What Scruffy Loved Listening to This Year, Pt. 2

Everyone's got a best of the year list. Sorry, not here. But you do get a bunch of music that I loved this year (some of which may have been released prior to 2010, I don't care), some of which I've blogged about already, and some of which I didn't get to sharing. So here it is, Part Two, come on back for the next parts.

The Decemberists' new one The King is Dead ain't out until January 18, but single Down By the Water is already giving out goosebumps. Colin Meloy has been showing off his knack for melody for years, but add on Peter Buck imitating himself circa Fables and then Gillian Welch lending vocals? Nicely done.

The Decemberists -- Down By The Water by JoshApos

Nada Surf are always worth a listen, power pop for now people like you. An album of covers can be dodgy, but not this band's.

Nada Surf - Electrocution by Royalty Central



Winnipeg's Royal Canoe brought the humour, the falsettos, and the hip-shakin' back.

Royal Canoe - Kasparov by scruffy the yak



Sanford finally released songs I've had in my head for years, and actually they were better than I remembered them live. 'Pegger Rob Pachol is Sanford, and he told me he just recorded these tunes to get 'em out and done with. So no shows, no promo, and probably not a big following for this project, which is a shame.

Sanford - Complicated Shoes by scruffy the yak

School of Seven Bells told me I missed shoegaze. Huh. Guess I did.

School of Seven Bells - Babelonia by VagrantRecords

School Of Seven Bells - 'I L U' by stripeyjumper

Shout out Louds make passionate, classy pop. Unapologetically catchy, not joining the forced artiness brigade. Hard not to enjoy Shout Out Louds, don't you think?

04 Shout Out Louds Fall Hard by djeddieo

Shout Out Louds - Can't Explain by barbabajs

Shout Out Louds - Walls by The Muse In Music

Shout Out Louds - Show Me Something New from Ted Malmros on Vimeo.

Come oooooooooooooonnnnnn, leave a comment or two. come back for Part 3, too.

The Raveonettes do Stone Roses, Shout Out Louds do Band of Horses, Serena Ryder Stays Alive

The Raveonettes' cover of The Stone Roses' I Wanna Be Adored is cool, neither destroying the song or being too reverent. Supposedly You can download the track, as well as some other dodgy covers for free at a Doc Martens website, but I guess you have to be in England or Europe or something - Canadians are not allowed to partake. That pisses me off, just like when artists and labels throw free tracks or compilations up on Amazon US that Canucks like me cannot access. But who knows, maybe you can access a download here, 'cause I'm helpful like that.





When a band you like covers another artist you enjoy, maybe hopes are raised as little too high, like with Shout Out Louds' cover of Band of Horses' Is There a Ghost. A mellow take on the original, a ghostly, muted heartbeat instead of the quiet-to-loud epic build - not what I would have expected, which would have been a sunny, sparkly pop version. It seems people like to do stripped-down versions of BOH songs, though, like Torontonian Serena Ryder's cover of Band of Horses' The Funeral below.





Buy Raveonettes here.

Buy Shout Out Louds here.

Buy Serena Ryder here.

My Unconnected Recent Faves - Shout out Louds, Hold Steady, Jason and the Scorchers, JP Hoe, Scott Hinkson, The Shins, Ryan Dahle...and more

Illustration by Gustaf

Shout Out Louds continue to send sublime pop from Sweden. The Cure meets Billy Joel maybe? I haven't found a lot to get excited about lately, but I wouldn't mind if this band became as a popular as ABBA.

Shout Out Louds - Show Me Something New from Merge Records on Vimeo.

The Shins would like to give you their cover of Squeeze's Goodbye Girl, and it's good good good. Go here.



The Shins aren't doing much lately, but mainman James Mercer is doing all right with Broken Bells.



The Hold Steady do The Sweet Part of the City, which seems like a southern rock ballad to me...and I like it.



Winnipeg's Scott Hinkson has decided to hand over the digital keys for his entire album The Torrent Sessions, at least for a short period of time. Go here to grab it before it's gone.



Scott Hinkson-A Miracle Complete by scruffy the yak

Ryan Dahle's video for Agoraphobe. I think this guy is amazing, please give him a listen.


Find more videos like this on R Y A N D A H L E


Nada Surf, you gotta love 'em, here's their cover of Electrocution followed by the original.



Bill Fox - Electrocution



The original, record label-approved video for Jason & the Scorchers's White Lies is a prime example of why the 80s are called cheesy, go here if you want to see it. This Chinatown-White Lies mash-up is more interesting, but it's really the song I adore. Recently the genius at Music Ruined My Life posted some cool live Scorchers you can grab, and the band's brilliance is lighting up my days once more.

Jason & the Scorchers - White Lies



One of my favourite tunes by Peg City's JP Hoe. Featuring the nimble Rob Pachol (with last post's Telepathic Butterflies and Sanfordand songs, that makes 3 plugs for Satch in a week - does he have to be so ubiquitous? When's the solo record arriving?). Hoe is working on his new album, which I gather will come out with a live album he recently recorded.



I missed the Hank III show the other night, sold out before I snagged a ticket. But I do think he's one of the most intriguing characters out there, pure country one sec, balls-out metal the next, or raging punk. Can anyone else do that? Anyone want to?



I think my next post will be my 100th. Any ideas about how I might commemorate/celebrate/desecrate that Scruffy the Yak birthday? Please leave a comment below.

Shout Out Louds Fall Hard

Haven't had the time to blog lately, but all of you lazy buggers haven't been giving me many tips lately, either. But I was sent the following video, and I'm liking it. I didn't know Shout Out Louds until now, but the band seems to be based in Stockholm, and their third album Work will be out on Feb. 23 in North America. The Fall Hard ep is available now from merge records. If you like Red Riders, The Cure, Echo & the Bunnymen, Lloyd Cole and Prefab Sprout, you may fall hard for this band like I did. The single for the first video below is out on iTunes now. You can download the song Walls for free by going here, and when you do, give a listen to Very Loud as well, you won't be disappointed.

Shout Out Louds - Fall Hard from Merge Records on Vimeo.

Shout Out Louds - Walls from Merge Records on Vimeo.

Shout Out Louds should not be confused with Edmonton's Shout Out Out Out Out, who sound kinda like the video below.

COMING HOME - SHOUT OUT OUT OUT OUT & CADENCE WEAPON from Dr. Hope on Vimeo.