Off to NXNE again this year! Woo-hoo!!

This years’ NXNE festival is rapidly approaching (June 7-10) and I couldn’t be more enthused. I sort of laid off the concert going this month in preparation. Of course, The Mystery Jets canceling their shows this week (due to a Visa situation) certainly made it easier to do so. But I’ve perused the acts and I think I have a personal schedule all made up and prepared. The cool thing is that you can actually make up a printable schedule right there on the NXNE site. So right now, here it is.

Thursday night, I want to start off at The Art Bar and check out Christa Couture, a folk singer from Vancouver. I’ve admired her music for a few years now and her song “I Will” is still one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard. I meant to see The Ghost Is Dancing last year but didn’t, so maybe this year I will. And then it’s a beautiful repeat of last year when I check out the always fantastic Jason Falkner. Maybe I can meet him again and he won’t remember how much of a dork I was last year. The Old Soul is playing at the Horseshoe and they’re described as “an orchestral explosion of horns, drums, saxophones, vibraphones and accordions.” Sounds pretty cool to me. Follow that up with Adam Franklin at the Reverb and then, depending on how tired I am, it’s Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland at Lee’s Palace. However, the chances of me staying awake that late are basically slim to none.

Friday night is devoted to being one of the first 100 wristbands at The Phoenix to see Dinosaur Jr. It’s an early show (doors at 6) but there are two opening acts as well, Awesome Color and Uncut. Never heard of them. But I have to be there early if I’m going to get in. I do have a back-up plan if that one falls through but I'm fairly sure I won't need it. After that, I know many who will be zipping over to the Voxtrot show. Although I wouldn’t mind seeing openers Au Revoir Simone again, I reckon the crowd is going to be massive and since the Dino Jr crowd will likely already give me a headache, I think I’ll pass on that one and check out The Sadies instead at Lee’s Palace. That will be followed by Birds of Wales at The Drake.

My Saturday night schedule consists of Ohbijou at The Horseshoe. Everyone is telling me that I HAVE to see them so I will. Then I am really excited about seeing Hello Operator! I love those guys and I’ve never had the opportunity to see them live so it’s going to be great. It’s not going to be easy, but I’ll try to get from The Rivoli to Jeff Healey’s Roadhouse quick enough to see Soundtrack Of Our Lives. I think that one will be pretty busy though and I may be pressing my luck. But I’ll try anyways and after that I’ll go to The Horseshoe again and see In-Flight Safety, whose live show was very impressive the last time I saw them.

Although I’ve received endless amounts of mockery from several friends, I like Fountains of Wayne. I realize “Stacy’s Mom” made them incredibly uncool, but I’m sorry, I’m a sucker for a well written pop song. I also don’t understand how it’s alright to like Matthew Sweet, but not FoW. To me they both write and record the same brand of catchy, hooky and hummable pop music. Whatever, I’m looking forward to seeing them and on Sunday night, the first 50 wristbands at Lee’s Palace are going to be allowed in to see them. So, I’ll be there early. Because I love them. And I don’t care if you don’t.

Downloads & Streams:

Christa Couture - I Will (stream)
The Ghost Is Dancing - People (mp3)
Jason Falkner - Lose Myself (mp3)
The Old Soul - Stream all of their songs here.
Adam Franklin - Cannery Row (mp3)
Dinosaur Jr. - Almost Ready (mp3)
The Sadies - Loved On Look (mp3)
Birds Of Wales - Stream several of their songs here.
Ohbijou - Misty Eyes (mp3)
In-Flight Safety - Stream their entire album here.
Fountains of Wayne - Watch the new video for "Someone To Love" featuring Dimitri Martin at youtube.

Birds Of Wales

Birds Of Wales have been receiving quite the buzz lately from both satellite and commercial radio. What started as a solo act featuring Morgan Ross, has now expanded into a full band lineup featuring Michael Caputo, Paul Barry and Moe Smith. This hasn’t stopped their sound, however, from being very organic, stripped down and real. Their approach to playing simple, acoustic based melodies is what prevents the music from ever sounding fake. I also appreciate that the vocals are very calm and never forced, which makes the music a subtle antidote for an all too common frenzied schedule.

Make sure you check out their show at The Rivoli tomorrow night. I highy encourage you to go. I’m sure the vibe will be just what is needed to plug through the rest of the week. (And it’s only $8!)

I can’t seem to get the link to the “Fine Art Of Ballet Dancing” mp3 to work, so just listen to their stuff over at The Birds Of Wales myspace page. You might even be able to download the song over there. And, better yet, you can just purchase the self-titled EP here. It’s worth the money kids!