Tell me more, tell me more, Have you checked out this blog? Tell me more, tell me more, can I please pet your dog?!

Ok, my songwriting skills may be… Well, as great as ever. But alas! now is the summer of our content! And what goes great with summer? Music! and Mosquitos. But mostly music! So grab your boombox, and go chill down by the river listening to some sweet tunes, much like these first guys:

Samurai Guitarist and Jeff Gagne – Fresh Prince of Bel Air (Blues Cover)

Steve Onotera (aka Samurai Guitarist) is definitely one of the more talented and unique artists I’ve come across lately. I have trouble walking and farting at the same time, and somehow Mr. Samurai manages to play multiple instruments at the same time (and maybe even get in a syncopated fart or two)! Just check out this video Where he plays 4+ instruments at once. I highly recommend checking out his videos and subscribing to his YouTube page, he’s always working on new videos, usually into the late hours of the night.

For his latest video he’s teamed up with Jeff Gagne, one of my greatest friends, AND 1 of 2 people to leave a comment on my posts – which both merit some serious street cred. Speaking of street cred…

If there’s one place you can always depend on to be good for a laugh, it’s the “comments section” on mostly any webpage. When your popularity grows, you’re bound to get a larger mix of positive and negative feedback; my guess is when these guys made this video they probably didn’t expect to be recognized as the whitest kids on the internet, such as they were on this website (I’m gonna go out on a limb here and assume Samurai Guitarist isn’t even white. Who’s racist now! Oh jeez, I hope it’s not me). Pure internet gold.

The Arcs – Stay in My Corner

Overs the years the Black Keys have grown more and more into the huge commercial success they are today. So since they’re more popular and everybody knows about them, I don’t like them anymore (not really though, they’re still pretty great).

However, with they growing success comes certain restrictions and considerations such as less freedom with writing music. But with The Arcs, vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach’s new side project, he doesn’t have to consider these factors. He does however, have to consider that it’s not as cool a name as “Noah and the Arks”. [Read more about The Arcs on Rolling Stone to learn how it will be different from the Black Keys.]

The song I’ve featured, “Stay in My Corner” was inspired by the recent Mayweather/Pacquiao fight. Their debut album, Yours Dreamily, comes out September 4.

Walk the Moon – Lisa Baby

Much like Dan Auerbach, Walk the Moon come from Ohio, however, with a much different music style. WTM are an energetic, dance/electronic rock band (e.g. check one of their recent singles, Shut Up and Dance). The first I heard of them was in 2012 when I got hold of their self-titled album, Walk the Moon. Much like the rest of the music I post, you should check it out.

Lux Lisbon – Demons You Show

Since I’ve started this blog I’ve been promoting my posts on Twitter. Twitter is an interesting place where I’ve found the majority of tweeters (is that what they’re called?) want you to check out what they’ve got to offer (i.e. exactly what I’m trying to do), so they follow you in hopes that you follow them back. But once you’re following them, do they check out your goods or do they just move on and keep adding? I don’t know… Did you come to this page from my twitter page? What’s the name for a twitter page, a twat? WERE YOU LINKED TO THIS PAGE FROM MY TWAT?… Something tells me that probably won’t catch on. However, what I can tell you is that if you reach out to me, there’s a strong chance I will check out your goods.

Which brings me to this band: Lux Lisbon. They messaged me to check out their album a few times with a link to download their EP Get Some Scars for free (which you can find here). I gotta say, I’m glad I took them up on their offer because I really enjoyed what I listened to. The rock/pop/folk songs change between male and female vocals from Stuart Rook and Charlotte Austen. I’m excited to see what this band comes out with next, but for now, I suggest you click the link above and download the EP to listen to on the go. After all, it is free.

Hey Rosetta! – Cathedral Bells

Damn, Hey Rosetta!’s most recent album, Second Sight, is just too good to not keep sharing. This is a song that, unfortunately, they weren’t able to play at their last show here due to technical difficulties. However, Tim Baker did reveal that “Cathedral Bells” was inspired during a trip to Winnipeg. As proof, an interview from CanadianInterviews.com:

“There’s this moment that happened, just one of these poetic moments that happened. It was seven years ago maybe, six years ago, six or seven years ago, maybe eight years ago. We were in Winnipeg. I’m sleeping on the floor of a cold hallway. It was kind of early on. We all travelled with sleeping bags, so it was a few years ago now. I was sleeping next to our cellist at the time, who was Jesse Tesolin. She was just like that day, or maybe the day before, she was describing this moment when she heard cathedral bells ringing out, and it was this beautiful thing. It was a nice story, just about how great she felt, a great memory or something. So, I’m lying on the floor and she’s asleep, in Winnipeg, and all of a sudden this bell-tower starts going off – in the middle of the night! I don’t know what it was. It was in the winter, I think, because I was freezing. I remember freezing. I got out of my sleeping bag, just in my underwear or whatever, and went out onto the deck, and it was freezing cold but it was so beautiful sounding, ringing through the night. It was blocks and blocks away in the distance. It was just so beautiful, so strange that it was happening. I think it was midnight maybe. It’s just a joyous sound. I just remember that being really beautiful, and I feel like maybe something that can resonate with other people.”

Braids – Taste

Thanks to my lovely work schedule, Braids is another band I’ve recently missed seeing live. I can’t say that I’ve listened to a lot of their music, but this song makes me want to hear more. That, and Hey Rosetta!’s recent Instagram post about Braids. Their most recent album, Deep In the Iris, is receiving very positive reviews from pretty much all sources. From what I’ve read/heard, it’s a departure from their previous mellow/shoegazy sound.

Cœr De Pirate – Carry On

Let’s keep the Canadian music train going, eh? Beatrice Martin (aka Coeur De Pirate) is a francophone pop singer from Montreal, Quebec. The first I heard of her was in a side project called Armistice, a duo consisting of herself and Bedouin Soundclash singer Jay Malinowski. Unfortunately, they only released a 5-song EP, and then broke up (which is too bad because I enjoyed that EP.. I’ll share some of it with you soon). But back to the future; “Carry On” will most likely be off an upcoming album. If you want to hear her sing in her native language, check out “Oublie-Moi”, “Carry On”‘s french counterpart (Boy, does this take me back to the days of listening to Roch Voisine in Grade 7 french class).

Mew – Water Slides

Were you expecting a song from one of the most powerful pokemon (I don’t know if this is true anymore, I still live in a world where there are 151 pokemon. But they’ve gotta be running of out ideas, I mean… Look at this one. It is literally a pile of trash. But then again, in the first generation there was grimer and Muk who were piles of sludge. I still think they were better. What was I talking about? Oh yeah, music blog)? Well, maybe next time! For now, enjoy this song off of Danish band Mew’s latest album, + –. No, I didn’t just smash the keyboard, that’s the name of the album.

OK Go – Needing/Getting

I may have mentioned last week how great Ok Go’s music videos are. I watched this video with someone and had an argument about how I thought the audio in the video was actually everything they were hitting on this musical road, and they said there was no way. WELL LOOK WHO’S LAUGHING NOW! Not only is there the music video itself, which is yet another one of their masterpieces, but also a playlist consisting of the making of videos. You’ll see 60 old pianos where every key is tuned to one specific note, dozens upon dozens of Gretsch guitars lined up to play riffs, and more.

Did you enjoy these songs as much as you enjoy mosquito bites? Hopefully the opposite, otherwise I have to rethink what I’m doing here. Enjoy your week!

Youtube Playlist!



Spotify Playlist (with the original Ok Go – Needing/Getting version)