If you haven't been to a Gobble Gobble show yet, you don't know that the insistence to take off your clothes is actually meant to keep you from ruining them with sweat.

Seriously, Sunday night’s 99 Sevens show, featuring Gobble Gobble’s glow-in-dark single Becoming Legion, was out of this world. There is a whole new thing in Edmonton right now, and it is completely fucking awesome.

1. “Chelsea Hotel No. 2″ – Leonard Cohen, New Skin for the Old Ceremony
   - Naturally, though, we start with a sad song. This is supposedly about Janis Joplin. I just love the last line, “I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel, /
   that’s all, I don’t even think of you that often.” That’s either depressingly honest or a really dickish thing to say, but either way, kudos.
2. “Lawn Knives” – Gobble Gobble, Lawn Knives 7″
   - This actually gets even better live, with two guys hammering on each others’ helmets for percussion, and CJ Frena doing his rabid butterfly thing. Don’t miss them next time they return.
3. “God Only Knows” – PDF Format, Building Blocks Singles Club Vol. 1
   - This song does not get any worse the more I play it
4. “Owl Eyes” – Pop Winds, The Turquoise
   - Go check out a double shot of the brilliant Arbutus Records label next Monday at Wunderbar. You won’t be sorry.
5. “Hans Kruger” – Kumon Plaza ft. The Joe & Franny, Cliff
   - As long as you’re cool with feeling like you’ve done nothing with your life, you should definitely go download this 16-year-old’s record for free
6. “Less Than Thrilled” – Love is All, Two Thousand and Ten Injuries
   - These guys do naïve-with-an-edge really well
7. “Walk in the Park” – Beach House, Teen Dream
   - While I’m engaging in shameless self-promotion, let me just say I still think this is one of the albums of the year
   
8. “A Token of Gratitude” – The Radio Dept., Clinging to a Scheme
   - Sometimes things just need to get a little moody. Though the Swedes are usually better at sunny. Or at least wry.
9. “Last Year’s Disco Guitars” – Bishop Morocco, Bishop Morocco
10. “Tonight Was A Disaster” – Casiotone For the Painfully Alone, Daytrotter Session
    - A cut from Casiotone’s brilliant Daytrotter session. There’s a lot of bare-bones gems in that back catalogue.
11. “Jump Kid” – It Kills, It Kills
    - Still more moody music, this time from Halifax
12. “The Walker” – Gayngs, Relayted
    - These guys technically have 23 members, but c’mon, there can’t possibly actually be a need for that many people, can there? Unless you need, like, 14 or so Bez/Flavor Flav vibes/hype men
13. “Don’t Become The Thing You Hated” – Destroyer, Your Blues
    - I have this thing for songs that don’t have more than one or two lines, repeated ceaselessly. One day I might do a whole show around them.
14. “Sweet Thing” – Van Morrison, Astral Weeks
    - Oh, c’mon, he’s coming to town, we might as well

Alright, I'm a complete sucker for intricate lyrics sung over a piano

I’d be hard-pressed to find a unifying theme for this particular edition, but that doesn’t take away anything from the songs.

1. “Sea Monster” – Giraffedactyl, Yes We’ll Glow
   - A delicate little beauty of an album from Edmonton’s own Megan James
2. “Trading Thrills” – The Provincial Archive, Maybe We Could Be Holy
   - One of our local favourites finally have a new album out, and on top of that they’re playing a show to celebrate. Go see it.
3. “Don’t Haunt This Place” – The Rural Alberta Advantage, Hometowns
   - I don’t know how intentional this was on Carrie’s part, but I’ve always found The RAA’s first album and The Provincial Archives’ first albums as kind of flip sides of the same coin: the former is about leaving a town and a lover, the latter is about a lover leaving the town you’re staying in. Listen to them and think about it.
4. “We’ll Find Out” – Timber Timbre, Timber Timbre
   - Any way you spell it, this guy’s got a beautiful voice
5. “Round and Round” – Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Before Today
   - Probably one of the best albums of the year, if you’re into this sort of thing. Which you should be. Because it’s probably one of the best albums of the year.
6. “Collector” – Here We Go Magic, Pigeons
   - I love how much this video makes them look like a basement British band from the 1980s
   
