Blog - The Movement Fam, Independent Hip Hop Record Label - Toronto + Montréal
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What Cee be on
I've been following these guys since I sparked up watching them open for Damian Marley in April 2006. Their debut 'Stand Up' was dope, and I've seen this band grow and travel around the world to become on the verge of making some serious noise with their latest LP 'Worldwize'. Check their latest two songs, both are fucking brilliant. Can't wait to see em on Saturday avo here at Canadian Music Week, and hopefully again next week in Texas.
I'm constantly discovering new music lately, and one of the genres I'm discovering the fastest is hardcore/metalcore. I'm a huge fan of this stuff, and especially these fellas from Byron Bay, Parkway Drive. I'm actually off to see them tonight, so there's no better time to post a few of their videos. The show is sold out already, and a couple thousand person venue, so it should be dope.
Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm stupid late on this. For those who ain't already know, Shad is a Toronto born MC, now living and studying in BC. His latest album, TSOL, is nothing short of incredible. Check the videos below, as well as a 6 plus minute joint of dude just spitting bars.
I'm completely obsessed with this woman right now. Her album 'We Are Born' dropped in 2010, and I heard it when it came out, and I dug it. But for some reason, like 4 days ago, I put it on and haven't stopped listening to it since. I never, ever do that. The tunes are fun, catchy, well written, touching, entertaining and musically dope at the same time. For those who haven't heard of her, she's a singer/songwriter from Adelaide in Australia, and even wrote four songs on Christina Aguilera's 'Bionic' album. I've put together a bunch of my favourite videos from Sia for y'all to peep.
And while I'm at it, here's one of the illest Augie March songs, 'One Crowded Hour'. Shouts to misscoca for the hook up on this one.
These guys have gotta be one of my favourite indie bands right now. I was put onto The XX earlier this year, but only realised the awesomeness of these cats recently. Jamie (singer/songwriter) even did a joint with Gil Scott-Heron recently (see the very last video below), and they've remixed damn near everyone. Check out three videos from their self-titled debut album and do some research...
Mr. Boykins III is quite possibly my favourite artist right now. I caught dude rocking with Foreign Exchange at their CMJ showcase in New York a couple months back, and I immediately copped his album 'The Beauty Created' and subsequently became one of his biggest fans. Check the videos from the singles off the album. Incredible soul music, y'all.
I've ashamedly fronted on a lot of Aussie rock bands for years. One particular band being Something For Kate. Sure, I'd heard the name in the last decade or so but never paid attention. That was until we bumped into SFK's singer/songwriter Paul Dempsey in the elevator at CMJ in New York City a month or so ago. He took the time to chat to us, and we managed to catch him live twice while we were in town, and last weekend here in Toronto at the Drake. His solo album, 'Everything Is True', is fucking brilliant, to say the least. The main singles and videos from the album have the damn embed code disabled (from Paul's official page), so here are my two favourite songs from Paul anyway - 'Safety In Numbness' live in NYC, and new song 'We'll Never Work In This Town Again'. There's also a great video of Paul being interviewed in Melbourne about his songwriting process. Dude's a genius, straight up.
So much music lately, it's time I shared it with y'all. Some of it new, some of it older, but all of it is new to me. The homegirl out here put me onto Karen Elson, who happens to be Jack White's wife though she's dope as hell in her own right. Her debut album, 'The Ghost Who Walks', is a wicked blend of bluesy rock and soul. This joint, 'The Truth Is In The Dirt', happens to be my favourite song off the album and I was happy to find out that it's a single too. Peep game.
The skinny jeans are back in effect. Shouts to the homie Chains for putting me onto these cats. Since I moved to Toronto, I've sorta been off my hardcore band steez for some reason. I ain't even rocking the skinnies as much. But right now there seems to be a bit of a hardcore renaissance going on, and Asking Alexandria are some of the illest cats I've heard in a while. Their unique blend of melodic singing, screaming, heavy guitars and electronica kills me. This is by far my favourite joint, 'The Final Episode (Let's Change The Channel)'. Peep game.
I love British music. So the homegirl put me onto Miss Goulding last weekend, and goddamn, I've been obsessed ever since. I guess you could describe her style as indie-pop, but it's just freakin' dope music. I've selected a bunch of her songs that pretty much summarise what she does, from her singles to live acoustic numbers and the incredible Jakwob remixes. Peep game.
I cannot believe I only just got put onto this dude (pause), even though he featured on one of my favourite songs off Jason Mraz's last album, 'Details In The Fabric'. James Morrison is an incredibly soulful white dude from the UK, and his music is nothing short of sublime.
Check the below two joints, the first off his debut 'Undiscovered' and the second from his latest album 'Songs For You, Truths For Me'.
