METRIC’s New Album SYNTHETICA, New Single “Youth Without Youth”

JUNO award winning electronic rockers Metric have a brand new 11-track album coming out on June 18 called Synthetica. This will be their 5th LP. It was recorded at New York’s Electric Lady Studios and is being produced by the band’s guitarist James Shaw. Lead singer Emily Haines has said that the album feels like a big culmination of the band’s full decade of making music, incorporating styles from throughout their back catalogue. It contains some of the sweetness from their early work, some rocking out from the middle phase, and some of the creative songwriting that went into their last (platinum-certified!) album Fantasies. The band apparently worked extremely hard on the album, more than on their previous works, as Haines said the recording process was gruelling. But they are very happy with the results of their labour.

The album’s release will be followed by a brief three-show United Kingdom tour in early July: London, Manchester, and Oxford.  Any doubt as to their ability to perform live can easily be dispelled by viewing their kick-butt performance on the David Letterman Show in 2009 (Link).

The first single from Synthetica has been released. It is the album’s second track, “Youth Without Youth”. We have embedded the music video below.

Emily is sounding as cool as LIGHTS these days. Is this a sign of a future collaboration, perhaps?

 

Men Without Hats Set to Return with a Bang

Pop goes the world, The Hats are returning with their first major release in 21 years!

Montreal’s Ivan Doroschuk, who now lives in Victoria, reunited the band last year bringing onboard Dave “Rave” Ogilvie, the genius behind Skinny Puppy and Marilyn Manson. Best known for their international smash “The Safety Dance”, Men Without Hats were one of the leading Canadian new wave bands in the early 1980s. They also made the addition of choice French phrases into Canadian songs trendy, a trend that we would like to see continue.

On May 22, the new wavers will be releasing brand new studio album Love in the Age of War for both digital download and physical sales.  New wave is no longer “new” and fans may worry that the band has changed their upbeat electronic style.  A listen of lead single “Head Above Water” confirms that, while sounding fresh, they have not diverted from their cherished roots.  The single has been sent to radio stations across the country and has debuted on CHOM 97.7 in Montreal.  In fact, you can listen to the station’s brief interview with Ivan and the song HERE.

Update:  “Head Above Water” is now available on iTunes HERE.

Men Without Hats appeared on Star Academie last month.  Check it out below.  Canadian music just can’t be beat.

 

Golden LIGHTS Over Siberia

Drop the serviettes, push aside the poutine, remove the toque, switch off The Farce, and jump from the chesterfield. We have an announcement.

JUNO award-winning singer-songwriter LIGHTS has, just a few hours ago, been awarded with her second consecutive GOLD certification. Her brilliant album, Siberia, a masterpiece of music, which the Canadian Music Blog chose as album of the year 2011, has been certified GOLD in Canada. Her debut album The Listening received the same distinction in 2010.

We can assert with absolute confidence that LIGHTS is one of the most talented musicians in the country, nay the world, whether from the standpoint of singing, composing, or performing.

One of the hardest working recording artists in the industry, LIGHTS has been touring non-stop since the release of Siberia in October 2011. Her Canadian success has catapulted her into the international arena drawing the attention of a host of countries. She has just landed new record deals in Australia, France, Germany, and The Netherlands and will be touring Europe and Australia in the coming months. At the beginning of the month, she performed in a collaboration with the ever popular Deadmau5 at the annual JUNO Awards gala hosted by William Shatner.

We could never exhaust ourselves in writing about this exceptionally talented artist. We send along our congratulations and best wishes for her continued success.

Give the title-track a listen HERE.

Related Post:  Album of the Year 2011

 

New Video: “Talk Me Down” by Alyssa Reid

Singer-songwriter Alyssa Reid grew up in Brampton, Ontario after being born in Edmonton.  Her debut album The Game spawned international hit single “Alone Again” as well as the title-track, a Top 40 hit at home.  Reid co-wrote most of the album’s songs with Jamie Appleby.  Her new single “Talk Me Down” she co-wrote with three including Toronto pop star Jesse Labelle.  Jesse’s song “Heartbreak Coverup”, which features Reid, entered the Canadian Billboard Hot 100 last week.  Reid’s song entered the chart this week, and a few days ago, the music video was released.  The video makes a very strong anti-bullying statement. Check it out below.

