You Should Be Listening To: The Radio Dept - Freddy and the Trojan Horse

Because this song is simply fantastic.

Head over to their MySpace page to download more tracks. You can also grab the Annie Laurie EP.

Download: The Radio Dept - Freddie and the Trojan Horse [mp3]
MySpace: The Radio Dept.

The Verve @ Ricoh Coliseum (May 1st, 2008)

I was temporarily deaf for several days this week. That's because I got to see one of my favourite bands ever play one of the best rock shows I have seen in a long time. The band is The Verve. And the show happened in Toronto at the Ricoh Coliseum. The Verve undoubtedly picked up where they left off. What an amazing return to Toronto after a ten year hiatus.

This was not my first time catching The Verve front man in concert. I was fortunate enough to see Ashcroft play some of his solo material when he opened for Coldplay a couple of years back. He played some Verve songs at that show and don't get me wrong it was great but it was simply amazing to see him play these songs with Nick McCabe, Simon Jones and drummer Pete Salisbury. Fresh from Coachella, the group's energy was high and they seemed genuinely happy to be back together.

The show consisted of a good mix of material from the three studio releases. Most seemed to be taken from Urban Hymns. The The Verve played a lot of their hits like 'Lucky Man,' 'Sonnet,' 'The Drugs Don't Work' and of course, 'Bittersweet Symphony,' a song that was taken back for the night from "...the lawyers and the managers...," as Ashcroft proclaimed. Fans were also treated to two new songs. “Sit and Wonder” and “Love Is Pain.” The latter has a very "dancey" feel to it, very different for The Verve but it was the song that was stuck in my head as I left the venue.

If this show was any indication fans have a lot to look forward to. Hopefully a new album is in the works sooner rather than later. The wait has been long enough.

Coldplay - Violet Hill

Because I love them....

Thoughts?

Download: Coldplay - Violet Hill [mp3]

MySpace: Coldplay
Coldplay: Official Website

Buy Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends [UK]

Duffy - Rockferry

I mentioned Duffy a while back but I thought I should write a bit about her now considering her album has been released in the UK, has gone number 1 and has had given several chart entries since then. If you've never heard of Duffy let me see if I can get you up to date in as little words as possible. She's from Wales. She is, quite obviously, a singer-songwriter. She is often compared to Amy Winehouse, so you can think of her genre as indie soul-pop..

I actually got a hard copy of her album Rockferry this week (though I've been listening to it for a month or so...magically) at a non-import price. I know Rockferry wasn't supposed to drop in the U.S. until May 13th and I assumed that was when we would get in Canada but I guess not. Or maybe it is an import, I don't know. All that matters is that if you want it you can go to your local CD store and grab it.

And you should. You know when you first here a song by a new artist and you just don't know if they will turn out other good tracks (this is not exclusive to Duffy but true of everyone). Well, Duffy does produce other great songs, in fact, Rockferry is full of them. Although the track 'Rockferry' is up there, it might not even be the best song. I think this spot might be reserved for 'Stepping Stone.' If I had to choose the one song that you needed to listen to of this album it would be this one. Loved it upon first listen. 'Warwick Avenue' and ''Mercy' are up there too. There are even some B-sides that, in my opinion, should have been on the album considering it only has 10 songs. This could have easily been a solid 12-track album.

There are really no bad songs here. This is probably why numerous music insiders have chosen her as one of the artists to watch in 2008. 2008 is well on its way and so, it seems, is Duffy.

Download: Duffy - Tomorrow [mp3]
MySpace: Duffy
Duffy: Official Website

Buy Rockferry

R.E.M. - Accelerate

There can be no doubt that R.E.M. has written some great songs. Actually they've written some of the best. I tend to forget this but all it takes is a listen to some of their back catalogue to make you remember. ‘Shiny Happy People’, ‘Orange Crush’, ‘Fall On Me.’ What a fantastic band! I think I can safely say that R.E.M. was one of the first bands that I called one of my favourites.

The band released their new album, Accelerate, this week in Canada. Many are calling it their best album since 1994’s Monster. This seems to imply that the band have been somewhat lacking with their releases in-between but I'll leave that up to you to decide. Anyways, I just got their new one and I can confirm that it is one of their best. Thank goodness! I would hate to think that we were kept waiting for what, four years, only to be disappointed. But none of that matters because as I said, Accelerate contains a fantastic group of songs and are very much reminiscent of some of their older material. Not really in sound (there’s no 80’s retro here) but it just has that feeling to it; at least it does for me. The single ‘Supernatural Superserious’ is a great example of this.

R.E.M. is still a relevant band and Accelerate proves it.

The band are also one-third of an exciting summer tour that includes The National and Modest Mouse. They play the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto on June 8th and play twelve other dates including the tour opener in Vancouver. Tickets have already gone on sale. You can find a full list of dates on their MySpace page.

MySapce: R.E.M.
R.E.M.: Offical Website

Buy Accelerate

Album of the Month: FOALS - ANTIDOTES

I've been waiting to write about this band for some time now but I thought I would wait until around the album release date for reasons that are evading me at the moment. The downside of this is that most of you have probably already heard of Foals, sampled their music and decided whether you like 'em or not. If you are one of the select few who have not done so and maybe have never come across them (where have you been?), consider this another chance of many that are, have been and probably will be available to you.

So what's the deal? The band is a five-piece from Oxford, England. The music is danceable with heavy emphasis on the rhythm section but the guitars are there too. Their genre is often labeled as 'math-rock,' a reference to the complex rhythm structures and vocal styling’s. While the history of Foals is by no means long, it has been an eventful few months. Last year saw the band release several singles including 'Hummer,' 'Mathletics' and 'Balloons,' a song that got them some attention.

Foals were eventually signed to Sub Pop in North America and will release their debut album Antidotes through them and on Transgressive Records in the U.K., where it has already been released. We get it on this side of the pond on April 8th. All of the songs here are pretty great and I can't think of a sleeper amongst them. Antidotes starts off with a bang, opening with the energy-filled ‘French Open.’ ‘Cassius’ was a great choice for a first single. Not only is it a great song but it also gives you a feel of exactly what Foals are about; but don’t ask me to summarize, it seems like an impossible task at the moment.

Anyways, the band will be touring for what seems like the rest of their lives. Check out their MySpace page for a list of dates. The band has also made two live recordings (‘Hummer ’and ‘Two Steps’) available for free download at their official website. Both were recorded from their show at Astoria in London.

Tracklisting
1. The French Open
2. Cassius
3. Red Socks Pugie
4. Olympics Airways
5. The Race For Radio Supremacy
6. Balloons
7. Heavy Water
8. Two Steps, Twice
9. Big Big Love (Fig.2)
10. Like Swimming
11. Tron

Download: Foals - French Open [mp3]
MySpace: Foals
Foals: Official Website

Buy Antidotes

Adele @ The Rivoli, Toronto (26-03-08)

Adele made her first trip to Toronto last night and I was lucky enough to be in the audience to see her play a sold-out show at The Rivoli. For anyone who doesn't know, The Rivoli is a very small, historical venue in the city. A lot of musicians play their first gig in Toronto here and then move on the bigger and greater things. After last night's show I have no doubt that Adele certainly will as well.

You can probably guess that the size of location made for a very intimate affair. Besides that, the entire set was "stripped down" as Adele put it. This, Adele noted, is how she likes to introduce her music to a new city because it's the way she writes songs and plays them to her mum for the first time. Adele sat on a stool in the middle of the stage and began the set with just an acoustic guitar, playing the first track, 'Daydreamer' off her debut album. Shortly after she was joined on stage by her guitarist and pianist. They made there way through several songs on the album including 'Crazy For You', 'First Love', ''My Same', 'Melt My Heart To Stone', 'Chasing Pavements' and the Bob Dylan cover 'Make You Feel My Love'. Adele closed her first appearance in Toronto with the song that first introduced me to her music, 'Hometown Glory.'

