music, girl power & such

ELSIANE

Elisane is a Montreal-based due who's Myspace classifies them as electronica, down-tempo and classical, and the description pretty much fits the bill. Their sound is really chill - not music to fall asleep to, but it has a very chill-out-at-a-coffee-house-laid-back kinda feel. Listening to the first song on their Myspace, I was immediately reminded of Mozella's "Light Years Away", which I found probably about a year ago on the One Tree Hill soundtrack. (Note: OTH = preeetty good music - often poppy and dramatic, but occasionally, something great) . The voice of the Elsiane's singer is definitely different, not something you hear on the radio or anything. It's got a cool, haunting thing, and the instrumentals for a couple tracks definitely remind me of Stars, and I looooove Stars...but more on them in a bit.

I haven't ever really listened to Portishead, but I think Elsiane could be compared in terms of sound. So their music's not exactly the first track I'd run to listen to everyday, but it's something that would definitely fit pretty well into my mix. It's a cool, new sound with a nice jazz-y quality. Oh and have I mentioned they cite Michel Gondry as an influence? You can't go wrong with that.

So, definitely check out their Myspace, or check out their CD, "Hybrid", which came out in August of this year.

AND, because they're awesome, Nettwerk Music Group is allowing us to offer you guys a free download!
Elsiane - Mend

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STARS

So, about Stars. They're another Montreal-based "indie" band, and they just happen to be one of my favourites. I saw them at a free concert at York University a few weeks ago. Y'know how you'd expect them to kinda have the audience swaying? Well, they pretty much rocked it out as much as they possibly could. It was awesome to hear Elevator Love Letter and My Favourite Book (a couple of my favourites), plus a few other classics. I was surprised they included some other tracks from Heart too, and didn't really cover much from their latest album, In Our Bedroom After the War. They didn't play my all-time favourite though - Calendar Girl.

I was also kinda disappointed to see that Torque took the role as the band's frontman, and not Amy Millan, who kinda stayed more in the background, with quieter vocals. That aspect of the show definitely changed the way I listen to Stars, since now, Torque's vocals definitely seem to overpower in the recordings too...I guess I just never noticed earlier how big a role he plays in the band. Maybe this change in perspective is just because I never took the kind of interest in the band where I go and look at Youtube videos and such of them performing - otherwise I would know how things went about. Or, more likely, I was hoping it would be a woman-fronted band, 'cause that just makes them seem that much cooler. Don't worry Stars, I still love you!