NEWS BITES : June 4, 2010

FREE STUFF
Audio Blood does North by North East Festival! Get a FREE MIXTAPE including artists such as Dinosaur Bones and Leif Vollebekk.

On top of that, Audio Blood is celebrating NxNE by throwing a free, invite-only party at the top of the CN Tower with The Balconies (one of my favourite finds this year), Hollerado and The Meligrove Band playing. Go to their website to win tickets!


NEW MUSIC
Arcade Fire has The Suburbs, due August 3rd, up for pre-order. All orders, whether digital, CD or vinyl,  come with instant downloads of the two already released singles "The Suburbs" and "Month of May."

Mother Mother is in studio finishing their upcoming album following the huge success of their sophomore album O My Heart. It's due out in early 2011. In related news, they suddenly became a lot more prolific (and friendly-sounding) on Twitter.

Sam Roberts is in studio as well with their upcoming fourth studio release following Love at the End of the World. Unfortunately, some personality conflicts in studio.

St. John's The Mountains & The Trees, otherwise known as Jon Janes, will release his first full-length I Made This For You on August 10 after critical praise for his EP Hop, Skip & A Jump.

Pre-order Stars' upcoming release The Give Ghosts on iTunes in deluxe and you will also get The Séance EP, which includes tracks remixed by the Album Leaf, Montag and Of Montreal - as well as other bonus singles.

REVIEWS

Rah Rah's new album Breaking Hearts is thoroughly enjoyable and all-around stronger than their first release. Their indie pop polish, combined with their tendency of using pop rocks and confetti cannons in their live shows, don't fully conceal their old souls and turns of cynicism. The elaborate album artwork involves some unfortunate passengers falling off the side of a boat and being torn apart by sharks. hmm.

Shad's newest release TSOL sees him solidifying his formidable position in the Canadian hip-hop scene, which involved selling out his (adopted) hometown show in Vancouver last night at the Biltmore Cabaret. The quick rhymes and clever word play, not to mention profound lyrics which touch on everything from politics to the origins of his name, would satisfy the most elitist of English majors. I see it on the Polaris short list.

Jamie Lidell, UK-based soul/funkster loads latest release Compass with grimy, experimental explorations of how technology expresses, however inadequately, sexuality and desire. It leaves you hot and bothered and a bit agitated, kind of like waking up with your lover on a stuffy summer day. This latest effort is joined by friends such as Feist, Beck, Gonzales and members of Grizzly Bear and Wilco. One of my favourite tracks off the album, "I Wanna Be Your Telephone," is below.


I Wanna Be Your Telephone from Jamie Lidell on Vimeo.

TOUR DATES
Two Hours Traffic from P.E.I. have released 2009's Territories internationally, more specifically in Australia and in the U.S. They will be touring Oz with Dead Letter Chorus.

Said the Whale announces all-ages tour dates on top of their Malahat Revue tour dates with Hannah Georgas, Jeremy Fisher and Aidan Knight.

MISC.

Voting is open in NxEW's 2nd Annual Shadow Polaris Prize.

Contribute to the newly established Canadian Music Wiki, brainchild of Amanda Ash working with CBC Radio 3 and the UBC School of Journalism.

Matt Mays, Sam Roberts go surfing

As the summer's coming to an end, in many parts of the country seemingly before it even started, here's a video full of that feel-good warmth to cheer you up. Complete with surfing, rock and roll, buddy jokes... and Sam Roberts in a wetsuit.

The video wraps up with Matt Mays & el Torpedo's Terminal Romance, both in the background of the surfing footage, as well as live concert footage before el Torpedo disbanded.

Enjoy!



Sam Roberts' tour dates:
Sept. 18 Albany, NY @ Northern Lights
Sept. 21 Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse Music Hall
Sept. 22 Portland, ME @ Port City Music Hall
Sept. 24 New York, NY @ Gramercy Theater
Oct. 3 Austin, TX @ Zilker Park (Austin City Limits Music Festival)

and it appears that Matt Mays may have a new album coming up in the fall of 2009, if his website is any indication...

Tune(s) of the day, et al.

Two songs for the Tune(s) of the Day for Aug. 23, both by female Canadian artists.

1. I Will Follow You Into The Dark by Amy Millan, a cover of Death Cab For Cutie. It will appear on her upcoming album Masters of the Burial, due to drop September 8th.

If you like what you hear, she's coming to the Biltmore Cabaret on October 24th.

The song is a beautiful little love ditty, and Millan's take on it is light and airy. Download the track for free below.

Amy Millan - I Will Follow You Into The Dark
Lyrics

Love of mine some day you will die
But I'll be close behind
I'll follow you into the dark

No blinding light or tunnels to gates of white
Just our hands clasped so tight
Waiting for the hint of a spark
If Heaven and Hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs

If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark

(FYI: them Catholic nuns need some re-education.)


2. Misstress Barbara (ft. Sam Roberts) - I'm Running, from her debut album I'm No Human.

What happens when you throw one of Canada's best electronica DJ with one of its best rock front men? You get this song, of course!

The video's pretty trippy actually. And what do you know, it's filled with... running.




Lyrics

I'm running from the past and from all my mistakes
I'm running and im sorry if I cant stay in one place
There's no where I can go that can stop me from running
And I'm running, I'm running to you

----------
The Peak 100.5FM in Vancouver has launched a project called The Peak Performance Project, meant to prepare and launch local bands into the limelight. The winner will be awarded $150,000 to assist the artist's business plan. That, is a decent chunk of change.

Local favourites in the top 20, who are currently preparing for an extensive music biz boot camp next week, include Adaline and Bend Sinister.

Check out the Vancouver Sun's thorough piece about the project here.

Since Twitter is down

Twitter-like music updates:

Not the greatest shots from @samrobertsband, @mothermother & @arkellsmusic concert @ Deer Lake, but heck of a concert :) http://bit.ly/k0wMO

Check out my phone interview with @GrantLCBCR3 on @CBCRadio3 about the above concert

Just got 25 free songs off eMusic (just cancel plan after trial). Including Peter Elkas' Poor Young Things. Not all of us have record player.

Vancouverites: anyone else going to Basia Bulat and/or Final Fantasy shows in September? Almost back to back (to school special).

Don't forget to sign up for @CBCRadio3's email newsletters! Free mp3 from @saidthewhale this week.

Check out the latest Green Brief about the situation in Iran. Greatest shame about #twitterfail is the lack of communication.

Just pre-ordered @danmanganmusic's Nice, Nice, Very Nice and you should too if you like talented husky-voiced singer-songwriters!

RT wowow @Sojourners A Meditation on Christian Extremism: Blackwater and the Bonhoeffer 4 http://bit.ly/FDYTq #FF #Follow Friday

God is not only alive and well, but loves Canadian music

PLUS

PLUS

EQUALS

=D

Sam Roberts, Mother Mother and Arkells play Deer Lake Park on BC Day (Aug. 3). Mini implosion. Commence break dancing.

Tickets go on sale via LiveNation and Ticketmaster this Friday at 10:00 am for the general public.

This entry is all about Sam Roberts

Interview at NPR : in 2006
The Sam Roberts Sessions on World Cafe

What I learned from meeting him:
you can only objectify someone when you've some distance from them.

Like falling in love again for the first time

Do you believe in rock & roll?

Photo credit: Pete Nema Photography

NxEW & Other music news

North by East West
A geographically impossible blog for a geographically impossible country.

The subtitle says it all: Canadiana, music and a healthy dash of wit. I think I've found my avenue to attaining press passes to concerts... bwahahaha.

We're officially a month old as of this coming Monday (horn is tooted). And there's already 47 contributors and 196 entries (and growing!). We have readers from Japan (most hits), Canada (duh), the States, France, and wherever DE is (I think it's Germany), which is pretty neat.

A couple of things to note:
- The first podcast!
- Of those 196 blog entries, I've made 3. 2 of those have been around exam time, and 1 written at work. I know my priorities.
Hello World! : Reaching Across the musical expanse...
Sam Roberts: "Best Frontman In Music"
Private Metric Shows In Western Canada

To wrap it up, tomorrow's International Record Store Day! Go buy a CD or two... preferably two because university exam season is conveniently smack dab in the middle of everything fun. So buy one for me in spirit. (I recommend Joel Plaskett's Three for the millionth time.)

But seriously though, the Whistler Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival: Arkells, The Stills, Metric, Shad et al. FOR FREE. And a band called Run GMC which is pretty much the coolest band name ever although I have no clue what they sound like (yet) FOR FREE. CALLING MY NAME. UGH. I hate my life.

who am I kidding? I'm incredibly blessed :)
and Happy IRSD!

Juno weekend review (proper)

Thursday night:
Caught last song in Hey Rosetta!'s set. They sounded good, had a cellist and a violinist which sounded fantastic.

Friday: (aka. Rock night)
Worked at merch table at main tent, where the Beat showcase was happening. Overheard performances by Kay & Ace (sp?), Divine Brown and Elise Estrada. When I asked who the last person was I got a "omg, you loser" look from one of my co-volunteers. why should I know? all she did was plug Parasuco repeatedly over the course of an hour. Divine Brown has a great voice and sounded very polished, but nothing new. Like a Canadian attempted answer to Beyonce or something.
Snuck into the Fox Showcase (sold out) with a co-volunteer after our shift with our volunteer shirts on. Security guy recognized me and that made things extremely easy.. we felt like such rebels!
Sets--
Incura: winner of Fox's seeds competition. wasn't too much into their style. almost screamo. front man very acrobatically gyrating, very amusing. realized during this set that black skinny jeans = certification for rockers.
Arkells: PHENOMENAL. I broke my no-music-buying Lent rule for their CD... which is a downer. but they were so good. anthemic stadium rock. brought out Zaki Ibrahim and another female singer to sing backup for a couple of songs. Did a rendition of "Ain't too proud to beg" which had everyone singing along. No Champagne Socialist sounded so good live...
Daniel Wesley Band: a more offensive Jack Johnson. I can't believe people moshed to this. Alcohol is a strange substance.
The Trews: SO GOOD. They were visibly confident because they were good and they knew it. Wow, they brought down the tent. I was barely standing.

Saturday: (aka. folk/funk night)
Got up at 6-ish because I was presenting research at a psych conference at 8... gosh. Closest thing to a hangover I'll ever get. Mysterious bruises, groggy, half mute and deaf and head wobbly. Poster presentations went well though, I didn't fall over once! Although I did fall asleep in the talks so I just didnt go after a couple.
Got home, Tim and I went to Cheryl's, the three of us set off to have our musical adventures for that night.
Sets--
Matthew Barber: if I didn't love him, his set would've been only ok. Doolin's was really dingy. a new friend and i went up to the front. we were probably the only 2 in vancouver that knew his music. we were requesting songs and chatting with him haha. guitar + harmonica, charming and good with banter, forgot some of his own lyrics. met Alex, a fellow fan of CBC R3 which was awesome! Also talked with Grant Lawrence (CBCR3 host) and Jill Barber (Matt's also very talented sister). Got a picture with Mr. Barber.
Hey Ocean!: The always talented and fun Vancouver band. Party central! We were very glad to get into Media Club. Missed the first 2 songs of their set but they played for a good hour and 20 minutes or so. their music is catchier than herpes. you can't not dance, it's a physical impossibility. :)

Sunday:
So sleep deprived. Lost voice so couldn't sing at church haha. Kept hoping that the worship band would burst into Caribbean rhythms but alas, t'was not so.
Juno ceremony-- (aka. low point of my weekend)
seat filler. got into GM place after about an hour and 45 minutes. got actually seat filling about another hour after that. Gordon Campbell was right in front of me, as was the bassist from Hey Ocean!. I think they're quite acquainted with each other actually. curious. Gregor Robertson front right. 2 of the judges from so you think you can dance canada (the pretty black lady and the french dude) and Nico (one of the previous winners?) right behind me. Nickelback were about a section over to my right. pondered the likelihood of self getting hurt in a targeted air raid one section over to the right. all that having been said, the only person I wanted to talk to was the Hey Ocean bassist.
Highlights--
Sam Roberts Band: artist of the year, their performance of Them Kids, bassist wearing a poncho
The Stills: performance. unfortunately was blocked off to where i was sitting
Kathleen Edwards & Bryan Adams: KE on violin; did a nice duet where they looked into each others eyes instead of audience. very sizzling and beautiful
City & Colour w. Gord Downie: did Sleeping Sickness, sounded way more upbeat than studio version which is appreciated
Great Big Sea & Hawksley Workman & members of Eccodeck: wrapped up the show with a rollicking finish beyond the credits.
Lights: acceptance speech was good. she's a cutie-patooty. mentioned how it's fantastic to be recognized as a independent musician in a large institution. a small crack in the gloomy clouds, she was.
Lowlights--
Nickelback: DON'T NEED MORE AWARDS. NEED TALENT AND RESPECT FOR WOMEN. they beat Feist for fan favorite (what) and The Trews and Tokyo Police Club for group of the year (WHAT.) album of the year category had really awful nominees so it was no loss. honestly, I felt sick. the whole stadium was roaring. I have never felt so disillusioned about music, nor musically lonely in a sea of people.
Simple Plan: meh.
MCs: Russell Peters was "about as funny as a kick in the nuts," to quote another blogger. The gay guy from video on trial was about as funny as a violent karate session to the nuts then. I'm glad he wasn't in the broadcast.