AWmusic

I’m familiar with two of the bands, The Germans and Black Hat Brigade. The Germans opened for a Vampire Weekend show an without knowing any of their material, they showed off good stage presence. Black Hat Brigade, I know particularly well in large part thanks to Rob from Burgeoning Metropolis. Of the two bands that I haven’t had any experience with, Racoon Wedding (deliberate spelling mistake) is a Brantford, ON band that is solid and I’m actually digging their stuff. Schomberg Fair are also on the card.

Contest rules:
1. All you have to do is enter a comment, that easy.
2. Winner chosen by a draw and they get to see a great lineup of local talent.
3. Winner gets a +1 guestlist.
4. Contest ends November 25th

Zombies (Basement Sessions) by Black Hat Brigade
Tiger Vacuum Bottle by Germans
Basement Or The Attic by Racoon Wedding

Thanks to The Musebox for allowing us to the host the contest.

Anyway, here’s a neat music video that’s directed by Abby Portner (hmm don’t know the relationship to David Portner aka Avey Tare but there’s probably a connection). I dig the video much more then Summertime Clothes as it contains puppetry, lo-fi filming and other artistic qualities. It could be seen as merely a collage with no direction but it’s still cool either way.

A great video to accompany a great song, really check it out:

For you Ipod users, over at VisualNoiz has put up a downloadable .m4v video which you can find here.

In The Flowers by Animal Collective

We All Have Hooks For Hands is a band is a South Dakota band signed to Afternoon Records. I was actually interested after listening to a few things as much as it polarized me.

One thing I should point out immediately, Eli Show has one annoying voice. Not that it’s important or anything but reviewing the album in front of my girlfriend had her annoyed. I think some of the annoying things revolve around the wailing/high notes that are not really hit too well. It’s squeaky and screamy (emoish perhaps) and at times it does take away from the quality of the music.

Musically I think they’ve got something good going for them despite the vocal drawbacks. Depending on the person anyway, it will or won’t matter. It’s different for some people, I personally don’t mind that much and I just made it a personal goal to just try to enjoy it as much as I can. WAHHFH’s style is a mix of pop, folk and I hear a little bit of roots in them. Their songs generally create a lot of energy to go along with Eli Show’s style. Their songs are full of musical energy and it leads to most songs being more solid then not.

It leaves me in a bit quandary, musical I’d be pretty excited by the band but I’m ultimately left tempered. They are a decent/okay band but I’m not sure how much I can ultimately like them. It’s hard to choose favorites because musically it’s solid but I doubt I’d ever be impressed by the vocals. Maybe it’ll end up being an acquired taste but it’s like that with music sometimes. As good as a band is, sometimes you just can’t get into the singer. Off the top of my head I’d say Made Up of Tiny Lights and Sea That Holds You.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5
A band worth posting about yet at the same time a band that I don’t think I’ll ever be crazy about. Still, there’s nothing wrong with making decent music so let’s not bother concentrating on negatives. Especially if you dig their music.

Made Up Of Tiny Lights by We All Have Hooks For Hands
Sea That Holds You by We All Have Hooks For Hands

Much has been talked about with Christopher Owen’s childhood which involved the Children of God cult or namely called The Family International. While it was an interesting read (as much as I feel bad for the guy)… he’s probably enjoying life right now as an indie rock star. Their Toronto show is currently sold out (playing November 10th)

From a musical perspective, I don’t think it’s a 9.1 but that’s just me however there are some decent pop elements with Owen’s complaints and honesty. I will say there’s a lot to like and while I can see why other critics are digging it, at the same time I feel like I have different measurements. It’s no way fantastic, OMG best of the year (The XX too) but it has a real nice quality to it. It leaves me in a position not necessarily wanting more but when I just take things at face value, it’s hard to deny that Girls is good.

Maybe you’ll like them more then me, maybe not. I don’t really have to much to say either way. Comparisons to the Beach Boys do hold in some instances, it almost seems like Girls are blatantly trying to be them in a fun way at times. Other times, they are their own band. No particular sound you could peg them to and I guess that’s what some people like. I have a hard time myself digging through the album fully from top to bottom. Only because they try different things and the start is very different from the end.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Still a solid album. I’m not on their bandwagon but I guess it’s okay if you are.

Lust For Life by Girls
Laura by Girls

Atlas Sound aka Bradford Cox of Deerhunter’s solo project has been around for some time. I never bothered to listen to Deerhunter or Atlas Sound until last year actually, where Nancy was telling me she preferred Bradford Cox’s material. Still, I missed out on a large chunk having only checked out Microcastle which I do admit was pretty impressive.

Anyway after hearing a collaboration with Panda Bear aka Noah Lennox or Animal Collective, I was pretty psyched up about the album Logos. Released on October 19th, I’ve had a few weeks to absorb the album and it’s a great one. It seems like bloggers and critics are all digging it, so at least I’m not an outsider on this one.

There is something great about this album, it feels good from the start adding in a variety of sounds that has some sort of perfect chemistry. The sounds continually fool me into thinking there’s something going on in my room. This includes like the buzzing or random noises that I think are other stuff. There’s something about the way the album is mixed and blended that some noises/vibrations make you unsure of where they come from. The music is wonderful background music – for the unparanoid but nonetheless there’s something intangible here that I hope you hear that I seem to be experiencing.

Top to bottom, I love the album. It just struck me that the album is a decent 43 minutes, and it always seems like I’ve sped past all the tracks and starting over again. I find myself wanting to listen more and more. I tend to notice the subtle things on secondary listens but because there’s just so much to consume, I tend to forget. Nonetheless it’s still enjoyable like each song is the first listen.

My favourites are Sheila and Criminals. Each song has beauty and some major creativity that shouldn’t be ignored. That includes Quick Canals featuring Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadier which is the album’s longest track.

It’s easily a shoe-in for one of the top albums of the year for me.

Rating: 5 out of 5
It’s a perfect mix of light-feeling pop with experimental noises and sounds. It’s wholly creative with a layer of simplistic-ness wrapped around it.

Criminals by Atlas Sound
Sheila by Atlas Sound

Quick Canal (with Laetitia Sadier) by Atlas Sound music video after the jump:
(more…)

We haven’t done a contest/giveaway in a looooooong time and while we at AWmusic.ca have had a rough week (Monday we had our site temporarily shut down) and I’ve gotten a case of bronchitis or something that’s left me very sick. We’ve got a nice giveaway for the 2009 Steamwhistle Presents You Say Party We Say Die!, Think About Life, Little Girls and DJ Vaneska brought to you by The Musebox.

This is a concert to see some great Canadian bands at the Phoenix on November 20th. Montreal’s Think About Life recently got a Best New Music tag for their track Havin’ My Baby, while both You Say Party We Say Die and Little Girls are coming off recently released albums (which I need to check out but I’m behind as always).

Anyway to catch a great night of Canadian bands all you need to do is:
1. Enter a comment below.
2. Include a valid e-mail address
3. Be 19+ (won’t gain entry otherwise)
4. Respond to an email when you’re selected as winner

Winner receives a guestlist entry for themselves and a person of their choice.

Good luck! Winner will be chosen by random draw.

Johanna by Think About Life
Growing by Little Girls
Laura Palmer’s Prom by You Say Party We Say Die!

Before I give you my submitted list, I try to stay objective on this list. It doesn’t reflect my personal tastes per se. I did include a band I love too much (The Rest) and an artist I think people will miss (CFCF – he’ll be huge maybe not among bloggers but definitely on the internet).

10. Fucked Up
A Polaris Prize win should help increase the profile of this hardcore band. The truth is that while the Polaris Prize was a massive victory for the band, they had a really good 2008 and winning the prize probably reflects that.

Son The Father by Fucked Up
(Number 2 on the actual list)

9. Diamond Rings
I know only one song by Diamond Rings and it’s a good one. It also helps that video has gotten quite a bit of attention *cough* Pitchfork *cough*.

All Yr Songs by Diamond Rings

(Number 20 on the actual list)

8. CFCF
If this list was done in November or December, I really believe CFCF would be much higher with his album having been released on October 26. He may be known for his remixes of Crystal Castles and Health but I’m going out on a limb that he’s going to be well known a month or two from now (got to try to be timeless).

Triceratops (CFCF Remix) by Health
(Unranked)

7. Handsome Furs
Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry released another solid album in my opinion and should be up here. While comparisons to bandmate Spencer Krug likely downplay their contribution to Canadian, it’s hard to ignore the positive reviews that Face Control has received.

Nyet Spasiba by Handsome Furs
(Number 3 on the actual list)

6. Bruce Peninsula
Bruce Peninsula’s A Mountain Is A Mouth is an odd affair but equally amazing. I’m glad that so many have recognize how awesome they are.

Steamroller by Bruce Peninsula
(Number 8 on the actual list)

5. Destroyer
Bay of Pigs for song of the year? It’d be hard to argue against a near 14 minute track.

Bay Of Pigs by Destroyer (warning: HUGE FILE)
(Unranked on the list?)

4. Japandroids
Japandroids’ Post Nothing may have seemed like a cocky name for an album title but they definitely followed through. They absolutely killed in regards to press, receiving great critical acclaim.

I Quit Girls by Japandroids
(Number 4 on the actual list)

3. The Rest
I’ve been on The Rest’s bandwagon for the whole year as their album; Everyone All At Once blew me away and is one of my favourite albums of 2009. While they haven’t struck it big in terms of the press they’ve received, bloggers from all over the world have praised this album.

With Every Heartbeat by The Rest (Robyn Cover)
(Unranked)

2. Sunset Rubdown
Sunset Rubdown is follow up Random Spirit Lover with Dragonslayer an album that was much more accessible yet still of a very high quality. (And they are one of my favorite bands hands down).

Apollo and The Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh by Sunset Rubdown

(Number 18 on the actual list)

1. Rural Alberta Advantage
Stephen Harper tried to score cool points with us by having them on his iPod. As much as I still wouldn’t vote for the conservatives, that’s pretty damn cool for the RAA. The RAA weren’t eligible to even be nominated for the Polaris Music Prize but if they had, I’m pretty certain they would’ve been a top contender.

(Number 1 on the actual list)
Ballad of the RAA by The Rural Alberta Advantage

My honorable mention: Julie Doiron, Faunts and Said The Whale and more… (I probably would’ve fiddled with it a bit more had I given myself for a chance to think about it).

I was interested in her work after hearing a handful of tracks on her album, Postcards. Elin Palmer has a nice voice siding with great classical influenced folk. It’s nice to here all these instruments including the Nyckelharpa. It gives the music as interesting taste. With two tracks sung in her native language, she uses her heritage to further emphasize how great of a singer she is. It’s hard to say how good she is lyrically, I’m not sold that it’s the greatest in the world but it definitely doesn’t bother me,

The album from top to bottom is very sound with many weak spots. I think that’s where it ultimately fails to achieve great success is that it’s too sound. While the songs aren’t similar I just can’t seem to pick up sections where this album has its moments. It’s good music, tons of great classical influenced stuff but I can’t help but be a little more bored then I should be. It’s definitely safe music and while there’s nothing wrong with that, I feel like Elin Palmer’s Postcard doesn’t captivate me like I feel like Elin Palmer should.

For now, I’ll keep my eyes on Elin Palmer. She definitely has some good qualities that can’t be ignored and she should just keep moving forward. Perhaps more risks and more of a personality might do wonders but then again what do I know?

Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Still an above average album with talent shining more then anything.

Postcard by Elin Palmer
Balloons by Elin Palmer

To say I liked Rae Spoon’s Superioryouareinferior is an understatement. I loved that album and still currently listen to it every now and then. Anyway while reading some fellow blogs, specifically Canadian music blogging friends, Herohill and Quick Before It Melts posted this and while I have yet to hear the full release… Rae Spoon teamed up with German Alexandre Decoupigny an electronica artist to create something pretty cool. What Are You Waiting For? Or Worauf Wartest Du? is definitely an album on my to check out list.

Perhaps not far from Spoon’s work, Decoupigny and Spoon create music that builds off of Rae Spoon’s outworldly vocals while Decoupigny adds in subtleties with loops and soft yet effective sounds. Decoupigny adds in spoken word in German on this track. Sonically the track is really good even if it’s minimal, it just feels like music that works with Spoon rather then against him. Which in my opinion is important as music in the opposite direction takes over the vocals.

While I can’t understand any of the German, well I definitely don’t know what U Bahn is (U course according to Babelfish – I thought it could be a U turn? Or perhaps a U Road?) they both make it sound like a wonderful language. Good song.

U Bahn by Rae Spoon and Alexandre Decoupigny

The new album Know Better Learn Faster coincides with themes of Thao’s writing on the previous album – which revolved around singing about being a kid and not quite grown up. On this album, you have a slightly more matured (not necessarily better, in a way I tend to like the child like innocent song writing) version of Thao. Instead of questioning oneself and adding in self doubt, the music is more dynamic and riskier.

I’m not going to say the album is necessarily better but it shows off that Thao Nguyen and company are here to stay as it wasn’t a fluke of an album. I can’t judge off her other albums because I haven’t checked them out (yet) but the album just pours out talent. The album might not be on the level of We All Brave Bee Stings And All but again lofty expectations tend to get you disappointed. In this case, it’s more of the band and Thao Nguyen expanding their sounds a bit too much giving a slight lack of consistency on the album.

As for consistency goes, the band is consistency good so I’m perfectly satisfied with that. The album still gives you a good idea of where Thao Nguyen is in her life and how great she is as a singer and songwriter. Perhaps a small fine tuning might be needed as it’s ever close for Thao Nguyen With The Get Down Stay Down to make an album that critics have to stop ignoring (though the reviews have been very good, I’m not sure it’s quite there yet in terms of the top echelon).

Rating: 4.25 out of 5
A good album, perhaps a little bit all over the place and as stand alone songs there’s A LOT of great stuff. It just doesn’t work too well from song to song. Or else, you’d see a very high score.

When We Swam by Thao With The Get Down Stay Down
Easy by Thao With The Get Down Stay Down