[MP3]: “Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely” (Ryan Hemsworth Remix)

Backstreet Boys > N*Sync

FACT.

I don’t know about you, but I was a BSB girl back in the day (N*Sync who?). Millennium was the first album I ever owned (sorry Britney), and if last.fm scrobbling and the Internet had existed back then, you best believe the Backstreet Boys would be the #1 top scrobbled artist on my charts.

Clearly Ryan Hemsworth knows what’s up. (90s throwbacks, boy bands, remixes, and Amanda “I’m suing everyone” Bynes.) Chopping up BSB’s 1999 hit, “Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely,” amidst stuttering electronic beats and the ever-classic “Amanda please!”, the Halifax, Nova Scotia native gets the nostalgia levels pumpin’ so well that I’m almost left wanting to hear more of the original chorus. But really, it’s the feel good boy band harmonies and flamenco guitar juxtaposed against blitz claps, warped synths, and quick start-stops that makes for bumpin’-thumpin’-fist-pumpin’ good time.

Hello 1999, how nice of the self-professed Remix Ryan Gosling to usher you into the sample-heavy, nostalgia-infused 21st century. #Backstreetsbackalright!

You can download the track here by tweeting (just close the pop-up window and download away if you don’t have twitter) or by clicking the link above!

I used to have a serious aversion to remixes (“ORIGINAL 4EVER”), but I’ve now chalked that up to being young and very very confused. (Never) quit playing (remix) games with my heart, Hemsworth.

I also got this shitty iPhone photo that was so shitty it couldn’t even be saved by an Instagram filter!

taken during the first 2 songs when we *accidentally* sat in the “good” seats

First and foremost–this is not a review. Secondly–I enjoyed the show. It was, oh yes I know, “once in a lifetime.” Also, I, like everyone else in the room, fell in love with Stevie Nicks all over again (but I already predicted that one) and secretly wanted her and Lindsey Buckingham to fall in love again, too. Will they? Won’t they? Will they? (They wont.) Nevertheless, their chemistry is palpable. But enough about them, THIS IS ABOUT CHRISTINE MCVIE.

Things:

• No I did not actually get a nosebleed (but my $100+ nosebleed section tickets made my wallet bleed, so)
• I could’ve bought a hip, trendy* jacket from Value Village for the price of that beer on tap (*varying opinions on actual “hipness” and “trendiness” of said imaginary jacket)
• I really did get a new-found appreciation for Christine McVie

She was sorely missed at the ACC last night. I mean, you really can’t beat that superstar Rumours-era lineup of Fleetwood, Buckingham, Nicks, and McVie-squared. ”Everywhere” is my favourite song at the moment, and of course they didn’t play it last night because HOW COULD THEY without Christine McVie?

I’m obsessed with this song. Like, Janis Ian obsessed. Like, Regina-George-kinda-sorta-definitely-made-the-right-decision-not-inviting-me-to-her-pool-party obsessed. I play it in the morning when I’m brushing my teeth; I play it and sing along when I really should be studying; I play it in on my iphone speakers when I’m on the toilet (sorry not sorry); I play it on repeat in the car via my iphone when I’m driving–and that, my friends, takes True Dedication. (My van is so old it doesn’t have an audio jack so I have to use a cassette hookup that makes a horrid “clackclackclaaaaaaaack” noise every 7 seconds.) ((I’m immune to it now.))

“Say You Love Me”? “Don’t Stop”? “You Make Loving Fun”? All. Christine. McVie. That woman does not get enough credit, so I’m giving her a shout out right now. Christine, I love you. It was really cool how you made a surprise appearance performing with Steven Tyler (!!) and the Mick Fleetwood Blues Band in Maui, Hawaii in February. I’m glad you got on that plane. Really cool. Very cool. Appreciate you, girl. Miss you, too.

