Constantines’ “Young Lions”

By Justin | September 27, 2009

Too Slow for LoveJust when I thought Constantines couldn’t put together a song more satisfying than “Young Lions,” they prove me wrong by releasing an amazing acoustic version of the tune. Part of their 2009 release Too Slow for Love, featuring seven alternate takes of songs originally released as part of their 2008 album Kensington Heights, the acoustic version of “Young Lions” shines with the same coarse energy as the original, but features a new, more heartfelt tone that complicates the song’s message.

You can listen to the acoustic version of “Young Lions” for free at CBC Radio 3’s New Music Canada, and you can find more music by Constantines on iTunes, at CBC Radio 3, at MySpace Music, or on their official website.

Oh, young lions, this is your kingdom
Every beast has its poison, every lion has its victim
Choose your crime, pour the ashes out the window
Empty Mickey by the river, shining like a broken halo

Oh, young lions, this is your kingdom
Roll out the cradle, climb out the window
Make your love, too wild for words
Stumbling through the city with the ordinary bird

Choose your crime, pour the ashes out the window
Empty Mickey by the river, shining like a broken halo
Loosen up the collar, shake off the wire
Run like a river, glow like a beacon fire

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Joel Plaskett’s “Through & Through & Through”

By Justin | May 30, 2009

Joel Plaskett's "Three"I’ve always been a fan of The Joel Plaskett Emergency, especially the songs “Fashionable People,” “Snowed In,” “True Patriot Love,” and most of all, “Penny for Your Thoughts.” So, naturally, I was excited when I heard that Joel Plaskett had released a new three-disc set titled, appropriately, Three. Radio 3 added the first single, “Through & Through & Through,” to their rotation, and I instantly fell in love.

You can listen to “Through & Through & Through” for free at CBC Radio 3’s New Music Canada, and you can find more music by Joel Plaskett on iTunes (where the entire 27-song set is available for only $9.99), at CBC Radio 3, or at MySpace Music.

I’m the Berlin Wall, I’m a Communist
You’re a wrecking ball in a summer dress
You’re the horizon line, I’m the last sunset
I might be going down, but I’m not set yet
I’m as a white as a ghost, digging foolish gold
I will man my post but I won’t do what I’m told
Got a Purple Heart from a bloody war
Can’t take it anymore, more, more

They say good things come to those who wait
If you snooze then you lose, so don’t h-h-h-hesitate 

Out of sight, out of mind, out of luck, out of wine
Don’t you say that I’m out of my fucking mind
I’ve been talking trash but it ain’t my fault
Every time I move, somebody’s in my spot

They say good things come to those who wait
If you snooze then you lose, so don’t h-h-h-hesitate 

You’ve got nowhere to go (I know, I know, I know)
It’s only you and me (but good things come in threes)

You be April Stevens, I’ll be April Wine
You be Israel, I will be Palestine
Come on, “Teach Me Tiger,” come on, show me tricks
Let me take my time and take a couple lazy licks

Are you feeling blue? (Through and through and through)
Where do we find you now? (Around, around, around)

All the dirty blondes playing blue-eyed soul
You won’t hear our songs on your radio
Every note we sing can’t be solid gold
Every boy can’t be Romeo

They say that good things come to those who wait
Good things come if you take the bait
In a rummage sale (at the Sally Ann) everything is cheap
Love should last a life (or at least a year) but it lasts a week

I’m the Berlin Wall (and that ain’t all), I’m a total mess
You’re a wrecking ball (I’m a wrecking ball) in a summer dress

All the dirty blondes playing blue-eyed soul on the radio
I can’t take it anymore, more, more

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Dan Mangan’s “Robots”

By Justin | May 30, 2009

Dan Mangan's "Roboteering" EPDan Mangan’s new song is all horns and handclaps and big, bright choral arrangements—nothing short of a total singalong treat. So take a listen to “Robots” off of his 2009 EP Roboteering, and sing along.

You can listen to “Robots” for free at CBC Radio 3’s New Music Canada, and you can find more music by Dan Mangan on iTunes, at CBC Radio 3, or at MySpace Music.

Well, I don’t know what you’ve been told
But I don’t get out much these days
Waking young and feeling old
The days are no longer my own
To piss away the waking hours

But don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t let them go
Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t let them go to waste
The fire in my eye is fleeting now
Your robot heart is bleeding

Tried to be the robot king
And settled for the robot boy
Ring the bells that still can ring
And sing your stupid head off
To the ones who are not listening

But don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t let them go
Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t let them go to waste
The fire in my eye is fleeting now
Your robot heart is bleeding out

And I spent half of my life in the customer service line
Flaws in the design, a sign of the times
And that little voice in the back of your mind
Just wants you to know
Just hopes that you know

Robots need love, too
They want to be loved by you
They want to be loved by you
They want to be loved by you

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FemBots’ “Get In the Van”

By Justin | May 30, 2009

"Calling Out" by FemBotsI like when the words of songs are easy to understand, like they are in this great FemBots tune, “Get In the Van.” It’s off of their 2008 release Calling Out.

You can listen to “Get In the Van” for free at CBC Radio 3’s New Music Canada, and you can find more FemBots music on iTunes, at CBC Radio 3, or at MySpace Music.

We scratched our way up to the bottom
Scraped our shins, skinned our knees
Money’s always a problem
The rest is sweet misery

I dream of rollin’ in the van
I dream a car crash, wake up on the backseat bench
Across a country without maps, we lost our will and our way
Distance divided by hours, tomorrow is just another day

They whisper something in my ear
When it’s loud like this, I can’t hear a word you say
It’s all right, it’s all right tonight
It’s all right, it’s all right tonight

You’re never far away
If I can reach you on the phone
And when I think I can’t do this again
Someone says…

Get in the van! Get in the van!
Get in the van! Get in the van!
Get in the van! Get in the van!
Get in the van! Get in the van!

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Arkells’ “John Lennon”

By Justin | April 27, 2009

I haven’t been able to find lyrics for the Arkells’ song “John Lennon” anywhere on the Interweb, so I made an attempt to transcribe the lyrics. If you can figure out the parts I’ve missed, or if you have a correction, please let me know, because I’m currently obsessed with this bouncy tune and I’d love to sing along. In the privacy of my own room, of course.

You can listen to “John Lennon” for free at CBC Radio 3′s New Music Canada, and you can find more Arkells music on iTunes, at CBC Radio 3, or at MySpace Music.

Head on the wall and my piss hardly makes the stall
And this time it’s not an act, this time I swear it’s fact
Now I ramble on about that girl who’s gone
And I tried teaching her guitar, now she’s standing at the bar
She tells me her favorite song and I say, Yeah, that’s a good one
She says it follows her around, no shit, it’s by The Beatles

I’m so lost and I live just around the corner
Well, here’s a thought, yeah, (_ we’re _ out the _ ?)
And I’m John Lennon in ’67, I’m John Lennon in ’67
I’m John Lennon in ’67, I’m John Lennon in ’67

I was in love again and the good (red wants to jam instead ?)
Morgan’s hearing none of it, she says we’re doing it again
The neighborhood’s up in arms, they’re trying to shut down all the bars
When everyone’s a private eye, they’re hiding in the bushes every night
The cops square off in the street, the dogs go through the garbage
You won’t stay for the night tonight, well, I know all about the tonic, honey

I’m so lost and I live just around the corner
Well, here’s a thought, yeah, (_ we’re _ out the _ ?)
And I’m John Lennon in ’67, I’m John Lennon in ’67
I’m John Lennon in ’67, I’m John Lennon in ’67

Head on the wall, my piss hardly makes the stall
And this time it’s not an act

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Look at what academia taught me!

By Justin | April 24, 2009

Verbosity

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An enduring battle

By Justin | April 15, 2009

Society’s estimation of my success or failure is not the same as my success or failure.

I’m 80% sure of that, which is an improvement.

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Hexes & Ohs’ “H-H-Highschool”

By Justin | March 12, 2009

This song by Canadian indie band Hexes & Ohs, a self-described Montréal electro-pop duo, is my current obsession. There’s something cute and romantic about the video that I didn’t originally get from just the song itself. I don’t know how I feel about the difference.

In any case, I’m glad I’m not the same old skinny kid from high school.

Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

You really want it, don’t you?
You really want it, don’t you?
Feel it all over, all over again
Bound to keel over, like lovers we lay

Your mouth is all dried up
Your tongue is all tied up
Feel it over, all over again
About to keel over, like lovers we lay

You don’t, cuz you won’t, so you don’t, so you can’t
You don’t, cuz you won’t, so you don’t, so you can’t
Nothing has changed
The same old skinny kid from high school

You don’t, cuz you won’t, so you don’t, so you can’t
You don’t, cuz you won’t, so you don’t, so you can’t
Awkward and (derange ?)
The same old skinny kid from high school 

Old habits die hard
Old habits die hard
Feels like sleepwalking, all over again
There’s no sense in talking, like lovers we lay

When it’s second nature
A permanent fixture
It’s hard to recover, all over again
I’m bound to discover, like lovers we lay

Check out more at the band’s website or on Apple’s iTunes Store. I’d recommend you see them live (I know I want to!), but it appears that their only upcoming tour dates are in Toronto and Montréal.

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The Runner

By Justin | February 27, 2009

In. The first breath of crisp air is the trumpet that begins the march. Down the stairs, down the hill, and into the darkness. Descending into the nighttime world where lonely cars carrying lonely drivers cross lonely roads in search of a destination. The traffic lights too lazy to steady themselves, flash their yellow and red faces for the few travelers who pass underneath. The runner pays no mind to these frivolities, these regulations, these reminders of the contained life of cars and offices and classrooms and apartments.

He breathes in, out. In, out. In. The coordinated 1-2, 1-2, tick-tock of his steps on cold, hard cement relay the sound of a one-man army, advancing at steady pace, frosty breath the only mark of his passing. Unencumbered by barricades of pedestrians and columns of vehicles on the march, the sidewalks and intersections cleared of obstruction, he advances.

Read More »

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It will never be enough

By Justin | February 23, 2009

The car brakes down the hill outside his window, shiny black and coolly reflective under the orange glow of the streetlight. Its origin unknown—a stealthy visitor from a faraway land, he thinks, a traveler announcing her presence with the low, almost imperceptible ‘whoosh’ of slowing air riding over finely engineered curves. Air. Air like fingers, reaching ’round the hood, brushing in long, light strokes over the windshield. Air like fingers, working, wrapping, wrapping her like a cocoon, a web—no, a fine cigar, skin taut and tight—wrapping her like a Christmas present come two days late.

It will never be enough, he thinks, to peer through these panes. She stops, and takes a right.

The orange glow of the streetlight never dims. It shines on the black asphalt, aflame.

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