Music

Saw some good shows at The Crocodile Cafe during my years in Seattle. Sorry to see it closing.

Artist: Various Album: Jonny Greenwood Is The Controller This has pretty much been my record of the summer. Jonny Greenwood, the guitarist from Radiohead, spent months picking some of his favourite tracks from the Trojan Records’ archive. The end result of his efforts was an outstanding compilation. The disc pulls together bits of ska, rocksteady, [...]

Artist: Crowded House Album: Time On Earth I’ve been listening to Time On Earth for a couple of weeks now. The record, which is the first new recording from Crowded House in a long time, takes a couple of listens from start to finish for the listener to appreciate the lyrical and musical quality of [...]

Artist: Various Album: Jamaica to Toronto: Soul Funk and Reggae 1967-1974 For those of you who like your music full of energy, sweet licks and all out funkiness. More Motown (soul) then Kingston (reggae), this collection of songs recorded in Toronto is great for a warm Saturday afternoon barbeque with friends and a cooler full [...]

After much too long of a hiatus, I’ve put together Volume 8 of the Over In About An Hour mixtape series. This collection of songs was pulled together for an evening of washing dishes and cleaning a very messy kitchen. While our kitchen does have a dishwasher in it, there is something about cleaning dishes [...]

Artist: Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova Album: Once: Music From the Motion Picture For fans of The Frames, Damien Rice, and those who like their music with emotion & passion exposed bare. A solid record from top to bottom. While the songs may have been pulled from various discs (The Cost, The Swell Season, etc), [...]

Artist: Feist Album: The Reminder The new record from Feist drops in a week. First few listens reveal lots of jazz, blues and folk influences. The songs are engaging and captivating, much like those on Let It Die. Standout tracks include Sea Lion Woman and My Man, My Moon. If you’re looking for a great [...]

Artist: Leonard Cohen Album: Songs of Leonard Cohen I spent some time yesterday with this classic Leonard Cohen record. Spent some time with is the best way to describe this record. This is a collection of songs that you need to allow yourself to get lost in. The mixture of melody, lyrics and a voice [...]

Artist: Travis Album: The Boy with No Name A return to the days of The Man Who form by Fran Healy and the lads in Travis. The Man Who was one of my favourite records back in 1999. Songs like Driftwood, Writing To Reach You, Why Does It Always Rain on Me? and Turn received [...]

Found this today via waxy.org and Blogotheque. It was filmed just days ago in Paris, The Shins performing on a beautiful day in front of a cafe, in a courtyard, in a sun soaked apartment and walking around. The concept for the whole thing is brilliant. The recording captures the beauty of the songs and [...]

Artist: Bright Eyes Album: Cassadaga Cassadaga is a rewarding listening experience. The alt.country feel of the album is enhanced by the contributions of Ben Kweller, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, M.Ward, Rachael Yamagata to name a few. Upon reaching the end of the disc, I felt like I needed to start it all over again – [...]

Artist: Neil Young Album: Live At Massey Hall 1971 Neil Young, in peak form, delivering solo renditions of songs that will eventually become the cornerstone of Harvest. His voice is great. The arrangements simple and focussed. The crowd and performer creating a special bond. This record will make many best of 2007 lists come December. [...]

Artist: Josh Rouse Album: Nashville All of the songs on Nashville are well crafted. Rouse counterbalances the sunshine and happiness of the music with emotional lyrics full of loneliness and nostalgia. There is a sense of honest within this record and that is probably why I enjoy listening to it more than two years after [...]

Artist: The Frames Album: The Cost An album that is dramatic and brooding yet with a warmth to it. Fans of Josh Ritter, Damien Rice, Coldplay, U2, World Party and The Waterboys would probably find it appealing. I first found the band after they released For The Birds in 2001. Find the right time of [...]

Artist: U2 Album: War Released in the winter of 1983, this disc is known for songs like New Year’s Day, Sunday Bloody Sunday and 40. Each has become a must play for fans seeing U2 live in concert. The tracks that appealed to me as I pulled my original vinyl edition out of the crates [...]

Artist: The Hold Steady Album: Boys and Girls in America If you like Springsteen circa Born To Run, a dabble of Tom Waits, a heavy dose of The Replacements, and then an unhealthy slab of bar band then you might want to give The Hold Steady a listen. Lots of songs about the “bar lifestyle” [...]

Going to try something new here. I’ll post albums, songs and artists that I’ve been listening too lately and that I think are worth sharing. Be sure to leave a comment on these. And so without further ado, here is today’s pick: Artist: Modest Mouse Album: We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank The [...]

Tonight on CFNY, Dave Bookman let the Rheostatics in on a little secret that Dave Ullrich of Zunior & The Inbreds has been keeping for the past few months. Ullrich has been quietly gathering together musician who were inspired and helped by the spirit and work of Dave Bidini, Martin Tielli, Tim Vesely, and their [...]

Finally Atlantis: Hymns for Disco by K-Os has been released in the US and on Yahoo! Music Unlimited. The Ballad of Noah, Black Ice – Hymn 4 Disco and Mirror in the Sky are just a few of the highlights on this record. The quality runs deep on this record as K-Os flips between old-school [...]

As some of you know, I’m a big fan of Zunior.com. Zunior is a Canadian digital indie music store run by Dave Ullrich. Dave was the drummer for The Inbreds. Wayback in time, in the early post-Queen’s days, I was the original webmaster at inbreds.com. Today Dave releases albums under the moniker Egger Zunior recently [...]