tag:thismaddesire.net,2005:/blogs/tmd-listens?p=2TMD Listens!2024-02-11T06:49:13-05:00This Mad Desirefalsetag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/73494662024-02-11T06:49:13-05:002024-02-11T06:49:47-05:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 47 -How Much Is Weed?<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/522808/095c03bb91eb291959b1e13cf52c5fb006bf60ac/original/tmd-listens-47.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><p dir="ltr"><i>Our periodic roundup -FIRST SINCE AUGUST 2023- of new discoveries and old faves. Now including “liner notes” to help guide you through this journey and hopefully introduce you to some new, great music!</i></p><p dir="ltr"><a class="no-pjax" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0CJH4CYyuxDIuYMxiBdMiQ?si=5fbd01aba2934250" target="_blank" data-link-type="url"><strong>LISTEN HERE</strong></a></p><div>
<div dir="auto">LT THE MONK -NEW MONK SWING</div>
<div dir="auto">LT is my twin brother here in Hamilton, Canada. We share a birthday, have different mothers, and that's twins! lol. </div>
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<div dir="auto"><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE -ARMY OF ME</strong></div>
<div dir="auto">Björk is my twin sister in Iceland as we both write songs, have different Icelandic mothers, and that's twins! Watch the video: </div><div class="video-container size_xl justify_center" style=""><iframe data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="dWLcmEJ_E6c" data-video-thumb-url="" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dWLcmEJ_E6c?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><div dir="auto"> </div>
<div dir="auto"><strong>ROLLING STONES -ANGRY</strong></div>
<div dir="auto">Mick Jagger is my twin brother in the UK as we both write songs, I sing some of those songs, we have different mothers, and that's twins! Okay, this joke is over... </div>
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<div dir="auto"><strong>CJ SLEEZ -WAGING WAR</strong></div>
<div dir="auto">CJ is a punk rock icon in Hamilton, Canada. She got back into it recently. Also her hubby read his wedding vows as part of my cover song Brand New Love by Sebadoh. I first heard that song on Smash Your Head On The Punk Rock. CJ Sleez approves!</div>
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<div dir="auto"><strong>DOMINIC FIKE -HOW MUCH IS WEED?</strong></div>
<div dir="auto">Florida man, represent! This song is beyond heartbreaking and takes place in Miami. Do you know how hard Americans work even when their families are flying apart?</div>
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<div dir="auto"><strong>KING TUFF -SYMPHONY OF A MAN</strong></div>
<div dir="auto">Kyle Thomas has worked with J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. 'Nuff said!</div>
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<div dir="auto"><strong>GUNS N' ROSES -PERHAPS</strong></div>
<div dir="auto">A little stadium rock as an interlude...</div>
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<div dir="auto"><strong>BARONESS -SHINE</strong></div>
<div dir="auto">I think they share management with Metallica but wow! Cool guitar sounds always and an off-mainstream metal feel.</div>
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<div dir="auto"><strong>NIA NADURATA -I THINK I LIKE YOUR GIRLFRIEND</strong></div>
<div dir="auto">Nia is young, Torontonian, and this track is great! Our city has beyond belief great music.</div>
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<div dir="auto"><strong>KATY PERRY -I KISSED A GIRL</strong></div>
<div dir="auto">When I first heard this, I thought, "Holy God!" Sounds just as incredible right now. Katy Perry may have lost against Taylor Swift but don't count her out!</div>
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<div dir="auto"><strong>EMILIE KAHN -SEARCH HISTORY</strong></div>
<div dir="auto">Emilie is from Montreal and I dig this track. Great lyrics, cool production. </div>
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<div dir="auto"><strong>DJ SHADOW -SIX DAYS</strong></div>
<div dir="auto">THE DJ SAVIOR!!!</div>
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<div dir="auto"><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE -SO WHAT OH WELL (COCAINE IN THE LIMO)</strong></div>
<div dir="auto">Anyone interested in Snoop Dogg, get in touch. Watch the Snoop Dogg edition video!<br> </div><div class="video-container size_xl justify_center" style=""><iframe data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="gpNJXE-1fJ8" data-video-thumb-url="" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gpNJXE-1fJ8?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><div dir="auto">
<br><strong>ALICE COOPER -BIG BOOTS</strong>
</div>
<div dir="auto">These songs are with Alice's touring band including Ryan Roxie, who also played on one of Slash's records. I covered Elected with Dan Konopka (OK Go) on drums and at the time, I met Roxie on an Indie Week conference call. He quickly ripped the opening licks to Elected and explained how cool he thought OK Go was. I told Dan and he was like, "We're not worthy!" from the Wayne's World movie. Dan et al are very worthy! </div>
</div><div>
<br><i>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!!</i>
</div><p dir="ltr"><i>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul.</i></p><p dir="ltr"><i>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!</i></p><p dir="ltr"><i>Yours in music, </i></p><p dir="ltr"><i>Mac</i></p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/72641712023-08-27T12:08:44-04:002023-10-16T11:04:10-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 46 -C'mon and Love Me<p dir="ltr"><i><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/522808/8829348c3f2105b28729838b6e260dc7430565ea/original/screenshot-20230827-120026-instagram.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_m justify_left border_" />Our periodic roundup of new discoveries and old faves. Now including “liner notes” to help guide you through this journey and hopefully introduce you to some new, great music!</i></p><p dir="ltr"><i>p.s. Right now Meta is not letting Canadians access any news content. It's crazy!</i></p><p dir="ltr"><a class="no-pjax" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/69dLSCCaX4TDfbt9MxBky3?si=h7rKO502RPKpPpPA8_tIVA" target="_blank" data-link-type="url"><strong>LISTEN HERE</strong></a></p><p dir="ltr"><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE -ARMY OF ME</strong><br>My tribute to Iceland's greatest musical export. I had a lot of fun with this -especially the keyboard parts. I used a keyboard that lets you bend notes. So trippy! <a class="no-pjax" href="https://youtu.be/dWLcmEJ_E6c?si=K0GXWkZLoSMZZULQ" target="_blank" data-link-type="url"><strong>Watch the video here!</strong></a></p><p dir="ltr"><strong>NELLY FURTADO / TIMBALAND -PROMISCUOUS</strong><br>This track is so groovy. I especially like the part where Timbaland goes, "I want you on my team," and Nelly shoots back, "So does everybody else." Boom! Mic drop.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>KISS -C'MON AND LOVE ME (LIVE)</strong><br>Definitely an old fave of mine. I saw them play this once and it was incredible. When Paul Stanley sings, "I'm a Capricorn and she's a Cancer," I always thought of my parents, who fit those same astrological profiles.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>RESKINNED MUSIC -EAT THE YOUNG</strong><br>Ben is from Detroit Rock City and blends elements of rock with bits of hip hop. Very cool lyrics and delivery.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>JULIANA HATFIELD -LOTTA LOVE</strong><br>Like me with my Secret Covers, Juliana cranks out cover tunes too. She has a really great record covering all Olivia Newton-John tunes. Here she takes on Neil Young. I have personally sang this approximately 852,253 times myself so fun to hear her take on this classic, especially since Neil Young took his music off Spotify -which means I never hear him anymore...</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>U.S. GIRLS / BOOTSY COLLINS -SUPERSTAR</strong><br>This Leon Russell cover slays me. I imagine Meg as a 14-year-old girl crushing on this much older, dirty old man, sleazy funk musician and I laugh. It's incredible!</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>TOM ODELL -ENEMY (LIVE)</strong><br>I've been really getting into Tom Odell this past year. I find his songwriting to be very emotionally direct. Here he is accompanying himself on piano with a few background singers. Devastating.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>NORAH JONES / M. WARD -LIFELINE</strong><br>This comes from an upcoming album of Norah Jones playing along with various friends. This song is also on the new M. Ward album. I actually prefer this version but as far as I'm concerned, M. Ward can do no wrong so both versions are pretty great.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>LAURA GAGNON -DARK HORSE</strong><br>I just met Laura through the DIT online music community and I believe she is in the London, Ontario, area. She has a great voice and I'm hoping we work together on something. This particular song seems to her "hit" song.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>LEO DRAGTOE -BLUES ON ME</strong><br>Leo is in Hamilton and while I don't know him, I have seen him at an open stage here one time and found him to be a very compelling performer. I just found out about this Live At Zyla's album (Zyla's was a local venue at which even I played one time). This song makes me think of some old Alice in Chains and Smashing Pumpkins acoustic bootlegs I used to listen to.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE -BOMBTRACK (LIVE AT FIRST AVENUE)</strong><br>First Avenue is a legendary live venue in Minneapolis. I saw Rage around this time in St. Paul, the slightly less famous twin of the Twin Cities.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>BONNIE PRINCE BILLY -CRAZY BLUE BELLS</strong><br>This guy, Will Oldham, is incredible, full stop. I cover his song, I See A Darkness, and saw him opening for Björk in Toronto one time. Incredible show.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>THE REPLACEMENTS -BLACK DIAMOND</strong><br>We had a track recorded in Minneapolis and KISS in this playlist so I went for one of Minnesota's greatest bands covering KISS.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>NICK CAVE / WARREN ELLIS -BALCONY MAN (LIVE)</strong><br>While not the best track off this new live album, it does have a fun intro!</p><p dir="ltr"><i>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!!</i></p><p dir="ltr"><i>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul.</i></p><p dir="ltr"><i>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!</i></p><p dir="ltr"><i>Yours in music, </i></p><p dir="ltr"><i>Mac</i></p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/72573742023-08-15T15:26:38-04:002023-08-15T15:29:12-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 45 -Keep My Mind Off The News<p dir="ltr"><i><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/522808/61379705b07351ba568c0fac97d341d9f4ecbff8/original/screenshot-20230815-141707-instagram.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_m justify_left border_" />Our periodic roundup of new discoveries and old faves. Now including “liner notes” to help guide you through this journey and hopefully introduce you to some new, great music!</i></p><p dir="ltr"><i>p.s. Right now Meta is not letting Canadians access any news content. It's crazy!</i></p><p dir="ltr"><a class="no-pjax" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/54GaS4YodkcXeBsUtTpX6v?si=9AJqdVzASRW7WUY-IpVM1w" target="_blank" data-link-type="url"><strong>LISTEN HERE.</strong></a></p><p dir="ltr"><strong>AYLA TESLER-MABE -KEEP MY MIND OFF THE NEWS</strong><br>I follow Ayla on TikTok and let me tell you, she's an incredible (and young) musician from Vancouver. She's in a band called Ludic, who are also good but I think I prefer her solo stuff. Tough call!</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE -ARMY OF ME</strong><br>My latest release!</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>OK GO -THIS</strong><br>Speaking of OK Go, This is their new song from the movie The Beanie Bubble which their singer Damian directed and which will be on AppleTV. Of course, I'm partial to the drums in this one... lol. Great song!</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>PAMELA SUOZZI -GALAXIES</strong><br>Pamela is my pal from Switzerland. I met her on my friend Tianda's Discord and I have fallen in love with her voice. Plus this song has cosmic imagery and a great electropop groove. What more do you want?</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>HEXADEVI -PIPER</strong><br>Kristina is a songwriter and DJ based in Florida. I'm really digging this new instrumental.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>ANDIE LOREN -I'VE TRIED</strong><br>Andie is a Toronto singer-songwriter. This is basically a torch song and reminds me of the kinds of songs I used to play with my friend Barzin. Songs of longing and regret. I really like the guitar work in this. Creative but not overstated. Tasteful in a very Toronto way!</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>TIANDA -SHOW ME AROUND</strong><br>Tianda's my buddy in Edmonton and this is one of her new songs. Fab production and great confessional/storytelling lyrics.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>MAE STEPHENS -IF WE EVER BROKE UP</strong><br>Catchy song. She is British, 20, and on EMI. I'm so mystified. Who's HER dad and how did she get this record contract??</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>JAIN -MAKEBA</strong><br>Pretty hard to get away from this song on TikTok these days but I must say, the music video for this is incredible and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Music Video back in 2015. 2015! Recently Bill Hader from SNL posted a TikTok and this song is suddenly EVERYWHERE. So if anyone at SNL is reading this, feel free to use any of my tracks for anything!</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>SARAH MADDACK -COFFEE SHOP BOP</strong><br>Omg if you're on TikTok you're already sick of this and moved onto the worm song. Lol.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS -COFFEE SHOP</strong><br><strong>TRAGICALLY HIP -COFFEE GIRL</strong><br>A little more coffee action for you!</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>NYSSA -BREAKUP PARTY</strong><br>Catchy indie rock. All I know about NYSSA is she is from Toronto and on Six Shooter Records. Whenever I hear people on Six Shooter Records, I am surprised how much I like them. I want to be on that label!</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>PJ HARVEY -I INSIDE THE OLD I DYING</strong><br>This new song and album from PJ Harvey are based on a book of poetry she wrote that tells a story about fairies and nature and this sort of thing. The lyrics are written with olde English words and spellings to give it that ancient feel.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>TESS POSNER -FERAL CHILD</strong><br>Speaking of flowers and fairies and hippie trippy stuff, may I introduce Tess Posner who I just am getting to know through her Discord. She is a true Cali hippie, I think, and I could not be more pleased with that. This is her new track.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE -STORM THE COUNTRYSIDE</strong><br>One of my fave songs from our Open Hearts Open Minds release. And I really like the drums that Dan Konopka from OK Go did.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>RUFUS WAINWRIGHT -IMAGINARY LOVE</strong><br>The Ruf! Any kind of love or at least my kind of love must be an imaginary love to start with... Schubert bust my brain to start with... Such a great song.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>LATIA BRYANT / AQUANDRIA -YOUR LOVE</strong><br>I just met LaTia last year and glad to see her releasing music. Emotional track about relationship problems.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>DANKO JONES -GOOD TIME</strong><br>And now for something completely different! Danko Jones is from Toronto but started on Hamilton record label Sonic Unyon. I saw them open for Guns N' Roses here in Hamilton. Anyway, he is really funny on TikTok so I thpught I'd check this out.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>MEGADETH -PEACE SELLS</strong><br>Just keeping the rock going!</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>SLEIGH BELLS -THROW ME DOWN THE STAIRS</strong><br>Huge fan of Sleigh Bells here. A track like this? I could listen to this forever. I follow the singer, Alexis Krauss, on Instagram and she's wildly into rock climbing. Like, very passionate. Really interesting person. She has a Ted Talk about appreciating nature.</p><p dir="ltr">And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!!</p><p dir="ltr">If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul.</p><p dir="ltr">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!</p><p dir="ltr">Yours in music, </p><p dir="ltr">Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/72456832023-07-22T09:46:21-04:002023-07-22T09:46:22-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 44 -Trivial Pursuit<p><i><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/522808/f161892fb710dd007de1e45f5675e2a2efd118cb/original/screenshot-20230722-093049-instagram.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_m justify_left border_" />Our periodic roundup of new discoveries and old faves. Now including “liner notes” to help guide you through this journey and hopefully introduce you to some new, great music!</i></p><p><a class="no-pjax" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6t8Cj03rkUeJFEoqtfn557?si=4sbDOg_pQmmkfDLcT6PH-A" target="_blank" data-link-type="url"><strong>LISTEN HERE!</strong></a></p><p><strong>JESSICA MAGOCH -TRIVIAL PURSUIT</strong><br>One of my phave Philly-based people! Jessica has sang backups and duetted with me on a few tunes and is now starting to release tracks from her upcoming album. Title track Trivial Pursuit won a John Lennon Song of the Week Award. Great jazz-tinged track with a rap that names 18ish board games!</p><p><strong>DEVON MORE -BEAUTIFUL BITCHES</strong><br>Devon is from BC and something about her reminds me in a very good way of what I used to like about people in Guelph, Ontario, where I went to university and later worked at the campus radio station. She's a bit quirky, very friendly, and almost slyly anti-corporate. I always look forward to hearing from her!</p><p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE -PARIS OF LOVE</strong><br>One of my fave songs that I have written on the road leaving Paris, France. Haha. It's the only song that I have written on the road leaving Paris, France! There also exists a French version and twin videos that are quite similar but lip-synced in each language.</p><p><strong>ALI WICK -DON'T WANT TO HURT</strong><br>Ali is from Alberta and I really like her voice. This song is sort of wistful about that weird way we try to hang onto the pain from a breakup. Like that's going to help anything!</p><p><strong>CHARLOTTE CARDIN -CONFETTI</strong><br>I don't know Charlotte at all but she's from Montreal and this electro-pop number really gets me. It's kind of slinky and makes me feel like I'm coming home from the clubs in Montreal.</p><p><strong>WAX MANNEQUIN -RED BRAIN</strong><br>Chris Adeney who IS Wax Mannequin is a friend of mine here in Hamilton. His lyrics are usually very interesting and this one is no exception. I think this concept was one he was fleshing out during the pandemic. Very cool stuff!</p><p><strong>VIKINGUR OLAFSSON -THE PLOVER AND THE RAVEN</strong><br>Everyone's fave Icelandic classical pianist!</p><p><strong>PRINCE -GETT OFF (EXTENDED REMIX)</strong><br>The scream at the beginning of this? Priceless. I love Prince and this track is super-funky!</p><p><strong>ICANDY -KEEP DAT NIGGA</strong><br>This one was trending on TikTok. I like the rap but I REALLY love the Boogie Shoes sample and have included the original later in this playlist.</p><p><strong>ICE CUBE -THE NIGGA YA LOVE TO HATE</strong><br>I saw Ice Cube perform this in the Twin Cities in Minnesota in 1992. It was and is such a great track. Ice Cube's the coolest!</p><p><strong>URGE OVERKILL -TIN FOIL</strong><br>While the great UO is known for their cover of Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon, I always preferred their album tracks and I have a vintage UO sticker on my guitar case.</p><p><strong>SKYE WALLACE -COAL IN YOUR WINDOW</strong><br>Almost invariably if you check out This Mad Desire Radio on Spotify, you will find a track by Skye and usually Terra Lightfoot. Spotify seems to think my music goes well with theirs. I can't disagree!</p><p><strong>JON SPENCER BLUES EXPOSION -FUCK SHIT UP</strong><br>Jon Spencer is one of the greatest performers I've ever seen and this was the tour I saw at the Phoenix in Toronto.</p><p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE -MY SHIT'S FUCKED UP</strong><br>Of course. Lol.</p><p><strong>BEASTIE BOYS -HEY LADIES</strong><br><strong>PIXIES -GIGANTIC</strong><br>A couple classics.</p><p><strong>WINE LIPS -GET YOUR MONEY</strong><br>This band slays me. All of their songs are really exciting.</p><p><strong>KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND -BOOGIE SHOES</strong><br>As promised, the original. You might note that the lyrics have an almost opposite message to the tune that samples this... Which do you prefer?</p><p><br>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!!</p><p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul.</p><p>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!</p><p>Yours in music, </p><p>Mac<br> </p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/72317452023-06-24T13:17:22-04:002023-06-24T13:17:23-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 43 -Indie 101 2023<p><i><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/522808/f38d747b909f8f88be6add2996d43308ff6d21d1/original/tmd-listens-43.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_m justify_left border_" />Definitely I'm behind on these playlist liner notes but in my own defence, my work in the film industry has really picked up so my "Music Time" has been really focused om recording and promotion and less straight up appreciation. This playlist is focused on artists I came across at Indie 101 including the first few who, along with me, were part of a live Demo Listening Seminar in conjunction with Seneca College. Thanks again to both Indie 101 and Seneca College for including us in the proceedings!</i><o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>Listen to playlist here: </strong><a class="no-pjax" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1tGaTtoK6DCwyyZP0LIWNn?si=kMt3JNXTSNimRkNpAho6pA" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1155CC;">https://open.spotify.com/</span></a><wbr><a class="no-pjax" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1tGaTtoK6DCwyyZP0LIWNn?si=kMt3JNXTSNimRkNpAho6pA" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1155CC;">playlist/</span></a><wbr><a class="no-pjax" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1tGaTtoK6DCwyyZP0LIWNn?si=kMt3JNXTSNimRkNpAho6pA" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1155CC;">1tGaTtoK6DCwyyZP0LIWNn?si=</span></a><wbr><a class="no-pjax" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1tGaTtoK6DCwyyZP0LIWNn?si=kMt3JNXTSNimRkNpAho6pA" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1155CC;">kMt3JNXTSNimRkNpAho6pA</span></a></wbr></wbr></wbr></p><p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –IRON MAN</strong><br>While not what I presented for the Demo Listening, this is my tribute to Black Sabbath and my most recent Secret Cover -full EP coming soon!! I am Iron Mack!</p><p><strong>GLASS CACTUS –FOOD OR RENT</strong><br>Melodic alt-rock from Toronto. They write punchy pop-punk songs. Their demo was also really fun. Lo-fi recording but I could hear the potential.</p><p><strong>QUEENS & KINGS –EARTHQUAKE</strong><br>I've been following Alissa and Brendan since Indie Week a few years ago. They have a true rock and roll spirit and remind me of The Kills. This was the actual song they presented. I think Brendan is playing drums AND guitar at the same time.... Wow!</p><p><strong>KEN TIZZARD AND MUSIC FOR GOATS –DRUNK, STONED AND BROKE</strong><br>I think this is what Ken submitted for the Demo Listening. Ken plays bass in the Watchmen and has played in some pretty loud bands but his solo stuff especially lately has been folky and earthy roots-style, which I also love. Ken guests on a track I have coming out (release date TBA). Great guy and great player!</p><p><strong>REBECCA HENNESSY –LAY DOWN YOUR BURDEN</strong><br>Rebecca was one of the people from Seneca College critiquing our tunes. She's a trumpeter and songwriter who has worked with many great artists including something current based on the writing of Thomas King, which I find interesting because I was invited one time to observe at a Native drum circle he was a part of (and maybe still is!).<o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>NEON BLOOM –ONE LAST TIME</strong><br>Neon Bloom were playing a gig with Queens & Kings the week I made this playlist and this is their new track. Plus I met Jen through Indie Week so it all fits. And I dig the tune!</p><p><strong>LL COOL J –MAMA SAID KNOCK YOU OUT</strong><br>Nothing to do with Indie 101 but why not? Originally he was playing in Toronto on my birthday, June 29, but that has since changed.<o:p></o:p></p><p><i>The rest of these people posted these tracks in a thread at the conference and I threw them in to remember to check them out...</i><o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>AUXV –TOO SOON</strong><br>I don't know anything about this but it's a groovy, urban track.</p><p><strong>DANA RICE –SAVE ME AGAIN</strong><br>Piano-driven balladry from Atlanta. This track makes me think of Tori Amos.<o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>JANIAH HINES BROWN –IN THE DARK</strong><br>Melodic radio-friendly music from Toronto.<o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>DAVE FILCHAK –ONLY A HEARTBREAK AWAY</strong><br>Classic country-tinged rock from Lethbridge.<o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>SHARP EDGES –ON THE EDGE</strong><br>Also Dave Filchak but a much harder rocking band!<o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>ALICIATHESONGWRITER –BAD GIRL (DIVA HOP MIX)</strong><br>Groovy dance music from Texas, I believe.<o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>LESEL –VERSIONES DE MI</strong><br>Pop/EDM. Catchy stuff!<o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>EVERWALDEN –HUMMINGBIRD</strong><br>Upbeat indie folk rock.</p><p><strong>MIDNITE GOSSIP –STREETLIGHTS</strong><br>This is my second time sharing this one. They are from Calgary and I like the guitar solo.</p><p><strong>JANIYA / GHOSTZED –RUN IT UP</strong><br>I can't find much about this but it is a cool track. Very modern Drake-ish pop music.<o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>TONYA CATTAN -j9i</strong><br>Tonya is Egyptian-Canadian and I am assuming this song is in Arabic. I always find it interesting to hear songs in languages I don't understand at all because you really rely more on the straight emotive power of the melody and delivery. It's almost more musical that way.</p><p><strong>DISSONANCE A CAPELLA –MAKE ME FEEL</strong><br>Cool track from an act Jennifer Williamson from Peoria Heights was an involved with.<o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>RED ROSE DIVINE –KALEIDOSCOPE</strong><br>Olivia is a trans indie pop artist in San Jose. I really like this track!</p><p><strong>GHOST IN THE MACHINE –HEARTBREAKER (CRUSHED)</strong><br>American rocktronica!<o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>CHRISTIN WENZEL –BUT MY BRAIN</strong><br>German indie pop!<o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>RITA RICHARDSON –PROMISE</strong><br>Indie folk pop from Idaho!<o:p></o:p></p><p><i>And with that, this wraps up this playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!!</i><o:p></o:p></p><p><i>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul.</i><o:p></o:p></p><p><i>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!</i><o:p></o:p></p><p><i>Yours in music, </i><o:p></o:p></p><p><i>Mac</i><o:p></o:p></p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/72003032023-04-30T17:58:54-04:002023-04-30T17:58:54-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 42 -I am Iron Mack<p dir="ltr"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/522808/74e95e17d7615758eb4b85a01970769e22678e9a/original/screenshot-20230430-141328-instagram.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_m justify_left border_" />Ou<i>r 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! </i></p><p dir="ltr"><a class="no-pjax" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7fTkBUp7HxZ6IXN7dOnA2o?si=hfsoQVM3Su69TvGVk1bvFg" target="_blank" data-link-type="url"><strong>PLAYLIST LINK</strong></a></p><p dir="ltr"><strong>CHLOE MORIONDO -POPSTAR</strong><br>This song mentions Christina Aguilera's Dirrty, a song that I love!</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>CHRISTINA AGUILERA -DIRRTY</strong><br>I'm a sucker for female-fronted dance music and Christina Aguilera is one of the greatest in the genre.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE -IRON MAN</strong><br>Our latest Secret Cover!</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>LT -ACT YOUR AGE</strong><br>LT is from Australia and I met her at an online music conference. This is her latest track. It's pretty laidback and reminds me of artists like Dido and Ivy. It's very slick, production-wise.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS -BLOCK ROCKIN' BEATS</strong><br>Let's get the party started. I remember when this came out. I loved dancing to it at the Trasheteria in Guelph.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>THE PRODIGY -SMACK MY BITCH UP</strong><br>While on memory lane, this is not a song I liked at the time but it slots in well after the Chemical Brothers. And yes, incredible lyrics. Very "Me Too"!</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>GENE MICOFSKY -WATCH THAT MAN</strong><br>This comes off a collection of Aladdin Sane covers. Our friend and frequent collaborator Dan "the Man" Konopka mixed this. I always felt this was kind of an overlooked and under-appreciated track from David Bowie.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>WILLOW - T R A N S P A R E N T S O U L</strong><br>I heard this on TikTok and liked the bit about the Flash.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>SIR CHLOE -SEDONA</strong><br>This reminds me of Angel Olsen. The singing is sort of lazy and a bit out-of-tune which I think works with the overall dreaminess of the track.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>WILLOW -FUCK YOU</strong><br>This track is pure genius! Lol.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>PARAMORE -I'M NOT ANGRY ANYMORE</strong><br>I like Paramore in one minute bites!</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>SEE SEE BEATS -LONG WAY HOME</strong><br>A new track from our friend Cas. We have a song together coming out soon!</p><p><strong>YACHT -MANIC PANIC</strong><br>I've been a fan of Yacht for years. They can be pretty avant-garde at times, which I like, as I feel they really borrow from high culture in intriguing ways. It's clear that a lot of thought goes into what they're doing.</p><p><strong>SUNNA GUNNLAUGS -BECOMING</strong><br>Sunna is a very talented Icelandic jazz musician who I had the pleasure of meeting around ten years ago. I helped her get a gig at a local fair and part of the deal was the promoter was going to pay for their hotel, which never happened. It was a real gong show. The promoter had lost tens of thousands putting this on and no one was getting paid. That's part of show business!</p><p><strong>BILL WITHERS -BETTER OFF DEAD</strong><br>This is such a real song that speaks to the deterioration of families especially in urban environments. Sad song but it grooves like a motherfucker!</p><p><strong>COI LERAY -PLAYERS</strong><br>Another TikTok trender. So catchy and very 80s sounding.</p><p><strong>BIG BOSS VETTE -PRETTY GIRLS WALK</strong><br>And another TikTok trender!</p><p><strong>MAZIE -GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE SEX</strong><br><strong>DORA JAR -WIZARD</strong><br><strong>HELEN -BETTER BITCH</strong><br><strong>GEN AND THE DEGENERATES -GIRL GOD GUN</strong><br><strong>UPSAHL -LADY JESUS</strong><br>All of these were suggested by Spotify.</p><p><strong>JAZZ SABBATH -IRON MAN</strong><br>Of course.</p><p><strong>PJ HARVEY -A CHILD'S QUESTION, AUGUST</strong><br>New PJ Harvey. I always like to see what she's up to and she's working with Flood again, who I think produced some of her best work.</p><p dir="ltr"><br>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!!</p><p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul.</p><p>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!</p><p>Yours in music, </p><p>Mac</p><p> </p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/71945732023-04-21T13:32:04-04:002023-04-30T15:20:09-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 41 –Think of Spring<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/522808/cbda325bbee291cb4c40f6d25e0b7663d6e81138/original/tmd-listens-41.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_m justify_left border_" />Ou<i>r 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! </i><o:p></o:p></p><p><a class="no-pjax" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2jo0UxYimfh1QvAp9qEgyt?si=7d88b9a0b5114628" target="_blank" data-link-type="url"><strong>PLAYLIST LINK</strong></a></p><p><strong>VALENCE / ARIANE ROY –CHARLIE</strong><br>I discovered Ariane Roy last year and love everything she does. This is a real 70s-style piano rock song. Very upbeat and makes me think the sun is shining.</p><p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE -RESPONSE OF A LAKOTA WOMAN TO FBI INVESTIGATION CIRCA 1973 PINE RIDGE</strong><br>Our latest Secret Cover. This track is by Bob Wiseman and comes from his Lake Michigan Soda album.</p><p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE -WHAT THE ASTRONAUT NOTICED AND THEN SUGGESTED</strong><br>Another song originally from Lake Michigan Soda which I covered on our American Dream release. I was as surprised as anyone to realize that I had covered two songs from the same album! You'll notice these both have extreeeeeeeeeemely long titles and that these words do not appear in the lyrics. I asked him about that and he made it sound like it was just a phase he was going through. Lol.</p><p><strong>ALI WICK -WHEN I FALL IN LOVE</strong><br>Very sweet song from Alberta songwriter Ali Wick. The guitar is very dreamy on this one. I have to admit that I've enjoyed everything I've heard from Ali so far. A definitie talent! Another person that often has very dreamy guitar sounds is...</p><p><strong>M. WARD -YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT LOVE IS</strong><br>M. Ward covers far too many great songs. This one is a real classic and his interpretation is very gripping. Huge fan! 10/10.</p><p><strong>TIMBER TIMBRE -I AM COMING TO PARIS (TO KILL YOU)</strong><br>I met him around when his song Demon Host was taking off and starting to appear in every TV show and movie. I think my old tour mate Chris Stringer produced that one. This track here though is a classic murder ballad! We need more of them if we’re to ever make sense of this masquerade we call life. Lol.</p><p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE -PARIS AMOUREUX</strong><br>Speaking of Stringer, I wrote the English version of this song, Paris of Love, on the tour bus between Paris and Luxembourg after we played in Paris and partied all night long. I remember ending that magical night drinking wine at 7am at a bar across the river from the Louvre. </p><p><strong>NINE INCH NAILS –CLOSER</strong><br>I thought while we were listening to songs about various romantic moods, this one would be dynamite. Such a great song!</p><p><strong>DAVID BOWIE -THE HEART'S FILTHY LESSON</strong><br>The only time I saw NIN was opening for David Bowie. Bowie played this and lots of other songs from an album that had not been released. It was very challenging and intriguing! Over time, 1. Outside has become my go-to Bowie album.</p><p><strong>PERRY FARRELL -KING Z</strong><br>Perhaps the strangest and grooviest song from Perry's solo album Song Yet To Be Sung.</p><p><strong>RESKINNED MUSIC –DETANGLE</strong><br>Our friend Ben from Detroit aka Reskinned Music here doing what he does best. Alternative rock with a hip hop influence here. Cool lyrics and interesting phrasing and harmonies. Just great stuff! He did some harmonies on one of our upcoming singles that are absolute gold.</p><p><strong>ST. VINCENT –MASSEDUCTION</strong><br>Everything about this starting from the title on through lyrics, production. When she comes in with "Masseduction", the effect on her voice? My heart melts. Then she references The Boatman's Call by Nick Cave (one of my faves). "I can't turn off what turns me on."</p><p><strong>MACKLEMORE Ft. SARAH BARTHEL OF PHANTOGRAM -DAY YOU DIE</strong><br>I really like both of these people. What can I say? I support artists named Mack! Totally up for a collab, Macklemore, if you're reading this. Mack and Mack? It would be epic!</p><p><strong>BOB WISEMAN -CHILDREN AT PLAY</strong><br>Here's Bob Wiseman covering a local Toronto folk singer that he really liked, Sam Larkin, who passed away a few years ago. This song sometimes makes me cry as the lyrics really paint a picture and reflect so many kinds of families. It's on Bob's last full-length Giullietta Masina at the Oscars Crying. Highly recommended. Bob even put together a posthumous release of Sam's songs with production that he added. <a class="no-pjax" href="https://exclaim.ca/music/article/sam_larkin-secret_songs_of_sam_larkin" target="_blank" data-link-type="url">Read All About It!</a></p><p><strong>CONNIE CONSTANCE -HURT YOU</strong><br>A Spotify recommendation and I like it but know nothing about it. It's a bit more straight ahead than the band Warpaint but it feels like it's in that same direction.</p><p><strong>CAROLINE ROSE –MIAMI</strong><br>Very pretty chords in this one. Again, I know nothing about it!</p><p><strong>SHE & HIM -WOULDN'T IT BE NICE?</strong><br>M. Ward doing Beach Boys covers with Zooey Deschanel? Sign me up!</p><p><strong>THE PHARCYDE –OH SHIT</strong><br>I was just acting for four days and nights in an Eli Roth production called Thanksgiving, which was, by the way, very interesting and fun. It’s a slasher/horror movie that is related to the Quentin Tarantino classic Grindhouse, for which Eli Roth had made a trailer for a fake movie called Thanksgiving, which was part of Grindhouse. Now, the actual Thanksgiving movie is in production and coming out this November. Such a high-level concept! I won’t reveal how that connects to this song but it’s definitely a great tune. I think Eli Roth and I are not very different in age so I certainly remember it from when I was a teenager.</p><p>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!!</p><p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul.</p><p>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!</p><p>Yours in music, </p><p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/71771652023-03-23T10:38:51-04:002023-03-23T10:38:51-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 40 -My Shit's Fucked Up<p><i><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/522808/2393409f9f93b63aba12b3c4ac6f132dad8f5148/original/tmd-listens-40.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_m justify_left border_" />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! </i><p></p></p><p><a class="no-pjax" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6iWc18XbKa1hhSsyz4R6H4?si=746f0ad14cfd4c4e" target="_blank" data-link-type="url"><strong>PLAYLIST LINK</strong></a></p><p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE -MY SHIT'S FUCKED UP</strong><br>Our latest Secret Cover! This one is by Warren Zevon and I recorded it at the library. I like working there because you are limited to two hours so it forces you to work quickly without over-analyzing. I recorded all of this in about an hour and a few weeks later, I re-sang a couple of words. The descending guitar lick in this is super satisfying to play.</p><p><strong>THE MARS VOLTA –CERULEA</strong><br>I can't believe I have not been listening to the Mars Volta. I had this idea that they were noisy and complicated. But listen to how dreamy this song is! I am definitely going to check out more of their music.</p><p><strong>KARI LYN –ANYWAYS</strong><br>Kari's new song is about missing her dad. She's got a great voice and sang backups on my version of Deck The Halls. And she's originally from PEI, which is pretty neat. </p><p><strong>SATE –WARRIOR</strong><br>I was recently on a Zoom with Sate watching a recent concert film in which she and Fefe Dobson both performed. This track is blistering! </p><p><strong>U.S. GIRLS -SO TYPICALLY NOW</strong><br>This song makes me think of St. Vincent, who I love, and the 80s-style reverb on the drums is divine. Also Geordie Gordon is involved with this act and I used to know him when I worked at CFRU in Guelph but I actually know his dad James Gordon, folk singer and politician, more because he was good friends with my neighbour in Eden Mills, Ontario, who kept hiring us to help stage these community plays, which included music. I can't believe that was my full-time job for a few summers. </p><p><strong>AVA KING -I DO IT FOR THE LIKES</strong><br>Ava has recorded my friend MJoy down in Oakland, CA. This song is catchy and the lyrics are soooo typically now.</p><p><strong>YOUNG FRIEND -MET THIS GIRL ON THE INTERNET</strong><br>This reminds me a bit of Sufjan Stevens but with dorkier lyrics (which I like). </p><p><strong>GABRIELLE SHONK -HOW WE USED TO BE</strong><br><strong>LOYALTIES -SECOND PLACE</strong><br><strong>AWFULTUNE -DARLING GET UP</strong><br>Pretty solid confessional songwriting. Extremely well-produced.</p><p><strong>FEFE DOBSON –STUTTERING</strong><br>As .mentioned, I was reintroduced to Fefe from watching that live concert video. I had forgotten how much I like this song. It's very catchy and makes me think of Rihanna.</p><p><strong>ARAZ -DIVE BAR</strong><br>A friend recommended this track. </p><p><strong>KROLL SHOW CAST -BEATS AND RICE</strong><br>This is genius. An incredible send-up of so many hip hop and R&B cliches. "It's yr boy Scooba!" I laugh out loud every time.</p><p><strong>BULLY -LOSE YOU (FT. SOCCER MOMMY)</strong><br>I always check out what Soccer Mommy is up to. This song sounds like Veruca Salt and the Breeders. I love it!</p><p><strong>IAN ANDREWS & THE SMOKIN' SCOUNDRELS -DAMN SURE BLUES</strong><br>Ian's a friend of mine and a great guitarist. I've got an advance of a new album from him and it slays. This record is real classic blues rock like the Rolling Stones or the Black Crowes. </p><p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE -ANTIFA AND THE SUPREMACISTS</strong><br>One of my faves from my American Dream release. </p><p><strong>PRINCE -X'S FACE</strong><br>I read that Prince played this for Madonna one night at Paisley Park. The groove is unreal and the sonics are sublime.</p><p><strong>LOST SIGNAL -DARTH VADER'S BIRTHDAY</strong><br>Matt is from Norwich, UK, and I met him on Twitter the other day and already he's remixing my upcoming version of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit!</p><p><strong>TECHNOTRONIC -PUMP UP THE JAM</strong><br>After watching Cunk on Earth, I'm obsessed with this track!</p><p><strong>U2 -"40"</strong><br>This is the 40th playlist...</p><p><strong>WARREN ZEVON -MY SHIT'S FUCKED UP</strong><br>Here is the original version of the song I covered.</p><p>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!!</p><p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul.</p><p>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!</p><p>Yours in music, </p><p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/71667962023-03-07T13:12:34-05:002023-03-07T13:12:35-05:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 39 -Sad at the Mall<p><i><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/522808/dd8fb5c19c35bc9565dd93ec6e0c31e691d31f37/original/screenshot-20230307-123059-instagram.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_m justify_left border_" />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! Meet you at the record store!!</i><p></p></p><p><a class="no-pjax" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1pvJFBdh8Ro8VYUEqCdfxj?si=cb3b0240dd9446e3" target="_blank" data-link-type="url"><strong>PLAYLIST LINK</strong></a></p><p><strong>BIKINI KILL –NEW RADIO</strong><br>“I’m the little girl at the picnic who won’t stop pulling her dress up.” I think we all know this girl. It’s Kathleen Hanna.<span> </span>I’m a huge fan of everything she does and represents, and when she screams, “This is NEW RADIO!!!”, I’m 1000% with her. In my mind, I’m already in a moshpit. A respectful moshpit but a moshpit nonetheless. Bikini Kill should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with Warren Zevon and Iron Maiden.</p><p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –BRAND NEW LOVE (as made famous by Sebadoh)</strong><br>Our latest single which I’m still promoting. Let me know what you think and please share this with others. I think what initially attracted me to the original song was partly how well the words capture the messiness of falling in love. Ugh… feelings. Gross!</p><p><strong>TIANDA –DO TOO MUCH</strong><br>I’m part of Tianda’s Discord community and I’m sure I interact with her “on the daily”, as the kids say. She was a Canadian Teen Idol or something like that and lives in Edmonton, which I’m starting to realize is an under-appreciated hotbed of cultural activity. In the past year or so, I’ve met quite a few people either in Edmonton or from there. It’s practically another Winnipeg!</p><p><strong>JULIE NEFF -PICK UP MY PIECES</strong><br>This track is a great example of what Julie does. I think she's influenced by artists like Florence + the Machine and definitely delivers an alt-pop/ alt-rock sound with great production and also, in this case, video. She's toured in South America and here in Canada. She's based in Toronto and I can also tell you that she and I are working on some totally cool music including a cover of a very famous song by a very famous 90s band. We had a brief meeting and when I mentioned I was recording a version of this for my Secret Covers, she coughed and cleared her throat and said, “I'm actually learning this same song for a totally different reason.” This is how the magic happens, folks! </p><p><strong>SLEIGH BELLS –YOU DON’T GET ME TWICE</strong><br>I’m a huge, huge fan of Sleigh Bells and apparently the singer, Alexis Krauss has a new Ted Talk. How awesome is that? This song came out around five years ago or so and yet she keeps singing “2023” in this song. I still don’t understand that. Her lyrics are very cryptic but I love how they sound! She’s on my list of people I want to work with, for sure.</p><p><strong>PROPER PET -KINK</strong><br>This is a very cool track and I LOVE the video imagery associated with it. I came across them on TikTok and looking forward to learning more about them.</p><p><strong>MIDNITE GOSSIP –STREETLIGHTS</strong><br>One of the members attended SCREEN X SCREEN 2023 the other week with me and I’ve been checking out other attendees’ latest tracks. I like that this one has a guitar solo –even if it’s short.</p><p><strong>ARIANE ROY –FILLE A PORTER</strong><br>Nominated for Francophone Album of the Year for the JUNOS, Medium plaisir is the album I came across randomly and fell in love with last year. My understanding is that Ariane is from Quebec City. I really, really like her vibe. She has a live music video on youtube that is absolutely stunning. Makes me wish I were French!</p><p><strong>PARAMORE –C’EST COMME CA</strong><br>I’m a closet Paramore fan. I find most of her lyrics to be a little more interesting than many others of her stature.</p><p><strong>LUSCIOUS JACKSON –MOOD SWING</strong><br>I think I bought this CD the day it came out in the 1990s. They were hyped as a “female Beastie Boys” and that sounded interesting to me. This was always one of my fave tracks on the album. It also contains the album title phrase “Fever In Fever Out”.</p><p><strong>EVA ARCO –BAD HABIT</strong><br>Eva is a friend of mine from Tianda’s Discord and this is her new track.</p><p><strong>THE GO! TEAM –GEMINI</strong><br>I've been listening to this band for around 15 years. I love how upbeat and celebratory they sound. </p><p><strong>NELL SMITH / THE FLAMING LIPS –RED RIGHT HAND</strong><br>What a cool record. Nell Smith was wearing a parrot costume at a Flaming Lips show in Calgary and attracted their attention as a 12-year-old. Then they made a whole album of Nick Cave cover tunes! What???!!!</p><p><strong>HOTEL LUX –NATIONAL TEAM</strong><br>I think this band is from London and I heard them on TMD Radio on Spotify. It's catchy and kind of absurd!</p><p><strong>DE LA SOUL -3 IS </strong><span><strong> </strong></span><strong>A MAGIC NUMBER</strong><br>For me, this is a classic track and I was surprised that it wasn't already available on streaming services, which makes it all the more tragic that Trugoy the Dove just passed away while in the midst of this new launch onto streaming.</p><p><strong>KRISTEN PRINCE –SHIPS IN THE NIGHT</strong><br>Kristen is a pretty with it saxophonist here in Hamilton. Sounds like we might work together on a couple of things. Yay!</p><p><strong>GREMLYN / ROME IX –On 2 The Next 1</strong><br>Gremlyn is also a member of Tianda's Discord. This is some pretty well-produced R&B. Love it!</p><p><strong>STRAWBERRY COUGH –SAD AT THE MALL</strong><br>These guys are from Brampton (Toronto suburb) and dress like clowns. What more do you want?? Apparently another act also has this name in Salt Lake City and probably because they both like that strain of marijuana.</p><p>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!!</p><p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul.</p><p>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!</p><p>Yours in music, </p><p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/71525872023-02-12T10:42:17-05:002023-02-12T10:44:28-05:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 38 –Brand New Love<p><i><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/522808/145baf1d3a1d82f8569953dbb49a58837e8df692/original/tmd-listens-38.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_m justify_left border_" />My roundup of my latest 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! </i></p><p><a class="no-pjax" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5nz7alRBSmyzXVb5uHMVnQ?si=7f4aa966048d4652" target="_blank" data-link-type="url"><strong>PLAYLIST LINK</strong></a></p><hr><p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –BRAND NEW LOVE (as made famous by Sebadoh)</strong><br>Our latest single is the first of several Secret Covers we’re releasing this year. Two of those voices you hear at the beginning are other singers and the others are actors and one is very, very closely acquainted with a musician. Anyway, I’ll include the two singers later in this playlist.</p><p><strong>SEBADOH –HAPPILY DIVIDED</strong><br>This song is by Jason Louwenstein and one I have sang around the house for years and years. I could have just as easily covered this one. The one I did cover was by Lou Barlow. One of the things I always liked about Sebadoh is that they all write and sing lead as well as swap instruments depending on the song. If you’ve never listened to Sebadoh, I can only encourage you!</p><p><strong>MJOY –WOMANSPLAIN</strong><br>Our pal MJoy’s first song in years! She appears in our Running Wild Running Free video and is just generally a cool person down in the Bay Area in California. You can pause the playlist and watch her <a class="no-pjax" href="https://youtu.be/-GhS5d56n_A" target="_blank" data-link-type="url">JUST RELEASED lyric video</a> for this song. While doing that, click like, subscribe, and the notification bell.</p><p><strong>ANNAA SOLESEIS –WHAT’S LEFT OF ME</strong><br>Annaa’s from eastern Canada and we met virtually last year at an Indie Week-related conference. I’m totally in love with the vocal effect and bassline in this song. I was doing housework the other day and became absolutely mesmerized. Great stuff Annaa!</p><p><strong>AARON FRAZER –LOVER GIRL</strong><br>This guy has the greatest falsetto in music today and his music harkens back to the days of Otis Redding. I really like this stuff. This song reminds me a lot of My Girl, a song which I used to cover frequently in my act. I had a bassist who was obsessed with the lick (which appears in this Lover Girl song as well).</p><p><strong>GREG SPERO –RUSLAN</strong><br>Greg is a great keyboardist in LA but from Chicago. I met him at a music conference and came to realize he was the touring keyboardist for Halsey. Greg has been releasing tracks on a very frequent basis lately and I always dig them. This one really takes you on a journey. The piano is deceptively simple but the drums and the whole arrangement take you deeper and then also up into the stratosphere, creating a whole landscape. I hope to get him on a track in the future!</p><p><strong>ECCODEK, JOHN ORPHEUS, KING INFINITY –HOW WE DREAM (KING INFINITY REMIX)</strong><br>My man Andrew McPherson is the mastermind behind Eccodek, a syncretic world music-electronic hybrid that has received quite a lot of international recognition and JUNO nominations, etc., and also the producer of my Celebration album. I met John Orpheus at a JUNO party one time and I still hope we get our acts together to make a cool show one day. I like the idea of having different genres in one night. Anyway, this is a groovy, groovy remix!</p><p><strong>ART BERGMANN –AMPHETAMINE ALBERTA</strong><br>Art is kind of a legend in Canadian music that I feel is overlooked. I think if you like people like Tom Waits or Nick Cave, you’d be all over this.</p><p><strong>KYP HARNESS –POVERTY LINE</strong><br>Kyp Harness is in the same boat as Art Bergmann in terms of being a Canadian singer-songwriter that writes in that same style as the classics like Leonard Cohen, Elvis Costello, and Bob Dylan. Notably this is a pretty new song! He’s a social activist, a folk singer, and a Torontonian. Check him out!</p><p><strong>REUT –MIMICRY</strong><br><strong>NEILIO, ELYXIR –THE CITY</strong><br>These are two tracks from people I see on my friend Tianda’s Discord now and then. There’s quite a few songwriters at various stages of development hanging around talking shop all the time. I like both of these songs. They both sound great and have dance-y feelings although my man Neilio’s track here has a real ‘80s vibe. Reut’s is very funky too. It’s really grown on me!</p><p><strong>CJ SLEEZ –IN THE CITY</strong><br>CJ Sleez is a punk rock icon who lives in Hamilton but really made her mark in Toronto. She’s back in business and starting to play shows again. This song feels like early Iron Maiden to me and I love the lyrics! She also connects with the first song in this playlist.</p><p><strong>HOT SNAKES –SIX WAVE HOLD DOWN</strong><br>My most exciting find! I used to be a HUGE fan of Drive Like Jehu when they existed in the 1990s and no one told me that the two main guys started this band not long after folding the other one and have been making crazy post-hardcore music that is not all that different from Drive Like Jehu ever since. I have so much to catch up on!! Really exciting guitars and cooler-than-cool lyrics. I think of them as being like Jane’s Addiction-meets-Fugazi. Or like Sleater-Kinney circa Dig Me Out.</p><p><strong>VIAGRA BOYS –MILK FARM</strong><br>I started getting into this Swedish band last year and every now and again, I dive in and find another crazy great song. I love how this guy sings and he’s always in these bizarre adventures fueled by drugs and partying. In this one, he’s woken up somewhere and doesn’t know where he is and realizes there are tubes hooked up to his chest and he’s being milked! It must have been one of THOSE nights… Lol</p><p><strong>AVA KING –PRAYER FOR THE BASIC BITCH</strong><br>Very cool modern California pop that reminds me a lot of Lily Allen and Charlie XCX. Super well-produced. And, by the way, she also produced MJoy’s Womansplain that we heard earlier. I want to make friends with her!</p><p><strong>SHAKURA S’AIDA –HOLD ON TO LOVE</strong><br>Shakura is a legendary R&B/soul singer in Toronto and a frequent collaborator with Donna Grantis (Prince, ThirdEyeGirl), who co-wrote this song. I’m obsessed with Donna these days as I just saw her speak with Brian Eno on a Zoom call about Music and Environmentalism at a conference held in Minnesota.</p><p><strong>SANDRA SUTTER –MIDNIGHT SERENADE</strong><br>Sandra is a friend of mine from Alberta and an award-winning indigenous filmmaker and singer-songwriter. She is one of the voices at the beginning of Brand New Love. Check her out!</p><p><strong>DARCHAILD –NEVER LET GO</strong><br>Shareece is a friend of mine in southern California and also a contributor to Brand New Love. I use a similar arpeggiator effect as she has in this song on a song I’m currently recording (and on which Sandra Sutter sings some bg vox). Shareece is very fun to work with. I’m really glad we crossed paths!</p><hr><p><br>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!!</p><p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul.</p><p>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!</p><p>Yours in music, </p><p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/71387202023-01-16T14:27:09-05:002023-01-16T14:27:09-05:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 37 –Fistful of Love <p><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/40e7e62e992be5a7ff17ff9e451384d8d1a06bf5/original/tmd-listens-37.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_left border_none" alt="TMD Listens 37 -Fistful of Love" />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! </em></p>
<p><a contents="PLAYLIST LINK&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/50CiQQV3Xo07AQgW9YqezM?si=f6063922b91a4cb1" target="_blank"><strong>PLAYLIST LINK </strong></a></p>
<hr><p><strong>THE ROLLING STONES –IT’S ONLY ROCK’N’ROLL (BUT I LIKE IT) –LIVE</strong> <br>One of the definitive rock’n’roll anthems. </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –STAND UP AND DREAM AGAIN</strong> <br>One of my fave anthems from our album AMERICAN DREAM. I remember writing this during a period when I had kind of walked away from the music industry to focus on working at something else, which I found to be a little bit soul-sucking, so maybe this idea was a bit of a “Note To Self”, a reminder to Stand Up And Dream Again. When I released it, we were dealing with lockdowns and riots across the USA and part of the message became a little bit inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. as well. I find that over time my relationship to songs I sing changes and reflects the zeitgeist and the overall mood of the times. That's why sometimes I hesitate when people ask me what songs are about because what they are "about" is often changing.</p>
<p><strong>ALI WICK –GIVE ME THE MONSTER </strong><br>I just e-met Ali recently at Indie Week and like the songs she has released. I seem to be meeting quite a few artists in Alberta lately, which is great to see. This track I’ve been listening to in my car driving around town for the last month and I really dig it. Her voice has kind of a warbly, emotional quality that I like. The dance-y production is up my alley too. I kind of like that when I’m bopping around the grocery store or driving on the highway. I don’t know who Kill3rhertz is but I take it this person is responsible for the production. Excellent work, Ali! </p>
<p><strong>PJ HARVEY –MEET ZE MONSTA </strong><br>One of my fave tracks about monsters in the history of monsters. I was in Boston during Reading Week when the To Bring You My Love came out and there was an interview with her in a local music newspaper. I was already a fan but this album really took it to the next level for me. I still listen to it fairly often. I saw her on this tour opening for Live just outside Detroit, and honestly, I could have left after her performance but I watched Live and they were ok. They were just HUGE on the radio at the time with Lightning Crashes. Actually while I was in Boston and also New Hampshire, people were playing that Live CD in almost every car I got into. By the time I saw the tour in the summer, I think they had become overplayed in my world. </p>
<p><strong>KITTY –OKAY CUPID </strong><br>And now for something completely different. Kitty used to be Kitty Pryde until Marvel told her to cease and desist. This track is exactly like it sounds –a white teenage girl rapping in her bedroom. I love it! I put it on because I was checking out a newer song of hers also in this playlist. </p>
<p><strong>THE ARCS –EYEZ </strong><br>I came across this in my own This Mad Desire Radio on Spotify. I don’t know anything else about them. It has a great groove and again, kind of perfect for shopping and driving around. </p>
<p><strong>KITTY / GORYGANG –YOUR HEART </strong><br>This is more of a “song” from Kitty and frankly, I prefer the rapping but I like to keep up with artists I like. </p>
<p><strong>JANIS JOPLIN / JORMA KAUKONEN –TROUBLE IN MIND </strong><br>This comes from the recently released Legendary Typewriter Tapes featuring Joplin on vocals, Kaukonen on guitar, and Jorma’s wife Margareta typing away intermittently in the background. Without knowing that Margareta is randomly typing and unrelated to the music, you catch yourself thinking, “Jeez, this is cool percussion. I wonder how they thought of this.” </p>
<p><strong>GREG DULLI / ANI DIFRANCO –A CRIME </strong><br>This is a cover of a song by Sharon Van Etten and I have not heard the original but I like this version. Maybe in the coming weeks, I’ll take a look at the original to compare. </p>
<p><strong>GA-20 –DRY RUN </strong><br>This also came from my This Mad Desire Radio. Definitely an old-skool rock style on this one. I can imagine being at Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe from Archie Comics. </p>
<p><strong>JAWNY –ADIOS </strong><br>I can’t remember how I came across this but there’s a really cool hotrod car in the video footage they have paired with this music. </p>
<p><strong>SPILL TAB –CRÈME BRULEE </strong><br>This was another random discovery on Spotify. She is a French Korean American singer-songwriter. What a combo! </p>
<p><strong>THOMPSON TWINS –WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? </strong><br>This track comes from the Red, Hot and Blue compilation that came out in the 1990s and featured artists playing songs by Cole Porter. Tom Waits, Annie Lennox, U2, Sinead O’Connor, and many others are on it and I think it was raising money for AIDS research. This song was always one of the more fun ones. Who wants to be a millionaire with flashy flunkies everywhere? I don’t. And I don’t because all I want is you. The lyrics are actually very sweet and definitely funny. It’s no surprise that Cole Porter is one of my all-time favourite songwriters. Sometimes when I’m writing, I’ll grab one of his songbooks and trace out the chords of some of his great songs for inspiration. Cole Porter and Gershwin are great for that. </p>
<p><strong>ELECTRIC SIX –STRUTTER </strong><br>Electric Six are, I think, most famous for Gay Bar –which is an all-time classic. There’s this great cover band whose name I can’t remember from Montreal that used to come through here quite a bit and they did a fantastic version of Gay Bar and lots of other crazy covers. Definitely not Top 40! If it pops in my head what the name of that act is, I’ll update this blog. Anyway, this is Electric Six doing Strutter by KISS. They’ve added a piano but otherwise, this is pretty faithful to the original song, and this is also just a fantastic song. The Donnas also cover it. I think I read somewhere Joe Perry from Aerosmith saying this is his favourite KISS tune. </p>
<p><strong>ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS –FISFUL OF LOVE </strong><br>Around this time, Antony was touring as a guest vocalist in Lou Reed’s band and so here Lou Reed returns the favour by guesting at the beginning of this song, which is pretty undeniable. </p>
<p><strong>DIAMANDA GALAS –I’M GONNA LIVE THE LIFE </strong><br>Diamanda is one of the greatest singers/performers in the history of singing and I have often considered covering this song. </p>
<p><strong>SADE / COTTONBELLY –BY YOUR SIDE </strong><br>This is another one from the Red Hot series. This one is from Red Hot + Riot and is a remix of the classic Sade tune By Your Side. </p>
<p><strong>TOM ODELL –JUST ANOTHER THING WE DON’T TALK ABOUT </strong><br>I’m a subscriber to American Songwriter Magazine and I usually like to check out the artists they feature. Tom Odell is British and very well-established although I had never heard of him. His most recent album is just him and a piano and what I like about it is it sounds like you are right inside the piano itself. You can hear all the strings shifting and the hammers moving. It’s extraordinarily intimate, and this song itself brought a tear to my eye. </p>
<p><strong>WINE LIPS –EYES </strong><br>Our second Eyes song of this playlist and another from This Mad Desire Radio. I believe this band is from Toronto and they are over the top awesome. This track has so much energy. I want to jump around and throw myself off of tables into wild crowds of dancing people. And I think that’s an envelope filter on the guitar at the beginning. Not sure but it sounds great! </p>
<p><strong>BAD NERVES –LAST BEAT </strong><br>Spotify suggested this one and I have yet to research it but the track has a similar energy to the Wine Lips song. I love music like this. Of course, I don’t write music like this. Maybe I should! </p>
<hr><p>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!! </p>
<p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/71314602023-01-02T10:40:44-05:002023-01-02T10:40:45-05:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 36 –Scum Fuck Tradition<p><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/67c912b0f8d2d043a6b356574a6f56366842a43a/original/tmd-listens-36.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_left border_thin" alt="TMD Listens 36" />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! </em></p>
<p><a contents="PLAYLIST LINK" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/26Yr6tNzxCUvq9e5GhEajF?si=a7800b0829d34e4b" target="_blank"><strong>PLAYLIST LINK</strong></a> </p>
<hr><p><strong>BRIGHT EYES –AT THE BOTTOM OF EVERYTHING </strong><br>My old drummer Beate used to be really into Bright Eyes and I’m sure it was she who introduced me to him. This track is one of the coolest opening tracks ever with this long story and then such a great folk song after. I like most of what he releases. </p>
<p><strong>WEEN –IT’S GONNA BE A LONG NIGHT </strong><br>Ween is one of these bands that used to pop up on best of the year lists when I was younger and I never checked them out. For shame though because I really dig everything I hear from them now. I also like that this album is called “Quebec”! If any of you know the significance, let me know! </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –NO SURPRISE </strong><br>I wrote this song around when I was playing with Beate so it made sense to me to include this in my mini-nostalgia trip here. I really like the lyrics in this one. I was going through a breakup and contemplating new romance and sometimes all of those messy feelings lead to interesting songs! I played this live with Mike Trebilcock on guitar once and he said this reminded him of Death Cab For Cutie, which also makes sense as bands like that were really popular on CFRU, where I was working at the time. </p>
<p><strong>SENTRIDOH –LOSERCORE </strong><br>Back in the days before streaming, I once (ONCE!) heard this on CBC’s Brave New Waves and then searched for it forever. As a fan of Lou Barlow and Sebadoh, I searched high and low in Thunder Bay and then eventually in Toronto, I didn’t want to pay the import fees. Anyway, now anyone can listen to this at any time! Also fun is that the cover image here in Spotify is for an album I did have and which did not contain this song. LOL. This is the crazy lo-fi world Lou Barlow inhabits. I am releasing a cover of his Brand New Love close to Valentine’s this year so Look Out!!! </p>
<p><strong>LOU REED –LEGENDARY HEARTS </strong><br>Another Lou! One of the few Lou Reed songs I never learned how to play but what a great song this is. I think that’s Fernando Saunders on bass and his sound just gets me every time. </p>
<p><strong>TERRA LIGHTFOOT –NEVER WILL </strong><br>Getting back to the future here, this is Terra Lightfoot from Hamilton and… I’m not sure if I’ve ever met her in person. Hmmmm…. Anyway, this is a great song! </p>
<p><strong>MICKEY DE SADIST –SCUM FUCK TRADITION </strong><br>Mickey is a Hamilton punk rock legend. My uncle was a fan of the Forgotten Rebels back when we lived in Winnipeg and so he was, along with Cadillac Bill, one of the only people I’d ever heard of from Hamilton’s music scene before I moved here. I'm about 95% certain I walked by him in the supermarket the other day and it only kind of clicked a few seconds later because although we’re friends on Facebook and I’ve seen him perform, I’ve only met him once in passing on James North (a very cool strip in Hammertown) and I just don’t associate him with the supermarket, but hey, even rock stars need to get groceries! </p>
<p><strong>JESUS & MARY CHAIN –BLUES FROM A GUN </strong><br>I’ve been a fan of J&MC since I first saw them in 1992 in Minneapolis. This album Automatic is one of their more revered records but I have never really listened to it all that closely so I’m making up for lost time here. </p>
<p><strong>PIXIES –HEAD ON </strong><br>I love Pixies and this track is a cover of the Jesus & Mary Chain’s track Head On. Such a great song!! </p>
<p><strong>GREGOR SAMSA –O </strong><br>I don’t know if this band is still around and I’m no longer in touch with any of the members but we played a number of shows together in the UK and Europe. One night we went out dancing after our Luxembourg gig and that night, I was approached by a strange woman on the dance floor, and so I followed her away from the Gregor Samsa girls and my friend Barzin and the club owner of the bar where we had played. They had a good laugh because seconds after we started dancing, this chick got really angry and turned from me and stormed off. Of course, everyone wanted to know what happened. She asked me where I was from and said, “Canada.” That was all it took. She must have had a real thing against Canadians! Lol. Usually the opposite is true while traveling. Oh well… </p>
<p><strong>MATT EDIBLE & THE OBTUSE ANGELS –STAIRGAZING </strong><br>I met Matt in Hull, UK, on that same tour. We correspond once a year or so. This track reminds me a bit of Smashing Pumpkins. </p>
<p><strong>FONDA 500 –HELICOPTERS </strong><br>I met Bod Fonda the same night as I met Matt. I like that they all named themselves after the band. That shows true dedication to their cause! </p>
<p><strong>TIFFANY –I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW </strong><br>Don’t even ask me what inspired me to look up this track. It’s actually better than I remember! </p>
<p><strong>HALESTORM –MINE </strong><br>I really like Halestorm and although this is on their new album, it sounds a world apart. The whole record is mostly “nu-metal” and songs that sound like their first record and then there’s this one which comes straight out of the 1980s and would not have sounded out of place on Judas Priest’s Turbo album. I quite like it! </p>
<p><strong>VELOURS –FLOWERS IN A WASTELAND </strong><br>New track from Velours, who I’m pretty sure was my first TikTok follower. She’s moving to Toronto from Saskatchewan, which is probably a good idea career-wise. So much more happens here. This new song of hers is probably my fave one I’ve heard from her. Great job, Velours! </p>
<p><strong>MOLLY HEALEY –US AND THEM </strong><br>I don’t know anything about Molly but thought this track was interesting. </p>
<p><strong>JOE JACKSON –GOT THE TIME </strong><br>Such a great track. I first heard the Anthrax cover on Persistence of Time and that version is also incredible. A real “pump me up” kind of jam! </p>
<p><strong>GINGER ST. JAMES –SOMEBODY SHOT ME </strong><br>Another Hamilton artist! I played a show with her a million years ago. My part was awful. I was going through a divorce and then we had this crazy issue where my blind bassist somehow recalibrated my tuner to be at 442 after he tuned to 440 and I couldn’t figure out why my guitar sounded so wrong. And then my ex showed up and it totally threw me off my game. Ginger was great though! </p>
<p><strong>THE FLAMING LIPS –TURN IT ON </strong><br>I have received several favorable comparisons to the Flaming Lips in the past year so I’ve been checking them out more. I really like everything I hear. They seem to really exist outside of the LA/NYC/Nashville music world. </p>
<p><strong>PUBLIC ENEMY –YOU’RE GONNA GET YOURS </strong><br>You can’t mess with Public Enemy. </p>
<p><strong>PJ HARVEY –WHO BY FIRE </strong><br>I think of myself as a PJ Harvey fan and I didn’t even know she sang this. I always find that Leonard Cohen’s songs sound great no matter who sings them. </p>
<hr><p>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!! </p>
<p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/71195472022-12-07T13:45:23-05:002023-01-02T09:23:16-05:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 35 –The Collaborators! <p><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/72cf4d5f631b576d826d27fe03402e9791f46928/original/tmd-listens-35.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_left border_thin" alt="TMD Listens 35" />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! </em></p>
<p><em>This one is a SPECIAL EDITION including people who I have recorded, written, or otherwise collaborated with on our recent releases and videos as well as upcoming tracks. As a result, this is longer than the usual hour as there were so many great artists I worked with! Where possible, I've tried to include links to the artists to help you check out their work.</em></p>
<p><em>Also shout out to those that were instrumental in our musical journey but are not themselves recording artists on Spotify: Phil Demetro at Lacquer Channel who masters my work, Reinhard Kypke who sang on the Open Hearts Open Minds (OHOM) release, Kilian Bamberg who played bass on Love is a Glorious Thing from OHOM, and Natalie Williams Calhoun who played cello on This Christmas (Fanfare Edition) on Holiday Classics V1. </em></p>
<p><a contents="PLAYLIST LINK" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4zaQsOknpZyRqQFLYh36n7?si=84b0ce6f24c14155" target="_blank"><strong>PLAYLIST LINK</strong></a> </p>
<hr><p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE, JESSICA MAGOCH –O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL </strong><br>This one includes Jessica Magoch from Pennsylvania on co-lead vocals. She is working on her debut album so keep your eyes peeled. Also on this one is Carleen who does the angelic harmonies and Cheryle Dueck who does the Sister Act-inspired gospel singing on the track! <a contents="WATCH THE VISUALIZER." data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://youtu.be/8MQqBEGxzFA" target="_blank"><strong>WATCH THE VISUALIZER.</strong></a></p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –OPEN HEARTS OPEN MINDS </strong><br>The title track from our most recent original album. Quite a few people on this list including Jessica mentioned above sing background vox on this. I’ll point them out as we go along here. And that’s Dan Konopka from OK Go on the drums. Actually of all the tracks he’s done with me, this one is probably my fave (although they are all great!). I was really surprised at his intro to the song which I think really took it to another level. I don’t direct him too much. He knows what he’s doing! I find that part of the fun of collaborating is I’m often surprised by how others interpret the work. It really adds another dimension. </p>
<p><strong>OK GO –OBSESSION </strong><br>As mentioned, Dan’s regular gig is in a little band called OK Go. I finally saw them and I felt this one was particularly cool. It’s a bit mysterious and has a killer groove! <a contents="Check out the video for this song here." data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://youtu.be/LgmxMuW6Fsc" target="_blank">Check out the video for this song here.</a> <a contents="http://okgo.net" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://okgo.net" target="_blank">http://okgo.net</a> </p>
<p><strong>MARK ZUBEK –PARADOX </strong><br>Mark Zubek is Mr. Zedd Records, hit producer in Toronto. He produced <em>Operators Are Standing By</em>, the <em>Paris of Love</em> twin singles, and most recently <em>Running Wild Running Free</em>! As you can tell from this track, he’s a killer bass player. Probably he played everything on this track. I believe he started as a drummer and then studied bass at Berklee. Either way, he definitely has great ears and is a great producer… <a contents="http://zeddrecords.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://zeddrecords.com" target="_blank">http://zeddrecords.com</a> </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –RUNNING WILD RUNNING FREE (<a contents="WATCH RWRF VIDEO" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://youtu.be/POrlW--MmgQ" target="_blank">WATCH RWRF LYRIC VIDEO</a>)</strong><br>…as evidenced by this track which I co-wrote with Leon Harrison who runs Bandwagon Hub, a music mentorship program and is the lead singer for… </p>
<p><strong>THE LAZYS –HALF MAST BLUES </strong><br>The Lazys are an Aussie rock band that plays AC/DC-style rock. I like all things nautical as I spent a lot of my childhood on a ship so this song really speaks to me. Leon’s a very funny and talented guy and was a real treat to work with. Maybe we’ll write something else. He was living in Toronto when we wrote <em>Running Wild Running Free</em> but he’s back in the land down under these days. I’m keeping a stool warm for him down at the pub here in Canada though! <a contents="http://bandwagonhub.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://bandwagonhub.com" target="_blank">http://bandwagonhub.com</a> <a contents="http://thelazysband.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://thelazysband.com" target="_blank">http://thelazysband.com</a> </p>
<p><strong>SAMAKI MKUU, JUS, JABALI AFRIKA, ACHIENG GUYO –DON’T LET THEM SCATTER YOUR ANGELS </strong><br>Samaki Mkuu, aka Jason Dunford, is a Kenyan Olympic swimmer, media personality, rapper, and entrepreneur. He also runs an African record label in San Francisco. Totally cool to have him on background vocals on the OHOM album. This track is incredible! </p>
<p><strong>ERICA CORBO –THANKSGIVING HYMN </strong><br>I first met Erica on Instagram. I was talking to someone on an online dating site and was tired of explaining my life history so I told this woman I was from Philadelphia, which she thought was hilarious when I immediately said that it wasn’t true. I then followed a few #philly hashtags like #phillymusic just to lend a little more credibility to this fake back story I was creating in case I decided to use it again and that's how I came across Erica! She was running these interesting concerts called Warp Factor 9 in Philadelphia where they would open a window and people would sit outside on the sidewalk in the pandemic to listen to the artists. And her back story is that she is flying around the cosmos as Captain Corbo. She sings on the OHOM album and participated in the <em>Running Wild Running Free</em> video. Definitely a creative soul! <a contents="http://ericacorbo.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://ericacorbo.com" target="_blank">http://ericacorbo.com</a> </p>
<p><strong> AQUANDRIA –WARRIOR </strong><br>I believe Aquandria, aka LaTia Bryant, lives in North Carolina and is originally from Maryland, I believe. I met her at Indie 101 this year and she participated in the <em>Running Wild Running Free</em> video so I thank her for that and am looking forward to seeing what she releases going forward! </p>
<p><strong>JOYCE ALDRICH, CHRIS BIRKETT –LOOKING OH SO COOL </strong><br>Joyce is a Toronto-based singer who sang on OHOM. I often hear from her on social media as well. Great lady and she often works with Chris Birkett, who is famous for producing Sinead O’Connor and Buffy Ste. Marie. </p>
<p><strong>KIM THOMPSON –HEY COWBOY </strong><br>Speaking of Chris Birkett, I believe he produced this track as well from Calgary’s Kim Thompson. They worked together before on a track called <em>This Christmas</em> which I co-wrote. (I included a variation on this song on the <em>Holiday Classics V1</em> EP.) Kim is a country singer and sang on the OHOM album and <em>Deck The Halls</em> from <em>Holiday Classics V1</em>. We’ve also worked on some other songs. Always a pleasure! <a contents="http://kimthompson.ca" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://ericacorbo.com">http://kimthompson.ca</a> </p>
<p><strong>CRASH WORLD –CROSS ROAD BLUES </strong><br>Crash World’s guitarist Glen MacLeod sings on OHOM and also sent in a funny contribution for the <em>Running Wild Running Free</em> video. He’s based in Vancouver and plays a mean guitar, which is on full display on this blues number from their debut album. <a contents="http://crashworldband.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://crashworldband.com" target="_blank">http://crashworldband.com</a> </p>
<p><strong>BRIAN DOUCETTE –HAPPY PLACE </strong><br>I met Brian through Mark Zubek. He lives in Nova Scotia and has a new album coming in January 2023 and this song is from that upcoming release. He sang on the OHOM album. Cool performer and singer! <a contents="http://briandoucettemusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://briandoucettemusic.com" target="_blank">http://briandoucettemusic.com</a> </p>
<p><strong>FLUENCY GREY –FAR TO FALL (ALTERNATE VERSION) </strong><br>I met Fluency at Indie 101 or maybe Indie Week in 2021. He sang on OHOM and records melodic but aggressive rock music that sometimes reminds me of NIN and other 90s alt-rock. When I met him, he was based in Ottawa but I think he’s back in the UK these days. <a contents="http://fluencygrey.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://fluencygrey.com" target="_blank">http://fluencygrey.com</a> </p>
