The Neighbourhood Mixtape: With the Salt up to your Ankles
The Neighbourhood Mixtape is a collection of newly-released songs by Toronto musicians. The mixtape is meant to celebrate Toronto's music culture and provide a forum to listen to and discover new local music.
Every Sunday, I post a five-track mixtape (along with my own mini-reflections for each track) that you can download or stream as a soundtrack for the week.
Track #1: July Talk, "Paper Girl"
July Talk is Peter Dreimanis and Leah Fay, a rowdy guy-girl duo with a unique vocal combo between them. Wailing, bluesy roars combine with wrangling arrangements in "Paper Girl", and there's no restraint between the ongoing push and pull between discord and beauty here. Download the song here.
Track #2: Bahamas, "Your Sweet Touch"
"Your Sweet Touch" gives you a shot of excitement. The song builds with purpose, slow and precise before Afie Jarvanen lets loose on the fretboard, his natural flare for guitar mirroring the title of his song.
Track #3: PS I Love You, "Princess Towers"
After hearing "Sentimental Dishes" on the previous mixtape, PS I Love You's newest track "Princess Towers" (available for free download) only proves that the band's fever for garage rock flourishes offer listeners a hypnotic allure.
Track #4: Soupcans, "Shocked!"
The Soupcans' "Shocked!" is a scrappy, gritty little track that buzzes with brainwash drumbeats and slapdash aggression.
Track #5: Cold Specks, "Compulsion"
Cold Specks creates "doom soul", a new genre that, after listening to "Holland", captures the themes of mortality and paralysis - the kinds of things that James Joyce often wrote about, and for a bit of trivia, where singer Al Spx got the name "Cold Specks" (Ulysses).
If you wish to be a part of The Neighbourhood Mixtape, you can contact Aldrin at aldrin [at] blogto [dotcom]
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