Music

Album Review: Wendy Versus – Crayon Wars [2012, Self released/totally indie]

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Celeste in Albums | 1 Comment

wendy versus

Wendy Versus. What a great name. It encompasses all the necessary aspects: attention-grabbing, memorable, and most importantly, intriguing. Wendy versus what? The world? An amorphous, spotted, toothy, aquamarine, crayon-styled monster? Judging by the cover art on this album I’d guess the latter, which is good because any piece of artwork that brings to mind “Harold and the Purple Crayon” has already won major points from me.

Wendy Versus is a Toronto-based trio with a textured and unique sound. On their website, the band explains that lead singer, Wendy Leung, is a classically trained pianist with a “dark melancholic heart” and a love for electro-pop. I read this description after listening to the album and it made perfect sense. “Crayon Wars” (another great name – this band should hire out their services to other groups in need of solid titles) is full of ballad-style songs dominated by the rich, melodious voice of Leung. Her lovely vocal instrument is backed by the dream-pop haze created by Dean Marino on guitar and Owen Norquay on synth.

This debut album is distinctive for its flexibility. Far from one song merging into another with little distinction between poppy synth sounds mixed with soulful lyrics, Wendy Versus delivers a wide variety of sounds and stories on Crayon Wars. “White Noise” is a spare but upbeat tune, “Juliana” a darker, more complex story, “Open My Eyes” gives a brooding, almost angsty tone to the compilation. With 10 tracks on this disc, the band has really offered its listeners a substantial work they’re sure to enjoy.

Album Review: Minor Characters – Self Titled [2012]

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Celeste in Albums | Leave a comment

Confession of the day: The Panic Manual’s album reviews by 12 year olds have made me self-conscious of writing my own as they are often

1) more comprehensible and
2) more carefully researched than mine.

So, rather than upping my game, I instead roped my friend Scott over at Impassable Nights into doing a side-by-side review of Minor Characters’ new album with me. Hopefully the knowledge accumulated from our combined 48 years can begin to compete with middle schoolers (because yes, everything is a competition and you can win everything – often by adopting the strategy of quantity over quality). Readers can also feel free to think of this as the equivalent of 4 album reviews by 12 year olds.

———

I first discovered Chicago Foursome Minor Characters when they opened for Portugal. The Man at the Vic a couple of weeks ago, and I was immediately a fan. They’re the kind of band you love to love: up and coming, great sound, with no pretensions and a “just happy to be here” attitude. Turns out they dropped their first EP in November of last year so of course I had to check it out. The self-titled, five track album has a gratifyingly eclectic mix of sounds ranging from a retro-pop feel on “Burden” to a 90’s punk vibe on “If I were you” all overlaid with an indie sensibility and interwoven with some excellent falsetto from lead singer Andrew Pelletier. Upon listening to it in its entirety, what struck me most was the ebb and flow of the album – one moment sweetly melodic and the next gripping you with catchy guitar riffs and engaging lyrics. You can check out the entire album on their website and if you’re feeling this band, and you decide that you can forgo that McChicken sandwich this week, the album’s on-sale for $1.

———

This search for the next big act can be incredibly daunting. Take a snapshot of the music industry today and it’s nothing like it was 10 years ago. The Internet has transformed the music landscape; nowadays, anybody can make it big, so long as they come up with something novel, different, or at least stylish. When I first listened to this EP, my ear drew comparisons to Radiohead’s Hail to the Thief with a touch of The Shins. But that’s not for what bands want to be known. At the heart of the independent music scene, one key desire stands alone: the drive to be unique (let’s not dive into the paradox of non-conformity as conformity). I can’t quite put my finger on it, but the album really ends with a taste of its own – something authentic. Give the album a listen, and let me know if you can figure out from where this long-lost flavor came. It’s certainly not tied to your McDonald’s dollar menu.

Concert Review: Of Monsters and Men, April 12th, Phoenix Theatre

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Ricky in Music | Leave a comment

Of Monsters and Men is basically the gentle love child of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and the Arcade Fire. They combine the humble, folk sound of the former with the frenetic well layered and explosive sound of the latter. It’s a perfect marriage, much like Arnold and Maria Shriver before all that random crap happened.

Here’s a one word review of their live show: Awesome.

It’s just so great to be able to go to a concert venue and just hear the pleasant music that Of Monsters and Men create. I’ve been a fan of their debut album for a long time (you can win it! we have a contest here) and to be able to hear it live was just a wonderful treat. The horns, the drums, the vocal interplay, the cute Icelandic accent banter, it’s all great. Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir’s voice is so precious it makes me want to go to a Catholic church and tell the priest of all the (petty) crimes I’ve committed in my life and beg for forgiveness.

If there was a hippy commune where everyone was treated like equals and lived in perfect harmony, I feel like Of Monsters and Men can soundtrack it. Their live show just leaves a fuzzy feeling in your stomach. I really regret missing their inaugural show at the El Mocambo (was in Peru) and after witnessing their superb show at the Phoenix, I regret missing them at SXSW (under the guise that I already had tickets for them here). Some bands you can see many times, Of Monsters and Men is one of them.

I believe this was the last show of their current tour. I’m pretty sure Of Monsters and Men will be back stateside at some point this year, make sure you catch them.

Cover of the Day: Ellie Goulding – Only Girl (In the World) / Rihanna Cover

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Ricky in Covers | 1 Comment

BBC Radio 1’s yearly Live Lounge collection always seems to come up with a few gems. For those not in the know, the compilation is a collection of live tracks that were played at the Radio 1 studios. At some point during the Radio 1 sessions, someone decided it was a good idea to record these tracks, so starting in 2006, they released a yearly compilation of the best bits from the year. Now a lot of artist travel through Radio 1’s land and they often like to do covers for some reason so every year, you see some interesting covers, among those include

Arctic Monkey – Love Machine (Girls Aloud cover)
The Futureheads – Hounds of Love (Kate Bush .. also voted one of the best tracks of that year)
Amy Winehouse – Valerie (later re-recorded for Mark Ronson)
Diizzee Rascal – That’s Not My Name (way better than the original Ting Tings version)

You get the drift.

I just recently got the 2011 version of this compilation and stumbled upon this number, which features reigning UK Heavyweight Champion of the World Ellie Goulding covering USA’s Intercontentinal Champion – Rihanna (I would say either Katy Perry / Lady Gaga hold the heavyweight championship belt). If there’s one artist who has benefitted tremendously from doing covers in the past year or so, it’s Ellie Goulding. Her heartfelt rendition of Your Song topped charts all over the commonwealth and elevated her from mid-card to main event status. Why am I using wrestling terminologies? I don’t know.

For this compilation, Ellie covered Rihanna’s second best track (best dance track though) Only Girl in the World. Once again, she strips the song down to the bare basics, slows down the track and even adds a string section. The results are pretty good. It helps that the original song was fantastic, but this is an original and unique take on it. Check it out.

« Previous   1 2 ... 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 ... 34 35   Next »