February 14th is the day today, and I’m pretty sure we all know what that means. Chocolate, sharing of good vibes, romantic dinners, flowers, more chocolate, and cheesy love songs (in a perfect world). We can’t promise you a romantic dinner or chocolate times two, but we can help you with the fulfillment of the cheesy love song factor. In fact, we’re not helping so much as David Myles is. The east-coast musician, in celebration of the love-filled occasion is giving away some love of his own with a special acoustic recording of his tune “I Will Love You”. How perfectly romantic.
Download “I Will Love You” here. My wish for you is a cheese and chocolate-filled Valentines Day. ♥
And no, we do not have the latest edition of Photoshop.
It’s no secret that we’re very fond of pop/rock group The Fires Of. Not only do they have a great name, but the have a sound that goes along with it. You don’t know what to expect, but every time it’s interesting and most enjoyable. As a follow-up to a self-titled LP released back in November of 2010, The Fires Of have surpassed all expectations with their new EP The Noise Around The Mean.
With a slightly changed lineup, the Toronto band is sounding as good as ever. The opener “Memories In Flight” is held back at first, but escalates into a symphony of vocal harmonies and perfectly-fitting distortion. The swingin’ guitar solo about halfway makes evident the influence that they take from musicians of past generations. All in all a great tune.
Things mellow a little with “I Can’t Sleep”. The song falls just short of five minutes, but manages to work its way through quite a variety of themes and ways of presenting them, from the jazzy beginning to the violin-driven bridge to the piano ending. Although it contains so many elements that seems would make a fantastic piece, it falls a little short. The vocals led by Lisa Di Diodato are by no means under par, but there is something mechanical that overtakes the music’s sincerity.
“One Decent Thing” is most reminiscent of The Fires Of‘s debut album. The vocal performance by Chris Howard are simply outstanding especially as he wails “remind me”. It’s upbeat, it’s passionate, it’s full of hooks and it will be an instant classic singalong for crowds at shows and shower-singers alike.
Di Diodato makes her best performance on “Sleeping In”. The combination of her sweet voice along with xylophone, violin and handclaps create a grin-inducing tune. It really is a delightful listen that combines Celtic and cutesy quite nicely.
Finally comes “Somebody Tell Me I’m Dreaming”, which begins with a mournful piano/voice duet. It launches into a more upbeat but still subdued chorus reminiscent of 80s rock, then settles back into its sad state of lyrical questioning. The bridge allows for subtle building into a guitar solo that will blow your roof off and make you howl. The remainder of the tune is so passionate and desperate it almost hurts. The band took a risk with this epic song, and it sure did pay off, as the outstanding track of the five.
This great little EP was released today, and you can stream it in all its glory below.
If you’re itching to see a great band perform live, a scratch is awaiting you at Lee’s Palace in Toronto on February 18th where The Fires Of will be holding a CD release party. Get all the details and updates from the band on Facebook.
For our Wednesday tune today, we’re spotlighting a song from a band you may not be familiar with. While wondering around the CBC Radio 3 radio waves yesterday, I heard something that really caught my ear, if you will. With all the infectious joy of Library Voices plus some steaming brass, I just had to investigate. What I discovered was The Magician & The Gates of Love, a pop group from Langley, BC. The four-piece is made up of a pianist, percussionist, trumpeter and guitarist, saxophonist, and vocals all around. The result is songs made for singin’ and hooks made for hollerin’.
Released in September of last year, this little diamond in the rough is all you could want in a happy song. All instruments and harmonies meld together in a symphony of awesomeness. Here’s “I Want It All”.
Can’t wait for the new Islands album to drop on Valentines Day? Well thanks to Exclaim, you can stream the stripped down and personal collection of songs here.
You can also pre-order A Sleep & A Forgetting via iTunes, three bonus tracks included.
Islands are going on tour, catch them at these places:
Feb 14 Los Angeles – Bootleg Theatre
Feb 15 Phoenix – Crescent Ballroom Continue reading →
The Pack a.d. are a duo from Vancouver who’ve really made their mark on the Canadian music scene with power-driven rock tunes. Here’s their latest heart-pounding video for “Sirens”, off of their latest album Unpersons.
With a slightly changed lineup, the Toronto band is sounding as good as ever. The opener “Memories In Flight” is held back at first, but escalates into a symphony of vocal harmonies and perfectly-fitting distortion. The swingin’ guitar solo about halfway makes evident the influence that they take from musicians of past generations. All in all a great tune.
