Tuesday Tunes

Germans
"I Am The Teacher"
I'm calling it here first: I think we're on the brink of a 90's revival movement, and no, I don't think it's too soon! Here's another band that I'm just gettin' that vibe from, and it's awesome! This song is the 'single' off the album (I'm saying that since they made a sweet video for it) so I'm really hoping it takes off since this song is great, this band is great, and they played the hoedown last week and they killed it (though may have ruined my ears!). Their album doesn't come out until February but they I picked up an advanced copy and I've been playing it to death this week. Alright, listen to this tune on their MySpace.

Swan Lake
"All Fires"
A new band with Dan Bejar and Spencer Krug? Sign me up! I got this album for Christmas and I'm still gettin' into it, but I heard this song a few weeks ago and I'm most familiar with it still, plus it's a great song, so that's why I've chosen it. This is one of Spencer's songs (ever heard of Wolf Parade? Sunset Rubdown? It's that guy), and it's different enough from his other bands to make it seem special. It's pretty sparse compared to some of his other stuff, and he sings a little slower, and I gotta tell ya, I'm really diggin' it! Cool! Hey, they have a MySpace too!

Hometown Hoedown

It's all come together so nicely. I'm excited to see Habitat tonight, since I've been listenin' to them for awhile now and I like them a lot. It's been forever since I've seen Forest City Lovers, and I have no idea what their lineup will consist of tonight, but I'm hoping they'll have violin! Jonas Bonnetta, I'm always glad to see him, I just hope people are quiet during his set for once.
Alright, I hope to see a lot of familiar faces tonight, and I'll do a re-cap when it's done!

Tuesday Tunes

Andre Ethier
"Don’t Let This Mean Old World Swallow You"
If you've ever thought about giving up on something, whether it's writing in your blog or pursuing a girl, listen to this song before making any decisions. I love near the end of this song when he just starts speaking directly to the listener it seems, howling away as they say. Andre's vocals just carry you away for two-and-a-half minutes while the piano brings you back... stream this song here.

Jon-Rae and the River
"Fire"
This song is the sound of reunions, departures, being unsure of your next step, looking forward to the future... as cruel as it is. All that will be left is fire. Don't let it get you down, buck up. Some people get it and some people don't, but we all gotta get along. It still gets me on every listen though. Buy this album.

Sebastien Grainger

In October 2005, an album of Death From Above 1979 remixes was released. A bunch of people took songs that were already fairly danceable, and made them even more so. It was the last release we'd see from that band, as they announced they were breaking up a few months later.

Now, Jesse F. Keeler, who played bass/synth, has become quite successful with his electronic music project MSTRKRFT, while Sebastien Grainger, who played drums and sang, has layed low, until now that is. A few weeks ago I saw him at a Jewish Legend show, and later on while I was checking out their MySpace, I found a link to his. Turns out they're about release a split 7" together, and he's gettin' a solo album ready. He's also involved in the 'Friends In Bellwoods' compilation for the Daily Bread Food Bank, along with our friends from Durham, Jonas Bonnetta, The D'Urbervilles, and Forest City Lovers. How exciting!

The songs he has up on his MySpace skip the rock and go straight for the dance. Which is alright since I enjoyed that remix album...

You say you're recording a solo album. Will it sound like the songs that are currently up on your MySpace?
Sebastien: The songs on MySpace are tracks that I’d made in the spring in my living room... the songs for the record will be more live sounding, band oriented songs... I’m building a studio with Jimmy Shaw (of Metric) and we will record the record there... in the chalet.

You've been playing some shows again lately, can you tell me about what those are like? Is it just you on stage?
Sebastien: I played one show last week... it was just me and a guitar presenting a couple songs that I’d been working on for the record as well as couple that I’d written during the year. My next show will feature some big guns on drums and bass...

How has the music community in Toronto changed since you started a couple years back?
Sebastien: A couple as in five? Well, five years ago I had four friends and none of them were in the "Toronto music community" and one of them was Jesse... now, almost all my friends are somehow involved in the music scene whether it be producers, musicians, filmmakers and the like. To answer your question though, I don't know what the Toronto music community was like back then, I wasn't involved. Now it's a bunch of people with a few bucks in their pockets drinking too much.

How did you become involved in the 'Friends in Bellwoods' compilation?
Sebastien: Since I came off tour last year I became friends with the dudes in Ohbijou. When Leon Taheny was producing their record he used my living room to track their drums... so last winter when I was busy beating THE WARRIORS on PS2 with my girlfriend, Jamie Bunton was tracking the drums in the other room... that's more or less how I became involved... I am a 'friend in Bellwoods'... I just live on the other side of the park. Dig?

Since 2006 is almost done, what music have you really liked from the past year?
Sebastien: Justin Timberlake- futuresex/lovesounds, and old stuff.

Tunes: myspace.com/sebastiengrainger
Friends In Bellwoods

Tuesday Tunes

So this'll be a feature I hope to do every Tuesday, where I'll list a few songs that I'm really diggin' at the moment. I'm not ranking these songs or anything, I'm just bringing them to your attention. So here we go:

Forest City Lover
"Monsters"
It's actually a little surprising that this is the first song by Kat Burns and her band Forest City Lover to include violin, since it's such a great fit. I'm not sure if this is going to end up on a new album or what, but I really like this song and would love to hear more like it in the future. I haven't seen them live since they added their violin player, so I'm interested in seeing what they do to the old songs. As for the rest of the song, well, it's great as usual! It can be found on their MySpace page.

Shotgun & Jaybird
"Head Security Guard Surveys The Ground Around Him"
This song perfectly illustrates why I feel these kids are stuck in 1995, and I love it. The slacker-attitude, the fuzzy guitars, the call and response vocals, the whole package. I highly recommend picking up their new album (which this song is on) and EP, both released earlier this year, since they're both full of little gems like this.

Concert Review: Wayne Petti

Headed up to the 'Elvis last night to see my friend Wayne Petti play a couple tunes. Derrick and I were able to talk to him for a long while before his set, topics included: best records of 2006, music critics, the new Cuff the Duke album, and much much more. It's always great to see Wayne, he's such a genuine person, and the fact that he still plays Oshawa every few months says a lot about his character. On top of all that, he puts on a great show. He played a selection of songs off his solo album, as well as some covers and a couple from the Cuff the Duke catalogue. One of the songs he played, "Price to Pay," is one of my favourite songs he's written. I'm really looking forward to hearing more from him, and I have a feelin' 2007 will be another busy year for him.

Tunes: myspace.com/waynepetti
Here's an interview I did with Wayne last summer.

As I sit here and wait...

So here I am, on my last day of school before the break. I would have been home hours ago but my video is taking forever to render. It's alright though, gives me time to update this blog, time which I haven't really had the past few weeks. I'm listening to some music while I'm at it, of course. I hope to update more over the holidays, maybe do some more interviews. There are a few shows I plan on attending so expect my thoughts and photos from those.

While I haven't been updating my blog as much, my Snowsuit Sounds co-host Derrick has been updating his blog. I think he's a great writer, and if you've ever spoken to him, you know he's passionate about music and that he knows his stuff. Seriously, go read his entries since right now, I'm the only who does.

Speaking of Snowsuit Sounds (my radio show), we had our last show of the semester this past Monday. It was a lot of fun doing the show, and I hope you all were able to listen at least once. If you missed it, don't worry, Derrick and I will be back on January 15th, so make sure to tune in then. If you're curious as to what we've been playing, go here.