March 2010 Archives

 I’m always curious as to how people get where they are. How did you get started playing music?

My parents had me modeling at 18 months old and so for me this was really the beginning of the entertainment world. I modeled until I was 7, giving it up to further my musical studies. By the time I was 7 years old, I already had an agent and a vocal coach in NYC. I was singing professionally and was playing the violin, drums and piano.

My mother was a classically trained pianist and my father was a rock 'n roll drummer so there was music playing in our house 24/7. It's just always been a natural part of my surroundings.

Happy is when I see cute kitties lounging in toilet bowls.

I just love four day work weeks right after Spring Break - it just brings out the 'happy' in people.

Here now is your lyric of the day recap -

The Friday list comes on during Saturday again. I blame it on the migraine - which has slowly been killing me over the past years. Migraines aside, in this week's list, we go a bit spiritual (I think)  - since it's Lent, and something in my Catholic upbringing thinks this is going to be fun.

Today, our featured artists will be ones that have songs that have a Christian bent or have that unique Christian influence. But don't let that turn you off though - these artists are more than your run-of-the-mill Christian bands. First of all, they don't sing ska, and second, they produce songs that some of you might think, can't be related to anything Christian at all. Here now is my top five artists that have answered that calling to spread the good news through music...in their own odd-sounding way -

1. Good News for the Pus Pickers by Danielson

Your eccentric Christian band list would not be complete without including the Danielson Famile on the list. Their unique brand of caterwauling and screechy vocals might make you cringe, but that won't stop you from listening - it'll make you curious all the more. They may not be singing praise yous or allelujah's, yet it's seeing their whole live act that makes you feel like wanting to go to mass the next day.

A picture above is good ole Daniel Smith himself - the band's founder, dressed in his tree costume in one of their live shows. If you're a devout Christian, you might be able to recognize the significance of the nine different fruits on the tree as representing the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, you can always dismiss Bro. Daniel as a complete whack-job. Crazy or not, no-one who's seen them perform can deny that this is a group who is dedicated to their calling - a calling to spread the good news via their avant garde music. The group originally composed of the Smiths siblings, were raised in a very religious environment - their dad a composer of praise music (some of his work you might even find in your Sunday hymn books). What started out as a thesis project for the eldest Smith sibling evolved into a family band and the indie icons that they are today. To fully appreciate the Danielson sound - I highly recommend watching the documentary "Danielson: A Family Movie" - which to me, is one of the best and most entertaining band documentaries I've seen in a while. Check out the end of the trailer where a couple recalls 'clapping for Jesus' in one of their concerts and realizing how awkward it was because they were Jewish.

In honor of the release of the new Scott Pilgrim movie trailer, our video of the week is of the song that started it all. It's 1997 all over again with Halifax all-girl band Plumtree and their single Scott Pilgrim. To those who don't know it yet, the popular graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O'Malley was inspired by this little old Plumtree song.

Of course this post wouldn't be complete without the trailer for the upcoming movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World that you can check out after the jump -

In this week's edition of Fresh from the Post, we sample a bit of Manila electropop with Techy Romantics. We caught up with the Techy Romantic's Dondi Virrey and asked him a few things about  his group's brand of music...

Some people really can't appreciate the authenticity of kid-drawn robots.

In any case, if you were one of the few who did, I extend to you my warmest and deepest thanks. Otherwise, face the wrath of Cat-robot. Feel his evil death stare upon you, his fierce hell claws just waiting to pounce. You might want to watch your back. I kid you not.

Here is the recap -

Not counting last week's robot T-shirt design post (since it wasn't even music-related), it's been a while since I've posted a Paolo related music post. If you've been keeping tabs, the last song he got obsessed with was Who Left the Lights Off, Baby. Now, I'm happy to report that this has changed. It was hard pry him away from his fixation on the Guillemots, but I have finally succeeded :) Not only that, I also lowered my burnout rate on songs that Paolo listens to repeatedly, by introducing him to two versions of the same song. It's still the same song, but played differently - thus lowering the chance of me getting sick of it after five consecutive plays. How brilliant is that? I have gladly reached a compromise with my habit addicted, favorite music fixated, non neurotypical little boy...for now.

This week's Friday's list is inspired by songs that have two versions. Despite the distinct variations, both the original and the second version, are equally nice to listen to:

1. Too Too Too Fast by Ra Ra Riot

This is the song that broke the Guillemots obsession. Now, I just have to battle out this Ra Ra Riot fixation since Paolo tries to sneak in playing this song at the start of our car ride and times it so that the song also plays before the trip ends. It has now become a habit for him during our weekly trips to the therapist. Not that I mind though, I'm quite obsessed with the song myself. The original 'drum version'(as opposed to the 'piano version' as Paolo would call it) is my favorite, since it gives me that sudden urge to clear off the dust from my sticks and hit the skins on the old drum kit.

John Pike, wherever you are, you make really awesome drum grooves :)

Too Too Too Fast (Say Hi Remix)

2. So Kind, Stacy by Carol Cleveland Sings

I've featured this before in one of the Lyric of the Day posts as well as in my earlier posts in this blog. It's one of those songs that was great originally, and got successfully reincarnated with a fuller and richer sound later on. The first version is off the Songfight.org site, where The Spinto Band had its early start as Carol Cleveland Sings. The song didn't win the songfight, but that didn't deter the band from creating more songs - which led to the current Spinto Band sound, as well as the more popular version of So Kind, Stacy.

