so this is the new year

Why not start off 2005 with a look back at my favourite concerts in Toronto of 2004! (Click on each photo below[by the way, which are my own photos] to go to my original blogpost containing my review of the show. The table grid below the photoset shows at a glance what show each photo represents. The only exception below is that the Jeff Tweedy photo only links to my review of Wilco's show at Massey Hall, although their show at The Mod Club was also top notch.)

Stars @ The Mod Club Theatre	Badly Drawn Boy @ Palais Royale	Broken Social Scene @ Harbourfront
Wilco @ Massey Hall and The Mod Club Theatre	PJ Harvey @ The Phoenix	Luna @ Lee's Palace
Franz Ferdinand @ Kool Haus	Trashcan Sinatras @ Lee's Palace	Hidden Cameras @ Harbourfront
Sarah Harmer @ Lee's Palace	The New Deal @ Nathan Phillips Square	Lali Puna @ Lee's Palace

And on everybody's mind yesterday was "What are you doing for New Year's Eve?". Bill Janovitz even recorded the song. With nothing really planned, my friend and I ended up doing New Year's Eve on the cheap, which in Toronto means going down to the celebrations at City Hall in Nathan Phillips Square. Weather was fantastic which meant EVERYONE was out and about downtown yesterday. You know there isn't anything that I'd much rather do on New Year's Eve than be packed like a sardine with thousands of other people around me. The live musical lineup was well-rounded starting off with the punk-pop sounds of Not By Choice, leading into the soulful, hip hop, r'n'b sounds of Keisha Chante, who in turn gave the stage to the nostalgic top-40 pop sounds of Glass Tiger(who by the way DIDN't play "Don't Forget Me(When I'm Gone)") and concluding just before midnight with the lounge-pop tunes of Matt Dusk whose set included a stirring rendition of his version of "Two Shots of Happiness, One Shot of Sad". If the musical lineup wasn't entirely up my alley, at least the vibe downtown was good and the asshole quotient was way down than in previous years. [photos]

My resolutions/plans for 2005? Travel definitely. Go to Europe or New York City. Go to a concert festival perhaps such as Benicassim, Reading or Glastonbury. (It's not entirely inconceivable as over the past couple of years I've actually convinced friends to go with me to Pop Montreal[in 2003] and Coachella[in 2004]. And I never did link to the photos of me and my friend's California/Coachella trip from May 2004 so here they are.) Meet new people, make new connections. Read more books and watch less bad television. Get back into some sort of physical regiment and lay off the junk food. Eat at interesting restaurants more often. Explore other career opportunities. Continue my continuing education studies. Update the design of this blog. Stop proscratinating(if I resolve this issue, then I would guess everything else is cake, hmmm?). I'm not making any bullshit Dr. Phil-style affirmations of any of this panning out, but yes, I am optimistic. But then isn't everyone on January 1st? Happy 2005! :-)

Electric

The National Post comments on and interviews some Canadian music luminaries about how one's first concert can be a life-changing event. For me, my first real concert was The Cult who played the Skydome in the late 80's, on tour for their album "Sonic Temple". I remember going with a bunch of friends from highschool, taking the GO Train downtown, then finding out that our seats were practically FRONT ROW, and of course, I didn't have any earplugs. Regardless, I had the best time in my life, even if my ears were ringing for the next day or so. Since then I've grown out of The Cult's music. It hasn't aged well and/or kept in tune with my musical tastes, although in retrospect, I think I could still enjoy "Electric" . Still, that concert was a defining moment in my life and one I'll never forget. [photo from http://../]

eye gets in on the top 10 list trend with its Class of 2004 issue. Oh heck, check out the issue yourself. Too many links, and not just music either.

Liz at Excellent Online has posted quite a thoughtful list of her favourite songs of 2004...or as she puts it her "A to Y of 2004 in 99 songs (or 6 hours, 11 minutes and 41 seconds of pure melody)". Now if I only had an iPod.

I'm going skiing today!

