smooth and seductive canadians

I'd like to present you guys out in cyberspace with one of my absolute favourite duets of all time, by a great Canadian artist and a great Canadian group. Islands in The Stream by Feist and Constantines, who both belong to the Canadian "Indie" label Arts&Crafts, is a cover of Dolly Parton and Kenny Rodgers original, but they sound nothing alike. This remake is smooth and sexy, almost as if Feist and Bryan (Constantines) are sitting in bed talking to each other. If you like what you hear you can purchase the song as a single on iTunes, and it is also available on Feist's deluxe edition of The Reminder.

Click here to listen.

Springtime Playlist

Today it really felt like spring in Toronto, so I've made up a springtime playlist for all the readers out there. When I think of spring I think of bright colours, warm tones, happy feelings, bright sunshine, chances of melancholy rain, and a hope for summer strong in the air. These songs are a mix happy positive sounding songs and a couple less positive sounds, for those rainy days, that will bring in summer with a smile. Please enjoy.

1. Wake Up - The Arcade Fire
2. Too Too Too Fast - Ra Ra Riot
3. Hustle Rose - Metric
   
4. The Stars of Track and Field - Belle and Sebastian
   
5. Click Click Click Click - Bishop Allen
6. Diamonds in The Souls of Her Shoes - Paul Simon
   
7. New Soul - Yael Naim
8. A Children's Crusade on Acid - Margot And The Nuclear So and So's
   
9. Oxford Comma - Vampire Weekend
10. Come On! Feel the Illinoise! - Sufjan Stevens
11. Rain - Bishop Allen
    
12. The First Five Times - Stars
13. All The Things That Go To Make Heaven and Earth - The New Pornographers
    
14. That Time - Regina Spektor
15. Clark Gable - The Postal Service
16. Down To Earth - Peter Gabriel
17. Rainbowarriors - CocoRosie
    
18. A Duel Will Settle This - Mates of State
    
19. Holland, 1945 - Neutral Milk Hotel
20. If You Leave - Nada Surf
21. Humble Peasants - The Most Serene Republic
    
22. Poetaster - Miracle Fortress

listen up, listen up!

Metric has a new CD out, titled Fantasies, and the second single is way too infectious. Here's the video....

If you like what you hear you can preview the entire album here on their Myspace.

i have an amethyst amulet around my neck

... if you read my blog enough you probably know I adore Adam and The Amethysts, and have posted about this awesome band before. Well I'm doing it again. On Sunday night I saw Adam and his amethysts at Sneaky Dee's and it was amazing! I've seen Adam play numerous times sans the Amethysts but never with his backing band of Katherine Peacock and Nathan Ward. Needless to say it was the best performance I've seen by them. Their amazing psych-rock-indie-pop sound is infamously catchy and their heart-felt lyrics about my (and Adam's) hometown of Thunder Bay, Ontario, are very relate-able not only to Thunder Bay folk but small-town-at-heart people of every shape and size. They played many of the songs off their first c.d, Amethyst Amulet, as well as a couple new songs that are not on said disc. One that was particularly lovely included a lyrical snippet from the song "Everything's Alright" from JesusChrist Superstar, which made me rediculously excited due to the fact that I have a soft spot for musicals. Last but not least besides having the c.d. for purchase at the show there were also authentic amethyst amulets straight from Thunder Bay, and I obviously purchased one.
Anyways...

If you haven't given Adam and The Amethysts a listen, you can click here, and if you like what you hear, Amethyst Amulet is now available for purchase on iTunes, as well as at your local music store (most likely). Support local Canadian artists and give him a try!

sounds like happiness

I just heard this song on a Lays Chip commercial and had to share it with everyone on the interweb. It's called Sinking Drinking Thinking Feeling by Slow Club, and I think it's quite lovely and dreamy. Here's a video I found of them singing it acoustic, so cute! You should check them out on their myspace to get a better feel for them. I have a feeling I'm going to be hunting down their cd soon. Hope you guys like it, enjoy!

