It’s taken me a while to get into the new(est) Tegan & Sara album, but I think I might have finally gotten there. Their past albums were instantly catchy to me, whereas this one took a bit more effort to appreciate. I think that’s a good thing - it means that they’ve done something different, and are evolving.
My favourite song from their new album is the introspective breakup song called ‘Call it Off’. Watch this amazing performance of it on Letterman:
And, if you want it in audio format you can download it here:
I have been listening to such lovely new music lately, which I will tell you about in a sec. But first, during my random cruising of the net I stumbled upon the Daytrotter website, and was so happy to see Aimee Mann on the cover, and does she look good as a cartoon or what? Anyway, she performed a few excellent songs from her new album @#%&*! Smilers. If you haven’t heard this album yet you should really give it a listen. Here are a couple of songs from that performance:
To hear the rest of the songs she performed click here. And I’d like to give a shout out to Karen, Will, Stuart and Michael over at MHAM. I miss you guys!
As for that lovely new music I was talking about, if you haven’t heard these two albums you should really check them out:
Blitzen Trapper - Furr
This album has been pretty much the only thing I have been listening to for the past two days. I have known about Blitzen Trapper for a while now. I had the opportunity to see them play a little while back when I saw Fleet Foxes opening for them (yes Fleet Foxes was opening!), but I didn’t end up staying for their set. I am regretting that decision now that I have heard their amazing new album Furr. They actually remind of me a bit of Dr. Dog, with a more country feel to them. They even remind me of The Kinks at times or pre-Satanic Panic Of Montreal. In short, it isn’t something I’ve never heard before, but it’s just so catchy that I can’t help loving it. My top songs on the album are probably “Furr”, “Saturday Nite” and “Sleepy Time in the Western World”.This album, in my opinion, is their best work yet, and I dare you to listen to this album and not love it.
You may know her as one half of The Dresden Dolls. Or if you don’t know who the Dresden Dolls are you may not know who Amanda Palmer is at all. Well my friends, you have reason to be excited, because this Palmer character happens to be one hell of a musician. Who Killed Amanda Palmer, her first venture as a solo artist just may be my favourite of her works to date. This may have something to do with the fact that Ben Folds produced the album, and we all know what he can do when he collaborates. Anyway, this album is stellar. Songs like “Astronaut: A Short History of Nearly Nothing” and “Leeds United” really get me pumped. There are a couple of songs I could live without, but for the most part, this album rocks.
So be sure to check these two out. Something else you should be really excited for is the new Dears album. I have heard some things, and let’s just say you’re gonna like it.
I don’t know how I didn’t know about this, but let’s just say that I was blindsided when I came across it. There appears to be a live Bon Iver session, where he and his fellow bandmates are filmed wandering through the snowy streets of Montreal. They are performing the title track, from his debut album, ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’. The slushy streets, and the mountains of snow on the sidewalks are all too familiar. Anyone who is from Montreal, and likes Bon Iver, will love this performance.
Thanks to my flatmate Ben, for the tip. When asked to comment, Ben’s response was: ‘‘One question. Where is his tuque?”
We can all stop wondering who will win this year’s Polaris Music Prize, awarded to the top Canadian album of the year. It has been announced today that Dundas, Ontario native, Dan Snaith, known to most as Caribou, has won the 2008 Polaris Music Prize, and the 20,000 big ones that go along with it. Readers of newspapers all over Canada will now know the name of Caribou, and hopefully most will go out and buy his excellent, now award-winning album, Andorra. I have been a fan of Caribou for awhile, falling firstly in love with his The Milk of Human Kindness album, and then falling in love with the rest of his music, including his work under his first moniker, Manitoba. I was lucky enough to see him in concert a few years back, opening for the Super Furry Animals in Montreal, and was blown away by his performance. It comes as a little bit of surprise to me that he won, not because his album isn’t great, but because of how many good artists he was up against. Personally, I thought the award would go to Plants & Animals, whose debut album, Parc Avenue, has been on repeat for me for some time now. Deep down I wanted the award to go to Oh, My DarlingBasia Bulat, who I saw in concert last week in NYC, or Stars, who I also saw play in NYC last week. Both shows were amazing, and both of their albums were deserving of this Prize. But as we know, not everybody can win, and Andorra is a beautiful album, definately deserving of this prize. I hope this will bring Caribou all the fame he deserves. If you don’t already listen to Caribou, you should probably get on that.
This has been an interesting year for music. There were several highly anticipated records which were highly disappointing. And, there were some breakout artists who have paved the way for something different. One of the only breakout bands that comes to mind is MGMT, with their fabulous debut album, Oracular Spectacular. With a voice akin to the Mick Jagger, I would boldy state that this band is like a contemporary Rolling Stones. They’re on their way at least, time will tell…
Lately I cannot stop listening to their song ‘Kids’. I heard someone whistling the melody in the urinal stalls the other day, and I asked him, ‘Are you whistling ‘Kids’, by MGMT’? Yeah, he says… ‘what a tune’. Indeed. Apparently the Kooks can’t get enough of it either… They’ve attempted a cover of it on a live radio station. I’m not so sure about it, but you be the judge.
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One of our mandates is to spread the word about music that we like. This blog is a way for us to do that. Any mp3s which are posted here are for your sampling pleasure. If you like what you hear, then go buy the CD! If you are the owner of a sound file and would like it removed, then please let us know.
