Canadian independent music

Rich Aucoin at Nuit Blanche Montreal – S10E19

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Rich Aucoin Nuit Blanche Main

It was an eventful weekend to end a cold and miserable month of February. On Friday night, it was Dan Mangan + Blacksmith at NAC and Saturday, it was meeting people at Ottawa Radio Club. Saturday night was going to Montreal for their Nuit Blanche. It was a last minute getaway to Montreal and to find out what their Nuit Blanche was like.

The first event to check was the Rich Aucoin concert at Metropolis. It’s been awhile I had seen Aucoin live as he brings a very interactive show. In Montreal, there’s more a enthusiastic crowd to live events and the one by Aucoin was no exceptions. He started with the talk of the social media buzz of the black & blue dress. The very entertaining video clips and lyrics to songs made the concert enjoyable. It had a party atmosphere when he used a lot of confetti and streamers. He kept coming to the crowd to have them sing along, jump and dance.

Towards the end of the show, a playground parachute was used and the Montreal crowd had fun with it.
The best thing about it was that the show was free as it was part of the Nuit Blanche program.

Don’t forget that Rich Aucoin will be playing at Ritual Nightclub on March 6. Continue reading →

An Evening with Leonard Youngfoot – S10E17

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There were so many events happening on Thursday night. I decided to go to A Thing For Chocolate as Trish Murray, who’s a radio host at a station and also runs RedLeaf Music has created a series called Sounds Simple. It’s an acoustic music series held at an intimate place where they serve crepes and other sweets goods.

The series started in mid-January of 2015 and the February 5th edition had singer/songwriter, Derek Atkinson. At the Sounds Simple event, he went by Leonard Youngfoot. It’s an influence of the three famous Canadian singer/songwriters, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young and Gordon Lightfoot. Atkinson also plays in the nine-member band, Loon Choir.

It was my first time being at A Thing For Chocolate, which is located in the Hintonburg area in Ottawa. It’s nice to support local businesses and try out unique food. I had a chance to try the pulled pork crepe. It had beets and it was definitely a delicious crepe. Continue reading →

The Mix 3rd Year Anniversary Party – S10E15

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Thursday night at Babylon Nightclub was The Mix 3rd Year Anniversary and it was hosted by the creator of the radio show,  DJ 2 Creamz.

The Mix has been on the radio airwaves for 3 years and was originally an overnighter and is now from 8-10pm Fridays at this radio station.

Due to the amount of snowfall in Ottawa, I was able to make it in midst of the deep snow fall and the slow buses getting to downtown.
In celebrating the 3rd year anniversary, the event also had an art display by Dems & Doll and Dream Love Grow. Both had terrific artwork on display.

Prior to the performances, there was music DJ’ed by DJ Ducats. Even though I stayed for two hours, there were three performances on the bill. They were G. Grand, Eddie Quotez and Goliath Paw. All three are from Ottawa. It’s just great to that DJ 2 Creamz was able to bring local talent in the burgeoning Hip-Hop scene.
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Some Others I Left Off From The Best of 2014 Music – S10E14

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I’m not done with 2014 just yet. There were some notable musicians and bands that came out with album in 2014  as well as going through some of the Ottawa bands that released materials last year. My year end countdown is based on albums as singles don’t really count. Here’s my short summary on the leftovers.

I’m going to start with Scary Bear Soundtrack. Gloria Song, who’s from Ottawa and residing up in Nunavut. The band had some member changes over the time and change of location but it had a lot of exposure in 2014.
The band got entered to CBC Music‘s Searchlight contest and has made it to various year end countdowns and picks from radio programs and music blogs.

Here’s this track via SoundCloud, The Longest Night.

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The Best of 2014 Countdown Part 2 (S10E13)

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As promised, the second part to my best of 2014 countdown. This list is from #20 to #1 and it’s the best part of the year ender to Canadian independent music. The countdown for the past few years has no repeats from an artist and band. It’s based on the album and when it was released.

Without spoiling much, the top 10 has half of the entries by female musicians. 2014 has been an important year to female rights and violence against women. Without spoiling much, the playlist is posted below. Several entries have a lot of returnees as artists and bands have released their follow-ups to their previous albums. Some have been critically acclaimed.
As usual, you can listen to the audio.

Happy New Year and hello to 2015.

Audio – #20 to #1
Press play to listen.

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The Best of 2014 Countdown Part 1 (S10E12)

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It’s back for another year but in a slightly shorter list as I had issues from the radio station in early 2014.
I didn’t pay attention to a lot of Canadian independent music due to the problems stemming from the station. I was able to compile album towards the end of the year thanks to friends, various radio programs and music websites.

I’m closing off 2014 with some of the best albums from Canada. In the first part, the countdown is from #40 to #21.
You will hear music from the likes of Brave Shores to In-Flight Safety to Kevin Drew and various others.

For those who missed me on the airwaves, I got you.
Here’s the first part of the audio and the playlist is posted below. Happy New Year’s Eve and the second part will be posted on New Year’s Day.

Audio
Press play to listen.

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An Interview With Kandle – S10E07

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Kandle and Krooks performed at Zaphod Beeblebrox on Wednesday night. I had the opportunity to check out her performance and did an interview with her (which you can listen). For those who don’t know, Kandle Osborne’s father, Neil Osborne is from the well-known Canadian rock band, 54-40.

2014 has been a great year for Osborne as In Flames marked her debut full length album. Prior to the album, she made the move from Vancouver to Montreal as the city has a great music scene. As mentioned from the interview that she worked with Sam Goldberg from Broken Social Scene when making the album. Also mentioned were friends from the likes of Coeur de Pirate and Sam Roberts who lend their voices to the album.

Opening up for Kandle and the Krooks were the Calgary indie rock band, Fast Romantics. The band never performed in the Nation’s Capital but have performed at The Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield, Quebec. The band has gone through changes with the members. They have lost some but gained some . Their music style has a bit of a power ballad when checking them out.

When Kandle and the Krooks got on stage, their music brought on a mix of twang and rock. Osbornes’ soft voice also gave some memorizing and soulful sounds. One of her bandmates was funny that he didn’t know they’re in Ottawa.
Overall, it was a terrific show for both bands and it was rarity to have a concert at Zaphods finish past the 11pm curfew time.
You can check the photo over at Flickr by clicking HERE.

Kandle and the Krooks are on tour in Ontario and Quebec until December 4th.

You can check out audio interview and instant photos below.

Continue reading →