Twee is at its best when it’s slightly shambolic and a bit off. The vocals here are sweet yet there is the tiniest glimpse of sadness involved. The whole thing is shaky and a bit awkward, but it gives a lot of heart to a song that is less than two minutes long.
With an accompanying video like this, you could easily mistake it for some lost raw gem from the early 90’s. It’s not really news that a lot of modern bands are looking to that time for inspiration these days (some are full out ripping off) but when it works, it’s great. This isn’t an homage as it is a continuation.
London (Ontario, Canada!) rock and roll. This band have been playing together for a little while now, but this is their debut recording.
So Young is fronted by Paterson, who has been heavily involved in the city’s music scene for the better part of a decade. In fact, she used to put on concerts in her living room, hosting a number of established and soon-to-be well known names. In early days, she could be found in various venues with not much more than an acoustic guitar accompanying her unique vocals. She also played cello in Olenka & The Autumn Lovers. As someone who has always been associated with folkier roots, it’s a dramatic but welcome change to see her front this sort of outfit. It seems as if she has finally found the sound most suited to her. It’s like all of those years were like practice building up to this.
Considering this is the first release, it might be worth paying attention to this band. They could very well be on to something good here.
FFAAVVEESS 2012: Hand Cream- Program (Silver Apples cover)
In terms of bands that I can associate with specific memories of 2012, Hand Cream will always remind me of my last trip to Canada. I hadn’t heard of them prior to that, but my friend convinced me to go see them on a night out in London, Ontario.
I remember when they started playing this and while I liked it a lot, I couldn’t figure out what it was. I just knew I had heard it before, and that I was enjoying this version a lot too. I used to listen to Silver Apples when I was younger but it had been a number of years, so I recognized the song instantly but couldn’t quite place it. I’m one of those people who gets pretty annoyed about that. It wasn’t until later in the night that I finally remembered, and I had a little victory dance.
Of course, the original material is glorious too. I just think that this cover reminds me the most of that night.
Anyway, as for the band themselves, they were an absolute pleasure to watch. They are definitely one of the best finds I’ve been privileged with in 2012. I think it’s pretty awesome that I got to see them live when I could. I still have my fingers crossed that they will eventually cross the pond for a few shows in the future.
Dandi Wind are a “post-industrial”/electronic duo made up of Dandilion Wind Opaine and Szam Findlay from Vancouver, BC. Dandi has also contributed to Szam’s other project, Fan Death.
I’ve found most reactions to Dandi’s vocal stylings to be very polarized, in a way that you either love or hate it. Sometimes she sounds like a total maniac (see: Mafu Cage).
This song in itself doesn’t really showcase the electronic side of them as it’s very guitar heavy, but it’s probably my favourite.
Girl Nobody were a Vancouver, BC based band who drew a lot of comparisons to Metric at the time, but the only thing they really had in common was more to do with aesthetics rather than sound. They had a dreamy combination of shoegaze and electronic music that makes me wonder to this day why they seemed to slip under the radar like they did. Severely underrated.
Also, not that this has anything to do with the music, I am still obsessed with the rocket dress.
From the album, The Future Isn’t What It Used To Be.
I am in Canada for a few weeks and last night I was invited to see this band. I didn’t know anything about them, but my friend insisted I went and I’m really glad I did! There were a few sound problems but it didn’t effect their set at all. They were so much fun.
They played this song last night and I spent the rest of the evening rattling my brain trying to figure out the name of it or the band they were covering. I’m really happy they actually have a recording of it, because it’s a brilliant version PLUS I didn’t have to annoy myself any further.
Hand Cream are from Montreal and you should see them live if you ever have the chance. I really hope they can come over to the UK one day.
Title: My Dad's Gonna Lynch YouArtist: Funn Club140 plays
Funn Club- My Dad’s Gonna Lynch You
Funn Club were a short lived punk band from Toronto/Peterborough Ontario, Canada. They are not to be confused with… whatever this was.
Alright, so this was my sister’s old band. I know it’s sort of a cop out to post about someone I’m related to, but I think I loved Funn Club more than she did. Claire has always typically been more of a metal guitarist so to hear her do something like this really surprised me at the time, although she has played with bands of all sorts.
The drummer Simone hadn’t any previous experience before playing in the band, which is admittedly my favourite kind of drummer.
Funn Club only played a couple of shows and fell apart quite quickly. If anyone in Toronto does remember them it’s because they made a bunch of tie-dye t-shirts with pigs blood. Gross. Still, I wish they could have stuck around a bit longer and made a few more songs. The ones they did put up are amazing. They didn’t release a thing, but you can still listen to their stuff at the wasteland that is Myspace.
Singapore born/Canadian raised rapper who was notably the first female MC to be nominated for a Muchmusic (Canada’s largest music station) video award for best rap video. This was in 2005. Yes, for some reason it took that long. I was obsessed with this video when it came out.
I recall her being in the first round of Missy Elliott’s one-off reality show (quite some time after she had already released her first album), The Road To Stardom, which if you missed it/don’t remember it, was sort of a Popstar style show which followed singers and rappers alike battling to win a spot on Missy’s label. To this day I’m still surprised she didn’t make it past the initial auditions.
Thankfully, she has managed to make it on her own in Canada and after a few independent releases, will be bringing out a more mainstream effort this year.
While her vocal technique could be considered old school, she fuses it with all sorts of different elements that bring a very specific character to her work. Even though this featured single came out quite a few years ago, it still sounds refreshing.
It’s still early days, but I fear a good third of this place is going to be made up entirely of Rose Melberg’s contributions to music. If it wasn’t twee legends Tiger Trap, it was Gaze, and she also brought us both The Softies and was a part of Go Sailor. I might as well change the title to “Rose Melberg Appreciation Society”.
This is her most recent project, based out of Vancouver, Brave Irene. It’s got more of a psychedelic influence than her previous work, but that could be entirely the organ. It’s certainly got her familiar style and flair all over it, all the same.
This is from their self titled EP, released last year.
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