This week has been full of new music from BC bands and today is no exception with a new song from Victoria artist Dougal Bain McLean called "Drift Dreamer".
The video that accompanies it is about as Tokyo Drift as Victoria gets, with high-fives (instead of punches), donuts in a parking lot, and cameos from the Vic music scene.
Take a look at the video below and get the song HERE.
Exciting times today, we get a new single from The Zolas, whose new EP comes out on October 2nd, and a show announcement for November 5th at the Imperial here in Vancouver.
The opening line of "Fell In Love With New York" sets the tone of the song - "You're always surrounded, you're always alone" - illustrating the big city.
It makes me picture leaning my head out of a cab window watching the city lights go by or sitting in a cafe people watching.
Wino Oracle comes out in just over a week via Light Organ Records, and you can catch The Zolas on tour this fall, including the date at the Imperial. (For a full list of shows click here.) Take a listen to "Fell In Love With New York" below and download it for free!
photo by Sara Hembre
It's been a few years since we last heard from Steph Macpherson (2012's Bells & Whistles to be exact) but she has been keeping busy. Last year she ran a successful IndieGoGo campaign to travel down to Nashville, TN to record her latest album with eight-time JUNO award winning Colin Linden, who actually hand-picked Steph to record with!
(Full disclosure, I helped out with the fund, and got a nice hand-written postcard from Nashville.)
Jump-cut to now, and Steph is ready to release the new album, Stones, with a powerful video for the song "You Got Mean".
Photo by Kirsten Huculiak
I've got two fun things to share with you today, involving We Are The City.
The first is their brand new song "Keep On Dancing" that, well, kind of lives up to the name. Past the booming drums is a bit more of an upbeat song that their last album, the moody Violent. And while there's no details quite yet on the new album, we do know it was self-produced in the back of a bike shop in East Van.
The second thing is Whether You Care or Not, a documentary about We Are The City. The half hour doc follows them on a European tour and shows the "challenges of being a Canadian band on a global market".
And also learning stick shift.
Today I bring you not just a song of the day, not just song(s) of the day, but an album of the day! And I bring this to you not only because I love Chad VanGaalen, but also because Christine was too creeped out to write about it. (Actual quote: "I don't even know where to start with whatever the hell is going on with this")
Whatever the hell is going on with this is a trans-Canada collaboration of Calragy's Chad VanGaalen and Seth Smith (of Dog Day) from Halifax. They duo indulged their experimental side for an album called Seed of Dorzon which you can listen to in full below.
The album is only two songs, but half an hour long, and definitely leans heavy on the "experimental". The sprawling tracks feature haunting tones that suddenly shift to jarring beats, and eerie electronic bloops. It is as weird as it is interesting.
If you want slightly more normal Chad VanGaalen (or, as normal as he gets) I would recommend heading to Imperial tonight, where he is opening for Hayden. Or hop in your Tardis and see them last night at Rifflandia.
Surely this has got to be a callback to The Dears' amazing song "22: The Death Of All The Romance" (which, by the way, has one of the greatest music videos ever).
It's from their latest album Times Infinity Vol 1, which is out in one week. And if you are in Victoria for Rifflandia this weekend, you can -- scratch that, should -- see them perform today at Royal Athletic Park at 4:15pm.
And if you're not over at Rifflandia, well then I had better see you tomorrow night at the Fox Cabaret, since The Dears are hands down one of the best live bands I have ever seen.
For Esmè was one of my discoveries this year at NXNE in Toronto, and I was lucky enough to catch them live. To say I'm excited for this album, isn't saying enough.
"Make A Sound" is the latest single from Sugar (out October 16th) and is a groovy and dreamy track - which worked so well with the weather in Vancouver this morning.
Lead singer Martha wrote this regarding the theme: "The song is about the endless need in this industry, in this generation, to show everyone how great your life is and how exhausting that is. I catch myself feeling regret for not thinking to capture a special moment on camera, then catch myself, ‘why isn’t the moment itself enough?"
Now I feel odd knowing I'm heading off to a weekend in Rifflandia with parties and music I where I will definitely be posting photos and updates for you all (follow along on Twitter & Instagram), but then again that's my job! But I will capture it, so you can just enjoy yourselves!
Enjoy!
Click Image To Hear The Playlist!
Uhhh, no... not THAT Riff Raff (actually if I'm linking to anything it should be this amazing scene from Orphan Black).............. It's RIFFLANDIA!
The annual festival is once again here, with four days of music, (both at outdoor and indoor venues), in the beautiful city of Victoria.
Running today (Sept 17) to Sunday, hundreds of artists from BC, Canada, and abroad will descend on the city. With the added bonus of Break Out West and the WCMA's taking place at the same time, the festival has so many acts to chose from, it's impossible to get to them all.
We've chosen to highlight some of the main acts performing during the day at Royal Athletic Park, and a few others coming in from across Canada, in this week's playlist, which you can hear by clicking the image above, or RIGHT HERE.
Click HERE to see more info on the festival, the schedule, and the artists, and if you're stuck in Vancouver, many of the acts will also be performing in town over the weekend.