Our Lady Peace - In Repair

It's my 200th post today. Woot. It seems like eons ago that I was watching Raine Maida climb up a lighting pole whilst singing on the Molson Park leg of the Summersault '98 tour. I guess it was quite a while ago. I'd seen Our Lady Peace live before that and had been less than impressed with Raine's singing in person, but on this occasion he stepped it up considerably and put on a great performance. Fast forward to 2010 and Raine will be headlining the FredRock fest that's going on as I type just across the river. I probably won't be able to check it out as I'm prepping for a wedding tomorrow and working tonight, but I hope they do well, and treat everyone to a rocking set that includes my favourite tune of theirs, posted below.

Our Lady Peace - In Repair



That's an Oli Goldsmith video, based on the Ray Kurzweil book.

Treble Charger - Morale

You might remember Treble Charger as the mediocre pop-punk group that put out cookie cutter hits like "American Psycho" and "Brand New Low" (oh, the irony...), but I will instead choose to remember them as an indie rock group with great song writing talent and loads of potential that was never quite reached. "Red" was the first song that got my attention, and then this one that you might not recall. A real shame that the corporate make-a-band disease infected them just when it seemed they would do something really memorable.

Treble Charger - Morale



Advice to upcoming bands: don't sell out.

The Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice

Gee golly look at that sun. Wouldn't it be nice if I posted some Beach Boys. Ok sure, why not.

The Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice



Phew, thanks to Dailymotion for not having their embedding feature disabled.

Pixeltan - Yamerarena-i

Who is Pixeltan? Beats me. This was a completely random find that I thought was pretty cool. Their stuff sounds kinda like Chk Chk Chk or Battles. I like the video, looks like an idea I had for an upcoming track.

Pixeltan - Yamerarena-i



Fun fact: yamerarenai is Japanese for unstoppable.

Fred Penner - The Cat Came Back

It's not often that a Member of the Order of Canada plays at a crazy hippie music festival like Evolve, but that's exactly what Fred Penner did this past weekend. That would have been the highlight of the weekend for me, no doubt. Thankfully, Martin Cathrae was good enough to give us this little video snippet of this classic. Mad props to Fred for keepin' it fresh. So epic.

Fred Penner - The Cat Came Back [Live At Evolve]



Remember this?

Kim Mitchell - All We Are

We'll just pretend that I actually posted this on Monday. I was at the Capital last night for the B.A. Johnston show, and it was complete madness. Definitely make it out to catch him in September, because he's absolutely hysterical. Afterwards Gemma had on some classic Kim Mitchell, and it reminded me that I haven't posted any of him yet on the blog, so here ya go.

Kim Mitchell - All We Are



Patio Lanterns!

Talk Talk - Life's What You Make It

One of my favourite retro songs is "It's My Life", done originally by Talk Talk, and later covered by No Doubt. Something about the synths and the great voice of lead singer Mark Hollis, just a great feel good song. This one is almost as good.

Talk Talk - Life's What You Make It



Simple but brilliant.

Florence & The Machine - Drumming Song

I have to admit I'd only been vaguely acquainted with Florence & The Machine until a couple days ago when Tonella posted this. Pretty cool stuff I have to say. I'm not sure I really get what's going on in the video, but it's quite stylish. See what you think.

Kinda catchy, isn't it.

Primus - Lacquer Head

Hey Rosetta! was awesome last night. So were FM Hi Low and Weak Size Fish.

Primus bears no resemblance to any of them, except that they are also awesome. Les Claypool is the bass player and he's utterly ridiculous in every sense of the word. These guys are definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but if you dig auditory insanity via world class talent, then you just might enjoy this. I was going to post a sick live performance of Southbound Pachyderm (click on that link!) but it's ten minutes long and I feel the one I picked better displays Claypool's manic on-stage persona.

Les plays on Carl Thompson custom basses, in case you were wondering.

Hey Rosetta! - A Thousand Suns

Tonight I will go to the Market and watch Hey Rosetta!! I'm not sure if that second exclamation mark was required or not, because technically there is one at the end of the band's name, but I feel that it's appropriate given that it's very exciting so either way it's staying. In case you've been living under a rock, these guys are one of the very best bands in the world right now. And they're from St. John's, Newfoundland. If you ever get a chance to see them, you should cancel whatever other plans you have, sell your shirt and shoes, and get on down to the show. They're that good.

Can't wait.

