monica farago – Monsters vs Me

Articles Tagged with: monica farago

December 5, 2011

TOE JAM MONDAYS: Murder By Death, RAA + Guards

Alright folks, here are three more random jams that I was listening to this weekend and thought you might enjoy.

Don’t know too much about Murder By Death, but this song had me with what I think is an opening violin. I just love everything about this song. The melody, the words…you get it. Maybe I have wedding on the brain, but the chorus really gets me.

Murder By Death – Foxglove

The Rural Alberta Advantage are a favourite band for me. Their debut “Hometowns” blew me away and this song never fails to get me pumped up.

The Rural Alberta Advantage – Four Night Rider

This Guards’ track was the soundtrack of my summer. Listen for when it kicks in at 0:33 mark.

Guards – resolution of one

HAPPY LISTENING!!

November 21, 2011

TOE JAM MONDAYS: Big News + Shannon and The Clams, Jhameel and Stonefield

So there was pretty big news in the world of Toe Jams last week. I got engaged! You may remember reading about my favourite Ukrainian in such posts as Lolapalooza Day 2 and Bombay Bicycle Club. Well, he proposed! and I couldn’t be happier. But this means that my life is going to be a little more hectic than usual for the next while.

I still find and listen to great tunes, but won’t have time to write detailed reviews.

But I couldn’t leave my faithful Toe Jam readers hangin’. I will still be posting toe tappin’ jams but they will be short and sweet. Just a list of 3-5 songs that I am diggin that week. If you like what you hear, I encourage you to investigate and buy their albums.

If you have any questions about the bands or songs I post feel free to comment and I will definitely get back to you.

Happy Listening, Friends!

Shannon is a member of Hunx and His Punx. Her voice was one of my favourite parts of those jams so I was super excited to get this album. Listen to when her voice gets good and raspy around 0:55 mark. Gold.
Shannon and The Clams – You Will Always Bring Me Flowers

Jhameel invaded my library early this year and he has been gaining momentum with every month that passes. This is one talented mother f*$@er. He’s releasing new tracks off of his album WAVES every Tuesday. Check HERE to keep in the know.
Jhameel – White Lie

This song is off a compliation that one of my favourite international radio stations puts out every year. Triple J in Australia is always on top of great tunes and thier covers compliations “Like a Version” never disappoint.
Stonefield – Magic Carpet Ride

* If you are a member or manager of the above band and you would like your track removed, please contact us and we will swiftly oblige. Fans, new or old, please support these bands by using your coffee money to buy their records.

November 8, 2011

TOE JAM MONDAYS: Light of Day Hamilton Happening this Week

My friend Andrea Rehill (some of you Hamiltonians might know her) is a huge Bruce Springsteen fan. I’m not talking the kind who goes to every show that comes to Toronto and surrounding area. I’m talking super-fan, like driving to Jersey on the regular, is covered in tribute tattoos, and even has his manager’ss number in her phone. I guess you could say she likes him.

But she’s not only a fan of Bruce’s music, she’s a fan of the things he stands for. That’s where the Light of Day fundraiser comes in. The fundraiser started in 1998 in New Jersey after Bob Benjamin, a music industry veteran and friend of The Boss, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He recruited his music industry friends and colleagues to put their talents towards raising money for the devastating disease. The event now spans countries all over the world and has raised more than a million dollars. So, while Andrea is a mega-fan, thats not all that she’s about. She’s a great part of the Hamilton community and is always looking for ways to give back.

The event has been held in Niagara over the years, but Andrea decided to bring the show to Hamilton last year – and even though she had to compete with the Ti-Cat season ending game – the event was a huge success. Acts like The Dinner Belles, Willie Nile and The Black Spurs were there to throw down for the cause. It was so successfull in fact, that she had to add a second show this year because Thursday nights tickets sold out so fast.

Light of Day will be held at everyone’s favourite dive, This Ain’t Hollywood on James Street North and is set to be a night – or I guess nights – to remember.

Although Andrea accepted his proposal last year, but no wedding took place, Vincent Pastore (a.k.a. “Big Pussy” from the Sopranos) agreed to return as host for the evening. I think he’s hoping this year is for real – see the video below.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXShIemELhI

Amazing local acts like Live How You Live and The Dinner Belles are on the bill for this event as well as some musical legends like Willie Nile and everyone’s favourite East Coaster Joel Plaskett joined by his friend Peter Elkas will be gracing the stage this year.

The Dinner Belles – ‘Til The Dawn

Peter Elkas – Cool Thing to Do

Joel Plaskett – Fashionable People

This years Light of Day Hamilton is set to knock your socks off so make sure to grab your tickets ASAP. Thursday is SOLD OUT, but there are still some tickets left for the newly added Wednesday night show. Below is all the info you need to make this night full of good music, good people and a good cause, a part of your history.

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 9TH

Hosted by Vincent “Big Pussy” Pastore (The Sopranos)
with DJ KU (motown, funk & soul)

featuring…

Live How You Live
Peter Elkas Band
Willie Nile
Joe D’Urso & Stone Caravan
Brisco’s Blues Revue

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 10TH – SOLD OUT

Hosted by Vincent “Big Pussy” Pastore (The Sopranos)
DJ George Pettit (Alexisonfire)

Joel Plaskett and Peter Elkas
The Dinner Belles
Willie Nile
Joe D’Urso & Stone Caravan
Buckshot Bebee and her Secret Boyfriends

As always, all proceeds going towards the fight against Parkinson’s disease and related illnesses!

