Doug's Indie Picks for December 2012

 - Vancouver, British Columbia - December is a curious month in that Christmas just kind of takes it all over. There are 30 more days that month and all that is on everyone's mind is counting down the days until they eat a whole bunch of food and give presents to one another. Really, you could choose any day of the year to do that, but since everyone is doing it on December 25th, why not join in? Most holidays don't really get the wide assortment of music that Christmas does. I mean, Halloween has Thriller and... uhh... I don't think Easter really gets anything unless you're watching children's television. But almost every band or artist takes it upon themselves to contribute to the Christmas music tradition... except Radiohead, but maybe that's for the best. Sometimes they'll release a single, like The Killers made a habit of for quite a few years, or sometimes they'll make a whole album, like Cee-Lo Green did this year. I guess my main complaint is that so many people just copy the same standard songs time and time again... but sometimes that works. For my indie picks this month, I'm going to try and dig out some original music or find some of the standards that are performed in a way that's a little different this time, because hey, you might want some independent musicians on that holiday playlist next to U2, Mariah Carey, and George Michael... or was it WHAM? They can't have all the fun.

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Hey Ocean! - It's Easier To Be Somebody Else

 - Vancouver, British Columbia - When I reviewed Hey Ocean's first album over a year ago, I praised it for being honest, and relatively light material. It was upbeat and fun enough to be pop music, but smart and sophisticated enough to earn a reputation to be much more than that. As the years have gone by Hey Ocean! have been gaining more and more popularity, not just in their native Vancouver, but across Canada as they've toured across the country and been regular on CBC radio. Not to mention that they've achieved a healthy level of success entirely independently. Still unsigned to any major label, one listens to the band knowing that they've become a Vancouver indie staple simply by making great accessible music.

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Hey Ocean! - Stop Looking Like Music

- Vancouver, British Columbia - I believe some people have a stigma in their heads about independent music. They love their comfortable pop music because it's easy to listen to and can be danced to. And there is this idea that obviously this means that indie music in their heads is challenging or unpleasant. Meanwhile, on the other side of the spectrum, there are those who think that radio music is awful, repetitive nonsense and and only bands that no one else has heard of deserve respect. I find myself in the middle of all of this wondering why we can't have the best of both worlds. Truth is, sometimes we need something a little bit light.

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