Posts Tagged ‘Canada’

PONY – ” DIY “

Posted: February 8, 2017 in MUSIC
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Toronto four-piece Pony describe themselves as “the band that would play on a high school roof at the end of a ’90s teen movie,” delivering the same lighthearted, fun sound that could easily fit into film soundtracks of the era.

Pony just signed with the independent Toronto-based label Buzz Records, and while their catalogue only consists of a handful of songs, “DIY” is a promising showing of Ponys potential. Distorted guitars meet a mellowed beach vibe at the track’s beginning, before gaining power-pop momentum when the vocals come floating in.

Lead singer and guitarist Sam Bielanski delivers self-deprecating lyrics like, “nothing at all is all I really need” and the bright chorus “I do it to myself/ Just me and no one else.” According to Bielanski, the song acts as an open love letter to herself following a romantic blunder:

Once upon a time, I had a huge crush on a guy who did not come back. I was feeling bummed, insecure and super crummy. Through this minor heartbreak I realized that the only thing you can really do when someone lets you down or makes you feel bad about yourself is to take matters into your own hands and practice the art of ‘self-love’. D.I.Y. till you D.I.E.

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BRAIDS – ” Companion ” EP

Posted: December 31, 2016 in MUSIC
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There’s something new about Canadian band Braids. Since bandleader Raphaelle Standell-Preston shared her experiences with sexual abuse informed a song called “Miniskirt,” you can’t help but approach the Montreal group’s compositions with ears freshly sensitive to that courage.  More than ever, musicians like Braids and statements like their new EP Companion are what the country needs to keep hope.

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Listening to the project though, the futility of binding Braids to one event, niche, trauma, or sound becomes clear. The four songs were started during sessions for the band’s 2015 album Deep In The Iris. “At the time they felt separate to the songs that made up “Deep In The Iris,” the band wrote in an email, “strong in their own right, but left as unknowns to a larger compositional work.” Companion is not a collection of orphan tracks: all four songs lean into the same progressions in songcraft and unbridled energy the band discovered on Deep In The Iris.

Braids “Companion” EP
Out 05/20 on Arbutus Records / Flemish Eye

Here’s one case in which it is: the beautiful minimalist synth backdrop of Companion, over which Raphaelle Standell’s remarkable voice flutters between Elizabeth Fraser on Massive Attack’s Teardrop and Björk when she’s feeling an emotion really hard. Which is about the highest praise it’s possible to give a vocalist. If you don’t get chills, you must have killed before, and you probably will again.

Recorded at the same time as last year’s phenomenal Deep in the Iris, Braids’ Companion is its perfect, erm, companion piece. Here we have four songs that showcase the band’s perfect interplay between twitchy drums, deeply layered arrangements and Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s soaring whispy vocals.

PREOCCUPATIONS – ” Memory “

Posted: December 14, 2016 in MUSIC
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Born out of loss, fractured by controversy, Preoccupations has a track record that implies pure chaos. Which is why it’s rather curious that, despite the universe relentlessly pulling on their seams the way that it has, the Calgary post-punk quartet has somehow ended up with one of year’s most cohesive records. How, exactly? Well, for one thing, there are no traditional rock stars in the band. No big personalities fighting for space. On Preoccupations, every member of the group contributes equally throughout, and with a persistent modesty. So much so, in fact, that when Dan Boeckner shows up on “Memory”—an eleven-minute single (!)—he inadvertently betrays his fellow Canadians by stealing the show, if only for just a few verses. That standout moment ultimately serves the band, however, as it takes you out of your trance for long enough to be reminded that this music is still the work of people, after all—and not some goth supercomputer, like it sometimes sounds. This year, as the forces of nature continued to push against Preoccupations, Preoccupations continued to push back.

Releasing their debut self-titled album back in September, Preoccupations (fka Viet Cong) now share their Kevan Funk-directed video for the 11-minute-plus track ‘Memory’.

Watch Preoccupations’ Mike Wallace get trapped in the dystopian journey – while showing off his drumming skills
Preoccupations – “Memory” from ‘Preoccupations’ out September 16, 2016 on Jagjaguwar Records

WHITE LUNG – ” Below “

Posted: December 7, 2016 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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White Lung fans were caught off guard by Paradise. It wasn’t the same pissed-off punk band they remembered from 2014’s crushing Deep Fantasy. Instead, the band experimented with a few new tricks this time around, namely, third-person storytelling, a poppier sound, and some full-on singing from frontwoman Mish Barber-Way, as opposed to the angry snarls she’d become known for. While White Lung’s core DNA is still intact on Paradise, the record is a fun exploration of what they can do with it. And for a band testing ambitious new territories, they pulled off a surprisingly cohesive record that sees them pushing their limits with ease and confidence. It’s impossible to say where White Lung will go from here, and that’s the way they like it. The high-octane punk band from Vancouver brought its buzz-saw guitar sound and unwavering vocals to the CBC Music studios for a five-song session of Polaris-worthy material. You’d expect a band named White Lung to have some vocal chops — and indeed, singer Mish Way-Barber is a commanding performer.

The COURTNEYS – ” Mars Attack “

Posted: November 28, 2016 in MUSIC
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The Courtneys, 'II'

The Courtneys may hail from Vancouver, British Columbia, but they’re New Zealanders at heart. Lifelong admirers of the Flying Nun Stable of signees like the Clean and the Dead C, the trio specializes in the sunny power-pop endemic to the Down Under label, with a twist of garage punk thrown in for good measure. Following 2013’s self-titled debut, the Courtneys have signed to the storied label for their sophomore album, The Courtneys II, came out February. (They’re the first non-New Zealand act to ink to Flying Nun in its 35-year history.)

