Nov 162011
 

Words to live by, indeed.

(via @rhondalmartens)

Cute stop motion video

 Posted by Amy Breen on 13 November 2011  Music
Nov 132011
 

I enjoyed this video and song by Australian musician Hudson. Very cute and colourful!

Nov 082011
 

It’s cool, it’s cute — it’s cule?

It’s the covers of classic albums, where human faces have been replaced by the feline.

It’s The Kitty Covers, and all it needs now is an mp3 blog devoted to all-cat-sounds remakes. You know, a meow mix.

 

It’s “Thriller”. You can’t go wrong! And, if you don’t have 15 minutes, well, first stop lying to me, of course you do. And second, here’s the best part of the whole video, in 1/15th of a minute:

Saturday Song

 Posted by Amy Breen on 28 May 2011  Music
May 282011
 

Grant and I decided to go for an afternoon drink at a local watering-hole today, and while there, while listening to the random tunes from the jukebox, my love of Bad Company was rekindled.

Yes, the band.

I loved Bad Company in high school. Their first, self-titled album (on cassette!) was a mainstay for me. I think it was actually my step-dad’s, which I pilfered for my own enjoyment.

The jukebox was playing “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” which is of course awesome, but I’ve always been partial to “Bad Company.” So bad ass.

Saturday Song

 Posted by Amy Breen on 14 May 2011  Music
May 142011
 

It’s a sunny day today, a welcome change to the cloudiness that’s been pervading. The wind is still blowing like crazy, and it’s not all that warm for being the middle of May, but it’s sunny.

To celebrate the sun, I wanted the Saturday Song to be a sunny song. I was perusing my song catalogue and came across “Everyday” by Vetiver, which is a pretty sunny song, but it immediately made me thing of another “Everyday” song, this time by Rogue Wave.

Everyday – Rogue Wave

Isn’t that fun? It’s a Buddy Holly cover, which I actually first heard on the soundtrack for Stubbs the Zombie. Yeah. A video game. But all the songs are awesome covers of 50s and 60s songs. It’s pretty great actually.

 

 

May 032011
 

Last week, I woke up to this song – it just started, right when the clock radio clicked on — and this morning, it keyed up just as I got into my car to drive to work. Thank-you CBC Radio 2 Morning. Bob Mackowycz knows his stuff.

If you’d like more Fitz & The Tantrums, check out their MySpace page.

Saturday Song

 Posted by Amy Breen on 23 April 2011  Music
Apr 232011
 

Boy & Bear are an indie-folk group from Australia, who released their EP With Emperor Antarctica in 2009.

The quintet has a harmonic similarity to Fleet Foxes, although with a little more edge in their music. I’m reminded of Mumford & Sons, who they have actually played with in the past. I particularly like their song, “Mexican Mavis.”

Boy & Bear – Mexican Mavis

I think they are definitely a band to watch, and I’ll be really interested to hear what they have to offer on a full-length album.

Mar 262011
 

Sit back, relax, and enjoy Cry Baby: The Pedal That Rocks The World from Joey Tosi on Vimeo.

52 Mix Tapes

 Posted by Amy Breen on 6 March 2011  Modern Life, Music, Vintage/Retro
Mar 062011
 

In the early stages of our relationship, Grant and I would make each other mix tapes. Well, mix playlists, really, for our respective Ipods, but the sentiment was the same.

It’s kind of a lost art, the mix tape. I remember making them from songs on the radio when I was younger, waiting and listening all night until I got the song I wanted. And I would always be so angry when the DJ kept talking over the intro of the song. Actually, I still hate that.

Luckily, there are a certain group of people who are still making mix tapes (and I just realized how funny it was that we still call them “tapes”) and sharing them online. Mostly I think it’s people who grew up making tapes for their friends, who are now utilizing the Internet to keep sharing. Heather over at I Am Fuel, You Are Friends, makes awesome mix tapes. Then I came across a cool project from Tyler Hellard, the writer (and fellow Canadian!) of the blog Pop Loser.

Tyler too loves the mix tape. It’s such a personal and special way to share the music you love with the people you love. So he decided to start 52 Mix Tapes, where he will post (with the help of contributors) a different mix tape every week. It’s been really cool to see the variety of mixes, from Metal, to “Ones” which is all side one, track ones, inspired of course by High Fidelity.

I definitely encourage everyone to check it out, just to see the variety of music people enjoy, and the different themes they work in.

Saturday Song

 Posted by Amy Breen on 26 February 2011  Music
Feb 262011
 

I’m a little in love with the song “Record Collector” by Lissie. I’ve blogged about her before. She has a incredibly big voice, and I love the variations in her music, from soaring ballad in “Everywhere I go”, to the reggae inflections of “Record Collector.” This song makes me want to dance.

Lissie – Record Collector

Feb 232011
 

Aww, it’s cute! But you may not be able to watch it embedded, because copyright laws trump sanity.

In that case, view it on YouTube.

How to write a hit song

 Posted by Amy Breen on 17 February 2011  Music
Feb 172011
 

As told by Dave Grohl! Isn’t he adorable? And so much sweeter when he’s not hopped up on caffeine.

Feb 152011
 

This is wonderful! Because the shutter speed is synchronized to some multiple of the wavelength of the bass strings (or something), this video shows the actual vibrating waves that the strings make when then are plucked.

That’s sound that you’re seeing right there — sound.

Best Grammy pairing was a tripling

 Posted by Grant Hamilton on 14 February 2011  Music
Feb 142011
 

Amy and I weren’t really watching the Grammy Awards, just sort of switching back and forth — but one of those flips paid off in spades when we happened to catch a fantastic triple-performance from Mumford & Sons, then the Avett Brothers, then Bob Dylan with both of them backing him.

Outstanding. Best Grammy moment of the evening — until the Arcade Fire randomly played a second song post-win.

Oh, you know what else impressed us? Keith Urban’s guitar chops, picking like a madman while playing “Jolene.” He blew John Mayer out of the water. Check the video below, and tell me if you agree it looks like Mayer is reading the lyrics off a prompt: