No Scene Records expanded their roster this month, adding long-time friends and allies Joyless Streets to the line-up. Hailing from the shoe-gazing post-grunge school, Joyless Streets have been rearing their noisy head around the cluttered halls of the Halifax indie-rock scene for nearly two years now.

I have yet to see the Joyless Streets live but a previously released EP [demo? both?] has been a regularly listened to local release. They appear to have a active couple of months ahead of them with the pending release of their first full length Carrots & Sticks on No Scene. They will also be launching their first tour.

“They’re exactly the kind of band we want to work with,” says Josh Pothier, No Scene Records co-founder. “They’re highly motivated, well-liked, and all around good guys. We’re happy to have them on board.”

Great songs too, on the above mentioned EP there isn’t a song a I don’t like. No idea if any of those songs will be on the full length or not but there are 3 tracks below to sample.

As far as No Scene Records goes itself it is developing quite a roster of eclectic local talent already in addition to The Joyless Streets they are the home of Jon McKiel, The Establishment, and Ryan Cook. I’d predict only good things to come from this scene.

MP3: Launder
MP3: Greek Mythology
MP3: Coalesing

www.noscenerecords.com
www.myspace.com/joylessstreets

In an email from Grant today he wrote:

The Digital Music Weblog is now retired. It’s been a fantastic ride and, I’ll always look back on this period with a smile, and fond memories.

That’s unfortunate as it was a good read and will be missed.

In good music blogging news:
I forgot this on Monday but large hearted boy celebrated it’s 5th anniversary. Congrats

Sessions is:

an episodic Netcast focused on the Canadian independent music scene. Sessions’ goal is to inform viewers about various bands that are making waves in Canada. The 10 to 15 minute episodes consists of montages combining interview content with performance footage which gives viewers a behind the scenes candid look at the featured performer. Sessions is a bi-weekly Netcast with two episodes released per month.

Sessions is an independent Netcast produced by Era of Silence Productions. Based out of Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, Era of Silence Productions stems from an artistic collaboration among individuals in the field of film production, journalism and web design. The initial production group consists of Pierre Morin (Director/Producer/Visual FX), Andre Barriault (Producer/Interviewer/Booking) and Melissa Laforest (Web Design, Promotional Graphic Design).

They have seven episodes so far and I hope they continue.

Bands featured to date include:
In-Flight Safety;
The Monoxides (who recently celebrated their 15th anniversary, which is pretty impressive considering the rate at which bands seem to dissolve that pass through my jam space - also note they’ll be playing their first show in Halifax since 2001 on Fen. 17th at the Attic);
Pony Up!;
Rock’N Rebels;
The Divorcees; - such a great live show!!! [their episode is included below]
Laid to Waste;
HOPE

Montgomery Moth are definitely short list contenders as my fav rock band in Halifax. Airwaves an older song [which is part of my almost complete 1st scenecast] is definitely one of my favorite Halifax produced rock songs.

They have posted four new songs from a soon to be released new album to their myspace page for your listening pleasure.

I love music.
I do this because it’s music related.
But I don’t actually talk about or share much music, or at least I haven’t to date.

So seeing as how Mondays suck for a lot of people, I plan on trying to introduce a mix of new local and not so local music each Monday, maybe you’ll find a song or two that will make you happy.

But I’m starting this first one on a kind of low note.
Last week the Stooges posted a new song to their myspace page and if you’ve been reading this blog you know I like the Stooges [I guess if you just started reading today you know now too so….] and let me just say:
WOW!!!!!!!
how underwhelming that new song was.
weak even….
ugh

it may grow on me, not the worst thing i ever heard but still…..

The following was posted on a message board after being forwarded to one of the board’s users.
I know some people that read this will definitely have an opinion. I’d definitely consider the exampled Blue by Joni Mitchell, something by Neil Young - would personally need to see the Payolas represented. Honestly too many worthwhile considerations.

My friend, Bob Mersereau, a CBC producer, is publishing a book on Canadian rock and pop music and would like some input from music industry professionals. Send your list and job position/band name to: Robert_Mersereau@cbc.ca

See the details below:

Dear Music Friends:

Sorry for the form letter, but I have a lot of people to contact. I’d like to ask you for your participation in an exciting project. It’s not a whole lot of work, and lots and lots of fun. Plus, you’ll get to be part of what hopefully will be the biggest and best survey of Canadian music experts ever.

This fall a new book will hit the shelves across the country. Goose Lane Editions, a national literary publisher with an exceptional reputation in the book industry, will introduce THE 100 BEST CANADIAN ROCK AND POP ALBUMS OF ALL TIME, by music writer Bob Mersereau (see bio below). This book is just what it says on the cover. Through a comprehensive survey of knowledgable music fans across the country, we’ll count the votes and tell Canadians what makes up their top 100.

This has never been done before, in such a broad format. There’s no reference book out there, nothing for our own country’s music fans. You can find out what Rolling Stone thinks, or get the latest Mojo Magazine list, but what’s number one in Canada?

