with these distractions we could be having fun

i saw the junior boys in concert a couple of weeks ago. other than making me feel like an uber hipster, it was awesome. they are so much better live, and you really get to see how experimental and fun they are, something i dont think translates well on their recorded stuff. more than anything though, i love their vocals. so soft, contradicted with the sharpness of electronica.

au revoir simone does a similar thing. but these girls are a little less experimental, a little more into harmony, and a lot great. here they are on CBC's Q.




i think that junior boys and au revoir simone need to hook up. their shows would be the perfect kind of indie electronica. and then they could make babies and those babies would be perfect little indie electronica bands. and the world would be whole and right and good.


and i think when i grow up ill be a musical match maker.

and i shot at the poor boy's soul

i have fallen completely and totally in love with bandcamp.

since sam amidon wasnt on the last mix, here his is on his own. enjoy.

the road to hell is paved with good intentions

I try to make this blog less about adverts, spam, and shite, and more about random things that strike my fancy.

This is kind of an advert (sorry!) but also something i happen to think is a really great tool to get people interested in climate change issues, and to learn exactly what they are.





Also, I've been posting a lot lately to avoid writing horribly dull papers. And now that I'm done said papers, I might just post on here even more, because I''ll have so much pent up creative energy! (Or I'll be bored out of my mind and spend entirely too much of my time on the internet).

soaked to the soul

I have a lot of friends who are musicians.

This particular friend, Miz Lauren Best, has an album on the threshold of release. Listen and enjoy this demo, recently played on CBC Radio 2's "Deep Roots" program.

I cannot say enough about how gorgeous her voice is. I can say from experience though, that her concerts are one of a kind, so if you live in the Southern Ontario region, look her up!

what a relief to see all of your sins absolved without a washing cloth (T&S Series #7)

I have an addictive personality. Right now you could say I'm addicted to the mellow, acoustic, simplicity of songs.

You could also say I'm addicted to scanning the online headlines of the Globe and Mail, refreshing my Twitter page, and procrastinating when its time for me to sit down and write a paper.

Regardless, these eight tracks, beginning with Aidan Knight's "Jasper" (which I've played up in a previous post) fall into that category of mellow, acoustic, and simple. Ok, well not exclusively acoustic, what fun would that be?



I put the Civil Wars on this mix because they sound sooooo gorgeous. I love when two singers are perfect vocal matches, and I think these two are. I especially like it when a live show comes out sounding like theirs does - so clean! In that way they really remind me of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova.

Winter Song is something of an addiction right now. I just had to put it on. Don't judge. (But seriously, the layering of the two voices in the last 30 seconds of the song is perfect).

Fleet Foxes is just the epitome of all of the above classifications of music.

Cat Power is pretty chill too. She has her peppy moments (check out Aretha Sing One For Me), but for the most part keeps it on the straight and narrow of calm and bluesy.

This Alec Ounsworth song is off his solo album (he is the singer/guitarist of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah). Its much more low key that previous work. And I think I like this side of him.

I listen to Wilco on long car rides, or on early mornings on the bus. They're good gentle wake-up music too.

LUM's "Mysterious Ways" is just so soothing to me. I listened to this song on repeat for a night while writing a last minute paper. It totally calmed me down. Hence it being on the mellow 8 track mix.

And finally, a bonus 9th track. I know, I know, against the rules. But of all the artists in my iTunes, Sufjan Stevens has to be on this mix.

I so desperately wanted to put some Bon Iver up, but I'm pretty sure I've put him on two mixes now... a little bit of over kill if he were on three. Sam Amadon would be perfect for this too. So give them a listen anyway. Just not on my 8 tracks site this round.



So they're simple songs. (but maybe they're complex in their simplicity? is that possible? oooooh food for thought!) And mellow, no crazy beats this time. And, for the most part, they feature the ever charming acoustic guitar. I would say these tracks are good things to get addicted to. I mean, its wayyyy better than coke, right?