Sunny-Day Music: Cat Power Edition

Fuck, this song makes me happy. And makes me want to go for a sunny stroll all day long. The way she sings "my hand" in harmony just sweeps me off of my feet.

Sunny-Day Music: The Velvet Underground Edition

The sunniest Velvet Underground songs to me are the first three tracks from the their fourth album Loaded (Cotillion, 1970):

Les Savy Fav with Handsome Furs, Pt. 1

July 22, 2011
The Rickshaw Theatre
Vancouver, British Columbia

I'm going to talk about Handsome Furs separately from Les Savy Fav (for whom the Furs opened) because Les Savy Fav were in a complete league of their own.

Simply put, Handsome Furs were FUCKING LAME. They sounded good, but they only played songs from their newest album Sound Kapital (Sub Pop Records, 2011), so I didn't get to hear a single song I liked. The Furs also overdid it with their smoke machine which smelled terrible; it was the first time I could smell the dry ice from a smoke machine. Their lights, near-seizure-inducing as they were, were pretty good though.

Handsome Furs were way too histrionic for my liking. Alexei Perry, the female half of the band, collapsed to the floor after almost every song and writhed and kicked and kept pounding her chest in thanks of the audience. I've said before that I often love when a band thanks its audience profusely (well, maybe not profusely but at least when a band seems genuine in thanking its audience), but sometimes, no matter how genuine the band seems, its constant thanks just annoy me. Handsome Furs were one of the latter cases. Maybe it was because Handsome Furs' crowd didn't seem into them enough to warrant such over-the-top outpouring of gratitude, and I certainly wasn't going to be a single decibel over polite in my applause.

The worst part of Handsome Furs' set for me was when a guy in the audience shoved his way past me and hopped on stage. One of the security guards laxly grabbed the guy's ankle but let go after a second. The guy then started dancing and hopping and clapping and stamping like a madman all over the stage, getting pretty close to Alexei and her husband/bandmate Dan Boeckner. An awkward moment came when the guy helped Alexei to her feet after one of her "trademark" collapses and kissed her on the mouth (or did something questionable with his face right in hers). I guess he turned out to have been a friend of the band's or something, as he coolly walked backstage after the band finished its song, and he re-emerged with a shaker in hand for the rest of the Furs' set. In any case, the unofficial hype-man was a pain to watch, especially since I personally found nothing to be crazy about during Handsome Furs' performance.

The only kind of cool part of the Handsome Furs' show was that it was somewhat of a homecoming for them. As Dan said, he and Alexei started the band when they lived in downtown Vancouver years ago (Thurlow Street and somewhere). Alexei gave a shout-out to her dad, who was in the audience, and the band could be seen hugging and hanging out with friends and family members after the show by one of the bars.

To say I was extremely disappointed by Handsome Furs would be an understatement. I'd always really liked their first two albums Plague Park (Sub Pop Records, 2007) and Face Control (Sub Pop Records, 2009), and despite Sound Kapital, I was excited to see them; at least I'd get a chance to hear their songs I liked live, I thought. Oh, well. As much as I didn't care for Handsome Furs' show, I would have gladly endured two of their sets for what was to hit the stage (and floor - and sound booth - and balcony - and audience) after them that night at the Rickshaw Theatre. I'll leave that for my next concert review.

Click here for more photos of Handsome Furs live at the Rickshaw Theatre courtesy of the Snipe.

Sunny-Day Music: Atlas Sound Edition

Finally, after two rainy, overcast weeks, some sun:

Thurston Moore with Kurt Vile & the Violators and Hush Arbors

July 21, 2011
The Rickshaw Theatre
Vancouver, British Columbia

Hush Arbors opened night two of my four-day concert bender at the Rickshaw Theatre on Thursday night. Primary singer-songwriter Keith Wood played solo electric guitar during the first half of their set and was joined by a drummer for the second half. In short (because I don't have much to say about Hush Arbors), they were pleasant. I probably would have enjoyed them more, but they were far sparser and less psychedelic and folky than I'd remembered of whatever album of theirs I had a few years ago. Yeah, I'm clearly a fan of Hush Arbors.

Next up was Kurt Vile, the man I went to see. I'd always imagined that his songs would sound insanely epic and over the top with reverb live, but overall, they were quieter and less distorted than I'd expected. Yes, Kurt Vile & the Violators' swirling, sweeping guitars provided for some pretty serious psychedelic jams/freak-outs, but overall, everything actually sounded pretty clear. Also surprising was that he and his band did not stray too far from their songs' recorded versions.

