Our weekly (or however often*) roundup of this week’s discoveries and old faves. Usually it’s friends of mine or just music I like. Now including “liner notes” to help guide you through this journey and hopefully introduce you to some new, great music!
*It’s been a few weeks. I’ve been acting in movies and now a play. I’m also getting ready to announce the pre-sale of our new album Open Hearts Open Minds so STAY TUNED!!!
LISA LEBLANC –POURQUOI FAIRE AUJOURD’HUI
For those who don’t know, I like to always include some French language music. This one came to me from a Facebook post by Chris Stringer, who I believe mixed this album. (He and I did a tour of Canada and Europe in the same band back in the earlier part of this millennium.) This music has a great late 70s disco/early 80s pop vibe. It also has a great rollerskating video (which, as you will see, fits into a minor theme in this week’s playlist…)
THIS MAD DESIRE –PARIS AMOUREUX
I always include one of my own and this is my only French single, which I actually wrote on a tour bus leaving Paris en route to Luxembourg on the aforementioned tour with Chris Stringer as noted above. So this all dovetails together nicely! This track has an English variant and twin videos filmed at Digital Canaries. Live I sing some of the words in each language kind of like we do O Canada at hockey games!
BIF NAKED –ROLLERDOME
Long before I was performing in Paris (or even Toronto), I got my start with my high school rock’n’roll band Bloodflowers playing at the legendary Crocks ‘N’ Rolls in Thunder Bay, Canada. Frank Loffredo got us in for our second gig to open for Canadian punk rock icon Bif Naked who was really launching at the time. It was great fun. This is a new song from her and fits in with our RollerWhatever mini-theme! Also, because I was just acting in a movie about women's boxing, it's a fun tie-in that Bif has boxing gloves on the cover of this track!
LT –ROLLERCOASTER
I made Leanne Tennant’s acquaintance through the Indie 101 online festival. She’s down under in Aussieland and seems to be having some much-deserved success with this track. And yes RollerWhatever!
BETH ORTON –FOREVER YOUNG
There was a time when almost every female singer-songwriter I met in Toronto was desperate to be Beth Orton, and listening to this song, it’s not hard to see why. Beth Orton has always had such great musical instincts and fantastic writing. And in this new track, she sings about “rolling down the avenue”, which I believe concludes our RollerWhatever mini-set.
LIZZO / CAROLINE SMITH –LET ‘EM SAY
We all know how popular Lizzo has become but I first heard of her when she was opening for Sleater-Kinney (which, looking back, seems like a really fun night!). At the time, I looked into her and found the video for this collab with Caroline Smith, another Twin Cities artist (now in LA) who is a great songwriter. In this video, the two of them stroll through the streets of Minneapolis (I’m presuming) and have some fun adventures.
YDE –PEOPLE CAN CHANGE
Breanna Yde lives in LA but born in Australia and I believe she started as a child actress. Very pretty song.
WAX MANNEQUIN –PEOPLE CAN CHANGE
Mr. Wax Mannequin lives near me in the Hamilton area and we’ve known each other for years. I’m sure I’ve seen him sing this song 80-100 times (slight exaggeration)! I’ve always liked this track and I like how he’s double-tracked the vocals here in both his lower and upper registers. Sounds killer!
VELOURS –RUNNING UP THAT HILL
This may seem bandwagonesque but I actually think it’s genius to release this Kate Bush cover so soon after it launched back into the charts (thanks to the Netflix show Stranger Things). Velours is from Saskatchewan and we originally met at Indie Week a couple years ago. Honestly, I prefer her cover to the original!
HYDESKY –REBELLION
Hydesky is from my friend Tianda’s Discord and lives in Italy. Cool track especially if you like EDM.
THIS MAD DESIRE –OPERATORS ARE STANDING BY (FELINO REMIX)
I don’t normally include two of my own songs but I felt this remix by Brazilian artist Felino fit in well after Hydesky’s tune.
DANIEL LANOIS –MY ALL
And now for a complete change of mood! Daniel Lanois used to live near me and still has family in the area. Of course, he is one of the world’s most renowned record producers as well as being a fantastic songwriter and musician.
SHE & HIM –DON’T WORRY BABY
M. Ward and Zooey Deschanell have been releasing records together for quite a long time. They definitely have a cool vibe and I think this record might be all Beach Boys covers.
JACK WHITE –A TIP FROM YOU TO ME
I prefer this more organic sound on this new Jack White though. He’s a real musical genius.
BILLIE EILISH –TV
Billie doesn’t need my praise. Very cool track though!!
ILLUMINATTI HOTTIES –I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY
I was looking for more 80s covers to go with Velours’ track and this one always hits the spot. As does…
JULIANA HATFIELD –TOTALLY HOT
This Olivia Newton-John track is so cool, or hot! It’s been so hot around here, I’m melting just thinking about going outside…
And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!!
If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul.
If you are an artist that would like to be included in the future, reach out anywhere and I’d love to check out your tunes!
Yours in music,
Mac