Archive for the ‘New Pornographers’ Category

Canada Day Playlist!


Canada Day Playlist!In celebration of Canada, it’s time for a all Canadian music list of our best artists. These artists make us proud to say we’re Canadian.

1. Wolf Parade – We Built Another World
2. Arcade Fire – Cars and Telephones
3. Avril Lavigne – Girlfriend (you didn’t think I was serious?)
3. Feist – Lonely Lonely
4. Lovesuit by Hilotrons
5. Milkshake by Holy Fuck
6. Metric – Soft Rock Star
7. New Pornographers – Bones of An Idol
8. Broken Social Scene – Stars and Sons
9. Cadence Weapon – Do I Miss My Friends
10. Black Mountain – Stay Free




Playlist for the NBA Finals: Lakers vs Celtics


Playlist for the NBA Finals: Lakers vs CelticsI’m an equal opportunist when it comes to all things (I’ve done playlists for MMA, hockey, and football) so I while I forgot to do a playlist for the NBA finals, it can’t hurt if I’m a tad late? Anyway Game 1 took place yesterday night with the Celtics victorious. This is a rival against the all-time greatest two NBA teams and it’s a match-up everyone seemed to be rooting for.

I am going with the Celtics as they are the underdogs (bet on them +160 to take the series) and they have quite a few guys without championships while Bryant, Phil J and Co. have a few rings under the them so fuck ‘em.

Paul Pierce’s dramatic injury and being lifted off and then coming back so soon kind of ticked me off. It’s always like Paul Pierce goes down like he’s shot only to come back feelin’ fine. His entrance while the Celtics were on offense and the crowd cheering also messed up the offense. Funny.

Also, while basketball is always related to hip-hop…this playlist will just be rock because rock and basketball can go to together.

Anyway before I ramble about random, useless things, here’s a playlist:

1. There’s No Home For You Here by The White Stripes (series decided by home court adv.?)
2. Boston by Vampire Weekend
3. California by Facteur
4. Lovely Allen by Holy Fuck (because Ray’s shot is lovely)
5. Rape Me by Nirvana (to Kobe Bryant lol, he doesn’t have a nick name… how about “the Therapist”)
6. Sing Me Spanish Techno by The New Pornographers (for Pau Gasol, Spanish Techno would be an awesome nickname)
7. Altered Beast by We Are Scientists (Initials are lame for a nickname…everyone does it…how about the Genetically Altered Beast for KG?)
8. The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot by Brand New
9. The Comeback by The Shout Out Louds (if you foresaw that the Celtics would be in the finals at the end of the season last year – I’d call you a genius)
10. Faker by Everybody Else (it’s arguable…the dramatics were cheesy, though people were saying that he was instructed not to walk…it seems a little odd nonetheless)
11. I Feel Better by Frightened Rabbit (he’ll be fine)




Playlist for NHL Stanley Cup Final Wings vs Pens


Playlist for NHL Stanley Cup Final Wings vs PensI haven’t discussed enough hockey on this music blog…I’m Canadian AND from Toronto. This year has been sucky (for us Leaf fans) but whenever you can promote hockey to an American audience why the heck not?

Here’s a random playlist that I hope seems somehow related: ( I gotta go out)
1. The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance by Vampire Weekend
2. Flyin by Regina Spektor
3. Harder Better Faster Stronger by Daft Punk
4. Ballad of A Comeback Kid by The New Pornographers
5. Inaction by We Are Scientists
6. Attack of the 60 ft Lesbian Octopus by Does It Offend You Yeah?
7. In Search of the Youth Crew by Cadence Weapon
8. Passing the Hat by Cold War Kids
9. Heart and Soul by Joy Division
10. Lucky Ones by Kevin Drew

Filler so I can adjust the below alignment!!!




Allan’s Top Songs of 07 #50-26


I actually quite enjoyed picking out the top songs of 2007. There were many tracks from albums I loved and other singles that stood out in a lackluster album. Most of these tracks I have posted before (I’ll link to the post if you wish to dig hard enough to download them) and are mainly bands I am familiar with. Generally, I blogged about the band if they appeared in the top 50. There are some tracks I haven’t posted yet so you’ll be able to download them here (I think it looks bad if I have every mp3 listed available for download). I linked to the post where the other mp3s are available.

I did hate uploading tracks though and the linking stuff (takes forever). I also had to re-upload some tracks after annoying my friend Jack with bandwidth usage. Look out for the rest tomorrow.

