Matthew's Finest

No long preamble. No funny shit. The band is from LA and they're rock solid.

The World Record - We're #1 [mp3]

SotW for August 7th, 2008

This week's Song of the Week is not very good. I mean that.
The only reason I have put it up is because I have neglected my shaving routine as of late and grown what some might consider a beard. So here's a band with the most creative name I have heard in years singing about facial hair: Natalie Portman's Shaved Head. Please enjoy.

Natalie Portman's Shaved Head - Beard Lust [mp3]

Playlist for August 26, 2008

This week's show featured three songs from the Saved By Saskatoon compilation that showcases some of the great talent available in our fair city. Also on the playlist: awesome music from all over the place. Check it out!

1st Hour

Jana Hunter - Babies [mp3]
These Hands - We Will Be Born Again
The Fifty Sixers - The Company
Ketch Harbour Wolves - Gold [mp3]
Josh Ritter - Mind's Eye
The Stills - Being Here [mp3]
Carbon Dating Service - Dead Dogs Love Us Still
Wintersleep - Drunk On Aluminum
Construction and Destruction - What the Non-Human Taught Us
Radiohead - House of Cards [zshare]


2nd Hour

The Gales - Cellophane
Jay Reatard - See/Saw [mp3]
Clark - Metal Boys
The Rumble Strips - Time [mp3]
The Blood Lines - The End of the World
Los Campesinos! - How I Taught Myself To Scream [mp3]
Ruby Coast - Brittle Bones
The Organ - Sinking Hearts
The World Record - We're #1 [mp3]
Joel Plaskett - I Love This Town
The Broken West - Auctioneer [mp3]
Natalie Portman's Shaved Head - Beard Lust
Creature - Who's Hot, Who's Not

SotW for August 20th, 2008

This week's Song of the Week comes from New York City, which happens to be the name of the new album by Brazilian Girls. My featured song is called Good Time and sounds like a summer song should: it's fun, catchy, and makes you want an ice cream sundae.

The singer, Sabina Sciubba, can speak German, Spanish, French, Italian, and English. Her bizarre accent comes through in the song and makes it all the more charming. Please enjoy.

mp3: Brazilian Girls - Good Time

Matthew's Finest

An oldie but a goodie is what I'm dishing out today onto the musical dinner plate. Over & Over is a song that was originally written as a techno pop song by the group Hot Chip. They do a fine job of putting together a catchy song, one that has kept my toe-tapping and my head bobbing for months now. But when you take said techno pop song and turn it into a violin driven power ballad... Well, there's only so much that one man can take...

I have included both of them, just so you can compare them and realize how amazing the transformation is.

Hot Chip - Over & Over [mp3]


The Miserable Rich - Over & Over [mp3]

The Playlist Strikes Back - Aug 20th, 2008

We're back after a one week break, ready to spring some more music on you. Here's the playlist:

1st Hour
Bruce Peninsula - Lift Em Up Jack, Can I Ride [mp3]
Construction and Destruction - Thank You
Woodpigeon - Knock Knock [mp3]
Hayden - Damn This Feeling
Colourbook - Lung Fung
Olivier Jarda - Victorian Faces [mp3]
Laura Barrett - Robot Ponies
A Gentle Forest - Because of the Wind
That's The Spirit - Every City [mp3]
The Thermals - Pillar of Salt
Jamie Lidell - Wait for Me
MGMT - Electrical Feel

2nd Hour
The Miserable Rich - Over and Over (Hot Chip Cover)
Modernboys Moderngirls - My Baby Says Boy, Don't You Ever Go [mp3]
I'm From Barcelona - Music Killed Me
James Pants - We're Through
The Weakerthans - Sun in an Empty Room
Culture Reject - Fireflies are Fading
Sea Wolf - You're a Wolf
Liz Durrett - Wild As Them [mp3]
Maybe Smith - Open War
Marching Band - Gorgeous Behaviour [mp3]
Brazilian Girls - Good Time

Matthews's Finest

This week I was torn between two choices. Should I go with the song that I like in spite of it's faults? Or the one that I like because of it's faults?I was so torn by this decision, having a very pure love for both of them, that I decided I had to present them both.

The first is a song by Ontario's newest sensation, Human Highway. The band is comprised of Nick Thorburn, the lead singer of Canadian indie ensemble Islands, and former Islands member, Jim Guthrie.

The song is a blend of Guthrie's playful songwriting and Thorburn's ear for catchy hooks. It's an excellent song but it does suffer from some of the same problems that always irked me about Islands. Namely, Thorburn's singing isn't strong enough to carry the vocal heavy parts of the song alone. Despite this however, the song triumphs absolutely in it's chorus and the first few notes should be enough to keep you interested throughout.

Check out the band's myspace for another listen, and watch out for their upcoming debut album, Moody Motorcycle.

Human Highway - The Sound (mp3)

The second song is from The Extraordinaires. The London Extraordinaires, not the Chicago ones. The song, while not heavy in the realm of production, has that essential ingredient that most music lacks: a soul. The mellow harmonies in the song are pregnant with enthusiasm. They sound like a human has actually felt them, rather than just thrown them onto a record. When listening to the chorus of this song you get the feeling that the performers accidentally left the recording equipment on and captured a particularly successful jam session. And that's what is best about this song; it's music that isn't bored with itself. The band seems to genuinely enjoy the act of performing the song. And when you have something as pure and remarkable as that, it's very easy to forgive the devil may care attitude that they have towards the recording.

The Extraodrinaires - The Warehouse Song (mp3)

SotW for August 6th, 2008

From the third-most expensive city in the world, the four-piece band Noah and the Whale has sprung forth with this week's Song of the Week™. The band's name is inspired by one of my favourite films, The Squid and the Whale, and the four Londoners have included one of my favourite things in their song as well: whistling!

Laura Marling, whom we've played on the show before, was part of the band at one point but is now doing the solo thing. Listen to her here.

mp3: Noah and the Whale - 5 Years Time

Playlist for Aug 6th, 2008

This week you can enjoy the special Swedish edition of the playlist. Purely by accident, we discovered that several well-known acts are all from Gothenburg, the second largest city in Sweden, and we decided to include some of those artists on the show this week. And, as usual, we have plenty of links for ya.

1st Hour

Do Make Say Think - The Universe! [mp3]
Gravity Wave - Princess
The Wet Secrets - The Chinball Wizard
Construction and Destruction - Ring Around The Moon
Revival Dear - Ol's In The Water [mp3]
The Deep Dark Woods - Mountain
Cameron Latimer - Empty Saddle
Baby Eagle - Baby Come On Home [mp3]
Woodpigeon - Cities Of Weather
The Unicorns - I Was Born (A Unicorn) [mp3]
The Fembots - Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist
The Human Soundtrack - Babies Are the New Pursedogs [mp3]

2nd Hour

Noah and the Whale - 5 Years Time
Oh No! Oh My! - Walk in the Park [mp3]
Fontän - Early Morning
Oholics - We Get Along
Sally Shapiro - Keeps Me Alive
Jens Lekman - The Opposite of Hallelujah
José González - Down the Line [mp3]
Ace of Base - The Sign
Jukebox the Ghost - Victoria
of Montreal - Id Engager [mp3]
Human Highway - The Sound