Premiere: Alicia Clara Debuts Ethereal Video for "Five"

Montreal’s new favourite dream pop queen Alicia Clara debuts her video for “Five” today via Hot Tramp Records. This single follows up Alicia’s first-ever release ‘Closing Time at the Gates’ in February 2020, and is off her forthcoming EP Outsider/Unusual. For fans of Helena Deland, Weyes Blood, and TOPS, Alicia Cara might just be your new shoegaze fave.

Shimmering in a halo of light, and surrounded by lush greenery, Alicia sings to the human condition and to failed relationships. As Alicia describes, ‘it is a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy about having finally forgiven past hurt, all the while still being unable to let myself feel anything out of fear of getting hurt again.’

On the topic of the stunning video by Aaliyeh Afshar, Alicia says, “I wrote Five after waking up from a strange dream during the first lockdown, and the song was written based on my state of mind at that time rather than on a narrative anecdote. To match the nature of the track, I was envisioning something simple but oneiric for the video, shot in nature. Aaliyeh then translated this into her own vision. In maybe a little bit of a sad way, I find that the solitary vibe of the video matches the current mood around the world too!”

Watch Alicia Clara’s “Five” below

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Oddysseys Debut Lyric Video for "Body Heat"

Via Oddyssey’s lyric video for Body Heat

Your favourite post-punk band Oddysseys is back again with a colourful and dynamic lyric video for their latest release Body Heat.

If the song alone wasn’t enough, the video is the perfect encapsulation of wanting to dance in a dark room with neon lights at your favourite band’s show. The cascading, angular guitar and energetic drums are paired with bright colours and gritty textures that make your emotions surge. Wow, can you tell we miss live music?

The video includes footage captured on Oddysseys' 2019 tour of the northeast, along with a number of shows they've played in Los Angeles since then. All of the footage was shot and edited by founding members of the band Paul DiRico and Christian Treon. 

Watch the lyric video for Body Heat below

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MILLY Debuts Video for "Star Thistle Blossom" feat. Ketchup Jesus

Via Dangerbird Records

Ketchup Jesus debuts as a shoegaze star in MILLY's latest music video for their song Star Thistle Blossom (Dangerbird Records). 

MILLY is a four-piece shoegaze band from Los Angeles. Their slow and fuzzy sound, balanced with vocals, are led by singer/guitarist/songwriter Brendan Dyer, with Spencer Light on guitar, Yarden Erez on bass, and Zach Capitti Fenton on drums. For fans of Spencer Radcliffe, Slowdive, and Sparklehorse, MILLY is the kind of music you listen to when you're reminiscing about the summertime and missing your friends. 

In their video for Star Thistle Blossom (directed by Justice Vaughn Ott), we follow the journey of a white t-shirt that gains stardom via an accidental Jesus-shaped ketchup stain. 

On the origins of the song, Dyer says, "I wrote it back in 2017 when I was working at Whole Foods. I was stocking honey on the shelf and was intrigued by Star Thistle Blossom honey. There's a lot of health superpowers in honey, and I like the theme of tying in being healthy with feeling strong mentally. The chorus is an acknowledgment to understanding loss but having hope in something and that it always gets better. Even if that's not true, it still feels helpful."

Watch the video for Star Thistle Blossom out now.

Premiere: Thomas Molander's "Third Walk" is a Psychedelic Dream of the Past and Future

Via Thomas Molander

“Our faces on wet grass, our walk is ending at last…” Thomas Molander’s warm and fuzzy vocals drift with us through a psychedelic daydream of what life used to be like, while offering a silver lining vision for what tomorrow may bring.

Via Thomas Molander

Today Molander premieres the music video for his song Third Walk, off his recently released album The Walk. The video directed by Sandy Spink, Toronto-based designer and director, and was created with the video game engine Unity, the programming language Max/MSP, and the video editing software Adobe Audition.

The video’s concept hinges on the contrast between analogue and digital aesthetics, mirrored by the music’s embracing of antiquated and modern recording styles. New words and landscapes emerge cyclically, building themselves and deteriorate endlessly. Walls fall and a building rises up from the sea amidst a perspective slowly creeping and rotating.

For fans of The Kinks, 60s fuzz, and early-internet psychedelic aesthetics, this one’s for you.

Watch the video for Third Walk now

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Premiere: Alpen Glow's debut single "Saturday Nite"

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Image credit: Amery Sandford

Remember that Gossip Girl meme that was circulating a few months back? There was one really relatable rendition of it - and I really miss going to gigs, girl. Please find below if you haven’t seen it, courtesy of the very niche Montreal meme page, @burymeatleritz. Alpen Glow’s debut EP Amertape 2020 threw me right back into that quintessentially ‘covidian’ mindset of reminiscing about nights out partying with friends, dance floor romances, and most notably, hugs, girl. 

