Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Whitehorse_Bossman_SingleArt
Melissa McClelland and her husband Luke Doucet are Whitehorse.  Back in July when the Rob Ford crazytrain just began to rumble off the rails, they recorded a song called “Boss Man.”

Its amazing what time will do…now, as a Nation, we are in Full DERP and the Rob Ford tragic-comedy is all of the news, all of the time.

And so, we need this, more Rob Ford, but in song.

Luke Doucet talks about the song, “The chorus (na na na na na) is meant to evoke a thumbing of the nose. Whether it is the Mayor and his ‘Nation’ thumbing their noses to their Chardonnay-sipping urban detractors, or vice-versa, depends on your perspective. ‘Boss Man’ was initially conceived as a recording experiment. It is the first Whitehorse recording built with the tools we employ live; namely our looping device and our everything-including-the-kitchen-sink percussion rig. As such, we played all the instruments ourselves.

You can own your own digital piece of Ford Nation here.

Go with yourself.

Ciele
It’s Wednesday, time to track down a cover song for you. This time I did not have to travel far… across the Salish Sea to Vancouver for a song by Ciele.  I believe Ciele is originally from Victoria (or at least went to University here).

Today we’ll have a listen to her cover of Ellie Goulding’s “Burn.”  The song is a pretty breakdown of the chipmunk, glitchy original.

Ciele sings the track as a duet with Vancouver singer Chris Arruda.  We know Chris Arruda from the Vancouver/Ladysmith band The Lion The Bear The Fox.

Go with yourself.

catching Fire
The premiere of the second Hunger Games film Catching Fire is tonight at Silvercity Tillicum.  The film promises to be one those Hollywood Blockbusters that everyone is lining up to see.

The soundtrack for thefilm  is an interesting mix of pop and modern rock heavy weights.  Coldplay, Christina Aguilera, Ellie Goulding and Lorde sharing disc-space with The Lumineers, The National, Imagine Dragons and Patti Smith?  Sure.

Digital Spy said the best song on the soundtrack is Sia’s “Elastic Heart.” The song  features the sounds of Canadian R&B star The Weeknd.

Let’s have  a listen to a few of the contributions from Zone bands….

And here is that Lorde cover of Tears for Fears that some people love and some people pan.

Go with yourself.

young the giant
Young the Giant jump back in the fire in 2013 with a new single.  We remember Young the Giant from such radio hits as “My Body” and “Cough Syrup.”

The new record is called Mind Over Matter and comes out on January 21st.  The tour (with my homeboy Vance Joy!) rolls into Vancouver for a pair of shows at The Commodore on April 2nd and 3rd.

Let us enjoy the new single “It’s About Time.”

Go with yourself.

Painted-Palms-Forever-450x450
Painted Palms are cousins originally from Louisiana, now in San Francisco.  Their debut full-length will be out on Polyvinyl Records in January on the 14th.

The title track is called “Forever.”  The song marries electronic beats and production with a hazy vintage pop sound.  Two different co-workers popped their head into the music hut to say, “what is this?  it sounds like The Beatles.”

I like what Noisey said about the song; “It’s a brain-warpingly awesome cut of tripped-out pop which, with its lightly reverbed harmonies, tips its hat to “Lucy in The Sky with Diamonds”era Beatles, while managing to sound fresh rather than stultifyingly retro.”

Complete the vintage throwback circle and pre-order on cassette!

Go with yourself.

lets-be-still
I’ve caught myself a few times now…. picking up The Head and The Heart‘s new record Let’s Be Still and almost buying it…but then not.  I think hearing the new single “Another Story” I’m ready to plunk down the cash.  This would be a perfect album to throw on the turntable over the rainy season here in Victoria.

The song is beautiful, the subject matter is chilling.  The song does blast forth with a positive lift at the end.

I’ve had the song on repeat while pluggin’ away at my music programming.

I did let the player play during a moment of concentration on my work and a song pulled me back to the set.

Have a listen to “Josh McBride.”

Go with yourself.

bad suns
An email today from Vagrant Records asked me to check out their new band, Bad Suns.  Vagrant says it will appeal to fans of Imagine Dragons, The 1975, Grouplove… that sorta modern rock.  Sure.  I also hear that classic Vagrant sound I remember from the 2000s.

Good thing they post the lyrics on their soundcloud, I was like, “huh, why is this dude singing about wearing a vest?”

Its catchy for sure… and he is saying “how much do I invest.”  I get it.

Here is the press release from Vagrant.

And here is a blog giving the LA band BIG UPs back in October…and when they blow up and become the “next Imagine Dragons” we can all be like… pshhhhh, I was into them back in October.

AND here is a blog that says the Phoenix SUNS are not that BAD.

Go with yourself.

lannyI got a nice email today from a dude that used run a record label called “Morning After Records.”  neat.  He is currently working with Denver, Colorado band, In The Whale.

The band is getting ready to release their 7-inch record Eric later this month.

They also recently recorded a cover of the Violent Femmes “Add It Up” to celebrate the 30th anniversary of that original Violent Femmes record.  Since it’s still a Wednesday Cover Song Freakout! Let’s jam one more!

Gosh dang, I loves me some Violent Femmes.

Go with yourself.

trans
Against Me! will release their new record, Transgender Dysphoria Blues in January.  The first single is the bluntly titled “FuckMyLife666.”  What do you think?

Rolling Stone offers some insight.

Go with yourself.

fossil collective
It’s a Wednesday Cover Song Freakout!

And it begins… in Leeds, UK and the folk duo Fossil Collective.

Their bio is awesome, they basically say that they sound like Bon Iver who in turn actually sounds like them. I think…. the point is… their short bio quickly tells you what to expect. Soft, lush, harmonic, beautiful, melodic.

About a week ago they posted their spin on the Flaming Lips “Do You Realize?” Gorgeous.

And now we take a jet plane to Denver, Colorado.  The band is called The Lumineers.  We know and love them from such Much Mega Hits as “Ho Hey!” and “Stubborn Love.”  When they reissued their album in August, they included 5 bonus songs.  Their cover of the Talking Heads “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)” is one of them.

Both of these songs are beautiful covers of great originals.

Go with yourself.