Yah, that's a pic of SebastiAn kissing himself. The Ed Banger Records member is putting out his debut proper after six years of delighting us with remixes and EPs. "Embody" sounds evocative of other DJs on the label, most noticeably Justice, who also have a new record dropping this year. Damn it's a good year for electronica. Plus the video for "Embody" is fucking brilliant. Check it
I can safely say Toronto's own The Weeknd are my favourite new outfit since I heard Yuck. They're definitely the hottest buzz duo around right now thanks to unlimited support from Drake, who posted tracks from them on his OVO blog. Their style blends traditional r&b with electronica, heavy bass and lo-fi, and it sounds fucking sick, but more importantly, original. Their debut mixtape House Of Balloons dropped today, get it at their website. Check out highlight "Wicked Games" below and get hooked.
The Horseshoe Tavern got a big taste of Australia on the first night of Canadian Music Fest. Melbourne alt-country/rock band Wagons were intown to show us how music is done down-under.
Energetic front man Henry Wagons (wearing a tennis-style headband) was rocking out on his acoustic guitar, jumping, and making facial expressions as if he were performing to a much larger crowd in a much larger venue. A true showman, he leaped off stage, grasping a stage monitor and wincing as he bellowed into the mic. Naturally, the next step was to grab a couple bottles of beer that were standing nearby and to empty the contents into his mouth and onto his beard. Bravo, Henry. You put on quite a show.
Not only was it an entertaining spectacle, but the tunes themselves, with their country rhythms and alt-rock feel would turn an I-like-anything-but-country music fan into a Wagons fan.
Follow the band on Twitter or listen to their sweet country songs here.
Also, Damian (Fucked Up) of MuchMusic's The Wedge interviewed the band moments before they performed. You can watch the video here.
Damian Abraham (MuchMusic) and Henry Wagons, CMW 2011
Violent Kin, the four piece rock band from Saskatoon, took to the stage and immediately put on large headphones. As suggested by photographer Stephen McGill, this was surely an unfortunate forshadowing of bad music to come. If the band didn't want to hear themselves, why would we? Well, turns out we were wrong. To put it simply, they were pretty damn good.
The headphones were actually connected to an HP laptop on stage which, I can only imagine, was feeding beats into their ears. This is Canada's answer to Depeche Mode and The Cure. That is, if those legendary bands had the sugary voice of Maygen Kardash (she shares vocalist duties with brother SJ) and were a touch more electro-pop. The bands roots are evidently in the new wave genre.
You could tell that Canadian Music Fest had officially begun because of the rain. It's some sort of tradition, I suppose. One that Mother Nature seems unwilling to break away from. But unless you were hopping from venue to venue, you would have been nice and dry at The Rivoli last night. The brightly light stage (+1 point) and the friendly staff (+1 again) welcomed the crowd in from the rain. Slowly but surely, people started to trickle in to see Robyn Dell'Unto start the show. Robyn Dell'Unto Wearing a classy black dress with white polka dots, the lovely Robyn Dell'Unto opened with her latest single, Just A Bird. It was almost a little disappointing that she didn't bring her giant chicken costume, but it was her delicate voice that overshadowed her costume in the video and we're glad that she brought that with her. What is sure to impress anyone watching Dell'Unto perform is her ability to switch between various emotions, depending on the song. The upbeat Just A Bird will put a smile on your face, but the raw feeling in Ghost will catch you off guard.
The entire room burst out laughing several times as Dell'Unto's on-stage banter reached a hilarity of "Tegan and Sara"-esque proportions. At one point, she read from a napkin "things her mother wanted her to mention." Charlie Sheen was mentioned (#winning.) As was "our big sweaty fat mayor." Sometimes her voice would waiver (nerves?) which was super endearing. Her album is called I'm Here Every Night and if that were true of her performance at The Rivoli, we wouldn't mind.
And so it begins!! Last night Canadian Music Fest began, and I was very fortunate to see local heroes Whale Tooth deliver an impeccable performance at the Phoenix. Swarms of fans cheered as the band, fronted by Norm Maschke and Elise LeGrow, played brand new songs from their forthcoming record, providing a bit of a harder sound than the indie pop they're known for. In the words of a fellow supporter of the band, it was flawless. Check out one of their older tunes below:
Mother Mother came on at 11:30 and played a collection of tunes from their older records and a few from their latest, Eureka. It was rad.
Raekwon's latest, Shaolin vs Wu Tang, has arrived, and it's pretty much what you'd expect from the Wu mastermind. Tons of references to ninjas, straight grimy hip hop, and no r&b pop bullshit. "Molasses" is one of the highlights, and Ross particularly kills it on his verse. His voice has certainly evolved over the years, it shows.
Young Galaxy's third LP, Shapeshifting, finds the Montreal trio doing just that, taking a huge change in musical direction after handing the record to Swedish based outfit Studio's very own Dan Lissvik. Lissvik incorporates some disco, new wave and electronic influences giving the dream pop outfit a very satisfying sound, and what people are arguing - and I definitely agree - their best record to date. Also, animated videos are the shit.
This German's DJ has been in the game for a decade now, but he's decided to only release his debut album recently, under Modeselektor's Monkeytown Records. The following is a wonderful depiction of the crunchy electronic grooves located on Mosaik and the video is clever and bad ass all at once.
That Ghost's recent LP Songs Out Here sounds like a blend of Deerhunter and Grizzly Bear with a lo-fi tinge. It's awesome. One day older, I feel colder.
With their debut self-titled LP, Yuck has put out my favourite record of 2011 so far. With their blend of Dinosaur Jr. like college garage rock, they craft some beautiful fucken melodies, some heavily distorted, some are soaring ballads. "Sunday" is the latter.
This tune is evocative of why Darren Williams a.k.a. Star Slinger is becoming one of the more renown beatsmiths in the U.K. these days. Originally only sampling r&b and hip hop, his range of music has that he samples has become more diverse, but the result is still that glitchy, glittering electro/synth-pop/hip hop and it sounds awesome.
The Canadian indie folk pop trio have returned with the follow up to their very successful Hometowns. In Departing, they may be a bit more subtle, but still offer some lush harmonies and great instrumentalism, particularly from drummer Nils Edenloff. I had the pleasure of seeing them at Lee's Palace in December, but they'll be back in Toronto soon. Check out album highlight "Stamp"
Honestly, this is one of the sickest videos of the year so far. Think weird super villians, hipsters and togas. And the song is pretty dope as well. It's the instrumental album closer from Starfucker's sophomore outing, Reptilians, which comes out in a few days. It's pure electronic pop with a very Atari style feel. Check it:
South Carolinian DJ Hard Mix has been making moves since he put out a joint 7" with U.K. beat smith Star Slinger. He's now released his first album, Defaults, for free via his label, Dovecote Records, check out their website and download it! Check out first single "Now Her" below:
