New Flickr Pics Round One

I finally got around to pulling a bunch of photos off my computer and getting them posted up on the EhBSeasides Flickr page.

 

Roger Waters at Rogers Arena, December 10th 2010

Roger Waters performed the entire album of the Wall from front to back. The visuals at this show were nothing short of amazing. This was definitely one of my favourite concerts of 2010.

View the entire photo set here.

Mother Mother with Born Ruffians at the Alix Goolden Hall, June 8th 2010

Born Ruffians released one of my favourite albums of 2008. The last time they passed through town I was stuck in bed with the worst flu I’ve had in years, so you can imagine how happy I was when I heard that they would open for Mother Mother at this show. I hope they walked away from this set with a lot of new fans. Of course Mother Mother, the band everyone came to see, was no disappointment.

View the entire photo set here.

Dan Mangan with Meaghan Smith at Sugar, May 7th 2010

The crowd at this show was just… weird. From the drunk girl who kept yelling “Dan Mangan is a sexy bitch!”, to the guy who screamed “stand up bass!!!” every five seconds, this was the strangest audience I’ve seen in a long time. (My friends and I still yell “stand up bass!!” whenever we see one. See crazy guy? You started something there.) Sorry there’s no photos of Meaghan, I didn’t get a good spot until the crowd cleared between sets. I can assure you that she’s lovely. (And congrats on the recent Juno win Meaghan!)

View the entire photo set here.

Hawksley Workman at the Alix Goolden Hall, March 6th 2010

Sigh… I love Hawksley. He can really do no wrong in my books. I haven’t counted, but I have a good feeling that he’s the artist I’ve seen live the most times. (It might be a close race with Said the Whale, Aidan Knight, the Weakerthans, and Joel Plaskett, but that’s not bad company to be in!) Hawksley was in Victoria to support his two new albums Meat and Milk… he’s a busy guy.

View the entire photo set here.

 

Round 2 of my recently uploaded Flickr photos coming soon…

Pumping On My Stereo*

It’s been a while since I last posted something, so I thought it would be fun (or at least easy) to write about of what I’ve been listening to lately. I’m not keeping any strict rules here. The albums can be new or old, Canadian or not – they just have to be in my rotation of current listening.

Teen Daze – Beach Dreams

I got this album off the Teen Daze Bandcamp page a few months ago when it was offered for free. Since then I’ve been hooked on the song Let’s Fall Asleep Together. The song starts off with a super summery harmony and is just dreamy pop the whole way through. I’m pretty sure you are in fact supposed to listen to this album while on a beach. I’m looking forward to hearing more from Teen Daze.

 

 

 

Peter Bjorn and John – Gimme Some

Outside of the song Young Folks I never really got into Peter Bjorn and John. That may have changed the moment I saw them on Conan last month. That night they performed Second Chance, a song off their upcoming album Gimme Some. I’ve had Second Chance stuck in my head pretty much for the past two months straight. I don’t know why this song hasn’t hit the radio airwaves yet, but I’m calling it now: this is going to be the earworm of the summer.

 

 

 

The National – High Violet

I admit: I hadn’t heard a single track from the National until just a couple weeks ago. I know, I fail as a hipster. This was one of the best albums of 2010 according to… well, everyone really. In any case I’m glad I finally clued in. I still haven’t had the chance to sit down and listen to the album all the way through in one go, but my favourite tracks so far are Afraid Of Everyone, England, and Bloodbuzz Ohio. (Versa may have a cover of Afraid of Everyone in the works. It involves me singing backup, you’ve all been warned.) Here’s a fun extra: Aaron Dessner of The National appears on Q with Jian Ghomeshi and shows us all how to play the piano part to England (video).

 

 

The Decemberists – The King Is Dead

This is definitely one of my favourite albums of 2011. The last Decemberists album, Hazards of Love, didn’t really win me over. It wasn’t bad, I just never really got into it. I’m glad the band took a different direction on this album. Calamity Song is one of my favourite songs this year.

 

 

 

 

Explosions In The Sky – The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place

I think I may have found a new favourite band. This album clocks in at just over 45 minutes, contains only 5 tracks, and has no vocals. I think the word I’m looking for to describe The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place is “epic”. My stand out track is The Only Moment We Were Alone. I’m definitely going to pick up another Explosions In The Sky album on my next trip to the record store.

 

 

 

We Are The City – High School

It’s hard to believe this just came out yesterday. I picked up my copy of High School back in January when the boys played a show here with Aidan Knight. Parts of High School pick up right where the band left off with their debut release In A Quiet World, and parts head in a bit of a different direction. It all fits together quite well though, and the first single Happy New Year is incredibly catchy. You can download Happy New Year off of any number of music blogs, including this one I found here.

 

 

*Internet points to anyone who gets the reference here.