House of Flying Daggers

movie review: House of Flying Daggers [2004]

This film snuck up on me. I didn't even know about it until I read an article about Zhang Zhiyi in NOW a couple of weeks ago so I went to see House of Flying Daggers with some friends yesterday. The obvious similarities to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero are apparent. It's visually breathtaking in its cinematography, especially the panoramic views of the landscapes. The transfer to film seemed almost unusually sharp and distinct which made everything even more pleasant to watch. Storywise, its a little more direct than either Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Hero, forgoing the grander scale of either of those movies for a more simple, personal story. House of Flying Daggers was a little closer visually to Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon, with a natural yet beautiful look that forgoed the more expressionistic visual tone of Hero. Zhang Ziyi was so spectacularly beautiful in the film and she showed a more subtle touch to her acting than in previous roles that was really nice to watch. She plays a blind showgirl and at the beginning of the film we were treated to a spectacular exhibition of her dance/martial arts moves. There were enough martial arts scenes to keep pace with the film. Interestingly, I think it was the underlying simplicity of the story that kept the action sequences from becoming boring. In retrospect, I think this was probably why I didn't enjoy Hero as much; Hero was a little more bogged down in pedantic use of plot twists that complicated matters and grew slightly tiresome. There's some cliched moments at the end but otherwise it was a really enjoyable film to watch. [photo from http://../]

With daily music reviews on hiatus until January 3, PopMatters offers some more year-end lists from some of its editors and music writers to tide you over. You asked for more lists, well you got 'em.

In the wake of the Earthquake/Tsunami disaster in Asia, Torontoist has compiled a list of Canadian-related news stories and links, as well as agencies where donations can be made.

My Indie World has been posting his Top 37 albums of 2004 in instalments and up to now has posted parts one and two. Fans of girl-pop and The O.C. should take note. [So I don't watch The O.C., but they have a wicked soundtrack!]

Largehearted Boy points towards a torrent of a Sloan performance at Muchmusic from 1998.

Counting Your Blessings

While doing a Google search for info on City Field, I came across the just-launched Just Friends Records site. The independent label is based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia and features the following artists: The Sweet Tenders(rock n' roll), Brent Randall and His Pinecones(psychedelic, keyboard-driven easy pop/rock), The Maughams(doo-wop pop rock), The Tragedies(Flaming Lips-inspired pop/rock) and Laura Peek and the Winning Hearts(indie-pop). So you ask what's the City Field connection? Well, City Fields' drummer and bassist, Dave Eweison and Brent Randall respectively, also help run Just Friends Records. Aside from Just Friends Records and City Field duties, Dave and Brent also play in The Sweet Tenders, Laura Peek and the Winning Hearts, and Brent Randall and His Pinecones [well, duh!]. There's some good indie music coming out of Just Friends Records and the cross-polination of band members reminds me of the good ol' Murderecords days. I'm gonna be keeping an ear on 'em this coming year, if not in anticipation of the release of the City Field album which I'd assume they'll have a hand in. And yet another example of why Canadian music rules![photo from http://../]

So while many of us are caught up in the post-Christmas, Boxing Day Week buzz, it's really easy to overlook that on the other side of the world there's been a tragedy of epic proportions. The Earthquake/Tsunami in Asia has been so devastating to the affected region(Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malayasia), that with all the things I'd like to complain of in my own life(and we won't get into those), I'm just counting my blessings at the moment. So if deciding what to do on New Year's Eve was the most important thing on your to-do list this week, how 'bout making a donation to help out those in disaster-stricken Asia. I was watching Pulse24 today and they recommended making a donation to The Canadian Red Cross or World Vision. Mint Records[see the recent news update] has taken some time to post some links to sites who are receiving donations for those affected by the tsunami and they've also posted links to sites to make donations regarding problems closer to home(homelessness and shelters for battered women). And while you're over at Mint Records check out more top 10 music lists from The Smugglers' Grant Lawrence, young and sexy's Brent, and John Guliak, as well as The Buttless Chaps' Morgan's top ten soups?!

Stylus posts its top 40 list of the Worst Albums of 2004. Har, de har, har.

It was a good Christmas for me all around, if not for family, food and frolic. Ok maybe not frolic...more like relaxation. And I did get some cool things including a coffee-maker(yes, I love my coffee!), as well as the Elf DVD, Pistol Opera DVD and The White Stripes' "Under The Blackpool Lights" live DVD. Boxing Day netted me used copies of Pulp's "Countdown 1992-1983" , The Be Good Tanyas' "Chinatown", Northern State's "All City", Petra Haden & Bill Frisell 's colloborative effort CD, and The Marble Index's debut CD. My cd collection's getting out of control, to say the least.

The Bandwagon Effect

Foxymoron makes some interesting commentary about the role of music critics and the effect on their readers' music choices. In particular, she takes the example of The Arcade Fire and their album "Funeral" which has been granted an extraordinary amount of praise by the music media. I'm inclined to agree that music publications(both print and Internet) such as Magnet, Exclaim, Pitchfork and PopMatters, have an undeniable influence on my music purchases. As a consumer with only limited resources(time, money, etc...), I've come to rely and trust certain music publications to help me choose new music to research, seek out and eventually purchase. So in the end maybe it seems like everyone's jumping on The Arcade Fire bandwagon(or even the Feist bandwagon) but the undeniable fact is that the word of mouth on great albums will spread like wildfire. Go to Foxymoron's site and voice your 2 cents on the issue. Or as Coffee Talk Lady might say, "discuss". [photo from http://../]

Ben Rayner of The Toronto Star lists his favourite concerts of 2004.

I'm already starting to miss Largehearted Boy's old site design. Agree or disagree? And what of the LHB logo we've all come to love?

Everyday Is Like A Holiday (With You)

Well, I decided to put together a Christmas music mix at the last minute. I think I've put together a thoroughly enjoyable if not unconventional holiday mix. Since I don't have any hosting space for mp3's I've linked to various other sites(other bloggers' sites, artists' sites, etc...) where you can download some of the songs. Please be kind and pay those other sites a visit. ...So, the Esthero song isn't really a Christmas song but I think it's more than appropriate. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Enjoy!

  A Christmas Story dialogue excerpt - (red ryder)
  The Raveonettes - The Christmas Song
  Esthero - Everyday Is Like A Holiday (With You)
  Mel Tormé - The Christmas Song (Michael Kessler Open Fire Mix)
  Death Cab For Cutie - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
  Old 97's - I'll Be Home For Christmas
  Coldplay - 2000 Miles
  Tom Jones f. Cerys Matthews (Catatonia) - Baby It's Cold Outside [see rocksnob's blogpost on 18-12-2004]
  Bright Eyes - Blue Christmas
  Velocity Girl - Merry Xmas I Love You
  My Morning Jacket - Xmas Time Is Here Again
  Sufjan Stevens - O Come, O Come Emmanuel
  The Cocteau Twins - Winter Wonderland [see mp3 update 20-12-2004]
  Badly Drawn Boy - Donna and Blitzen
  Dean and Britta with Sonic Boom - old toy trains
  Snow Patrol - When I Get Home For Christmas
  The Wandering Step - Christmas At My House
  snowden - white_christmas [link from Gothamist]
  The Walkmen - christmas_party
  Aimee Mann and Michael Penn - christmastime
  The Ramones - Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)
  Zumpano - The Mods of Christmastown
  The Fall - Peel #18 - Hark The Herald Angels Sing
  Lisa Ono - Silent Night

Happy Festivus!

Happy Festivus! [link from Zoilus]

Stereogum's posted his Top 14 CD's of 2004 and as a treat to us all has provided mp3 downloads...of songs that are NOT on the albums.

NOW's top Toronto discs of 2004.

eye compiles its list of the top concerts of 2004.

The Brampton Indie Arts Festival 2005 will feature performances by Cuff The Duke and Ron Sexsmith! [from 20hz]

If "I, Robot", "The Matrix" and "The Terminator" have taught us anything, it's that robots will soon take over. And this is only the beginning. ;-) [link from Shift]

Float On

Tiny Mix Tapes gets all list-y on us with its own top 25 albums of 2004 list. Further yet they compile a second list called TMT B-Sides that are favourites of the TMT staff as well, but which lean more towards the experimental side of things. Check out the right side bar at Tiny Mix Tapes as well for some year-end articles and links to individual staff lists which should more than tide one over with reading material for the holidays. Merry Christmas Tiny Mix Tapes!

Further music-reading material to tide you over the holidays. The latest e-issue[#20] of Sponic Zine is now up. Alot of good music reading including 2004 top 10 lists, and articles on The Arcade Fire and Saturday Looks Good To Me.

