Look, we’re sorry about Snow. And Celine. And Avril. And we tried to stop Bieber. Really, we did! But the little man is like some indestructible combination of Godzilla and the Lucky Charms leprechaun. Oh, yeah, right, Nickleback. Ok, they were on purpose – it seemed funny at the time. However, that is no reason to assume Canada is a musical wasteland of soul-patches and mirrored sunglasses. There are good Canadian artists. There are, in fact, great Canadian artists. Better, there are many great Canadian artists. A veritable cornucopia of…alright, I’ll stop. But seriously: there’s lots.
indie rock
4 posts
Though they are not a household name, Fugazi and its frontman, Ian MacKaye, possess a near-mythological status among those within the indie community. Since their hiatus in 2003, Fugazi’s stature among music obsessives has continued to grow and the legend of their live shows has ensnared a new generation of fans. Now, thanks to a combination of technological advancements and a favorably hobbled music industry, Fugazi is primed for a promising second life.
Whew! Another year has passed and left an oily slick of music in its wake. Some of that music was good and some of it was lousy but on balance, 2011 was a pretty exciting year in the music industry. As expected, CDs continued their slow death march but to the delight of music nerds and audiophiles everywhere, vinyl sales grew. Spotify graced us with its benevolent presence, thereby saving thousands of cubicle dwellers from the tyranny of their coworkers’ Maroon 5 and Taylor Swift playlists. Napster, Spotify’s precursor, bit the dust (much to the delight of Lars Ulrich—more on him later) and iTunes’ creator passed away. Continue reading
With all the attention paid to Girl Talk lately, I feel like we should get to know another big name in the mashup game: The Hood Internet. The Hood Internet is made up two deejays from Chicago. (They actually released a mixtape of songs entirely by Chicago bands/rappers, which is pretty neat.) Their style is much different from Girl Talk’s, though. Whereas GT likes to skip from popular song to popular song, Hood Internet’s trademark is mixing indie rock and electro with hip-hop. And instead of quickly fading from one song to another, they tend to let the beat ride a bit more, which isn’t necessarily bad.
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