every day i write the book » canadian music

Don’t Mess With the Beast, Mr. Hurricane

psd — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:33:57 +0000

My neighbors to the north are at it again. This time the music gods are messin’ around in Montreal with a couple of artists who call themself Beast. Made up of Jean-Phi Goncalves, a drummer and producer and the leader of the band Plaster, and incredible vocalist Beatrice “Betty” Bonifassi.

These two throw down some dirty beats that make for some head-bobbing, toe-tapping tunes that sound like they came straight out of a James Bond soundtrack. Microcyte sounds like the rapping stepchild of RATM. My favorite, Mr. Hurricane, is catchy rap/disco/rock song that has that play-it-until-you-can’t-stand-it-anymore quality, and Betty really shines on Fingerprints with her soaring vocals.

Incredibly fresh, my only complaint is ‘Where can I buy some tunes?” These two have nothing for sale anywhere. That I can see. And when I checked out Last.fm, seems there is a metal band named Beast, so someone created another profile for the band, calling them Beastsound. C’mon guys, figure it out and let’s get on with it. You’re too good to be messin with the Beast, Mr Hurricane.

Beast on Myspace

Hall – o – ween!

psd — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 01:41:43 +0000

Ah, the time of year when the smell of burning leaves is second favorite only to pumpkin, and my preferred book usually includes a vampire.

The smells of the season are being taken care of by Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs Samhain and Pumpkin Patch 1 and 4. I highly recommend checking out these truly unique perfume oils–just don’t be scurred by the intensely gothic feel of the site. Beth conjures up some incredibly complex scents.

I also appreciate a good spirited (haha) playlist. Like the one I found at the CBC Radio 3 website. Damn, those Canadians have some good tunes. Even scare-a-rific ones!

Long live the undead and Sookie Stackhouse! This year’s vampire story was Dead to the World, one of the Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire series. Sookie Stackhouse, girl next door and telepath, finds herself a vampire boyfriend and gets more information than she ever wanted about the (now outed) vampire community. Quick, satisfying reads with fun story lines. Charlaine Harris’ website says that this is going to be an HBO series soon. I’ll be all over that one.

Since Sookie only took one day and a half to devour, I started Neil Gaiman’s Fragile Things last night. Neil is by far my favorite author, intertwining fantasy and horror effortlessly and enticingly. “October in the Chair” tells a sad story of a boy’s bitter life, and death. From a design perspective, the book binding, with it’s broken butterfly wings and the onionskin-like dust jacket that barely conceals it together create a gorgeous piece of art.

Okay, enough. Time for some more snack-sized candy bars–my sugar high is wearing off. Cheers.

Jets Overhead

psd — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 01:04:55 +0000

For those of you who know me, you know I have an unholy fascination with Canadian indie music. I’ve even gone so far as to suggest that I wish I could come back in another life as a scenester in the Canadian music scene.

There’s this one song that kept nagging at me, at the back of my mind. I’d hear it, love it, forget about it for a while, hear it again and love it again. The song is Killing Time by Jets Overhead.

Apparently they shared the stage with the Dandy Warhols and you can feel the Dandy’s influence alll over their music. Something about their tunes gets in your head and takes up residence.

So, of course one song is not going to satisfy, so off I go to their website–which is quite nice I must say. I click on Music, and….(cue the choirs of angels here)…ALL OF THEIR SONGS ARE AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD. FOR FREE! They accept voluntary donations via Paypal, which I will be leaving, because these guys are just too good to fade away.

They are definately rock, with a psychedelic vibe. Very atmospheric, too. Highly recommended.