Where do I find my music? Lots of places. New surprising sources, parts 16 and 17

I just published a vlog about surprising new sources of new music.  

In the vlog I reference this blog and the many blog posts I've published on the subject, so how many different sources of new music have I noticed up to now?

Where I find new music: Part 1 - the personal recommendation (Oct 2009)

Where I find new music: Part 2 - Blip.fm (Jan 2010)

Where I find new (old) music: Part 3 - iTunes Genius (Feb 2010)

Where I find new music: Part 4: Streaming radio (Sept 2010)

Where I find new music: Part 5 - NOW Magazine  (Sept 2010)

Where I find new music: Part 6 - concerts (Nov 2010)

Where I find new music: Part 7 - inflight entertainment (Feb 2011)

Where I find new (old) music: Part 8 - the used record store (April 2011)

Where I find new music: Part 9 - Fashion shows (Oct 2011)

Where I find new music: Part 10 - internet radio (Oct 2012)

Where I find new music: Part 11 - musicians (Oct 2012)

Where I find new music: Part 12 - MySpace (Oct 2012)

Where I find new music: Part 13 - Shazam (April 2014)

Where I find new music: Part 14 - my son (July 2020)

Where I find new music: Part 15 - festival listings (July 2020)

Part 16 Business Connections

Part 17 Airports

I admit, some are now very dated, but I'm certain there are new versions of MySpace and Blip.fm we can find.

Some music inspired by my latest adventures in Nashville.  

Where I find new music: Part 15 - festival listings

I'm chilling to the smooth sounds of BadBadNotGood while enjoying a lovely summer afternoon on our cabana in our urban back yard.

It’s July 4th, 2020 and I compiled a commemorative playlist this morning based on some favourite US places and their fabulous musicians, the order is Hawaii - California - DC - Tennessee - NY - Michigan - Texas - Louisiana - Colorado. Some appropriate titles too, including: Better Together, Take it Easy, History, Life During Wartime, Don't Get Around Much Anymore and Caution - YouTube playlist and Apple Music playlist.

So I'm revisiting some of my faves this afternoon, including Rodriguez.  There’s a fantastic performance of his at a festival called Best Kept Secret.  I was curious about the festival and what kind of lineup would include him.  It's an annual festival in The Netherlands and appears to have an interesting combination of alternative bands and musicians.  Assuming the 2020 dates were cancelled in this year of the COVID-19 pandemic, I had a look at the 2021 line-up.  You can of course, see the headliners and you work the way the list, assuming more popular bands are toward the top of the list.  There's an unusual name there BADBADNOTGOOD that kind of rings a bell.  I Google them and notice a Tiny Desk post and take a look - nice.  I look a little further and there's a full length concert available.

And it's posted by the CBC!  These young musicians are from right here in Toronto.  Wow, great find.  Their music would perhaps fit on CBC's evening show, but I'd be surprised if I've heard them before.  

Now to see what else I find from the line-up listing.

Where I find new music: Part 14 - my son

Wow, the following was drafted about 6 years ago.  It’s a problem I have - drafting some ideas and never completing the piece and posting it.  There’s so many that they could make up a new chapter.  Sadly, I didn’t write down the name of the band he’d found - do you remember buddy?

My son found a great new song on CFNY today and came downstairs to tell me about.   I could tell he was excited about a new find that he thought I'd like.  And he was right.   Unusual opening, catchy beat and melodies and champion-like rhythms.  Happy to see the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree.

Kind of related to part 1 of this series.

I found this draft while chilling to the smooth sounds of BadBadNotGood while enjoying a lovely summer afternoon on our cabana in our urban back yard...

Where I find new music: Part 13 - Shazam

Well, I don't really hear the song first on Shazam, but that's where I go sometimes to find a song I heard when I was out and about and I've forgotten about.  So I just heard The Walker by hear Fitz & The Tantrums on the car radio and I remember I Shazam'd it a while back (Jan 25th), but didn't remember if I'd purchased it.  No I haven't - gimme a sec.



Great vid too.

Also dug up Run Run Run by Celeste Buckingham and the Trentemøller remix of Springsteen's State Trooper (that I heard on an AMC show) - and it was free https://itun.es/i66v337.

