Charlotte Cornfield

For fans of: Leslie Feist, Kathleen Edwards
If Charlotte's voice were a food product, it would be a slice of lightly toasted flaxseed loaf, coated in warm honey. Earthy and sweet. Smooth, with just a bit of crunch. This nineteen-year-old Toronto native is truly an old soul and her clever lyrics show it, as they reveal both natural vulnerability and internal strength. Plus, she stylizes with hand-claps. What isn't there to like? Catch her tomorrow night at Mitzi's Sister in Toronto for a midnight show, before she heads back to Montreal.


[FUN FACT: though her acoustic folk shows may not show it, the multitalented Cornfield actually studies jazz percussion at Concordia. Oh, the versatility!]

The Darling DeMaes

For fans of: Belle & Sebastian, Bright Eyes

Chances are, if you haven't heard of Montreal's best-kept secret The Darling DeMaes yet, you will soon. With only one acoustic album under their belt, The Darling DeMaes have managed to draw the attention of some sharp ears in the industry and were just granted an Independent Artists Recording loan from F.A.C.T.O.R. - so you can look forward to their first full-length (and full band) album, due out next month. The soothing girl/boy vocal harmonies and punctual "ooo-wahs" create a deceivingly cheery pop aesthetic that disguises some of the darker themes they deal with in their lyrics. Even their seemingly benign choice title "The Darling Demaes" has an grim underbelly; it's a tribute to Lea DeMae - an olympic diver-turned-pornstar whole tragically died of a brain tumour at the height of her career. Similar to Connor Oberst's trembling vocals, lead Erik Virtanen's bleat is addictive without the whiny downside. The quirky lyrics of songs like "Young Mothers" ("I want to celebrate life, despite what's right/I want to live like a teenage mother") and "A Couple of Schizophrenics" ("We took off our straight jacket/Put on normal clothes and walked out") set The Darling DeMaes apart from other up-and-comers. Download songs from their acoustic album, Winter Keep Us Warm, FOR FREE on their website: www.darlingdemaes.com.

The Dodos

For fans of: Animal Collective, The Liars

You've got to respect San Fran duo the Dodos. Take a country-blues inspired guitarist and pair him with a progressive metal drummer and, survey says, you're going to have a trainwreck. But against all odds, the Dodos have created something unexpectedly harmonious. The pulsing, rhythm-driven tunes of Meric Long and Logan Kroeber summon a sort of innate memory of the primitive life in all those who hear it, while the crooning, melodic and sometimes warbling voice of Long carries us to more immediately familiar time and turf. They have created something entirely simple and complex all at once. Stripped down instrumentation (there are, after all, only two of them - a guitar and a drum) is in no way limiting to the Dodos, who masterfully layer intricate fingerpicking, powerful strumming, and fierce drum-pounding. Not to mention the tambourine strapped to the bottom of Kroeber's foot, which brings foot-stomping to whole new level. Expect to be sprayed with sweat at their energy-charged live shows. Extinction, smextinction. The dodos live!

I've posted a sample tune below, but you should also check out this video: http://www.wearethemasses.com/musicvideos/dodos_fools.html

Rae Spoon

Not your typical banjo-picker. Rae Spoon is a transgender-identified alt-country musician from Alberta - and he's got somethin' goin' on. Unfortunately, that somethin' isn't as interesting as his personal life. Nice to listen to, but honestly, give me a little more spice, please.

The Tallest Man on Earth

For fans of: Bob Dylan, Jose Gonzalez

Hiding behind the character alias of this lonesome giant is Swede Kristian Matsson, whose folklorish lyrics weave natural imagery with mystical reveries. His latest album "Shallow Graves" traverses the Earth, through blizzards and across desert sands, and is punctuated by encounters with spies hiding in chimneys and angels suffering "with wings of pain." Yet through this fantastical imagery, the Tallest Man on Earth manages to communicate the ultimately mundane human emotions that connect us all - like the fear of being discovered as ordinary by a lover in "The Gardener". Of course, you can't listen to Matsson raw and raspy voice or his jaunty fingerpicking and rhythmic strumming without recognizing the dominating influence of the greatest of the great - Bob Dylan. But Matsson manages to channel the folk master without the ennui of mimicry that others have fallen victim to. It makes sense - no one but the Tallest Man on Earth could fill shoes that big.

Jane, resurrected.

I stopped writing this blog when the idea that only a handful of friends reads it made it seem pointless to me.  That was almost a year ago.  Today, I'm reclaiming the blog.  It is not pointless.  It's a personal music diary.  I recently looked back on it and found that I had completely forgotten about some of my fave tunes from last summer.  Now, we can't have that.

Viva la blog!