Awesome, Totally Genius

Image Credit: s7409651 of deviantART

From The National's Matt Berniger:

"It's a beautiful neighborhood that feels more like Savannah, Georgia than Brooklyn," he said. "The houses are all free-standing with nice yards and wrap-around porches. I was sitting outside one night watching a bunch of kids running up and down Beverly setting off car alarms. The song is theirs."

The Geese of Beverly Road by The National

We'll take ourselves out in the street
And wear the blood in our cheeks
Like red roses
We'll go from car to sleeping car
And whisper in their sleeping ears
We were here, we were here
We'll set off the geese of Beverly Road

Hey, love, we'll get away with it
We'll run like we're awesome, totally genius
Hey, love, we'll get away with it
We'll run like we're awesome

We won't be disappointed
We'll fight like girls for our place at the table
Our room on the floor
We'll set off the geese of Beverly Road

Hey, love, we'll get away with it
We'll run like we're awesome, totally genius
Hey, love, we'll get away with it
We'll run like we're awesome

We're the heirs to the glimmering world
[repeat]

We're drunk and sparking, our legs are open
Our hands are covered in cake
But I swear we didn't have any
I swear we didn't have any

Hey, love, we'll get away with it
We'll run like we're awesome, totally genius
Hey, love, we'll get away with it
We'll run like we're awesome

We're the heirs to the glimmering world
[repeat]

Oh, come, come be my waitress and serve me tonight
Serve me the sky tonight
Oh, come, come be my waitress and serve me tonight
serve me the sky with a big slice of lemon

We're the heirs to the glimmering world
[repeat]

Oh, come, come be my waitress and serve me tonight
Serve me the sky tonight
Oh, come, come be my waitress and serve me tonight
serve me the sky with a big slice of lemon


Thanks for stopping by,
Alie

Canadian Popsicles

Whoa. I was doing so well with the whole not abandoning this blog thing. And here I am again. Well over a month since my last post.

C'est ma vie.

But! I return with oodles of music to unleash onto the internets.

Let's start with a post I've been meaning to write up for a couple months now. A post of great, Canadian poppy bands who warm my heart with their melodic sounds. Onward.


THE SUPERFANTASTICS


The Superfantastics are from Halifax, Nova Scotia. And they sound like it. They're totally Sloan-ish with a slightly less epic New Pornographers sound. Your summer is begging for this band to be a part of it. They're on tour. Check them out.

MySpace, website and Facebook
mp3's: Turn On Me and Vantastic (Eastern Canadian Roadtrip Blues)

ANGELSHAKES


Two guys and a lady from St. John's, Newfoundland. This is a band with some ridiculously lovely melodies that you will be humming for days. They play the male and female voices so well off of each other and are the perfect soundtrack for washing dishes. Try it. You'll see.

MySpace
mp3's: That Was Hong Kong and An Honest Man

HOODED FANG


Torontonians, they are. I saw this wonderful band play (alongside Urban Aesthetics and The Rural Alberta Advantage) in January and they were a happyhappyjoyjoy to watch. They are composed of a cornucopia of uber-skilled lads and lasses. And so many instruments. And they all seem to play at least three different instruments and kept switching between songs. It was really great to watch.

They've also got a sweet male/female dynamic happening and do a great job of highlighting everybody's respective talents. But I must say I'm probably most enamoured with the lead male's voice (I believe his name is Daniel.) It has a really unique tone--kind of lazy and conversational. Overall, a really fun and playful band.

They're making the rounds right now, too. They're playing at Zaphod's with the Whitsundays on Wednesday, April 15th and I'm definitely hitting that up. So give yourself a little break from exam studying and come join the fun.

MySpace and Facebook
mp3's: Train Station and Fall Leaves

RAH RAH


Regina, Saskatchew-ians. I just came across these guys last week but I've been listening to their marvelous album Going Steady pretty much all the times.

Their sound reminds me of a less taking-ourselves-too-seriously Arcade Fire and a less frantic Winks. Once again, they have the male/female aspect to their vocals... is this becoming the thing to do for Canadian indie bands? Maybe. These voices are less polished than their other Can-counterparts, though. And it works so well. These wavering, genuine, untrained voices spinning you 'round for a good old fashioned frolic.