Tickets $20 in advance, $25 at the door

Tickets available at www.thisainthollywood.ca
At the venue or by contacting me at

Andrea @ lightofdayhamilton@gmail.com

Online purchases will be picked up the evening of the show at the door with your email confirmation and photo ID!

Visit www.lightofday.org for more information
www.lightofdaycanada.com

And special thanks to Kaiden Seven Photography!!

Thanks Andrea for organizing what I’m sure will be another amazing night. If any of you out there are interested in bringing Light of Day to your city (and I hope some of you are), visit www.lightofday.org for more info.

October 28, 2011

TJM Random Rodeo: These Dirty Mags aren’t something you’ll find under your brother’s bed

Dirty Mags. No, not the ones you find shoved between the mattresses in your little brother’s room or the ones always found by train tracks and in forests for some reason. These Dirty Mags aren’t something you will want to hide or only listen to in the privacy of your own room. This quartet from Toronto, ON will have you calling every friend you’ve ever made and asking them if they want to come over and drink whiskey while you scream and dance around your house or shotgun beers in your backyard.

Mike, Justin, Peter and Greg may all range in age from 21-25 and have only been playing together for just over a year, but they are on the fast track to invading your radios. They’re currently working on their debut release on White Girl Records, but while I wait, I can’t get enough of their song “Blood Sweats”. Trust me when I tell you that you will be blaring this song tonight while you’re getting ready for your Hallowe’en bash, house party or night in with the cat.

These boys are set to tour with K-OS starting November 24th in Victoria so keep an eye out for this name in your local listings.

Happy Listening…or better yet, HAPPY HALLOWE’EN!

httpv://youtu.be/rLG0ifCIKMc

October 21, 2011

TJM RANDOM RODEO: I’m talking about Smoosh and it has nothing to do with Snooki

No boring Monica story today. Just some random good tunes. This one is old, but came up when my library was on shuffle the other day and I remembered how much I loved it. Two young sisters Chloe and Asy from Seattle began playing music at the tender ages of 12 and 10 and formed the band Smoosh. This was long before Snooki and company gave this word a whole new meaning. I won’t go in the whole story but these girls were taking music lessons from Jason McGerr of Death Cab for Cutie when they decided to put out an EP.

My friend Anne-Marie gave me the song “Find A Way” and I almost hit her when she told me how young they were. The girls were 14 and 12 when they wrote and recorded this song off of their album Free to Stay (2006)

Smoosh – find a way

The girls added their little sister Maia in 2007 to play bass and have grown with their music. Seriously who is this cool at 19, 17 and 15. I definitely wasn’t.

This track is from their 2010 release Withershins:

httpv://youtu.be/j90pLINVOZo

Happy Friday!

October 17, 2011

TOE JAM MONDAYS: JD McPherson Makes Music You and Your Mom Will Love

I love when I hear a song and right away I put it on repeat. When the opening line makes me tap my toes and by the chorus I’m forwarding it to everyone I know. A musical act hasn’t knocked me off my seat in a while. No doubt there has been some amazing music lately, but JD McPherson‘s revitalization of classic rock ‘n’ roll picked me up and slammed me to the wall. His brand of classic bluesy rock ‘n’ roll has put me on a mission to get a good old fashioned dance party happening in my city. My friend Bryan put JD’s song “Northside Gal” off of his Hi-Style Records release on his Facebook page last week and I had purchased the album before the song was done.

Regular readers know that I have a friend who I discuss music with on a weekly basis, so naturally I had to share this album with Bodden. This is what he said about it.

“I stopped in at the Source last night. I was browsing for iPod Sound Docks. They asked if I had my iPod on me, and if so to test some out. I don’t really use an iPod anymore, I have a lot of tunes on my phone. So I put it on the base, and gave it a go. The last thing I was playing was JD. So that’s what I busted out. The lady (employee) kept telling me to put it louder. I was slowly turning it up. But she wasn’t satisfied. She came over and completely cranked it. JD was rocking The Source. Definitely a “had to be there” type moment. The lady asked if I was in to “old” music, assuming JD was from days gone by. I said he is current. She was really surprised and wanted to keep hearing more. She sort of hijacked my phone and was holding me hostage in store. She was loving it too. Cranking it on every dock they had.”

Come on, that says something about an album if even the lady at your local electronics shop can’t get enough of it. I know that this album will be blasting on your radio, ipod, computer or even walkmen, once you hear the first song.

httpv://youtu.be/aZGn4LncY0g

I could go into some spiel about how I was transported in time listening to this record or how when I played it for my dad he looked more excited than when I graduated highschool. But his album Signs & Signifiers speaks for itself. I promise that once you grab your copy HERE, you’ll be buying one for your mom, dad, BFF and neighbour. Let the good times roll!

JD McPherson – Scratching Circles

* If you are a member or manager of the above band and you would like your track removed, please contact us and we will swiftly oblige. Fans, new or old, please support these bands by using your coffee money to buy their records.

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