Lo-Fi Hero is the brainchild of Erik Alcock and John “P*nut” Harrison in their studio in Berlin. The duo make music that is old and new, loop-based and performed. Previously, Harrison has worked as a producer for Amy Winehouse and Alcock has written many songs for Eminem.
The whole project of Lo-Fi Hero is based on taking live performances then turning them into samples and resampling the parts in inventive ways. They want to show new ways of using modern technology in conjunction with old technology to create a new sonic landscape – in essence, making modern music on analog gear.
“No Appetite” sees the duo channelling longing and foreboding heartache in their first release.
The video was shot by Jakob Stolz, with a Berlin based performance artist. Lo-Fi Hero wanted the video to convey a narrative to the music in an abstract way.
Toronto-based singer-songwriter and magical girl Sia Shells is back again with fellow Toronto multi-genre artist, Ekelle for another dream pop collaboration!
After the successful release of their first group collaboration “Magic Girl,” Ekelle and Sia wanted to create a part 2 that worked as an inclusive dancing mantra for girls everywhere. You can blast this whenever you’re feeling down or alone and get an instant serotonin boost with a sprinkle of divine female energy.
The video is a compilation of Sia and Ekelle’s IRL girl gang adventures this past summer, and it’s a perfect way to keep the momentum and high vibrations going through the colder and long year ahead. It’s filmed by the different women in their lives, and captures authentic moments from their girl gang adventures.
Grant Boyer is embarking on his career as a solo artist, giving voice to edgy alt-rock with a dash of humour. After years of success as a founding member of Canadian rock group Golden Gate Graves, Grant took time to enjoy the downtime and to also start his family – though he never stopped writing music.
Agreeing to disagree doesn’t seem to cut it anymore. The online arguments go nowhere. Boyer searches for a solution to social media discourse and phone addiction in “De-Evolution,” his twangy new single. He’s not not trying to change the world, but if he can inspire a pause to think, maybe that’s okay.
Lesley Pike’s upcoming album, Wild, focuses on the resilience that comes after pain. Ahead of its October 28th release, she is sharing “Paper Thin,” written with folk duo The Dunwells, a fragile yet hopeful reflection on a couple’s fight that Pike overheard while staying at a hotel one night in Leeds, England.
‘Oh god, have I ever sounded like this?’ Pike asked herself as she tried to catch some sleep. The next morning, her and The Dunwells set out to write a song which feels tender but also quite optimistic and hopeful.
Delicate lap steel guitar and Pike’s vocal at the forefront tell a story of comparison and the shifting perceptions of conflict that come from overhearing such a personal row between strangers.
We still have now what we had then, but it feels a little cold.
What got underneath our skin that keeps us from living in the full?
Like a magic gramophone found during a stay at a desert compound, the dusk-tinged songs of Kue Varo & the Only Hopes are ethereal yet immediate, shrouded in mist but immediately distinct. The titular Varo leads the group with lyrics, vocals, guitar and more, but her trusty Only Hopes help bring to life the music that carries her grit-marked, dramatic vocals through your ears and into your soul.
“Feelin’ Lucky” paints a picture of the ebbs and flows of a really good day, all leading to a climactic release and repeat. There’s motivation and liberation through fearless fun and pleasure, pulling the threads of fortune a little closer, weaving them into reality. The song ends with a cathartic scream of “Nothing can stop me now!” at the top of Varo’s lungs, leading to a psychedelic climax.
Russel Broom produced this track along with the two others that the band will be releasing. Each track will be released in alignment with the next three new moons – a time of resetting when the veils between realities are at their thinnest.
Happy For No Reason is a band that is the antithesis of their name. The band based out of Portland Oregon celebrate every single one of life’s precious moments as two of their members are literally happy to be alive. Comprising of Jo Alexis (vocals and percussion), Neil Goldstein (guitar), and Mark Pritchard (flute), the founding members of Happy For No Reason navigate the rich waters of Jazzy Folk with a pinch of rock, a dash of soul, and even a touch of Bossa Nova.
Their jazzy folk rock single “Canaries (Hot Summer Night)” was revived from Neil and Jo’s early music careers. Neil wrote this chord progression with a jazz band in 1974 and Jo wrote the lyrics in 1991. They put them together one night in 2015 to make the song we hear now. It’s an example of how many of their songs came together.
“The lyrics are about my boyfriend who was working in Harlem at the time and I went to visit him knowing we might break up,” says Jo. “Breaking up when you are still in love is painful but the song has turned into a raucous uptempo sing-along, like the rat pack with a female lead!”
They finished recording, mixing, and making the music video during the pandemic. A friend of Jo’s told suggested the lead vocals were initially too aggressive. So, Jo bought a new microphone and redid her parts, also learning how to use Logic, the DAW (digital audio work station) and spent many hours comping the flute and piano solos.
Their video for “Canaries(Hot Summer Night)” depicts the band on a steampunk style ship, captained by Jo. They are on a mission to catch a canary. The ship and crew are eventually wrecked and never catch the canary. It’s a metaphor for self-destruction, you want something so bad that you’re willing to ignore red flags.
We spoke with Jo Alexis about the video:
Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically in this way?
We didn’t actually choose it but trusted the animator to come up with something fabulous! I saw one of his videos on YouTube and looked him up. He does a combination of live action and animation and I thought it would be amazing for this song!
What was the inspiration behind this video?
Honestly, we gave Christian Bolorinos, our director/animator/producer complete creative freedom on this so all of the ideas were his and we showed up in costume and followed direction. He is SUCH a joy to work with and has an incredible sense of humor! I was delighted with the result and so was the wonder world. The video has acquired 136k views on Facebook and is also a favorite on my YouTube channel.
What was the process of making this video?
The process was so much fun! We rented a studio in Portland and showed up in steampunk outfits(during the pandemic so we wore masks except when shooting!). We shot the music video in Portland but our director, animator and script writer, Christian Bolorinos, was in Barcelona. So we FaceTimed with him during the shoot which actually worked out really well! He directed us from Spain and we just followed his directions. I rented boat props like a steering wheel and a nautical telescope and of course, ropes. We used a fan to make it look as if we were in a terrible storm. Here are some cool pics of our shoot with the band in steampunk costumes.
Modern Mystery 
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