Anyway. They use scratchy, slightly out of tune string instruments. The percussion is always executed to its full potential. They play around with cutesy, hand-clappy acoustic numbers ("My Guarentee") but can pull off a slightly darker, gallavanting sound ("Fuck NAFTA") with total ease and zero awkwardness. They're not tied to any one style which makes for a fun and interesting listen. Unfortunately they're not currently road warrior-ing, but keep checking for tour dates. I have a feeling they'd make for a great live show.

MySpace and Facebook
mp3's: (I couldn't narrow it down to just two songs. These guys are really stellar. Please go buy Going Steady, if not for the band than for your ears.) My Guarantee, Duet for Emmylou and the Grievous Angel**, Fuck NAFTA and Cuba/Peru

Happy listening!


Thanks for stopping by,
Alie

** This is currently my favourite Rah Rah song. The girl's voice is just so soulful and real. Listen for the 2:20 mark, and the off-kilter rhythmic way she sings "These are the most desirable traits to be found in a man, I hear." You'll know what I mean. And the stomping chorus ("It is fashionable to be single / In big cities, but not in small towns / In Regina, Saskatchewan / I fell in love with her frown.") that slides into this great, creaky violin, jangle-guitar'd mini-instrumental bit... it's pretty damn amazing. And, like, sonically satisfying. True say.

Arms Make Music

Arm: a human upper limb; especially: the part between the shoulder and the wrist

Arms: a band; originally: composed only of Todd Goldstein (a Brooklyn-based mid-20s-type): adittionally: guitarist/vocalist in the band Harlem Shakes.

I think I'm in a revisiting spirit lately. Arms are another band who've more or less been on my radar for a couple years now, but I only had three songs and never thought to see what they'd been up to as of late.

"Jon the Escalator" is one of those songs that always gets stuck in my head because of its interesting harmonies, so when it popped in the ol' noggin today, I decided to check into the band and see what was new and fresh. And I was pleased as punch.

They've still got a delightfully poppy, natural, summer-excited, guitar-ish, uke-tastic, and totally hummable sound. This is a group to tuck into your go-to-bands pocket.

For the most part I try and only have three songs available for download, but with Arms I just couldn't pare it down to a measly three. So instead, I bring you SEVEN. Buuut, if you're overwhelmed by the prospect of such an onslaught of fantastic tuneage, my two favourites are "Tiger Tamer" and "The Frozen Lake." You really should just download all of them, though. You really should.

Tiger Tamer, Gunsmoke Legend, Neighbors, Shitty Little Disco, The Frozen Lake, Jon the Escalator and Whirring

And here are some Arms-y links: website, MySpace, Last.fm, Facebook, music video for "Kids Aflame", live video of "Kids Aflame" being played in a tunnel, and buy Arms' music

Lastly, here's a bonus mp3 from the Harlem Shakes:

Carpetbaggers


Happy listening.


Thanks for stopping by,
Alie

Guided By Voices... and More Spillage

Happy love day! So far mine has been pretty great. I was in the [wrong] line-up for my bus home when I saw one of my All Time Favourite People, who was marvelously heading back to our place of residence on the very same bus as me. So we spent the past couple hours being rocked about, catching up on the past month and a half, and eating the Valentine's chocolate my mom sent me. As if I don't already love Greyhound trips enough.

So now I'm home. And there is MILK in the fridge. Milk. Luxurious.

And in my cozy, contented state, I felt that it would be a nice gesture to toss a little handful of fantastic Guided By Voices songs out into the interweb.

This is another band that was vaguely on my musical horizons before, but that I never really delved into for one reason or another. But I guess this is a good time for me to bring fuzzed out nineties nostalgia glow bands into my life, considering all the Built to Spill adoration I'm having lately.

