New Canadian Music

Weekly intelligence report

Video of the moment

BLack on BLonde has been out for two weeks now, and the video for "The Dog Is Mine" dropped back in October, but our respect for the vision and accomplishment of k-os' bold double album only increases with each passing day. An intensely collaborative effort – he's backed here by Toronto indie darlings Magneta Lane – the record is a career-defining work, one we'll be listening to and talking about for years to come.
Hayden Desser's seventh studio album Us Alone is out this week on Arts & Crafts. The publicity-adverse folkie has been busy of late juggling a European mini tour with the responsibilites of raising a young daughter, but he's found time to do a little press, and has just released a delightful video for "Rainy Saturday" in which the laid back singer pauses the song to take a phone call and leads us on a watery journey through an automatic car wash.
Just nominated for a Canadian Radio Music Award for Song of the Year, Elise LeGrow's "No Good Woman" is the lead-off track on her debut EP. There's a slick new promo video to go along with it, but we're far from alone in finding something captivating in the unadorned acoustic version, which showcases the range and raw emotion at play in the Whale Tooth singer's breakthrough song.
With a second single out this week, the anticipation for Tegan and Sara's seventh studio album (due Jan 29th) continues to build. Here's the infectious earlier cut "Closer", a song awash in synth pop happiness but cut through with just the right amount of tension and angsty longing. The smart money is saying that "Heartthrob" could be the twins' biggest record to date.
That's Tom Wilson on the left in "Dead Flowers", a short film that provides the visual accompaniment for his excellent new song "Break Your Body", taken from the second full-length album by LeE HARVeY OsMOND. Also appearing in the video is Kathleen Edwards, while the record itself features a host of other well-respected musicians, as Kerry Doole details here.

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The daily buzz

A Posy of Canadian Valentine Songs

Feb 14th, 2013

Music has been my playmate, my lover, and my crying towel. ~ Buffy Sainte-Marie. How eloquent, profound and true our Buffy can be. On this Valentine`s Day NCM has orchestrated two dozen roses, arranged in a symphony of song, for lovers to savour in the company of someone they love.

Older

A Valentine from Matt Dusk - Feb 13th, 2013

Congrats to MusiCounts' Band Aid Program - Feb 12th, 2013

The Return of Beat-Boy Chuxx - Feb 12th, 2013

Cowboy Junkies get Nomad-ic Again - Feb 12th, 2013

Older buzz →

The Flip Side

February 14, 2013 11:00 pm
By David Farrell A Few Basics, Before You Launch Your Record Are you ready to launch your new album but unclear about what to do beyond hosting a launch party and sending copies to the local newspaper and radio station? Having gone through the exhausting and often costly exercise of recording your masterpiece, it is critical that you have a plan in place on how you are going to distribute the music. More →

A geographic view of new releases in Canada

The latest from our affiliates

Chart Attack noisemakers:

Latest episode: Mac DeMarco

With his new album 2, Mac DeMarco successfully strikes a balance between keenly focused songwriting and tongue-in-cheek bluster. Just take “Ode To Viceroy,” a sweet love ballad dedicated to his chosen brand of cigarettes, which merges effortless lo-fi flair with the cheeky charisma of a grungy Saturday morning cartoon character. Mac performed the song with his band in Chart Attack’s living room – it might be the last time he performs in a venue this small.

AUX presents:

Latest episode: Hollerado

Listen in as Menno Versteeg and Dean Baxter from Hollerado sit down with Aux's Band In A Box crew to discuss their video for "Pick Me Up" taken from their recent release 'White Paint". The clip was partially shot at an air balloon festival out in the desert, which was weird enough, and then dressed up with some fantastic animation and stop-motion puppetry.

Jazz Album of the Week

Just in time for the annual day of romantic love and the winged Cupid comes Toronto-based jazz-crooner Matt Dusk’s latest offering, My Funny...

Rock/Pop Album of the Week

This could be a big year for Chloe Charles at home in Canada. Her debut - already released to strong notices in several Euro territories - has earned...

Rock/Pop Single of the Week

Stepping outside Our Lady Peace, singer Raine Maida picks up his solo pursuits with the single“Montreal”, taken from his March 26 album, We All Get...

Folk Album of the Week

This is the fifth album from acclaimed roots troubadour Justin Rutledge, and his first collection of new material for Outside Music. It follows a...

Dance/Electronic Single of the Week

This one-off single is Purity Ring's well timed nod to Soulja’s humorous Grammy call. Ester Dean repeats on this cover to assist Megan James’ female...

2	Drake Displaces Carly Rae, landing at #2 on the Established chart
37	Hayden is back and enters the Emerging Chart at #30

The week's releases