Saturday, January 28, 2012

CANcon

Time for a little CANcon.  For those readers from outside our shores, CANcon was a measure introduced by the CRTC(Canadian Radio & Television Corp.) to make sure that Canadian talent was going to get exposed to viewing and listening audiences. Basically if you are a Radio or TV station based in Canada there are very strict guidelines that say you have to play X amount of Canadian content in relation to everything else you play.  And really, without it I'm sure we would be even more under the influence of American broadcasters than we already are... And Silly Dingdong would still be singing to loggers in remote regions of Quebec instead of counting her million$,  so I never thought I'd say this but... THANKS CRTC!

Now it kinda seems like Marc Houle is like a lost legend in the Canadian scene.  I dunno if he's moved abroad or something but he should really be mentioned in the same breath as Acquaviva and Hawtin etc.  Heres a reason why, courtesy of Marco Carola's mix from the Fabric series (#31- and its great btw.)

Marc Houle - Kicker

If Hamilton, Ontario can ever be accused of poppin' it'll be because of the Junior Boys.  I didn even know they were Canadian let alone from Hamilton until last year.  Something about that just doesn't make sense.  Although, thinking about it, some of the most talented musicians I've known have lived in or been from very industrial and culturally repressed places.  Add to their amazingness, a remix from Ewan Pearson (love!) and you get this track named after my Grandmother.. well sort of.

Junior Boys - Hazel (Ewan Pearson's House Remix)

Lastly, a friend of mine just released a new track.  Its a remix of the new Starkillers "Disco Fans". Sure to be blowing up floors all over the place and its now available on Beatport.  If you do not know who Deko-ze is, you either aren't a dance music head from Canada or you need a slap. So when you consider how much music we all get for free.... pop on over to Beatport and show some love for a little CANcon.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

What does Black sound like?

No I am not about to entire into some racial tirade about what black music is. But i love the name of these guys.  Two young black kids from Jersey(New, not the Isle of) calling themselves the Voices of Black. Whether its a comment on the colour of their skin, some sort of political statement or maybe they are talking about something entirely different. I really don't care.  Its interesting shit. Sometimes it gets a little bit weird and spacey but its obvious that their influences are pretty varied. And like I said, Its interesting. Refreshing to the ears to hear such a diverse collection of stuff.  Especially this umm cover(?) of one of my All Time faves...

Voices of Black - Papa Was

Voices of Black - A Place Called Fame

Monday, January 23, 2012

Lost & Burried Treasure

Its been 2 weeks since my knee surgery and though I've been mostly sat on my ass, I dunno what it was I just wasn't really up to blogging.  It could easily have been the pain killers- I was a Percocet zombie.  Now that I've started physio and I'm walking, actually I'm not going to call how I move around walking because it looks more like a Neanderthal shuffle, but ya now that I am doing that, I really am feeling better about things.  That and a steady bunch of visiting friends have really helped.  And so this weekend, chilling with a few friends I managed to go on a search for sunken treasure without ever having to leave my gorgeous new sofa.

Sometimes I consume so much music in the run of a day that it kind of gets lost on me.  I'll hear it and move on, without ever really listening. Next day, rinse-repeat, and after 3 days I don't even manage to remember that I was completely in love with a track and it has died somewhere in the recently added side of my iTunes.  Lucky for me, my husband appears to pay a bit closer attention, and had harvested a bunch of these little beauties into a playlist which repeatedly had my scurrying off the couch to find out what they were and how they managed to sneak into my iTunes without me noticing.

Beacause I've taken a bit of flack from a few people for not posting during all this free time, Today its a SuperSized, two-parter.

It's a (bizarrely warm) rainy Monday here in Toronto, but I'm fairly certain you'll be able to notice that the weather has had an effect on my musical distractions in part number 1 of today's post:

Dinah Washington - This Bitter Earth

Ruede Haggelstein & The Noblettes - A Priori (Original Mix)

Groove Armada - History

And now for part 2. That Dinah Washington song by the way... amazing.  After we heard it in Shutter Island(meh) last week it was on repeat for about an hour, so at least something good came out of watching that. With these next couple I'm going to try and pretend its not a rainy Monday and that my dancing shoes are not on a shelf collecting dust. If you think you recognize In The City, its because that little ditty looping in the background is from Pharcyde and has been sampled to death for probably about 20 years.

Alena - Changes (Ron Basejam Mix)

Andre Crom & Martin Dawson - In The City

Goloka - Ain't No Game

Monday, January 9, 2012

hoping for some mighty efficient machines

I cannot stop listening to this album. Every spare second I have had for 2 days has been spent with this as my musical backdrop.  The album is about a year old, released last February by a producer from Denmark named Kasper Bjørke.  Its called Sitting On Top Of Utopia, and what a fucking marvelous view it is from the top! Hot damn.  Theres elements of disco, dark menacing electronia, indie pop and even parts of it that remind me of Muse and strangely it doesn't feel scattered.  This will be my soundtrack while im sitting in the hospital tomorrow recovering from ACL reconstructive surgery on my left knee, giddy'up!
These are my early two favourites from the album:

Kasper Bjørke - Efficient Machine

Kasper Bjørke - Fido & The Friendly Ghost

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Cow birds in the clouds

So I ended up taking a little break from the blog over the Holidays... There was just so much going on I didnt really have time to spend an hour sorting through tunes and writing, but its nice to be back :). Eventful doesn't even begin to summarize the season but after all the parties, the presents, the drama and oh my god the booze, its a brand new year.  I don't tend to make grandiose resolutions, and this year will be no different.  Generally just striving to be a more complete person, and experience new things.. so bring it on 2012. 
Musically I'm going to sort of ease it on in on a pretty chilled tip.  A producer friend of mine from the UK whose musical opinion I really respect put this next album as his tops of 2011 and I completely agree. I won't get all flowery and start describing it but it is a 28 track album. Ambitious to say the least.  The album is called "Clouds" and its by a fellow named Apollo Brown, hailing from the Motor City... and no I don't mean Stuttgart this time. Also check the album art... i like it :)

Apollo Brown - Drinking Life

Apollo Brown - Know The Time

Now maybe Santa brought you new dancing shoes for Christmas.  Maybe yours have been in the closet picking up dust over the Holigays? Either way, dust those puppies off cuz its time for a nice proper House Jam! Courtesy of none other than Crosstown Rebels, comes this beauty of a soulful chuggin' track that, to quote my friend Walther, is a "real treat".  On top of the fact I really love the song, its got a completely foolish name... my favourite. Mind you, I mean... maybe every cow does have a bird and I'm just out of the loop?

Guti & Dubshape - Every Cow Has A Bird