FREE DOWNLOAD: Azealia Banks - Fantasea Mix-Tape

Available as of two days ago is Fantasea, Azealia Banks' nautically themed mix-tape and her longest official release to date. It contains several of her previously released tracks including "Jumanji," "L8R," "Fuck Up the Fun" and my favourite Azealia track "Us." Finally, a high quality version of "Us"! Download Fantasea by clicking the link at the top of Azealia's Twitter page.

Secret Show Tonight and a Topical Re-Post

Calvin Johnson, one of my favourite musicians of all time whom I refer to for the first time in this post, is playing a "secret" show tonight at a place called "the Mansion." After my friend and I spent the majority of a week asking every relevant person we knew, I'm preeetty sure we've nailed down the unlisted, likely unconventional "venue."

Not that a couple of cool kids like me and my equally chronically black/leather jacket-clad friend would ever get denied at a secret show, but "I Was Denied" by Thee Oh Sees is pretty much how I envision the possibility, depending on how one interprets getting "fucked up." I try re-posting as seldom as possible, but the song is just too damned topical:



I flew right by
And surveyed the scene
I was denied
It felt like a dream

And so, I flew away
With a friend of mine
I got fucked up
Sufficed to say

Best Coast - "Rhiannon" (Fleetwood Mac Cover)

I love you, Best Coast. I God-damned love you. I'm seriously going to marry Bethany Cosentino. And right there is the most fanboyish thing I've ever said in this blog.

It takes Best Coast to make me like Fleetwood Mac in the slightest, and even then, I still don't care for the original version. Cool to see Bobb on drums and Bethany on piano; I'd never seen them on either. This is probably the most precise I've ever heard Bethany sing live.

Best Coast's cover of "Rhiannon" appears on a Fleetwood Mac tribute compilation that also features Karen Elson (produced by Beck), the Kills and Lee Ranaldo featuring J. Mascis. Listen to the slightly more adorned album-version of Best Coast's cover below:

   Rhiannon | Best Coast by concordmusicgroup

A Faux Pas Or How I Met Japandroids

Fire-spitting Vancouver party-punk duo Japandroids played the Biltmore, this past Saturday night. After weeks of waffling, which included me selling my ticket to a friend and then debating until nearly showtime whether or not I wanted to try lining up for a ticket at the door to the otherwise sold out show, I ultimately decided not to go. I passed for many reasons, most of all because other shows came up, and I figured the hometown boys would have been back soon enough.

My night, in lieu of Japandroids, ended with me and my friend Peter at the Rumpus Room, a hipster bar/restaurant with, admittedly, the best music I've heard in that kind of joint. Near the tail-end of our time there, as Peter spoke, my attention kept wandering over to someone who looked incredibly familiar. It turned out I was correct to have been curious - that the person I was eyeing was anyone of even slight significance: it was David Prowse, Japandroids' drummer.

I pointed out Dave to Peter, and while I calculated the precise right moment to catch Dave's attention, Peter, more impulsively, blurted out, "How was the show?" So, the three of us chatted a bit, and not only did it totally not occur to me to bring up my one even slightly noteworthy bit of conversation (me essentially having missed them three years ago because their Halifax show was cut short), but I told Dave I didn't go to their show that night which was only one block away; in fact, I told him, I sold their ticket because other shows came up. Whoops. But hey ... anyone who's real should appreciate not getting his or her ass kissed ... Anyway, I eventually approached guitarist/lead vocalist Brian King, and I remembered to run my Halifax story by him, a gig he called "a shit-show." I agreed and promised I'd catch them next time they were in town which, Dave told me, could possibly be in December after their current tour; I told him I'd be here.

Overall, I didn't talk to either Brian or Dave very long, but they were both super-chill, approachable guys. And even as Dave was busy talking on his phone, he still smiled and waved to me as I passed him on my way out. Maybe next time, I'll remember to remind them that we ran into each other at the Rumpus Room.

Joy Division Unknown Pleasures Tattoo

Wow. What a God-damned tattoo. It is, of course, the cover image of their 1979 debut album Unknown Pleasures.

Embedded below is a remix of JD's "Atmosphere" by iamxl, a DJ I'd never heard of before stumbling upon this post but who happens to be based in Vancouver. Click here to download the track for free.

Electronic Musiiiccc

Dark electronic = best electronic:

Heat Happening

Oppressive heat. Too difficult to sit and write. Here's a song that emulates the feeling of slowly being roasted, with its hazy guitar riff that induces a delirium like one brought on by heat, steadily beating against the listener, rising in intensity like mercury in a thermometer. Hey, look: maybe it's not too hot to write: