Song(s) of the Day: December 24, 2015 - The Line Of Best Fit's "Ho! Ho! Ho! Canada VII"

The awesome music blog The Line Of Best Fit from across the pond in England has come out with it's annual Ho! Ho! Ho! Canada album - this year being the 7th version of it.

Each year the blog asks Canadian artists to create an original Christmas/holiday song, and this go around EIGHTEEN artists answered the call. Artists from all over Canada were involved: Great Lake Swimmers, The Burning Hell, Colin Cowan & The Elastic Stars, and more, including Astral Swans, who created my favourite song on the list, "No Home Left In The Head", which we embedded below. (I also took liberties with his promo photo above. You're welcome, Matt.)

The album is FREE to download which you can do by clicking HERE, or stream the whole playlist on The Line Of Best Fit's blog by clicking HERE - where you can also read about each individual song and artist.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Song of the Day: December 23, 2015 - "Foreign Christmas" by Fake Shark

A few days we gave you Foreigner, now we're giving you "Foreign Christmas".

For the 4th year in a row Fake Shark has written and recorded an original Christmas song for download. Whether you're currently out of the country this Christmas season or even just out of province, or have been in the past, this song will hit home.
So find some friends and get in on their Christmas dinner, or make your own holiday party, and turn this one up full blast.

Song of the Day: December 22, 2015 - "Harriet" by Hey Rosetta! f. The SJMA

Forget Christmas, we're just a few short weeks away from the real magical event of the season: Sing it Forward (or #SingItFwd). In the final year (sad emoticon) of SingItFwd, a fundraiser for the Saint James Music Academy, they will be taking over the Vogue for two nights with separate super secret lineups each night. So secret, that they won't be revealed until the day of! 

Though we know at least one band who won't be there, sadly, and that's Hey Rosetta!... but that didn't stop them from stopping by the academy to perform their amazing song "Harriet" with the kids. 

Watch the video below, and grab some tickets for the grand finale, January 14th and/or 15th at the Vogue. 

Song Of The Day: December 21, 2015 - "Naughty or Nice?" by Bend Sinister

Ho! Ho! Ho! Are you in the Christmas Spirit yet? No? Well then you're Cold As Ice, because Santa Claus Is Coming To Town!

I don't think I could have introduced Bend Sinister's Christmas mashup song any other way...as they merged the classic carol with Foreigner's "Cold as Ice".

The video that goes along with the song is also a mashup or Christmas movies and commercials. I'm not sure were the dancing pregnant ladies are from, but they were definitely the strangest part for me.

Enjoy their take on two classics below:

Song Of The Day: December 20, 2015 - "Christmas In Paradise" by Nat Jay

It's five days until Christmas so we're going to get you in the mood. A few new indie Christmas tracks were released this year, including this one by Nat Jay.

I LOVE her song "Green Trees and Red Hearts", and this one, "Christmas In Paradise" has you picturing spending the holiday somewhere nice and tropical.

Think warm thoughts!

Song of the Day: December 19, 2015 - "Factory Flaws" by Young Galaxy

This was a late entry for 'favourite songs of the year' for me. Young Galaxy's album Falsework came out a month and a half ago, but I didn't get around to listening to it until recently, and "Factory Flaws" jumped out immediately. 

It's an infectious orchestral-disco-pop song about people coming together and, well, celebrating the flaws in each other. It's clearly influenced by the 80s, but doesn't sound dated in the least. And of course, McCandless' vocals are spot on. 

I'm also really sad that they evidently had to cancel their west coast tour dates early next year, and hope they'll be back before long. But in the meantime, enjoy the "Factory Flaws" 

Song of the Day: December 18, 2015 - "Ant Song" by The Sumner Brothers

Not only have The Sumner Brothers recently released a brand new album, The Hell In Your Mind, but this weekend they are hosting their tenth annual Christmas show, A Sumner Brothers XMas. 

"Ant Song" sees the Brothers Bob & Brian ramping up their intensity for a sprawling seven minutes of raw & gritty rock and driving guitars, about cordyceps, the "zombie ant" creating, insect-colonising fungus. 

As for the show, just look at this lineup: 
The Sumner Brothers (with Kenton Loewen & Joseph Lubinsky-Mast), Johnny 99, Twin Bandit, Kathleen Nisbet of Viper Central, Colebrook Shepherds, Gabriel Mintz, Sarah Jane Scouten, A.P. Dugas (The Ganges River Band), Mike Giacolino (Ole Tinderr), Emile & Kesia (The Good Ship Edaleen), Real Ponchos, Etienne Tremblay, Elliot C. Way (of The WILD NORTH), and Jayne Trimble. 

It's all going down this Saturday, the 19th, at the Rickshaw. 

3am Playlist #25: The Bones Of Winter

It's finally that time of year. I've officially decided to listen to holiday and/or christmas songs. 
That and it just so happens to be our 25th playlist, so that was a nice number to do this one on. 

There's a large collection of indie Christmas songs (tons from right here in Vancouver), and at this point Said The Whale can almost do a full length one!

So gather up some blankets, and a hot toddy, and either sit by the fire or turn the yule log channel on, and listen to some Canadian Holiday Classics!

(If you have other awesome suggestions to add into the playlist, leave them in the comment section below.)