Life's too short for a long, mediocre read

I'm not a big reader.  I'm not a very fast reader.   I've had periods of my life when I gobble up a series, but many years of literary indifference and tiring from the written word.  That being said, I rarely give up on a book.   Why ?   Perhaps I feel it's disrespectful to the author.  There was something that attracted me to the book in the first place, maybe it will get better, maybe I should give it a real chance, maybe I'm not settled into the writing style yet.  So many times I persevere through a mediocre read, ending up perhaps with a feeling of accomplishment, but far from satisfaction, nor any gain of knowledge or insight and maybe not even that entertained.   

I occasionally pick up a book that my wife has read for one of her book clubs.  Some turn out to be very good, while others I start, never formally give up on, and they end up being added to the pile of "I'll read it some day" books.  Recently I enjoyed a book called This Book Will Save Your Life by A. M. Homes.   So much so, that I thought I'd try some of her other novels.  I signed into the library website and easily found a couple of titles and reserved them.   They quickly (perhaps too quickly) showed up at my local library for pickup.  I picked up Music for Torching and plodded thought it for a while but felt I wasn't really into it.  I started May We Be Forgiven which had an interesting premise, but again, couldn't get into it.  

For some people they simply stick with writers they love.  I've had periods of my life where I have focused on one writer such as Steven King, Lawrence Sanders, Clive Barker and Robert J Sawyer.  But I prefer to move around the genres a little more these days, but the risk is that I won't find something that works for me.

So, Ms. Homes, please don't take it personally, I'm sure a major part of the problem is me.  But I think it's sensible that if I'm not enjoying my current read, I'd like to save a few hours of my life and move on.  So, for me, I think it's ok to give up on a book, life's too short for reading things that isn't grabbing my attention and filling up my entertainment tank.

I find that downloading book samples is a good way to see if you will actually enjoy a book.  I had a little time to spare the other day and browsed around Indigo and picked up a few books that caught my attention.  I noted their titles, then that evening I did a little more research on the books at home and downloaded a sample of Time and Again by Jack Finney.  I quickly got into this classic time-travel story and couldn't wait for a online order and popped back to Indigo to buy the book at full price.  Loving it, review to come.

Where I find new music: Part 12 - MySpace

Yes, MySpace.  If you haven't heard, they are going to launch a new interface and they have recently been acquired by Mr. Timberlake and Co.  I've used MySpace in the past to hear music from artists I've found elsewhere and to befriend new bands and share photos I've taken of their concerts.

I visited MySpace today and jumped into a feature called OneTwoWatch.  I really like this interface, but really had trouble finding it again - luckily I found the link thru my browser history.  So bookmark this.

Anyway, on OneTwoWatch I was really impressed the the quality and freshness of the featured artists.  I quickly downloaded tracks from Alex Clare, Selah Sue, Daughter and Gary Clark Jr.

Great finds, thanks MySpace.  Looking forward to a sexy new interface sometime soon to make me want to come back for more.

Where I find new music: Part 11 - musicians

I have a few musicians that are friends and I usually trust their recommendations, but I've also had the opportunity to meet a few musicians at other concerts.  The most famous story my wife and I have is meeting Matthew from Young Empires a long time ago after the We Are Augustines concert at Wrongbar.  We didn't know Young Empires at the time, but have seen them since on numerous occasions and we're so happy for their success and the nomination for a 2012 CASBY.

After seeing Young Empires during NXNE, we were hopping on the streetcar home when we struck up a conversation with fan who turned out to be another musician - Shawn is the drummer for Fade Chromatic who we've also now seen play live.

You never know you're going to meet at a concert and the chance to discover some new music.

Where I find new music: Part 10 - internet radio

I'm not certain how many people listen to internet radio, but please comment if you have a station to recommend or a track you've found thru internet radio.  I don't listen to internet radio very often, but on occasion, when I'm working I need some background music to work by.  Needless to say, the type of music in this situation needs to be more melodic, perhaps instrumental, but definitely not distracting or anything I have to concentrate on.  I use iTunes to "bookmark" or "favourite" stations I find and then browse / channel surf until the mix blends with my mood.

It's been a long time since I started writing this blog, so...unfortunately I can't remember all of the stations I've enjoyed (old bookmarks on an old work laptop I think), but the one that I can always remember is Groove Salad.  You can find it under the Ambient genre in iTunes radio and it's from SomaFM who have lots of other interesting genre and mood based stations.

