Dinosaur - "Kiss Me Again"

I meant to post this song years ago. I think I had some comments in mind. But I can't remember them now. So just enjoy the song. And dance a little. Groove in your seat. Or get on your feet.

Dream T

I came across this photo of Johnny Greenwood on someone's Tumblr. Before I read the author's comment, I thought, "I want his shirt." And wouldn't you know it? That was the first thing the author said, verbatim.

Best Shows of 2013: Julia Holter at the Biltmore Cabaret, September 16

Julia Holter was slated to have been my first interview. I read every interview with her I could find - made sure I didn't ask the same questions I came across. I built off of her past responses. I thought my questions were solid - at least solid enough to have gotten me through my general social anxiety under which I was extremely likely to have crumbled.

In researching Julia Holter, I came to love her more for her ideas about art and music than her music itself.

But my chance to speak with Holter fell through. The day after I was notified, I saw her interviewed in that week's issue of The Georgia Straight. Snaked. I was disappointingly stuck with a pile of potential.

My review of Julia Holter was 1) a bit of an exercise for me, my first attempt to write more concisely, and 2) my first in conjunction with a photographer I personally knew.

As for why the show was one of the best of the year, it just kicked ass. Well, Holter and her band did. Review at Vancouver Weekly.

Best Shows of the Year: The Courtneys at the Biltmore Cabaret, August 17

I love the Courtneys, but as much as it hurts admitting it, they sound shitty almost every time I see them. Not on August 17 though. They couldn't have been more bang-on. Moreover, the show contained some of my favourite concert moments of the year: Nü Sensae drummer Daniel Pitout guested on the skins for one song and pounded out the most intense version of "90210" I've heard; I didn't know the song could sound so good that fast. Even Courtneys drummer/singer Jenn Twynn Payne shouted, "Too fast!!" with a laugh. The giggles continued when, during the same song, Hockey Dad Records founder and B-Lines singer Ryan Dyck paraded Payne around the Biltmore on his high shoulders, nearly smashing her head into the ceiling several times. Yet Jenn sang on. Trooper.

Speaking of Pitout, I have to note that he claimed yet another one of my top concert moments this year when he marched onstage during B-Lines, mic in hand, and launched into a SCORCHING version of "Busy Man".

The Courtneys FEAT. Daniel Pitout - 90210 at the Biltmore from The Courtneys on Vimeo.

Best Shows of 2013: The Dandy Warhols at the Commodore Ballroom, June 22

13th anniversary of Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia, the Dandy Warhols’ best album by far. One of my favourites of all time. Played the album in its entirety. Front and centre. My birthday. Hardly gets bigger - hardly gets better - than that. Full review at Van Weekly.

Worst Shows of 2013: Torres with Lady Lamb the Beekeeper at The Media Club, June 19

I’m frequently obsessed with Torres’ performance of “Come To Terms” in this video; it's fucking beautiful. But I've never been impressed by anything else of hers. Regardless, I thought she’d have been worth seeing for "Come To Terms" alone. I couldn’t have been more incorrect. Torres with Lady Lamb the Beekeeper was my first unmitigated negative review. It was… just such a bad show. Man, I don't even want to talk about it! Read why in my review at, where else? Vancouver Weekly.

Best Shows of 2013: B-Lines, June 15

Photo credit: Sylvana d'Angelo

Ryan Dyck, boss at Hockey Dad Records and one of the best, most commanding frontmen I've seen. Definitely my favourite local band live, and the "competition" is stiff. Snappy, breakneck punk. Consult a chiropractor. And maybe a psychiatrist.

Snippet from my Vancouver Weekly review:

If there was ever a time for me to see B-Lines, this was it. The B-Lines as I knew them were to be no more, as Nominal Records' showcase marked bassist Adam Fothergill's final show with the band.

When your life revolves around music – whether you play it, write about it, read about it or anything else – it's easy to become difficult to impress. I've become a tougher sell over the years, but B-Lines reaffirmed everything I ever loved about music in general, specifically seeing live music. Just try to pin back the grin on my face as I watched the "everyday Joe" Ryan Dyck who took my money, stamped my wrist and chatted briefly with me at the door proceed to leave his body, and let a manic, possessed surrogate take over the stage. Ryan spun; he writhed; he squirmed; he kicked; he fell to the floor and pounded the stage so hard, you could hear the full *thud* over the band's high-speed thrash. I'd never witnessed such an instant, dramatic metamorphosis. His tall, lanky, tapeworm-like frame whipped and twirled with the mic cord so that I couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.

With a glassy look in his eyes that stared hollowly into nothing in particular, Dyck yelped anxiety-ridden lyrics about social disconnect ("Social Retard", "Houseplants") and impending world destruction ("World War Four"). "I just wanna feel normal again," the chorus went on "Normal Again". Unless Dyck and company conform to the mould and abandon everything that makes them so electrifying and unique, he may never feel normal again. Certainly, after having seen B-Lines, I will never feel normal again. But I can live with that.

A word of warning: If you're seeing B-Lines, be prepared to be rained on as Ryan Dyck aimlessly launches wads of spit into the air. Although, I hear you'll be lucky if that's all that happens to you.