You Say Party! We Say Die! - XXXX ing catchy

"...my heart needs a lap dance...your heart needs a romance...my heart needs a lap dance..."

Abbotsford-based You Say Party! We Say Die! has released quite the sparkling gem with their latest, XXXX. There was an immense amount of hype prior to and following their release, which includes being the X3 Artist of the Month for October, as well as the glowing reception of music bloggers such as Amanda Ash, and being featured prominently in CBC Radio 3's recordings of the just-passed Halifax Pop Explosion. Oh, and the fact that they've topped Canadian campus charts for 4 weeks in a row since XXXX's release.

And let me tell you, the hype is well-deserved. XXXX is an album you can at once chill and frantically dance to. The sound is expansive and it's easy to imagine tracks such as "Lonely's Lunch" driving audiences to a frenzy in stadium settings. "Make XXXX" has a wicked bass intro. "Glory" packs a satisfying oomph ("sex! (gasp) drugs! (pause) ... GLORY..."), and the opening track "There is XXXX (Within My Heart)" is one you can't help but sing along to, even upon the first listen. The current single, "Laura Palmer's Prom," dare I say, takes the best parts of '80s synth sound and makes it even better. The album, simply put, is excellent.

By now, you may be wondering what the heck XXXX stands for. Simply put, it stands for LOVE. But it goes further than that. XXXX is lead singer Becky Ninkovic's conceptualization of a hope and love that keeps her afloat. The unnameable force that inspires continually. And after repeated listens through the entire disc, XXXX might as well stand for the kind of magic within music that captures first-time listeners and sucks you in, because that's exactly what happened with me with this album.

(Last note, I absolutely love the above photo, and completely understand why Ninkovic was on the final ballot for the Sexiest Musician category for CBC Radio 3's Bucky Awards.)

You Say Party! We Say Die! - There is XXXX (Within My Heart)



Buy XXXX on Zunior.
Find You Say Party! We Say Die! on Myspace, Twitter, Facebook.

Royal Wood & Rose Cousins in Vancouver

for tickets, click here.

Joel Plaskett - Ireland, US show dates, Radio 2 SongQuest, Music Nova Scotia Awards

From email newsletter:

Joel in Ireland and the United States
November is the month for international Joel Plaskett Fans!  Joel will be hitting Massachusetts, New York and Ireland this month!  These are select shows and we recommend marking these dates down and getting out early.  They are not to be missed!!!! 

Thu, Nov. 12th The Middle East Cambridge, Massachusetts 

Fri, Nov. 13th Union Hall Performance, Bell House/Union Hall Brooklyn, New York 

Thu, Nov. 26th Whelan's Showcase Show-Joel Plaskett , Whelan's (Upstairs Venue) - Dublin

Fri, Nov. 27th The Set Theatre - Kilkenny -Joel Plaskett , The Set Theatre - Kilkenny Ireland

Sat, Nov. 28th The Opera House, Cork, Ireland-Joel Plaskett , The Opera House - Cork, Ireland

Sun, Nov. 29th The Roundy - Cork , Ireland-Joel Plaskett , The Roundy, Cork, Ireland

Congrats to Joel on the Great Canadian SongQuest!
We are delighted to announce that Joel Plaskett has been chosen as the Nova Scotia winner for CBC Radio 2s Great Canadian SongQuest. Joel will be writing about the beautiful Cabot Trail and on November 23rd you can tune in to CBC Radio 2 for the final result!  Congrats Joel!

Joel Plaskett wins Music Nova Scotia Awards!
Congratulations to Joel Plaskett who took home four Music Nova Scotia Awards over the weekend at the Molson Canadian Nova Scotia Music Week.  Joel’s hit album “Three” won Pop/Rock Artist/Group Recording, Album of the Year, Male Artist Recording and SOCAN Songwriter of the Year. Congrats Joel!

Joel Plaskett Emergency online:

http://www.joelplaskett.com

http://joelplaskett.fanbridge.com

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=joel+plaskett&m=text

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=joel+plaskett&search_type=

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Joel-Plaskett/8374317147
http://www.myspace.com/joelplaskett1

http://www.jpemergencyblog.blogspot.com/ 

Royal Wood & Rose Cousins Western Canadian Tour

Toronto-based singer-songwriter Royal Wood is currently on a cross-Canada tour and will touch down on the west coast mid-November. He is being supported by Rose Cousins, who's currently promoting her new record named The Send Off.

Royal Wood has been compared to the likes of Ron Sexsmith, the Beatles to Rufus Wainwright, and is hailed for his prowess as a multi-instrumentalist, vocal styling and catchy lyrics. In his previous albums, Wood had enlisted the help of fellow artists such as Hawksley Workman, In-Flight Safety and Valery Gore.

Rose Cousins, recently known for her vocals in Joel Plaskett's Polaris short-listed Three, is a well-established Atlantic Canadian singer-songwriter in her own right. With 5 albums under her belt, her warm and clear voice can also be found on albums of other Canadian artists like Jenn Grant, Old Man Leudecke, Matt Mays and Jill Barber.

If you're not completely convinced to go to the shows by these artists' accolades alone, take a listen to their respective albums streaming on their websites. Royal Wood here, and Rose Cousins here (player at bottom). You can also check out their Myspace:
Royal Wood
Rose Cousins

Here are the upcoming dates featuring both artists (links lead to Facebook events w/ ticket information):

Nov 17th, Media Club, Vancouver, BC
Nov 18th, Communitea Café, Canmore, AB
Nov 19th, Marquee, Calgary, AB
Nov 20th, Haven, Edmonton, AB
Nov 21st, Haven, Edmonton, AB
Nov 23rd, Lydia’s Loft, Saskatoon, SK
Nov 24th, The Exchange, Regina, SK
Nov 25th, The Park Theatre, Winnipeg, MB

The Swell Season-- or, hey! a non-Canadian band that's awesome.

The Swell Season, a.k.a. Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard (of Once fame) is coming to Vancouver on November 25 and playing at The Centre for Performing Arts. I haven't gotten my ticket yet because I'm a poor student, and because the music produced by this duo has an eerie and haunting emotional pull on me that's frankly a little frightening. However, after watching this set of acoustic performances via Spiegel Online, I think I might have to give in and fall hopelessly back in love with this pair.
[Update- one hour later: I am going. Yay]

See The Swell Season perform:
Low Rising
In These Arms
Feeling The Pull
Fantasy Man

Irglova (vocals, piano) and Hansard (vocals, guitar), for those of you who haven't seen the excellent, Academy Award-winning film Once, play the kind of acoustic folk ballads that will tug strongly at your heart strings with raw emotional honesty and beautiful melodies. Hansard's gruff of a voice more than occasionally crescendos to a divine falsetto, which is complemented by Irglova's breathy, endearing Czech lilt.


The Swell Season are currently touring to promote the release of their second album, named Strict Joy, which is almost oxymoronic. (I like it.) The album is available everywhere, and is streaming via their website.

Check them out on Myspace.
Follow The Swell Season, and Glen Hansard on Twitter!