In continuing with the countdown to the start of the 2010 Winter Olympics, we have yet another international artist to feature for our SOTD, as we previously featured UK’s Ellie Goulding.
Although based in London, Erik Hassle found success in his home country, Sweden, and has slowly but steadily building a fan base in the UK. He recently signed an international recording contract last year with Island Records and Universal Republic, and will be releasing an album (essentially his debut album back in 2008 titled ‘Hassle’ in Sweden) in March 2010, for consumption in both the UK as well as North America.
There is a certain connection that Hassle’s music makes with the listener, as the emotion in his voice appears to be genuine, and the lyrics unravel even more of that honesty. And the fact that he posts cover songs over on his Youtube channel gives him even more brownie points.
Hassle is set to make an impact worldwide, not only with his music, but also his trademark red afro… which we hope he will bring to Canada in the near future!
Hometown: Newmarket, Ontario | Label: Mean Beard, mom+pop, Memphis Ind, Dew Process
It was a pivotal moment a few years back, when Tokyo Police Club played Pop Montreal, and Dave Monks (vocals and bass), Graham Wright (keyboards), Josh Hook (guitar), and Greg Alsop (drums) realized that they had something there as a band, and held onto that notion. Fast forward from that moment in time, the four-piece band from Newmarket, Ontario, has since played at a wealth of live musical festivals for audiences far and wide, and even had the opportunity to perform on Late Night With David Letterman. The band was nominated for a Juno Award for their debut album, ‘Elephant Shell’, which was released in 2008.
This year is already starting off on a strong note for Tokyo Police Club, as they are part of the Olympic celebrations for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. They will be playing the Richmond O-Zone on February 26th, and at Holland Park the next night. Both of these shows are free to the public. In addition, the band is also returning to the lineup for Coachella this summer, not to mention a tentative release date for their second full-length LP in late spring.
Tokyo Police Club has been consistent with their sound, from ‘A Lesson In Crime’— their 2007 EP that captured the attention of people with good taste in music from far and wide. The construction of their music gives off a distinct and distinguishable sound, a mix of indie rock mixed in with garage-band influence, in a polished way. One of the highlights of signing with an independent label is the amount of control you have in the making of your music, and the boys of Tokyo Police club are certainly at an advantage here, acting as not only songwriters also as co-producers.
If their success so far isn’t indication enough, it is only going to get bigger for Tokyo Police Club. And for those of you who are in Vancouver this month, be sure to go to one of their shows. Did we mention that they are free?
Taking inspiration from the influx of international athletes, who are slowly taking over the city of Vancouver as the days draw closer to the Olympics, we thought we’d feature some international artists we’ve been obsessing over lately.
Ellie Goulding will be releasing her debut album (titled Lights) on March 1, 2010, and has already been catching listeners’ attention with the release of her first single, “Under The Sheets” late last year. The first official single off her debut album is “Starry Eyed”, which has already projected to make an impact on the UK charts.
There has been an ongoing electro-pop movement over the past year or so, with artists such as La Roux, Little Boots, Owl City, and Lights, among others– who have been making a great addition to this movement.
Goulding proves that she can hold her own among her peers in the same category, as she supported Little Boots on tour last year, and collaborated with Erik Hassle in covering Robyn’s “Be Mine”.
Only nine more days until the celebration of the 2010 Winter Games begin… which means another day closer to all the LiveCity shows in Vancouver, Surrey, Richmond, and Whistler. We would love to know which shows YOU will be checking out.
Our playlists for the week… J’s Playlist:
1. Earth Song – Michael Jackson
2. Hard – Rihanna
3. I’m Not An Angel – Halestorm
4. Cielo – Phil Wickham
5. Cosmic Love – Florence and the Machines
6. Wavin Flag – K’naan
7. Back to Bed – Erik Hassle
8. My Heart, Your Hands – Dommin
9. Pick U Up – Adam Lambert
10. Seems So Far – Jets Overhead
F’s Playlist:
1. You Don’t Know Me – Ben Folds & Regina Spektor
2. Falling Away From You – Muse
3. The Thanks I Get – Erik Hassle
4. I Got You – Leona Lewis
5. Perfect – Alanis Morrissette
6. Oh Boy – Duffy
7. When It Rains – Paramore
8. I Sing I Swim – Seabear
9. Yellow – Coldplay
10. Sour Candy – Carly Jepsen
Ever hear a rendition of a song that makes you fall in love with it all over again? For those of you who at least tune into the auditions, or not, Andrew Garcia did a lovely version of Maroon 5’s ‘Sunday Morning’ during last week’s episode on American Idol.
And so, with that, we bring you a version of ‘Sunday Morning’ that you may or may not have heard before, but it’s a good one. The jazz elements compliment Adam Levine’s voice well.
Maroon 5 will be releasing their third studio album sometime this year, and it is rumoured to be similar to the sound of ‘Songs About Jane’, and also rumoured to be possibly the last album from the band… key word, rumours. Hopefully not?
As we brought you the first leg of Michael’s Crazy Love Tour here it only seemed fitting that we bring you the good news that Michael has released the dates for his second leg of the tour! While the first leg has been only US shows, Canadians are in luck as Michael will be making his way across our great country as well! Not only is Canada included in this his second leg, but many European cities as well, as well as a number of extra US cities. If Michael wasn’t able to make it to your city the first time around, check below to see if he’ll be there this time around!