If you like the song, please support our super Canadian artist Alyssa Reid.  The iTunes link for the song is HERE.

 

Canadian Billboard Hot 100, 27 April 2012

Three new songs have debuted on the Canadian Hot 100 this week.  Nelly Furtado’s brand new single “Big Hoops (Bigger Is Better)” had the strongest entry–at #60.  Raghav’s “Top of the World” which has been out for a while has finally picked up momentum with the release of his new studio album The Phoenix and entered the charts.  Alyssa Reid has a new song on the charts called “Talk Me Down”.

A total of 28 singles by Canadian artists are in the Top 100.  The greatest gainer was Dragonette’s “Let It Go” which jumped 20 spots from #74 to #54.  Carly Rae Jepsen’s new single “Curisotiy” climbed 17 notches.  And Kristina Maria’s “Our Song Comes On” scaled 10 positions brining it into the Top 30 at #25, making it the 6th most popular Canadian song in the country.  Both Alyssa and Carly Rae Jepsen are in Europe these days.  The latter has topped the Luxembourg iTunes chart and is in the Top 5 in Germany’s.

On the album charts, Montreal’s Patrick Watson is at #2 with his 4th studio album Adventures In Your Own Back Yard.

LEGEND:

RK = Rank.
OR = Provincial origin of the artist.
PS = Position on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100.
CG = Change from last week’s Billboard position.
WC = Weeks on the chart.
PP = Peak position.
Foreign artist in blue.
Partially Canadian artist in purple.
RE = Re-entry.
Most impressive numbers in last 3 columns appear in red.

 

Pop Hockey, 2012 1st Quarter

Pop hockey is the game in which we try to socre the most goals, i.e. number 1 singles, to win the game. Each game is played over a 3 month span, each month representing one of three periods in the game. Home games are played on the Canadian Billboard Hot 100 charts. Away games are played on the United States Billboard Hot 100. Whenever a Canadian artist scores a #1 single, this counts as a goal for Team Canada. Whenever an American artist scores a #1, it’s a goal for Team USA. Each song can be counted only once, so a song that remains #1 from the weeks at end of one 3-month span through the beginning of the next will only count as a goal in the former “game”.

The purpose of this is not to be humiliated that we’re getting creamed (which we are). But to rally around OUR artists and get them to the top of the charts.  It is certainly more important to win the Home games as we have much more control over them.  We’re beginning with the first quarter of 2012 (January to March).

Game: 2012 Q1 Home

Arena: Canadian Billboard Hot 100 #1 Singles

	1st	2nd	3rd	T
Team USA	0	2	2	4
Team Canada	0	1	0	1

Goal Scorers:

1st Period (Jan):
No scoring.

2nd Period (Feb):
Canada 02-03: Carly Rae Jepsen (“Call Me Maybe”)
USA 02-17: Madonna (“Give Me All Your Luvin’”)
USA 02-24: Katy Perry “(Part of Me”)

3rd Period (Mar):
USA 03-16: Flo Rida (“Wild Ones”)
USA 03-30: fun. (“We Are Young”)

_____________

Game: 2012 Q1 Away

Arena: U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #1 Singles

	1st	2nd	3rd	T
Team   Canada	0	0	0	0
Team USA	0	2	1	3

Goal Scorers:

1st Period (Jan):
No scoring

2nd Period (Feb):
USA 02-10: Kelly Clarkson (“Stronger”)
USA 02-24: Katy Perry (“Part of Me”)

3rd Period (Mar):
USA 03-09: fun. (“We Are Young”)

_____________________

Q2 games are underway, near the end of the 1st period.  At home it’s 1-0 Canada, thanks to a goal scored by Justin Bieber.  Away, it’s scoreless so far.

 

Canadian Billboard Hot 100, 20 April 2012

Wonderful news as for the first time in several weeks, a new Canadian single has broken into the Top 20 of the Canadian Billboard Hot 100.  After making it to #4 on the ARIA Official Australian Singles chart, “Summer Paradise” of Montreal’s Simple Plan has jumped from #31 up 14 positions to #17 here at home.

After releasing her debut album last week, “Our Song Comes On” by Ottawa’s Kristina Maria broke into the Top 40, up to #35 this week.