So Kind, Stacy  by The Spinto Band

I've always loved La Blogotheque's Take-Away shows. There's always something grand about impromptu live music in places where you don't usually expect to have live music. Of course, when I heard that they got The Rest performing one of my favorite songs, I just had to post this up as video of the week. The video above is The Rest at Coney Island, performing Modern Time Travel.

If you like what you hear, you can also check out their Book/EP called The Cried Wolf, which is available here :)

Remember that saucy little music video with naked girls in censor strips? Well, this week's Fresh from the Post artist would be the guilty party behind that.

Bark Bark Disco are Morris Woodcock, Charlotte and Antonio, three friends that form this little musical group, whose origins are split between Berlin and Malta. They produce their own unique brand of music which they dub as 'bedroom pop'. Today, they take a crack at this week's Fresh from the Post questions, as well as share a couple of songs to us from their newly released album -Your Mum Says Hello.

Ahh, hipster hate - the true landmark of hipster-ism. Personally, I don't really get that whole thing about hating on sub-cultures of cultures...or whatever you might call it. Also, as a self ascribed self-facilitating media node, I withhold judgement only until after Dan Ashcroft writes about it in Sugar Ape.

Forgive me, it's a Monday.

Here now is your recap -

To long-time visitors of the site, you might remember the robot that hovers over the left side of the page when you visit. I've actually contemplated on putting it on a shirt or something, since Paolo is always proud of seeing it shown (since it looks oh-so-edgy with it's robot thrusters). So, I thought I'd submit it to good ol' Threadless and see how it fares. If you guys want to show the appreciation and love (I'm sure Paolo will be thrilled), please drop by Threadless to score his design.

If anyone's interested in the artist behind it, he's shy but here's a nice picture of him behind one of his artworks.

I know, this post isn't at all indie - it's going to be more retro than indie. But then, in my defense - it's the sort of music that most of you guys reading haven't heard of, since these songs came from an era where you were still a twinkle in your parent's eyes.

I blame it all on the John Hughes tribute at the Oscars on Sunday, as well as JJ's Spandau Ballet serenade on Skins last Thursday. It gave me this really big urge to post an eighties themed List Addicts Fridays. The scariest part about this is, the songs that are pushing me to do this are the type of songs that my friends would squeal at when heard at the high school dance (yes, back in the day).

To JJ, your ukelele version of True impressed me - if I was the girl, I would've married you on the spot. But although 'True' might be the quintissential song of the eighties - and hearing it always transports me back to that sweet sweet time of my youth, it's been in a tad too many shows about the 80s. On this note, if any of you guys are planning on making an 80's themed movie or TV episode, why not sample these eighties staples that were overplayed back then, but aren't getting any action like what Spandau Ballet's 'True' is getting now.

Indulge me, I promise we'll go back to our regularly scheduled indie lists next week and never speak of this again...

1. Seona Dancing - More to Lose

Hello Ricky Gervais, your pop music past has come to haunt you again.

I don't know why he tends to shy away from the subject when this fact comes out in interviews. The group wasn't really a tremendous flop - this song was huge...in Manila that is. Nonetheless, now that the song has become pop music history - and not at all a bad song, maybe some of the new generation of music lovers can appreciate it - and regale in how Ricky Gervais actually sounds amazing as an eighties pop singer.

2. The Care - Whatever Possessed You

I've always wished this was featured in a cult teen movie and had the same notoriety that 'Don't You' had because of The Breakfast Club. Maybe somebody out there can make that true for me - I'd sure see love to see this song put into film - and please, no covers.

If there's one thing that I like about covers is that when it totally reinvents the original. Like when Steven Tyler reinvented himself to become Janice Dickinson...oh, wait, they're not the same person?

Nevertheless, if you loved Pomplamoose's cover of I Don't Want to Miss A Thing, you can head on over to their YouTube channel because they've got tons more of those nifty covers as well as great originals for your listening pleasure :)

In an effort to break the 90's flashback theme going on in the past few posts, our Fresh from the Post artist swings us back to the present....an 80's themed present that is.

The Venus Stare are Anthoni "Toni" Lone, Edward Clipse, Angela Maze and Linda Ipgloss - four friends admittedly obsessed with 1980s powerballads and outrageous 80's fashion. The video above is their freshly released music video for their time-warp generating single Close To You - which the band debuts today on The Indie Music Database.

We had a quick chat with the group about their new release and how one little eighties movie started it all -

I love the 90's!

The Video of the Week comes from a duo that originates from the island of Malta & the city of Berlin. It's a music video for a song that's enhanced by strategically placing lyrics over the naked bodies of women in the classic porn film 'Six Swedish Girls in a Boarding School' . Here's a Song for the Lovers by Bark Bark Disco. (tip: For maximum viewing pleasure, wait for the keyboard solo).

For today's Fresh from the Post, we go with some folksy guitar pop with Saul Ste. Marie, Ontario's Kalle Mattson. The group started out in 2007 with singer-songwriter Kalle Wainio, and grew to a full band with the addition of Rory Lewis, Théan Slabbert  and Jimmie Chiverelli, releasing two albums- 2008's Telescope EP and 2009's full length album Whisper Bee.

A group on the rise, Kalle Mattson has been recently nominated at this year's Northern Ontario Music Awards. They're also slotted to perform at the upcoming Canadian Music Week in Toronto.

We talk with the group's frontman Kalle Wainio, who gets to answer this week's Fresh from the Post questions -

I think weeks should always start with a post of a picture of a young Christopher Walken.

Just because.

Also, my daily lyrics have a universal theme to them....but it's mystery. Just like the mystery that surrounds the weird feeling that you get just by looking at this picture. Go figure.

Here's the weekly lyric of the day recap -