Black Mountain - Stormy High

It’s nice that this kind of music is making a bit of a comeback. It’s classy, Canadian and yet raw rock n’ roll.

Ben Lee - Love Me Like The World Is Ending

Ben Lee has this annoying habit of making irresistably catchy and happy pop music. This little ditty is off of his 2007 album Ripe.

Minus The Bear - Thanks For the Killer Game of Crisco Twister

I’m sorry, but Minus The Bear takes the award for best song names hands down, every time. Who else has given us such non-sequiturs as Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse, Get Me Naked 2: Electric Boogaloo, Hey! Is That a Ninja Up There?, and Lemurs, man, Lemurs. Sure they have nothing to do with the song and make it quite difficult to remember what song is named what, but man are they fun. This one’s from their 2002 full-length debut Highly Refined Pirates.

The Postal Service - Natural Anthem

There’s nothing like a good instrumental song, and this is almost one. Instrumental-wise, not good-wise. It’s totally a good song. It just has a few lyrics near the end. It’s off of The Postal Service’s wildly successful (and rightly so) 2003 album Give Up.

Doves - Caught by the River

And now from directing Koolaid River, to being caught by said river. This little ditty is by the british band Doves, off of their 2002 album The Last Broadcast. Contrary to literal belief, it was not their final album. The song starts acoustic, but curves and swoops along with rising washes of sound, reminiscent of tides, coming in and going out along a shoreline. Or maybe I’m reading too much into it.

Grand About The Mouth - Secret Mommy

Secret Mommy is the musical outlet of multidiciplinary Vancouver artist Andy Dixon. I saw these guys play back in the summer of ‘07 and I was amazed at the sound coming out of the multiple instruments, garbage cans and noise making apparatuses. The compositions are created with only real sounds, there’s no synths in this song! Check out the video Dixon directed for Koolaid River as well.

Image from The Chemistry. (Dixon’s design site)