Music (and Video) from the Inbox: 01 July 2012

Other sites may be taking a break for the long weekend (and with the July 4 holiday coming up in a few days), but we don’t.  Because the Internet never sleeps–and because you’re always looking for something new–I do my best to make sure that new stuff gets posted every single day.

Juliette Jagger supplies this list of recommendations for your Canada Day weekend.  There’s some good material here.

Artist: The Battle of Santiago, “Dub Hallow”

Album: Full Colour

The Battle of Santiago are a really interesting case because they’re getting a lot of love on college radio here in Canada – in fact they’re #1 – and they are this wild fusion of intense Latin rhythms, post-Afro-Cuban-rock, and distinctly and deeply cultured Canadian roots.

Sounds like: Momentary melancholy going up against heart-thumping intensity

Link/Listen/Watch:

Artist: Milk Music, “Fertile Ground”

Album: Beyond Living EP

There’s a thing about this band’s sound – it’s like being in a dive basement venue as a teenager after having just discovered rock and roll. It’s easily reminiscent of a few great bands already passed, but it’s a spirit that they carry.

Sounds like: Turn on your amp and thrash out kind of rock and roll

Link/Listen/Watch:  Stream it here.

Artist: Jack Trammel, “Crushing Blow”

Album: Behemoth

Jack Trammel is an absolute powerhouse. This record is so cinematic it hurts, and rightfully so because you’ll be hearing it in everything from The Amazing Spider-Man, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Total Recall to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Underworld: Awakening, In Time, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and Soul Caliber V.

Sounds like:  A behemoth

Link/Listen/Watch:

Artist: Denver, “The Way It Is”

Album: Self-Titled 

Denver has all the right fixings to make this band taste just like sweet whisky and wallowing emotion.

Sounds like: Blowing lonesome in the cool, dusty, country air.

Link/Listen/Watch:  Stream it here.

Artist: Rochester, “You Can’t Win”

Album: ROCKEY MIXTAPE

Finally! The worst damn thing in the world is picking up a mixtape and having to listen to a “rapper” whose got no flow. Rochester is killer. Everything from his lyrical storytelling, flow, and nuanced pronunciation of certain words, to his samples of Rocky IV, are done with complete precision. This is someone who understands what the listener needs out of a hip-hop song. This track is tight as hell.

Sounds like: The hook.

Link/Listen/Watch: