shipping out

I'm taking off back for the homestead ranch this evening, and to everyone who may or may not read this thing, have a most excellent christmas/holiday season/nothing and new year.

I'll be out for about 10 days, ropin' steers and the wind, away from this internet business. Will I still be a top 10 lurker on the hangout when I return? only time will tell.

Steady work continues on the good ship new pollution, she's looking like a mighty, seaworthy vessel of music interviews and information, and we look forward to setting her in water in january!

hackey

SO we went to see the Marlies yesterday at the ricoh coliseum. the building itself is weird little structure, nice enough, but a lot smaller than I thought it would be. Not that it needed to be any bigger, as there was like, maybe a couple thousand people there, tops! and this was the so-called QEW rivalry!

anyways, we won, but missed the magic 5-goal free slice number, but still a fun time, like totally. beer and greeeeeeasy food post-game at sneaky's was even funner! whooo! (though we missed a surprise NHS show shortly later upstairs...should've known something was up when certain characters started arriving) ah vell.


whoa, I think this was like my first normal post in ages!

tomorrow is the band bakeoff at rancho, sounds tasty. james tilberg should come out! and ben!

then it's westward ho on thursday night for the holidays. must start shopping, like, soon.

this...

confuses the fuck out of me.

recent feedback

"it's getting more cryptic"

"updated much less often"

"more reliance on pictures as filler content"

"obscure and inclusive references that only a few people get at any one time"

"thickly (or thinly) veiled personal attacks/commentary"


you're not gonna fire me are you?

I hurt myself last night outside Burrito Boyz. it wasn't pretty, and I'm kind of sore today. I'm a klutz, but I have my rights! is 'klutz' and anti-semitic remark? it could be.

j'approuve:

aussi:



aussi:

hairy

things are only getting hairy-er!

don't mess

WITH BURTON'S MUSTACHE!



OR OLD DUTCH!

more videos

from arcade fire, with Laika debuting this week on tv-directed by former 1st generation AF member Josh Deu. Props as always to Athena Kay for the link.

there is also another in the can for Tunnels, with possesses a very similar animation style (not as tightly looped, fortunately) mixed with some live action of the band playing in a bizarro apartment. No word yet on the release date for this one.

Feist on TV

Got a surprise last minute invite to Feist's performance last night at the Church on Berkley for the Beautiful Noise show set to air in the US on, uh, the RAVEHD network. Apparently Sarah Harmer was in the same space the night before for her very own special, and Ron Sexsmith and other talents have done the show as well. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that so much Canadian talent is getting filmed right now, but it's sort of unfortunate that Canadians won't get to see the final product.

Feist herself was excellent, of course, and ending up playing for about 2 hours-save for a number of stops-the show really sort of drew itself out a lot longer than necessary. It's of course hard to complain about a free, exclusive, show, but a similarly formatted taping that I was at recently went much more smoothly.

We did get to hear some new songs, which were really, good, and alternate takes on Mushaboom and Let it Die demonstrated the not-surprising desire for her to breathe new life into songs that may be a little too familiar for her by now.

boo!

mushalligator

So the LaCoste cologne ad featuring Feist's Mushaboom has hit the airwaves here after playing in the UK for a few months now, as I've seen it the last 2 nights on Showcase.

Such a song does certainly catch my attention, and hey, I'm talking about it right now so I guess it was effective. My friends who were watching with me last night was also sort of unsettled by it, as we tend to be when our favourite artists' music shows up in unexpected places.

For perspective, there were reports last year that she turned down McDonald's (for likely way more money) for the very same song. Think about Feist selling your kids happy meals (Mushaboom does have that sort of ring to it...) and maybe LaCoste doesn't seem so bad. Or is it even intrinsically a bad thing? Feist should and deserves to be a major star, I'd just prefer that doesn't happen thanks to fast food.

last night

we did our first 'real' podcast studio session and interview, our premiere guest being... should I reveal? the fan-tabolous Jon-Rae Fletcher.

IT WAS SO AMAZING.

I was dancing in the kitchen, as he thrilled us in our dining room studio.

awesome awesome awesome.

look for it mid-december!

thanks again to producer man Ben!

