Tokyo Police Club – Nature Of The Experiment

Randomly found this on le YouTube. I likes it.

Artist: Winter Gloves

Where from: One of Canada’s musical vortex’s…why, Montreal of course.

Sounds like: Chocolate covered lickable synths with Passion Pit-esque vocals. Indie electro-pop that makes you dance, dance, dance!

Why it’s worth checking out: Band members Charles F., Vincent Chalifour, Patrick Sayers and Jean-Michel Pigeon have helped strengthen the already rock solid musical reputation of Montreal. Winter Gloves has been compared to U.S. indie electro band Passion Pit because of their rampant enthusiasm, soaring soprano vocals and use of tinkling, merry synths. Listening to Winter Gloves is like going to a party in a magical forest of dancing fairies…a bubbling giddy musical ride. Since the release of their first full-length album About a Girl in 2008, the quartet has toured with bands like Tokyo Police Club and You Say Party! We Say Die! Winter Gloves is currently touring with Thunderheist; they’ll be in Vancouver at the Biltmore Cabaret on November 20th. Better put your dancing shoes on.

-Kendra Hart, Culture Coordinator (Broadcast Journalism)

-Photo by liebe e.p

Tokyo Police Club – Hands in Reverse

Set to release on their new early 2010 album with mom+pop records. EnjoY!

Click here to Download FREE MP3!

This weeks playlists at Rate My Playlist feature songs with hand claps in them.  It’s good.  Download it and enjoy!

Click here to download the FREE MP3!!

Handclaps are awesome…handclaps in songs are just downright delightful.  Check out and download our Playlists this week.  We present our favorite songs that feature our beloved natural instrument.  Hope you enjoy!

Bom, antes de começar a escrever sobre “A Lesson in Crime”, devo apresentar os filhas da mãe por trás do mesmo. São eles: Dave Monks (vocalista, e baixista), Graham Wright (tecladista), Josh Hook (guitarrista), e Greg Alsop (baterista), mais conhecidos como “Tokyo Police Club”, quando se reúnem. Começaram a tocar em 2005, de forma despretensiosa, mas acabaram ganhando atenção e tocaram em pequenas mostras na cidade Toronto, no Canadá. Algum tempo depois, assinaram com a Paper Bag Records, depois de tocarem no Montreal Pop Festival. História comum, sem nada de novo, como a da maioria das bandas. Mas obviamente isso não quer dizer nada, foi apenas uma introdução ao que realmente importa: suas obras. Dedicarei esse post a uma delas, “A Lesson in Crime”.

O álbum começa com a single “Cheer It On”, que se inicia frenética, com a bateria de Alsop seguida por um vocal gritante, distorcido, psicodélico, e então um empolgante riff de guitarra, acompanhado do leve e quase imperceptível teclado de Graham. Agora, temos outra single: “Nature of the Experiment”, e o clima psicodélico aumenta, já que todo o vocal distorcido de Cheer It On é esquecido, dando lugar a algo mais leve. Seria uma música calma, se não fossem pelos riffs, e o rápido solo de guitarra no fim da mesma. Então, ficamos com a terceira (e última) single do álbum, “Citizens Of Tomorrow“, que também é, provavelmente, a melhor música de A Lesson in Crime. A sonoridade psicodélica perde um pouco o destaque, e agora um clima mais art rock toma conta da música, e vocal se torna ainda mais leve, e os riffs ainda mais empolgantes e criativos. A letra é uma viagem, uma viagem no tempo, para o futuro, bom, pelo menos futuro na época em que foi escrita, mas não importa se suas “previsões” falharam, o que realmente se destaca na letra é o sentimento transmitido, é o clima criado quando a mesma se junta a sonoridade do Tokyo Police Club, chega a ser inspirador.

Terminada a “etapa de singles” do álbum, temos “Shoulders & Arms“, minha música favorita de A Lesson in Crime, e também é a que mais define o estilo do Tokyo Police Club. Tanto o estilo psicodélico quanto o art rock demonstrado nas três primeiras canções, constam em Shoulders & Arms. Nela, o vocal varia de calmo, para gritante, e Graham nos mostra seu talento, com um genial riff de teclado. Destaque também para o melancólico e lindo backing vocal nos últimos versos da música. O álbum então segue com If It Works, e Cut Cut Paste. A psicodelia volta a ganhar destaque, os riffs se tornam mais pesados e rápidos (quase grunge), a letra por sua vez, perde o tom melancólico para se tornar mais sombria, e então Graham nos trás mais um genial e calmo riff em “Be Good”. Agora a melancolia retorna, mas os riffs continuam agitados, e o trabalho vocal se destaca, entrando em sintonia com os sentimentos abordados na letra. Para finalizar o álbum temos “La Ferrassie” que começa extremamente melancólica, o que se segue até seu explosivo final, e então é encerrada silenciosamente após um rápido solo de Graham.

Em “A Lesson in Crime”, a banda soube muito bem mostrar suas influências e seu estilo, ao mesmo tempo que cria uma agradável experiência para quem curte rock alternativo. O álbum pode não ser nenhuma obra-prima, mas com certeza, é um ótimo começo para o Tokyo Police Club.

“Cause you,
You’re so calm
I don’t know where you are from.
You,
You’re so young
I don’t care what you’ve done wrong…”

Shoulders & Arms – Tokyo Police Club

4,5/5

picture by Navy Blue Stripes

1. Major Label Debut (Fast) by Broken Social Scene

Fave Lines: “Forced to live like it’s a curfew translation: means I love you / And I’m all hooked up, I am all hooked up…”

Listen

2. Back Out On The… by Kevin Drew

Fave Lines: “Everyone can write this song / but they can’t write you and me…”

Listen

3. Postcards by An Horse

Fave Lines: “And it’s not what I want to hear, what I want to see but your skin’s covered in postcards from you to me”, “When you see me sit by myself, you’ll think that I’m waiting for someone else.

But I’m wishing for somewhere else.”

Listen

4. The Secrets In The Telling by Dashboard Confessional

Fave Lines: “We are compelled to do what we have to / we are compelled to do what we have been forbidden”, “’Cause you will be somebody’s girl / and you will keep each other warm / but tonight I am feeling cold.”

Listen

5. Shimmer by Fuel

Fave Lines: “She says that love is for fools who fall behind / I’m somewhere between / never really know my killer from my saviour”, “It’s too far away for me to hold too far away!…”

Listen

6. Naked by The Goo Goo Dolls

Fave Lines: “You’re naked inside your fear / You can’t take back all those years / The shots in the dark from empty guns are never heard by anyone…”

Listen

7. Sweetness by Jimmy Eat World

Fave Lines: “I was spinning free whoa… / with a little sweet and simple numbing me… / stumble ‘til you crawl woah… / sinking into sweet uncertainty.”

Listen

8. Fighting For Nothing by Meg & Dia

Fave Lines: “These things take time love / These things take backbone / And they’ll tell you what you want to hear ’cause they think it’s better / But you better know how to point out the liars / You’ve got to weigh your wars make sure you’re not fighting for nothing / Are you fighting for nothing?”, “I’ve got my words. I hope they hurt you / I hope they scar you / I hope they heal you…”

Listen

9. Clouds by The Morning Light

Fave Lines: “I’ve got this pain in my head that I can’t shake / When I remind myself I can’t get to you…”, “I wrote you letters but I forgot to mention that / I’m a wreck / I’m a mess / You’re a stranger / Watch your face fade away now I’m stuck here…”

Listen

10. Hello Hello by Paramore

Fave Lines: “You’ll be sorry to hear / I’m doing fine now / Sorry to hear / You’re without me now!…”

Listen

11. Dakota by Stereophonics

Fave Lines: “You made me feel like the one / made me feel like the one!…”, “I don’t know where we are going now / So take a look at me now!…”

Listen

12. Alright by The Subways

Fave Lines: “So what you say / And what you do is who you are…”, “Make a change and find the reasons why / Another day, another chance and it will be Alright…”, “And I wonder / When we fall / Who do we need? / Who do we call?…”

Listen

13. In A Cave by Tokyo Police Club

Fave Lines: “All my hair grows in / Wrinkles leave my skin / But still don’t fade I’ll be back again when the tide is in someday…”

Listen

14. If You Could Only See by Tonic

Fave Lines: “Sayin you love but you don’t / You give your love but you won’t…”, “Seems the road less travelled / Shows happiness unravelled / And you got to take a little dirt to keep what you love / Thats what you gotta do…”

Listen

15. Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away) by Deftones

Fave Lines: “It feels good to know you’re all mine / Now drive me far away…”

Listen

16. Where Do We Go From Here by Filter

Fave Lines: “I’m not so glad I met you / It makes me want to go away…”, “Where do we go from here / You know I’m not the only one…”

Listen

17. Is It Any Wonder by Keane

Fave Lines: “Is it any wonder I’m tired? / Is it any wonder that I feel uptight? / Is it any wonder I don’t know what’s right?…”, “Oh, these days, after all the misery made / Is it any wonder that I feel afraid? / Is it any wonder that I feel betrayed?…”

Listen

18. Sway by The Kooks

Fave Lines: “Say whatever you have to say, I’ll stand by you…”, “Be whoever you have to be, I won’t judge you…” , “Cause I need your sway, because you always pay for it / And I, and I need your soul because your always soulful / And I and I need your heart, because your’re always in the right places…”

Listen

19. The Diary of Jane by Breaking Benjamin

Fave Lines: “Something’s getting in the way / Something’s just about to break / I will try to find my place / In the diary of Jane so tell me how it should BE!…”

Listen

20. Who You Are Without Me by Kate Voegele

Fave Lines: “I’m not a mirror / Look inside yourself / I’m not a hero / You know too well / I’m not your saviour SAVE YOUR energy / to find out who you are / yeah who you are without me!”

Listen

Music @ Videos

Gone mental this week with eight… that’s right… EIGHT new videos for you to check out!

It has probably been posted in a few places already, but Animal Collective fans may be interested in Taken By Trees‘ take on their My Girls single below. Big fan of her current East of Eden album!

Enjoy your weekend, me hearties!

Times New Viking – No Time, No Hope

oooOOOooo

Lightning Dust – Never Seen

oooOOOooo

Tokyo Police Club – Your English is Good

oooOOOooo

The Dodos – Fables

oooOOOooo

Cursive – Let Me Up

oooOOOooo

The Weakerthans – Sun is an Empty Room

oooOOOooo

Taken By Trees – My Boys

oooOOOooo

Volcano Choir – Island, IS

A internet hoje nos proporciona bandas de EP. Não é aquela banda de um hit só ou a banda que morre no segundo álbum. É pior, é a banda que lança um EP extraordinário e, em seguida, um cd tão decepcionante igual.

