I freaking love the "break" in this song around the 2 minute mark. Any song with melodic bass runs is a soft spot for me. The whole "Argus" album is incredibly good, one of my favourites to listen to front to back.

Hailing from southeastern New Brunswick, Les Moontunes are... I don't know what. Psychedelic jazz?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzyofjsMbQQ

A Japanese banger from 1980. I would describe this as "a Steely Dan song with Tina Turner on vocals". Tasogare means twilight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDiPbZZ_ph0

Happy National Indigenous Day!

Aysanabee is an Oji-Cree musician from Northern Ontario. I dig the heck outta this song.

Here's a Radio Edit without the spoken words if that's your thing.

Also here are YouTube links for the Full Version and Radio Edit if you don't like spotify

Deep Purple-esque hard rock with a french horn. Need I say more? This song is a bluesy rocker from underrated German band Lucifer's Friend. The whole album is worth a listen.

The french horn "riff" (lick?) sounds exactly like Zeppelin's Immigrant Song. Zeppelin III was released only a month before Lucifer's Friend, but Zep toured Germany in the summer of 1970 so perhaps that's how some cross-pollination happened.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD_mytxCdeg

This website plays lofi tracks 24/7. There's multiple channels each with a different vibe. I like to have it on when I'm doing super fun paperwork at my job.

nêhiyawak are a Canadian First Nations indie rock group from Edmonton, Alberta. The band's name is an endonym for the cree people. The band's debut album, nipiy, released in 2019

nipiy (ᓂᐱᕀ) is the cree word for water, while ôtênaw (ᐆᑌᓇᐤ) means city.

Malian vibes for this Friday. "Vieux" Farka Touré is the son of the famous Ali Farka Touré, a guitarist from Mali in Africa. Touré the younger, through a series of fateful coincidences, ended up making an album with American band Khruangbin (who are well worth a listen on their own), covering some of his father's greatest hits.

The album is incredibly chill and atmospheric; perfect music to have on while relaxing on a hot summer day, or even while working.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0WMAlgHMQg

All I know is that this sounds like it wasn't made in 2021. Felt like sharing. The band has a great retro sensibility, and their other tracks mix old school attitude with more modern touches.

Most people know the 80s lineup of Scorpions (Rock You Like a Hurricane, Winds of Change, etc.) but they were around in the 70s too. The main difference was lead guitarist Uli Jon Roth, who brought a virtuosic neoclassical style to the band. This song is one of my favourites, with a groovy feel and impressive guitar solo right in the intro.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoI7deS76Ck

This is one of the most impressive live performances I've ever seen. Casiopea are a Japanese fusion jazz band who play upbeat (and somewhat cheesy) music featuring incredible musicianship. In this particular song you get back-to-back guitar, keyboard, bass, and drum solos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIK1Vn6Va3w