ARTIST / BAND: Mew
MP3s: Repeaterbeater
ALBUM: No More Stories Are Told Today
FILE UNDER: Rock
LABEL: Columbia/ Sony
INFO: 'Repeaterbeater' continues the Danish band's tradition of epic prog-rock, in this case anchored by a pulsing, four-to-the-floor beat. Complex instrumental arrangements showcase the band's technical prowess, while soaring vocals deliver a hooky chorus that demands repeated listenings.
ARTIST / BAND: Voodeux
MP3s:Bones / Voodeux “The Paranormal” Promo Mix
ALBUM: The Paranormal
FILE UNDER: Techno / House / Experimental
LABEL: Mothership
INFO: Described as ‘Halloween on wax’ Voodeux is the human manifestation of creepy house and techno. James Watts (AKA KiloWatts) and Tanner Ross’s collaborative black magic goes back six years when they met online at a website devoted to music synths and production and have been collaborating ever since.
ARTIST / BAND: My First Earthquake
MP3s: Cool In The Cool Way /Vow To Vowels
ALBUM: Downstairs
FILE UNDER: Indie / Rock / Powerpop
LABEL: Self-Released
INFO: Chad and Rebecca became friends through an acquaintance. After hearing some tracks of Rebecca singing over electronica beats and hearing about the sheer ridiculousness of Ice Queen, Chad convinced her to quit the band and start a project with him. During their first songwriting session,Rebecca experienced her first earthquake. They liked the sexual / geological double-entendre, and after some debate (other contenders: Sleep In The Sea, Tufte, Teenage Girlfriend, EXACTO), the name was deemed destiny.
ARTIST / BAND: THE JUNCTION
MP3s: Level with me
ALBUM: Another Link in the Chain
FILE UNDER: Rock / Pop
INFO: No strangers to the Canadian music scene, singer-guitarist Brent Jackson, bassist Matt Jameson and drummer Mike Taylor have played hundreds of shows across Canada - including EdgeFest, and The Virgin Festival - and have toured with the likes of Moneen, The Planet Smashers and Bedouin Soundclash, to name a few. With their forthcoming follow up to 2007’s debut, Another Link in the Chain, The Junction has pushed themselves in new directions while taking the east coast-influenced, indie-pop elements that make The Junction’s songs so great and finally, boiling them down into something much more unified.
ARTIST / BAND: erykah badu x the roots
MP3s: i wanna be where you are (mj cover)
FILE UNDER: Soul, R&B, Pop
INFO: According to Questlove, the Roots and Dallas' own Erykah Badu snuck off before Badu's guest appearance on Fallon on Friday night to record this cover of "I Wanna Be Where You Are," from MJ's 1972 debut solo LP,Got to Be There. Not surprisingly, Badu absolutely nails it:
ARTIST / BAND: Slaraffenland
MP3s: Meet and Greet
ALBUM: We're on Your Side
FILE UNDER: Alternative / Rock / Folk
LABEL: Hometapes
INFO: "We have waited a while...still it'll take us some time" begins "Meet and Greet." Vocal harmonies ring out to the pulsing beat of a delayed floor tom. A guitar wakes up the reeds. The subtle organic percussion of handclaps punctuates the amplified air, the music becoming a distinct human synthesis. This is a pop song. This is Slaraffenland.
ARTIST / BAND: Lightning Dust
MP3s: Never Seen
ALBUM: Infinite Light
FILE UNDER: Folk Rock / Melodramatic Popular Song / Psychedelic
LABEL: jagjaguwar
INFO: Infinite Light, Lightning Dust's sophomore album for Jagjaguwar, finds duo Amber Webber and Joshua Wells (both of Black Mountain) calling upon the powers of classic pop arrangements and making the most of five days with a Steinway Grand piano. While Webber and Wells met through their involvement in what they described as two of the saddest bands in Canada, the songs written for Infinite Light found the two moving away from the uniformly downbeat. Rather, the songs were more suited to lush and melodramatic arrangements. Cue the strings. Lightning Dust have delivered a cosmic record about the adventure in finding love and the journey in losing and rediscovering "the light."
