Stream the album on Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, Soundcloud...

Logic

Logic released two albums this year: his trap-heavy Bobby Tarantino II mixtape fell flat for me, and honestly seemed like a death knell for the lyrically dense, quick-witted hip-hop that I love about him as an artist. How blessed then, for his fourth studio album, YSIV to drop in September. It's an absolutely joy, filled with rapid-fire rhymes, lots of old-school shoutouts, and just enough gangster swagger to fit the "Young Sinatra" moniker.

Partner

Everybody Knows propelled Partner to worldwide attention this year, with an appearance on NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts and at SXSW. Their fun pop-punk is the perfect roadtrip soundtrack. When I learned that the band is based in Windsor, my first thought was, "of course". There's something so Windsor about their distinctive blend of rockin' out and carelessness.

The Sorority

These 4 MCs should honestly each have their own superstar careers by now. It's time for Toronto hip-hop to sound like more than Drake and Drake knock-offs.

Superorganism

Listening to Superorganism is like candy for your ears. Richly layered, genre-bending, with a surprise around every corner. I think of their music as an evolution of the vapourwave aesthetic. Self-aware of their superficiality, but they just do it so well.

Saba

What a storyteller. Saba pulls you close into his Chicago neighbourhood and threads a needle through the spaces between all the violence. Cars, guns and drugs are a backdrop for the richer, more interesting stories about family, friends, and finding purpose as a young man.

Oshun

This afrofuturist duo is everything I want to see in hip-hop and R&B going into 2019. Spacey spiritualism meets mellow beats meets unpredictable flows. They're pushing the envelope in all the right ways, and I'm so glad to see their debut album is titled Bittersweet vol. 1. Can we expect a vol. 2 soon?

Shad

It was great to hear those opening lines – "Damn, it feels good to back!" – after Shad returned to making music this year. With his stint as the host of CBC's Q behind him, he's experimenting with a concept album and I'm totally here for it.

I wanted to go to bed early tonight, but Melissa wouldn't let me. I managed to get a 20-minute nap in after dinner before she woke me up and forced me to stay awake until a reasonable hour like a grown-up should. I was in a funny sort of headspace, and wrote this poem in a fit of inspiration.

Now, I've completely rewritten the app to make it faster and easier to use. You don't need to know a thing about JSON anymore, nor do you need your own server to upload the layout files. It's just point, click, copy, and paste.

Having complete control over the look and feel of your embedded Bandcamp players has never been easier. So head on over and try it out!

http://bandcamp.samnabi.com

And by the way, you can generate players for any album on Bandcamp, including big name artists like Sufjan Stevens and Coeur de Pirate. Awesome, eh?

So, if you're in the Waterloo area this Friday night be sure to come out to St. Paul's and enjoy the festivities!

This year is especially special, because the event turns 40! Word on the street is that one of the performers from the original 1972 show will be playing his set list from back then - phenomenal! Bring your daisy chains, people.

Details:
Friday, March 2, 2012
St. Paul's University College
190 Westmount Road North
Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G5

Admission at the door ($5-10 I assume?)

The lyrics are a raw blow-by-blow account of how a peaceful protest by people disaffected with the police was transformed into a senseless rampage of violence that spread across the country.

I attempted a cover of my own, layering piano and guitar underneath the vocals and incorporated more harmonies in the chorus. Have a listen and let me know what you think! That said, the original is totally worth a listen. Reveal can pack more emotional punch in his delivery than I have ever seen before.

Featuring two songs in French, it reflects my experiences living on the Old Continent. Hello World, the title track, explores the desire for meaning beyond shiny toys and credit cards. Tout de même is a reflection of my uneasiness at being thrown into a new and foreign place. As I began to feel more comfortable and meet people, I wrote Stitching the Sky as a celebration of true brotherhood, and a call to reach out to our neighbours. The Courts are Closed on Sundays is a sobering reminder that relationships (and not just romantic ones) can crash and burn, and when they do, it's hard to keep your chin up. The album ends with La vie est belle, a song that pays tribute to the beautiful city that is Lausanne.

The digital album is pay-what-you-can, and the Creative Commons license lets you share and remix to your heart's delight.

So have a listen, comment, spread the word and download it!

