Friday, May 31, 2013

Black Flag Bounty

Dinner/drinks/lunch/etc. on me if you can pick me up a copy of this poster:

Thursday, May 30, 2013

"The Visual Art of Brian Eno: Light and Time"



"What I'm always doing is - both in music and in light-work - is trying to make something that I wish existed. So I sort of imagine something existing, and I think, 'That's funny that doesn't exist. Why doesn't that exist?' And actually, I'd be quite happy sometimes if I found out that somebody else had done it, and I didn't have to."

How often do you hear an artist say that?

BC X R

Who else loves Vancouver as much as Kurt Vile seems to? Best Coast. But it's less surprising that the sunny beach-poppers play Vancouver so often - they're from the coast.

On August 12, Best Coast return to Van, this time playing the Rio Theatre. Interesting venue choice, as most bands that play there are ones you sit down for, so I'm curious to see how Best Coast will work in that environment. I just hope they don't switch venues again like last time when they were moved from the Commodore Ballroom to the far smaller but more appropriate Biltmore; I'd wondered how anyone expected them to fill the Commodore.

I've started trying to limit in how many times I see certain acts, especially with frequency considered, and though Best Coast may become one of those acts, they're playing material from an upcoming EP this time around. That may not translate to much new material, but ... well:


Listen to their Record Store Day single "Fear of My Identity," the first new song released since their second album, last year's The Only Place. Oh, and if the Rio is one of Best Coast's shows with Bleached, this will be a dream come true.


Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Full Stream: Slim Fathers - Old Fruit LP

So G.D. hyped to see Slim Fathers on the first night of the upcoming Music Waste Festival. They'll be playing at the Anza Club along with Nam Shub (whom I'm actually more excited to see), Failing and Defektors - all quality bands. Stream Slim Fathers' debut LP Old Fruit on their Bandcamp page.

For the full Music Waste schedule, click here.

Quakers - "Fitta Happier"

And the main song from the trailer of Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton (This Is Stones Throw Records), the Radiohead-sampling "Fitter Happier" by Quakers. Quakers are a thirty-five member hip-hop project put together by Portishead's Geoff Barrow. So now, not only do I need to get back into Portishead - I need to get into Quakers:


Trailer: "Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton (This Is Stones Throw Records)

I hate going to the movie theatre. I'd see this at the movie theatre. GARY WILSON!!!

OUR VINYL WEIGHS A TON (This Is Stones Throw Records) Teaser from Gatling Pictures on Vimeo.

Music Video Review: Moby Featuring Mark Lanegan - "The Lonely Night"

I don't watch music videos anymore mainly because I haven't seen a good one since Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) was directing White Stripes videos; most videos I see nowadays are such pitiful, frustrating, infuriating excuses for "art": dance routines that feature less inventive choreography than elementary school cakewalks, people frolicking around in forests (the thickest patch in a public park) while wearing animal masks, intentional multicolored faux-VHS/Beta washes and fades complete with illusory tape distortions.

So it was with extreme pleasure that I blindly took on reviewing LA-based cinematographer Colin Rich's super-artful piece for Moby's and Mark Lanegan's song "The Lonely Night." Needless to say, it's one of the best I've seen in years and has restored my faith in "the state of music videos" - if there is such a thing. No surprise, the video's director is no amateur.

Since I can't post even my own work for Vancouver Weekly directly to my blog, read my thoughts on "The Lonely Night" here.

My First Music Video Review: Chelsea Light Moving - "Alighted" Live on KEXP at SXSW 2013

Just as the title says. Read my review for Vancouver Weekly here.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

You Said It, Alex Lifeson


Fuck Affluenza!

Wake up each day / Stumble out of your tomb / Who are you / When all you do is consume? / When are you satisfied / When they're always making something new? / A zombie's still a zombie / In J. Crew / The mall's a graveyard / But it's like Heaven to you


Monday, May 27, 2013

Natural Snow Buildings - "Cut Joint Sinew & Divided Reincarnation"

One of the best songs to go insane to late at night. Sit/lay down with this one:


Kevin Drew - "Backed Out On The ..."

I forgot what a good time this song was. "Everyone / Can write this song / But they can't write / You and MAAAA-aay!"