There is no shortage of good news when it comes to Mission, BC’s Carly Rae Jepsen.  She has just landed in London, England for interviews and to meet with fans.  Her single “Call Me Maybe” entered the British charts at #1 and has spent 3 weeks on top so far.  Last week, Carly, who has rubbed shoulders with the likes of Norah Jones, held a free outdoor concert in Hollywood that was well attended.  American pop superstar Katy Perry recorded a video in which she dances to Carly’s song.  Carly is now at #8 on the U.S. Billboard chart.  Here at home, her triple-platinum single is still high on the charts and her new single “Curiosity” is on a climb.

New on the chart this week is Jesse Labelle’s “Heartbreak Coverup” (#81).  Jesse is from Toronto and the song features Alyssa Reid and will be included on his forthcoming sophomore album.

RK = Rank. OR = Provincial origin of the artist.  PS = Position on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100. CG = Change from last week’s position. WC = weeks on the chart. PP = Peak Position.  Foreign artist in blue, Partially Canadian artist in purple. RE = Re-entry.  Most impressive numbers in last 3 columns appear in red.

 

Sound the Bells and Whistles for Steph Macpherson’s Debut Album

I once had a workmate from New Zealand and I asked him if his country had any big name singers or bands. Looking a little sad he said that NZ was better known for its famous actors than for its music, aside from the odd novelty hit like OMC’s “How Bizarre”. Considering that the land of the kiwi has roughly the population of Ireland which has given us U2 and Sinead O’Connor, their lack of international superstar recording artists means that they are ripe for the picking.

In recent months, New Zealand has been very receptive to Canadian music; it was the only country that made K’Naan & Nelly Furtado’s “Is Anybody Out There?” a #1 hit. One way we can return the love to our fellow Commonwealth nation is by embracing a new Canadian singer whose roots lie in New Zealand, a SW British Columbia singer/songwriter named Steph Macpherson.

Steph was signed to Cordova Bay Records, the company responsible for such recording artists as Raghav and State of Shock. Compared to Stevie Nicks and Sarah Harmer, her style of music has elements of country, folk, rock and roll, and I can even hear some Loreena McKennitt vibes. The one thing that can be said about Steph Macpherson’s music with certitude is that, hands down, it is absolutely beautiful.

Canadian Music Blog is thrilled to announce that Victoria/Vancouver songstress Steph Macpherson has just released her debut full-length album of 10 gorgeous tracks entitled Bells & Whistles. BC Musician Magazine has said, “Macpherson’s voice is clear, well-trained and hauntingly beautiful, and her vocal melodies are deadly infectious.” The album contains a nice mixture of piano-centered as well as guitar-themed songs, both rousingly upbeat tunes and soothingly reflective pieces, and ends with “Open Book” a breathtaking piano ballad that will leave you mesmerized.

Steph Macpherson will be touring western Canada soon to promote the album. You can see the list of dates under the “Shows” section of her website (link below). You can order the CD from MapleMusic (link).

Official Steph Macpherson Links:

Website 
YouTube 
Facebook 
Twitter 
iTunes

 

Toronto’s Zameer Set to Release Generation Z

Those who have discovered the soft, soothing sounds of Canadian singer-songwriter Zameer have commented that he is the Great White North’s answer to Eric Clapton. A musician with heart, Zameer held a benefit concert in 2006 to heighten awareness about the Kashmir earthquake which had ended the lives of over 70,000 people. He also performed the recognized theme song, “Win or Defeat”, for the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games in Vancouver.

Zameer released his first album From Under the Bleachers which won him recognition enough to perform with the likes of Grammy-award winners John Mayer and Colbie Caillet.

Canadian Music Blog is pleased to announce that Zameer will be releasing his sophomore album, Generation Z, with multi-platinum Canadian production and song writing team Kuya Productions and award-winning Canadian producer Ovi under Orange Factory Music. He will be releasing a brand new music video on April 20.

Zameer’s popularity is growing rapidly. He has gained nearly 100,000 followers on Twitter; in fact, Billboard has ranked him as the world’s #1 fastest growing artist on social media. Be sure to check him out.

Zameer on …

MySpace
Facebook
Twitter

 

A Huge Thank You to the United Kingdom

For nearly 6 years, no Canadian artist has been able to score a #1 hit on the Official United Kingdom Singles Chart.  It just hasn’t happened … until today.  And both the last time it happened as well as this time, the #1 songs were by British Columbian artists.

