What I've Been Listening to Lately

There has been a bounty of good music coming in to the station lately, and I have to share a few of the tracks I've been crushing on.  Here are a few cherry picked tracks I've had in heavy rotation on The Knix Mix.  There are three Canadian acts featured - two out of Vancouver, British Columbia. So "Go Canada!" I say!

Mother Mother - Very Good Bad Thing

This is the fifth album by the indie band based out of Vancouver. They have an art pop aesthetic - though vocalist Ryan Guldemond's hair is very Front 242.  I'm into "Modern Love."  No, it's not a Bowie cover.

Purity Ring - Another Eternity

The Canadian electronic duo released their second studio album this year. There are a few tracks I like on the album.  I'm particularly keen on the tracks "Flood on the Floor" and the third single "Bodyache."

Panda Bear - Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper

Panda Bear, a founding member of the band Animal Collective, has the experimental sound we've come to expect with a little psychedelia thrown in the mix.  Check out "Boys Latin."

Corners - Maxed Out on Distractions

This Los Angeles based four piece does post punk proud with this October 2014 release.  I'm smitten with the song "Love Letters." Though reminiscent of Joy Division or early The Cure, Corners stands apart.

Kasper Bjørke - After Forever

The Danish producer takes a melancholic synth driven direction on this album, which takes its name from a piece by the Brooklyn based visual artist John Copeland.  The track "Sylvia" is lush with a bit of a dark wave vibe.  

Brooke Fraser - Brutal Romantic

The popular New Zealand singer songwriter moves to a more electronic sound than her previous work.  "Thunder" is a gorgeous track that showcases Fraser's equally gorgeous voice.

Humans - Noontide

This is Vancouver based indie electronic duo of Peter Ricq and Robbie Slade's first full length album.  Ricq, interestingly, is also an artist and illustrator known for co-creating the Canadian animated TV series League of Super Evil.  His input makes Humans' official videos very much worth watching.  Check out the trippy "Tell Me" and the short-film-as-music-video "Follow."

Oh Land

Earth Sick

Brooklynese by way of Copenhagen, Nanna Øland Fabricius, better know as Oh Land, found her way to singing and songwriting after a serious back injury altered her plans of becoming a professional ballet dancer.  It is said that the most bitter of trails are often blessings in disguise.  Music gave Fabricius an outlet to express her grief and sorrow and quickly grew into a new direction for her life. Fabricius grew up surrounded by music:  her mother is an opera singer, her father an organist. Family lore has it that she was quieted by her mother singing the Requiem while still in the womb. She didn't always consider her unconventional rearing a gift, but the advice and support of her family has proven invaluable.  
Given her classic beauty and dance background, Fabricius could have taken the pop princess career path but instead chose the moniker Oh Land (derived from her middle name) to lend a bit of mystery to the person behind the music.  Fabricius says that the name gave her freedom from being cast into any cliche. Oh Land might be a band or a person, which leaves listeners curious but with no preconceived notions.  Fabricius isn't one to take her looks too seriously or cash in on her feminine appeal.  Instead she has a bit of fun changing her aesthetic from album to album as another aspect of the creative process.  For Earth Sick, she has a minimal cool girl chic vibe that makes me want to cut my hair short and rock a black catsuit.
The concept for Earth Sick came about when Fabricius watched a documentary on astronauts. Having dreamed of being home again, an astronaut has to contend with the irony of feeling ill upon their return to Earth.  The feeling of being far from home and longing to return is a familiar one for Fabricius.  Having moved to Sweden at the age of 15 to study at the Royal Swedish Ballet, she found herself living a life far from home at an early age and has since spent much of her career traveling and performing. Contemplating where she feels most at home - New York or Denmark - is a hard question for Fabricius to answer, but she says considers the stage a kind of home.  
"Head Up High," the first single from Earth Sick, is an upbeat track that disavows the listener of any gloomy mood they may be in.  I'm particularly smitten with the 80's club vibe of the CSS Remix of that track.  Not coincidentally, Fabricius said she wrote the song to cheer up a sad friend.  "That's why," says Fabricius about the nature of a song to change our mood, "We need music!"  One of her favorite tracks from the album is "Favor Friends," which is an ode to a friend who is there only there when she wants something.  If you listen, you can hear her mom singing opera on the track.  
For more of my interview with Oh Land, check it out here!