I'm still struggling a little with what stations publish via a format that I can stream via iTunes rather then using their own web site or player, e.g. the progressive Radio Paradise and CBC radio 3 (now CBC music) stations.

New Music Fridays #x1

Some late night new music sampling - sorry to say the new track from one of my all time favourties, The Cult is rather unforgettable. However, new track from Saint Etienne re-conjures that light spring-time sound I loved from '91. Other finds include popster Emeli Sande and moody School of Sevens Bells.  I guess my mood tonight is for female vocals.

Connecting the dots - sampling the past

One of the things I like about hip-hop is the samples that are taken from older music.  I'm not sure where it all started, perhaps at the beginning of hip-hop, but I'm certain it's used often.  One early stand-out track for me is Kanye West's Gold Digger.  That being said, it was Jamie Foxx that sung Ray Charles' lines from "I got a woman" rather than using a true sample.

From the local seen, Torontonian Shad had a lot of airplay success from "Rose Garden"- I love the sample of the original 1967 version by The Three Degrees.



A go-to album for me that does a wonderful job of sampling older classics with fresher electronic sound is  Nina Simone's Remixed and Reimagined.  Her voice has such a beautiful range and mood.

For hip-hop and electronica, the samples seem to come mostly from old soul, jazz and R&B.  Quite different to the Chris Sheppard's dance mega-mixes of The Cult in the 80's.

But what set this off was the recent Drake Rihanna single "Take Care".  I knew I knew the simple piano sample, but thought it was from a Nina Simone track.  But a few Google searches later took me to the original source: Gil Scott-Heron.  I'd downloaded the wonderful Jamie XX remix of Scott-Heron's "I'll Take Care of You" about a year ago.

I love connecting the dots.

Where I find new music: Part 9 - Fashion shows

Remember Fashion Television (FT) that used to show on CityTV ? Well, it's no longer on CityTV, although it does now have its own cable channel. Well, I used to watch it. It was on around the same time as The New Music, and along with all the beautiful ladies and clothes, I also liked the accompanying music. If you've ever seen the show, I'm sure you can never forget hearing the intro track - Obsession by Animotion every week (sorry the video is way too embarrassing to embed here).


Well, boys will be boys, and yes I'm still guilty of enjoying beautiful ladies on the runway and especially around Christmas time when Santa delivers an early stocking stuffer in the form of the Victoria Secret Christmas Fashion Show (this year's show is set for Nov 29th at 10pm on CBS). Sorry distracted there for a few moments, back to the music...well, the first VS show I saw on TV included the fabulous sexy dance track - I like the way you move by Bodyrockers (2:45 mark) and it cemented my feelings toward music and the fashion runway. Sorry, rockers, mostly dance music, R&B and hip hop here...but for me, this music is pretty damn sexy.

Now I put a draft down a while ago that noted a Crystal Castles track called Vietnam. I don't remember exactly why I noted the reference but I did find a connection between their music and fashion.

So, the point of this post, if you like fashion, dance music and beautiful people, there's some great music to be found on the fashion show runway. Although sometimes it's a little hard to find, don't worry, send it my way and I'll work on it for you. Now only if I could mix my love of photography with this peccadillo.

Sharing the love (or, where other people find new music)

Last weekend, I drove to Montreal and back with a few teammates for the Grand Master's Ultimate tournament. Although we only managed 1 win for the weekend, we played pretty well and I really enjoyed hanging out with a great bunch of guys and ladies. I was a passenger this year and the driver had his kind music on the way to Montreal. He asked if anyone else had some music, but I didn't push the point. On the way home, I offered up some new tunes to the guys, saying I was interested in what they thought of the mix and I thought they might legitimately enjoy a few new finds. If you know me, I've always been the guy to bring his own mixed tape to a party or these days, have a loaded iPod or iPhone at the ready. I'm a little more shy these days about pushing my music, but the memories of friends saying they enjoyed my music, keeps the inner DJ in me alive. After all, that's where I came up with the PJMixer alias.

So they guys liked a lot of the tracks and I said I'd burn them my top 10. I'm not certain when I'm going to see them again, so I thought I'd post them here for the broader group. I hope you like a few tracks. Yes, they are ordered, my mood and progression.



