It's been a really good week for new music videos, folks! Here's five of them that have caught my attention:
Dinosaur Bones - Ice Hotels
For a band that has thus far only released a 4-track EP, Dinosaur Bones have been doing pretty well for themselves. They've already made quite a splash on the Toronto-indie scene, playing with various shows and festivals. On February 2nd they're releasing a 7-inch vinyl featuring the new track, Ice Hotels and Royalty. These two tracks really do sum up the kind of great music that's been coming out of our city recently. Of course, this is all just the teaser for their upcoming debut full-length that they've recorded with Jon Drew, the man behind such beloved Canadian acts as Tokyo Police Club, the Arkells and Fucked Up. You can preorder the limited edition white vinyl (classy!) over at Hi-Scores Recording Library now. In February, Dinosaur Bones will also be doing a quick romp around the States before bringing the tour back home for Canadian Music Week.
Hollerado - Juliette
I love Hollerado. I really do. They are synonymous with "fun". Their record, Record in a Bag, will be available for purchasing on Feb. 9th. Each will be hand packaged by the band in a ziplock, and it will include the CD, a card for bonus track downloads, stickers, and possibly a prize card for various goodies. Goodies may include free admission to Hollerado shows or guitars. I'm so fuckin' serious.
Hawksley Workman - We Dance To Yesterday
Here's a video that made me go WTF a couple of times. Hawksley plays a mullet-topped Japanese game show character in this video... I really never know what to expect from this guy. I've been hearing very good things about his album, Meat, which was released this last Tuesday. I'm going to have to pick it up sometime soon.
Raveonettes - Boys Who Rape
This is a DIY style video for one of the oddest tracks on their latest record, In and Out of Control. Match a saccharine sweet tune and voice to lyrics about the rage felt toward men who take advantage of women, and you get this song.
OK Go - This Too Shall Pass
Surely you've all seen their video for A Million Ways, Here It Goes Again, and WTF already. OK Go has announced that they're planning on doing a video for each track on their new album, released earlier this month. I look forward to it. Without doubt they are the kings of the one-take video.
Showing posts with label Hollerado. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hollerado. Show all posts
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Bookie's Holiday Bash 2009
Here in Toronto, local Edge 102.1 DJ Dave Bookman (Bookie) has a tradition of bringing great rock to the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern every Tuesday night. No cover. What a great guy! This particular Tuesday night was his second annual Holiday Bash with the Arkells, joined by Hollerado and The Order of Good Cheer. I'll be using the word "fun" many times in this post.
I hadn't heard of The Order of Good Cheer until the show. They're from Toronto, they're a little bit punk, a little bit country blues, and a little bit unexpected. Their frontman, Francesco Guidoccio came out all decked in white, pants, shirt and blazer. I thought he looked friendly but tired and disheveled in a very rock and roll kind of way.
Francesco Guidoccio displays good cheer.
They sang about taking it off, marijuana girlfriends and trannies. No, I'm serious. When I type it out it sounds immature and silly, but really they've got a wicked sense of humour in their songs and lyrics. I insist that you go out to their next show to witness them perform Lady Pizzle live. "Oh my god... it's bigger than mine". The few tracks and videos on their mySpace page don't do them justice in showing what a fun live act they are. Also, I'd like to give credit to their ukulele player. Never have I seen a person so enthusiastic about such a tiny instrument. He was really, really into it. That guy was shredding!
The second band of the night was Hollerado. Oh, Hollerado. I was just as excited to see these guys live as I was to see the Arkells, headlining later that night. They've been one of my new favourites since I found out about them last month and downloaded their record, Record In A Bag, for free on their official site. They sell their home-burned album at shows in Ziplocks, use doot-do-doos instead of la-la-las, send postcards to their fans, and exude an all-around aura of fun and good times. Last month they won $250,000 at a battle of the bands type gig hosted by Live 88.5, a radio station in Ottawa, and then immediately flew to China for a brief tour and about 24 hours after arriving back in Canada, they played this show.