I had absolutely no gripes with Kurt Vile's set list either, especially since they played "Freeway." That was definitely the most satisfying part of my night. It was another one of those increasingly frequent moments in which I got to hear one of my favourite songs ever (especially for driving and walking) live. There's just no feeling like hearing and seeing a song you've always loved unfold right in front of your eyes and ears. Frankly, I was surprised Kurt Vile & the Violators even played "Freeway"; it's always seemed like an "afterthought" song for them, considering the fact that it predates both of Vile's more critically acclaimed albums Childish Prodigy (Matador Records, 2009) and Smoke Ring For My Halo (Matador Records, 2011).

Finally, there was Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore. At this point, both members of Hush Arbors returned to the stage as members of his band.

Musically, Thurston's set was fantastic: the harp-playing was absolutely beautiful; his violinist was superb as well; and I always knew Thurston Moore was a good guitarist, but sometimes, it takes seeing artists play live to really appreciate their technical skill. Everyone in his band was tight, discernable and played off of one another flawlessly.

I was a little dismayed and/or surprised by a few minor things, however. For one, Thurston didn't know the name of Kurt Vile's album Smoke Ring For My Halo. After several guesses and even having asked his band mates, he still flubbed the album's title. He's your freakin' tour mate, Thurston, and someone whose praises you'd seem to sing anyway. Secondly, Thurston had a songbook with him on stage. I don't exactly know what was in the songbook (he seemed to have only paid attention to it between songs, flipping through the pages as if he was trying to see or decide which song was next), but during their final song, he read most of the lyrics from that book. Maybe he was really tired which I'd believe if he and his band actually did just get into Vancouver that evening after having driven for three days from the east coast like he'd claimed.

Out of Thurston's control was my final gripe. Unlike Hush Arbors' and Kurt Vile's crowds, Thurston’s was full of douche bags who just loved to yell out asinine comments that sometimes came off as heckling. Kurt had his share of turd-bag audience members too, such as the people in front of my friends who seemed like they were having more fun talking to each other than watching the show.

All in all, Thurston Moore with Kurt Vile & the Violators and Hush Arbors was probably the most surprisingly good concert I'd been to in a while. I didn't have great expectations prior to the show (I'd never been a huge fan of Thurston solo material, and I will always prefer Kurt Vile's former band the War on Drugs to his solo material), but everything was just so bang-on and God-damned right about the show - spectacular performances by all. This was Vile's third show in Vancouver since October, and I didn't go either time before, even though his first show here was only a twelve-minute walk from my apartment, but I will likely never miss a Kurt Vile show here again. He was just too damned good.

Final note: My friend Adam saw Thurston Moore and Kurt Vile two nights later at the Alladin Theatre in Portland, Oregon. According to Adam, Thurston described the Rickshaw as a "concrete box from hell." I don't blame Thurston for his negativity: the Rickshaw Theatre is one of my least favourite venues, and the idiotic crowd definitely didn't help win his favour.

Fucked Up x Fucked Up Or Close Encounters of the Fucked Up Kind

July 20, 2011
Fortune Sound Club
Vancouver, British Columbia

What good friends Fucked Up are to have played a free show for the proprietors of the Fortune Sound Club in Vancouver's Chinatown.

The RSVP-only/five-dollar-cover-after-11-pm show was scheduled to run from 9 pm to 2 am and feature a DJ and three bands, so I knew my friend Ben and I were going to have to spend a lot of time at the show waiting. The long waits weren't helped by the loudest pre-show music I'd ever heard (I attribute that to the fact that the speakers were serious dance club speakers). My ears had taken a pounding before the first band even came on.

As soon as that first band came on though, a "veteran" punk band from East Vancouver called the Strugglers, the crowd at the front of the stage instantly exploded into a mosh-pit, and I don't mean just a rowdy, pushy, energetic crowd: I mean guys with Mohawks and studded leather/denim jackets/vests beating the living shit out of each other, clawing, tearing and shoving like human wrecking balls. There was a difference between this moshiest of moshy crowds and the aforementioned tamer pushy crowds in which I've participated though: as rough as last night's Strugglers crowd was (and even during Fucked Up), it was very ... I think Ben put it best: respectful. The moshers always helped each other up and never dragged in anyone who didn't want to be a part of it. Bystanders around the pit's rim were, of course, subject to some damage, but they were always able to retreat. Anyway, what does one expect when standing in a human splash zone?