7. “Lonelyhearts” – Blue Hawaii, Blooming Summer
   - Go to Arbutus Records site and buy everything they have in stock. You can thank me later.
8. “Old Machines” – Grasscut, 1 inch : 1/2 mile
9. “Pocketful of Money” – Jens Lekman, Oh You’re So Silent Jens
   - Carrie’s eventual wedding song. You could certainly do worse.
10. “Castor & Pollux” – Katherine Calder, Are You My Mother?
    - Castor and Pollux, of course, are the twins that make up the constellation Gemini. What this has to do with Katherine Calder’s recently departed mother, I am not sure, but this album is dedicated to her.
11. “The Charm” – Maps & Atlases, Perch Patchwork
    - This album has a hell of an opening one-two. The rest of it is pretty sharp, too.
12. “Ghost Pressure” – Wolf Parade, Expo 86
    - I used to definitely be a Spencer Krug man, but I think I’ve come over to Dan Boeckner. Mostly because he’s showing a serious Krug influence these days.
13. “Ready for the Floor” – Hot Chip, Made in the Dark
    - As I confirmed with Sexy Ken, there’s never a wrong time for Hot Chip
    

The Tallest Man on Earth never specifices if he wants to be a contemporary king or not

It turns out Carrie needed SOS Festival to convince her that Edmonton is a cool town. Me, I was just happy to walk around Whyte Ave without getting stabbed.

1. “Crooked Legs” – The Acorn, Glory Hope Mountain
   - This album was actually written about frontman Rolf Klausener’s mother: the title is the literal English translation of her name, Gloria Esperanza Montoya. This song’s about her brother, who had polio, I think.
2. “Paradise O Paradise” – Sean Nicholas Savage, Movin’ Up in Society
   - This song is about Edmonton, naturally. We are always happy to see new Sean Nicholas Savage albums.
3. “The King of Spain” – The Tallest Man on Earth, The Wild Hunt
   - Viva España! (Auf Deutsche.)
4. “Drinking the Lake” – Boats, Cannonballs Cannonballs
5. “That Old Feeling” – Dead Ghosts
   - These fine folks were part of SOS Fest, most specifically the part that Weird Canada curated. Top notch the whole night long, I’m told.
6. “I Wanna Show You You” – Thomas, Self-Help
   - Speaking of Weird Canada, they are big fans of this guy, also
7. “Outta Control” – Timecopz
   - More SOS Fest, more Weird Canada, more myspace
8. “Society” – DVAS, Society
   - I really am in this video. Luckily, I’m basically a method actor when it comes to awkward parties.
   
9. “Bad Choices” – Shout Out Out Out Out, Reintegration Time
   - Word to all you poor motherfuckers out there.
10. “Owl Eyes” – Pop Winds, The Turquoise
    - Everything Arbutus Records does is amazing.
11. “Sunday Sunny Sunday” – Royaume des Morts, Royaume des Morts
    - I think this whole Montreal scene might have something going for it
12. “Bloodbuzz Ohio” – The National, High Violet
    - It came up after that none of us really knew what a blood buzz is, but when you get right down to it, who cares? It sounds lamentable, which is what the National does best.

"A Little Rain" was basically the perfect song to play tonight, if I do say so myself

As if the grey weather wasn’t down enough, Carrie is off looking for birds in the wilderness, so I was alone. But hey: sad bastard music is some of my favourite music.

