Dan Mangan and Shane Koyczan

... performing Dan's song 'Tragic Turn of Events / Move Pen Move' ... this was performed at Saturday's performance, not on Friday when I went. Shane did a part in another song on Friday which was also amazing, but this song really hits home for me...

It's long, but it's worth it.

Dan Mangan CD Release Party

I had the priveledge to spend last night at Dan Mangan's CD release concert, held in the newly remodeled east Van cultural centre, now called simply "The Cultch". I haven't been that excited for a live performance in a long time, and it was all that I had hoped it would be. The Cultch is a great venue too, there isn't a bad seat in the (small) place.

My buddy Steve took this vid with his point-and-shoot of 'Robots'... I wish he filmed Basket too, which is easily my favourite tune of his right now.

The Presets - If I Know You

The Presets hail from down under, and is one of the few bands on my itunes that can easily be danced to (by someone other than myself, of course). Most of their tunes are more electronic than this particular choice, but many of the youtube videos on these guys are embedding disabled. Check them out.

The Dudes - Do The Right Thing

Now here is a concert I already have my ticket for... The Dudes are playing the Media Club Sept 26... having seen them live once already, I'm sure it will be a good show. From their latest album:

Band of Horses - No One's Gonna Love You

A favourite from Band of Horse's album "Cease To Begin", which came out in late 2007. I'm quite bummed I didn't get tickets for their show here, but now that it's sold out, the ticket prices on craigslist are a bit steep (90-100 per ticket). They play the Commodore on Sept 4th. I am extremely jealous of anyone going, but my live music budget is tight.

Interpol - Evil

Interpol is a post-punk band based in New York. This song is a chilling story of Rosemary West, seemingly from the point of view of her husband Fred, whom was a killer before they even met. Together, they were serial killers in the UK who tortured and murdered 10 women together. If you want you can read their story here on Wikipedia; they were the epitome of fucked in the head.



Glad I could add some cheer to your day..

Said The Whale - This Winter I Retire

An upbeat tune from one of my favourite local bands, Said The Whale. These guys are fun to see live - seeing Tyler jam the shit out of a Ukulele is awesome. New album coming out in October, pretty stoked.



Check out their website here.

As Tall As Lions - A Break, A Pause

In more current news, I'm quite excited for the release of As Tall As Lions' new album, due out on the 18th. It will also be available in vinyl, which is extra exciting, though not for me as I don't currently have a record player. Their self-titled album is very good, and here is one of my favourite tracks, sans video:



Check their myspace page out here.

Hawksley Workman and Tim Baker.

Man, this would have been fun.

Hey Rosetta! - There's An Arc

Hey Rosetta! hails from the Maritimes, and they put on some of the best live performance I've ever seen. Both their albums, Into Your Lungs and Plan Your Escape are very, very good.

Montreal Greats: Wolf Parade & Arcade Fire

I actually feel a little embarassed to have made this many posts without either of what I believe to be the two staples in current Canadian music: Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade. As much as I love Vancouver music, Montreal gets the prize for producing iconic bands based on these two.

So I feel it's my duty to post this video, because while most of you might be familiar with these two bands, it's important that ALL of you are familiar with these two bands. The video is a visual of the poem "The Hangman" by Maurice Odgen which can be read here.



And since I mentioned Arcade Fire, here's a video of the title track of the album Neon Bible being performed in an elevator - pretty nifty.

Thermals - Now We Can See

I know that Hutch (the lead singer of The Thermals) has a voice that you either love or hate, but I love this song. The Thermals hail from Portland... I know, not Canadian....

The Midway State - Change For You

Cool video of Ontario based front-liner Nathan Ferrero with Mike Wise on guitar of the band The Midway State, performing "Change For You" from their album "Holes". I got to see these guys live at The Media Club for Junofest, and they are great performers and really good guys.



It is also very worthwhile to watch this cover of "Man in the Mirror", which is one of Michael's best tracks in my opinion.

Final Fantasy - This Lamb Sells Condos

Owen Pallett is a rediculously talented musician, and the guy behind Final Fantasy. Yes, it's named after the game. He is from Toronto, and from his album "He Poos Clouds", I present to you "This Lamb Sells Condos":

Bloc Party - One More Chance

In current events, the UK band Bloc Party has their new single for "One More Chance" hitting itunes tomorrow.



Sounds good... I think that Silent Alarm and A Weekend In The City were both better albums than their more recent Intimacy, but that doesn't mean good music isn't still coming from the group..

Dan Mangan - Basket

Dan Mangan is a singer/songwriter residing here in Vancouver, with a soulful, scruffy, Irish voice which I can't get enough of. His debut album Postcards & Daydreaming and his EP Roboteering are in my CD player or Ipod as much as any artist.

I've got my ticket and am anxiously awaiting his CD release party at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre on August 28th and 29th. Seeing Dan live at Junofest really opened my eyes to his talent.


Check out "Basket" from his upcoming album, "Nice, Nice, Very Nice":

We Are Scientists, City & Colour

I was pretty impressed with this video response to "After Hours" by the California rock band We Are Scientists. The actual cover song starts a little ways in. Posting under the Youtube username kafferz, she has done quite a number of covers, and they are quite good.

Here is the video for the original song:




She also did a cover of my favourite City & Colour song, Coming Home. The original song by Dallas Green:

Tegan and Sara - Where does the good go

Tegan and Sara are Canadian twins putting out great music. While they grew up in Calgary, Tegan now lives in a loft here in Vancouver, while Sara lives out east in Montreal. They have quite an extensive discography, with 5 albums currently out, the latest being "The Con". Their newest album called "Sainthood" is slated for release this fall, and I'm pretty stoked for its release.

Here is a performance of "Where Does the Good Go?" from their 2004 album "So Jealous":



Their blog is actually quite well written and entertaining; its one of the blogs I regularly check out.

Matt Good - 99% of us is failure

I've been a HUGE Matt Good fan since 'Last of the Ghetto Astronauts" came out in 1995. His progression as an artist has just continued to grow ever since; though I'd say that Avalanche might be his best work.

I think a good indication of his talent can be seen here..



Also check out this short clip of Matt performing "A Long Way Down" via webcam at home.

Maurice, The Racoons, Vince Vaccaro

A couple weeks ago I saw these three indie bands at The Media Club. It was a Wednesday again, so the crowds were not exactly thick, but it picked up throughout the first set. The first set being The Racoons. I knew about Maurice and Vince, but I hadn't heard anything by the Racoons at that point. The crowd was only about 15 deep at the beginning of the Racoon's set, so it was an intimate performance. As each song came up, I was blown away with the fact that I really, really liked each and every song they performed. Matty has a deeper voice which worked great.

Next up was Maurice, with JP on vocals wearing an obscene pair of yellow tight jeans. Despite the jeans, the performance was also very good, although I didn't feel like every track was great like I did with The Racoons. Their track "Love is love" I can very much see being a radio hit though - it gets stuck in your head easily, and is extremely easy to listen to.

Vince Vaccaro has a soulful, more scruffy voice (and appearance too), and armed with just a guitar, can captivate the audience. His tracks "Animal" and "Costa Rica" were my favourites. Here is "Costa Rica" being performed at The Peak, you can fast forward to about 2:30 if you want to just hear the song:



Note that JP beside him is the singer and guitar player for Maurice - the three bands, all hailing from Victoria, work together on their music. Since Vince is just a one-man show, he utilizes the manpower of Maurice and The Racoons on those tracks that use a full band. Victoria is alive and well in the indie rock scene!

In the end, I purchased all three of their CDs at the show. Vince had a 13 track self-titled album, Maurice with 12 tracks on "Young People with Faces", and The Racoons with a seven track EP "Islomania".

Check out their myspace pages:

www.myspace.com/theracoonsmusic
www.myspace.com/wearemaurice
www.myspace.com/vincevaccaro

Stars - The Night Starts Here

The Stars is one of the best Canadian bands currently putting out music in my humble opinion. They have several great albums, most notably for me "In Our Bedroom After the War".

This isn't my favourite song by the Stars, but this one comes with a music video, so I thought it would be a good choice to share with you.



Two songs I don't believe there are music videos for, but are must-listen tracks, are "Personal" and "Barricade". Personal is an especially mellow tune, about a guy and girl who become in contact using personal ads. There are subtleties in the lyrics as the song progresses with complex emotional revelations. Err... I guess you need to be in the mood to catch all that stuff.

Check them out at www.myspace.com/stars.