Darin of Hume, California, is a little happier today. He won last week’s Danks CD giveaway contest, and the CD is on it’s way in a spiffy recycled bubble mailer made by yours truly (see photo left). I get a lot of promo CDs in the mail, which I’m ever grateful for, but the biggest conundrum I’ve had about them is the paper bubble mailers they’re sent in. You can’t conveniently throw them in any recycling bin, and it would pain me to just throw them in the garbage. I have quite a supply stored up, and I do use them to mail out prizes to contest winners, so instead of just sending a plain old brown paper mailer, I decided to spruce up Darin’s mailer a bit with a magazine clipping (Bono, circa The Unforgettable Fire). It was so much fun, I made up a few more, and hit upon the idea of creating a gallery of mailers here at QBiM, as my first non-blog WordPress page, so that in future, contest winners can choose the mailer of their choice to have their winning sent to them in. It’s my little way of making the blogging world a little greener. (This week’s 4FTW will be sent out in the Of Montreal mailer, so if that any incentive to get you to enter the contest, you can do so by following the instructions here.)
In other Sunday news…
Matthew of I Heart Music asked me to be part of his yearly Hottest Bands in Canada survey, and last Friday, he published the results for 2008. The list is pretty indicative of the current climate in Canadian music, and is a great reference for anyone wanting to find some great new music to check out.
There were a lot of great musicians that didn’t make my list, and if I were to go back and write that list again, I may be tempted to make a few substitutions here and there, but overall my choices are pretty reflective of my current tastes, so I’m pleasantly pleased to see a number of them on the official list. One might draw the conclusion that, when you compare my list to Matthew’s compiled list, I have my finger on the pulse of the Canadian music scene. Or perhaps one might draw a funny little flower with a happy face while doodling absentmindedly while thinking, “Shit, Jim is really full of himself this time.”
In any case, here’s my list for the hottest bands in Canada:
1. Attack In Black
2. The Dears
3. The Acorn
4. Caribou
5. Holy Fuck
6. Crystal Castles
7. Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains
8. The Whitsundays
9. Hey Zeus
10. Wolf Parade
You can check the full list by stopping over at the full post on I Heart Music. Tell Matthew I sent you. He’ll be ever so pleased.
The original MP3 Music blog, Fluxblog, has been given a spiffy new look recently. It’s first site makeover since the blog began in 2002. Go see what Matthew has on offer today.
If you’re feeling sinister, and you’re feeling a little bit chilly, Belle & Sebastian’s online store have a sale on t-shirts.
Brooklyn’s Emanuel and The Fear (seen previously on QBiM) have been hard at work on some new material for their debut album. the first fruits are promising:
MP3: Emanuel and The Fear “Alright”
Myspace: Emanuel and The Fear