Tag: Indie Pop

Playlist: New tunes from 2019, part two

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date July 15, 2019
14 Comments on Playlist: New tunes from 2019, part two

I don’t know how things shook out where you are but here in Ottawa, the winter took its sweet time loosening its hold. We had snow banks well into April and the “April showers” became “May rains”. The Ottawa river and a number of other rivers in the area hit record heights, causing widespread flooding. We still had the heat on in our place into June and almost immediately had to switch on the AC.

So Spring? Not so much this year, really only having it in name.

Luckily, there was quite a bit of good music released to keep our minds off the dreary weather and this playlist features some of my favourite music that came out over the last three months.

Highlights include:

- “Can’t find my heart”, the first tune off the second EP in a series released this year by Canada’s venerated indie rock collective, Broken Social Scene
- A lovely tune called “Athens” off the first album by Elizabeth Morris’s (Allo Darlin’) new band, Elva, with Ola Innset (Making Marks)
- “Wake me when it’s over”, track three of the final album by The Cranberries, “In the end”, released over a year after Dolores O’Riordan’s death
- “Young enough”, the title track off the sophomore album by Charly Bliss, which this particular music fan needed to listen to many times before got… so if you yourself aren’t sure yet, give it some time
- The latest album by The National, “I am easy to find”, is yet another twist and turn in the band’s artistic journey and from this new collection of tunes, I’ve included the majestic “Rylan”
- “The barricade” off the new record by Toronto indie rock legends, The Lowest of the Lowest, which sounds like to these ears like a return to their early days

For those who don’t use Spotify or if the embedded playlist below doesn’t work for you, here is the entire playlist:

1. “Everyday” Weyes Blood (from the album Titanic rising)

2. “That’s where the trouble started” Rose Elinor Dougall (from the album A new illusion)

3. “Can’t find my heart” Broken Social Scene (from the EP Let’s try the after vol. 2)

4. “What I’ve been kicking around” The Tallest Man on Earth (from the album I love you. It’s a fever dream)

5. “Scarecrow” Wand (from the album Laughing matter)

6. “The barrel” Aldous Harding (from the album Designer)

7. “Athens” Elva (from the album Winter sun)

8. “Wake me when it’s over” The Cranberries (from the album In the end)

9. “No halo” Kevin Morby (from the album Oh my god)

10. “Déjà vu” SOAK (from the album Grim town)

11. “Harmony hall” Vampire Weekend (from the album Father of the bride)

12. “White of an eye” Patience (from the album Dizzy spells)

13. “Young enough” Charly Bliss (from the album Young enough)

14. “Fine mess” Interpol (from the EP A fine mess)

15. “Faithless” Operators (from the album Radiant dawn)

16. “Rylan” The National (from the album I am easy to find)

17. “Future shade” Black Mountain (from the album Destroyer)

18. “Almost it” SACRED PAWS (from the album Run around the sun)

19. “Is there a pill?” Richard Hawley (from the album Further)

20. “The barricade” The Lowest of the Low (from the album Agitpop)

21. “Black Friday” Palehound (from the album Black Friday)

22. “The river” AURORA (from the album A different kind of human, step II)

23. “Insignificant” Lust for Youth (from the album Lust for Youth)

24. “Natural” Julia Shapiro (from the album Perfect version)

25. “Her own heart” Hatchie (from the album Keepsake)

Enjoy.

For those of you who are on Spotify, feel free to look me up. My user name is “jprobichaud911”.

Tags Alternative, Alternative Rock, Canadian indie, Indie, Indie Pop, Indie rock, new tunes, Playlists, Psychedelic, Singer/Songwriter, Spotify

Live music galleries

Live music galleries: Ottawa Bluesfest 2019, day five – Scary Bear Soundtrack

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date July 10, 2019
15 Comments on Live music galleries: Ottawa Bluesfest 2019, day five – Scary Bear Soundtrack

(Since I’ll be too busy attending Ottawa Bluesfest over the next week or so to continue with this blog’s regularly scheduled programming, I thought I would do a special ‘live galleries’ series this week to share some pics from some of the sets I am enjoying.)

Entrance to Bluesville

Artist: Scary Bear Soundtrack
When: July 9th, 2019
Where: Lebreton Flats Park, Ottawa
Some words: This’ll be a short and sweet one.

I hadn’t actually planned on attended Tuesday night but an early set by a local band caught my eye. The name, Scary Bear Sountrack, was a fun one that aroused my curiosity. However, it was the influences of dream poppers My Bloody Valentine and Cocteau Twins, and Canadian indie stalwarts, Stars, that drew me right in.

And that’s the beauty of having a festival pass. One can choose to stop in after work for one band, a local one that may be heretofore unheard of, without a great commitment, rock out at the front of the Bluesville stage and go home at a decent hour, satisfied.

And so that is what happened.

To sum up, many of you outside of Ottawa, or if you’re lucky, Canada, may never get the chance, but if you do and you love any of the aforementioned influences, go check out Scary Bear Soundtrack. The local five piece led by Gloria Guns put on a great set for these ears, three part female vocal harmonies and plenty of noisy guitars and washy synths.

Scary Bear Soundtrack

“Trevor”

Gloria Guns of Scary Bear Soundtrack

Tags Alternative, Alternative Rock, Dream Pop, Festival, Gloria Guns, Indie, Indie Pop, Live, Live music, Local, Ottawa, Ottawa Bluesfest, Scary Bear Soundtrack, Shoegaze

Live music galleries

Live music galleries: Ottawa Bluesfest 2019, day three – Children of Indigo, The Beths, Pup, This is the Kit

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date July 7, 2019
8 Comments on Live music galleries: Ottawa Bluesfest 2019, day three – Children of Indigo, The Beths, Pup, This is the Kit

Entrance to Bluesfest

Artists: Children of Indigo, The Beths, Pup, and This is the Kit
When: July 6th, 2019
Where: Lebreton Flats Park, Ottawa
Some words: You might’ve noticed there wasn’t a post yesterday detailing Friday night’s exploits. There’s a good explanation. The original plan was to attend but when the main reason for going that night, Colter Wall, cancelled earlier in the day, I made the call to stay home, what with the dodgy weather, lack of sleep, early wake up hour the next day, and the country heavy musical content and expected crowds. By my count, that’s four cancellations for this year’s festival, bad luck in its twenty-fifth year. Here’s hoping the bad luck ends there and the rest of the festival runs smoothly.

When I arrived yesterday, nice and early, I still wasn’t expecting crowds in the entrance line so like Thursday night, the temporary barricade maze was more walking than I wanted to do in that heat. So after I entered, I once again headed inside to the Barney Danson theatre where a surprisingly large crowd had gathered to hear an early set by a lovely, local indie folk trio named Children of Indigo. Unlike Thursday, there was no overlap last night so I didn’t have to rush anywhere afterwards and actually got to enjoy some full sets.

Next up was the band I was most excited to see last night, an indie rock trio out of New Zealand called The Beths. If you haven’t heard them, check them out. To my ears, they sound quite a bit like Alvvays and Camera Obscura but with more fuzz. I’ve been listening to their album a lot in the lead up to last night but their performance was so good, it pushed me to pick up a copy of their record at the merch tent.

Just after dinner time, I headed over to the main stage to catch Toronto punk band Pup struggle to reconcile their counter-culture cred and such a huge outdoor audience. They shouldn’t have worried so much as their fans were just as pleased to mosh and pump their fists outdoors as in. I stayed out of the fray and enjoyed the energy from afar. I finished my evening early, back where I started, in the Barney Danson theatre, with British folk songstress Kate Stables, who might be better known under stage name, This is the kit. I had originally thought to stick around for The Turbans, the headliners on one of the side stages, but after drinking a few beers in the afternoon heat, my bed and AC were the stronger calls.