Music Y'all Should Hear - Florence and the Machine

After receiving critical acclaim in the UK for her album 'Lungs' Florence Welch is well into her first tour of the US and Canada. Monday night she plays a Sold Out show at the Mod Club in Toronto.

Florence and the Machine is simply Florence Welch and a collaboration of studio and touring musicians. The name Florence and the Machine began as a private joke between Florence and a musician friend, nicknamed Isabella Machine. The story goes that on her way to her first gig she still did not have a stage name. She decided to call herself 'Florence Robot is a Machine' and started to attract notice at performances around London.

Florence and the Machine were showcased on the BBC shows BBC Introducing. Her performances at Glastonbury and T in the Park helped to further raise her profile. In 2008, the debut album Lungs was released under the name 'Florence and the Machine'. The album reached #2 in the UK charts and sold over 100,000 copies. Her debut single Kiss With a Fist was followed by Dog Days Are Over, Rabbit Heart and then Drumming Song.

The album Lungs is a solid effort which gets frequent plays on my iPod, besides the singles listed above favorite of mine are Girl With One Eye and My Boy Builds Coffins. Looking forward to reviews of her show on Monday night, and jealous of those keeners who didn't procrastinate buying a ticket like I did :(



Videos
Kiss With a Fist
Drumming Song
Dog Days Are Over

MySpace page
Band Website

Music Y'all Should Hear - Portugal, The Man

Sorry that I missed Portugal, The Man in Toronto last week at The Horseshoe Tavern. BlogTO posted a nice review here. No, they're not from Portugal - the group came together in Wasilla, Alaska as a side-project of vocalist-guitarist John Gourley and bassist Zach Carothers, then members of Anatomy of a Ghost. They added Wesley Hubbard, Nick Klein on guitar and Harvey Tumbelson and formed a full-time band. They left Alaska and re-located to Portland, OR in 2004.

Klein and Tumbelson both left the band in spring 2005 and drummer Jason Sechrist joined . They recorded demos in 2004 before releasing their debut album Waiter: "You Vultures!" on Fearless Records on January of 2006.

In June, 2007 Portugal, The Man released Church Mouth, their second full-length album and toured North America and Europe. Following the tours, their touring keyboardist Ryan Neighbors was invited to join the band full time. In 2009, they released The Satanic Satanist, as well as The Majestic Majesty, a digital-only acoustic version of The Satanic Satanist.

I hope to catch them on their next go around through Canada.



MySpace page
Home site
On Twitter

Murder by Death - Songs about Drinking and the Apocalypse

Went out to the Kool Haus Tuesday night to see the Gaslight Anthem - 3 other bands were on the bill: Broadway Calls, Jesse Malin and most interestingly 'Murder by Death'.
I had not heard of this Bloomington, Indiana 4-piece band before. A quick listen to a few of the tracks on their MySpace page and I was hooked - and instead of arriving 'in-time' for the headliners we decided to make sure we caught this band.
The most accurate description of the band's sound and subject matter came from guitarist/vocalist Adam Turla - "Our songs are about drinking and the apocalypse". First formed in 2000, as the Little Joe Gould, the band took the name Murder by Death from the 1976 Robert Towne-directed movie of the same name starring Peter Sellers and David Niven.
The present make-up of the band includes founding members Matt Armstrong on bass, Sarah Balliet on cello and keyboards and newest member (Since 2007) Dagan Thogerson on drums.
Songs that stuck with me were Brother (see below) and Comin' Home - which was featured in the trailer for Inglorious Basterds.

MySpace Page
Website

More stories at Gaslight Anthem at the Kool Haus

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Wake Up and Smell the Maple Syrup - What are Your Favourite Canadian Songs of All-Time?

It's Canada Day, time to get out the good bacon and think about the great music that came from Canadian musicians in the rock and roll era. Rush, BTO, Guess Who, Joni Mitchell, Tragically Hip, Billy Talent... the list goes on and on. Which of your favorite Canadian tunes belong on this list?

• Heart of Gold - Neil Young ~ watch
  
• Big Yellow Taxi - Joni Mitchell ~ watch
  
• Suzanne - Leonard Cohen ~ watch
  
• Ironic - Alanis Morissette ~ watch
  
• Summer of 69 - Bryan Adams
• Working For The Weekend - Loverboy
• Tom Sawyer - Rush
• Steal My Sunshine - Len ~ watch
  
• Takin' Care of Business - BTO
• Fifty Mission Cap - Tragically Hip
• Try - Blue Rodeo ~ watch
  
• Hot Child In The City - Nick Gilder ~ watch
  
• Raise a Little Hell - Trooper
• Spaceship Superstar - Prism ~ watch
  
• American Woman - Guess Who
• Patio Lanterns - Kim Mitchell ~ watch
  
• You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet - BTO
• Wake Up - Arcade Fire
• You Oughta Know - Alanis Morissette
• Doesn't Really Matter - Platinum Blonde
• Life Is A Highway - Tom Cochrane
• New Orleans Is Sinking - Tragically Hip
• Safety Dance - Men Without Hats ~ watch
  
• Drinking In LA - Bran Van 3000 ~ watch
  
• Sunglasses at Night - Corey Hart
• Roller - April Wine
• Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot
• If I Had a Million Dollars - Barenaked Ladies
• If I Had a Rocket Launcher - Bruce Cockurn
• Intervention - Arcade Fire
• 4 AM - Our Lady Peace ~ watch
  
• Tangerine - Moist ~ watch
• Gasoline - Moist ~ watch
  
• Silver - Moist ~ watch
• Push - Moist ~ watch
  
• The Grace - Neverending White Lights
• Black Black Heart - David Usher ~ watch
  
• Save Your Scissors - City & Colour ~ watch
  
• Lightning Is My Girl - Auf Der Maur
• One More Astronaut - I Mother Earth
• Keep on Rockin' in the Free World - Neil Young ~ watch
  
• Bobcaygeon - Tragically Hip ~ watch
  
• Some Kinda Fun - Teenage Head ~ watch
  
• Tonight is a Wonderful Time to Fall in Love - April Wine
• Paradise Skies - Max Webster ~ watch
  
• YYZ - Rush
• Born to be Wild - Steppenwolf ~ watch
  
• Having an Average Weekend - Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet
• Pain for Pleasure - Sum 41 ~ watch
  
• Nova Heart - The Spoons
• Switchin' to Glide - The Kings
• Summer Girl - Stereos ~ watch
  
• Boys In The Bright White Sports Car - Trooper
• New Girl Now - Honeymoon Suite
• Never Surrender - Corey Hart
• Metal Queen - Lee Aaron ~ watch
  
• Man, I Feel Like a Woman - Shania Twain ~ watch
  
• Whatcha Gonna Do - Chilliwack
• Turn Me Loose - Loverboy ~ watch
  
• Echo Beach - Martha & the Muffins
• Working Man - Rita MacNeil
• Snowbird - Anne Murray
• Diana - Paul Anka
• Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone) - Glass Tiger ~ watch
  
• Hey Operator - Coney Hatch ~ watch
  
• Lager & Ale - Kim Mitchell
• Hold On - Triumph ~ watch
  
• Closer to the Heart - Rush
• Here Comes the Night - Streetheart ~ watch
  
• Pop Goes The World - Men Without Hats ~ watch
  
• Last Song - Edward Bear
• Hasn't Hit Me Yet - Blue Rodeo ~ watch
  
• Load Me Up - Matthew Good
• No Sugar Tonight - Guess Who
• One Day In Your Life - 54-40
• Nothing to Lose - Billy Talent ~ watch
  
• I'm Coming Home - City & Colour ~ watch
  
• New World Man - Rush ~ watch
  
• Spirit of Radio - Rush ~ watch
  
• Hey You - BTO
  
• Make Me Do Anything You Want - A Foot in Cold Water
• Oh What a Feeling - Crowbar
• Old Emotions - Spoons ~ watch
  
• Romantic Traffic - Spoons ~ watch
  
• Underwhelmed - Sloan
• The Good is Everyone - Sloan ~ watch
  
• Run To You - Bryan Adams ~ watch
  
• Fallen Leaves - Billy Talent ~ watch
  
• Just One More Time - Headpins ~ watch
  
• Don't It Make You Feel - Headpins
• Things I Do For Money - Northern Pikes ~ watch
  
• Sunny Days - Lighthouse
  
• Blow at High Dough - Tragically Hip ~ watch
  
• Barrett's Privateers - Stan Rogers ~ watch
  
• Sudbury Saturday Night - Stompin Tom Conners
• Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf watch
  
• Today I Hate Everyone - The Killjoys ~ watch
  
• Home - Chantal Kreviazuk
• Surrounded - Chantal Kreviazuk ~ watch
  
• Before You - Chantal Kreviazuk ~ watch
  
• Clumsy - Our Lady Peace ~ watch
  
• Naveed - Our Lady Peace ~ watch
  
• Superman's Dead - Our Lady Peace ~watch
  
• Angel - Sarah McLachlan
• Ice Cream - Sarah McLachlan
• Sweet Surrender - Sarah McLachlan ~ watch
  
• Angel Eyes - Jeff Healey Band ~ watch
  
• See the Light - Jeff Healey Band
• I Will Remember You - Sarah McLachlan ~ watch
  
• Broken Arrow - Robbie Robertson
• Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm - Crash Test Dummies ~ watch
• Superman - Crash Test Dummies ~ watch
  
• Somewhere Down the Crazy River - Robbie Robertson watch
  

Music Y'all Should Hear - The Rumble Strips

Named after the small bumps that line the edges of the highway, British band The Rumble Strips are about to release their second album Welcome to the Walk Alone this July. The current lineup, of Charlie Waller (guitar, vocals), Tom Gorbutt (sax, vocals, guitar), Henry Clark (trumpet, piano), Matthew Wheeler (drums) and Sam Mansbridge (bass) have been together since 2004 and are signed to Fallout Records.

In 2005 they released the single Motorcycle and toured with Dirty Pretty Things and The Young Knives. In 2006 they released their second single Hate Me (You Do) and toured supporting The Zutons. Their first EP Cardboard Coloured Dreams followed in late 2006.

In 2007 they scored two hit singles on the UK charts, Alarm Clock got to #41 and a re-release of Motorcycle reaching #46. Their debut album Girls and Weather, followed in 2007 contained the single Girls and Boys in Love, which was also featured in the Simon Pegg film Run Fatboy Run.

In late 2008 the band began working with producer, Mark Ronson on their new album Welcome to the Walk Alone.

Listen to the RumbleStrips on their MySpace page or at RumpleStrips.com

My 51 Fave Albums of the 1980s

Ahhhh... I could not get it down to 50 no matter how brutal I was with my cuts. I started out with 120 albums and wound up with 5o plus 1.

1. Purple Rain - Prince & the Revolution
2. Appetite for Destruction - Guns n' Roses
3. Master of Puppets - Metallica
4. Brothers In Ams - Dire Straits
5. Synchronicity - The Police
6. Licensed to Ill - Beastie Boys
7. Welcome to the Pleasure Dome - Frankie Goes to Hollywood
8. 1984 - Van Halen
9. War - U2
10. Let's Dance – David Bowie
11. Joshua Tree - U2
12. Sweet Dreams – Eurythmics
13. Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden
14. Thriller - Michael Jackson
15. Pretenders – Pretenders
16. Music for the Masses - Depeche Mode
17. Faith - George Michael
18. Songs From the Big Chair - Tears for Fears
19. Born In the USA - Bruce Springsteen
20. Pyromania - Def Leppard
21. Private Dancer - Tina Turner
22. The Raw and the Cooked - Fine Young Cannibals
23. 1999 - Prince
24. Back in Black - AC/DC
25. Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel
26. Remain in Light - Talking Heads
27. The Head on the Door - The Cure
28. Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret - Soft Cell
29. Dare - Human League
30. Moving Pictures - Rush
31. Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen
32. Hounds of Love - Kate Bush
33. Meat is Murder - Smiths
34. Slippery When Wet - Bon Jovi
35. Queen is Dead – Smiths
36. Lexicon of Love - ABC
37. So - Peter Gabriel
38. Hysteria - Def Leppard
39. Strangeways Here We Come - Smiths
40. Sign O the Times - Prince
41. Pump - Aerosmith
42. Nothing''s Shocking - Jane's Addiction
43. Green - REM
44. Some Great Reward - Depeche Mode
45. Rain - Cult
46. 3 Feet High & Rising - De La Soul
47. Combat Rock - The Clash
48. Kick – INXS
49. Scarey Monsters - David Bowie
50. Disintegration – The Cure

and

51. The Hurting – Tears for Fears

Kasabian takes new album to UK #1

This week Kasabian returns and takes 'West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum ' to the top of the UK album chart. Here's the latest single for 'Fire' which remains in the Top 10 this week.