PANDERCAKES
@ Columbia, SC
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For fans of: Twin Sister, Oberhofer, Cults, Summer Camp
Sounds like:  hearing your neighbor’s noisy 90s party through the wall and not getting mad because you know they’re all probably wearing neon windbreakers and spandex over there

I downloaded Pandercakes‘ debut EP Paint By Numbers  last week and finally got around to listening to it on this beautifully sunny and abnormally warm day, and I’ve got to say–how fitting!  The Columbia, South Carolina 4-piece surprised me with the diversity on this record. They describe their music as “fogpop,” and I guess it makes sense: their sound is bright, upbeat, intricate, and definitively pop under a layer of reverb and noise. Thing is, their bouncy melodies mask the rather grim ‘oh-so-this-is-life’ type lyrics. It’s in an interesting contrast. Also, who can resist boy-girl vocals (god knows I can’t)?!

You’re telling me when a tiny pin can break the skin so easily, that your soul will never die. I’d like to see all the evidence behind your arrogance. (“Fogwalk”)

“André Breton” is the only track where they really rein in their sunshine fogpop (is that an oxymoron?), but it’s a nice slowed-down departure to end off Paint By Numbers. It’s like a sunshower! (Y’know, when it rains while the sun is still shining.)

Overall, something about their melodies just makes me think college–but more so the riding-in-cars-during-the-summertime-in-between-college-semesters kind of college picture than beer pong or all nighters. CHEER! SMILES! SUN! OPTIMISM! (Along with a healthy dose of “but, hi– this is reality, don’t forget” lyrics). It’s a nice counter to Lana Del Rey’s “Summertime Sadness.”

Listen and download the EP for *free* below!

Thanks to Coma Cinema for this recommendation, and thank you, Internet, for everything else.

If you know me (I’ll assume you don’t), you’ll know that I’m not much for belt-y, powerhouse vocals; I’m more keen on whisper-sweet serenades that require you to almost lean in (even if you’ve got headphones on).

Priscilla Ahn more than checked off that box for me when I first came across her sparse ‘girl with a guitar and a loop and sometimes a harmonica’ easy listening tunes. I caught her at the Drake back in 2009, and sitting cross-legged on the floor with everyone else in tiny venue, there was a collective hush over the crowd and everyone was actually leaning in.

Now she’s back with Sweet Hearts, a duo project with fellow musician Charlie Wadhams, and they’ve just released their mellow, mushy, and blush-worthy self-titled EP for free download just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Or if you’re a single lady (“all the single ladies, all the single ladies, all the single ladies, now put your hands up!”), why not celebrate Galentine’s Day à la Leslie Knope?

Guys, you can follow suit. And then on the 14th, cozy up with a glass of wine, some cheese, a mirror, and celebrate a little good, healthy narcissism. Celebrate you! (It’ll be like your birthday except better because you’re not a year older!)

Oh sweetheart, when I see you again, you’re never gonna let me go. That’s right, you’ll always be my dearest friend. My, my, I’ll love you till the day I die.

Put on Sweet Hearts’ EP, gaze into your own eyes (that’s what the mirror’s for) and pretend all the lyrics are about you. It’s the new affirmation nation.  

[Download]: Sweet Hearts’ EP here by entering your email address!

It’s been a bit of a whirlwind for Guelph, Ontario dream-pop duo Memoryhouse. Having just self-releasing their digital EP The Years the year before (2010), Sub Pop quickly snatched them up in them in 2011, remastered the EP, added a couple of new tracks, and re-released it–this time with a full-fledged physical release (cd and vinyl).

Their debut full-length, entitled The Slideshow Effect, is due out February 28. “Walk With Me,” the second single from the album, dropped today and is available for the price of an email address (so basically, it’s free)! The cuts that we’ve heard from the new LP thus far are little more uptempo than their predecessors, slightly more sonically optimistic, and much easier to sing along to–which is actually quite fitting since it’s still relatively early into new year and we’re (maybe) still stickin’ to our resolutions and laughably idealistic notions.