Há duas bandas que vem a cabeça. Viciei nos EPs, hypava pra qualquer pessoa que conversava sobre música, e depois quando saiu o primeiro cd de cada banda, tive que ficar com aquele sorriso amarelo “é, não era o que eu esperava”.

Caso 1: Tokyo Police Club – A Lesson In Crime EP (2006)

Esse deve ser o melhor EP do universo. É sufocante no bom sentido, 7 músicas intensas em menos de 20 minutos. Estou 3 anos atrasados pra fazer um review mais detalhado mas vale alguns comentários. Cheer It On é a melhor música que eu conheço que parece Strokes e não é deles. Nature Of The Experiment é um baita de um single e chegaram até a apresentar essa música no Letterman. Citizens Of Tomorrow chegou a ser aquela música que você considera ser da sua vida por um tempo. Essa trinca já bastaria. Mas ainda tempos a punk (?) If It Works, Shoulders & Arms e Be Good, mais uma trinca digníssima. Depois de você quase morrer com essas 6 músicas, a linda La Ferrassie vem para acalmar os ânimos(por um tempo) e fechar o EP. A gravação desse EP colabora para com que as músicas fiquem melhores. E então você fala “eles vão destruir no primeiro álbum”. Eis que chega Elephant Shell. Putz, começa com Centennial que é legal mas depois fica díficil de aguentar. Entretanto o álbum conta com 2 singles de matar, Your English Is Good e Tessellate, mas é só. Você vai achar legal Sixties Remake, mas pra quem fez 7 músicas maravilhosas de 7, fazer 2 maravilhosas e 2 boas de 11 músicas, é muita decepção. Por um tempo tinha me arrependido de não tê-los visto no primeiro Planeta Terra, hoje nem lembro mais disso. Sei que tudo é possível, mas não acredito mais no Tokyo Police Club. Vou ficar extremamente feliz se calarem minha boca, mas não acredito.

Tokyo Police Club mostrando o que tem(tinham) de melhor. Vai ficar na saudade?

Caso 2: Black Kids – Wizards Of Ahhhs (2007)

Este deve ser o segundo melhor EP do universo. A mistura de The Cure, Arcade Fire, Go Team e etc agradou muito. I’m not gonna teach your boyfriend how to dance with you é uma das músicas mais incríveis da história. Hit The Heartbreakers, Hurricane Jane e I’ve Underestimated My Charm são excelentes músicas e acompanhantes de luxo da principal música. É um prazer ouvir esse EP. E lá vai a mesma expectativa dada ao Tokyo Police Club. Então lança o cd de estréia, Partie Traumatic. Mais condizente, impossível. É totalmente traumático. As 4 músicas estão lá, mas eles deram um ar mais pop nas músicas que estragaram com tudo, e as outras são praticamente inescutáveis. Eu achava que eles tinham tudo pra ser uma banda indie que alcançassem um certo mainstream, mas sem chances assim. Atiraram no próprio pé e estão pertos do suicídio. É triste e frustrante, não sei explicar como acontece mas acontece. De certa forma fica guardado um bom trabalho de cada banda, mas podia ter sido tão melhor…

Não achei a versão do EP de I’m Not Gonna…, mas Hit The Heartbreakers é muito boa também.

Agora em 2009, o melhor EP é o do Delorean – Ayrton Senna EP, espero não me decepcionar quando lançarem o primeiro álbum e torço muito pra que sejam uma banda de vários cds, e não de um EP apenas. Tomara que não vire o caso 3.

Deli do Delorean. Por enquanto, memorável.

I was set on doing an all Tokyo Police Club 1K today, but then I came across something that was most worthy of mentioning. So I’ll explain that in a minute. Onward.

62. Tokyo Police Club – Nature Of The Experiment (mp3) from A Lesson In Crime EP (2:01) [Time Remaining: 750:26]

63. Tokyo Police Club – Nature of the Experiment (RAC Mix) (mp3) from RAC Volume 1 (2:12) [Time Remaining: 748:14]

Dave Monks has a way with words. One of the preeminent lyricists in my opinion in fact. He has a way of talking about something and getting his point across fluidly without clubbing you over the head with its meaning. I love that. This song is off one of the band’s early EP’s, demonstrating their prowess in garage rock/post-punk and shaming other debuts handily. I have many a song from this young band that already deserves a place in my 1K, but today I’ve chosen to add what is very possibly my favorite TPC track along with its equal value in remix.

64. Dappled Cities – Fire Fire Fire (mp3) from Granddance (3:48) [Time Remaining: 744:26]

I hadn’t planned on including this particular song on this week as I mentioned previously. It would assuredly make it onto the list at some point, but I had visions of an all TPC post to glorify them as one of my favorite bands. Then I came across this. If you check out the zip archives section of this particular page you will see the ability to download the entire album from whence this song came, not to mention and additional zip comprised of three additional songs. Not bonus disc, bonus zip. Though all of this could be considered a bonus I think.

I already own the album, almost solely because of first hearing Fire (x3). It is very catchy and impeccably done, and I think you should not be disappointed if you haven’t ever heard of the band. They are from Australia but it isn’t their fault. So give them a chance. I’ve given you the chance to do just that.

Check out the video for “Your English is Good” by Tokyo Police Club!