<p><strong>THE SPIRAL THEORY –DREAMALITY</strong> <br>Singer Sandeep Swaminathan sang on <em>Love Is A Glorious Thing</em> on OHOM. Very cool guy based in Toronto. His band plays 80s-inspired rock music in the vein of REM, U2, and the Police. Apparently they also have a covers show playing songs from those three bands. This song <em>Dreamality</em> though is one I’ve always liked of theirs. <a contents="http://thespiraltheory.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://fluencygrey.com" target="_blank">http://thespiraltheory.com</a> </p>
<p><strong>QUANTHEM –DIAMOND HEARTS</strong> <br>Paul QuAnthem is a Toronto-based artist I met around the same time as Sandeep at Indie Week. He sang on the title track for OHOM and we chat occasionally on socials. I think of his music as being related to 80s Bowie and Peter Gabriel. Very melodic and super cool! <a contents="http://quanthem.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://quanthem.com" target="_blank">http://quanthem.com</a> </p>
<p><strong>KARI LYN –DAYLIGHT</strong> <br>Kari Lyn is from PEI and lives in Toronto. This is her latest single, which I really like, and she contributed backing vocals for <em>Deck The Halls</em>. She seems very active on TikTok! I hope to work with her again on something. <a contents="http://karilynmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://karilynmusic.com" target="_blank">http://karilynmusic.com</a> </p>
<p><strong>TANNIS SLIMMON –FALLING TOGETHER</strong> <br>What can I say about Tannis? This track is from an older album for which I have the CD. (I know, what are those??) I know her from my Royal City (Guelph) days and she’s a dynamite singer and really quite legendary in the Ontario folk community. I felt very fortunate to have her contribute some backing vocals to <em>Deck The Halls</em>! <a contents="http://tannis.ca" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://tannis.ca">http://tannis.ca</a> </p>
<p><strong>MJOY –PASSION OUT</strong> <br>From the Oakland area in California, Mjoy is an indie folk artist sort of in the same vein as Ani Difranco and she always makes me laugh. She has a great spirit and contributed some fun visuals of herself running for the <em>Running Wild Running Free</em> video. </p>
<p><strong>CARLEEN –SMILE</strong> <br>The lovely Carleen is a pop artist in Los Angeles. We’ve done some writing together for a release next year and she graced us with her glorious, heaven-sent harmonies on <em>O Come All Ye Faithful</em>. She’s been really fun to work with over the past few months. <a contents="http://carleenmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://carleenmusic.com">http://carleenmusic.com</a> </p>
<p><strong>SEE SEE BEATS, CHRIS ST. JOHN, STEPHEN WRENCH, MYROSLAV LEVYTSKY –MY HEART GOES OUT TO YOU UKRAINE (SEE SEE BEATS MIX)</strong> <br>See See Beats is Cas Weinbren aka Caskeyboardproducer in New York City. I know this track was very important to him as he mentioned it to me several times while we’ve been working together on some other tracks including the one mentioned with Carleen and a couple other things we’ve got in the pipeline. He also did a <a contents="remix of Victim Appreciation Night from OHOM which you can find on youtube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtYg6u6Cvo0" target="_blank">remix of Victim Appreciation Night from OHOM which you can find on youtube</a> exclusively right now. Cas also had some music on the Disney Zombies 3 musical this year and who knows how many tracks he released. Lol. He collaborates with a lot of people. Very cool guy. The first time I met him was at an online songwriting mixer and he said that Ceelo Green had given him the sunglasses he was wearing. I knew I liked him right then! Lol. <a contents="http://caskeyboardproducer.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://caskeyboardproducer.com">http://caskeyboardproducer.com</a> </p>
<p><strong>DARCHAILD –NEVER LET GO</strong> <br>This is my buddy Shareece from San Diego, California, and we also have written a song together with Cas, stemming from the day I met him, and I’m hoping we can finish it in the new year. In our song, we are basically a couple on a vacation in the Caribbean singing about how much fun we’re having. This is Fantasy Island material! </p>
<p><strong>DA FINGAZ –CONFESSIONS OF A CHURCH MUSICIAN</strong> <br>I met Marcus AKA Da Fingaz through MDIIO the way I met Cas and Shareece. (MDIIO is a platform that helps musicians find sync opportunities for TV and film.) He’s based in Washington, DC, and we’ve been working on a really great track for release next year. <a contents="http://dafingaz.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://dafingaz.com" target="_blank">http://dafingaz.com</a> </p>
<p><strong>BY OCTOPI –FINGERNAILS</strong> <br>This is Kyla Konopka’s band in Toronto and she was part of the joy of recording <em>Running Wild Running Free</em> although she does not appear on it musically. I recorded the vocal in Toronto on the day they lifted the lockdown and she was maybe the first person I’d seen in forever socially since Lord knows when so she definitely added to the momentum of the recording! Plus it’s fun that her last name is Konopka just like Drummer Dan! Also she was instrumental last year in getting our track <em>Stand Up And Dream Again</em> on the great compilation CD raising money to Save Toronto Music Venues. <a contents="http://savetorontomusicvenues.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://savetorontomusicvenues.com" target="_blank">http://savetorontomusicvenues.com</a> </p>
<p><strong>TITANOSAUR –EATER OF DEATH </strong><br>I met Geoff Saavedra on my friend Tianda’s Discord. He plays heavy metal music usually wearing a dinosaur mask and is based in New York. He cracks me up! Also, he contributed some spectacular footage of someone in full dino costume running in the snow for the <em>Running Wild Running Free</em> video. <a contents="http://titanosaur.savagevibes.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://titanosaur.savagevibes.com" target="_blank">http://titanosaur.savagevibes.com</a> </p>
<p><strong>STEVE BARIC –DARK IS THE RAVEN’S WING</strong> <br>Also in the “metal” world is Steve Baric. Steve is one of the best guitarists I’ve ever met and also has the distinction of being the person in this list I’ve known the longest as we actually met in high school in the previous century. He played a fantastic solo on <em>Deck The Halls</em>. <a contents="http://linktr.ee/woodsnstrings" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://linktr.ee/woodsnstrings" target="_blank">http://linktr.ee/woodsnstrings</a> </p>
<p><strong>DYNASTY FOUR –ANACHRONISTA </strong><br>This is my friend Nikkole Couture’s scrappy garage rock band from Toronto and I think this is my fave song of theirs. Her nieces appear in the <em>Running Wild Running Free</em> video. <a contents="http://dynastyfour.ca" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://dynastyfour.ca" target="_blank">http://dynastyfour.ca</a> </p>
<p><strong>FELINO, DAYA, IIO SOARES –ILHA </strong><br>I met Brazilian artist felino at Indie Week and he produced a very inspired remix of my most popular song <em>Operators Are Standing By</em>. This is the latest track he has released. </p>
<p><strong>SEAN BEAVER –I HAVE PPL SKILLS </strong><br>Sean Beaver is a primarily EDM artist in Alberta who I run into mostly around Indie Week-related festivals and events. He has done a fantastic remix of <em>No Surprise</em> from OHOM that will come out in the new year. <a contents="http://seanbeaver.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://seanbeaver.com" target="_blank">http://seanbeaver.com</a> </p>
<p><strong>OLENKA AND THE AUTUMN LOVERS –MOOSE JAW </strong><br>I confess that I’m completely out of touch with Olenka. We met around fifteen years ago when we both were performing in my friend Barzin’s backing band for a gig at the Opera House in Toronto. We were opening for an Iranian band that sang primarily in Farsi and the sold-out crowd sang along with every song. It was so cool! Anyway, we wound up recording a duet of the Velvet Underground’s <em>Pale Blue Eyes</em> which I held onto until the OHOM release. She has a great voice and has written some very good songs, including this one! <a contents="http://olenkalovers.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://olenkalovers.com" target="_blank">http://olenkalovers.com</a> </p>
<p><strong>A BAND CALLED DESIRE -BLEED</strong><br>I didn't actually collaborate with A Band Called Desire although you can imagine the potential! I include them here as Sarah mailed me a copy of a graphic novel Incoherence that accompanies their album Coherence. This is high concept stuff! Go to their website <a contents="http://abandcalleddesire.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://abandcalleddesire.com" target="_blank">http://abandcalleddesire.com</a> and watch the accompanying video too. It's incredible stuff.</p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE, JESSICA MAGOCH –DECK THE HALLS </strong><br>And because ‘tis the season, we close off with another Holiday Classic! </p>
<p><strong>LESLIE TAYLOR -LOOK BUT DON'T TOUCH</strong><br>Leslie sings on several of our latest tracks and also works with Mark Zubek.</p>
<hr><p>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!! </p>
<p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/71148362022-12-01T14:13:07-05:002022-12-01T14:13:07-05:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 34 –Just More Drugs <p><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/0ff37315bb5dcba2179b6e0821179c61e1617ed7/original/tmd-listens-34.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_left border_thin" alt="TMD Listens 34" />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! </em></p>
<p><a contents="PLAYLIST LINK" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5iL6kVhIDN4fyOgPYOaMtT?si=2814e086ff324106" target="_blank"><strong>PLAYLIST LINK</strong></a> </p>
<hr><p><strong>THE SHINS –YOUNG PILGRIMS </strong><br>When I worked at CFRU 93.3 FM, our music director gave me a mix CD with this on it. She also made it so there were around 5 songs per "track" as she did not want to let you control the sequencing too much. Anyway, I've loved this song ever since and sometimes I sing it around the house. Some of the parts are pretty high so I've gotta be warmed up to do it but I really dig the melody. </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –SO WHAT OH WELL (COCAINE IN THE LIMO) </strong><br>I wrote this back when I was working at CFRU. I went on a tour of Europe and Canada playing vibraphones for my friend Barzin. I wrote Paris of Love based on my experiences in Paris on this tour and then this one was based on our gig in New York City at the Knitting Factory. What was unusual about this gig was it was an entirely different band than I had played with in Europe and I had never met any of them before the drive to NYC. In that band was Nick Zubeck, who figures into today’s playlist fairly heavily. He was playing lapsteel and my melodies were often in parallel with his so it was a bit surreal playing all these songs with a band that played slightly differently. Anyway, we were on the third floor playing with a band from California and I came to realize that there was a burlesque show put on by the Suicide Girls on the main level. Naturally, my curiosity was piqued and before long, I was with a bunch of Suicide Girls in a limousine where they were all snorting cocaine. It was too rock and roll for words. I then co-opted one of the girls into my nightly routine of having someone bring me drinks onstage. Nick, for what it’s worth, played a great show! </p>
<p><strong>CHRIS ALTMANN –RENAISSANCE MAN </strong><br>I've met Chris a few times. I'm actually more friends with his wife Alysha. She interviewed me at their house one time for her radio show. Anyway, he's a great musician and has some great tunes. I hope we get to work together at some point. </p>
<p><strong>ANDIE LOREN –SOMEONE I DON'T WANT TO BE </strong><br>I admit to not knowing much of anything about Andie but Nick Zubeck is on this track playing lapsteel, I believe. As mentioned, Nick and I played some gigs together in our friend Barzin's backing band. At any rate, I'm looking forward to finding out more about Andie as this song is great and there's a chord change right out of Jeep by T. Rex. I'm going to grab my guitar and figure this out tomorrow... </p>
<p><strong>MUTEMATH –ARMISTICE </strong><br>From New Orleans, Mutemath is now Paul Meany's solo project but over the past 20 years, they have released some very cool music. I'm always into it. The grooves and rhythms are often very intricate and complex. </p>
<p><strong>BLACKOUT ORCHESTRA –FLOWERS </strong><br>Lo-fi art-alt-rock-post-pop-rock from Toronto. That's a mouthful! We were both featured on the Save Toronto Music Venues compilation CD which came out during the pandemic. They put out sensitive and melodic tracks not unlike this one. There's often a real sense of vulnerability in the lyrics. </p>
<p><strong>BLKBIRD –WHEEL OF FORTUNE </strong><br>I just made her acquaintance through Indie Week. I don't know where she's from but she has opened for Scott Weiland and... Slaughter! She's got a great voice. </p>
<p><strong>SLAUGHTER –EYE TO EYE </strong><br>And this is one of my fave tracks from Slaughter. For those that don't know, this band is Dana Strum and Mark Slaughter's band that they formed after quitting the Vinnie Vincent Invasion in the late 80s. Now the backing band is also Vince Neil's band. I always liked this track. </p>
<p><strong>RESKINNED MUSIC –THE BED YOU MADE </strong><br>Another Indie Week acquaintance and this time from Michigan! I dig his voice and the whole vibe of this track. It's melodic and a bit industrial. </p>
<p><strong>WORLDWITHOUTFEAR –HEART </strong><br>Philip and Allyson Scott are an electronic music duo (with vocals) from St. Louis. I have always liked the idea of St. Louis partly because I have family there and also because I always was interested in the St. Louis Blues hockey team when I was a kid. This track is pretty long but that's ok. I kind of get lost in it and I really like the vocal. There's almost a Bono-ish sense of passion and parts of this make me think of The Acorn and other bands I liked in the 2000s. </p>
<p><strong>SOUL COUGHING –HOW MANY CANS? </strong><br>In the last playlist liner notes, I was talking about how I saw Low at Lee's Palace in Toronto one time and they were opening for Soul Coughing, who I thought were incredible. They closed with this song that night although it was still unreleased. </p>
<p><strong>DA FINGAZ –SHE'S A SUPERHERO </strong><br>I'm working on a track with Marcus but let me tell you, he has been releasing a ton of music lately. This one is an actual song and not instrumental though. Cool track! </p>
<p><strong>CIGARETTES AFTER SEX –PISTOL </strong><br>Dream pop from El Paso. This music reminds me of the music I used to play with Barzin, who I mentioned earlier. </p>
<p><strong>BARZIN -JUST MORE DRUGS </strong><br>Since we are talking about Barzin... this song was his main focus track on the tour I did and I’m pretty sure we played it every night. I played vibraphones on that tour and our live arrangement of this song was a bit different but I always liked the lyrics. </p>
<p><strong>LORELEI -PUSH ME FURTHER </strong><br>I don't know anything about Lorelei other than she worships Lana Del Rey and appears in my TikTok feed every day. This track is very well produced. </p>
<p><strong>KRISTINNR –LIFE OF LUXURY </strong><br>So my Icelandic friend Jon I mentioned last liner notes that I ran into in Toronto just before the Soul Coughing/Low was somehow involved with this act a long time ago and I guess the singer has finally posted this historical release to streaming services after all this time. Jon, not being a musician, reports that he played the tape recorder! </p>
<p><strong>SEBADOH –RENAISSANCE MAN </strong><br>This is one of the greatest songs in the history of ever. Trust me. You’re going to love it! P.S. I do a cover of Brand New Love by Sebadoh from their classic Smash Your Head On The Punk Rock on my upcoming Secret Covers V1. </p>
<hr><p>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!! </p>
<p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/71089802022-11-23T11:35:42-05:002022-11-23T11:35:42-05:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 33 –Kling Klang <p><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/c79a896cf4f0e6c8368d4053caa433611b8eff46/original/tmd-listens-33.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_left border_thin" alt="TMD Listens 33" />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! </em></p>
<p><a contents="PLAYLIST LINK" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1JjqeWrz6da7U4VL0WVIvL?si=de04b68b79a54058" target="_blank"><strong>PLAYLIST LINK</strong></a> </p>
<hr><p><strong>CAROLINE SMITH –MAGAZINE </strong><br>I think Caroline is most famous for having done a track with Lizzo before Lizzo was at the top of the charts. Anyway, I love this record. Very sophisticated songwriting. It reminds me of another era. Maybe it's that Minneapolis vibe! When I lived in Winnipeg and Thunder Bay, that was our closest large American city so I paid a lot of attention to it. </p>
<p><strong>DARCHAILD –REDEMPTION LOVE </strong><br>Shareece is a friend of mine down in San Diego, California, and we actually wrote a song together that I’m hoping will come out next year. Anyway, as far as I know, this is her first release under this name and it’s a soulful R&B track. She’s got a great voice and is a great person too. I always enjoy our conversations! </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE -PALE BLUE EYES </strong><br>This is the classic Velvet Underground track done as a duet between me and Olenka Krakus and with Jim Perry (RIP) on hand drums. We tracked it live off-the-floor and then overdubbed vocals. I sang it once and she sang twice with one take for harmonies. I think my second verse was flat so I said just to drop me out of that verse and now it sounds great! Also, the guitar playing that sounds more like the original VU track is Olenka, not me. We also hadn’t practiced it or anything as we lived in different cities although Jim had probably played it live with me once or twice possibly maybe so that made the performance even more rare and magical! I have often liked going into sessions like that where the musicians have not had much time to overthink things and are really under pressure to do it so everyone's listening a bit more attentively and really in a more vulnerable musical place. Sometimes that can yield really inspiring results.</p>
<p><strong>ARLO SUN -FORWARDS MOTION </strong><br>I came across Arlo on TikTok and just love her voice. I think she's, like me, also based in the Toronto area. She plays really pretty alt-folk music, like this track! </p>
<p><strong>LOW -DANCE SONG '97 </strong><br>Speaking of Minneapolis, I have been a fan of this Twin Cities act since 1995 when I saw them open for Soul Coughing at Lee's Palace in Toronto. That was a crazy night. Before the show, I ran into my friend Jon from Reykjavik who I had known from Winnipeg. Talk about random! Anyway, it was sad to hear of the recent passing of drummer/vocalist Mimi Parker. Much too young... This track is by Sleater-Kinney off a new tribute to their landmark release Dig Me Out. </p>
<p><strong>LUSH -I HAVE THE MOON </strong><br>Lush was the first band I ever saw in the Twin Cities as they opened Lollapalooza '92! </p>
<p><strong>1000 HOMO DJs –SUPERNAUT </strong><br>At Lollapalooza '92, I saw Ministry play this (and 1000 Homo DJs were a Ministry side-project). This version of the Black Sabbath classic has Trent Reznor on vox. (You might be able to see my train of thought in all this... lol) </p>
<p><strong>FARQUAD -CHEAP BEER </strong><br>I came across this in my This Mad Desire Radio on Spotify. They consider themselves "trash pop" from Louisiana. Cool track! To me it has a bit of a Smiths vibe. </p>
<p><strong>BELLE HISTOIRE -BE ALRIGHT </strong><br>This band is/was from Cincinatti, Ohio. Not sure if they are still around. I came across this song about 10 years ago on a part of the Alternative Press's website called Alternative Press TV. They remind me of bands like Rilo Kiley from the 2000s. Well-written indie rock. </p>
<p><strong>KONGERO -KLING KLANG </strong><br>Folk'apella from Sweden. I've met these Swedish singers a few times now over the years and really like them! All of their music is vocal so it's as unique as it is beautiful. </p>
<p><strong>MARIA MOMARU -WHITE FLOWERS </strong><br>Similar vibe to the last track except all of the vocals are Maria. I just came across her at Indie Week 2022. Definitely interesting music! </p>
<p><strong>ALI WICK -I CAN'T FIX YOU </strong><br>Another Indie Week acquaintance. This song has similar songwriting to Belle Histoire so probably they have common alternative pop influences. I think Ali is from Calgary (where I lived when I was little!) and writes her music with her brother (like Billie Eilish). Is that right, Ali? Let me know in the comments! </p>
<p><strong>AERHART –CHOICES </strong><br>Amelia Wellers is from NYC and ...also an Indie Week attendee! This track is slightly avant-garde art pop that makes effective use of strings. Great melody too. Very emotional. Excellent work! </p>
<p><strong>DINOSAUR JR. -GOIN' HOME </strong><br>Maybe because I just spent a day hanging out with animatronic dinosaurs, I had Dinosaur Jr. on the brain. I saw them in 1993 at the St. Paul Civic Centre in. .. the Twin Cities in Minnesota (just to get back to our unintentional theme) and while revisiting the album Where You Been, which they were promoting at the time, I learned the Expanded Edition includes the show I saw. Unbelievable! </p>
<p><strong>BUFFALO NICHOLS -MEET ME IN THE BOTTOM </strong><br>Buffalo is from Texas and kind of reinventing the blues plus he recently sang on a charity version of When The Levee Breaks with Stephen Perkins (Jane's Addiction) on drums and JOHN PAUL JONES on bass. I definitely think this guy is worth a listen. </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE -NO SURPRISE </strong><br>I wrote this in Guelph while working at CFRU. I was rehearsing it with Mike Trebilcock one time and he said it reminded him of Death Cab For Cutie which makes sense as bands like that were popular on college radio when I wrote this. The first line used to say “Do you want to know precisely how I feel with you tonight?” but the word “precisely” was edited out as my drummer Beate at the time told me she wouldn’t play that song if I sang that word again! Lol. It’s better without that word. Thanks Beate!! </p>
<hr><p>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!! </p>
<p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/71054762022-11-18T10:43:54-05:002022-11-18T18:10:39-05:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 32 –Storm the Countryside<p><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/a21e6c1531f4b066d3a8ae5282f8a2fcf54c8174/original/tmd-listens-32.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_left border_thin" alt="TMD Listens 32" />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!</em> </p>
<p><a contents="PLAYLIST LINK" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4Cxq6CnmFYOUAsCICY867O?si=1bce6e1ef11c4312" target="_blank"><strong>PLAYLIST LINK</strong></a> </p>
<hr><p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE / JESSICA MAGOCH –O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL </strong><br>Our version of O Come All Ye Faithful is our latest contribution to the Christmas cannon and appears on our new EP Holiday Classics V1 which features Jessica and moi singing this one, Deck The Halls, the Fanfare Edition of my original This Christmas (co-written with Kim Thompson) and a few alternate versions. The instrumental arrangement is mine and it’s pretty faithful to the traditional tune. Because Jessica lives in the Philadelphia area and I’m in the Toronto area, we recorded this remotely, which I’m finding to be a great way to work. We didn't have to take any airplanes or make much of a carbon footprint at all! My friends Carleen in LA and Cheryle Dueck in Toronto both sang background vox and are featured on the classic-looking album cover image. We are trying to get an endorsement from Whoopi Goldberg so if any of you know her, please get in touch! </p>
<p><strong>SELINA MARTIN –IF YOU WERE A RIVER </strong><br>Another great track from Selina Martin. This one’s very melodic and pretty and drenched in really gorgeous reverbs. I’ve been a fan of Selina’s for years and we’ve crossed paths a few times. The first time I encountered her was at the Albion Hotel in Guelph –which was one of my go-to places to see/perform live music in Guelph when I was in university. This one night Selina was opening for Bob Wiseman and totally blew me away with her singing, performance, and clever songwriting. Even more surprising it was to me when she was also part of Bob’s band! In fact, she sang lead on some of his songs including Airplane on the Highway and I have to admit that when I bought the Bob Wiseman Sings Wrench Tuttle album with Airplane, I was disappointed that she wasn’t singing! Anyway, I like to keep up with whatever she’s releasing. She has some really great stylistic traits in her songwriting including a use of half-steps that I really like that create lots of musical tension. </p>
<p><strong>KARI LYN –DAYLIGHT </strong><br>Kari’s new single! Our favourite Cottage Core Rockstar comes from PEI and lives in Toronto now. She sings background vocals on Deck The Halls on our new Holiday Classics V1 EP. She has a great voice and definitely is someone to keep an eye on! </p>
<p><strong>CARLEEN –NEED TO BE </strong><br>Carleen’s new single! Our favourite Alternate-Folk-Fusion artist in Los Angeles. Carleen and I have just written a song that should come out next year and she appears on O Come All Ye Faithful above as a background singer. This new song is an anthem about personal strength and reminds me a bit of certain Madonna eras. </p>
<p><strong>GREG SPERO/RUSLAN SIROTA/MONONEON/ROBERT SPUT SEARIGHT –ORGANIZED CRIME </strong><br>I’ve known Greg for a couple of years now and had some funny exchanges on socials. I met him as the CEO of Pitch, which is an app where you can bid on things an artist should do and then if the money looks right, the artist can do it! Anyway, I then found out he was the touring keyboardist for Halsey, and I was like, “Who is Halsey?” and then my buddy Erica Corbo in Philly explained to me how cool Halsey is and I have since dove right into her catalogue. Greg is a fantastic piano and keyboard player and this is his latest jam. It’s great! </p>
<p><strong>TONE 30 –EVIDENCE, PT. 1 </strong><br>I just learned about Tone 30 from crossing paths online at Indie Week and I’m quite enjoying these instrumentals. Looking forward to hearing more. I also thought that an instrumental called Evidence made sense after one called Organized Crime. Lol </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –STORM THE COUNTRYSIDE </strong><br>One of my personal favourite tracks on our new album OPEN HEARTS OPEN MINDS. It’s a pretty old song and I’ve recorded various versions in the past but this one is the latest and maybe the greatest. It’s definitely the shortest. In its original form, it was almost twice as long but I was able to trim some of the instrumental bits to get it down to a more manageable length. I also really had to dig into old recordings to learn the parts of my former bandmates Gerald Taylor on bass and Bonar Bulger on guitar. I even emailed Bonar asking if he could remember what he played. Dan Konopka from OK Go is on drums on this one. It has one of my personal favourite lyrics as well. Very carpe diem! </p>
