A Textured Self

My top 50 records of 2009...

2009-12-14T05:40:00.001-08:00

Oh hi. It's been awhile! A year, in fact... so it goes.

A while back I promised that I'd get back to spending months working on this list, and while I have been on it since October, writing a bit on each record, Wordpress recently ATE IT FOR DINNER. Screw those dudes. Seriously. Lesson learned : don't trust the internet.

So, I'm gonna just leave it at this: The 50 records that most captured my ears' attention this year, the albums that swept me away and made me thrash, dance, mellow out, bum out, dance some more + then some. I'd love to know what you discover via this list, so let me know what you think about it! Please n Thanks!

The Top 10:
1. The XX : S/T – Young Turks
2. Phoenix : Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix – Glassnote
3. Dirty Projectors : Bitte Orca - Domino
4. Martyn : Great Lengths - 3024
5. Gentleman Reg : Jet Black – Arts & Crafts
6. Jay Reatard : Watch Me Fall - Matador
7. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart : S/T – Slumberland Records
8. Grizzly Bear : Veckatimest – Warp Records
9. Passion Pit : Manners – Startime/French Kiss
10. Handsome Furs : Face Control – Sub Pop

And the rest...
11. Stimming : Reflections - Diynamic
12. Buraka Som Sistema : Black Diamond – Enchufada
13. Converge : Axe To Fall - Epitaph
14. Patrick Watson : Wooden Arms – Secret City
15. Tiga : Ciao! – Turbo Recordings
16. Health : Get Color – Lovepump Unlimited
17. Girls : Album – True Panther
18. Lukid – Foma – Werk Discs
19. Antony & The Johnsons : The Crying Light – Secretly Canadian
20. Moderat : S/T – BPitch Control
21. Micachu & The Shapes : Jewelry - Rough Trade
22. Major Lazer : Guns Don’t Kill People, Lazers Do – Downtown/Mad Decent
23. Bill Calahan : Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle – Drag City
24. Bibio : Ambivalence Avenue – Warp Records
25. The Rural Alberta Advantage : Hometowns – Saddle Creek
26. Tortoise : Beacons of Ancestorship – Thirll Jockey
27. The Antlers : Hospice – French Kiss
28. Metric : Fantasies – Last Gang
29. We Were Promised Jetpacks : These Four Walls – Fat Cat Records
30. Juan Maclean : The Future Will Come – DFA Records
31. Future Of the Left : Travels With Myself And Another – 4AD
32. Ghislain Poirier : Soca Sound System EP – Ninja Tune
33. Andrew Bird : Noble Beast - Merge
34. Bahamas : Pink Strat - Nevado Records
35. Nomo : Invisible Cities - Ubiquity
36. Nosaj Thing : Drift - Alpha Pup Records
37. M Ward : Hold Time – Merge
38. Yo La Tengo : Popular Songs – Matador
39. Apostle Of Hustle : Eats Darkness – Arts & Crafts
40. Sonic Youth : The Eternal – Matador
41. Nathan Fake : Hard Islands – Border Community
42. Mos Def : The Ecstatic – Downtown Records
43. White Rabbits : It's Frightening - TBD Records
44. Now Now Every Children : Cars - Afternoon Records
45. Circlesquare : Songs About Dancing & Drugs - !K7 / Boompa
46. Toddla T : Fabric Live 47 - Fabric
47. Pissed Jeans : King Of Jeans – Sub Pop
48. God Help The Girl – S/T – Rough Trade
49. DOOM : Born Like This – Lex Records
50. Polvo : In Prism – Merge

Honorable Mentions, in no order:
1. Four Tet + Burial : Moth/Wolf Cub split 12" - TEXT Records
2. jj : jj no. 2 – Sincerely Yours
3. Discovery : LP – XL Recordings
4. Pink Mountaintops : Outside Love – Jagjaguwar
5. Depeche Mode : Sounds Of The Universe – Mute Records
6. Cymbals Eat Guitars : Why There Are Mountains – Self Released
7. Various Artists : Dark Was The Night – 4AD/Red Hot
8. UUVVWWZ : S/T – Saddle Creek
9. The Breeders : Fate To Fatal EP – Self Released
10. Lindstrom & Prins Thomas : II – Feedelity
11. YACHT : See Mystery Lights – DFA Records
12. Little Girls : Tambourine EP - Paper Bag
13. Baroness : The Blue Album – Relapse Records
14. Kings Of Convenience : Declaration of Dependence – Virgin
15. Black Mold : Snow Blindness is Crystal Antz – Flemish Eye
16. Zeus : Sounds Like Zeus EP – Arts & Crafts
17. Bon Iver : Blood Bank EP - Jagjaguwar
18. Sleigh Bells : S/T EP – Self Released
19. Toddla T : Skanky Skanky – 1965 Records
20. J Tillman : Vacilando Territory Blues - Western Vinyl
21. Black Meteoric Star : S/T – DFA Records
22. Delroy Wilson : Dub Plate Style (The Prince Jammy Remixes, 1968) - Pressure Sounds
23. King Midas Sound : Waiting For You... - Hyperdub
24. Tim Hecker : An Imaginary Counrry - Kranky
25. Clipse : Till The Casket Drops - Re-Up Records

