Stars - In Our Bedroom After The War

I'm back in love with Canadian music, so all is right again with the world. Montreal-based indie-pop darlings, Stars' latest album has been shortlisted for the Polaris Music Award. I had a really difficult time choosing a track from this album. Everyone's heard Take Me to the Riot already, but nothing else had a video. So we arrive here with track four, My Favourite Book, no video, but a really well-crafted song. Enjoy...

The shortlisters:
Black Mountain - In The Future, Plants And Animals - Parc Avenue, Basia Bulat - Oh, My Darling, Stars - In Our Bedroom After The War, Caribou - Andorra, Shad - The Old Prince, Kathleen Edwards - Asking For Flowers, Two Hours Traffic - Little Jabs, Holy Fuck - LP, The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour



Linked inside: Stars' discology is click-through to purchase; Stars' MySpace.

The Shins - Saint Simon

In a continued nod to the greatness that is Sub Pop Records, on the occasion of their twentieth anniversay, I bring you, The Shins. While touring with Modest Mouse in the early minutes of this decade, The Shins were approached by a Sub Pop representative, who eventually offered to release their debut album. What a move it was for SP and what a journey it's been for The Shins, whose latest album, Wincing the Night Away, sold more copies in its first week than any Sub Pop album ever had before. That success and fan base was built on songs like this one, from the 2001 debut, Chutes Too Narrow.

The Brunettes - Brunettes Against Bubblegum Youth

In continued celebration of Sub Pop Records' 20th anniversary, I bring you The Brunettes. The Brunettes are a New Zealand indie pop group who began releasing recordings in 1998 with the Mars Loves Venus EP. Their latest offering, Structure and Cosmetics, is available in New Zealand on Lil' Chief records, and in North America on Sub Pop, and features such sweetly charming, sunbeam-drenched sounds as B-A-B-Y, below.



In the vid: Click the MySpace Music logo to arrive at The Brunettes' page; SubPop records; album covers are click-through-to-buy.

The Shins

I had Hawksley Workman's song Bullets in my head all day, and then I came home and decided to post this overlay. I've definitely got bullets on the brain. Or it's just a coincidence. Anyway, I love the poetry in this song, and I love its mellow rainy-day feeling. Enjoy...

Yeah Yeah Yeah

We've all said it. The moral of this story is: always listen to what crazy people tell you.