Not wanting to endure another set of loud-ass pre-show music or another opening band (Real Problems), Ben and I left the Fortune Sound Club for about an hour. We returned just in time to snag a good, slightly elevated spot to the left of the stage but not late enough to completely avoid the pre-Fucked Up in-house music.

By around 12:30, however, all of our waiting seemed irrelevant, as Fucked Up finally took the stage and proceeded to sonically rip us a new one. In a different, strictly verbal sense, Fucked Up also proceeded to rip Stephen Harper, the pigs, MTV, MuchMusic and Monster Energy Drink new ones, although Fucked Up also ripped the pigs in their song "Police."

Lead singer Damian "Pink Eyes" Abraham probably spent more time in the audience and on the bar-counters than on stage. Anything fans wanted to do to or with Damian was possible: high-fives, hugs, piggyback rides, screaming or, if one's more reserved, singing along into his mic, pouring beer all over him, even putting your shirt on him and drumming your clammy hands on his hairy, sweaty, powder keg belly - all while the rest of the band tore it up on stage in a maelstrom of flying sweat, flying booze and flying bodies (a never-ending stream of audience members hurled themselves on top of one another, cannon-balling themselves s or simply stage-diving and crowd-surfing).

Another highlight came when bassist Sandy "Mustard Gas" Miranda called out to iconic Vancouver MuchMusic/radio personality and all-round all-knowing music guru Nardwuar the Human Serviette. Unfortunately, Nardwuar didn't seem to have been in the house that night.

Scenes such as the aforementioned (the best fan interaction I ever saw), a balanced mix of songs from all three of Fucked Up's albums, profuse thank-yous to random audience members and show organizers throughout the night and a crowd that was fucking into it made Fucked Up one of the best, most fun shows I ever saw. The only thing I would have done differently was gone down on the floor into the thick of it, not that everyone who wasn't on the floor didn't get a good taste of Damian Abraham. Just ask Ben or the several others who were lucky enough to have received a sopping-wet bear-hug from Damian or me or the several others who had the privilege of screaming in Damian's face and/or vice-versa.

My only problems with Fucked Up's show was that they played so loudly, even their catchiest, most melodic songs often became distorted and thus sounded much the same, and in Damian's fervour, he often missed many lyrics or stuck the mic in the faces of fans who didn't sing loudly enough.

My ears are buzzing like they've never buzzed before, but as Damian sings on "Under My Nose," "it's all been worth it." Now, I'm listening to Thurston Moore and Kurt Vile in preparation for tonight's show at the Rickshaw Theatre on the lowest enjoyable volume possible.

Have You Ever Noticed How Much Steve Albini Looks Like Daniel Radcliffe?

I just did.

Cover-Shot: Space Ghost - Space Ghost EP

Tagged as beats, down-tempo, electronic and experimental. Every bit as boring as I'd expected, but obviously, I dig the cover art.

Prepare To Bleed, Prepare To Bruise

Toronto’s Polaris Prize-winning hardcore punk band Fucked Up are playing a free show at the Fortune Sound Club tonight. My name’s on the guest list, and I am pumped beyond belief. This is going to be that high-energy punk show I’ve been craving since Japanther two years ago, and like at Japanther, I’m prepared to bleed and bruise again.

Every time I listen to “Son the Father” (among other Fucked Up songs, of course), I just want to scream the lyrics at the top of my lungs, and now, I’ll finally get my chance.





Father, father, come see what I've built
Made civilization out of the Nile silt
Built your monuments out of my brother's bones
Exalted your word in flesh-bound tomes

It's hard enough being born in the first place
Who would ever want to be born again?
It's taken this long just to get to this place
So what's the point in ever being born again?

Papa, papa, come and watch me play
The whole world before me I laid to waste
Built Jerusalem out of these hidden worlds
But I won't share it with the other boys and girls

It's hard enough being born in the first place
Who would ever want to be born again?
It's taken this long just to get to this place
So what's the point in ever being born again?