a cupcake review & a songs to listen to

The other day I was seriously craving cupcakes, which in case you didn't know, are my favourite sweet treat. After some intense google-ing I chose Life is Sweet bakery in the beaches area. Although I'm not a cupcake expert, I will say with confidence that these were the greatest cupcakes I've ever tasted and certainly some of the best cupcakes in Toronto. The cake was moist but not too dense, and the icing was deliciously fluffy and smooth, and not overly-sweet or fake tasting. Named on Blogto.com's Best Cupcakes of Toronto list, these cupcakes are sure to please. With a variety of flavors (vanilla, chocolate, chocolate mint, lemon, white chocolate, earl gray, coconut, and butterscotch) and great prices (a large cupcake costs about $2.50, while a box of six mini's is $6) everyone in the GTA should check out Life is Sweet. Because of that sweet sample box at a great price, Eric and I tried almost all the flavors (except for lemon) and I loved them all! My personal favourite was the chocolate mint but every single flavor was perfection.

Sweet treats deserve some sweet music, right?

Recommendation...

• Love Letter to Japan - The Bird and the Bee

Small Town Shows...

I was home for my reading week and went out to a great local show. It was a two-night event, though unfortunately I could only attend for one night. 'Deep Freeze '09' was a pretty good show over all. I appreciated the venue (Black Pirate's Pub), and in general there were a lot of good bands playing. My favourites being Forever Dead and The Auditor General. I've talked about The Auditor General before, but not Forever Dead.

photo by Shannon Lepere

Forever Dead is a great rockabilly band from Thunder Bay. Their music is great, but their live shows are even better. The energy the band gives off is contagious and makes the audience
dance and sing along with all of their songs. Lead singer, Chelsea Heart's voice is powerful and intriguing and her stage presence is rarely seen. When accompanied by Jessica Hochins, keyboardist and backup vocals, they create great harmonies. The band is comprised of George Gratz, stand up bass, Mark Viherkoski, guitar, and Taylor T, drums. They all come together to create upbeat, energetic songs that are sure to please.

To buy their CD, click here.

If you like Forever Dead you'll probably like:

• The Creepshow
• The Horrorpops

38 Love Songs & Bonus Suggestions

I know that Valentine's Day is long gone, but I made two playlists for my boyfriend for that special day and I like them so much I think I should share them with the world. Here are 38 love songs that I think will strike a chord with everyone's heart. Enjoy.

1. Challengers - The New Pornographers
2. I Was Made For You - She & Him
3. Maybe Lately - Miracle Fortress
4. Samson - Regina Spektor
5. In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
   
6. Glosoli - Sigur Ros
7. Such Great Hights - Iron & Wine
8. Sea of Love - Cat Power
9. The Luckiest - Ben Folds Five
10. Inside & Out (Apostle of Hustle Unmix) - Feist
11. I Will Follow You Into the Dark - Death Cab for Cutie
12. Always Love - Nada Surf
13. House of Gold - Andy Stochansky
14. Running - No Doubt
15. Better Together - Jack Johnson
16. Paperweight - Joshua Radin and Schuyler Fisk
17. Anyone Else But You - The Moldy Peaches
18. Love Song - Anberlin
19. Islands in the Stream - Feist and The Constantines
20. Made-Up Love Song #43 - The Guillemots
    
21. First Day of My Life - Bright Eyes
22. My Favourite Book - Stars
23. Staralfur - Sigur Ros
24. Cupid - Jack Johnson
25. Maps - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
26. To Be Alone With You - Sufjan Stevens
27. Ache for You - Ben Lee
28. Naked As We Came - Iron & Wine
29. Allons-y - The Auditor General
30. Fix You - Coldplay
31. Let Go - Frou Frou
32. I Know I Know I Know - Tegan and Sara
33. Blue Eyes - Cary Brothers **
34. She Loves You - The Beatles
35. Hands Down - Dashboard Confessional
36. Crash Into Me - Dave Matthews Band
37. Accidentally in Love - Counting Crows
38. Loveology - Regina Spektor

*** if your love does not have blue eyes, try...

• Green Eyes - Coldplay
• Brown Eyed Girl -Van Morrison
  

As for the two Sigur Ros songs, they may not be about love, but to me they sound like love. What songs sound like love to you?

Ode To La Blogotheque

La Blogothéque, a French website that features excellent music, is the topic of the week. I adore this website for posting many of my favourite artists, as videos of them performing live, often in Paris, France. Founded by Vincent Moon, the website came about when he decided he wanted to film music in a different way than what everyone was accustomed to. I believe he achieved exactly what he set out to do. The videos are innovative and the music is superbe.

