The Best of 2013: Favourite Songs

1.Cults - Were Before (Listen)
2.Neko Case - City Swan (Listen)
3.Avicii - Hey Brother (Listen)
4.The Neighbourhood - Afraid (Listen)
5.Ducktails - Wish Hotel (Listen)
6.Youth Lagoon - Mute (Listen)
7.Young Galaxy - New Summer (Listen)
8.Foxygen - San Francisco (Listen)
9.Yacht Club - Tropicana (Listen)
10. Au Revoir Simone - Somebody Who (Listen)

The Best of 2013

It's that time of year again... time for all those year end lists. This year, we have two lists for you.

Starting Sunday December 22nd, We count down our favourite songs of 2013. Check back every day as another song gets added to the list. And on New Year's day we start our countdown of our favourite albums of 2013.

Album: The War on Drugs - Lost In A Dream

The War on Drugs
Lost In A Dream
Label: Secretly Canadian

Something To Look Forward To In 2014, One of my favourite bands in the world, The War on Drugs announced yesterday that they are working on a new album to be released on March 18th, 2014. The first single 'Red Eyes' is now aviabale for listening on their website... check it out.



Official Website: http://www.thewarondrugs.net
Last.fm: http://www.last.fm/music/The+War+on+Drugs
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_on_Drugs_(band)

Album: Cults - Static

Cults
Static
Label: Columbia Records

My taste in music is changing slightly. Yes, I still love indie pop but I'm a bit more into the rock genre these days. I've just discovered the band Cults. Their recent album Static is pretty good. It won't be on my 2013 top 10 list but this album has a couple gems on it.

To me, this album is like a sandwich, it's all pretty good but the really good stuff is right in the middle. The song "Were Before" is probably my favourite song right now.

Links:
Official Website: http://cultscultscults.com
Last.fm: http://www.last.fm/music/Cults
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cults_(band)

EP: Tennis - Small Sound

Tennis
Small Sound
Label: Communion Records

One of my Favorite albums of 2012 (actually THE favorite) was Tennis's "Young and Old". So I was thrilled over the weekend when I discovered that they are releasing a short 5 song EP today titled "Small Sound"

I've only heard the first song "Mean Streets" so far but they sound like they haven't missed a beat since their February 2012 full album release.

The New EP comes out today, I can't wait to check it out in full.

Links:
Official Website: http://www.tennis-music.com
Last.fm: http://www.last.fm/music/Tennis
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis_(band)

Album: Ducktails - The Flower Lane

Ducktails
The Flower Lane
Label: Domino Recording Co.

Hold the phone! There is a new contender for my favourite album of the year... or Top 10 at least. Just discovered the Band "Ducktails". Of course, there was that cartoon from the 90's called Duck Tails so that's a majority of search results when trying to look up anything about them online.

They've been around for a few years and their most recent album was released in January of this year. They have an EP out Today called "Wish Hotel". I heard Wish Hotel on the radio today and just had to check this band out.

Links:
Official Website: http://www.alexphelan.com/ducktails
Last.fm: http://www.last.fm/music/Ducktails
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ducktails_(band)

Album: Best Coast - Fade Away - EP

Best Coast
Fade Away - EP
Label: Jewel City

Best Coast is streaming their new EP ahead of it's release this Tuesday. Sounds good so far as I'm listening and typing right now.

Link:
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/best-coast-official/sets/fade-away 

Song: Mazzy Star - In The Kingdom

Mazzy Star
Seasons of Your Day
Label: Rhymes of An Hour Records

I've never been a huge fan of mazzy star however the opening song on their new album is very blissful. Love the guitar work on this track:

Mazzy Star - In The Kingdom

Album: Jordan Klassen - Repentance

Jordan Klassen
Repentance
Label: Nevado Records

Wow, found this gem this afternoon from Vancouver folk artist Jordan Klassen. His most recent album was released on September 24th. I can't possibly pick a favorite song right now... it's all good. Never heard of him before but I am his newest fan. If you are in the Ottawa area, he's playing this Sunday at the Raw Sugar Cafe.


Links:
Official Website: http://www.jordanklassen.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jordanklassenmusic
Bandcamp: http://jordanklassen.bandcamp.com

EP: Twist - Twist

Twist
Twist - EP
Self Released

Another discovery on soundcloud. The band is Twist. They are from Toronto. Very cool stuff. The tags on their soundcloud page say the are Indie, Surf and Western. Check them out, I highly recommend the song "Sin Monster".




Links:
Official Website: http://www.twistofficial.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/twistmusic
Sound Cloud: https://soundcloud.com/twistband

Alvvays - Alvvays

Alvvays
Alvvays
Self Released

As I was getting my new blog set up on Saturday, In the background I was listening to a band I had recently discovered on Sound Cloud. The Band is Alvvays. This band seems very mysterious, there is very little info about them online. All I really know is that they are based in Toronto and have been playing a few shows here and there. They recently opened for Whitehorse so that's cool.

Earlier this year, they recorded some songs for an album which apparently is only available at their live shows... on cassette tape! I hope their material shows up on iTunes soon. Either that or I'll be taking a trip to Toronto to catch them live.

If you like Best Coast, then you will love Alvvays. You can her their material on their sound Cloud page.

Links:
Official Website: http://www.alvvays.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ALVVAYS
Sound Cloud: http://soundcloud.com/alvvays

 

Advanced Warning... The Next Chapter

So, it's been just over 4 months since I ended my radio show on CFRU. And although I miss doing the actual show, I don't miss getting up really early and I don't miss the endless show prep. I put a lot of time into preparing each week, sometimes 10 hours if you count the time working on the website after each show.

More than anything my radio show was a chance for me to tell people about great music I have discovered. A blog can serve much the same purpose. Plus, I have this AdvancedWarning.ca domain name sitting here collecting virtual dust.

So this blog will be what my radio show was... sharing with the world some great music that should be getting airplay but isn't. There are reasons that music from smaller labels doesn't get airplay on commercial FM music radio.I'll have commentary on these sort of things (as well as some general commentary on the music industry) from time to time here as well.

I hope to post once or twice a week. Really... whenever I have the urge to share some great music with you. I don't have any formal connections with the record industry so if you are looking for daily postings about what is coming out... that's not happening here.

The music that catches my attention most often is Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Dream Pop and Alt Country. That will be the basis for this blog but If I like it, I'll tell you about it here. This blog is based in Canada but hope to bring you music from all over the place... not just Canada.

I'm excited to get started on this next chapter of Advanced Warning. Any comments or suggestions, feel free to contact me: paul@advancedwarning.ca... Now... LET'S DO THIS!