Wini’s Top Albums/Songs/Shows 2012

December 19, 2012 Written by Wini Lo No comments
Wini’s Top Albums/Songs/Shows 2012

2012 was a big year for me. I finally moved to Toronto, full-time – which meant I was finally a real adult with responsibilities and a mortgage! Um, yay? I also turned 30 this year… and I’m just going to leave that there.

Moving to Toronto meant attending lots of shows, which made me feel like a kid again, when music and attending shows were all that mattered. Music-wise, it was all about throwbacks and flashbacks for me – so many bands and musicians I loved in my younger years – Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann, Garbage, Ben GIbbard of Death Cab for Cutie, to name a few – returned with albums and tours. I can safely say that the highlight of my year – concert-wise – was seeing Ben Gibbard (who I’ve never seen before, solo or with Death Cab) doing a solo acoustic rendition of “Such Great Heights” and “Passenger Seat” on piano. Oh, and Fiona Apple (who I’ve also never seen before) singing “Paper Bag” (even though the show was at the Suck, er… Sound Academy).

I also discovered a couple cool new bands too. I guess Divine Fits qualifies as a new band (even though I’ve always been a big Spoon fan and a Wolf Parade fan, so it’s pretty much by default, right?). Father John Misty was probably my favourite new discovery of 2012. This was my first year attending NXNE, which allowed me to witness so many great bands and nervously interview Eternal Summers in their van!

So, for the part where I get sentimental – the best part of my year (aside from the things I already mentioned above) was joining The Singing Lamb team and writing on a regular basis again. I hope we keep doing it and I hope you keep reading. Now, how about some lists, yeah?

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Aviva’s Top Albums/Songs/Shows 2012

December 18, 2012 Written by Aviva Cohen No comments

*In No Particular Order

Top 10 Albums //

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Contest: Allen Stone

November 10, 2012 Written by Aviva Cohen No comments

Thanks to our pals at Live Nation we have a pair of tickets and CD to give-a-way for Allen Stone @ Opera House, November 14th.

“Critics have likened Allen Stone to Marvin GayeDonny Hathaway and Stevie Wonder, yet with his long, curly blond hair and oversize, thick-rimmed glasses, the self-described hippie from Washington state seems an unlikely candidate to be the next big thing in retro-soul music. He doesn’t even do many melismas – those gospel-derived syllable-splitting curlicues that are a staple of the style – but he sings like an angel, soaring effortlessly from urgent, richly rounded tenor tones into the stratosphere. The Seattle singer writes melody-rife tunes in the old-school tradition and surrounds himself with world-class R&B musicians, both on record and with his touring band.”
Read the full article here: http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/Allen-Stone-lost-religion-found-soul-3828623.php#ixzz2BrTn2QJj

 

To enter: Email your name and address to aviva@singinglamb.ca with “Unaware” in the subject line.

This is a 19+ show/Contest closes at midnight on November 13.

Contest: Pearl And The Beard

September 29, 2012 Written by Aviva Cohen No comments

We have two tickets to their show at The Great Hall on October 6th and an autographed album to give-a-way thanks to our good pals at Live Nation.

Some More on Pearl And The Beard:

Pearl and the Beard is three voices, one cello, one guitar, one glockenspiel, one melodica, several drums, ninety-six teeth, and one soul. Former strangers Jocelyn MackenzieEmily Hope Price and Jeremy Styles were united in the great city of New York. Each had migrated there from a far corner of the nation with naught but food in their pockets and money in their bellies. Each had the same true love. Since then, the three have nested, and their unique brand of brightly melodic song craft continues to blossom of its own accord.

The band’s genre-bending and expectation-defying sound has since burst the trio out of the confines of the New York music scene, allowing them to traipse the United States on a multitude of national tours and across the pond for a hugely successful inaugural UK tour in 2011. They’ve caught the attention of The Boston Globe, Filter Magazine, The Wall Street Journal and thousands of wildly dedicated fans both local and international. Their haunting music video for “The Lament of Coronado Brown” even made its debut on NPR’s acclaimed music site, All Songs Considered.

 Pearl and the Beard’s live show is like nothing you’ve ever experienced. The band captivates their audience from first note to last, leaving fans and press alike completely engrossed in the world they’ve created with their soaring and sensual songs. From subway platform to park to field to brightly lit venue stage, Pearl and the Beard take over whatever space they occupy, including the people occupying it with them, prompting The Wall Street Journal to comment “…as Pearl and the Beard joyfully belted… to a growing crowd on the [subway] platform… commuters missed their trains to stay and listen, unsure what was happening—only that it was a New York moment not to be missed.”

To Enter: Email aviva@singinglamb.ca with the subject line “Pearl and the beard” and your name / address in the body. Please note this is a 19+ event. Contest closes October 5 at midnight/witching hour.

 

Contest: Win tickets to Imagine Dragons

September 12, 2012 Written by Aviva Cohen No comments
Contest: Win tickets to Imagine Dragons

Win tickets to Imagine Dragons @ Opera House on September 17th from our pals at Live Nation.

To win tickets email aviva@singinglamb.ca with the phrase “Im having Night Visions” in the subject line.

Contest closes September 16 at midnight.

Watch This: Evening Hymns “Family Tree”

August 8, 2012 Written by Aviva Cohen No comments

Watch a new video from Evening Hymns from their forthcoming album, Spectral Dusk.
You can read more about the video at here.