Ghostridin' The Whip.

Tight black pants? check. Black high top Keds? Check. Red plaid shirt? Check. Thick Rimmed Glasses? Double Check.

"Yeah, so I booked this gig a while ago, and it was supposed to be a solo, acoustic show... I decided to bring a six person band." -MBF.

This blog post brings us back to the wonderful and awesome Communitea Cafe in Canmore, AB.

Seven thirty rolls around and we finally stumble upon Communitea to an already small gathering of people waiting outside to grab seats.

Eight thirty brings us to "The Kiteless Flights" {as Steve #2 lovingly named them} who take the stage. They were basically a wicked little band where the oldest musician was pushing it at 16. They took hold of their instruments and completely shocked me with a great rendition of Glen Hansard's "Falling Slowly". After playing a few original tunes, the crowd; mostly filled with proud parents, applauded their little ones.

Nine o'clock or so brings us to the night's main attraction. Every seat is taken and Michael opens the show with himself, his guitar and his trusty loop peddle. Now, I will let myself indulge in a quick fan moment and say that when he opened with "Heroes" I was über stoked. First, I have never heard or seen videos of him playing this live before. Second, his layering of harmonizing vocals on top of one another made it impossible to focus on anything else. Throughout the night he got good use out of his loop peddle. Case&Point, he did a loop with the entire band for the first time which sounded glorious.

The song "Suzie (I Love You)" brought around a dedication to the "Suzie" in the crowd that night a.k.a. my friend Lizzie.

Shortly after Michael telling loving stories of the first time he played in Canmore, the band stepped in to bring "Maxine" to life while the horn section hilariously mimed the words to the song when their lips weren't pressed to brass.

The rest of the set included bringing out older tracks like "Mary Me Mary" and "Black and White Phonetics". Also, Andrew {drummer}, and Michael got all of Communitea to it's feet with Brand New Spaces' iconic - Stomp, Stomp, Stomp, Stomp&Clap. And not to forget the nights first MVP, who was an older gentleman whom Michael jokingly called out for getting up and walking to the bathroom by saying:

Where are you going, sir?

Give the guy about 5 minutes and he returns and replies with:

I was getting you a beer.

Well played sir, well played.

Overall, I can tell you that this "small cafe show" was none of the sort. With exuberant Saxophone and keyboard solos and hilarious crowd participation it was a night I won't soon forget. Sorry you had to miss it.

Next on the sched. Aidan Knight opening for Dan Mangan. Can't wait for some awesome "Robots" sing along.

Peas & Luhv.

Brie

LittleBitOfLove.

I went to see Jon and Roy; a musical duo native to Victoria, play in Canmore at Communitea Cafe. {Check their website out here}. The night started off with having dinner with a friend who I hadn't seen in about a year and a half. The Wine poured out and so did the stories.

For those of you who haven't

been to Canmore, but live in Calgary, to you I say. What are you waiting for!? It is awesome for the following reasons:

a. It's a million times better than Banff. (And slightly cheaper too.)

b. It is Incredibly beautiful because it is such a tight knit, friendly community.

c. It's surrounded by the Three Sisters - The most gorgeous mountain.

We found a table that was just off the right hand corner of the 'stage' and got a lovely kenya coffee press full of African Chai Rooibos (pronounced roy - bos). I knew that Lindsey had never heard of Jon and Roy before, but, I had an inkling that she would really dig them...

If you ever have a chance to see this duo play live, do it. Their warm BC vibe is worth it alone.
Next up? Dan Mangan Feb. 3rd. Cannot wait.

Peas & Luhv,
Brie

Pfft.

Word to the wise. School is for chumps.

Hey, 2010. You're pretty cool.

2010. So far, you have been pretty radtastic.

Ringing you in consisted of me being duct-taped to a full bottle of champagne and finishing it in just over 13 minutes. *(Sadly, I missed the cut off time of 10min.&20sec.) Then following this with painfully ripping the duct-tape from my skin. And changing into a bathing suit to jump into Flathead lake not only once. But twice.

And to date, it almost seems as though the karma gods are rewarding my horrible&wonderful torture of being incredibly hungover and bruised and cut from the ice.

The bounty of their gifts you ask?

-I am now taking Kickboxing classes.

-I have seen Jon&Roy live.

-I am going to Victoria for the not-so-big 2.0.

-I have seen a friend whom previously, I hadn't seen for almost a year and a half.

-I have been inspired to start my own "Buried Life List". For those of you who don't know about what that might be, click... HERE.

OH! And before I forget, I have been introduced (through various means) to some INCREDIBLE music! My ears have never been so happy!

+The Arkells. I know I blogged about them before. But they are just so fun to listen to.

+Do Make Say Think. Such awesome ambient, instrumental music.

+Dragonette. Her new CD "Fixin' To Thrill" is so much fun. Perfection for driving, or getting ready with the ladies.

+The Dudes. Just love these guys. Lyrically sound. Melodies that just make you grove wherever you stand. And, they're from my hometown.

+Florence + The Machine. The song "My Boy Builds Coffins" is fucking amazing. If you dig Laura Marling, you are guaranteed to love her.

+Hannah Georgas. Read two blogs down for the reasoning. Not that she needs any.

+The Kites. Their EP "The Kites Are On" is so splendid. It's raw like it was recorded in your garage studio. And I mean that in the best way possible. Download their EP for FREEEEE Here.

+Lykki Li. Her entire "Youth Novels" CD is a mix of catchy dance tunes, to spoken word love. "Love is the Harmony, Desire is the Key, Love is the Melody, Now sing it with me."

+Jon and Roy. Jon's voice is like butter. Sitting in Communitea Cafe in Canmore, AB. I was so mesmerized by him. At one point I just closed my eyes and smiled.

+Mother Mother. The harmony of siblings Ryan Guldemond and Molly Guldemond with their keyboard player Jasmin Parkin is haunting. I guarantee you have never heart anything like them before.

+Selah Sue. This little self proclaimed "Reggamuffin" is a LOT of power in a small frame. When she really pushes it her voice mirrors Janis Joplin's. Plus, she can beatbox and rap. She's gonna be HUGE.

+Wild Light. If you're having a really shitty day throw on "California On My Mind". And replace "San Francisco & California" with wherever you reside.

Well, that's all for now I believe.

Peas & Luhv.

Brie

2009 Favs

2009 was a wicked year, filled with lots of firsts, lots of laughs and lots of killer music!

That brings me to my Top 20 Songs of 2009!

1} Ghosts - Laura Marling. This was a tough one because her entire CD "Alas I Cannot Swim" is so fecking amazing. It rocked my world.

2} Shelter - Ray Lamontagne. This track is currently sitting comfortably at 124 my iTunes play count. I plan to sing this song at my best friends wedding.

3} Bounce (ft. N.O.R.E) - MSTRKRFT. Dirty Bass. And lyrics that you can't help but belt out. "All I do is Part, Ha ha ha ha."

4} 1901 - Phoenix. Bust your speakers with this track. Great tune to wake up too as well!

5} Panama - The Cat Empire. Awesome, Amazing tune. If you need a little lift and some positive vibes. Crank this baby up real loud.

6} Sideways - Citizen Cope. Clarence Greenwood voice just makes me melt. Good baby making music too.

7} Violet Hill - Coldplay. Pretty much any song of this record is a shoe in for this list. But in the interest of diversity I will stick with just this.

8} Good Girls Go Bad - Cobra Starship. My vice. Guilty as charged. "I know you're type. Boy you're dangerous. Yeah you're the guy I'd be stupid to trust."

9} Funny The Way It Is - Dave Matthews Band. 12 hour drive to Washington's Gorge Ampitheatre. 1 birthday girl. 4 friends. 2 bottles of wine + beers. DMB @ The Gorge. Sleeping in the parking lot of a Shell Gas Station right off of the main highway. One of the best 24 hours of my life.

10} Grapevine Fires - Death Cab for Cutie. My favorite roadtrip music. Perfection for my 6 hour drive to Paradise in the Okanagan.

11} Reverie - Debussy. Got into a huge Classical kick this past year. Chopin, Debussy, Mozart. The usual suspects.

12} Mykonos - Fleet Foxes. Found out it's really good dinner party music.

13} Piano Man - Ghostland Observatory. You have to dance super weird to this song. It's just the rule.

14} Hands In The Air - Girl Talk. Whoop There it is!!! Craaaaank that shit YO.

15} No You Don't - Islands. Some good life advice in this tune.

16} Hit The Ground Runnin' - Keith Urban. Windows rolled down, music turned up. He is incredible in concert.

17} Day n' Night - Kid Cudi (Crookers remix). THE song for summer 2009. That dance alarm is just infectious.

18) Do You Wanna - The Kooks. Simple question. Simple answer?

19} Behind The Moon - Matt Costa. "I would shine just like a thousand suns if you would just love me baby"

20} Brand New Spaces - Michael Bernard Fitzgerald. The ukulele is so perfect for this song. "Dream about Brand New Spaces and Brand New Faces." Story of ma life.

PHEW! Well, that wasn't easy, I hope you enjoy the tracks and there will tons more for next year! I'll be posting a list of new chuunes that I am currently really digging.

Peas & Luhv

Brie

Hannah GORGEOUS!

Hannah Georgas.

Hometown: Newmarket, ON

Currently Resides in: Vancouver, BC

Musical Style: Indie Pop Awesomeness.

Claim To Fame: Her quirky indie voice, Her lyrics, The fact she's Canadian.

Most recently, the indie starlet has released her video for her song "Thick Skin" {Shot by Sean Wainsteim} Hannah shows you a slighter darker side than previous videos like "The Beat Stuff".

Check her out. I guarantee you won't be able to stop listening. Her ode to douchey ex-boyfriends "Mama's Boy" is at 21 on my play count and I just downloaded it 4 days ago...

Peas & Luhv.

Brie

IronMac?

Can't believe I haven't blogged about this earlier! My brosef was perusing Etsy.com and found these wicked Vinyl decals.

Ch-ch-ch-check em out!

Anyone who knows me, knows I have a school girl crush on Robert Downey Jr. (RDJ) as I affectionately call him. So this would be a perfect birthday gift (*wink, wink*).

My other favorite makes snow white look so B.A.

Dig it? Snatch these up riiiight HERE.

peas & luhv.

Brie

Oh Canada!

Today I spent the better part of my day sitting at my kitchen table downloading and listening to Canadian music. So much incredible stuff is coming out of Vancouver and my own home town of Calgary.

Call me late to the party, but I have always heard of these artists just never really opened the door to them.

So, for your listening pleasure. Please check out...

Jane Vain & The Dark Matter. Start off with + C'mon Baby Say Bang Bang

The Dudes. Start off with + Ghosts We're Buried on +Pretty Lies

Hannah Georgas. Start off with + The Beat Stuff +Mama's Boy (if you're looking to get over someone)

Arkells. Start off with +Pullin' Punches +Oh, The Boss Is Coming!

Peas & luhv.

Brie

Post.Script = Treasure Chest of all Canadian Music is CBC Radio3. Googlize that.

Love, Actually.

Apart from being a very cute movie, the idea of an airport being the best place to witness that love is all around us couldn't be more true to me.

A romantic comedy wasn't exactly what I needed at this moment in time. However seeing someone turn the corner and come into plain with view the look of shock, surprise and love is overwhelming.

Whether it's a husband and wife, daughter and mother, boyfriend and girlfriend, or just best friends.

I remember when I landed in Calgary after flying home from Australia and having been gone for 2 months. You have this expectation that everything at home has changed, but what you don't realize right away is that what has changed is you.

I think next time I'm feeling kind of down, I'm going to take myself the to Calgary Int'l Airport and watch some love fly around.

Peas.

Brie

Hahahahaha

Laugh lots. Life is very unexpected, just take it as it comes.

ha.ha.ha.