NXNE 2018 took place this past June and I was there to catch an awesome club show at Cherry Cola's featuring Marlon Chaplin and The Nursery, then I caught the Saturday show of NXNE's return to Yonge-Dundas Square.
As always, NXNE was a great mix of artists I knew would be amazing like Chvrches and Marlon Chaplin, plus new discoveries like Yungblud, Strands and The Nursery.
Until next year, here are links to the posts on each artist I caught during NXNE 2018. Hope you enjoy!
I first heard Lights intimate and vulnerable yet empowering pop tunes when she released her first EP back in 2008. Songs like "Drive My Soul" and "February Air" were magic to my ears. Fast forward to NXNE 2018 at Yonge-Dundas Square for my first live Lights experience.
Her audience loves her and gathered in droves to hear these tunes live from the stage and await their red-haired hero to come down to the front to greet them. It was a powerful, high-energy show.
The more I listen to The Cribs, the more I like them. As they progress through their career, the more I like them. I like each album more than the last. I hope this continues with their new album Ignore the Ignorant which comes out September 8 in the UK and November 10 in North America. Brooklyn Vegan has the scoop and mentions that the digital version comes out the same date as the UK release. Probably smart as you know the album would be available worldwide via torrent.
There's a free mp3 for the song "We Were Aborted" as well. Good loud guitars off the top. Gotta like it. A good fast song. Sounds like The Cribs, alright. Then there's a half-tempo break-down part for the first chorus. Nice.
If you're not familiar with their older stuff, here's "Men's Needs" from Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever
And here's "Our Bovine Public", also from Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever
Also of note is that something I've noticed anecdotally is actually official. I thought that more bands on myspace (who just purchased iLike) were getting wise to the fact that I might not want their song to auto-play when I arrive on their page. I might already be listening to something else. Well, according to Hypebot, it's a conscious decision. Even though it seems to be selfishly motivated by a desire to claw back on bandwidth, I'm happy about it because it improves my user experience.
And while I floated over to myspace, I saw that Lights has a new video premiering. It's for a song called "Saviour" and while it's not the kind of music I usually gravitate to, I do have a weakness for a good, cutesy pop song. This fits the bill.
