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Heaps Good Friends // Australia
Australia has given the world some pretty rad acts over the years, including 987’s all time favourite band, Men at Work. We’ve only heard their 1981 hit ‘Down Under,’ but still it has earned them the top spot in our hearts, and on our music blog…but I digress.
Heaps Good Friends. Remember the name. This new Aussie group consists of Emma Fradd (vocals/guitar) and Nick O’Connor (bass/synths/production/drums), friends of 9 years. Thank you Torin, our ears in Melbourne, for the discovery.
They haven’t performed live yet and have only a few songs out, so now is the time to catch the wave before your friends do—that’s right, we’re calling it now, expect big things coming from Heaps Good Friends. They’re working on a live set as we speak, so be ready.
You might think it’ll be long before this peanut brittle pop duo comes to Canada all the way from Australia but there’s a link: Emma Fradd lived in Canada for 6 years. Indeed, they are globetrotters. The two live 1601km apart (Australia’s a wide place u know). Mikhail Din has been corresponding with the group. Fradd stated, ‘We have to find time and money for flights, but we’re having heaps good fun: our heads are way in the game.’ Sounds like the key ingredients to the prescient 987.
Peeps some of and get hooked to their tunes:
987 out.
Review: Mikhail Din
Photos: Emma Fradd
Yellow Days//Harmless Melodies EP
A couple months ago Yellow Days, a very impressive 17 year old out of England, dropped this amazing EP “Harmless Melodies”. It’s dreamy and synthy and jazzy and reminiscent of King Krule. He released a bonus track last week which is fire too. Favourites are “Gap In the Clouds”, “Your Hand Holding Mine” and “A Little While”.
Here’s his music video for “Your Hand Holding Mine”, and check out the whole EP below.
Review: Alli Bridges
Love is Mystical
Last week Cold War Kids announced their 6th studio album, L.A. Divine, set to release on April 7th, 2017. Here’s the first single release, Love is Mystical.
Sik [sic] new single from Milky Chance
Milky Chance. German Folk rock. All their songs are sik [sic]. Notably, their new single, “Doing Good,” new being a relative term, as it was released 22 days ago on Soundcloud, HOWEVER, as recently as Jan 13th on Spotify. But I digress; what I’m really here to talk about is the remarkably well mixed kick drum on “Doing Good,” and about how, behind the Folkish veneer hides this, like, singular minimalism of synths and percussion. There, I’ve talked about it. Eyes peeled for their new album, Blossom, set to release March 17th.
Review: Mikhail Din + Torben Robertson
Photo: http://www.festivalpedralbes.com/en/milky-chance/
Noise Pollution
Portugal. The Man released this song on December 1st following what they considered to be a rough month for everyone.
“Not to be dramatic and shit, but there’s a flood of noise right now that feels like it might drown us all. And it’s harder and harder to tell what’s fact, what’s opinion, and what’s just straight up bullshit. We’re not able to make sense of it, much less tell you how to make sense of it. Thank God there’s music for that. We’re in this together.”
They are working on a new album, “Gloomin and Doomin,” with Michael Diamond (aka Mike D of The Beastie Boys). No news of when it will be released, but we’re hoping real soon.
Dance and Democracy
Mik and I caught Andra Day on the Granville Strip last night. Remarkable show; super glad I went, despite the fact that I hadn’t heard her name before, learned it off the sign above the Commodore Ballroom’s box office roughly 9.87 minutes before she took the stage. Was fully under the impression that Mik had said “Andrew” on the phone.
Andra Day bantered a lot. One of the things that caught our attention was “This is a conversation: we’re not just up here singing for you.” With that sort of thinking she encourages audience engagement, reminding us about our role in making meaning of the music.
This kind of attitude to art is democratic. She introduced her cover of Simone’s “Mississippi Goddamn” by calling for a reopening of nonpartisan dialogue in the wake of Trump’s election.
The Commodore was nice enough to offer Hannah Robertson (Torben’s sister) a free ticket to the show. Was it because of our good looks or wry charm? Probably both; but Hannah was “too tired” to attend.
Day certainly brought it for the last stop of her tour. See our pics as evidence. Maybe the vocals were mixed a tad too loud, and the keyboard too quietly, but nonetheless her performance was emotionally impactful.
c u all (minus Hannah Robertson) on the dancefloor of emotions.
Review: Torben Robertson
Photos: Mikhail Din
TANGLERS @ Backstage Lounge
It was such a pleasure to see some friends I’ve known for over half my life up on stage, in the form of TANGLERS. I hadn’t heard much from these guys before the show, as they are fairly new to the scene, but these psychedelic local rockers had me grooving.
Their first EP is set to release in mid December, called “Light Slips In.” If it’s anything like their live set, I recommend keeping an eye out for it. (More info here).
Their smooth sounding, so-cal rock vibes are not one to miss. Catch them at the Wise Hall on December 16th as a part of BeatRoute’s Holiday Hustle.
c u there 🙂
Review + Photos: Mikhail Din
The Rural Alberta Advantage
The Rural Alberta Advantage have been on my radar since I first heard their hit, Frank, AB, in grade 12. I’d dabble with their music from time to time and jam out to some of their songs.
In 2014 they released their third full length album, Mended with Gold, which had a couple of heavy hitters imo. If I had to choose one favourite off the album it would be On the Rocks, for sure.
They just recently announced their return to Vancouver 😀 and they will be playing The Fox Cabaret on February 25th, 2017. (Tickets here)
Their fourth studio album is on its way, and they’ve given us a little teaser 🙂
Here you have it:
Dear Rouge’s Album Recommendation
I got in a quick word with Dear Rouge (a local alternative dance-rock duo worth checking out if you like to feel good and dance at the same time) and asked them if they had any albums stuck on repeat / would recommend for music lovers to check out this holiday season.
Their recommendation was none other than Childish Gambino‘s third studio album, “Awaken, My Love!”
Childish Gambino aka Donald Glover (actor, writer, musician, rapper, singer-songwriter, comedian, astronaut (probably)), came in strong with this soulful album, taking a different approach to his previous, more hip-hop dominant works.
As Dear Rouge put it, “We would recommend the new Childish Gambino record. It’s an important record for any music fan to listen to.”
Have a listen for yourself 🙂
July Talk // Victoria
I first saw July Talk at the 2013 Squamish Valley Music Festival and they’ve been busy since – touring the world, winning a Juno, releasing their second album (Touch) and just being dope af. These guys are the epitome of Canadian alt-rock at the moment. The stark contrast between the angelic vocals of Leah Fay and the deep growl of Peter Dreimanis creates a sound like none other. Together, they create a show that is both music and performance, as they dance with choreiform movements, flip each other off, and genuinely just seem to be having a great time up there. Their chemistry is undeniable and the result is a passionate, high-energy show. Guitarist Ian Docherty, bassist John Warburton and drummer Danny Miles killed it throughout the set, hitting all the right notes and keeping the two manic vocalists in check. This is a must-see show, but may be difficult as most of the shows on their Canadian tour are sold out – and for good reason!
Review + Photos: Ashley Yip