A few EPs have been occupying my time lately and there are only so many hours in the day in which I can write about music. Rather than offering up a few lines to each in truncated posts spread out over the week, I decided to go all Uncle L and deliver and ep of (free) EPs.

Dark Mean - Music Box EP

Last year, this Hamilton band came out of nowhere with one of my favorite EPs of the year. Frankencottage was a crazy fusion of banjo, electronics and tempo that made it impossible to sit still whenever songs like Happy Banjo or the title track came on my iPod.

This time around, the band is using the same elements but experimenting with a darker, denser sound. The title of the closing track (Dark Banjo) is probably a give away of the emotional state they now reside in, but when you listen to the four songs on this EP you can't help but think the band has grown up emotionally in the last year. The songs don't run with the recklessness and freedom of youth; no the horns and piano, group vocals and restraint travel with the songs like the weight of heartache.

The arrangements are more intricate, and as a result, less immediate. The banjo that danced in and around the electronics and heavy kick drums now meshes with more sombre tones. Instead of chair dancing whimsy, Music Box finds the band testing their limits. The country-fused Acoustic and orchestral melodrama of Piano & Beat will shock fans of their last record, and honestly, this EP is one that will probably take time to grow on you.

That's not to say the songs don't stack up to their previous efforts; Dark Mean is just coming from a different place this time around. The smiles and darting electronics bouncing around your headphones have been replaced by sadness, but, as we all know, life isn't smiles and sunshine and music shouldn't be either.

MP3:: Dark Mean - Piano & Beat
WEB:: http://www.darkmean.com/
D/L:: http://darkmean.bandcamp.com/album/music-box-ep-2010

Dave Norris & Local Ivan - No Scuttle

Admittedly, I'm new to Dave Norris and his musical endeavors but the Ottawa native strides forward with a confidence all too often lacking in today's music scene. In ten-minutes, he gives you four songs that grab you on first note and show how much potential Dave's new set-up has to offer.

The flowing melody the band delivers on Whatever's Wrong With Heather is a terrific hook (rim-shot please!) to kickoff the EP and the percussion and synths that bulk up the catchy Look Out! show how crucial the support from Local Ivan is to the results, but it's Dave's voice that holds everything together and moving forward. The change of pace and gradual build of Jack Nicholson shows the control the band has over their sound and the use of electronics, strings and warbled synths on No Scuttle probably shouldn't fit in with the other three songs on the EP, but it's just a rewarding as any other song.

Four songs and ten minutes is not long enough to really gauge how Norris & Local Ivan will work together as a full course meal, but as an amuse bouche, No Scuttle should get music fans salivating accordingly.

MP3:: Dave Norris & Local Ivan - Look Out!
MYSPACE:: http://www.myspace.com/davenorrislocalivan
D/L:: http://davenorrislocalivan.bandcamp.com/album/no-scuttle

Labels: Canada, Dark Mean, Dave Norris, EPs, Free.99, Music

I don't know about you fine folks, but I'm still feeling fantastic about the Saints big win on Sunday night. Of course I've been a Saints for like 20 years, so perhaps the euphoria engendered by the feel-good story that is the Saints bringing a title to the city of New Orleans, that is still facing some well-documented challenges, has faded already for some. Not me though friend, this will keep me on a high for the foreseeable future.

Because of that, I'd like to spread some goodwill around like Saint Drew spreads the ball to his myriad of receivers. So then, some free hip hop is on tap for you. I've written about the unorthodox excellence of Ira Lee a few times in the past, but despite that exposure to our tens of regular readers, Ira is likely still flying way under the radar here in Canada. How does Ira plan to combat that? Quantity. In conjunction with Ryan Stinson and the Wack Blog, Ira Lee's retrospective mixtape 47 Minutes Too Long is available as a free download. It's a great introduction to what Ira sound, point of view, his history - I recommend it highly.

This might surprise you, but there's a lot of music coming out of Toronto. Despite the fact that we reside out here on the actual east coast of Canada (we love you Upper Canada, but people doing an "Eastern Canadian tour" than doesn't come out here still irks us), we hear from a lot of folks who are flying under the radar in T.O. One such label is indie hip hop outfit Takaba Records, which is the homebase for a group of folks who unabashedly to that real "underground" hip hop for those of us who still appreciate it. I've reviewed a couple of their releases, including a great album from Modulok, one of the main proponents of Takaba, but now you have a chance to hear what else the label has to offer. Cool Like The Pulse of a Corpse features a number of the folks currently associated with the label, from Canada and elsewhere (London, Tokyo, Latvia!), and it is available as a free download here.

As a finale, I'm going to point you towards The Messengers, a collab between K'Naan and J. Period that features new K'Naan songs that are made from the libraries of Fela, Bob Marley, and Bob Dylan. I've written about this project before, but not since they put out the full, final mix, so I figured I'd point you in it's direction, because it is really an impressive piece of work, both from the lyrical and production ends, so kudos to K'Naan and J.Period. So go check it out.