"It's easy not to care

what people say
It's harder to pretend and try
Cuz they can only love you from yesterday
I'm looking at them now they pose high

I'm just a man who's walking
They stand around and keep talking
They tried to clip my wings
But wisdom fills so many things"
- K. Brereton

You live out

where the street ends
In a basement apartment
With one of your friends
And the tap drips all night
Water torture in the sink
The furnace is burning
But it's still cold I think

I can smell the bleach
That they use in the hall
But it can't clean the dirt off of me
It's seeping under the door
In across the floor
It's starting to hurt

Everytime I breathe
Everytime I try to leave
Everytime I breathe

Now the toaster sticks
And the empties are piled
I haven't been up the stairs in awhile now
I gotta wash the sheets on my bed
Gotta watch the things that go unsaid
God I wish we'd leave it at this

And every evening you open the door
You come down
There's nothing like watching tv all night underground
And no one is watching me slide
Below street level
Barely alive

Now we live out where the street ends
In a basement apt. Just like our friends
We always said that we were different
But you know now that we weren't
'Cause there's holes in all the bottles
And my lungs hurt

rehearsal

sat in last night for the taping of BC: Live at the Rehearsal Hall, which will go to air sometime in January (and hence, kinda really sorta isn't 'live', in the television sense)

the Hall itself is really cool, what with its chandeliers and wrought iron trusses and windows and the like. naturally, the place is way smaller than it looks on tv, and far more brightly lit than the end product turns out. though I sometimes rag on television as being a very superficial industry, it's hard not to get caught up in the energy of a live show taking place. BC's performance was totally great, and once again he demonstrated that he's a far funnier guy than his eco-conscious image sometimes lets him be. his solo acoustic performance of 'If a tree falls' was particularly amazing.

after, went to the shoe to check out Sylvie, the ladies and gentlemen, and wintersleep. Sylvie will be getting a feature in the first issue of tnp, so you can read all about them then. In fact, all 3 bands may very well be covered in the coming months, so stay tuned!

when does a hunter...

...become a MURDERER?

last week a skinned and decapitated body was found in the basement of my parent's house.

the victim was a common field mouse, and the prime suspect was the family cat, who is normally a very lackadasial middle-aged diabetic, but has a knack for finding mice when they're in the house.

previous instances (it's happened maybe 2 or 3 times in her 11 years) involved a nearly perfectly intact dead mouse being 'presented' at the bottom of the basement stairwell. icky yes, but nothing terrible.

this latest grizzly homicide suggests the family pet is taking a mean twist in her older age...and I'll never see her the same when I'm back for the holidays. could a human be next?

oh and the mouse head has yet to be found...

...TWICE!

My expectations for Art Brut last night were not super high, as I'd only had the album for a little over a week now and suspected their jokey rock anthems could come off with even more humour than on the record, or it could fall flat on its face.

As it turned out, the antics of singer/lyricist/humourist Eddie Argos worked really well, with him putting the audience into laughter quite a few times-especially when a small bass amp fire caused an awkward 5 minute or so delay. Argos used that time to solicit questions from the audience and detail how he had sabotaged most of the gear in favour of more attention for him. The band opened with the riff from 'Back in Black'-and with that, proved that they have the key to my heart! sigh.



Granted, the hazy sunday night audience was a little slow to respond, but everyone made the best out of what quickly became a memorable show.

Not sure if I can totally say the same for Bell Orchestre back on friday night at The Music Gallery. As the shyer portion of Arcade Fire, they are technically very proficient and are skilled composers, but have a live show that is not very involving.

Though there were moments of Arcade-like ferocity, things with this group are easily more into a abstract instrumental vibe, and though I did enjoy them quite a bit, I wonder how far they can take a project like this. At one point Sarah sort of scolded the crowd for not being up and into it, but you sort of have to give them a reason!

acknowledgements

ran into a former student at the show last night where I found out he's a pretty big lurker at the hangout. he even went to the indie rock rave a little while back, and is well versed in all things stille. he pointed out that the love-in hype for last night's show was too much, from his perspective, but we were both more than overwhelmed by the resulting performances, for sure! I replied to his beef that I'll take a too-positive board over a too-negative one any day, and things have gotten a little sour lately anyways.

after making it in on a L-O-N-G lineup (and avoiding any directly confrontation related to rampant cutting), the Adorables brought their embassy residency party vibe and filled the Boat right up with it. things slowed down for the newly-minted-fabulous Laura Barrett, solo on a Kalimba, debuting her extremely recently recorded material. My only wish was shhhh! as the crowd was getting way too talky towards the end of her set-it was only like 20 minutes, people! shut the eff up!

then came the somewhat surreal experience of seeing Final Fantasy's video, as it was shot in the Boat. Owen himself was just dripping with talent as always, and as I've said here before on at least one occasion, the world is his to take over, if he wants to.

finally, Ninja High School exploded onto the stage and the floor literally was jumping up and down with its occupants above it. this was so nuts! NUTS! a thrilling end to an amazing night. up there in the 'shows of the year' file, madness.

spades (again!)

After stopping by the harris student night at reverb, I headed over to the Boat where the Just Ace of Spades Red Cross fundraiser was still trucking along.

A handful of diehards remained, and it was with great pleasure that I was able to take in play #100 of the night, and quite a few beyond. With every show and its aunt nowadays technically being a fundraiser for something or other, it was great to see something a little off the beaten track. There was some word around the room last night that this may develop into a series...Just Livin' La Vida Loca anyone?

illuminated

Caught Everything is Illuminated this weekend at the Carlton-it's the story of a young jewish compulsive collector who travels to Ukraine to figure out the story of his recently deceased grandfather. Elijah Wood is intensely restrained as Jonathan, a rather shy yet curious individual who gradually builds confidence as his adventure with his guides (an amazingly authentic grandfather and grandson team, played by non-actors) winds further and further out of control.

