The Great Escape

It’s Thursday, and quite a nice one at that. I made many, many grade nines do the chicken dance today, what could be better? A chance to embarrass kids who are already extremely insecure, count me in. Today was our grade nine gamerama, which I think is a stupid invention. Like I said, grade nines are already about as insecure as they come, they don’t need further embarassment, yet I found myself standing by my station making them do the chicken dance. Todays subject though, is quite past the insecure stage, and his music is pretty darn amazing.

In English class we’ve been watching the movie One Week. Anyone heard of it? It’s a fantastic indie Canadian film that follows this guy on an adventure after he’s been diagnosed with stage four cancer. Not only is it a great movie, but it also has a fantastic soundtrack. It’s mainly indie Canadian music, and some of my very favourite artists are featured. Joel Plaskett, Wintersleep, Emm Gryner, and the Great Lake Swimmers to name a few. But also a new discovery for me. Patrick Watson. The second I heard it I knew it was love. So the minute I got home I looked up the soundtrack and found the song. To my even greater surpise, the video is really awesome too! It’s pretty cute as well. Of all his songs I’m a real fan of The Great Escape, and Big Bird In A Small Cage, but there all pretty fantastic. Below is the video for The Great Escape, I’m really loving it lately. Enjoy.

I’m a real fan of the animation style used in videos like this, and the combination of it with his voice is really something else. It’s a really sweet idea too. I think it may actually be one of my favourite videos. It really reminds me The Low Anthems Charlie Darwin video, and that’s a good thing. I’ve had this song on repeat over and over since I got home. For now though goodnight until next time, and if I don’t talk to you again, have a fantastic thanksgiving.

P.S. Go out and watch One Week, it’s really worth it.

Be Good Or Be Gone

It’s raining, it’s pouring, I really wish I was snoring, but I’m not, instead I’m doing homework (that’s quite the song, huh?). It’s a rainy thursday, and that’s pretty great. And what’s better on rainy Thursdays than folky indie boys, lets just say not much. In fact any day their pretty darn awesome, but rainy days especially. And for the topic of today, well let’s just say the rain just seems to enhance his awesomeness even more, which you wouldn’t think possible. Any guesses? I haven’t given you very many hints, indie folk guy who sounds good on a rainy day, that’s pretty broad. Here’s a few more, he’s Irish and his first CD was called The End of History. That’s right, Fionn Regan.

My very favourite Irish singer-songwriter. But it’s pretty hard not to like him. He’s got everything right, interesting music, kinda’ quirky, good name, good albums, good hair (just wait, you’re in for quite a treat!). I’ve been a fan since his first CD The End of History came out in 2007. That winter I just played it over, and over, and over again. It’s so quiet and lovely and seems so perfect for the winter. I’m especially a fan of Be Good Or Be Gone, Put a Penny In The Slot (this is an especially fantasic song that I will never get sick of, it’s defiantly the anthem of winter 2008), Hey Rabbit, and well they’re all really awesome, just listen to the CD. But after his first CD I kind of wondered what happened to him. It wasn’t until this past winter that he released his second CD, The Shadow Of An Empire, which is very, very different. The End of History is very folky singer-songwriter, just him and a guitar, but The Shadow Of An Empire is much more upbeat. For starters, he has a band, but his songs really changed to, and the way he delivered them. The Shadow Of An Empire has a much more  alt-country, folk vibe which is tres, tres Bob Dylanesque and just a little Bright Eyes. I’m also a fan of the second CD, but it’s a much different vibe than his first. If you’re checking out songs though I’d go for Protection Racket, The Shadow Of An Empire, and Lord Help My Poor Soul.

Today though I’m going to show you the video for Be Good Or Be Gone, one of my very favourite Regan songs. I really love the video too, it’s a cool way to see the song showcased.

I love that he sings in all these different places, and I love how all of them sound just a little different. His hairs pretty darn awesome too. The whole thing is just really cool. Although I have to say, I don’t quite understand the birds at the end, that’s a little odd if you ask me.

P.S. check out the video for Put A Penny In The Slot to, it’s also quite awesome.

Once In A Lifetime

Okay, so it’s Thursday and shockingly enough I’m already done my homework. To celebrate that, I’m going to watch a Glee marathon. For all of you who do not watch Glee, what’s your problem? There are absolutely no reasons in the world why you haven’t been watching it, except you don’t like it, which once again poses the question, what’s your problem. But enough of my Glee rant. Let’s get down to the real nitty-gritty (my history teacher said this today, I thought it was a pretty awesome saying), the topic for the today. Todays post is in response to a comment. Someone asked if there was a Talking Heads, Once In A Lifetime video because that was one of the songs from the latest Random Playlist Monday. Well I guess I didn’t think there would be so I didn’t look it up. But guess what, there is a video for Once In A Lifetime and it really is something else. If you thought David Byrne was a weird guy, well lets just say this will certainly clear up all your questions.

I was going to make a whole Talking Heads post but than I realized, OMG, Talking Heads is just far too vast a topic for one tiny, insignificant little girl like me. I mean we all know they rock like no other and may have some of the greatest music. I’d say that clears it all up. So let’s get back to the video. Brace yourselves for some weird stuff, that’s all I’ll say.

So his awkward dance at 1:00 is probably my very favourite part although there are so many to pick from. And are those not the longest legs you’ve ever seen, he’s like a spider. I do find it weird that he’s the only band member present. I guess he is just that great. But for now I must go. I’m off to continue my Glee marathon. Have a good rest of your rainy Tuesday, and I’ll talk to you soon.

Girls Night Out

Okay, so today I thought we needed a little female power among all these boys. So today is all about 3 groups of women that to me really showcase Canadian music. All three were part of the gospel show, and all three were fantasic.

I’m sure you’ve heard of Basia Bulat, The Good Lovelies and Sarah Harmer, if not get on it (but finish the post first). These are women that have conquered the Canadian music scene and come out on top. They all have a bit of a folky vibe but with added flare, like soulful vocals or amazing harmonies not to mention fantastic lyrics. It’s kind of crazy to imagine a festival large enough to hold all of them but some how Hillside managed and I’m glad it did.

The first of these fantastic ladies I saw was Basia Bulat Saturday evening. And I’m afraid I didn’t catch a whole lot, but what I did was fantastic. When you see her live you realize, wow she actually has that voice, it’s not computer generated. Once you get over that shock, it’s just worship and awe the rest of the time. I was happy to catch Heart My Own, which she did a fantasic job of, of course. Check out her video here, for Snakes and Ladders and be even more blown away by those pipes, and she’s not to hard to look at either. I really the love the video with all the marching people. It’s pretty cool, wish I could have joined (in the bunny costume).

Next up was Sarah Harmer. Lovely Sarah Harmer. The guy standing behind me kept going on about how he would marry her in a minute and how sexy she was. Well I agree, but keep it to yourself. Although she really does have quite the stage presence. She was in a really bouncy mood that night was well so she made all her songs upbeat, and to my great joy, did a lot of her old stuff, including Basement Apartment and Almost. She also did the new song of hers I love called Captive. And than the next day she was the host for the gospel workshop. She did a fantasic job of that. It’s always a make or break situation and this year she deffientley made it. Congratualtions Sarah Harmer. For now though check out her video for Captive here. I’m really liking it right now, it has a pretty cool feel to it and Sarah Harmer is always fun to see.

And last on the agenda is The Good Lovelies, who really are lovely. I only saw them at the gospel workshop but that was enough to convince me. Due to boy cousins left alone un-attended with a fire I had to return early and missed The Good Lovelies show the night earlier. I was bummed that I missed out, but the gospel workshop really did make up for it. They kicked off the whole show with a rendition of Down In The River To Pray, which happened (and happens) to be one of my favourite songs. When I was little and it came on I used to make anyone in the room be quiet so I could hear it clearly. Well luckily for me everyone in the tent must have been physcic because everyone was silent. They did a fantastic job and I knew from then on in that I was going to like The Good Lovelies. They never disappointed. Every song was great and their harmonies were beautiful. They backed a song Horse Feathers did that gave everyone goose bumps including me (and I don’t get them very easily). To kick off your intro to The Good Lovelies here’s their song Lie Down.

