Posted in April 2012 …

Apr 30 2012
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Best New Music

WHEN IT IS DONE RIGHT

SHEARWATER – YOU AS YOU WERE

There are moments when music is just done so right. When skill, forethought, and energy all blend perfectly. There are trailblazing bands who do this, and those that chase behind trying their best to recapture that monumental sound. For the past eight years, indie bands have tried to use the essential pieces of what made Arcade Fire’s Funeral successful and patchwork something equally as epic. As if backing vocal chants and a “big” sound was all that was needed to make a classic stadium anthem. What is forgotten is that a song needs the right amount of patience, gradual build, and sincerity to truly get buy-in from the listener. Shearwater’s You as You Were is a prime example of what magic can happen when all the pieces fall into place.

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Apr 30 2012
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Best New Music

JE ME SOUVIENS

PLANTS AND ANIMALS – LIGHTSHOW

Montreal has been a hotbed for great new bands over the past decade. Wolf Parade, Arcade Fire, The Dears, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, The Stills, Sam Roberts, Karkwa etc. It has been easy to forget about a few. Plants and Animals made their big mark in 2009 with the stellar track Bye Bye Bye, with its epic backing vocals and grandiose drums. I loved the song, and it got plenty of plays on the ol’ iPod. But ever since, I hadn’t thought about the band. The French Canadians (well two of them are originally from Halifax) have happily re-entered my headspace with the great pub and commercial-ready track, Lightshow. The hearty strummed acoustic guitar and impassioned singing from frontman Warren Spicer makes it sound like home-cooked comfort music. It feels distinctly northern, even distinctly eastern, with a Stills and Sam Roberts vibe. It’s another fine addition to the world of music from The Beautiful Province. This time I won’t forget Plants and Animals.

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Apr 29 2012
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Best New Music

HOMETOWN HEROES

ROYAL CANOE – HOLD ON TO THE METAL

I am torn when having to use the term “hometown”. In total I spent eleven years of my life in Winnipeg, five years in random other cities, and fourteen years in my current place of residence – Calgary. This may mean that I should really call Calgary my hometown, but most people have a desire to root for the underdog, and since Calgary is a booming economic hub, I tend to wear my Jets hat more often. Therefore, my heart warms a bit more when I hear a great Royal Canoe song versus, let’s say, a great new Tegan and Sara song. And with Hold on to the Metal, my heart is toasty. The Winnipeggers tap in to their inner-Animal Collective, giving their pop structure sensibilities a good dose of quirky. Like Caught in a Loop, it feels summery and fresh, but instead of feeling minimal in its approach, Hold on to the Metal truly feels like a six man band. What sounds like banjo, handclaps, background vocals, synthesizer, keyboard, guitar, drums and drum machine pile on top of each other to make a grand sound. It is a reminder that Winnipeg is truly one of the best places to celebrate the warmest season. It sure feels great to have hometown heroes.

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Apr 28 2012
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Best New Music

IT’S OUTLANDISH, KID

HIMANSHU – YOU HAVE TO RIDE THE WAVE 

I remember being dumbfounded by Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s outlandish raps. It wasn’t just that it was foul, or silly, or random, or even incoherent, it was the fact that ODB didn’t seem to give a single F. ODB (or as I prefer to call him, Big Baby Jesus) and his careless style won’t ever be duplicated, but if there was anyone I could relate him to it would be Himanshu. Himanshu, aka Heems, is one of the two MCs in Das Racist, and like ODB he has great skills that he doesn’t always feel inclined to use (check out Brand New Dance). Also, like Dirt McGirt, he uses humour to make light of the music. On You Have to Ride the Wave, Himanshu is combined with two of the foulest MCs on Earth, Danny Brown and Mr. Muthafuckin Exquire. The result is one of the dirtiest and rawest tracks I’ve heard in the rap world for a long while. This isn’t pop hip hop, and this isn’t back-in-the-day hip hop, this is messy, gritty hip hop that happily gives zero Fs.

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Apr 28 2012
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Best New Music

SEVEN WOLF SUN MOON SWAN FROG

MOONFACE – TEARY EYES AND BLOODY LIPS (WITH SIINAI)

Okay, wait. How many bands is Spencer Krug a part of now? There’s Wolf Parade, of course. And then this new band Moonface. That makes two. But there is also Sunset Rubdown, Swan Lake, Frog Eyes, and Fifths of Seven. His life is literally music. I guess it is no surprise, since this Penticton B.C. native moved all the way across the country to Montreal to study music at Concordia University and enter the thriving scene that began to grow (only a couple of years before Arcade Fire would unveil themselves). That passion for music has always translated into his songs (especially my favourite of his – I’ll Believe In Anything), and it comes across in his new track Teary Eyes and Bloody Lips. The music charges forward like a bullet train, riding a wave of cymbals, guitars, keyboard synths, and piano. I hope Krug is happy enough with the sound he’s created to stay with this band for a couple more albums.

