Metric’s fifth studio album will be released on June 12. The first single “Youth Without Youth” is out May 1.
Synthetica tracklist:
1. Artificial Nocturne
2. Youth Without Youth
3. Speed The Collapse
4. Breathing Underwater
5. Dreams So Real
6. Lost Kitten
7. The Void
8. Synthetica
9. Clone
10. The Wanderlust
11. Nothing But Time
SappyFest, the magical* music festival that takes place in Sackville, N.B., has announced the first five acts to play at this year’s festival. The 7th edition takes place August 3-5.
In bullet form they are:
The only thing better than a baby, is a baby with it’s proud mother. Tomorrow (Thursday April 12) night, Baby Eagle and the Proud Mothers will be headlining a show at Michael’s Bar & Grill. Steve Lambke aka Baby Eagle will be joined by the Proud Mothers: Will Kidman (the Constantines), Ian Kehoe (Attack in Black, Marine Dreams) and Nick Ferrio (Nick Ferrio & His Feelings). They’re touring in support of their latest release, Bone Soldiers. The band throws a nice blend of rock & roll and blues rock and that hint of Canadian indie that Lambke carries everywhere he goes.
Jon Mckiel, Quaker Parents and Woolly Leaves are also on the bill.
All for $8.00 Doors at 9:00.
Listen to Bone Soldiers
Broken Social Scene announced the band was going on a hiatus in September 2011. The Stills wrote an open letter in April 2011 telling friends and fans the band had broken up. Fast forward a few months and we have a new project: Eight and a Half.
Broken Social Scene drummer Justin Peroff along with Liam O’Neil and Dave Hamelin of The Stills have been focusing their creativity on a synth-heavy, not-quite-side-project.
On their self-titled debut, the trio show creativity through experimenting with synthesizers and samplers.They create an ambient atmosphere that is a departure from the usual sounds of The Stills or Broken Social Scene. They also avoid the trend of using synths to create vintage sounding music that can end up coming across as a load of cheese.
But these are still pop rock songs. The single “Go Ego” is built around one of Peroff ’s distinctive drum beats, Hamelin’s conversational vocals and strange synths and sounds that fill in the gaps without being overpowering.
Eight and a Half avoids coming across as a pure experimental album.While it is bookended by two short instrumental tracks, none of the other tracks deviate from the three to four minute, verse-chorus- verse formula that normally make up a pop-rock record.
By the end of the album, I was lost in a dream-like haze, enjoying the swirling sounds and vocals that stuck because of the way they are delivered – not because of their lyrical content. I also forgot who was in the band.
Review first appeared in the April issue of Mixtape Magazine. Read it here.
Posted in album review
Tagged arts&crafts, broken social scene, eight and a half, the stills
We’ve been running a few contests on the blog lately, and we don’t plan on stopping that. We’ve got a pair of tickets to the Cuff the Duke show at the Seahorse on Saturday (April 14) up for grabs. The band put on an entertaining joke. Not just because of the music, which is that right blend of alternative/country/folk/rock, but because of the way they keep a smile on your face throughout the show. They’re currently touring in support of their latest album Morning Comes produced by Blue Rodeo’s Greg Keelor. Francophone band Les Breastfeeders are opening the show.
Tix are $15 adv/ $20 door and can be purchased online via Brown Paper Tickets. Doors at 10:00 p.m.
To win, leave a comment on this page, tweet or post on our Facebook page telling us you want to win. It’s pretty easy. If you tag/mention your friends, we’ll count your entry as two entries.
Last time Library Voices were in town during Halifax Pop Explosion, the lineup outside the Seahorse went all the way to Dartmouth and back. Well not quite, but you get the point, it was a pretty hot ticket.
They’re back in town Saturday night along with Yukon Blonde and Great Bloomers. Yukon Blonde put on one of the best rock and roll shows around. They bring the guitar and a fun vintage sound. Great Bloomers are pretty great too.
You’ll probably want to go to the show at Reflections. Tickets are $17 adv/$20 and available online. Doors open at 9:00 p.m.
Leave a comment on this page, fire an email to thebrokenspeaker at gmail.com, tweet or write on our Facebook wall. Winners will be picked tomorrow night
Tomorrow night (April 4th), the Carlton will be crowded with Jordan Klassen and his crew (as in 7 musicians), Andy Schauf and The Mountains & the Trees.
We asked Jordan a few questions about the upcoming show, things like what it is like having such a big band on tour. Here is what he told us via email.
Traveling with a big band makes some things really efficient, and some things really inefficient. It’s certainly more expensive, and more difficult to find accommodation. Who wants to host 8 people every night? It can also be really frustrating to get 8 people motivated and organized when it comes to schedule. However, the benefits have outweighed the negatives, at least on this tour. First of all, we have way more fun. The group dynamic is such that humour is the glue that binds us together, that keeps us from driving each other crazy. We laugh a lot, and we have so many inside jokes that when outsiders meet us they must think we are deranged or inbred. Musically I feel like a big group makes for a much more interesting and satisfying live show, which is really the whole purpose of touring. We have the ability to pick up the slack for each other, to take turns driving, and to challenge each other musically.
I think people can expect a pretty fun show on Wednesday. It’s usually more energetic than folks expect, and we have a lot going on musically. Joy is what we shoot for and hope that people walk away with. If you leave with a sense of jubilation, we’ve done our job.
The show starts at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $8.00.
P.S. Aidan Knight told everybody to go see Andy Schauf. I think Aidan knows what he is talking about.
Posted in concert preview
Tagged andy schauf, jordan klassen, the mountains & the trees
We don’t usually talk about bands that aren’t Canadian on the Broken Speaker. Sometimes we make excuses if it’s a band we really like. Other times we make an exception because our readers are pretty cool and probably like free swag. The swag we’re giving away comes in the form of CDs.
Just leave a comment on this post or reply to us on twitter saying you want free swag and we’ll send the first six people to respond a copy of either the new Shins album “Port of Morrow” or Dry the River’s latest EP “Weights & Measures”.
If you’re looking for a Canadian connection in this post, The Shins were announced as one of the headliners at Osheaga in Montreal this August.
The Shins – Simple Song
Dry the River – The Chambers & The Valves
If you’re a Said the Whale fan, today would be a good day to be in Halifax. The band will be playing a free in store performance at Taz Records at 4:30. Later on in the evening, they will be playing at Reflections. Boxer the Horse will be opening for them tonight. Tickets are available at sonnicconcerts.com or the door for $22. Doors at 9:00 p.m., show starts at 10:00. Make sure you have two pieces of ID since the venue is pretty strict about that.
The Vancouver band are currently travelling across the country in support of their new album Little Mountain.
Vancouver noise pop duo Japandroids are set to release their sophomore album Celebration Rock on June 5. You can now listen to the first single, “The House that Heaven Built” below. If you like that feel good guitar and drum heavy summer rock feel, then you’ll be hitting the play button on this track multiple times. You can head over to Polyvinyl to pre-order both the 7″ single and the album.
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