Author Archives: Justin

Mister Heavenly’s “Pineapple Girl”

By Justin | April 26, 2011

Typically, I accept only pure Canadian indie as being good enough for blogging, but one budding quasi-Canadian supergroup deserves recognition despite being only one-third Canadian. Enter, Mister Heavenly. Made up of Nick Thorburn (the Canadian, of Islands, Human Highway, and—back in the day—The Unicorns), Honus Honus (of Philadelphia’s Man Man) and Joe Plummer (of Modest [...]

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Quick list: SXSW 2011 shows

By Justin | April 5, 2011

This list is mainly  for posterity. These are most of the shows that I attended last month down in Austin, TX at SXSW 2011. Note that, with the exception of two, they are all Canadian. WEDNESDAY, Mar. 16 Laura Stevenson and The Cans @ The Ghost Room Hot Panda @ The Ghost Room The Barr [...]

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Malajube’s “Synesthésie”

By Justin | March 31, 2011

Every new release from Malajube provides the perfect opportunity to get a catchy, French-Canadian indie-pop beat stuck in your head. “Synesthésie,” the first single from Malajube’s yet-to-be-released album La caverne, is no exception. The song, which has been receiving airplay on Radio 3, is full of Malajube’s trademark space-y vocals and equally cosmic guitar and [...]

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Bye-bye, Barack Obama

By Justin | December 7, 2010

Tonight, I make a pledge to myself: when November 6, 2012 rolls around, I will be voting for anyone but Barack Obama. Halfway into his presidency, what has President Obama done for our country? He has escalated the increasingly hopeless war in Afghanistan and has staged a fake drawdown of troops in Iraq. He’s failed [...]

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Rah Rah’s “Ghosts”

By Justin | September 23, 2010

I find it a bit ironic that I discovered the best Canadian song of the summer, just as the season was drawing to a close—but am I ever glad to have discovered it! Rah Rah’s “Ghosts,” off their June release Breaking Hearts, is the kind of upbeat indie tune that renders you physically incapable of [...]

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The iPhone 4, monetarily speaking

By Justin | June 15, 2010

The iPhone 4 is undeniably sexy, and I’m quite sure that I want one. But is it worth retiring my reliable, three-year old original iPhone in order to upgrade? On its face, all the features of iPhone 4 put my aging but unfailingly trusty iPhone to shame. A beautiful new design, the smokin’ A4 processor, [...]

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Quite offensive, quite hilarious

By Justin | June 14, 2010

I may cringe at every episode featuring Peter, but there’s no denying that Family Guy—when it focuses on Stewie and Brian—is still effin’ hilarious. Case in point: the slightly-scared, slightly-concerned look of apprehension that Stewie is giving Brian, who’s projectile-vomiting after learning he had sex with a transsexual. That expression—the perfect combination of care, wavering [...]

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Tokyo Police Club’s “Breakneck Speed”

By Justin | April 29, 2010

Newmarket, Ontario’s Tokyo Police Club may have hit the mainstream—or something very close to it—but fear not, indie lovers! The loss of indie obscurity alone isn’t enough to ruin this band’s appeal to any self-respecting indie rocker with a passion for catchy riffs, crafty vocals, and simple yet mysterious lyrics. I’m itching to see these [...]

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Targeted assassinations of U.S. citizens

By Justin | April 7, 2010

Every passing day gives me another reason to be disappointed in our president and our government. Not, mind you, because Barack Obama too “liberal” or “socialist” or “fascist” or “communist” or any other nonsensical and insupportable-by-reality slur but because, quite to the contrary, he has ushered in what seems to me a stunted, overly-measured, carefully [...]

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Leif Vollebekk’s “Northernmost Eva Maria”

By Justin | February 20, 2010

With unfortunate irregularity, an artist’s voice will melt together with instrumentation so perfectly that the results leave you clinging to the song, playback set to loop, for weeks on end. Leif Vollebekk’s song, “Northernmost Eva Maria,” from his latest album Inlands, is one such song. Vollebekk’s deep and intimate vocals, with a hint of warm, [...]

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