Larry Hoppen, lead singer for the 70′s group, passed away on July 24, 2012. He was 61. Orleans had a string of hits in the 70′s, none bigger than “Still The One” which hit #5 in 1976.
Their other big hit, Dance With Me charted at Number 6 in 1975.
These songs are the ones that I will remember most from this year. It certainly appears that the world of music is beginning its move away from the pop artists that have been so prevalent and returning to the creation and production of some exceptional songs. About time I’d say. I attribute this to the web and the ability of many new artists to reach the public through such areas as Bandcamp, soundcloud, YouTube, Twitter etc. The advent of these devices has greatly expanded my musical horizons and will continue to do so.
I have chosen not to do a finite top ten list as I appreciated all of these songs and at certain times would have been my number 1. In addition, I have chosen songs new to me this year, meaning they could be from anytime, although the majority are 2012. I hope you enjoy.
The Echo Friendly – Same Mistakes
Haunting melody, interesting harmonies, good video. This one snuck up on me and really grew on me.
I suggest 2 things, in either order. Close your eyes and listen to the lyrics and let the sound wash through you, then open them and watch the video. Great song and message.
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Mo Kenney – Sucker
This video is a duet with a favourite of mine, Joel Plaskett. He produced her album as well. Beautiful song.
I don’t think Phil Spector was thinking banjos when he went with the wall of sound, but it works. And live, incredible. Singing lead, playing guitar and hitting the drum pedal.
I am an unabashed John Mayer fan. His consistency is amazing. Great player as well.
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Phillip Phillips – Home
When I first heard this song on Idol as the required song in the final, I knew there was no way he would lose. For the first time in American Idol history, the chosen first single for the winner was a perfect match. I also did something I had never done for an Idol artist, I bought the song.
These songs are the ones that I will remember most from this year. It certainly appears that the world of music is beginning it’s move away from the pop artists that have been so prevalent and returning to the creation and production of some exceptional songs. About time I’d say. I attribute this to the web and the ability of many new artists to reach the public through such areas as Bandcamp, soundcloud, YouTube, Twitter etc. The advent of these devices has greatly expanded my musical horizons and will continue to do so.
I have chosen not to do a finite top ten list as I appreciated all of these songs and at certain times would have been my number 1. In addition, I have chosen songs new to me this year, meaning they could be from anytime, although the majority are 2012. I hope you enjoy.
I see great things from this Canadian singer-songwriter. Love this version, recorded live at CBC.
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Graffiti6 – Free
This song reached and grabbed me by the ears and shook me to a musical high. Phenomenally written song, reaching one crescendo after another.
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The Lumineers – Ho Hey
Another tune that grabbed me. The more I listened, the more I liked. This song will be around for years, in movies, on TV, in commercials. Instant classic.
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Of Monsters and Men – Little Talks
Iceland’s contribution to music this year, and a great video as well.
Canadian artist, Ian McAnsh is a follower of mine on Twitter. Ian is a recording artist and a professional golfer and hails from Trenton and Belleville Ontario. His music is a pop blend. He recently released his first album “Back To Da Brix”. Give him a listen.
This song is off the album.
Don’t Stop
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This song is a live version of “Go With The Flow”.
English: Dutch jazz singer Caro Emerald at Zoetermeer Stadhuisplein, Netherlands. September 19th, year 2008, time 14:20:55 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Kind of a fun song from the “Michael Jackson of The Netherlands”. Her most recent disc broke Micheal’s long standing record for biggest selling album (Thriller) in Holland.
Toronto born Canadian pop-rocker, Scotty Newlands has recently released a new disc titled “Starting Over”. He was kind enough to send a copy of the album for me to review. First, a bit of history behind the singer.
As noted, he was born in Toronto and has travelled a winding road to this point in his career. His musical journey started out like many others. The school choir and an introduction to an instrument at an early age. In this case, he was 8 and began playing the clarinet. In 2003 he was one of thousands to audition for Canadian Idol. While he failed to make the final 11, he did gain valuable experience and contacts. He released his first album, “New Roads” in 2009.
The album has a definite pop feel to it, heavily accented by a great singing voice. Scotty shows great potential in this song. It holds up well with comparable artists and should be be getting some airtime. All in all, a nice listen.
The first song I have featured off the disc is titled “Don’t Wanna Get Over You”. A nicely constructed tune, it features a strong vocal performance by the artist.
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Don’t Wanna Get Over You
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The second tune is called “Now That You’re Gone”. This song features a repetitive back beat and again shows off Scotty’s range. He advertises a 4 octave range and you can hear them in this song. Very nice tone.