The Big Ticket's #17 song pick of 2004 is Modest Mouse's "Float On" which just happens to be my favourite song of 2004. The part when the band sings "Don't worry even if things get a bit too heavy, we'll all float on, alright" is so glorious, and the way the song sort of marches along at that point makes me giddy. If anything, I always feel good after listening to it. [photo above from http://../]

Foxymoron has posted her list of her 5 favourite music releases of 2004.

chartattack staff pick their favourite music releases of 2004.

Pitchfork's top reissues, singles and albums of 2004.

CBC Radio 3 presents the top 20 of 2004 music picks of New Music Canada, all dressed up with streaming audio of songs from each of its album picks. The list includes a couple of my favourite songs of 2004: The Organ's "Memorize The City" and controller.controller's "Disco Blackout".

There's a brief interview with The Organ over at chartattack.

Newly posted interview with Mr. Sondre Lerche over at three imaginary girls.

Check out the second instalment of popMatters' look at music shopping. [or read part one]

Greg Dulli discusses with Maxim the art of covering other artists' songs. [from Summer's Kiss]

fuzzywuzzy.com gets into the holiday mood with a free x'mas mp3 download of a christmas song[see December 22/04 news update] called "Old Toy Trains" performed by Dean Wareham, Britta Phillips and Sonic Boom.

A Christmas message from Coldplay. [from rocksnob (see blogpost dated 22-12-2004)]

A special e-card for the holidays from Ben Lee and New West Records. The song playing during the e-card is called "Catch The Disease" and is totally charming.

24 hours of A Christmas Story on TBS starting this Friday at 8 pm EST / 7 pm central. What could be a better way to spend Christmas Eve than that?

'Scared of Santa' photo gallery. Priceless. ;-) [from kingblind]

My Top 5 Canadian Albums of 2004

So here is my original submission for Aaron's(of pop(all love)) poll of some local Canadian music bloggers and journalists of our Top 5 Canadian Albums of 2004. Ok, so I cheated and included a couple of e.p.'s. Also, I must admit that I only recently purchased Stars' "Set Yourself On Fire", Arcade Fire's "Funeral" and Junior Boys' "Last Exit", which would have all made my top 5 list had I been polled later on. But for fairness sake, I'm only considering those CD's I've had a sufficient amount of time to absorb over the last year. And my picks are(drumroll please):

controller.controller History (ep) [1] What can I say? I've seen 'em live more than any other band this year and they never fail to rock the crowd. This e.p. is only a teaser and they mentioned at their Hamilton[ON] show recently that they should be releasing an album this coming March. Woot!	The Organ Grab That Gun [2] Wonderful all-girl band from Vancouver, BC whose debut album is chock full of catchy post-punk pop tunes that harken back to the days of The Smiths. The lead vocals are decidely stark and distinct and the melodies are utterly infectious.
Feist Let It Die [3] Feist is crazy, sexy, cool and she can do no wrong. My biggest regret this year was missing her recent show at the Phoenix in Toronto. Until next time, I only have my recollections of her all-too-brief NXNE set this year.	Sarah Harmer All Of Our Names [4] Somehow, this album seems to have been forgotten in everyone's year-end lists. Maybe not as immediately grabbing as Ms. Harmer's debut, her sophmore album has grown on me over the months, and repeated listenings have definitely revealed a wealth of beautiful melodies.
City Field Authentic City (ep) [5] This is definitely the dark horse of this list. Matt Murphy(of The Super Friendz and The Flashing Lights) has recruited some Haligonian friends and formed this new band whose e.p. is a wonderful set of tunes with echoes of pop, post-punk, country and glam. Schizophrenic? Maybe. Fun? Totally. [for further info read my previous blurb on the band]

Honourable Mentions:

Uncut - "Those Who Were Hung Hang Here" (just barely missed my top 5)

The Hidden Cameras - "Mississauga Goddam"

King Cobb Steelie - "Destroy All Codes"

Lal - "Warm Belly High Power"

Pony Up/Ben Lee - split 7"

Death From Above 1979 - "You're a woman, I'm a machine"

The Heavy Blinkers - "The Night And I are still so young"

Soft Revolution

concert review: Stars w/ Chad Vangaalen @ The Mod Club Theatre (Toronto, Ontario), December 20, 2004