<p><strong>PUSCIFER –THE REMEDY </strong><br>Great track about internet trolls. </p>
<p><strong>BOXCAR BEN/KRISTEN PRINCE –LITTLE PILOT </strong><br>I’ve known Boxcar for a few years. We met at an open stage downtown Hamilton and then he opened a gig for me and I’ve tried to keep an eye on his sonic output. This is a brand new track and features Kristen Prince on sax. This track seems particularly good to my ears. </p>
<p><strong>SARAH SLEAN –THE DARK </strong><br>I’ve been a fan of hers since she burst onto the scene years ago. Most recently she’s been playing Joni Mitchell songs with orchestras across Canada. How cool is that?? I’m sure we’ll cross paths at some point and I, for one, cannot wait! This track really appealed to my philosophical sensibilities as it looks both outwards into the expanse of space and inwards to the machinery of love in the human heart. </p>
<p><strong>LADYTRON –CITY OF ANGELS </strong><br>I’m not sure how or why Ladytron became so cool but whatever they’re on, I want it! </p>
<p><strong>THE BEATLES –GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE </strong><br>I wanted to check out this new mix of Revolver, which is something of a technological marvel. I won’t bore you with details but the way they recorded their initial albums was archaic to say the least, which only makes their sonic achievements that much more breathtaking. I don’t like the Beatles that much, but I’ve always liked this song. </p>
<p><strong>JOHN CALE/WEYES BLOOD –STORY OF BLOOD </strong><br>John Cale and Weyes Blood? ‘Nuff said. </p>
<p><strong>MOBY / VIKINGUR OLAFSSON –GOD MOVING OVER THE FACE OF THE WATERS </strong><br>Moby is obviously known as a techno/EDM artist so this album of orchestral versions of his tunes is a very cool idea and everyone knows I love the piano playing of Icelander Vikingur Olafsson so obviously this track is fantastic. </p>
<p><strong>KISS –I WANT YOU (LIVE) </strong><br>This comes from the super deluxe edition of Creatures of the Night that just came out and includes demos and live tracks, etc. This recording is interesting as it’s the only “classic era” track presented in a live version here (all the others are COTN songs) and so we get to hear Vinnie Vincent and Eric Carr playing on this one. There isn’t a whole lot of Eric Carr live stuff available officially so that alone is already noteworthy. The guitar solo is pretty different and Eric was always a heavier drummer than Peter Criss and that’s true here as well. Definitely interesting but I prefer the version on Alive II. </p>
<hr><p>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!! </p>
<p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/70985412022-11-09T09:09:35-05:002022-11-09T09:09:35-05:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 31 –We’re an Abomination<p><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/93652e41409302e3cc45871a66b14b540e468310/original/tmd-listens-31.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_left border_thin" alt="TMD Listens 31" />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! </em></p>
<p><a contents="PLAYLIST LINK" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0uKbrSQICOpkiVja3R190t?si=67a8331e64ab4ecb" target="_blank"><strong>PLAYLIST LINK</strong></a> </p>
<hr><p><strong>RILO KILEY –PORTIONS FOR FOXES </strong><br>I think I’ve been listening to this song pretty much since it came out back in 2004. I was working at CFRU 93.3 FM and I'm sure my office mate Helen (our Music Director) was playing this all the time. This is a masterclass in alternative pop songwriting. It’s got great hooks, interesting lyrics, and Jenny Lewis. That’s all I need! </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –FLAMING DOVES </strong><br>I wrote this song during the pandemic so it mentions COVID. It also alludes to some of the rioting that had started in America after the murder of George Floyd. I tried to tap into some of the general fear and angst that was creeping across society after months of lockdown with the second verse about the wolf following me home and chasing me up onto my own roof. Some of the lines are almost directly lifted from Charles Baudelaire’s poetry book <em>Flowers of Evil (Fleurs du Mal)</em>, which was one of the first books to write horror poetry as opposed to poetry that uplifts and presents the beautiful. Seemed to fit the times! </p>
<p><strong>AMBRE MCLEAN –LITTLE STAR </strong><br>I’ve known Ambre my entire adult life. For my last year of high school, my family moved from Winnipeg to Thunder Bay where I started my first band Bloodflowers. The guys in the band wound up playing with Ambre and her mother after I went to university in Guelph, and then a couple years later, they all moved to Guelph too! Anyway, Ambre has a great voice and although I haven’t seen her in a few years, I like to keep tabs on her new songs. This is her new one and I really like it. You should too! </p>
<p><strong>PJ HARVEY -50 FT. QUEENIE </strong><br>One of my fave songs of all time. </p>
<p><strong>OL’ DIRTY BASTARD, KELIS –GOT YOUR MONEY </strong><br>This song makes me laugh! An absolute classic. Killer groove too. </p>
<p><strong>ALICE SMITH –THE GREATEST </strong><br>This track combines so many great things! I learned about Alice Smith because Prince covered one of her songs (Anotherlove) and fell in love with her songs after that. Here she is covering a track from Cat Power (what???) and it’s on a soundtrack for the show Reasonable Doubt, which I actually do not like. But this track is, while not wildly different from the original, still a great listen. </p>
<p><strong>THE PRETTY RECKLESS –LOUD LOVE </strong><br>Another cover tune. The Pretty Reckless were opening for Soundgarden when Chris Cornell killed himself and they have since really immersed themselves in covering songs by Soundgarden and Chris Cornell as well as having Soundgarden members guest on their songs. This is one of my fave Soundgarden songs, and again, this version is not too far off from the original. </p>
<p><strong>DOMINIQUE RUIZ –JUST FRIENDS </strong><br>This is pretty stock slick LA alternapop rock. I see Dominique playing guitar in my Instagram Reels feed all the time. She can definitely play but what sucked me in was the cover of this track has her holding an old-school pink phone. I used a pink phone in my Operators Are Standing By video so I had a sympathetic eye! </p>
<p><strong>KOTARAH –WITCHES BURN <br>REUT –THERE IS A ME <br>HYDESKY –FLOURISH <br>SKELETON OCEAN –NO TIME</strong> <br>These are all artists I have come across on my friend Tianda’s Discord. I always like to see what everyone’s up to. </p>
<p><strong>GUNS N’ ROSES –NOVEMBER RAIN -2022 VERSION </strong><br>It’s November right now. This is a pretty spectacular new version with a 50-piece orchestra replacing the original synthesized orchestra in the original recording. Sounds great! In some ways, it’s hard to imagine they did not get an orchestra in the first place given how much money they were spending at the time. The video alone for this song was over a million dollars… </p>
<p><strong>MIKE TREBILCOCK –WE’RE AN ABOMINATION </strong><br>I’ve been friends with Mike for around 10 or 11 years and I have mentioned that I actually prefer his horror soundtrack work to his more famous Killjoys stuff (which is also great). This track is kind of Alice Cooper-esque both from the mid-70s and the mid-80s if that makes sense. Very cool song! </p>
<p><strong>DA FINGAZ –DON’T OPEN THE CLOSET </strong><br>Marcus, aka Da Fngaz, is someone I’m currently co-writing a song with but he mostly focuses on writing music for movie trailers and this one is, I believe, kind of like a sample for what he would do for a horror movie. It made sense to me to place this after Mike’s horror song. </p>
<p><strong>TIGER SEX –I DON’T CARE</strong> <br>I noticed that some of my Toronto friends went to see this band the other day so I thought I’d check them out. Pretty cool punk rock from Vegas, I believe. They have the coolest name though! </p>
<hr><p> And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!! </p>
<p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/70909182022-10-28T15:16:54-04:002022-10-30T09:55:47-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 30 –You Want It Darker<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'><i><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/2e82552a4b3ec379eb87e9d7304f4a812dde2205/original/tmd-listens-30.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_left border_thin" alt="TMD LISTENS 30" />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!</i></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><a contents="PLAYLIST LINK" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/06C75vypHeiOeaxF6ld4JQ?si=502c3823334b4640" target="_blank"><strong><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'>PLAYLIST LINK</span></span></span></strong></a></p>
<hr><p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –VICTIM APPRECIATION NIGHT</strong><br>This is the second track on our new album OPEN HEARTS OPEN MINDS. Dan Konopka from OK Go drummed on this and mixed it as well. Originally I had the idea to make this into an interactive theatre piece where there would be some staged actors giving their tales of woe and then somehow also allow for audience members to provide their own True Confessions down at the Maudlin Hotel. If you’d like to help me make that dream a reality, let me know!! Check out the Visualizer below.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="iCXaVqKGwZg" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/iCXaVqKGwZg/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iCXaVqKGwZg?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 13px; text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'>And for a limited time... the REMIX!</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 13px; text-align: center;"><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="BtYg6u6Cvo0" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/BtYg6u6Cvo0/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BtYg6u6Cvo0?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'><strong>TIANDA –CELEBRATE</strong><br>Brand new music from our friend Tianda out in Edmonton. I’m on her Discord, which is a pretty cool little community of musicians and music lovers. Anyway, great track and I always like her sense of melody. I think it’s a cut above a lot of others in her genre.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'><strong>KIT VALE –PET</strong><br>Toronto’s Kit Vale’s new track is a real slice of 90s-alt nostalgia for me. It makes me think of Garbage and bands like that, which is A-OK with me!! I met Jen Simpson (her real name) briefly at one of the Indie Week conferences and have followed her on socials ever since. She always seems to be up to something interesting. Great job, Jen!</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'><strong>SKYE WALLACE –PHANTOM LIMB</strong><br>This comes off Skye’s new album Terribly Good. Skye is also from the Toronto area and I am very intrigued by the Phantom Limb Syndrome so I thought this might be an interesting track to check out. Also, I just wrote a song called Phantom Love so I’ve got the word “phantom” on the brain… Skye is a very solid rock writer and I always like what I hear from her.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'><strong>REBECKA TORNQVIST, M. WARD –MY NEIGHBOUR</strong><br>I don’t know anything about Rebecka but M.Ward is one of my faves. Beautiful tones, beautiful song, and very mysterious lyrics. I dig it!</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'><strong>PLUS, ZOLA –WANT IT ALL</strong><br>I know absolutely nothing about these people (yet). On Spotify, if you’re an artist, eventually you get an artist “radio station” which is a rotating playlist determined by the Spotify algorithm of songs you might like if you like the artist. So, for example, a few weeks ago, I saw that Skye was in my radio and was the only person I knew at all. This track is one of those from my This Mad Desire Radio station that I wanted to listen to again. <a contents="Check out This Mad Desire Radio." data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1E4CnEFzeZuo0U?si=2f10485a3cea4e3a" target="_blank"><strong>Check out This Mad Desire Radio.</strong></a></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'><strong>LARKIN POE –GEORGIA OFF MY MIND</strong><br>I subscribe to American Songwriter and sometimes learn about other artists from the profiles contained therein. Larkin Poe are sisters from Georgia who now live in Nashville and this song (and all the songs I’ve heard so far) have all the hallmarks of classic Nashville production: excellent playing, great writing, killer sonics, etc. Very cool track. It’s a little bit country, a little bit rock’n’roll, and I like it.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'><strong>QUEENSRYCHE –REBEL YELL</strong><br>I have seen Queensryche at least once although not with this new singer. I’m not really a huge fan of theirs but clearly they have had a lot of success in the heavy metal world, but this track, Rebel Yell. Wow! I love this song and love to hear cover versions. This is pretty different for Queensryche.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'><strong>POLYPHIA, STEVE VAI –EGO DEATH</strong><br>This instrumental track is incredible and after listening to it, I can see why they are on the cover of Guitar World. The musicianship on this track is breathtaking. There’s elements of funk, jazz, classical, prog, metal, etc. etc. And then Steve Vai is involved?? I read that Steve Vai was really surprised at how creatively they processed his playing, taking it to a whole other level in the editing. Enjoy!!</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'><strong>SIGUR ROS –UNTITLED #7 –JACOBS STUDIO SESSION</strong><br>This comes from the () deluxe remaster that just came out. Obviously I like them because they are Icelandic but in listening to this outtake, it is very easy to hear where Radiohead got their entire sound. This is super gorgeous.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'><strong>MARY CLEMENTS –BONNE NUIT</strong><br>I haven’t seen Mary since before the pandemic but she’s a Hamilton artist and also teaches French so it is no surprise to me that there are some French lyrics thrown in among the English.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'><strong>HERE IT IS, IGGY POP –YOU WANT IT DARKER</strong><br>Iggy Pop doing Leonard Cohen? I’m in.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE–PERFECT RING</strong><br>This is the only song I ever co-wrote with Leonard Cohen. AND it has cello and vibraphones alongside a great rock band including the late Jim Perry on drums, Gerald Taylor on bass, and me! My former teaching colleague Sarah Honeyford Austin rocks the cello. I wrote this in Thunder Bay in 1994 and put it out on my 2020 album AMERICAN DREAM. Definitely this is my favorite song to sing from a technical singing standpoint. AND Leonard Cohen lyrics!! Whutt??</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'><strong>VIKINGUR OLAFSSON, WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART –LAUDATE DINUBYN (FROM VESOERS, K. 339) (ARR. VIKINGUR OLAFSON) –UPRIGHT PIANO</strong><br>Vikingur is a classical rock star at the moment. He’s one of the greatest pianists in years. And he’s Icelandic. And his name is Olafsson and my mother’s maiden name is Olafson. Lots to like here!</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'><strong>IVY –UNDERTOW</strong><br>This is just some nostalgia for myself. I used to listen to this French pop band 20 years ago and thought I’d listen to a track.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'><strong>NICK CAVE, PULP –DISCO 2000</strong><br>I know 2 Pulp songs quite well, this one and Common People, which I’ve considered covering. So cool to hear Nick Cave doing this!</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'><strong>THE FLAMING LIPS –EGO TRIPPING AT THE GATES OF HELL</strong><br>The Flaming Lips are a masterclass in cool. </span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'><strong>KEON MASTERS, BRAVE BABY –YESTERDAY WAS GOING GREAT<br>GRAND THEFT BUS –PRIVATE WARS</strong><br>More artists I came across on This Mad Desire Radio on Spotify.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'><strong>TODD RUNDGREN, RIVERS CUOMO –DOWN WITH THE SHIP</strong><br>Todd Rundgren is pretty legendary but I’ve never really followed him. This rollicking and rolling track is from his new album Space Force.</span></span></span></p>
<hr><p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!!</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'>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!</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'>Yours in music,</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style='font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"'>Mac</span></span></span></p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/70729802022-10-02T12:07:20-04:002022-10-02T12:07:20-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 29 -I'm On Fire<p><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/af42b0c4c557f94f5a7823dd99dfdb0239c0a3eb/original/tmd-listens-29.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_left border_thin" alt="TMD Listens 29" />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! </em></p>
<p><a contents="PLAYLIST LINK&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0nsDZgZYvmSwjBJWvRP1sv?si=cdd9f51f2c224bb9" target="_blank"><strong>PLAYLIST LINK </strong></a></p>
<hr><p><strong>SEMATARY SPAWN –EXORCISM OF THE DEAD </strong><br>This song cracks me up. My friend Mike Trebilcock scores all kinds of horror movies and writes songs for them as well. This is one of those tunes. Most people who know Mike probably know him because he had this band called the Killjoys that won a JUNO and toured with Green Day and so on. I met him because we were both teaching at the same place and I occasionally filled in for him if he was sick or had a gig. Very cool guy and great guitarist. He actually did a 2-3 shows playing guitar in my act. But this song totally makes me laugh and gets us into the Halloween mode!! </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –STAND UP AND DREAM AGAIN </strong><br>This was the first single from our American Dream release. I still think this song is great!! What do YOU think?? </p>
<p><strong>WET LEG –DAISY </strong><br>I’ve been slowly getting into Wet Leg. Definitely this track has a cool vibe. Also I like how they do this sort of spoken-word tone singing. Are they singing lines by Kanye West here? I don’t even know. </p>
<p><strong>LTtheMONK –CLASS OF ‘23 </strong><br>I like this guy. He’s Ha amilton-based hip hop artist who shares a birthday with me! I was actually going to contact him to see if he wants to guest on a couple of tracks I’m working on that are more in the line of what he already does. </p>
<p><strong>PAUPIERE –NUE </strong><br>One of my recent French-language finds! </p>
<p><strong>PERRY FARRELL –CLING TO LIFE (MORCHEEBA REMIX) </strong><br>I lived with this girl for half a year and we got together to meet before we moved in together and found out we were both Morcheeba fans. Ironically, Perry Farrell’s parts are my least favorite aspects of this remix. </p>
<p><strong>TINA TARA –I’M ON FIRE </strong><br>Very much digging this track. It reminds me of SIA a bit. I met her on one of these many online music mixers I have attended. Great chorus on this one! </p>
<p><strong>SALVO –BLOOD // WATER </strong><br>I don’t know Salvo but I came across her on TikTok. Looking forward to learning more about her! </p>
<p><strong>SLOAN –MAGICAL THINKING </strong><br>I’m not a huge fan of Sloan although I really liked their breakthrough song Underwhelmed a million years ago. I have a ton of respect for them though and think they write/play some very hooky songs! </p>
<p><strong>THE SMASHING PUMPKINS –BEGUILED </strong><br>Just trying to keep up with The Great Pumpkin here. </p>
<p><strong>OK GO –I WON’T LET YOU DOWN </strong><br>As any of our regular viewers are aware, Dan Konopka not only drums in OK Go but in lots of our songs too. Sometimes I like to visit the Mothership so to speak and remind myself of what these guys are all about. Great band, great songs, great drummer! </p>
<p><strong>PUSCIFER –THE UNDERWHELMING (IMAGINED BY JAMES IHA) </strong><br>I usually like Puscifer and I like that James Iha from Smashing Pumpkins is involved in remixing this. Sounds great! </p>
<p><strong>JOE MCLEOD –SKYDIVING WITH AN OLD PAIR OF SHOES </strong><br>This reminds me of a lot of bands I toured with in the 2000s. It came up as a suggestion from Spotify. Sort of a melancholy feel here. </p>
<p><strong>NICK CAVE –AS I SAT SADLY BY HER SIDE </strong><br>Hands down, one of my fave tracks by anyone ever. The lyrics, the piano, the violin. Unbelievable. Mystical even! </p>
<p><strong>FISHBONE –SUNLESS SATURDAY </strong><br>I always like Fishbone but never listen to them so I thought I’d toss something of theirs into this collection. </p>
<hr><p> And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!! </p>
<p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/70644632022-09-20T13:27:16-04:002022-09-20T13:35:09-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 28 –Elvis is everywhere. Long live the King! <p><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/b7500f2bf6907b183560b06c627ad37ab99be7f2/original/tmd-listens-28.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_l justify_left border_thin" alt="TMD Listens 28 -Elvis is everywhere. Long live the King!" />Our weeklyish roundup of this week’s discoveries and old faves. Now including “liner notes” to help guide you through this journey and hopefully introduce you to some new, great music! </em></p>
<p><a contents="PLAYLIST LINK" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2uPlpyEO1OiA5RjRORTGE7?si=d31488077d0146e0" target="_blank"><strong>PLAYLIST LINK</strong></a> </p>
<hr><p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –IN THE GARDEN</strong> <br>Our latest single! My friend Dan Konopka from OK Go plays drums on this track. When we were working on it, he had encouraged me to make the sound even bigger towards the end, which is why I added more strings and oboes and so on. It reminded him of the Flaming Lips. What does it make You think of? </p>
<p><strong>X. ARI –DON’T CHOOSE HEAVEN</strong> <br>X. Ari is an acquaintance of mine based in Los Angeles but from Toronto originally. This song was released and promoted with an eye to suicide prevention awareness. This track definitely has a slick Hollywood production. </p>
<p><strong>KEEGAN TAWA/SOPHIE CORAN –UNDONE</strong> <br>I’ve been following Sophie Coran for a few months as part of my obsession with Philadelphia! My friends Erica Corbo and Jessica Magoch are also singers from that area and appear on my records and so I’ve been keeping an eye on their scene. This track is more of a Keegan Tawa track with Sophie doing guest vocals. Very cool EDM with an orchestral angle as well. I dig! </p>
<p><strong>EVA X –CONTROL </strong><br>Eva X is a musical friend of mine based in Vancouver although originally from Calgary. She does this really great electro-goth stuff. Definitely check her out! </p>
<p><strong>PJ HARVEY –MISSED (DEMO) </strong><br>I was WAAAAY into PJ Harvey when this track came out on Rid Of Me. Still a huge fan! Around the time the studio version came out, I was taking a course in university called Blood in the Water, Blood in the Air: Music, Race, and Gender, and based on my recommendation, my prof Howard Spring had us listen to the track Rid Of Me (the title track of the album whence the song Missed comes). I wound up taking every possible course with Howard from History of Jazz to Theories of Improvisation and World Music -Intro to Ethnomusicology. This was at the University of Guelph and, strangely enough, I ran into him at a grocery store in Toronto en route to a band practice after I graduated. I always find it funny to run into people I know in cities where we did not know each other, like running into a buddy from Boise, Idaho, in Montreal, etc. Small world!</p>
<p><strong>SALT-N-PEPA –SHOOP </strong><br>I thought this music was ridiculous when it was current. Now I love it! Back then, I think I was really closed-minded and really into what my friends thought was cool and stuff instead of just getting into this irresistible groove. </p>
<p><strong>THE SMITHS –THE QUEEN IS DEAD </strong><br>Say what you will but I really like Morrissey. I love how prickly he is. Anyway, given everything with the Queen passing, I thought I’d include something that at least referenced her, even if this is more of a protest song. </p>
<p><strong>PENGWICH –BORN AGAIN </strong><br>This is a duo in southern California. One of them was playing at the Whisky A Go Go the other day. I can’t remember what online event we met at but anyway, this song is just great! Very classic rock sounding. </p>
<p><strong>JAY LUTTRULL / MOJO NIXON –AIN’T GONNA PAY THE RENT <br>MOJO NIXON & SKID ROPER –ELVIS IS EVERYWHERE</strong> <br>I don’t know who Jay Luttrull is but I love Mojo Nixon! I got into him in high school. Really fun songs usually with a strong critique of society. And this Elvis is Everywhere track? Long Live the King!! </p>
<p><strong>ELVIS PRESLEY –BLUE SUEDE SHOES </strong><br>This is why he’s still the King! Part of me hopes he's still alive somewhere munching on a peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich.</p>
<p><strong>DREAD ZEPPELIN –HEARTBREAKER (AT THE END OF LONELY STREET) HEARTBREAK HOTEL </strong><br>Holy moley, this band is hilarious. I saw this crazy band a long time ago in Winnipeg at Le Rendezvous. Crazy New Yorkers doing reggae versions of Led Zeppelin songs with a fat Elvis impersonator singing. This particular mashup is genius! </p>
<p><strong>CATHERINE GRAINDORGE / IGGY POP –THE DICTATOR </strong><br>This track mentions Elvis, proving once again that Elvis is Everywhere!! </p>
<p><strong>THE FORGOTTEN REBELS –HIGHSCHOOL HOOKERS </strong><br>A heartwarming classic from Hamilton’s greatest punk band. They have a track called Elvis Is Dead –which is the one I wanted to include but it is not available on Spotify. Luckily, I have it in my Private Reserve here at home. If you're looking for Elvis, look for Surfin' On Heroin. That's the album I grew up on. </p>
<p><strong>HYDESKY –STARGAZING </strong><br>We’ve seen Hydesky in our lists before. I met Hydesky in my friend Tianda’s Discord. </p>
<p><strong>CARBON MEMORY –DISTANCE </strong><br>I believe Eryn Roberts, who I know through Indie Week, manages this band. </p>
<p><strong>PRXPHECY / FLINT –OUT THE WAY </strong><br>Another person in the Tianda Discord. I don’t know much else about these people. </p>
<p><strong>CRAZY TOWN –BUTTERFLY </strong><br>I heard some other rappers rapping over this track and I had to go back and get into the original. This one, like Shoop earlier, is another one I was “too cool” for. Again, it’s super-catchy!! </p>
<hr><p>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!! </p>
<p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/70578932022-09-11T10:30:52-04:002022-09-11T10:30:53-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 27 –Never Gonna Give You Up<p><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/bae66f565f5df94865f7d8b66c937554f5ad0a55/original/tmd-listens-27.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_left border_thin" alt="TMD Listens 27 -Never Gonna Give You Up" />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 introduce you to some new, great music! </em></p>