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Apr 28 2012
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Hidden Gems

SYDNEYSIDERS TURNED BROOKLYNITES

HIGH HIGHS – HORSES

Sydneysiders turned Brooklynites High Highs never made it on my radar when the released the track Horses in 2011. That’s too bad for me because the song is excellent. It feels like the essence of Elliott Smith was blended into a Fleet Foxes song. Where Fleet Foxes always lacked the genuineness for me because of their inability to emote, Horses is able to fill that missing piece in with the affecting vocals and lyrics courtesy of Jack Milas. When those vocals bridge to a chorus made of just strummed high guitar strings, it makes for an actual high high.

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Apr 26 2012
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Best New Music

SONGS I SKIPPED

SANTIGOLD – DISPARATE YOUTH                               CLOUD NOTHINGS – NO SENTIMENT

I’m not always in the mood to hear a particular song. I must have been expecting something completely different when I first heard Disparate Youth a couple months ago, because I skipped over it after one listen. But after streaming Santigold’s new album Master of My Own Make-Believe, this song stood out as the clear winner (at least for now, I’ve only streamed the album once). And as much as I bitched about nobody making music like Nirvana anymore, it turns out I, like everyone else, had been too accustomed to fast-pace new-wave post-punk ADD-inspired instant satisfaction rock to truly appreciate a return to the In Utero style. Although I instantly fell in love with the amazing track Wasted Days, it took more time to warm up to the slower No Sentiment or No Future/No Past. I have taken my Ritalin, and now see how awesome they are. I have posted No Sentiment, and if you like it you should definitely check out No Future/No Past.


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Apr 25 2012
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Best New Music

ROCK SWAGGER

JACK WHITE – FREEDOM AT 21/BLUNDERBUSS/SIXTEEN SALTINES

My issue with White Stripes and Jack White in general has always been the same. His style has been moving more and more towards rehashes of vintage rock. Sure, it is executed with great skill and keen understanding. However, no matter the skill, it is still just a rehash. And so much of it sounds so impersonal and rehearsed that it most often falls short (this refers to you too, Black Keys). Luckily, that only represents about half of the White Stripes library. Songs like Seven Nation Army, As Ugly As I Seem, Fell In Love With A Girl, You’ve Got Her In Your Pocket, Blue Orchid, and Icky Thump brought enough creativity and/or sincerity to make them stand the test of time. Fortunately, Jack White’s first solo album Blunderbuss takes the right step towards personalizing his work. The attempt to revive soul and bluegrass sometimes comes across as tired, but for the most part the songs add something novel and revealing that make them enjoyable. It has great moments, like the great rolling drums in Freedom At 21, the stellar vocal work and strings on Blunderbuss, and the sheer energy of swagger in Sixteen Saltines.

Freedom At 21

Blunderbuss

Sixteen Saltines

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Apr 24 2012
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Best New Music

FIND YOUR POWER ANIMAL

ST. VINCENT – KROKODIL

I always related with the nameless narrator of Fight Club when he discovered his power animal was the penguin. In a fight I’m pretty sure I’d just say “slide” and slip away on my belly. But Annie Clark, with her whimsical Kindergarten teacher persona, must have a foaming Cujo buried inside her. On the new track Krokodil she breathes fire, rocketing through power chords and wailing through animalistic lyrics like “I need to bite”. Who’d ‘a thunk she had it in her? Definitely not me. Especially considering my introduction to St. Vincent was 2009′s Now Now, a song that could easily camouflage itself in Treehouse television. But Krokodile is the real deal, with guitars reminiscent of Queens of the Stone Age’s Sick Sick Sick, and vocals channeling Karen O at her most possessed. Even my penguin would jump in the mosh pit for this one.

Now Now

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Apr 22 2012
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Best New Music

I’M SMITTEN

HUNDRED WATERS – VISITOR/CAVERNS

Okay, I’m smitten. After just writing about the excellent Hundred Waters song Boreal, I had to check out their website to listen to the album (http://hundred-waters.com/). Two songs leapt out as contenders for best songs of 2012. Visitors starts off with a curious synth line, putting it somewhere with Bjork and The Knife’s more explorative sounds. It takes time before everything gels just right, but at about the two minute mark, you begin feeling like your floating, and vocal melodies start to charge forward. Then right at two minutes and forty seconds the song blossoms into a sonic kaleidoscope. More impressive is Caverns, as it starts soft as a Vespertine track, and the infectious backward loop gives it the perfect eerie feel. But just when you think it is just going to become another Mum clone, Sigur Ros-esque drums takes the track up a whole bunch of notches. The result is a stunning piece of electro catharsis.

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