Songs of the Week: Holiday Edition 2024

December 23, 2024 by Christine McAvoy in Song Of The Day, Songs Of The Week

“Light the Light” by Tim Baker

Tim Baker is no stranger to holiday songs, and this year he released a whole holiday album, Full Rainbow of Light.

Comprised of twelve new songs, and a cover of the standard “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” Tim expanded on the album, saying: “I started recording this album in Montreal with my great friends & go-to collaborators Marcus Paquin & Liam O’Neill, but it sat sidetracked by other projects for over a year. It took a long east coast winter and half the musicians in St. John’s to help me finally get it there. I guess it makes sense it had to come home, since ‘Town’ is such a central character to it. I was lucky enough to get the likes of Tom Power, Aaron Collis, Emilia Bartellas, Matthew Byrne & Rich Klaas of the townie trad legends The Dardanelles; stars in the their own right Kelly McMichael, Mara Pellerin, Nico Paulo & Maria Peddle singing backups; not to mention social media superstar Billianne backing me up on the title track; Rob Brown on the haunting Uilleann pipes; Peter Lannon lending his lead guitar sweetness; honorary Newfoundlanders Mike Brushey & Jason Haberman grounding everything on bass & drums; my dad sings on it, my friends are all over it, to say it's ‘of my home’ is funny cause so much of it was actually recorded in my literal living room, pausing when the snowplows ground past, or the wind got too loud in the chimneys.”

You can check out “Light the Light” below, or listen to the full album everywhere you get your music!

Kirk

“You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”/ “Vous êtes méchant, M.Grinch” by Jill Barber

Hot off her latest, French-language album ENCORE!, Jill Barber celebrated the season with a few covers of Christmas classics. And true to form, each song was recorded both in English and en français!

Below is her sultry version of Dr. Seuss’ “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” — as well as “Vous êtes méchant, M.Grinch” — but you can also hear her takes on “Sleigh Ride”/ Promenade en traîneau” and “I’ll be Home for Christmas”/”C’est la nuit de Noël”

Kirk

“The Little Drum Machine Boy” by Jane’s Party

This was too funny not to include and I’ll just let Jane’s Party vocalist and guitarist Tom Ionescu tell you about it:

“With this holiday song, I wanted to add to the Christmas lore. One character that stood out to me as needing some extra attention and a revamp was the Little Drummer Boy. I’ve really been getting into old drum machines and exploring ways to include them into the songs we write and produce. With our attention on all this drum machine stuff, I thought maybe the modern re-telling of ‘The Little Drummer Boy’ would be ‘The Little Drum Machine Boy’. The rest of the concept fell into place quite fast!”

Christine

“It Can’t Be Christmas” by Johnny 99

It’s been a minute since we’ve heard from Johnny 99 — the solo project of John Sponarski, who is currently part of City & Colour (or long-time readers of this blog may remember him as one half of Portage & Main).

But now he’s back with a holiday song, “It Can’t Be Christmas”. Backed by his C&C bandmates Matt Kelly, Erik Nielsen, and Leon Power, the tune fits into the “sad Christmas song” genre, with Sponarski explaining, “This song was one of those magical moments you don't have to work for, or coax out of the ether. It leapt from my imagination as soon as I awoke early one morning with the holidays right around the corner. The previous evening I had spoken with a friend who was grappling with the loss of his mother. We talked about his grief, how it weighed on him and took away the joy and comfort he normally felt during the holiday season. It’s really a song for anyone who has experienced loss around Christmas, and how that has changed what it means to them.”

Kirk

“SantaClauge” by Elliott BROOD

Elliott BROOD did a Christmas parody of Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage”, and I kind of hate how well it works???

It’s incredible.

Kirk

“Santa Must Have Winter Tires” by Future Star

You can always count on Mint Records for some local Christmas cheer, and this year it comes from Future Star with “Santa Must Have Winter Tires”.