More embarrassed than I'd hoped to admit
The living embodiment of perfect
A reversed Oedipal complex
Based on power and not on the sex

More embarrassed than I'd hoped to admit
The living embodiment of perfect
A reversed Oedipal complex
Based on power and not on the sex

Daddy, daddy, are you proud of me?
I did it all for you because of what I believe
The sins of he father carried out by the son
From Cain and Abel until the last living life is done

It's hard enough being born in the first place
Who would ever want to be born again?
It's taken this long just to get to this place
So what's the point in ever being born again?
Again (x7)

Again we stand slack-jawed
As our fates are moved by the hand of God
A god (x4)
A god is what we see as we stare into his Papal eyes

Rainy Day Music: Cat Power Edition

"I Don't Blame You" was the first Cat Power song I ever heard and remains my favourite Cat Power song since, but I never really paid attention to the lyrics until last night. "I Don't Blame You" is heavily rumoured to have been about Kurt Cobain, and it's easy to see why:


Last time I saw you, you were on stage
Your hair was wild, your eyes were red
And you were in a rage
You were swinging your guitar around
'Cause they wanted to hear that sound
But you didn't want to play
And I don't blame you

I don't blame you

Been around the world in many situations
Been inside many heads in different positions
But you never wanted them that way
What a cruel price you thought that you had to pay
And that for all that shit on stage

But it never made sense to them anyway
Could you imagine when they turned their backs
They were only scratching their heads
'Cause you simply deserve the best
And I don't blame you

I don't blame you

They said you were the best
But then, they were only kids
Then you would recall the deadly houses you grew up in
Just because they knew your name
Doesn't mean they know from where you came
What a sad trick you thought that you had to play
But I don't blame you

They never owned it
And you never owed it to them anyway

I don't blame you

Rainy Day Music: Frank Sinatra Edition

It could be many, many Sinatra songs, but I choose these three:

After More Than Six Years, It Finally Happened:

I became a Talking Heads fan.

I'd downloaded all of Talking Heads' major albums (More Songs About Buildings and Food, Fear of Music, Remain in Light, Speaking in Tongues) when I was in high school, but I was just never able to hack them. It wasn't that I disliked New Wave (I loved both Devo and XTC at the time, and I thought Elvis Costello was okay too); I could just never get into Talking Heads.

Fast-forward more than six years. I've been listening to a fair amount of XTC lately (specifically Drums and Wires and Black Sea), and while I'm rarely in the mood for XTC and New Wave in general, I couldn't believe how awesome everything about those albums were. Scratch that: I'd forgotten how awesome everything about those albums were. The production is heavy and slick - the sound I imagine the Strokes wanted to emulate on their uninspired (I'm being generous here) third album First Impressions of Earth (RCA, 2006) - and they're just loaded with angular guitars over off-kilter melodies and all kinds of weird, jangly rhythms. Founding guitarist and vocalist Andy Partridge sings so ... unmelodiously at times, and that's what really seals the deal on XTC for me. They totally made me want to listen to more New Wave, and with Devo also back in rotation, I figured it was time to re-visit another New Wave icon Talking Heads.

Like the Mountain Goats, whom I almost deleted after several failed listens but who then went on to become one of my favourite bands of all time, Talking Heads is personal proof that it's never too late to get into a certain artist. Talking Heads also re-affirm for me that despite best friends/roommates who argue otherwise, it is okay to impetuously get rid of music: there's always a chance I'll fall in love with an artist far down the line, and until then (and even if not), the revolving door of artists I will take to more immediately will keep spinning.

My favourite and second favourite songs from More Songs About Buildings and Food (Sire Records, 1978), respectively:

Rainy Day Music: Regina Spektor Edition

I really don't listen to Regina Spektor enough, which is strange because I absolutely love her first and third albums 11:11 (self-released, 2001) and Soviet Kitsch (Sire Records, 2004). Her voice is incredible not only in the way it sounds but the way she sings as well, especially on the far more black-coffee-jazz-inspired 11:11.

