The song that I am going to share with you tonight is one that I just heard about 20 minutes ago and immediately thought 'I want more people to know this song".  And so here I am, sitting at my computer telling you all to listen to this fantastic new song!  I had The Strombo Show on the radio in the living room and as I walked by the sound that came out of the speakers in the darkened room, drew me in to sit directly in front of the stereo and just listen.  That is one sign of an excellent song!  At first I thought it was a new song by The Shins because the vocals are very similar to those of James Mercer but instead it was the latest release, "Needles", by the Canadian indie band Born Ruffians.  So here it is, I hope you enjoy!    

Well folks, my apologies for going quiet for so long.  It has been a busy April so far! 

As it was the Junos last night and KD Lang was inducted in to the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame I thought I would share a song and two musicians that I have always loved.   KD Lang and Roy Orbison both have incredibly rich, powerful and unique voices with the ability to send a chill down your spine.  For those of you who haven't heard their duet on the song "Crying" you likely wouldn't think of these two artists together.  Their voices, however, blend together and enhance one another in an ethereal way.  At times it is hard to tell the difference between their voices, so seamlessly do they mingle.   Lang inherited the song from Orbison when he passed away and preforms it regularly in varying degrees of brilliance.  She is a Canadian treasure, an icon and no one else can do quite what it is that she does.  There are many different songs you could listen to, to understand this but I have recently come across this old, live version of her singing "Crying" without Orbison and it is truly beautiful.  So in celebration of her truly deserved induction in to the Hall of Fame take a listen to this song and as John Lennon said, "turn of your mind, relax and float down stream" the journey is transcendent.

I turned on the radio recently and found myself transported to the 50s, to an era when auto tune and electric guitars had yet to overrun mainstream American music.  But to my surprise the song they were playing was not by a contemporary of James Brown or Chuck Berry but rather by an artist who only just released his debut album, Signs and Signifiers, last year.  JD McPherson captures the simplicity of music from the 50s but that is not to say that his songs sound simple, they are full of soul, joy and energy.  There is a video, another from the Mahogany Sessions, of him playing his song "North Side Gal" on a street somewhere.  It is just him playing his hollow body guitar and singing and someone playing the stand-up bass; the bass gets in to your core while the joy that comes through in McPherson's voice is infectious.  It is simply impossible for you to sit still when you hear it and honestly, I don't understand why there isn't a crowd dancing in the street!     

You know how, in the book (or the movie for you non-readers) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, there is the character Mike Teavee?  And he uses the machine, against Willy Wonka's advice, which sends him through space and in to the television set, after shrinking him to a fraction of his real size?  If I remember correctly there is talk of how he could end up with his molecules all scrambled and all of his body parts might not come back together in the correct order...  Well, today is one of those days where I feel like that has happened to me!  I feel as though my molecules have all been scrambled up and most fell back in to the right places but there are a few out of place and it has left me feeling unsettled, as though something is not quite right.  When that happens it is very hard to put your mind to much of anything but on days like this, there is one thing that I have an overwhelming need for and that is powerful, stirring songs.  They ground me in a way nothing else can.  So, today I have been scouring every inch of my I-pod for just the right songs to reorganize and settle my wild molecules.  There are two very different songs that I can usually count on and it is clear in listening to the two that there is no formula for the style of song that works... The first song is "Part of the Queue" by Oasis from their album Don't Believe The Truth.  It is a big, swelling song with an energy in its rhythm and very human lyrics.   

The second song is "Rise to Me" by The Decemberists from their album The King is Dead (one of my favourites of 2011).  This song is the opposite of "Part of the Queue" it is soft and melodic with elegant poetic lyrics.  The song is driven by Colin Meloy's passionately presented vocals, a wonderful harmonica solo and the sorrowful pedal steel guitar.  Two completely different songs, one that lifts me completely up and out of myself before settling me back in and a second that simply soothes.  Whether you ever experience the feeling I spoke of or not these are both brilliant songs that are absolutely worth the time it takes to listen to them. 

Hello all three of you who read this!  Sometimes I wonder if anyone reads what I write or listens to the music but at least I feel like I am sharing my discoveries. 

I don't know why I do this but I will see the name of an artist repeatedly and something will stop me from listening to them.  Over and over again I will think that I won't like them so I don't even try.  I did this with Mic Christopher, one of the first artists I put up.  When I finally broke down and listened to him, Sidney Lanier's quote "music is love in search of a word" made sense to me.  My world would have been lessened by not clicking on that link and listening to the song "Heyday" by Christopher.  A similar thing happened recently with the artist Lisa Hannigan.  She is Irish, like Christopher, and actually preformed with him.  I finally watched a concert I found on Youtube with her and James Vincent McMorrow (another wonderfully talented Irish musician worth checking out).  This concert was a brilliant proper introduction to Hannigan.  Her voice is warm and rich and her Irish accent comes through in a wonderful way.  Her voice has an ethereal quality and like all of the other musicians I have talked about her music is true art.  The video I have posted is three songs from the Hannigan/McMorrow concert I mentioned.  Enjoy!     

I can't imagine what it would be like to be a busker, singing and playing your heart out and having people walk by without glance, let alone stopping to appreciate your talent, maybe give you some money.  I got to thinking about this when I was listening to a Scottish artist I recently came across by the name of Rachel Sermanni.  Following her videos around Youtube I found one of her singing "Ae Fond Kiss" written by Robert Burns, for something called The Mahogany Sessions (if you don't know about The Mahogany Sessions you should check them out, brilliant new artists preforming live and unplugged in some unique and beautiful locations).  Sermanni's performance of "Ae Fond Kiss"  is soft and haunting, her voice fresh and her manner seeming innocent.  There is a captivating quality to her singing style and it is hard for me to understand that people can walk right past, upon hearing it, and not feel the urge to stop.  You should also check out her own song "The Fog" which I am currently listening to on repeat!