<p><em>This week was Music Pro Summit, an online music conference put on by the fine folks at Indie Week in Toronto, Canada, so I’ve included some of those artists in here as well. </em></p>
<p><a contents="PLAYLIST LINK" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1EC72Pf06AUyrXISmMOzja?si=6bc0a385d3d64bc0" target="_blank"><strong>PLAYLIST LINK</strong></a> </p>
<hr><p><strong>TARIQ, THE GREGORY BROTHERS –IT’S CORN</strong> <br>Probably my fave Tiktok trend ever! If you didn’t know this is the most popular anything anywhere right now, now you do. </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –IN THE GARDEN </strong><br>Our new single! I’m very proud of the arrangement on this one. I worked hard to get the oboes and the low brass instruments just right. Dan Konopka from OK Go provides the drums. Lyrically it was inspired by my daughter’s birth and is sung at times from my perspective and at times from hers. </p>
<p><strong>DAVID BOWIE –THE VOYEUR OF UTTER DESTRUCTION AS BEAUTY </strong><br>This comes from my fave Bowie record <em>1. Outside</em>. I was co-writing a song for a possible sync licensing opportunity and one of our team put a musical arrangement together that gave me Bowie vibes so I listened to this album before recording the vocal. When I presented my vocal, they enthusiastically said that they loved it and that they felt it was very Bowie-esque. This is why! </p>
<p><strong>HEXADEVI –NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP </strong><br>You’ve been rickrolled! Lol. Hexadevi is based in Florida and we met during Indie 101, I believe, last year. This is a pretty great cover version! </p>
<p><strong>PROJECT CATALYST –HONEY BROWN SUGAR <br>McKINDRED –MOVING TO YOU <br>ZASKA/MELINA MALONE –JUST FOR ONE DAY <br>CHARLIE B –GOIN’ INSANE</strong> <br>Artists that were at Music Pro Summit! </p>
<p><strong>DAWSON GAMBLE –SHE’S GOT A BOYFRIEND </strong><br>An artist I made the acquaintance of on Tianda’s Discord. He’s an indie artist from Toronto. Pretty slick tune! </p>
<p><strong>DA FINGAZ –I THINK I KNOW </strong><br>Just met Da Fingaz the other week at an event hosted by MDIIO and now we’re collaborating on a track that is in the vein of this one. He’s from the Washington, DC, area, so he’s our inside man there! Lol. His working title for the track I’m writing for is “Ready For The Weekend” so naturally I had to listen to… </p>
<p><strong>ICONA POP –READY FOR THE WEEKEND </strong><br>I’m a huge fan of these Swedish singers. They are one of the most licensed acts around. I don’t know how they do it, but I definitely want to meet them! </p>
<p><strong>STOLEN NOVA –LAUREN BACALL </strong><br>This artist is from California and this track was mixed by Dan Konopka who drums on quite a few of my tunes. </p>
<p><strong>HOLISTIC MEDITATION –I AM (MASTER OF REALITY) </strong><br>Came across these guys on TikTok. Fun party rap! </p>
<p><strong>SUGAR –A GOOD IDEA </strong><br>Apparently it’s the 30th anniversary of Copper Blue from Sugar. Time flies. I always liked this one. </p>
<p><strong>JING XIA –LANGUAGE OF PIPA </strong><br>Another Music Pro Summit artist. Very interesting instrumental artist based in Newfoundland, I believe. </p>
<p><strong>AFGHAN WHIGS –A LINE OF SHOTS </strong><br>I’ve been following this band since I was in high school. My old friend D’Arcy gave me one of their CDs for Christmas and I’ve followed them ever since. This is their latest single. </p>
<hr><p>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!! </p>
<p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/70534592022-09-05T10:56:34-04:002022-09-20T13:27:59-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 26 -I'm Finally Me<p><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/928db9024da6eeda836a823c1567fe8e750b7f07/original/tmd-listens-26.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_left border_thin" alt="TMD Listens 26 -I'm Finally Me" />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! </em></p>
<p><em>We’re heading into <strong>Music Pro Summit</strong>, an online music conference put on by the fine folks at <strong>Indie Week</strong> in Toronto, Canada, so I’ll start including some of those artists in here as well.</em> </p>
<p><a contents="PLAYLIST LINK&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5w615YsJib2QUlzxlcYUlp?si=ad1918887c7e49c1" target="_blank">PLAYLIST LINK </a></p>
<p><strong>CAS WEINBREN –I’M FINALLY ME (DISNEY ZOMBIES 3 SOUNDTRACK) </strong><br>My friend Cas in New York City wrote the music for this great track off of the latest Disney smash Zombies 3. I’m actually finishing up a single with him and another singer… </p>
<p><strong>CARLEEN –ENTROPIC </strong><br>Carleen and I are working on a cool track with my friend Cas. I met Carleen at an online event focused on sync music placements (i.e. music for film & TV). Anyway, she’s originally from Utah but has been in Los Angeles for quite a while. I really dig this cut of hers. Definitely worth a listen! </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –OPEN HEARTS OPEN MINDS </strong><br>The title track from my forthcoming album! This track features drums by Dan Konopka from OK Go and LOADS of background vox from people I met at Indie Week-related conferences and elsewhere. Recorded during the pandemic, the lyrics are about finding strength and spreading love. In a way, our singing this song in Philadelphia, San Francisco, Vancouver, and elsewhere was our quiet contribution to spreading some kind of hope in the middle of the Covid crisis. </p>
<p><strong>THE TRAGICALLY HIP –BLOW AT HIGH DOUGH (LIVE AT THE ROXY) </strong><br>Iconic Canadian band early in their career at a gig in Los Angeles. I saw them many times and he introduced this song with a different title every time. Here, Gord Downie calls it “Blow Me”. Also, every time they played it, he’d replace “some kind of Elvis thing” with “some kind of STAR/LOCAL CELEBRITY thing”. That always made it really fun. Who was Gord going to name-check tonight?? </p>
<p><strong>NIKKI LANE –FIRST HIGH </strong><br>This track came up in one of those Spotify “artist playlists” that follows whatever album you are listening to. In this case it was our “American Dream” release. </p>
<p><strong>TYLER ALEXIS –I MISS YOU TONIGHT </strong><br>Tyler is a singer based in LA also and I’m pretty sure I first encountered her at an Indie Week related conference? I can’t even remember but I’m on her Discord so I see her commentary daily. She does quite a lot of livestreaming on Twitch. I really like her voice. </p>
<p><strong>DIAMANDA GALAS –DO YOU TAKE THIS MAN? </strong><br>Speaking of voices, Diamanda Galas has the most incredible, bone-chilling voice I’ve ever heard. I’ve seen her live TWICE and both times I sat and was stupefied for 90 minutes. The sounds coming out of her in combination with her piano playing are devastating and unrelenting. This track is from her “lighter” more R&B album The Sporting Life that she made with John Paul Jones (yes, THAT John Paul Jones). Sometimes I cover her song “Baby’s Insane”. </p>
<p><strong>TOM WAITS –GOD’S AWAY ON BUSINESS (LIVE) </strong><br>I saw Tom Waits do something like 7 encores at the Hummingbird Centre in Toronto. Each time, there was a team of college guys that would carry the grand piano onstage and then dutifully carry it off. It was hilarious. </p>
<p><strong>AJR –I WON’T</strong> <br>Another Spotify suggestion I’m checking out. Clever indie pop. </p>
<p><strong>IDENTITY SOUP –AT ALL TIMES</strong> <br>My buddy Big John Leacock appears on our song Red Shift off of our American Dream release. Anyway, this is his son! </p>
<p><strong>COMA HAZE –MULTIPLE CHOICES</strong> <br>I met this dude on set in July. He’s a cool rapper based in Toronto. </p>
<p><strong>TEEN IDLE –BURNING</strong> <br>Our first Music Pro Summit attendee! Sara Abdelbarry is a New Jersey based alt-rock artist. </p>
<p><strong>NEO ARC –MOVE!</strong> <br>Another Music Pro Summit attendee! </p>
<p><strong>MODERN DAY MIDAS –HOW’S IT GOING TO BE <br>MATTE ROXX! –WESTSIDE! <br>EVA ARCO –VENGA VAMOS</strong> <br>These last three are all people I’ve come across in my friend Tianda’s Discord community. I always try to check out everyone’s latest releases. So much talent out there these days! </p>
<p>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!! </p>
<p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/70452082022-08-24T17:23:05-04:002022-08-24T17:23:52-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 25 –The Power & The Glory Hole<p><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/59dcea04b3b3312e8f52445ff4619a8395056c56/original/tmd-listens-25.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_left border_thin" alt="TMD LISTENS 25" />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! </em></p>
<p><a contents="PLAYLIST LINK" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4PM58KhUW2T6o9C13BzW8b?si=8464fb50631d4251" target="_blank"><strong>PLAYLIST LINK</strong></a> </p>
<p><strong>MACKLEMORE –CHANT</strong> <br>I’ve been hooked on Macklemore since Downtown featuring Eric Nally from one of my fave acts Foxy Shazam. Plus his name is Mac, which is a name to which I’m personally partial. </p>
<p><strong>GEMMA ROGERS –STOP </strong><br>I listened to this album on the way to set one day last month and it was not half-bad. Edgy alterna-rock from the UK. I always find UK music to be clever. Almost every British person I come across seems to have been in a band. Such a musical culture! I’m definitely something of an Anglophile. </p>
<p><strong>JANE’S ADDICTION –TRUE NATURE </strong><br>Given that the last song was called Stop and …I’m sure you get it! </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –SO WHAT OH WELL (COCAINE IN THE LIMO) </strong><br>The first track on our American Dream release. I always thought that the beginning of this had a bit of a Jane’s Addiction vibe (and part of what Mark on the drums at the beginning also made me think of Back In The Saddle by Aerosmith). I have some excellent bootleg recordings where Perry’s vocal echo is an instrument unto itself. This song is a true story about a gig I played at the Knitting Factory in New York (the old location not the current one). </p>
<p><strong>FASTER PUSSYCAT –THE POWER & THE GLORY HOLE </strong><br>I grew up on LA Glam Rock and Faster Pussycat were always one of my faves. I thought they had a tongue-in-cheek sly sense of humor, i.e. my tongue, her cheek type of thing. And the line “Your stimulation gives me good vibrations” is such a twisted Beach Boys callback. Too funny. And a rockin’ tune. </p>
<p><strong>BUTTHOLE SURFERS –I SAW AN X-RAY OF A GIRL PASSING GAS </strong><br>Ten foot tall and the nurse stuck a needle in my arm… Back when I first heard these guys, I knew I was into some weird stuff!! </p>
<p><strong>SHIRLEY GNOME –GOVERNMENT LOVE </strong><br>Since we were headed off into some strange territory, I thought we’d take a look at Canada’s fave porn-comedy-songstress Shirley Gnome. Always racy and always on point. “Booty calls with strict protocols…” </p>
<p><strong>WAYLON NAPADOGAN –BABY, YOU COULD BUM MY LAST DART </strong><br>I think Waylon is from eastern Canada and man, this guy is just as out there as Shirley Gnome, proving that Canada’s got coast-to-coast comedy tunes. I’ve always felt that comedy is one of Canada’s defining characteristics probably because we all watched SCTV and Kids In The Hall, which is pretty raunchy stuff. </p>
<p><strong>AFTERNOON BIKE RIDE –SUMMERTIME </strong><br>I don’t know anything about these folks except that they are from Montreal. Very dreamy song. Definitely makes me think of Belle & Sebastian or also Blonde Redhead. </p>
<p><strong>NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS –WE CALL UPON THE AUTHOR </strong><br>Nick Cave is one of the coolest lyricists probably ever and this album Dig, Lazarus Dig!! is one of my faves from him. I remember one year one of my piano students gave me an iTunes gift card and with part of it, I bought this album. Buying music… sounds so quaint! </p>
<p><strong>JONATHAN PERSONNE –ROCK & ROLL SUR TON CHEMIN </strong><br>Also from Montreal, Jonathan Personne has a great vibe too although he seems to be angling a bit more towards the Dire Straits, guitar tone-wise. Sounds great! </p>
<p><strong>IVYTIDE –MOVING SONG </strong><br>We’re pretty heavy on Montreal this week! Ivytide is a bit more current-sounding with more hip hop rhythms in their melodies. Very cool stuff also. Catchy and smart-sounding, like it would sound good in a cool café or a trendy shop. </p>
<p><strong>CLAMSHELL –LOSER </strong><br>Cool tune from Clamshell (from Texas) who I came across on my friend Tianda’s Discord. I like the video too! </p>
<p><strong>PURPLE DRIP –EMBRACE ALL </strong><br>Another Tianda Discord member. This is some very trippy stuff! </p>
<p><strong>HERBIE HANCOCK –WATERMELON MAN </strong><br>Speaking of trippy, my FB friend Merry-Ellen is way into watermelons, which led me to rediscovering this classic. </p>
<p><strong>JAZZ SABBATH –FAIRIES WEAR BOOTS </strong><br>I thought I’d take us out of the madness of this playlist with this cool new take on a Sabbath classic. It’s amazing what a great job they do. They retain a lot of the melodic elements. I think this really demonstrates how great those melodies really are. </p>
<p>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!! </p>
<p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/70326182022-08-07T11:42:39-04:002022-08-07T11:42:39-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 24 –People Can Change<p><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/118631e51c252edeb771abf819963dbb46fd6421/original/tmd-listens-24.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_left border_thin" alt="TMD Listens 24 -People Can Change" />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! </em></p>
<p><em>*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!!! </em></p>
<p><a contents="PLAYLIST LINK" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1su7u8oLhhUwr5YFkc19Ov?si=7a324ce191a9401d" target="_blank"><strong>PLAYLIST LINK</strong></a> </p>
<p><strong>LISA LEBLANC –POURQUOI FAIRE AUJOURD’HUI </strong><br>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…) </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –PARIS AMOUREUX </strong><br>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! </p>
<p><strong>BIF NAKED –ROLLERDOME </strong><br>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!</p>
<p><strong>LT –ROLLERCOASTER </strong><br>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! </p>
<p><strong>BETH ORTON –FOREVER YOUNG </strong><br>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. </p>
<p><strong>LIZZO / CAROLINE SMITH –LET ‘EM SAY </strong><br>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. </p>
<p><strong>YDE –PEOPLE CAN CHANGE </strong><br>Breanna Yde lives in LA but born in Australia and I believe she started as a child actress. Very pretty song. </p>
<p><strong>WAX MANNEQUIN –PEOPLE CAN CHANGE </strong><br>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! </p>
<p><strong>VELOURS –RUNNING UP THAT HILL </strong><br>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! </p>
<p><strong>HYDESKY –REBELLION </strong><br>Hydesky is from my friend Tianda’s Discord and lives in Italy. Cool track especially if you like EDM. </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –OPERATORS ARE STANDING BY (FELINO REMIX) </strong><br>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. </p>
<p><strong>DANIEL LANOIS –MY ALL </strong><br>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. </p>
<p><strong>SHE & HIM –DON’T WORRY BABY </strong><br>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. </p>
<p><strong>JACK WHITE –A TIP FROM YOU TO ME </strong><br>I prefer this more organic sound on this new Jack White though. He’s a real musical genius. </p>
<p><strong>BILLIE EILISH –TV </strong><br>Billie doesn’t need my praise. Very cool track though!! </p>
<p><strong>ILLUMINATTI HOTTIES –I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY </strong><br>I was looking for more 80s covers to go with Velours’ track and this one always hits the spot. As does… </p>
<p><strong>JULIANA HATFIELD –TOTALLY HOT </strong><br>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… </p>
<p>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!! </p>
<p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/70178202022-07-19T11:17:06-04:002022-07-30T18:14:22-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 23 –Set Me On Fire<p><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/bb382c5f382265c9f87023166e3eaed3d2d6f53c/original/tmd-listens-23.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_left border_none" alt="TMD Listens 23 -Set Me On Fire" />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! </em></p>
<p><a contents="PLAYLIST LINK" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0qtnDMObH9XqcSTM8wKKU8?si=c7396058e1054b35" target="_blank"><strong>PLAYLIST LINK</strong></a> </p>
<p><strong>REVE –TONGUE</strong> <br> I’ve been really digging her tracks. She’s based now in Toronto and actually when I noticed she was promoting this track, I tagged Gene Simmons on Twitter as he should be aware of anything tongue-related! </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –RUNNING WILD RUNNING FREE</strong> <br>Our latest single! </p>
<p><strong>BY OCTOPI –FINGERNAILS</strong> <br>I first met their singer Kyla Konopka on the day I recorded the vocal for Running Wild Running Free. This is their latest single and it’s leaps and bounds ahead of their prior singles. Very solid work from another Toronto act! </p>
<p><strong>TED LEO AND THE PHARMACISTS –WHERE HAVE ALL THE RUDE BOYS GONE </strong><br>I had a hankering for some Ted Leo. I used to listen to him quite a bit back when I worked at CFRU. If you haven’t checked him out before, you should! </p>
<p><strong>DEVON COLE –W.I.T.C.H. </strong><br>This song has been blowing up around Toronto. I think I came across her on TikTok or Instagram. </p>
<p><strong>PAMELA SUOZZI –RAINY NIGHT </strong><br>Pamela is a friend of mine in Switzerland. She has a beautiful voice and is writing some cool songs. Looking forward to hearing what she does next! </p>
<p><strong>JONAH SAPPHIC –TIRED EYES </strong><br>Jonah is a relative newbie to the music world out of Alberta. We met on our friend Tianda’s Discord (as with Pamela). </p>
<p><strong>ESTEBAN ORTIZ / SEE SEE BEATS –SET ME ON FIRE (SUMMERSHINE REMIX) </strong><br>My friend Cas, See See Beats, is involved with this and not only have we collaborated but he has music on the new Disney movie Zombies 3! </p>
<p><strong>X.ARI –DON’T DIE WITHOUT ME </strong><br>We were on a Zoom call a couple months ago which is where I first heard about X. Ari. She’s based in LA but don’t let that fool you. She’s from Toronto! (Are we noticing a Toronto theme here?? Totally not intended.) </p>
<p><strong>PEARL JAM –QUICK ESCAPE (LIVE) </strong><br>I’ve seen Pearl Jam quite a few times but not since the 2000s. Sounds like they’ve still got it. This is a live track from their last album Gigaton. </p>
<p><strong>THE 1975 –PART OF THE BAND </strong><br>This song has beautiful sonics. Whoever mixed this deserves an award. </p>
<p><strong>THE EVENS –KING OF KINGS </strong><br>Sometimes this song pops in my head for no reason. After Fugazi, this has been Ian Mackaye’s main act. It’s unbelievably cool. </p>
<p><strong>SLEATER-KINNEY –YOU’RE NO ROCK’N’ROLL FUN </strong><br>As you may know, I’m a huge fan of the Sleaters! </p>
<p><strong>THE NORTHERN PIKES –GIRL WITH A PROBLEM </strong><br>I like to mix in some older classics and this one totally fits the bill. I became sick of this song when it initially came out because it was all over the radio but fast forward from the 1990s to now and suddenly it’s a refreshing trip down memory lane. Actually when listening now, I appreciate more the incredible songcraft and production involved in this tune. </p>
<p><strong>TRAGICALLY HIP –PICTURE MY FACE (LIVE) </strong><br>I just spent a week acting in a movie in First Ontario Centre or what was called Copps Colliseum, the major sports arena in Hamilton and it brought back a lot of memories. The first time I went to Copps was to see the Hip so this is the Hip playing at Copps Colliseum (in 2007 so not the same show I saw) and here they are covering a classic track by old-skool Hamilton band Teenage Head! </p>
<p><strong>LE TIGRE –TKO </strong><br>Because the movie was about women’s boxing, I thought this song was perfect! </p>
<p><strong>TOM SEGURA –MIKE TYSON</strong> <br>I think this speaks for itself. </p>
<p><strong>RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS –MELLOWSHIP SLINKY IN B MAJOR</strong> <br>This song mentions Mike Tyson… </p>
<p><strong>BILLIE HOLIDAY –JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS </strong><br>And of course, you can never lose with Billie Holiday! <br> </p>
<p>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!! </p>
<p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/70073292022-07-04T13:37:25-04:002022-07-05T13:16:07-04:00TMD LISTENS 22 -When Under Ether<p><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/2460bac5388b3b1acd305014892b044bbc432636/original/screenshot-20220704-113945-2.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_left border_none" alt="TMD Listens 22 -When Under Ether" />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! </em></p>
<p><a contents="LISTEN HERE." data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ORGKxQIncNlYyIanMT4VG?si=030a7ca537354ad2"><strong>LISTEN HERE.</strong></a></p>
<p><strong>PJ HARVEY –WHEN UNDER ETHER </strong><br> PJ Harvey is pretty legendary. I purchased 4-track Demos in New Hampshire and then that same year saw her opening for Live in Michigan when she was wearing the pink jumpsuit that was common with her live performances for To Bring You My Love. I also am covering the version of her song Oh My Lover in a similar way to how it appears on her Dry-er Demo album. I somehow obtained a cassette bootleg of this back when she started (and this was pretty rare as only music critics received it). This is also a Demo version of a song that when it came out on its proper album White Chalk was named by Rolling Stone as one of the best songs of the year it was released. I have included it as there is speculation that it is about abortion and as we all are seeing the Roe V Wade issue nightly on the news, I felt it was timely. </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –OPEN HEARTS OPEN MINDS </strong><br>Title track of our next album Open Hearts Open Minds. Lots of great people sang on this across America and Canada. Whatever issues are facing America and the world (as this is Independence Day as I write this), I hope cooler heads prevail and everyone keeps an Open Heart and Open Mind. </p>
<p><strong>R.E.M. –ORANGE CRUSH</strong><br>My friend Joyce Aldrich in Toronto, who sang on Open Hearts Open Minds, sent me a nice note saying that our TMD music reminded her of an updated R.E.M. Nothing Compares 2 R.E.M. though!! </p>
<p><strong>KAYLA DIAMOND –SCREAMING</strong><br>Metal fans might be like, “Whoa! Is this King Diamond’s daughter?” And of course not! Kayla won the It’s Your Shot Slaight Music Competition in 2015 and makes pop/dance music primarily as well as producing for Top 10 Billboard Artists in the grand tradition of Toronto music constantly achieving success. Also I notice she made a Hanukkah carol whereas I’m making Christmas carols so that tells me we gotzta work together soon!! On her TikTok, she’s made some fun examples of “What if [popular artist] was actually performed by Abba?” Too cool 4 skool! </p>
<p><strong>METRIC –WHAT FEELS LIKE ETERNITY </strong><br>The latest Metric tune! I took my daughter to hang at Hillside Festival one year when Metric was just breaking. I held her in my arms during their whole show (she fell asleep part way through). At the time, I was working for CFRU 93.3 FM in Guelph, Canada, and we were festival sponsors so actually my office-mate Helen introduced them that night.</p>
<p><strong>LOU REED –TARBELLY AND FEATHERFOOT (SWEET RELIEF COVER FOR THE BENEFIT OF VICTORIA WILLIAMS) </strong><br>No one alive is going to dispute my devotion to the catalogue of Lou Reed. I have one of his songs on my upcoming album and also have learned maybe over 50 of his songs (an inscrementally small number in terms of how many songs he created). I saw him at the old Hummingbird Centre/Sony Centre in Toronto once on the Ecstacy Tour and knew he was the King. Elvis is Dead. Long Live Lou! My mother became entranced with Lou as I was constantly listening to the Velvet Underground and singing all of Lou Reed’s songs so I took her to see him one time at Massey Hall. A life changer! One time also, I was on tour in England and had to play vibraphones on Walk on the Wild Side in this tiny British radio studio. My singer on this tour, Barzin, called it out, and we had never played it before but luckily all of us in the band knew our music history and could head-nod through the changes. Anyway, I digress… the reason I’m including this is because I was talking to Michelle Shocked who was also part of this compilation (along with Pearl Jam). Apparently the recent vinyl re-release of the compilation was not giving money to Victoria Williams as intended? Sony Records pretty much sucks. Michelle Shocked is pretty cool. </p>
<p><strong>VICTORIA WILLIAMS –CRAZY MARY </strong><br>I was at my aunt’s house when I first heard Pearl Jam play this song on the radio. That summer they performed in my hometown of Gimli. I know Eddie Vedder and crew do the right thing and sing this song in their live shows all the time (WHICH MEANS VICTORIA WILLIAMS GETS PAID). As an encore! I actually learned this one. Great tune!</p>
<p><strong>SANDRA SUTTER –MIDNIGHT SERENADE </strong><br>Sandra is the coolest. Honestly, as I write this, one of my cousins just wrote me that he knew her as a neighbor! Sandra provides many of the Indigenous Land Acknowledgements we give at different online functions we both attend. She and I have too many connections. Congrats to her for winning BEST WOMAN FILMMAKER at the INYFF International New York Film Festival just recently!! She and I are connected through land and music. </p>
<p><strong>PRINCE –WHITECAPS </strong><br>First of all, everyone alive owes a debt to Prince and his immense contribution to both copyright and contract law. On a musical front, we owe him everything as he was pretty much the Supreme Being. Luckily, even though he has graduated to the next universe, we still get tracks like this where he was only doing bg vox. Prince did a great job of bringing other artists up. I’ve had fun interactions with all 3 members of ThirdEYEGirl and honestly, there’s no such thing as love. There’s Prince!! Donna Grantis is from Toronto, Ida Neilsen is from Denmark, and Hannah on the drums is from Kentucky, I believe. </p>
<p><strong>LEE AARON –WHATCHA DO TO MY BODY? </strong><br>OK I have a soft spot for the Metal Queen. Check her out everywhere. </p>
<p><strong>RIVERDOGS –THE HEART IS A MINDLESS BIRD </strong><br>Lead singer Rob Lamothe is a pretty cool guy. He lives near me in the Hamilton area and also works with Vivian Campbell in this band. Of course, Vivian Campbell is in another little band called Def Leppard. This is a really great track. </p>
<p><strong>D’LOURDES –HOW DID YOU GET SO GOOD? </strong><br>Hey! I heart New York! </p>
<p><strong>ALLISON PONTHIER –HOLLYWOOD CEMETARY </strong><br>Hey! I heart Los Angeles! </p>
<p><strong>LUDIC –INSTABEAT </strong><br>Not friends yet but I see her on TikTok sometimes. Cool musician! </p>
<p><strong>DYNASTY FOUR –FOR THE CATS </strong><br>Her nieces are in our new video for Running Wild Running Free. </p>
