The Birthday Wonder

Flight of the Conchords

Caught this New Zealand comedy duo on tele on Friday, and found them quite funny (this song is particularly hilarious). According to the old wikipedia, Flight of the Concords have had an award winning BBC radio series and currently have their own HBO series (now available on DVD).

The reason why I stopped blogging about music...

...in part at least:

"Blog-era indie fans are among the most promiscuous music listeners around, and it's precisely this insatiable need for new bands among both fans and blogs desperate for more content that's forced Black Kids into this position. For every major band that fits Pareles' description like the Arcade Fire, where fans tape their photos to their lockers like they were Soulja Boy, there is an endless progression of "important" next big things to be forgotten about with the next iPod cull."

Party whilst I am away

The awesomeness that is "Put Your Head In The Lions Mouth", the hyperkinetic new album from das local heroes con Parkas, is a triumphant release party. Unfortunately it's happening while I'm at nerd prom in San Diego. Doesn't mean you can't go nor tell all your friends:

The Deets:

Parkas, Slowcoaster, The Redux
Friday, July 27th
@The Legendary Horseshoe
Doors 9pm
$8

And if you can't go, head over to your local record shoppe (Soundscapes likely your best bet) for the cd or over to Zunior for the digital purchase. It's ausumnal incarnacion and you needs to have it.

Oh Noes! What Have I Done?

On Friday the wonderful Parkas played a different kind of gig at the Sheraton Grand Ballroom, where they were opening for the Second City players in a benefit for Community Living in support of the intellectually disabled. It was a good, if unusual, venue but a fun and exciting performance nonetheless. Having had their new album "Put Your Head In The Lion's Mouth" for a week now (and the demo recordings for the past few months) I'm intimately familiar with the bulk of the Parkas material, but they opened up their set with a track I'd never heard before:

Well I'm runnin'/Po-lice on my back/been hidin'/Po-lice on my back/There was a shootin'/ Po-lice on my back/And the vic-tim/well he won't come back
I been running/Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday
What have I done?

The hyper 3-chord tones with call-and-response/back-and-forth was a grappler, immediately engaging the audience, and the band never let go. And yet, I couldn't help feel it didn't exactly feel like the richly structured Parkas tunes I was familiar with, it was a little too jangly and straightforward.. a little too Ramones, I guess. But I liked it, it was aggressively catchy.

The next day Aden and I went to see the new Judd Apatow flick, Knocked Up and quite early on into the film there was the song, although quite obvious (to me anyway) not the Parkas. Aden even looked at me and I said "they must have done a cover."

So strange to have never heard a song before then suddenly hear it twice in two days. The song was originally recorded(mp3) by the Equals, written by Eddie Grant. It was later covered by the Clash (which is, I believe, the version played in Knocked Up) with other covers by The Deadcats, Asian Dub Foundation & Zebda, Die Toten Hosen, Back
Levellers, Micky Fitz, Pressure Point, The Hated, The Rocketz, Willie Nile, The Constantines.

As you might tell, I've become a little obsessed with the track... it shall pass

11 Reasons to love the Parkas

1) "If you could see it/ I know you'd love it/ If you could buy it/ there'd be a line-up"
- Filthy Rich Kids

2) "So I bite my tongue before I curse/ this center of the universe"
- Toronto Enough Tonight

3) "Every time that I surrender/ you put a weapon in my hands"
- You and What Army?

4) "The people that we used to be are waiting for us/ underneath, but if we dive into the black/ when we surface/ we just come back/ alone"
- Margaret Atwood

5) "Put on your shame face/ the guilty party has started"
- You Get What You Pay For

6) "We used to have such an organized party/ We used to have such an organized party/ Now I'm playing Lenin to your McCarthy/ I'm playing Lenin to your McCarthy/ We're back in black/ We're still in-the-red"
- Lenin and McCarthy

7) "I will wait like a minotaur/ for you to come find me/ This is part of our/ mythology"
- (Still Hanging Around With) The Crucifixion Blues

8) "The heart is only/ ventricles forcing/ blood to leave home/ and disapppear/ The heart is only/ a muscle working/ It keeps me moving/ away from here"
- A Change of Heart

9) "In this darkness tonight/ that no sun could shine through/ let there be light/ and let that light be you"
- Let There Be Light

10) "Raggedy Ann/ Raggedy Ann/ you were the best thing in my life/ I just couldn't stand"
- Raggedy Ann

11) "The first one to find me was Old Jealousy/ He'd put his teeth/ right into my shoulder/ and for a good laugh he'd lacerate me"
- The Wolves, Darling

The new Parkas album "Put Your Head In The Lion's Mouth" is out June 19, on Saved By Radio.

The Parkas play a benefit concert, opening for Second City, in support of Community Living (details and tickets) on June 1st.

They also play North By NorthEast (NXNE) Showcase- Dakota Tavern on June 7th @ 11:00 or midnight and the NXNE Afternoon BBQ at Global Village Backpackers' Hostel at 4pm on June 8th.

Catch you some springtime-come-summer Parkas!

Leaving it all(most) behind

This is going to be short, although it deserves more of an explanation but I'm getting "text-drain eye-strain" from staring at a computer monitor too long today so there's only so much I actually feel like writing that's going to make sense especially considering I'm not feeling punctuation friendly as I channel a little Kerouac for a second and spit out words all streamoconsciousnesslike and sometimes strung together in formations that don't really make much sense and yet do if you read it properly but that's difficult considering how hard it is to "get" intonation via text but some people are super keen at understanding it and others just scratch their heads and move along. But I'm rambling.

Music.
I used to big a big-big-big (Honeycombs!) fan of the music. I used to absorb it constantly, looking to be on top of the next great thing, trumpeting the newfoundglory (not the band) of some new band (not New Found Glory) and making cd compilations (yes I know, I still owe a bunch of people some compilations and yes, I'm tardy, but well, that's what happens when you don't give a shit anymore... and that's what happened, I don't give a shit anymore... almost. I've now written myself in a corner in this bracketed sub-statement so I'm going to close the bracket now) but continue as if the bracket were still open and not ignored.

Anyway, yeah, I've lost the flavour. I don't care about being on top of the latest bands. It's hard enough to care about the bands I claim I do like. I've just gotten tired of the whole scene, man, and whatever people are calling "fresh" and "new" all sounds like the same old shit from maybe last year, maybe 5 years ago, or maybe 30 years ago. There's this band I found via CBC radio that sounds, basically like Queen, only a bit more modern in song structure, but I like it, cause it sounds like Queen... why don't I listen to Queen instead? Well, Queen's been overplayed. Oh certainly, I haven't heard all Queen songs, but of the Queen songs I have heard I've heard them lots and lots and lots of times (FLASH! AH-AWWW!), so it's gonna be hard to collect a bunch of queen songs that are a) barely played out or b) good (As there's a reason most of the stuff I've heard from them is played out, because it's their best stuff). And so I listen to Bend Sinister downloaded from the internets. But I make no further delusions for myself that this shit (it's good shit mind you) is fresh... it isn't. It's retreading familiar ground as so many "new" "hot" "blog favourites" do... it doesn't matter if that ground is 2 years or 20 years old, it's all been done before.

I just came across Holy Fuck today, again, for the first time (and by that I mean I've heard them before, probably seen them in concert even... well, actually just missed them one time) and I love them. They're doing this "analog dance music" (ie. computer free) thing which sounds all innovative but !!! has been doing it for a few years now (their new record, that is !!!, sounds hot) and even The Hidden Cameras were doing analog dance music a few years back, before Joel Gibb got all cute and decided he wanted to do more sugary bubblegum early-60's pop effect (which I like too, but it's not quite as stimulating as the big church organ repetitive danceable grind that he kicked off his career with).

So maybe this isn't so short, but shut up, you know. I can ramble with the best of them, but only once in a while... I don't ramble so good on a regular basis... you have to have a lot of free time to do that and free time is something I have but also something I cherish and waste it doing important things like building snowmen and being in love with my girlfriend and stuff like that (you didn't just wretch there did you? Dude, that's sick).

And what would you say to a lovely cup of tea?
Feck off, cup.

Naturelmont.

But i've lost my train of though, which isn't so much like losing a train because really, how does one lose a train as they are rather massive and heavy and we all cannot have brilliant Bluthy-like powers of GOB or David Blaine. So yes, Music is the heart of life, or groove is in the heart or some contrivance of some sort like that (I used to write like this all the time, what happened to me) and yet, my heart is lost. Perhaps it's because my iPod went AWOL sometime in January and has yet to rear its ugly head. As traumatic as that may seem, I've actually been kinda okay with it, as I still have music, when I want it, as I've begun to embrace the power of the podcast... although they can be too talky talky sometimes, but oh schnell, that's the way gloves go.

But in the end (and not the ass) I look at my musical obsessions from the periods of 1993 to 2006, those which are tucked into four under-the-bed totes back at BOBTown, and I don't see any excitement anymore... stones and dead weight for the most part. I wouldn't be upset if they were gone, but I'm not going to be party to losing them either. Perhaps some day those six hundred (!!!) discs of happiness, tedium, envy, disappointment, love, infatuation, groove-shim and bitter fruits will be skeet, but collecting dust as they do does no one any harm (I never meant any harm).

But what? Really, is this sensical, in as much as sensical is not a word on its own and yet nonsensical makes it all better, wholly complete without the red underlining of the word-check-spelly thing. Channeling Dib there for a second. Will music ever regain its favour in my life? Probably not. The deliciousness of concert (gig) going is gone, as the mundane between set shenanigans rarely ever engaging. My verve for such things has departed... and I realize that my favourite music is Now, not Then. I like it new, I like it fresh and then I like it gone... I don't like to go back, I'm not fond of revisiting. To many music is something to keep, I think to me it's disposable. I'd rather reread the New Teen Titans that revisit the New Pornographers. That may not be entirely true, since sometimes Bejar and Case and Newman (spelling all go bad) write less badly than Wolfman... okay most of the times I'd much rather listen to A.C.'s whine than Raven and Starfires... this was a bad example brought forth by the use of the word "New" in both these titles. Let's just say that this day, and most days that preceded it (recently at least) I've been enjoying the comforts of sequential art rather than the speaker crumbs of song.

But yes, there is new music to be found (just as I found old New Mutants in Aden's long boxes), and though either might not be the bestest thing ever, perhaps like Seinkiewicz's stunning art, we'll find a funky drumbeat that gets me excited and back in the business of giving a damn about what's the music of the month. Will I get the latest x or will I seek out the first album of y or will fond memories of MM and National at least get me into the record store twice this year?

