Shooting Stars

Still some time away before I get back into this full time, but I thought I'd share another of my favourites. I've put some Kris Menace up on here a while ago, and I should probably do a feature, but maybe another time. In all seriousness, find some of his music if you have time. He keeps it quite simple but I'd still put him near the top of my favourite DJs. This is a remix of Bag Raiders' Shooting Stars. Yeah, and check them out too!

Kris Menace - Shooting Star

Austra

I cant believe I've been away from my blog for the past month and a half. I've been far too detached from my music due in part to a ton of things, but I'll be back soon! For now I'll be posting up some songs on their own until I pick up my own pace and start downloading again.
"Dont wanna lose ya!"

Austra - Lose It

Delphic

Sorry, been a little busy/lazy over the past week. This Momentary, the name of the song, was just Delphic's second single to be released. Having just watched a video that scuba divers captured of the remains of cities drowned by the Japanese tsunami, watching a music video set in a city located near the Chernobyl disaster seemed appropriate.

Guilty About Girls w/ Young Pacific and Sex With Strangers @ Venue

Featuring three different bands, all from Vancouver, The Peak produced a decent show at the Venue on Monday night. Opening the show, surprisingly on time, was Young Pacific. Despite the fact that they were opening for Guilty About Girls, this group of guys surprisingly had the best performance. Living up to their name, these guys undoubtedly are a group of young, but quite talented guys with plenty of energy. Showing up on stage looking quite excited, they quickly got the crowd started despite the venue being half empty at that point.


Young Pacific - Circles to Squares

Like their sound, their performance was quite fresh, without anything particularly special laid out, except for a couple times when the keyboardist, Djavin Bowen and the bassist, Mike Noble switched instruments with each other. Didn’t realize this would become a tag team match, but awesome otherwise.

What shocked me was Sex With Strangers. Coming out with a Jack Black-like performance, this group of people did nothing short of a surprising set-list which encompassed a multitude of different genres from metal to alternative rock. And did I also mention that the lead singer, Hatch Benedict looked like Jack Black as well? Couldn’t have been a coincidence. Despite the music which sounded much better recorded, Hatch singlehandedly managed to entertain like a madman, at one point bunny ear-ing his synthesizer. Spitting across the stage though, sick but impressing with the distance he managed to cover.


Headlining the show, Guilty About Girls finally came out, but with what seemed like a sub-par performance. Though the band only really consisted of two guys, Jordy Birch and Mark Henning, they showed up with a drummer and a female backup singer who really didn’t do that much but dance slightly awkwardly. With Birch on guitar and Henning on synth, a good question was whether or not either of them were drunk or high, making quite a few blunders and sounding out of tune. Despite all this, Birch and the others did have a great setlist, followed by an encore act of Henning attempting to teach the dance moves for their song, Candy Candy.

Also, just as something worth watching, heres the video for the song, Candy Candy:

The Raveonettes

Coming from Denmark, The Raveonettes have done a wonderful job of creating an edgy take on rock music. Lined with simple but standout instrumentation, Sharin Foo and Sune Rose Wagner complement this style with beautiful vocals. With their fifth and latest album released just this April, they have been around, having stopped over in Vancouver several times including just last month for a show at Venue.


The Raveonettes - Forget That Youre Young


the Raveonettes - Ignite

Review: Fitz and the Tantrums w/ Henry and the Nightcrawlers @ Venue

A decent opener to an outright fantastic evening at Venue on monday night; Henry and the Nightcrawlers, a native Vancouver band, came out slow, but gradually pumped out catchier beats as the night progressed. Formerly one of the original band members for Lotus Child (now The Zolas), Tom Dobrzanski killed with the keyboard and definitely stood out from the rest of the band. On guitar and lead vocals was Henry Alcock-White. On one hand he could pitch out some unique guitar solos, which unfortunately did not mesh at all with his vocals. Maybe they don’t perform as well on a live stage, but one thing is for sure that they lacked a lot of chemistry and the energy needed to pump up the crowd. I think I spent more time watching them dance awkwardly than I spent rocking out to their music.





With a strange inspiration coming from the rocky islands of Ireland, they did however manage to release a couple good songs, with one in particular:

Henry and the Nightcrawlers - Back Upon The Rocky Island

The crowd was a little quiet after the opener, but Fitz and the Tantrums

quickly sparked up the crowd right from the start. If you liked this band before the concert, you would have fallen in love with the brilliant soul-filled acts of lead singer Michael Fitzpatrick and the sexy Noelle Scaggs. Singing most of their songs from their album, Picking Up The Pieces (2010), The classly dressed Fitz, in his salmon pink suit, managed to electrify the crowd with every move he made, probably making him the best stage performer I've ever seen. Hardly a back-up singer, Scaggs voice filled the room the room with her voice and very effortlessly got the entire crowd dancing. Together, this duo was not lacking in any chemistry whatsoever, at one point getting so close that they looked like they were lost in each others eyes.

Backing the performance up, James King blew the house out playing two saxophones at once at one point, later playing a flute as well. Hardly a selfish group of people, drummer, John Wicks and keyboardist, Jeremy Ruzumna both had beautiful solos, with Fitzpatrick hilariously attempting to steal the spotlight. Together with Ethan Philips on bass guitar, these six members managed to fill up Venue with what sounded like at least a ten piece band. Finishing their main set list with an outstanding drum solo, Fitz and the Tantrums managed to outdo even that performance with their encore of a cover of Sweet Dreams and their hit song, Money Grabber. Overall, an amazing show for their first time in Vancouver, which has unfortunately left me with very high expectations of future concerts I attend.

If you havent heard of any of their songs, check these out!


Fitz and the Tantrums - Dont Gotta Work It Out


Fitz and the Tantrums - Rich Girls


Fitz and the Tantrums - L.O.V.


On a side note: Another concert review coming on saturday after Guilty About Girl's performance at Venue this friday. If you're going, let me know!
Also, thanks for reading my first concert review. Leave some feedback on stuff i should do to make it better. I'm also hoping to find a few people to send in some concert reviews to add to this blog so if you're interested in writing, leave me a message.

Acrylic

Acrylic, headed by Jason Klauber and Molly Shea, has been around now for a couple years, with their debut album, Lives and Treasures, released just this past January. Fromt his album, Acrylic has taken on a blend of 70's pop fused with some chilled out modern day harmonies which ends up sounding a little like 'in the car - makeout music'. Anyhow, give them a listen and see what you think.


Acrylics - Counting Sheep


Acrylic - Molly's Vertigo


Acrylic - Nightwatch

Janelle Monae

The next up and coming star to hit the airwaves. She's got the flair of Will Smith in his Fresh Prince days and the hair and style of Willow. She must be some unknown daughter of Will Smith as the similarities are uncanny. Born in Kansas City and raised with a unique sense of style and taste, she's definitely not in Kansas anymore with her recent success. Here's a couple of her biggest hits from her recent album, Archandroid


Janelle Monae (Ft. BOB & Lupe Fiasco) - Tightrope


Janelle Monae - Cold War

Hey Ocean

Thought that I should share a new Hey Ocean song, titled Big Blue Wave

Hey Ocean! - Giants of the Forest - Episode Eight from Amazing Factory Productions Inc. on Vimeo.

LOVE this new song and I cant wait for the new album to be released

Edit (5/27) : Released a copy of this song for download,here. Definitely not studio quality, but if you love them enough, it won't matter =)

Summer Heart

Just to throw in an extra song today for the downtime, here's my favourite song of the week.


Summer Heart - Please Stay