<p><strong>ICE CUBE –THE WRONG NIGGA TO FUCK WITH </strong><br>I first saw Ice Cube in Minnesota in 1992 and now we are working in the same movie! </p>
<p>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!! </p>
<p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/70019662022-06-26T10:29:59-04:002022-06-26T10:56:07-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 21 -Snakes Have Many Hips<p><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/4b7b9075262e597919c961ad3eecf05444137662/original/tmd-listens-21.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_left border_thin" alt="TMD Listens 21" />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! </em></p>
<p><a contents="LISTEN ON SPOTIFY HERE!!" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6DZftFBnSkPDopyLFjbdCb?si=ca02b03f00bb4f6d" target="_blank"><strong>LISTEN ON SPOTIFY HERE!!</strong></a></p>
<p><strong>PIXIES –THERE’S A MOON ON </strong><br>I think this is the first song since they reformed that I really love! </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –JESUS CAME FROM JUPITER </strong><br>One of my fave tracks off of American Dream. I sing about Jesus, Richard Branson, Hercules, Thor, and Bill Cosby, and it’s set in Hamilton. I wrote the lyrics all at once while riding the Hamilton Street Railway downtown. It’s pretty out there but I think it’s cool! PLUS this one was 100% recorded and mixed at the Hamilton Public Library. Real #HamOnt vibes. I sort of imagined it being like a Tom Waits or Nick Cave song with all their weird characters.</p>
<p><strong>VIAGRA BOYS –PUNK ROCK LOSER</strong> <br>Super cool track. I think they’re from Sweden, and wow, when I heard this, I knew I could vibe to it. </p>
<p><strong>EMINEM –BUMP HEADS</strong> <br>I’ve got a soft spot for Eminem. I actually covered Lose Yourself at one point and let me tell you, anyone that tells you that rapping is not singing or is somehow lower class has never done it. There is so much technique and so much breath support involved. Most singing has far fewer syllables per minute and you are generally holding vowel sounds. When you rap, you are really spitting out tons of sounds and circling through wild amounts of air. </p>
<p><strong>THE BLUE STONES –DON’T MISS </strong><br>I know absolutely nothing about this one but it’s cool. The production is a bit too slick but… we can overlook that. Kind of reminds me of Spoon. </p>
<p><strong>MARCO EMA, ARIANE ROY –FUNAMBULE (TOUT RESTERA PAREIL) </strong><br>What can I say? I’ve become a huge fan of Ariane Roy. Cool French pop out of Montreal. Beautiful melodies! </p>
<p><strong>WIESINGER –JUST GIVE UP </strong><br>Very cool track from Wiesinger –who hangs out sometimes in the Tianda Discord. The first couple of lines reminded me of a vocal melody lick in this next song… </p>
<p><strong>PERRY FARRELL –SNAKES HAVE MANY HIPS </strong><br>Perry is one of the most visionary people in the entertainment industry. This is from his most recent solo album. We all hope that Jane’s Addiction makes something new though… </p>
<p><strong>ANI DIFRANCO –O.K. </strong><br>I got into Ani a few records before this one in the mid-1990s. At the time, she was one of the top-grossing independent acts around and I finally saw her in Toronto one time opening for Bob Dylan. To be honest, I preferred her to Dylan. One thing about Bob Dylan is he often gets into these rockabilly versions of his own songs that are completely unrecognizable until you somehow catch him sing a phrase you recognize and then you can’t understand anything he’s singing. I love Bob Dylan and sing many of his songs but I have no interest in seeing him perform again. Lol. </p>
<p><strong>SON STEP, SOPHIE CORAN –MUTUAL ASSURANCE </strong><br>Sophie Coran is my most recent Philly area discovery and this is her most recent song, which is a collaboration with Son Step, who I’m assuming is the lead singer. Sort of a trippy vibe to this and the production is very much to my liking! </p>
<p><strong>SOUL COUGHING –CASIOTONE NATION </strong><br>I always felt Soul Coughing was the cooler, more authentic version of what Cake was (and no disrespect to Cake). I actually saw them once in Toronto at Lee’s Palace and I believe it was the night before I saw David Bowie at the Skydome. It was a surreal day. I was at the bar pre-show grabbing a beer and this guy next to me said “Hello” in a distinctly Icelandic accent. Here was my friend Jon Gustafsson in Toronto from Reykjavik. He and I knew each other from Winnipeg and Gimli in Manitoba. Totally random. The band Low opened this show and then Soul Coughing just destroyed. When they sang this particular song, Casiotone Nation, they replaced the 5% nature of… lyrics with 5% nation of {insert Black Sabbath song title} so it was 5% nation of War Pigs, 5% nation of Iron Man, 5% nation of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, 5% nation of Paranoid, etc. And then they played their own crazy version of War Pigs in the encore. </p>
<p><strong>DANGER MOUSE, BLACK THOUGHT –NO GOLD TEETH </strong><br>You’re welcome. This tune is way too cool. </p>
<p><strong>!!!, MEAH PACE –PANAMA CANAL </strong><br>I started listening to !!! quite some time ago so good to see they’re still around. Anyone know how to pronounce !!!? </p>
<p><strong>STARCRAWLER –ROADKILL </strong><br>This band is really a throwback to a lot of LA Glam vibes. I dig it! </p>
<p><strong>SMUDGE ALL STARS, LEFTFIELD, PAUL DALEY, GEORGE CLINTON, NIARA SCARLETT –HEADACHE </strong><br>After three listens, this one will be one of your fave tracks ever. So groovy! </p>
<p><strong>KEVIN MORBY –ROCK BOTTOM </strong><br>Super fuzz guitars and overdriven vocals over a classic pop melody. Candy to my ears! </p>
<p><strong>KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD –SADIE SORCERESS </strong><br>To me, this sounds like a weirder Beastie Boys. Totally catchy. Sadie Sorceress –Snapping necks with her broomstick getting tortuous. GREAT lyrics. </p>
<p><strong>RUFUS WAINWRIGHT –HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN </strong><br>The Ruf! I’ve been a fan since his first album. The one time I saw him, the whole band took the stage wearing witches’ hats, which sort of fits in with the idea of the last song in this playlist. </p>
<p>And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!! </p>
<p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/69934642022-06-14T08:00:45-04:002022-06-14T08:00:45-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 20: Caffeine<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/9cffbc7ed532f7ad08bfb9343f289c8cbc8edc74/original/tmd-listens-20.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_left border_thin" alt="TMD Listens 20" /><em>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! </em></p>
<p><a contents="LISTEN HERE!!" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1SeINJiwaKSx4YkMpsRjfN?si=bef2e671d5b4439d" target="_blank"><strong>LISTEN HERE!!</strong></a></p>
<hr><p><strong>SMASHING PUMPKINS –BURY ME</strong> <br>If you ask me, I will still say the first Pumpkins’ album Gish is their coolest and best. Fight me! This one has a great groove to get us into the playlist and some fab guitar histrionics from The Great Pumpkin himself, Billy Corgan. </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –AMERICAN DREAM</strong> <br>The title track of our full-length album from 2020. This one features drums by Dan Konopka (OK Go) and lead guitar from Steve Baric, who we will hear from again in this list. Also, an old friend speaks a bit of Russian in the track. I think this was a really cool song and was about the idea of basic income. Go watch the video <a contents="HERE!!" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://youtu.be/X1oKQFd1KDs" target="_blank">HERE!!</a> </p>
<p><strong>FEMEGADES –SPEECHLESS </strong><br>I’ve been listening to them since the VERY DAY that their Pornsick EP first came out. Then they pulled it off streaming and later brought it back (which in my mind, restored order to the universe!). Feminist agenda in the lyrics, buzzy guitars, and 90s-alt song style. </p>
<p><strong>SOPHIE CORAN –DULLER STAR</strong> <br>Very excited about this discovery! Sophie is a jazzy singer from Philly that incorporates a lot of orchestral sounds in her very inventive songs. I discovered her the same way I found my friend Erica Corbo: on Instagram, I follow the hashtag #phillymusic for reasons I went into in an earlier blog. Sometimes great stuff pops up! (As you can probably guess, I am now officially collecting Philly musicians!) </p>
<p><strong>DAVID BOWIE –MOONAGE DAYDREAM (LIVE) </strong><br>This is from my fave era of David Bowie –mid 1990s. I saw him three times around then, and his performances and songwriting were hugely influential on me and my own songwriting. On the Outside tour, I loved that he did a whole stadium tour before the album even came out so no one knew much of what he was playing as it was really heavy on new and obscure tracks. The tension in the room was unbelievable!! On the night I saw the show in Toronto, they ended with Joe the Lion, which is a great song but certainly not a famous hit. In fact, what was so revolutionary about this show is that they did the encore in the middle of the show between Nine Inch Nails and David Bowie’s set gradually changing over the band until it was just Bowie’s band playing Hurt with Trent Reznor trading vocals. </p>
<p><strong>JUDAS PRIEST –ELECTRIC EYE</strong> <br>Moonage Daydream talks about keeping your electric eye on me, babe. THIS is the ultimate song about the Electric Eye –and really ahead of its time conceptually especially now that we live under constant video surveillance everywhere. Plus guitars!! WOW!!!</p>
<p><strong>LA GUNS –GET ALONG</strong> <br>I have a real soft spot for LA Guns. When they first came out, I got their autographs at a record store in Garden City Shopping Centre in Winnipeg (which is just an ordinary Winnipeg mall). I was so amazed. They had a large tour bus outside and they were dressed like bikers and full-on Los Angeles sleaze rock. This tune is a bit more tuneful and some of the guitar playing reminds me of Led Zeppelin. </p>
<p><strong>STEVE BARIC –STRATOMANCER</strong> <br>As mentioned before, I know Steve from back in the day when we lived in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Our mutual friend Gerry was in my band and Steve was one of his best friends so Gerry dragged me out to hang with Steve for coffee many, many nights during my lone year in Thunder Bay. Steve was a real metal guitar aficionado back then and he can still shred with the best. I am grateful we've been able to work together on a couple of tunes after all these years. (He also plays the incredible solo on our version of Christmas classic Deck The Halls.)</p>
<p><strong>HYDESKY –XYZ </strong><br>One of my Discord friends from Tianda’s Discord. He’s always got something cool happening! </p>
<p><strong>THE KRAMDENS –(THIS IS WHAT WE CALL) HOME</strong> <br>I used to share rehearsal space with the Kramdens back when I was starting out in Guelph. At the time, they were kind of like our local Tragically Hip, but I actually met their singer Craig Norris first, I believe, when he owned a record store downtown. Guelph’s a pretty small city so you kind of get to know everyone. One of the guitarists, Mike Plater Findlay, used to play in my band and then we later played in yet another backing band for our friend Barzin touring Europe and Canada. The Kramdens still play and this is a great song. Craig is also the morning show guy from the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) in Kitchener-Waterloo nowadays and wrote one of the lines in our recent single Open Hearts Open Minds when I crowdsourced the second verse on Facebook. </p>
<p><strong>MODERN DAY MIDAS –WHAT IT IS… </strong><br>My main man Raul, AKA Taco from Austin, Texas, also from Tianda’s Discord. This is a really well-written song, very classic almost Nashville-esque writing. </p>
<p><strong>LISA TRINITY –BOWL OF FRUIT</strong> <br>Randomly commented on my Instagram. Apparently, she’s a survivor of various heart surgeries. Like my own son! </p>
<p><strong>M.I.A. –THE ONE</strong> <br>The most recent one from MIA. I have been a fan since she started releasing music and thought I’d toss this on just so I can keep up with her. </p>
<p><strong>PIGFACE –INSECT / SUSPECT</strong> <br>Pigface is a band of maybe 1000 members (and all people you've heard of from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tool, etc.) led by Martin Atkins, who has also been the drummer in Public Image Limited and appeared on recordings from Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Killing Joke, etc. etc. Very cool guy! Every morning he tweets, “Get the Fuck Out of Bed!!!” and really promotes the idea that doing Something is better than doing Nothing. </p>
<p><strong>FAITH NO MORE –CAFFEINE</strong> <br>Huge fan of FNM. This song seemed to sit well in my ears after Pigface! </p>
<p><strong>LARKIN POE –BAD SPELL</strong> <br>This is one of those Spotify suggestions. Cool tune! </p>
<p><strong>FLORENCE + THE MACHINE –SEARCH AND DESTROY</strong> <br>Here’s an acoustic version of one of the greatest songs of all time!! </p>
<p><strong>LEONARD COHEN –YOU WANT IT DARKER </strong><br>One of our songs has lyrics by Leonard Cohen. Really there was no one ever cooler. I was invited to see him one time in Hamilton. One of my friends at the CBC called me last minute and they had an extra ticket for me at Will Call as someone from their team was sick or otherwise unavailable. Leonard Cohen played for around 2.5/3 hours. It was great but I remember the show was VERY quiet for an arena show. It was easy to hear anyone speaking when the music was playing. </p>
<hr><p> <br>That wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!! </p>
<p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/69870652022-06-05T08:52:32-04:002022-06-05T08:52:32-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 19: Physical<p><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/742a0c8459b3abcadc3260db9728d06cdd546458/original/tmd-listens-19.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_left border_thin" alt="TMD LISTENS 19" />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! </em></p>
<p><a contents="LISTEN HERE!" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/27uRAGqJGYKzrZM5g18frI?si=fa0ca1796dbc452d" target="_blank"><strong>LISTEN HERE!</strong></a></p>
<p><strong>OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN –PHYSICAL </strong><br>Classic song for getting back into summer exercise! An enduring workout classic.</p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –RUNNING WILD RUNNING FREE </strong><br>If you haven’t heard our new single yet, it’s great for that run you’re on inspired by <em>Physical</em>. And you can pick up your <strong>Running Wild Running Free Running Shoes</strong> right here in our <a contents="merch store" data-link-label="Store" data-link-type="page" href="/store" target="_blank">merch store</a>. </p>
<p><strong>GORD DOWNIE AND THE SADIES –THE CONQUERING SUN</strong> <br>Gord needs no introduction to Canadian readers. </p>
<p><strong>MS. LAURYN HILL –THE CONQUERING LION (LIVE) </strong><br>One of my fave songs from Lauryn Hill. I’m sure I cried several times while listening to this album. Also contains the word Conquering and so provides a great bridge to… </p>
<p><strong>FYAH HARP –WHEN THE LION ROARS</strong> <br>Cool world grooves... The first artist of today’s lists that I came across at Indie 101. </p>
<p><strong>SHIMMER ISLAND –STARKVILLE (WHEN YOU BREATHE) </strong><br>I met Jeremy in an online meetup recently put on by Michael Elsner. He’s based in Austin, Texas, and this track reminds me a bit of M.Ward. Dreamy acoustic indie pop. </p>
<p><strong>CAKE WITHOUT CANDLES –KIDS IN AMERICA</strong> <br>I believe I met one of this duo at a MDIIO event a couple months ago. They are based in California and the singer is also a stuntwoman. I’ve actually checked out her stunt reel. She’s a VERY adventurous woman!! </p>
<p><strong>THE CANCELLATIONS –HAPPY ENDINGS (AREN’T FOR US) </strong><br>Based in the Nashville area, apparently they have been struggling to retain their name with Spotify and so on and were successful. Maybe they do sometimes get Happy Endings! They are in my friend Tianda’s Discord. </p>
<p><strong>ADAM OSTRAR –TAKE IT BACK <br>JAYWOOD –SOME DAYS </strong><br>I know nothing about these. They were suggested by Spotify’s algorithm. Cool tracks! </p>
<p><strong>MIESHA AND THE SPANKS –DIG ME OUT </strong><br>Cool rock band from Calgary!! </p>
<p><strong>JUSTINE GILES –SAVE MYSELF </strong><br>Guessing I came across her at some event somewhere in the past. I really like this track! Something about where the piano sits in the mix.</p>
<p><strong>[w]hy ponder –SIERRA NOVEMBER</strong> <br>Demo from another person from the Tianda Discord. </p>
<p><strong>WHEELHOUSE –ROLL LIKE THE OCEAN <br>BLVCKHNDZ –SUNFLOWER (DEMO) <br>MACHINE GUN TOMMY G –KLAP KLAP <br>ESTYR –HIGH ON A FEELING</strong> <br>Indie 101-related acts. </p>
<p><strong>CARLEEN –HIGHER <br>TINA TARA –NEW HERE</strong> <br>These are two more American friends I met at Michael Elsner’s meetup. They both seemed very cool!</p>
<p><strong>JULIANA HATFIELD –PHYSICAL </strong><br>And to round things off, here’s a cover version of the track that started us off as performed by the fabulous Juliana Hatfield! </p>
<p>That wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!! </p>
<p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/69818162022-05-28T08:03:35-04:002022-05-30T10:52:51-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 18: Parade of Progress<p><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/49bfbe0bb4046680af8945473aa93565d8fca367/original/tmd-listens-18.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_left border_thin" alt="TMD LISTENS 18 -Parade of Progress" />Our weekly (or however often) roundup of the greatest music in the universe!! 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! </em></p>
<p><a contents="LISTEN HERE." data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6RcvlOPAYLvB4teAuUfX46?si=011bf05b42ab4e9a" target="_blank"><strong>LISTEN HERE.</strong></a></p>
<hr><p><strong>ALICE COOPER –EIGHTEEN (Live) </strong><br>For our 18th playlist, we have to tip our hats to Alice! This comes from <em>The Alice Cooper Show</em>, a live album from the 1970s that I have always liked. Diehards will note this version has slightly different lyrics than usual. I had the cassette version that has bonus tracks not included in the Spotify release. We actually covered Alice on our <em>American Dream</em> release with the track <em>Elected </em>(and in this case, "we" means myself and Dan Konopka from OK Go). Not long after, I wound up speaking to Ryan Roxie, who has been one of Alice's guitarists for around 20 years and he was very complimentary and also very enthusiastic about OK Go as well.</p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –RUNNING WILD RUNNING FREE </strong><br>Our new single!! I recorded this in Hamilton and Toronto. It features co-writing with Leon Harrison (Bandwagon Hub, The Lazys) and co-production with Mark Zubek (Zedd Records). Play it loud! </p>
<p><strong>BOB WISEMAN –LOVE IS A ROSE </strong><br>Since Neil Young has pulled his music from Spotify, we have to get our Neil Young fix with cover versions. This is a great rendition that I’ve always liked from Bob's <em>Accidentally Acquired Beliefs</em> release. I also have covered Bob on the <em>American Dream</em> album with his tune <em>What The Astronaut Noticed And Then Suggested</em>. In this version of <em>Love Is A Rose</em>, the beginning slays me every time with all the different people saying what they think Love Is. My personal fave? Love –The Final Frontier! Also, I should note that Bob has a song ABOUT Neil Young on his fantastic <em>Giulietta Massina at the Oscars Crying</em> album. It’s great! </p>
<p><strong>DEVON MORE –PARADE OF PROGRE$$</strong><br>Just made Devon’s acquaintance the other week at Indie 101. She’s based in East Vancouver and does a lot of very cool stuff with loops and unusual instruments. This is her latest single. She’s quirky, clever, and kind of contagious! </p>
<p><strong>KATE SCHUTT –GLAMOROUS LIFE </strong><br>Kate is a great singer/songwriter based in the northeast USA. This is digging into her back catalogue a bit but Kate has been on my radar since she was working on this album back in Guelph. At the time, we were both making our records with Andrew McPherson at the Monastereo. Speaking of Andrew… </p>
<p><strong>ECCODEK, ORANMIYAN AJAGUNDADE –I WANNA TALK TO YOU </strong><br>As mentioned in our last blog, Eccodek is Andrew McPherson’s JUNO-nominated electro-world music project going on 20 years. He throws down great grooves and collaborates with really neat players from all over to brew up a sonic stew of delight! Shake it, baby. Shake it! </p>
<p><strong>SEE SEE BEATS, HRDRV –RING RING </strong><br>Speaking of collaboration, this is a new track from my buddy Cas (See See Beats) from New York City. I don’t know anything about his collaborators on this great pop track. Cas Weinbren is a billion-streaming artist due to a great deal because he collaborates with anyone and everyone. Very cool guy. He did a remix for one of the tracks from our upcoming album. You can buy the NFT of that single and remix (Victim Appreciation Night) here at <a contents="http://kickoff.market/en/produto/this-mad-desire-nft/" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://kickoff.market/en/produto/this-mad-desire-nft/" target="_blank">http://kickoff.market/en/produto/this-mad-desire-nft/</a>. With respect to <em>Ring Ring</em>, you should know I’m a fan of songs about phones. Operators Are Standing By! </p>
<p><strong>LILYISTHATYOU –GORGEOUS GORGEOUS GIRLS </strong><br>Found this randomly on Spotify. She’s from Toronto so I’m sure we’ll somehow cross paths at some point. I think she’s only 20 so this makes this track that much more impressive! </p>
<p><strong>DJ CHEMO –B MINOR LOVE MAJOR </strong><br>I just met DJ Chemo at Indie 101 the other week. He’s a musician, producer, DJ, and songwriter who’s been cutting grooves for decades. Cool guy. Looking forward to checking out more of his material. </p>
<p><strong>MATTE ROXX! –ROLLING LOUD <br>DWAIN WILLIS –SET ME FREE</strong> <br>These are a couple of new tracks from artists I have met on my friend Tianda’s Discord. Great group of people on that Discord. Both of these tracks are pretty great modern-sounding songs! </p>
<p><strong>EMM GRYNER –WAITING ROOM </strong><br>Emm Gryner has been one of Canada’s coolest people since I can remember. She has collaborated with Chris Hadfield (hello astronaut!) as well as the ultimate Space Oddity, David Bowie himself! She did a couple of tours with him doing keyboards and backing vocals. How cool is that? This is a deeper track of hers, a piano-based version of one of Fugazi’s most well-loved songs, Waiting Room. </p>
<p><strong>ARLO SUN –UNKIND </strong><br>I came across Arlo on TikTok last week and I love her vibe. She’s a Toronto area artist and has a very sweet voice. At times on some other tracks, she reminds me a bit of Joni Mitchell. </p>
<p><strong>SHIRLEY ANN LEE –THERE’S A LIGHT </strong><br>As you might know, I like to mix up old and new in these playlists and this is on the older side. Born at the tail-end of a Depression that darkened the entire United States, Shirley Ann Lee took her talent as a singer and pianist from a grim, overcrowded house in Toledo, Ohio, to a glamorous, gospel-fueled adolescence on the road and in Nashville. It wasn’t until her return to Toledo after a disastrous marriage in Los Angeles that, for the first time in almost two decades of public performances, she found the urge to praise God with her own words. Just a fantastic track. </p>
<p><strong>TYLER ALEXIS/FUNKY MONK –SUMMER NIGHTS </strong><br>I just e-met Tyler at Indie 101 and love the vibe of this track. She’s based in the Los Angeles area so you can imagine this track at the beach! </p>
<p><strong>SCRUBFROG –YES MR MANSON </strong><br>Lee Reisch is also in California and someone I met at Indie 101. I’ve been listening to alternative music since the Butthole Surfers and love stuff like that. <em>Yes Mr Manson</em> takes me into that world and adds answering machine recordings and general weirdness. This just gives you a taste of what Scrubfrog is all about. AND Motley Crue gets mentioned in it. This track is all kinds of cool! </p>
<p><strong>BUDGIE –CRASH COURSE IN BRAIN SURGERY </strong><br>This is a pretty classic track that is probably more famous these days as a Metallica cover. Hear the original here! I was thinking about this band because I was just acting in a movie called Budgie. Not sure if that will be the final title of the movie...</p>
<p>And to close out our EIGHTEENTH playlist, not too long after the US Congress has started becoming more open about UFOs and the aliens they are working with… </p>
<p><strong>MEGADETH –HANGAR 18 </strong><br>Classic conspiracy song! I’ve seen Megadeth twice, once opening for Judas Priest not long after this song was released and a few years later with Motley Crue. They played this both times. </p>
<hr><p>That 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. </p>
<p>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! Or if you are just a music fan and have suggestions, let me know. :)</p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/69770432022-05-22T09:45:03-04:002022-07-30T18:14:22-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 17: Mind Reader<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/4af048996492a9740fed6867a5d9829a1114391d/original/tmd-listens-17-cover.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_left border_none" alt="TMD Listens 17 - Mind reader" />Our weekly (or however often) roundup of the greatest music in the universe!! Usually it’s friends of mine or just music I like. This week’s includes a number of artists I’ve met at <a contents="Indie 101" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://indie101.com" target="_blank"><strong>Indie 101</strong></a>, an online music conference in Toronto. (Next week’s will include Indie 101 people as well.) Actually our last few singles have collaborations with people I met at this same conference last year. So you know the conference attracts quality people! </p>
<p><a contents="LISTEN HERE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6foPLOwdeH7eoAXTTvCtaD?si=1d855674d24c47e1" target="_blank"><span class="font_large"><strong>LISTEN HERE</strong></span></a></p>
<p>Below are “liner notes” to help guide you through this journey and hopefully introduce you to some new, great music! </p>
<p><strong>HALSEY –YOU SHOULD BE SAD </strong><br>Admittedly this is pretty mainstream compared to our usual fare. Nonetheless, I had an email exchange with <strong>Greg Spero</strong> last week and we’re going to have a quick meeting so I can help beta-test his new app which lets audience members Pitch challenges to artists for money (yes, we’re all basically whores. More on this later!). Anyway, Greg was the touring keyboardist for Halsey for four years and so I was reminded of how much I like some of these songs! I know my buddy <strong>Erica Corbo</strong> in Philly is a fan, so this one’s for you, sistah! </p>