I dunno.

How 'bout you?

Quick sack of randomness

Buh. Back in my last stretch of single days, which if we're counting was November-ish '05 - July-ish '06, it seemed the weekends were long, and kind of draggy, even if they were busy. Since Aden and I have been together, the weekends never seem long enough, they seem jammed packed and rarely restful, although invariably they are rewarding, fun and usually the best use of a weekend. Still, downtime is needed at some point. Healthy downtime, not this "I'm sick and forced to do nothing" time.

meanwell

I guess I should apologize to those who said that Lost was in a slump this season. I managed to get episodes 1-6 (which are the only episodes of this "season", with the next "season" of 15 episodes running weekly from the first week of February with no repeats) and yeah, they're weak. The first two episodes were fairly strong, but they went sloping after that. It's almost like they writers have forgotten what they're doing. Then again, I recall that I didn't like the original episodes of the second season, but loved the latter bits, so I'll guess we'll just have to wait and see how it all turns out.

cement

The "forgotten" Pavement song:
Land of the Hot Knives

More London

Still planning on discussing and showing photographic documentation of the voyage to London, and soon before my memories get fuzzy (too late)... just not sure when soon. Thanks for expressing interest though....

sonic alert

Two of my favourite local bands and one I've never heard of will be joining forces for a Thursday night throwdown at the Silver Dollar Room on October 26.

The Parkas will be there laying heavy on their new tunes from an as yet untitled upcoming album. They'll also have very limited quantity of "Black Paper Singles." According to the band's mailing list, "Black Paper Singles contain four previously unreleased Parkas songs sealed in black paper. Each one is different, and each one will contain two tracks from our new record, along with rarities, remixes, and live recordings. Pick one up at a show for only three bucks."
Yes, it's completely worth it. The new tracks (and I have a copy of the studio recordings, remember) are flipping amazing. If they get this new album mastered and released this year, it's going on my best-of list for certain.

Meanwhile The 6ixty8ights are dropping/have dropped their new album, "Pica Electric Armada", so hopefully that's available at the show too.

Friday Morning's Regret opens up the night (I think), so it'll be a surprise to see how they mesh with two of my current favourite bands, since I've never heard of them.

I would say expect a report Friday, but I'm notoriously tardy ('tarded) on my reviews right now... so who knows. It's going to rock, I can guarantee you that, it's just a matter of how hard.

Linkage. Really?

Jamming Culturejamming down your larynx

Banksy is often described as a "guerrilla artist" because of his socially satirical and often imposing manner of art which includes but isn't limited to highly detailed stencil tagging. His latest project is "remixing" the Paris Hilton album packaging and sneaking it onto store shelves for unsuspecting sheep to purchase. Not only that, but DJ Danger Mouse - who first came to prominence as the mixer of the notorious "Grey Album" which mashed Jay-Z's "Black Album" and the Beatles "White Album" (and is currently 1/2 of both DANGERDOOM and Gnarls Barkley) - has contributed a full remixing of the Hilton tragedy in the modified package. Some unsuspecting but lucky 500 Hilton guppies in Britain are going to have their mind blown.

Meanwhile, Banksy has a video (nsfw) showing the making and execution of this latest project.

The NHL is NiHiListic

The Hockey News, via ESPN, analyses the NHL satire in Bon Cop, Bad Cop. It's a good article about how the NHL doesn't have a sense of humour about itself, nor does it know how to really breed superstars like football, baseball, or especially basketball. What isn't explicitly said is how "cult of celebrity"-centric America is, and that perhaps if there was more focus on creating off-ice star personalitiess as well as on-ice (as wrong as it sounds, and is) it might actually work as draw south of the border.
The article isn't exactly sharp on the details of the movie, though, as the writer gets wrong who died in the film, how they died and in what order, but that's just my nitpickyness. And then there's the ignorant, but forgivable "genuine midget" comment. (Remember class, the m-word is offensive and not funny).

update - I was thinking a little further about why turning NHL players into media stars wouldn't quite work the same as NFL or the NBA, which is that the bulk of NHL players aren't homegrown Americans, and for even more English isn't their native tongue. American sports lovers can get behind a good "homegrown" story, and America in general is also quite xenophobic, so making a media celeb out of a mumbling Czech player, not likely to happen. The bulk of NFL and NBA players are cultivated from high school and college athletic programs, and while Major League Baseball has accepted some foreigners into their game (mostly Cuban and Dominican) it's still primarily an American-played sport. Hockey isn't nearly as international as soccer, but it's also no where near as isolated as NFL/NBA.

While I agree with Proteau's statement that "Where other leagues have learned to cultivate and accentuate their star personalities, the NHL's culture strongly encourages its stars to (a) shut up; and (b) get back in the corner while you're shuttin' up," perhaps it's because Americans aren't ready to make champions out of subtitles. Unless NHL players are willing to go for speech therapy and media management courses, I don't think we're going to be seeing much change. Who was the last widely recognized (in the public consciousness) hockey player? Wayne Gretzky. Baseball, basketball, football, hell, even tennis and golf have had more prevalent newsmakers and media penetrating sportiers over the past decade.

Despite my statements, though, maybe Proteu is right: the NHL should promote their talent as not just good athletes but also interesting and visible entertainment figures in order to increase interest in the game. To add to my generic statements, if there's anything the Bush government has proven, American love good spin and rhetoric. Maybe the NHL should poach some of the WWE's marketing team, or Bush's many ex-press secretaries(?).

Some New Newsom

Zoilus has received Joanna Newsom's new album, which is heading for release in November. I was quite agog over Newsom in '04 but havn't really listened to her debut, "Milk-Eyed Mender", much since. Her latest album, "Ys", apparently is 5 tracks, each clocking an average of 11 minutes. What intrigues me most, as Zoilus reports from the album press release, is (famed producer Steve) "Albini mic'd the harp in an insane and never-before-done manner! I'd love to describe it further but I don't want to give away his ideas, in case he wants to do it again sometime."

While I don't have much music blogging cred, I too get my own share of pre-releases. Recently I got a demo copy of the first recorded Duloks tracks, which are all skookum, and later this month I'll be getting a sneak peek at the Parkas studio recordings for their sophomore effort which, from what little I heard in July, should be very exciting.

And finally in music, I Am Spoonbender, the SanFran art-pop group, on 9/11 just released a < ahref="http://www.buyhiddenpersuaders.com/index2.html?checkYes=on">FREE album on-line called "Buy Hidden Pursuaders". I havn't given it a listen or digested really what the deal is behind the project, but apparently it's pretty socially and politically charged. It "is absolutely free because it is the 'only album that cannot be bought'" states the Agreement clause.
All files are avalable as crazy huge .wav files, so they take some time in obtaining.

Quad-disc Samplerama

Hello dear readers and geekentics (anyone got a better name for the three people who call themselves my fans? play nice),

The goodly 25 of you who have been listed to receive the 4-CD 2005/06.5 compilation should be happy to know that all the cds are burned, but I'm having a little difficulty finding cost-affordable colour printing for 100 cd covers and liner trays. So I'm slowly getting things together via a shoddy bubblejet printer, so over the next month or so I'll be shipping the cds out (two sets have alread vacated the Ronces). Unfortunately I don't have a hierarchical list, so just expect an email or a package at your door one day (probability is that if you're local Toronto, you'll be getting yours towards the end).

Thanks for your patience and I hope you enjoy (at least some of) it when it gets to you.

Your gentle host,
-g-

PS. The final set was just claimed by some dude named Jeff, so I have no more.

Finally...

someone (allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine) takes indie blog darling Sufjan Stevens down a peg or ten (link from zoilus). I tried to buy into the Sufjan hype a few years ago but the guy did absolutely nothing for me. I've picked off mp3s from various mp3 blogs and wind up skipping over them when they show up in my iTunes shuffle. His widely-praised-as-best-album-of-2005 recording, Illinois, was playing in Chapters one day where I was perusing the shelves before a movie. I turned to my friend and said, "You know, this is really fucking annoying."
"It's Sufjan Stevens," he said.
"And that'd be why..."

I find Stevens to be about the same as Badly Drawn Boy, an artist whose first bedroom-produced album is still fantastic but subsequent albums got bloated and heavy under the artist's own pretentiousness. They both make these big, baroque productions which have the air of something large and important but contain no soul, and worse, little of interest beyond the initial "woah, that's odd" impact. The fact that Stevens made it onto Paste Magazine's top 100 living songwriters (not that these lists really mean anything, but...), and in the top 50 no less, proves how powerful the indie bloggerati have become in entrenching new talent without really allowing for historical perspective.

Erlewine makes a great point about Stevens:

apart from the conceit of writing songs about a particular state, there isn't much connection to the sound or feel of the state in question. Stevens never taps into the musical history of a state -- never touching Chicago blues or jazz, or Michigan soul or rock. He simply uses the concept of songs about a state as a vehicle to deliver his baroque folk-pop.

This from one of the 50 greatest living songwriters. I feel the need to point out that Stephin Merritt didn't even make Paste's list (thereby invalidating it completely in my eyes). Merritt - who has mastered the concept album many times over and can write circles around the bulk of the top 100 - had he broached the idea of the 50-States album would likely come up with something more akin to what Erlewine notes, considering how Merritt can weave from a cheerleading chant into a showtune into a doo-wop pop into bouncy electroclash with an apparent and enviable ease. But this is just bitterness talking.

Anyway, I'm glad I'm not totally alone in the Sufjan=meh category, and I'm glad there's someone of greater musical insight tackling the idea than I.

muse-misc

I know they're not the same, but for some reason I get twee, fey and emo music all confused with each other.

Tharsisica

Free-form blogpost. Stream-of-consciousness-like.

I'm often what they ("they" being nobody in particular) call a "perpetual thinker" (okay, I doubt the non-existant "they" actually call anyone that, but stick with me here). My brain is constantly engaged, rarely ever shutting down. I'm often thinking so many thoughts I'd rather not think that I wish sometimes I were a tad simpler so I could find enjoyment in dormancy, alas it is not to be. So when my mind is kicked in full gear, thinking about girls and music and comics and work and bills and a few dozen other things that constantly niggle away (I was checking to make sure I was using "niggle" in the right context and answers.com asked me "Or did you mean: niggardly" - with lack of question mark, no less - to wit I most certainly did not!) it often creates a very distracted and extremely restless me. I don't remember the last time I had a really good, full night's sleep. When I was in Windsor two weekends back, I was able to escape much of my routine life and also sleep in a house with air conditioning, so I did get a better sleep, comparatively, but still not a good sleep. Two of the big things that have been taxing my brain was a quandry about love and the other, oddly enough, was The Futureheads (see sidebar review). I know it's weird to exhaust so much thought on a band, especially considering it really wasn't me thinking about the band, but rather just being unable to get their songs out of my head. It was odd how often the chorus to "Fallout" would push every other thought aside for tens of minutes ("After days in the dark/The light broke through/And it was beautiful to see you/And sit in the warmth with you"), or to sort of enter a fugue state with the chorus from "Favours For Favours" ("But there's something that you do/I just can't help myself/and I wish that I could move more in time with you/I watch you step and I watch you turn/I watch you move like a knife in the water/As you move across the floor/Over to me/For all to see") only to snap out of it and find I've been staring blankly at my monitor at work for an undetermined period of time. It's really mildly insane how fixated I became with the Futureheads recently, so last night was the climax of this whole build-up, and mercifully it did the trick. I slept last night free of thoughts of sound, instead dreaming of... well, i dunno, bunnies and Wonder Woman or something. I don't remember. The night before, however, I dreamt that a friend had turned into a demon, so I asked her if she is now or has ever been a demon. Peanut butter before bed will do that to you. So anyway, one major distractor resolved, and the other is resolving itself in a happiest circumstances as well so now my thoughts are less cumbersome. Well, Rooms and I are now in the apartment hunting market after the neighbours said that they're not moving for another year and are likely selling the house, so that one other worry off my brain but a whole new one on it. And I'm trying to figure out what's happened to my initiative and motivation, as it seems like all my little projects are nagging my brain and yet the rest of me can't be bothered to deal with them. This post is disjointed, like Ragdoll in Secret Six. I've also lost weight, which isn't good, considering I'm now on the 100lb dare-to-be-Wolverine thing. I've toned up quite a bit, which is nice, but dropping a belt size wasn't part of the deal. ("Everything was ready but he had to run away/Shot for the money on the very same day/ Le Garage/ Le Garage-rage"... I don't even understand what that means). VAAAH.
Anyway, this kind of ramble randomness is tiring and I'm hot and sweaty in the priests collar. I think I shall read some comics.

also

I realized this morning that for the past four days I'd been refreshing the Weather Network webpage for Stratford, Ontario, rather than Toronto (I went to Stratford on Sunday, see, and it was delightful... I have a fun idea for adapting Coriolanus to modern times... plus, Colm Feore).

oh and...

I think I finally figured out what that wonky smell is in the basement sometimes... it's the ages old dehumidifier (that overflowed this morning, by the way, since the duct-tape floater-thingy ain't working none good so much anymore) overheating or something. Maybe. Good to know at least.

...

If the kitchen smells like hummus, that's 'cause I made hummus. Help yourself, there's lots there. It's kinda tahini heavy.

...feh

I really thought I'd enjoy this rhubarb-ginger jam, but, you know, not so much.

The 4-CD Sampleganza

Greetings fleshy ones.
The 2005-2006.5 x4CD sampler is in full progress. The liner notes have been constructed and the CD burning process has begun. Very soon all will be complete and ready to ship. So far I have 14 of a maximum 25 sets already spoken for, so there are a few more to go around.

The discs are broken out into four different genrefications:
the rap/dance/ambient/electro-esqu
the rock-like
the folky/twang/downtempo pop-ish
and kids'n'comedy (which is a weird mix of childrends music and foul language)

The nearly 75 artists on this collection include: Great Lake Swimmers, The National, Strong Bad, Ugly Duckling, Spoon, City Field, The 6ixty 8ights, David Cross, Amy Millan, MF Doom, Love Is All, Apostle Of Hustle, and many more. This compilation is guaranteed to meet CTRC CANCON minimums, if not in fact doubling them. It's Toronto-centric in many respects, but that's quite all right.

Let me know if you wants one (11 left and counting)

Free as in "it only costs me"

I'm compiling 18 Months: Best of 2005/2006&1/2. A four disc tome of hiphop/dance, alternarockelectropop, twangy/chamber/downtempo, and comedy/kids/irreverence. Who wants a set?

I'm not sure how many 4-disc cases I have so you may get it as four individual disks in a hand-made slip case, two separate 2-disc cases, or one four-disc case, or maybe even a 3-disc case (plus bonus disc! in a handmade sleeve)
'Twill be a surprise!

60+ tracks of some of my favourite songs, almost all by different artists so you're guaranteed to hear something new (*not an actual guarantee*). I'll be making at most 25 sets, so if you want one, claim it now. I think a half dozen are already spoken for. No shipping expenses for you if you're not in Toronto, it's all on me.

I'm awaiting some further materials before I begin production so shipping will commence mid-to-late July.

greece's pieces

A new Superman newspaper advertisement has been leaked and it features the MOS bursting out of a page full of reviewer pull quotes. All of the quotes are from easily influenced television or radio station affiliate reviewers... not exactly a ringing endorsement. I fear the films going to be utter pants as is. The ho-hum trailers... all of them... have yet to inspire any excitement, or even really pique my interest. Of course, I will be seeing it... twice probably (the first time I see a big film like this I usually spend my time picking it apart and being over analytical... the second time, when I know what's coming and can actually see if I enjoy it or not).

these days is hawt

The days have been too warm for a Northwestern boy like me... I usually take it in stride but the official sign that it's too warm is cold showers in the morning (and nothing to do with an unfulfilling sex life... riiiiight). Normally my showers are hot, and they get progressively hotter as my body adjusts to the heat. I get so warmed up, in fact, that during the winter I wind up sweating while standing outside (thus negating much of the shower's effect). I usually do this in the spring and summer as well, but not this year... I've been treating myself to that stunning cold water shower. You know what I'm talking about, when the temperature differential is such a shock to your system that suddenly you're gasping for air like your lungs have collapsed. Yeah, that kind of ...shrivelling cold. So cold that I'm actually shivering by the time I get out of the shower... which isn't good, because warm house + shivering = rapid warm-up and sweating... which, again, kind of defeats the purpose of the shower.

I need to find the happy medium.
(and not a cheerful fortune teller)

not my idea...

In the latest Thor's Comic Column there's a big promo for a new "reality tv" contest thing called The Comic Book Challenge and they want your ideas, my ideas, all of our ideas. They want us to pitch the ideas and then through popular selection they'll weed their way from 50 down to a winner. I have a killer idea that could quite easily win over the masses of geek culture that would no doubt be voting in this thing, but I won't enter it and I'll tell you why...
It's not worth it.
Even if I won, it's not worth it. Quitting my job would probably be the only option to take the time away to work this contest process and I don't have the cushion to do it. Not only that, even if I did do comics and developed the idea and handed it over to Platnum Studios for film and/or tv production, chances are they'd put me on some sort of committee validation roster and I'd have to comprimise my storytelling to get the thing done and I'd most likely hate the whole procedure. Oh, and then, say I did manage to get the book out there, my cred as a writer would be called into question for YEARS (hell, Mr. Real World Judd Winnick still has his validity called into question) and any popularity would not be based on my talent and any criticism would not be based on my lack thereof... it would be bitch jealousy and that's it.
And say I did manage to get my book published, comics pay shit. There are very few writers of comics out there making a living at doing it. I'd guess it's between one and two hundred that are actually supporting themselves as writers (and usually not just on comics either). Comics earn and pay shit. There's no money in it, and losing a good job to break into an industry where the lifespan of most writers lasts about 10 years anyway... sigh.

I love comics, and I will get around to making my own some day, but throwing away my life right now for what's essentially a glorified colouring contest isn't really a smart path. There's enough other frothing and/or desperate and/or well-off fanboys that can do this. And I guarantee you that the winner's idea isn't nearly as cool as mine.

oh... and...

Toonage is live.
Go read my Parkas interview and DVD feature. They're good.
Also got some cd reviews and a concert review extracted from the sidebar.

I need to have a short bio to appear at the end of my articles... I have three and I'm wondering what the geeKent reader(s?) thinks. VOTE NOW!

Option 1: Graig Kent is a consumer and a reviewer. He reviews what he consumes and he consumes a lot. He routinely blogs at geekent.com in an effort to publicly embarass himself.

Option 3: Graig Kent lives in Toronto, works a regular job, and spends all his money on things he later reviews. You can find out way too much about him at his blog, geekent.com

If you don't like any of these, feel free to write your own... be as kind or mean as you want, just make sure you plug my blog. Oh and on #2, I may actually have over 1000 reviews to my name. I'll take a tally soon. I've been doing this review thing for 9 years now (whee-yow!)

Sizzleteen

My new pants make that snowsuit sound when I walk. You know what I'm talking about...
*fweetfweet,fweetfweet*

Zebra

Speaking of sounds, new concert review to the left. JMac took me out for a great belated birthday evening of food and song. The music wavered between acceptable and interesting, with the performances varying between bored and spectacle. I was, however, completely amused by the plethora of black & white horizontal stripe shirts in attendance (hell, there were two of them in the Two Koreas alone!).

When did the sailor shirt make a comeback, and why do so many people think they're cool? Is the Robin Williams Popeye movie the next retro pop-culture phenomenon? Are we going to see a bunch of flapper-style dresses floating around the alterna-scene? Are canned spinach and hamburgers the next big food craze? I guess indie doesn't stand for individuality.
*jab!*

Ah, I really don't care all that much, but a couple gin'n'tonics in it did entertain me greatly.

Circus

I was talking with a friend a few weeks back about our respectively crappy computers:

He: I was looking at some boobie sites a few weeks back and I got a virus
Me: Dude, you mean you weren't wearing a condom? How many times do I have to tell you to protect yourself...
He: Well it was just a worm.
Me: Ewww. Well, thankfully it wasn't anything more serious. You might not be so lucky next time.

There's you have it kids, if you're trolling for on-line sex, play smart and play safe. Because when you visit boobie sites, you're not just visiting them, you're also visiting all the ads and pop-ups they're in bed with.

No radio play for Mister Gray

I realized today that I'm going to be out of touch with the bulk of the folks I regularly turn to when I want to discuss music and musicy things.

Mi hombre Ryan back home just had some major back surgery yesterday, so he's going to be laid up and on descending slope of painkillers for a few days, weeks or perhaps months. With his wonky physiology we're not really sure how long his recoup is going to be but eventually, once it's over, his quality of life should be 137.285% better (scientifically approxassumed). I spoke with his brother today and his surgery went as smoothly as was expected... there's still some nerve issues but they should fade, apparently.

