Posts Tagged ‘lily allen’

News Update!

May 12th, 2009 | By: Melody Lau

Both Tegan and Sara and Do Make Say Think have begun working on new albums. According to Chart, Tegan and Sara are currently in Los Angeles with Howard Redekopp and Death Cab For Cutie’s Chris Walla (who are co-producing the record), whereas Do Make Say Think frontman Charles Spearin is planning for the band’s new record to “be either four songs or one big song.” Exciting!

Billy Talent, on the other hand, have finished recording a new album and will be releasing III (obviously a follow-up to II) on July 14th. Here’s the tracklisting:

III
01 Devil On My Shoulder
02 Rusted From The Rain
03 Saint Veronika
04 Tears Into Wine
05 White Sparrows
06 Pocketful Of Dreams
07 The Dead Can’t Testify
08 Diamond On A Landmine
09 Turn Your Back
10 Sudden Movements
11 Definition Of Destiny

See them live at this year’s Edgefest on June 20th!

Neko Case returns to Toronto on July 14th at the significantly bigger Massey Hall. Tickets go from $29.50-40.50 and they go on sale (to the public) this Friday. This show is all-ages.

An updated list of bands have been posted up on NXNE’s site. Read here!

Jack White’s new band, The Dead Weather will be at the Kool Haus on July 22nd. Tickets also go on sale this Friday (not clear on prices yet) and it will be all-ages. Their debut album, Horehound, will be out on July 14th.

Caribou will be at the Opera House on September 10th as the Caribou Vibration Ensemble, which will consist of Kieran Hebden (Four Tet), Koushik, John Schmersal, Kathryn Bint, Ahmed Gallab, a four-piece horn section, a choir and four drummers.

Other show announcements:
The Walkmen, Cass McCombs @ Lee’s (July 24th, $16.50, 19+)
Michachu and the Shapes @ El Mocambo (July 14th, $12.00, 19+)
Frightened Rabbit @ Horseshoe (July 22nd, $13.50, 19+)
Moderat @ Circa (May 29th, 19+)
Team B, New Numbers @ Horseshoe (June 22nd, $8.00, 19+, *tickets at door only)

Congrats to Toronto’s Timber Timbre for signing onto Arts & Crafts Records! His recently released self-titled album will be re-released on A&C on June 30th, in Canada.

Lily Allen recently released a b-side from It’s Not Me, It’s You entitled “Why”. Click here to listen.

And last but not least, I would’ve killed Santa Claus for this.

Happy listening!

Musically,
Melody

  • Digg
  • Google Bookmarks
  • MySpace
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in News | No Comments »

News Update!

March 22nd, 2009 | By: Melody Lau

Woodhands

Woodhands

Eating, typing, drinking, typing, and eating again. That was my weekend, folks. Hopefully yours was more exciting than mine. As you can see, almost all of the Singing Lamb’s Canadian Music Week reviews are up and by the end of the night, photos should be up too. I apologize for the lack of updates on the blog front though. Most sites are busy covering SXSW but unfortunately Lambs have school and work to deal with. Fingers crossed for a Singing Lamb @ SXSW trip next year! For more coverage, I suggest you read some Chromewaves posts – a guaranteed place to read a good recap.

Back in Toronto though, we’ve got a fantastic show announcement! I’ve been dying to see Woodhands again since I had missed out on God knows how many shows during the summer. So I was ecstatic to hear when the Steam Whistle Unsigned Series announced that they will present Woodhands, The Carps, Famous Players and more at the Phoenix on Friday, April 17th! Tickets are $10.00 and the event will be 19+.

For India.Arie fans, the soulful songstress will be at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Friday, May 15th. Tickets are $49.50 and it is all-ages.

Onto music videos, Lily Allen and Neko Case both have new videos out. For Lily Allen’s “Not Fair”, go here and for Neko Case’s “People Got A Lot of Nerve”, go here! Both are incredibly fun and adorable in their unique way.

In Singing Lamb news…ta-da, we have Twitter now! Click here to read my daily rambling. After following me for a few days, you’ll eventually realize I’m not an interesting person, sorry.

Also, we’d like to announce a new member to the Lamb family, Stephanie Luong! She will join Jerry Vo, Matthew Braga and Max Mertens on the photography front (hell yes for a female photographer!). Watch out for her CMW photos this week! Welcome, Steph!

Happy listening!

Musically,
Melody

  • Digg
  • Google Bookmarks
  • MySpace
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in News | No Comments »

News Update Craziness!

February 18th, 2009 | By: Melody Lau

Peaches

Peaches

Sorry for disappearing yesterday! I was going to post a news update but ended up going to Darrelle London’s CD release party instead. Great artist; definitely worth checking out if you’re into Regina Spektor or just cutesy, piano driven melodies. Check out some tunes on her MySpace now!

Now to make up for yesterday, here’s a super-sized news update!

SHOWS ANNOUNCED:
The Dears @ Mod Club (April 30th, $20)
Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 @ Mod Club (April 16th, $20)
TV On The Radio @ Sound Academy (June 2nd)
Wavves @ Sneaky Dee’s (March 31st)
The Whip, Late of the Pier @ Kool Haus (April 10th)
Tricky, Natalie Stewart @ Mod Club (April 2nd, $29.50)
Bruce Peninsula @ Lee’s Palace (March 28th, $8.00)
The Prodigy @ Kool Haus (March 25th, $30-40?)
The Constantines, The Weakerthans, The Waking Eyes @ Phoenix *3rd Show Added* (April 2nd, $25)
Rye Rye @ Circa (February 27th)
Gravity Wave, Paul Banwatt @ The Boat (March 3rd)
Damien Jurado, Laura Gibson @ Drake Hotel (April 14th)

Great Bloomers, whose debut album Speak of Trouble will be out on April 21st, will join Sports (The Band)and Boys Who Say No at the Drake Hotel on February 26th as part of the venue’s 5th year anniversary. Doors will be at 8:00 pm and the event will be FREE.

Other shows that’ll be part of the Drake’s anniversary series will be Mike Simonetti, Mikey Apples and Steve Yanko (TOMORROW NIGHT), Bonjay and Young Flux (March 5th), and Lee Douglas and Jaques Renault (March 12th).

Also, opening for Ladytron and The Faint at the Phoenix on April 6th will be Telepathe and a FIGO DJ set.

Opening for Mates of State/The Black Kids at the Phoenix on April 10th will be Sunbears!

Planning on trekking to the Air Canada Centre for Kings of Leon? Well here’s more of an incentive – The Walkmen will be opening for them!

If you’re looking for a show tonight, The Peter Elkas band will be playing with Zeus and The Golden Dogs at the Dakota Tavern as part of “Gods Dogs and Fire Logs” Wednesdays at the venue. Doors are at 10:00 pm!

Wanna just sit at home instead? Well here’s some suggestions of what you can watch and/or listen to:

The big news of yesterday must be the release of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ new single, “Zero”. Stream it now on their MySpace! Exciting? I thought so!

Lily Allen was recently on Leno and performed her latest single, “The Fear”. Watch here!

Ra Ra Riot has a new video out for “Can You Tell”. Watch here!

Download and listen to the Air France remix of the Friendly Fires’ “Skeleton Boy” here!

The lovely Deradoorian (from the Dirty Projectors) have a new song out called “High Road”. Download and listen here!

The Decemberists also have a new one out called “The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won’t Wrestle The Thistles Undone)”. You can stream it on their MySpace!

If that’s not enough, Peaches has finally announced a new album entitled I Feel Cream, coming out on May 5th. That sentence sounded weird, didn’t it. Download new tracks from the album here!!!!

Also, here’s the tracklisting:

I Feel Cream:
01. Serpentine
02. Talk To Me
03. Lose You
04. More
05. Billionaire
06. I Feel Cream
07. Trick Or Treat
08. Show Stopper
09. Mommy Complex
10. Mud
11. Relax
12. Take You Out

I think that’ll be it for now!

Happy listening!!

Musically,
Melody

  • Digg
  • Google Bookmarks
  • MySpace
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in News | No Comments »

Singing Lamb Playlist (Vol. 3)

February 6th, 2009 | By: Melody Lau

Bishop Allen

Bishop Allen

My mp3 player feels like it’s been stuck in a rut lately. Not because I haven’t been listening to anyone new, but because I’ve been listening to everything on CBC Radio 3 and MySpace instead! So my only choice is to get some new music on it NOW! I’ll have to go out and do some quality CD shopping tomorrow, but for now I’m still cruising MySpace. Here’s what I’ve been busy listening to though!

1. Lily Allen – It’s Not Me, It’s You

I’ve always stuck by Lily Allen. I think she’s talented, wild and out-spoken – which I love. Her Brit-pop melodies are catchy and they’re feel good tunes to listen to when you need that jolt of energy on a grim day! On her new release, It’s Not Me, It’s You, she still maintains that cute, memorable pop sound, but is considerably matured. She’s still witty and packing loads of attitude, but it definitely sounds more refined. Personal favourites at the moment include “Fuck You” and “Not Fair”. Make sure to catch her when she comes in town on April 22 at the Phoenix!

2. Thunderheist – “Jerk It”

This Toronto electro-rap duo has been around for quite some time now but it wasn’t until recently that I grew an obsession with them thanks to the lovely folks at CBC Radio 3; particularly their hot single, “Jerk It”. Their hard-hitting beats and rhythms are danceable, fun, and seriously addictive. As an added bonus, the video for this single is also amazing. Watch here and jerk it, jerk it, dust it off and jerk it! Watch for them to also drop by the Phoenix on April 30 as the headliners for this year’s Exclaim Anniversary tour.