The Grand Porch Party is the ultimate combination of music and good old-fashioned neighbourliness! Musicians will be playing free outdoor shows on the front porches of homes in uptown Waterloo, behind the Town Square.

Sponsored by Alternatives Journal, this is sure to be an afternoon of awesomeness. Bring your friends and come chill on the porch! You know I'll be bringing my tambourine and conga drum, and I'm looking for audience participation.

Check out the details here: http://grandporchparty.wordpress.com/

Take a listen and download it for free!

The music for this commercial is the song "You, Me and the Bourgeoisie" by The Submarines. It's a wonderful song and I've tweeted about its inspiring and challenging lyrics. Here's the chorus and a couple of the verses:

Oh my baby don't be so distressed
Were done with politesse
It's time to be so brutally honest about
The way we think long for something fine
When we pine for higher ceilings
And bourgeois happy feelings

And here we are with the pleasures of the first world
It's laid out before us, who are we to break down?
Everyday we wake up
We choose Love
We choose light
And we try, it's too easy just to fall apart

Plastic bottles, imported water
Cars we drive wherever we want to
Clothes we buy it's sweatshop labor
Drugs from corporate enablers
We're not living the good life
Unless we're fighting the good fight
You and Me just trying to get it right

In the center of the first world
It's laid out before us, who are we to break down?
Everyday we wake up
We choose Love
We choose light
And we try, it's too easy just to fall apart

Love can free us from all excess
From our deepest debts
Cause when our hearts are full we need much less

(full lyrics)

As I said, it's a beautiful song. It's an anthemic call to action for our materialistic, consumer-driven society to eschew these "pleasures of the first world" because "when our hearts are full we need much less".

Needless to say, I'm dismayed that this song is now being piped through our TV sets to endorse a line of budget clothes made in Bangladesh. Loblaws doesn't mention Joe Fresh Style at all in its corporate social responsibility targets - the company has made great strides with organic and local food, but this line of clothing is the same crap that gets pushed out of South Asian factories to Wal-Mart and Zellers.

With this in mind, the commercial doesn't even make sense. It'd be like playing John Lennon in a recruiting advertisement for the Armed Forces. I'm a little hurt because when I hear that song, it's a personal challenge to resist consumerism and live with love. Pairing those lyrics with an ad for Joe Fresh Style makes me think that the band must have lost its moral compass - and that the lyrics are less genuine because of it. Sellouts.

I'm equally disappointed with Loblaws, who thought that just because they throw in a catchy song, people will buy their crap clothes. The advertisement splices the song into an unoffending 15-second clip, whitewashing its true meaning. Corporate greed knows no bounds.

(Sorry the audio quality isn't great.)

Just a quick shout out that I'm going to be playing at two events in the next few days:

Blackforest Annual Coffeehouse (St. Paul's, UW)
Friday at 7:00 PM (Tomorrow!), my set is at 11:00 PM
Tickets: $7 at the door
Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=142330182492089
Google map: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=st.+paul's+college,+university+of+waterloo

Sweet Dreams Tea Shop Open Mic Night (Campus Plaza, Waterloo)
Monday at 8:30 PM, my set is at 11:00 PM
Free admission
Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=156283857758191
Google map: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=43.47203135,-80.538818833333

That's it! Hope to see you at one of the shows - I've got a lot of new material and you won't want to miss it!

Lyrics:

It's your boy S-Nabs
Straight outta saxony

Yeah
Hangin' in the Neustadt, phasebook in hand
Hot chocolate on the menu is the only thing I understand
I've got this far with "danke" and "gutentag"
Finding some creative ways of avoiding dialogue
German radio is playing hits from seven years ago
I flip through Der Spiegel like I understand the articles
Sitting in a cafe trying not to give away
The fact that I'm a tourist so I smile and nod and look away
Two euros seventy, lay it on the counter
Then I walk around the block and see what I encounter
Four-storey buildings, ground floor retail
Cobblestone pedestrian streets right up near the light rail
You can take a Saturday, walk around randomly
Find yourself a music shop, pool hall, or bakery
There's so much do to here, it's already sunset
I haven't even crossed the river to the other side yet

(Chorus)
In Dresden, saxon city where dreams are made, oh
There's nothing you can't do
Now you're in Dresden, after all that it's been through
This city will thrill you
Only in Dresden, Dresden, Dresden...

Now we're rockin' Bautzen, upstream on the Elbe
Lookin' at medieval buildings that survived the decay
Back in GDR times, yeah those were the hard times
Sorbian families were displaced to dig a coal mine
Day trippin' to Leipzig home of revolutionary
Students in the eighties, lookin' back it's kinda crazy
Stasi informers, brick wall borders
Two-stroke cars with cardboard doors
Killing off the memory of the former bourgeoisie
Tough luck if you got West German family
But now we're rockin' Beemers, Porches from Stuttgart
Cruisin' down the autobahn until we reach the ausfahrt
Now we're on the country road headed to the Bastei
Sandstone mountains are a climber's favourite pastime
And we got that old bridge overlooking everything
Hidden in the forest like it's something from Lord of the Rings

Chorus

Now we're at the Frauenkirche, landmark of the city
Blackened bricks recall the darkest time of modern history
And we got the Opera House, known internationally
Even if Americans think that it's a distillery
Now we're down in Pragerstrasse, rebuilt and remodeled
People walkin', shoppin', talkin', poppin' champagne bottles
This is what it looks like, risen from the wreckage
Dresdeners, get that dirt off your shoulder
For you romantics, go and take a long walk
Down the River Elbe you'll see churches with their big clocks
Top of the hour listen to the bells ring
Over the whole city like a disembodied choir singing
Take a look around, son, all this baroque architecture
Didn't come by chance son, this is Europe's cultural center
Small pubs and museums, treasures in the green room
Tributes to Augustus the Strong I know that you'll see 'em

Chorus

So if you're touring Europe, don't bother with Rome
Or the south coast of France 'cause you might as well stay home
Come on up to Dresden, it's more interestin'
Better than a weekend in Munich Oktoberfestin'

Chorus

That said, I've been laying out the foundation for a couple songs in Logic. Things like time signature, some percussion, and background textures to make the recording easier once I get back home. Since I can't record any guitar or vocals, though, I've been playing around a lot with the virtual instruments in Logic. Synths and drum kits and strings, oh my! I have a feeling that this EP is going to be a lot more electronic than my previous ones. The gated synth sound is so cool.

No autotune though, I can promise you that. I can't stand autotune.

If you're a tech-savvy musician and haven't heard of Bandcamp, you're missing out. One of their many phenomenal features that was recently released is the ability to have complete pixel-perfect control over the layout of your embedded media players (like the one you can see in the sidebar to the left).

To create the settings for these custom layouts, you need to muck around in JSON (which is not very fun). So I put together a little app that lets you customize your player through a form, and then copy the code that it generates - easy as pie. Check it out:

http://demo.samnabi.com/bcembed

Leave bug reports and feature requests in the comments below. I hope this is useful for some people!

Note: There are still a couple features to add, namely support for text colour and tracklist row height. I'll get to those after I'm done my research report - this app is a result of me procrastinating on that!

I went to Les Docks with a few friends last night to see Two Door Cinema Club, an Irish pop band that is apparently huge in Australia. I had only heard one of their songs before the concert, Something Good Can Work, which always brings a smile to my face when it pops up on shuffle.

They performed a decidedly short set of solid, danceable electro-pop tunes. I had a good time!

Folks, last night I took a stroll down Hollywood Boulevard, and you know, strange things are happening there. Store windows have been turned into glittering fairylands, street corners are sprouting lighted trees, and everyone seems to be wearing a very special kind of a glow. So I said to myself, "Dean-o, you know something? It's beginning to look like Christmas!"

But besides the classics there are some seriously good contemporary Christmas songs out there. And I don't mean modern remakes of Deck the Halls. Here are a few of my favourites, in no particular order:

Andrew Allen - I Wanna Be Your Christmas

Jessie Farrell - Christmas At My House

Hanson - Everybody Knows The Claus

Rosie Thomas - Why Can't It Be Christmastime All Year?

So, even though Sufjan stole my thunder, I released an EP today too! It's called Colours and Signs.

That's right. If you came to my show last night at The Bean, you would have got a sneak peek of the fourth and final song in my summer EP. And now, you can download the entire album for free, just because I love you guys so much.

So have a listen and share it with your friends!

The newest song, Smoke Signals, is perfect for a mellow night, sitting by the campfire. Just what you need to make this long weekend great. Also recently released is Metropolis, an anthem for the hustle and bustle of the city. Perfect for when you're stuck in traffic on the 401, trying to get to cottage country!

Good news: you can download both of them right here. You're welcome.

Have a worry-free long weekend,

Sam

PS: If you haven't seen it yet, check out Sam's Soapbox #8. I talk about the census and libertarianism and such.

Our dear old Queen came to visit last week, so I spent some time thinking about the monarchy. How it shaped our politics, how it affects us as citizens, and what influence it still has. Here are my thoughts, summed up by a new song at the end of the video! :)

Yes, that's right. It's a free download! What's more, it's licenced under Creative Commons so you can share, remix, and distribute (but not sell) to your heart's content! The best way to tell your friends is to just give them the website URL (http://samnabi.bandcamp.com/track/asylum).

This track is part of a larger project that I hope to complete before August. I'm going to be moving around a lot over the next couple years, so I thought it'd be cool to create a sort of musical scrapbook for every new city that I live in. Over the next two months, I'll be exploring this city, writing new songs, and recording them. Eventually, I'll have an EP that captures my impression of this city.

To keep up to date on the project, follow me on Facebook or Twitter. If you want to be the first to receive new freebies and extra awesomeness, subscribe to the mailing list!

I didn't make it through to the final round, but it was quite the ride while it lasted! I wouldn't have envied being the judges, everyone in the semifinals was phenomenal. To check out the other performers, as well as when the finals are going to be held, check out RJ Entertainment.

Don't worry, I've got you covered.

I'm playing 2 shows this week, on Thursday and Saturday. Both are raising money for charity, and I'd love for you to come!

S.O.S. Coffeehouse for Haiti Relief at POETS Lounge, CPH (University of Waterloo)
Thurs March 4, 7:00 PM
Tickets: $4 at the door
Proceeds go to Haiti Earthquake relief effort
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=360803756881

38th Annual Black Forest Coffeehouse at St. Paul's University College (University of Waterloo)
Fri March 5 & Sat March 6, 6:30 PM (I'm playing on the 6th)
Tickets: $6 for one night, $10 for both (sold at the door)
Proceeds go directly to a local charity (to be determined)
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=320089316163

Two great shows, two great causes! As always, $1 from every CD sale will go towards the night's fundraising efforts. So come on out and support independent music!

Peace,

Sam

I'm the very first performance right at 6PM. So come on time!

Go and check out the Facebook event for more info: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=316151199616

I hope you can come; it's gonna be awesome!

If you haven't got a copy of Chance of Rain yet, head over to samnabi.bandcamp.com to buy a physical copy or download it instantly!

All you cool cats who find yourselves in the Kitchener-Waterloo area on December 11th, come check out the CD Release concert for Chance of Rain!

Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=183188808406&ref=ts

Guest performances by:

• Off Victoria
• Long Range Hustle (Well, Paul and Jay anyway)
• Hugo RB
• Kyle Stephens
• And possibly The Fringe? (If they're going to trek out from Port Perry, they deserve some stage time!)

$5 cover, 19+

Tell all your friends, it's gonna be a great night!

Much love,

Sam Nabi

Not likely. But it was still fun!

The Sam Nabi Store, over at www.samnabi.com, now accepts all major credit cards - Visa, MasterCard, Amex, and Discover - in addition to PayPal. Wonderful!

Heads up: this is only for digital downloads. You'll need a PayPal account to purchase physical CDs or other merch, at least for now.

Head over to www.samnabi.com to check it out!

Sam's Port Perry Doubleheader - Two concerts for the price of one! (They're both free)

Saturday June 13 @ 1:00 - For the love of Jo Coffee House. An afternoon warm-up for the big concert later on... I'll be playing through all the new songs on Chance of Rain! Directions here: http://loveofjo.com/location.html

Saturday June 13 from 4-9 PM - Concert Extravaganza featuring yours truly alongside 8 other bands/artists. Details here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=201655560509

Without further ado, here are the CD pictures, hot off the press:

4 days wooooooooo

drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

The winner of the second-album-title-naming-contest is Becky, with her submission Rain Heavy At Times! Unfortunately, that's also the name of a book about living with cancer, so I decided to change it up a little. The new CD's gonna be called Chance of Rain. (Don't worry Becky, I'll still throw a free CD your way.)

So, what does Chance of Rain look like? Well, after a little photo shoot and a weekend with photoshop, here is the cover art for the new CD! Yum!

Sit tight! Chance of Rain will be out soon... For now, you can go to my website to pre-order a copy for yourself!

• Walking Travels
• La Bastille
• Rain Heavy At Times
• Bombastic

Think you can do better? Post your idea as a comment below!

My room is currently a jumble of microphones, mic stands, and every sort of cable that you could possibly imagine. (Side note: this just made me think of the song What You Need by Galactic. Check it out, you won't be disappointed.)

My guitar case is open on the floor, beside the keyboard and my amp. If I want to go to bed I'll have to find somewhere else to put my guitar. I think there's sufficient messiness to justify not cleaning up until I've recorded the rest of the second album.

Speaking of which, I only have 3 songs left to record! I just spent all afternoon/evening working on Daylight, and I now have 7 songs recorded. It'll feel good when I'm done.

So I still don't have an album title. This is where you come in. You obviously care enough to read this blog, which is good enough dedication for me :) Here's the deal: if you haven't already, read my previous blog post. Now, based on those hints, I want you to think really hard of an album title that fits. Something cool, catchy, and not too complicated. Post it as a comment here. There's a free copy of the CD in it for you if I like your idea, so let's get at it!

P.S. Feel free to post more than one!

Love,

Sam

After a gruelling auditioning process, I have chosen 10 songs out of my chicken-scratch songbook to appear on the CD! I've chosen NOT to divulge the names of these songs yet, but I will describe each song in one sentence so you can get a feel of what this new album is shaping up to be.

Here goes! (From serious to lighthearted)

• Regardless of idealistic intentions, revolutions cause terrible violence and unspeakable horrors.
• What is war good for - can't we just use our words?
• The automobile is ripping apart the fabric of our societies.
• We are too pampered and comfy to genuinely care about others.
• We've all done wrong, and as humans don't deserve much at all.
• I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
• I'm out of my element here, but, hey, that's life.
• Where do you draw the line between friendship and romance?
• Big Brother is watching you. But maybe he's just lonely and needs a hug.
• It's really awkward when you look at strangers and they look at you too.

I know some of you will be able to tell which songs are which - but not all of them, I bet!

Stay tuned for more updates!

— Sam

I really want to get going on a second album this summer, and hopefully have it all together before I go out west to Edmonton in July. This summer will be full of adventure for me, and I really don't know what to expect.

What you can all expect, though, is some new tunes rolling your way pretty soon! It's been over a year and a half since I released my first full-length album, so I think it's about time for another one!

I want to do something fun with the release of this second album, I don't know, maybe have a contest to design the cover art, or stream a different song each week leading up to the release, or ... something completely random, I don't know!

If you have a fun, quirky idea for the CD release, leave a comment... if I use your suggestion, of course, I'll throw a free autographed copy your way!

The weather's great, the sun is shining, and I'm lining up an album chock full of good new tunes! What could be better?

Go to www.samnabi.bandcamp.com to stream and download the interview.

Make sure you tune in, and if you're not in the K-W area, you can listen online here: http://soundfm.ca.googlepages.com/listen

My debut CD is now in the playlist, so if you listen on Mondays from 1-4pm, during Steve's Mixed Frequencies program, you might hear one of my songs!

I'm getting a date set soon for an acoustic set on the air, so stay tuned for that as well!

Thanks for listening!

As summer draws to a close and many of us are moving on to bigger and better things, I thought I'd write a song about my anticipation, and dread, at starting a new chapter in my life.

This song is free for everyone to listen to and download. I hope you take it with you wherever you go, and remember that change is constant; ready or not, here life comes.

Get the free track at http://samnabi.bandcamp.com/track/here-life-comes-demo.

The other thing I notice is that when I listen to the same songs over and over again, I hear so much more of the song. My selective hearing gets so good, I can tune out every part of the song except for, say, the bass, or the background trumpet. When you tune in to different parts of the song, you can learn to appreciate it more as a whole.

So, before you ditch your old music collection for the latest CDs, try listening to them just one more time. You'll hear a lot more than you expect.