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@burymeatleritz

Alpen Glow is the debut solo project of Montreal-based visual artist and musician Amery Sandford (BBQT, Born at Midnite). Inspired by new skills acquired during lockdown, Amertape 2020 and the accompanying 3D animated videos are an escape into an alternative digital dream world where your lockdown fantasies come to life. Far from being heartbreak songs, Amery’s cheeky lyrics keep the vibe lighthearted and fun, with instrumentals tastefully inspired by the corniness of 2000’s pop and reality TV. 

“The whole thing kind of happened within the time of lockdown. I wrote it all when I was deep in quarantine so that I could go somewhere else mentally - on the days when I could actually make music. I also cried a lot and watched a lot of reality TV. Quarantine was a lot of creative productivity and a lot of being really sad.” 

Admit it, we’ve all had at least one trash TV show we’ve been unusually invested in these past few months. When asked what her guilty pleasure was, Amery unhesitatingly named Real Housewives as inspiration when writing this EP, “I actually started watching reality TV in a serious way during quarantine and the songs are definitely inspired by those weird social experiments. I’ve been watching a lot of Real Housewives - a few of them have music projects and make songs that are very highly produced, but lyrically very sketchy. It’s kind of crazy. I’ve been thinking about these highly-produced, super ‘aspirational’ people who appear on Bravo TV a lot.” 

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Photo credit: Brandon Brookbank

Sketchy as it may sometimes seem, stark detachment from reality proved to be a great coping mechanism for bleak times, “I was entering these weird worlds through reality TV… I was also alone in my apartment because I don’t have any roommates… and I was thinking about going somewhere else for a minute, and about the power that creative people have to do that - the power of world building.” 

While some of us just binge-watched Too Hot to Handle, Amery saw an opportunity to integrate her visual art with her music, taking the time to learn how to play the keyboard and do 3D animation, “It was a good time to learn something new - I got really into 3D animation and taught myself how to play the keyboard - and I ended up writing all the songs on it.”

The videos are an experimentation with using a highly-technical program for the first time and freely accepting the clumsiness that comes along with it, “Visually, since I’m not very good at it yet, I would say [the videos] look like early 80’s animations - all these weird spaces that look like a video game with me on a tiny screen. It was a very lo-fi look.” Is it an Instagram filter? Are we in a Zoom club scene? Who knows? Almost too closely resembling some saved video-call screenshots on my camera roll, the aesthetic is relatable and reminiscent of the virtual reality we’ve been living in lately. 

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Image credit: Amery Sandford

“Saturday Nite” has a bar scene at the hottest new fantasy dance spot, Amerbar, “I was just thinking, ‘Oh, I'm going to make a bar,’ and then once I modeled it - it looked really sketchy! It's funny visualizing something and then trying to recreate it in a program that you're not very good at - I love that shit. I love when people use programs like that, but they aren't necessarily technical [themselves]. They make something that sounds really unique. That's always been my relationship to music. I'm a visual artist first and musician second - and [being an ‘outsider’] makes it very special.”

“A lot of people that I know just pick up music - and you just have different ideas when you're not a trained musician. You can make things where trained musicians are like, ‘what the fuck?’”

Who needs music theory when we’ve all been in need of a hug since March...

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Check out “Saturday Nite,” the first single from Alpen Glow’s Amertape 2020, below:

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

Make sure to stay tuned for the release of Summer House on September 18th and the full EP on October 1st on Bandcamp. 

$2 from every sale will be donated to The Black Healing Fund, a Tio'Tia:ke / Montreal based project that exists to provide Black people in the MTL area with discretionary funding for therapy and other mental health focused resources.

Below is a playlist of songs that inspired Amertape 2020, including one Real Housewives production (!!!) called Chic, C’est La Vie - we are obsessed.

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

Anime, Hip Hop, & Your Inner Child: Mags Releases AMV Remixes with Backxwash, JU!CE, & More

Photo cred: Mahel Pfaff

Who else wants to be a kid again, watching their favourite anime on a rainy day? In a time where nostalgic comfort is more valuable than ever, MTL-based multidisciplinary artist Mags of Strange Froots has created a new series of mixtape-inspired AMVs (anime music videos) set to last year's Green Apple: The RMX, a short EP made up of six remixes of the titular song.

With society all but collapsing, Mags maintained her creativity through many mediums; today, she’s sharing with us her mixtape-inspired AMVs, and spoke about childhood favorite animated shows with her friends and mixtape collaborators: JU!CE, Jassah (aka Youmna), RamehS.eS (aka Shem G), Little Cashew (aka Kajo), and Backxwash.

Mags (“Granny Smith” Rmx): I think we’ve all had a hard-ass year, to say the least. As I approach my 30s (*deep existential cringe*), with more and more of my friends declaring that they are, in fact, baby, I realize how important it is for us to nurture the inner child that may have been neglected decades ago. I’m really thankful for my chosen family, and all the people I’ve met in Montreal who’ve introduced me to some of my new favorite things, from Steven Universe to Azumanga Daioh. Sometimes it feels like we’re making up for lost time, or even lost youth.