1. “God Only Knows” – PDF Format, Building Blocks Singles Club, Vol. 1
   - It’s between this song and this medley for best-ever 8-bit cover, definitely
2. “You Fell For It” – Whitsundays, Saul
   - Edmonton’s psych-pop kings are having their official album release on Friday, June 18 at the Pawnshop. I’ll be there.
3. “Live in Dreams” – Wild Nothing, Gemini
   - Pretty damn fine ’80s-enthralled dream pop
4. “Our Athletic Friends” – Boats, Cannonball, Cannonball
   - As mentioned on air, basically the finest mix of nasally vocals and pop songcraft since Wheatus (I link to that video because it’s got the Generation Kill bit, one of my favourite uses of pop music in television history)
5. “Star Eyes (I Can’t Catch It)” – Danger Mouse + Sparklehorse, Dark Night of the Soul
   - This is an early contender for album of the year. Easily. This song was co-written with David Lynch, who also knows a little something about using pop music in filmed mediums
   
6. “The Meaning of the Ritual” – Villagers, Becoming a Jackal
7. “A Little Rain” – Tom Waits, Bone Machine
   - I know Rain Dogs and Swordfishtrombone get a lot of credit, but this is a pretty ridiculously good album, too
8. “Girlfriend” – Ty Segall, Melted
   - Something to pick up the mood just a bit. Thank god for the garage rock revival
9. “Roadrunner” – The Modern Lovers, The Modern Lovers
   - Greil Marcus once called this “the most obvious song ever written,” and I don’t really disagree with the man, but I also think that’s kind of what makes it awesome. It should come standard on every used, late-model car a 17-year-old buys.
10. “Year’s Not Long” – Male Bonding, Nothing Hurts
    - Doesn’t get any less fantastic the more I play it
11. “USA Boys” – Health, Disco 2
    - Health is one of the rare bands that’s almost always better remixed, but this is just fine as is
12. “Soft Skin” – Cosmetics, Soft Skin/Black Leather 7″
    - I refer to what Aaron Levin has to say on the subject
13. “Zoal, Face Dancer” – Grimes, Geidi Primes
14. “Edmonton, AB” – Forestry, Forestry
    - As soon as I find one more song that uses Edmonton in its title, I’m playing an entire set

Destroyer makes long songs I can actually get into

The lovely Kent was down at Sasquatch, so that meant we could finally play all the really long songs we normally feel indulgent putting on air.

(Extra note: due to an error on my part, this didn’t post when I intended it to. I’ll figure out technology one day. In the mean time pretend you read this a week ago.)

1. “Rubies” – Destroyer, Destroyer’s Rubies
   - Not many people can write a 10-minute song I’ll actually listen to, but Dan Bejar can. Hey, if you like, you should go check him out with that little side project of his June 8
2. “Ballad of Moose Bruce” – Born Ruffians, Say It
   - This is actually a pretty disappointing sophomore effort, but their debut, Red, Yellow and Blue, is a bit of pop gold
3. “Drinking Games” – Library Voices, Denim on Denim
   - And speaking of pop gold, this little gem from Regina’s own pop as fuck supergroup

Library Voices – Drinking Games (music video) from Young Soul on Vimeo.

4. “Your Hands (Together)” – New Pornographers, Together
   - And, speaking of supergroups and Dan Bejar…
5. “Twenty Miles” – Deer Tick, The Black Dirt Sessions
   - And actually, speaking of albums that aren’t quite as good as their predecessors… still, this is a fine cut.
6. “Our Anniversary” – Bill Callahan, Rough Travel for a Rare Thing
   - If you know somebody who doesn’t like Bill Callahan, you should not know them anymore. That is all.
7. “Liver & Tan” – Braids, Set Pieces EP
8. “Wrinklecarver” – Gobble Gobble, Wrinklecarver 7″
   - You should most definitely go see these two at Castle Awesome. It will get you hyped enough to pass out from heat stroke, he said from experience.
9. “Lemonade” – CocoRosie, Grey Oceans
   - American band, French levels of weirdness. Fine all around.
10. “Fistful of Love” – Antony and the Johnsons, I Am a Bird Now
    - That unearthly voice is also hiding a pretty good visual artist, too
11. “Great Escape” – Patrick Watson, Close to Paradise
    - Sure to be one of the highlights of this year’s Edmonton Folk Fest, for so many reasons
12. “Silk Spindles” – Giraffedactyl, Yes We’ll Glow EP
    - This album is available for free download, and I highly recommend you take advantage of that
13. “Ferryland” – Laura Barrett, Victory Garden
    - Canada’s foremost kalimba player, plus a totally bitchin’ member of an all-female Weezer cover band
14. “Peach, Plum, Pair” – Joanna Newsom, The Milk-Eyed Mender
    - I believe our organizing philosophy for this show was going to be “long songs,” but “eccentric females” isn’t that far off the mark, either
15. “The Wire” – Jeff Stuart and the Hearts, Black Dogs, Blue Giants
    - More to-be-seen-at-folk-fest goodness
16. “Cold Heart” – The Mohawk Lodge, Crimes
17. “Ain’t No Lord” – Moondoggies, Don’t Be a Stranger
    - Very soon to be touring with Blitzen Trapper
18. “Jamelia” – Caribou, Swim
    - Not only featuring a guest spot from Born Ruffians’ Luke Lalonde, but coming to town very, very soon
19. “Stilettos” – Holy Fuck, Latin
    - Ever wonder how they make that beautiful noise?
    
20. “Baptism” – Crystal Castles, Crystal Castles
    - Carrie thinks this is a little too “house” but, frankly, fuck her
21. “We’re All Going To Die” – Super Club 8, The People’s Record
    - Actually only the second group of Swedish pop maestros to remind you of this fact

The fine woman and boys of Bronze Leaf are releasing Bread Crumbs, one of the most beautiful records to come from Edmonton this year, at Rutherford House this Thursday.

This show was only actually intermittently folky, but there is simply no such thing as a bad pun involving folk music.

1. “Drunk Girls” – LCD Soundsystem, This is Happening
   - Check out the raucous, Spike Jonze-directed video (who knew he still did music videos?)
   
2. “Text Edit” – Bronze Leaf, Bread Crumbs
   - You should most definitely check out their upcoming album release show this Thursday, and not just because it’s at Rutherford House
3. “Life of Dreams” – Julie Doiron, I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day
   - We would probably play Julie Doiron once a set if we were allowed. Or lay around with her on a couch, stroking her hair, if we were allowed.
4. “Hail Me King” – The Olympic Symphonium, Chapter One
   - This is actually their second album, if memory serves. Pretty stuff from Fredericton, not a town eminently known for pretty stuff
5. “Money” – The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon
   - Technically we did not actually play this song, but the intention was there. And anyway, yes, this album is exactly as insane as it sounds.
6. “Outlaw” – Hobbins, Wizard of Words
   - Former smalls guitarist + poetry-spitting fellow with mild autism = one of the weirdest releases from this neck of the woods ever
7. “Grass” – Animal Collective, Feels
   - Without taking away anything from Merriweather Post Pavilion, Feels might still be the best Animal Collective album there is.
8. “Year’s Not Long” – Male Bonding, Nothing Hurts
   - I couldn’t find an embeddable version, but you should check out this video anyway, featuring a particularly potent version of male bonding, as it were
9. “Tell Me It Isn’t Your Blood” – Long Long Long, Long Long Long
   - York Redoubt is dead. Long Long Long live York Redoubt
10. “Everything Falling Apart” – Nice Nice, Extra Wow
    - If I hadn’t accidentally messed up the CD player, you’d have heard this:
    
11. “Troublesome Houses” – Bonnie “Prince” Billy and the Cairo Gang, The Wonder Show of the World
    - There is no such thing as a bad Bonnie “Prince” Billy Song, either
12. “Choosing to Fly” – The Sadies, Darker Circles
    - Guess who’s coming to town?
13. “Sigh No More” – Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More
    - What Fleet Foxes would sound like if they got hit by a pick-up truck
14. “Hard as Nails” – Peter Wolf Crier, Inter-Be
    - Jagjaguwar rarely steers you wrong, as these Minnesota boys attest

The Whitsundays have just released Saul, an appropriately summery record.

