Nothing to say this week, so let’s just go straight to the playlist.

Bright Eyes – We Are Gonna Be Friends featuring First Aid Kit

Nada Surf – Waiting For Something from “The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy”
John K. Samson – When I Write My Master’s Thesis from “Provincial”
Pigeon John – Calculator Watch

DJ Shadow – Scale It Back featuring Little Dragon
Massive Attack – Hymn Of The Big Wheel (Egyptrixx Remix)
Moby – Natural Blues from “Daytrotter.com Session”

The War On Drugs – Come To The City from “Slave Ambient”

Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next week.

Jared (@mtroads1)

“Don’t tell anyone you don’t own “Blonde on Blonde”. It’s gonna be okay.” – Barry (Jack Black) from High Fidelity

Now you might not really be able to place that quote, but it’s from my favourite movie of all time, so I’ll set the context for you. Jack Black’s character is helping someone shop for records and is startled that he wouldn’t own one of the quintessential records by one of the greatest singer/songwriters of all time. In that scene, there’s also a couple greats lines about the Jesus and Mary Chain. Anyways, this week, Amnesty International released a massive Bob Dylan tribute album featuring artists from all over the musical spectrum from Diana Krall to Miley Cyrus to The Dave Matthews Band. There are 76 tracks in all, so there will be something in it for everyone. If you buy the digital version from their site, it’s only $15 and proceeds will go a long ways to help Amnesty International continue the amazing work that they do. Here’s what’s on the playlist this week:

Bright Eyes – We Are Gonna Be Friends featuring First Aid Kit

William Fitzsimmons – Beautiful Girl from “Gold In The Shadows” (Download it here.)
Damien Jurado – Museum of Flight from “Maraqopa” (Download it here.)
Austra – Lose It from “Paper Bag Sessions Vol. 1″ (Download it here.)

Johnny Cash & The Avett Brothers – One Too Many Mornings from “Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International”
Candy Claws – Do You Ever Feel That Way? (Download it here.)
Yukon Blonde – Stairway from “Tiger Talk” (Download it here.)

Joseph Arthur – Keep On Rockin’ In The Free World

Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next week.

Jared (@mtroads1)

It’s always a little weird seeing Best-of lists. Trying to objectively rank music, of which taste and appreciation is pretty subjective, is pretty much impossible. No matter how I see the “best” albums of the year, other people will have different opinions. As a result, this is not a best-of list, this is my favourite albums of 2011. Feel free to disagree and to give your own opinions.

I liked a lot of music that was released in 2011 and couldn’t fit everything in the top 10, so here’s the honourable mentions, in no particular order: Theft - The Hard Way, Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost, Explosions In The Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care, Foo Fighters – Wasting Light, Sloan - The Double Cross, Cake - Showroom of Compassion, Radiohead - The King of Limbs, MuteMath - Odd Soul, R.E.M. – Collapse Into Now, The Decemberists – The King Is Dead

My favourite mixtape of the year was Wed, White and Wu by Playdough and Heath McNeese and my favourite EP was The Schomberg Fair with Mercy. Now onto the top 10:

10. Wye Oak – Civilian: Saw them open for The National and the biggest thing I can remember is their drummer one handing most of the songs while playing chords on the keyboard. This was cool to see but seemed unnecessary as they seemingly played with a number of backing tracks, so why not just have the keyboards as a backing track and let the drummer concentrate on keeping time?

9. TallHART - Sister of Mine: Released under the name Marksmen, the band had to change their name upon finding out that someone was already using the name Marksmen. Most lists seem to have one obscure pick and this one is mine. That’s not to say that it’s only list solely because it’s obscure. It’s fantastic. They’ve got a pretty heavy David Bazan/Pedro The Lion influence, so if you like that, check them out.

8. Danielson – Best of Gloucestor County: Danielson is a bit of an acquired taste. His shrill falsetto has softened quite a bit over the years, but it still takes a while to get used to. This isn’t the best album the group has put out but still makes it into the top 10.

7. Library Voices – Summer Of Lust: Some great power pop from Saskatchewan. It’s not quite The New Pronographers but these songs are catchy and will stay in your mind.

6. Cold War Kids – Mine Is Yours: Had this album been released in the latter part of the year, it might’ve been higher. I know a lot of the band’s long time fans felt this album was a bit too commercialized, but I liked the more accessible sound and would really recommend this as a starting point if you’re getting into the band’s discography.

5. Seryn – This Is Where We Are: It’s a little tough to classify this album. The band comes from Texas, so there’s a strong folky/kind-of alt-country vibe here but it’s so much more than that. We Will All Be Changed was a fantastic song and may be the song that I most remember from 2011.

4. Bruce Peninsula – Open Flames: This was probably the album that I most looked forward to in 2011. After they took a break while the lead singer battled cancer, they finally released the album and it did not disappoint. Not quite as folky as their debut album, it took me a little while to warm up to it but it is amazing.

3. Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver: There’s not much I can say about this that you haven’t already read as this topped or at least made everyone’s best-of lists for 2011. If you don’t know who they are, check out this album and For Emma, Forever Ago.

2. Thrice – Major/Minor: Another great release from Thrice. I love the mature lyrics get sung over fantastic musicianship. They can be a little over-serious at times but it’s pretty amazing. I was a little sad to hear that they’re taking a break, but hopefully they’ll be back at it in a couple years.

1. Social Distortion – Hard Times & Nursery Rhymes: I love the punk-influenced, folk/country. Mike Ness’ voice just pairs well with his lyrics of drinking, struggling through life and the other topics that you expect to find in a country song. This was definitely the album that I listened to the most in 2011.

So there you have it. I know I took a little bit longer than most people, but I’ve finally finished my wrap up of 2011 and it only took until the middle of January. I just need to make a mention that this is the first episode of year #4 of Jared’s Podcast. Now onto the playlist:

Shad & Dallas – Live Forever

Wye Oak – Two Small Deaths from “Civilian”
TallHART – The Bottle or the Man from “Sister of Mine”
Danielson – People’s Partay from “Best of Gloucestor County”
Library Voices – If Raymond Carver Were Born In The 90′s from “Summer of Lust”

Cold War Kids – Mine Is Yours from “Mine Is Yours”
Seryn – We Will All Be Changed from “This is Where We Are”
Bruce Peninsula – As Long As I Live from “Open Flames”
Bon Iver – Holocene from “Bon Iver, Bon Iver”

Thrice – Anthology from “Major/Minor”
Social Distortion – Still Alive from “Hard Times & Nursery Rhymes”

The Prayer Chain – Mercury from “Humb”

Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next week.

Jared (@mtroads1)

I don’t have too much to say this week, other than it has preview tracks of three albums that I’m really looking forward to in 2012 (Paper Route, The Wooden Sky and Rosie Thomas) plus a couple of interesting covers (not sure when the last time I heard a band cover The Tragically Hip). If you like the Paper Route or Rosie Thomas songs, head over to NoiseTrade.com as they’ve each got an old album up for free plus the songs that I used this week. Enjoy.

Jay-Z – Glory (featuring B.I.C)

Paper Route – Better Life from “The Peace Of Wild Things”
The Wooden Sky – Child of the Valley from “Every Child A Daughter, Every Moon A Sun.”
Frightened Rabbit – Cheap Gold

Petra Haden – Don’t Stop Believin’ from “Guilt By Associtation”
Rosie Thomas – Where Was I from “With Love”
Pilot Speed – Scared from “B-Sides & Demos”

The Brothers Fraternal – World Without End

Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next week.

Jared (@mtroads1)

Can you believe 2011 is behind us? I had an amazing year that a lot happened and I’m not sure 2012 can live up. That said, it’ll be off to a good start with this episode. I pulled together my favourite songs of the year and got it down to a paltry 25. That’s right, this episode is going to go a little long, but it’s worth it. I always save the best for last. I know most sites have already done their year-end round ups but I always prefer to do it after the year has ended. In the past, I’ve created these play lists in December but there were always albums released in December that deserved a mention. I committed one of the cardinal sins of creating playlists in this episode. I put tracks by the same artist consecutively. Trust me, there’s a reason for this. Playdough had an amazing year. Before this year, I always just knew him as one of the guys from Deepspace 5. On their last couple releases, he started to stand out a little bit more and then he released his album Hotdoggin this year. It’s fantastic. If that wasn’t enough, he compiled a mixtape with Heath McNeese called Wed, White and Wu and put that out as well. What was I to do? There was no way that I could only use a track from one of them. Anyways, these are my favourite songs of 2011:

Celldweller – Disposable War Pigs

Shad & Skratch Bastid – Give You All I Can
Playdough & Heath McNeese – #CougarSwag from “Wed, White & Wu”
Playdough – My Cadillac from “Hotdoggin’”
Propaganda & Odd Thomas – The City from “Art Ambidextrous”

Cold War Kids – Finally Begin from “Mine Is Yours”
Five Iron Frenzy – It Was A Dark And Stormy Night
Tokyo Police Club – Since U Been Gone
Social Distortion – Diamond In The Rough

OK Go – The Muppet Show Theme from “Muppets: The Green Album”
Danielson – Grow Up from “The Best of Gloucester County”
Frank Turner – I Am Disappeared from “England Keep My Bones”
Sloan – Unkind from “The Double Cross”
Nick Cave & Neko Case – She’s Not There from “True Blood, Vol. 3″

The Schomberg Fair – I’d Raise My Hand from “Mercy”
Bruce Peninsula – Pull Me Under from “Open Flames”
The Decemberists – Down By The Water from “The King Is Dead”
Seryn – We Will All Be Changed from “This Is Where We Are”
The Horrible Crowes – Behold The Hurricane from “Elsie”

Bon Iver – Calgary from “Bon Iver”
The National – Think You Can Wait from “Win Win” Soundtrack
Wye Oak – Civilian from “Civilian”
Silver Speakers – William Lyon MacKenzie King from “Never Was”
Kinley – Taxi Driver from “Fair Hero”

Thrice – Words In The Water (Polaris At Noon Remix)

Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next week.

Jared (@mtroads1)

Sometimes bands need to break up, even when you don’t want them too. Without Nirvana breaking up there’s be no Foo Fighters (maybe they didn’t break up, but I think it’s still valid, I guess you could count on the breaking up of Sunny Day Real Estate with helping form the band as well). Without Randy Bachman leaving the Guess Who, there’d be no Bachman-Turner Overdrive and without The Format and Anathallo breaking up, there’d be no fun. I loved their first album, Aim and Ignite, and was really happy to see that Some Nights, their follow-up album, would be released in 2012. Their band name really does reflect their sound. The music is fairly, light, bouncy and super-catchy. I’ve got the first track from the upcoming album in the episode this week and I love it. It’s got a grandness to it that wasn’t necessarily there on the first album, so I’m really curious as to the other surprises that they have in store for us. Be sure to keep your eye out for that. Here’s what you’re hearing in the last episode for 2011:

Trombone Shorty – Do To Me from “For True”

fun. – One Foot from “Some Nights”
Telegram – Sleeping In from “Futuro”
Five Iron Frenzy – It Was A Dark And Stormy Night

John K. Samson – When I Write My Master’s Thesis from “Provincial”
Cuff The Duke – The Suburbs
Radiohead – The Daily Mail
Poor Old Lu – Sickly (live & acoustic from 2009)

Paper Lights – Under Water from “Paper Lights”

Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next week.

Jared (@mtroads1)

I’m not going to say too much today. Just hope that you’re ready for Christmas and will take some time to truly reflect on the meaning of the day amidst the chaos that surrounds the holiday. I think that everyone needs to have one of the those moments, like in the Charlie Brown Christmas special, where everything goes quiet and all we here is Linus reciting the passage from Luke recounting the birth of Christ. It’s all too easy to get caught up in the shopping, parties, family gatherings and general business of the season and completely forget about that. That said, I’ve got some great music lined up for you today including some fantastic metal. If that’s not your thing, just wait through it and there’s some super-catchy pop after it. There should be a little of everything in there for everyone. Merry Christmas.

MxPx – Christmas Day

Theocracy – O Come O Come Emmanuel
August Burns Red – God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
The Vandals – Oi To The World

Mike Tompkins – The Christmas Rush
Josiah James – Heaven Came Down from “Flea’s Naughty Dog Vol 2″ (Download it here.)
Poor Old Lu – What Child Is This? from “Happy Christmas Vol 3″ (Download it here.)
Miracles of Modern Science – O Holy Night

DM Stith – I Stay Still from “A Familyre Christmas Volume 4″ (Download it here.
David Bazan – Just Like Christmas
Doug Burr – Oh Come All Ye Faithful from “Seryn & Friends Christmas”

The Beautiful Mistake – A Cradle In Bethlehem

Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next week.

Jared (@mtroads1)

There are only so many well-known Christmas songs. There are the traditional carols and then the pop songs that are mostly from the 40′s and 50′s (see xkcd.com for details). As a result when a band puts out a collection of songs that are 75% covers, they only have so many songs to choose from. This wasn’t such a big deal five years ago because there were only a handful of new Christmas albums being released but now that so many more artists are doing it, you start to hear the same songs over and over. To combat this, artists start digging a little deeper to find songs to cover (see No Doubt’s version of Oi To The World or Stavesacre’s rendition of Saviour Of The Fools). Inevitably, there’s going to be some cross-over, there just so much Christmas music being released now. For whatever reason, there tends to be one of these songs that a lot of people seem to choose one year. A couple years ago, it was The Pogues Fairytale of New York (although I haven’t come across a version of that this year). This year, it seems to be In The Bleak Midwinter. Ok, so that song might not be that rare, but of the traditional carols, it’s usually up there with the French classic Il est né le divin enfant in terms of rarity. However, this year I’ve heard it fairly frequently. All this preamble might lead you to believe that I’m featuring one of these versions in the episode this week. That assumption would be wrong. Paper Route recorded a really good version a couple years ago, so I’m going to use that one instead. Here’s the playlist:

Tumbledown – Run Rudolph Run from “No Sleep ’til Christmas 3″

Seryn – Star of Wonder featuring Chase Johnson & Judson Valdez from “Seryn & Friends Christmas”
Folk Angel – God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
The Wilderness of Manitoba – Hark! The Herald Angels Sing from “Ho Ho Ho Canada III” (Download it here.)
Paper Route – In The Bleak Midwinter from “Thank God The Year Is Finally Over”

Sloan – 12 Days of Christmas (Download it here.)
The Polyphonic Spree – It’s Christmas
Sufjan Stevens – The Midnight Clear from “Songs For Christmas VI: Gloria”

Stavesacre – Saviour Of The Fools from “Zambooie.com Holiday Download Sampler”

Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next week.

Jared (@mtroads1)

It’s that time of year again. The weather is starting to cool off and if you’re lucky, you’l see a little bit of snow on the ground. (If you’re really lucky, there will be enough to go sledding, make snow angels and maybe even a fort.) Typically, I’d start with the Christmas music as soon as December rolls around but I was off on vacation last week and didn’t get a chance to put together an episode before leaving. Anyways, I’m back and working on re-assembling my rather motley collection of Christmas music that was lost in the great hard drive crash of a couple months ago. Thankfully, there’s still a ton of Christmas music that’s being put out (and a lot of it free), so I was able to stock this episode with a couple classic tracks (I love that Low song) and a few new ones as well. Now I may need to explain the first track. If you haven’t heard of Austrian Death Machine, essentially, it’s a metal guy that builds songs off quotes from Arnold Schwarzenegger films and does a fairly poor impression of him while putting it together. Classics from him include Get To The Choppa, Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers and It’s Not A Tumour. Anyways, I came across his version of Jingle Bells and thought it would start things off with a bit of a comical mood. Anyways, here’s what you’re hearing this week:

Austrian Death Machine – Jingle Bells from “A Very Brutal Christmas”

Sufjan Stevens – Come On! Let’s Boogie To The Elf Dance from “Songs For Christmas”
Dustin Kensrue – God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen from “This Good Night Is Still Everywhere”
Low – Just Like Christmas from “Christmas”

We Were Fiction – O Come O Come Emmanuel (Download it here.)
Ivy Mairi – In The Bleak Midwinter from “If Jesus Had Been Born In Canada, He Would Have Needed More Swaddling Clothes” (Download it here.)
Dan Zimmerman – Bethlehem from “A Familyre Christmas 4″ (Download it here.)
Rosie Thomas – Christmas Don’t Be Late from “A Very Rosie Christmas”

Sleeping At Last – Umbrellas from “Keep No Score”

Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next week.

Jared (@mtroads1)

So, how do you eulogize something that’s not dead? I guess you can’t. If it’s not really dead, you can’t have a eulogy for it, as by definition, a eulogy celebrates the life of something that doesn’t exist anymore. Up until last week, you could’ve said that about Five Iron Frenzy. The seminal third-wave ska band called it quits eight years ago and hadn’t been heard from since. Then a few mysterious blogs posts and website started appearing with countdowns leading to Tuesday, November 22nd. Suddenly, a facebook page and a twitter account popped up hinting at something big. Then finally, on the 22nd in the evening, Five Iron Frenzy announced their return. A new song was released (and made available for download at their facebook page) and plans were announced to record a new album. However, since they all had day jobs and moved on as a band, they were looking for help. They started a kickstarter page to help and raise the $30,000 they felt they needed to properly record a new album. Despite initially thinking that it would take about six weeks to raise the money, after 55 minutes, the goal was reached. (At the time of this writing, page had been active for a day and had received over $90,000 in pledges.) Five Iron fans are nothing if not passionate and they all turned out so quickly to offer their money to their former heroes. So as a result, this week’s episode is dedicated to them. If you know their music, sit back and enjoy some of their best work. If you’re not a fan, give it a chance. Here’s the playlist:

Relient K – Five Iron Frenzy Is Either Dead Or Dying from “The Bird and The Bee Sides”
Hope Still Flies (Download it here.)

Third World Think Tank from “Upbeats & Beatdowns”
Handbook for the Sellout from “Our Newest Album Ever”
The Phantom Mullet from “All The Hype Money Can Buy”

Arnold & Willis & Mr. Drummond from “Upbeats & Beatdowns”
Oh, Canada from “Our Newest Album Ever”
The Jazz Song from the These Are Not My Pants rock opera from “Quantity Is Job #1″
It’s So Hot I’m Gonna Have a Heat Stroke from “The Cheeses of Nazereth”
When I Go Out from “Quantity Is Job #1″

A Flowery Song from “Upbeats & Beatdowns”
Dandelions from “Quantity Is Job #1″
World Without End from “All The Hype Money Can Buy”

Every New Day from “Our Newest Album Ever”

Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next week.

Jared (@mtroads1)