When I spoke with professional chill dude Kurt Vile for Exclaim! a few weeks ago, he had just wrapped up a music video shoot. He didn't give many details about it, but I'm guessing that this clip for "Never Run Away" is it. This comes from the excellent Wakin on a Pretty Daze.

 

I've spent the past week staying at my grandparents' house in London, ON, where the internet was broken on my only online access was at the local Tim Hortons. Now I'm soaking in the scenery at the Winnipeg airport.
I recently interviewed Vancouver pop-rock group the Belle Game for the Georgia Straight. The shadowy Ritual Tradition Habit is out now. Stream it below.

 

As you can see from Digits' home page, the Canadian songwriter and producer also known as Alt Altman has an extremely prolific output. One of his most intriguing projects is In the City of the Dead, a serial novella/album that was released in a string of 12 chapters (plus a prologue and an epilogue), each with an accompanying song. I previously premiered "I'll Play for You" for Exclaim!, and he's since rolled out the remaining instalments in the series.
The story is a futuristic dystopia, which is something I've always had a penchant for (case in point: I saw Oblivion last night and thought it was fucking great). The story, which I won't spoil for you here, is soundtracked with an appropriately dark and forward-thinking selection of synthscapes and electropop melodicism.
Stream the album below and read the story here.

 

Said the Whale has a new EP called I Love You coming out on June 18, and the Vancouver band has shared a lyric video for the title track. It's a catchy new wave number. Check out the clip below.

 

Frank Ocean has released a video for "Lost," so I'll use this opportunity to write about how I've become obsessed with channel ORANGE. I was initially a naysayer, but I didn't bother to delete the album from my iPod, and I gave it another shot a couple of weeks ago and was totally blown away. The atmosphere and production are beautiful, and Frank's voice is wonderfully unaffected.

 

This is shaping up to be a damn good year for Vancouver's Mint Records. The label just released a self-titled LP from Pick a Piper, led by Caribou associate Brad Weber. These bubbly electropop tunes puts the emphasis on the "electro" rather than "pop." Listen to Pick a Piper in its entirety below.

 

Vancouver songwriter and bass wizard Robbie Nall previously played in the band Sleep Holiday, but he recently released an album under his own name called Elba. It's psychedelic pop album that harkens back to lush '60s pop while at times evoking Elvis Costello's mellower moments and making the occasional synthesizer foray.
Listen to the nine-song collection below or buy it from Bandcamp.

 

For the last few years I've focused this blog exclusively on individual tracks and videos, but that seems a little pointless when so many albums are streaming for free online. Why bother selecting a track when I can just as easily share the entire thing?
I recently reviewing White Poppy's rough-around-the-edges (but thoroughly enjoyable) Song a Day for the Georgia Straight. The whole thing is streaming below.

 

My life has included a lot of Hollerado lately. I interviewed singer Menno Versteeg for Exclaim!, and reviewed the band as part of a show with Billy Talent and Sum 41 for the Georgia Straight.
The new album, White Paint, is one of the year's best albums so far. Below is the new single "Pick Me Up."

 

As I previously mentioned, Apollo Ghosts are calling it quits. It's a total bummer, although it's always nice to see a band go out on top without ever falling from grace. Right, Weezer? I interviewed singer Adrian Teacher about the band's final show for the Georgia Straight.
Below is the first Apollo Ghosts song I ever fell in love with, "Dobermans." Not coincidentally, it's the first song from their first album, 2009's Hastings Sunrise.