Check out Oh Land's website!
Oh Land on Facebook!

Q&A with Johnny Reed

Johnny Reed describes his music as "pop rock alternative" with a nod to the classic harmonies of artists like The Beatles and Crosby, Stills & Nash.  Reed says he's been told that his drumming is reminiscent of Ginger Baker of Cream and his guitar playing of Keith Richards or Eric Clapton.  Reed says that his creative process is free flowing.  "When I play, I jam," says Reed.  "Whatever goes is okay.  I might start with piano, guitar or drums. I might start with a chorus or a bridge or verse and then not use that original idea or phrase at all.  I just use the thing I came up with along the way." Reed is a longtime resident of Redondo Beach, one of the three Beach Cities located in Los Angeles County, California.  Reed says he has a great connection with the ocean.  "There's no other place I want to live."

1. Favorite band?  The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Eric Clapton…
2. Favorite genre of music?  Rock!
3. Favorite song?  “Such a Beautiful Bird” by Johnny Reed and “Good Day Sunshine” by The Beatles.
4. What is your earliest music memory?  Seeing a surf band playing in a garage and thinking it was so cool.  Not really the music, but the idea of doing of it!
5. What was the first LP or CD you bought?  Cream's Disraeli Gears and Jimi Hendrix's Experience
6. What was the first band you saw in concert?  Black Sabbath
7. What hobbies and interests do you have?  I love snorkeling.  I love wandering through tide pools, deserts and rivers, and collecting natural treasures in nature.  I also like creating art with wood, paint and other natural objects.  I enjoy making something great out of something that most people wouldn’t bother with.  Not just throwing away things that still have another life just ahead.
8. Do you have a nickname?  Sometimes “Rawk Dawg” from my previous hard rock band, Rawk Dawg.
9. Favorite destination?  Paradise Island, The Bahamas
10. If you could hang out with anyone who would you pick and why?  Jimi Hendrix.  His music was so emotional and shocking for the time.  So interesting, loose, spiritual, guttural and emotional sounding that it’s still revered today.
11. If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?  I’d like to fly like an eagle.
12. Favorite food?  BBQ.  And please cook it with the sauce on it.  Don’t paint it on later!
13. Favorite book?  Any science fiction by Carlos Castaneda.
14. Favorite movie?  Raiders of the Lost Ark
15. Favorite holiday and why?  Christmas!  Just to see children have the dreamy thoughts of the season, Not getting presents, but the imagination process of there being a whimsical guy named Santa Claus; where might he be, and what's it all about!
16. If you could have any super power, what would it be?  Seeing the future.  It could sure help the present!
17. If you could visit any place in the world, where would it be?  The Pyramids
18. What three words would best describe you? DO IT YOURSELF!
19. What three words would your friends use to describe you?  Johnny’s a dreamer.
20. Any special talents?  I can juggle.
21. Who has inspired you?  Albert Einstein, Paul McCartney, George Lucas & Steven Spielberg
22. What makes you laugh?  Austin Powers
23. What did you plan to be when you grew up?  I went to Junior College and only took music & electronics.  I never planned on graduating,  I just wanted the knowledge.
24. Are there any issues you feel passionate about?  The Native Americans.  Having the treaties they signed giving their lands away.  Now the only part of the treaties that is respected is that they gave their land away.  The rest of the promises and rights in the treaties to the Native Americans are passed over, forgotten.
25. Do you have pets?  Yes, Paul the Bird is a cockatiel shared with my daughter, Kelly and son, Johnny.
26. Is there anything else you would like listeners/readers to know?  I always try to express in my songs the power of YOU.  That you can do so many things if you open yourself to it and work for it. Don’t wait for some magical person to come along and make you life better,  DIY,  Do It Yourself.  I also stress live in the moment in my songs because life spins by so quickly, and everything can change in an instant.  I know this well because my daughter was in a car accident.  She was in a coma for four months, a hospital for a year and can’t walk to this day.  So enjoy life and get the most out of it every day because you never know what's next,  That’s my message to the world!

Check out Johnny's website.
Check out Johnny on Facebook.

Check out his music on itunes.