The bedroom-pop jam was written in about a snowy winter night in 2022, with Future Star dedicating the song to “all the shiftworkers and commuters who gambled on it being a mild winter and lost.”

Have a listen below!

Kirk

“The Sound Of Christmas” by William Prince

We got some more original Christmas music from William Prince his his track “The Sound Of Christmas”, as well as “Don’t Go Leaving Me (It’s Christmas Eve)” and a cover of “Silver Bells”.

In “The Sound of Christmas” he “puts an ingenious twist on classic themes, celebrating the role that music and the real-life sounds of Christmas - laughter, clinking of glassware, skates carving ice, bells carrying through the air - play in our memories and festivities.”

Christine

“Santa Man” / “Hot Christmas” by The Sheepdogs / BROS

We’ve got a double whammy of Christmas music from the combo of The Sheepdogs, and BROS (Sheepdogs bandmates Ewan and Shamus Currie).

Of “Santa Man” Ewan says: “There’s a lot of Christmas music out there, but not nearly enough Christmas Rock N Roll. So we’re making like Santa and delivering the December goods: a Xmas party banger for your next holiday shindig.” (I agree, more rock n roll holiday songs please!)

Shamus adds: “‘Hot Christmas’ is a spicy piece about getting away from it all and having a Christmas vacation complete with Latin grooves and rhythmic piano ideas.”

Christine

Songs of the Week: October 21 - 27, 2024

October 28, 2024 by Christine McAvoy in Song Of The Day, Songs Of The Week

“The Local” by Jody Glenham

It’s always frustrating when an unreleased song gets stuck in your head, and that’s exactly what happened when I saw Jody Glenham tease an upcoming EP during her set for Car Free Day a few weeks back. But luckily, now I can spin “The Local” on repeat.

The new song is the first single off that EP, Still Here, and is a moody yet optimistic tune about strength and persistence. Have a listen, and keep an ear out for Rich Hope on backup vocals!

Kirk

“Serene Demon” by Art d’Ecco

Last week, Art d’Ecco not only released a sprawling epic, but also announced his upcoming album!

Clocking in at over seven minutes, “Serene Demon” is a four-part song with twists and turns, and while Art jokes the premise is straightforward (saying “it’s literally an existentialist and a true believer walk into a bar and debate”) it is musically anything but simple, as he admits “That song is the most challenging thing I’ve ever written.”

You can watch the equally intense video below, and mark February 14 of next year for the release of Serene Demon.

Kirk

“Ghostbusters” by Elliott BROOD

It’s only a few more days until Halloween, and I knew it was finally time to share this super fun cover of “Ghostbusters” by Ontario’s Elliott BROOD!

The band just did a string of shows promoting the release of their two latest albums Town, and Country - which hopefully means we’ll see them out west again soon!

Christine

Songs of the Week: February 12 - 18, 2024

February 21, 2024 by Christine McAvoy in Song Of The Day, Songs Of The Week

“Lost And Found” by Chromeo

The iconic duo Chromeo have released their new record, Adult Contemporary, and it’s classically funky fun.
The album dropped almost 20 years to the day that their first album did, and it’s got a similar vibe to their early work.

The fun news on top of this is that they’re taking it on tour, including a show at the Malkin Bowl here in Vancouver on September 5th, and I cannot wait!

Christine

“Wind and Snow” by Elliott BROOD

Last year, Elliott BROOD released the first of a 2-part album project called Town. Now, just a few short months later, we’re getting a date for the second half, Country.

The latest single for that album is “Wind and Snow”, a frantic song that is sure to be a roadtrip classic.

Casey Laforet from the band explains: "This is a driving love song. It's a song about the Midwest and the Mississippi River and the Great Plains, the desert and the gorgeous west coast of North America. To be honest, maybe the greatest part of touring for a living is getting to see all these places that only exist in film and television for most people. This song is a true story of my migration to the West Coast of the United States from the comforts of Canada. I did the trip in a beat up Subaru in 4 days and aged 20 years. It was incredible. Travelling through America is in my mind the only way to gain a true fair and rounded perspective of the diversity and beauty of the people of that great country."

