Glass Candy - Halloween

In time for Hallowe'en, here's a new track and throwback video from electro pop group Glass Candy:



via Gorilla vs Bear

Girl With the Dragon Tattoo viral campaign

Kind of like the alternate reality game done by NIN for Year Zero... one of the pictures was found right near where I work, which is kinda spooky/cool.

What is Hidden In Snow

On not totally dismissing the band Fucked Up

I surprised myself by enjoying most of Fucked Up's new rock opera/concept album, David Comes to Life. I didn't love it top to bottom, and it's not something I'll be listening to all the time, but there were a few standout tracks, including this one:



The non-stop scream-singing isn't usually my cup of tea, but for whatever reason I dig it on this song. The gruff vocals contrasting with the melodic instrumentation sells it for me.
You can also grab this disc, as well as their previous effort, the Polaris Prize nominated The Chemistry of Common Life, at the at the Toronto Public Library.

Halloween Rock Anthem

Awww yeah!

Thanks to Elizabeth for this one

Klosterman on 'Lulu'

Spot on as usual, Klosterman takes down the forthcoming Metallica-Lou Reed abomination album, Lulu

Avril Lavigne: No spin zone

Avril Lavigne, what went wrong between us?

Toronto Star rock/pop music critic Ben Rayner "has been denied a reviewer’s ticket for Lavigne’s concert Monday at the Air Canada Centre because of allegedly unflattering things he has written about the singer in the past."
Ha.
“I’ve been working as a professional critic for more than 15 years and I’ve given some people some pretty vicious reviews, but I don’t think Avril Lavigne is one of them,” said a perplexed Rayner. “I’ve been a lot kinder to her than a lot of other critics.”
This made me laugh.

The Pogues - Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah

I'm sorting through some tunes, and making an iTunes playlist of this Edge 1002 songs of all time chart from the turn of the millenium. It has an ultimate playlist feel, and the fact that it cuts off at 1999 makes some of the poorer tracks worth listening to for kitsch/retro value.

But apparently, I don't every song in the universe after all... this one comes in at 111 on the list:



This song is a lot of fun, and will make a great addition to my collection. Hearing this definitely makes me want to get unlazy and start doing those Saigon Sunday posts again... In the coming weeks/months, if I decide to keep plugging holes in the chart, I will share more songs that I come across. A bunch of these tunes are extremely tough to come by, through legal methods or otherwise. Some of these cuts were mid-80s vinyl tracks that were never released in CD format. I may end up spending a fortune on imported and rare CDs on eBay though...

Caribou shills for Lexus in new commercial

Check it out, one of my favourite musicians working today landed himself a high-end car commercial, in the form of the song "Odessa" from 2010's Swim album:


Like: People finding out about Caribou
Dislike: Morons finding out about said musician. "Oh, is that the guy from the car commercial?"... Grrrr...
Like: Mr. Snaith bankrolling more amazing music thanks to the automobile industry.
Dislike: Not enough people buying his records so he doesn't have to sell out to a car company. But I guess if Henry Rollins can announce for Infiniti then all bets are off, right?

Do the Carlin Step

I forget if I've posted this before... This is a pretty funny George Carlin auto-tune mashup video... the bit that serves as the source material is absolutely perfect for this type of thing.  Five stars.

NIN track in the Avengers trailer

In what's becoming a pattern, the new trailer for next summer's Avengers flick features the Nine Inch Nails track "We're in this Together".

Here are the other trailers I'm referring to -
Captain America
Resident Evil Extinction

Maybe it's just coincidence, and the people who are producing these films and trailers grew up with the music and perhaps it made an impact on their lives at some point.  Or it could be that these artists are having their music co-opted by the mainstream movie industry... Or in the case of NIN, now that Trent Reznor is an Academy Award winner, the group's music is being re-examined with the air of prestige.

I think there's something of a pattern here, and though I'm not quite sure what it is, I will be continuing to look out for the answer.

Watch the trailer for the Avengers here

via NIN Hotline

Carles' commentary on the new Feist album

Interesting commentary from the author of popular weblog Hipster Runoff, Metals and Feist's Escape From the Mainstream

Metals isn’t made to introduce new people to her brand — it’s for people who already like Feist enough to go on an artistic journey with her.