It’s a pretty happy little video, deffintley defined by the word cute. But for now I must go “hunnker down, dear” enjoy the rest of your night and see you tomorrow for more Hillside post-Hillside music.

Dan the Man

Danny Michel, yes Danny Michel, a complete underdog of the Canadian Indie music scene and for no reason. Why he hasn’t exploded I’ll never know, but maybe that’s good (for people like me anyways) because than he’ll continue to play at little places like The Company House and put on really, really awesome shows. I’ve seen Danny at least 3 times but mainly at places like Hillside, seeing him in such close quarters really opened my eyes up to a whole new Danny Michel. Maybe it was the cool, clear Halifax air, the fog, or rain but something was really working for him that day.

I’ve been a fan of Danny’s since I was little mainly because my mom was really into his music, but there was always a Danny CD playing. My two favourite CD’s for a long time have been Fibsville, and Tales from the Invisible Man, but Valhalla has slowly scooted into top running. His new CD is rising pretty high up onto my list though. It has a really great feel that reminds a lot of his older stuff, but with a bit of a Carribean twist. I’ve had the first few songs on the CD, Maybe You Can Find It In Your Heart, Wish Willy, Who’s Gonna Miss You?, and This Feeling on repeat for a very long time. They’re all really good though. His vocals are really interesting on this CD, especially in Maybe You Can Find It In Your Heart. I don’t think there’s anyway to describe how much I love his new CD though. I don’t think I’ve listened to anything else for the past 2 days. He sang a few from his new CD when I saw him live and they sounded pretty good, but listening to the whole CD as a collection makes them sound even better. Especially Wish Willy, I can feel deep down that’s going to be a hit, demolishing any other #1 top song records EVER (funny picture of people in their cars singing along to Wish Willy just like any other hit, say Hey, Soul Sister by Train). It’s actually a very catchy song, I’ve had it in my head all day. I can actually see Maybe You Can Find It In Your Heart being a real hit, with lots of radio play.

Of all his songs though I’m still a huge sucker for Beautiful, Tennessee Tobacco, Elgin Ave., Perfect, Two Hearts (I especially love the rhyme in this song I got no beepers, no pagers. Just Farrah Fawcett-Lee-Majors, it makes me smile everytime), I Will Love You for Miles, and so, so many more but I don’t think I should continue naming them. He did a lot of those songs in the show which was good. I’m always happy to see a musician go old school. I even got a signed CD and maybe when he explodes (which he will, we might just have to wait until he dies, because for some reason when people die they seem to get more popular, why is that?) I can sell his CD for a lot of money and live comfortably for the rest of my life. I feel like this is the time where I should compare Danny Michel to similar artists but I’m having trouble. He seems like a genre all of his own, and maybe one day there will be the Danny Michel genre featuring, well, Danny Michel. There are definitely similarities to say a musician like Hawksley Workman, because they both are in a genre all of their own. What I love so much about Danny is his stick it to the man attitude (in this case the man is the music industry) because he’s one of the only musicians I know who hasn’t changed his music for anyone but himself and continues to make music he enjoys, not music the industry enjoys. When they want pop crap from him he makes folk crap and than when “they” want more folk crap from him he decides to make pop crap and the cycle goes on and on. That to me shows a great musican and it’s the kind I’d want to be. So for that congratulations Danny, you are definitely not a sell-out.

So, I’ve been on a Danny video hunt, but can only find the video for Feather, Fur & Fin, which is still pretty good. It seems like making the video was a very long process. Getting all the pictures in all the different places. This makes the video seem even more impressive. This may become the official environmental song of the year. I know as I was looking it up I came across many a school environment project using this song, which were pretty amusing. But I’m not going to show those, go find them yourselves.