Here are a couple different videos that have come from La Blogothéque.

I encourage everyone reading to check out the website or the youtube channel for La Blogothéque.

Hometown Heroes

When I'm in my hometown of Thunder Bay, I tend to go to local shows at least twice a week. Even though I tend to like one band a night, I really like supporting local bands. This summer, a new local band emerged and lets just say they blow my mind. They are Vega, genre unknown, because to classify them is quite the task. The group's background is so diverse, coming from hardcore, rockabilly, and metal, yet interests in so much more than that. Their songs are uber-catchy and have me singing for days, and they appeal to such a wide audience. Their musical influences spawn from a wide variety of bands, such as Circa Survive, Thursday, Moneen, Choke, and Killswitch Engage, which can be heard in their songs. Vega will surely please a wide variety of music-lovers.

"I think we have the ability to reach a broad audience because we blend so many genres together. The music fits the lyrics well, so it allows us to write easily, yet from the heart."
- Jessica Hochins, vocals

"Writing this music has been an outlet for me to express a much softer side of myself. When I write for Vega, I find it important to capture a feeling. Through Vega, I have been able to express certain parts of my life musically, as well as progress as a songwriter: playing with layer, guitar interplay and textures. "
- Shawn Hartviksen, guitarist

Click HERE to check out their sweet sound.

** photo taken by me, Vanessa Vaillant

loveology 101

Here's a lesson in love, brought to you by the lovely and talented Regina Spektor.

Oh, an incurable humanist you are.


Let's go to the movies,
I will hum you a song about nothing at all


Let's go to the movies, Let's go to the movies,
Nothing at all, Nothing at all, Nothing at all, Nothing at all.

Oh, An incurable humanist you are.


Let's go to the movies,
I will hum you a song about nothing at all

Let's go to the movies,
I will sing you a song about nothing at all

Let's go to the movies, Let's go to the movies,
Nothing at all, Nothing at all, Nothing at all, Nothing at all.

Sit down class, open up your textbooks to page 42.

Porcupine-ology, antler-ology, car-ology, bus-ology, train-ology, plane-ology, mama-ology, papa-ology,you-ology, me-ology, love-ology, kiss-ology, stay-ology, please-ology.

Let's study class, let's study class. Sit down.

Love-ology, love-ology, I'm sorry-ology, forgive me-ology, love-ology, love-ology, I'm sorry-ology, forgive me-ology, love-ology, Love-ology.

Let's study class, let's study class.

Love-ology. Let's study class, sit down.

Love-ology, love-ology, I'm sorry-ology, forgive me-ology, love-ology, love-ology. I'm sorry-ology, forgive me-ology, love-ology, Love-ology.

Love-ology

Oh, an incurable humanist you are
Oh, forgive me, Oh, forgive me, Oh.
Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me-ology

LOVEmusic

I've been compiling a list of love songs for Valentine's Day (Yes, I'm playing for the love team this year) and wanted to share some of my favourites with everyone out there.


First Day Of My Life - Bright Eyes
Sea of Love - Cat Power
Maybe Lately - Miracle Fortress
I Will Follow You Into The Dark - Death Cab for Cutie
The Luckiest - Ben Folds
Anyone Else But You - The Moldy Peaches

... I have a list of 40, but here are 6 that are rather exceptional in my eyes.

I'm also wondering, what are your favourite love songs?

I love LUSH

LUSH love - by veesquared on Polyvore.com

...and I'm not talking girl's who need a small amount of alcohol to have a good time. Lush, the natural, vegetarian (and over 70% vegan), cosmetic company that first came out of Poole, England, has been my hair & skin saviour for a couple years now. From their environmentally friendly products and packaging to their innovative products, Lush has something for everyone. While having shops all over the world, they also have a great website that offers interesting facts about all the products that go into their products, as well as a retro product line that brings old products back to buy for a limited time. Lush uses the most fresh and organic ingredients to get their products as good as they are. People often think the stores smell, and therefore must contain chemically perfumed products, but the fact-of-the-matter is, LUSH smells (so delicious) because they use minimal packaging and fresh, often cold-pressed and rare, essential oils. If you're an avid fan like me, or never have tried the products before, I suggest checking out the website, or your local store.

Suggested Items...

