sometimes you can tell a song will be good from the first 10 seconds. indeed, those first 10 are the clincher; the litmus test of whether to hit next or not. i didn't want this song to end, and the more i listened, the more i realized i'd stumbled across something good. no idea who Bipolar Sunshine is, but one thing's for sure, he's got that ability to grab you from the get-go.

 

getting vibes of New Order, The Beatles (think: "Let it Be"), Akon, Danny Brown, even Lorde for the lyrics and dewy beat.

"COFFEE AND MILK" SPEED DRAWING VIDEO from Lora Zombie on Vimeo.

Jungle - Platoon from Jungle on Vimeo.

Edwarde Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - "I Don't Wanna Pray"

"i'm looking to become not the pray-er but the prayer."

Sara Bareilles - "Brave"

one of the many things I took away from theatre school was an appreciation for the body's ability to move. we didn't evolve doing curls or using one muscle group over and over in the same way; our bodies are meant to move in any number of wonderfully complex ways. dance always strikes me as the best illustration of this. i love the juxtaposition of the man dancing in the gym. working to limit our range of motion is something we should continue to question. besides i'd rather dance than work out any day.

i'm having a hard time putting into words just how much i love this song and its message. and in particular, the video. this may sound a bit cliche but i love it when people of all shapes and sizes are shown being comfortable in their bodies. it's empowering. the message that you're "too fat" or "not muscular enough" limits everyone; it emboldens the few and isolates the majority. instead we should focus on accepting and celebrating our bodies for what they are: beautiful. period.

i also love the way random people got involved. dance is a universal form of communication. the elderly woman with the purple sweater understands that. unfortunately the man in the yellow t-shirt at the end doesn't. his comment gives the video's message a strange irony: that no matter what you do people will always judge you. the more important thing is to have the courage to get up there.

i found the line "maybe he took the wrong pill" upsetting because it said to me "anyone who acts out, who gets up and dances, who makes a fool of themselves must be mentally ill." but in an insane world, the sane look insane. it's amazing to me how quick people are to dismiss or deride something they don't see every day. what yellow shirt doesn't understand is just how much fun he might have if he got up there. but chances are he won't, and sometimes it's easier to pass judgment on people who choose to stand out, to not play by the rules, to dance in the middle of a mall, than to join in. but it's in doing things like that, by stepping outside our comfort zones, that we truly discover who we are.

so cheers to you, Sara Bareilles.

The Naked & Famous - "Hearts Like Ours"

HEARTS LIKE OURS | The Naked & Famous from Campbell Hooper on Vimeo.

currently loving the new Naked & Famous track. the New Zealand band's second album, In Rolling Waves, is out Sep. 16.

Lorde - "Royals" (Thomas Jack Quicky Remix)

Lorde's "Royals" is currently generating a lot of buzz and this is the best/my favourite remix i've found of the song.

Majid Jordan - "Give Me A Reason (For Loving You)"

loving the sound of Toronto up-and-comers Majid Jordan.



thank you to BlogTO for the tip.

"the sexiest thing in the entire world is being really smart. and being thoughtful. and being generous. everything else is crap. i promise you. it's just crap that people try to sell to you to make you feel like less. so don't buy it. be smart, be thoughtful, and be generous."

could not agree more with a lot of what Chris says here.

some wise words from Craig Ferguson

Passion Pit - "Carried Away"

CHVRCHES - "Now is Not the Time"

hold the phone, stop the presses, put the crinkler down honey BECAUSE:



because because BECAUSE... i totally thought this song was new you guys. i'm sorry. youtube tells me it was uploaded on apr. 1, 2013. whatever. #overit #goodsong #overhashtags #never

#ilikethelyrics:

There is so much I still want to tell you
But now is not the time to speak of love

#hashtag #stop #makeme #jelly? #no

Chet Faker - "No Diggity"

Dillon - "Thirteen Thirtyfive"

Thomas Jack ft. Adrian Symes - "The Final Speech" (Originial Mix)

the text is apparently a speech from a Charlie Chaplin film

Lykke Li - "Dance Dance Dance" (Buraka Som Sistema Remix)

HAIM - "The Wire"

a very solid new release from HAIM, a trio of Los Angeles-based sisters:

"it felt right, but I fumbled it when it came down the wire"

HAIM made it big earlier this year with a song called "Falling" and subsequently topped a BBC Sound of 2013 poll.  They are poised for bigger things after supporting acts like Edward Sharpe, Mumford and Kesha (i refuse to pull that dollar sign shit). "The Wire" is the first single off their debut album out some date in September.

The Belle Game - "River"

ERHMAHGERRRHD!!!

omg you guys, can you believe this?!?! **motions at no one**

I KNOW! holy sh**! holy effing sh**ting f**kcakes! i can't believe this!

THE BELLE GAME, a band from Vancouver I found out about AGES ago just made the 'Best New Track' list on Pitchfork's main page! No seriously, I remember learning about this band like back in 2010 when one of my facebook friends who lives in Vancouver was like "you should check out this band" and i was like "okay" and i did and i loved them and i totally included them on compilation CDs i made for my friends because this was 2010.



and i'm really digging this new song. Pitchfork describes it as "a fairly standard and agreeable piece of indie rock" and because i'm lazy and can't even begin to come up with a phrase like "anachronistic hollowed-out reverb", i'm going to agree. (why do i always feel like people who write for Pitchfork have PhDs in music from some obscure mid-western university no one's ever heard of? "yeah, I did my dissertation on hollowed-out reverb in late nineteenth century neo-classical shoegaze with a specialization in baroque sub-synth acoustics and new-wave dream pop" file under: i dont even know)

so anyway this is just one of those moments where being really into an obscure band pays off and in my head i'm like, "ugh i am so ahead of the game." The Belle Game, that is. AHAHAHAHAHhaHAHAH!! ugh thank god no one's reading this.

i need to stop talking ("put the keyboard down, and back away from the clamshell.") but i'm really excited to see an up-and-coming Canadian band get a little bit more attention, especially one i'm a fan of.

yay Curhnurhdurh!

The xx - "Sunset" (Jamie xx Edit)

video for Jamie xx's remix of "Sunset" off The xx's sophomore album, 'Coexist'.



File under: how i dance

Moderat - "Bad Kingdom"

first video from Moderat's highly anticipated second album, out Aug 2.



crazy to think this was all drawn by hand.

MONEY - "Hold Me Forever"

Directed by Cillian Murphy.



I find the combination of this music and the close-up look at ballet a simple yet stunningly beautifully pairing.
Anyone else getting Joy Division vibes?

LORDE - "The Love Club"

sixteen, from New Zealand, and killing it.



File under: surprised to learn this isn't the official video; feels so profesh.
Update: directed by someone who will one day be professional.

Polaris Prize Short List

 

The Short List for Canada's Polaris Prize was officially released yesterday.  And the nominees are:

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!'
 

Zaki Ibrahim - Every Opposite
 

Metric - Synthetica
 

METZ - METZ
 

Purity Ring - Shrines
 

Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol 3: To See More Light
 

Tegan and Sara - Hearththrob
 

A Tribe Called Red - Nation II Nation
 

Whitehorse - The Fate of the World Depends on This Kiss
 

Young Galaxy - Ultramarine
 

Some well-deserved nominations here: I was excited to see Purity Ring, METZ and Young Galaxy make the list. Purity Ring and METZ both released groundbreaking debut albums this year, and Young Galaxy's seminal fourth album 'Ultramarine' is definitely deserving of its nomination, which, to me, is what the Polaris Prize is all about, i.e. highlighting new acts (2012's Grimes, Cold Specks) and recognizing important releases (Feist's 'Metals', Japandroid's 'Celebration Rock').

The nomination I'm most excited to see make the shortlist is A Tribe Called Red. If you're looking for new, innovative sounds, look no further:



Not surprised to see shortlist veterans Tegan and Sara and Metric make the list once again.  Both Heartthrob and Synthetica are commendable albums in their own right and creative departures for both bands. (okay, maybe more Heartthrob than Synthetica but whatever like is anyone even reading this? no. thank god.)