I’ve had some lists kicking around for a while, so I figured I’d share some of my favourite albums from the past few years with you here. And what better place to start than last year? I don’t think 2008 had quite as many releases that I loved as 2007 did, but there were still some very worthy albums put out there. A lot of new artists proved themselves in a big way.

20. Bring Me Your Love – City and Colour

With his stunning voice and beautiful, simple melodies, Dallas Green’s music never fails to move me. His follow-up to 2005’s Sometimes sticks close to the style that has made him so beloved by indie and mainstream audiences alike, but why try to fix something that isn’t broken? “The Girl” is a fantastic, tender love song, and I love his duet with Gord Downie on “Sleeping Sickness”.

19. Oracular Spectacular – MGMT

MGMT burst onto the scene with hyped-up hits like “Time To Pretend” and “Kids”. Those are two of the standout tracks on their debut album, but so is “Of Moons, Birds & Monsters”, which comes closer to the end. I’m not sure that I want to know what these guys do in their spare time, but their music is pretty infectious.

18. Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst

I think that if Conor Oberst wants to be taken more seriously as a “grown man”, and release mature music with a different vibe to it, like he does on Conor Oberst, I think he’s making the right decision to move away from the Bright Eyes name. Considering he’s only thirty, this guy’s had a long, consistent career, and Conor Oberst just keeps the tradition going.

17. A Piece of What You Need – Teddy Thompson

Ranging from reedy to rich, Teddy Thompson’s voice adapts easily to the diverse line up of songs on A Piece of What You Need. And while the album’s penultimate song, “Turning the Gun on Myself” is every bit as melancholy as the title would suggest, I like that Thompson manages to keep things sparse and haunting, rather than melodramatic.

16. Elephant Shell – Tokyo Police Club

They were one of the most buzzed about new bands before they even had a full-length album out, and Tokyo Police didn’t disappoint (much) with Elephant Shell. Their sound really grew on me, and even though I think a few of the songs could be a bit stronger, it’s an incredibly promising debut effort. And they put on a mean live show, too.

15. Narrow Stairs – Death Cab for Cutie

I like Transatlanticism and Plans more for the sake of sheer listenability, but Narrow Stairs has some great songs (“Cath…”has to be one of their best yet), and overall it does not tarnish Death Cab’s badge of consistency one bit.

14. Only By The Night – Kings of Leon

Sell-outs or not (and look at that picture of them – they’re clearly sell-outs), Kings of Leon released a batch of great songs on 2008’s Only by the Night. There are good songs beyond the hits, but I’m still not sick of hearing “Sex on Fire” or “Use Somebody”. And my favourite radio station has been playing them consistently for over a year.

13. Terminal Romance – Matt Mays & El Topedo

Matt Mays is one of Canada’s best kept secrets, and he’s been putting out great work for a while. Some might compare him to Ryan Adams or even Bruce Springsteen at times (but really, who isn’t compared to Springsteen these days?) but he’s definitely worth listening to on his own merits. Great sound, great voice, great songs.

12. Evil Urges – My Morning Jacket

Evil Urges is probably the best summer album released in a while. It’s impossible to pin it down to one style, but I think that most people could find something on here that they like. It’s all a little twisted, but it’s also a lot of fun. The anthemic “I’m Amazed” is just one of the many great tracks here.

11. At Mount Zoomer – Wolf Parade

These indie favourites disappointed some with their latest disc. I’m not familiar with much of their older music, but their quirky style sure impressed me here, and according to me, Mount Zoomer was the best Canadian release of 2008. Side note: why do I find Dan Boeckner (far right) so attractive, when he is so clearly nothing but trouble?

10. Modern Guilt – Beck

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Beck Hansen. (Perhaps I should say, with his music. It makes me sound less crazy.) It’s pretty much what it sounds like. Sometimes I love his music, and sometimes it bores me to tears. But when he teamed up with Danger Mouse (The Grey Album, anyone?) the result fell drastically towards the “love” side of the spectrum for me.

9. Gossip in the Grain – Ray LaMontagne

Ray LaMontagne can do no wrong, in my eyes. Gossip in the Grain is packed with a slew of great little songs (including the much-discussed “Meg White”). All three of his albums have been good, and LaMontagne will surely earn himself a reputation for being one of the most consistent singer-songwriters around.

8. Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends – Coldplay

Flame me all you want (who am I kidding? No one reads this blog), but I love Coldplay. After a bit of a misstep with 2005’s X&Y, they returned in fine form with their fourth album, Viva La Vida. If it’s possible, they’ve amped up the theatrics, and written some of their best songs yet. Viva la Vida, indeed.

7. Accelerate – R.E.M.

Before Accelerate came along, R.E.M (arguably) hadn’t made a great album since 1992’s Automatic for the People. So when they came back with a concise, (mostly) filler-free set of songs, it’s understandable that their fans reacted in such a big way. But Accelerate isn’t just good by “new R.E.M.” standards. It’s just really, really good.

6. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend

I know that every blogger and their mom loves Vampire Weekend (literally – my mom and dad listen to their album frequently!) But this album was just way too good to pretend to hate. Time will tell if they become a one-album-wonder (remember when the The Strokes were the next big thing?) but what an album it is.

5. Consolers of the Lonely – The Raconteurs

I’m probably going to like anything that Jack White is involved in, and The Raconteurs’ debut album, Broken Boy Soldiers, introduced me to the wonderful world of Brendan Benson. So the odds were pretty high that I’d like the sophomore effort from this “side-project”. But they actually surpassed my expectations and released an album that I know I’ll be listening to for a long time.

