Suggestion Saturday 2 Anniversary Edition : Tim Hecker, KWES, and Hartford

     One month, truthfully longer than most people can see me being committing to anything besides an asylum. Aside from the obvious its been a good month, surpassing my expectations as we hit over 1000 views as of sometime yesterday (when I couldn't check the stats cause blogger was down). This has gone so well I thought we would do a special suggestion Saturday for our one month showcasing some great Canadian artists suggested by our readers. So without further ado let the celebration begin.

     One rainy day while swapping music with an old friend of mine I was passed an album by Tim Hecker,  contrary to popular belief I had never heard of his work or him for that matter. Upon doing a bit more digging I discovered that he was a B.C. born producer based out of Montreal, and the most interesting fact was that he had toured with Godspeed You! Black Emperor. It was an obvious branch off of the post rock that I was indulging in at the time, ambient. Not a term I use very often as, besides for Atticus Ross and some of Trent Reznor's work, I barely listen to it at all. I realize now that is my downfall. His work has been described as "structured ambient", "tectonic color plates" and "cathedral electronic music". Personally I would just call it mind wiping. This is the music you put on when you need to leave this place, and we all do sometimes.

Tim Hecker - Harmony in Ultraviolet (2006)(Album)

(Click to download)

     This is a gem that I have been saving for today, my pick for the anniversary edition, KWES. I don't really know what it is that my caffeine addled mind loves about Rifle Eyes experimental musicians so much. Maybe its the blending of genres so the music never quite gets old enough to take it off your favorite playlists. Maybe its the driving hip hop beats layered with witty lyrics that not only drive your day forward but bring a smile to it. Maybe its the samples or hidden political undertones that make it so I can't stop checking to see if theres anything new dropping from these great artists. KWES is no different from the artists we've featured before, Dream Jefferson, Danny Deleto, and James Hancock. He takes his music as seriously as we should, and don't forget to actually listen to the words as they flit through your brain, you might learn something. Grab the album below and read a full album review by Lesson Six here.

KWES - In the Dying of the Light (album)

(Click to download)

     Our last group today is on the complete other end of the musical spectrum, but thats what we do here. Hartford, a four piece pop-punk band from Ottawa, again props to Don for laying this stuff on me, as it isn't my piece of the musical cake. But as far as punk goes I understand that they are quite good, it just makes me wish my dad had left me warm coffee before he scooted off to Peterborough, not this drearily freezing sludge, so maybe I could have enough energy to properly appreciate this music. 

Hartford - Room 207 (Album)

(click to download)

     I love these suggestion days, as it lets me post artists in the same article that have no right being on the same site let alone post. It amuses me to no end having an ambient producer, a political MC and a pop-punk band all kicking around.  It makes it even better when they're all from the great white north. To risk being long winded thanks everyone who suggested music, and keep it up, as we love your feedback and there is nothing better than free music... well maybe if music came with coffee... Aside from that thanks again for checking in and your continued support as we enter into our second month of posting, and my sincerest apologies for blogger being down yesterday, if I could've this post would have been up then.