Make sure to go and checkout his new CD here, it’s sounding pretty good, and it just came on sale today, so you can be one of the first to purchase it! Also if you’re new to his music check out the rest of his CD’s you won’t be disappointed (I’m afraid there isn’t a money back guarantee though). Enjoy the rest of your dannylicious day. Oh, and have an awesome Canada day for all you Canadians out there, and well anyone else too! Enjoy the great Canadian music out and lovely weather, well here anyways.

Tickled in Johnny

Once again I have a new discovery, thanks once again to Last.fm. It’s a little on the folk/country side, but in a tasteful way, not in a “god’s great, beer’s good, people are crazy way”, thankfully. Anyone heard of Johnny Flynn, well me neither, until about a week ago and I’m not sure how I ever lived before it. He’s fantastic in a country/folk/indie/blues/rock way. He basically sounds like a British David Francey. What could be better? –  truthfully, not much.

I’m patricularily obsessed with his song Shore to Shore, there’s something about the lyrics, and the whole melody that really gets me. Almost a “throat catcher” as my mom would describe it. Other great songs to check out are Tickle Me Pink, Sally, and Leftovers. Trust me, when you first listen to it you won’t understand and you’ll be like “what was that littlethumbed, weird vegetarian girl talking about” (someone actually said that to me, well not the littlethumbed part but the weird vegetarian part, gotta love highschool), but give it a few more tries and my guess is you’ll love it as much as I do. I mean I feel like I shouldn’t, but well, I do. His voice is not at all what I usually go for, maybe it’s the fact that it reminds me of another musician I really like? I have no idea. I find it’s  best not to question the wonderful world of music, well the indie one, maybe the major, popular stuff (I mean, Brittney Spears and Lady Gaga, or 50 Cent and Lil’ Wayne, you can question that for sure).

Johnny Flynn is one of those musicians where I could actually listen to the whole CD, not just a few songs which is what’s been happening to me lately. His CD A larum, is especially fantastic. Every song on there is extremely listenable, I’ve already told you my favourites, but do check out the whole thing it’s pretty awesome. I’m sitting here listening to it and I’m in shock that I love it as much as I do. His voice really is magic, in a way like Tom Waits or Hawksley Workman, because I find they both have “magic” voices to. When I first heard him sing, I had such a clear picture of what he looked like and than actually saw and picture and was shocked. Not that he looked bad (not that at all , just that he wasn’t bearded, and weathered looking, rather spry and “slim and trim” like my grandma would say, and man can that guy pull off a plaid, lumberjack style shirt, I mean that there is a feet (no offense to any lumberjacks, I’m sure you do to).

I think it’s best I stop ranting about lumberjacks and get to the video. I couldn’t decide what to show, but I think I’m going to go for Leftovers, don’t forget to check out others. Once again this video is a little strange, but not as much so.

I’m still in shock about how much I love him, but hey music’s a funny thing, I already knew that. Hope you like it as much as I do, and remember to give it a chance — it may take awhile. Try starting with Shore to Shore, it’s a pretty gentle introduction into the world of Johnny Flynn.

Buzz, STING!

Okay, so I completely forgot about random playlist Monday, WHOOPS! So that’s what today is going to be. And here it is.

1. You Can Always Come Home (feat. Serena Ryder) – Jason Castro (how many times has this song come up on shuffle)

2. Driven To Tears – Sting (not sure why I have this, but a classic all the same)

3. Shout It – Mitchell Musso (not at all embarrassing that I have this…)

4. One Of Those Days – Joshua Radin

5. Stranded – Hope For Haiti Now Version (a somewhat bearable version)

6. Make The Most – Brett Dennen

7. Walcott – Vampire Weekend

8. Rosie – Chubby Checker (apparently every week, we continue my old guy music thing)

9. Lonely – Tom Waits (I don’t know what is up with Tom and my playlists, but he’s always there)

10. Don’t You Fall – The Be Good Tanyas (this always makes me think of my mom)

That was incredibly strange. Sting to Mitchell Musso (a very sappy Disney guy), than Vampire Weekend to Chubby Checker. Goes to show how strange my iPod is. Anyways, I’m thinking Sting, because it’s one of the only things on that playlist I haven’t talked about or atleast mentioned, which is what I love about random playlsits, I always find something new.

So I’m not entirely sure what to write about, on the topic of Sting. The song came from the Hope For Haiti Now CD, which is superb, but I can’t say I’m a huge Sting fan, although I actually quite like the song. I just went and downloaded a few more and may becoming more of a fan. I think the name may have been a bit of a turn-off, seems more rockier (nice word) than he is. Anways thank you playlist for introducing me to this song, that I didn’t even know I had. Below is Sting singing Driven To Tears, which is a fantastic song, the lyrics are very interesting too. Enjoy the video, the show he played this for really was awesome, a great fundraiser, I advise you to go buy the CD and check out the telethon at youtube.

I can’t believe I may have just become a Sting fan. One day I talk about the Zac Brown Band, the next Sting. This was a fantastic discovery, hope you enjoyed it, and have been taking more advantage of Sting than I have over the years.

My final conclusion: never jugde a band by it’s name!

P.S. Lee won American Idol, YEAH!!! Check out his version of Beatiful Day by U2, although nothing could compare, it’s pretty well done.

Funk-a-licious

Okay, so it’s the end of the week (for me anyways, because tomorrow is a P.A. day, YES!) and that makes me happy. So, I know that because I’m in a good mood I should be writing about something happy and maybe it is, I’m not sure. Okay wait, I was going to talk about The Maccabees and I was getting into the British boy band mood and than all of a sudden Macy Gray came on, and I thought yeah, perfect, so Macy Gray it is.

I had a pretty weird childhood as I’ve mentioned earlier. I grew up in an off-grid strawbale house and, well, my family may have been a little eccentric. We used to spend our nights making Minidisks (which are pretty much ancient now, they really didn’t last very long, just the transition time between Walkmens and MP3 players) and Macy Gray used to be one of my favourite people to put on them. Apart from Minidisks my family always used to play her. It was kind of like this trade off thing,one person would put on a CD and than another person would. Macy Gray was put on at least once a week. Mainly her CD’s On How Life Is and The ID. On How Life Is, is probably my favourite. It has timeless classics like Sex-o-Matic Venus Freak (my very favourite song name and one of my favourite songs), I’ve Committed Murder (no doubt), and I Can’t Wait To Meetchu. Although I think my very favourite Macy Gray song has to be Why Didn’t You Call Me. Her songs are pretty cool and something about her music seems good for anytime which is rare for a CD, usually they just fit one mood.

I can’t say I’m a huge fan of her new music. It’s lost the Macy Gray “thing” which is kind of sad and she looks completely different. Her pop, soul, funkalicious, lovely vibe is gone and now she’s just standard pop music. It’s sad to see an artist lose their uniqueness, but I’m going to stick by her and maybe she’ll change.

I found her music video for I Try, another great song from On How Life Is. She’s super young in it and rocking the afro (wish I could rock one, they’re great, although some mornings I actually do). Enjoy the video, it’s pretty simple. If you already knew Macy Gray, YEAH YOU, if not than first check out her CD On How Life Is, it gives the best summary of what she’s all about. Enjoy your Macy Graylicious night.

P.S. Macy Gray is also a great person to dance to, we had many a dance party and occasionally dress-up party, yes dress-up, we always used to do it. My family has the best dress-up box ever, EVER! Anways, have a dress-up dance party to her music sometime, it’s great!

P.P.S. You may have noticed the blog layout is different. I’m going for a change (even though change is bad), we’ll see how it goes. Give me your input, I’m curious. I must say, I’m liking the bigger videos and columns.

Happy Lights

So, I know I’ve already talked about Lights but I came across this video and really fell in love with it. This song is probably one of my favourite Joni Mitchell songs of all time. It really brings back memories of my old house which I really loved. Lights version defiantly does it justice. As you can tell I’m a sucker for acoustic.

