The Zolas – “Ancient Mars”

By Justin | Published: March 29, 2013

I want to believe in time travel
That one day I’ll come back for you
Find you in the campus library aisles and I’d say
Oh, my ancient Mars

When the rusty rocks were covered in groves
And the pyramids foretold acidic snows
All was still breathing like my hand on your toes and I said
Oh, my ancient Mars

Several billion golden years ago
I lost a planet that I loved to the cold
Civilization blooms and then it erodes
And that’s it

Oh, my ancient Mars

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Upcoming Canadian shows in Austin, TX

By Justin | Published: March 24, 2013

I’m always excited when there are enough Canadian indie acts coming to town that I can make a list. If the 120+ Canadian acts at SXSW weren’t enough for you, here are even more artists coming to perform in Austin:

  • Saturday, April 6
    White Lung (with Feral Future, Brain Attack)
    Beerland – Doors @ 8 PM – 21+ – $7
  • Monday, April 8
    Owen Pallett (with Grizzly Bear)
    Stubb’s (Outdoors) – Doors @ 7 PM – All ages – SOLD OUT
  • Friday, April 12
    Black Pistol Fire (with The Scabs, Leopold & His Fiction)
    Antone’s (Riverside) – Doors @ 8 PM – $18
  • Sunday, April 14
    Wintersleep (with Grape St.)
    Red 7 – Doors @ 9 PM – All ages – $12 / $10 adv.
  • Sunday, April 21
    Crystal Castles (with Doldrums)
    Austin Music Hall – Doors @ 7 PM – All ages – $30+
  • Wednesday, April 24
    Majical Cloudz (with Youth Lagoon)
    Mohawk – Doors @ 6:30 PM – All ages – $18 / $15 adv.
  • Thursday, April 25
    Metz (with Odonis Odonis, A Place to Bury Strangers)
    Mohawk – Doors @ 6:30 PM – All ages – $15
  • Friday, April 26
    Daniel Romano (with Caitlin Rose)
    Mohawk – Doors @ 9 PM – All ages – $12 / $10 adv.
  • Friday, April 26
    Matt Mays (with The Gaslight Anthem)
    Stubb’s (Outdoors) – Doors @ 7 PM – All ages – $20 / $18 adv.
  • Friday, April 26
    Kremlin (with Wiccans, Criaturas, Breakout, Recide)
    Holy Mountain – Doors @ 9 PM
  • Friday, Apr. 26 – Sunday, Apr. 28
    The Besnard Lakes, Suuns, Black Mountain
    The King Khan & BBQ Show, Elephant Stone
    Austin Psych Fest (Carson Creek Ranch) – $60+ day pass / $150+ weekend pass
  • Tuesday, April 30
    Born Ruffians (with Moon King)
    Red 7 – Doors @ 9 PM – All ages – $12 / $10 adv.
  • Tuesday, April 30
    The Rabid Whole (with Dope Stars Inc.)
    Elysium – Doors @ 9 PM – 18+ – $12 / $7 adv.
  • Wednesday, May 1
    Metric (with The Colourist)
    Stubb’s (Outdoors) – Doors @ 7 PM – All ages – SOLD OUT
  • Friday, May 3
    Black Pistol Fire (with The Couch)
    Red 7 – Doors @ 9 PM – All ages – $12 / $10 adv.
  • Monday, May 6
    Cold Specks (with Jim James)
    Stubb’s (Outdoors) – Doors @ 6 PM – All ages – $28 / $26 adv.
  • Monday, May 13
    Cancer Bats (with Torche, Kvelertak, Black Tusk)
    Red 7 – Doors @ 7:30 PM – All ages – $15 / $13 adv.
  • Wednesday, May 15
    The Mohawk Lodge (with The Fight)
    Wardenclyffe Gallery
  • Thursday, May 16
    3 Inches of Blood (with The Blood Royale, Legion, others)
    Dirty Dog – Doors @ 8 PM – 18+ – $15 / $12 adv.
  • Saturday, May 25
    Black Pistol Fire (with The Couch)
    Red 7 – Doors @ 9 PM – $12 / $10 adv.
  • Friday, May 31
    Japandroids (with A Place to Bury Strangers)
    Emo’s – Doors @ 9 PM – All ages – $18 / $16 adv.
  • Sunday, June 2
    Young Empires (with Generationals)
    The Parish – Doors @ 9 PM – All ages – $12 / $10 adv.
  • Monday, June 3
    Half Moon Run (with Of Monsters and Men)
    Stubb’s (Outdoors) – Doors @ 6:30 PM – All ages – SOLD OUT
  • Friday, Sept. 13
    Tegan & Sara
    Stubb’s (Outdoors) – Doors @ 7 PM – All ages – $40 / $36.50 adv.

