Allan\'s World Music A music blog with mainly indepedent artists. Site allows sampling of various songs from many different artists everyday. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 784 0 23 2702

Articles from Allan\'s World Music

Drowning Girl - Bang! 2007-12-30 17:39:24 Drowning Girl is a band out of Toronto fronted by 19-year old Hill Kourkoutis, and band members Dave Paoli and Jesse Porter. Drowning Girl has been playing some shows at Tattoo and plan to start touring across Canada. Bang! was released in 2006 without much hype however they did win the grand prize of the Canadian Radio Star National Songwriting Competition for 2007 for the song Dead or Alive. This award arguably doesn’t impress me at all as I hate radio and probably gave me the wrong impression on what this type of band would be. If you’ve followed this blog long enough, I love female fronted bands and you could say I get suckered into it pretty easily. Anyway the more I look into the things that Hill Kourkoutis does, the more impressed I become. Basically all songs on “Bang!” are written AND produced by her. She has done some acting, plays a wide range of instruments and has directed a video for Tara Slone (of Joydrop). She’s born in ‘88 like me ye ...

Allan’s Top Songs of 07 #50-26 2007-12-28 17:00:57 I actually quite enjoyed picking out the top songs of 2007. There were many tracks from albums I loved and other singles that stood out in a lackluster album. Most of these tracks I have posted before (I’ll link to the post if you wish to dig hard enough to download them) and are mainly bands I am familiar with. Generally, I blogged about the band if they appeared in the top 50. There are some tracks I haven’t posted yet so you’ll be able to download them here (I think it looks bad if I have every mp3 listed available for download). I linked to the post where the other mp3s are available. I did hate uploading tracks though and the linking stuff (takes forever). I also had to re-upload some tracks after annoying my friend Jack with bandwidth usage. Look out for the rest tomorrow. 50. A Girl in Port by Okkervil River 49. Shirin by Jens Lekman (link) 48. I Know I’ll See You by A Place To Bury Strangers (link) 47. For Science Fiction by Maritime (link) 46. Freak Out by ...

We The Kings – Self Titled Debut 2007-12-25 11:00:03 We The Kings is a pop punk band from Bradenton, Florida as their track ‘This Is Our Town’ suggests. In a genre that has blown up in the past decade, a band has to have something special in order to thrive, and We The Kings definitely has something about them. Perhaps staying indie has been their greatest asset, but the chorus lines, riffs, and overall production has shown me something bands on the radio have not, a simple honest song (That’s a Gordon Ramsey reference btw). We The Kings are amazingly catchy, and there are several reasons for this. The vocals aren’t high pitched or nasally, nor are they low, sounding little less than just regular speech. Instead We The Kings opted for a normal voice with good vocal talents, always staying in a range that’s appropriate and comfortable for the songs. The guitar riffs are kept simple, neither over the top or lacking, it fits perfectly for their sound. It’s the lyrics that really drive most of the songs, especially the chorus lin ...

Paul Oakenfold: Greatest Hits & Remixes Review 2007-12-23 17:00:28 Paul Oakenfold is arguably one of the most well-known trance DJ worldwide. His latest CD, Oakenfold: Greatest Hits & Remixes, contains a blend of his own original dance tunes along with his remixes of many other popular hits. Although I’m not too acquainted with this type of music, I enjoyed the album as it contained remixes of many songs that I like. Of the 20 songs on the album, there were only 6 songs that were originally his. I heard ‘Starry Eyed Surprise’ before. I found it cheesy and didn’t like it very much. Planet Rock was no better, I hated the lyrics and the low voice made parts of the song sound like 90’s Run-DMC raps. ‘Faster Kill Pussycat’ was just meh. Apparently a lot of people like that song but I don’t really know what all the hype is about. His songs that I really liked are ‘Southern Sun’, ‘Dread Rock’ (from Matrix Revolution), and ‘Ready Steady Go’. The beginning for ‘Ready Steady Go&r ... Amp

Broadcast 2000: Building Blocks EP 2007-12-19 14:16:43 Joe Steer the multi-instrumentalist out of London, England and the artist behind Broadcast 2000 recently stumbled across our blog offering to let us check out his “Build Blocks” EP early which is due out on January 1. Upon listening to songs on his myspace, I knew I definitely had to get a copy of his EP. Broadcast 2000 is entirely produced, composed (lyrically and musically) in Steer’s bedroom where he has a mix of the cello, doublebass, guitar, ukulele, glockenspiel, banjo, and makeshift percussions. He either plays with a backing band or may play with looping tracks (like Andrew Bird). He definitely is very talented and with currently 3000 myspace views you can tell he’s just starting out. Both Kevin and I really dug his work. Kevin described it as soothing and relaxing (really surprising considering Kevin’s general tastes). I personally describe it as what I wish Beirut was, more simple rather then complex with less layers. Steer’s great vocals a ...

