The title track and latest single embraces this spirit, offering the brightest, most inventive POSTDATA sound so far. A love song which gives in to the sensation, ceding control of the situation to instead follow the flow wherever it might go. In this way, the theme and style of the track are in total cohesion. A parking of old ideas and expectations, and opening up to new possibilities.

Maybe I’m a dead man oh me, oh Play me right in your hands
Oh I can’t wait to see
My love, my dark hold your spark you’re whose sake I keep My love my dark light my spark hold your love for me
My love my lark my spark
You light my dreams my darling

Run wild, let your dreams run wild

Art and design by James Mejia

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Brooklyn-based musician Alexei Shishkin is about to release new record Goodbye Sunrise on Rue Defense, and latest track ‘Froze Up’ serves as an entry point for those unfamiliar with his jazz-inflected pop rock style. With sax and even some neo-soul elements working their way into the mix. Offering direction to the album’s title, the song conjures not so much a bright dawn as a tropical city night. An open-topped car ride through neon-lit streets, perhaps the last people awake and feeling easy with it, as though with a little luck and not much effort the night might just stretch on forever.

Long nights
fast cars
the city bars
are closed up
and I froze up

Corey Gulkin – Half Moon

“How were we before this?” sings Corey Gulkin on the title track of their upcoming LP Anything Bagel. “Was it all so simple?” The album sees the Montreal artist delve into the fully intricacies of the self, disavowing any clear intention or conclusion in favour of something more natural and kind. “I wanted to engage with parts of myself that I was most afraid of and let them speak their mind, without shame or judgment,” as Gulkin explains. “This album overall feels like both a coming out and a coming into myself.” Watch the video for the single below, filmed and directed by Nasuna Stuart-Ulin, with special effects by Dustyn Lucas:

Half Moon is out on the 6th October via on Anything Bagel and you can pre-order it now.

goodgrief – two wheel drive

Be it in his solo work or through bands like Young Elk and The Slow Sound, the music of Ezekiel Rudick always packs a punch of the darkest kind. Songs which reluctantly set out into the shadowy realm of the past through all the lurking traumas, sometimes emerging with some sense of catharsis and others nothing but bitterness. With love birds, the latest record from his solo project goodgrief, coming this September on Rue Defense, Rudick has shared new single ‘two wheel drive’. A continuation of Rudick’s new mission statement to make “happy-sounding sad music” which blends the 90s shoegaze of Low with a Bazan-esque earnest-yet-forthright delivery.

Lee Baggett – All Star Day

“Like a long-lost seventies summer jam complete with a surreal slacker spirit which captures that easy-going West Coast swagger.” That’s how we described ‘Fruit Dog‘, a song from Lee Baggett released last summer. The track captured the spirit of Baggett’s work, having played in various bands in California since the eighties, eventually meeting fellow musician and surfer Kyle Fields and playing with Little Wings and the Be Gulls for going on two decades. With new album Echo Me On coming next winter on Perpetual Doom, Baggett is back with ‘All Star Day’, and the song might just capture the vibe even better than the last. An embodiment of those perfect summer days you had in your youth, and a reminder that such carefree bliss is still available for those willing to search it out. “The song came to me in my head already done,” Baggett explains. “I couldn’t even bend it a little bit.”

Mali Velasquez – Tore

Described as “a perennial introspection into the wild animal of young adulthood,” Mali Velasquez’s forthcoming LP I’m Green on Acrophase Records explores everything from grief to the trials of toxic relationships, though above all works to acknowledge how our biggest critic so often comes from within. Lead single ‘Tore’ takes on self-judgement directly, looking to overcome the unrealistic barriers and expectations we create for ourselves with a mix of gentle compassion and heartfelt catharsis. “‘Tore’ is a song mostly about my own way of self-sabotaging,” Velasquez says. “I have no idea how to combat being embarrassed all the time still, but explaining it some has helped. Being comfortable in my skin is something that feels out of reach a lot of the time. I put a lot of my ideas of not knowing how to feel or what to do or eat or wear into this song.” Check out the video directed by Reed Schick below:

I’m Green is out on the 13th October via Acrophase Records.

Middle Priest – Act Your Age

LA-based outfit Middle Priest are gearing up to release their debut EP, I thought that I was far away, very soon, and have unveiled their very first single to give an indication as to what to expect. Led by Raleigh native Colson Dorafshar, the band offer a bright and emotionally charged sound that lands somewhere between the rich, country-inflected rock of the likes of The Wooden Sky and probing resonance of someone like Sinai Vessel. “How long must I wait for you?” Dorafshar asks in the opening lines. “How long ’til you’re ready to / come home, talk it out? I am a man now, don’t be a child, no / I’ve been missing you.” The song proceeds from this opening, the sound ebbing and flowing as Dorafshar questions and pleads with this significant other. Though no clear answers emerge, there’s nevertheless something affirming in the bright momentum of the sound.

POSTDATA – Try

Though better known as lead of Canadian rock royalty Wintersleep, Paul Murphy has also developed a solo career under the moniker POSTDATA. With new full-length Run Wild coming soon via Paper Bag Records, Murphy has unveiled latest single ‘Try’, and all the elements which have made him such a prominent songwriter in Canadian independent music are present. From his distinctively searching vocals to the melding of pop and idiosyncratic sensibilities, this time to paint a picture of a frustrated musician driving themselves onwards, regardless of whether the terminus is a brighter horizon or total breakdown. “I think this is about following your passion wherever it leads,” Murphy explains. “There’s a sense of humour I think to it and a sense of lightness and darkness and desperation too. Essentially, they are the same lyrics in verse 1 and 2 with a slight twist in perspective or that’s what I’m trying to arrive at.”

Run Wild is set for release on the 22nd September via Paper Bag Records and you can pre-order it now.

Viv & Riley – Kygers Hill

Viv & Riley, AKA Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno, is a Durham-based duo preparing to release new album Imaginary People later this year on Free Dirt Records. The record combines pop, indie folk and traditional country sensibilities to evoke the nuances of nostalgia, and opener and lead single ‘Kygers Hill’ serves as the ideal intro to the sound. It’s a song based around Leva’s experiences returning to her childhood home of Virginia after moving away for college, and how new perspectives of such familiar places can emerge with distance and time. “It’s about missing your old home while trying to make a new one.” As Leva concludes. “It’s about growing up.” Watch the video directed by Leva and Calcagno themselves below:

Imaginary People is out on the 15th September via Free Dirt Records and you can pre-order it now.

Your Heart Breaks – Do you dare to dream with me? (feat. Wynne Greenwood)

We’ve shared a number of pieces on The Wrack Line by Your Heart Breaks in recent months, describing how the album functions as a version of title image, with Clyde Petersen detailing “a lifetime of friendships, feelings and memories, broken free of a gyre and left upon the artists’ shoreline.” Across eighteen tracks and with guest appearances from the likes of Christine Fellows, John K. Samson, R.Ring, Kimya Dawson, and Nana Grizol‘s Theo Hilton, The Wrack Line details not only a life spent on the margins, but also the community which Petersen chose to build there. With the album now out via Kill Rock Stars, final single ‘Do you dare to dream with me?’ invites the audience into this project of building a better world. The dreamily triumphant tones and Wynne Greenwood’s vocals convincing us that the impossible can be brought to life, if only we retain a sense of defiance and imagination.

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We had originally planned for 15 songs each but found it was too difficult to fit in all the artists we felt needed to be included and decided to go with 20 each. Luckily, HI54LOFI included some of our favourites and I think we had some of his on ours, so we helped each other out a bit.

Granted, there are far more than 40 noteworthy Canadian artists out there and there were some hard decisions. Any disappointed acts crying into their maple syrup or taking out frustrations on their teamates on the ice, please don’t despair, there is always next year.

We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making them. These songs certainly haven’t helped banish our romantic view of Canada.

