As promised, I’ve finally gotten around to making the first episode of the New Balearic this year… in June. The first half of 2010 has demanded lengthy papers and in-depth projects, a handful of Maritime trips, and daily World Cup commitments (Hup Holland)… all of which have distracted me from my podcast duty. The second half of 2010 looks equally as busy, but I’ll be more shrewd with my time and keep regular updates.
Well then…. music! It’s been a great year so far. Great new bands have emerged and old favourites have released new material. New to the podcast are some great new bands from all over Canada, including folk from Halifax’s The Prospector’s Union, and Winnipeg’s Ah Sage, pop from Calgary’s Ghostkeeper, and dreamy synthesized beats Vancouver’s Teen Daze. I’m also exited to have Langley’s The Magician & the Gates of Love and Abbotsford’s Jordan Klassen back on the podcast with some new material.
Outside of Canada, some of my all-time favourite musicians have also been busy. Four Tet and Pantha du Prince have both offered new full length albums full of tasty beats. Argentina’s Gotan Project have also returned with some more Nuevo Tango brilliance. Last year the Netherlands brought us some beautiful folk music courtesy of the Black Atlantic. This year, the country brings us I Am Oak, a sincere songwriter from Utrecht by the name Thijs Kuijken. Finally, one of my favourite albums of the year so far has got to be the Black Keys‘ Brothers, and will surely be featured in many more episodes to come.
Slacker - ‘Start A New Life’ (Godlike and Electric) Emancipator - ‘Nevergreen’ (Self Released) Plants and Animals - ‘Undone Melody’ (Secret City) The Black Keys - ‘Tighten Up’ (Nonesuch) Ghostkeeper - ‘Haunted’ (Flemish Eye) Broken Social Scene - ‘Sweetest Kill’ (Arts & Crafts) Jordan Klassen - ‘Written on Collarbone’ (Self Released) Teen Daze - ‘Shine On, You Crazy White Cap’ (Arcade Sound) Four Tet - ‘Angel Echoes’ (Domino) Pantha du Prince - ‘Bohemian Forest’ (Rough Trade) Crystal Castles - ‘Celestica’ (Polydor) I Am Oak - ‘Don’t I Know Enough’ (Snowstar) The Magician & The Gates of Love - ‘The Lions’ (Self Released) Ah Sage - ‘Suburban Witchcraft’ (Self Released) The Prospector’s Union - ‘Salt City Blues’ (Just Friends) The Acorn - ‘Slippery When Wet’ (Paperbag) Shugo Tokumaru - ‘Tracking Elevator’ (p-vine) Janelle Monáe - ‘Tightrope (Feat. Big Boi)’ (Altantic) Bonobo - ‘Stay The Same (Feat. Andreya Triana)’ (Ninja Tune) Gotan Project - Desilusion’ (¡Ya Basta!)
Well, yet again its been some time since the last post. Graduate studies and recent Maritime traveling have rendered my other interests “sporadic-at-best”. However, a fantastic podcast is in the works and regular instalments will hopefully be coming sooner than later.
In the meantime, enjoy a new video from this summer’s new West Coast, electro-dream-pop sensation, Teen Daze. His music has attracted the likes of a certain Pitchfork Media (about half a dozen times), as well as other online music weblogs. More from him later.
A friend commissioned me to make a 30 minute dance mix for his upcoming New Years Party. Thus… another installment of xmix. Due to an extreme lack of time, the mix is rather rough, but still has some great tracks on it.
The Advisory Circle - ‘Nuclear Substation PIF (TNB Remix)’ (Ghostbox) Simian Mobile Disco - ‘10,000 Horses Can’t Be Wrong’ (Wichita) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - ‘Heads Will Roll (A Trak Club Remix)’ (Polydor) The Rapture - ‘Whoo! Alright - Yeah…Uh Huh (Simian Mobile Disco Remix)’ (Throne of Blood) The Knife - ‘We Share Our Mother’s Health (Trentemoller Remix)’ (Rabid Records) Röyksopp - ‘The Girl and The Robot (Chateau Marmont Remix)’ (Wall of Sound Records) Slagsmålsklubben - ‘Hänt’ (Virgin Records)
The big four oh! Looks like the podcast is approaching that hill… hopefully there’s no mid-life crisis awaiting on the other side. It’s hard to believe it’s already been forty episodes. Way back on May 18, 2006, Episode One was released. Over four years later (and almost sixty hours of music later!) and I’m still having tons of fun with it, and hopefully you’re still enjoying it.
This episode is 85 minutes of the usual. The first set begins with psychedelic American dream pop. Animal Collective show no signs of slowing down after their groundbreaking album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, with their new EP Fall Be Kind. Beach House’s new album is also sounding very very good. New Balearic favourite Tycho has released a new dreamy single. Heading north, no episode would be complete without some typically great Canadian folk, featuring Wilderness of Manitoba, The Wooden Sky, Said the Whale and Aidan Knight.
The episode is also full of some tremendous tracks from Iceland’s Hildur Guðnadóttir, Ben Frost, and Ólafur Arnalds and Sigur Rós‘ Jónsi. It continues to amaze me how much great music can come out of such a small country. More music from the continent include new stuff from Britain’s The Leisure Society and Rudi Arapahoe, Greece’s Blue Pilot Project, and two more tracks from Holland’s The Black Atlantic.
So apparently getting a Masters degree requires a lot of work. These past few weeks have been a mere blur, but I’ve recently found myself in a rare break from the work and thus…. Episode 39!
Oddly enough, the music industry doesn’t take many breaks either. Some amazing albums have been released since September. My Vancouver was at the centre of the action with some fascinating music from Said the Whale, You Say Party! We Say Die!, and two (2!) tracks from Victoria’s Aidan Knight! This episode also features my favourite Dan Mangan song… Elsewhere in Canada, I’ve got some hearty folk from Toronto’s The Wooden Sky and Montreal’s Bent by Elephants, and a pair of spooky slow brewers from Dead Man’s Bones and Montreal’s Champion.
Across the pond, Bibio has been working on a wonderful Boards of Canada cover for the recent 20th Anniversary of Warp Records, while Burial helped christen 5 years of existence at Hyperdub with a new track. England’s The xx also feature in a pair of tracks, remixing Florence + the Machine and performing there own ‘Crystalized‘. And of course the podcast wouldn’t be complete without some American folk, with Horse Feathers, Sea Wolf, and Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah’s Alec Ounsworth doing the honours this episode. We’ll see you in December!
Oh and, don’t forget to check out The New Balearic on Twitter and Facebook.
Tracklisting: (1 hour, 20 minutes)
Said the Whale - ‘Dear Elkhorn’ (Upper Management Records) Sea Wolf - ‘Spirit Horse’ (Dangerbird) Aidan Knight - ‘The Sun’ (Canadian Tuxedo) The Wooden Sky - ‘River Song One’ (Black Box) Bibio - ‘Kaini Industries (Boards of Canada cover)’ (Warp) Kelpe - ‘Eye Candy Bath’ (DC) Lusine - ‘Tin Hat’ (Ghostly International) Dead Man’s Bones - ‘Dead Hearts’ (Werewolf Heart) Champion - ‘L6 (The Blooded)’ (Saboteur) You Say Party! We Say Die! - ‘There is XXXX (Within My Heart)’ (Paper Bag) Alec Ounsworth - ‘Holy, Holy, Holy Moses (Song for New Orleans)’ (Anti-) The Black Atlantic - ‘I Shall Cross This River’ (Beep! Beep! Back up the Truck) Dan Mangan - ‘Basket’ (Independent) Silent Strike - ‘Alb’ (La Strada) Burial - ‘Fostercare’ (Hyperdub) Ochre - ‘Napolese’ (Benbecula) Florence + the Machine - ‘You’ve Got The Love (the xx remix)’ (Island) The xx - ‘Crystalized’ (Young Turks) Bent By Elephants - ‘Mollie’s Song’ (Cooling Pie) Aidan Knight - ‘Altar Boys’ (Canadian Tuxedo) Horse Feathers - ‘Orphan Girl’ (Kill Rock Stars)
The time has come for another fantastic ninety odd minutes on The New Balearic. Summer is over, classes have started, but thankfully, the music always continues…
This episode is happy to welcome back some familiar sounds. Port O’Brien is back with a somber and melodic track from their upcoming album Treadbare. One of my favourite artists, Lusine is also on the verge of another full length, which I am very impressed with… and I’ve got a new track for you by him. Also featured from the American Pacific Coast is some impressive new tracks from Sea Wolf and The Dodos.
Of course it wouldn’t be a new episode without some fantastic new bands, and 38 doesn’t disappoint in that category either. Sweden’s Little Dragon and Taken By Trees both take care of beginning and ending this episode, while Vancouver is well represented with great new music by Dan Mangan, Lightning Dust, and Dan Bejar’s Destroyer. From the UK, I’ve also got a pair of tracks from The xx and electronic artist Gold Panda, respectively. Expect to hear a lot from both of those in the future. I’m also very excited to introduce the very first track on the New Balearic by a band from the Netherlands! The Black Atlantic, from Groningen (the birthplace of my Oma), have just released a really great album, and I’ll be doing a Spotlight on them soon, so stay tuned from that. To wrap things up, I’ve also got a remake of Fink’s “Sort of Revolution” by the Cinematic Orchestra, and Radiohead’s new track needs no introduction…
And so with that… happy listening!
Don’t forget to check out The New Balearic on Twitter and Facebook.
I realize a overwhelming majority of these spotlights are on Canadian artists, and while this wasn’t intentional, it is welcomed. Canada is bursting at the seems with amazing talent. Recently, I’ve written about Montreal’s Our Book and the Authors, and Calgary’s Jordan Klassen. It’s about time to look at a fantastic artist closer to home. I’ve been meaning to write about this artist for awhile now.
Dan Mangan is a songwriter from Vancouver, and has just released a brand new full length album called Nice, Nice, Very Nice. Ironically, when you first hear his album you would think to yourself that indeed it is ‘nice’. It’s when you’re singing his songs in your head for the rest of the day and desperate to get home so you can play the album again when you would admit it’s ‘nice, nice, very nice’.
The new album is yet another typically awesome modern folk album which is becoming a trademark of Canadian independent music. Most of the songs of Nice, Nice, Very Nice hinge on the provoking, often amusing lyrics and delightfully raw voice of Mangan. Each song then adds a unique instrumental touch, including classic toe-tapping acoustic riffs, mellow piano pieces, and short, Andrew Bird-esqe strings. The result is a classy, tactful and mature effort from another young and emerging Canadian folk artist. Nice, Nice, Very Nice is just that, and more. It’s really, really nice. Check it out.
Yes indeed! The behind the music festival Transmission have kindly asked to include the podcast on their shiny new monthly newsletter called transmitNOW.
What is Transmission you ask? It is an annual music conference/festival based in Victoria, BC that acts as a round table for international leaders in the music industry to come together and talk music. The organizers also ask several bands to come and play. This year features Jordan Klassen, Our Book and the Authors, Basia Balut, Final Fantasy, the Most Serene Republic and many more amazing bands.
One month ago, transmitNOW was born. It is a monthly newsletter that features fantastic articles relating to the music industry, and more recently… my podcast. Check out this video to find out more. Pay close attention at the 2:18 mark
You can subscribe to the transmitNOW by submitting your email address at their website: www.transmitnow.com
Summer’s are typically slow at The New Balearic. I am always moving between two places. The last two summers I was moving between Seoul and Vancouver, while this summer most of my time has been spent moving across Canada to Halifax. Now that I have arrived, and am (somewhat) settled, I have some music to share. A soundtrack to Summer 09.
Yep, this episode is an ode to the summer past. It’s upbeat, light, and psychedelic… the would be perfect soundtrack for coastal camping trips, et cetera. We’ll kick things off with the result of an epic partnership between Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox and Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear). California’s Dodos have also finished up their follow up to 2008’s stellar Visitor with a new album called Time to Die, and before we leave their country we’ll also check out Chicago’s Netherfriends and revisit Florida’s Blind Man’s Colour. Appropriately, this episode also set a record for most songs from Africa with a pair of tracks from Malawi’s The Very Best, and a fantastic song from the Ivory Coast’s Highlife. Sticking with the same vibe is a great great great balearic song from Sweden’s jj, and New Zealand’s Sola Rosa, and before we leave we make a mandatory stop in France to hear some new stuff from Dan Black, CocoRosie, and Phoenix.
Stay cool, my friends.
Don’t forget to check out The New Balearic on Twitter and Facebook.
I love it when new albums pleasantly surprise. Based in Montreal, Our Book And The Authors is lead singer, songwriter and keyboardist Gabriel D’Amour and programmer Jean-Christian Arod. Their first full length self-titled album was released only two weeks ago, on May 13th 2009. After each listen I am drawn more and more into this beautiful album.
I suppose you could call it an electro-pop album, most similar (in my opinion) to the Junior Boys, but more orchestrated and experimental. Each song has that basic electro-pop beat (reminiscent of those stock organ beats), and all feature the layered harmonizing vocals on D’Amour. Each song then adds significantly different effects and instruments, making each track much different from the next. Usually this may result in an incohesive album, but I feel that the basic electronic foundation and D’Amour flat sounding voice tie every together well enough. Furthermore, the strong melodies of every track are enough to win any listener over. Our Book and the Authors are good. Very good.
Similar to: Junior Boys, Spoon (maybe), Postal Service (maybe not)
Slacker - ‘Start A New Life’ (Godlike and Electric)
Emancipator - ‘Nevergreen’ (Self Released)
Plants and Animals - ‘Undone Melody’ (Secret City)
Four Tet - ‘Angel Echoes’ (Domino)
Pantha du Prince - ‘Bohemian Forest’ (Rough Trade)
I Am Oak - ‘Don’t I Know Enough’ (Snowstar)
Shugo Tokumaru - ‘Tracking Elevator’ (p-vine)
Gotan Project - Desilusion’ (¡Ya Basta!)
Download:
Buy Nice, Nice, Very Nice at 
Our Book and The Authors on The New Balearic:
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