Swimming pools.
Hmmmm…. OK Calgary, Alberta…I listen to Roaming Storms. Trolling the intertron for information on The Dudes… I came across an article in the Calgary newspaper talking about a CD release party involving another project featuring Dan Vacon.
Roaming Storms create a very DIY, raw sounding, rock & roll. Some of the songs sound almost classic punk-ish. My faveourite song is one that has that punk aesthetic.
Go with yourself.
Posted in music | Tagged Roaming Storms, The Dudes | 2 Comments »
Things I’m excited for:
01) JAPANDROIDS, December 22nd, Rickshaw Theatre
02) Everything else….
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Japandroids are about to return to Beautiful British Columbia after a solid year of touring. This last leg home is a series of sold out shows that culminates in Vancouver just before Christmas.
Spin Magazine recently called Celebration Rock the 3rd best album of the year and crowned the duo, “Band of the Year.”
The next single that will hopefully grab the attention of modern rockers is going to be side one, track one, “The Night of Wine and Roses.”
If you’re hitting the show on the 22nd… save me a high five.
Go with yourself.
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If you’re in a band from Vancouver Island and you don’t have trees on the album cover, you’re doing it wrong.
Towers and Trees make a sound that fans of The Lumineers or The Archers might be able to get behind. Adrian Chalifour is the principle of the project. He brought together a collection of some his favourite Victorian musicians for a pretty, fun, well produced, DIY style EP called Broken Record.
A couple songs that caught my ear are:
Your chance to see Towers and Trees will be on a Wednesday, Decembver 12th at…some venue I’ve never heard of…sounds sketchy. Hit the Facebook page for details. They are collecting food for the Food Bank, so bring some grub to give.
Go with yourself.
Posted in Capital Rock City, music | Tagged The Archers, The Lumineers, Towers and Trees | Leave a Comment »
Tag this one as Canadian Chill Folk or West Coast Chill Roots…. solo ep from Jon Middleton (Jon & Roy). Jon’s solo stuff is very pretty and light. If you took the foot off the gas even further from a typical Jon & Roy song you’d get a pretty good understanding of the ep called … I think its just called EP.
The music is very calm, relaxing and meditative. If you live in the Rainy Forest Kingdom, or maybe just feel like sometimes you’d like to transport yourself to the world of storms, waves and trees, this is the record to do it.
I like a lot of songs on the EP from this Victorian singer-guitarist…but I like Jon best when he’s singing about nature, reflection, and reconciling that with modern urban living.
The Jon & Roy Holiday special is coming… December 14th at the Alix Goolden.
Yay! Post 1,000! Thank you for reading.
Go with yourself.
Posted in Capital Rock City, music | Tagged Jon & Roy, Jon and Roy, Jon Middleton | Leave a Comment »
For fans of melodic metal or post-metal…one blog called it melodic death metal. Check out Italy’s geographically named Australasia. My friend Dan says, “sounds like a heavier Explosions in the Sky.” I am hearing that, hearing some Isis and some This Will Destroy You. Those big, epic, dense sounds. Its heavy, but also atmospheric. They also include some synths, electronic beats, and you’re never far from a sample. The ep Sin4TR4 is generally very good. My main critique is that the songs are pretty short for the style of rock. Maybe I’m just conditioned to enjoy this type of music as a 7 minute jam instead of 3? That said, my favourite song was one of their longer cuts, “Spine.”
From the band’s bio:
Go with yourself.
Posted in music | Tagged Australasia | 1 Comment »
I got an email today from Aric sending my attention to his new project Camera2. He told me some story about visiting Victoria as a kid many moons ago (thank you for visiting). The Brooklyn band features an assortment of veterans from other groups. The bio reads:
Brooklyn foursome Camera2 is made up of producer-songwriter-vocalist – Andy Chase (Tahiti 80/Juliana Hatfield/Smashing Pumpkins), guitarist – Michael Jurin (Stellastarr*), bassist – Aric Gillis (Teenage Kick) and drummer – Mike Williams (Teddybears). The band came together in mid-2012 and soon after completed an album Andy wrote and produced in his home studio with co-production by Blondfire’s Bruce Driscoll. Camera2 is a decidedly new direction and a departure from the sounds of the previous projects for all the members who have now stepped into a harder hitting, darker, upbeat and more electronically driven indie-universe.
Resume checks out…. lets have a listen to the first feature song, “Just About Made It.”
Go with youself.
Posted in music | Tagged Blondfire, Camera2, Juliana Hatfield, Smashing Pumpkins, Stellastarr, Tahiti 80, Teddybears, Teenage Kick | Leave a Comment »
Ko hopped a plane from Toronto to Victoria to visit the Zone and play a sold out show at Darcy’s. He played a couple new songs including his single “My Life” from an up-coming record due out tentatively April 20th, 2013.
Go with yourself.
Posted in music, The Zone @ 91-3 | Tagged acoustic, Ko, Live, radio | Leave a Comment »
I meant to blog this remix last week. So good, but I am conflicted on the jam.
I love Nirvana and I love remixes. When I laid it down at Lucky Bar last week, people got grooving. BUT the song is about sexual violence. Just seems weird to play this dance song in a club where everyone is drunk and hooking up. Clearly I am an old man that thinks too much about this stuff as the remix is a monster jam and the dance floor went off when the song came on.
From the Ministry of Remixes of the songs from my youth. Check out this remix outta Portland by Stefan is Stefan.
Go with yourself.
Posted in music | Tagged Nirvana, remix, The Offspring | 2 Comments »
A band that named their ep after the motto of Coach Taylor? A band named after the inscription of Robin Hood’s sword? OK… you’ve hooked me, lets see what you got Lambs Become Lions.
We travel to the distant lands of St. Catharines, Ontario for a sound they describe as Joyful, Country Pop Rock. The band features some veterans Canadiana rock and roll including Alexisonfire drummer Jesse Ingelevics. Listening to the 6 song ep, I’m hearing the sound of a maturing band struggling with the day-to-day of living life as a modern adult in Canada. Songs about love, growing up, having dreams crash-up against the walls reality, and ultimately being comfortable or content with the hand dealt. Also they have a song called “Postcards” with maximum shoutouts to the Gaslight Anthem. If I were to a draw a parallel to another Canadian band with a very similar aesthetic, I think they sound like Acres of Lions (whoa Lions, so hawt right now).
Side one, track one is their single. “When I Open My Eyes” is a romantic song. I am getting a wedding first dance taste when I hear this cut.
That is kinda nice. Slow jam.
The next song is that “man, growing up is hard work” anthem. They made a music video for this song that features kids, and baseball hats. hey… I LOVE kids and baseball hats.
Dig it.
Go with yourself.
Posted in music | Tagged Acres of Lions, Alexisonfire, Lions Become Lambs, Robin Hood | Leave a Comment »
Hamilton fuzz rockers WTCHS are doing a lot in music that I am currently interested in (minus the taking vowels out of your band name…but that’s me getting nit-picky). Their own bandcamp page offers a good description of what you’ll hear.
Strange sounds upon strangewinds emerge from a newly born Steeltown oasis. The strangled snare of gnarled guitars harken upon the nethersteps of Haligonia, but it’s the hooded nihilism of WTCHS’ droning vocals that yield unlimited satisfaction. Hope comes in a multitude of flavour. Hand-stamped package complete with 6-minute tape-only drone-out. Grip sicc widdit.
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Lots of interesting stuff to take away. I think when you’re a rock band and use descriptions like, gnarled guitars and droning vocals…. right away, to me, you say… “we don’t care about being pop stars.” Then you put your record out on cassette… hand made. That says, “I like being a music nerd and I like this kind of work.”
This isn’t for everyone…but its for me. I’ll have to put this noise on my iPhone.
Thanks Alan Cross for the heads up! Good pick.
Go with yourself.
Posted in music | Tagged Alan Cross, WTCHS | Leave a Comment »