Mags: Last year I put this remix project together with these talented producers, in honour of my band’s five year anniversary; objectively five years isn’t that long, it doesn’t even have its own name as a unit.

But looking back on old photos, videos, promotional posters from festivals and more, we can be aged or grow (yes there’s a difference) by so many different things in our lives. Sometimes it’s okay to honor that growth with a renewal of fond memories from the past, especially when it’s growth for the better.

What is your relation to the anime chosen to accompany your respective track?

JU!CE  (“Calville Blanc” Rmx): Code Lyoko was a show I would always watch when I was younger. Either early Saturday mornings on Cartoon Network or reruns at certain hours. I was in love with the show and characters so much that it was one of the top shows I would watch. In terms of my style with my music, people say, "you always feel out-of-world or in another dimension," and knowing Code Lyoko is actually that, fits perfectly.

Youmna/Jassah (“Flower of Kent” Rmx): The anime Mags chose was new for the both of us, and it fit so perfectly. It's abstract, but there's clearly something deeper unfolding. The specific shots align so well with the story I created with the remix. It feels meant to be.

Ramehs.Es (“Pink Lady” Rmx): I watched Cybersix growing up, on Teletoon, when I was supposed to be in bed. It's the perfect animated reference to my already budding vigilante, dual identity lifestyle.

Kajo/Little Cashew (“Duchess of Oldenburg” Rmx): I grew up watching a channel called Spacetoon that aired Arabic dubs of anime. Case Closed was one of my favourites and the one I recall the most of. I think all the action and tactics was what caught my attention. I definitely used to go around pretending to use my watch to shoot sleeping needles at people (lol).

Backxwash (“Arkansas Black” Rmx): I like Hellsing. It is extremely edgy and very very goth. I also love the religious aesthetic towards it.

How would you describe the final AMV product?

Youmna/Jassah: I also really love how Mags inserted Strange Froots in the anime edit. Watching it felt like a trip in itself, which I aimed to do with the track, so it feels really good to have a visual to accompany it.

Ramehs.Es: The edit tells the story of childhood innocence and memories turning into something real dark, real fast, night and day, two coins, etc.

Kajo/Little Cashew: Honestly, it was hard to imagine a music video for "Duchess of Oldenburg" because it's very all over the place. But seeing the anime MV reminded me of how much I enjoyed watching anime as a kid, and watching them on Spacetoon more specifically. That channel was iconic. It makes me sad that the second I got western channels, I just ghosted anime and Arabic channels. But now that I finally found the real names of those anime (not the Arabic titles), I can look them up and reminisce. So I'm happy with how the MV turned out!

Do you have any old cartoons/anime that ground your inner child?

JU!CE: Shows that help me stay grounded to my inner child is kind of a tough take. I would say Courage the Cowardly Dog, Ed Edd n Eddy, Teen Titans, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Sonic X and The Powerpuff Girls. By far, Cartoon Network was the only station I would watch, second to Nickelodeon, then Warner Bros TV. These are some shows I plan to rewatch at some point in my life. I miss the nostalgia.

Youmna/Jassah: The Jungle Book is a cartoon that grounds my inner child - I always related to Mowgli, and I loved being transported to the jungle itself.

Ramehs.Es: Cartoons with dark, spacey themes as well as proper character development. Classic Batman, Cowboy Bebop, even Static Shock went through way too much for someone his age. It was really telling stuff that taught me way more than any suburban Laval school could (haha).

Kajo/Little Cashew: I would say the ones that I loved the most growing up were Case Closed and Akachan to Boku. I remember casually seeing scenes from Remi the homeless girl [Remi, Nobody's Girl]. I will say though, the one that hit the most was Akachan to Boku, but it's just not the vibe for the track 'cause it's a very calm laid back anime, and I wanted action for the MV.

Those were my go-to as a kid. I think it's because they came out in 1996, one year before I was born, so they were airing when I was really young. I also remember that Captain Tsubasa J was a huge deal when I was young. I didn't to watch it religiously; I mostly just remember parts of the intro song (in Arabic.) Beyblade was also huge, I don't recall the show but I remember buying the Beyblades and attending a competition inside a gift store with a big ring and almost 50 guys stacked in a small room trying to watch.

When I grew a bit older, we got an orbit subscription with the western channels (Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, Tiji). I kind of forgot about anime and began watching cartoons like Recess, Pinky and the Brain, Brandy and Mr. Whiskers, Tic & Tac [Chip and Dale]. So those would be the shows that entertained me and kept me dreaming and distracted from real life as a child.

Backxwash: A lot of 90s-2000s anime is what I was into. Ninja Scroll, Saint Seiya, Sailor Moon of course, Ranma ½

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