The acoustic set was a great idea and it went over very nicely. While she admitted to being nervous and apologized for her raspy voice (she was suffering from a hangover after a gig in Montreal the night before) Adele hardly seemed as if she was not in top form. Anything that she considered imperfect about her performance last night were in fact, endearing. The only complaint that I have, which most at the show will probably agree with, is that the set was too short. It ran well under an hour, maybe between 40-45 minutes and managed to play around 10 songs.

Good news for anyone who missed out on last night's show. Adele mentioned that she will be back in Toronto and (more likely than not) North America in June with a "proper band." Sadly for us (but great for), she will probably be playing a bigger venue next time around. After last night's show I will definitely be going to see her again and so should you. If you haven't picked up her album 19 yet, do so. It's a keeper and the buzz that has been floating around Adele for a while now is deserving. Why? Because she has the talent to back it up.

MySpace: Adele

Buy 19

You Should Be Listening To: FANFARLO - FIRE ESCAPE

I don't know much about Fanfarlo but I do know that I like what I hear and that's reason enough, right? But here's what I do know: the band are from London, they just played a couple of successful shows at SXSW and they have released several singles, each on different labels it appears. Most of the songs are floating around on the interweb (you can listen to them on the band's official website) but it's the catchy 'Fire Escape' that really sticks out among the bunch. It even ends with some good ol' whistlin'. Give it a listen.

Download: Fanfarlo - Fire Escape [mp3]
MySpace: Fanfarlo
Fanfarlo: Official Website

Buy Fire Escape [UK]

New Death Cab Track

Ok, here it is. New Death Cab For Cutie. I have been very excited about this new album for a while now (called Narrow Stairs if you haven't heard) and the first single "I Will Possess Your Heart" has reminded me why. It's a long one too. It runs til' 8:36. Not sure if this is just an album version as it's length isn't very radio-friendly (not that I give a shit). The reason for this is the nice unexpected 4 minute-ish instrumental at the beginning of the track. It builds nicely to the vocal portion of the song, where Ben Gibbard kicks in and gives us a great quintessential Death Cab melody. I'm really liking the instrumentation on this song, The subtle, yet resounding, bass line is a perfect complement to the piano/guitar mix that Death Cab has perfected, at least they have in my book.

Bottom line: it's a Death Cab song, therefore, it's good. Really, you can't go wrong. Can't wait to hear the rest of the album.

Download: Death Cab For Cutie I Will Possess Your Heart [mp3]

MySpace: Death Cab For Cutie

Death Cab For Cutie: Official Website

Pre-Order Narrow Stairs (Delux Edition) [U.S. ITunes]

Basia Bulat - Oh, My Darling

I seem to really be into female singer-songwriters at the moment. Adele, Duffy, Feist, Laura Marling, the amount of female talent seems endless at the moment and I can now add Basia Bulat to that list. She is fantastic singer-songwriter from London, Ontario, Canada who is garnering some much deserved attention at the moment. She played this year's SXSW and NPR has labelled her as one of a few to watch at the festival. In 2005, Bulat released a self-titled EP. Her debut album, Oh, My Darling, was released in 2007 in Canada and the UK. It was released on February 5th of this year in the United States. The song, 'In the Night' is great, although it does not appear on her debut. I'm actually not sure where this recording can be found but hopefully it appears or will appear somewhere.

Basia Bulat is playing a whole bunch of shows in Canada and the U.S. this Spring. Check out her MySpace for a list of dates. Also be sure to listen to her session at Daytrotter. You can find a link to it on her official website.

Download: Basia Bulat - In the Night [mp3]

MySpace: Basia Bulat

Basia Bulat: Official Website

Buy Oh, My Darling