- Chvrches feat. Hayley Williams - Bury It
- Mitski - Happy
- Raine Maida - SOS
- Willa - Swan
- The Dirty Nil - Wrestle Yu to Husker Du
- Gang Signs - SW
- Demsky - Arctic Boogie
- Pendulum - Crush
- Madeon - Home
So this is it...thanks for all your support, wonderful listeners! I hope to continue the music explorations in Japan! ;)
Detailed commentary on the picks below - they're quite long so I might as well give you the audio links here:
A collaboration between one of my current favourite bands, and a singer from a band that I was into back in high school/early university years.
Fun fact: I used to be part of a band back in my high school years whose members were so obsessed with Paramore that they called their band Rainbow Riot, which I believe was named after Paramore’s second album Riot!. Solid album by the way, I had no problems with learning the bass parts for ‘That’s What You Get’ and singing a little bit.
Fun fact: I used to be part of a band back in my high school years whose members were so obsessed with Paramore that they called their band Rainbow Riot, which I believe was named after Paramore’s second album Riot!. Solid album by the way, I had no problems with learning the bass parts for ‘That’s What You Get’ and singing a little bit.
Mitski - Happy
Mitski Miyawaki actually has a fairly similar background to mine: born in Japan, and lived in several different countries such as DR Congo, Turkey, and China (to name a few) before moving for university studies in New York. Her music is what would be classified as ‘rock’ but a lot heavier than the stuff you hear on contemporary rock radio, but not quite metal or punk - it’s a lot more experimental in nature I think? I also like how dark some of the lyrics are on what I’ve heard on her newest album, Puberty 2 - sometimes I do like myself some dark twisted narratives in my songs.
Raine Maida - SOS
I believe that was one of my first tracks I played on the air, perhaps THE first? That or Neko Case’s ‘Man’ or Said the Whale’s ‘Mother’. I have a bit more history with Raine Maida though, since I used to be very much into Our Lady Peace, as well as the underrated solo debut The Hunter’s Lullaby. This is from the 2013 album We All Get Lighter, still more folk-oriented much like the solo works and less rock like his band Our Lady Peace.
Willa - Swan
I attended a songwriting workshop led by Mother Mother frontman Ryan Guldemond, and this was the song he was working on with indie-electropop singer-songwriter Willa. He actually used this as an example of 'how to write a song'...start with the most impactful sentence first that effectively sets the tone for the song. According to Guldemond, this is a feminist empowerment anthem...and as I've mentioned on the airwaves, reminds me a bit of the Mother Mother track 'The Sticks'.
The Dirty Nil - Wrestle Yu to Husker Du
The Dirty Nil - one of the opening acts in the first concert I reviewed for CJSF!! It was moved to the basement of the Electric Owl on Main St after the main act Single Mothers was cancelled due to tour vehicle issues. They’re a band from Dundas, ON, and this is one of their signature songs and a fan favourite from what I witnessed at the show.
Gang Signs - SW
This is one of the acts I got to catch recently at the Khatsahlano fest, and this was my favourite of the live show. They played the track right at the end, and they did an improvised synthesizer-based outro which sounded really cool!!
Demsky - Arctic Boogie
So one of my listeners for my old show sent me an EP to review! I’ve finally finished reviewing it - it’ll be up on my PulsarSounds blog. It’s a really cool jazz and trip hop influenced ambient record from a musician originally from Toronto but is now based in Tokyo. I hope to see him there?
Pendulum - Crush
Most recent addition to the playlist today since I’ve gotten into Pendulum’s stuff recently - really cool balance between drum and bass and electronic rock with a bit of an industrial influence. It’s the kind of stuff that really gets me going, and highly recommended for a workout session. Immersion has been on repeat for my recent bus and Skytrain rides.
During and especially after PulsarSounds I got into a brief rock phase, craving some heavier sounds, and I’m right now looking through some music with industrial influences such as Nine Inch Nails and Vancouver’s own Skinny Puppy. In other words, balancing or imitating the heavier rock sound primarily using synths and drum machines.
Madeon - Home
Well this is obvious why I chose this song. I’m going home! The lyrics also resonate with me, reflecting my thoughts on my impending move back to Japan.