My love for 11:11 in particular aside, the three Regina Spektor tracks I've decided to share are from Soviet Kitsch:






Edit: Grooveshark widgets don't appear to be the most reliable widgets in the world, so here's "Chemo Limo" via YouTube instead:

New Old White Stripes: Signed D.C./I’ve Been Loving You Too Long 7" Single (Third Man Records, 2011)

When the White Stripes announced their break-up five months ago, they also announced that they were going to continue releasing previously unavailable songs, demos, live sessions, etc. through Jack White's Nashville-based Third Man Records. A mere two months later, the White Stripes announced plans to release a double-vinyl album of their final show ever in July 2007 (Live in Mississippi), a live DVD recorded in Moorhead, Minnesota in June 2000, shortly after the band released its second album De Stijl (Under Moorhead Lights All Fargo Night), and a 7" single featuring a cover of 60s garage band Love's "Signed D.C." and a cover of the King of Soul Otis Redding's "I've Been Loving You Too Long." The White Stripes recorded both "Signed D.C." and "I've Been Loving You Too Long" in 1997, before the candy-coloured duo even had a single its their own.

As of a few days ago, sites such as Antiquiet.com have been streaming both "Signed D.C." and "I've Been Loving You Too Long" in full. Click here to check out both tracks. They're the sounds of the White Stripes at their most infantile - literally.

Sunny-Day Music: The Beatles Edition

My favourite Beatles song. Not a happy one at all, lyrically, but it just sounds right for summer; maybe it's the song's musical airiness. And maybe it's the matter-of-fact way they sing, "Love has a nasty habit of disappearing over night," but I've always loved that lyric.

I Feel Like We All Know A Geoffrey Ingram

A track by one of my favourite post-punk/indie pop bands the Television Personalities. "Geoffrey Ingram," from their first album And Don't the Kids Just Love It (Rough Trade, 1981) is simple, catchy, jangly and lo-fi with mundane lyrics with just-above-drab delivery - so much of what I love in music. I just love the way frontman Dan Treacy drops off on the lyric "Geoffrey is that kind of guy / Who always gets away with that sort of thing":


Geoffrey's got a nice new suit, he bought it yesterday
Ten pounds in an Oxfam shop near Hammersmith/Broadway
All the kids admire him, Geoffrey is the face
Geoffrey is the kind of guy
Who always gets away with that sort of thing

Geoffrey shops at Safeways, it's got everything he wants
He fills up his pockets with baked beans and blancmange
And all the girls on the tills smile at Geoffrey
He's the kind of guy
Who gets away with that sort of thing

Just like Geoffrey Ingram (Geoffrey Inngg-raaam!)
Just like Geoffrey Ingram (Geoffrey Inngg-raaam!)
Just like Geoffrey Ingram
Geoffrey always gets home as it starts to rain

Me and Geoff went to a jam gig, we got there too late
The Marquee was sold out, and it was only five-past-eight
But Geoffrey got us on the guest list, please don't ask me how
Geoffrey is the kind of guy
Who always gets away with that sort of thing

Geoffrey gets away with that sort of thing

Just like Geoffrey Ingram (Geoffrey Inngg-raaam!)
Just like Geoffrey Ingram (Geoffrey Inngg-raaam!)
Just like Geoffrey Ingram (Geoffrey Inngg-raaam!)
Just like Geoffrey Ingram (Geoffrey Inngg-raaam!)
Just like Geoffrey Ingram (Geoffrey Inngg-raaam!)
Just like Geoffrey Ingram (Geoffrey Inngg-raaam!)

Free Download: Wugazi - 13 Chambers (Doomtree, 2011)

After three tracks of teasing, the Fugazi-Wu-Tang Clan mash-up album 13 Chambers is finally available for free download in full. Moreover, 13 Chambers is available for free download in 320 kbps, the highest quality mp3 I ever need. Just visit wugazi.com. Unfortunately, I won't have time to listen to this until tonight, but you may, so do it - for us and yourself.

Rainy Day Music: Jesus and Mary Chain Edition

It's a rainy, shitty day, and I feel equally miserable. I slept all of three hours last night due to the caffeine, can't get back to sleep and probably won't be able to get back to sleep any time soon. The only alternative I'm up for is dragging my ass out of bed, sitting around the house like a zombie and listening to gloomy Glasgow noise-pop innovators Jesus and Mary Chain while the city of Vancouver provides me with a soundtrack of window-muffled traffic and the pitter-patter of warm summer rain. Maybe I was subconsciously attracted to song titles like "Nine Million Rainy Days" or those of the songs I'm going to share:

"Darklands" and "Just Like Honey" pretty much capture my zoned-out dreariness:





At least "Down on Me" and "Happy When It Rains" sound upbeat musically:

Have You Ever Wanted To Hear Jack White On A Rap/Hip-Hop Track That Isn't A Mash-Up?