We are seeing We Are Augustines tomorrow night at Wrongbar in Toronto; shots from last time we saw them



Shots from Motopony's gig at the Horseshoe last week for Vivoscene





Canadians Beatrice Martin (from Coeur de Pirate) & Jay Malinowski (from Bedouin Soundclash)




shots from The Monkey's summer Toronto concert



Foster the People are playing here in Toronto on Saturday night and The Sound Academy



Please, please come and play in Toronto boys



Shots from The Vaccines at the Horseshoe last winter



Drat, forgot to post those pics, hold on...there you go, photos from Beady Eye Sound Academy concert

Concert updates - Spring 2011

I haven't posted upcoming concerts in a while and now we're past winter hibernation, the number and quality of visiting artists is on the rise.

Bigger gigs

• Peter Gabriel - June 22nd Molson Amphitheatre - heard rave reviews from my friend in NYC who saw him last year with same orchestral setup
• Ray Lamontagne & the Pariah Dogs - May30th Massey Hall - love his sound and my bro says he's brilliant live
• Paul Simon - May 7th Sound Academy - yes, you read that right, smallish venue
• U2 July 11th Rogers Centre - forgot they were coming back, if it's anything close to 2009 show it will be a knockout
• Adele - May 18 Air Canada Centre - recently moved from Kool Haus to accommodate ticket demand

Tempted to go

• Black Keys and Cage the Elephant - July 7th Molson Amphitheatre - should be a humdinger of a show - mosh pit action
• Dirty Vegas - April 24th Mod Club - easy-on-the-ear driving dance melodies
• Supertramp - June 12th Molson Amphitheatre - perfect lawn show

Retro Alley

• Journey and Foreigner - Aug 9th Molson Amphitheatre
• Echo & The Bunnymen - May 16th Phoenix
• The Cars - May 20th Phoenix or Sound Academy 
• Bob Seger - April 12th - one of my old favourites from the motor city
• Duran Duran - April 25th Phoenix

Highly acclaimed

• TV on the Radio - April 18th Sound Academy - new album is supposed to be very good, which is saying a lot for following up their brilliant 2008 release
• Tinie Tempah - May 2nd Wrongbar - massive Brit hip hop star plays small TO club
• My Morning Jacket - July 11th Kool Haus 

What I'm going to

• Arctic Monkeys and The Vaccines - May 21st Kool Haus - seen the Monkeys twice and want more, seen hot Brits The Vaccines at the Horseshoe this past winter - sure to get the crowd going and give the Monkeys a run for their money
• The Boxer Rebellion - April 18th Horseshoe - they put on a fab show here last time around and looking forward to a repeat show now the new tracks have sunk in more
• Beady Eye June 20th Sound Academy - what mood will Liam be in ?

Friend and lovers love 'em

• James Blunt - April 26th Massey Hall
• Death Cab for Cutie - May 18th Phoenix

Full listing can be found on Now and Torontowide.com.

Where I find new (old) music: Part 8 - the used record store

I met an out-of-town friend today for lunch who was visiting Toronto for the first time.  We met at the Queen Mother Cafe on Queen West and he had walked past Kops Records on the way there and made a comment about stopping in after lunch.  I hadn't been in Kops for a long time and quickly felt comfy surrounded by very famliar album covers.  I do have a turntable set up at home, but only really use it for nostalgia trips now and again, so I no longer buy vinyl.  However, slipping through the bins I quickly found one of my old favourites that I'd forgotten about.  No I didn't buy the album, but I did just buy it online.

Where I find new music: Part 7 - inflight entertainment

In the old days of long distance commercial air flight, you often had the option of listening to various music selections across a wide variety of genres using the armrest dials and an awful pair of airline headphones. With the help of the playlists being published in the inflight magazine, I'd often find some interesting new tracks.  


With the new touchscreen personal entertainment centres and the option to use our own headphones we now have, the ease of browsing and enjoying lots of new music is wonderful.  I'm currently listening to Belle and Sebastian's latest album - Write about love.  Plus, it's worth noting that the decent choice of movies also brings up the opportunity of finding some new music on the soundtrack.

Where I find new music: Part 6 - concerts

Well this sounds a little backward doesn't it ? Don't we only go to concerts by musicians we already know and like ?  Sure we do, but we may not always know all their material or perhaps the constant playing by our spouse has numbed our senses and we've lost our appreciation for their art. We may also stumble on a opening band that are new to us or we've only heard a small sample of their material.

