Azealia Banks - "The Chills"

Rapping over Peter Bjorn and John? What?

Coeur de Pirate - "Adieu"

Coeur de Pirate is the stage name Béatrice Martin, a 22-year-old singer-songwriter from Quebec. Béatrice started playing piano at 3 years of age, and after a stint in a few bands, started her solo career in 2008. She sings primarily in French, but recently started a side-project with Jay Malinowski of Bedouin Soundclash called Armistice who released an E.P. earlier this year, and the great tune "Mission Bells". I'm secretly hoping she's my distant cousin (my grandmother's maiden name was Martin).

She's just released her second solo album entitled "Blonde". This is the lead single. A fun little revenge number called "Adieu".

The Tallest Man on Earth - "Troubles Will Be Gone"

My listening relationship with The Tallest Man On Earth has been one of slow and apprehensive acceptance. At first I thought he was a Bob Dylan one-off. Now I'm ready to give him credit where credit is due. His raw voice and simple melodies have warn on me. And born in Darlana, Sweden in 1983, and being a fan of Swede artists/bands like Jens Lekman and Peter Bjorn and John ... well ... come on, right!?

Anyway, song alone, and lyrics alone, this song is definitely worth listening to this December, either in front of a warm fire in the living room (with a glass of wine), or who knows where.

Enjoy.

 

Major Lazer

Here's a little Saturday morning fun for ya.

Hold the Line:


A collaboration between producer DJs Switch and Diplo, who met while working with M.I.A. Formed around the concept of a soldier who had his arm replaced with a laser gun, this project was a reggae/dancehall record, produced in Jamaica at Bob Marley's Tuff Gong Studios. Initially, the Jamaican dudes were like "who dem white guys" (Ras Trent?) but since the huge release of their album "Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do", they have become in demand producers in Jamaica too.

They are my 6-year-old son's favorite band. And is favorite tune is "Mary Jane":



I wonder at what point he'll go "Ohhhh".

The video for "Pon De Floor" is not like anything I've seen before. It was directed by Eric Warenheim of Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job, who if you're not familiar with them are of the 'so bad it's good' school of comedy. It's a mind-blowing video. Anyways, thinking I was a cool uncle I showed it to my then 13-year-old nephew, who watched with mouth agape. I realized about half-way through with the dry hump dancing that I had made a judgement error. Hopefully he was not permanently scarred:

Pon de Floor

Major Lazer kind of have a thing for really bizarre videos. This next track is probably the most mainstream club track on the album, but the video goes in a very unsexy and bizarre direction, leaving me wondering WTF?

Keep it Goin' Louder ft. Nina Sky, Ricky Blaze:


Switch and Diplo are DJs with a love for Jamaican music. In July 2009, they each hosted an hour of BBC Radio 1's Essential Mix, which is a great reggae mix.

Major Lazer [Switch & Diplo] - Essential Mix 25-07-2009 by A Ketch

I have a deep and abiding love for reggae music ever since Summer Love of 2006, where my pals and I wandered out to the farthest speaker stack out in the middle of a field, and danced to reggae music until the sun came up. Great memories!

Glass Candy - "Warm in the Winter"

Back when Glass Candy got started in 1996, I was just falling in love with house, trip-hop, and disco-like dance-techno. A lot has happened since 1996, I've listened to a lot of music, and I have never ever stumbled upon this Portland-based band. They're still creating music and touring and now refer to themselves as a full fledged dance band. Man I love commitment like this!

The Like - "He's Not A Boy"

Formed in Los Angeles at the tender age of 15 by Elizabeth "Z" Berg (vocals/guitar), Charlotte Froom (bass/vocals) and Tennessee Thomas (drums) this mod squad girl group are each the daughters of veteran record execs and producers. But don't hold that against them...they rock! They released 3 E.P.s and two full length albums before going on 'indefinite hiatus' earlier this year. This is from their last album "Release Me", released in 2010.

Summer Camp - "Better off Without You"

Summer Camp are the UK based duo featured on Mixtape 10 with their mindwarped song of obsession "I Want You". Their debut was just released titled "Welcome to Condale" on Moshi Moshi Records. Formed in 2009 by multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Warmsley and vocalist Elizabeth Sankey, this group is really obsessed with California and 80's teen movies, and are dedicated to their musical and artistic vision of living like it's 1984. For this album they 'created' the fictional town of Condale, right down to zines (see the 'Condale' portion of the website). This video for the first single from the album "Better Off Without You" sticks pretty close to themes of heartbreak, obsession and the 80s.

