Category Archives: Music

Locals – Groenland

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groenland

For this week locals, I’ve been struck and woken up by a lightning of  greatness. So here me out, it’s not a secret that we have plenty of talented and good bands from Montreal. Plenty. There is so many bands in the same genres and it’s very hard for new up and coming artists to stand out from that sea of fish and be their own fish. Well, I’m gladly presenting you(if you don’t already know them) the band Groenland. The backbones of the band are the beautiful singer Sabrina Halde and Jean-Vivier Levesque supported by the talented musicians: Jonathan Charette, Fanny Laurin, Gabrielle Girard-Charest and Simon Gosselin.

Groenland just released their very first album called The Chase. With the help of Bonsound(their recently signed label) they are the buzz of the moment. I went to their album launch the other day and they had to refuse people at the door because the venue was jam packed. Everyone was very excited to see what the fuss was all about. On stage, the band is like dynamite and they have this magic power of lifting every spirits up. You could see how much fun they had playing music for each and every one in the room.  Another of the main reasons they stand out is because of the unforgettable brilliant voice of Sabrina. She reveal on this album a strong powerful smooth voice full heart and soul. It is clear that she was mainly influenced by her studies in jazz music.

Some of my favorites songs includes their first single Superhero, starting with a ukulele vs melodica melody and building up to the full band potential. A very vibrant song where it’s impossible to not sing along to and it represent well the feeling of the album. Next, is the song Criminials, another upbeat song of theirs on which there is a catchy keyboard melody with a good hand-in-hand percussion beat. My favorite part is where she sings “… We never have to be brave/ how did we end up so old / I use to feel very safe.” She’s a great story teller and has a way of translating words on paper into songs. On a lighter note, my third favorite song is the haunting beautiful ballad, Daydreaming. A delightful and elegant ukulele melody accompanied by the graceful strings. When she sings that song it is so captivating that you forget where you are for 3 minutes and 44 seconds. Oh and I have a fourth one and they released a music video for it, The things I’ve Done. Watch it below because the video represent them well.

The Chase comes of as a celebratory album that is very insightful but entertaining at the same time. They have everything you would want in an album. The vocal chants in some songs, the cutesy keyboards, you can clap your hands along with them, and the cutest instrument, the Ukulele. They have it all. This is just the beginning and it will get larger than life.

You can stream the album HERE and purchase it HERE.

Locals – We Were Not The Savages

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We Were Not The Savages

For this week local band I present you We Were Not The Savages. The band is actually a project with the singer of Ernie Coombs, Keith Maclean and two members of Purpine and Goodralph, Mathieu Cloutier and Miguel Marcil-Pitre. The combination of these two great bands gives us an indie rock groove with incredible rythmic precision. They released they first EP in April 2012 and one year later, they came back with a new 6 songs set EP called We Were Not The Savages. The transition between the two EP is an obvious progress but we can still clearly see they’re adoration for a well structured riff urge through their veins. They were good but now they are great. They found a solid sound for themselves that is interesting with plenty of substance and power.

At the first listening, I was honestly hooked. They brought this progressiveness to the indie rock sound and they were still able to keep every single song unbelievably catchy. I’m happy that a band is finally bringing something new to the indie rock wave.

First song that stand out for me is Reset/Restore. Lyrically, this song is very emotional and meaningful mostly because we can all relate to a situation where we would like to press a reset button right? Props for making this great feel of simplicity and yet meaningful song into a two minutes upbeat song. The next song that pulled me in is Let’s Talk About Me And You on which they bring massive synth and guitar riffing with a youthful melody. My third favorite is the last one on the EP, Not Social, a very fun and catchy one that I just want to sing(or scream?) out loud and dance to.

It’s really not until you’ve heard the entire EP that the big picture becomes visible. I would describe it as an energetic upbeat punky-ish album wrapped by dense and intense guitar riffs with a handful of great moment. The quality of the songs is what makes them unstoppable. On top of that, the singer punky-ish strong voice adds another appealing characteristic to the band’s sound.

Their self titled EP  is actually available right now on their bandcamp page and you can pay what you want for it. The official release will be happening on the 6th of April at the Esco and the Facebook event page here. If you are in Montreal, you don’t want to miss it. I’ve seen them live before and the live experiment is totally another thing.

The Dark Salmon Playlist

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SPRING! ARGH. COME! NOW!

1. Diane Young – Vampire Weekend

2. Venice – The Lighthouse and The Whalers 

3. Bloodshake – Peace

4. Bloom – The Gypsy & The Cat

5. Safe and Sound – Capital Cities 

6. Big Blue Wave – Hey Ocean! 

7. Dreamers – Savoir Adore

8. It All Began With A Burst – Kishi Bashi 

9. Cayucos – Cayucas 

10. Mozart’s Sister – Mozart’s Sister 

11. Northen Lights – Kate Boy

12. Can’t Hold us – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Montlhy Discovery – Cayucas

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For this month discovery, I stumbled upon the band Cayucas from Santa Monica, California. Now that the snow is melting and the sun is shinning, it’s time to put aside our sad winter depressing songs and welcome in a fresh and new summertime band. The five members of the band is bringing you an album  full of catchy pop songs reminding you of those summer days that are comming our way. The new album Bigfoot will be release the 30th of April under  Secretly Canadian label who includes artists like Major Lazer, Suuns, Yeasayer and many more. Cayucas has that easy way of putting the feeling of beach, surf and waves into their indie pop style songs. They can create that atmosphere of warmth and cold lemonade(with vodka) that each an everyone one of us needed.

Even though the album is only being released in the end of April, you don’t need to wait to put the songs in your ipod and dance. If you pre-order their CD on SC Distribution, you can download the entire album RIGHT NOW and you will receive the physical album in May. Everybody loves receiving packages in the mail right?. You never remember that you bought something and then suddenly you are like.. Whaaat? What’s that package?! For Me? Anyways, I downloaded the album and let me tell you, it’s a very promising band.

One of my favorite on the album is called Highschool Lover, which was their first single release for the album. You can see the music video for the song just down here. This song is actually a good representation of what Bigfoot is all about. It’s very catchy, the beat is fun and Zach vocals are terrifics wihtout giving the impression he’s doing too much. The tone of his voice is very soothing and concise. The lyrics are obviously about a girl from his highschool and the story is very well written. Yes it’s pretty simple and not super intense lyrics but in summer time we are looking foward to chill beside a beach with a beer so it’s fine. The second piece that catched my attention is Will “The Thrill”, a very cute love story. From the start they present the melody that bodied and constructed the song which flows very well with the subtle drum beat. Again, it’s very catchy and it’s the kind of song you listen while driving in your car to nowhere.

Overall this album is an essential for your summer playlist. The happy and exciting vibe that Cayucas give carries well the songs throughout the entire album. It might look on the outside like an easy breezy album but when you listen closely you can see the time and effort they spent on creating Bigfoot. They are also part fo SXSW festival in Austin, TX  this year and here’s a link to know where and when they play starting today!