Anyways I know it might be a bore because I’ve already talked about Lights and no offense Joni Mitchell but you may not be the most exciting artist ever, but both are great in their own way. I grew up on Joni Mitchell so this song really is special for me. Recently I had too leave my old house which was really unique. It was off-grid and strawbale (I know talk about weird that’s what everyone thinks. In school I think I was talked about in the staff room ALOT. You know that quiet little girl that lives in the weird house). Anyways, the house was pretty special and anything that reminds me of my childhood or the house makes me super happy and sad at the same moment. This song does both. I think Lights does a fantastic job of it. She captures the “thing” (once again with the “thing”) of the song and still keeps her own Lights vibe. I really love Lights acoustic stuff and this song defiantly showcases her talent. This song is for anyone whose had to leave a special place or someone. Hopefully it reminds you of something pretty awesome (I know this is a cheesy post, but whatever). I promise this will be the last time I talk about Lights for quite some time. Pretend it’s about Joni Mitchell instead. This song actually makes me shiver (not quite the right word but you know what I mean) when I listen to it because it so powerfully reminds me of home. This song may not quite have the same effect on you but I’m sure that you (whoever you are) have a song like that. For a long time I couldn’t listen to  music like this at all. Joni Mitchell, Sarah Harmer, Lucinda Williams, Rickie Lee Jones all of them, but slowly I’m beginning to be able to. That makes me really happy. And I hope the song makes you as happy.

Another great thing about this video is how down-to-earth Lights seems to be. Less makeup, no people surrounding her, just the song. It’s perfect! In my opinion that’s kind of what the song reminds me of. Just being you no matter what and taking your time in life (again cheesy, I’m not usually this cheesy but who really cares). Let me know about you special songs!

Vampire Weekend Live

Right off the bat I’m going to tell you this is NOT todays post. It’s yesterdays I was just too exhausted to write it yesterday. Expect todays post later today.

So, Tuesday night I went to see Vampire Weekend at the Sound Academy in Toronto. This post will basically be my review on performance, venue, and overall experience.

I loved the place. It was big enough that it didn’t feel like everyone was on top of each other but it didn’t feel like it was just you in the room either. For performance I’m pretty sure the show was good. I mean the music was great, their AWESOME live but I don’t really know what the band looked like. I barely even saw Ezra Koenigs head. Every once and a while when people would a little I could see his head bob up and down. I don’t even know what he was wearing (which is very important!). I’ve decided I am way too short for clubs like this.  There was one nice person at the show who didn’t stand in front of me (and I know it’s tricky not too) who, even though his friends were beside me didn’t get in my way (good thing too he was like 6.5″ I think). The guy in front of me was the same height so basically I just looked at his hair all night, and don’t get me wrong it was nice hair but I’m sure Ezras hair is much nicer (funny story about the Ezra thing. If I was a boy my parents would have probably named me Ezra and I thought it was the worst name ever until I discovered the lead singer of VDs name is Ezra. That almost made it cool enough I almost wished I was a boy…but not really). The other annoying this is that people kept cutting in front of me. My dad said they kept cutting in front of me because there was a gap in the crowd, HAHAHA! Anyways, other than the fact that I’m too short, the show was great. They made it much more upbeat and danceable. Their encore was Contra, which was awesome and they did a really good job of Cousins. I love their song One (Blake’s Got A New Face) even though I think it annoys everybody else in the world. Maybe it’s just because it reminds me of a friend.  Overall the show was great.

Conclusion: Vampire Weekend fans = freakishly tall (no joke, their monsters).Next time I’m wearing heels. And I’ve decided clubs should hand out phone books or something like they do for concerts or movies with children.

Overall Rating: 41/2 stars

Here’s California English, which was awesome live. Really cool to see him making all the noises.

P.S. I’ll talk about Vampire Weekend again, this is just about their live show, so don’t PANIC!