Uzi and Ari | “Mountain/Molehill”

It seems as if I rarely have time to sit down and watch music videos anymore. My 12-year-old self would gasp with incredulity.

I had an amazing day today, cycling out to the Beach with one of my oldest friends in the world. We’re both in our 30s now, and spending an entire afternoon cycling around and chatting about life on the beach reminds me once again what’s most important in life.

But I still can’t skip a rock. Huh.

Anyway, I like the mood of this song. It makes me want to gobble up the world and never let go.

Arcade Fire | “Neon Bible”

La Blogotheque consistently blows me away, turning songs I think are so-so into vivid pieces like this one. This is one elevator I wouldn’t mind being trapped in.

Also, am I the only one who hopes that guy doesn’t run out of magazine pages?

Arcade Fire – Official Site | MySpace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Amazon

New Pornographers | “Myriad Harbour”

“I took a plane, I took a train. Who cares? You always end up in the city.”

I’m here again in NYC, and may be stranded at Bleecker and Broadway looking for something to do. Except I got here by bus, actually — $15 from Toronto to NY, take that! — and my three weeks here is already jam-packed with appointments and photo shoots. It’s-a gonna be a fun ride.

New Pornographers – Official Site | MySpace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Amazon

The Mae Shi | “Run to Your Grave”

I have this weird rule about not seeing bands more than once, unless they put on a fantastic show. Not only did I break that rule, but I saw these kids from LA THREE times in a span of THREE days.

Needless to say, these guys were, by far, the most engaging performers I saw at SXSW 2008. This video kind of says it all.

The Mae Shi – Official Site | MySpace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Amazon

Various | “Do you know it’s Hallowe’en?”

“Do They Know It’s Halloween” – bunch of indie kids

I’ve been slacking off. Sorry. But Halloween’s quickly approaching, so here’s the first themed video to celebrate. It’s an animated offering honouring Band-Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas”, with a cast including David Cross, members of Arcade Fire, Sloan, Postal Service, Wolf Parade, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and blah, blah, blah…

More to come!

The Wedding Present | “Brassneck”

Some random IRC friend from my university days sent me a mix tape. The highlight, by far, was a little ditty by The Wedding Present (not to be confused with Nick Cave’s The Birthday Party, which, to this day, I continue doing) — a Leeds, UK alt-rock outfit with a singer who sounded like he was growling while gargling a cap full of Listerine. It was intense and poppy at the same time. And the drums and the guitars came along for the frantic and intense ride, too. I was in love.

Despite an extended sabbatical from 1997 to 2004, I stuck with the band, used them as my stand-by Saturday afternoon soundtrack. And finally after nine years of fandom, I was able to check out their live show here in Vancouver. Too bad it was a serious let-down: the band members had as much emotion as a bag of flour. And their music didn’t help — their newer material definitely lacks the edge of their old stuff. Maybe I’m being a music snob. But maybe I’m just bitter that I had to wait nine years to see them, and they let me down big time. Sigh.

Still, here’s one excellent song and video. If nothing else, here’s my present to you.

The Wedding Present – Official site | MySpace | Last.fm | Wikipedia | Amazon

1990s | “You Made Me Like It”

The feeling of this video is more 1980s — a time when Olympic gymnastics held modern society in its grasp and kept giving it a big noogie. But then again I was a little girl who just wanted to be famous, and being obsessed with Mary Lou Retton was like a rite of passage into the cool group at school. But I digress. This ain’t the 1980s. This is the 1990s — the group, that is.

Hailing from Scotland, these lads have many connections to fellow scenesters Franz Ferdinand and Babyshambles. After pumping out a few minor releases — including the single above, “You Made Me Like It” — they’re out with their first full-length, Cookies. It’s power pop, Brit style. And so are their teeth. The lead’s singer’s set of chompers are way too difficult to avoid, like watching a car accident. Chew on that cookie, my friends.

1990s – Official site | MySpace | Last.fm | Amazon

Similar artists: The White Stripes | The Cribs | Kings of Leon | Babyshambles

Archers of Loaf | “Harnessed in Slums”

In a back-breaking effort to reorganize my dreadfully disorganized iTunes library, I’ve been reintroduced to the now-disbanded Archers of Loaf. Though I’ve been obsessed with music for quite a while now, I can easily say that “Harnessed in Slums” is THE song that made me realize I could really RAWK if I wanted to… and I most certainly did.

Lead singer Eric Bachmann is now fronting Crooked Fingers, a folk outfit that doesn’t come close to bringing the power that AoL offered in my misguided early ’90s youth. Too bad, since now I’m just a poorly misguided adult.

Thank gad for YouTube.

Archers of Loaf – Wikipedia | MySpace | Last.fm | Amazon