In addition to spurring shout-along choruses with loud and boisterous crowd-winning tracks from Record in a Bag, they also conducted us through a drunken rendition of "Happy Birthday to... JESUS...", not because they're at all religious, but because Jesus has the best birthday parties. They tossed out paper cups with hand-drawn marker doodles on them, inviting whoever caught them to share a round of shots with them at the bar later. Even the people that weren't familiar with Hollerado's material were jumping and singing "whoa-oh-oh"s and pseduo-moshing. In fact, they were so won over that they continued singing the last song's whoa-oh-ohs even after the band left the stage!
Hollerado - Do the Doot Da Doot Doo (mp3) (download the album free at hollerado.com)
And of course, to top of the night- The Arkells.
You know how some people talk with their hands? One of my favourite things about seeing the Arkells live is that their lead vocalist, Max Kerman, sings with his hands. If the lyrics of a song tells you to reach out, he'll raise his palms to the sky. If the lyrics say that "there's no room for the sweaty", like in their hit single, Oh, the Boss is Coming!, he'll wipe his brow with a sleeve. It's the most charming thing. I think you should click here to vote for Max, or Arkells guitarist Mike DeAngelis, at Chart Attack's annual poll for sexiest Canadian man... Currently, Deryck Whibley is winning.
This was not your regular Arkells set. This was their Holiday Motown Dance Party. The entire tavern was singing along to Temptations, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder and Four Tops covers, just to name a few. You could tell that the guys in the band were having a genuine good time playing an entire show of songs that they loved without having the obligation of playing songs that they wrote. It was a very fun-loving and care-free vibe that they spread through the crowd. It's kind of like there was an unspoken but mutual agreement between the band and the audience that they'd play whatever the hell they wanted, and make Beck references whenever they wanted, and invite their friends onstage whenever they wanted, and the audience only encouraged it further.
There were actually a lot of people that shared the stage with the Arkells that night, including Josh Tranger from the Sam Roberts Band, and this guy:
Figure 1: This is what awesome looks like.
"This guy" is actually a dude from local Toronto band, Dinosaur Bones. He got his very own rap interlude during the Arkell's rendition of Ms. Jackson (wooo!). Isn't he awesome with his facial hair and Casa Loma t-shirt? I've changed my mind; you should vote this guy for Chart Attack's sexiest Canadian man of 2009. He joined them onstage once again with Order of Good Cheer and a handful of guys I don't recognize for a massive rendition of Don't Let Me Down.
Some might call this a dance party. Some might call it a fine bromance. Some might call it a sausagefest. In any case, it was definitely one of the highlights of the set and it gave everyone at the Tavern a warm, fuzzy, feel-good sensation. What a great way to kick off the holidays.
The Beatles - Don't Let Me Down (mp3) (amazon) (iTunes)
The Arkells - John Lennon (mp3) (amazon) (iTunes)
Let's do it all again next year, yeah?
I hadn't heard of The Order of Good Cheer until the show. They're from Toronto, they're a little bit punk, a little bit country blues, and a little bit unexpected. Their frontman, Francesco Guidoccio came out all decked in white, pants, shirt and blazer. I thought he looked friendly but tired and disheveled in a very rock and roll kind of way.
Francesco Guidoccio displays good cheer.They sang about taking it off, marijuana girlfriends and trannies. No, I'm serious. When I type it out it sounds immature and silly, but really they've got a wicked sense of humour in their songs and lyrics. I insist that you go out to their next show to witness them perform Lady Pizzle live. "Oh my god... it's bigger than mine". The few tracks and videos on their mySpace page don't do them justice in showing what a fun live act they are. Also, I'd like to give credit to their ukulele player. Never have I seen a person so enthusiastic about such a tiny instrument. He was really, really into it. That guy was shredding!
The second band of the night was Hollerado. Oh, Hollerado. I was just as excited to see these guys live as I was to see the Arkells, headlining later that night. They've been one of my new favourites since I found out about them last month and downloaded their record, Record In A Bag, for free on their official site. They sell their home-burned album at shows in Ziplocks, use doot-do-doos instead of la-la-las, send postcards to their fans, and exude an all-around aura of fun and good times. Last month they won $250,000 at a battle of the bands type gig hosted by Live 88.5, a radio station in Ottawa, and then immediately flew to China for a brief tour and about 24 hours after arriving back in Canada, they played this show.