Wake The Deaf side:

1.Docking Guard – Northern Primitive
2. Drop It – NEEDLES//PINS
3. Flyingshot Lake – The Flaming Moes
4. Ask Me Something – Wind & the Wild
5. Left and Leaving – The Weakerthans
6. Snow Ghosts – Paul Stewart
7. Voyageur – Doug MacNearney
8. The Future Of Tradition – Frederick Squire
9. Bruises – Dusted
10. Ben – Tyler Butler
11. Warning – Postdata
12. Margaret Downe – Aidan Knight
13. Coming Back Home – Zachary Lucky
14. Sask – Donovan Woods
15. Young Glass – Hey Rosetta!
16. Lightshow – Plants & Animals
17. And I Thank You – Pink Mountaintops
18. Cloud Of Evil – Blackout Beach
19. Sing! Captain – Handsome Furs
20. Continuous Thunder – Japandroids

HI54LOFI side:

1. Welcome To The Heart – Eamon McGrath
2. Broken Knees. – Different Skeletons
3. Sunset – Two Bicycles
4. Brook and Branch – The Weather Station (featuring Baby Eagle)
5. Skinny Ghost – HAPPY TRENDY
6. Deny, Deny, Deny – Joel Plaskett
7. You’re Cool – The Joe
8. Oh My God (It Still Means A Lot To Me) – The Wooden Sky
9. Necromancy – Jessica Jalbert
10. Scared – The Tragically Hip
11. Family Tree – Evening Hymns
12. Wind Driving Dogs – Chad VanGaalen
13. Were You In Love With Me – Andy Shauf
14. Big Bird In A Small Cage – Patrick Watson
15. I Need You Closer – LadyFace
16. Where are you? – nick everett
17. The Very Best – Mike Tod
18. Vapours – Islands
19. Sugar Mama – The Deep Dark Woods
20. Road Regrets – Dan Mangan

You can find both mixes here as a collection.

EH? – A Canadian Mixtape (Wake The Deaf Side) from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

EH? – A Canadian Mix Tape (HI54LOFI Side) from HI54LOFI on 8tracks Radio.

If anyone can think of any more Canada-themed cliches or stereotypes then please don’t hesitate to let us know for next year’s mix. Going by this collection of songs, being insanely talented might just be one more.

The post EH? – A Canadian Mixtape Complied By Wake The Deaf & HI54LOFI appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Jon Samuel, signed to Hidden Pony, is the latest band member to go it alone. First Transmission is refrshingly upbeat record about space, earth, and our fascination with what exists beyond our reach. Samuel cites Kurt Vonnegut as a major influence, and his style of writing definitely shows this, with an almost whimsical acceptance (or at least not the doom-and-gloom familiar from most writers) of the sad or difficult that would suit Kilgore Trout or Malachi Constant. The product are songs that are filled with wonder while maintaining a ‘real world’ view of things, preventing proceedings ever slipping into triteness

The instrumentation is arranged to support Samuel’s voice rather than compete with it, producing a rather tender and personal sounding listen that suits his vocals well. There is a whole range of sounds on show, from simple guitars to sci-fi synths and backing vocals from Rah Rah’s Erin Passmore, which all gel together to form a rich and varied sound which furthers the sense of childish (in a good way) wonder at extraterrestrial existence.

Download two tracks below and get the album directly from Jon here.

MP3: First Transmission

MP3: To Love

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Postdata began as a gift from Paul Murphy (the Wintersleep frontman) and his brother Michael in 2008. “We wanted to make a present for Mom, she’d had a tough year.” Both of Murphy’s grandparents passed away that year and they decided to make an album based around them. The results are breathtaking. You can listen (and download 3 of the tracks) here but if you are like me you’ll end up buying the album.

Hoquiam are the second band from Washington that I’ve mentioned in as many days. The masterful Damien Jurado teamed up with his brother Drake to make dark, eerie music about their childhood. It had a limited release (only around 500 copies were made) but it can be bought here. It’s also on Spotify if you’d prefer.

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