Country is out April 12, but in the meantime, you can check out the lyric video for “Wind and Snow”!

Kirk

“I Lied” by Housewife

Appropriately released on Valentine’s Day, Toronto’s Housewife dropped their latest single, “I Lied”.

The new tune is about a “messy ex-situationship”, and is incredibly catchy. Check out the video below, and good luck getting it out of your head for the rest of the day!

Kirk

Songs of the Week: December 04 - 10, 2023

December 11, 2023 by Christine McAvoy in Song Of The Day, Songs Of The Week

“Bluebird Wine” by Elliott BROOD

Hot on the heels of their last album Town, Elliott BROOD have announced that the partner album Country will be released next year.

To go along with that announcement, they’ released the first single from the record, a BROODified cover of Rodney Crowell’s song “Bluebird Wine”.

The band is touring in Ontario and then Europe in the new year, and hopefully when they album is out, they’ll make their way back out west, as that last show was awesome.

Christine

“The Wolf” by KROY

You may know Camille Poliquin, as one half of the JUNO Award-winning duo Milk & Bone, but recently she’s been releasing new music under the name KROY.

“The Wolf” is the second single she’s dropped this year, a haunting and ominous track that spotlights her vocals over a soft guitar, about “a frightening, all-consuming love that you can’t live without”

Have a listen below, and hopefully we’ll be hearing more soon!

Kirk

“10,000 Suns” by MOONRIIVR

I let you know last month that there was a new super-group on the scene, called MOONRIIVR, and they’re becoming a new favourite of mine.

Their album, simply titled Vol. 1, is out, and they’ve released a new video for the track “10,000 Suns”. It’s a super sweet, simple and slow tune about “the weight of the past”.
Vocalist Gavin Gardiner (whom you might recognize from The Wooden Sky) says it’s about: “how one can be crushed by shame, anger and regret. I’m not searching for answers within the song, but simply living in the present and looking towards love & forgiveness”.
Check it out below!

Christine

Songs of the Week: September 25 - October 01, 2023

October 03, 2023 by Christine McAvoy in Song Of The Day, Songs Of The Week

“Rose City” by Eliott BROOD

Elliott BROOD is back with not one, but two new albums, Town and Country!

The first of the pair, Town, kicks off with an ode to Mark Sasso and Casey Laforet’s hometown of Windsor Ontario, with the new single “Rose City”. The tune joins a long line of songs about ‘home’ from the trio, with their trademark raucous sound.

Town will be out November 3rd, with Country out later on. Maybe you’ll hear a sneak peek on their current tour, which includes a stop here in Vancouver at the Biltmore Cabaret this Friday (Oct 6th)!

Kirk

“Personal Effects” by Chromeo

I’m still choked I missed out on their show in Vancouver, but I’ll take a new track from Chromeo and day!
“Personal Effects” is the latest song to be released from their upcoming album Adult Contemporary (due out Feb 16th).
It’s another banger, one that you can definitely groove along to, and has a hilarious backstory from Dave 1:
“I was on a flight and the pilot said, ‘please don’t forget your personal effects’ and I was like, ‘wait how come this isn’t a Chromeo song title?!’ We felt like we needed a little breezy funk…something warm and fuzzy to bop to. You notice that long instrumental bit at the end? That’s definitely a motif on the album: extended sections where we let the music ride out. Adult Contemporary is a meditation on modern, mature relationships, which means: if we gotta sing about curling irons, so be it.”
Love it.

Christine

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“Laws of the Universe” by Twin Rains

Glad we were a day late because of the long weekend, because it meant I could include my newest discovery via my inbox, Twin Rains.

Hailing from Toronto, the duo of Christine (good name) and Jay released their new song “Laws of the Universe” - a shoe-gazey, dreamy, pop song.
The concept and inspiration actually came from an episode of Succession and of it Christine says: “Kendall speaks at his father’s funeral, saying basically: ‘Yeah we know he wasn’t a nice person—but look at what he accomplished.’ So one moment I’m watching TV and the next I’m in deep contemplation because I find this to be such a profound philosophical debate—what’s more important, your life and how you treat the people and places in it, or your legacy?”

Check it out!

Christine

Songs of the Week: August 14 - 20, 2023

August 21, 2023 by Christine McAvoy in Song Of The Day, Songs Of The Week

“Who Am I Now?” by David Vertesi

David Vertesi is back and going through an existential crisis. The latest solo release from the Hey Ocean! member — and integral part of Vancouver’s music & arts scene for over a decade — asks the question “Who Am I Now?”

Vertesi explains “This song was born out of the individual and collective renegotiation of self that I have witnessed since 2020 and the beginning of the pandemic. With my band of 15+ years [Hey Ocean!] on indefinite hiatus, I was attempting to do this for myself, however, I couldn't help but notice pretty much everyone around me was doing the same: leaving jobs, moving cities, ending relationships. But whether mourning or celebrating the loss of our old lives it seemed like we were all asking ourselves the same question.”

“Who Am I Now?” features Vertesi’s trademark smooth vocals over a moody beat, and marks his first release through Vancouver’s Tiny Kingdom Music. So check below to find out who the hell David Vertesi is now.

Kirk

“Out in the Fields” and “Party Oven” by Kevin Drew

We’ve got a new solo album announcement from Broken Social Scene front man Kevin Drew, and it looks like it’s quite a vulnerable one.
Aging will be released in the fall (physically first on September 22, and then digitally on November 3rd) and was heavily influenced on loss, love, and illness of those around him, and the reality of aging.

Of the album the press release says it is “an album best played at the end of the night; a collection for the stragglers left when the bar is about to close; a serenade for those who are coming down; songs that are quietly sad but ultimately ruminative and comforting.”
The first two tracks “Out In The Fields” and “Party Oven” have major BSS “Lover’s Spit” vibes and I’m here for it. Can’t wait for more.

Christine

“The Cabin” by Haley Blais

Speaking of David Vertesi’s contributions to the local music scene, someone he’s been producing lately has been Haley Blais, who is giving us another peek at her upcoming album, Wisecrack.

Her latest song is “The Cabin” which she describes as “A sweaty, dehydrated memory of my summers spent in the cabin on the lake. It wasn’t our cabin — my dad’s brother’s wife’s cousin’s friends owned it or something — but it was ours. I had my first sips of beer, first almost kisses. It’s a fluffy recollection until the guitars break through with their overbearing distortion like a roaring tidal wave and I’m thrown back into the discomfort of real time.”

The video for was directed by Zia Kalyan, and features some familiar faces in Blais’ chaotic orchestra.

Wisecrack comes out September 15, and she’ll be celebrating the release with a show in Vancouver at the Hollywood on October 20th!

Kirk

“Let’s Do Drugs” by NOBRO

And now for something completely different… NOBRO’s first single of 2023 “Let’s Do Drugs”!
A fun, loud, fast, punk song, “Let’s Do Drugs” is one I can see a whole venue shouting along to.
Of the idea behind it, vocalist/bassist Kathryn McCaughey says it’s “a ‘dumb’ rock song about getting older…about wanting to have one more wild night, while having no business doing so and failing miserably. Musically it’s a middle ground between maybe ‘(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)’ and ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’ but only the dumbest bits of those songs, distilled into something even more dumb. It’s like shotgunning a beer then immediately puking on yourself.”
I don’t know if there’s anything left to say - I really hope they swing by Vancouver soon!

Christine

“Rise Up With Fists” by Elliott BROOD

Sometimes I’ll see a band release a track with the same name as another song, and be disappointed it’s not a cover.

Other times, Elliott BROOD will release an absolutely fantastic cover of the Jenny Lewis classic “Rise Up With Fists”.

The tune is the latest in their covers collection, and hopefully they’ll be playing this live on their upcoming tour with Shred Kelly, or at least when they hit Vancouver at the Biltmore Cabaret on October 6th.

Kirk

“Electric Dreams” by Adnama

Vancouver’s Adnama is back with her first new single in over a year, “Electric Dreams”.

The fittingly-titled song is an ethereal ear-worm, which “surfs on layers of synth waves while floating in a dreamlike state.”

Check it out below, and try not to get it stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

Kirk

Songs of the Week: April 12-18, 2021

April 19, 2021 by Kirk Hamilton in Song Of The Day

“Eulogy Of Regret” by Rich Aucoin

This coming Friday, Rich Aucoin is releasing the Deluxe Edition of last year’s United States. The new version includes remixes from the likes of Double A, Steve Bays, and Shmu, as well as a bonus disc featuring instrumental versions of all the album tracks (for all your karaoke needs?)
To celebrate, Rich released a video for “Eulogy of Regret” which he says was “the last track written for United States and was the only one not conceived somewhere while on the bicycle. I wrote it for director/musician/multi-disciplinary artist Dustin Harvey. Dustin hired me to write a 7 minute version of the song for a short film/theatre piece he was working on called How Quickly Things Change. I liked the song and ended up cutting a track for United States so “Eulogy Of Regret” could take its place. Now, full circle, Dustin and his team have made a shorter piece which also doubles an appropriate music video for the song. Some excellent animation by Aiden Searle and acting by Stephanie Yee."

Kirk

“Out Of Touch (Feat. Phoenix Pagliacci)” by Shad

Gonna be honest - I was a little upset that this wasn’t a Hall & Oates cover - but I’ll take new music by Shad any day!
This single “Out Of Touch” is the first new music we’ve had from him since his album A Short Story About A War, so I hope this means more is on the horizon.
It’s a perfect song to listen to out in the new spring sunshine and warmth. Enjoy!

Christine

“Oh Stanley Cup” by Elliott BROOD

When this landed in my inbox, I got VERY excited. Not only did Elliott BROOD remake the country song “Red Solo Cup” to be about the Stanley Cup (I’m a huge hockey fan), but they want to make a video with people in their hockey gear singing along:

”We’d love to get as many people as possible to send us a recording of themselves or in groups singing along to the chorus parts: “Oh Stanley Cup…. I lift you up…..let’s have a party!… “Oh Stanley Cup…. I fill you up…..proceed to party!…

Just record yourself or groups on your phone signing along in your team gear (if you have it) or in your hockey den or wherever you want. (horizontally preferably) and send it to the email address below.

We’d love to see whole families, groups of friends, pets in team gear…. you get the idea.

If you’re more the shy type, you could alternatively send in your hockey photos or memories including but not limited to: Pictures of you or family with the Stanley Cup - Footage of rec league or peewee games - Still shots of you in your team gear.”

And you can email it to: ohstanleycup@gmail.com

You better believe I’m sending them the photo of me below!

Christine

Song of the Day: October 31, 2019 - "C'est L'Halloween" by Elliott Brood

October 31, 2019 by Christine McAvoy in Song Of The Day

Kirk and I always try and find an original or spooky Canadian indie music song for Halloween’s Song Of The Day, and the other day Elliott Brood released a perfect one.

The song is a cover of the classic Canadian french song “C’est L’Halloween” and it couldn’t be more perfect of a match for the band, between the banjo and the sing-a-long “Hey!”s.

Have a safe and spooky L’Halloween everyone!

[PS Elliott Brood is on tour with The Dead South, and while they aren’t scheduled to play in Vancouver, they will be in Seattle on Thursday December 5th]