Hawksley suggests you put on your headphones…

If I were forming a band, I’d keep it local. Those members would be friends, ones who share my interests and overall love of a sound. They’d be invested in the music, a movement that only so many can understand. My ‘mates would surround themselves in aural pleasures. If the option presented itself, they wouldn’t turn off the soundtrack to their lives. Ever.

Take the Ontarioan Hawksley Workman, a man capable of creating sexed up glam, chamber pop, celestial hymns, or countless other wonders, Steve Bays from British Columbia’s Hot Hot Heat, and Ryan Dahley from Vancouver’s Limblifter to form Mounties. Fittingly, they’re Canadian. ‘Headphones’, with its driving guitar line, perfect pop pleasantries, and anthemic sing along, is the equivalent of a date with your favorite record: one where it’s you, a favorite piece of vinyl, and your headphones to take in the aural experience. Get lost in the sound…

Divine Fit’s Hungry Heart…

Not necessary, but most live gigs would benefit from a cover thrown into a set. An opportunity to flex, a chance to reinterpret the original, take a minute idea one hears and run with it; or for some, strip away anything nonessential.

Courtesy of Triple J‘s down under national radio, Divine Fits further corroborate why they ended up on my 2012 list. This time around, they’re seated, and for the most part, unplugged. With Britt’s powerful, throaty delivery, the formidable quartet reinterpret Bruce Springstein’s Heavy Heart, a track originally heard on his 1980 record The River.

And their original in the studio:

Would That Not Be Nice

The T-E-D-x

As of April, we can add “inspirational speaker with dope-ass rhetoric” to Matt Mahaffey‘s resume. The scientist behind all things quirky pop — and tear inducing — is scheduled to drop his knowledge of something at the independent TEDx event in Nashville. My hope is that 2013 brings a new format to these talks: let’s give the audience a reason to get live. Stand up from their seats, incite a friendly, bubblegum pop riot, one that causes everyone to move, sing along, and just straight up smile. If Matt isn’t dropping beats, perhaps the man is discussing the current state of affairs in the music industry. Shit, my fingers are crossed he’s simply announcing his sElf record is complete.

Dip back into this forward thinking track from the Half-Baked Serenade….

Another February EP…

H

To stay in any game, no matter the format, is no joke. The game of music is more often than not short lived by most. Know that some artists, even if short lived, will burn on through my speakers for a lifetime. Local H, once the Chicagoans of the Year, have been fighting hitting the skids for more than two decades. A duo, before it was the shit to be one, has been concocting more powerful records than your favorite quartet for twenty years. A new year brings a new Local H release, this one an EP five months later than ’12’s epic ode to our country and bitter cold, yet tough Chicago.

Hallelujah! I’m a Bum, a record my ride’s disc player might be sick of. It’s been five month’s time since it encapsulated this LP. But the lyricism, the sincerity, the message, and the loud chug of Lucas’ guitar and St. Clair’s rhythmic, thunderous drums tell me it deserves yet another listen.

Another February EP is 5 tracks. 3 original Local H songs. 2 covers. All the grit and adoration for rock that we come to expect from this power house duo.

Local H – The Another February EP