I’ve seen The New Pornographers live before but I don’t remember them rocking out quite this hard.

What I love about both of these tracks is that, first of all, they sound even more epic live. The New Pornographers put together such incredible songs, building instrument upon instrument and building them together in such a seamless way. That sound is made even more incredible live, especially when you can see all the pieces performed and see how they all fit. It’s neat. Second, I love the incredible energy in these performances. You can tell that they’re having fun, you can see just how much they love making music, and it’s awesome. David Letterman’s little, “Ooo-wee,” at the end of the second video says it all.

It’s a two-for-one because I can possibly pick which video I prefer more.

Crash Years (on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”)

Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk (on “Late Show with David Letterman”)

I’ve been a big fan of Montreal-based Stars since a friend of mine played them for one afternoon up in his room. It was 2004 and I must’ve been back from university for the summer. I remember it so clearly because I was so impressed. The album was the band’s break-out recording Set Yourself on Fire. If you’ve heard it then you must know the gripping power of the strings on the opening track, “My Ex-Lover is Dead.” It’s an incredible album and features some of the best songs written of the last decade.

Sadly, Stars follow up to their wildly successful 2004 album was 2007′s In Our Bedroom After the War and as much as I dedicated myself to this album—as hard as I listened to it—I couldn’t get into it. It was a bit of a let down. Following the interesting and original 2004 release, this new record seemed a bit too boring and contrived. It didn’t feel very organic and the tracks seemed like a bit of a hodge podge—incoherent—and that was my biggest concern: it didn’t feel like a complete record.

Well, I’m happy to report that if Stars last album was disjointed, 2010′s The Five Ghosts is the complete opposite—and I like it.

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I don’t know if there’s really such a thing as a perfect song but if there is Canada’s Patrick Watson has surely hit upon it.

Watson is an immensely talented and creative performer who’s music is just nothing short of enchanting. This song is no different, but on track lists full of lots of other incredible music, it surely stands out. It’s simple, super-simple, but Watson’s voice over the gentle ebb and flow of the piano creates some kind of other-worldly bliss. With overly complicating things he captures some kind of raw emotion and, for me at least, it resonates big time. Performed live, as you’ll hear, this song is just breath-taking.

The Great Escape

For me, a band like Wintersleep is kind of hit or miss. Unfortunately, I find I have to strike down their newest album, New Inheritors, on the miss side.

When I reviewed Wintersleep’s 2007 record, Welcome to the Night Sky, I had both a lot of high praise for it, and some concerns. I remember writing about the album’s first half, the opening five songs, or so. I remember not being able to get passed them—they were so good. But that was also a fault I found in the album: the top-half was incredible, the songs were well-crafted, well-written and extremely interesting to listen to. Songs like Weighty Ghost, which I count among my favourite songs of all time. But the latter part of the record was a bit dry and a lot less interesting in comparison to the first bit.

What it seemed like to me was that we’d hit upon a band that could write some really great material, but not all the time. A band that had all the elements in place to make great music, but sometimes weren’t putting in all the effort, or mustering up all the creativity or whatever to really make it happen.

I’m not entirely convinced that New Inheritors is the result of the kind of mustering and effort that I’m talking about. I’m just not sure.

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My goal with The 90′s series has been to prove that the decade of my musical youth featured more than a couple of gems. This week’s band, Sloan, are one of those very precious gems.

Sloan were one of those rare 90′s bands that, looking back, were well ahead of their time. Ahead of that more stripped-down rock and roll sound that lots of bands today are trying to achieve. Well ahead of the whole indie rock movement. Even their music video, which has a decidedly Fargo feel to it, seems ahead of the curve when you compare it to the other stuff that was being committed to film in the 90′s. But, I’ll let you decide for yourself.

The Good in Everyone (1996)

In this new series, Live Tracks, I’d like to share with you some of my favourite live performances.

When I first heard of John K. Sampson it was as a member of the Canadian punk ensemble Propagandhi—a Winnipeg-based, liberal-minded, politically-charged group of young musicians looking to express their angst while making a difference in the world. To put it lightly. As a kid of, I guess, fourteen themes were largely lost on me but I loved the fast-paced, high-energy sound that the band managed and despite not really grasping what they were singing about a song that sounded like someone reading a textbook at an extremely rapid rate was nothing short of awesome.

Sampson ended up leaving Propagandhi, mellowing out, and putting together The Weakerthans— a Winnipeg-based, liberal-minded, poetically-poignant group of slightly older musicians looking to make good music and tell interesting stories. Occasionally, in concert, Sampson will revisit some of his old Propagandhi material and make it sound great. In this case, Sampson takes a high-tempo song and makes it sound awesome as a simple guitar and voice combination. In its stripped-down form, its the simplistic melody and the lyrics that really stand out. It’s Sampson’s overwhelming talent as a musician, I think, that really shows. Check it out, and enjoy.

Gifts

Shad is a Toronto-based, Kenyan-born rapper who I have become absolutely obsessed with. Why? Because he is absolutely dripping in talent, and positivity. His lyrics are insightful, intelligent, and awesome.

His latest single, which samples from the Lynn Anderson song Rose Garden, is nothing short of incredible and I applaud the raw wisdom that he seems unashamed of sharing in his music. And, he’s hilarious as evidenced by some of his earlier material (which you should also have a look at).

Is that not enough for you? Should be.

PS: I’m buying a pair of those shoes, Maria!