If you know of any more Canadian acts to add to the list, please let me know by adding a comment.

EDIT (2013-04-13 4:00 PM): Updated with cancellations, sellouts, and more shows.

EDIT (2013-04-26 8:55 AM): Updated Metz show and added Young Empires.

EDIT (2013-04-27 3:20 PM): Added Kremlin, Rabid Whole, and Mohawk Lodge shows.

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Canadian Tuesday at SXSW 2013

By Justin | Published: March 12, 2013

It begins tonight! There are (at least) 16 official SXSW showcases featuring Canadian artists today, beginning at 6:30 PM.

Most of the shows (Half Moon Run, Leif Vollebekk, Lisa LeBlanc, Mozart’s Sister, Peter Peter, Solids) are taking place at Swan Dive, this year’s home of Planet Québec.  Flamingo Cantina will be hosting a night of Canadian hip-hop featuring Wordburglar, More or Les, and Jesse Dangerously. Divine Fits will be playing two shows, and Tegan and Sara will be at The Main later in the evening.

Here’s the latest:

  • Half Moon Run (Planet Quebec Kickoff Reception)
    6:30 PM @ Swan Dive (615 Red River)
  • Leif Vollebekk
    8:00 PM @ Swan Dive
  • Wordburglar
    8:40 PM @ Flamingo Cantina (515 E. 6th)
  • Lisa LeBlanc
    9:00 PM @ Swan Dive
  • More or Les
    9:15 PM @ Flamingo Cantina
  • Blue Hawaii
    9:30 PM @ Mohawk (912 Red River)
  • Mozart’s Sister
    10:00 PM @ Swan Dive
  • Bear Mountain
    10:00 PM @ Hype Hotel (301 Brazos)
  • Jung People
    10:00 PM @ The Hideout (617 Congress)
  • Divine Fits
    10:45 PM @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater (310 W. 2nd)
  • Peter Peter
    11:00 PM @ Swan Dive
  • AZARI & III
    11:00 PM @ Mohawk
  • Jesse Dangerously
    11:05 PM @ Flamingo Cantina
  • Tegan and Sara
    11:35 PM @ The Main (603 Red River)
  • Solids
    12:00 AM @ Swan Dive
  • Divine Fits
    12:30 AM @ Viceland (401 E. Cesar Chavez)

Please leave a comment if you know of any shows I’ve missed!

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Fake Shark – Real Zombie! – “Paint It Gold”

By Justin | Published: March 11, 2013

Album art for "Liar" by Fake Shark - Real Zombie!I often poke fun at Wikipedia for being the place people go to invent new genres of music, or at least the names for them. Take a look at the Extreme Metal entry to get a sense of what I mean. How many different subgenres can we invent today? Let’s see… looks like we’re up to 27 so far. My favorite is probably “goregrind”, followed closely by “epic doom”.

OK, so maybe the Wikipedia editors took a day off.

You can understand my skepticism when I looked up Fake Shark – Real Zombie! and found them labeled Intelligent Dance Music (IDM)—a genre that surely could’ve been the invention of a passing Wiki vandal. Nevertheless, after pondering deeply on its relevance, I’ll cut Wikipedia some slack. If Fake Shark – Real Zombie! is “IDM”, then I can get behind it.

This insanely addictive song comes off FSRZ’s latest album, Liar, which was released last month. Click the album art to buy it on iTunes (Canada only).

Fake Shark – Real Zombie! – “Paint It Gold”

There’s not much of a future in getting old
When you hide the highs, just live the lows
At least that’s what they say, at least it’s what I’m told
I’m gonna take your black heart and paint it gold

Let’s start with the end, go back to beginnings
One day is a long way away when you’re spinning
The minute hand (… ?) your hand, so you left
Some place far away that you never could’ve planned
It’s the easy way out of a hard way in
Forgive and forget, forget who’s forgiven
On the other hand, we can’t really stand for a plan
That takes you far away from the place you wanna stay at

Making up for lost time, where’d you put it?
Waking up at the scene of the crime, I knew I shoulda
I knew you woulda if we both knew we coulda
If the situation let me, but don’t forget me
It’s not my troubled future in that in yourself you know
When you hide the highs and just live the lows
You’ll end up renting that little heart of yours turning black
Don’t end up wondering how do I turn these pages back?

Don’t spin it too far away
Don’t spin it too far away
Don’t spin it too far away
I’m gonna take your black heart
Don’t spin it too far away
Don’t spin it too far away
Don’t spin it too far away
I’m gonna take your black heart and paint it gold

You can find Fake Shark – Real Zombie! at CBC Music, on Facebook, and at their official site. You can also follow them on Twitter, and you can buy their music on iTunes. Another artist outlet is Myspace.