I'll start with the later as an example.  I like the bad Travis.  I was never a huge fan, but went with the gang to see them live a few years ago.  This year, their lead singer Fran Healey released a solo album which has been getting pretty constant spousal airtime around the house.  In both occasions, I loved their live performances and has made me want to listen more attentively to their music.  Actually, now I've re-listened to Fran Healy's latest album, it sounds quite different to the bare bones acoustic performance (my preference) on Friday night.  However, his beautiful lyrics haven't changed.

I saw Elbow open for Coldplay a few years ago.  They had a few UK hits, but I didn't know a lot of their older material.  They put on a fantastic show, perhaps one of the best openers I've ever seen and as soon as I got home, I downloaded a few older tracks and listened with a new ear to songs I'd passed on the first time around.

And finally, there are the total surprises.  These are often smaller bands or local talent that I see opening for old timers or hot acts from the UK or US.  Some of these finds include: Carney who opened for The Boxer Rebellion; Von Iva who opened for Glasvegas; Diane Birch who opened for Mat Kearney; and our favourite local lads, We Are The Take who opened for fellow Canadians The Waking Eyes and The Arkells.

Where I find new music: Part 5 - NOW Magazine

Ever since I've lived in Toronto, I've read NOW for its music, film, arts and theatre listings.  Along with staying up iwht concerts coming to town, you can sometimes cross reference a band with a new CD review or a tip on next week's hot tickets.  Today as I was browsing the concert listings over lunch I band called Mystery Jets caught my attention as my brother used to play in a band called the Mystery Dates.  A few pages further, their latest album was reviewed and got a strong 4 stars.  A few clicks later and I was sampling their stuff on MySpace and YouTube.  Great stuff, thanks NOW.

Mystery Jets are playing The Horseshoe Tavern on Monday night.

Previous posts in the series:

1. The Personal Recommendation
2. Blip.fm
3. iTunes Genius
4. Streaming Radio

Where I find new music: Part 4: Streaming radio

When I'm at the office and got my head down doing email or working on some tech config, I occasionally open iTunes and pick a saved streaming radio station.  I have a few saved that provide just the right mix of smooth and mellow music, either with electronica or jazz DNA.

Here are a few of my favourites:

• Groove Salad and Sonic Universe on soma fm
• SmoothLounge.com
• Deluxe Radio from Germany (but has some talking between tracks sometimes)

The trick is that when you're listening and hear something that you really like, then need to make a note of the current track because it may not be easy to review past tracks.

The track I found today was a something new from a Norwegian electrofolk band called Flunk called Sit Down.

Previous posts in the series:

1. The Personal Recommendation
2. Blip.fm
3. iTunes Genius

Where I find new (old) music: Part 3 - iTunes Genius

I just switched on iTunes Genius.  I have used it in the past, but haven't used it since getting our MacBook over a year ago.  There a few people who think that sharing your iTunes library is a little concerning (including my wife), but I don't see any big worry, especially considering all the other stuff I share online about myself.  The one thing I do do (yes, I said do do) is to clear the comments field for the music I have purchased from gray Russian sites.

So, with Genius, you can simply pick a track and hit the Genius button and it will create a new playlist from your library based on a set of magical and mystical attributes from iTunes users world wide.  For me, with a iTunes library that is large, but not very fat, it gives me a refreshing way to create a fresh playlist with forgotten old tracks, mixed with new tracks looking for a home.  It also has a sidebar with purchase recommendations that is good for those people who don't have a large library or those looking for new stuff.

The latest release of iTunes also creates some automatic genre based Genius Mixes with funky names like Neo-Soul, Surf/Garage Revival and Electro-Pop. 

I think the feature is definitely worth switching on and playing with for big music fans.

Another feature in iTunes that I haven't used much is the iTunes iMix, I've uploaded one as a test, but not published yet.  I may spend a little time composing a few if there is an audience out there for my tastes in music. 

Where I find new music: Part 2 - Blip.fm

Quick on the heels of posting my 2009 best of, I log into Blip.fm to post a new track for this new year.  In Blip.fm, after your track ends it automatically starts playing from your favourite DJ list.  So on comes this really great track from The Duke Spirit, called You Really Wake Up the Love In Me from a DJ named albertsdad.  I quickly sample and download a few tracks, sync my iPod and presto, the first new music find for 2010.