Once better, Ryan's going to be doing a lot of the old jockeying of discs for CILU back home, and I plan on interrupting his show on as regular a basis as possible... because I'm jealous and I want to steal his thunder. He actually had his first solo show air yesterday, and I would have listened but for some reason none of streams were working for me (poops, I say!).
Anywho, get better soon Ry (well wishing comments can be left on his blog but chances are he won't get to reading them for three or four weeks).

Meanwhile, GAK, after a quick stop at abode du Ronces, is out roaming around the east coast (in Halifax currently... maybe) for a few weeks, to be back ever so briefly for about a week, then off and gone again on international destinations unknown (well, known, but forgotten... by me anyway). GAK is the largest consumer of music I know, while I am the largest consumer of comics I know, and Ryan is the largest consumer of wrestling (Japanese and Mexican primarily) I know. Random trivia. The point being, I usually get fed a lot of my music sourcing from GAKamole and with him out of commission for about 75 days, I'm going to have a lonely summer of figuring things out for myself...

I think I've been doing a fairly okay of it so far though, but that's in large part thanks to JMac's input. She turned me over to the Diableros, and rekindled my interesting in finding new music worth getting excited over, especially local stuff. JMac is way cool, but very aloof these days as she's trying to squeeze as much into her life as she can (as well as wrap up some other business) before she's shipped off to Guantanamo... erm... France (same dif). She's on a 2-month leave in la belle terrain, tutoring some rich kids and getting seduced by odouriferous, chain-smoking, beret wearing, thin-moustache having, tight leathery pants squeakly, always "How you say?" saying Frenchmen... and she's going to some huge throw-down with DJ Shadow. *Sigh* It's a thug's life.

At the very least I can drag Toast about a bit to gigs and whatnot should he feel so inspired and less crotchety old man (I keed, I keed).

So yeah, colour me sonically lonely. Anyone want to tell me how the Golden Dogs, whom I just discovered and really enjoy, are, like, so 2004? Anyone want to say "I told you so" about the Great Lake Swimmers, whom I've finally just caught onto. Anyone want to give me some background on the Tall Dwarfs ("Dwarves?" "No, Dwarfs.") whose 1990 reissue "Weeville" is tripping my brain out?

guh.
And I still miss the legendary 2003-2004 gig buddy Sara... she really needs to get in touch (if she's lurking...)

All quiet on the north by northeastern front

Two posts earlier I've got my concert chart laid out, so don't be too concerned/surprised/disappointed with a reduced/absent turn of blogging for the next little bit. I'm not really doing the North By Northeast bullshit... here's a conversation with a friend as to why:

She - thanks for reminding me about nxne
i'm usually good at keeping on top of these things but just with everything lately it's all been passing me by

Me: I hate festivals... I'm not much for lineups and figuring out schedules...
that's why I've never done the TIFF proper.
Festivals always seem so... exclusive too.
Like it's a big club ... a big no Graigs club or something.

She: hahahah
Pop Montreal is the only music festival i've done but I liked it
wasn't too traumatized by conflicting gigs and what not. But in the end it all depends on your taste

Me: I did NXNE and CMW the first two years I was here and was pretty much soured on the whole festival thing by that point.
I'm not a hardcore enough music nurd to care about "seeing something first" and not a big enough scenester to care about being seen and not a big enough blogger to feel obligated to tell people about this shit.

She: well, if you don't like the festival setting, you can always just wait until the band/movie you want to see comes by again or gets a theatrical release, if at all
that's the thing with film fests though, a lot of it will never see a theatrical release, at least not in North America

Me: yeah...

She: the bands though will probably always come by again

Me: Maybe if I was getting paid to write about these things I'd actually care again
sigh... someday

She: well, if you don't care enough to see these things on your own for your own enjoyment, then it's definitely not worth the effort

Me: the thing is, it's the hassle of being a nobody in these things...
if I had a press pass or an insider pass...
things would be much simpler... takes a lot of the guessing and aggrivation out of it

She: well, yeah, that's the thing. half the point of festivals is to connect artists with the industry as well as the public
but if it were not for the public and their interest, then the industry would have no one to market to
kind of like a serpent swallowing its tail

Me: totally.
I just get annoyed at the imbalance of it though... the last time I did NXNE, I stood waiting in a lineup for 40 minutes only to be told I wasn't getting in (all the while, people with their media badges were breezing on in)
it's that kind of thing that peeves me.
If they had to stand in line too, I wouldn't be so annoyed...
or maybe if they allocated a certain number of media spots to public spots...
shrug

She: unfortunately that's how the festival business works. Media are given priority bec have they to maximize coverage
we could debate this for hours, but i have to go

Me: ja

----------

This definitely isn't all I have to say on these "festival" things, and some of my thoughts up above aren't exactly well thought out (such is "chatting" format, I guess) but, as I said, no time for love, Dr. Jones. Off for dinner and a show.

but first

The Monarch's list of peers - from an outtake on the Venture Bros. episode "The Trial of the Monarch":
Judge: You're on thin ice, but do you get off the ice? No, you jump up and down like a lunatic having a..a conniption fit. Now if it was up to me, you'd have been in chains an hour ago. But this is a trial by jury and it's up to your peers...
The Monarch: Peers?
Judge cont'd: ...to decide this.
The Monarch: PEERS?! How dare you! That repulsive display of humanity out there? NO WAY! A list of my peers would read as follows:
Flying Squid and Tigeriffic; Truckules; Lord Mostly-Magic; King Fantastic Outfit; Fee Waybill of the Tubes; Suicide Girl Tegan; Bill "Superfoot" Wallace; Happy-Go-Clucky and Swiss Misstery; Chaka Igloo; and my 8th grade earth science teacher Mr. Tringe! Oh... and Bizarro Oscar Wilde as an alternate.

Heh... Truckules. The only other sign of Truckules on-line is this gay trucker fantasy story. *shudder*

3 music things

Gigs: (updated June.08)

June 7 - (maybe) BE YOUR OWN PET, Whirlwind Heat. The Mod Club
June 8 - (defs) GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS w/ Mean Red Spiders, Barzin, The Barmitzvah Brothers, Two-Minute Miracles. Sneaky Dee's
June 9 - (maybe) Ruth’s Hat, SUEISFINE (they're from Thunder Bay), Unsensored. Neutral.
June 10 - (defs) Amy Millan CD release. Mod Club
June 11 - (not likely) TILLY AND THE WALL w/ David Dondero. Mod Club.
June 17 - (defs) THE TWO KOREAS & LEVY w/ Kill The Lights. Drake Undergound.
June 19 - (maybe) DON CABALLERO Horseshoe.
June 22 - (maybe) ACEYALONE w/ Ugly Duckling, The Procussions, Diverse, more. Reverb.
June 23 - (maybe) DE LA Soul. Harbourfront.
June 29 - (defs) The Organ. Drake Undergrnd
July 4 - (defs) CAMERA OBSCURA w/ The Diableros. Horseshoe.
July 26 - (defs)THE FUTUREHEADS w/ Tapes n Tapes. Phoenix.
Aug 5 - (defs) WOLF PARADE w/Frog Eyes. Phoenix (tix on sale Sat.)
Aug 28 - (maybe) Hall & FLIPPIN Oates. Hummingbird (tix on sale tomorrow)

Doom song

The complete DANGERDOOM ep, Occult Rhythm, is now available free from Adult Swim. A video for ATHF is also viewable.

New Parkas video

The vid for Darling, The Wolves by Parkas as hosted on YouTube.

The despondent correspondent

When I was packing last Thursday in preparation for my visit to hometown Thunder Bay, I packed a few long-sleeve shirts, a couple of sweaters and pants, pants, pants. Nobody told me it was going to be 38 degrees in the sun (for our American friends, that's equivalent to really frickin' hot, especially for Northwestern Ontario). So hot it was that the last two nights I've not been sleeping comfortably. Last night I kept fading in and out of consciousness until about 4:30 when I felt the temperature break and an ever so slightly cooling breeze enter the open window.

Monday was excessively gross and muggy (we don't really use the term "muggy" in Toronto... it tends to be superceded by "smoggy") to the point that I had to cut my run short because the air was so thick I couldn't breathe properly.

Today seems to have calmed down to a respectable 21 degrees (for our American friends, that's the equivalent to a nice day), which is actually summer weather usually here. It's so very strange.

A dose of the outside world

Thunder Bay can have a tendency to be a little... plain... at times uncultured. But then there are reminders that some diversity can be added to the mix of franchise prep kitchens like Applebees or East Side Marios, your basic donut-n-coffee shops like Tim Hortons or Robin's or mainstream radio/music.

The Calico Coffee House is located on Bay Street beside the Hoito and is a refuge from generica and a sorely needed replacement for the gone-but-not-forgotten Great Northwest Coffee Company. A few steps down from ground level, Calico is clean, classy, and inviting. The common mix of caffeinated and warm drinks are available, as well as an assortment of baked goods. There's benches, fireside leather chairs arranged living room style, and some standard table and chairs. Even by Toronto standards it's an above-par put-together joint.

An old and dear friend (I mean old in the sense that we've known each other a long time) took me to Caribou Restaurant and Wine Bar last night. The only thing better than the food and drinks was the company, and it all was spectacular. An upscale resto (meals are between 20 and 35 $) that made new use of an old Robin's Donuts location. It's not a huge place, but it's apparently always busy, so reservations for dinner are recommended. Caribou takes pride in its wine selection (it's wine list is massive), and if you're looking for a decent scotch, this is where you'll find it. The starters are amazing (garlic lovers take note of the caesar salad and the hummus that comes with the bread sticks) and my goats cheese salad was fantastic. My companion had a grilled chicken pizza (heavy on the pine nuts), while I had the bruchetta chicken (chicken stuffed with basil and tomato). The martinis flowed freely, our server was darling, and dessert, lemon gelato, went great in a gin martini btw. Not for the thrifty, but for anyone needing a flavourful dining experience in T.Bay, this is it.

The music scene in Thunder Bay gets a weekly boost, as the Chronicle Journal has been adding a suppliment to promote local bands and touring acts that come to town. This would be fantastic news if the youth of the city actually read the paper. But thankfully Lakehead University's student radio CILU is also on the scene, with a new broadcast location, a greater library, and a plan to bring the local scene front and center. Now if they could only restrict how much metal they play.

Photojunk.

I upgraded my flickr account from the freebie yesterday because, well, I had a lot of photos. Going to more gigs means I'm taking more pictures. What I realize is this: I'm not very good and/or my camera's not very good.

I generally don't have a lot of patience for playing around with photomanipulation, or much patience for taking them, or sorting and weeding through them, so what I wind up getting are, in general, fairly unassuming and unartistic shots. But they capture a moment. Many moments in fact.

Since most of my photographs are going to be of bands at gigs (the link will take you to all my recent shots) I imagine I'll get used to this new camera of mine (an Olympus Stylus 600), but as of yet I havn't really figured out the proper settings to get a good no-flash picture in barroom lighting. Is there a way? Well, my old camera used to take some great no-flashers, so I know it can be done... ah well.

In taking gig photos, I have realized that I tend to hang to stage left or right, and I don't really manouever around to take shots from varying angles, so my photo series' are pretty stagnant to look at for the most part... and in my stagnation, I realize my photography is pretty unfair to the drummer. Take a look at my gig photos and you can count the shots that feature the drummer on one hand. Sorry rhythm-men and women... I'll get more adventurous soon and catch you next time.

Karaoke kingdom

So the Postmodern Sasstress invited me to attend Kickass Karaoke ("KAK") last night, my second-ever foray into the world of public solo singing (my first was back in 2001 in Hamilton, and prior to that I had my horrendous vocal talents masked by some actual singers when I joined the vocal group in my last year in High School... the things I did for the ladies back then). Señor Accordion, the Redhead and Maria, along with the Sass were in attendance and all were veterans of the scene... and believe me it's a scene.

My view of karaoke has always been kind of an insular thing. You know, you're at a party and someone busts out the karaoke mic, or you and a small group of friends randomly wind up at a karaoke joint and have some fun. When you do karaoke, you pick songs you kind of know, you get up on stage and you find that you really don't know the song all that well. You give it a go, the old college try, you have a laugh, you make people cry, then you get off stage to courteous applause, and are quickly forgotten. But KAK? Not so much.

KAK is a community, this much is evident by the amount of mingling going on, but thankfully it's not an exclusive community. It's quite welcoming to newcomers, and as long as you're willing to give an effort into the song you choose you will be rewarded with no embarassment. The people at KAK are, by and large, seasoned, and some can not just sing, but actually wail or rap or sustain a note. It's baffling and a little intimidating, especially if you follow one of the star singers. But go on up, have fun.

It's easy to get karaoke trench head following a round of poor performances. I know leaving KAK I listened to the songs I performed (Radiohead's "No Surprises" and Gorillaz "Feel Good, Inc.") and realized where I had made my flubs. So much of karaoke is not singing well, but knowing the progression of a song and how the pitches shift throughout it... oh and knowing the words helps some too, which is difficult for this guy who likes to focus on beats and rhythms rather than lyrics. heh.

"No Surprises" actually had a few surprises in it for me... but it's one of the easiest Radiohead songs to do, since it's fairly even paced and not much vocal variation. If I could sing like anyone it would be Thom Yorke. Alas, I can barely sing as is, and I'm no flippin' Thom Yorke, I realize. I could sing "Karma Police" easily, but I can't sing it well... maybe I'll try next time.

"Feel Good, Inc." came off rather nicely, well, the Damon Albarn parts anyway. I kind of forgot how the De La Soul parts went. I did express my sincerest apologies to Albarn and De La before I started the song though. Carson, the intrepid KAK host told me during an interlude that I was actually the first to try that song, so he was really excited. I felt good about that.

Meanwhile I'm going to listen to some Hall & Oates, and at the next KAK I'm going to warm up with some Monty Python songs, because I know those inside and out (I like Chinese, Bruces' Philosopher's Song, Sit On My Face and more) or perhaps some TV themes... And as always, I have to resist the urge to sing Shatneresque (I did contemplate singing "Common People" Shatner style, but then I'd also have to do some parts Joe Jackson style and I just can't do that.

The hardest part about being an indie-head is you generally don't know most karaoke songs with the exception of the choruses as played repeatedly on K*Tel or "Best of '80's Rock" compilation commercials.

Maria should have a picture of me KAKing on-line today at some point.

Segrid

My concert listing is looking like this:

May 4 - City Field @ the Drake presented by Chart magazine, with guests Sunriser, The Attics. $7 adv. $10 @ door. Starts 9:30

May 5 - Parkas cd/dvd release party @ Gladstone with guests Nathan Coles Outfit, Jack & Ginger(ex-By Divine Right)...Toronto RSVP Discount: It costs $10 to get in, but if you email your name to our pal Karolina to let her know you're coming, it only costs $7! Email karolina.kluska[at]gmail.com and use the subject heading RSVP to save your first three bucks. Nothin' to it.
The latest Parkas ep [The Scars To Prove It] is available now on Zunior

May 6 - Guy Terrifico DVD release party, featuring his Superfiendz including Matt Murphy, n other Flashing Lights ‘Guests’ @ 10:30. $10.00 adv. Hmmm... does this mean there's going to be both a Superfriendz and Flashing Lights reunion? Too cool if so. Not to mention Murphy's probably performing with City Field on Thursday. That's like a quad dose of Matt. The DVD has been available for rent or purchase for about a month, and it's a fun mocumentary (I reviewed the film here) with a great soundtrack.

May 19 - Islands w/ Frog Eyes, Sunset Rubdown, Cadence Weapon, Bus Driver (packed show!) $13

Filth and Fury

Mr. "I'm in Ireland" linked to Kevin Smith's 9-part exposee on his boy Jason Mewes' heroin and oxycontin addition. It's a harrowing story that truly defies simplistic description. Smith's obvious love for Jay is inspiring and heartbreaking as time and again Jay gets on the wagon and falls back off. To see someone through a crippling addiction like that for years on end, especially when it hurts you so much to see your friend like that, there's got to be an incredible bond. As it's noted, Smith is not only Jay's best friend, but also like his father, and the dynamic is surprisingly evident. As difficult as it was to read, I can only imagine how difficult it was for Smith to live through it (not to mention Jay). The fact that he was able to get movies made amongst everything else he did during that time is surprising... most people it would weigh on them so much, just ekeing through life would be tough.
I don't know if I would have the fortitude to stick by my friends if they repeatedly disappointed me as much as Jay did to Smith... that's a pretty tight bond they have. It's an incredibly engaging, inspiring, frightening and heart-wrenching story (I teared up more than once)... well worth a read, even if you don't give a damn about Smith's poop'n'fart joke movies.

burning Bush

Stephen Colbert gave a 1/2 hour presentation at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday. Mention was made on both Thursday's Daily Show and Colbert Report episodes, but what I didn't realize was that the President was actually going to be there.

Colbert, if you don't know, satirizes the right-wing blowhard talk show host, taking the blind fury of a Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity or Joe Scarborough and pushing it many steps further into satirical idiocy. The question always has been though, does everyone get it. I'm almost certain that there's people that watch that show thinking Colbert is the genuine article, that he's really a Bush supporter, and that he actually believes the absurd b.s. that he spouts in the name of comedy. Looking at the crowd reaction from the Correspondent's Dinner, some people get it, other's get it and hate it and still others think he's full of truthiness.

All I have to say, which is repeating Colbert's mantra, man's got balls. He stands up there, mere feet away from the President and lampoons his entire administration and presidental career TO HIS FACE. Balls. Big brass ones. He gets up there, in character, and goes for it, full on. I love the look of the reporters in the audience who are stunned by what he says. I'm half-amazed they didn't pull the plug on him the moment he went for the "shoot him in the face" gag.

Watch it. It's subversive brilliance, and I'm certain Bush was, at least in part, oblivious to the humour.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

A tune for May:

What a fucking lovely day
Everything has gone my way
All my flags are unfurled
I'm the king of the world
and to think it's only May

It's my favourite time of the year
for a spree of crime and fear
It's a joy just to breathe
to scheme and to seethe
what a fucking lovely day

La la lala la la la laa
La la la lala la laa
Ah the smell of despair
Is that blood in my hair
I don't care
i don't care
What a fucking lovely day

Oooh ooh oohoh ooh ooh ooh ooh

(Lyrics: Stephin Merritt
Album: Showtunes)

HOLY SH*T

Rooms just found me a rip of the Tetrisphere soundtrack... I've been looking for this for over 7 years... I'm so happy I could vomit.

The Music Post

Preface

This year I was going to get out of music. I was going to destroy my already limited involvement in the whole scene. I was planning no concerts, I was thinking of acquiring very few cds, minimizing my mp3 downloading and I was hoping that I would learn to ignore pompous internet journalists with their limited genre tastes and bad spelling. Well sodding hell if this declaration has me even more wrapped up in music more than ever before, because without all the buying, what I'm doing is reading, and experimenting and learning and finding myself as interested in music as I was back when I first move to Toronto. And I can't "Be damn" those internet journalists, either, for I'm about to become one of them (limited genre tastes and bad spelling to boot).

Decisions at the checkout counter

To curb my spending and my ever amassing pile of stuffs, at the beginning of this year I added self-imposed spending limits to my entertainment diet. Even though I wrote "CD or Record - 1 every 2 weeks (max 26/year)", I even further limited myself to buying only Comedy or Children's music on cd, but relaxed myself allowing free reign on record purchases. I further refined my purchasing ability by stating that for every three cds I purged from my collection I could buy one more (non-comedy/children's).

So far this year I've purchased a handful of records (mostly classic british comedy like the Goon Show and the Rutles) and I sold off 12 cds allowing me the purchase of 4 new ones (see sidebar). Seeing as I could hiccup an wind up with four new cds, it didn't take me long to use up my slotted alotment. I had a breakdown though, I thought I had stepped outside my boundaries as the last time I was in the record shoppe I picked up the MF Doom Special Herbs box set (fulfilling the fourth slot), but then I also noticed Stephin Merritt has a new album out. Uh oh.

I am an absolutely huge fan of Stephin Merritt. The man is easily one of the most brilliant, diverse and inventive songwriters alive, and even if I'm uncomfortable with a genre of song, the lyrics inevitably suck me in. He's a dexterous musician, able to play a multitude of instruments, and he's at times incredibly prolific. He has four "bands" (The Magnetic Fields, The Gothic Archies, Future Bible Heroes, and The 6ths) and he's composed music for film (Eban and Charley, Pieces of April, Tarnation) and he's responsible for the musical accompanyment on the Series of Unfortunate Events audiobooks (Lemony Snicket, aka Daniel Handler has appeared on a few of Merritt's projects, and a cd of the audiobook music will be out later this year). And the latest release, Showtunes, is an album built of selections from Merritt's stage compositions for Chen Shi-Zheng's Orphan of Zhao, Peach Blossom Fan, and My Life as a Fairy Tale.