My Favorite Highway Review 2007-12-16 22:41:19 My Favorite Highway is a pop-punk/alternative band from Fairfax, Virginia. These guys currently have 2 EPs and are working on a full length album to be released in 2008. My Favorite Highway really impressed me for being a relatively new band that doesn’t have a whole lot of material. But judging from the songs that they have released, I’m really excited to hear the kind of music they’ll be releasing in 2008. My Favorite Highway is pumping out very mainstream-lined songs, and it’s a wonder as to why they are not signed. However, unlike most mainstream sounds, MFH has retained the true soul and fulfilling aspects of a great pop-rock song. Every song is well composed, driven by great vocals, catchy riffs, and a generally upbeat backbone. I’m obsessed with bands that use pianos, and coincidentally MFH utilises pianos and keyboards in a lot of their songs. What really impresses me about MFH is the diversity in their music. Although they can be classified in a single genre, their ...

Album Reviews I Messed Up On in 2007 2007-12-11 15:35:01 When looking at reviews made in the past, don’t you ever say “this publication really missed the boat on that album”. Anyway when compiling and looking at the grades I gave for reviews this past year, I think it was apparent I fucked messed up on some reviews. I’m going through all the reviews I made so far and categorizing as too high or too low. I’m hoping I won’t have as much mistakes for 2008 but you never know sometimes. Some albums are growers and some albums that you thought were great don’t have that lasting effect that made you think the album was great in the first place. We all make mistakes but it’s really about admitting them! Albums I was too nice on: Hot Hot Heat - Happiness Ltd. Original Rating: 4 out of 5 I must say I am not proud at all with giving this score…granted Happiness Ltd. was a decent album but it definitely wasn’t trash like some people are saying. I think I started getting tougher on albums right ...

Rogue Wave: Asleep At Heaven’s Gate Review 2007-12-10 20:58:13 I heard about Rogue Wave when I heard the addictive yet depressing song “Eyes” on the tv show Heroes. This song seemed good enough for me to check out more songs by them and led me to taking a look of “Asleep At Heaven’s Gate”. A few metacritic users commented that this album really sucked and what do I think? Just keep reading. This is one of those albums that I kept pushing back and back not willing to review it until now. When usually pushing an album review back it’s not good… Anyway Rogue Wave is band out of Oakland, California. Apparently previous releases “Out of the Shadow” and “Descended Like Vultures” were very solid if not pretty good. I really grew tired of this album rather quickly. This album really was hard to listen and it doesn’t get any better when you give it time. Right now I believe there was only one worthy song and it’s Lake Michigan which is a good song with how it’s sung (not ...

Win An Autographed Paul Oakenfold CD! 2007-12-05 11:38:58 Paul Oakenfold is a famous DJ and arguably world recognized at least by name. Anyway Paul Oakenfold released his Greatest Hits & Remixes on October 23rd. Tracks on this include some of his recognizable hits like Ready Set Go, Starry Eye Surprise (featuring the lead singer of Crazy Town) and remixes of popular bands including Radiohead, Massive Attack, The Smashing Pumpkins and U2. You can sample the album here. You can listen to an exclusive track “Southern Sun” (Real Player only) found on the CD. From the title you are probably here to win a signed copy of “Greatest Hits & Remixes”. It’s a drawing. To enter it’s easy: 1) Leave a comment with you’re name and at least a valid e-mail. 2) To receive a 2nd entry, you can subscribe to my feed by e-mail and leaving a comment. Winner will be selected and e-mailed on December 11th where I will ask for your address and then the CD will be sent out to you. Here are some tracks by Paul Oakenfo ...

Everybody Else - Self titled Review 2007-12-03 16:46:31 Everybody Else was recommended to me by a friend (if you’re wondering - by a girl as that seems as if most of their fanbase are chicks). I originally listened to “Rich Girls, Poor Girls” which was alright but not spectacular. But me being me decided to check out their myspace and found their whole album being streamed. It surprised me how good their stuff was. FYI, Everybody Else is named after The Kinks (arguably one of my favorite older bands) B-side and they just do a great job of making some addictive pop rock songs. Out of Los Angeles, California their myspace profile has an impressive but 330,000 profile views BUT to me they are almost unheard of with very little blogs talking about them and not even a wikipedia article. Getting this album proved more difficult as I wished to review this album while providing some mp3s. I couldn’t use Itunes because it was a US-only store and Canadian can’t use PayPal. The Militia Group’s (not deserving of a li ...

