Oh, January – you are that bland month where everything seems a little less exciting, winter feels like it will never end, and you start to falter on your resolutions. Here’s a resolution Mixtape can help you with: keeping up with the latest and greatest from the Canadian music scene.
Saskatoon folk rockers Gunner & Smith are getting ready to go on a Western Canadian tour supporting their first full-length album He Once Was a Good Man, which is set to drop on February 24. All 10 tracks were recorded in the band’s hometown of Saskatoon, with the Deep Dark Woods‘ Ryan Boldt in the producer’s chair. Their tour begins at the Folk Alliance International Conference in Kansas City, MI, and will take them as far west as Vancouver.
In last week’s Soundcheck we mentioned Mac DeMarco had a new album Salad Days coming out this spring. He has since shared the first single “Passing Out Pieces,” the track list and the release date of April Fools Day (April 1).
If power pop is more your style, than you should be excited for a new album from Toronto band, The Pinecones. Out February 11th through Reel Cod Records, the album Ohh! will feature a more focused sound, highlighting classic power pop more so than they have in the past.
Halifax quintet Kuato has released a video for “Groundwork,” the first single from their highly anticipated debut album The Great Upheaval. Coming out in the spring, the album is a string of post-rock songs inspired by the brutal 18th Century expulsion of the Acadians from Nova Scotia. Check out the video below:
Montreal band Thee Silver Mt. Lion Memorial Orchestra released Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything today via Constellation Records. (Fun game: Say the band name and album title ten times fast.) The band is closely associated with 2013 Polaris winners Godspeed You! Black Emperor as they have mutual members, including guitarist/vocalist Efrim Menuck, violinist Sophie Trudeau and bassist Thierry Amar. Expect to hear the album name pop up in Polaris discussions later in 2014.
In case you missed it, Canadian hip hop icon Drake hosted Saturday Night Live this past weekend. Huffington Post Canada has a roundup of the night including videos you can actually watch in Canada.
Turn up your speakers and take a trip back to the 1970s with the new video for “No Fans” by Shooting Guns off their latest record Brotherhood of the Ram.
Finally, Halifax singer-songwriter Thomas McCallum has put out a debut five-song release. Called Crocus Song, McCallum’s beautiful voice will soothe your sun-deprived heart and remind you spring’s not so far off.
Photo: Supplied/Matthew Smith