Saturday, May 25, 2013

Modernist, Minimalist Movie Posters Based on a Simple Grid

I'm no design nerd, but most of these are pretty cool. See the rest of the re-imagined posters at DesignTaxi.com.

The White Stripes Charlie Rose Interview



Charlie Rose: "When did you two meet?"
Jack White: "Well, we started the band in '97."

Oh, Jackson. Always skirting those sibling questions.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

FULL STREAM: By Divine Right - Organized Accidents (Hand Drawn Dracula, 2013)

Until its release on June 4, you can stream By Divine Right's newest album Organized Accidents in full over at CBC Music.

BDR is one of Canada's most underrated but most enduring indie rock bands whose alumni include Feist, Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning. Before Broken Social Scene became the "it" revolving door band for mostly-Toronto musicians, there was BDR. Check below for a list of upcoming tour dates possibly near you:

June 14, Toronto, St. James Park
July 5, Thunder Bay, Ont., Crocks
July 6, Winnipeg, TBA
July 9, Regina, O’Hanlons
July 12, Kelowna, B.C., Habitat
July 13, Vancouver, TBA
July 18, Calgary, The Palomino
July 19, Ness Creek, Sask., Ness Creek Festival
July 20, Saskatoon, Vangelis
August 3, Toronto, Lee’s Palace

Missed Kurt Vile a Couple of Weeks Ago?

Don't worry. He's back on August 6 at the Rickshaw Theatre. Four shows in Van in the last two-and-a-half years. He sure loves this city.

Courtney Love - Commodore Ballroom, July 22

Courtney Love is coming to the Commodore at the end of July. I bet she wishes she could play a bigger venue.
 

Boards of Canada, Boards of Canada, Boards of Canada, ... Again?

Well, it's been about eight years since Scottish electronic/trip-hop duo Boards of Canada's last album The Campifire Headphase, but they have a new one on the way, Tomorrow's Harvest, due June 10 (UK) and 11 (US). That means it's been more than eight years since I've listened to BoC because while I was never a big fan, I never even really listened to The Campfire Headphase. But I like their new, just-debuted-song "Reach For the Dead." And I've grown to love a lot of downbeat, textural electronic music in the last eight years, so maybe it's time to give Boards of Canada another chance.

Watch the video for "Reach For the Dead" below:


Dreams Do Come True

I still can't believe it, but on October 18, I scratch off the biggest name on my bucket list to date (not counting the White Stripes because they were an active band, and Loretta Lynn never leaves the south anymore and is pushing her mid-eighties). Loretta Lynn comes to the Red Robinson Theatre at the Boulevard Casino in Coquitlam.

Bleached - "Searching Through the Past"

I've missed this band two (too) many times. Soon, guys, I promise:

Charli XCX - "I Want It That Way" Live at Borderline Music (Backstreet Boys Cover)

This sucks. Charli XCX hasn't impressed me since I first heard her on Icona Pop's "I Love It."


The Roots Mural in Philly

The Roots are having a mural of them unveiled in Philly on Friday. It looks ... freaking amazing:

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Lissie - "Pursuit of Happiness" Live at Brighton Great Escape 2010 (Kid Cudi Cover)

I heard Lissie for the first time the other day. Musical perfection right here:

Japanther - "Fuk Tha Prince A Pull Iz Dum

So you went to school / Thought you'd learn a trade / But the projects were too fucking confusing / So you went to class / How long does four years last? / I think I'll go down to Jamaica ...


The Black Angels - "Don't Play with Guns" Live on Conan

Damn it, I knew I should have gone to the Black Angels:


Hey, Other Language/Semantics Nerds

Maybe I'll actually get around to reading this one:


An old joke goes like this: What's the difference between a good girl and a nice girl?

Answer: The good girl goes to a party, goes home then goes to bed, whereas the nice girl goes to the party, goes to bed, then goes home. The distinction made between the two types of young ladies would probably have been appreciated by Shakespeare. While we think of "nice" nowadays as being a synonym for pleasant it wasn't always so; originally the word’s meaning conveyed the naughtiness implied in the joke. It wasn't until the middle of the 18th century that this word conveyed the sense of pleasantness that we now associate with the word.

In his book How Happy Became Homosexual, and Other Mysterious Semantic Shifts, Richler educates and entertains us while explaining how words such as "nice" and "gay" have changed meanings. Surprisingly, we discover that even many of our nouns and verbs have been in a constant state of flux. For example, originally "jeopardy" was a term used in chess and "to fizzle" meant "to break wind silently." This morphing of meanings is ever-present, and Richler explains how, even in the last twenty years or so, words such as "fulsome" are in the midst of a reversal of meaning. So whether you are gay (happy), gay (homosexual) or a melancholy heterosexual, Richler will lead you into a word-world of entertaining change.

 - Ronsdale Press

Friday, May 17, 2013

New (To Me) Summer Jam: Kid Cudi Feat. MGMT - "Pursuit of Happiness (Steve Aoki Remix)"

I need to find a situation to put to this Ratatat-produced song to this summer:


Tuesday, May 14, 2013

The White Stripes - "Jolene" Live on Late Night with Conan O'Brien

I was fourteen-years-old when this performance taught me it was okay for guys to sing about guys:


Just Announced: De La Soul Live at the Commodore Ballroom

July 19. Tickets on sale May 17, $35 before fees. I think I gotta go:



Also, I wonder if this is/would be Jack White's favourite De La Soul song:

Friday, May 10, 2013

"Summer Is Ready When You Are."


PNE Ampitheatre, I'm Finally Coming For You.

September 22. General admission unlike at the Orpheum Theatre = I'm campin' out. It also means I'll be able to SEE the National this time:

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

'Tis the Season


Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - "The Singer"

The man:


Dom - "Bochicha"

"Hey, Bochicha! / Hey-hey, Bochicha! / It's six in the morning / Screamin' at my door." It's about a cat. Unfortunately, this song and the EP title Sun Bronzed Greek Gods are the only good things about Dom:

Ultimate Sunny Day Music: Echo & the Bunnymen - "Stormy Weather"

I had two paragraphs drafted about Echo & the Bunnymen's "Stormy Weather," but I couldn't fully articulate myself. I'll just say no song has made me this happy in at least a year. The ultimate sunny day song:

METZ Live on KEXP (Full Performance)

Finally saw METZ last Friday. My review for Vancouver Weekly is almost done. They hurt:


Friday, May 3, 2013

JUST ANNOUNCED: The Breeders Live at the Commodore Ballroom

WHAAAAATTTTT!!! Aug. 31, ~$30, on sale May 10. Touring in support of the 20th anniversary of Last Splash. This can't be missed:

Boom Goes the Night

Toronto's jet-engine punk rockers METZ storm the Biltmore tonight with White Lung and Cindy Lee in tow as support:


Thursday, May 2, 2013

Jack White on Perfectionism

The Guardian: What life lessons did you take from working in the upholstery business?

Jack White: Well, from Brian's shop it was perfectionism to the hilt – to the last nail and the last tack. He's got it down to the last wrinkle. And I just recently rebuilt my shop in Nashville, so I've got it back going again. But I learned to take a step back from perfectionism: that there's beauty in not achieving it. The pursuit of it is interesting, but the actual achieving of it can be a disaster at times – especially with technology, and the sounds that come from trying to achieve perfect recording. There's a balance going on there. I'm glad I had perfectionism in the mix, because I think a lot of artists don't get that in the mix. Like, if you come up through punk you think: "Well, I can just do anything – and it's punk!" But if you have a mix of that with the perfectionist side, then something interesting can happen.

Read the full interview at The Guardian.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Homesick #9: White Lung - "Saint Dad"

Opening for METZ on Friday at the Biltmore. Always a great show:
  Homesick #9: White Lung - "Saint Dad" from INTOTHEWOODS.TV on Vimeo.

Random Access Memories: The Collaborators, Featuring Chilly Gonzales

Chilly Gonzales is one of my favourite artists. Him working with Daft Punk is a dream collaboration. Finally, we get his episode of Random Access Memories: The Collaborators:

Going Vinyl

Almost two years later, I finally have the means to listen to my vinyl copy of Fore! by Huey Lewis and the News:

Sept. 4. They're Back.

I'm bringing earplugs this time because they taught me there is such a thing as too loud. The best part? It's $25 instead of $60 this time.