November 2009 Archives

They say, songs are a great way to express what you're feeling and that there's always a song for any given situation. Take that one episode of Glee for example - the one about ballads and singing out how you feel. While Mr. Schuster, was singing a very apt for the situation song (The Police's 'Don't Stand so Close to Me')  to a love struck Rachel - it got me thinking - do we have any good songs about telling someone that we're really not into them? Well, at the very least, are there any good songs out there for the person who's just itching to tell his or her current fling that they should just 'be friends'?

For those feeling stuck in their relationships right now, we've got five songs that might be able to help you get unstuck from that rut. Break-ups are always hard to do, especially if you're the one initiating it. So this week, we've got five songs that should help you spell out to your dearest ex-love that they've been, for lack of better words - dumped.

How could I not post this video here? It contains two of my favorite things - Skins and a Canadian indie band. And not just any band at that, but a band from our hometown here in Vancouver :)  Here's Skins series 4 set to Lightning Dust's 'I Knew'.

I can't wait until January rolls in to see the new series - I just find sex, drugs, and girl on girl action so endearing. I do hope they've got more stuff in store for my favorite autistic boy JJ ...and of course, more cool music to look forward to ;)

Nothing de-stresses me than listening to songs that have lovely instrumention and arrangement, especially ones that only musical instrument players can truly appreciate. We break away from the usual guitar heavy / synth heavy music to a more unplugged, acoustic style . This week, we have my top 5 favorite songs that have that lush feel in them featuring your not so typical musical instruments found in a pop song - 

This week, we feature an artist who's a staunch supporter of your local adopt-a-cat program. In fact, he recently set up a cat themed fund raising show for the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home (which was also one of my favorite Animal Planet shows next to Vets in Practice). Rescue Cat, as he is fondly called, brings to us kitty friendly, electropop music, with snazzy synths that'll be sure to warm your hearts up to make room for welcoming a rescue cat - if not in your home, then maybe somewhere in your mp3 playlist.

Since we've got prose for the theme of the past few posts, I figured, instead of the video of the week, we'd have a book of the week. It's a good thing because, we've got just the right book for you courtesy of Hamilton, Ontario band The Rest.

The Cried Wolf Illustrated Novel EP  is a novel presented in four parts - each with a track to accompany it, as each part is released every month. I blame my three-month email backlog for not posting this sooner since the online novel has already been available since October. Nonetheless, you won't be robbed of the joy of expecting the next two parts which will be coming in December and January. 

The project is in collaboration with artist MLXNDRSC who provides and an amazingly surreal and inventive visual interpretation of the story. The Rest has already released two tracks for it - their wonderful rendition of Robyn's With Every Heartbeat and a track called The Close Western. You can head on to the Auteur Recordings site to view the novel and begin the fantastic and whimsical journey of liar-liar-pants-on-fire Hans Horatio Stickypants. If you're the type who loves silly and surreal, you'll definitely enjoy the read.

I've read the first two installments and it kind of made me think of  that Mighty Boosh episode (most probably because of that desert scene) where Naboo was telling Howard and Vince about the story of Rudi van Disarzio and Spider Dijon . The novel has the same kind of feel, only, instead of silly, kooky Boosh songs, we've got the more sophisticated, musically polished sound of The Rest. 

I'm rapt in anticipation, patiently waiting for the next few installments now. So, if you haven't gotten to checking out this wonderful new novel/EP, I suggest you do :)

Who says Friday the 13th is unlucky? Since it's a special day, instead of your usual 3 to 5 songs in the List Addicts list, it's going to be a baker's dozen. Also to celebrate a novel opening that I made that won $20 this week (woohoo! twenty bucks!) - the random songs that I'm serving up will presumably, be songs that can inspire you to write and make that work of art that you've been waiting all your life to finish.

Songs are the perfect inspiration. They create the mood, and are great soundtracks for the imaginative mind. What we have here is a collection of songs that have carefully been selected to get your creative juices flowing -

This week's fresh Fresh from the Post is New York based musician, Jacob Vanags, whose songs aim to bring back the oomph in piano music and let you know that fun stuff can actually come from the boring old piano lessons you had as a kid.

Read on as Jacob answers some of our questions and talks to us about his newly released EP, Pulses are Pluses -

This week, I'm listing my top five songs (at moment) that make me grin, smile or even laugh out loud. It won't be a collection of parody songs, or songs by comedy acts, but by indie bands that take a stab at humor in their songs. 

What's good about the songs in this list is that, they're not only witty, but pretty to listen to at the same time. So, perk up your ears and get ready to turn that frown upside down. ;)

It's Tuesday again, a day for new stuff to listen to - fresh from the post (e-post that is). We feature new music picked out fresh from our mailbox. As always, it is also the one day of the week that we get one lucky artist to take a jab at answering The Indie Music Database's standard set slam book questions ;)

This week, we're taking a great plunge into the genre of raw, honest, self-released, electronic synth heavy indie music, courtesy of Matt S. from The Marshmallow Pop Orchestra -

How and when did Marshmallow Pop Orchestra form?

MPO formed approx 3 years ago (2006).  I am the only person in MPO.  I play all of the instruments, sing, write all of the songs, etc.  It's just me, a few old keyboards, a Boss drum machine, and a Boss BR-8 digital 8 track.  I started writing and recording under the MPO name a few years ago after someone very close to me had a near death experience.  I had stopped recording / writing music for approx 5 prior to forming the MPO to focus on work, family life, etc.  The near death experience put alot of things in perspective.