Moxy Früvous - Stuck In The 90s

I was told I needed to be more accommodating to people who don't use blogger or blogspot or whatever, so I've tricked out the blog a bit. I've added some "share" media thingies at the bottom of posts, and also an RSS subscription link. I have no idea how to use either, so don't ask. If you do know, have at 'er. I have some more tricks up my sleeve coming up in the relatively nearish future, but first I need to finish a couple new tracks.

Once upon a time it was the early '90s and while a bunch of bands were grunging it up around Seattle, back in Toronto there was a couple goofy folky rock groups just finding their feet. One would go on to become Canada's most successful pop ensemble, the other faded into relative obscurity. Moxy Früvous was the latter (can you guess the other?), and if you weren't there at the time to see them, you might not have ever heard of them, but you've probably heard of founding member Jian Ghomeshi before. This is an ironic smallish hit from '93, and followed by some bonus beats, with no beats.

Moxy Früvous - Stuck In The 90s [Live On Canada AM]



BONUS BEATS! (minus the beats)

Moxy Früvous - The Drinking Song



Oh the memories...

Shocking Blue - Venus

How about a little classic rock. Dutch band Shocking Blue took this single to to #1 on the Billboard charts in 1970. It's still pretty rockin' today. I feel a remix of some sorts coming on...

Shocking Blue - Venus



The fem-bot singing is the late Mariska Veres.

Arkells - John Lennon

These guys have come a long way in a couple years. The Arkells have won a CASBY, a Juno, and headlined the Burlington Sound of Music festival this year. Bigger things are surely in store. Here's probably their best-known song, live on Q.

Oh look it's Monday.

K-Os - Sunday Morning

Did I mention how I prefer contemporary Canadian hip-hop to American rap? This is a generalisation, and there exceptions of course, but for the most part I find that, for whatever reason, Canadian hip-hip is superior to them guys from below the 49th. Kevin Brereton, aka K-Os, has been leading the charge for a few years now, and despite K'naan not being a fan, I am one. I saw him live here in NB a couple years back, and it was a great performance. I wanted to post a live version of "Emcee Murdah", but there aren't any good videos out there, so this will have to do.

K-Os - Sunday Morning [Live On Q101]



BONUS BEATS!

K-Os - The Aviator



Love that one.

Batida - Alegria

I saw this one on Discobelle and thought it deserved a re-post. Some nice summer jam house from Batida, with a cool little video too. Goodness gracious it's hot out. The bonus track today is a song I just got that I absolutely love right now, yet another perfect summer groove from Gregor Salto.

Batida - Alegria



BONUS BEATS!

Gregor Salto & Florian T. - Mundocaso



I'm dancing, are you?

The Chap - Even Your Friend

I haven't done any research on The Chap yet, but I'll get to it sooner or later. In the words of Paul, this is "just wacky". Found this just surfing around on Vimeo. Some really awesome stuff on there.

The Chap - Even Your Friend



I don't even know what to think.

Miike Snow - Black & Blue

I first heard about these guys a while back from Megan in Germany, and while I enjoyed the first single "Animal", I kind of ignored the rest of the album. Natalie and Jess requested them the other night at the Phoenix and I have to say I am developing a new appreciation for the group. Spend a little time with these ones, they'll grow on you.

Miike Snow - Black & Blue



BONUS BEATS!

Miike Snow - In Search Of



Love that second one.

DJ Shadow - This Time

DJ Shadow is a legend, full stop. Jazz, funk, soul, hip-hop, whatever. The man is king. Enjoy.

DJ Shadow - This Time



Oh yes.

Martin Solveig - Hello

I'm not really sure why I picked this one today. I'm not a fan of big mega-production videos with more than a couple seconds of extra nonsense in them, nor is this my favourite Martin Solveig tune, but I thought this one was actually sort of amusing. It features Martin playing tennis against fellow French superstar DJ Bob Sinclar, and Martin Sorbara from Dragonette doing vocals on the track. The song itself is catchy, but in more of a mainstream radio way, I'm not sure I would ever actually use it in a DJ set. Give it a listen and see what you think.

Martin Solveig feat. Martin Sorbara - Hello

BONUS BEATS!

Martin Solveig - I'm A Good Man [Mousse T. Breakbeat Mix]



That's more like it.

Battles - Tonto

I saw Battles at Evolve a couple years back, and they pretty much blew my mind. They're a bit wild and weird and while I'd heard a couple tracks beforehand, I didn't really know what to expect. I gotta say, they are a phenomenal live act. Drummer John Stanier, formerly of Helmet, was front and center and I have never seen such a ridiculous performance by a percussionist. The guy must have lost 10 pounds just sweating up on stage. Check them out if you get a chance. I'm linking the Four Tet remix as bonus beats which is just a little more DJ friendly, with a slightly more driving beat.