4. Made of Bricks – Kate Nash

One of the year’s most surprisingly fantastic releases came from this plucky Brit. Comparisons to Lily Allen continue to run rampant (for pretty good reason), but I might actually like Kate Nash more. She goes from sassy to melancholy in the blink of an eye, and Made of Bricks is one of the most listenable female singer-songwriter albums I’ve heard in a long time. Quirky, but not self-indulgent.

3. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes

I feel a little bit guilty about succumbing to all of the buzz bands from 2008. But they put out such great new work, that it’s impossible to ignore. Fleet Foxes was no exception. Their shimmering, earthy folk is beautiful, and I find myself finding new favourite moments every time I listen to the album.

2. Nouns – No Age

Refreshingly different from a lot of the stuff that I was listening to last year, these California punks are apparently leading their own movement (Canada’s own Japandroids are similarly great). Nouns is raw and fuzzy, but also has a great pop sensibility, which is key for me.

1. For Emma, Forever Ago – Bon Iver

I know, I know. But I couldn’t help it! There’s a reason that For Emma appeared at the top of just about every blogger’s list last year. It’s that good! I think Justin Vernon is one of the most promising new artists around. “Skinny Love” is already a classic, and the rest of the album is gorgeous, too.

Longevity – If you dont have much cash to spend on music then the most efficient indicator of an album’s value must be the number of times you actually play it.

These albums have been on my Ipod for over a year without interruption.  Lets call that a Y+ rating:

• Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours.
• Laura Marling – Alas I cannot Swim
• Noah and the Whale – Peaceful the world lays me down
• The Pipettes – We are the Pipettes
• Radiohead – In Rainbows
• School of Language – Sea From Shore
• Tokyo Police Club – Elephant Shell
• Vitalic – OK Cowboy

I recommend them all heartily as they have served me well.

SOPHOMORE ALBUM OUT EARLY 2010

Tokyo Police Club, the Newmarket Ontario quartet hailed by Rolling Stone as “poised to become the biggest Canadian export since Molson,” have signed an exclusive U.S. recording deal with mom+pop. The band is currently recording its second full length album, with an expected release projected for early 2010.

Tokyo Police Club is made up of Greg Alsop (drums), Josh Hook (guitar), David Monks (vocals, bass) and Graham Wright (keys/percussion). The band formed in 2005 and released its debut EP A Lesson In Crime the following year to instant and universal acclaim, with Entertainment Weekly raving “we can hardly wait for the full length.” One more EP, a digital-only single and a few laps around the world later, Tokyo Police Club’s debut album, Elephant Shell was released in April 2008. Elephant Shell’s release was preceded by multiple sold out shows in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Toronto, and followed by appearances on The Late Show With David Letterman, The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson and, oddly enough, Desperate Housewives. Critical response to the full length was even more enthusiastic and diverse, with the likes of GQ (“Strokes-caliber catchiness”), Elle (“a smart, furiously played sugar-rush debut”) and Men’s Health (“an aural adrenaline rush all the way”) all lavishing praise. The band toured relentlessly to support Elephant Shell, appearing in the U.S. as recently as the August 2009 All points West Festival.

mom+pop was formed in 2008 by Cliff Burnstein, Peter Mensch and Michael Goldstone. Burnstein and Mensch are the owners of Qprime, one of music’s most respected management firms, with a roster featuring the likes of Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Snow Patrol, Muse, Silversun Pickups, and The Mars Volta, among others. Goldstone is a veteran A&R exec whose most recent tenure at Sire saw him sign Regina Spektor and Tegan and Sara. In August 2008, he inked Joshua Radin as the first artist on the mom+pop label. Radin’s album, Simple Times, released 21 days later on September 9, has since sold over 100,000 units and 400, 000 tracks. Other mom+pop artists include An Horse, signed to the label by Sara Quin of Tegan and Sara. mom+pop is a fully staffed label distributed independently by RED.

My Hit Machine addiction is still in full effect, and now the folks at OMGPOP have made it even harder for me to be productive, by releasing new tracks to the game. I already was happy with the 20 or so songs that they launched the game with, which I thought had some great diversity (Chromeo, Tokyo Police Club, Black Lips, Valient Thor). Well, now they’ve added additional tracks to the game, and I personally was stoked about “Come My Sunshine” by The Comas, and “The Unbeliever” by Middle Distance Runner. I’ve blogged about both of these artists before, so readers of this blog won’t find it all surprising to hear me gush about these tunes.

The best thing about “The Unbeliever” is the awesome claymation music video. I actually found it kind of distracting as I was playing the game because even though I’ve seen this video a dozen times, it’s just some cool eye candy that’s tough to look away from. Of course none of this would mean anything if the song was annoying, but it’s a great, non-pretentious straight up rocker. Also, for those of you looking to unlock higher levels of difficulty in Hit Machine, this is a relatively easy song to play, so knock yourself out with it.

Even though the song is two years old, “Come My Sunshine” has been getting some recent love. I was pleasantly surprised when it was featured in ESPN’s “Being Maya Gabeira” piece, and even happier to see it added to Hit Machine this week. The music video isn’t as cool as “The Unbeliever” – in fact some of the “Smells Like Teen Spirit”-esque band shots get really annoying, but it is a great song that reminds me in many ways of LA darlings, Silversun Pickups.

