Slow Down, Molasses: music is awesome

Saskatoon's own Slow Down, Molasses recently released their second album Walk Into The Sea. They celebrated it's release with a pair of shows; an all-ages intimate affair at Caffe Sola, and a Friday night ruckus at Amigos. I was at both, camera in hand, ready to capture a bit of their essence. Here's what resulted:

Today's Tune: Junior Boys - "ep"

It was with great excitement that I learned about the new Junior Boys album. It's All True comes out in June, and they duo have released a preview in the form of the track "ep".
The song is available as a free download at the Domino records site in return for an e-mail address.

The first minute of the song is the same sort of lush new-wave-tinged arrangement we've come to expect from these guys, but with some of the most soulful vocals I've ever heard on a Junior Boys song it leaves me expecting something great when the album drops. Get the song, check out the cover art below.

Green Eggs and Ham: "Over Easy" Edition

Green Eggs and Ham is a daily 4-hour morning show on our local community radio station CFCR. I host the 6-8 AM edition every Thursday morning. Here is this week's playlist:

Dan Mangan - "You Silly Cat"

John Southworth - "So Glad It's Finally Spring"

Shout Out Out Out Out - "Guilt Trips Sink Ships"

Mark Sultan - "Don't Look Back"

Anna Calvi - "Jezebel"

The Alley Cats - "Puddin' N' Tain"

Thee Oh Sees - "Everything Went Black"

Raised By Swans - "Drag the Morning"

Soft Cell - "Bedsitter"

tUnE-yArDs - "Bizness"

Trentmøller - "Shades of Marble"

El-P - "Honda Redux"

Siriusmo - "Einmal in der Woche schreien"

Huron - "Bloodfire"

Wintersleep - "Mausoleum"

Bill Withers - "Take It All In And Check It All Out"

Jason Donovan - "Too Many Broken Hearts"     *this week's slice of cheese

Hilotrons - "Deep River"

Scott Dunbar - "The Canadian National Anthem"

Jon McKiel - "Motion Pictures"

Born Ruffians - "Higher & Higher"

Ponytail - "Easy Peasy"

Processed Cheese: February 2011

And now, the inauguration of a new feature here at Sonic Safe House. Be back here on the first Friday of every month for a look back at the previous month's selections from my show's "Slice of Cheese" segment. If a song is significantly cheesy, there's bound to be a video that is equally (if not even more) so. This proved to be true this month.

First we've got Donna Allen wearing a canary-yellow spandex unitard and a belt that kind of looks like it's made out of flattened bullets. What better way to get the attention of your neighbourhood toughs than to leave the safety of your apartment, fling yourself overtly at them and insist on their being "serious" only to spurn them for somebody else after engaging in a choreographed basketball court dance number? Oh, the '80's.

Now, bear witness to former adult star Traci Lords in what appears to be a music video made to promote the forgettable 1995 movie Virtuosity. Never have explosions, leather-clad pornstars, and lasers been so boring and unwatchable. Enjoy.

Meat Loaf and Kelis weigh in with a couple of live videos, bringing to the stage their own brand(s) of eccentricity. Kelis gives a wooden performance of a repetitive song to a mildly enthusiastic Vevo crowd while insisting she is there to "pleasure herself", while Meat Loaf insists (almost sarcastically) that his Rotterdam audience circa 1994 "really fucking sing great" before allowing them to sing along to "Heaven Can Wait". And oh, that ponytail...

Green Eggs and Ham: The "I Shot First" Edition

Well, first I suppose I should explain the title above. It's a dumb reference to Han Solo, since today I did the show by myself (I mentioned the joke being dumb, right?). This morning went well, and featured a special DJ mix by Liam Hart, aka Waveracer64, to promote the night I'm organizing for this Saturday at Caffe Sola. DJ's, good times, 5 bux. Here's the playlist.

Minotaurs - "Lazy Eye"
Laura Peek - "What It's For"
Jerry Lager - "Wrong Kind of Girl"
Waylon Jennings - "Listen, They're Playing My Song"
Toques and Beards - "Big Hip Girl"
Bright Eyes - "Haile Selassie"
Shearwater - "Landscape At Speed"
Matthew Joel - "Moraine Lake"
13 & God - "Old Age"
The Salteens - "If Love Is Gone Where Do We Go From Here"
Gentleman Reg - "Rewind"
D-Sisive - "Long Ago" (feat. Muneshine)
Liam's Demo Mix: (track list on the Soundcloud page)
Demo Mix for show On March 5th by WaveRace64
Jim Bryson & The Weakerthans - "Wild Folk"
Robin Beck - "First Time"  *this week's slice of cheese
In-Flight Safety - "The Warning"
Snowblink - "Green To Gone"
Sloan - "Follow the Leader"
Japanese Motors - "Better Trends"
Electric Six - "Countdown to the Countdown"
James Brown - "Wake Up And Give Yourself A Chance To Live"

Today's Tune: The Depth - "Everything Is As It Should Be"

Prince Albert, SK's The Depth (formerly known as The Architech, pun intended) are hard to categorize. Take this song, for example. You don't expect something that starts off with the quiet noise of croaking toads to explode into a melodic electronic assault. Combining elements of electro, dubstep, and acoustic pop, "Everything Is As It Should Be" sounds a lot more coherent than it has any right to. It makes a good case for anyone in the Saskatoon area to head to the band's CD release show at Amigos Cantina on March 12th. In the interim, take a listen (or download) to this tightly wound track.

The Depth - "Everything Is As It Should Be"

Today's Tune: Esben and the Witch - "Argyria"

Sometimes we all need to feel kind of epic. The lead track on Violet Cries, the debut album from Brighton, England's Esben and the Witch, is a great way to accomplish that end. Starting almost inaudibly, the song builds up massively until the 4 minute mark, at which point the noise and reverb give way to sparse guitar, simple percussive sounds, and the haunting vocals of Rachael Davies. More than just perfect music for your next pre-emptive Halloween party, this trio (signed to Matador Records) will make these last bitter weeks of winter much more bearable.