Maritime - Heresy and the Hotel Choir Review 2007-12-01 16:19:44 Maritime is a band out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin that I accidentally heard about. I ended up hearing just one song and it was enough to convince me to buy the album. That song was “For Science Fiction”, I bookmarked the wikipedia entry for their band just promising I’d check out after hearing their song on The Hype Machine’s radio. I eventually forgot about Maritime and when going through my bookmarks I totally forgot why I would bookmark them. I put “For Science Fiction” back onto my media player and I just went on the label’s website to order the album. Anyway Maritime was formed from bands that broke up namely The Promise Ring and The Dismemberment Plan. I never really listened to them before and like all new music I find, it’s random but I just dig deeper to find more stuff I like. Maritime is considered a pop rock band but to me they have elements of punk sound that has me disagreeing with the label of “pop”. Heresy and t ...

Kate Nash - Made of Bricks 2007-11-28 10:24:54 I was first introduced to Kate Nash while searching for various covers. I stumbled across her covers of Fluorescent Adolescent (Arctic Monkeys) and I’m Not Going To Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You (Black Kids). She has a unique voice and slowly won me over with these covers (I think her rendition of INGTTYBHTDWY is much better then the original). Kate Nash lists one of my favorite artists, Regina Spektor as an influence though most call her a bit of a mix between Lily Allen and Spektor, a comparison I would’ve gone with without reading anything. Kate Nash is a 20-year old British hottie, and I’d very much like to marry her (anyone wanna introduce her to me? haha). Anyway from listening to her stuff she definitely is a very talent songwriter with a great voice. Not as quite as good as Regina but I don’t think many can compare. Nash is compared to Allen because she sings with the usually curse word, kind of the bad ass attitude shown by Allen. To me Kat ...

Grey Cup - Indie Music Mix 2007-11-25 12:22:17 The Grey Cup is on today. For you Americans who probably have no idea what I’m talking about, it’s basically the CFL’s superbowl. If you have never seen Canadian football I’d strongly recommend it as it’s a fun game to watch with much better rules (though it is 3-down football). Today’s game is between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Anyway to honor a Canadian tradition, here’s are some songs dedicated to tonight’s game from my play list. Enjoy! 1. Champagne From A Paper Cup by Death Cab For Cutie. 2. A Sunday Smile by Beirut 3. Green Gloves by the National 4. Rough Hands by Alexisonfire 5. Bunny Ain’t No Kind of Rider by Of Montreal(3 songs for the Riders, their colors are green fyi) 6. Bomb Inside the Bomb by We Are Scientists 7. True Blue by the Bright Eyes 8. Gold Mine Gutted by the Bright eyes (for the Blue & Gold - Blue Bombers) 9. Bundle Up by Arrah & The Ferns (though it’s indoors th ...

IllScarlett, Sebastien Grainger and The Stills: Photos and Thoughts 2007-11-25 08:13:47 Friday was a very cold day. Walking around between concerts arguably did not help at all and we ended up getting very exhausted and cold. We first went to the free concert, part of the Grey Cup festival. First off the stage was badly done with a 6-foot high dog-type fence which was like 5 feet back from the stage. The fence was constantly pushed forward (by the screaming 14-year olds) but who could blame them? It was a shitty fence and this is a thumbs down to the Grey Cup organizers. The first band we saw was The Reason. An emo type band based on impressions, Kevin and I did not really like what we saw. Must suck to be an opening act to a free show though. IllScarlett was decent, I felt weird standing with 14-year old girls screaming and Kevin… I wasn’t much of a fan of them but I do admit that they have a pretty good bassist and guitarist. I don’t have any pictures due to the fence and I just didn’t bother. A pretty good band, a mainstream act that has some ...

Plajia - Beautiful Explosion 2007-11-23 00:05:42 Plajia is an English-singing band from Montreal. Either way English/French speaking, Montreal has been THE place in Canada in producing arguably one of the best bands around the world. If only Toronto could only match up. I have no idea about the origins of the name Plajia (I think it’s pronounced pla-ja) Plajia identifies themselves as acoustic/ambient. Genre picking aside (they don’t matter) Plajia has a diverse sound for me ranging from pop to simple acoustic. Patrick Pleau has a pretty good voice and if you check out his myspace on the song “Sleeping” he really displays his vocal talent (sorry no mp3 to offer). His voice seems to carry most of the songs though. Anyway two tracks I thought were pretty good on Plajia’s Beautiful Explosion, which was recently released. Beautiful Explosion by Plajia - Very very poppy/catchy. Not the most original but it can grab your attention. This songs sounds familiar…can’t get my finger on it. Beating T ...