Land of Talk - "Quarry Hymns" (album: Cloak and Cipher)

At about the 4:30 mark of this video, a kid wanders along wearing a Montreal Canadians T-Shirt! (A nice hockey touch for this Mountie Rock track)

Land of Talk's second album, Cloak and Cipher, is now on sale (for under $6 on Amazon). In an even better bargain, they are coming back to Chicago on September 21 (for under $15 at Lincoln Hall).

I was eagerly anticipating this album. To the extent that I kept periodically hitting refresh on that Amazon page late last night - waiting for the MP3 download to be available for purchase. Thankfully I was able to get it downloaded, and transferred over to my iPod in time for the new workday.

After listening to this new album first thing this morning, and listening to their first effort (Some Are Lakes) for the countless time in the afternoon, I came home and bought tickets to see them next month.

I have no clue how popular this band is. Who knows if the smallish Lincoln Hall will sell out or not? They were here last in December - playing either the Bottom Lounge or Empty Bottle. I chose a different route that evening. It's not relavent to Mountie Rock what that other choice was, but needless to say I'll be gladly attempting to right a wrong on September 21 when I see them again.

One last question: Would anybody care to join me?

Dragonette - "Our Summer" (CONCERT REVIEW)

I was wrong.
In my last post, I mentioned that my first "Mountie Rock" concert review will be in October.
The statement was already in jeopardy once I saw the upcoming Land of Talk concert at Lincoln Hall (only $12!).

Blog foreshadowing: Land of Talk's new album comes out later this month, so expect a review and concert plea shortly.

Land of Talk is a band that I've mentioned here before, a band who's discovery was a pleasant surprise when they were scheduled as an opening act for someone else.

Such is the case with Dragonette. Someone who I learned, after the fact, is from Canada. Although her style is much more Dance (or Pop) than Rock - I still want to share a song that brought the house down last Friday night.

The house was Metro. The reason why I was there was to see Cut Copy: an act from a genre I call "Great Barrier Beats." For many reasons I won't be starting a blog based on that type of music.

Dragonette made a quick fan of me. She had boundless energy and got the crowd, that I will admit was willing to dance crazy to elevator music at that point, exactly where we wanted to go. Near the end of her set she sung the song "Our Summer" that sent the entire set into another strata of funness that was sustained until her fistpumping self left the stage. The time the song was performed (pushing Midnight Chicago time) and date (first weekend in August) couldn't have been better suited for the track.

Broken Social Scene - "Texico Bitches" (album: Forgiveness Rock Record)

Pretty soon I'm going to have my first concert review of this "Mountie Rock" blog.
It couldn't be more appropriate - for it's my favorite band of the faux-genre.
Actually, I'm considering seeing Broken Social Scene two consecutive nights.
Tickets already in hand for Milwaukee, I'm considering buying tickets for the previous night in Chicago.

Arcade Fire - "Ready to Start" (album: The Suburbs)

My favorite track of the new Arcade Fire album.
An album that you can hear in its entirety, for free, on NPR right now.

STEAMING NEWS! Arcade Fire - "The Suburbs" (album: The Suburbs)

UPDATE / REPOST: The entire new Arcade Fire album is streaming on NPR.
Also, I guess with that out - YouTube videos are back online.
You've probably already forgotten about the first time I tried to post about this band - so here it is again (with hopefully a YouTube video that's hasn't been pulled)

There's more to Canada than just Ontario.
It's time to mention a band from Montreal.

A friend I know from Canada had a really funny point about Quebec once. To paraphrase: "In America, there's a section of the county that acts really differently, and some are ashamed - like 'The South.' But in Canada, we all think Quebec is cool." Some Americans wouldn't mind if "The South" seceded from the Union, but I got the feeling (from this Canuck friend) that all of Canada would be heartbroken without their cool cousin of Quebec.

Arcade Fire is one of the more established bands in the Mountie Rock genre. They have a knack for making 'anthem-esque' songs that sound better the more people in the audience join in. Even in a car full of just 3 people, conversations are halted to join in their epic choruses. This was most famously the case with their song used for the Where the Wild Things Are movie trailer: "Wake Up"

According to their official website (ww.arcadefire.com) their 3rd album is due out in August, but is available to pre-order now. Preorder purchases get two singles for immediate download - including the below title track. I think it's safe to assume this gang will be hitting the road soon after August to support this new album, and it's even safer to assume you'll need to buy tickets the day they go on sale.