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Now playing on WMCK.FM: "Lie Lie Lie," Metric

From Wikipedia:

Pagans in Vegas is the sixth studio album by Canadian indie rock band Metric, which was released on Sept. 18, 2015. The first single, "The Shade," was released on May 11, 2015. "Cascades" was released as the second of the album on 2 June 2015. On July 7, 2015, the band released "Too Bad, So Sad" as the third single via a new iOS and Android app it created called "Pagan Portal," which allows fans to listen to tracks off the album as they're released and read newsletters from the band.

A Canadian rock band founded in 1998 in Toronto, Metric is Emily Haines (lead vocals, synthesizers, guitar, tambourine, harmonica, piano), James Shaw (guitar, synthesizers, theremin, backing vocals), Joshua Winstead (bass, synthesizers, backing vocals) and Joules Scott-Key (drums, percussion). The band started in 1998 as a duo formed by Haines and Shaw with the name "Mainstream."  After releasing an EP titled Mainstream EP, they changed the band's name to Metric, after a sound that was programmed by Shaw on his keyboard. In 2001, Winstead and Scott-Key joined them.

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Now playing on WMCK.FM: Mac DeMarco

All information supplied by the record label:

Mac DeMarco’s Another One was conceived and recorded entirely by Mac in a short period of time between a relentless tour schedule. At his new place in Far Rockaway, Queens — a neighborhood as east as you can possibly be before hitting Long Island — you can live in relative isolation despite technically still being in New York City. This left Mac with nothing more to do with his down time than to make music.

Another One is an eight track release of brand new songs, freshly written for this release and each of which expand the arsenal of Mac’s already impressive catalog.

It’s odd that despite working at the same pace as artists like Creedence, The Byrds and The Rolling Stones, coupled with an equally unending schedule of touring, press and recording, Mac is still labeled as a slacker. 

With two full-lengths and two EPs released and hundreds of sold out shows performed in the last several years, a recent late night television debut on Conan following a special guest performance on The Eric Andre Show, it seems, as Mac DeMarco nears his 25th birthday, there’s not a slack bone in the man’s body, besides maybe his a penchant for wearing comfortable clothes.

BUY THE ALBUM ON AMAZON: Another One

Now playing on WMCK.FM: Moa Holmsten

Bruised Arms & Broken Rhythm

The songs of Bruce Springsteen might seem like an odd choice for the Swedish recording artist, Moa Holmsten. After fronting the heavy metal band, Meldrum, and then releasing two dynamic and avant-garde albums of her own songs (Do You Want Me, Death? and All Blade, No Handle)... Moa Holmsten and Tony Naima went into the studio in 2013 and emerged with a startlingly creative reworking of the Springsteen classic, "Badlands." They had such a good time creating this cover song, they decided to try another... and another... and another. In the end, they had completed fourteen tunes spanning across Springsteen's entire career... from the obscure to some of his most well known... but always in a completely fresh and original way.

Holmsten and Naima are not the typical die-hard fans of Bruce Springsteen one would expect after hearing their carefully crafted and respectful interpretations of his songs. As Moa says, "We have always respected Springsteen... but I believe the fact that we are not intense and longtime followers of his work has been essential from the beginning. We could discover new songs and re-discover older ones, and work on them with a unique perspective. We could be brave and courageous, while not letting old emotions or presumed expectations stand in our way." The resulting musical creations ended up all over the stylistic map (from the current pop sound of "Dancing In The Dark" and "Tougher Than The Rest" to the rustic and organic "Highway 29" and "Sad Eyes" to the haunting and spare "Streets Of Fire" and "You're Missing"), and each evolved into a life of its own.

Holmsten offers further insight into the project by saying, "I have compared this whole recording experience to falling in love with someone. Getting to know someone for the first time. The first fumbling steps. A person with a history and a past. The last thing you want is to be told from other people what kind of person he or she is. You want to find out for yourself. To see the side of this person that nobody else has seen. This is why I have consistently refused to read articles, books and interviews with Springsteen. I wanted to find out for myself. My own version of an American icon. Not the typical portrayal of him. And that, in a way, can't be questioned. This is how his songs spoke to me. Our relationship slowly progressed, and I have now totally fallen in love with him. I hope that it's mutual..."

(Information supplied by the record label)

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