Canadian R&B Under Neon: "Phases" by Majid Jordan (2017)

Canadian Indie Rock Under Neon: "Dressed to Suppress" by Metric (2018)

Featured Song Of The Day = 'Fragile Bird' by City And Colour (2011)

Today's feature song is Fragile Bird, by Canadian Canadian singer/songwriter City And Colour. City And Colour is actually an acoustic side project of  St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada-based Alexisonfire vocalist/guitarist Dallas Green, which has been active since 2004. According to his Wikipedia page Juno Award winning Dallas Green is often accompanied by a rotating number of Canadian musicians but that City And Colour is primarily his own side-project. Fragile Bird is a single-release from his upcoming Little Hell which is set to be released on June 7th, 2011.

Featured Song Of The Day = 'Lose It' by Austra (2011)

Today's feature track goes to Canadian indie-electronica/new-wave group Austra, and their song Lose It. Austra are a Toronto-based trio consisting of members Katie Stelmanis (lead vocals and keys), Maya Postepski (keys), and Dorian Wolf (bass guitar). The band's name is taken from the goddess of light in Latvian mythology, as lead singer Katie Stelmanis is of Latvian descent. Lose It is a single from the group's debut album Feel It Break, which was just released on May 17th, 2011.  This group's sound and style sort of reminds me a little bit of Bjork, and if you like what you hear you can head over to their website HERE for more music and band info.

Feature Song of The Day = 'Hello' by Martin Solveig (feat. Dragonette) (2010)

Today's feature track goes to French electro-DJ Martin Solveig and his song Hello (featuring Dragonette). Martin Solveig is a French-electro-music DJ/producer from Paris, France while Dragonette is a Canadian electro-pop band out of Toronto, Canada featuring lead singer Martina Sorbara. Hello was released as a single in September 2010 where it would reach the #1 spot in Australia and a few European countries. For further music and info on Martin Solveig you can head over to his website HERE, and for more info on Dragonette head to their website HERE.

Feature Song of the Day = 'Vanished' by Crystal Castles (2008)

Today's feature song is Vanished by Toronto-based Canadian electronica-band Crystal Castles. Crystal Castles have been active on the electronica music scene since 2004 and consists of producer Ethan Kath and vocalist Alice Glass. They have released 2 studio albums, and Vanished appears on their self-titled debut album which came out all the way back in 2008! Quite clearly the lyrics have been sampled off of the Van She 2005 hit single Sex City (Van She are an electro-pop band from Melbourne, Australia headlined by lead singer Matt Van Schie). Be sure to check out the Crystal Castles  website HERE, or their MySpace page HERE for more band and music information.

Today's Feature Song = 'Not In Love' by Crystal Castles (feat. Robert Smith) (2010)

Today's feature song is Not In Love (feat. Robert Smith) by Toronto-based Canadian electronica-band Crystal Castles. The song featured here involves guest vocals by Robert Smith, who is the lead-singer for a little band called The Cure. Crystal Castles have been active on the electronica music scene since 2004 and consists of producer Ethan Kath and vocalist Alice Glass. They have released 2 studio albums, and Not In Love (feat. Robert Smith) appears on their Crystal Castles II album, which was released in April of 2010. It is the 3rd single release, and a remix version at that, that comes off of that album. Be sure to check out their website HERE, or their MySpace page HERE for more band and music information. Snap!

Song of the Day for October 9th, 2010: "Wait Up (Boots of Danger)" by Tokyo Police Club

And the song is...Wait Up (Boots of Danger) by Canadian indie-rock band Tokyo Police Club.  Tokyo Police Club formed in 2005, comes out of Newmarket, Ontario in Canada, and consists of members Dave Monks (vocals and bass guitar), Graham Wright (keyboards), Josh Hook (guitar), and Greg Alsop (drums). Wait Up (Boots of Danger) comes off of their June 2010 release album, which is their second studio-album. Check out their wikipedia page for more info on the band and enjoy today's song of the day!

#57 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown!: "Summer of '69" by Bryan Adams (1985)

Aloha all, we are now presenting #57 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits, and #57 is.....Summer of '69, by Canadian singer/songwriter Bryan Adams. Bryan Adams was born on November 5th, 1959 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and has become the bestselling Canadian male recording artist of all time! Over the years he has won 15 Grammy Awards, 18 Juno Awards, as well as MTV Awards, ASCAP Awards, and American Music Awards. I would also mention that his music done for films have been nominated for Golden Globes and Academy Awards as well. Quite the talent, and I would guess that most Americans don't realize that he is actually a Canadian, in fact I have discovered that many actors, musicians, bands, and performers that people think are home-grown Americans are often from Canada, Britain, or Australia, which is quite interesting and not to mention a tangent, so allow me to digress. In April 2006 Adams was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and in 2008 he was ranked #38 on the list of All-Time top artists by the Billboard Hot 100 50th Anniversary Charts. He is no doubt a big player in the music biz, and he got his start there in 1977. Adams has sold somewhere around the vicinity of 100 million records worldwide. Summer of '69 came off of his 4th studio album titled Reckless, which was released in June 1985. According to wikipedia, the reference to '69 in the song is actually a sexual reference as opposed to the common perception that he is singing about 1969, which actually surprises me a little bit, as I was one of those people up til now that thought he was referring to the year. Later on down the same wikipedia page it states that Adams revealed in an interview with In the Studio that the song indeed is a reference to the year 1969 and the cultural revolutions and social movements that were taking place at that time, so pick your own interpretation or even both. Upon its release in 1985, Summer of '69 peaked at #5 on the US Billboard Top 100 chart, and it remains an 80's staple for pub cover-bands the world round. So, there is #57, and off we go to discover #56 and onwards....

And the Song of the Day is....

...The Suburbs, by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire. Arcade Fire come out of Montreal, Quebec and are fronted by husband and wife duo Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, amongst other band members not mentioned here. They've won awards and have been a fairly well known act in the new-rock world for a few years now. The Suburbs is the title track and earliest debut release off of their brand-spanking new album, to be officially released in early August of 2010 titled The Suburbs. Enjoy!

VJ Samsonite's "Hot New Music" song of the day is....

...Heartbreaker, by Canadian electronica group MSTRKRFT (pronounced Mastercraft). MSTRKRFT comes out of Toronto and formed in 2005. The group consists of two members, Jesse F. Keeler and Al-P. Heartbreaker comes off of their Fist of God album (released in March 2009), which was their second studio album. Heartbreaker reached #5 on the UK Dance Charts, whilst Fist of God was ranked #14 Top Electronic Albums. MSTRKRFT are known for their various remixes of songs by other artists as well. Snap!

VJ Samsonite's "Hot New Music" song of the day is....

...Odessa, by Canadian electronica artist Caribou. Caribou is a one-man-band by the name of Daniel Victor Snaith, originally from London, Ontario. His original stage-name was Manitoba up til 2004 when he was threatened with a lawsuit by Richard "Handsome Dick" Manitoba. Oh my, you have just got to love us Americans and our extremely litigious ways, I mean can't we all just get along (oops better not say that, I might get sued). Which reminds me, did you know that the dude who does boxing and pro-wrestling intros actually owns the copyright to his (ready to rumble) speech?? How far is too far folks?? Anyways, getting on with the song of the day...it comes off of Caribou's 20th album called Swim, released in April of 2010 (this very month!). The music video is a bit eerie at best, and the song is definitely different. Blah blah blah! (oh crapola, there's another lawsuit waiting to happen, I can already see the Lawyers flying lazy circles.)

VJ Samsonite's "Hot New Music" song of the day is....

...Help I'm Alive, by Canadian indie rock band Metric. Metric comes out of Toronto originally, and have moved base-locale a few times to London, Montreal, New York, and Los Angeles. The band consists of vocalist Emily Haines (who also plays the synthesizer and guitar), guitarist James Shaw (who also plays the theremin), bassist Josh Winstead and drummer Joules Scott-Key. Metric has won a couple of Juno Awards for past albums, as well as a 2006 Polaris Music Prize for Canadian album of the year. Help I'm Alive is the first song off of their Fantasies album (released in April 2009). Now Metric is actually a band that has received some airplay here on the mainstream radio stations and I've actually heard another good song of theirs off of the Fantasies album titled Gold Guns Girls played on the radio a few times, which surprised me, in a good way. I was pondering making a tribute with this song, but I don't really like the movie that comes to mind to mix it to, so we will see if I make it or not. Big ups yoself!

#96: of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown!

Welcome back to VJ Samsonite's top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown! Today we are presenting #96 of the top 100 countdown! And the song is....Living on a Video, by 80's-Candian-electro-space-synth sensation Trans-X! Now if this song isn't synth, then I just don't know what is. I have always considered Trans-X to be a highly influential electro-trance pioneers. This group was pretty much a one-hit-80's-wonder. Living on a Video was an instant hit in their home country of Canada and worldwide when it was originally released as a single in 1981. The single sold over 2 millions copies and reached the top ten charts in both the USA and the UK. The single was later added to the 1983 album release by the same name. Most of you will no doubt have heard this song at some point, but may not be able to put a song to a face, or something like that. It is funny, looking back now on how the electro-synth music era transformed into the 90's-00's techno-trance (with artists like The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, and the legions of DJ's from The Ministry of Sound)  and how its now come back full-circle to a sort of electro-indie rock era we see now (such as with artists like The Presets, or La Roux, or Van She, Cut Copy, etc.). There are just so many different flavors to music, and an endless way of rehashing and remixing and reblending... blah!!! Anyways, enjoy #96, as 95 is just around da corna!