No Island delivers a new brand of rock that blurs the lines between genres and generations. With well-crafted original songs and a unique sound complimented by keyboards and saxophone, No Island’s approach to rock is catchy, powerful, and sophisticated all at once.
The five piece Vancouver band will play January 14th at The Railway Club with CRIMINAL CATERPILLAR, NO ISLAND, IVY LEAGUE BRAWLERS & DUBAI

Ladies and Gentleman, ETNOMALIA
– ” New Polish Klezmer Music ” Is a new artistic proposal that we would like to offer you. It is a band of musicians who all share an extensive experience on the stage, who have been co-forming folk scene in Poland by participating in many music events. Our repertoire includes works inspired by multicultural Polish folk music pieces created on the soil that has been inhabited by Poles, Ukrainians, Tatars, Germans and Jews. The music, though, is interpreted in a unique and original way. Performing …

This quintet quickly developed a loyal fan base by playing over 60 shows in their first year. They originally garnered much attention through their hugely popular weekly session at the Canoe Brewpub in Victoria, B.C.. The night quickly grew in popularity and soon consistently packed the 410-person venue to capacity. Before the close of 2009, the group had also enjoyed such highlights as playing to 12,000 people at Rexall Place in Edmonton, having songs licensed and used in an internationally distributed surf film, and a trio of sold out shows at fan favourite Sugar Nightclub.

Vancouver Based Band The Brass Action

The Brass Action is a Vancouver based, high-energy, horn-driven, ska band!  With two loud horns, we’ve been making noise in Vancouver for the past 3 years.  We’re a 6-piece band that mashes jazz, reggae, ska, and punk into one big ball of flaming music and spits it out at anybody within earshot. Be prepared to dance, skank, mosh, sweat, and find out why we’re called The Brass Action.  We are an independent band and we just released our first EP after many long hard years …

Redrick Sultan’s live show is an intensely high energy affair. Their music combines catchy melodies with intricate arrangements, avante-noise with beautiful party grooves, and all the while keeping each show unique with an intuitive improvisation that grew organically from 9 years of playing with each other. With an over-riding sense of musical exploration and adventure, Redrick Sultan is a band that keeps you on your toes.

This dynamic quintet formed in Vancouver, BC in 2009 and their self-titled debut album was released October 2010. With lyrics that range from heart wrenching to downright saucy and energetic live performances – even the non-believers will soon be preaching the Madman’s Gospel

Elizabeth Shepherd spent much of 2010 touring in Japan, Europe, Canada and the US, selling out legendary clubs from Tokyo to Madrid to Detroit. And now she’s finally coming back to Vancouver for the first time in two years. On Thursday March 31, her globe-trotting band will roll into St James Hall.

Singer/songwriter & Jazz vocalist
“Through my job, I’ve had the opportunity to work with many talented artists. However, Rose’s music is genuinely at a caliber that I rarely come across in the Canadian music scene. She’s already done a great job at making an impact within the music industry and is definitely on the right track to a promising, global career. Rose’s music is undeniable. Personally, I am a HUGE fan of her songs and the way she delivers them to her audience.” – Ivan …

Marley Daemon is a new breed of songstress whos sophisticated compositions and passionate lyrics seek to explore the deepest questions surrounding human identity.

This post of the BEST indie bands in Vancouver will be divided in two, in this first one we are going to explore the indie of the indie, bands that are emerging, new, fresh, experimental, not so well known, not established, they play in clubs and pubs but that we and our readers like and see and even befriend some of them. Some are not that new either but all of them have achieved success and buzz this last year so we include them here in our humble lists of our favourites. May this list serve as a recommendation for our overseas readers, may it serve as a reference, but also as an aid for these struggling artists. At the end, the ultimate objective is to entertain our visitors, the music fans of Vancouver and the world

I am listening to the CD of a Canadian singer songwriter called Paisely Jura that is going to play in Vancouver on January 5th at the Railway. I am pleasantly surprised by her work, it sounds jazzy and bluesy with the right mix of soul and classical. Her voice is pretty impressive, the texture is comforting yet full of passion. The instrumentation is really cool and the sound is very professional. Although the lyrics are about every day stuff and love the arrangements are really well done, you can tell she is classically . Nice for a rainy day. The Railway is not a venue that I would imagine having her performed, because is not as rock and roll, I think it would be nice to be sitting down drifting away with her music or even having a nice dinner with a good red wine. So here is the information and some videos for your enjoyment

The Captain has left the ship. Click for bio and videos.

Do you want to know who the best Victoria bands are according to 17 experts in the music industry?

Tonye Aganaba is a dynamic and sultry soul R&B singer-songwriter born in London, England on October 24th, 1985 to a Nigerian father, and Zimbabwean mother. Now based in beautiful Vancouver B.C, her musical education came from her family’s extensive music collection.

It was within this catalog of classics that Tonye found some of her biggest influences – Michael Jackson, Sade, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon..the list goes on. Growing up she received formal training in modern, tap, hip-hop and jazz and later went on to choreograph for her high school’s Musical Theater program. Tonye’s voice flourished under the tutelage of late vocal coach, Keith Allan Hall, most famed for singing with such notable acts as Sammy Davis Jr, and Mahalia Jackson.

Taking these cultural facts into account is not suprise that Nana Caymmi became a legend in this Amazonian country. She had a fair amount of gossip around her because of her openess to drugs and her love relationship with one of the musical masters of Brazil Gilberto Gil, with whom she composed a couple of songs. The documentary has some astonishing shots of Rio de Janeiro who also plays an important role in the film. The documentary is filmed by French director Georges Gachot who directed another documentary about another Brazilian great singer Maria Bethania.