The heat was manageable in the cool old vault where we broadcast from, but hot weather has a way of burying itself into your mood regardless.

1. “Indian Summer” – Sonic Boom and Spectrum, What Came Before After
   - I’ve been looking for this cover forever, and I have to thank one of my good friends at Blackbyrd Myoozik for finally tracking it down
2. “You Fell For It” – The Whitsundays, Saul
   - Suburban disaffection rarely sounds this smart. The new album is out now, and they should be playing here soon
3. “Now It’s On” – Grandaddy, Some Day
   - This is Carrie’s ultimate pump-up song, supposedly. I don’t know that I actually have a specific pump-up song, but I can think of several better options regardless.
4. “Rebel Horns” – Frog Eyes, Paul’s Tomb: A Triumph
   - If you’re interested in a little May Long road trip, they’re playing Seattle and Portland
5. “Valkyrie in the Roller Disco” – New Pornographers, Together
   - I’m on record as finding this album as a whole pretty mediocre, but this song really gets to me
6. “Theoretical Love Song” – Jenny Omnichord, All Our Little Bones
7. “Flight 180″ – Bishop Allen, The Broken String
   - The best of the sugarpop bands, Bishop Allen are a sorely under-appreciated little NY gem. I personally think this is one of the more beautiful songs ever written. And their lead singer is a sort-of movie star who was in one of my favourite movies of the last decade.
   
8. “Western Hospitality” – Club 8, The People’s Record
   - Has anyone ever heard of Swedish pop before? Because these guys are pretty good at it.
9. “You Could Even Like Me” – Silly Kissers, Precious Necklace
   - Someone asked us where you could buy this, and I haven’t seen it in a store yet, but if you’re not so worried about physical copies, they have the digital stuff for sale here
10. “I Think I Need a New Heart” – The Magnetic Fields, 69 Love Songs
    - Personally, I think I would have gone with “Long Forgotten Fairytale,” though I might just be saying that so I could provide the link to that hilariously literal fan-made music video. Really, there’s no going wrong with 69 Love Songs
11. “Suffering Season” – Woods, At Echo Lake
    - Do you think you can find Echo Beach at Echo Lake?
12. “Lust for Life” – Girls, Album
    - Other more appropriate pump-up songs: the other song called “Lust for Life.” Also, the original video for this had the two gay guys into their underwear singing into each other’s dicks like microphones, which is just awesome. It’s SFW here, sadly.
    
13. “Twelve Hundred Dollars” – Outdoor Miners, Twelve Hundred Dollars 7″
    - Still one of my favourite Edmonton songs. Word on the street is that they have another one coming soon, too
14. “On the Literate” – The Provincial Archive, Nameless Places
    - You can see them this Thursday at the ARTery. You should do that.

Guess what came out this week. Guess how we feel.

A crazy Beach Boys cover and some new LCD Soundsystem lightened things up a bit, but overall, things were a little intense this week.

1. “Ghetto Lung” – Brazilian Money, Friendly Neighbour
   - Some ’60s pop brilliance from the best new band in Edmonton
2. “Zoal, Face Dancer” – Grimes, Geidi Primes
   - I’ve never read or watched Dune, but frankly anything that serves as inspiration this kind of spaced-out pop must be alright
3. “God Only Knows” – PDF Format, Building Blocks Singles Club Vol. 1
   - If you’re going to cover the Beach Boys—especially possibly the best song they’ve ever written—you better bring your A-game, or at least go out of left field, like this twitchy little 8-bit version, which manages to do both
4. “Bloodbuzz Ohio” – The National, High Violet
   - Maybe some of you aren’t yet old enough to appreciate the National, but just wait until you start having regrets. It’s going to kick your ass.
   
5. “Swim Until You Can’t See Land” – Frightened Rabbit, The Winter of Mixed Drinks
6. “White Liars” – Typhoon, Hunger + Thirst
   - I think the fact my birthday is rapidly approaching has thrown me into some kind of existential crisis. How else to explain all these intense music about having feelings?
7. “Tailor” – Julie Doiron, I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day
   - Julie Doiron is basically the cutest woman alive
8. “Painter” – The Kissaway Trail, Sleep Mountain
   - Scandinavians make damn fine melancholy pop. As anyone who caught Tallest Man on Earth can attest.
9. “Whale Mountain” – Little Wings, Magic Wand
   - Like many of you, no doubt, I was kind of bummed Carrie could continue the profession theme she had going. Not that there’s ever a bad time to play Little Wings
10. “Edmonton” – The Rural Alberta Advantage, Hometowns
    - So, it’s summer again. Who are you meeting by the lights at the Leg?
    
11. “World News” – Local Natives, Gorilla Manor
    - Check out their Matt Lessner-directed video; and get excited for his debut feature The Woods, which is supposed to be coming sometime this year
12. “Kundera on the Dance Floor” – Library Voices, Hunting Ghosts & Other Collected Shorts
    - Played solely because I’m finally getting around to actually reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being. One friend was shocked I hadn’t already read it, because he thought I basically lived my life according to a Kunderan philosophy, while another friend recommended I find a time machine and go back and read it when I was 20, since it would probably mean more to me then. I can understand both viewpoints.
13. “All I Want” – LCD Soundsystem, This is Happening
    - Not a strict cover of “Heroes,” nor is it really as intensely contemplative as some of the other songs here/James Murphy has recorded, but I thought it wrapped up the show rather nicely anyway

If You're Feeling Sinister, The unanimous Dave and Carrie Show choice for Best Belle and Sebastian Album Ever and a fine introduction to a rainy day

Maybe it was just the unfortunate weather, but things seemed a little distant and gloomy today.

1. “Get Me Away from Here I’m Dying” – Belle and Sebastian, If You’re Feeling Sinister
   - The unanimous Dave and Carrie Show choice for Best Belle and Sebastian Song of All Time
2. “Odessa” – Caribou, Swim
   - The man himself is coming to town June 1
3. “Radiance” – Oppenheimer Analysis, The Minimal Wave Tapes
4. “Machine Gun” – Portishead, Third
   - End-of-the-world music for a rainy night
5. “Soft Skin” – Cosmetics, Soft Skin/Black Leather Gloves 7″
   - Probably the best band I discovered at Wyrd Fest
6. “Islands” – The xx, The xx
   - This song has been on my mind ever sense I saw the glitchy video
   
7. “Alabaster Body Worlds” – Gobble Gobble, Neon Graveyard
   - On the lighter side of things: local boy makes good
8. “In the Morning” – First Aid Kit, The Big Black and Blue
   - Though I fully support Carrie’s folk habit, considering the electronic edge to the show up to this point, maybe we should have gone with another song by this name
9. “White Winter Hymnal” – Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
   - Taste the harmonies
10. “Two-time Loser” – The Deep Dark Woods, Winter Hours
    - One-time collaborators with ex-pat Edmontonian Shuyler Jansen
11. “Summer Cum” – Avi Buffalo, Avi Buffalo
    - California’s answer to “Lover’s Spit“? A damn catchy song, anyway
12. “Badonkadonkey” – Born Ruffians, Red, Yellow and Blue
    - Actually only the SECOND whitest way to use the phrase “badonkadonk.” They’re coming to town on June 11.
13. “She Gone” – Gonjasufi, A Sufi and a Killer
    - this album is all over the map in the best possible way