Marc.E.B.'s Healthy Serving of 2009

I've been tracking my favourite songs all year and I literally had a enough to fit two albums worth. This got me thinking that next year I may produce a multi-volume "best of". As with everything in life, music is best in moderation. So, I forced myself to ration my servings of this year's best tracks.

I agree with G.R.O. that this year left no shortage of quality tracks and I hope that you enjoy some of my faves.

Enjoy!

A Healthy Serving of 2009 (Download here)

Settler - Balmorhea
Havin' My Baby - Think About Life
You Go On Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II) - Sunset Rubdown
It's Thunder and It's Lightning - We Were Promised Jetpacks
Dust - Crystal Antlers
Swim (To Reach the End) - Surfer Blood
Pretty Girl - White Wires
Lust for Life - Girls

Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin' - Mayer Hawthorne
Heartbreaker - MSTRKRFT
Ghosts - Silver Starling

Tender Torture - Islands
Armistice - Phoenix
Drain the Blood - The Rural Alberta Advantage
Radio Kaliningrad - Handsome Furs
Lowiza - The Lovely Feathers
Serious Bedtime - The Balconies

Friday Five: Hottest Bands in Canada

As 2009 comes to a close, the "best of" list will begin to multiply exponentially. I must admit that I'm a sucker for a list. This year, BTA participate in i(heart)music's 2009 Hottest Bands in Canada poll. This year's edition included 34 of Canada's most popular blogs and independent music publications. You can view the results and our commentary here.

These groups made my top-10 list:

The Balconies - Lulu

Think About Life - Havin' My Baby

Joel Plaskett - New Scotland Blues

Honourable mentions:

Rural Alberta Advantage - Drain the Blood

Coeur de Pirate - Corbeau

Enjoy!

Friday Five: The Dying Days of Summer

If I had to pick five songs that marked my summer, these come as no-brainers to me.

No doubt that Think About Life have made the top of my list for albums of the year, so far, but this song is deathly addictive.

Think About Life - Havin' My Baby

The Lovely Feathers recently had their "too hot for TV" video for 'Lowiza' premiered on Playboy.com (Click here to check it out). The level of irony is through the roof on this one, but doesn't that make them all the more "indie"?

The Lovely Feathers - Lowiza

Looking forward to The Balconies' CD release show next week in Wakefield at the Black Sheep Inn. Joining them will be Whale Tooth and Lei Vollebekk.

The Balconies - Serious Bedtime

Closing out this year's Williamsburg Waterfront free concerts with Jay-Z in attendance propelled Grizzly Bear to the height of indie superiority.

Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks

Diamond Rings is The D'Urbervilles' John O's most recent project. With a slot at this year's Pop Montreal and a thumbs-up from Pitchfork, Mr. O has cred from the get go.

Diamond Rings - All Yr Songs

Enjoy!

i(heart)music Festival Playlist

This past weekend featured a collection of some of the greatest live music I've seen in a while. Unfortunately, I missed the first day which featured Sadie Hell, Still Life Still, Parlovr, and Converters. Word is that Still Life Still and Parlovr killed it in front of a less than sizable crowd.

Friday, featured The Balconies, The Love Machine, Modernboys Moderngirls, and Oh No Forest Fires. As far as energy goes, this was the festival's highlight show; with the largest turnout and two local acts, most were ready for a good time. I assure you that neither of the local acts let down; following Oh No Forest Fires is no easy task, those boys don't let down. Modernboys Moderngirls did there thing and people were pretty receptive. I like what they do, but I can't help but think that it lacks dynamic. The Love Machine played set full of new songs and rarities; it was great to see these guys step out of their comfort zone. It was definitely the best show I've seen them play. Now for The Balconies, the buzz around this crew grows by the second. They continue to hone their craft and bring more life to their songs in the live setting.

The closing night's line up included On Bodies, Giant Hand, Black Hat Brigade, and The Lovely Feathers. I'm always impressed by the boys in Black Hat Brigade, they bring a no frills approach to their music, which translates well live. The headliners, The Lovely Feathers capped off the weekend by playing a flawless set comprised of mostly tracks of Fantasy of the Lot. I truly appreciated the newer tracks with touches of their earlier work. After numerous requests of "Pope John Paul", singer Mark Kupfert stated that the rest of the show would continue by request. These guys have big plans for the coming year, hushed for now, but we'll be sure to let you know once more info is available.

Kudos to i(heart)music's Matthew Pollesel for putting together a flawless weekend showcasing some of Canada's most talented and underexposed acts. Ottawa needs more support for independent music.

Hear are a couple tracks featuring personal highlights of i(heart)music Festival.

Still Life Still - Neon Blue

Parlovr - Sever My Ties

The Balconies - Rest Up

Modernboys Moderngirls -My Baby Says Boy, Don't You Ever Go

Oh No Forest Fires - Swing and a Misdemeanor

Black Hat Brigade - Whale Falls

The Lovely Feathers -Finders Fee

P.S. Zaid Khan was nice enough to allow us to post his video of The Balconies performing at i(heart)music Festival. Check it!

The Balconies Are Stepping Up!

Long has it been since I've been so excited for an album release. Ever since I was introduced to the musical magic of The Balconies by BTA's own bbbykmbrly a year ago, I 've been waiting to get my hands on this.

For those who are new to this trio, The Balconies are comprised of Stephen and Jacquie Neville, and Liam Jaeger, who also happen to be brother/sister/boyfriend, respectively. Each being classically trained results in a truly fresh approach to indie rock; a genre who's development has become stagnant of late. The Balconies prove that the simplest sounding tracks are truly the most difficult to write. I'm glad to say that uOttawa, my Alma mater, has contributed in some way to improving the face of music, literally, this band is hot!

Take it, or leave it, but my prediction is that we will hear much more from The Balconies in the coming months. With tracks like "Lulu" and "Serious Bedtime", The Balconies will keep any party dancing; with bass lines that lead, guitar licks to compliment and irregular beats that keep dancers on their toes. Tracks like "Hollow Bones", "The Slo", and "300 Pages" showcase the bands ability to create paced tracks while keeping the listener engaged with Jacquie's dynamic voice. This album simple, yet complex, dynamic, yet accessible; a real formula for success.

I can truly say that The Balconies' eponymous album has been on repeat for the last month and that they are the most exciting band to come out of Ottawa in a long time.

The Balconies are set to officially release their first full-length September 15th and have planned a release party at Wakefield's Blacksheep Inn for September 12th. For those in Ottawa tomorrow (August 21st), check out The Balconies headlining day 2 of i(heart)music festival at Cafe Dekcuf.

The Balconies - Lulu

The Balconies - Serious Bedtime

The Balconies - 300 Pages

New Discoveries: The Balconies

Since moving to Toronto from Ottawa in February of last year, it's become apparent that few people outside of the Nation's Capital really give its music scene any credit. Apart from local heroes the Acorn, who have made some ground after signing to Paper Bag Records in 2006, there hasn't been much splash made since the days of Alanis Morissette despite having a handful (albeit a small hand) of very impressive and respectable bands.

Enter the Balconies, a young band comprised of three exceptionally talented and professionally trained musicians. The band is Liam Jaeger (drums), Jacquie Neville (guitar), and Steve Neville (bass), and they just this week played their first Toronto show, completely catching everyone off-guard with their refined product, especially those unfamiliar with their already impressive rock resumes.

It's been less than four months since Jaeger's former project, prized math rockers For the Mathematics called it quits, and already he's found an absolute keeper alongside girlfriend Jacquie, who also plays strings and sings back-up for the Ottawa-acclaimed zillion-piece orchestral rock band Jetplanes of Abraham. With her comes younger brother Steve who, like his bandmates, is studying music at nearby University of Ottawa, where Jaeger has just begun his MA in Classical Guitar while Jacquie finishes up her BA in Music Education.

The three split songwriting and vocal duty, each bringing to the table diverse and eclectic styles, influences, and impressive vocal range (particularly on the part of the female Neville). The result is a blossoming blend of classic and garage rock, catchy pop hooks, and bass lines which twist and groove through an unquantifiable list of influences and genres. While brother Steve holds that down, Jacquie manhandles the stratocaster like she was born to do so, and Jaeger is so natural behind the kit that you'd never guess that it's only one of an entire gamut of instruments that he's trained to totally own, as he's demonstrated both in his educational option and his bass-destroying history in FTM. The fact that they each play a host of different instruments (extremely well, I must add) helps to account for their ability to impress immediately, while still the baby stages of their development as a band.

To date, the band has only recorded three songs, each one of them has quality stamped all over them, though none come close to capturing their impact in a live environment. In the not-so-distance future, according to the male Neville, are plans to continue writing for a full-length record. In the meantime, I'll be bookmarking their myspace page with my eyes and ears on guard for any new material.

the Balconies - Battle Royale
the Balconies - Rest Up

- bbbykmbrly.