Adapted and directed by Liev Schrieber, the film has a fairly distinctly non-hollywood feel to it, both in the setting (actually the Czech Republic and not Ukraine), and pacing (which at times, is a little slow maybe-or is it careful?). Definitely off the beaten track, and in a rather dismal year of movies, worth checking out.

Later in the weekend brought A Night Of Colouring at the Drake cafe, which was just that-crayons and various pieces of local art ready to be filled in by those in attendance. Everyone got 12 pieces of art, the choice of 3 colours and a 4th alloted by the event director. Said elements encouraged crayon trading and discourse, from which the following was discovered:

1) there were an inordinate number of former colouring-contest-winners in attendance, including yours truly
2) colouring is very therapeutic
3) though generally seen by adults in black in white terms, there were actually a few people who were kinda into it, but not really-so it's not as polarizing as I thought

next month's event involves custom fridge magnet construction, which stands to be as, if not more interesting.

whoop!

what's your favourite colour?

if you think this is even a remotely interesting night, you belong at this.

the jpeg's a little hard to read, so to summarize:

it's free
the last one at the Cameron House was an enormous success.
you get to colour in the works of a bunch of awesome local artists.

yeah!

seminal

if there's one image that sticks in my mind from this past weekend, it's got to be the fridge fucking the stove in Beck's Sexx Laws video, seen as part of the retrospective at res.

right along up there was the world premiere of Rigor Mortis Got Me Down, a fantastical zombie rock opera composed by the hangout's own Carny. lyrically brilliant and solidly composed, the room was blown away with the productions smart humour and energy. bravo, yo!

right up there with that was the latest HEAVY METAL DIM SUM, the Traktor retrospective, and on and on and on

notes from the brain.

please don't mix very loud music with a lot of very dark beer. there's nothing like that sinking, awful feeling in the morning and you got to get up and carry the world another 50 feet on your shoulder (blog hyperbole, AND a little oasis reference there).

anyways, saw a lot of music over the past couple of days. an extremely diverse set of acts, looking back, and it's all cool stuff. the former Adam Brown fundraiser went well last night, not a massive crowd, but not bad either. of particular interest, for a variety of reasons, was 10,000 watt head, who pushed and pushed and pushed us. it was also cool to finally see Femme Generation too.

tonight brings no less than 4 events on the agenda, but likely only 3 will make the final cut. movies/music/parties. it's rough, really.

I'm from Barcelona

not I'm not! and neither is the band. they're Swedish, and very amazing from what I've heard so far, esp. Treehouse.

I would bring them over in a second, but there's 20 of them in the band/choir out there. Must find freelance choir. Also: exploit generous Swede arts funding programs.

bohemian like you

I decided on the way home last tuesday that a more fundamental change was happening in me-whoa! must...stop...Dawson's Creek-style-introspection!...but it was true. things are shifting, in some superficial but also really big way as well. my new surroundings are playing a big part in this, that I am aware of, and it's weird because I think I've stayed pretty static in terms of who I am in my previous 2 places, one a really shitty neighbourhood, the other almost sorta swank (but skunky).

I suspected my new place would work out as a matter of fit, and it fits me better far and away better than anything before. it's hard to explain, but I think it's one of those things that you don't realize it's possible until you experience it, and when you do it's fucking AMAZING. it's just really right.

also: had a great meeting regarding our fledgling publication/show last night. some really, really, great ideas came out of it and we're horribly excited for the launch of our online/print component at thenewpollution.net, likely around the end of the next month! stay tuned.

to dive fully into the snooze-worthy livejournal style entry format, I had a dream last night which involved Kurt Russell and the guy who carries around Oscar the Grouch in his garbage can when he needs to be mobile in some sort of stage show. and then things really got messed up...

sez you sister!

no I di-in't!




nuh-uh!




have a great day.

do they know it's halloween?

the rather sprawling video can be found here, featuring the likes of:

ARCADE FIRE'S WIN & REGINE
BECK
BUCK 65
DAVID CROSS
DEVENDRA BANHART
DESSERT’S LIANE BALABAN
ELVIRA, MISTRESS OF THE DARK
FEIST
GINO WASHINGTON
LES SAVY FAV'S SYD BUTLER
ISLANDS' J'AIME
MALCOLM MCLAREN
NARDWUAR THE HUMAN SERVIETTE
PEACHES
POSTAL SERVICE'S JIMMY TAMBORELLO
REDD KROSS’ STEVE MCDONALD
R.E.M’S JOEY WARONKER
RILO KILEY'S JENNY & BLAKE
ROKY ERICKSON
SLOAN'S CHRIS MURPHY
SMOOSH'S ASYA & CHLOE
SONIC YOUTH'S THURSTON MOORE
SPARKS' RUSSELL MAEL
SUBTITLE
SUM 41'S STEVO
TAGAQ
THAT DOG’S ANNA WARONKER
WOLF PARADE'S DAN & SPENCER
YEAH YEAH YEAH'S KAREN O

the world could've used another 'studio group singalong' video, but y'know...logistics.

edited to add: the caps are theirs, not MINE.-except those ones. also, is this song kinda _______?

you know one day...

...you're working for a Jazz Festival taking orders from a kid whose dad happens to have some kind of national radio show. he's a good enough kid, but maybe a little off, and certainly in that city very well connected.


then another day (like last night) you're on college with a fellow expat and the same kid runs up pulling a rickshaw, lets out 2 people right at your feet and proceeds to have a pretty standard conversation about what's up-as if we run into him all the time, pulling a rickshaw down college, 2000km from where we last knew him. he even recommends some good places to go...all while shoving his profits into his sock.

oh, the places you'll go!

those tears be crocodile

from JAM:

"After 15 years as frontman for Canadian rock trio The Tea Party, Jeff Martin has decided to pack it in."




man oh man, what a year it's been!

I ain't saying she's a gold digger...

...but the new Kanye is quite good. Exclaim! may very well quote me again this year on him, I suspect.

the new Metric is an official 'grower', and not a 'shower'.

Becker is good, but surprise Becker is better. good times at the Tap, with Captain Moe Berg (HMCS tpoh) spinning.

then Les Chiens D'or, outstanding as always. Find me a better rock and roll band in toronto.

from friday, it was a wise move to stick the beers in plastic travel mugs, especially when our police officer friends came through the park. did I mention my neighbourhood is awesome?

lastly, the Star teases the New York Times for fucking up their BSS review, but has several factual errors in its own A&C love-in the day before!

roll

Jon Rae gets a feature and some mp3s on this blog here.





this is going to be a rock and roll weekend.

open city

The Lazers have it their way-instrumental style.


SO the trip back to the homestead, was as always way too quick in passing by, with seemingly the most time spent at any one place on the plane, compared with anything else.

Friday night had me at the previously-plugged-here New Forms festival fundraiser at the newly reno'd Park Theatre on Osborne. The theatre itself is a great idea, combining cheap movies and an available performance space with a fully stocked cafe in the lobby.

Performances were varied and versatile, which I suspect is in line with the Festival's main programming. Highlights would have to include the Lazers, and I rather liked the interpretive dance set to live Sigur Ros guitar action. Best of luck to this year's festival, and the new venue!

Beyond that, lots of time spent with friends, their parents, and new children in some cases. Spent ample time at the Toad, but what else is new?

the bitch is back!

and he's not talking.

running back to saska-

make that winnipeg. tomorrow.

apparently they got a LOT of snow yesterday.

luckily, the heat from my anger regarding this will melt it as the plane approaches the province.

see the New Wave Vandal for where I'll be friday night.

also maybe: MANHUNT?

Bottle Rocket

I remember walking into Soundscapes on a sweltering August afternoon to find the Go! Team's Bottle Rocket cranked through their system. though I had had the album for some time and had even been at their infamous show at Lee's a month before, that particular song really grabbed my smelly self in that moment.

now, with the North American release of Thunder, Lightning, Strike there is a video (with some very brief clips likely from zat toronto show) and even a live version from Lee's available for purchase as well.

still not sure if I want to see them again at the Phoenix at the end of the month, as the feeling at the crazy-packed Lee's may be tough to replicate.

quotable

" Wisdom* is better than silver and gold
I was hopeless now I'm on Hope road"
-LH

* also: being forthright

" Well he's a friend and he's so proud of you
He's a friend and I knew him before you, oh yeah
Well he's a friend and he's so proud of you
You're famous friend well I blew him before you, oh yeah"
-FF (via wherry)

on the road

I'm hardly nomadic, but 3 moves in as many years counts for something, I reckon.

the move itself was smooth, with some of the most fashionable help I've ever seen lugging boxes and dresser drawers. thanks guys! after that, we went to Lakeview, which is about 2 blocks away from my new place and had lunch with DFA, which, I reckon, was pretty cool. the parents ate twice more there over the weekend, so they must have been really impressed with either the food or the clientele-not sure which yet. Jay from Sloan lives down the street, as does Sarah Polley, and possibly Ron Sexsmith-good company to keep, I reckon.

the place itself is cozy, but a great cozy. saturday brought us back to etobi-co where a new fancy wardrobe and rock and roll metal stereo cabinet (silver) were acquired. more more more consumption and materialistic leanings over the weekend. I now need to hit at least 2-3 anti-globalization rallies soon to make up for all of this. seriously!

we also took in Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays, and it was very, very great.

the commute! through the park in the mornings, it's absolutely gorgeous right now. photo-worthy, even. right now, it's all much more than nice, I reckon.

fake broadcaster

episode deux of the podcast is now up at the new pollution dot net.

episode one will be up when they expand my server space, which should be later this week.

thanks to Ben for his engineering mad skillz!

new music, mostly canadian, muchly toronto, and dry cool wit.

ok I haven't been that witty on there yet.

just watch me.

upheaval

the news was broken to me late friday aft.-my job is going to be changing in a pretty big way, and from my perspective, very much for the better! though everything still has to be confirmed completely, things for me will be a lot more consolidated at some point in October with new room for me to do more of my own thing as well. rockin'

that change marks just yet another in this month which sees me relocating south-west at the end of the week, amongst other things...the path remains a winding one.



last night we checked out A History of Violence, which is spare, sparse and yet very dense thematically. the moments of extreme violence are sort of played for comedy, as they reference typical American action moves and movies. with a number of a-list faces on screen, you expect big american production values (cliches?), but they're not there, and that creates a sort of disconnect for the audience through the whole thing. it's hard how to take the occasionally wooden dialogue-surely it's not a slip-up-and where Cronenberg is going with things.

but that's the thing, even though it's probably his most 'accessible' film since The Fly way back, he's wrapped these big American stars in something that's a lot more layered than first meets the eye. (I think).

the score

it's been busy. a move is in the cards next week, the latest in 13 months, and I'm really looking forward to my new place and neighbourhood, which brings me closer to nature, work, and eventual student debt freedom!

props out to the brother who turns a whopping 33 today! shocking!

the thorough for the records has a review of Annie/Royksopp from earlier this week, and in my interests of laziness, I pretty much agree with everything said. although:

a) Heartbeat is especially weak live and confirms (contrary to Pitchfork) it's far from her greatest song
b) white dread dudes don't help the cool factor
c) there is some great production there, but a live bass would do wonders.

there was also way too much Rev being consumed by people at the show, so I left a little early. despite advances.

cheers

the ros.

wowzers.



yowza.



then the giant baby tried to eat us.



then we couldn't get enough. so they politely bowed and bowed, and also bowed.

counting pink polos

only one on the subway today, at least on my car.

and SO begins a very busy week. tonight it's the reportedley spectacular Sigur Ros at Massey Hall. they are one of the few 'big' bands that I've been pining to see for years and only now get the chance. expectations remain ultra-lofty.


Annie: the next M.I.A.?

tomorrow brings eye-cover-girl Annie opening up for Röyksopp at the Opera House. I would expect 80% of the audience to be there for her Canadian debut and not so much for the headliners. Let's hope she's not as awkwardly green live as hype-mate M.I.A.

done!

the new Final Fantasy clip, that is.

"Have you come here to play Jesus?"

"I did"

is a key revision that Bono has been using on One for some time now, and he used it again last night. By inserting I did in lieu of the original line "to the lepers in your head", Bono acknowledges his own Messiah-complex ego that everyone likes to pick at. After getting a glimpse of what he sees every night, you can sort of relate to why his ego has the 32nd largest GDP in the world, ahead of all of Norway and Portugal.

Getting access inside the ringed stage meant we were mere feet from the band when they came around the ramp-which they took advantage of often-and an otherwise perfect sightline of the mainstage, which was no more than 15-20 away from our perch. Amazing. Everyone stood for the whole night, all the way to the rafters. To have that screaming at you must be rather satisfying.

By this point, highlights for me include songs I've never seen before live, Miss Sarajevo in particular (an amazing story behind that song, which I should repeat one day here). Also enjoyable was getting to see up close just exactly how much Adam Clayton was having fun throughout the show. He was often glancing right into our scrum, and at the end gave one comely female fan a mystery gift (hotel room number?) on the way out.

James has some pics.

the code

pink = goodness.

yellow = blazing hottness.

Hagman

still there for us.

revolver

Consensus on the stank levels of Guy Ritchie's last project were very unanimous-Swept Away stanked hard, whereas his first two features seem to run along the love-it or hate-it line of things. As a pretty major fan of both Lock Stock and Snatch, I was hopeful that this would be a solid return to the over-styled gangster territory that made Guy Guy.

After a very loud entrance outside Roy Thomson thanks in part to the iconic wife on his arm (from 6 feet away, yes she is rather iconish I can attest), Guy tentatively introduced the movie and asked everyone to 'digest' it over time. And so digest I do, as this is frankly is toughest work yet, with nods to all sorts of surrealist styles and a new foray into psychological breakdown (cue jump cuts and distorted voiceovers...), and what you get is bloated, and rather messy.

The key missing element (at least in this cut, which can't be the final) is the concise pacing that made his first two films so watchable. With them you knew all you were getting were testosterone-heavy caper flicks, but they had humour and endearing characters under a carefully tailored production. The film simply lingers way too long in several uncomfortable scenes, perhaps as a gesture to be more serious and gritty, but it just comes off as awkward. Statham is his usual bristly self, but the rest of the cast (including an ice cold Andre 3000) comes off as not-believable actors reciting prewrapped dry cool wit.

It will be interesting to see what happens between now and the release-I have faith a salvageable film is in there somewhere-but last night's tepid applause afterwards was not a good sign for a world premiere.

on sufjan

he IS, without a doubt, this year's darling, this year's Bright Eyes, a bundle of youth and talent and hope that he'll become something a lot more than say, Ryan Adams has yet to ever really amount to. his handle on composition is really impressive, and with his fit band they manage quite well live, that's for sure.

yet I kind of found myself practically dozing off throughout the show-and not just in Laura Veirs' lights-out session-I think, mostly due to the rather intense heat and still air up on the sidestage balcony where we were. perhaps that's a tax on our lazyness, but we also basically were only getting stage sound, and couldn't hear Sufjan's quiet banter at all, mic or not. that said, the sightlines were very good, and the intimate sit-down feel of the venue was far and above a wiser choice than say, the similar capacity'd mod club or something.

highlights included Chicago (of course) and the incredible vocal moment at the end of Casimir Pulaski Day, which was sort of surreal and almost difficult to believe that they were physically emitting it (to put it scientifically). the crowd was totally madly in love with him as well, but everyone immediately leaving after the encore negated what could havbe been a longer set to the 11 o'clock curfew-oh, toronto.

neither Ryan nor Conor managed to take over the world, and I sort of doubt Surjan will either, but in the meantime, you're getting some very fine music to deal with.

glam fest

SO the parking lot next door has been closed all week for tonight's Big Schmooze, or whatever the hell it's called, which can only signal an overwhelming onslaught of like events and extended press conferences on Rogers TV.

Arts & Crafts will no doubt have a few LA music supervisors in the house on tuesday night, as the talents of TMSR, Jason Collett, Apostle of Hustle, and The Stills will be playing the Drake. 10pm -4am $15 at the door.

Though I can't say I've always agreed with him, Zoilus announces his retirement from his weekend column Overtones, and I wish him well in his future writing escapades.

ear: not grounded?

so there's been some speculation that the upcoming Ear to the Ground festival was running into some issues of actually, uh, getting off the ground for the first time.

organizers have scuttled such negative talk, but a click on the above link will show that prices are being kept low at their very reasonable prices, perhaps in a gesture to push numbers higher-and I can attest personally that wristbands were moving at both Rotate This and Soundscapes yesterday. with other outdoor festivals like wakestock and ecko's hip hop show taking serious baths this summer, let's hope ETTG blows past this early shakiness and becomes a september institution!

west coast = hott.

from the last time I visited vancouver (around age 5 or so) I can distinctly remember 2 things, and not a lot more:

1) the blue and white stripes of Granville Island.
2) poking some kid in the eye with a stick on the beach.

that said, only one of these two events reoccurred this time out, but in lieu of any eye-poking, a great time was totally had on my part.

what made it so good was in part my hosts, who are a lot of fun and like to do a lot of the same stuff, like shop for chapstick. they live in amazing neighbourhoods with easy access to the best parts of their cities, so having a great time was rather a given.



I also met some cool folks I've known through work, and trucked home a sizeable box of cds as a result. they did a great job of filling me in on everything going music-wise in their city. the big scoop? mountain will replace wolf as the de rigeur band name word. a visit to UBC on thursday confirmed for me that random buses can get you just about anywhere, and it is a more than suitable campus for more studies down the line(?) we'll see.


guitar tornado

the EMP in Seattle is a very cool and informative experience, though I confirmed in visiting there that my drum fills need a lot more work. Seattle is amazingly like San Francisco in terms of hills and incredible beach views and boardwalks, and like SF, sans smog.


the EMP's ass.

sea-tle

dress code: jeans please

brunch: at salty's-salty is a bald eagle. very idyllic place. dollar pancakes and salmon to perfection.

experience music project: learn about hooks, hendrix.

the needle: looms a few blocks away.

car-centric? somewhat yes, but not bad for america.

all in all, quite wonderful.

vancouver I

SO though I do have my camera here, I have no easy way to upload my photos from this location-not that I've collected a lot so far, but there is one cute one of me and the legendary 'Gassy' Jack Deighton statue we've been talking about since Grade 10 Geography. It didn't quite live up to the 10 years of hype, I must confess...

notes

jon rae is a revelation. not that anybody else needs to confirm it, but he and his wonderful band are the real deal. the choir, which opened the show, only made things more amazing.

my favourite parts are when he lets loose on his own ferocious and haunting wail, which on record reminds of neil young and hank williams the senior, and isn't really in search of specific notes so much as an emotional expression.

it is an awesome sight to take in, and esp. dance to. oh yes. the GLS faced a louded typical toronto audience, and as I discussed with T, would a seater show work better? perhaps yes. Akron/Family had tremendous points as well, notably the severe explosion I experience downstairs that sounded like the bar had been blown to bits,and when you can't resist moving that's alway a great sign.

later this week sees me in vancouver/seattle. expect photos of me riding orcas and whatnot.

the river

SINGS tonight.

Horseshoe


‘Lullabye Arkestra’ @12:30, ‘JON RAE & THE RIVER’ @11:30, ‘Akron Family’ @10:30 & ‘Great Lake Swimmers’ @9:30. $8.00

I've only been listening to Jon Rae's Old Songs for the New Town for a little while now...it comes off as a little abrasive at first, but the thick harmonies quickly win (I'd say) everyone over.

craving

...Tony right now for some reason. I guess as last fall ctv had a run of episodes. but no signs of anything for this year. TO QUEEN VIDEO!

yeah I know...

I'm behind on my TV watching. Being sickly and otherwise occupied does this to a fellow.

TV + Laundry = sexy.

3 fridays

July 29th Tomer and I drop into the Bagel just to check things out before another nearby show gets going. The place is completely empty save for us and the owner/bartender, so we have a conversation about the venue over $2.50 beers. He notes that the No Dynamics shows in a few weeks are looking pretty big.

August 12th the Bagel is hopping with the wonderful PC/Robocopp/100% Wool show. An interesting contrast as our bartender/owner is running out of beer and is just barely keeping up with the bulging, but manageable crowd. Venue declared the near-official hangout for the Hangout.

August 19th madness apparently erupts. no dynamics bring their energy and many many of their closest friends to said venue. stories of undercover (and otherwise) cops persist, accusations swirl, ticketholders turned away. An unrelated feature in the next morning's Star confims The Bagel has arrived.

the HUNT continues

MANHUNT continues tonight with the intriguing choice of the Hospital District. can anyone say parking garages? giant ones? oh yes.

also: since open buildings are generally within the limits, does that mean MANHUNTERS will be racing through OR's and darkened cafeterias and the like? the possibilities are endless...

shake it up

Jason Flom is considered the best A&R around by many...though I suppose that means the best by major standards.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shake-Up Reported at Warner Music
By JEFF LEEDS

The chairman and chief executive of Warner Music Group's Atlantic Records label has resigned under pressure, executives close to the company said last night, an indication of internal discord three months after the company's initial public offering.

The executives said the chairman, Jason Flom, who took the post in March 2004, was forced out after a string of clashes with Warner Music's domestic chief, Lyor Cohen.

Warner Music is expected to promote Craig Kallman, Atlantic's co-chairman and chief operating officer, to Mr. Flom's post.

Mr. Flom was part of the management team named after private investors - led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. and the private equity firm, Thomas H. Lee Partners - bought Warner Music from Time Warner for $2.6 billion. As part of the restructuring, Atlantic was merged with another label, Elektra, resulting in layoffs and deep cuts to the combined artist roster.

The shake-up comes as Atlantic had been trying to re-assert itself after a lengthy cold streak on the charts. Atlantic is expected to corral the No. 1 spot on the national album sales chart today with a release from Staind, a rock band initially signed by Elektra. Another band, the Click Five, signed to Mr. Flom's start-up label, Lava, had the most popular song on Apple's iTunes service as of yesterday.

---------------

Flom also is credited with an exceptional A&R track record and decades-long string of multi-platinum albums from artists such as Sugar Ray, Kid Rock, Tori Amos, Simple Plan, Skid Row, Twisted Sister, Matchbox Twenty and The Corrs.

the elbow speaks out

so James is justified, not that the photographic evidence wasn't enough, but man, that must have been quite the contact (I honestly can't remember a thing! but my elbow does!), but the Uncle is a forgiving and gracious person, which for I am glad 'cause I'm pretty sure he can take me.

dance floor assaults aside, friday was an awesome night at the now-ly official Hangout HQ-the Hangout's Hangout if you will-with thrillingly original work by Robocopp, Pyramid Culture, 100% Wool, and the ultra- short film work of Piers vanTijn. A selection of mine and Sinister Funkhouse's photos here (scroll down). It's also great fun to pretend to be a high roller and pick up a round with a tenner. The Bagel may be small, but it still seems like a great fit.

also, nice to see the pop linking to me now, but could I get another 'L' please? pretty please?

what's cool

a night of SHORTS - short sets, short films, short shorts!
Aug 12 / Bagel / PWYC

STARRING:

Robocopp
The films of Pier vanTijn
Pyramid Culture
100% Wool
The Cinnamon-Bun Burlesque revue
featuring shit-hot DJing by Dylan and Joel

also: Manhunt last night rocked. post-Manhunt rocked harder!

just the FACTs...

Sister org Bravo!FACT had its outdoor screening last night at the Distillery, so I shot down for a bit to check out the latest in slightly-odd canadian short productions for the channel. Though the outdoor idea was cool, the films were projected onto a dark brick wall, making it hard to see what was going on from almost any vantage point! grr!

That said, what I did see was pretty cool, and it's great that there is a place for independent filmmakers and artists to develop and showcase their craft to a larger audience through screenings like this, and on the network as well. yes? yes.


on the road home

on the prom...

the hangout remains completely on fire from saturday's event. both the pre and post parties were great, and in the words of



whoa.

COUNTDOWN de PROM...CONTINUES!

will Tom and Katie appear as rumoured?

edit: I'm keeping this up here in the name of relentnessless. thinking of breaking out the vintage 'Loverboy' headband. party up top, all business below.

only *1* sleep away, FAKEPROM is perhaps the pinnacle of the toronto social calendar, period.

the hype is intense, with stories of years past fueling interest and hormones towards this year's event at the Gladstone.

the dress code is strictly enforced-yet all of the map. sleepless nights are lost wondering WHATEVER SHALL I WEAR? agh! based on proms past, there's seems to be some sort of balance between fake fancy and indie formal, combined with this year's hollywood theme my fake bling may very well come in handy.

attire suggestions would be hugely appreciated...

move your feet '05

argh! original post lost due to stupidity.

here we go:

in '03 we had Junior Senior's Move Your Feet, this year we have Of Montreal's Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games, with a video from the Kangaroo Alliance that stands up to Shynola's JS clip, I say!

rah!

you HAVE to give credit to DFA for putting in 3 days (and 4 shows) at the horseshoe-I mean at this point, a one-nighter at kool haus would likely sell out and the band would be wealthier and less weary, but the guys would have none of it I guess.

and so they arrived on stage well after midnight, to the most-packed version of the shoe I have seen in my 2 years here. and...nothing. a bad cable on Jesse's bass gave Seb 3 or 4 minutes of time to fill with some awkward impromptu standup. but they recovered, and played a load of new (or at least unknown) songs mixed in with the current favourites. even the very vocally demanding Black History Month was pulled off quite seamlessly.



the shoe's PA didn't quite measure up to the big sound I would be used to with DFA, and the ground-level stage rendered seb all but invisible whenever he was drumming, which was obviously a lot. but for a band destined to be on a cavernous ACC stage this upcoming november on the fall acronym tour with nin & QOTSA, they filled the room very well.

onwards and...

mr. nash...nice number!


LAST night was very folky/bluegrassy, I must say, with a triple bill of justin rutledge and the d. rangers and romi mayes from winnipeg. the riv was pretty much packed from the get go, and crowd response enthusiastic for everyone. Romi was of particular interest to both myself and other people in attendance, and it was great to finally meet her after some e-correspondence over the past year or so. She didn't disappoint, nor did anyone else on the bill, and a similar lineup in the future may very well have to be in a much larger venue.

TONIGHT brings mr nash to town for his charity game, and lucky me scored in for some air canada club status thanks to my new favourite work-colleague. thanks sarah! later will also be checking out the somewhat-hyped slave to the squarewave

also: James! I got a new mouse from microsoft! much better.

np: who the fuck cares?

rather good

amaztype makes research on amazon visual, by compiling related images from the site related to a title or author. clicking any of the images produces info. on the specific product.

artful marketing?

the last to see this

will no longer be me whence you see it too-yes it's been all over everywhere but is far too important for us, as active members in society, to overlook. click on 'videos' once you get there. parts one through five, oh yes.

I will be inclined...

to see these guys in September

wrap it up

Kid Koala spins for the kids and old folks

THE WRAP

returned to the "reno'd" and re-opened dance cave on friday night with a mixed group of friends on hand for some dance action. not sure what they've done with the place, save for maybe adding an extra 'exit' sign near the back so we won't all perish in an evitable blaze there. less broken glass on the floor was another notable improvement. also ran into rochelle outside afterwards and a 'peg reunion dinner be in the cards.

also took in Yes earlier, and Cheryl has a review here in her new work-related (sorta) bloggo. I would tend to mostly disagree with her comments though, as I found it a little too reliant on the concept (a mix of rhyming verse, with poetry-like cadences), as I also did for Memento's own concept. But then, I really wanted to see Pete Tong anyways.

Sat had us at harbourfront for Kid Koala, who in my estimates I have now seen about 5 times in the past 3 years or so. Much of the same charm as always from him, with the Moon River and Drunk Trumpet sequences easily winning over a quite large and fairly new-t0-him crowd. Two large screens on either side aided in revealing his talents on handling the 4 decks, and today many more seniors and babies in the GTA appreciate him, I am certain.