Drake managed to get there, in part, by being featured in Rihanna’s single “What’s My Name” back in January 2011.  But if we are to find a number one exclusively Canadian single in Britain, we have to go way, way back to June of 2006.  The song was called “Maneater” and it belonged to Victoria’s Nelly Furtado.  Nelly was also featured in Timbaland’s #1 British hit “Give It to Me” (April, 2007).  She was the only Canadian to receive a BRIT award (their equivalent of the JUNOs) throughout the 2000s.

Today, the world’s 3rd largest music market (after the United States and Japan) has honoured Mission, BC’s Carly Rae Jepsen.  “Call Me Maybe” has topped the Official UK Singles chart after doing the same in Canada, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.  Moreover, it entered the British charts at #1.  For the life of me, I cannot think of any other Canadian song that has ever done so.

“Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen is only the 7th song entirely by a Canadian artist to reach #1 on the Official UK Singles chart since the British began tracking sales of singles back in 1952.

Canadian #1 Singles in the UK

“Diana” by Paul Anka, 1957
“Seasons in the Sun” by Terry Jacks, 1974
“Everything I Do I Do It For You” by Bryan Adams, 1991
“Think Twice” by Celine Dion, 1994
“My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion, 1998
“Maneater” by Nelly Furtado, 2006
“Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen, 2012

On behalf of all Canadians, I say thank you to our friends in the UK, and, yes, you are all invited over to Niagara Falls for celebratory tea.  Let’s hope we in the Commonwealth continue to support one another’s artists.

 

You’ll Find Great Music Beyond the Mountain

Trivia question: Who was the winner of the last season of Canadian Idol? Previous seasons were won by Ryan Malcolm, Kalan Porter, Melissa O’Neil, Eva Avila, and Brian Melo. The answer, of course, is Theo Tams. The judges considered Theo the most gifted of all the male vocalists who ever appeared on the show. After hearing his 2008 hit single “Sing” we couldn’t agree more. Theo is also a very talented pianist and composer. One may wonder what he is up to these days.

Theo Tams has formed a duo with Vancouver songstress Carly Jean Campbell (not to be confused with Carly Rae Jepsen who, incidentally, also appeared on Canadian Idol). The duo is going by the name Beyond the Mountain. They describe the music they are making as “alternative country” with soul, blues, and modern rock elements and will be releasing an EP this summer. Every Lennon needs to find his McCartney and every Bachman his Cummings. Apparently Tams and Campbell have hit it off musically with magnificent chemistry. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the music they are making will dazzle the populace like it has dazzled us. Their voices sound perfect together.

To listen to samples of their songs and learn more about them, check out:

Beyond the Mountain Official Website

 

Guess Who Has Canada’s New Triple Platinum Single?

It has topped the official Irish, Australian, and New Zealand charts. It is #1 on iTunes U.K. & BBC Radio 1.  And it is #10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 this week. But perhaps the coolest news of all is that, here at home, after staying in the Canadian Billboard Hot 100 for half a year, peaking at #1, Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” has now been certified a TRIPLE PLATINUM DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, the first in two years. Charity single, Young Artists for Haiti’s “Wavin’ Flag” went 3x platinum back in April 2010.

OTHER NEW CERTIFICATIONS

“Mash It Up” by Karl Wolf – GOLD DIGITAL DOWNLOAD

Take Care by Drake – PLATINUM ALBUM

“Take Care” by Drake ft. Rihanna – PLATINUM DIGITAL DOWNLOAD

“One Life” by Hedley – PLATINUM DIGITAL DOWNLOAD

 

April 2012 Major Releases

The art of making music is like that of cuisine. If there is only one kind of food, a few will be happy but the palate of the majority will suffer. In contrast, when there is a large variety of dishes, everyone is happy. One of the beauties of Canadian music is that artists are creating a wide variety of different genres and styles of music. This means that everyone in the country will not go hungry; all can find something they enjoy. It is important to continue this trend.

If we take a look at some of the forthcoming Canadian album releases this month, we see such diversity; in fact, together these albums offer Canadians a sumptuous banquet.

 

We already previewed forthcoming albums from Kristina Maria (Tell the World) and Raghav (The Phoenix). Five additional albums due out this month are the following.