Dude is sick. I only stumbled across Amos recently, and this is one of my favourite joints of his - and even better, this is live at Abbey Road. That voice is incredible. Definitely worth looking into, quality soul music.
Shouts to Iyae for putting me back onto Charlie Sloth and UK Grime/Hip Hop in general. This shit is so fucking dope to me right now, really refreshing.
I been had Charlie's tapes since around '08 but 'Not Like You' with Black The Ripper and Farma G got me back on (pause). Check the videos and make sure you hit up the fellas on Twitter and Charlie's site (and cop the mixtape The Black Book).
And this joint cracked the 100K view mark in under 48 hours
Tinie Tempah is on some shit. Dude has over 10 million views on the official Pass Out video (but the damn embed code is disabled), and he hasn't even dropped his album yet (comes out in a couple weeks).
These grime cats utilise soul samples in a way that noone else is doing right now, so salute for that. Beats are incredible, raps are average but the hooks are anthemic and shit is finna blow regardless. Dope.
On the real, I've been to like 5 shows in the last couple weeks, with two more next week, and it just doesn't get old.
I was lucky enough to score free tickets to the 30 Seconds To Mars show on Wednesday, which was brilliant, and last night I also landed freebies to see Mr Richard Ashcroft and his new band, United Nations of Sound, live at Palace in Melbourne.
I've only been a Verve fan for the past couple years (serious #latepass, I know), but in that short time, 'The Drugs Don't Work' and 'Sonnet' became two of my favourite songs of all time. His new project, entirely produced by No ID, is brilliant, and it translated amazingly well live. Even though dude looks like a heroin addict, he put on a brilliant show, and the band were tight as hell.
Dude even managed to bang out some old Verve classics, knocking out 'Bittersweet Symphony' with the band about mid-way through (a song he rarely plays), and acoustic versions of 'The Drugs Don't Work' and 'Sonnet' during the encore. Goosebumps, yo.
The above track is one of my faves off the new album too.
My cousin Mel put me onto these cats on the weekend, and I've been bumping this joint flat the fuck out since.
Beirut was the solo project of Zachary Francis Condon, which then morphed into a full on band. Their tunes are a mix of European styles with indie rock and pop. Mad unique and strangely addictive. Look em up. And you're welcome.
So y'all might have seen my City & Colour post recently. Dallas is the fucking man.
The band that brought him his fame, Alexisonfire, is my favourite band by far right now. I've heard them be described as emo, screamo, hard rock and hardcore. I have no idea, but there's some grinding guitars, guttural screams and Dallas' harmonics blending to make some amazing music.
Check my two fave joints; 'Young Cardinals' is the co-title track of their latest album 'Old Crows / Young Cardinals', while 'Boiled Frogs' is from their classic 'Crisis'. This shit is on repeat these days.
Boiled Frogs
I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but since I got into this rock/indie shit heavy, it's uber wicked coz I have no pretensions or prejudices about the artist or the music. So when I first put 30 Seconds To Mars on the iPod in the gym, I lost my SHIT. Their 'A Beautiful Lie' album blew my mind. And although I didn't enjoy their last two albums as much, they're still dope. Then dudes bagged em for the singer, Jared Leto, who apparently is an actor and the blonde dude who gets murked in Fight Club. But fuck 'em.
These are my two fave joints; 'Valhalla' is by far my fave 30 Seconds joint, and it's just a b-side for some stupid reason, while the title track off their debut is heatrocks. Can't wait to see 'em live. Enjoy.
Valhalla
A Beautiful Lie
I'm ALL about this dude right now (pause). After being put onto City & Colour earlier this year, I'd been a casual fan. My interest grew after discovering that Canadian Dallas Green, who essentially is City & Colour (based off his name - Dallas, City. Green, Colour. Genius), is also the singer for hardcore group Alexisonfire.
I found that even though I'm currently in possession of more music than I can cope with, I kept going back to City & Colour; the warm, heartfelt and often dark songs just resonated with me. Then this weekend I learned a bunch of the songs on guitar and now I'm officially obsessed. I even ordered a tshirt from their website.
Anyway, check the videos for two of my favourite City & Colour songs. The first is 'Coming Home', from his debut 'Somtimes', and the second is 'Sleeping Sickness' from the 'Bring Me Your Love' album. Enjoy.
So all the indie heads I tell about The Temper Trap seem to bag 'em. Apparently they've been getting airplay on commercial radio and are now 'sellouts'. OK. For once, I'm glad I know fuck all about the politics of a genre and just simply enjoy the music, something I've never really been able to do with Hip Hop (for the most part).
So here's the video for their latest single, and my favourite song off their album 'Conditions', 'Fader'. Amazing. Mainstream or not, shit is dope.