So you can see my dilemma... my favourite musician has a new album out, and yet in my other hand I have a cd set limited to 7500 copies which if I don't snatch it up now I may never see again (yes, overly dramaticising my cd purchases, I know). What to do, what to do?
Buy them both.
Unconscionable! How could I break my own rules like that?
Fandom and weak will, that's how.
But I'm here to say that my violation of the rules was in intent only, and not an actual offence. Why? Because Showtunes is hilarious. If it's not a comedy album then Cookie Monster's not blue. I didn't realize how funny it was initially, but track three with its wistful sincerity that segues into the highly earnest chorus "What a fucking lovely day" just hammered it in with one blow. It's a brilliant record even if I would have preferred Merritt and FBH's singer Claudia Gonson performing all the songs rather than the stage cast, but I digress. It's fun and a proud addition to the comedy selectors. Full review to come.

Mil Mascaras and La Parka

The kickdrum that started a landslide, the Parkas were in town at the beginning of March playing Canadian Music Week, a 1am set which, you know, for me is bedtime. I had just had a damn crappy week and I had just seen Ultraviolet in the theatre (yeah, I know!) so really all I wanted to do was sleep... but I hadn't seen the band in some time, I knew they were going to kick out some new stiles, and they are always, without a doubt, one of the most engaging live acts on the Canadian music scene. So yeah, I went, and the evening out has kicked me in the ass concert-going wise and I've been out as much this month as I was out nearly all of last year, with no signs of subsiding.

Anywho, the Parkas, who are actually just "Parkas" (I don't really understand when and when not to apply the "the") rocked the set, with new guitarist Paul Thompson adding an unnecessary but welcome additional spark of energy to the group. Even when frontman Mike Brown broke a string, and some downtime was needed to allow him to adjust the remaining five to his liking, bassmaster Mark Rhyno entertained the crowd with some breakdancing moves, some hilarious repartee, and even brought out "Flying Saucer", a song from his high school band, Phasers On Stun (which, inicdentally, was comprised of Mark, Parkas drummer Greg Rhyno and ... Paul Thompson... yep, the gang is back together). The new material is fortified, and, if I might say, even more robust than the exiting recorded material, and some of the older tracks have been completely switched up, breathing new life into the live performance of those tunes. Whenever I see another band a few days after a live Parkas outing, invariably the stage presence of the other band seems lacking. From just 'tween song band chatter to Mike Brown's undeniable frontman charisma, they've got something going, and the fact that their songs are well crafted and distinctive make them a damn fine package. And they have rad t-shirts now (it's about time... photo tk)

The Parkas website has been revamped in anticipation of their new DVD(!)+EP release "A Life Of Crime and the Scars to Prove It". It's a sharp looking site with a dvd trailer and some awesome new songs to listen to via a built in applet. The DVD is a road movie/documentary following the Parkas on their cross-Canada tour back in 2004, during which the band (a quartet comprised of family and friends) entertained many up front but were feeling the strain behind the scenes. By then end of the tour, founding member, guitarist and co-frontsman Grady Kelneck had quit the band leaving them to question if and how to carry on.

Sure you're probably asking why you'd want to watch a dvd about a relatively small-time Canadian indie band... well, for the same reason you'd watch any documentary, interpersonal drama, character insight and entertainment. Knowing these guys both personally and their stage act, it'll be highly entertaining... at the very least worth it for the ep alone.

More Parkas to come when the set is released.

HoserHosen

I didn't actually make it to one planned gig recently, however. Another of my favourite performers, Lederhosen Lucil, played in town last Friday, alas, I was having an extremely busy evening, and I was for the hell of it walking everywhere I had to go. This wound up being about 2.5 hours (total) of vigorous walking in less-than-vigorous walking footwear. I still got to see Miss Lucil, though, as Soundscapes (the fantastic indie music shoppe on College) was hosting her book launch.

Yes, Lederhosen Lucil now has a book. It's actually an archive of Lucil's costuming, posters, clippings, photogs and other memorabelia. Sure it's a bit of a harder sell than music, but for this 'hosen fan it's delightful. It's no secret that I've had a huge crush on the dear Lederhosen Lucil (and her darling alter ego Krista Muir) for a couple years now. There's something incredibly special about a woman who affects new personas, is willing to dress the role, and write songs about doing the dishes, personal medical anomolies, or dried fruit. Plus, she loves Pee Wee's Playhouse. And she's cute. To top it off, she's freakin' talented. Her albums wind their way through genres ranging from carnivale to raggae, punk to disco.

I wound up at the book release as it was winding down its last half hour. Miss Muir was decked out in a white and pink gingham bavarian frock, blonde wigtails flowing from under a maiden's hood. I'm naturally uncomfortable around celebrities, people I admire, large or small (last week I bumped into Mark McKinney at Suspect Video and just about lost it) so I said hi pleasantly and perused the Lucil Museum, a small table displaying various Lucil mementos, complete with a chart describing the objects origins. Krista/Lucil was chatting with various people who seemed to be friends or acquaintances of her, but I managed to sneak in the midst and have a little chat. She is most pleasant, and delightful, as graciously appreciative of my support as I am for her talent.

I kept everything calm and cool for once, and told her I would have to miss her show, which she genuinely seemed sad about, as if it wouldn't be as much of a party without me... I bet she says that to all the boys but her sense of inclusiveness must be commended. I purchased a book and we chatted about my unusually spelled name as she signed it.

FÜR GRAIG. Let's hose again some day, ya? XO Lederhosen Lucil... and Krista too!

Ah uplifting.
I'm sad I missed the show, not only because I highly enjoy her performances but this time around there was a limited edition ep to be had of new Lucil songs. The completist in me is kicking himself.

Across the pond

The Ewoks were a crazy riot-grrrl/no-wave band hailing from Vancouver, consisting of Jenny Ewok on keyboards (also of The Organ, Mar Ewok on drums (former producer of CBC Radio3 and guest host for the now defunct Radio On) and Zsofia Ewok on vox. Yes, an all-girl band with only drums and keyboards as musical accompanyment.
They created esoteric music which was entertaining in its oddness, and doubly entertaining by its injokeyness, and triply entertaining in its geekyness (Mar is a huge Ewoks cartoon buff). Songs ranged from Super Mario Bros. 3 (just guess what it's about) to This Song (about the song being sung) to Mar Went to the UK(about Mar taking off to the UK). The band was rarely stable, with Mar's job duties pulling her across Canada, Jenny's Organ duties and school occupying much of her time, and Zsofia moving to Montreal really putting a crimp in things. But the Ewoks were a weird but quintessential part of the early Millenium Vancouver scene, a three-girl party which turned any set into a riot. The band has unofficially disbanded since Mar, well, went to the UK. But fear not, for all is not lost.

Mar, you see, has found herself on the other side of the forest, hanging out with the enemy. Meeting up with a pair of likeminded lasses, they have set up the worlds first "The Ewoks" cover/rival band... The Duloks (if you don't recall, the Duloks were the bad guys on the Ewoks cartoon). Their mission, pretty much the same as the Ewoks mission, to rock out with drums and keyboards and a visciously geeky sense of humour.

Their first track has just popped up on thier MySpace page... it's called "Red Wizard Needs Food...Badly!". Old school gamers will get the reference, and even moreso drop a brick when they hear the whacked out samples from Gauntlet in the song.

As much as I love and owe allegiances to the Ewoks, I think I may turn to the dork side and root for the Duloks.

and now it's my turn

A few years back, from about 2000 to 2002 I was making music. Honest to gosh I was. Weird loop based electronic sampleadelic music under the guise of Emote: The Carpet Behind. Some of it was utter crap (mostly the early stuff), some of it passably listenable, and some of it I quite enjoy still. I did an "album" called onetwothreefourfivesixseveneightnineteneleventwelve (or "1 to 12" for short) which I still listen to on an infrequent basis (the odd song will pop up in shuffle on my iPod). It was a sort of concept album, 12 songs, each labelled their track number, and each running their track number's length... AND each containing a sample from pop culture mentioning their track number... Six for instance, is sample heavy with The Prisoner sound bites, Five has a Short Circuit sample ("Number five is alive")... you get the deal). The whole thing plays out as a unified 78 minutes with the tracks all being stand alone but also running into one another. If it weren't so amateurly done, it's almost impressive.

A follow up came in the form of "21" which was a mini disk stealing the same sort of idea, but only six songs long, and made at the height of my Adult Swim mania (tracks three (3_chopperdave) and five (5_fromthemoon) are heavy with Sealab 2021 and Aqua Teen Hunger Force clippings respectively... actually, the songs are built around the clips). They're cute, but only 6_poundchords holds up.

Around that time a friend had given me some software that replicated 808 sequencer beatmaking and from there I started making these egregiously long beat riddled songs. I would record my fidgeting and then drop the 18-minute long tracks into a sound editor and begin clipping away, paring them back by as much as 5/6 of their original length. All of that is under the "Emote: The Walking Carpet" header in the music section. From there I started melding the beats with my samples and realized I could create some neato things... and I did... only I don't know where they are now, except I notice "Greetingsmilleniumcity,Iamthemodularman" was put up on New Music Canada.

Anyway, I kind of lost the time to do that kind of fidgeting around, and really I wasn't going anywhere with it, I just enjoyed doing it. I know I don't have the patience now to do it though... but I've recently been enjoying the rediscovery of my self-released discography (all except for 7 songs I've made are available for download here), it makes me laugh, and sometimes it makes me wonder how I actually made some tracks.
What I love most is my self-depricating comments attached to each song. I was reading through these on Saturday and cracking myself up. Turns out not only could I make bad music in my mid-20s, but I was funny too. And, yes, the web layout is ass, but I like it

Favourite tracks:
Plus8Minus7Plus9
Meet The Motorcar Rally/China's Infinite Wisdom
1_T1B0
eight
six

Oh and my writing gig

I'll have more news on that later. I've signed on to write for a new on-line music magazine, which aims to focus on the local scene, without getting all uppity about it.
More on that later, but it's going to be cool.

My classy stereo

Some people are audiophiles, needing pristine sounds and optimal this and that and the other thing. Not me... me, I like my stuff sounding rough, which is why I absolutely love my stereo system.

This Kenwood amp is older than I am (I have the accompanying stereo receiver as well, but it won't fit in my cabinet due to the necessity for region-free DVD). I'll need to ask my dad but I think he found this at the dump (or maybe that was the old tape deck we used to have), in any case, it was a major part of the Kent family entertainment system for the better part of 2 decades (before my sister abandoned her early 90's system and it took over).

This record player is likely just as old as the amp. It's not really been that well used... erm... ever. I recall that it used to reside in a massive stereo crypt, in a flip-up flap on top, which my mom usually covered over with various things making its accessibility somewhat difficult. The above amp, and the aformentioned receiver and trash-heap tape deck were all stored in this cabinet as well, although there were hinged magnetic doors on the front allowing unencumbered access. The stereo cabinet was a part of the family until 2000 when I moved in with a friend and was left there upon moving to Toronto in '01. I hear he just moved to North Bay... I wonder if he took the cabinet (which also housed built in speakers) with him?
I replaced the head on this "Technics by Panasonic SL200" back in 2000 (or maybe even before that) with the assist of Radio Shack... I think it cost a good $25, perhaps more, but totally worth it.

These are my speakers (Well, it's the same speaker but trust me when I say there's a second one that's virtually identical). Sexy huh?
My dad "made" them years ago (early 90s, I think), well he made the boxes that house these old truck speakers. And guess what, they sound like bloody truck speakers... and you know what else, I love it. I love that low balanced, somewhat muted tinge it brings to my music and records (and region free dvds).

I have a patchwork of cords running in and out of the amp, ready for anything. One cord snakes its way along the wall, over a door towards my computer allowing me to output my iTunes to it (or perhaps a viewing of "Manos": Hands Of Fate some day) or if I need my computer output for my headphones while gaming I'll plug my iPod into it for dual soundoff action.

Yup, it's an archaic, Frankenstein of a stereo system and to tell you the truth I'm not sure I'll upgrade until something breaks down (but I hardly expect it out of these warhorses).

Headphone headache

Here we go again.
After finding the perfect set of headphones (these ones right here) and subsequently ripping the cords out from the plug, I'm now on the hunt again for a new set of ear-speakers.

Why don't I just buy another set of the "perfect pair"? Well, that would be because Sony fucking discontinued them, and I've been to three different Sony stores and no one has any. Batardes.

I bought a pair of these pieces of shite, but, well, they're pieces of shite. What's up with these headphones where one ear has a longer length of cord than the other. It.makes.no.sense.

Grrr.Argh.

Snowly shit!

Overnight it dropped about a foot of snow. Poor Whistler could barely keep his head above it when I took him to the park.

Sweet Sweden's Badass Song

- I'm not the biggest hockey watcher, but the Sweden vs. USA ladies game was a lot of fun. 2 goals by USA in the first, 2 by Sweden in the second, and a very anxt-ridden, goalless third. A 10-minute overtime came and went, pretty hairy, but still tied. It went to shootout and Sweden picked off two points in four shots to USA's nil in four (actually it was nil in five, as one player got to take her shot over since the goalie made her move too soon). Sweden's goalie, Kim Martin, is flipping amazing, and really made the game. The rest of the Swedish team is a little disorganized and slow compared to the USA team, much better defensively than offensively. In fact the entire third period it seemed the US and Sweden were both just trying to keep the puck out of their end, rather than attempting to score. The overtime period was a messy scramble of desperation on both sides as well, just chaotic.

It's a huge deal, since Canada and the U.S. have met at the final in all nine world championships and both Olympic Games in which women's hockey was played. Canada vs. Finland happens now, to see who will meet Sweden in the gold medal game (which really isn't in question now, is it?).

- I love the Snowboard Cross and the Speed Skating Chase. They're two very interesting new sports, and fun to watch. It's unique in that it's determined by winning heats rather than based on times of races/runs. And Canada does quite well in both.

- Thanks to a 1,2 run in men's skeleton, Canada's now at 11 medals, and tied for second with Russia and Germany and Norway leads with 13. US is in 5th with 10.

Blazing saddles

This morning on Dovercourt road at Dundas, an SUV engine had exploded (not sure if it was as a result of a collision or not, but it looked like much of the front end was missing). Still blazing as I passed on the streetcar, there was a thick column of smoke billowing up, and the stench of burning oil and rubber travelled the air for some distance.
Police had the street shut down to both north and south traffic.

Nerd alert

Went to the Silver Snail for my weekly dose of sequential arty goodness, and Zed TV was there hanging out, interviewing people. They asked me if I wanted to be interviewed, and being the goof that I am, of course I agreed. The host (Jenna?) prepped me with the question "what's you're favourite cartoon", which is Samurai Jack, of course. She asked "is there a catchphrase from that show" and I said not really, although there is this one character, the Scotsman...
Just as they were setting up the interview, I asked if I was supposed to be looking at her or the camera. She said "either is fine". Shit. So my entire interview (all 40 seconds of it) I was spastically looking between her and the floor and the camera, and mixing my words up and just totally looking the complete geek.
It's a good thing I have no fear of making an ass out of myself. When it becomes routine, it's hardly a big deal.

Not sure if it'll be on tonight or tomorrow's broadcast.

Word Nurd.

Hallelujah

If someone came up to me and asked me what the most beautiful song ever made by mad would be, I'd have to say Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", in whatever incarnation or cover version. It's just a fucking fantastic song which brings a tear to my eye every time I hear it. The Jeff Buckley version is tops in my book, but CBC has been jumping up and down about the very recent kd lang version from the ceremony for Cohen's induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and it's damn good too.

CBC has a lenghty interview (realAudio) with Cohen from yesterday's Sounds Like Canada on-line... which I'm sure I'll get to listening to at some point.

needledrop

I can only imagine how many needles this guy wrecked in making this little project:
10 Banned Albums Burned Then Played
Ingenius.

shit

Word from Warren Ellis is that Seth Fisher died yesterday.
Shit.

If you don't know who Seth Fisher is, he was the genius artist behind such works as Green Lantern: Willworld, Happydale; Legends of the Dark Knight: Snow; and Fantastic Four/Iron Man: Big In Japan - the final issue of which came out yesterday.

He was brilliant, and he will be missed.

the not shit

In less non sombre news, Genndy Tartakovski is directing a sequel to the Dark Crystal. Before Henson purists get up in arms, I would like you to explore Tartakovski's creations of Dexter's Lab, Samurai Jack, and the Star Wars:Clone Wars cartoons, and then try to not be excited.

the just plain weird

If you remember my new year's story, well, apparently, word from my friend is she wants my number. Actually, word from my friend was:
Friend - (Big smile) "Did you get a call recently?"
Me - (Noticing his shit-eating grin) "Nnnnoooo... why."
He - "I gave (her name) your number."
Me - "Did you now."
He - "She said you had exchanged numbers and that she lost yours, so I gave it to her."
Me - "Didn't happen."
He - "Oh, well, sorry then."
Me - "That's okay, you probably don't have my current number anyway. 647?"
He - (Checks blackberry, reads number).
Me - "That's disconnected."
He - "Well do you want me to give it to her, or just tell her you said 'fuck off'" (laughs)
Me - "Well, don't say that..."
He - "She's a nice girl. You should go for it. (Her brother) won't mind, if that's what you're worried about."
Me- "Uh huh. Uhh, how about I get back to you on that?"

right.

Earworm - 02/02/06

"I look good and you look good but not as good as me"
-Buck 65

learn something new

I mistook swamp gas for ball lightning. Both are commonly mistaken as UFOs (but probably not as often for each other).

oh man

I hadn't realized Chris Penn died too...

7 - 05

My 7 For 2005 entry has been updated to include the links to the song samples. The songs will be available from You Send It until Jan.6,06 or for 25 downloads, whichever comes first.

Go, enjoy.

7 albums for 2005

Last year's list, revisited:

After letting some other albums sink in in January of 2005, 3 of my top seven of last year would have easily been replaced.

What we had then:
1) Arcade Fire - "Funeral"
2) b. Fleischmann and Herbert Weixelbaum present Duo 505 - "Late"
3) The Beastie Boys - "To The 5 Boroughs"
4) The Futureheads - "The Futureheads"
5) Handsome Boy Modeling School - "White People"
6) The Hidden Cameras - "Mississauga Goddamn"
7) Modest Mouse - "Good News For People Who Love Bad News"

What it would look like now:
1) Arcade Fire - "Funeral"
2) Subtle - "A New White"
3) b. Fleischmann and Herbert Weixelbaum present Duo 505 - "Late"
4) The Go! Team - "Thunder, Lightning, Strike"
5) The Futureheads - "The Futureheads"
6) MF Doom - "MM Food"
7) Modest Mouse - "Good News For People Who Love Bad News"

Subtle I didn't find until January, the Go! Team took until March for me to fully process (and it was finally released domestically this year, so I *could* technically put it on the '05 list), and MF Doom wasn't released until late December so it was hard to really get into in time for a list that was released before it came out.

But that was last year...

7 Albums For 2005

1) The National - "Alligator"
From the first time I listened to this album I knew it would top my favourites list... There's a dangerousness to, a catchy poppyness which juxtaposes against dark tendencies. Anger and frustration seem to be underlying themes, and yet there's beauty in that. It's both calming and agitating at once. Each song is a gem, with depths you can sink into over and over again. This is an immediate classic of the '00s
sample:The Geese Of Beverly Road

2) DangerDoom - "The Mouse and the Mask"
I had earlier in the year come to understand the majesty that is MF Doom, the underground/indie rap god who fashions himself in a metal mask reminiscent of Fantastic Four foe Dr. Doom, rapping frequently about food and pop culture. And just as I was getting familiar with Doom's style and flow, I caught word that he was pairing up with Danger Mouse, whose collaberation with Jemini two years ago really struck a chord with this hip hop fan who'd gotten a little dissuaded with the status of the genre. And then I found out that they were collaborating on an album which was incorporating the core Adult Swim line of cartoons (Sealab, Space Ghost, Brak, Harvey Birdman and Aqua Teen Hunger Force) which I've been pretty much obsessed with since before it was actually called "Adult Swim". There was no way this album could go wrong, and with the exception of the Meatwad rap (the Brak rap is awesome), I was totally right.
sample:Old School

3) Wolf Parade - "Apologies to Queen Mary"
This year I picked up two eps before the release of Wolf Parade's album proper, having waited for pressed sounds since hearing them on CBC radio in mid-2004. Though there was some repeated material between all three (although in different production iterations) I didn't feel at all disappointed, the songs hold up over and over and over again. Somewhat impenetrable but curious and infectious lyrics over some challenging and complex instrumentation that feels in part psychedelic, poppy, rocked out and electrofunky. Each song is its own but works as a fitting companion to the whole.
sample:This Heart's On Fire

4) Novillero - "Aim Right for the Holes in their Lives"
While I liked the New Pornographers' "Twin Cinema" well enough, it was Mint Records labelmates Novillero that put out the more attractive pop offering. Raucous to a degree but restrained in its delivery, this is one unified band. Each element, from drums, keys, tamborine, guitars, bass, vox, backup vox and even trumpet all merge together to form blood boiling power pop tunes the likes we havn't seen since Sloan got bored. If anything, it would almost seem like the band was too tight, keeping the listener out, but the occasional chord shift or change up is like a hand waving to invite us in.
sample:Dean

5) Gorillaz - "Demon Days"
And they're back. The faux band made of of cartoon characters that blew up large, real large in 2000 took their time, but have finally returned. I have to admit that as much as I loved the first album by Damon Albarn and Dan The Automator, I got a little tired of it after repeated listening and radio overdosage. I was a little sad to find that Automator hadn't returned for this second outing, but DJ Danger Mouse is a pretty damn fine successor, and he proves it by offering more complicated sampling, less obvious but no less pleasing beats, and the overall production value is stepped up a notch to make for perhaps a less immediately enjoyable album, but one which will surely hold out a lot better long term and repeatedly.
sample:Fire Coming Out Of The Monkey's Head

6) The Diskettes - "Weeknights at Islandview Beach"
The dark horse of this list, and the least likely to make anyone else's list, but let me say this list is all about what pleases and impresses me, and everyone else can stick with their one genres, I'm trying to spread my attention around a little. Which brings the Diskettes in. I hated this album upon first listen. It was so... old fashioned. Him-her sing-song melodies, with calypso style beach blanket ukelele and shakers I couldn't care less about. And yet, as the individual songs crept into the shuffle on my iPod, I found myself completely entranced, especially once the weather too a turn away from summer. You can taste the pineapple and smell the coconut when listening to this album. It's bliss. And the damn thing comes in an old 5 1/4 floppy. How neat is that?
sample:As It Happens

7) Spoon - "Gimme Fiction"
I have a love-hate relationship with the album. It's just too good and too aplenty with the perfect pop tune. Almost every track is one touch shy of being that pre-fab top-forty style of song which raises my hackles and wants to make me wretch. But that one hair also is the difference between one man's brilliance for crafting such tunes and a room full of engineers trying to emulate that very same sound. Spoon's Britt Daniel sits down behind his piano and out comes something that makes Neil Diamond seethe with jealousy. This album came with a four track ep which had three stripped down versions of songs off the album and one non-album track, and these pared back songs are actually even more enjoyable and catchy than the originals.
sample:The Delicate Place

not quite there

New Pornographers: "Twin Cinema"
Yes, they topped my list two years ago. Yes this album is technically better than the last two, but it's also less interesting. The upbeat peppiness has been eschewed for an almost carnival feel, and a forced sense of doing something different. It's all good, and interesting, really, but it's not more enjoyable than the top seven.

Ninja High School: "Young Adults Against Suicide"
I understand all the hubub over the band, why some people hate them and why others just don't get it. But I do get it, but I also get that listening to all 14 tracks in a row exposes the bands weaknesses. They're a definite ep or singles band. In fact, if I didn't think it was cheating I would have included their two-song 7" (By Purpose Not By Plan/It's Alright To Fight) in my top 7.

The Life And Hard Times Of Guy Terrifico soundtrack: "Bring It Back Home"
The copyright on the album says 2004, but I think it was sat on until this year when "Guy Terrifico" hit the Toronto International Film Festival (winning "Best Canadian Feature"). I've been a big fan of Matt Murphy across his Superfriendz and Flashing Lights (and back) days, so I was really intrigued to both see the film and him as an actor, and hear what he would do with some country tunes. I was pleasantly surprised. And not just surprised, these songs are country with that alt pop edge which Murphy excels at. In serving the needs of the film Murphy, with director Michael Mabbot, have created a fascinating and genuine country album that isn't just kitschy mocumentary music. If it sinked in a little faster it would have made top 7.

DJ Format: "If You Can't Join 'Em... Beat 'Em"
Oh, yes. This is what's been missing. I love where hip hop is getting taken by Doom and Danger Mouse and the like, but it's nice to have a solid album of classic rhymin over beats and Format has the years best conventional hip hop.

Bell Orchestre: "Recording A Tape The Colour Of The Light"
Oh, it's good, but it doesn't quite capture the power of the live sound. But it is good, and the great thing is with their affiliation with the Arcade Fire, they're exposing orchestral chamber music to a whole different kind of crowd. And it's good.

>>>>>>>Meh<<<<<<<

Sufjan Stevens: "Illinois"
You know, really, whatever. Since every music blog has been all gaga over Sufjan this year, I've managed to download practically every song off the album and not a one has grabbed me as anything interesting or special. It's not that it's bad, but it's not nearly as good as everyone's made it out to be. Perhaps it works better as an album than as individual songs, but I just don't care enough to find out. Sufjan is the Kanye of indie rock.

Caribou: "The Milk of Human Kindness"
This was an early favourite in 2005. I liked it a tremendous amount from the get-go, but as the months wared on, so too did this album, and what I once found fascinating soon became tedious or dull. Caribou just doesn't hold up that well to repeated listening. The Marino dvd/ep however is fantastic for both it's highlights of Manitoba/Caribou past and present, and the new songs on the ep have progressed to Aphex Twin-like realms which sound great.

Final Fantasy: "Has A Good Home"
Part Andrew Bird, part Stephin Merritt, Owen Pallett hits all the right inspirations, but "Has A Good Home" hit's too many highs and lows within each song to really inspire me. It's at times clever, at times peppy, at times inventive, but it's also at times redundant, at times tedious, and often a little painful when Pallett strains his vocals beyond their natural reach. I hear the live show is amazing though.

Edan: "Beauty and the Beat"
Oh, I bought into it too. Beatheads love love love this album because Edan, perhaps for the first time, takes hip-hop into the psychedelic age. I won't deny that it's an interesting album, but it's not really something you want to play for background sounds, or when you're out on a stroll, or if you working out, or really any other situation. It's one of those critical favourites nobody actually wants to listen to.

Blackalicious: "The Craft"
I'm a big, big fan of the Quannum crew, Blackalicious especially, however this new album fails big time because of one horrendous miscalculation by the name of "Powers" in which the Gift Of Gab thinks he's Huey Lewis or something. Ouch. On the other hand, the Craft also has six or seven tracks which are their best ever... the awfulness of "Powers" overshadows it all... except for "Egosonic War Drums" which may be my favourite song of 2005.

Black Mountain: "Black Mountain"
I don't really like psychedelia, and revival psychedelia impresses me even lest. I tried, really, I tried.

The Pleasure

The Toronto Dance Theatre and the Hidden Cameras are once again teaming up for a dance/music spectacle unlike any other, except maybe somewhat similar to what they did early back in '04. That was seriously one of the most amazing concert and/or theatre going experiences I've ever had, and I'm obscenely excited to go again next week (no foolin)

Info

The Hidden Cameras team up once more with Toronto Dance Theatre for five nights only at Harbourfront Centre's Premiere Dance Theatre, November 22nd-26th, 2005. In The Boneyard is an eighty-minute dance and music concert directed and choreographed by TDT Artistic Director Christopher House to music written by Joel Gibb. Building on last year's incredibly successful sold-out show You are the Same - hailed as "a match made in heaven" by The Globe and Mail, and "a revelation" by The Toronto Star - TDT's twelve dancers and The Hidden Cameras' musicians will come together again, blurring the lines as the performers step outside their customary roles - band members replacing dancers, dancers joining the band throughout the show, creating an ever-changing line-up of artists. Tickets on sale now at Harbourfront Box Office: 416-973-4000 or tickets@harbourfrontcentre.com.

If I were a corny person I'd say something like "If you believe in the good of life, you would go too!"

More from HC frontsman, Joel Gibb about the event and the new album via Pitchfork.

Sundee Shenanegans

Woken up bright and early by some highly irritating quasi-"music" on CBC radio. Too tired to roll over and turn it off I left it to play for about 20 minutes before somehow I managed to muster a slapping of the "snooze" button. 9 minutes later and CBC has managed to find something even more annoying than before. I shut it off with rampageous (I made that up) action, and stewed in my dopey sleep juices (ew, forget I said that) for a few minutes and then, just after 9am rolled around, trucked my ass out of bed.
I have an 11:00 meeting with WNoodle, and another deadline to meet.

Through groggy eyes I feebly attempt to edit my Thor's Comic Column reviews which I wrote in a fit of uninspiration during Mythbusters at midnight the night before. I had another review to write and my brain wasn't ready for thinking... it wasn't ready for much, except perhaps more sleep. I ploughed through the review in about an hour (and it's decent but not great) and popped up to the shower, cleaned myself up and got myself pretty for some Pacific Mall fun.

A quick chat with Emma, whom like so many others, is having massive ragweed reactions right now, and I was out the door. I passed the neighbours briefly, exchanged cordialities before rushing off to the streetcar stop to wait ten minutes. Noods was sitting in his car in front of his apartment, waiting patiently. I was only ten minutes late. We zipped over to Toast and Marmy's place but first stopped off at a Mac's for a morning dose of wakeup we call Red Bull (mine was sugar free, Noods went all out).

With Toast and Marmy loaded into the car we jetted (well, Golfed) on up to Fairview, an expansive mall out in 'burbialand where everything is oh so generic. We waited in Fairview's awkwardly arranged food court for Metrogeek, and in the process decided feeding our bellies wasn't a bad idea. I opted for a cranberry MMmmmmuffin, while the power trio opted for 5 Taco Bell tacos for $3, a tremendous bargain which I'm sure their bowels thanked them for later.

Metro showed up in due time, and decided to have an Arby's snack while we were in Rome. He came back with a surprise on his tray...
Me...
"I didn't know you were a model," he says, and I give him a querying look. He nods and looks down, drawing my eyes down to his tray liner...
Witness:

"Holy crap!" I say tactfully, snatching the paper out from under his sammich. Turning it right side up, and it immediately looks