Dirt, Dean Brody

Dean currently has the #1 song on the Canadian Billboard country chart—”Canadian Girls”. He grew up in an obscure unincorporated village in SE British Columbia called Jaffray, current population 800. He began working at a sawmill but, having learned guitar, decided to pursue a career in music. He swung down to the city of Nashville in the United States and was signed. Brody is a fairly new recording artist, releasing his first album in 2009. Dirt is his third album. He now lives in Nova Scotia and is happily married (sorry ladies). Brody received a JUNO nomination last year for his second album, Trail in Life.

Dean Brody Official Website

Many Shades of Grey, Misstress Barbara

Misstress Barbara is an Italian-Canadian talented DJ and dance/electronica singer-songwriter from Montreal. She started out in the music business as a drummer in a number of bands from age twelve. In 2009, she teamed up with Sam Roberts for her single “I’m Running” which finished as the year’s 18th most popular song in Montreal. Her debut album (she released several mix albums as a DJ), featuring the song, received a JUNO nomination for Dance Recording of the Year. Many Shades of Grey, released this month, is her 2nd album.

Misstress Barbara Official Website

Out of the Game, Rufus Wainwright

Also growing up in Montreal was Rufus Wainwright (he was born in the United States and holds dual citizenship). Rufus is one of the most versatile recording artists in Canada, recording albums in several genres of music. He has written a classical opera, set Shakespeare sonnets to music, scored motion picture soundtracks, as well as “adult alternative” rock and roll. Rufus’ debut was in 1998 and this will be his 10th album. After a couple of experimental albums, in Out of the Game, he returns to a more accessible pop sound. Two of Wainwright’s albums have achieved gold certification in Canada and he has been nominated for a JUNO seven times, winning twice.

Rufus Wainwright Official Website

Northern Shore, Skydiggers

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Toronto’s roots rockers The Skydiggers which some refer to as the indie version of Blue Rodeo. The band debuted in 1990 and won the JUNO for Most Promising Group of the Year in 1993. They have released a dozen albums over the years. They are perhaps best known for creating the record label MapleMusic Recordings. The new album will contain 15 tracks on a single disc; however, they are also releasing a deluxe version for the die-hard fans which will be 3 discs of 45 songs.

Skydiggers Official Website 

Adventures in Your Own Backyard, Patrick Watson

Releasing his fifth album since debuting in 2001 is Patrick Watson. Like Rufus Wainwright, Patrick is from Montreal (suburb of Hudson), and was born in the U.S. He dabbles in cabaret pop with classical trimmings. He has scored film soundtracks. Two of Watson’s albums have achieved gold certification and he has received a pair of JUNO nominations. Patrick Watson is also the name of the band he leads.

Patrck Watson Official Website
 

 

Bieber, Brody, and Kristina Maria All at #1

Justin Bieber has broken a record.  No, no, we don’t mean that the Biebs has snapped a CD in half.

In 2005, Neilson SoundScan began tracking digital downloads.  Until now, the record holder for the number of digital downloads in a week was Lady Gaga.  Her single “Born This Way” received 53,000 downloads in Canada back in February 2011.  With his new single “Boyfriend”, Justin Bieber has broken that record with 55,000 downloads last week.  The song has debuted on the Canadian Billboard Hot 100 at #1.  Bieber has never scored a #1 hit in Canada.  His previous best was “Baby” which made it to #3.  Bieber also becomes the 5th Canadian artist to score a #1 single on the Canadian Billboard Hot 100 since the chart began in 2007.  He is the first male solo artist to do so.  Congratulations are no doubt in order.

In the realm of country music, Dean Brody is #1 with his single “Canadian Girls”.  He is the first Canadian artist to top the Billboard country charts in 4 years.  Like Bieber, Brody’s previous personal best was #3 with “Trail in Life”.

With her debut album, Tell the World, out in less than a week, Kristina Maria has topped the Canadian Billboard Emerging Canadian Artists ranking with the steady climb up the charts of her “Our Song Comes On”.

 

Carly Rae is #1 in the UK

It appears our call a few days ago that Carly Rae Jepsen was about to begin a love affair with the United Kingdom was not presumptuous in the least.  One day after her single “Call Me Maybe” was released in the U.K., while she was busy getting dressed up for the big night at the JUNOs, it shot up all the way to #1 on iTunes U.K.  To all of you in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, we, in Canada, love you, and, because of this, we will like … never become a republic, eh.  Today, I took a screenshot of iTunes sites and this is what I found: