Mike Edel soars, Shade get told, J Fernandez welcomes winter, Homeshake channels Haruki and more on today’s Roundup. Don’t look back in anger, I heard you say:
1 | Here’s something I didn’t know: There have been several songs written about the 1986 Challenger disaster. And here’s something I do know: Even without listening to any of them, I suspect that few are as artfully poignant and uplifting as Victoria folk-popster Mike Edel’s new single Challenger, which is accompanied a suitably moving video. SEZ THE PRESS RELEASE: “The song Challenger presents a moment in a time when the world felt out of control, and left us with a collective sense of confusion and disorientation,” says Edel. “Sometimes in life we are faced with events that just make the stakes feel a little higher. In these moments, we are presented with a choice: do we resign and despair, or do we with courage, embrace hope?” Find the answer above.
2 | Tired of waiting for that inevitable Oasis reunion? Take heart; while you wait for the battling Gallaghers to bury the hatchet, you can fill the Britrock-sized void in your life (and playlist) with She Told Me, the classic-sounding single from Hamilton rockers Shade. SEZ THE PRESS RELEASE: “Shade’s shadowy and razor-sharp six-string raucousness is an all-consuming beast, bruising with a dark and doomy swagger one moment, and pushing skywards with hazy, transcendental trips the next.” Give them gin and tonic:
3 | Depending on where you live, actual winter may or may not have begun yet. But no matter where you call home, Volcanic Winter has arrived. But don’t sweat it; while it sounds pretty horrific, it’s actually just the dreamy new pop single from Chicago indie singer-songwriter J Fernandez, released to bang the drum for his new CD Occasional Din, out this week. SEZ THE PRESS RELEASE: “Fernandez starts skeletons of songs with an organ and a Casio drum machine. Through endless revisions and tweaks, he builds and rebuilds each into complex arrangements.” Cue the quiet eruption:
4 | Do you read Haruki Murakami? If not, I highly recommend it — assuming you enjoy charmingly surreal tales filled with disappearing characters, bizarre plots, lots of cooking, plenty of jazz and cats. Montreal electronicist Peter Sagar apparently does. Helium, his latest under the name Homeshake, reportedly came about after binge-reading the Japanese author. Sample the endearing single Like Mariah for an introduction. SEZ THE PRESS RELEASE: “It’s not hard to picture the narrator of these songs as a distinctly Murakamian character: He moves through time by himself, bemused by and insulated from a world he doesn’t quite seem to have been made for. The record is stitched together by a series of instrumental interludes, synthesizer explorations whose haziness adds to the suspicion that this is all an uncanny dream.” Hear the wind sing:
5 | Some artists are all about the promotion. Dance Move Cops, the new alter ego of Toronto musician/producer Brendan Ferrie, is all about the music. His new song Party Boys — from his upcoming EP Spy Plane — landed in my inbox with zero fanfare, save for a four-sentence email and various links. Which is really everything you need to know, aside from … SEZ THE PRESS RELEASE: “It’s a moody, atmospheric, indie/alternative track.” Get the party started:
