Lightning Love

On Lightning Love’s debut disc, November Birthday, the Ypsilanti-based band combine sweet, childish sounds with themes about growing up and growing pains. This subject is laid bare right at the beginning on opener on “Work Today”, when singer Leah Diehl, accompanied only by some lonely keyboards, dreads the thought of going to work and admits she still needs someone to pick up after her. The song seamlessly blends into a slice of bouncy bubble-gum called “Everyone I Know”, where she lampoons the boring adults around her for all being “no good at nothing at all”. It’d be almost Holden Caulfield-esque if Diehl weren’t so likeable. A couple songs are even boosted by some cello and accordion accompaniment. November Birthday isn’t all adulthood resistance, however. Despite the backlash at the record’s beginning, when Diehl sings about staying out late and smoking cigarettes on “I Think We’re Alright” you almost wonder if you should call her parents and tell on her– that is, if the way she sang it didn’t make it sound so fun.

@ Ypsylanti, USA
♫ Indie, Pop
♥ Everyone I Know (mp3)
♥ Friends (mp3)
▸ Myspace

Civalias

The first few seconds of one of Civalias' songs were enough for me to know that I would like his music. His debut EP even made it to my favorites of last year. Since I have not featured him decently yet, i'll do it tonight. So be wise and spend a few minutes to listen to this talented singer-songwriter that definitely deserves more recognition than he's getting right now!
Hailing from Southern California, Civalias is the project brainchild of 23 year-old Adam Stidham. Conjuring influences such as Aqualung, Coldplay, and Radiohead, the infectiously melodic sounds of Civalias are both engaging and visually enticing. The young songwriter who began his journey in music by playing guitar in his teens soon found that music became a form of therapy. "I found an undeniable peace and calmness in making music. It was me at my most genuine." It is this vulnerability and honesty that makes Civalias special, attracting a contingent of fans who are seeking not only a uniquely refreshing sound, but the emotional substance to back it up.

@ California, USA
♫ Acoustic, Pop, Rock
♥ Anything But You (mp3)
♥ Something Real (mp3)
▸ Myspace

Wintermitts

Wintermitts contacted me two weeks ago, asking if I would give their music a listen. Fortunately, because I really liked the songs on their Myspace, and last album Heirloom that arrived in the mail later. Their lyrics are both in French and English, combined with great vocals, an accordion, trumpet, flute and even a glockenspiel. Resulting in a addicting mix that will get you humming and singing along.

Since forming in 2005, Wintermitts have delighted and accumulated loyal fans across Canada. Their last album, Cascadia Fault, was released independently in Canada in 2007 to massive appeal, and with their whimsical exuberance they have shared the stage with acts such as Julie Doirion, You Say Party!We Say Die! and Laura Barret. In Autumn 2008, they continue their path of merrymaking, as featured artists at the Western Canadian Music Association Showcase and traveling on a cross-country tour promoting their new album, Heirloom. Boasting a bilingual set and a “musical chairs” approach to instrumentation. Live or recorded, Lise Monique intertwines English and French lyrics with the ease of elementary school girls braiding each other’s hair in Canada’s schoolyards, while the accompanying music pulls you to your feet or keeps your eyes on the stage. Listeners beware: some tracks on this latest Wintermitts effort will cause a head-nodding hypnosis while others still will leave you wishing you understood French, or with the desire to plant a tree in your front yard. To ensure that your love for this band will keep growing long after your initial listen, Wintermitts have committed to affecting a crowd on a platform greater than the width of a stage by including a seed packet for Heirloom tomatoes in with the CD – which can grow in most climates of Canada. Lise Monique says. Heirloom’s CD packaging itself is green-friendly and resembles the design of a seed packet.

@ Vancouver, Canada
♫ Indie, Pop
♥ Accord Mineur (mp3)
♥ Dans (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Hannah Georgas

Hannah Georgas is a quirky, highly-sensitive, whimsical, and yet extremely serious Vancouver-based singer/ songwriter who will one day win over Jack Black and take his hand in marriage. Born and raised in one of the many suburbs of the T-Dot, she wrote her first song on the piano at the age of 5. In her formative years, inspired by late night summer jam sessions around camp fires Hannah chose the guitar as her primary instrument, and constant companion.

Influenced by a broad scope of musical talent - from Billy Corgan and his melancholy lyrics to Janet Jackson and her strong sexual desires - Hannah developed her own style, which she continues to fascinate audiences with. She has played a range of Canadian venues, from local cafes in Victoria to the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, and drawn a steady fan-base along the way. Hannah recently won The Music BC Songbird West Singer/Songwriter Competition for 2008 and her debut EP "The Beat Stuff" is due for nation-wide release early in the new year. Hannah opens up her heart and soul with her music and seizes those pure moments you only wish you could describe. Her memorable songs will captivate your heart, put a smile on your face, and a tap in your toe.

@ Vancouver, Canada
♫ Indie, Pop, Alternative
♥ All I Need (mp3)
♥ The National (mp3)
▸ Myspace

The Online Romance

The Online Romance is an eloquent, rich-with-harmony chamber pop group from Portland, Oregon embodied by Becky Brosnan, electric guitar; Lauren Carter, electric piano; Kirsty Hall, electric organ & percussion; Mike Larson, electric bass; Nick Lawrence, drums; and Jack Saturn, acoustic guitar. All members contribute vocals in some capacity. The Online Romance's music will appeal to fans of musicians like Belle & Sebastian, the Beach Boys, Mirah, the Shangri-Las, the Left Banke, the Supremes, Ted Leo + Pharmacists, Cat Stevens, the Beatles, the Dixie Cups, Burt Bacharach, Saturday Looks Good To Me, Nick Drake, Elvis Costello & the Attractions, Camera Obscura, the Zombies, the Shins, the Toys, P:ano, and any other group who revels in tight harmony and baroque arrangements. The Online Romance has thus far released material on the Recursive Delete imprint and is currently searching for some Daddy Warbucks to take them all the way to the top of the pops. The band is currently expanding its catalogue of show-ready tunes, performing with some of the brightest touring talent, continuing to work on its debut LP, and looking forward to what 2009 will bring. [source]

@ Portland, USA
♫ Folk Rock, Alternative, Pop
♥ Ladybug, Don't Smile (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Daniel Ledwell

With a voice of quiet assurance and melancholy musicality, Daniel Ledwell offers a first album of original songs, Two Over Seven - seven songs about the bad, bad things that happen to our hearts. Ledwell layers the simple melodies and clean musical lines of his folk- and country-inflected indie pop songs with the expected guitar, supplemented by the evocative tones of instruments from lap steel to banjo, from glockenspiel to cello and keyboard to trumpet. In true indie fashion, Ledwell played and recorded all these elements himself. The orchestral mix creates a sound that moves the melodies beyond their alt-country roots. A native of Prince Edward Island and a graduate of the Fine Arts program at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, Ledwell is now based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he continues to paint and plays keyboards with acclaimed and award-winning band In-Flight Safety. Ledwell gets the best of both worlds in the happening Halifax indie scene: all the interlaced inspirations of playing in a band, and the freedom and flexibility to explore his own voice in solo work. Dan has performed his original songs with many of the lights of the contemporary East Coast music scene, including Julie Doiron, Jenn Grant, Catherine MacLellan, Tanya Davis, Tyler Messick, and Rose Cousins - whose plangent voice lends backing vocals on Two Over Seven. Daniel Ledwell is signed to Emm Gryner’s Dead Daisy Records (DDR), a label he shares with his bandmates in In-Flight Safety and musical friends such as Emm, Royal Wood and rockers Hot One.

@ Halifax, Canada
♫ Indie, Folk, Pop
♥ Daisy, You Are A Liar (mp3)
♥ New Flame (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Bruce Peninsula

Dreamt up by Misha Bower and Matt Cully in the summer of 2006, Bruce Peninsula has slowly mutated, elaborating on the Alan Lomax archives that initially inspired them and taking a new turn every time a new member or instrument is added to the mix. Since their second show, Bruce Peninsula has ballooned out to include a large cast of hoot-and-hollerers. The band mutates often but the last couple of years has seen contributions from Neil Haverty, Andrew Barker, Steve McKay, Leon Taheny, Kari Peddle, Daniela Geshundheit, Katie Stelmanis, Caseey Mecija, Maya Postepski, Isla Craig and Doc Dunn (the latter two no longer perform with BP but are honourary members for life). The instrumental elements have expanded into new terrain (unlike most folk bands, prog isn’t a dirty word for this band), but Bruce Peninsula’s focus is devoted to the singing, first and foremost. Singing from the gut, singing with gusto, singing the way we were made to sing… The early, simple call-and-responses have given way to more elaborate harmonies and compositions over time, but the teachings of those timeless old recordings from the American south remain in tact. Purists may argue that the blues or folk tradition can’t be properly expressed without an old steel string and a slide, but this band has never been too concerned with trying to crack open closed minds. And so, a march of metalophone, lap-steel, zithers, and bells. Of drums and sticks and any other oddities of interesting and pleasing tone. Voices blaring all the while. Bruce Peninsula have spent the last year travelling through churches and slums to make A Mountain Is A Mouth, their debut LP out now!

@ Toronto, Canada
♫ Alternative, Experimental, Folk
♥ Shutters (mp3)
♥ Steamroller (mp3)
▸ Myspace

Rosi Golan

"Folk pop songs sung with a soothing voice; one to look out for!"