John Lennon ~ "Oh Yoko"

I was listening to an indie rock mix and a band named "Oh No! Yoko" came on. The song was pretty good. Good enough to avoid my (unfortunately usual) instant delete, and good enough for me to check out the name of the band and note that the song's name was "Coryza." I also learned they're from Abbotsford, BC ... just down the highway from me.

Which led me to imagine the backstory to the bands name, and how it had to be influenced by one of my favorite John Lennon songs, "Oh Yoko."



And then I started thinking about Top 5's, and whether or not "Oh Yoko" would make my Lennon (including Beatles) Top 5. And I think it does. 

So here are my John Lennon Top 5.

5. Oh Yoko
4. Revolution
3. In My Life
2. All You Need Is Love
1. Imagine

 * "A Day in the Life" is excluded because it's a half-McCartney song.

Post yours in the comments below.

Georgie James - "Need Your Needs"

Sometimes great bands don't last. This band formed in 2005 when John Davis former drummer of Q and Not U, and Laura Burhenn discovered their mutual love of classic pop sounds. They wrote some songs and released an album 'Places' in 2007. Signed on Saddle Creek Records (the same record label as Bright Eyes, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Tokyo Police Club, and DFA1979 drummer Sebastain Grainger), they toured extensively for the album in North America and Europe, and then decided to focus on solo projects. This is a great song from one and only Georgie James record.



What might have been...

Yukon Blonde - "Fire"

Originally from Kelowna, these guys relocated to Vancouver in 2009. They've gotten a fair bit of play on CBC, which is where I heard them. Their self-titled debut was released last year, and they just released the Fire/Water EP in September. This track 'Fire' woke me up this morning on the radio, and has been cruising through my head all day.

Fire by Yukon Blonde by Nevado

Fierce Bad Rabbit – "Chasing After Things (We Don't Know The Names)"

And I'll add this one to append the masterful mix that MixTape10 is. 

These guys are on the up and up in my estimation ... I think we'll be hearing lots more about them in the coming months and years.

Arcade Fire - "Ocean of Noise"

I could easily do a blog just about Arcade Fire. The shades and complexities to their music, slightly discordant, but harmoniously so. The lyrics. The amazing sounds they engineer with different instruments and apparatus. The energy they generate when on stage.

At night, I've been dancing with my 1-year-old daughter to this song lately, and when it ends, I just hum the last two progressions over and over.

The lyrics:

I'm gonna work it out

Cause time wont work it out

I'm gonna work it out

Cause time wont work it our for you

I'm gonna work it on out

And the epic choral part that the song ends to.

The two really are like a song within itself.

But isn't that like so many Arcade Fire songs: two or three songs wrapped into one. Enjoy.

Sebastien Leger - "Ice Cream"

This is a limited edition track released on the Riviera label back in 2000. A dancefloor winner, sure to get my man E. out on the floor. This was a staple of my Thursday night House night at the Backroom Vodka Bar back in the day.

Sebastien Leger - Ice Cream by gintesten

The Barr Brothers - "Sarah Through the Wall"

I heard an interview with these guys on CBC, and it was an interesting story. Originally from Providence, Rhode Island, Brad and Andrew Barr grew up playing music together, and in 2004 formed the band 'The Slip' (whose excellent "Children of December" is one of my all-time favorite tunes and is featured on Mixtape 5). They moved to Montreal. In Brad's first apartment in his new city he shared a wall with a harpist, Sarah Page, whom he could hear practicing through the wall. He started aping some of the tunes that he could hear, and eventually mustered up the nerve to knock on her door and offer to play some accompaniment to her classically based stuff. A musical relationship was formed, which eventually lead to the formation of a new band "The Barr Brothers", with brothers Brad and Andrew Barr, Sarah, and drummer Andres Vial. They joked in the interview about the logistical difficulties of touring with a several hundred pound harp. Their debut self-titled album was released back in September.

It doesn't contain this one though. "Sarah Through the Wall". Enjoy.

THE BARR BROTHERS - Sarah Through The Wall from Mitch Fillion (southernsouls.ca) on Vimeo.

Holy Ghost! - Some Children

This is the lead track on Mixtape 10, by Holy Ghost! You might have recognized the voice of Michael McDonald, formerly of the Doobie Brothers, and the cheese-soul classic "What a fool believes". Mike McDonald has done lots of backing vocals for many tracks, leading to this awesome SCTV parody, where he dashes into the studio for his take. His voice caught me off guard the first time I heard it, but it really grew on me. Resurrecting the career of some questionable old timers is en vogue at the moment, but I think this was done with straight up respect, unlike let's say the guys of Lonely Island did with Michael Bolton.



Thanks for downloading Mixtape 10! Now back to regularly scheduled programming.

