7 March 2024 - Mother Mother - Hayloft (I and II)

So the road we took to get to posting this literally right the hell now is long.

You see, I had another Mother Mother song slated to post right now.  We will call back to this post in that post, which is fully written and probably won't see the light of day until 2026.  

As I researched that post - and this band, by the way, is from British Columbia - and realized I had so much for this March I could not fit them in until 2025 at least, I started exploring some of their other catalog.

And I found this absolute gem.  

"Hayloft" was one of Mother Mother's first singles, originally from their 2009 album O My Heart.  Written by lead vocalist Ryan Guldemond, he wrote the very "angular" melody first.  He then wrote lyrics to match them - and started with the lyric "my daddy's got a gun"..... and it takes 40 seconds to get there.  The song, about young lovers hiding in a hayloft, soon followed - and the song ends with the young lovers being caught by her daddy in the hayloft - and yes, he's got his gun.

The song ends ambiguously. Which is super frustrating.

The video is very much in the style of Franz Ferdinand or the White Stripes.  It's cool as heck.

On its initial release, it was not a big hit song.  It was still a fan favorite - and so they performed it live. This performance in 2019 is a great example of that.  The energy of the song really comes through.

However, in 2020, TikTok became a thing, and people discovered the song.  It made a lot of money.  And people wanted to hear it.So they performed it when they could.  Here is a 2021 version of the song performed acoustic.

And, this prompted the band to write a followup song, "Hayloft II", but not before renaming their biggest hit "Hayloft I" and making a new video for it.

The new video tells a less ambiguous story.

They followed it in 2022 with "Hayloft II", which is a very different song - very fuzzy, very angry, and very much tells a continuation of the story of "Hayloft" in which revenge is extracted and the hayloft is burnt to ashes. 

Now, of course, they perform BOTH songs live - although not exactly back-to-back, putting a third song - 2021's "Girl Alone" in the middle of "Hayloft I" for some reason.  Here they are performing "Hayloft I" in Chile in 2023.

Here they are performing "Hayloft II" in Europe/

And, here they are, as performed live, with all three songs in the Rolling Stone studios.

6 March 2024 - Vishtèn - L'Hermite

I've literally been waiting all year to post about Vishtèn.  I discovered them last April, as part of a collaboration they did with The East Pointers.  I posted it anyway, in April, but also, I went on a discovery of their music.

What I found was a fantastic folk band from Prince Edward Island whose music was heavily rooted in Acadian traditions.  The Acadian culture is a minority primarily based in New Brunswick, whose language can only be best described as "Frenglish".  Because of this, Vishtèn is primarily seen as a Francophone group... but they are so much more than that. 

We'd be remiss if we didn't mention vocalist Pastelle LeBlanc - the primary vocalist on this song - passed away in 2022 after a battle with breast cancer.  Her voice is certainly missed, and this is a song that shows you why. 

Here is the band live in 2020 - playing a small hall in PEI - and you can see the chemistry the three had (after all, Pastelle, her partner and her sister were the band).  Their sound is both bright and folky. 

5 March 2024 - Ayria - My Device

I have a confession to make.

Every once in a while around our house, my SO will lose her phone, and ask the Google Home to "Find My Device".

Every once in a while, this song plays.  It drives her nuts.

It's probably my fault.

It's probably because this song has been sitting in my drafts since last May.  

Ayria is a Toronto-based synth-pop project formed in 2003 out of the ashes of Epsilon Minus by vocalist Jennifer Parkin.  This song, released in 2005, is perhaps their best known - probably because people lose their phones.  

The song is energetic and dark and industrial and exciting - and gets better as it goes.  

So, I'm sorry, Courtney, but this song is not only good, it's Canadian.  

Why yes, electronic artists do perform live. And they're quite good.  Duel synths accompany Parkin, who has a strong stage presence.  

Incidentally, 

4 March 2024 - Flower Face - Spiracle

Last year, I really sought to bring diverse artists to this annual celebration of Canadian music.  I went out of my way to find music I had never heard before.

I started that on March 2nd with an artist from Montreal named Ruby Mckinnon - stage name Flower Face.  That song, "Sugar Water", ended up being my most listened to song on Spotify in 2023 - and it wasn't close.  It's got a head start on 2024 as well - but I'm trying to be more wholistic in 2024.

You see, her 2022 album, The Shark In Your Water, is arguably the best of that year, and in my top 3 or 4 for this decade so far.  The whole album is so well written and performed.  Every song on there is incredible.

This song is where the album gets its title - it is a song that starts simple and gets louder and scarier.  It's beautiful AND beautifully constructed. 

Oh, by the way, a spriacle is an opening on some fish, like a shark, that pulls water over the gills. It is part of the respiratory system - and are literally used to force water in while swimming quickly.  

Live, the song features a full band and.... well, you can see the emotion.

3 March 2024 - KEN mode - Failing At Fun Since 1981

Those who know me know I don't listen to noisy music like this all that much.

But man, that title.

This noise-rock band from Winnipeg is nominated for a Juno Award this year.  They have won in the past for their heavy metal sound.  This song is from their 2015 Juno-nominated album Success, and it has the best title.  

The word "KEN" in the band's name is an acronym, for Kill Everyone Now.  I don't believe they've acted on that, though.  

This song is a banger on record, and it's a banger live.

2 March 2024 - Shubh - Hood Anthem

Why, yes, that is a Sihk man from Brampton, Ontario slinging Punjabi hip-hop.

This song, released just a few weeks ago, is already a hit in New Zealand, where he has gotten a fair amount of traction as an artist.  He's had some hits in the UK and Canada as well, and he is nominated as a Breakthrough Artist at this year's Juno Awards.  

Check him out!

1 March 2024 - Babygirl - Overbored

Every March for the last three years - this is our fourth - we've featured music exclusively from Canafian artists.  

I can honestly say a lot of my favorite music today is a direct result of what I've been doing these Marches.  

Babygirl is one of those artists I discovered while writing this blog who I have come to truly love.  They make nice, smart, edgy light pop-rock music that should be absolutely gigantic everywhere, but for some reason, isn't.  Hailing from Toronto, the duo met at Humber College and started making music there. 

From the interactions I've had with them on Twitter.... sorry, X.... they also seem to be lovely people.

This single is from 2018 - so, why aren't you listening to them yet?