Doug's Indie Picks for February 2013

- Vancouver, British Columbia - This month I have an exciting and diverse collection of music for you. Admittedly, it's not a particularly romantic playlist if you're looking for something for the Valentine's season, but that's because I've never been one to care much about Valentine's Day. If your significant other really loved you, they would let you listen to awesome music, wouldn't they? And hey, if you're single, which is fine also, you can always snuggle up nice and close to your iPod by the fire place and listen to some of these tunes. They will always love you. Yes, I'm being odd. What of it?

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Doug's Indie Picks of June 2012

 - Vancouver, British Columbia - I listen to a lot of music, not going to lie. Since discovering websites like CD Baby and Bandcamp, I find a lot of music that I really enjoy and can barely keep up with listening to it all, never mind reviewing it. So, I decided that I would release a series of shorter music reviews every month to tell you about music that I’ve come to like, but don’t necessarily have a whole review's worth of things to say about it. Plus, I can share more music with my readers than if I just released a single review once every week or two. Not all of the albums I plan on talking about are brand new, but I do want these to be mainly independent releases and ones that I enjoy. Why bother bring up a crappy band that no one has heard of only to tell you not to bother to listen to it? This should be an opportunity for me to share a diverse collection of bands that I've come to enjoy to some extent or another.

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Mariah McManus - Nice to Meet You

 - Vancouver, British Columbia - My first encounter with Mariah McManus was rather anonymous and only realized after the fact. My friend brought me to her church, Mosaic, in Los Angeles, as I had been hoping to hear its lead pastor, Erwin McManus, speak, since I had heard some of his podcasts over the years. Instead, someone else gave a sermon, but I remember listening to a girl lead the worship service, who had a very talented voice. Afterward, my female colleague brought me to lunch with her boyfriend, who played bass in the service that day, and the rest of the band, including the girl who led the worship service. We spoke but a few words, nothing particularly significant or memorable. When I asked my friend who she was, she told me that it was in fact Erwin McManus' daughter, Mariah! I determined that when I got home to Vancouver, I would check to see if she had released any material. It was a few weeks after returning home that I was reminded to and pleasantly, I discovered that she had a few singles released, one being "Unarmed," which had been featured in the television series, Grey's Anatomy, and also "Way You Pick Me Up," which personally I believe to be the stronger of the two tracks.

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Dan Mangan – Nice, Nice, Very Nice

 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Out of Vancouver's independent music scene, there has recently been a huge success story of a local singer/songwriter who has been garnering a large fan base. I'm of course talking about Dan Mangan, a recent addition to Canada's very own Arts & Crafts record label. His name buzzes around Vancouver and is infecting women everywhere. He was even the main headliner on the final night of Vancouver's live music 125th birthday party event thing that I went to and didn't actually watch him at. I had heard a number of his songs, and while I admit they were pretty good, I didn't buy into the hype so much. Still, I feel it's time to give the album a proper review to see what he's all about.

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Interpol - Interpol

- Vancouver, British Columbia - My introduction to Interpol was back in 2003 with Turn on the Bright Lights.  My first impression was to say “Man, these guys sound like The Tragically Hip.”  It wasn’t a negative comment, and I was quickly gripped by songs like ‘PDA’ and ‘Obstacle 1’.  The album very quickly became a favourite of mine, and I refused to give the copy my brother was lending me back to him until I had bought my own (which wasn’t too long).

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