I could kill my friend for making me walk out of Stars' set at the El Mocambo during Canadian Music Week in early 2003. Stars were only starting to make a name for themself at the time and its exciting to see how far they've come since then. So did I luck out and attend the BETTER of the two Stars' shows at The Mod Club? chromewaves, Mishie, pop (all love) and (another)Brian all went to the Saturday night show and had a good time as I've read. At least according to Foxymoron and SHOT who both went to both the Saturday and Sunday night Stars' shows, the Sunday night ALL-AGES show surprisingly turned out to be the better of the two. Yes, Sunday night was great, awesome, lovely and I'm glad I went that night. The band had a lovely string section who sounded wonderful but unfortunately my view of them was blocked by the keyboards. Otherwise I had a great view of the band almost right up front. When Torquil pulled up that little girl on stage(who I coincidentally had let her and her father go to the front of the stage in front of me so that she could get a better view; yes how nice of me) and announced that "This is rock n' roll", that was the cutest thing ever.

I must say that Torquil just oozed charisma. He has that sort of dry voice that's smooth, dapper, cool all at the same time. On the other side, Amy's gorgeous girl-ish vocals were very beguiling. Instrumentally, the band sounded great, easily making the transition between their indie/chamber pop tunes like "Calendar Girl" and "Heart" and their more rockin' songs like "Ageless Beauty". On "Elevator Love Letter", the band turned up the guitars a tad and the electro-pop influence was kind of buried a bit, but nonetheless the melodies on the song shone through. Evan on bass was utterly cool wearing that chapeau of his and his basslines were really distinct and audible. Chris' keyboards were lovely and nice, albeit a little harsh sounding. (Did anyone think that the keyboard sound was mixed a little too high in the mix? Or maybe it's because I was standing right in front of the keyboards.) During the encore, "Death To Death" ventured into jammy territory as drummer Pat McGee let loose with some improvised rhythms. Oh, and the band also had an additional guitarist with them who filled out the sound quite nicely. Someone in the audience yelled out at the start of the encore for them to play their cover of "This Charming Man" but unfortunately the band didn't play it. Torquil did say that The Smiths were the "best fuckin' band ever", however. (ok, I might have imagined him saying "fuckin", but then maybe not.)

Ultimately, I most enjoyed seeing the crushworthy Amy Millan bust out those dance moves and having a fun time on stage. Whether Sunday night was the better of the two shows is a matter of opinion, but otherwise it was a good time all around.

Opener Chad Vangaalen got things going at the beginning, playing as part of a trio, with other members on drums and bass guitar. Chad, on guitar, vocals and harmonica, along with his band, played a set of stripped down indie rock tunes that reminded me of Unrest and the Pixies. There were some nice melodies and the drummer frequently achieved a groove which kept the songs from getting boring. In certain respects, their sound's so 1995. I don't think the crowd was necessarily into 'em as I could tell by the chatter but I'm sure the band would go over well with the indie-rock fans in a smaller venue like the Horseshoe.

[photos from the show]

Aaron at pop (all love) has posted the final tally of the poll he took amongst some local music bloggers(myself included) and journalists of our Top 5 Canadian albums of 2004. Yes, I was the person who included City Field's "Authentic City" E.P. in my top 5, although in retrospect I might have knocked it down a few notches had I bought Stars' "Set Yourself On Fire", The Arcade Fire's "Funeral" and Junior Boys' "Last Exit" earlier. Still, City Field are terrific and they should hopefully be releasing an album in the new year. City Field is the new band formed by Matt Murphy of Super Friendz and Flashing Lights fame. So if anyone's interested, I'll be posting my submission to Aaron's poll tomorrow hopefully.

If you can't be bothered with torrents(and it might just be as well since Chromewaves says torrent sites are dropping like flies), Largehearted Boy has come through again with a link to mp3's of The Arcade Fire's CBC Radio 3 session from October 2, 2004.

There's a new Arcade Fire message board also. [from broken telephone]

popMatters begins its first of two instalments on music shopping[the second instalment follows this Wednesday]. First there was the 'death' of vinyl and cassette tapes. Now with the advent of the iPod, the CD could succumb to the same demise. I think portable MP3 devices as well as the CD both have their own niche of the music-buying market. I'm still a firm believer of the CD. It starts and it finishes and it's interesting to hear songs within the context of the album. Don't get me wrong; I'd like to get an iPod primarily for the convenience factor of not having to lug around a tonne of CD's. However, I prefer the tangible qualities of the CD such as being able to read the liner notes as well being able to appreciate the artwork of the sleeve.