MP3:: Ira Lee - Your Little Sister's Bike

MP3:: Apollo Creed - Susan Sarandon

MP3:: Baracuda - Architect Wet

Labels: Canadian Hip Hop, Free.99, Ira Lee, K'naan, Modulok, Takaba

D-Sisive is still sad. He's also angry, and of those two emotions, it's definitely the anger that's the most relevant when you're discussing his new album, Jonestown. Released last week as a free download on D-Sisive's website, Jonestown finds D in a jubilantly foul mood, with a Tyson-in-his-prime caliber right hand cocked and aimed at the face of things that piss him off, like haters, shitty hip hop, and the random unfairness of life in general.

In reality, one would hope D-Sisive's mental state has brightened at least somewhat over the last year and change. After being M.I.A. for a number of years, he released two albums, The Book and Let The Children Die, that had jokers like me fawning over them (reviews here and here respectively) and garnered plenty of critical acclaim. He made the Polaris long list, and just recently won the Socan Echo songwriting prize for the awesome Nobody With A Notepad, and so, although life has dealt D a pretty consistent downpour (the well-documented deaths of both his parents, some rather crippling depression), it would seem that he's finally changed into some Milhouse-style high-waters, and everything is coming up D-Sisive.

Or at least one would think so anyway. But when your new album is called Jonestown, and has as many allusions to suicide and/or death as it does to awesome pop culture minutiae, then you aren't exactly the Stuart Smalley of Canadian hip hop (see what I did there). But that's ok, as we've seen over the last year, and we're seeing again on Jonestown - an angry D-Sisive is a good D-Sisive. Seriously, despite it's free download status, I think D's new release is every bit the equal of its two predecessors. I can only assume it is being given away to capitalize on the word of mouth things like the Polaris and Echo have generated there likely won't be a better time to spread the gospel of Reverend Christoff.

This is certainly a welcome development my book, and once The Message-inspired intensity of album opener In The Jungle kicks in, I'm sure you'll be a convert as well. What is with the deal with Canadian rappers and Jason Schwartzman? First k-os (I Wish I knew Natalie Portman, samples Phantom Planet's California) and now D-Sisive (samples Coconut Records' West Coast, which as an aside, has a pretty awesome video that features Vision Skates legend Mark Gonzales freaking some long-board funk in a German museum)? I'm certainly not complaining, as it has resulted in two great songs - D's is a great combination of catchiness and great lyrics that could please a wide arrange of tastes (he mentions Lloyd Christmas and Andy Dufresne in the opening verse, and that pleases me). The original, Lou Rawls-laced version of mind-as-prison/suicide contemplation anthem One Way Ticket is pretty solid, but the MoSS remix is ruggedly delicious (its the little things: there's a little flute bit that gets phased in and out, which takes it from a good beat to a great beat in my humble).

Considering D's fondness for Tom Waits, his collaboration with the, shall we say, eccentric, Slim Twig, on the ominous Around the World (and previously on Slim's mixtape too), is not surprising. If you're looking for a song that encapsulates what makes D-Sisive such a great lyricist, 1974 is a perfect example. He ties Married With Children, Sinatra and the Cougar Mellencamp into a deep, witty, and entertaining analysis of D's relationship with his late father, and really just father/son relationships in general. Great stuff. Boom Baba Boom is the other side of D-Sisive lacing pop culture obscurity like the Stand By Me pie eating contest story, the Robbie Alomar juice commercial (which is now one of my favorite rap song references ever - if you're of a certain age and Canadian, you remember Robbie's "Catch the Taste!" ad), a Biggie/Tupac/Juice reference breakdown with a razor sharp wit few possess. And then there's just some good old fashioned face-bashing raps over trunk-rattling beats, like the 9th Uno produced, call to arms for the cult of oneself, Believe, which I will always welcome.

So here's where we stand: I know D-Sisive is awesome, critics and other music nerdish types know D is awesome, and so now it's time you found out for yourself. Jonestown is free, so there's no need to hesitate, go ahead and drink the Kool-Aid.

MP3:: D-Sisive - West Coast

MP3:: D-Sisive - One Way Ticket
MYSPACE:: www.myspace.com/dsisive

Labels: Canadian Hip Hip, D-Sisive, Free.99, Hip Hop

Well the rain has been coming down in buckets here in Halifax today, so if there's ever a hump-day in need of a boost, it's this one. Luckily, Winnipeg's Crosstown Rivals has provided just such a boost. The four-man indie dance rock force has released a new single on the new digital label Better Swimmers. The digital single for Exits contains the original version, plus remixes from Vitaminsforyou, Get Famous! and DJ Co-op.

You might remember Crosstown Rivals from our Manitoba mixtape, where Hold Tight, from their last EP added some pep to the halfway point of the mix. Exits certainly remains in the same fuzzy, urgent vein, but perhaps with a bit more of an electronic bent provided by the modulated bassline that runs through the track. It's perfect to get the kids up and shaking - perhaps Bones should bring this one to Gus' this Friday night. The remixes certainly keep the spirit of the track intact, and while I enjoy the 80's goodness of the Vitaminsforyou remix, the stadium guitar lick & 808 combo of the Get Famous! remix is my preference.

Oh, and did I mention this is a free download? Well go get it, and call yourself Parker Lewis while you're at it, cause you can't lose.

MP3:: Crosstown Rivals - Exits

MP3:: Crosstown Rivals - Exits (Get Famous! Remix)
MYSPACE:: www.myspace.com/crosstownrivalswinnipeg

Labels: Crosstown Rivals, Free.99, Winnipeg