Here's some Guided By Voices:

Tractor Rape Chain
Gonna Never Have to Die
As We Go Up We Go Down

And a couple Built to Spill tracks off of the lovely Ancient Melodies of the Future, because I'm just so enamoured with these chaps:

The Weather
Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss


Lastly, some Guided By Voices links: MySpace and imeem


Thanks for stopping by,
Alie

P.S. This is totally unrelated, but on my voyage with one of my All Time Favourite People, I was reminded how much I love the way she says things like "I haven't been on the MSN much lately" and "I don't speak the French." I just think people should start talking like that. It could start with you.

Them Girls and Their Skirts

This sector of Canada just had a bit of lovely weather. It's over now, of course, but on Thursday I saw several folks walking around outside in t-shirts. This was a bit excessive.

But the point is they COULD do it without risking their lives. So let's just focus on that, okay?

What I'm leading up to is that the Pseudo Spring for South-East Ontario Good Weather Times (or PSSEOGWT, if you like kajumbled acronyms) got me thinking about springy clothes. And then when I was hardXcore procrastinating on an essay that was due two days before, I saw some delicious skirts on Urban Outfitters.

So here we are.

I am not able to pontificate** on the merits or stylistic qualities of these skirts, other than to say that are lovely and oh-so-pretty and I want to welcome each one to my wardrobe family. Observe, and bask in their beautaciousness:


Yes, I realize there is a dress in the above collection of fo-tos. I also realize that a dress is not a skirt. A dress has a skirt component. But it is not a skirt unto itself.

Since this is a music blog, let's have a song that superficially relates to my yammering!

Ghost in Summer Clothes by Department of Eagles

The end.


Thanks for stopping by,
Alie

** I know this is an incorrect use of the word "pontificate." But doesn't it sound like it could mean something along the lines of ruminate or ponder? Maybe?

Built to Spill

Sorry for the postless week. Life [a.k.a. procrastination] caught up with me.

I have to run off to an exam post haste, so this is a real quickie. I've been listening to lots of Built to Spill lately and I think these guys are one Stephen Malkmus away from being Pavement fantastic.

It's such a heartwarming sound. So guitar-y. So hook-y. So... rad. I'll come back and post something real later.

Enjoy the BtS.

Time Trap
Conventional Wisdom
Distopian Dream Girl


Thanks for stopping by,
Alie

P.S. I've received my copy of Hungry Bird. Album review coming up within the week.

Train Tracks

Image Credit: 石.ⓎaⓌen of Flickr

Trains! Three covers of a song! Three covers of a song about trains!

1. Freight Train by Laura Veirs

It's a little slow. It's a little long afternoon. Her voice is a lot pretty.

2. Freight Train by Simone White

Off-kilter timing. Two guitars. Pleasantly throaty voice.

3. Freight Train by Le Volume Courbe

A washboard. A harmonica. A banjo. A lo-fi voice that sings "fweight twain." A low percussive backbeat that sounds like the palm of a large hand hitting the exposed, overhead ducts while this song is being jangled out in the basement of a roarin' backwoods house party.

Listen to Elizabeth Cotten's warbling, hillbilly original here.

Which version do you like the best? Or do you not like any of them?


Thanks for stopping by,
Alie

P.S. Download Train of Thought by Mother Mother because it's so obviously great.

Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink[s]

Montreal's The Winks are totally a baroque punk band.

I came across these lads and lady and couple years back and seeing as how I'm on some kind of chamber pop kick right now, I thought I'd sharesies.

This is exuberant music for people:
a] who enjoy unique blends of orchestral sounds AND/OR
b] who might have a strange liking for casually worn cummerbunds or hats with peacock feather arrangements.

Other than that, this is a talented group of Canadians who, at different points, remind me of Mother Mother and a sprightlier, sillier, less psychedelic-er Spiral Beach.

So here are some Winks-p3's.

Snakes [Revisited]
Ohio
Seasons

Also check out their MySpace and website.

And if you're in Montreal this Friday, February 6th, they're playing at the Green Room with Ryland Bouchard [an Oregonian!] and Emperor X-- all for the low, low price of $8.