Shot reports that PJ Harvey has quit playing live shows. Huh?! Soul Shine Magazine and chartattack are reporting the same thing. Say it ain't so! At least I got to see PJ Harvey live once(at The Phoenix in Toronto in October). And yes, that was my favourite show of 2004 by far.

Pony Up! news! The Montreal gals just came back home from touring and are taking a rest before going on tour again in the new year. Their e.p. will be coming out on January 25, 2005.

More and more Top 10 albums of 2004 lists over at 20hz.

I've practically done all my x'mas shopping, with several days to spare. I fuckin' rule.

vee-one-five-point-eight-five

concert review: controller.controller w/ Uncut, Read Yellow, Sailboats Are White @ The Underground(Hamilton, Ontario), December 17, 2004

I decided to drive down the road from Mississauga to Hamilton to check out the show yesterday evening. (All the cool kids were at the Stars show at The Mod Club yesterday, but never fear, I had my ticket for the all-ages version tonight. Review to follow.) It's funny that the only time I remember being in Hamilton was back in high school for a track meet at McMaster University. And I haven't gone back since. I pulled up the driving directions from mapblast.com yesterday then drove down to the show. Hamilton's got an interesting downtown, all dolled up for the Christmas season with the lights and all. All the oneway streets that the downtown had reminded me alot of Montreal. It's an interesting downtown that seemed much more wordly than the dirty old steel town that I usually think of Hamilton. It was kind of a pain in the butt navigating the streets but after a little while I got the hang of it. I found the venue in no time and parked my car in front of the police station down the road. The Underground is as it is named; you walk into the entrance of the venue and walk down a flight of stairs to the place. It's your typical dimly-lit place comparable to say the Horsehoe Tavern in Toronto, although with a smaller bar and without all the chairs and tables. There's a slightly elevated stage with a red curtain adorning the back of the stage.

I'd only walked in at the beginning of Read Yellow's set. As the lead singer had mentioned, they're from Massachusetts. There were echoes of Fugazi in their music, especially the vocals. That's not quite my thing these days although I appreciated them for the music they played. Subtle melodies had a way of creeping to the surface during their songs and I liked the call-and-response vocal arrangements between the lead singer and guitarist. The lead singer jumped out onto the floor singing with great vigor as he walked around the spectatators and back onto the stage.

I'll skip any formal reviews of Uncut's and controller.controller's sets. I've seen Uncut twice now and controller.controller... well I've lost count. They both put on great sets but I do got to mention that the Hamilton crowd was much more enthusiastic than any of the Toronto shows that I've seen those bands play for. What is it with Toronto music fans? Why is it that you almost have to light a fuckin' fire under their ass before you can get them to move their ass or even bob their head at a show? controller.controller's own enthusiasm, in particular, reflected that of the crowd. controller.controller are usually pretty energetic to begin with but that night, they were even moreso, as Scott the guitarist and Ronnie the bassist writhed on the floor playing their instruments with sheer abandonment. At the end of their set, Nirmala the vocalist, dropped to the floor in almost sheer exhaustion. The troopers that they are, they even came back to play an encore. Good to great set, and maybe the next time the band plays Toronto, the fans'll rise to the occasion.

On a sidenote, Scott of controller.controller mentioned during the show that their new album might be released this coming March 2005!

[photos of controller.controller from the show]

Wake Up

There's a torrent of The Arcade Fire show at The Commodore Ballroom(Vancouver, BC) on December 12, 2004 over at easytree.org. Also, Pitchfork reports that the band has signed to Rough Trade Records in the UK who will distribute "Funeral" over there, possibly with an extra track. The UK release date of "Funeral" is set for February 28, 2005. Pitchfork also reports that the band has filmed a video for "Rebellion (Lies)", although no release date has yet been confirmed.

The Thrills offer their music picks over at chartattack, as part of the site's Holiday Gift Guide series.

The Wandering Step kindly sent me a free CD single of their x'mas tune, "Christmas At My House", which is a fine and dandy indie holiday pop song. I can't remember how(or if) I sent away for this but it was a nice surprise to receive this in the mail today. The MP3 Blog over at Poptones is hosting a download of the song at the moment[scroll down to the 02.12.2004 post]

Poptones artist, Special Needs, offer a free download of their 3-song Christmas E.P.

Soul Shine Magazine interviews Hope of The States.