Rosi Golan was featured on One Tree Hill last night, and her beautiful voice immediately convinced me to have a further look into her music. Thankfully I did because this talented singer-songwriter might make it big this year. One to look out for!

Rosi Golan is an Israeli born singer songwriter who has made many stops in her travels,including Germany, Paris, and finally ending up in Los Angeles at the age of nine, where she grew up. During her travels, she not only managed to hone her infectiously melodic songwriting, but also learned to speak three languages fluently: French, Hebrew and English. Rosi is indeed a long way from home, but certainly in the right place to showcase her unique talent for rich, dark melodies and a voice that not only draws you in, but still haunts you the next day. While living in LA, Rosi was inundated with creative lessons from violin, to voice, to acting. At 19, she decided to focus on singing and picked up her first guitar, teaching herself to play and write songs. Six weeks later, she was performing at her first open mic. In the past few years, Rosi has worked with a number of acclaimed writers and producers from all over the world but its her continuing collaboration with singer/songwriter Jamie Hartman (Ben’s Brother) that has yielded numerous songs, including the single “Let Me Out”, from Ben’s Brother debut CD. Rosi was recently mentioned in Billboard Magazine. Finally settled in New York, Rosi has already kick-started the momentum that launches careers. Her song "Been A Long Day" was featured in One Tree Hill yesterday, and "Hazy" (feat. William Fitzsimmons) will be next week. Both are from her debut album The Drifter and the Gypsy available now!

@ Brooklyn, USA
♫ Pop, Folk, Acoustic
♥ Hazy (mp3)
♥ Shine (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Library Voices

Library Voices is a ten piece pop collective from Regina, Saskatchewan. Blending tremolo soaked guitars with analog synths, vintage organs, circuit bent electronics, accordion, saxophone, and glockenspiel, their songs play out like an AM radio jingle; mixing the best of the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and today. Since forming in spring of 2008, the group has operated at a feverish pace, recording a 3 song demo, recording and releasing a 6 song ep, and are currently in the studio recording a full length follow up. They have participated in several high profile festivals and showcases including Sled Island (Mogwai, Of Montreal, Okkervil River), Regina Folk Festival (Broken Social Scene, The Weakerthans, Final Fantasy), Gateway Festival (Greg Keelor), and Ness Creek Festival. The band has also shared the stage with the likes of Stars and Plants & Animals. Library Voices debut EP, Hunting Ghosts & Other Collected Shorts, offers a clear and concise introduction to the collective. The group's song writing objectives are evident, bridging sophisticated pop hooks and melodies with complex harmonies and anthemic sing along choruses.

@ Regina, Canada
♫ Indie, Pop, Electroacoustic
♥ Step Off The Map & Float (mp3)
♥ The Lonely Projectionist (mp3)
▸ Myspace

Birdie Busch

"Honest, bluesy vocals, original lyrics make this a one-of-a-kind singer-songwriter"

First of all, a very Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you have a nice new year's eve with family friends etc. I did! 2009, I'm sure will be an amazing year, lot's of great releases are coming up, and LetMeLikeit will very likely be on an own domain soon!
In 2006, The Village Voice said of her acclaimed debut, The Ways We Try [Bar/None] is one of the slyest neo-folk records in recent memory, it’s blues loopy and eccentric, and it’s simple melodies often as inspired as Syd Barrett’s.” Recorded with friend, producer, and all around madman musician Devin Greenwood (Norah Jones, Amos Lee) just a few years after learning guitar and crafting songs, it was an intimate collage of journal meanderings and quiet vignettes about Philadelphia neighborhoods, multi-generational ties, and coming-of-age amidst all of it. In September of 2007, Penny Arcade [Bar/None], recorded again with Devin Greenwood, built on the promise of The Ways We Try and Birdie continued to win over discerning ears. Penny Arcade proved to be a rousing musical manifesto with declarations of forgiveness, mercy, mysticism, and beyond and included Birdie’s interpretation of the Steve Miller Band gem, “Wild Mountain Honey.” And now, for 2008, Birdie gathered up the gear and band and set up in the house of her friend, band member, and producer Craig Hendrix north of Philadelphia to record what will be her third LP. You can hear in this new record her writing, melodies, musical colorings, and arrangements continuing to grow, expand, and incoporate more thought. Birdie shifts from being more of just a rhythmic player, to honing in on creating guitar parts and exploring her love of blues and classical music. She takes on personas such as that of a Mexican dishwasher. Keep your ears peeled for its 2009 release……

@ Philadelphia, USA
♫ Alternative, Folk, Acoustic
♥ Mystical (mp3)
♥ Rabbit's Foot (mp3)
▸ Myspace