50. A Girl in Port by Okkervil River
49. Shirin by Jens Lekman (link)
48. I Know I’ll See You by A Place To Bury Strangers (link)
47. For Science Fiction by Maritime (link)
46. Freak Out by Liars (link)
45. Phantom by Justice (link)
44. Sleep Deprivation by Simian Mobile Disco
43. Take Me To the Ballroom by the Moonbabies
42. Tthhee Ppaarrttyy by Justice (link)
41. Myriad Harbour by The New Pornographers (link)
40. Objects of My Affection by Peter, Bjorn and John
39. Blue Headlights by The Shout Out Louds (link)
38. No I in Threesome by Interpol
37. My Moon, My Man by Feist
36. Kookaburra by John Vanderslice
35. Paper Birds by Siberian (link)
34. Make A Plan To Love Me by the Bright Eyes
33. Philadelphia Grand Jury by the Fiery Furnaces
32. I Believe by Simian Mobile Disco
31. You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb by Spoon
30. I’m Not Going to Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You by the Black Kids
29. You Can’t Hold the Hand of the Rock and Roll Man by Okkervil River
28. Airship by Siberian (link)
27. Turn On Me by The Shins (link)
26. White Winter Hymnal by the Fleet Foxes (link)




Mixtape For the Holidays (Without Being Christmas-y)


The term Christmas doesn’t really suit this blog well. None of us are Christian (I think) and whether it is Athiest, Christianity, Judaism, Agnostic, Buddhism, (or even Satanism?). Either way everyone is basically off from school or work or whatever daily happenings of their life. So it’s great to have some get togethers and overall it’s supposed to be a fun rocking time.

I am not going with the generic Christmas songs but I think going with happier type songs. I do have a favorite Christmas song (by The Raveonettes). Anyway I found this list hard to do…who knows maybe it’s the selection I have on this blog or just that most songs are depressing or angry and have nothing to do with being cheerfully happy? Enough ranting.

1. Feist – It’s Cool To Love Your Family
2. Jens Lekman – Your Arms Around Me
3. The Beatles – Come Together
4. The Elected – Would You Come With Me?
5. Of Montreal – On the Drive Home
6. Josh Ritter – Real Long Distance
7. Arcade Fire – No Cars Go
8. The New Pornographers – Sing Me Spanish Techno
9. Lily Allen – Everything’s Just Wonderful
10. The Postal Service – Sleeping In




Album Reviews I Messed Up On in 2007


When looking at reviews made in the past, don’t you ever say “this publication really missed the boat on that album”. Anyway when compiling and looking at the grades I gave for reviews this past year, I think it was apparent I fucked messed up on some reviews. I’m going through all the reviews I made so far and categorizing as too high or too low. I’m hoping I won’t have as much mistakes for 2008 but you never know sometimes. Some albums are growers and some albums that you thought were great don’t have that lasting effect that made you think the album was great in the first place.

We all make mistakes but it’s really about admitting them!

Albums I was too nice on:

Hot Hot Heat – Happiness Ltd.
Original Rating: 4 out of 5
I must say I am not proud at all with giving this score…granted Happiness Ltd. was a decent album but it definitely wasn’t trash like some people are saying. I think I started getting tougher on albums right after looking at this album. Hot Hot Heat’s Happiness Ltd. does have a more mainstream sound and when I go back on the album it does give off a “meh” feeling despite how poppy it is. This album would probably get a 3 out of 5 from me. I liked it more then “Elevator” and there were some tracks I dug despite giving off that “emo” feeling. An average effort but in the end as I’ve moved on from liking HHH.
Harmonicas and Tambourines by Hot Hot Heat

Shout Out Louds – Our Ill Wills
Original Rating: 4.5 out of 5
The 4.5 out of 5 ranking doesn’t match what I wrote and still feel when I wrote the review for “Our Ill Wills”. I felt this album produced a lot of hits but as an album it didn’t quite gel together. It was a great progression from “Howl Howl Gaff Gaff” but I believe it deserves to be around a 4 out of 5. The first half of this album is amazing though. I think when I gave this score, I was a little bit biased as the Shout Out Louds are one of my favorite bands… Am I nitpicking at my own ranking here? Maybe but a 4 and 4.5 makes a huge difference from the very good to cream of the crop.
Blue Headlights by Shout Out Louds
Suit Yourself by the Shout Out Louds

Eisley – Combinations
Original Rating: 5 out of 5
A 5 out of 5 review would probably guarantee this album in my top 20 albums of ‘07 (if not my top 10) but I think this album just missed and that I was too high when reviewing “Combinations”. When preparing for this post, I went back to the album to get a better idea of what the score should be. I was reminded how good this album actually is despite the “blah” reviews. It’s not quite 5 material but I think it deserves a 4.5 out of 5 for being very good. Also while looking up the hot Eisley girls I found out Sherri Dupree’s marriage to New Found Glory’s guitarist Chad Gilbert has seemed to have ended. Not that I really care but Eisley fans might be interested.
Ten Cent Blues by Eisley
Taking Control by Eisley

Albums I was too harsh on:
Beirut – Flying Club Cup
Original Rating: 3.25 out of 5
3.25 out of 5 isn’t that bad of a score. Most albums I review will probably receive 3s but I must say I never gave this album a chance. I do recall songs being a bit too complex for me and I’d wish for songs to be a lot more simpler. I never really tried to get into this album even if from the outset I knew it would take some effort. I MAY do a re-review if someone requests but I just think I couldn’t really justify the 3.25.
Nantes by Beirut

