To crib a line from my buddy James Sutton across the Strait at The Peak, I’m into this today, Family of the Year, “Hero.”
James jams this song on his show and we hit it sometimes on The Zone. Pretty song. I guess its poised to go super-nova now that it is added at KROQ in Los Angeles. We were lucky when we got a chance to see Family of The Year last summer at Rifflandia.
***
I made a little 30 minute mix of some of my favourite alternative pop songs right now. Some are my wife’s faves. Have a listen!
The song was originally created for their massive massive Some Nights. The song didn’t make the cut because of a sample the band couldn’t get cleared. Enter Lena Dunham from the TV show Girls (season 2 premiers on January 13th) looking for a track for season two. Nate dusted off the cut, reworked the offending sample out and bingo-bongo… we got a new jam.
I love Girls, I have a love/hate with Fun… this relationship I can get behind IF its open bar.
Emails! Lots of emails to sift through on a Monday morning. Thought I’d share a couple I found a little interesting.
Lets start in Vienna, Austria. James Hersey creates a simple, upbeat, pop music. Light electronic elements bouncing around a singer/songwriter type structure. Very fun and summery. He is singing about hitting the beach which is awesome because I thought Austria was landlocked? Maybe he means like, we should hit an Alpine Lake Beach? Don’t say maybe, that IS what I am sure he means.
James is generating some buzz at home. His song showed some strong love on National Alt rock Radio FM 4. I don’t speak German (Austrians speak German right?) but I think FM 4 is a national radio service akin to the CBC… some one wiser please leave a comment and let me know. If “likes” on Facebook are to be believed, a couple people listen to it.
***
From Vienna to Chicago we go.
Panda Riot are fuzzing out the nu-gaze on their upcoming record Northern Automatic Music (Feb 19th, Saint Marie Records).
If our above song was a more traditional sounding pop song… Panda Riot add a few more layers of dense reverb and stacked harmonies. Gorgeous female vocal melodies carry the weight guitar squeal.
My friend Razer is back in Victoria for a few days. His band Acres of Lions got off the road at the end of the fall and immediately hopped into a Toronto studio to work on their new record. Over a couple a few pints he previewed the new songs for me. Sounding real good and I can’t wait to share them on this here blog when they come back from mixing.
God bless Spin Magazine… they also are talking about some new sounds for 2013… #1… loud fuzzy guitar rock.
Purling Hiss recorded a song for a public radio station in Philadelphia called WXPN. They laid down the track “Lolita” with Adam Ganduciel (drummer for The War on Drugs) and it sounds mighty. When their record Water on Mars comes out on Drag City later this year… I can already tell I’ll be all about it.
The band is from Ann Arbor, Michigan, but they are called Ontario.
The website Noise Trade featured this new-ish indie rock band and I clicked play on a couple songs over the holidays. The style is very reminiscent of that traditional indie sound of most the 2000s. Very pretty, lots of harmonies, dainty, jangly guitars.
The band has their ep up on Noise Trade…. its free and you can “tip” the band if you’re into it. I think today they are pushing fr the downloads and trying to drive up the chart so maybe trade the email for some songs. CLICK HERE!
We travel to the distant and foggy lands of San Francisco to have a listen to Before The Brave. A swingin’ alt-country or indie folk vibe. I listen to these guys and I hear a little Lumineers filtered through Ryan Adams. The sound does share a lot of similarities to what’s popular on the radio right now with Lumineers or Of Monsters and Men. Before The Brave’s Great Spirit ep came out in November. Of the 5 songs, I heard two jaunty hoedowns.
The bands elevator pitch is a bunch of goobly-gook like; “Before the Brave fits into the current alternative music scene while not being wholly defined by it.” What does that even mean?
I guess. I am hearing that indie folk sound that is dominating right now, but with a little more grit and a little more alt-country. The ep is solid but to my ear, missing that one great pop song. I think you can get into this record if you are in the camp that can’t get enough of “Ho Hey.”
Tiemen runs a record shop on Pandora called Talk’s Cheap. He posted on the Victoria Record Club page the other day about a buddy of his in Edmonton named Jeff. Jeff is involved with a little record label outta Calgary called Kept Records (Embalmed sounds for your listening and dancing pleasure).
Tiemen says their pressing everything up on 7-inch. Contemporary groups recording a vintage soul, psychedelic, afro-beat sound. Rad.
You gotta hit some of this stuff… I know these sounds will be making their way to the set at the Veneto Lounge (also on Pandora because its the BEST street downtown).
This group is called Brownout. These hombres are from Texas, land of Texas Funk! Dig it. Fuuuuuck, that’s groovy. They call it desert-psych-funk. Yeah.
Happy New Year! When the odometer finally ticks over to a new year I can’t help but think of that Death Cab for Cutie song “The New Year.”
“So this is the new year, and I don’t feel any different.”
I do reflect on the year that was, and I suppose like anyone I dream about the one to come. But at the same time, today was a day like any other. I mostly cleaned and looked after my kid.
January 1st is just a date on a calendar, but it is the first date on the calendar. It is the beginning of 2013 and here is a song for new beginnings.
The duo based out of Germany is called Boy. Not to be confused with the Canadian band by the same name, these ladies met while attending a music workshop in Hamburg. Their record Mutual Friends is a big deal already, going Gold in Germany with 100,000 sold., and music videos that attract millions of views. They have a song called “This Is The Beginning,” and I thought how perfect for January 1st.
Boy – “This Is The Beginning”
Their record features Thomas Hedlund on drums…. he’s the dude from Phoenix! Well ain’t that a pip?
***
To think about New Year’s resolutions….
01) Drink organic milk.
I think my four year old is growing little boobies… and for that matter so am I. Maybe its the hormones maaaaaaan, maybe its the lack of push-ups, but we’re flipping to organic milk.
02) Go Camping
201120122013 here we go! I feel in my bones I want to be a camper/hiker, ADVENTURER, but I just don’t prioritize it. I’ve gone a few times over the past couple summers, I wanna go more. Basically, I want to be National Geographic magazine with everything I do.
03) Be Silly
Creativity doesn’t flow out of me like it used to. I also used to smoke a lot of pot. Maybe my resolution is to smoke pot?
Basically, I don’t fuck around much anymore. Too worried about what people think, or ratings, or getting fired. But in the process I play like the number 4 defence-man….you need him in the playoffs, but nobody’s buying his jersey.
04) Start a business
Not that I need MORE work…but there have been thoughts bouncing around my brain since I met Coral. We’ve brainstormed about it for what? 6 years? We always say, “we should do it!” Maybe we should?
***
OK, I got one more song for you on January 1st and it too is not new…but new to me and fitting with these here times….
I’ve told you before about Sweden sister-act First Aid Kit. The Baauer remix of their song “Winter Is All Over You” came out at this time last year…but for whatever reason it was charting on Hype Machine (I have no idea how their algorithms works yet). I hit play the other day and really enjoyed the sounds coming out of my shitty computer speakers. Sounding even better at home through the headphones and also sounded good matched with Boy.
I got tomorrow off at the radio factory so I am going to spend the day returning some mis-fitted Christmas gifts, meet wedding couples and go ice skating!
The Morning After 