slow club: yeah so

When my friend introduced me to Slow Club, my first reaction was "oh god... not another cutesy/gimmicky boy-girl two-piece band." However, my opinion of Slow Club quickly changed by the second or third listens of their debut full-length. Yeah So is a joyful folk-pop album full of wonderfully charming and carefree songs about love; it reminds me of Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down by Noah And The Whale. The duo, Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylor share the vocal duties in multiple fashions. Not only do they harmonise beautifully with each other throughout the album, there are also some quirky call and response in tracks like "I Was Unconscious, It Was A Dream" and "Because We're Dead". In addition, both members get to display their solo efforts—Charles in "Dance 'Till The Morning Light" and Rebecca in "Sorry About The Doom"—both are gentle and gorgeous tracks! Yeah So is a great little uplifting record; if you are into that UK folk sound like Johnny Flynn and Noah And The Whale, you will definitely dig Slow Club!

When I Go [wicked-cool song]
It Doesn't Have To Be Beautiful
Because We're Dead

visit Slow Club's MySpace here
buy Yeah So here

i want to grow up to be christopher wright

The Daredevil Christopher Wright are playing a FREE in-store this Friday (6 pm) at Criminal Records!

Acceptable Loss
The Daredevil Christopher Wright [wicked-cool song]

visit The Daredevil Christopher Wright's MySpace here

we are the men you’ll grow to love soon

I am completely obsessed with this song right now:

Let's Wrestle: We Are The Men You'll Grow To Love Soon [super-wicked-cool song]



visit Let's Wrestle's MySpace here

our brother the native: sacred psalms

Our Brother The Native is not everyone's cup of tea. Their new full-length, Sacred Psalms is one of the most experimental and unique sounding records I have heard this year. The unconventional elements are what make the album so appealing—it is full of unstructured compositions, scattered sounds and random noises; in addition, there is no solid form of direction in any of the songs; but once in a while, you get the Akron/Family and Animal Collective-like psychedelic rhythms—seriously, there are like a million fascinating things to discover! I really don’t see anyone falling in love with Sacred Psalms right from the first listen, it will most likely take a while to get into; however, once you are used to the avant-garde sound, it will become apparent that it is quite an amazing record!

Awaken [wicked-cool song]
Endless Winter [wicked-cool song]

visit Our Brother The Native's MySpace here
by Sacred Psalms here

what you need is a sunny sunny day

Johnny Flynn has uploaded a new song, "Lost And Found" to his MySpace page.

A new EP entitled Sweet William will be out early November. In addition, Johnny will embark on an acoustic solo tour in October:

October
21 Canterbury Festival (no support; two sets)
22 Glasgow Nice ’N’ Sleazy (support from Anna Calvi)
23 Birmingham Glee Club (support from Anna Calvi)
24 Leeds Brudenell Social Club (support from Anna Calvi)
25 Manchester Deaf Institute (support from Anna Calvi)
27 Bristol Cube Cinema (support from Alessi's Ark)
28 Brighton Hanbury Ballroom (support from Alessi's Ark)
29 Southampton Hamptons (support from Alessi's Ark)

cover song of the moment

Head over to deerhunter/atlas sound/lotus plaza blog to download Atlas Sound's cover of "Walk A Thin Line" by Fleetwood Mac!

i don't think before i speak

Good Shoes are back with a new song!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can download "The Way My Heartbeats" for FREE over at the band's website!

The band also announced a crap load of November/December UK dates:

November
05 Moles, Bath
06 Joiners, Southampton
07 Forum, Tunbridge Wells
09 Boiler Rooms, Guildford
10 Jericho, Oxford
11 Soul Tree, Cambridge
13 Club 85, Hitchin
14 Square, Harlow
15 Bodega, Nottingham
16 Sugarmill, Stoke
18 Central Station, Wrexham
19 Cockpit 2, Leeds
20 Club Strut, Darlington
21 Priory, Doncaster
23 Fibbers, York
24 King Tuts, Glasgow
25 Dexters, Dundee
26 Electric Circus, Edinburgh
27 Digital, Newcastle
28 Korova, Liverpool
30 Leadmill, Sheffield

December
01 Musician, Leicester
02 Hare and Hounds, Birmingham
03 Club Ifor Bach, Cardiff
04 Ruby Lounge, Manchester
05 Cooler, Bristol

i'm a fox trapped in the headlgihts

Holy crap, it has been a whole week since I updated this blog... sorry, I just have been sort of busy/lazy at the same time!

Noah and the Whale new record The First Days of Spring will be out on October 6th in the US (August 31st in UK). There will also be a series of live dates and screenings of the film (OMG!)

Noah and the Whale from Black Cab Sessions on Vimeo.

Patrick Wolf's The Bachelor is FINALLY out in North America this week!

Brand New released their first single, "At The Bottom" off of their upcoming record, Daisy on Tuesday. You can get the single from iTunes. Go to Spin.com for a great interview with Jesse Lacey.

Port O’Brien is heading out for a fall tour with Sea Wolf. Their new record, threadbare is out on October 6th, you can download a brand new song over at Stereogum.

Gallows are heading back to North America with AFI and Flogging Molly, go to the band’s MySpace for the dates.

"Cone of Light", a brand new song from King Khan & BBQ Show + The Black Lips hybrid aka The Almighty Defenders is available for download via Vice Records.

...and finally, RIP Les Paul!

SummerWorks 09 | day 1

SummerWorks: Miracle Fortress—August 6, 2009 @ Theatre Centre

Graham is a pretty sick dancer!





see more photos at my flickr page

the meadowlark singing to you each and every day

Fleet Foxes—August 4, 2009 @ Massey Hall

I still can’t get over how spectacular the show was... definitely the best show of the year!




Here are some recordings of the show. The quality is not great, but you get to hear a couple of new songs!

New Song
New Song 2

Katie Cruel

Tiger Mountain Peasant Song
Mykonos
Oliver James
Meadowlarks

UPDATE: Holy crap—both Now Magazine and Eye Weekly gave last night's show a 5 out of 5!

my ego's like my stomach, it keeps shitting what i feed it

Cursive—August 1, 2009 @ The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern

Oh man, I have waited 7/8 years for this... Cursive finally played their first headline show in Toronto last night! They played so many old classics—"Sierra", "A Gentleman Caller", "Art Is Hard", "The Martyr" (wished they had play "Bloody Murderer")—amazing setlist, amazing show!





see more photos at my flickr page

summerworks 09

The 2009 Toronto SummerWorks festival is soon (August 6–16). Aside from usual theatre lineup, this year’s festival features the 2nd annual SummerWorks Music Series. Make sure you check out DD/MM/YYYY, those guys are awesome live! I am excited to see finally see The D'Urbervilles for the first time! Check out the full line-up below:

All shows—10 pm @ The Theatre Centre (all ages!)

Thursday, August 6th, 2009
Miracle Fortress
w. Karkwa

Friday, August 7th, 2009
Think About Life
DD/MM/YYYY

Saturday, August 8th, 2009
The Got To Get Got
Oh No Forest Fires

Sunday, August 9th, 2009
Arts and Crafts & Blocks recordings present a benefit for sketch with:
Still Life Still
Kids on TV

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
Boys Who Say No
Fox Jaws

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
Matthew Barber
w. Claire Jenkins

Thursday, August 13th, 2009
Out of this spark presents:
The D'Urbervilles
Forest City Lovers

Friday, August 14th, 2009
Sunparlour Players
w. Josh Reichmann Oracle Band

Saturday, August 15th, 2009
Germans
Great Bloomers