From Regina, Saskatchewan’s eight-piece indie-pop collective Library Voices, comes one of the most satisfying tracks of the year so far; granted I am a sucker for absorbing west-coast(ish) harmonies and sunshine-pop.  Drinking Games can be found on the band’s to-be-released debut full-length album “Denim On Denim” which is scheduled to land on shelves April 13, [...]

Today’s song comes from Calgary’s favorite indie minstrel Danny Vacon and his other musical project, The Dojo Workhorse.  I Got Life can be found on the quintet’s 2009 debut full-length album “Weapons Grade Romantic” which hit shelves last summer.  The project, which emerged to fill Vacon’s need for a non-DudesBAD DUDES reviews creative outlet, produces [...]

Montreal’s all-female four-piece Pony Up returned to studios in the Spring of 2008 to begin work on their sophomore full-length release.  Working with producer Murray Lightburn (who also serves as front-man for the Montreal act The Dears), the group recorded the 2009-released LP “Stay Gold” from the world-renowned Hotel2Tango recording studio.  At the time of [...]

Canadian alt-country balladeers NQ Arbuckle teamed up with singer-songwriter Carolyn Mark this past year for a collaborative release.  The result was the full-length “Let’s Just Stay Here”, released through Vancouver’s Mint Records mid-October.  The album marks the first release from NQ Arbuckle since their 2008 Juno-nominated released XOK, and the first from Carolyn Mark since [...]

Dirty, grungy, distorted, overexposed, and even skanky, are all words that feel right when describing Makeout Videotape’s turn on the Harry Nilsson classic I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York. The cassette-sounding rendition can be found on the Vancouver lo-fi/garage-rock duo’s limited-release EP “Heat Wave!”, which appears to be the only release-proper from the band [...]

With the exception of sex and drugs, there are few things more satisfying than a well executed key-change.  Doin’, from Canadian Chris Adeney’s indie/folk/progressive-rock project Wax Mannequin, features one such key-change; unless completely dead inside, listeners should experience a moment of head-bobbing.  The song can be found on Wax Mannequin’s fifth-full length effort “Saxon”, released [...]

The west-coast trio of Ashleigh Ball, David Beckingham, and David Vertesi (otherwise known as Hey Ocean!) released their sophomore LP “It’s Easier To Be Somebody Else” in September of 2008.  The album, described by the band as “funked up party-pop”, follows-up on the group’s 2006 debut effort “Stop Looking Like Music”‘; today’s song Fish can [...]

Defiant to the bitter end, Hayden delivers a fine piece of scorned indie/folk love-rock with Let’s Break Up.  Found on Paul Hayden Desser’s 2009 full-length release The Place Where We Lived, the song offers a number of lines that should be immediately written down for use if ever on the shittier side of a break-up.  Like [...]

2009 brought the debut album from Rich Terfry (the man behind the Buck 65 moniker) and his newest collaborator, Belgian producer Joëlle Phuong Minh Lê.  The electronic/hip-hop project, known as Bike for Three!, released More Heart Than Brains this past summer to almost exclusive acclaim.  Today’s song is not from that album, nor is it [...]

Toronto-based indie-poppers Ohbijou delivered their long-awaited (I suppose it was only 3 years) sophomore album “Beacons” this past year, following-up on their 2006 debut release “Swift Feet for Troubling Times”. Make It Gold can be found in the oft-controversial #9 position on the album, and is gorgeous number that begins by feeling almost underscored (by [...]

Up today is another fantastic track from the Toronto-based indie-rock/pop ensemble The Ghost Is Dancing.  Battles On can be found on the band’s defiant 2009 effort of the same name, released on April 28th of last year.  The album follows-up on the group’s 2007 debut LP “The Darkest Spark”, a self-titled 2006 EP, and a [...]

Up today is some sublime lo-fi indie-rock/pop, care of Vancouver-based The Awkward Stage.  Consisting of frontman Shane Nelken, Tygh Runyan (Beans) on guitar, Tony Koelwyn (Bossanova) on drums, and Chris Mitchell who plays with the Vancouver Symphony on trumpet and keyboards, The Awkward Stage have two full-length releases to their name since forming in 2006. [...]

There are a lot of things to like about today’s tune.  There’s that sort of Jim Cuddy mixed with Joel Plaskett vibe that can be heard, there’s the fantastic harmonies during the chorus that just ache to be turned up, and then there’s the charming lyrics like “I’m too old for the girl I love but [...]

The Toronto indie-rock/electronic duo of Dan Werb and Paul Banwatt, known as Woodhands, are slated to release their highly anticipated follow-up LP this month.  ”Remorsecapade” will be released via Paper Bag Records in Canada on January 26th and in the US on February 23rd;  CP24 will be one of the tracks featured on the new [...]

Really cool song up today, and an even cooler delivery.  Marlaina Kamikaze comes to us via the Vancouver, British Columbia duo of Zachary Gray (guitar) and Tom Dobrzanski (piano), otherwise known as The Zolas.  The song can be found on the band’s 2009 debut LP “Tic Toc Tic” which appears to have hit the streets [...]

I had planned on putting a Boxing Day post together, but as so often is the case around the holidays, family Scattergories was beckoning.  Tonight’s song comes from the Toronto, Ontario indie-rock threesome Magneta Lane.  The all female act of Lexi Valentine, Nadia King, and Francine DiBacco have released 3 full-length albums since their inception [...]

Today’s song comes from the Kelowna solo artist Cary Pratt, and his solo project Prairie Cat; see what he did there?  Just Cuz can be found on Pratt’s most recent album “It Began/Ended With Sparks”, which appears to have been released digitally late in October of this year, and physically early in December.  The song [...]

Wicked catchy tune today from the Cape Breton, Nova Scotia trio of cousins Mardeen.  From what I’ve read, members Matthew Ellis, Travis Ellis, and Jon Pearo have been playing together since the age of 12; other than brushing my teeth, I’m not sure there’s anything I’ve done consistently since the age of 12.  Kids can be [...]

In the same fashion as every music blogger in the world, I’ve spent the last couple weeks working on my “Best of 2009″ list.  However, it seems like as soon as I get the song-filled post-it notes in an order I feel good about, I hear something that makes me re-consider the list; is that [...]

More quality Canadian content coming from the west coast today, this time via the indie/alt-rock duo Kristen Cudmore and Gregor Phillips; otherwise known as Language Arts.  Originally from the other Canadian coast, Nova Scotia (I suppose we have a northern coast as well), the duo’s biography describes their latest album as “celebrating obscurities and word [...]