Playlist Friday brings us another edition of OurBasement Release Radar. There are almost 100 songs on our playlist that have been released in the last couple months. Some of them are remixes, other songs are for teasers for upcoming albums and other songs are from newly released albums. There are is so much great new Canadian music for you to check out it can be a bit overwhelming. I may have to do the radar monthly to attempt to keep the playlist shorter than 6 hours!

Wolf Parade, Weaves and The Barr Brothers are some of my favourite artists but there are so many songs from other artists to love too. We have a few featured artists that are represented on the playlist with a new track. Read on to find out more.


Scenic Route to Alaska – Slow Down is about the inherent struggle of maintaining balance while always on the move. The song was inspired after burning rubber on the road for the majority of 2016/2017. The song also hints at attempting to maintain relationships and a healthy lifestyle and is met by a big ol’ “I don’t think I’m ready for it”. The song was produced, engineered and mixed by Howard Redekopp. He’s worked with the likes of Tegan & Sara, Said The Whale, Mother Mother and a bunch of other really rad bands. He brings a fresh set of ears and a new perspective to what we’re doing. I think we work really well as a team because we like to push ourselves by recording all of the bed instruments live to tape and Howard gets really excited about that kind of stuff. We recorded the song in one day at Hipposonic Studios in Vancouver. It all fell into place really naturally and I love the tones that we got out of that space. The mood of the song is kind of tongue-in-cheek. The first line “give it up, get a job” was inspired by past family reunions where everyone would ask “oh, so you’re still doing that music thing, eh?”. I guess the overall sentiment behind the song came from being on the road for the majority of 2016/2017. We get to travel to some amazing places and play shows in the coolest spots but, after going so hard for so long, sometimes you need to take a second to breathe it all in, process it, and then keep your foot on the gas. Scenic Route To Alaska have been a band since they were teenagers and strive to make pop music with ample doses of both substance and accessibility. ‘Slow Down’ continues down this path.

The Elwins had never entered the studio with so many songs before, each member coming in with strong material. An unspoken desire for more introspective ballads seemed to pervade each songwriter’s creative impulse, weirdly putting some pressure on the band to figure out what this record was all about. Experimentation led to new creative forays, including, unusually, an instrumental ‘Your Very Own Beauty Community’. Beauty Community features 13 freshly minted and ridiculously catchy tracks, including first single, “Hey! Ya, You”. The album is available for order HERE. There seems to be an overtly upbeat spirit to the songs and a sensitive, inquisitive sentiment within Beauty Community – a particularly refined and dynamic display of the band’s powerful pop songwriting chops. A close listen suggests that certain things are being processed; relationships, life, the sense of (and not) belonging. In the end, Beauty Community is the work of an experienced unit – a band of brothers who know when to push each other out of comfort zones. There’s plenty here for Elwins faithful to cling to but also tasteful explorations that shed new light on the band.
Friendly Rich is a mad composer from Canada. Mr. Rich composed background music for 3 seasons of MTV’s The Tom Green Show. Since 1994, he has recorded exclusively for his own eclectic record label, The Pumpkin Pie Corporation. Rich holds a Masters degree in music from the University of Toronto under the supervision of Dr. Lee Bartel and composer R. Murray Schafer. The first single The Great Blue Heron, from his new album of the same name is on the playlist and is a fun listen. Check it out and then check out the whole album.
Dive in to the playlist and use it to explore more from these artists and all the other amazing artists on there. Let us know what you discover and what songs are your favourites.