The lead single “The Kids Were Wrong” is also available below for less than a penny. With all the controversy surrounding SOPA and PIPA, you really begin to appreciate the exchange of an email address for a track. Commodity exchange for the new age. Oh the beauty of free (or is it “free”?) legal downloads!

[MP3]: Memoryhouse – “The Kids Were Wrong” [via]

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The recent couple years have seen an uprising of lo-fi bedroom musicians (see: Youth Lagoon, Coma Cinema) and when Brad Oberhofer appeared on the scene in 2010 unsigned and with a free EP for download, he was no different.

“Heart,” the first single from Oberhofer’s debut LP Time Capsules II (out March 27), is a departure from the reverb-laden fuzz-filled soundscape that we’ve come to identify with him. From the crisp and clear opening notes of a solitude piano to the addition of orchestral strings towards the end, it’s immediately clear that Oberhofer (now signed to Glassnote) is heading in a new, bigger direction. I’ll admit that I was a bit skeptical at first upon hearing that he was going polish up his sound for his full-length, because I worried that it might lose the youthful fervor and frenetic energy of the o0Oo0Oo EP that really caught my attention.

Everything’s a little more pristine and little more calculated and thought out, but the youthful energy (albeit a little more mature) is still there bubbling under the surface, so I think I’m coming around to it. After all, we all have to grow up some time, right? Besides, that signature throaty Oberhofer yelp embedded in mix at the 30-second mark of “Heart” gave me my sigh of relief and kind of sort of won me over.

[MP3]: Oberhofer – “HEART”

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Traffique is the closeted lesbian alter ego of out gay man, Edward Miller, a musical project of Redding Hunter who performs under the moniker, Peter and the Wolf.

Did you catch that?

[LISTEN]: Peter and the Wolf – “New Shooz”

The man behind the music is Austin, Texas’s Redding Hunter. And yes, he dresses in drag when he performs as Traffique. “New Shooz” is a delightfully lighthearted electro-pop track that’s a bit psychedelic. If you close your eyes, you can almost imagine a not-so-closeted Traffique emerging slowly from a behind a blanket of pink smoke, vogue-ing montage-style amid cutaways and quick flashes.

The whole story, according to the official site:

traffique’s endless weekend mixtape is the story of a well-adjusted gay man, Edwin Miller, who discovers he’s leading a second life late at night, sleepwalking down dark alleyways in drag, looking for intrigue. His other self, Traffique, is a closeted lesbian, a sexually repressed librarian-type, who sneaks out into the underworld each night self-actualizing all the way down her own vortex of trouble.

Hurray for breaking gender norms and conventions!

In my second life I’m a genderqueer pansexual criminal lawyer come go-go dancer who goes by the name of Kikki Cola, and this my anthem. Holla!

————-

[DOWNLOAD]: P.S. I just realized that traffique’s endless weekend mixtape is actually up for download at the sweet price of “name your price” aka. pay-what-you-want, meaning you can grab it on the spectrum of free to $5 billion. The important part is to spread the music: play it obnoxiously loud through your headphones on the subway until people stare, force/beg/bribe friends to let you be the dj at the next party, announce that you’d like one of the tracks on the album (preferably “almost free” or “get weird”–and then pull out the hat trick “koala hat”–to be played at your funeral alongside Kylie Minogue’s “Come Into My World”),  etc. etc. etc. You get the picture. Share with your friends.

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Getting to know an artist is like making a new friend.

There are some people that seem standoffish in the beginning (maybe because they’re shy or because they’ve eaten a crap sandwich and it’s ruined their entire day–sandwiches have that kind of effect on people, y’know), so it takes a couple of visits or run-ins for them to get comfortable around you and for you to warm up to them; then there are those people you take an instant liking to (perhaps you both find great pleasure in watching/making fun of what has become of America’s Top Model over the years).

It’s the same with music. There are some musicians that require a couple listens to get into (Joanna Newsom, anyone?) and others where the connection is undeniable and instantaneous. For me, Youth Lagoon was the latter.

Even better, it was like revisiting an old friend. That’s the kind of nostalgia-tinged feeling The Year of Hibernation is wrought with.

“Five years ago, in my backyard I sang love away. Little did I know that real love had not quite yet found me.”

[MP3]: Youth Lagoon – “July”

Raw vocals with a sort of youthful reverie, crackling and hazy with reverb, beg for a closer listen, for a more concentrated ear. With synths, organ, guitar, and some heavy beats layered on–usually starting off quietly and then building up to thicker, fuller sound (think wall-of-sound)–Youth Lagoon crafts introspective bedroom anthems.

Also, I cannot lie. During my first listen of the entire album, I thought it was a girl singing. (Sorry, Trevor.) Alas, Youth Lagoon is Boise, Idaho’s awesomely named Trevor Powers. (Yes, that’s his real name.) And with a name like that and a penchant for bedroom music and introspection, you’d think that Powers might be walking around with a superhero costume hidden underneath his button-ups.

However even amidst the quiet introspection, Powers references the past only as a way to look to the future. Like the experiences and memories that make us who we are today, The Year of Hibernation is a memento of sorts, to the past.

[MP3]: Youth Lagoon – “Cannons”

From the opening track (“Posters”), I could immediately feel a quiet sense of understanding between Powers and I, like a quiet nod. Like, a musical ‘hey, I feel ya!’ What started as a bedroom project (where the whole LP was recorded) has found resonance beyond his four-walls.

You make real friends quickly. You make real friends quickly. But not me.

I get him. I feel where he’s coming from; from his lyrics, to his delivery, to the entire atmosphere that’s created when everything comes together perfectly. And for me, that’s the beautiful thing.

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“…But where is her face?”

I’m sure this was the first thought to cross the mind of every single longtime St. Vincent fan when they saw the album art for her forthcoming album, Strange Mercy (out Sept. 13 via 4AD).

When it was first released, I was pretty stunned not to see Annie Clark‘s pale skin and wide, bewildered eyes front and centre among a bed of bouncy curls. I, for one, will admit that I was looking forward to another (for lack of a better word) headshot [classic St. Vincent!], so I was not particularly captivated by the mute tones of the cover and the lack of, well, face.

I was crossing my fingers for some Top Model-worthy, Tyra-sponsored “smizing” this time around! (Smizing is ‘smiling with your eyes’ for those you who aren’t familiar with the term, even though I have no idea why you wouldn’t be since Tyra invented it and mentions it every single time she can get a word in.)

But considering the entirety of the album and the theme of a strange mercy, it’s quite fitting. Whereas Clark’s first two albums were more “people-focused,” Strange Mercy seems to run on a unifying theme, and I can’t wait to see where she takes it and how she weaves it into her lyrics and sounds.

[MP3]: St. Vincent – “Surgeon” (via)

Fans had to unlock this free track by tweeting with the hashtag #strangemercy, so it was all pretty interactive and ingenious on the promotions front.

“I spent the summer on my back…”

“Surgeon” is different from previous material in that it is a bit synth heavy and more electronic-based–lacking the harsh, thrashing guitar sounds (save for build up of screeching synths at the end). However, it’s still classic St. Vincent:  wispy and slightly reverbed vocals atop layers of eerie, orchestral, and score-like instrumental tracks. I can dig it.

So Kanye and Jay-Z have released the appropriately titled, “Otis,” (it features a sampling of Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness”) the first track off their highly anticipated collab album, Watch the Throne.

Cue a million pre-teens professing that they have always loved Otis Redding before it was “cool” and before this song even came out and then cue their parents eye-rolling the hell out of their eyes because they actually were fans. Yeah, no.

Look at it this way, at least a whole generation is being introduced to the “King of Soul”–right?