Is it Neil, or Joni? The Band or The Tragically Hip? Blue Peter or Blue Rodeo??? It’s your choice. You make up your own top ten, and we’ll compile them all, and come with the final list.

The rules are simple. If it’s a band, the majority of the members have to be Canadian by birth or residency. So The Band counts, but Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young don’t. We don’t care that Feist or Buck 65 moved to Paris, we know what their birth certificates say.

Here’s an example of what I’m looking for:

1. Gordon Lightfoot - Gord’s Gold (greatest hits count) 2. The Band - Music From Big Pink 3. Moe Koffman - Moe Better Blues (jazz counts) 4. Ian & Sylvia - You Were On My Mind (folk counts) 5. Prairie Oyster - One Kiss (country counts) 6. Dutch Mason - Janitor Of The Blues (blues counts) 7. Harmonium - Harmonium (francophone counts) 8. Joni Mitchell - Blue 9. Odds -Bedbugs 10. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Rust Never Sleeps (band is U.S., but Neil’s the leader, so it counts)

I hope this will be fun for you. Please feel free to bring it up at parties or around the office, and if anyone else wants to create their own top ten list, send it along too! The more the merrier. Hopefully, there will be hundreds and hundreds of submissions. If possible, we hope to print the contributors names, space permitting. Once your list is complete, send it along to bobmers@nbnet.nb.ca. And if you feel like changing or updating your choices, send a revised list and hopefully it can be updated before deadline. We’ll update you as the publication date nears.

Thanks for your interest and time.

Regards,

Bob Mersereau

Bob Mersereau is a veteran music and arts reporter from Fredericton, NB. In addition to his full-time job as the arts producer for CBC TV in New Brunswick, his music review column Backbeat appears in the Telegraph Journal newspaper each week. He also reports on East Coast music weekly for CBC Radio. Bob is the author of the soon-to-be-published The 100 Best Canadian Rock and Pop Albums Of All Time.

Perhaps your band didn’t get accepted to SXSW but like the Hymns, mentioned here you haven’t given up on the possibility of it happening!

Well myspace alternative reverbnation is running a promotion to attract more users/bands and give a band the chance to play their party at SXSW.

Full details here

Contest is open to bands from outside the U.S. as well.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For venue information please contact
Stefanie Purificati
Programmer/Production Coordinator
Drake Hotel
1150 Queen St West
Toronto, ON
416.531.5042 x 258
www.thedrakehotel.ca

Meet Me At The Drake
Opens your eyes and ears to the best new musical talent in the country

As a bid to bridge the geographical obstacles facing independent Canadian bands and artists, Drake Hotel is proud to partner with From Here To There Records and Halifax Pop Explosion for the launch of an exciting new musical concept. “Meet Me At The Drake” provides a home base for artists from the all over Canada as well as a platform from which to showcase their skills and talents to the largest music market in the country.

The Artist In Residence program at the Drake Hotel unites east and west by offering both a place for bands to stay and a place for bands to play during their one month residency in Toronto. Drake Hotel will be pursuing new musical talent through this new residency program in 2007.

For the launch of this program in March 2007, Drake Hotel welcomes Their Majesties from Halifax NS. Their Majesties are a pop-rock outfit that blends the youthful exuberance of Supergrass, a cleverness reminiscent of the Kinks, driving guitars, classically-influenced piano, and a rhythm section at times as nimble and intuitive as early-era Police.

Join us on Mondays starting in March to be a part of this rocking cultural project. You never know who you might meet at the Drake!

For more information on From Here To There Records go to:
http://www.fhttrecords.com/

For more information on Halifax Pop Explosion go to:
http://www.halifaxpopexplosion.com/

For more information of Their Majesties go to:
http://www.theirmajesties.com/

_____________________________________________________________________

Last week when I wrote about asking for things I wrote:

In the coming weeks, perhaps days even, I’ll be announcing a trail project aiming to get east coast bands more exposure outside the region. It’s nothing revolutionary, but I do believe it can stand as a good opportunity for bands that are part of it.

The Drake Residency is what I was referring to. Good things will happen if you simply ask.

After meeting Stefanie at the last Pop Explosion and visiting the Drake’s website where I saw their Artist in Resident program I though they might be the perfect people to pitch a music residency to. So I did up a brief one page proposal/idea summary and here we are.

Stefanie has been great from the time I first met her at a workshop on booking tours through to making all this happen.

And if she/they had said no? I would have waited and eventually tried somewhere else. Not a big deal

But right now I’m just damn excited they’re so into this.

I kept meaning to post a link drawing people’s attention to Their Majesties homepage and ode to their lost van. I never got around to it, but for me it was just another one of the little things I like about the guys that makes working with them a good time.

Well Jennifer Van Evra at CBC’s Radio3 blog beat me to it so now I can just report their report on it and hey two birds one stone! Check it out!

Thank You Radio3
I’ll also take a moment during this time of grieving to thank the folks at Radio3 for their support at this difficult time and over the past few months. They’ve been great to Their Majesties and it has been greatly appreciated. There will likely be a Radio3 session recorded as well in the near future so I know their support isn’t going anywhere. So again - thanks to everyone at Radio3!!