Friday Five: 2010 So Far...and a leak

The year is barely two months old and already there is plenty of music to be excited about. With so many anticipated releases, 2010 has the potential to top 2009's stellar year. Here are some tastes of tracks that I just can't keep out of my head.

Beach House tops my list of new favourites. Victoria Legrand's voice is hauntingly seductive and her lyrics dive deep into your soul. This song is simply amazing.

Beach House - Silver Soul

Jonsi's single off the album Go is just beautiful. The arrangements are calculated, but erratic. The music has such a soothing quality and his voice is just magical.

Jonsi - Go Do

Yeasayer take autotune-influenced tracks to another level, this track has some serious production elements which make it really exciting. Their new album has such a dance-pop feel once you get a couple tracks deep.

Yeasayer - Children

I just love The Besnard Lakes and their pretentious album titles; for example, The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night.

The Besnard Lakes - Chicago Train

SUPRISE!

Broken Social Scene's first track from their upcoming album Forgiveness Rock Record is huge. I can't wait to hear what BSS has in store.

Broken Social Scene - World Sick

Enjoy!

Friday Five

Here are some tracks rocking my world.

Yeasayer - Tightrope

Yeasayer is such a great band and this track come from the solid compilation Dark Was the Night.  The album was put together in support of the Red Hot Foundation which is an AIDS-related charity.  Great cause and I'm psyched to hear something new from these Brooklyn boys.

Crystal Antlers - A Thousand Eyes

Crystal Antlers' 2008 EP is on regular rotation on my Zune, but this track is huge!  Also anticipating the release of full-length release Tentacles.

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Contender

Such feel good music.  The Pains... reminds me of the first time I heard Peter, Bjorn and John's "Young Folks".  I immediately wanted to sing along.

Handsome Furs - I'm Confused

Handsome Furs kinda sounds like Wolf Parade, for obvious reasons, but substitute the prominent keys for sampling.  Really loving the new album Face Control.  Sheer danceable rock music.  If you have a chance to see this group live, DO IT.  Last night I saw them here in Ottawa and it was one of the most energized shows I've seen in a while.

Coeur de Pirate - Le Long du Large

She's Quebec's answer to Adele.  I know she was featured on Perez Hilton and Coeur de Pirate is not for everyone, but I love the feel-good vibe and her voice is cute as hell!

Have a great weekend ladies and gents!

YEEEEEAAAAAAAA(sayer)

Ok, so the band known as Yeasayer has been around the blog circuit for a while, and they deserve it.

No really, they do. If Vampire Weekend was the first real band of "Web 2.0" then Yeasayer are definitely setting themselves up to be next in line, just as Fall Out Boy and Cold War Kids were children of Myspace and social networking sites. Yeasayer's phenomenal debut album, All Hour Cymbals, was dropped on Oct 23rd of last year but really started to pick up steam on the last legs of 2007. The band describes themselves as "Middle Eastern-psych-snap-gospel" which is a safe bet whilst describing their sound. The album is a mix of desert folk and psychedelic vibes all put together with a mix of indie rock.

Yeasayer is playing this weekend in Toronto with MGMT (which we contested some tickets away for) at the El Mocambo.

Sunrise - Yeasayer
2080 - Yeasayer
Wait for Summer - Yeasayer (Live)

Cheers,
MF Blaz

MGMT/Yeasayer Ticket Giveaway

Today is an exciting day in BTA land. It marks the first-ever contest that we've hosted, and I personally can't think of a pair of bands that I'd rather be sharing this monumental occasion with than MGMT and Yeasayer.

Thanks to our friends at Red Ink, we've got a pair of tickets for their February 9th show at the El Mocambo in Toronto, as well as a copy of MGMT's debut album, Oracular Spectacular, due out January 22nd in Canada.

This news comes on the same day that MGMT is making their major television debut, performing on David Letterman tonight, January 8th. Tune in and check it out.

So, to enter this inaugural BTA contest, email us with "MGMT/Yeasayer tickets!" in the subject line, and answer the following question: which song did MGMT perform on Letterman? Also include your full name and contact info. We'll be drawing a winner from successful entries on Friday, February 1st.

MGMT - Weekend Wars

Yeasayer - Sunrise


- bbbykmbrly.

Middle MGMT

The story of Brooklyn, NY's MGMT (pronounced "management") is that of two friends who consciously opted to cash in instead of packing it in. In 2002, while studying music at a nowhere university in nowhere, Connecticut, Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser formed a "band" - an electronic rock two-piece whose first gig consisted of a never-ending rendition of the theme to Ghostbusters in a dorm room.

In the half-decade that has passed, the duo have come from playing music for their own amusement, to almost playing none at all, to forming a full band and touring with the likes of Of Montreal and the Fiery Furnaces, to shamelessly signing to Columbia records. Their debut album, Oracular Spectacular, was released this winter in the US and hits Canada January 22nd of the new year.

Produced by Flaming Lips' go-to guy Dave Fridmann, Oracular blends elements of electro, prog rock, experimental/indie and disco. Each of the 10 tracks have an entirely unique flavour, and one can assume that their list of influences might read like a detailed history of a Syd Barrett-inspired generation.

The obvious stand-out track is the first one. Time to Pretend kicks off the album with a flashy combination of crunchy bass, an impossible-to-ignore keyboard hook, and lyrics which display their tongue-in-cheek viewpoint on life as a rock star. Time to Pretend has single-handedly landed the band on the "top artist to watch in 2008" radar for Rolling Stone and others, and recently found itself in Pitchfork's top 100 songs of 2007, released late last week.

Other highlights include Weekend Wars, whose vocals rip a page from Ziggy Stardust, the undeniable disco-funk of Electric Feel, and the synth-rock gem Kids.

MGMT kicks off their North-American tour with a.m.p.m's latest discovery, Yeasayer, January 16th and includes a stop at the El Mocambo in Toronto on February 9th.

MGMT - Time to Pretend
MGMT - Electric Feel
MGMT - Kids

- bbbykmbrly.