But are as tired as I am of waiting for his Jay-Z collaboration reportedly entitled "Ray Bans"? How about two rap/hip-hop tracks? If you answered yes to either question, you and I are in luck. Sort of.

Today, Jack White's Nashville-based Third Man Records released a brand new single by fellow Detroitian rapper Black Milk. The single, available digitally and on 7" vinyl, was co-produced by White and Black Milk and is Third Man Records' first foray into rap/hip-hop.

Now, I say you and I are sort of in luck because while we get to hear Jack on both sides of the single, we don't actually get to hear him sing on either song; rather, A-side "Brain" features Jack on guitar, and B-side "Royal Mega" features Jack on drums. It's all good to me though: new music featuring Jack White is new music featuring Jack White, and I will take it in a heartbeat.

Click here for just one of the multitude of blogs that's currently streaming both "Brain" and "Royal Mega" in full. I will warn, however (possibly erroneously), every blog I've visited that's streaming both "Brain" and "Royal Mega" have the track-names switched, compared to more reliable news sources. I'd link to said sources, but they are only streaming one of the tracks.

I'm too sleepy yet wired on caffeine to give lucid thoughts on either song, but I will say, I fucking love the brass-action, and the breaks are really good too. Caffeine and two incredible new songs featuring Jack White. How am I going to sleep tonight?

Note: I wanted to entitle this post "Jack Milk," but then I thought that might have conjured unsavoury connotations. Regardless, I've put the thought out there now.

More Like "Monday, Shoot Me in the Head."

This day.

Sunny-Day Music/Those Memories: Yo La Tengo Edition

I'm starting a new feature called "Those Memories" (named after the Brian Jonestown Massacre song of the same name which you can listen to here), and the first edition is this very post, mashed up with my Yo La Tengo edition of "Sunny-Day Music." "Those Memories" will basically be posts in which I reminisce about specific songs, artists and albums. Pretty straightforward.

My favourite sunny-day Yo La Tengo songs were all made for pool-side/beach lounging. Yo La Tengo has always been an incredibly versatile band (from noisy, droney alt-rock on 1993's Painful to near-pure pop on 2006's I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass to scuzzy garage-rock with their alter ego band Condo Fucks on 2009's Fuckbook), but one thing I've always felt Yo La Tengo has been able to pull off particularly well is capture a very drifting, aquatic feeling, and I'm not merely referring to their instrumental soundtrack to the 2001 underwater documentary the Sounds of the Sounds of Science. Hear for yourself:



"Little Eyes" is my favourite summer song of all time. Every year, I can't wait for summer to start so I can listen to "Little Eyes" the way, to me, it is meant to be listened to. It's the most perfect chill, soak-in-the-sun-with-your-eyes-closed kind of song. My favourite memory of listening to "Little Eyes" was at Cribbons Beach back home in Nova Scotia last summer. I was laying on a flat rock that was pretty much just big enough for me to lay on while the merciless sun beat down on me. The rock was shaped like a spoon insofar as it narrowly stemmed a couple of meters from the coast towards the ocean so that looking around me, I felt as if I was afloat in the middle of the ocean.



"Return To Hot Chicken" gives me almost the exact same feeling as "Little Eyes," except I feel even more afloat when I listen to "Hot Chicken" due to its pure ambience. I usually listen to "Return To Hot Chicken" as a segue into "Little Eyes."

In addition to "Little Eyes" and "Return To Hot Chicken," Yo La Tengo has less ambient but still kind of watery/aquatic songs that are more acoustic and more lyric-oriented to lounge to too:

The Sentimental Journey of Juan García Esquivel

I have so much music, I'm admittedly unfamiliar with a significant portion of it. But if that wasn't the case, I'd never have moments like the one I just had: stumbling upon a kick-ass song in my own library. I love when iTunes is on shuffle, or I've typed a particular word or phrase into the search bar, and the song I'd intended to listen to finishes and moves onto the next track, a great song I never knew I had or paid much attention to.

I'd searched "sentim" in iTunes because I'd wanted to listen to Broken Social Scene's "Sentimental X's." Immediately following that track was "Sentimental Journey" by Latin-inspired jazz and lounge composer Juan García Esquivel. I'd always loved "Sentimental Journey" (specifically Sarah Harmer's, Doris Day's and the Platters' versions), so to find out I had another version and one that was so different from the versions I was accustomed to was a real treat. Maybe Esquivel's version will prompt me to give his album Loungecore, on which "Sentimental Journey" appears, a more attentive listen.

Cool Cover Art

Shirts vs. Skins by Graham Wright. Decent indie pop. That is all.

Sunny-Day Music: Brian Jonestown Massacre Edition

Summer has officially been here for two-and-a-half weeks, and it's finally gotten hot - so hot, I can't do much of anything including sitting indoors and writing anything substantial. Besides, who wants to stay inside with this weather? So, instead of writing anything substantial, I'm going to share a few of my favourite Brian Jonestown Massacre songs to evaporate into the sun to:







Great "out the door" music to feel cool as shit to:

Some Songs Will Never Die

Possibly my favourite one-[North-American]-hit wonder of all-time.

New Wugazi Track: "Sweet Release"

New Wugazi track is out, and I'm getting more and more excited. Check out GrandCrew.com or Wugazi's website for "Sweet Release."

Jack White. John Paul Jones. Allison Mosshart. Seasick Steve.

My Internet is slow as hell lately, so I can't upload the video I want to talk about, and I can't figure out how to embed YouTube videos in the correct dimensions, so I'm just going to hotlink the video here.

Oakland, California-born bluesman Seasick Steve, the newest signee to Jack White's Third Man Records, first blew me away in this video from this year's South by Southwest. This past weekend, Seasick Steve played at the iTunes Festival in London, England and who joined him onstage for a cover of legendary bluesman Mississippi Fred McDowell's "Write Me a Few Lines" but Kills/Dead Weather frontwoman Allison Mosshart, Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones (who is actually now one of Steve's touring band members and might have even appeared on Steve's Third Man debut album You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks) and of course, the very man who signed Seasick Steve, Jack White.

I love the raw simplicity of most of Seasick Steve's furious, slide-heavy blues (his "arsenal" of instruments include a three-stringed guitar with a duct-taped pickup, a one-stringed diddley bow and his "MDM" Mississippi Drum Machine: a small, carpet-covered, wooden box that Seasick Steve stomps), but Seasick Steve's new fuller sound on Old Dog doesn't quite do it for me; the drums are far more pronounced, and even the guitars are cleaner - far less rough-edged. And as cool as it always is to watch Jack White drum, especially alongside John Paul Jones and Allison Mosshart, musically, even the group's iTunes Festival performance doesn't impress me much. Oh, well. I'm sure as is the case with most live videos, it's one thing to watch the performances recorded and a complete other thing to witness the performances live. Seasick Steve et al.'s performance is good overall (I can't really argue with Jack White playing with John Paul Jones), and at the very least, it makes me want to listen to Zeppelin.

From the Vault: "Pop Went Halifax, Part One: Brian Berchardt, Julie Fader, By Divine Right and Off the International Radar"

My review of the first set of shows I went to at Halifax Pop Explosion '09 which I previewed here.


Pop Went Halifax, Part One: Brian Berchardt, Julie Fader, By Divine Right and Off the International Radar

The first show opened with Holy Fuck frontman Brian Borcherdt's surprisingly mellow set - quite a contrast to his full-time band's livetronica raves. It was mainly him and another guy both on electric guitars, and they were eventually joined by Julie Fader with her Feist-like background vocals. After Brian's set, Julie took the stage herself, mostly backed on second guitar by Jose Contreras, the frontman of 90s Canadian indie rock icons By Divine Right. Brian and the other guitarist returned the favour by joining Julie for a few songs as well.

Although Off the International Radar was the last band of the night, [my friend] Steve and I left after the next act (and the main attraction for me) By Divine Right. They are one of the first indie rock bands I can remember, and I've listened to them since grade eight, so it was a real treat to finally be able to see them, especially since they're so inactive these days.

BDR played as a newly formed trio that night, pounding out song after song from their upcoming new album Mutant Message. It didn't matter that they didn't play a single familiar song (although it would have been nice), as every one of their new songs kicked ass - much harder edged than anything they'd done before. In fact, they rocked so hard, Jose broke a string during their first song and had to borrow Brian's guitar until Brian finished restringing it in the back. I never knew how much of a showman/skilled guitarist Jose was. I also have to hand it to Jose for having admitted that they didn't only play new songs to promote their new album but that they simply hadn't learned much of their old stuff yet.

