Alex Winston

Alex Winston 
Twitter | Facebook | Soundcloud | Myspace
-Originally from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
-Started singing at the age of 10.
-Her family used to push her to sing at every family function and paid for her opera lessons.
-Chuck Berry is her all time favourite artist. She had the opportunity to open for him at one of his shows.
-She moved to New York City in 2010 to work with production duo The Knocks.
-Has played SXSW 2011
-Fan of the Strokes
-Toured with Freelance Whales, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, The Naked & Famous, Ted Nugent & Chuck Berry/
-Frequent collaborations with Charlie Hugall (who produced Florence + the Machine‘s stunning cover of “You Got the Love”)

Songs to listen to: Sister Wife, Velvet Elvis, Choice Notes

Conclusion: I really like Alex Winston and I'm so happy that she stuck through her passion for music to bring herself to the beginning of my 2012 music playlist. I briefly began listening to her in 2011, but only now am I really obsessing... she's great and definitely worth your time. If you love Marina and the Diamonds and Ellie Goulding... then let me introduce to you my 2012 beginning fix of the year. Obviously they're not identical, but you can't deny the unique voice similarities. Either way, she can't come to Toronto fast enough. Enjoy!

Deer Tick on Letterman

Deer Tick's fourth coming album 'Divine Providence' is set to be released October 25th! Anyone else really excited?

Deer Tick on Letterman Last Night

Birdy

Birdy
Twitter | Facebook | SoundCloud
-AKA Jasmine Van den Bogaerde
-Born May 15, 1996 in Lymington, England
-"in 2008, at the age of 12, Birdy won the UK talent contest Open Mic UK, a spinoff of the Live and Unsigned competition. She won both the under 18s category and the Grand Prize, against 10,000 other competitors." - Wikipedia
-Recorded a SWEET cover of Bon Iver's "Skinny Love"... Definitely a must hear!
-Performed in BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge 2011 The XX's "Shelter" and Ed Sheeran's "The A Team" . Both wish have "Official Videos" out.
-Her first album comes out November 7, 2011. Keep an eye out for this one!

Songs to listen to: Skinny Love, The A Team, Without a Word




Latest tracks by OfficialBirdy

Conclusion: She has the sweetest voice that could pretty much make any song a lullaby. As soon as her album drops I'm pretty sure she will take the scene by storm... she's just just that good. Anyone that likes Adele will definitely jump this band wagon... I know I have! Although, I have noticed that everything I like from her seem to be covers... so we'll see how her writing will hit me. Fingers crossed!

The Weeknd

Abel Preforms at OVO fest.

The Weeknd
Twitter | Facebook | SoundCloud | Website
-AKA Abel Tesfaye
-Born February 16, 1990 in Toronto
-Described accurately by Pitchfork as "weird, morning-after tales of lust, hurt, and over-indulgence... embodies such a specific nocturnal quality"
-Drake mentioned The Weeknd's song, "Wicked Games" on Twitter and linked to the singer's music on his website, which brought him a lot of attention.
-House of Balloons, on 21 March 2011.
-Thursday, released on 18 August 2011
-The Weeknd live at The University of Toronto, click here!


Songs to listen to: Birds - Part 1 (below), & Coming Down

Latest tracks by The_Weeknd




Conclusion: It took me a while to get into this guy's music, but here I am finally posting to Louder Than That to share with you his stuff. It's probably the best chill out music I've stumbled upon all year. Makes staying up late lustfully haunting and relaxing. If you aren't familiar with The Weeknd, you can download both his mix tapes for FREE on his website. Click here for his site. Enjoy. 

Grouplove

Grouplove
Twitter / Myspace / Facebook / Website

[Left to right: Sean Gadd (Bass), Andrew Wessen (Guitar), Hannah Hooper (Vocals / Keyboards), Christian Zucconi (Vocals/ Guitar), and Ryan Rabin (Drums)]

-Formed in Los Angeles, California.

-Toured with Florence & The Machine, and Foster the People.

-Played SXSW and are scheduled to play Lollapalooza.
-Played Bands in Transit session, KEXP (SXSW performance), and Rooftop Session.
-Ryan Rabin is the son of former Yes guitarist Trevor Rabin. The group recorded their first EP in Ryan's home studio.
-Hannah met Christian after getting dragged to his show by a friend. They began hanging out shortly after and sporadically decided to venture Greece together. There they met Ryan, Shawn and Andrew and just like that Grouplove was born! (Crazy, huh?)

Songs to listen to: Ichin on a Photograph (below) , Colours, & Don't say Oh Well




Conclusion: I saw them play at Lee's Palace not too long ago with Foster the People and I left incredibly impressed. They were a lot of fun, great to listen to, and amusing to look at. Christians vocals were amazing and left me speechless, especially after they played "Ichin on a Photograph." Their music is the perfect playlist of summer picnics and ice-cream. If you're ever looking for something fun to listen to, Grouplove should be your go to band this summer. Won't regret it, enjoy!

Top 5 Albums of 2011 so far!

___Here are some of the albums that have been on heavy rotation for me this year. You will notice that the greater majority of these are folk related, that's because I've been addicted to nothing else. However, since my recent Pains of Being Pure at Heart addiction, I have good reason to believe my horizons will expands. Hurray for good music!

The Middle Brother - The Middle Brother
Released: March 1, 2011

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

Released: May 3, 2011

Cults - Cults
Released: June 7, 2011

The Head & The Heart - The Head & The Heart
Released: April 19, 2011

Dawes - Nothing is Wrong

Released: June 7, 2011

I wasn't able to include my fave Dawes tracks due to the fact they got wiped off Groove Shark, but click here for a Dawes Youtube playlist that showcases some of the new tracks.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Twitter / Myspace / Facebook / Website
[Kip Berman (vocals/ guitar), Alex Naidus (bass), Peggy Wang (keyboard/ vocals), Kurt Feldman (drums)]
-Formed in New York
-The band name comes from an unpublished children's story of the same title that a friend of singer Kip Berman wrote.
-Their CD "Belong" was produced by Flood. In case you didn't know, he is also recognized for working with U2, New Order, Smashing Pumpkins, and The Killers.
-Performed their first show ever with Titus Andronicus.
-Toured with Suferblood, Twin Shadow & Weekend.
-This year they've played Coachella and SXSW. They are also schedule to play Lollapalooza!
-Appeared on the David Letterman show, click here.

Songs to listen to: Heart in your Heartbreak, Even in Dreams, Teenager in Love.



Conclusion: Half way through the year, I can honestly say that the Pains are the first non folk band I’ve fallen in love with all year! After watching and reading numerous interviews, it’s refreshing to see how much this quartet loves music within and outside their own. They’re just so corky and down to earth it’s impossible not to fall in love with them. In terms of their music, it's obvious to me why they’re the first band outside of folk to catch my attention… it’s their familiar sound! They kind of sound like The Smashing Pumpkins with hints of Cut Copy’s “In Ghost Colours” layered with the fuzziness of Grizzly Bear (see what I did there? Haha). There’s just something about them that really gets to me. This band is definitely worth checking out. For those who live in Toronto, hear them play at the Opera House August 2! Buy your tickets here. Enjoy.