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Young Galaxy’s “Pretty Boy”

By Justin | Published: March 10, 2013

Album art for "Pretty Boy" by Young GalaxyCanadian space rock virtuosi (and SXSW 2013 performers) Stephen Ramsay and Catherine McCandless—better known as Young Galaxy—have released a catchy new single called “Pretty Boy”. The band, making music out of Montreal, Quebec, is set to release their latest album, Ultramarine, on April 23.

Click the album cover to buy the single on iTunes!

Young Galaxy – “Pretty Boy”

When we were lost
We found each other
And headed sightless for the city

We had no way
Misfit and stray
Living beyond both means and pity

And I know you feel isolated
And I feel what you won’t say
I don’t care if the disbelievers don’t understand
You’re my pretty boy, always

I felt no pain when you changed your name
We were each others’ only family
Walking away would change the way
But never make your path less heavy

And I know you feel isolated
And I feel what you won’t say
I don’t care if the disbelievers don’t understand
You’re my pretty boy, always

You can find Young Galaxy at CBC Music, on Facebook, and at their seizure-inducing official site. You can also follow them on Twitter, and you can buy their music on iTunes. Another artist outlet is Myspace.

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Every indie Canadian artist at SXSW 2013

By Justin | Published: February 25, 2013

This is the post to end them all—the complete and authoritative list of every independent Canadian artist performing at SXSW 2013. The majority of these shows are already scheduled, but some of them are yet to be announced, so keep an eye out at sxsw.com/music and schedule.sxsw.com for updates as they become available.

SXSW 2013 LogoSXSW 2013 will take place in lovely Austin, TX from Tuesday, March 12 through Sunday, March 17.

Right now, the artist count stands at 119, but that’s not to say there aren’t 120… or more! So, if you know about another Canadian indie artist playing SXSW but not yet on the list, please leave a comment below.

Read More »

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The Lumineers’ “Stubborn Love”

By Justin | Published: January 29, 2013

She’ll lie and steal and cheat, and beg you from her knees
Make you think she means it this time
She’ll tear a hole in you, the one you can’t repair
But I still love her, I don’t really care

When we were young, oh oh, we did enough
When it got cold, ooh ooh, we bundled up
I can’t be told, ah ah, it can’t be done

It’s better to feel pain than nothing at all
The opposite of love’s indifference
So pay attention now, I’m standing on your porch, screaming out
And I won’t leave until you come downstairs

So, keep your head up, keep your love
Keep your head up, my love
Keep your head up, my love
Keep your head up, keep your love

And I don’t blame you, dear, for running like you did all these years
I would do the same, you best believe
And the highway signs say we’re close, but I don’t read those things anymore
I never trusted my own eyes

When we were young, oh oh, we did enough
When it got cold, ooh ooh, we bundled up
I can’t be told, ah ah, it can’t be done

So, keep your head up, keep your love
Keep your head up, my love
Keep your head up, my love
Keep your head up, keep your love

Head up, love
Head up, love
Head up, love
Head up, love

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Jack’s Mannequin’s “Rescued”

By Justin | Published: January 27, 2013

Two to one
Static to the sound of you and I
Undone for the last time
And there this was
Hiding at the bottom of your swimming pool
Some September
And don’t you think I wish that I could stay?
Your lips give you away

I can hear it
A jet engine through the center of the storm
And I’m thinking I’d prefer not to be rescued

Two to none
Roads that lead away from this
I’m following myself just this once
And I’ve got spun
It appears you’re spun as well
It happens when you pay attention
Well, this could take all year
But…

When it’s quiet, does she hear me?
Jettisoned to the center of the storm
And I’m thinking I prefer not to be rescued

And oh, I can feel her, she’s dying just to keep me cool
I’m finally numb, so please don’t get me rescued… rescued…

And it’s unclear, but this may be my last song
Oh, I, I can tell she’s raising hell to give to me
She got me warm, so please don’t get me rescued

And, oh, say you’ll miss me
One last time, I’ll be strong
But whatever you do, please don’t get me rescued

Cuz I’m feeling like I might need to be near you
And I feel all right, so please don’t get me rescued

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Silver Mt. Zion’s “God Bless Our Dead Marines”

By Justin | Published: January 21, 2013

Horses In the SkyOver the past week or so, Silver Mt. Zion’s albums have been changing my life in a way I don’t yet have the words to explain. Each album is an experience—a near religious one, for sure.

They put angels in the electric chair, the electric chair, the electric chair
Straight up angels in the electric chair, the electric chair, the electric chair
They put angels in the electric chair, the electric chair, the electric chair
Straight up angels in the electric chair, the electric chair, the electric chair
And no one knew or no one cared but burning stars lit up their hair
And burning stars lit up their hair and crawled to heaven on golden stairs

And oh, how we to and fro, to and fro, to and fro
Oh, how we to and fro, to and fro, to and fro
This is our torched estates, this is our torched estates
We are the sweet mistakes

And all them vulgar kings on their dirty thrones
Who among us will avenge Ms. Nina Simone?
And all them vulgar kings on their dirty thrones
Who among us will avenge Ms. Nina Simone?

There’s fresh meat in the club tonight, God bless our dead marines
Someone had an accident above the burning trees
While somewhere distant, peacefully our vulgar princes sleep
Dead kids don’t get photographed, God bless our dead marines

The hungry and the hanged, the damaged and the done
Striving ‘long this spinning rock tumbling past the sun
Get through this life without killing anyone
And consider yourself golden

Lost a friend to cocaine
Couple friends to smack
Troubled hearts map deserts
And they rarely do come back
Lost a friend to oceans
Lost a friend to hills
Lost a friend to suicide
Lost a friend to pills
Lost a friend to monsters
Lost a friend to shame
Lost a friend to marriage
Lost a friend to blame
Lost a friend to worry
And lost a friend to wealth
Lost a friend to stubborn pride
And then I lost myself

I love my dog and she loves me
The world’s a mess and so are we
She tumbles long green muddy fields, sick with joy and glee
And then she dreams sweet puppy dreams, whimpering gently

There’s fresh meat in the club tonight, God bless our dead marines
Someone had an accident above the burning trees
While somewhere distant, peacefully our vulgar princes sleep
Dead kids don’t get photographed, God bless this century

When the world is sick
Can’t no one be well
But I dreamt we was all beautiful and strong

For the record, this song was released on SMZ’s 2005 album, Horses In the Sky. The band, whose name has undergone several changes, released this one as Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band.

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The Zolas’ “Escape Artist”

By Justin | Published: January 14, 2013

The Zolas - Ancient MarsThough last year’s album Ancient Mars by The Zolas has plenty of terrific tracks, the playlist for my past few weeks has included large amounts of their song “Escape Artist”. This song boasts smartly connected lines that convey both great mental images (“feeling hard and hollow like paper mâche”) and some stirring sensory experiences, like wanting to “feel the fire of the leftover sun on the roofing tiles”.

Have you ever put your hands on the hot tar of a roof? In this case, that searing sensation numbing your fingers is freedom.

“Escape Artist” portrays the internal division between one’s desire to stay where it’s comfortable and safe—where there’s “ice cream and sweets [and] coming in the sheets”—and the drive to venture out into “the real world” where things aren’t quite so stable. In the end, the singer yearns to escape from the cage of the everyday to which he’s grown inured, and seeks the freedom that his alter-ego has been searching for throughout. Like his alter ego, he, too, seeks to “feel a hand find a grip at the top of the wall” to pull him out of his prison cell.

Will he be able to escape? For those of us who may be in similar circumstances, will we?

The Zolas – Escape Artist

My alter ego, he’s an escape artist
He’s only truly happy when he’s under arrest
Oh how he handsome, scheduled to hang to death
He’s only truly happy at the precipice

He’s like a mirror, he sticks into our ears
A stethoscope to the chest of the vacant years
I can’t escape the chair, I’m etherized with fear
That my only talent is in hanging here

But then it’s
Hey boy, I’ve got your man, he’s right here
Putty in my hands
Ice cream and sweets
Coming in the sheets
He got no excuse to leave

But in the real world, an intertidal cave,
I ride a desk chair waiting for a tidal wave
I feel like dancing, but that is miles away
I’m feeling hard and hollow like paper mâche

My alter ego, he’s in the jailer’s cage
He sits and waits for the devil to abet his escape
I’m sorry, pastor, I can’t be pasteurized
All of the bibles in the world for a metal file

At every clock strike, he hears the jailer’s keys
And the doubt starts to sprout till he’s on his knees
And he remembers like it’s his mother’s call
To feel a hand find a grip at the top of the wall

And I want to feel it, I want to feel the fire
Of the leftover sun on the roofing tiles
I want to feel it, I want to feel the fire
Of the leftover sun on the roofing tiles

You can find The Zolas at CBC Music, on Facebook, on YouTube, and at their official site. You can also follow them on Twitter, and you can buy their music on iTunes. Other artist outlets include SoundCloud, Bandcamp, and Myspace.

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