BONUS BEATS!

Battles - Tonto [Four Tet Remix]

Rock on.

Al Jarreau - Take Five

This came from a Cosmo Baker blog post. If you're into funk/soul/hip-hip grooves, I highly recommend checking him out. Al Jarreau is a prodigiously talented vocalist who known for soul and R&B, but whose scat talents are virtually unmatched. This is a Paul Desmond song made famous by Dave Brubeck in the early 60's, and in fact Jarreau and Brubeck performed the song together live in 1997, which you can watch here. This performance is from Germany in 1976, and it's pretty sensational.

Awesome.

Sevendust - Broken Down

Phew, almost missed a day there. Long, busy day, played a little rugby and got the crap kicked out of me. Good times. This is Sevendust, an awesome progressive metal band from Atlanta known for soaring harmonic vocals and the amazing lead singer Lajon Witherspoon. They have a new album out that I just got but haven't listened to, but the first single "Unraveling" is pretty sweet. This is an older one from the stunning album "Seasons", easily one of my favourite metal albums. There's an acoustic version that's awesome too, but this is the original for your viewing pleasure.

Sevendust - Broken Down



Here's another one from that album.

Avi Buffalo - What's In It For

Avi Buffalo. Nice name. Beach rock from California. Who knew? Cool video.

Avi Buffalo - What's In It For?



I wonder what these guys like to do for fun.

Jamiroquai - Canned Heat

Jay Kay knows how to party. As the lead singer from the baddest funk band on the planet, Jamiroquai, he is by default a bona fide 11th degree grand master in the fine art of gettin' on down. That's almost as cool as Shaft. This deserves some airtime at the Phoenix tonight. The other track too.

BONUS BEATS!

A Flock Of Seagulls - I Ran [Remix]

See ya there.

Constantines - Young Lions

Constantines rock and Jarrett keeps playing them in the Wilser's Room, which is awesome. Yesterday he said they were no longer touring because they were all growed up now and real contributing members of society and such. I didn't much like the sound of that and I went and found a pretty recent performance by them on Q. They aren't touring but they're at least playing at the Dawson City Music Festival this summer, which I guess is cool if you're in the Yukon. Oh well. Their song "Shine A Light" is one of my all-time favourite rock songs. This is another one off that brilliant album.

All a man can build is his vision.

Kings Go Forth - One Day

Woooo! A new funk-soul group? So awesome. Kings Go Forth are from Milwaukee, and I'm definitely jumping on their bandwagon. Pure '70s groove, not much more to say about it except get the dang record already.

Toronto! Go to the Horseshoe Tavern on Friday night!

Ghettosocks - Don't Turn Around

I'm in Halifax right now and I'm off to the Tattoo tonight and in a bit of a rush, so here's some Ghettosocks.

So ghetto.

Flora & Low County - Have Faith In The Lord

Well I'm not really a country fan, nor am I a man of "the faith", but I ran into this completely by accident the other day, and it struck me as being kind of neat. This is from the Carter Ranch Music Festival in Bootjack, California, wherever that is. I just love the deadpan demeanor of the group, and the fact that it looks like they just randomly walked up to the stage after a few drinks at the local saloon.

Oddly catchy little ditty.

Caravan Palace - Suzy

French electro-swing? Awesome! Pete saw Caravan Palace at the Montreal Jazz Festival and said they were awesome, so I checked them out, and they are! Crazy that I've never heard of them before.

Awesome video too.

Iron Maiden - The Trooper

Today is Pete's birthday. To celebrate, I am posting my favourite song by his favourite band. This is from the "Flight 666" DVD. You should probably know who Iron Maiden is.

Skull Fist!

Shinichi Osawa - Love Will Guide You

This is a sweet fresh track from Shinichi Osawa, from his new album "SO2". I would describe his style as MSTRKRFT vs Röyksopp meets the Chemical Brothers after a nice cup of Fake Blood. Complete and utter madness. Seriously, click that link. Apparently Tommie Sunshine contributed somehow to this one. That calls for some bonus beats.

BONUS BEATS!

Fake Blood - I Think I Like It [Tommie Sunshine & Figure's Ec$tacy Edit]

I'm on at the Phoenix again tonight. I think I'll play that one.