it’s a mini Thru-Hike brain reboot.
BUT here is where stress case me gets in the way. I hate wasting time when I could be productive (unless I’m playing video games, then I can waste HOURS!). I want to be using the hour of running to be listening to new music or learning. Yesterday I tried both.
I’ve always known and respected the science for why listening to music is a performance enhancer. It keeps you focused on the tunes and not the pain…. I value the ability to really listen to an album in that old fashioned sense. Sitting down and hitting play on track one and staying with it, for better or worse, to the end. Last night it was Savages. The song that propelled me forward was “She Will.”
But what about using the time to learn? I tried a podcast. I downloaded Under the Influence and enjoyed that as well.
How do you manage your workout? Silence? Beats? Ambient music? Podcasts? Audiobooks? Answer that and stay fashionable.
Go with yourself.
Posted in music | Tagged Backbacker, Pacific Crest Trail, Savages | 2 Comments »
Happy Monday friends…. back from a few days in Coquitlam to celebrate my brother’s 30th birthday.
A fun couple days off the internet and away from music. Well, I listened to a lot of JRFM…my sister jives on the country.
Back to it today and I have more than a couple emails to pluck through. One that stood out came from Victoria’s Man Made Lake.
Thursday night, I was in Coquitlam at Charles Best Secondary checking out their musical, Beauty and The Beast…but back on the Island, Jade was at Upstairs to unveil this summer’s Rock Of The Woods festival line-up.
Lots of amazing and local bands including, Man Made Lake. I read an email that they’d be playing, and then got a message from them to check out their new ep, Zinc. 3 songs, all quality.
The Raison d’être from Zinc is the single “Horsefly.”
I’ll go back to word “quality” to describe these songs. “Horsefly” is a well crafted song. Great production. Pleasant. We all know A-sides win, but how about song two, “Water.” For some reason, I keep gravitating back to it.
The song has rooted in my brain. I like it.
Go with yourself.
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Calgary’s annual music festival Sled Island released their line-up today. Spin magazine talks about some of the major highlights. I scanned the lineup to try to track down some Victoria connections. One band that jumped out was Victoria’s Open Relationship.
This local punker group recently picked up their second “M” Award for fave hardcore band. I hope they utilize that uke on the next record…or better yet, I can bring The Zone’s ukulele down to the studio and we can create the Wall of Ukes.
Their 2012 DIY 7-inch is called Born Weird. Its bratty and raw, I love the title track. Its how I imagine Madelyn growing up (except right now she is concerned with being pretty, but she watches more Disney than maybe is healthy). But the “I don’t want to brush my hair” line stands out to me for sure.
The line-up is pretty groovy. Lots of bands I want to see… I liked that Vancouver’s White Lung is in the mix.
Then I started poking around at some of the other bands whose names I’ve read on the blogs and music zines… and one that I enjoyed was form Miami. Torche.
Its bad to stereotype, but when I think of Miami, I don’t think of music like this.
For one thing, the black hoodie and denim vest combo with a beard would be too much in the heat. I guess everything is air-conditioned there, so you could just stay inside and be hard-as-fuck all you want.
Pitchfork says that one of their strengths is their ability to skirt the pop line with their sludgey grunge. An example they shared was this beaut from 2008, “Healer.”
Go with thy self.
Posted in music | Tagged Calgary, Open Relationship, Sled Island, Torche, White Lung | Leave a Comment »
June 16th is the day I hand the TV back to Coral… True Blood Season 6 returns on HBO. And though soft-core porn with vampires is not my personal style, I have seen my share of episodes.
The music is always great.
The music supervisor for the show is Gary Calamar. He is a stud. The next installment of the soundtrack, Volume 4 for those keeping score, is out on May 28th and features this jem.
Iggy Pop and Bethany Cosentino (Best Coast) duet a song created specifically for the show. Its a neu-garage stomper.
Iggy Pop is so cool.
Go with yourself.
Posted in music | Tagged Gary Calamar, Soundtrack, True Blood | 1 Comment »
The Morning After 