3. The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Sleep All Day” (Green Go Remix)

I haven’t stopped listening to Green Go since the Singing Lamb launch party, to be honest. But their upcoming remix album I’m hearing about is really getting me excited lately. With mixes of amazing bands such as The Rural Alberta Advantage, Woodhands, Gentleman Reg, Women, The D’Urbervilles and more, this is building up to sound like one of the best remix albums of the year (so far at least…it is February after all). Go to CBC Radio 3 now and look up Green Go’s profile under New Music Canada for their remix of the RAA’s “Sleep All Day”. What was originally a subdued, calm track driven by Paul Banwatt’s drumming is now an ambient, dark and danceable hit that also picks up on the original’s beat mixed with layers of synths and tambourines. I LOVE IT. Look for the Guelph beat makers this Saturday at Sneaky Dee’s for Whale Tooth’s EP release show, along with The Balconies.

4. Bishop Allen – Grrr…

With their new album, Grrr… coming out on March 10, the band recently released two new tracks online, including album opener “Dimmer” and “The Ancient Common Sense of Things”. From the sounds of these new songs, the band still possesses the indie-pop charm that first won their way into the hearts of anyone who heard “Click Click Click Click” on the TV somewhere or watched Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist. “Dimmer” seems to pick up perfectly from 2007′s The Broken String with it’s sweet sing-along melodies, joyful string arrangements and simplistic guitars. “The Ancient Common Sense of Things” also proves the same points. Definitely an album to look forward to next month!

Happy listening!

Musically,
Melody

  • Digg
  • Google Bookmarks
  • MySpace
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in News | No Comments »

News Update!

February 4th, 2009 | By: Melody Lau

Lily Allen

Lily Allen

I am a reality TV show junkie. Is that good or bad? Anyway, my big show of the night was Project Runway Canada. This show was unbelievable the first season; what the fuck happened?! None of the contestants seem to be as talented or memorable as the first season and it’s just a yawn-fest at the moment. Hopefully it’ll get better. But thanks to the gorgeous (and almost robotic) host, Iman for lovely quotes such as this winner, when referring to the cheap quality of a contestant’s dress – “No more hoe dresses, no more hoe trends!”

…AND END RANT.

Lots of concert news coming from Chromewaves today; exciting ones too! Here’s basically what you need to know:

Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains @ Horseshoe (March 6, $10.50)
Julie Doiron @ Horseshoe (March 26, $10)
Ohbijou (CD Release Show) @ Opera House (April 18, $13)
Travis @ Sound Academy (April 21, $34.50)
The Appleseed Cast @ Horseshoe (April 21, $10)
Lily Allen @ Phoenix (April 22, $27.50)
Franz Ferdinand @ Kool Haus (May 4, $30)

Um, heck yes to all of them. Although I’m finding it really hard to justify Franz Ferdinand and/or Lily Allen at the moment because of my recent purchase of Flight of the Conchords tickets – awesome or what! I couldn’t say no to them. They’re too…New Zealand-ish.

Anyway, while we’re on the topic of this month’s Spin cover girl, Lily Allen, you can stream her new album, It’s Not Me, It’s You on her MySpace now. Want more? Here’s a great clip of her performing her latest single, “The Fear” on Friday Night With Johnathan Ross.

In additional concert news…
The Kills, The Horrors and Magic Wands @ Phoenix (May 7th)
Steve Aoki, MSTRKRFT and Crookers @ Guvernment (April 9th)
Marissa Nadler and The Handsome Family @ El Mocambo (April 21st)
Hey Ocean! and Shad @ Mod Club (September 17th – according to last.fm)

The Juno nominees were announced today. You can read them here! Not bad with Plants and Animals, Chad Vangaalen, Fucked Up and Crystal Castles, but Nickleback and Hedley leading with the most nominations? Great Big Sea, Bryan Adams and Celine Dion? Come on for fuck’s sake, Feist won 5 last year! We have far more talented artists that could use that recognition; Nickleback does not need more people allegedly telling them that they’re good. What good would that do for us? For Canada? For humanity?? Our lovely writer, Christine will follow up on this with a blog post this week. Be prepared to hear more angry ranting.

Death Cab For Cutie have their own free, iPhone application. It’s practically the ultimate Ben Gibbard stalking tool. Now you can track him down and possess his heart. Fantastic…can I use it to track down Zooey Deschanel instead?

Pitchfork gives us a brief guide to musicians on Twitter. Like I said on Facebook the other day, I believe Twitter ruins lives and eats your cat when you’re not looking, but hey musicians take that risk and twitt away anyway.Read more here. (I personally love reading Lily Allen’s Twitter!)

According to Exclaim, the guys of Spinal Tap are reuniting! Best news of the night? I think so.

That’ll be all for now!

Happy listening!

Musically,
Melody

  • Digg
  • Google Bookmarks
  • MySpace
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in News | No Comments »