• Too Drunk to F@#K Emotibomb - good for hangovers or colds
• American Cream Conditioner - light weight yet super moisturizing, amazing smell
  
• Strawberry Feels Forever Massage Bar - solid massage oil, limited edition!
• Seanick Solid Shampoo - equal to 750mL of liquid shampoo, great smell, and gives awesome amounts of volume
  
• Spice Curls Soap -can be cut to whatever size you want in-store, and is made of real ground spices
  
• Think Pink Bathbomb - super-girly pink bath bomb that smells like vanilla and tonka bean
  
• Floating Island Bath Melt - great for winter baths, it moisturizes as you batheSilky
  
• Underwear Dusting Powder - contains cocobutter to moisturize and smells very old hollywood glam, with jasmine and vertivert
  

Things I'm Craving....

Winter Cravings - by veesquared on Polyvore.com

I created this collage of clothing and accessories that I'm really craving right now. If you are interested you can click to see everything bigger, and individually. You can also find out where to get the items. My favourites are hands down the dress, the scarf, and the peacock bracelet, which are all from Mod Cloth.

i love your neck tattoos.

Dallas Green and Leah Miller secretly got married on New Years Eve.

I'm not really a fan of this couple, mostly because I think Dallas should be mine, but Leah inspired him to write some pretty cute songs. My personal favourite being The Girl off of his cd, Bring Me Your Love. I can't really explain why it's so cute, it just is. You can really tell how much he loves her by the lyrics.

Oscar Nominees....

The Oscar nominees were released, what do you think?

I have not seen all of the best pictures yet, I've been wanting to see Milk since I heard about it so that will be the next one, then The Reader, and lastly Frost/Nixon. Out of the two I've seen so far I liked Slumdog Millionaire and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button about the same amount (ok, if I had to pick, Slumdog) so we shall see...

BEST PICTURE
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"Frost/Nixon"
"Milk
"The Reader"
"Slumdog Millionaire"

BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married"
Angelina Jolie, "Changeling"
Melissa Leo, "Frozen River"
Meryl Streep, "Doubt"
Kate Winslet, "The Reader"

BEST ACTOR
Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon"
Sean Penn, "Milk"
Brad Pitt, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler"
Richard Jenkins, "The Visitor"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, "Doubt"
Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Viola Davis, "Doubt"
Taraji P. Henson, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Marisa Tomei, "The Wrestler"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin, "Milk"
Robert Downey Jr., "Tropic Thunder"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Doubt"
Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight"
Michael Shannon, "Revolutionary Road"

BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire"
Stephen Daldry, "The Reader"
David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Ron Howard, "Frost/Nixon"
Gus Van Sant, "Milk"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Dustin Lance Black, "Milk"
Courtney Hunt, "Frozen River"
Mike Leigh, "Happy-Go-Lucky"
Marttin McDonagh, "In Bruges"
Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, "WALL-E"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy, "Slumdog Millionaire"
David Hare, "The Reader"
Peter Morgan, "Frost/Nixon"
John Patrick Shanley, "Doubt"
Eric Roth, Robin Swicord, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"The Baader-Meinhof Complex" (Germany)
"The Class" (France)
"Departures" (Japan)
"Revanche" (Austria)
"Waltz with Bashir" (Israel)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
"Bolt"
"Kung Fu Panda"
"Wall-E"

BEST ART DIRECTION
"Changeling"
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button"
"Dark Knight"
"The Duchess"
"Revolutionary Road"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
"Changeling" Tom Stern
"Slumdog Millionaire," Anthony Dod Mantle
"The Reader," Chris Menges
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button," Claudio Miranda
"The Dark Knight," Wally Pfister,

BEST FILM EDITING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall
"The Dark Knight," Lee Smith
"Frost/Nixon," Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill
"Milk," Elliot Graham
"Slumdog Millionaire," Chris Dickens

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
"Australia," Catherine Martin
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button," Jacqueline West
"The Duchess," Michael O'Conner
"Milk", Danny Glicker
"Revolutionary Road," Albert Wolsky

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)"
"Encounters at the End of the World"
"The Garden"
"Man on Wire"
"Trouble the Water"

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

"Slumdog Millionaire," "Jai Ho," A.R. Rahman
"Slumdog Millionaire," "O Saya," A.R. Rahman & M.I.A.
"Wall-E," "Down To Earth," Peter Gabriel & Thomas Newman