The Comas on MySpace

Middle Distance Runner on MySpace

Wow. It has been too long since I updated my blog.

It’s been on my ‘to do’ list for quite a while now. But it just keeps getting pushed back. Anyway, I though I’d display some of my work from this summer.

I was lucky enough to cover the Calgary Folk Music Festival and Virgin Fest ‘09 for FFWD Weekly. On with the music festival photos:

The Decemberists headlining Friday night at the Folk Fest.

Local Calgary golden boy Chad VanGaalen jams with friends including Jay Crocker who can be seen in the background with a green hat.

A great summer shot of some of the younger folk festers.

Kid Koala mixing it up with Arrested Development and others.

As long as there is the Calgary Folk Fest, there will be awesome carefree dancing. And hula hoops too.

The Arkells rockin’ out at Virgin Fest 09.

Virgin Fest volunteers, aka: Virgin Angles.

Emily Hanes from Metric lets loose on the keyboard.

Emily Hanes from Metric lets loose on the keyboard.

The crazy crowd for Pear Jam -I can’t post any Pearl Jam photos unfortunately

Tokyo Police Club!

The Virgin Fest crowd filling up the Canada Olympic Park grounds.

A member of Wintersleep and his cool rainbow guitar strap.

K-OS and a not so cool Walmart animal shirt (not fully visible to spare some embarrassment).

For more information and photos please visit my website:

Riley Brandt Photography

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SOUNDTRACK:TOKYO POLICE CLUB-”Smith” EP (2007).

The Smith EP contains 4 songs.  The first two tracks are bouncy energy filled tracks, like on A Lesson in Crime.  But the third track “A Lesson in Crime” sounds very distinctly mellow-Death Cab for Cutie-like.  And it gives the whole EP a slightly more mellow feel.

Track 4, the remix (of “Be Good”) doesn’t change it too much, but makes it more dancey.

Not an essential addition to the TPC fan club, but it’s certainly a good collection of songs.  It’s also got some video content (“Cheer It On,” “Citizens of Tomorrow” and “Nature of the Experiment”) which does increase its value to fans.

[READ: August 19, 2009]  “Laugh Kookaburra”

This David Sedaris piece didn’t make me laugh as much as some of his other ones.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  There are scenes with his sister where they are singing in bed together and their father comes up and yells at them.  Quite funny.  Especially David’s  reaction:

If I had children and they stayed up late, singing a song about a bird, I believe I would find it charming. “I knew I had those two for a reason,” I think I’d say to myself. I might go so far as to secretly record them, and submit the tape in a My Kids Are Cuter Than Yours competition.

But for the most part the story isn’t funny, it’s more of a reflection on a trip to Australia in which he witnesses the feeding of a kookaburra (which takes the piece of meat and smashes it against the pole to “tenderize” it.  This related back to the above mentioned singing of the children’s song “Kookaburra.”

This story resonated with me because when we took our kids to a music class we all learned this very song.

The story is available here.

This is NOT a picture from the show.

While the Bandshell at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto is not usually the first place one would think of to hear actual good music, good music could be heard yesterday from Montreal “dance rock” group Winter Gloves and Newmarket indie sweethearts Tokyo Police Club.

Nor is this.

 

 

 

Winter Gloves opened up the show with a good thirty minute set, and was highly underappreciated by the majority of the crowd who was obviously there for Tokyo Police Club, save for a few diehard fans (one guy screamed, during a pause between songs “I SAW YOU AT HORSESHOE TAVERN, REMEMBER ME?). They started out with “Factories” and continued on with their well-known “Let Me Drive”, followed by “About a Girl” and then “I Can’t Tell You.” They even played three new songs- “Jump”, “We Need New Transportation” and the song they played during their CBC Radio 3 Sessions podcast, “Tooth Fairy”.

Overall the band were extremely energetic, with lead singer Charles F bouncing all over the stage, whether he was maniacally playing keyboards, shaking a tambourine, playing guitar for “Party People” or even banging a xylophone. That’s right- you can even be amazing on a xylophone. Drummer Patrick Sayers was also very lively and looked like he was probably sweating a great deal from his intense drumming.

Next, Tokyo Police Club took the stage and the millions for fifteen-year-old girls began to start screaming. And with good enough reason- TPC did play quite a solid set. They started off their set with “Nature of the Experiment” and honestly, I didn’t know enough of their music to appreciate their last show of the year, but I know many of their fans certainly did.

Lead singer and bass player David Monk accidentally broke a bass string during one song and Winter Gloves actually lent him their bass to play in place. Monk jokingly said “Have you heard about how Mars is supposed to be bigger than the moon? That’s about as rare as breaking a bass string.” Later on, he also gave a shout-out to Tiny Tom’s Donuts, a CNE tradition, saying “Tom hooked me up, and it was delicious.”

Understandably, the crowd went craziest when they played their well-known tracks from their CD Elephant Shell, such as “Graves”, “Tessellate” and “Your English is Good.” After finishing off their set, the rabid fans wanted more and the guys came back out for an encore with their popular quick tune “Cheer it On.” You can only imagine how many people yelled “TOKYO POLICE CLUB” during the chorus of that song.

Overall the night was pretty good, I just wish that there were more people out to see Winter Gloves, even though I know they’re not as well known and that there were people other than me there to see them. Oh well, at least I have a nifty Winter Gloves t-shirt now.

So, Time Magazine just released a list of their Top 50 Best Websites for 2009. While I’m a little butt-hurt that I didn’t make the list, that didn’t stop me from checking out some of the sites. While there are some of the usual suspects such as Yelp, Twitter, Google, and Hulu, they also had some interesting sites I had never heard of before. One such site, which I visited just based off it’s name, is OMGPOP.

OMGPOP is an interactive online arcade, with their own versions of popular games that you can play with other people. These include  Blockies (Tetris), Letterblox (Scrabble), and more – all perfect ‘time theft’ activities to engage in while at work. However, my favorite has got to be Hit Machine, which is OMGPOP’s answer to Guitar Hero. I’ve been ultra-addicted to this ever since it came out, not only because it brings a classic game to my fingertips while sitting at the computer, but also because of the excellent song choices. Add on the fact that it’s not only guitar (you play some keyboard or synth lines, too depending on the song), and you have a recipe for addiction.

Below, I will leave you with my thoughts on some of my favorite songs from the game, and, if I can, some tips for beating them. Keep checking back often, as I will be updating this throughout the week.

Tokyo Police Club – “Your English Is Good”

This song is an up-beat, catchy jangle, with some great clap-a-long action going on in the background. It’s one of the songs available to you right away on the “Easy” skill level in the game, so you can play it right from the start. Just establish the groove in your head and you should have no trouble with this one, although I always get distracted by the music video, which plays to the right of the gameplay window…you’re trying to concentrate and then you get all stoked on watching the music video and forget you’re playing. One tip : for the section where you have the fast runs up and down the keys J – K – L and back, I found it was too distracting to try look at the fretboard. Instead, just remember you’re going up and down, and listen to the song – it’s a lot easier to stay in rhthym that way (I discovered this after about 10 epic FAIL attempts at getting through this section).

Coming soon:  Islands “Creeper,” Black Lips “Short Fuse,” and more!

I will leave you all with a video of me beating “Your English Is Good.”

For today’s installment, my 1000 Minutes Project again skews recent with tracks from two albums from 2008.  If you read my old blog, you’d know they were both in my Top 8 from last year, but since I deleted the actual post, I don’t remember where each fell specifically.  Then again, I suppose that doesn’t really matter.

55. Ra Ra Riot – Each Year (mp3) from The Rhumb Line (3:17) [Time Remaining: 723:18]

There are two songs off of The Rhumb Line that I consider my favorites, and so to avoid making today’s post exclusively about Ra Ra Riot, I chose this one first, and will address the second at a yet-to-be-determined future time.

“Each Year” is the retelling of the retelling of a story – To Kill a Mockingbird, to be exact – and it’s always interesting to hear what other people glean from books.  While the larger thematic elements are generally agreed upon for any novel, what individual readers actually take away from their reading is always different, and Wes Miles’ take is as memorable as the story from which it draws its inspiration.

56. Tokyo Police Club – Tessellate (mp3) from Elephant Shell (2:39) [Time Remaining: 720:39]

While the real meaning of Tokyo Police Club songs may be eternally hidden to the outside world (or maybe they have no discernable meaning at all), the varied interpretations of “Tessellate” run the gamut from politics to drugs.  Personally, the thought of a broken heart finding it’s exact missing piece is what I find most compelling.  Then again, I could just miss Shel Silverstein’s influence on my childhood.

This week’s Smörgåsbord is the first of its kind here on the blog – Gluten Free!  Maybe next we’ll try our hand at a kosher meal, but there are lots of rules we’d have to follow, and we don’t have them down just yet.  Until then, eat up – but not too much, or you’re liable to get fat.

Tokyo Police Club – Nursery, Academy (Remix By Flowers Forever) (mp3) from Elephant Shell Remixes

David Bazan – Bless This Mess (mp3) from the forthcoming Curse Your Branches (due September 1!!)

Charles Manson – Look At Your Game Girl (mp3) *

* This is that Charles Manson.  From a merely artistic standpoint, this song is intriguing, and while the reason for the artist’s fame is undoubtedly reprehensible, this song represents an interesting “What if…” – at least to us.

On the rickety back porch of THE EARL in ATLANTA, GA Greg Alsop, drummer for TOKYO POLICE CLUB did an interview with me.

We immediately bonded over Christmas pop-up books and then moved on to remark about how music critics are never criticized. Although not at all turtle-like, Greg would love to carry his home around with him. Like many bands with interesting names, there’s no good story as to how TPC got their name, but there is a good reason that their tour van floor is covered in jellybeans.

Special thanks to my new friend John Kurc for sharing his photographs of Tokyo Police Club with me.

Full Transcript: (Audio)
Nichole Bennett: Just introduce yourself.
Greg Alsop: I’m Greg Alsop. I’m in Atlanta, and I play drums in Tokyo Police Club.
NB: Thank you so much for joining me. So I guess just a little bit of background on the band. If you could describe the story of your band, would it be a comic book or would it be a pop-up book? And maybe fill in the details.
GA: I would probably choose a pop-up book. I’m not as familiar with graphic novels as some. I sort of grew up on pop-up books. I had a great version of “The Night Before Christmas” that my mom bought in the seventies that saw me through year after year.
NB: Yeah I make my parents read mine every Christmas.
GA: Yeah, same. We formed in January of 2005. We were all friends in high school. So you could picture us all there drawn in mostly pastel colors. And there’s a little slide arrow of us waving in front of our high school. We’d all just been friends in high school. The other three had known each other since elementary school, and we all just kind of bonded over similar taste in music. We were the only people we really knew in our small town who were into a lot of the new bands that were coming out around that time. You know like Interpol, The Strokes, Arcade Fire… Everyone else was, kind of strangely, into hip hop. It was a bunch of really rich white kids. Just like…beating each other up for no reason. And we were like “I don’t want any part in that.” So, our thing to do on Friday nights was just to gather in somebody’s basement and just play music until our parents told us to stop. Eventually, that brought us here.
NB: Where did the name Tokyo Police Club come from?
GA: There’s no good story.
NB: Is it just words mashed together?
GA: Yeah, it really is just words mashed together. That’s the best description. We should come up with a decent story for it because people ask us that all the time. We’re not a band full of mystery. That’s the problem…very open. And we’ve got nothing to say about our name. We wrote the song “Cheer It On” in May of 2005 and it came to be our first show, and we were like “We need to call ourselves something.”
NB: So how is this tour going?
GA: It’s fantastic. It’s the best. Yeah, we are touring with all incredible bands that we are great friends with. Ruby Coast from our home town in Toronto. Born Ruffians from there also. The Harlem Shakes, who are amazing. Ra Ra Riot, who we’ve been out with before. If I’m missing somebody, then I apologize, but it’s just all incredible bands.
NB: Yeah, I saw that all of your openers are fantastic.
GA: Yeah, we wanted it to be that way. We haven’t toured in a while, and we’re not going to be touring again for a while, so we wanted to make this as fun as possible. Going out on tour can be very exhausting, but when you get to the venue everyday and there’s a bunch of people there that you’re really excited to hang out with it’s much better.
NB: How would you describe the sound of the band, or even maybe the sound that you guys are looking for, to a three year old?
GA: To a three year old? We’re music you can jump around and have fun to, I’d say. You don’t have to cover your ears. We don’t have too many swears. Hopefully they aren’t words that a three year old would be familiar with anyway so it doesn’t really matter. Even if, there’s nothing that you would be shocked to hear a three year old say. It’d be a little more cute.
NB: Three year olds cover Tokyo Police Club.
GA: Yeah, yeah, you could do that. If Kidz Bop or whatever that was decided to do one of our tracks, they wouldn’t have too much trouble choosing, sifting through the lyrics.
NB: Do you ever read your own reviews? I always wonder, as a musician, if you read your own stuff.
GA: Yeah when the album first came out, I did. But eventually it became too difficult separating what they are saying as an actual critique from just journalism. You can’t take it to heart. Sometimes you find reviews that maybe do offer very good criticism that you can use to make better songs in the future. Some publications are just about tearing bands up, and some publications are just about puffing bands careers up. I don’t know. I feel like it’s good to find a middle ground.
NB: I feel like reviewers should also be reviewed sometimes.
GA: Yeah.
NB: They’re never criticized for their writing.
GA: That’s the one thing. That is the one part of the music industry that is completely unnecessary. It’s kind of the easiest job out there.
NB: Yeah, nobody is looking over their shoulder.
GA: Exactly. Maybe that will be my thing…writing in just letters to the editor week after week. More counter-reviews.
NB: What is your favorite flavor of jellybean?
GA: In just the regular variety, yellow.
NB: Yellow-flavored.
GA: Yellow lemon I guess. Or white, I guess. I like white beans sometimes. But if you’re going to go all the way to the Jelly Belly gourmet flavors, Dr. Pepper. We had a bunch. I got a bunch for Easter last year, and they were all nicely laid out in a tray, and within a few hours they all just spilt and were all over the floor. So every once in a while, you could just reach down, grab a couple up and just make a cocktail.
Matt Crisler (WSBF-FM): Do you eat the black ones? That’s the big question as to whether or not they like jellybeans?
NB: Yeah, I like the black ones.
GA: I do, yeah.
NB: My friends would all hand me the licorice ones. And I love food, so I was always like “Give me all of yours.” So, I gradually grew to love them.
GA: Yeah, I will take all of the other ones. But if I reach down and grab one, then I’ll eat it. No problem.
NB: So you guys have a Candyland van with jellybeans all over the floor.
GA: Yep.
NB: So I was thinking about this the other day that pop music, when you think about the word “pop” it has become something totally different in especially the minds of young people these days. Do you have your own personal definition? Or has it become a bad word? It used to be like pop and that meant Brittany Spears.
GA: I definitely agree that it used to be something to approach rarely, and if you were labeled as pop music it was just stuff that was very trite and easily digestible. The definition has become much for vague and all-encompassing. I mean, what do you really consider not “pop” music these days? Clearly if it’s not jazz and if it’s not composed in a modernist classical sense, then everything else can really fall under the pop category. I mean, we label ourselves as pop music. I don’t like assigning genres. Oh it’s like trip-electrocore or something. What are you talking about man? It’s just music, and if you like it, then listen to it. It shouldn’t be something that you try and find a label for and then listen very strictly to that.
NB: One more, and this is the one more and this is the one that I ask all bands. If you were an animal, what would you be?
GA: Me? Maybe a turtle because then when I tour, I can bring my home everywhere with me.
NB: That would be nice.
GA: That’d be the best actually. That would be really great. I don’t think it fits with me any other way.
NB: Thanks so much.