Thanks for stopping by,
Alie

Clem Snide Tourdates

I got sidetracked with posting other bloggy things last night and forgot to put up the promised Clem-y tourdates. So here they are:

Mar 11, 2009 8:00 PM - The Earl
448 Flat Schoals Ave, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 - $10

Mar 12, 2009 8:00 PM - Local 506
506 W. Franklin St., Chapel Hill, North Carolina - $8

Mar 13, 2009 8:00 PM- Grey Eagle
Asheville, North Carolina - $8

Mar 14, 2009 8:00 PM- IOTA club & cafe
Arlington, Virginia - $14

Mar 15, 2009 8:00 PM - Club Cafe
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - $10

Mar 16, 2009 8:00 PM - World Cafe Live
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - $12

Mar 18, 2009 8:00 PM - Bowery Ballroom
6 Delancy St., New York, New York

Mar 19, 2009 8:00 PM - Middle East (upstairs)
Cambridge, Massachusetts - $12

Mar 21, 2009 8:00 PM - El Mocambo
464 Spadina Ave, Toronto, - $12 *

Mar 22, 2009 8:00 PM - Beachland Ballroom
Cleveland, Ohio - $12

Mar 23, 2009 8:00 PM - The Tiger Room @Calhoun St.
Fort Wayne, Indiana - $5

Mar 24, 2009 8:00 PM - Schubas Tavern
Chicago, Illinois

Mar 25, 2009 8:00 PM - 400 Bar
Minneapolis, Minnesota - $10

Mar 26, 2009 8:00 PM - High Noon
Madison, Wisconsin - $10

Mar 27, 2009 8:00 PM - The House Cafe
Dekalb, Illinois - $10

Mar 28, 2009 8:00 PM - Off Broadway
St. Louis, Missouri - $10


If you're Last.fm-er and are able to make it to one of these shows, make sure to add it to your events. Check out the site's show listings for Clem Snide here.

And I forgot to mention this the other day, but there's a bonus EP available with Hungry Bird when the LP is purchased through an independent retailer.

Tracklist for bonus EP:

1] Ure Gent
2] I Need You Now
3] Death of Silvertone **
4] Close the Door
5] South American Lullaby

You could have fifteen new Clem Snide songs to add to your collection. And that would be pretty great. So check your local independent music store in the coming weeks.


Thanks for stopping by,
Alie

* I'll be at this show!
** You can hear this track and "Beard of Bees" [off of Hungry Bird on Clem's MySpace page.

BK Baby Saddles Up

This is a personal bloggin' record. Three in one day. Well... I guess this is a new day seeing as how it's 2:07 in the morn. But. I haven't gone to sleep yet, so I still consider it yesterday.

Suck on that, time!

I thought I'd inform you [hopefully] entertained lions about the album preview that's available exclusively on Last.fm for Ben Kweller's upcoming record Changing Horses, set to be released on February 3rd in Canada and the U.S.

I will admit that I was sad an kind of terrified at first by the rumour of the new and countrified sound that's been buzzing around Kweller's new release. Think slide guitars and a romantic relationship with acoustic guitars inset with desert rose motifs.

And then don't think about that.

I'm only two songs into the album and I'm kind of really digging it. Yes it's different and much more... I don't know adult-contemporary friendly. But let's face it.

Okay let me face it: Ben isn't seventeen anymore, writing songs about hedgehogs and a drawer that he knows in a house up the road. But really. I was expecting that he'd continue down this more mellow road given the nature of his last, decidedly less amplified album.

So I think it's going to be okay. I'm four songs in now and even though I recall hearing the word "Jesus" used in a Southern fist-pumping kind of way in the previous song ["Fight"], I can see myself cozying up to this sound. I can see myself taking this record under my wing and having it turn into something gold.

Check out the album. Give me your thoughts.

It's just different is all. Right?

Changing Horses preview on Last.fm


Thanks for stopping by,
Alie

P.S. Don't worry Sha Sha. No album could ever replace you.

P.P.S. I'm tooootally seeing Ben Kweller at the Mod Club in Toronto on March 22 a.k.a. I will be able to cross off a life goal from my bucket list.

P.P.P.S. Whoa. "Wantin' Her Again" is on this album. I had this song at some point before one of my many computer crashes. It's been re-worked... But still. It's nice to hear it.