This event has absolutely nothing to do with the OIympics. This event will be intimate and memorable. Luyas (members of the Bell Orchestre), from Montreal, play the Western Front on Saturday Feb 20th with locals Aunts and Uncles and Rose Melberg’s new band Brave Irene.

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You will thank yourself for indulging in this beautiful reprieve from chaos!

This is something that we’ve tried and failed to do before. Finally it has happened. We’ve managed to get Headlights to play Vancouver. This is exciting for us, and exciting for them too, as they will then begin their tour with Pedro the Lion’s David Bazan. Sadly David will not be coming to Vancouver, but these Illinois born gems will be playing the Railway Club on Feb 28th (last day of the Olympics!)

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Tickets available at Scratch, Red Cat, Zulu and Ticketweb

I once read on another blog, “calling someone the best songwriter since Dylan is about as original as listening to MGMT”. Humorous and poignant, yes. However, The Tallest Man on Earth is certainly doing a good job of making people seem unoriginal. In support of his third album, The Wild Hunt, he will be playing St. James Hall on May 12th.

The proof is in the pudding:

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Now how original do you feel? Tickets are available at Zulu, Scratch, Red Cat and Ticketweb this Friday.

“Over the last half-century, the tag “Dylanesque” has been slapped on so many mediocre folksingers clutching battered Moleskines that it’s become a meaningless joke, a critical hiccup, a silly, lazy way of invoking an age-old raspy voice/acoustic guitar combo. It’s gotten so bad that, in 2008, yammering on about the cliché of dubbing someone “the next Dylan” has become a cliché in itself. Still: It’s exceptionally hard to talk about Scandinavian folksinger the Tallest Man on Earth (also known as Kristian Matsson) without mentioning Bob Dylan’s early years, mostly because Matsson manages to embody Dylan’s effortlessness so well (Dylan was trying really, really hard, sure– but he sang like he didn’t give a shit), infusing his songs with a detachment that, miraculously, is neither cold nor alienating. Like Dylan, Matsson is so natural a songwriter that these tracks feel predetermined, tumbling out of his mouth with an ease and grace that’s increasingly uncommon.”
— Amanda Petrusich, Pitchfork, May 6, 2008

Alright, we all know that the Olympics will bring mayhem. At the height of that mayhem…Foreign Born. The difference is, this is the best kind of mayhem. If you haven’t heard them before, take even one minute to check em’ out. A clean pair of undies might be needed.

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If you were racking your brain trying to think of something to do next next Friday the 12th, think no more! Rah Rah, Like Animals Again, and Pineapple (members of the Neins Circa) are going to be putting on one hell of a show at the Railway Club. Mark it in your calendar and we’ll see you there!

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If you haven’t got tickets yet to NOMO and Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band at the Biltmore tonight, you can still pick some up online at Ticketweb or at Zulu, Scratch, Red Cat, and Highlife. Get your dance pants on and come check it out!

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Just a reminder that Frog Eyes is coming up on Friday at the Biltmore! If you haven’t gotten tickets yet, they are still available at Zulu, Red Cat and Scratch or online at ticketweb. They won’t last, so you better jump on it!

Check out some videos of Frog Eyes here…

Should the I.O.C. approve of a music as a recognized sporting event, FOREIGN BORN would surely stand highest on the podium. All flattery aside, this L.A. group have been breaking records all over the place; and almost as if it were planned this way (weird) they will be headlining right here in our host city on Feb. 27th. While the downtown core will be unbearable chaos during this time, FORTUNE SOUND CLUB will be the best place to escape it. So do yourself a favor and come check them out, with Philadelphian idols, FREE ENERGY. Minds will be blown.
(———EARLY SHOW!!———)

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“Ever since Win Butler did a BBC interview wearing a hoodie, it’s been tough to take Arcade Fire seriously. Hence, there’s a vacancy for an adventurous North American trad-pop band with a taste for the epic. California’s Foreign Born seem like suitable candidates. Evocative of the Fire and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, this is a half-melancholic, half-euphoric surge of folkedelia, in which ringing guitars and layered vocals compete with strings, horns and inventive drumming. Singer Matt Popieluch transcends his past as Peter Bjorn And John’s bongo player as he helms the hyper-melodic ‘Vacationing People’, while ‘Wait in This Chair’ proves a moving ode to inertia, casting a spell only a televised fashion disaster could break.”

- Niall O’Keeffe, NME, June 11 2009

Chicago’s psych/Afro-beat jammers NOMO and Seattle’s new faves Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band will probably make you pee your pant with excitement. Yup, excitement will literally fill your pants on Jan 30th (assuming you’re at the Biltmore). It’s an early show, so make sure you reschedule dinner with your mom.

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Imagine if James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem) produced a Fela Kuti album. Nuff said right? Nope, you can’t say enough about these guys. In support of their fifth album, these five “Michicagonian” jazz school graduates, are travelling across the continent to bring you the most entertaining and…interesting, night you’ve had since the Canucks won the cup. So pack a change of pants and head on down to the Biltmore (EARLY) on Jan 30th to experience the brilliance that is NOMO.

Tickets available at Zulu, Scratch, Red Cat, Highlife and Ticketweb

Owen Ashworth and a Casio SK-1 have been on the road for a while now and soon that road will lead them to the Biltmore. After completing a rather hefty tour through Europe, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone will be making a stop in Vancouver in support of his new album “Vs. Children” Equally exciting is his support: To Bad Catholics (Nick and Julia from No Kids, P:Ano) and Edo Van Breemen (The Clips, Brasstronaut).

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“Backed by suitably uncluttered beats, melancholy drones and bittersweet melodies; these bleak filmic vignettes reward you from the first listen – the lyrics create whole worlds using few words, “Woke up with fingers crossed, in a boy’s bed with your pants off, after polite declines of coffee and toast, walked home itching in last nights clothes”. Mainly sung with male vocals, the occasional song has a female lead which adds poignancy…”
-Colin Spencer (SPILL)