I'm not incredibly familiar with either the Whitehorse or Godspeed! albums but considering Godspeed!'s almost legendary status, it doesn't surprise me that their newest effort made the list. Whitehorse I've heard is a really good band and its nomination is only further reason to delve deeper.

The two albums I am not familiar with are those by Colin Stetson and Zaki Ibrahim, which only means that I will definitely be checking them out.



Now, I've been calling Purity Ring on this for months, ever since I learned their album 'Shrines' wouldn't be on the 2012 ticket because it came out just after the cut-off date. To me their nomination shows that the Polaris judges really do know what they're doing. And because I can't really pick out a mountain-moving album such as last year's 'Metals', I think Purity Ring has a shot at this year's grand prize. The reason they're my favourites to win right now is because of how intricate, experimental and absorbing the music they produce is. There's a reason Purity Ring has exploded internationally while bands like Born Gold, who also came out of Edmonton's music scene, haven't: there's something there, something universal. Their music, at times disturbing and alien, has an organicity to it.  Somewhere beneath all the synths there is a heart, diseased and potentially non-human, but definitely beating. When someone like Danny Brown raps over one of your songs you know you're doing something right.

Their superb cover of Soulja Boy's "Grammy":



Clearly someone else agrees they're due for some recognition:

CHVRCHES - "Gun"

loving the new CHVRCHES song:



This album is going to explode when it comes out in september.
I can't think of a band that's gotten so much hype without a debut LP.



SIDENOTE: Lauren Mayberry, the band's lead singer, has a law degree, wrote her master's thesis on femininity and the portrayal of women in the media and declines offers from women's magazines who want to profile her individually. People like this fascinate me. via: pitchfork



postscript: anyone want to see them in Toronto on Sep. 15?

THE MOUNTAINS & THE TREES - Letter To A Friend from Southern Souls on Vimeo.

Newly released video for "Somebody" off Hannah Georgas' 2012 eponymous album:

And they'll tell you it's not you but they don't wanna ruin
What they know, what they know so well
I just hope that you you're gonna finally feel
What I've always, what I've always felt

Born Ruffians - "Needle"

CHVRCHES - "The Mother We Share"

may as well just be me.
may as well just be me.
may as well just be me.
may as well just be me.

watch Frank Ocean KILL it at the Grammys:

hold up..

is it just me or does Rihanna's "Stay" sound very similar to Sky Ferreira's cover of Miike Snow's "Animal?"





ngl the entire time I was watching videos of Rihanna's Grammy performance, i was like, "where have i heard this before? i know i've heard this somewhere." my brain was doing that thing where it tries really hard to remember something, like the sound of dial-up connecting to the internet.  a minute later, the dendrites were hugging: it was Miike Snow's "Animal."  a quick google search revealed there is at least one other person who agrees and who added some valuable insight: it wasn't just Miike Snow's "Animal" i was thinking of, it was Sky Ferreira's pared-down, piano ballad version of the song....................procrastination is the best!

SIDE(iatribe)ENOTE: I embedded the live version of Rihanna's "Stay" not only to showcase a beautiful live performance but also because in the official video she's naked within the first ten seconds :(

"Hey, any ideas for Rihanna's new video?"
"How about her naked throughout the entire thing? You know, lots of flesh and really careful editing."
"Brilliant! But how're we gonna make it seem like we're not just totally objectifying her?"
"What if she was........taking a bath!"
"There's a reason you're paid more than me."
"I know. And somewhere in there we'll add a tear or something. You know, emotion."
"Right, and while we're at it let's make sure the man in the video is wearing clothes."
"Chyeah, obviously."

"There's something I recognize about religion...
it gives people a chance to surrender.
What religion says to you essentially is:
"You're not in control."
Now that's a very liberating idea."

could not agree more with the Brian Eno quote in this song.

i also have to give credit to where i found this song:
i watched an amazing TED talk today by artist iO Tillett Wright
and she used it in a video about her project self evident truths.

worth the watch: