Favourite Albums of 2008

Hi, Mike from For the records present and accounted for. Hope everyone has had a good holiday so far! And my apologies for not contributing to this here 'collective' music blog since it started but I figured why not get everyone to check out my favourite albums of 2008. It's mostly non-Canadian artists (except for Toronto's The Coast and Edmonton's Cadence Weapon) but perhaps in 2009 I'll redirect part of my attention back to the Canadian and Toronto music scene.

I particularly will devote some of my efforts to checking out more in depth Rural Alberta Advantage, Bruce Peninsula, Entire Cities and Forest City Lovers since what I've heard of them is enticing and my fellow bloggers seem to be entirely ga ga over.

Best Albums of '08 ... part deux!

... and part 2... with more great TO-y content...

27a. Provincial Parks – Iron Ponies EP
20. Entire Cities – Deep River
19. Hayden – In Field & Town
18. The Rural Alberta Advantage – Hometowns
12. Born Ruffians – Red, Yellow & Blue
10. Tokyo Police Club – Elephant Shell
5. Black Hat Brigade – Black Hat Brigade EP
1c. Ketch Harbour Wolves -Dead Calm Horizon

Indie Music 63 (29 Dec - 4 Jan 2008).

My weekly listings are now up on my blog, here. Lots to do this week!

Best Albums of '08 (Part 1)!

I've got my Best Albums of '08 (like that must've tough to figure out), and there are a few - or more than a few - Toronto bands that have made the cut in the first (of two) installment including:

#27 Provincial Parks
#19 Hayden
#5 Black Hat Brigade
#18 The Rural Alberta Advantage

See the full post here... part 2 coming tomorrow...

Also, its exciting to see that we've got Paul drinking the kool-aid now... and by drinking the kool-aid I mean, posting here ....

Favourite Canadian Songs of 2008

Howdy folks! I just posted two mixtapes of my 30 favourite Canadian tunes of 2008. Both are available for download either by individual song or in two zipped packages. I really enjoyed putting these together and hope you guys will get a kick out of my picks. Check them out here:

WHK's Favourite Songs of 2008 pt.1 (mixtape)
WHK's Favourite Songs of 2008 pt.2 (another mixtape)

Another great year for Canadian indie music. Happy holidays!

Shout out.

Merry Christmas! I've got a few downloads available on my blog, featuring bands I saw this month. Check here for songs from The Rural Alberta Advantage, The Golden Hands Before God..., and The Speaking Tongues. (Bob, you would have LOVED that last show, I think. Seriously.)

The Golden Hands Before God @ Rancho Relaxo. Dec. 20. 2008

(for the record, that might be the best photo I've taken all year... )

I had a pretty awesome time seeing the Golden Hands Before God at Rancho Relaxo a couple nights ago...

TICKET GIVEAWAY CONTEST: Whale Tooth, Amos The Transparent and Bellewoods @ Rancho Relaxo

Amos The Transparent are awesome! Whale Tooth are awesome! From what I've heard, Bellewoods are awesome! Therefore, seeing the three of them together on the Rancho Relaxo stage on Friday January 2nd, 2009 should be nothing short of awesome! That's why I am pumped to be giving away a pair of passes to this show over on my blog. The contest rules are ridiculously easy so if you're a fan of great music and you live somewhere in the general Toronto area, you really have no excuse for not entering.

Contest rules can be found on the blog with the insanely long url:
It's Not The Band I Hate, It's Their Fans

Bands' Best _____ of '08

A list of what Toronto Bands (mostly) liked best in '08... its poorly formatted (my bad), but they had a lot of interesting stuff to say:

http://londononburgeoningmetropolis.blogspot.com/2008/12/everyone-elses-best-of-08-bands.html

My list (I hope) will be up at some point next week...

Podcast 21 (18-21 Dec 2008).

The podcast for this weekend is up here:
http://historyjen.blogspot.com/2008/12/podcast-21-18-21-dec-2008.html
Great songs this week. See you out on the dance floor!

Weekly Picks (16-21 Dec 2008).

I've got some going-out suggestions over at my blog (and other places):
http://historyjen.blogspot.com/2008/12/weekly-picks-16-21-dec-2008.html
Not a full list this week, but enough, I should think, to keep you going!