Tuesday Tune-Up is a weekly sampling of music worth adding to your iTunes. Focusing on a different theme each week, we’ll cover territory from old to new, local to export, and mellow to bangin’ with one constant: it’ll be pretty, pretty, pretttty good.
This past Saturday the folks at Arts & Crafts drew me out to Fort York for Field Trip, their tenth anniversary blow-out. Most notably, however, the festival served as the reunion of Broken Social Scene, who performed their 2002 You Forgot It In People in its entirety, and then some. Also present were Canadian Heroes Stars and BSS member Feist, British Rockers Bloc Party, and much, much, more.
The event, however, was far more than a nostalgic look at Canada’s indie rock past. Instead, the festival functioned to propel a number of new and relatively unknown musical acts into the public eye. So here you have it: the next generation of homegrown heroes.
Zeus, “Ignition (Remix)” – R. Kelly cover
“Now Zeus don’t usually do this but…”
Timber Timbre, “Black Water”
Part Life Aquatic, part True Blood intro, and part Space Odyssey, Timber Timbre’s “Black Water” is just as fun and light as it is, well, creepy. The track is off the group’s fourth album, Creep On Creepin’ On. Moody and atmospheric to say the least, listening to one of Timbre Timber’s spooky tracks is like watching a B-Side horror flick at four minutes a pop. “All I need is some sunshine” the helpless diver croons in this video, and we can’t blame him. This track will creep its way, slowly but surely, into your heart and into your home in no time. Just please, don’t feed it after midnight…
Cold Specks, “Winter Solstice”
Admittedly, I’d never heard of Cold Specks before seeing them play this weekend, but boy am I happy I did. They supposedly belong to the “doom-soul” genre, which is another first for me. Not that I have any idea what “doom-soul” means. Based out of London, England, the Canadian singer-songwriter has a voice so impressive and immediately-accessible that it’s hard to believe she hasn’t sponsored every heartbreak and break-up personally. Think Adele, hold the cheese, and add some grit. Can’t wait for the Avicii remix, bro!
Gold & Youth, “Jewel”
Gold & Youth are the latest in a wave of Canadian bass and synth heavy bands doing the 80’s better than the 80’s did. They’re a natural fit for anyone who loves Montreal’s Grimes and Braids, or Calgary’s Purity Ring. Gold & Youth dropped their debut album, Beyond Wilderness, last May, which you can stream in its entirety here (we like tracks 2 and 3, “Little Wild Love” and “Quarters”). You can also watch their new video for “Jewel” below for a lot of awesome hair-whipping, body rubbing, and emotionally-charged hand gestures.
Still Life Still, “In Enemies”
Like fellow Torontonians Tokyo Police Club, Still Life Still does their brand of upbeat Strokes-esque music well. Their single “In Enemies”, a musical ode to “the wild side of life,” was released earlier this June in anticipation of their upcoming album Mourning Trance which will drop August 20th. The track’s got an incredibly catchy hook, and I can guarantee that listening to Still Life Still will make you want to do anything but sit still.
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Jeremy Schipper is an intern at Toronto Standard. You can follow him on Twitter at @jeromeoschipps.
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