Earlier this year i was introduced to the beautiful music of Bruce Peninsula through their fine Summertime cover The Swimming Song. This was part of their 'Bruce Trail Fire Sale', which they set up to keep themselves busy while one of the band members recovered from a serious health issue (i have to admit, not a clue what was wrong, but privacy is a good thing no?). No that this specific band member is back in business they''ve finally released their new album "Open Flames", and it is worth the wait without a doubt.
This is one of the best releases of the year. no question about it. in the pure heart of it, i guess we should call this a folkrecord, but it is so much more. it's the variety that makes this an album without any dull moments. As a waiting-bonus of some kind they've added 4 songs from the the 'Bruce Trail Fire Sale' to the original album, making this a 14-track masterpiece that is over before you realize it. i would love to continue for some time about why all of these songs are so good and why you should definately spend $8,- on making it your own, but i'm a big fan of letting the music speak for itself and in this case, that'll only work even better. Please enjoy this great record as much as i do.
got this unique little quote i've been using all around for the last 2 weeks. and everywhere i use it i get the question where it came from. i was convinced it was a Busta Rhymes-quote, but i can't find it.. the funny thing is, everyone agrees with me it is a BR-quote, but no-one seems to get the song right.. the quote is "i'm sayin' hmm..", the song? you gotta help me out on this one. sent your ideas to jeroen[AT]pluginbaby.nl.
update: the power of twitter, @donderwolk76 gave me the right answer within 30 mins.
Ohbijou have released their 3rd album last month and with the 3 songs i've been able to get my hands on i got a pretty decent taste of what it's like and i can tell you right away, it's good stuff. The voice of singer Casey Mecija is specific in a good way, it takes a few to get used to, but once you accept it, it'll get more beautiful with every word she tells you.
The band around her creates an environment that feels like taking a warm bath, it's an energizing and fullfilling sensation that's not very easy to come across with music. it's that special sound and coherense that makes these songs so much better than the other 25-tracks i've come across today. it grips you softly, but firm and once you accept the hold they have on you, it's all pure magic. Beautiful album!
Waking up on Monday Morning with DJ Shadow is a fine thing to do.It gives a great kickstart for the 1st day of another loooong week. But this is also the early prelude of the next weekend to come, which will make you forget all about the week. Have a good week, blast your Monday Morning Hangover away with this great track!
James Vincent McMorrow covers the famous Chris Isaak-song Wicked Game. check out his website for some of his own material, i've just started doing so a few minutes ago and am already enjoying it, might come back later on this fine singer-songwriter with a decent article. for now, what a Wicked Game..
in 2010 Vermilion Club relased 'Home', an album full of wonderful songs, which i discovered earlier this year (in May) and listening to it now again, i have to admit it deserved more attention and words on my part over the 3 lines i spent on it back then.
To make up for it and because this new 3-track EP is very good, please take 15 minutes to make yourself enjoy their latest work, released on August 13th. It''s called 'Sidewalk Ecology' and no matter how i try i can't figure out which one of these 3 songs is the best. They're all extremely well-crafted. In my defense for writing only 3 lines in May and taking more time for this new release, it's fair to say that Vermilion Club has definately made progress. The 2010-release was a little bit too much of the same to hold my attention for the entire album, but this EP is a compact collection of 3 beautiful tracks, that only asks to be played over and over again. A request gladly granted.
Rostam is part of Vampire Weekend, a much hyped band that never really interested me, but this track is brilliant. It's mesmerizing, inspiring and all other sorts of cool, hip, phat phrazes. but seriously, this is a great track. and you can download it for free and listen to it 15 times a day, just like i do. How cool is that!?
Ruby Randall's EP is still my favourite for the year and this live-version is very close to the album-version, but fuck it. every little thing she does is magic (isn't that an old song from somewhere..) and this is simply beautiful. as simple and beautiful as it can get.
Great 2-track 7-inch by Saskatchewan. 1st track Skinny Dipping would have been the perfect Summertrack if i had discovered it earlier, but tracks this good are worth hearing every month of the year. On their blog they also mention an upcoming EP for which these 2 tracks are just a teaser, good stuff is coming our way it seems. Download the tracks for whatever you wanna spend on it via bandcamp.
(click the image to download) Another 3 months have flown by and just like that it's October and Autumn is here. Before we head into the cold and dark, yet romantic & special time that is ahead of us, let us look back one more time on what great music the Summer brought is. Although i have to admit most music would be better off in the coming period, as there is not a lot of dancing to be done with these tunes. Check out a collected file with my 14 favourite songs & check out another 4 great tunes (that i was not able to add to the file) below. I can honestly say that September was the best Music Month of the year and it was very tempting to add more and more songs to this collection, but 18 is a little bit too much for my taste already, so this is it. Enjoy & share with friends, these musicians deserve to be heard!