New Pornographers – Challengers
Original Rating: 3 out of 5
Challengers was overall a fun album to listen to. I think the problem when I reviewed the album is that I fixated on the “filler” moments of the album and there were some great tracks that I will make my top 30 songs of this year. The album should’ve gotten a 4 out of 5 from me and I probably was in an upset mood or something for giving a poor score.
Myriad Harbour by The New Pornographers
Mutiny, I Promise You by The New Pornographers

Bishop Allen – The Broken String
Original Rating: 2 out of 5
Like, reviewing Beirut’s album I really didn’t give this album much time. Most of this album were remastered songs from the 12 EP project that they released for every month of the year. Corazon was arguably my favorite song by them and there were a handful of tracks that I dug stylistically. I think they went away from that for “The Broken String”. No fault of their own but I could’ve been less-biased and tried to use less of my own likings of some songs rather then complaining how they did this and that.
Corazon (original) by Bishop Allen

Battles – Mirrored
Original Rating: 1.5 out of 5
I can’t really defend myself here. I gave out a harsh review because the album didn’t fit into my style at all and it gave me constant headaches. Listening to Battles’ “Mirrored” was a mistake at the time I would say because I was not ready for their style of music. It still gives me a headache but I don’t think I should’ve written a review at all but I think I could look at it again to see how my views has changed. I’m thinking about doing a re-review but I need some motivation as I’ve got a bunch of stuff to cover.
Ddiamondd by Battles




Playlist Dedicated to Posties + Money Draw!


Recent developments that have altered the way I blog (discontinued my two other blogs) is the non-sense with Google punishing blogs for having paid content. This has affected me personally. Just know that this music blog would not be possible with the money I made from paid blogging. I can host my own songs and I can purchase albums for reviewing whenever I want (a HUGE luxury).

If you’ve come here from the Hype Machine or Elbo.ws, posties is a name that was given for paid bloggers usingPayPerPost which acts as the driving force to making us an incredible amount of money. The community has some really nice people and are really are deserving of having their spirits lifted for the holiday season will all the crappy turmoil recently faced (there have been some unfortunate issues).

Here my playlist dedicated to the Posties with some of my favorite artists:
1. Up Against The Wall – Peter, Bjorn, and John
2. The Moneymaker – Rilo Kiley
3. A Time To Be So Small by Interpol
4. Thief – Our Lady Peace (because Google is one)
5. Nothing Better – The Postal Service
6. Good People by Jack Johnson
7. The Angry Mob – Kaiser Chiefs
8. My Rights Versus Yours – New Pornographers
9. The Comeback – Shout Out Louds

Anyway the contest is going to be a drawing with:

Prizes: 1st place prize of $21.63 by Paypal and a (to offset fees) 2nd Place Prize A Blog Review with a a playlist dedicated to your blog much like this playlist.

Eligibility: Posties ONLY. A lot of outsiders will see this post due to having this post parsed by music aggregators but I just can’t see an outsider winning without me feeling bad. So just enjoy the mp3s :) .

How to enter: Easy, leaving a comment gets you an entry. Subscribing to my feed (by e-mail) and letting me know will get you another entry. You can blog about this if you want but it’s really not necessary as this feels separate from my normal type content but it will give you another entry. You don’t have to choose the blog now to be reviewed as I will just ask the second place winner.

Contest ends: December 11th. I am going to be busy until then as it’s after two exams but if you have any questions/concerns just drop a line.




New Pornographers: Challengers Review


New Pornographers: Challengers Review
The New Pornographers I wouldn’t classify as one of my favorite bands but they have made some pretty catchy singles and their albums weren’t so bad to boot. All 3 previous albums had very high critical praise though I can say that by taste I didn’t like them that much.

The new album Challengers received semi-positive reviews however it is called their worst album but still good.

Challengers for me had a lot of mediocre songs with some good songs here and there. There was nothing annoying such that I couldn’t listen to it and it’s pretty pleasant to listen to actually. However it’s not at all catchy nor amazing sounding that it would receive an excellent review from me.

It’s a decent album just nothing spectacular. The top 3 songs on the alum for me are: 1. Myriad Harbour 2. Challengers 3. Mutiny, I Promise You

The rest are very “meh” with another song or so I liked and it’s getting a 3 out of 5 for me (look for stiffer reviews). This album was deleted except for the tracks I liked so yeah it didn’t have a lasting feeling for me.

Listen to Myriad Harbour(download)




Albums Out This Week: Rilo Kiley, M.I.A. and New Pornographers


Rilo Kiley
This week 3 albums came out that I will have to definitely check out.
First off Rilo Kiley is listed as one of my favorite bands and while I really dig them “Under the Blacklight” is having mixed results from reviewers. I generally don’t care what critics are going to say and I am definitely going to give this one a review in the future and add in my two cents.

Here’s my favorite Rilo Kiley song (I really like Blake Sennett’s vocals):

I am not really big fans of either the New Pornographers or M.I.A. but I have liked of a lot of the singles that I have managed to download. Since I am familiar with them it feels as if it couldn’t hurt to check them out. M.I.A.’s Kala is tearin’ up the reviews at the moment and I usually check out unknown bands that have good reviews. Look for their albums to be reviewed in the upcoming months (this was an excuse to get some Rilo Kiley on here).