BDR closed with "Titty Shaker," the same words that were written on the young, new drummer's white shirt in reflective gold letters. Jose kept charitably asking the crowd to fix up the drummer's "dope habit." I wish I could have obliged.

The Raveonettes: Rarely Great, Always Good

Even though the Raveonettes are far from one of my favourite bands, they will always have a special place in my heart. Nine years ago, my cousin’s boyfriend at the time burned me two CDs that ended up changing my life: one disc contained the White Stripes' breakthrough third album White Blood Cells and second album De Stijl, and the other CD contained their self-titled debut album and the Raveonettes' Whip It On EP. At the time, the Raveonettes were still a young, up-and-coming Swedish band that was brand new to the indie scene and had nothing more to their name than their Whip It On EP.

Like most of the Raveonettes' discography, I was never crazy about Whip It On, but the fact that I've liked the Raveonettes almost exactly as long as I've liked my favourite band the White Stripes is kind of endearing to think about. It's too bad I missed the Raveonettes' recent show here back in May.

Here are a couple of my favourite latter-day Raveonettes songs from their newest album Raven in the Grave (Vice Records, 2011):

"Recharge and Revolt"

"Forget That You're Young" (Rainy day music, if I ever heard it. Probably my new favourite Raveonettes song.)

Cool Cover

No urge to listen to post-A Crow Left of the Murder Incubus, but I do like this album cover.

Forget Jay-Zeezer, Jaydiohead and the Grey Album: Soon, We Will Have Wugazi.

I don't know much about the project that is Wugazi, but I do know the obvious facts that it's a mash-up of late-eighties-to-early-aughts hardcore legends Fugazi and equally legendary hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan. I also know that something's going to be released on July 13, 2011. I assume that release is going to be a full-length mash-up album of Fugazi's Instrument Soundtrack (which corresponds with the 1999 documentary of the same name on the band) and Wu-Tang Clan's 1993 debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). So far, whoever is behind Wugazi has made one track available at wugazi.com, and it is fucking AWESOOOMMME.

Field Rotation - Licht Und Schatten (Fluid Audio, 2009)

I've increasingly fallen out of love with ambient and electronic music, over the past few years. I rarely seek either style, although I do still keep up with ambient and electronic artists of whom I'm already a fan. That said, I was more than surprised when I blindly downloaded Field Rotation’s 2009 album Licht Und Schatten.

Working out of Kiel, North Germany, Field Rotation (real name Christopher Berg) composes warm ambient textures that flourish with electronic pulses and blips. The movement created by those flourishes, pulses and blips, despite Field Rotation's choice to use dissonant percussion, allows him to avoid the typical repetitive and sometimes even droning character one might instinctively associate with ambient music. Licht Und Schatten's seven tracks range from five to eleven minutes, but with the consistent motion that the aforementioned electronic effects (which never overstay their welcomes) create, listeners may barely notice how long the songs actually are.

If you don't like the cold, alienating effects of most ambient or electronic music, perhaps Licht Und Schatten will change your mind. Licht Und Schatten palpitates in a way I haven't heard in much down-to-mid tempo ambient or electronic music besides that of jazzy British electronic artist/producer Four Tet.

Standout tracks: "Lichtbrechung"; "Polarlicht"

Free Download: Male Bonding - "Bones" (Sub Pop Records, 2011)

British punk-rock band Male Bonding, who made their full-length debut last year with Nothing Hurts on Sub Pop Records, are returning with their new album Endless Now on August 30. A couple of weeks ago, they released for free download their first new song from Endless Now called "Bones." To download that track, just plug in your e-mail at Male Bonding's Sub Pop Records page.

Male Bonding promised a sleeker, more expansive sound on their new album. I don't know about sleeker, but "Bones" is more expansive for sure. The band is in no rush here, taking its time over six-and-a-half minutes to create mood rather than quick bursts of buzzsaw punk (the longest song on their first album is 2:45). Based on "Bones" alone, I'm going to be optimistically presumptuous and say we probably won't have to worry about Male Bonding's new album being a flop.

And just because I don't write about Male Bonding very often, here's a smattering of my favourite tracks from Nothing Hurts:

"Weird Feelings"

"Year's Not Long"

"All Things This Way"

"T.U.F.F."