futurekids - say goodnight to the machines

I hate when a clever, cool band starts making music in Winnipeg and I don't hear about it right away, such as when I didn't hear about Cannon Bros. until way after the fact. Another one that fell under my radar is futurekids, who flirt with shoegaze and Britpop frames. Liquid, shimmering guitar lines play off reverb and echo to spare, leading to a dream pop that alternates between soothing and epic, tense and tightly wound and freely unfurled. Slightly reminiscent of another Canadian band called Conrad that few people heard about.
futurekids will shake off some gloom at a release show for "say goodnight to the machines" at the Windsor Hotel in Winnipeg on Saturday, October 18.

Check out the brilliant animated video for In-Service, painstakingly created by bass player/songwriter Nicholas Friesen.

In-Service



 Here's a free download of Merit Badge.


Captain Furniture Valley


Olivia Sea


Alt Street Weekly
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A Billion Hundred


Quiz Show


A demo version of Olivia Sea? Why thank you, yes.

The Church - Pride Before a Fall

The Church are back to slow down your heartbeat and perhaps change the speed of life. The band's 25th studio album entitled Further/Deeper is out October 17 in Australia and New Zealand, for the rest of us, who knows? First single Pride Before A Fall is by no means a departure, so if you have a hankering for the band's dreamy, endlessly diving guitars and shadowy, soaring vocals, here ya go. 

Pride Before a Fall


Some older tunes in case you've forgotten:

Unguarded Moment


Under the Milky Way (Live)


Almost With You


Reptile

Metropolis

Hounds of Love

You're Still Beautiful

Ripple

The church - ripple by epb21

Welcome

Numbers

Louisiana

Deadman's Hand

Warsaw - Record Lows, Show Sept 18

Winnipeg's Warsaw is waiting patiently for you to download their demo, Record Lows, which is free or pay-what-you-will. A compelling blend of melodic scrappy punk (think Samiam) and sludgy, hooky-but-punishing alt-metal (Helmet), Warsaw rises above. And it should, because the musicians in the band (Darren Achorn/ drums, Josh Bedry/ guitar, Curran Faris/ guitar & vocals, and Ethan Osland/ bass) have all proven themselves in so many bands I'm not even going to start listing them, 'cause we ain't got all day.



Carrion Talker


Warsaw will be playing with Russian Circles and The Atlas Moth Thursday Sept. 18 at The Pyramid Cabaret.

Distances - Scenario Free MP3

Distances is releasing their new album Peaks/Valleys September 16, album release party September 13 at the Park Theaatre. Download Scenarios from Manitoba Music, but do it now, it's gone tomorrow! And remember, the album will be available everywhere you can stream and download music online on September 16.

Scruffy the Cat - The Good Goodbye and Time Never Forgets

After more than 25 years, Scruffy the Cat are putting out a new album. OK, it's not exactly a new album, and the band doesn't exist anymore, but it's still previously unreleased music, which is an amazing gift from former band members as far as I'm concerned. You can pre-order from Omnivore records here, its out Sept. 16.


The Good Goodbye

Track listing

1. BIG FAT MONKEY’S HAT
2. THE BURNING CROSS
3. EVERYTHING
4. THE GHOST SONG
5. LOVER’S DAY
6. HAPPINESS TO GO
7. OLDEST FIRE IN THE WORLD
8. TIGER TIGER
9. LOST HIGHWAY
10. TONIGHT
11. SHADOW BOY
12. SLOW DOWN
13. MOMMA KILLED HATE
14. WELL… ALL RIGHT
15. RED LIGHT
16. I LIKE THE WAY YOU DANCE
17. THE DOCTOR SONG
18. SWEET NEWS
19. I KNEW THAT YOU WOULD
20. LOVE SONG #9
21. HOPE
22. PORCH FLAMBE
23. THE GOOD GOODBYE

Scruffy's entire catalog was recently released digitally for the first time. Time Never Forgets The Anthology (86-88) is available now, two albums and two EPs, lovingly collected for you.
iTunes

Amazon

Google

Tiny Days


Kissing Galaxy


Blue Russian


40 Days and 40 Nights


Upside Down




A Scruffy cover for ya:
Preacher Roe - Life is Fun

Conduct - A Figure, Contract Killer, Fear and Desire

Winnipeg's Conduct are unleashing a stormy, desperate post-punk maelstrom. The album is entiled Fear and Desire, it's out November 4 on Public Tone, it was recorded by Steve Albini and is being mastered by Bob Weston.


A Figure


Contract Killer

Royal Canoe - Exodus of the Year

Royal Canoe's newest video is a brilliant piece of work clarifying that Winnipeg is a land of potholes, bargain stores, parking lots, guard dogs, tanks, tributes to Louis Riel, and love. As a band that are becoming our ambassadors by default ( as The Weakerthans were for a while, and Propagandhi too!), it's one of the most perfect homages ever. Funny, odd, outdated and a little bizarre, the video is just like Winnipeg.




Here's a live version for ya, with real strings!


Royal Canoe is often doing something noteworthy, like performing Beck's SongReader (you can hear a few track here), and here's some video.

Button Fumbla (Live)


The band also does a truckload of shows. Yeah, they've played your town. Twice. Here's the next few dates, find the rest here, ya lazy bugger.

Sep 13 Harvest Moon Festival Clearwater, Canada
Sep 20 Scotia Bank Stage - Rightsfest Winnipeg, Canada
Sep 30 The Exchange w/ Close Talker Regina, Canada
Oct 01 The Capitol w/ Close Talker Saskatoon, Canada
Oct 02 Pawn Shop w/ Close Talker Edmonton, Canada
Oct 03 Bo's Bar & Grill

Slow Leaves - Beauty So Common

Winnipeg's Slow Leaves (Grant Davidson) are (is) releasing a brand-spankin' new album entitled Beauty is so Common on September 6 at the West End Cultural Centre. Beauty is so Common should park Slow Leaves in the same field as singer-songwriters such as Ron Sexsmith and Scott Nolan, fellas that somehow manage to create fresh songs that already sound classic, gimmick-free and devoid of any need to be pigeon-holed into genres such as alt-country. Is it folk? Is it pop? Country? Who cares? My favourite tracks so far are Life of a Better Man, Neighbourhood Watch, and Second Chances.


 Everybody Wants to be in Love


Second Chances



Life of a Better Man (free download!)


And the amazing video for the same song created by Davidson himself.


Careless and Serene (with Rob Pachol on ukelele)