Three Vancouver women bashing out scruffy surf-guitar tunes, an album you can spin all day, with an almost automatic “press play, feel lifted” effect. Every song makes me think “right, I love this one” when it comes on. The inexplicably poignant “Mars Attacks,” despite the joke title, might be the first song ever to build on the elegiac nuance of the mid-period B-52s circa Whammy, while “Lost Boys” is a mash note to the ultimate “vampire teenage boyfriend.”

Our first glimpse of next year’s LP arrives in the form of a feedback-laden, nonstop sugar rush that lands somewhere between Courtney Barnett and Crowded House. There’s no comedown here — just a cavalcade of exuberant guitar highs and deliriously tangled vocal melodies. Take a listen below, and scroll down to check out a trailer for The Courtneys II, plus its album art and track list.

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PUP – ” Sleep In The Heat “

Posted: November 20, 2016 in MUSIC
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In 2014, actor Finn Wolfhard appeared in the music video for Canadian punk rockers Pup’s song “Guilt Trip,” playing a younger version of lead singer Stefan Babcock in a fictional depiction of the band’s origin. Since then, Wolfhard starred in a show called Stranger Things and has gained a couple of new fans. But Pup, have a new song out, and Wolfhard hasn’t forgotten where he came from.

“Sleep In The Heat,” off of the band’s adrenaline shot of a second album The Dream Is Over, is about the passing of a beloved pet, inspired by the death of Babcock’s chameleon Norman. The song is about the death of a pet and the video stars a dog, so be prepared to feel all the feelings. Babcock expressed his support for the younger versions of the band, saying, “Big shoutouts to the little Pup’s in this video, too—watching them bond and then say goodbye to that dog is one of the most heartwarming and heartbreaking things I can imagine. RIP all of our little friends. We miss you.”

KEN YATES – ” Roll Me Home “

Posted: November 15, 2016 in MUSIC
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The Ontario Toronto-via-London, singer songwriter released his sophomore album,“Huntsville”, last week and with it came the first single, “Roll me on Home.” The track, which features guest vocals by Amanda Rheaume, is a perfectly crafted folk song about love as Yates sings, “I’ll be your rock, if you roll me on home.” This kind of alt-country song works perfectly with the weather getting colder and the leaves starting to change. He reminds me at times of Jackson Browne.

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MONOMYTH – ” Re;lease Life Place To Go “

Posted: November 15, 2016 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Monomyth swap out their rhythm section, keep the psychedelic pop hooks and come up sporting their best paisley. The songwriting duo of Seamus Dalton and Josh Saltzer continue to split the vocal duties and their admiration of local heroes like Sloan, Superfriendz and Thrush Hermit while adding from Teenage Fanclub  harmonies and the erudite pop sensibilities of the Weather Prophets and The Go Betweens. This new track from Halifax’s Monomyth is told from a minimalist’s point of view, with each verse building on the common factor of “looking for a place to go.” its a beautiful mess of opposites, constantly swaying, waving and tumbling between intentionally harmonious guitar riffs. Monomyth gives you something to think about with every song the band writes, and with “Re:Lease Life (Place 2 Go),” it gives you a reason to sit down, and truly enjoy four minutes and 48 seconds. Look out for Monomyth’s new album, “Happy Pop Family”, out via Mint Records on November. 4th.

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“Happy Pop Family” is a wonderful tour de force and among one of the best pure pop records of the year. The cool and beautiful Palpitations features a pristine melody interrupted by grungy heart attack chords. “Aloha” with its airy Teenage Fanclub harmony that kicks off the record isn’t even the best song here. That honor goes to the infinitely catchy “Re:lease life (Place 2 Go)” which plays like a travel log and has an off the cuff feel to it that reminds me of the Go-Betweens’ . Listen to the Full Album here.

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KACY & CLAYTON – ” Strange Country “

Posted: November 6, 2016 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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It’s not often that album makes you feel like you’ve been transported to a different era, but Kacy & Clayton’s “Strange Country” achieves this effortlessly. As soon as the record begins to hum you’re in outlaw country: dry, red, and heading southwest. This feeling is perfectly encapsulated in songs like its title track as well as the adventurous “The Rio Grande” and “Over the River Charlie.” Hailing from rural Canada, Kacy & Clayton have created a hybrid of British and Appalachian folk. Throughout the record, Kacy’s voice swells with influence and is reminiscent of Joni Mitchell’s playful high register. This album deviates from many current alternative country records with its deeply complex guitar arrangements. “If You Ask How I’m Keeping” serves as a small departure from the time period and is beautiful in its subtlety. We feel the heartache that comes with a profound and melancholic realization when she sings: “everything I’m doing has already been done.” This record gives an escape from the harshness of the real world and brings you back to a time that’s almost imaginable

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ANDY SCHAUF – ” Quite Like You “

Posted: October 22, 2016 in MUSIC
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Andy Shauf (Credit: Geoff FitzGerald)

Canadian singer  songwriter Andy Shauf has had quite the year, his second album “The Party2 was released to massed critical acclaim, and a Polaris Prize nomination, and he’s spent most of the rest of it touring the world with a series of packed solo shows, and prestigious support slots. This week Andy Schauf has shared the video to The Party’s stand out moment, the lyrically sublime, “Quite Like You”.

Like much of the album  The Party, “Quite Like You2 is an acutely observed tale of the mundane dramas of suburban living. Andy narrates a tale of failed, drunken flirtation with his best friends oft-mistreated girlfriend. Musically it’s something of a departure for Schauf , building around an almost bossa-nova beat, and a prominent pulsing bass-line. A timely reminder of one of the year’s most intriguing albums, and the animated video is fantastic too.

The Party is out now via Anti-. Andy Shauf tours the UK in February,

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