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button," Alexandre Desplat
"Defiance," James Newton Howard
"Milk," Danny Elfman
"Slumdog Millionaire," A.R. Rahman
"WALL-E," Thomas Newman

BEST MAKEUP
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Colleen Callaghan, Fionagh Cush
"The Dark Knight," Peter Robb-King, John Caglione Jr.
"Hellboy II: The Golden Army," Mike Elizalde, Thom Floutz

BEST SOUND EDITING
"The Dark Knight," Richard King
"Iron Man," Frank Eulner, Christopher Boyes
"Slumdog Millionaire," Tom Sayers
"Wall-E," Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood
"Wanted," Wylie Stateman

BEST SOUND MIXING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Mark Weingarten, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce
"The Dark Knight," Ed Novick, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo
"Slumdog Millionaire," Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
"Wall-E," Ben Burtt, Tom Myers, Michael Semanick
"Wanted," Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Eric Barba
"The Dark Knight," Chris Corbould, Nick Davis, Paul Franklin, Tim Webber
"Iron Man," John Nelson

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)"
"Manon on the Asphalt"
"New Boy"
"The Pig"
"Spielzeugland (Toyland)"

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
"La Maison en Petits Cubes"
"Lavatory - Lovestory"
"Oktapodi"
"Presto"
"This Way Up"

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
"The Conscience of Nhem En" "The Final Inch" "Smile Pinki" "The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306"

Rumour Has It...

That Zooey Deschanel (actress and singer for She & Him) and Ben Gibbard (lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie) are engaged. This makes me smile and I believe they certainly make beautiful music together.

Here's a She & Him video for Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?



and a video for Death Cab for Cutie's Sound of Settling


If you like the sound of She & Him, you may like the sounds of Jenny Lewis and Rilo Kiley.
If you like the sound of Death Cab for Cutie, you may like the sounds of The Postal Service, Dntel, The Shins, and The Decemberists

dreaming of summer time (or even spring)

It's no secret that winter is my least favourite season, and in specific, January is my least favourite month. Why? January is the coldest month, ever! I actually love December, the previous month, because of the fresh powdery snow and seasonal bliss, but as soon as it passes, in comes January with it's ice cold winds and ice pellet snow flakes. Today I'm dreaming of a warmer time, lets say May or June, or even July, where the sun warms my back and I don't have to wear layer upon layer of clothing.



Here's my 'Dreaming of Summer' playlist:

Australia - The Shins
7/4 Shoreline - Broken Social Scene
Jogging Gorgeous Summer - Islands
Summersong - The Decemberists
Beach Baby - Miracle Fortress
Soul Meets Body - Death Cab for Cutie
Glósóli - Sigur Rós
Here Comes The Sun - The Beatles
English House - Fleet Foxes
Reach for the Sun - Polyphonic Spree
Bumble Bee - Adam and the Amethysts
Windsurfing Nation - Broken Social Scene
Dirty Reggae - The Aggrolites
Keep the Car Running - Arcade Fire
Boy with a Coin - Iron & Wine

music to my ears (as per usual)

Exciting new music to share with everyone!!

The Auditor General

I'm reccomending to everyone today, The Auditor General, because they have some of the best music I've heard in a really long time. Every single one of their songs has blown my mind, and I hope they blow yours too. I can say, almost for certain, that if you are a fan of Ben Gibbard's voice (frontman of Death Cab for Cutie) The Auditor General will please you. Their heart-felt lyrics will make you smile and think of the happy times. From Thunder Bay, Ontario, they are kind of segregated from most major cities, so they don't have a lot of touring lined up so far, but will be in Calgery in March. Unfortunately right now I'm at a loss-for-words on how to describe these great guys from my home town, but all I can say is that they have warmed this cold Toronto day for me. Please check them out!

Recommendations...
Allons-y
The Ballad of Ron Mexico
The Possesed The Devil
Glen Gould Was Right
but really, i recommend everything.

SNOW!

It's snowing here like mad crazy. Here's the view from my room...





& because I felt that that was not good enough, here is a short video. I apologize for the Katy Perry playing in the background, damn MuchMoreMusic!

Living in this big city I often feel like this - I never use to feel like this.

the clanking of crystal, explosions off in the distance