5/6/10 Sheffield, UK – Sheffield Arena
5/8/10 Glasgow, UK – SECC
5/9/10 Manchester, UK – MEN Arena
5/11/10 Liverpool, UK – Liverpool Arena
5/12/10 Newcastle, UK – Newcastle Arena
5/14/10 Birmingham, UK – LG & NIA
5/15/10 London, UK – O2 Arena
5/16/10 London, UK – O2 Arena
5/18/10 Paris, France – Bercy
5/19/10 Arnhem, Netherlands – Gelredome
5/22/10 Verona, Italy – Arena Di Verona
5/23/10 Milan, Italy – Mediolanum Forum
5/25/10 Munich, Germany – Olympiahalle
5/26/10 Zurich, Switzerland – Hallenstadion
5/28/10 Berlin, Germany – O2
5/30/10 Antwerp, Germany – Sportspalais
5/31/10 Oberhausen, Germany – Kopi Arena
6/1/10 Hamburg, Germany – Colorline Arena
6/22/10 Tulsa, OK – BOK Center
6/23/10 Wichita, KS – Intrust Bank Arena
6/25/10 St.Louis, MO – Scottrade Center
6/26/10 Kansas City, MO – Sprint Center
6/27/10 Omaha, NE – Qwest Center
6/29/10 Indianapolis, IN – Conseco Fieldhouse
6/30/10 Columbus, OH – Nationwide Arena
7/2/10 Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Casino
7/3/10 Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Casino
7/6/10 Richmond, VA – Richmond Coliseum
7/7/10 Norfolk, VA – Constant Convocation Center
7/9/10 Raleigh, NC – RBC Center
7/10/10 Charlotte, NC – Time Warner Cable Arena
7/11/10 Jacksonville, FL – Veterans Memorial Arena
7/13/10 Pensacola, FL – Civic Center
7/14/10 New Orleans, LA – New Orleans Arena
7/16/10 Houston, TX – Toyota Center
7/17/10 San Antonio, TX – AT&T Center
7/18/10 Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
8/5/10 Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
8/7/10 Ottawa, ON – Scotiabank Place
8/9/10 London, ON – John Labatt Centre
8/10/10 Toronto, ON – Air Canada Centre
8/13/10 Winnipeg, MB – MTS Centre
8/14/10 Saskatoon, SK – Credit Union Centre
8/17/10 Calgary, AB – Saddledome
8/20/10 Vancouver , BC – General Motors Place
F’s Playlist:
1. Don’t Bring Me Flowers – Erik Hassle
2. Try – Nelly Furtado
3. Catch Me – Demi Lovato
4. Hello – Schuyler Fisk
5. I Don’t Believe You – Pink
6. Nicest Thing – Kate Nash
7. Feel – Marie Digby
8. Black And Gold – Sam Sparrow
9. The Day I Lost My Voice – Copeland
10. All The Same To Me – Anya Marina
J’s Playlist:
1. Monster – Skillet
2. My World – Sick Puppies
3. Always Forever – Phil Wickham
4. Love Will Make You Beautiful – The Afters
5. One Dream – Sarah McLachlan
6. Before I Die – The Vanity Plan
7. Your Love’s A Drug – Leighton Meester
8. City On Our Knees – TobyMac
9. Hotel Room Service – Pitbull
10. Kings and Queens – 30 Seconds To Mars
There are two official videos for Light’s song, ‘Ice’. The story behind the song having two videos is simple: Lights had a goal of making a video for all the songs from her self-titled EP, and decided to take that on herself. That resulted in the first version of the ‘Ice’ video, which Lights spent about $5.00 creating the props for herself.
The second video, which you can easily find on her official Youtube page, is a nice addition to her music video collection, and features a Lights-lookalike as the “evil” Lights. Both are good videos, but the first video (which you can check out below), better showcases one of the many artistic talents of Lights
With the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics just a few weeks away, the spotlight is heavily on Canadian talent in these the preceding weeks, and while the athletes may be the highlight of the events, the music scene is just as alive and ready to perform for the world. Victoria, B.C.’s very own Nelly Furtado will take to the stage as the first performer during the Vancouver Victory Ceremonies on February 14th. The beautiful and incredibly talented Furtado recently released her latest album, Mi Plan, her first full-length Spanish album, which debuted to huge numbers for the singer/songwriter and became the highest sales debut for a Latin Pop Album in 2009.
“Manos Al Aire,” the first single off of Mi Plan, has been a world-wide hit, and yet another hit song added to the songstress’s long and continuously growing list. By now, Nelly Furtado has established quite the name for herself, not only in Canada, not only in her Portuguese roots, but across the world. No matter which language her songs may be recorded in, it is the emotion, the vibe, and the unique vocals of Nelly Furtado that distinguish her music from all others. Nelly has the rare talent of having a truly universal sense of music and has the ability to make people feel her lyrics with each passing beat. As a winner of 4 Grammy’s and with numerous other awards and accolades, along with platinum albums in over 30 countries, Nelly has proven her abilities throughout the world and has taken risks most artists wouldn’t even consider taking, only as a true creative individual could.
Much has changed for Canada’s Furtado in the years after her first studio album, Whoa Nelly!, back in 2000. With the birth of her first child, Nevis in 2003 came a revitalization in Nelly’s young music career that seemed to push the songstress to new heights and established her within the music industry as one of the hottest female artists, kick-starting an array of duets with musical masterminds including Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Josh Groban, and Alex Cuba. Along with Mi Plan and Whoa Nelly!, Nelly Furtado has a couple of other albums, including 2003’s Folklore, and 2006’s Loose, and in just this past year, Nelly launched her own music label, Nelstar Music. Just this past week, Nelly performed live on “Canada For Haiti,” and helped contribute to raising close to $20 million in funds for Haitian relief efforts. After performing during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, Nelly is looking to hit the road for the Mi Plan tour, with dates yet to be released. Be sure to check out Nelly’s official website, http://www.nellyfurtado.com, for more information.
Hometown: Newmarket, Ontario | Label: Mean Beard, mom+pop, Memphis Ind, Dew Process
Hometown: Victoria, B.C| Label: Geffen Records