Kyle’s Six Pix - Special Edition
Sep 30, 2008 Black Mountain, Caribou, Holy F***, Plants and Animals, Stars, The Weakerthans
The Polaris Prize Edition
So last night the prestigious Polaris Prize (all $20,000 of it) was awarded to Caribou. As I looked at the list of nominees, I noticed that Six of them had been featured on the Six Pix. Conincidence? I decided to recap them in order of who I thought was most deserving. I have to admit, based solely on the buzz I hear from fellow music geeks, I thought that Stars were going to win. I’m happy with Caribou, but I was secretly hoping that Holy Fuck would take the big money.
6. Black Mountain – “Wucan”, This is a live version from Brooklyn, recorded last February.
5. The Weakerthans – “Civil Twilight”, This is a live version from the South By Southwest festival a couple of weeks ago.
4. Stars – “You’re Ex-Lover Is Dead”, This is actually one of my favourite pop songs. This version is from this past summer at Coachella.
3. Plants And Animals – “Bye Bye Bye”, Give these guys a while and I think they will be just as popular as Arcade Fire or Stars. Havers likes them enough to get up at 7 am to see them. Usually he only gets out of bed for Pop Tarts.
2. Caribou – “Irene”, Not an official music video, but the song has been set to footage of Canadian wildlife. It’s very “Hinterland”. Congratulations on the win, artist formerly known as Manitoba.
1. Holy Fuck! – “Frenchy’s”, If you are a Maritimer, you should know the second hand clothing empire that this song is named after. I bought a pair of jeans there once for three dollars and found a twenty dollar bill in the pocket. Score!
[?]
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: Kyle's Six Pix, Music, video
Kyle’s Six Pix Vol. 32
Aug 2, 2008 Blonde Redhead, Health, Holy F***, Hylozoists, Ungdomskulen, of Montreal
Originally posted on Cuzoogle on March 27, 2008
You Have No New Messages Edition
6. Ungdomskulen, This Norwegian weirdness just set off my spell checker. Their name means “junior high”. I’m not an epileptic, but this video made me almost swallow my tongue.
5. Health, These guys are playing a dance club in the entertainment district of Toronto, this Friday. Some promoter really dropped the ball here. I really dig this band. Sorry about how the track cuts out, but I think this song went on for 3 days.
4. Holy F***, These boys’ parents must be really proud of the band name. This track takes about 10 seconds to load up, please be patient, it’s totally worth it. Where we’re going, we don’t need vocals…
3. Blonde Redhead, These guys remind me of vintage Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine. They make great “soundtrack” music. This video is very trippy; I swear I’m not pulling a Farah Fawcett.
2. Hylozoists, This is a bit of a plug, but a worthy one. I used to hang out with Paul Aucoin (the lead genius in this collective) back in the day in Halifax. They were just featured on CBC radio and they played a brilliant live set. They don’t tour enough in my opinion.
1. Of Montreal with a contest winner, This band and this track have been on the Pix before, but not like this. This is basically ultimate karaoke; apparently the singer won a contest to sing with Of Montreal backing him up. He does ok for a novice, but the crowd and the band seem to really get into it.
[?]
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: Kyle's Six Pix, Music, video
Kyle’s Six Pix Vol. 14
Aug 2, 2008 Buck 65, Emm Gryner, Holy F***, In-Flight Safety, Ted Leo, The Futureheads, The Insect Guide, Wilco
Originally posted on Cuzoogle on Nov. 15, 2007
Taking Requests Edition
6. In-Flight Safety, A guy I work with turned me to these guys. They (and he) are from Halifax. Someone commented last week that I should check out some East Coast music and these guys were the first to come to mind. Anyone know what high school this video is filmed in?
5. The Futureheads, These guys are like The Jam meets Fugazi. Straight up rockers who were recently dropped from their label. In my experience, that’s when you do your most creative work.
4. Wilco, I have always been a Wilco fan and their newest album just didn’t get the props it deserved. It’s the best “Hits of the 70’s” jam album I’ve heard in a long time. This track makes me feel like Matthew McConaughey is going to jump out of a moving Camaro with some bongos and rush the stage.
3. The Insect Guide, I found this band by accident. I’ve been hearing rumours of a My Bloody Valentine reunion and album and a UK fan site (where geeks like myself chat about bands we never got to see live) recommended this band. Haunting lyrics and really spacey sounds, but as far as the video goes…maybe they should stick to appearing on the radio.
2. Emm Gryner, Buck 65 and Holy F***!, This was a pleasant surprise. They had me at the Theremin. Emm’s voice is amazing and the percussion is pretty good. I would have liked to hear Buck 65 do a verse though.
1.Ted Leo, He’s made it into the Pix before, but he has been touring and recording like a mad man lately. Every time I turn around I’m hearing something amazing by him and his Pharmacists. Here is his newest single live and a link to the new video.
[?]
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: Kyle's Six Pix, Music, video