<p><strong>PIXIES –LA LA LOVE YOU</strong> <br>Pixies! I cant tell you how many times people have told me my songwriting reminds them of Pixies and/or Frank Black, and there’s probably a good reason for that, not least of which is I’m a huge fan! </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE – QUEEN OF YOUR DREAMS</strong> <br>This is an old chestnut from our <strong>Celebration</strong> album, produced by <strong>Andrew McPherson</strong>, whose project <strong>Eccodek’</strong>s new release will be in next week’s playlist. I had been talking to my new friend <strong>Karen Claypool</strong> about vocal harmonies. The ones in this song are all Andrew and his Queen-esque intro is beyond compare! I’ve only performed this live a few times. In Iceland, I had my female co-singer take the lead. At the time, I was interested in singing songs from any gender’s point of view and pretty obviously made this one from either the perspective of a woman or perhaps a drag queen. </p>
<p><strong>DIRT ROAD ANGELS –WHERE IS THE LOVE</strong> <br>Karen, who I just mentioned, is one of four singers in this “girl group” from Alberta. This track is a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll, as they say. Kind of retro-sounding and the harmonies are fantastic. I’ll probably be taking a few singing lessons from Karen soon. She really knows what she’s doing! </p>
<p><strong>KEELY BRENNAN –I’M DONE PLAYIN’ CINDERELLA </strong><br>This is in a similar genre to the last track. Apparently, this is Keely’s first ever single and it wound up getting a fair bit of airplay in Louisiana last year. I just met her at Indie 101 and looking forward to hearing what she does next! </p>
<p><strong>TOM KEIFER/LZZY HALE –NOBODY’S FOOL (DUET VERSION) </strong><br>Well, Tom Keifer is apparently NOT done playing Cinderella! This was a big hit for his original band Cinderella back in 1986. This version includes Lzzy Hale from Halestorm co-singing. I think she is also originally from Pennsylvania, like Tom Keifer. </p>
<p><strong>MELISSA MARS –LOVE MACHINE </strong><br>Another Indie 101 attendee, Melissa is a French pop artist and actor, who has performed in the movie <strong>From Paris With Love</strong> with none other than <strong>John Travolta</strong>. She doesn’t know this yet but I’ve included the French version of our song <strong>Paris of Love –Paris Amoureux</strong> further along in this playlist and Melissa and John Travolta and I are going to be creating a signature dance for that track that people can do on TikTok. This is going to be the next Stayin’ Alive! Kidding aside, this is a really great track from Melissa! </p>
<p><strong>LT –CHERRY COLA</strong> <br>LT (formerly Leanne Tennant) is one of my many new Australian friends and I met her at Indie 101! Rolling Stone Australia has even written about her. She has quite a lot of material available on the interwebz but this one jumped out at me partly because of the title. Great dream pop music. Very sweet indeed! Maybe she’ll grace This Mad Desire with some backing vocals in the future. </p>
<p><strong>KARI LYN –DARK SIDE (REMIX) </strong><br>Kari was at Indie 101 although I met her last year at Indie Week. She’s from PEI, lives in Toronto, brands her music as cottage core, and sang bg vox on This Mad Desire’s <strong>Deck The Halls (feat. Jessica Magoch)</strong>. She’s a very talented singer and songwriter. </p>
<p><strong>NINA SIMONE –SEE-LINE WOMAN (LIVE AT CASINO MONTREUX, 13 JULY 1990 </strong><br>Speaking of talented singers… Nina Simone! One of the coolest singers of all time. Most of her recordings that I’ve listened to are from the 1970s and prior so it was interesting to hear this later version of this classic tune. </p>
<p><strong>KIMBRA –SETTLE DOWN </strong><br>Kimbra is a very cool singer from New Zealand who does a fair amount of work with vocal loops. I think this track might have been her breakout song a number of years back. Something about the Nina song made me want to hear this one. </p>
<p><strong>CLAUDIA IS ON THE SOFA –THE MATCH </strong><br>This is the latest from our new friend Claudia, who is from Italy. There’s actually a great video for this which includes a lot of animation: <a contents="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1kAn06uMbI" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1kAn06uMbI" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1kAn06uMbI</a>. She tours mostly Italy and Europe, I believe, but we met at Indie 101. </p>
<p><strong>FUGAZI –LONG DIVISION </strong><br> One of my favourite bands of all time. I love the counter-melodies and rhythms in the guitar lines of this one. </p>
<p><strong>SEBADOH –MIND READER </strong><br>This comes from their <strong>Harmacy</strong> album and is by Jason Louwenstein. He and Lou Barlow sang and played most of their songs. I’m actually covering one of Lou’s Sebadoh tracks on an upcoming collection of cover songs I’m working on. Jason sings this one and we’ve actually become Facebook friends! Lol. This song could have been done by Hendrix, it’s that classic. </p>
<p><strong>CHRIS CORNELL –YOU DON’T KNOW NOTHING ABOUT LOVE </strong><br>Speaking of cover albums, this comes from Chris Cornell’s post-humous covers album. What a singer. I only saw him one time, with Soundgarden at Lollapalooza 1992 in Minneapolis. We took a bus trip down from Winnipeg and had a great time. Soundgarden sang <strong>Cop Killer</strong> by Ice-T’s Body Count on that tour. </p>
<p><strong>ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT –SHELL </strong><br>The following year (1993), we went again to Lollapalooza in the Twin Cities and saw Arrested Development. As far as I know, this was the only indoor Lollapalooza that ever happened. The Mississippi had flooded Harriet Island and so this moved into the St. Paul Civic Centre. At this particular gig, I lost my shoes in the first five minutes during Rage Against the Machine, but after the set, Tom Morello handed me my shoes back from onstage. </p>
<p><strong>SHARI WALKER –HARD TIME SLEEPING </strong><br>Shari’s from California and this track comes from her new full-length <strong>Heart Twist</strong>, which just came out. Mostly she is doing spoken word over poetry addressing social issues, mental health, the foster system, empowerment, and other topics. And she was quite an active contributor at Indie 101. </p>
<p><strong>MJOY –TIME TO BE ALIVE </strong><br>Also from California (and Indie 101), Maia Wiitala or Mjoy makes tuneful, lo-fi alternative rock. Her stuff is actually quite well-written. I’m looking forward to digging into more of her tunes! </p>
<p><strong>PIQSIQ –TUKTU STRUT </strong><br>If you like throat singing, have I got a treat for you! This stuff is incredible. I came across them in a workshop at Indie 101 where we were listening to a metal song they are working on, which blew my mind. This is not that track but it will definitely take you to another dimension. </p>
<p><strong>TRICKY –THE LOVE CATS </strong><br>I liked the whisper-y stuff in this track to bring us back to reality after that last one. I saw Tricky perform at the Phoenix in Toronto back when he was a media darling. I still like throwing him on once in a while. </p>
<p><strong>LA CAROTTE POLAIRE –LE SOLEIL JOUE L’INFIDELE </strong><br>This is the second Claudia of this playlist and she is from Montreal. She is the founder and operations manager for Le Sanctuaire –Coop Culturelle in Montreal, an artist in her own right, and an Indie 101 attendee. I like how the piano enters into this track. It reminds me of something but I can’t quite place it, but isn’t that how all great music is? </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE –PARIS AMOUREUX</strong> <br>I admit I’ve included a second or “deuxieme” track of my own just to show my French friends on this playlist that I also have a French song. I wrote this song after performing in Paris. Around the time we were filming the Operators Are Standing By video, I met Iris Gardet, who was living in Toronto but originally from Paris. She’s since gone back but not before she provided a great translation for us and appearing in the Paris videos. Merci, Iris! </p>
<hr><p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/69716982022-05-15T15:39:14-04:002022-05-15T16:12:59-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 16: Success <p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/8ea1e418623a0ccefb94370ef57beef5c0433022/original/tmd-listens-16.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_left border_thin" alt="" />Our weekly (or however often) roundup of the greatest music in the universe!! 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! </p>
<p><a contents="LISTEN TO PLAYLIST HERE." data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/034tfaSSfbRLUYkAicNjZT?si=4591c3646e104426" target="_blank"><strong>LISTEN TO PLAYLIST HERE.</strong></a></p>
<hr><p><strong>IGGY POP - SUCCESS</strong> <br>This comes from Iggy’s Lust For Life record, which featured David Bowie. For a couple of years, David Bowie made two albums with Iggy and functioned as his touring keyboardist. This song is a total thrill ride, upbeat and creating all the atmosphere of success! </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE – OPERATOR S ARE STANDING BY </strong><br>I thought I’d revisit this song this week. This was really the song that got me thinking about making music again after a few years letting my focus drift to less interesting things. Recorded in Toronto with Mark Zubek at Zedd Records, it has been compared to everything from U2 to Supertramp to Marilyn Manson to Sisters of Mercy. It reminds me of a really good time! </p>
<p><strong>ARKELLS (FEAT. COLD WAR KIDS) –PAST LIFE </strong><br>As a Hamilton artist, how could I not be aware of Arkells? As a Canadian, how could anyone not be aware? Great band and new, great song. </p>
<p><strong>DYNASTY FOUR -ANACHRONISTA </strong><br>I just met the singer of Toronto-based Dynasty Four on Twitter the other day and now we have many common friends and causes. I wrote on Twitter that the internet was down and she offered to bring me a care package! I thought there might be something deeper than sarcasm there and I was not disappointed. Nikkole’s band reminds me a lot of Sleater-Kinney. Great female-fronted guitar rock! </p>
<p><strong>YANKEE GHOST –I KNOW THE FEELING THAT YOU’VE BEEN TRYING TO HIDE </strong><br>I’m friends on Twitter with one of the members of this band from Cleveland, Ohio. Lord knows how we came to be following each other. I thought I’d finally check out some of their music and it’s tuneful, great Midwestern rock. </p>
<p><strong>PRINCE -1999 (LIVE) </strong><br>Prince needs no introduction. This is a new live recording that just came out. </p>
<p><strong>YANK AND THE BANGAS - OAK TREE </strong><br>I subscribe to American Songwriter and this act was featured in the front section. There’s a funky band, meaningful lyrics, great vocal harmonies. What more do you want? </p>
<p><strong>EDDY LEE RYDER – SMALL APARTMENT (STRIPPED) </strong><br>One app I’m on is called Shapr which is like a Tinder for business networking. Mostly I meet Americans. In this case, I met the best friend of this singer. The best friend lives in the Boston area so guessing Eddy is also? Well-written 70s-influenced rock with a country tinge. </p>
<p><strong>KARA AHARON –A BEAT OF HOPE </strong><br>Just became aware of Kara. This is a very cool instrumental track, jazzy and a bit lo-fi. She is based in Israel and we have just met at Indie 101, an online conference based in Toronto. </p>
<p><strong>OLIVIA PEARL –WE’LL NEVER KNOW </strong><br>Olivia just joined my friend Tianda’s Discord and am I ever glad she did! Very melodic song and great voice. Apparently this is her first properly produced track. And she’s Australian! I feel like I’m surrounded by Aussies these days. My Aussie friend Leon co-wrote my upcoming single and my sister is marrying an Aussie next month. These people know how to party! </p>
<p><strong>DAVID BOWIE –O SUPERMAN </strong><br>Clearly we all love David Bowie, but this live track is unusual as Gail Ann Dorsey (bassist) is on lead vocals. This classic song is probably Laurie Anderson’s most “famous” song, if it could be said she has any famous songs. I saw Laurie Anderson perform this once, but also I saw David Bowie perform this twice on the Earthling tour, which I believe was the only tour this was performed. I went two nights in a row at the Warehouse in Toronto, which was a large barn-like club that could hold 1-2000 people. I’ll never forget on the second night, David Bowie said early on in the evening, “Anyone here last night?” (Everybody screams.) “Why’d you come back? It’s just the same thing again!” And it was anything but the same. </p>
<p><strong>ONE OF US IS THE KILLER -TRAFFIC</strong><br>Also just became aware of at Indie 101. This song has a Nine Inch Nails slower song vibe, which is why I felt it made sense coming after late 90s Bowie. </p>
<p><strong>PLASTIC MERMAIDS –DISPOSABLE LOVE </strong><br>My mother wrote these books called <a contents="Mermaids …For Real!!" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://linktr.ee/mermaidsforreal" target="_blank"><strong>Mermaids …For Real!!</strong></a>, and I manage the social media accounts. I randomly came across this British act while randomly searching mermaid and ocean things on Twitter. Cool song! </p>
<p><strong>CURLY C –PEG ME <br>NEIL GIBSON, RAQUEL REIGNS –THE DRAGONBORN COMES </strong><br>These two are also both on my friend Tianda’s Discord and exemplify the wide range of music people there are making. Curly C has made a really dirty (and kind of funny) rap song. Maybe, don’t play this one for the kids. Actually, definitely don’t! And then the next song sounds like right out of Game of Thrones. I said to Neil that it makes me think of Dungeons and Dragons! Celtic-influenced, dragons, grab your sword! </p>
<p><strong>BLACKOUT ORCHESTRA –UNFOUND </strong><br>They describe their sound as lo-fi art-alt-post-pop-rock, which is fairly accurate. Edgy and melodic, Blackout Orchestra came onto my radar as we both had songs on the <a contents="Save Toronto Music Venues Compilation CD" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://savetorontomusicvenues.com" target="_blank"><strong>Save Toronto Music Venues Compilation CD</strong></a> –which you should buy at savetorontomusicvenues.com! This is their latest single and I dig it! </p>
<hr><p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/69664122022-05-08T16:02:44-04:002022-05-08T16:04:10-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 15. You will never work in television again <p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/63e7ab2379e5a1b0b805828844a0546599c109e7/original/tmd-listens-15.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_left border_thin" alt="TMD Listens 15" />Our weekly (or however often) roundup of the greatest music in the universe!! Usually it’s friends of mine or just music I like. I thought I’d start posting “liner notes” to help guide you through this journey and hopefully introduce you to some new, great music! </p>
<p><a contents="LISTEN TO THE PLAYLIST HERE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5SzWdorioezufI6hwT8L5v?si=3e2d0844983340ba" target="_blank"><strong>LISTEN TO THE PLAYLIST HERE</strong></a>.</p>
<hr><p><strong>GOOD FORTUNE (Kelsey McNulty) - ON AND ON </strong><br>This is the music of Kelsey McNulty. She’s from Toronto and we seem to have some common friends so I checked out this gorgeous and dreamy album. Some of the songs are in French and there is definitely a French pop vibe on some of the tracks. </p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE – ANTIFA AND THE SUPREMACISTS </strong><br>This track is from our AMERICAN DREAM release and was a real hit with my drummer at the last show. (Dan Konopka from OK Go drums on the recording.) The lyrics are very political and it was so crazy because maybe a day or two after Dan cut his parts in California, I was assaulted here in Ontario. There was a good half a second after Dan saw the pictures of me all beat up and everything when he thought, “Was this the government coming after Mac somehow?” I actually sing about having a “smashed-in face” in the song. Life imitates art in our case! </p>
<p><strong>SOFTCULT – SPIT IT OUT</strong> <br>Last fall, I met their manager at a conference and have been following them ever since. Actually a couple weeks ago, I attended a webinar where they were the main guest. Now I’m on their Discord etc. etc. They remind me a bit of 90s alt-rock like Veruca Salt. </p>
<p><strong>MICHAEL STIPE – YOUR CAPRICIOUS SOUL </strong><br>I love that Michael Stipe is still catching us off guard with the occasional great pop song. You could imagine this being done by R.E.M. </p>
<p><strong>GLASSER – MIRRORAGE </strong><br>I have no connection to Glasser other than I love this record. It came out a few years ago and I read they recorded everything in GarageBand – like me! </p>
<p><strong>CHRIS BIRKETT – EVERYONE DESERVES A HOME </strong><br>Chris is a world-class record producer and I’ve gotten to know him a bit over the past year as he produced This Christmas by Kim Thompson, which I co-wrote. He’s also a great songwriter. This tune makes me think of Paul Simon. Great message and great song! </p>
<p><strong>FRUIT BATS - SWEET SWEET</strong> <br>I don’t know much about this band but they recorded an entire song-for-song cover album of Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream. That alone is very interesting! </p>
<p><strong>WET LEG – BEING IN LOVE</strong> <br>Wet Leg seem to be getting quite a bit of attention lately. They’re British, I think? This song is a bit 90s alt-rock-sounding as well, which I find refreshing after years of Kpop etc. </p>
<p><strong>TIANDA – NOTHING BUT LOVE </strong><br>Tianda is a singer-songwriter from Edmonton. I’m on her Discord and I’ve actually met quite a few interesting people there. She had been on a Canadian version of American Idol or something as a teenager and then kind of became disillusioned with the music industry but honestly, none of us who work in this industry can truly walk away. I met her on TikTok and she writes very catchy melodies. </p>
<p><strong>SPOON – ON THE RADIO </strong><br>Spoon are one of my fave bands. I saw them live headlining Supercrawl (free outdoor street festival) in Hamilton one time and I was blown away. I liked them before but honestly, I think they are one of the coolest rock bands of the past 20 years. </p>
<p><strong>THE SMILE – YOU WILL NEVER WORK IN TELEVISION AGAIN </strong><br>Spotify suggested this track. I love it! It’s got a bit of that noisy rock that I like that sounds like maybe they listened to the Velvet Underground before. </p>
<p><strong>HORSEGIRL – BILLY</strong> <br>Another Spotify suggestion. The recording reminds me of lo-fi Sebadoh recordings and shoegazer music from the 90s. </p>
<p><strong>TITANOSAUR – CONSPIRACY </strong><br>I met Geoff through Tianda’s Discord (see above). He’s in the New York/New Jersey area and his deal is he plays metal and always wears this crazy dinosaur mask everywhere! AND he’s working on a remix of a tune from our upcoming album OPEN HEARTS OPEN MINDS (title track already out!). </p>
<p><strong>BELLE AND SEBASTIAN – UNNECESSARY DRAMA </strong><br>My old bass player Gerry used to be really into them and we had many nights of my driving him back to Toronto from our practices in Guelph where we’d be listening to B & S. Glad to see they’re still around! </p>
<p><strong>PARQUET COURTS – WATCHING STRANGERS SMILE</strong> <br>Another 90s alt-rock influenced song. Every time I check out this band, I tend to like them so I put this on here to see if I would like it even more after a while. Sometimes things take a few listens for me to really decide what I think. Take the Cult, for example. Forever, I was like, “I just don’t get it.” And then, suddenly, I got it! </p>
<p><strong>WARPAINT –INTRO</strong> <br>Warpaint is up there with Spoon for one of my fave acts of the past 20 years. They became known partly because of their involvement with Josh Klinghoffer and John Frusciante from the Red Hot Chili Peppers but really, their music is so dreamy and cool. They have a new album out now too. </p>
<p><strong>MARY CLEMENTS –MEMORIES</strong> <br>Before Mary was releasing songs, I actually met her at a performance of Debussy’s Le Mer by the Hamilton Philharmonic. We were seated next to each other and stayed in touch. I actually remember jamming with her on piano at her house one time. </p>
<p><strong>LTtheMONK -THE LO</strong> <br>LTtheMonk is Hamilton’s best hip hop/R&B artist and one of Canada’s leading artists in that world as well. We met over social media and occasionally crack jokes on Twitter. Even funnier is that we share a birthday so one year, I’m sure there will be a Birthday Bash for the ages! </p>
<p><strong>MISE EN SCENE –NICER</strong> <br>Mise En Scene is a hip rock act out of Winnipeg. I don’t know them personally even though my roots are in Winnipeg. However, we are both due to be included on a vinyl compilation of Interlake-related artists at some point this year. I think the production might have been delayed due to worldwide vinyl shortages but I don’t know for sure. Mise En Scene put out a really great record called Winnipeg, California, which had some funny videos. I think they were on Garbage Hill for one of them, which for those not from Winnipeg, is this hill where people toboggan. Winnipeg’s so flat that the only way they could have a hill was to make a hill out of garbage and then landscape over it! </p>
<p><strong>SMASHING PUMPKINS –TRANSMISSION </strong><br>This is from the era around Adore when Mike Garson started playing with them. I have this on a bootleg somewhere so it was fun to come across an “official” release of this psychedelic, out there Joy Division cover. </p>
<hr><p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desiretag:thismaddesire.net,2005:Post/69617862022-05-02T14:15:56-04:002022-05-08T16:06:50-04:00TMD LISTENS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 14. Lawsuits And Suicide<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/522808/21d5c0cf75f51a4c02adf51efaa956b994e99424/original/screenshot-20220503-132630-2.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_left border_none" alt="" />I’ve been putting together these Spotify playlists of what I’m listening to this week basically. Usually it’s friends of mine or just music I like. I thought I’d start posting “liner notes” to help guide you through this journey and hopefully introduce you to some new, great music! </p>
<p><a contents="GO TO PLAYLIST" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7BIirdZEuoXIj55EJ9wGkP?si=f9fbd290960e4859" target="_blank">GO TO PLAYLIST</a></p>
<hr><p><strong>GEOFF BERNER – WHY DON’T WE JUST TAKE THE BILLIONAIRES’ MONEY AWAY? </strong><br>I’ve met Geoff a few times over the years. He’s based in Vancouver and plays a mean accordion. His songs are generally very biting and definitely gripping and I thought it was apropos to include this tune given how people are asking this question when thinking about Elon Musk buying Twitter.</p>
<p><strong>THIS MAD DESIRE – OPEN HEARTS OPEN MINDS</strong> <br>Of course I am including our new single! I play all the instruments except drums, which are played by my friend Dan Konopka from OK Go. Background vocals are by an intercontinental choir of people that sent in vocals during the pandemic. Some recorded with their phones, some with proper studio gear. All were very much appreciated! </p>
<p><strong>IDA NIELSEN – GO PLAY URSELF </strong><br>Ida is one of the world’s premier funk bassists and played in Prince’s band for years, and I’ve had a few interactions with her on social media. I’m a huge fan! This music is basically what Prince might have been making had he stuck around. </p>
<p><strong>EVA X – BODY TALK </strong><br>Eva X plays synthy tunes with a healthy goth element, and this is her new track. She’s also based in Vancouver. We met at an online conference last year. Very cool person! </p>
<p><strong>JOJO WORTHINGTON – THE DIVIDE</strong> <br>I met JoJo a few years ago when we played a gig with The Vaudevillian at the old Homegrown Hamilton. What an epic night that was! At the time, I believe she was based in Kitchener-Waterloo and has since moved to Montreal. We’ve stayed in touch and I’ve seen her a few times when she has been in the area. This is easily her best song I’ve ever heard. And it’s brand new! </p>
<p><strong>BARZIN – BORN YESTERDAY, BORN TOMORROW</strong> <br>Barzin’s one of my oldest friends and though this is an instrumental, I picked it because it’s new and sets up the next song really well, title-wise! </p>
<p><strong>CRASH WORLD – BEFORE & AFTER</strong> <br>This band is also based in Vancouver and this is their lastest. Wow, we are really Vancouver-heavy this week! Anyway, the guitarist Glen MacLeod sings background vocals on our song Open Hearts Open Minds above. </p>
<p><strong>X.ARI – ABDUCTION </strong><br>I just met X.ARI the other week. She’s from Toronto but based in Los Angeles now. Actually she’s organizing a Music and Mental Health-related festival soonish. If interested, let me know and I’ll point you in the right direction. I liked this song of hers because A. it’s cool, and B. I’m also working on a song about aliens so this was almost like a challenge. I have to make my song at least as great! </p>
<p><strong>CRISLYNE – SMILE </strong><br>We’re friends on Instagram and I cannot remember exactly how we met. Beautiful singer and such an uplifting song! </p>
<p><strong>FITZROVIA – REVERIE (LIVE IN PARIS)</strong> <br>fitzrovia I just became aware of as she and I are in the same Discord. From what I understand, she’s from Germany but living in England and the video for this was filmed at the main library in Paris. She reminds me of Regina Spektor. </p>
<p><strong>SHILPA RAY – LAWSUITS AND SUICIDE</strong> <br>I know literally nothing about this band. When you are making a playlist, Spotify actively suggests songs to include based on what you already have. Sometimes you discover a cool new track. That was the case here and it inspired me to include… </p>
<p><strong>WARREN ZEVON – LAWYERS, GUNS AND MONEY</strong> <br>This is one of the all-time great songs. One of my uncles used to be really into this when it first came out. I’ve covered a song by Warren Zevon that will be released eventually… </p>
<p><strong>EMILY DRIVER – ENOUGH IS ENOUGH</strong> <br>Emily is one of many great musicians in the Philadelphia area. For those paying attention, I’ve been secretly trying to meet everyone in Philly. Sometime during the pandemic, I was online dating and had answered the same questions too many times so I started thinking that I was going to start throwing these “interviews” to make them more entertaining for myself. One day, I said to someone that I was going to start saying I was from Philadelphia. Why? No reason. First random city that popped in my head. She said I should start researching people so in Instagram, I put #philadelphiamusic as an interest and quickly met my friend Erica Corbo and a few others. While paying attention to the idea of Philadelphia, I’ve also met Jessica Magoch (who is now a regular collab partner). I don’t know Emily Driver at all but I came across her on instagram the other day under that hashtag. </p>
<p><strong>A BAND CALLED DESIRE – BRING YOUR ARMY</strong> <br>I want to say she is from Toronto but I don’t know for sure. I came across her randomly on TikTok and loved what she was doing with her videos. And let’s be honest, given that we both have the word Desire in our names, we’re pretty much destined to be friends! </p>
<p><strong>THE KILLS – NO WOW</strong> <br>I think this is a new edition of a track I’ve loved since it came out in the 2000s. </p>
<p><strong>JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION – RADIO AD and CHICKEN DOG </strong><br>Jon Spencer is the man. Nuff said! </p>
<hr><p>If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul. </p>
<p>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! </p>
<p>Yours in music, </p>
<p>Mac</p>This Mad Desire