Mixtape 10

I'm excited to post this link to Mixtape 10 today. Here is my latest collection of songs that have tickled my eardrums over the last few months. It is available for download here.

These are tunes of love, lust, obsession, joy, and despair. Some of them have been featured on the blog over the last couple of months. This collection is curated for your enjoyment, to celebrate and hopefully get your dance on too. Let me know which ones get you going!

01 - Holy Ghost! - Some Children
02 - Two Door Cinema Club - Something Good Can Work (The Twelves Remix)
03 - Gauntlet Hair - Top Bunk
04 - David Myles - Simple Pleasures
05 - James Vincent McMorrow - Sparrow and the Wolf
06 - Casiokids - Fot I Hose
07 - The Kills - DNA
08 - Grand Ole Party - Look Out Young Son
09 - Dum Dum Girls - Jail La La
10 - Rafter - Fruit
11 - Eternal Summers - Pogo
12 - Colormusic - Yes!
13 - Brisa Roche - Stone Trade
14 - Lana Del Rey - Video Games
15 - Beach House - Norway
16 - Tanam Raga Aberi - Violin Improvisation
17 - CHLLNGR - Change
18 - Summer Camp - I Want You
19 - Washed Out - Echoes
20 - Flight Facilities - Crave You feat. Giselle

Thanks to Flickr contributor Mosh el Cabron for the use of his photo. Check out his work here:

Cassius

Cassius is a French music production duo, consisting of producers Philippe Cerboneschi and Hubert Blanc-Francart, better known as Philippe Zdar and Boom Bass. These guys started out in production behind MC Solaar on his second album "Nouveau Western" (1993), sampling Serge Gainsbourg and Bridget Bardot's classic 'Bonnie and Clyde'



In 1994 they named themselves "La Funk Mob" releasing singles on Source Records which was the French mirror to the early UK Ninja Tune sound:


"Motorbass Gets Phunked Up"

Their first album in 1995 was a collaboration with DJ Cam, and Bob Sinclar in his downtempo guise of 'The Mighty Bop'. They also did some awesome remix work...remember this dope track?


"Bomb the Bass - Bug Powder Dust (La Funk Mob Remix)"

In 1999, the duo began creating house music and changed their moniker to Cassius. They released '1999', a house album in the vein of Daft Punk and helping to define the French sound of the early '00's.


'1999'

'Feeling for You'

Their biggest hit came in 2007 with 'Toop Toop' a guitar rock crossover track featured on their album '15 Again':


Here's the thing that makes these guys particularly interesting. In 2009, Philippe Zdar, recorded and produced the fourth studio album for French rockers Phoenix, "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix". This album went gold in the US, Australia, and Canada, and won the Grammy for Best Alternative Album. Lead single '1901' was featured on Mixtape 7:



Cassius is still at it, releasing 'The Rawkers EP' in 2010. 'Brotherhood' came up on the shuffle the other day, inspiring this lengthy post about these guys, and reminding me of all my brothers with whom I used to shake it up back in the day! Pump it up!

Avett Brothers ~ "January Wedding"

So it's been said in my circles that Bob Dylan said (like 76 degrees of separation) that these guys are the best sound he's heard in over 20 years. I must admit, and to the shock of my friends, I'm too busy these days to even remember who the bands/artists of songs I put on to mixes are. Shameful, yes, but a reality of a busy life.

Anyway, these guys have been forcing their way onto my conscious radar – amidst the hundreds of indie / alt country bands I have going on my play list – and I was nothing but impressed.

It was also great to learn that they made the Grammies for something – I'm all for good sounds making mainstream, you will not find me supporting a "keep them hidden" attitude. If artists are good, they should be heard, and they should be rewarded.

So here's one of my favourite songs of the Avett Brothers, this video being shown to me by my brother-in-law Ben, who just recently ripped out his 10-year old stereo system (pic above) in hopes of a brighter stereo future.

Thundercat - "$200TB"

Thundercat's debut album "Golden Age of the Apocalypse" was released a couple of months back on Ninja Tune, and I'm just getting to it now. It is a spacey-jazzy-funky-mystical-futuristic ride. This album was produced by futuristic funk hip-hopper Flying Lotus. Thundercat is a bass player, and plays on the side with L.A. Punk/Thrash group Suicidal Tendencies (!?). It reminds me a bit of a 1998 Ninja Tune release by the Clifford Gilberto Rhythm Combination.


This tune is not on the album but was uploaded to Soundcloud by Flying Lotus. It is just so smooooth.

Thundercat - $200 TB prod.Flying Lotus ft. Austin Peralta by Flyinglotus
$200 Tera-bucks would probably take care of my retirement difficulties and allow me to bail out the EU.