Unique Grooves, Gals That Rock, and Canadian Tunes

Posted by Desiree in New Music | 4 comments

Hi! My name is Desirée and I’m new here at BIYL. It may take a post or two for me to get into my groove, but I’m excited to be able to share with you some of the awesome music that crosses my path each and every day.

I grew up in various cities just outside of Toronto, Canada, which fostered a love for the brilliantly diverse music that comes out of this country – from the east coast to the west and everything in between. Indie, Rock, Punk, Folk, Hip-hop – there are no genre limitations to our “scene.”

Although I have a deep love of many, many bands and musicians from all over the world, I’ll most likely be focusing on Canadian bands here on BIYL since it’s my own beloved scene.

Some of the Canadian bands I’m sure I’ll be writing about (these are just off the top of my head)…

The Weakerthans (http://www.myspace.com/theweakerthans)

Final Fantasy…who is now just going by Owen Pallett (http://www.myspace.com/owenpallettmusic)

Metric (http://www.myspace.com/metricband)

Broken Social Scene (http://www.myspace.com/brokensocialscene)

Mother Mother (http://www.myspace.com/mothermotherspace)

Woodhands (http://www.myspace.com/woodhands)

Tokyo Police Club (http://www.myspace.com/tokyopoliceclub)

Stars (http://www.myspace.com/stars)

Crystal Castles (http://www.myspace.com/crystalcastles)…love ‘em or hate ‘em, they’ve certainly made a bang.

Patrick Watson (http://www.patrickwatson.net)

Bruce Peninsula (http://www.myspace.com/brucepeninsula)

Hexes and Ohs (http://www.myspace.com/hexesandohs)

I asked quickly on Twitter (@DesireeO) for some suggestions of fave Canadian bands and here’s what I got…

* “metric, stars, gentleman reg, ohbijou, sunparlour players, the guess who, the be good tanyas, arcade fire, the constantines”

* “Lifestory:Monologue; DD/MM/YYYY; (a) Silver Mt. Zion blahblahblah; Wintersleep; Weakerthans; Broken Social Scene; MSTRKRFT; Rural Alberta Advantage and Bruce Peninsula.”

* “Wintersleep, Paul MacLeod, Slave to the SquareWave, Clothes Make the Man, Hawksley Workman, Emm Gryner, Matt Mays, and Basia Bulat.”

* “Metric, Blue Rodeo, Great Big Sea, Billy Talent, Tragically Hip, Jakalope (before Katie left), Kreesha Turner, Nelly Furtado, Bif Naked, Amanda Marshall, Lights.”

But that’s not all! When I asked if Sean was interested in another contributor, he said he would love to have a female perspective. Done and done. Along with writing for BIYL, I also write a column for a website/magazine interviewing awesome women who are positive role models for young girls. I’m often promoting the amazing ladies in the music industry and I can definitely introduce BIYL readers to them as well.

Some awesome ladies/their bands (again, just off the top of my head)…

Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs (http://ca.myspace.com/yeahyeahyeahs)

M.I.A. (http://www.myspace.com/mia)

Emily Haines of Metric, Broken Social Scene, Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton (http://www.myspace.com/emilyhaines)

Beth Ditto of Gossip (http://www.myspace.com/gossipband)

Le Tigre (http://www.myspace.com/letigre)

Ladytron (http://www.myspace.com/ladytron)

Sahara Hotnights (http://www.myspace.com/saharahotnights)

Care Failure of Die Mannequin (http://www.myspace.com/diemannequin)

You can probably tell from my lists above that my tastes lean towards indie-rock (if that’s what it’s even called) – true, but I’m open to anything. There’s also a lot of punk, folk, jazz, and the occasional hip-hop flowing around here.

I like music that is different, that tries something new. I’m all for breaking boundaries, but it’s even better if you ignore them altogether!

If you want to find out more about me, my site is at www.DesireeO.com or you can email me at info@DesireeO.com.