Indie | Snapshots and Needle Drops

Top Drops 2014

January 13, 2015 by snapshotsandneedledrops

It’s been a scarce couple of musical months, guys and dolls. Life has taken on a new kind of intensity after starting my new job– which I love– but unfortunately leaves me with little time for musical exploration or blogging. However, missing out on listing Snapshots and Needle Drops’ top ten drops and shots for 2014 was never an option… even if it is late. Once again, I plan on posting last year’s photography on the Snapshots and Needle Drops […]

Categories: Alternative, Australian, British, Canadian, Dance, Electronic, Experimental, Folk, Indie, Irish, Jazz, Lists, Playlists, Pop, Remix, Rock, singer-songwriter, Soul • Tags: 2014 music, best of, Canadian, indie, jazz, music, photography, pop, Rock, top ten

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SS&ND Reviews: This is All Yours – Alt-J

November 4, 2014 by snapshotsandneedledrops

They say a band’s sophomore album is the hardest. In this age of music, if your first release flops– that’s it. In Greg Kot’s book Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music— my all time favourite book about music– he references Joni Mitchell’s remarks on how, when she was signed, record companies offered multi-album deals. Joni’s first contract gave her something like eight albums. Mitchell claims this allowed her to grow naturally as an artist, hone her writing and musicality. […]

Categories: Album Review, Alternative, art rock, British, Dreamwave, Electronic, Experimental, folktronica, Indie, indietronica, New Wave, Rock, Sample, synth rock • Tags: album review, Alt-J, art rock, Indie Rock, music, photography, Rock, This is All Yours

Night of Triffids

October 14, 2014 by snapshotsandneedledrops

Nightfest, Floriade, Canberra, ACT Has anyone read The Night Circus? Author Erin Morgenstern depicts a magical world, hidden in plain view of Victorian England. Her writing illustrates a traveling, black-tented circus that only opens at night. Using magic (unbeknownst to the naïve and stunned 19th century English), the Night Circus travels around, creating a phantasmagorical oasis from whatever frosted barley fields it pops up from. This was what Nightfest was like; a temporary mix of flora and illumination coming together to […]

Categories: Alternative, art rock, Dreamwave, Indie, Pop • Tags: ACT, Australia, Canberra, dreamwave, Erin Morgenstern, festival, Floriade, indie pop, music, Night Fest, night photography, photography, The Night Circus

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We Know The Moves

September 22, 2014 by ebembo

The West Block, Parliament Hill, Ottawa – Scheduled to reopen in 2017 Having each calendar year begin on a seemingly arbitrary day smack in the middle of the winter – just another cold day, undistinguishable from the cold days that preceded it – always struck me as an odd way to start fresh. If I had my way, I would have advised Pope Gregory to start every year in September. What better way to begin anew than during the most dramatic […]

Categories: Electropop, Indie • Tags: Alanis Morissette, Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, coffee, Concordia University, electropop, indie, Kid Koala, McGill University, Montreal, moving, Ottawa, Parliament, Phil Collins, Pop Montreal, Sylvan Esso, The Strokes

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Osheaga Wish List

August 4, 2014 by snapshotsandneedledrops

Festival-goers waiting for the headliner acts on the main stages I’ve been sick for over a week now. Runny nose, headache, sore throat, hacking cough: sick. My voice swings from sounding like a suffocating chipmunk to Beast (à la ‘Beauty and the’), if Beast smoked 4 packs a day. I’m doing everything right: resting, drinking hot lemon water and honey, eating well, taking vitamins, going for short walks…. nada. The Beast is here to stay. However, after a weekend of […]

Categories: Alternative, Concert Pics, Indie, Rock, Soul • Tags: Bon Iver, festival, Justin Vernon, Montreal, music, Osheaga, Osheaga 2014, photography, playlist, travel, Volcano Choir

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Go West, Young Woman

July 14, 2014 by ebembo

Running of the bulls in the Camargue marshlands, France, 1998 I recently rediscovered my old high school diary. It is a treasure trove of late 1990s pop culture gems; no page goes by without some mention of Leonardo DiCaprio, Radiohead, My So-Called Life, or Titanic. None of that came as much of a shock to me. What did surprise me, however, was how much time and effort I devoted to staying in touch with friends. Entry upon entry details the […]

Categories: 80s, 90s, Indie, Rock, Synthpop • Tags: anthemic, Baltimore, bulls, Camargue, France, future islands, indie, music, Rock, Synthpop, travel photography

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Sing With Me Whale

July 7, 2014 by snapshotsandneedledrops

Whale! Port Stephens, NSW, Australia I had mixed reviews the first time I heard this song: loved it to start, but then found the constant repetition off-putting. I brushed it aside as a non-starter for Snapshots– only to have it slowly invade my subconscious over the next two weeks. Now it plays all the time– both in my head and in my apartment. I’ve found it ideal for hanging laundry, preparing lunch, cleaning out the cupboards… This lo-fi track “Whale” […]

Categories: art rock, Indie, Lo-fi, Rock • Tags: Australia, fisherman, indie music, Indie Rock, lo-fi, music, NSW, photography, yellow ostrich

Beats on Repeat

June 30, 2014 by snapshotsandneedledrops

We’re branching into something a little different at Snapshots and Needle Drops today. Beats on Repeat will be the periodic (re: whenever I feel like it) publication of my weekly musical obsessions. These are songs that I just can’t stop hitting replay on; the tracks I can’t get out of my head and, for whatever reason, will not get a Doodledrop of their own. Beats on Repeat will be featured pretty much solely on Snapshots and Needle Drops’ facebook page. So get […]

Categories: Alternative, British, Electronic, Indie, Playlists, Pop, Soul • Tags: British Music, electronic, indie, music, playlist, pop, remix, Rudi Zygadlo, sam smith, soul

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Ria Sia

June 16, 2014 by snapshotsandneedledrops

Toronto Pearson International Airport, dawn, New Years Day 2013 Sia’s smash-hit “Chandelier” and its incredible music video have infected the internet with a healthy dose of power vocals, phenomenal dancing and mainstream-busting unconventionality. If you happen to be one of the 12 people who have not seen the video yet, I’ll link it through after today’s track(s). All this talk of Sia, however, reminds me of a remixed version of her 2004 “Breathe Me” that I became obsessed with in […]

Categories: Alternative, Australian, Ballad, DJ, Dreamwave, Electronic, Experimental, Indie, indietronica, Pop, Remix, singer-songwriter, Soul • Tags: Australian, Chandelier, dreamwave, indie, music, photography, pop, remix, Sia, travel, travel photography

Snapshots and Needle Drops

Music meets international photography.

Category Archives: Indie

Top Drops 2014

SS&ND Reviews: This is All Yours – Alt-J

Night of Triffids

We Know The Moves

Osheaga Wish List

Go West, Young Woman

Sing With Me Whale

Beats on Repeat

Ria Sia