Matty's Playlist EPs vol. 10

It took a bit longer than I had wanted, but finally here is volume 10 of my playlist EPs. Who knew that babies were so time consuming? I thought they just ate, pooped, and slept...

'No Sleep' - Sam Roberts (We Were Born In A Flame): How good is this song? I love the keyboard intro, the vocal harmonies, and the part where SR decides to sing en Francais, being a born and bred Montrealer! I've been fortunate enough to see him 4 or 5 times in concert and every time he's been such a dynamic performer. It's not cerebral music, by any means, but it's happy and fun and has great hooks! 'No Sleep' is one of my favourite of his many great songs, though not one of the big singles from this classic album.

'Thugs' - The Tragically Hip (Day For Night): Another deep album cut from a band that needs no real talking up from me, as they are national legends. The Hip are a phenomenal album band and have many great cuts that never get played on the radio. Thugs is one such song, with a deep funk and crytpic, off-kilter lyrics (ask me what the song is about and I'll tell you I have no idea whatsoever). I heard the band play 'Thugs' the last time I saw them and it was the highlight of the show for me, hands down and was even more cool and funky in a live setting. This is a cut to sink your teeth into!

'Falling' - The Civil Wars (Barton Hollow): The Civil Wars are everywhere. All of a sudden, they're just huge and everyone is falling all over themselves to proclaim their brilliance, including Adele and (the utterly atrocious, in my opinion) Taylor Swift. When you listen to 'Falling', you can see why the dynamic due of John Paul White and Joy Williams is getting so much attention: the harmonies and the chemistry between the two are undeniably breathtaking. Some may prefer 'Poison and Wine', but for me, 'Falling' is perhaps the standout track on their album, Barton Hollow. There aren't really enough adjectives to describe how well these two sing together. Let the evidence be in the hearing...

'Keep No Score' - Sleeping At Last (Keep No Score): Oh Sleeping At Last, you baroque chamber pop geniuses, you! This is the quiet closing track from their 2006 album of the same name. Quite simply, it's a beautiful acoustic ditty that's the perfect way in which to close an album. These guys really speak to my heart and I've loved everything they've put out, their albums proper and the highly ambitious Yearbook project. I love great indie music and this is a band that myself and my peeps champion and talk about with others at every opportunity.

Listen to this playlist here.