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Now that You’re Gone
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I’m liked the album in general and see something in Scotty that I really like. If you want more, please hit the links.
I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with Shawn Colvin’s music. This one is a love. When she hits the Pop side, not so much. This one is a bit more…indie sounding and hits the mark. The video, kind of cheesy, so listen while doing something else, unless you like la fromage. Enjoy. I’ll do the trivia thing tomorrow. Working on some posts about Alberta summers over the weekend. Must put the travel back into a travel blog.
Sinead O’Connor in 1990. Strange person, great singer. Lizziecracked is the first holder of the Trivia Championship Trophy, and will hold until I post the answer to the new question. Lizziecracked runs a great blog that everyone, contrary to belief, should try at home, called Running Naked With Scissors.
Australian singer Edith Bliss passed away on May 3. She was 52, far to young. Edith had a couple of hits in 1979 and 1980, including “If It’s Love You Want”, her biggest hit. She ended her singing career in 1980 and became a reporter. In 2006 she appeared on Wheel of Fortune.
Crash Vegas was a Canadian folk-rock band from the late 1980′s. It has a connection to Blue Rodeo in that Greg Keelor, the other singer and songwriter for Blue Rodeo was one of the founding members. He left the band before they had recorded anything. This song is from their 1989 record, “Red Earth”. The quality of the clip is lacking and I apologize. Could not find anything better.
It has been a looooonnnggg time since I first heard John Mayer. The first time I heard him, I was hooked. Room For Squares was and is a great record, and his follow-up albums have been consistently good. Heavier Things is one of my all time favorites and his work with the John Mayer Trio is, well, awesome. He is a very under-rated guitar player as well. His latest release is Shadow Days.
Tango In The Attic are a Scottish band, with a garage/pop style. They formed in 2008 and have released 2 albums. The song here, Mona Lisa Overdrive, is from their new release Sellotape.
Quite the week, many, many releases to choose from.
Patrick Watson in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
We will start with Patrick Watson and his new release, Adventures In Your Own Backyard. Montreal based band leader, Patrick Watson is an interesting musician. He combines elements of classical with pieces of, lets say, Pink Floyd. Very creative pieces of music in the indie/alternative mode. He has released 4 albums with his band and has one solo record to his credit. They were recent players at SXSW and were named one of the top 25 can’t miss acts at this years event. The track I have chosen is titled “Lighthouse” and is a good example of the style that they play.
Lighthouse
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Sue Foley on the Hillside Festival Main Stage (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Next is a blues album by veteran players Sue Foley and Peter Karp. Their new album “Beyond The Crossroads” is a collaboration of 2 solo talents. Sue has been a mainstay of the Canadian blues scene since the 90′s while Peter is an American singer-songwriter, He has shared the stage with such greats as Mick Taylor. Together they create some pretty good blues. This is their second release together. Here is a live version of a tune off the album.
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Now for some ROCK. Toronto Alt-rock band Evans Blue released “Graveyard of Empires” this week. The group has rocked since 2005, with Halo being their 4th release. They have had some moderate success outside Canada and are hoping this album breaks them big. The tune here is called Halo and is performed in my favourite way, live.
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I’m pretty excited about the potential of this group. Rikers is a Ontario group who write some very good tunes. Islands is their first release and a good one it is. The song Is “I’m On The Radio” and it is a catchy rock song that will have you singing along as you listen. Nicely done.
I’m On The Radio
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The international album release I have chosen is the new disc by Train called California 37. I always had a soft spot for Hey Soul Sister and their distinctive song style. One can usually tell that Train is the artist. I heard this song on DWTS tonight (hey, i have Maria and Derek in my pool, looks like a lock for 80 bucks) and liked it. The song is called “Drive By”
JD Greer is the subject of today’s post, @jdgreer is his how to find him on Twitter. JD is from California and plays and writes his music. He is an R&B/Pop style artist with a very good voice, well suited to what he does. He is working on an album, and has recorded several songs in the past. This song is a pretty good R&B number called Never Alone. I could not find material for purchase, so if JD reads this maybe drop a comment on where one can buy his music.
Today’s set has a wide spectrum of musical taste. We have some hip-hop, a diva or two, some classic rock and some pop. Lets start with some classic rock.
The Stampeders (Photo credit: Jason Edward Scott Bain)
The Stampeders are a 70′s group from Calgary that had a string of hits during this period. This is a live version of the song. Ah, memories. The radio played the crap out of this song in Canada.
This week on Twitter Thursday, I will introduce you to Michele Van Kleef. A native of Portland, Oregon, Michele has recently released her début solo album titled “After All”. It is available on iTunes at this link.
Today I will be looking at a Canadian artist, Zaccheri Gray. He hails from Revelstoke, BC, which, coincidentally, is one of my favourite towns, and pursues his career in Vancouver. I haven’t found much on YouTube, but did find this cover of Paula Abdul’s Straight Up. Not bad, changed it up some and made it work.
Straight Up
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His home page has several tunes to listen to and his music his available at iTunes. Myspace also has a selection of his music here. If you wish to follow him on Twitter he is at @zaccherigray . Very likeable pop style music, check him out.
First up, we will take a quick look at Brigitte M. A French-Canadian star out of Quebec, Brigitte M released “From Metal To Crystal”. The song attached is an interesting take of “I Was Made For Loving You”.
“I Was Made For Loving You”
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Image via Wikipedia
Our second release this evening is a unique project from Maritimer, Joel Plaskett. The album “Scrappy Happiness” is the culmination of 10 weeks of recording and releasing one new song per week. I have been an avid listener of CBC Radio Drive for the past couple of months to catch the newest release. This song is my favourite (so far).
“Lightning Bolt”
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Our 3rd band is out Vancouver. Chains of Love are an Alternative band with some fire. Nice live song. The album is called “Strange Grey Days” and this song is from it.
“Lies, Lies, Lies”
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Johnny Reid Image via Wikipedia
I saved the best for last. Johnny Reid has released his latest “Fire It Up”. It is country, but very good country. This is his 7th album and is the followup to his wildly successful double platinum “A Place Called Love”.
“Fire It Up”
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Janiva Magness Image via Wikipedia
My international pick for the week in by Janiva Magness. She just released “Stronger For It”. She is one of the finer blues singers around and has honed her craft for almost 30 years. Listen, then buy this album.
Darrelle London (Photo credit: Electric Light Media)
This week we will look at Toronto singer-songwriter Darrelle London. For those that enjoy Darrelle’s music (and i guaranty that a few of you will) , her twitter handle is @darrellelondon.
The first tune I have selected is titled Bad, and is an interesting song in the style of Hayley Sales or Eliza Doolittle. Very catchy tune.
Bad
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This next song “Works Out Fine” showcases her skills in songwriting. A very stripped down tune, just her and the piano, and some quirkiness.
Work Out Fine
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I very much enjoyed Darrelle’s music. Please check out her home page.
Our first new release is by Dan Mangan. The album name is Oh Fortune and was released today. Born in Smithers, BC and now living in Vancouver, Dan is an indie-folk-rock singer songwriter. This album is his third as he steadily grows in popularity. The video is the song “Rows of Houses” from the new album.
The second new release is by Canadian alternative band “Cuff the Duke” and is titled “Morning Comes”. Hailing from Oshawa, their sound is kind of country folk mix in the style of Blue Rodeo. The video is a cut from the album “Count On Me”
The Barr Brothers, are a Montreal based rock band and just released their self titled album. They are not an in your face band and their music is very lyrical and though out. The video is a lve version of “Beggar in the Morning” off the album. As you will see, it is very laid back, but nicely done.
Our 4th entry is from Juno nominated artists, The New Cities. Their latest album is called “Kill the Lights” and the attached video is “Heatwave” off the album. This Trois-Rivieres pop band is riding a wave of popularity with the release of this, their second album. Their music has been featured on “Gossip Girl” and “So You Think You Can Dance”.
Our final entry is a new release by Pickering, Ontario’s favourite songstress, Sarah Slean. This is Sarah’s 11th album (6th studio). Her first album was released in 1997. She has cultivated a large following in Canada. The video attached is titled “Set It Free” and is a catchy number that will continue to win new fans for her work.
Ash Koley is a Canadian talent, born and raised in Winnipeg. Winnipeg is a major Canadian hotbed of musical talent having spawned the Guess Who, Crash Test Dummies, The Watchmen and Chantal Kreviazuk just to name few. Ash Koley performs a mix of pop, alternative and a dash of new wave in her music. The song I have chosen to introduce to you, the reader is “Brighter At Night”. Not a chart topping monolithic anthem, but a light enjoyable summer type of song, heavy on the pop. Hope you enjoy, even a little bit.
This song is kind of a hoot. The band, Foster The People, is an indie pop band out of California. They enjoyed success with the song “Pumped Up Kicks”, the video for which is attached. Released in early 2011, the song is infectious and could almost be called a perfect summer song. It reached number one on several charts, including Canada. I enjoy the song, but not as much as Lori, who really likes the beat and, for some reason, really likes saying “pumped up kicks”
