The Barmitzvah Brothers

What do you get when you put together musical instruments such as; a fiddle, trumpet, keyboard, banjo, wurlitzer, and hand them over to five friends from Guelph, Ontario? Why you get the "superhappyfunshine band" known as The Barmitzvah Brothers. No, they're not brothers, and as far as I know, not Jewish either.The band has been around since 2000 that included members Geordie Gordon, Jenny Mitchell, and John Merritt. They recently added two more members, Sylvie Smith, who's also in the duo Habitat, and Tristan O' Malley.

Ever since their formation in 2000, they've released four albums including "The Century of Invention" which came out last year. Also over the years, they've toured all over Canada with bands you're all familiar off such as The Arcade Fire, and Final Fantasy. I discovered The Barmitzvah Brothers through Habitat who's also from Guelph, Ontario. Their unique, energetic, and indescribable sound is what caught my attention and led me to buying "The Century of Invention" a couple of months ago.

The Century of Invention consists of 11 songs with a concoction of different sounds ranging from electro pop,
country-hoe down, folk, and a bunch of other things, like I said, indescribable. The first track on the album, Car #7 literally turns on the ignition to this energetic album with loud cheers that remind you of the old Arcade Fire. It's one of my favourite songs on the album and it always begs for a repeat. It's a roller coaster feeling of songs that follow after, to the finger snapping Hollow Time of Night and the calm sounds of what seems like a ukulele on Little Jack

Unfortunately, I haven't seen them live since im nowhere near Guelph, Ontario or any part of Canada. So if you decide to pick up their cd, you can do so on Permafrost Records or get it on Itunes.


Car #7 | The Barmitzvah Brothers

Hollow Time of Night | The Barmitzvah Brothers


Links:
>> Official Website
>> Myspace (Don't forget to check out "New Orleans" when you get there.)
>> Permafrost Records : Buy the album there
>> Sylvie Smith's other band : Habitat
>>Habitat's Myspace


-Charlie

Oh Snap!

As you all know, Camera Crowd is also a photography blog. We already have our photoblog, but Anne and I decided that we need photography related posts to go along with it. So here I bring you, Oh Snap! I'll be posting photography related gizmos, and gadgets you've never even heard of. To go along with it, I'll have my choice of Flickr pool of the week. Also if you guys have interesting photography related things that you wanna share with us, just email them and we'll post them the following week along with your name to give you credit.

Let's start things off shall we?


You've all heard about Flickr's geotagging right? I use it all the time to remind me where exactly I took that certain photo in case I wanna go back there again. Well Ricoh has released a new camera, the 500SE. An 8 megapixel camera that has a GPS chip inside so you'll never have to geotag manually ever again. It'll cost you around $1000 though, so you decide if you wanna trade that DSLR for a GPS camera.





Splashr.com
Tired of looking at photos on flickr by clicking photo to photo, or by using their boring slideshow? Well then checkout splashr.com. It has different flash players that will allow you to view/present your photos in a more interesting way. Just put the tags or the user id of the photographer you wanna see and its goodbye boring slideshow.



Flickr pool of the week: Winter Wonderland

With all the unexpected snow falling all over the U.S this week, i just had to pick the Winter Wonderland pool. Part of Texas got a snow day and freeways in So Cal were closed cause of snow and ice. What about San Francisco and the Bay Area? How can you miss us?!
Tip: use splashr.com to view all the recent snow photos. It's better than having to click through the pool.


A couple of songs to listen to while you're looking at the Flickr pool of the week

Snow Song | Habitat

Damn It's Cold | We Will Build


-Charlie

3 minute entry : Habitat

I wanted to wait till the start of 2007 to write about this band. I was going to write about them before 2006 ended but I didn't want them to end up in the end of the year pile, they deserved better.

Another beautiful band coming out from our neighbour from the north, Habitat, a harmonic duo from Guelph, Ontario. The first time their songs grazed my ears, the sound of the familiar keyboards reminded me of the trio Au Revoir Simone, and hints of softness in the vocals a lot like Camera Obscura. I was immediately hooked. The vocals from Sylvie Smith and John O' Regan along with the pulsating sound of the keyboards create an easy going and catchy tunes that you can't ignore. I just wish I knew where to get their ep which I heard had a nice hand made sleeve. But for now, I'm stuck with their songs on myspace.

Next Year - Habitat

Concrete Love - Habitat


Links:

Myspace

An interesting Habitat bootleg from Bootlog


-Charlie

Camera Crowd Holiday Buzzz

The big day is only four days away, I'm done with my shopping and you are too right? You know how we seriously love playlists here at the Camera Crowd, so we've come up with several Christmas songs to get you through the hordes of last minute shoppers and the number of unexpected paper cuts while wrapping those presents. With hundreds of shoppers buzzing around for last minute bargains, you're going to need something pleasant playing in your ears to avoid that holiday "buzz".

(If you already bought the Sufjan Stevens : Songs for Christmas box set, or you took time and entered our contest to win one like our reader Susan, then you are all set and ready!)

If you're low on cash and don't wanna resort to the all popular gift card, then check out the affordable gift ideas on our holiday gift guide below.

P.S: I included a song from a duo I discovered lately and they're really good, It's Snow Song from Habitat, expect more from them after the New Year.

1. Christmas is Coming - Vince Guaraldi Trio (Peanuts)
2. Sister Winter - Sufjan Stevens
3. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Coldplay
4. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Death Cab for Cutie
5. Jinglebell Rock - The Arcade Fire
6. Handjobs for the Holidays - Broken Social Scene
7. Christmas Cake - Rilo Kiley
8. Snow Song - Habitat
9. Warmest Part of The Winter - Voxtrot


~ Love, team Camera Crowd
(Anne and Charlie)