In addition to spurring shout-along choruses with loud and boisterous crowd-winning tracks from Record in a Bag, they also conducted us through a drunken rendition of "Happy Birthday to... JESUS...", not because they're at all religious, but because Jesus has the best birthday parties. They tossed out paper cups with hand-drawn marker doodles on them, inviting whoever caught them to share a round of shots with them at the bar later. Even the people that weren't familiar with Hollerado's material were jumping and singing "whoa-oh-oh"s and pseduo-moshing. In fact, they were so won over that they continued singing the last song's whoa-oh-ohs even after the band left the stage!
Hollerado - Do the Doot Da Doot Doo (mp3) (download the album free at hollerado.com)
And of course, to top of the night- The Arkells.
You know how some people talk with their hands? One of my favourite things about seeing the Arkells live is that their lead vocalist, Max Kerman, sings with his hands. If the lyrics of a song tells you to reach out, he'll raise his palms to the sky. If the lyrics say that "there's no room for the sweaty", like in their hit single, Oh, the Boss is Coming!, he'll wipe his brow with a sleeve. It's the most charming thing. I think you should click here to vote for Max, or Arkells guitarist Mike DeAngelis, at Chart Attack's annual poll for sexiest Canadian man... Currently, Deryck Whibley is winning.This was not your regular Arkells set. This was their Holiday Motown Dance Party. The entire tavern was singing along to Temptations, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder and Four Tops covers, just to name a few. You could tell that the guys in the band were having a genuine good time playing an entire show of songs that they loved without having the obligation of playing songs that they wrote. It was a very fun-loving and care-free vibe that they spread through the crowd. It's kind of like there was an unspoken but mutual agreement between the band and the audience that they'd play whatever the hell they wanted, and make Beck references whenever they wanted, and invite their friends onstage whenever they wanted, and the audience only encouraged it further.
There were actually a lot of people that shared the stage with the Arkells that night, including Josh Tranger from the Sam Roberts Band, and this guy:
Figure 1: This is what awesome looks like."This guy" is actually a dude from local Toronto band, Dinosaur Bones. He got his very own rap interlude during the Arkell's rendition of Ms. Jackson (wooo!). Isn't he awesome with his facial hair and Casa Loma t-shirt? I've changed my mind; you should vote this guy for Chart Attack's sexiest Canadian man of 2009. He joined them onstage once again with Order of Good Cheer and a handful of guys I don't recognize for a massive rendition of Don't Let Me Down.
Some might call this a dance party. Some might call it a fine bromance. Some might call it a sausagefest. In any case, it was definitely one of the highlights of the set and it gave everyone at the Tavern a warm, fuzzy, feel-good sensation. What a great way to kick off the holidays.
The Beatles - Don't Let Me Down (mp3) (amazon) (
The Arkells - John Lennon (mp3) (amazon) (iTunes)
Let's do it all again next year, yeah?
Monday, December 21, 2009
Chinese Rock
Is there legitimate Chinese rock? I mean cool Chinese rock music. One with street credit. I thought it was a myth. All the Chinese music I've heard since 1995 has sucked. So I've been on a half-assed quest to find some. I think we're getting closer to some good Chinese (indie) music.
There are Chinese music blogs (they also write about English-speaking indie rock), like http://www.wooozy.cn popping up and some indie Chinese labels like Maybe Mars. Sonic Youth and Yeah Yeah Yeahs have played in Chinese music festivals so maybe there's finally market for this stuff.
PK14 - Behind all Ruptures (mp3) (buy)
Hollerado is from Manitock, Ontario and they're also opening the floodgates for indie rock from Canada to mingle with Chinese culture. They've just come back from touring in China and Hong Kong and they've even have a Chinese version of their website. While their songs are in English, they attempt Mandarin in "Dragon, Dragon, Tiger, Goat", which you can hear over at Exclaim! Magazine. In the meantime, you can hear one of their English tracks below:
Hollerado - Juliette (mp3) (download from official site)
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