Download This scours the web’s dark corners for cool cover freebies. View past installments.
Toronto-based indie label Paper Bag Records boasts an impressive roster of bands, featuring both Canadian and international artists. SXSW breakthrough band P.S. I Love You, The Rural Alberta Advantage and Born Ruffians all call the label home. You Say Party! also worked with the label before breaking up last month. Continue reading »
Song of the Day posts one cool cover every morning. Catch up on past installments here.
Concept albums are a dicey proposition. For every Quadrophenia, you get ten Metal Machine Musics (concept: making your ears hurt). When you base an album around your imaginary alter ego, the ground gets even shakier. Remember Garth Brooks aka. Chris Gaines?
Bat For Lashes’ Two Suns certainly doesn’t lack for pretension, but the meticulous attention to detail helps it rise above the mire. Natasha Khan takes on the persona of Pearl, a sprite who has a series of hazy encounters with sirens, planets, and the like. It doesn’t entirely fit together narratively, but the sounds Khan conjures unite the eleven songs in an ambitious fairy-pop dreamscape. It was nominated for Britain’s Mercury Prize (as was her previous offering, Fur and Gold) and apparently Ringo Starr is a fan.
Last year Josh Reichmann covered lead single “Daniel” for Paper Bag Records’ free Seven Year Itch compilation (which you can still download for free). Where Khan’s version was all grand synth anthem though, Reichmann strips it back to folk harmonies and electro blips. A great listen, whether or not you know the original. Continue reading »