Mother Mother - The Stand

British Columbia's Mother Mother is one of those bands that I've always kind of been aware of, but usually fell to the bottom rung of the ladder in place of a few dozen metal bands.  Now, don't be mistaken by that remark.  These guys are good, and began the treacherous climb back to the top of my ladder with "The Stand," a track that came onto my radar earlier this year.  Before I get to the actual review of the song, let me just demand that you do one thing.  WATCH THE VIDEO.

Now, "The Stand" is indie rock at its best.  It's different from just about everything that's out there, and that's why it'll stick in your head.  And the lyrics...they make me drool just as much as Chris Colfer does whenever he sings on Glee.  The song is sung in conversation style between lead singer Ryan Guldemond and backups Ali Siadat and Jasmin Parkin:

Talk about space
Well, it's a beautiful place
But it's so damn cold
Sure, for the human race, but for the planets and the stars, and everything else and Mars...
It's like paradise spread out with a butter knife

What's the point of "The Stand?"  Remembering that everyone's fucked and they don't even know.  Oh yeah, and that Mother Mother might be the best thing to come out of British Columbia following Swollen Members.  This is music in its truest form, and can we really argue with that?

Bleached - Searching Through The Past

Surfer rock is my new best friend in the world of music, and when you put two sisters at the helm of the operation and put in a little more rock and take out some of those waves...what do you have?  Bleached, an LA girl rock duo that produces beach-friendly material that doesn't stray to far from some rocking roots.  The Calvin sisters, along with their backing members, know exactly what they're doing here, especially with the standout track from their upcoming release, "Searching Through The Past."

You've got folky-rocky vocals, catchy guitars, and lyrics you can understand and sing along with here.  I've been searching through the past, thinking about what we once had...boy, don't tell me I'm crazy.  And don't tell me that I'm crazy for associating this with surfer rock.  I would listen to this on the beach.  It's just fun music...and with that delicate few seconds of the high notes of a keyboard?  Genius.  Maybe I've been searching through my 4400+ songs for something like this.  I won't get tired of "searching through the past" anytime soon, or Bleached for that matter.

Emmy The Great - Century of Sleep

Yeah, I know it's been a while since I've brought you some musical genius.  Blame it on a weekend of epic proportions, though now is the time to get back to business.

Emmy The Great is a singer-songwriter than will grab your with the instrumental side of her songs, as well as the lyrics and that beautiful voice.  The girl is good.  "Century of Sleep" has been a mainstay with my playlists ever since I got it from rcrdlbl, and shows no sign of going anywhere soon.  Now, I've decided the lyrics are the best part right here on the spot, and I'm sure you'll agree with me...

Come back, come back, before you said
Come back so you can see
There are roses in the flowerbeds where there never used to be

What genre is this greatness?  Not your mother's folk.  It's just one of those songs I bring up now and again, where you just listen and know it's good without having to think about it.  Why argue with me if you disagree?  Just listen to this and thank me later.

Glee Cast - Rose's Turn

There's one thing about Glee that I have to point out: SEASON THREE IS A BIG PIECE OF GARBAGE.  Sorry, I had to go there.  There are too many flaws for me to enjoy it, and the song selection hasn't been terribly great.  Luckily, I still have the great taste of season one in my mouth, as well as the generally positive feeling of season two still hanging around.  Yeah, season one still owns all.  I still like when old selections come on my ipod or computer, and one that consistently makes me musically happy is Chris Colfer's rendition of "Rose's Turn" from the musical Gypsy.

Now this...this is magic.

Colfer brings a large amount of emotion into this cover, performed in a scene following his character's feeling of coming in second to his new step-brother.  But enough of the storyline.  This is why the boy won a Golden Globe.  I wish he was one of my bffs.  Those vocals, those theatrics...everything fits perfectly, with a few changes to the original lyrics.  Selections from musicals suit Colfer's unique vocals, and I wish Glee would go back to doing things this way rather than the Top 40 tracks that seem to have taken over season three.  I'm drooling by the last note of this song.  Always.  No, it may not be for the metal fans, or the alternative junkies, but I feature this because it is one of the high points in the entire series.  Still give it a listen if you're leery.  After all, this is music for music lovers.

Coeur de Pirate - Adieu

Though I may not speak French terribly well, I still enjoy listening to the French selections provided by itunes every week.  Once in a while one sticks out (you know what they are), and this time, it came to me in video form.  Yes, itunes also offers a free music video to download every now and again, and they are usually worth watching.  This week, I acquired the best free video that has ever presented itself to me: "Adieu" by Coeur de Pirate (that translates to "pirate heart").  If you thought French songs were beautiful before, wait until you watch them.

Beginning with the song by itself, "Adieu" is short and sweet ditty by Quebecois Beatrice Martin, who I by the way might have a girl crush on.  Let's admit one thing.  She has style, and I love the tattoos and hair.  Gah.  Don't tell the BF.  Anyways, "Adieu" comes from her second album and is a little peppy and you could probably even dance to it if you wanted.  Let's say that it falls somewhere between pop and indie.  I was able to find the lyrics online, to find that "Adieu" is about what you think it is.  Goodbyes.  Look at the chorus, in English:

But say goodbye to me tomorrow
But say goodbye to me on the way
Go and see the others, I don't think anything of it
I loved you and I assure you it's the end

On a final note...the video.  Watch it.  It's good.  Who doesn't like explosions of confetti and watermelons?  Adieu!

Nightwish - Nemo

As promised, I am going to look at a Nightwish track featuring former vocalist Tarja Turunen.  She was dismissed from the band some time ago and replaced by the equally wonderful Annette Olzon, but some fans still lament the fact that she never should have gone anywhere.  I'm impartial in a sense, and as I've mentioned before, both songstresses have strengths and weaknesses (weaknesses of songstresses...say that five times fast).  Tarja sounds more operatic than Annette, which definitely comes across in one of my favourite old Nightwish songs, "Nemo."

"Nemo" is a few things: atmospheric, beautiful, and definitely not about a little orange fish.  Think of the other Nemo in the lines: Nemo sailing home, Nemo letting go.  This is Nightwish at its best in the good old days, with guitars that play just as big of a role as the vocals.  And that piano...well then, now I for sure won't be able to decide who I like more.  This is a high point for Tarja, as well as the equally notable "Over The Hills And Far Away."  Nemo my name forevermore, she sings.  I'm not too sure how Nemo can be used a verb, but there is a point to all of this.  Tarja may be off doing her own thing, but Nightwish wouldn't be much now without what she did back then.  We'll still remember her place in the band no matter how many lineup changes there are.

Metermaids - Graveyard Shift

New York does it again.

What is this?  Good rap music.  Enough said.  Brooklyn rappers Sentence and Swell as Metermaids produce something wondrous in "Graveyard Shift," the lead single from their September release, Rooftop Shake.  Yeah, this could definitely be played on a rooftop, and it will definitely make you shake.  "Graveyard Shift" is a danceable rap track (no guest vocalist here...ahem....ahem...Taio Cruz...Akon...ahem) that will get you moving.  Odds are that if you like this song, you're guilty of serving the graveyard shift.  Never sleep, don't stop.  Sound like you?  Yeah, I thought so.

What sets "Graveyard Shift" apart from every other rap song you've heard before this?  Is it the girtty feeling you get stuck in your ears by listening (which I welcome)?  No, it's that guitar in the background.  Who needs to do the expected when you have that axe at your disposal?  So if you're awake from one o'clock to nine tonight, or just waiting on plans to go through (going out on a Monday...let's see how awake I am tomorrow...), then this post is for you.  Cups up.

In This Moment - The Promise

In this week's edition of female-fronted-metal-bands-that-rock is...In This Moment.  They're from Los Angeles and currently going through a lineup change, but the one member you need to know is frontwoman Maria Brink.  Take Masha Scream, Americanized and more gothic Alice in Wonderland than folk metal queen, and you've got her.  She sings clean vocals and she growls, and it's nothing short of wonderful.  In This Moment is a fairly decent "metalcore" band that I discovered overnight, and the track of theirs that stands out after a casual browse of their repertoire is "The Promise."

Maria, according to wikipedia, describes the song as being about: "[...]when you are madly in love with somebody, but you know that you’re dangerous for that person and vice versa. They’re dangerous for you even though you crave them. You want it more than anything, even though you know it will end badly."

That's deep.  With guest Adrian Patrick taking the duties of male vocals, you've got a metalcore duet of epic proportions.  Mr. Patrick sounds REALLY familiar, and I'm trying to figure out who he sounds like, but that's beside the point.  This is beauty, screamed at the top of its lungs.  Mr. Patrick and Maria compliment each other in "The Promise," and listen for their scream-off at around three minutes in.  You will experience some sort of heart palpitation.  This is just epic music.  I recommend watching the video as well, or at least parts of it.  Ignore everything with the horse.  But still, I'm exciting to further explore what In This Moment has out there, and look forward to a reported new album in 2012.

Laura Barrett - Robot Ponies

Have you ever heard of the kalimba before?  Me neither.  It's apparently an instrument that seems to conjure up similarities to the marimba in my head.  It produces strange wind-chimey sounds that sound like the xylophone taken to an entirely new level.  Who is the master of such an instrument thus far?  Laura Barrett.  Her voice isn't half-bad either.  With these two means of music, she weaves together a fantasy of wonder under the title of "Robot Ponies," which is coincidentally about...robot ponies.

Taking place around Christmas Eve, 2053, this is a song about the gift of robot ponies under every little girl's trees.  Think of this track in the same vein as "In the Year 2525" ...a bit science-fiction with a heavy dose of folk.  But this is unlike any folk you have ever heard of before.  Folk without a guitar....it could happen.  And it happens beautifully.  Who really knew that a song about robot ponies and their 20 preset functions could be so...amazing?  Well, now you do.  Though by using the kalimba, Ms. Barrett limits herself in a way that all of her songs sound the same, "Robot Ponies" still stands out among the tracks from the release Earth Sciences.

If you know best, you'll take a listen.

Two Wounded Birds - I Think The World Of You

Two-and-a-half-minute-indie-surfer-ish-fun alert!

British surfer indie group Two Wounded Birds bring us the breezy and chill "I Think The World Of You," which is not necessarily as cheery as its genre-mates, but still a good listen.  Maybe you aren't riding the waves as you listen, but you're likely in the jeep thinking of your swell window lover on the way to the beach.  Though the vocals are of a high quality, the real star here are the instruments.  On one hand, you have that yawning electric guitar; "I Think The World Of You" wouldn't be surfer rock without it.  Then there is the percussion that remains consistent, and keeps the song flowing.  As the song closes, the vocals enter a strange haze and both human voice and human-made noise meld into some kind of beautiful, strange conglomerate.

I think the world of this song.  I talk about these kinds of songs all of the time...just good tracks that you can't help but love, or think the world of.

Dice Raw - Time Flies

Do ever listen to a song and just think to yourself, "this is great music" ?  Well, of course anyone would.  Why else would you have all of those songs taking up space on your hard drive?  This is different.  It's just perfection, and comes courtesy of Philadelphia rapper Dice Raw, who you may or may not know as a contributor to The Roots.  This guy has a gift, and a Grammy under his belt (though The Simpsons has worn off on me, and a true appreciator of music should not consider award as means for liking an artist).  Most recently, Dice Raw's track "Time Flies" came to me via rcrdlbl, and the fun began.

With a piano tapping in the background, you've got a track that is already on the fast track to success for me.  It's beautiful, and you can't help but love that chorus, and the repeating line time flies when you're having fun.  And then: time flies like a bullet out a gun, pull it out on the corner and everybody runs.  Yes, listen closely and you can hear a few lines about drive-by shootings, but it's done in a way that doesn't promote violence.  In a way, Dice Raw makes "Time Flies" into a sad ditty, only sounding a tad optimistic upon a first listen.  The point he makes is that time may fly when you're having fun, but we should look back and slow down now and again.  Maybe slow down and listen to the music....music like this.

Banquets - Sometimes A Wolf

I have a new favourite alternative band.  Like, a band I can actually listen to for more than a week without getting bored.  Oh, Banquets, you know just what I like.  The New Jersey group first appeared on the blog with the wondrous, absolutely perfect "Fireplug."  Who knew that the other songs from their stellar Top Button, Bottom Shelf could be just as perfect?  I have yet to find a track I don't like, but perhaps the front runner of the moment is "Sometimes A Wolf."

Banquets makes music that is fun and insanely catchy, and "Sometimes A Wolf" is no exception.  In two minutes and forty-five seconds, your attention is held and you realize something...hey, these guys are good!  This is alternative that will last longer than its predecessors; it won't get old.  Lead singer Travis Omilian also has an exceptional voice, not like the whiny leads I'm used to encountering in the genre.  And could I really not like a band whose hobbies include counting money and shotgunning Bud Lite Limes?  No, that would be crazy talk!  I am now a full-fledged Banquets maniac.  I'm even trying to find a way to get my hands on a band t-shirt.  Just listen to their whole album.  The songs are short, so it won't even take that long.  You can thank me later.

Elliott Smith - Last Call

Now, Mr. Elliott Smith was the king of the acoustic guitar.  No, king of the guitar in general.  Well...no, acoustic guitar.  And if you think that it's someone else, I will probably call you a dirty liar.  Though he might not be with us any longer, he lives on in the beautiful songs he left behind.  Oh, he was a tortured soul, but he damn well knew how to write and perform music.  I have several tracks of his that I enjoy listening to, though the favourite that keeps coming onto itunes during shuffle is "Last Call" from his release Roman Candle.  This is why he will always live on in music.

"Last Call" has that wondrous bare-minimum quality I love in music, as well as lyrics that you'll remember long after the song has ended.  You're a jaywalker and you just, just walk away.  And it's all that you do.  Yes, I am a jaywalker, but I don't want to walk away from this song.  Mr. Smith gave us a gift in his mastery of the singer-songwriter genre.  What can we do to thank him?  Listen.  And enjoy.

Kat Edmonson - Just Like Heaven (The Cure Cover)

Now this...this is beautiful music.

Taking a song first made wondrous by The Cure, Kat Edmonson puts "Just Like Heaven" on the roster with a delicate piano and instrumental section that will take you to a classy dive in the middle of the city.  Well, would dive be the right word if you're going for classy?  Anyways, I first acquired this song when I first came to rcrdlbl, and maybe it's the reason I was reeled in s quickly and furiously.  Kat Edmonson is truly a gifted musician and songstress, and if anyone says otherwise, they are a filthy liar.  "Just Like Heaven" under the influence of The Cure was, while still great, nothing like this.  This is not 80's rock, but will always be up-to-date in my eyes.

I've decided that this will be my wedding song in the far future when I decide to quit my shenanigans and settle down.  Until then, I'm content with it coming on my ipod every so often and taking me to that classy dive.  This. Is.  Beautiful.

Nightwish - Storytime

I've been aware of Nightwish for a reasonably short amount of time, but they officially came onto my radar last night with the new single "Storytime."  Now, I'm aware of all of the controversy that surrounds the band.  The old lead singer, Tarja Turunen, was dismissed from the band and replaced by Annette Olzon.  I have songs containing both vocalists, and particularly don't prefer one over the other. Yes, Tarja was good, but Annette was a fine replacement.  If it makes some die hard Tarja-philes reading this feel any better, I'll feature one of her songs in the near future.  For now, we will look at the beauty that is "Storytime."

Nightwish is truly a fantastical band.  This is symphonic death metal, but is likely unlike any metal you've heard before.  "Storytime" is fittingly a song about fantasy and the worst of never never land.  It's also as catchy as hell...I have yet to get it out of my head.  Annette really brings something to the table that Tarja didn't.  She sounds unique while still fitting in with the rest of the band.  Her voice is fantasy-worthy in its own right.  The video isn't half-bad either, I've already watched it a good 10 times.  The point?  "Storytime" is my favourite catchy metal song of the moment.  Sorry, Arkona's "Yarilo!"  Catchy metal?  Yeah...that exists.

A Shattered Hope - A Man's Loss

I'm the person who is always hunting down good music, but sometimes, good music finds you.  California metalcore outfit A Shattered Hope found me on Twitter (which is by the way @LauraKRad) through my Dead and Divine suggestions.  I wasn't sure if I could come up with a song to post today, but this is a band that's worth featuring.  After all, that's why we're here.  Well, that is to discover new favourites.  All of the sickos looking for vag pics can look elsewhere.  Anyways....A Shattered Hope.  Yes.  Imagine, if you will, putting the great Dallas Green on drums, but still letting him sing.  Throw in Matt Tobin, still on lead, and mix the elements of both of their bands into one great package.  And you have a band from California...the Canada of the south.

The song?  "A Man's Loss" is a metalcore fan's dream.  I'm literally surprised I haven't stumbled upon it before.  You have wondrous guitars, a good lead vocalist...and that drummer...he can freaking sing.  "A Man's Loss" is a jam session between D&D and Alexisonfire with a little something extra thrown in that I can't quite put my finger on.  Point is?  These guys are worth a look, and stand out in a sea of a genre that is slowly starting to sound similar throughout.  It's just fun metalcore.  What more could you ask for?

Teddybears - Weed In A Rizzla (feat. Trimbal)

Electronic music and I have a strange relationship.  I would like say that I'm a strictly-minimal fan, but that would go against everything this blog stands for, right?  Though I am most partial to the slowed down beats, minimal effects and instrumental sound of Dam Mantle and Nicolas Jaar, I sometimes come across an electronic track that is like nothing I've ever liked before.  Enter Teddybears, a Swedish trio who will probably creep you out a bit if you look them up on google images, so let's focus on their music.  It's club music, and if this is what's playing in the Stockholm dens, count me on the next flight over the Atlantic.  Their track that reeled me in to a new style of electronic music is "Weed In A Rizzla."  Listen closely to what they're saying and you'll be able to pick it out.

"Weed In a Rizzla" is a throbbing dance number that is beautiful in a wonderfully dirty way.  You've got your bass, your digitized vocals, and the track as a whole doesn't sound like it's trying too hard.  You'd be crazy if you refused to dance to this.  If you're listening to it as you read this (which I recommend for every song that I recommend), then you're probably moving a little right now, even if you're in public.  It's okay if you're sitting at Starbucks right now.  Move your shoulders a little.  I commend Teddybears for showing me that club electronic music doesn't have to be unoriginal.  This isn't really like anything I've heard before, and I want to hear more.

Mexicans With Guns - Highway To Hell (Ridin' Dirty Mix) (feat. Bun B & Freddie Gibbs)

I might call "Highway To Hell" a fun song.  It doesn't initially come off as "fun," but it still falls into that category of songs you love listening to over and over again.  You don't get tired of this!  We can call this another instances of unique rapping, and as a growing Freddie Gibbs fan, I can't argue with what's going on here.  I'm less familiar with the other rappers here, but some quick research allows me to look into Mexicans With Guns (a.k.a Ernest Gonzales) and Bun B. (from Houston, and he's got a damn fine voice).  What do the three of them achieve with this Ridin' Dirty mix of "Highway To Hell" (in no relation to the ACDC song)?

Brilliance.

This isn't in-your-face-rap.  You're not going to encounter someone screaming at you through you computer.  This is subdued without being too soft.  It's still gritty, and it's still wondrous.  I gotta make this money even if I don't make it home.  It's kind of sad in a way, but still fun in a way that it catches your attention in a way it's never been reeled in before.  I'm flying down the interstate, I'm on a highway to hell. 

Dead and Divine - Antimacy

I've made a somewhat valiant return after a short absence!  Blame me, if you must.  I've been taking the town down, and then some, and most importantly, finally getting my hands on the new Dead and Divine album, Antimacy.  Let me just say one thing about the entire album as a whole: OH EM GEE.  Yeah, I went there.  It's more The Fanciful than The Machines We Are, and I'm not complaining one bit.  You've got the hardcore elements with a hint of where the band came from.  Call it a happy medium between hardcore and alternative.  There is a reason these guys are my favourite band right now.  The highlight of the album that has caught me in a tight grip so far?  The title track, "Antimacy."

Your love is amphetamine
I've lost all feeling in my extremities
But I could be
I could be your one and only

This is everything I loved about their last two albums, condensed into nearly three and a half minutes of wondrous music.  The guitars will melt your face off, and the raw vocals compliment those riffs to no degree.  You've even got a nice section of clean vocals that doesn't seem out of place, and comes in at the perfect time.  This is a song about strange love, but is beautiful in that same strange way.  I have hopes that these guys will someday be as big as Alexisonfire, but even if their popularity does not grow, I will always be a loyal fan.  If this is love, load me up.  I love this song.  Load me up.

Zager & Evans - In The Year 2525

How about we take a detour into the oldies, but the goodies?  No?  Well, that's too bad.  Last week, I was watching Futurama late one night and eating mini Kit Kat bars.  I was in heaven.  Fry, Bender and Farnsworth were travelling forward in time, and the episode included a segment to the reworked tune of my favourite old-song-of-the-moment.  Zager & Evans' "In The Year 2525" was changed so that the years sung where further into the future, such as 125125 and one million and a half (where humankind is enslaved by giraffes).  I typed the lyrics into my phone to find them later, and finally remembered where I'd put them yesterday.  Oh, the stories I tell.

Sure, this song was written a long time ago, and it's possible for the people of yesteryear to consider in the year 2525, if mankind is still alive...well, that's a little close to 2011 for me.  But this is what I love about the 70's.  Their imaginations.  Songs like "In The Year 2525," caught somewhere between rock and folk, are the gems I enjoy finding, even if it's through Futurama.  This is science fiction in song, what more could you ask for?

Alanis Morissette - Spineless

Let's begin with the beginning:

I won't see my dear friends as much, males friends especially I'll no longer be in touch.  I'll change my hobbies to match yours.  I'll stop reading my favourite books, I won't send all this selfish time alone, I'll cater to you and hang on your every word.

No, this does not describe one of Canada's greatest songstresses, whom I first discovered ten or eleven years ago with the masterpiece Under Rug Swept.  "Spineless," a track from the hey-this-ain't-too-bad So-Called Chaos is her way of mocking the trials and tribulations of relationship that probably shouldn't exist.  Don't take that into account, and it might come off as a little worrisome, but this is what you do if you are an amazing musical artist.  "Spineless" is only the tip of the iceberg to the repertoire this wondrous woman has behind her, and I offer it to you for that reason.  Why not start off with a bang?

Beat The Devil - Shine In Exile

The best music in the world might come from Ireland (and not far behind, Russia), but the best music in North America outside of Canada comes from the wondrous state of New York.  I have yet to go there myself, but have dreams and ambitions as high as the moon.  Today's band from NYC is Brooklyn-based Beat The Devil.  The band could be called indie, but there is something about them that isn't too indie.  You know how it is.  Almost there, but not quite.  They came to me in the form of "Shine in Exile."

There is something mysterious about this track, and the beginning could bring you to a dark speakeasy in the middle of the swamp with the touch of a piano.  As the guitars and drums pick up, you're back in the city, and "Shine in Exile" is working on worming its way into your brain.  And as you might have guessed, I will say that anything boys can do, girls can do better.  Female-fronted indie bands (and with wondrous harmonies, nonetheless) win nearly every time.  Blame the feminist in me.  Beat The Devil just performs interesting music.  You will never be bored listening to them.  Baby, I've learned to live inside my head is what the song would say if it could speak, but it would learn to live inside your head.  This one is here to stay.