Well, actually I hated you:
1. Animal Collective : Merriweather Post Pavilion
2. Bat for Lashes : Two Suns

Any glaring omissions? Anything I completely slept on?
Lemme know!
Love to love you, friends!

The Top 50.

2008-11-29T09:20:00.000-08:00

Instead of taking three months to write goofy repetitive reviews, here's the skinny. Below are 50 records that made my year, the year encompassing the biggest changes of my life so far. The soundtrack has been:

1) Bon Iver : For Emma, Forever - Jagjaguwar
2) The Mae Shi : HLLLYH - Team Shi / Moshi Moshi
3) Black Mountain : In The Future - Jagjaguwar
4) TV On The Radio : Dear Science - Interscope / 4AD
5) Girl Talk : Feed The Animals - Illegal Art
6) Fucked Up : The Chemistry of Common Life - Matador Records
7) DJ /rupture : Uproot - The Agriculture
8) Diplo/Santogold : Top Ranking - Mad Decent
9) Benga : Diary of an Afro Warrior - Tempa Recordings
10) Hercules & Love Affair - Hercules & Love Affair - DFA
11) Passion Pit - Chunk Of Change EP - French Kiss
12) Raveonettes : Lust Lust Lust - Fierce Panda / Vice
13) Deadbeat - Eastward to Mecca EP/Versionist Carmot EP - Wagon Repair
14) Cut Copy - In Ghost Colors - Modular
15) Man Man : Rabbit Habits - Anti
16) Chad Vangaalen : Soft Airplane - Flemish Eye/Sub Pop
17) Lykke Li : Youth Novels - LL Recordings
18) Stars : In Our Bedroom After The War - Arts & Crafts
19) The Bug : London Zoo - Ninja Tune
20) Yeasayer : All Hour Cymbals - We Are Free
21) Marnie Stern : This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That - Kill Rock Stars
22) Sebastien Grangier & The Mountains : Sebastien Grangier & The Mountains - Saddle Creek/Outside
23) Vampire Weekend : Vampire Weekend - XL Recordings
24) Venetian Snares - Detrimentalist - Planet Mu
25) Fuck Buttons : Street Horrrsing - ATP Recordings
26) Nomo : Ghost Rock - Ubiquity Records
27) The Dears : Missiles - Dangerbird/Maple

28) Beck : Modern Guilt - Interscope
29) Matmos : Supreme Balloon - Matador
30) Arkells : Jackson Square - Dine Alone Records

31) Women : Women - Flemish Eye/Jagjaguwar
32) Cadence Weapon: Afterparty Babies - Upper Class/Anti
33) Okkervil River : The Stand-Ins - Jagjaguwar
34) Kings of Leon : Only By The Night - RCA
35 ) Duffy : Rockferry - A&M/Polydor
36) The Hold Steady : Stay Positive - Vagrant Records
37) Portishead : Third - Island
38) Stereolab : Chemical Chords - Duophonic/4AD
39) Shad : The Old Prince - Black Box Recordings
40) MGMT : Oracular Spectacular - Columbia Records
41) Of Montreal : Skeletal Lamping - Polyvinyl
42) Kelley Polar : I Need You To Hold On While The Sky Is Falling - Environ
43) Lil'Wayne : Tha Carter III - Cash Money

44) Crystal Antlers : EP - Touch & Go
45) Morgan Geist : Double Night Time - Environ
46) Lindstrom : Where I Go You Go Too - Smalltown Supersound
47) 2562 : Aerial - Tectonic
48) Noze : Songs on the Rocks - Get Physical
49) Booka Shade : The Sun and the Neon Light - Get Physical
50) Falko Brocksieper : Heavy Day - Sub Sonic

And that's that.

Also getting some major earplay are these three to-be-released records coming out in '09 that sound seriously promising:
-Gentleman Reg : Jet Back - Arts & Crafts
-J Tillman : Vacilando Territory Blues - Western Vinyl
-Circlesquare: Songs About Dancing and Drugs - K!7 Recordings

Check it.

When I have some time over the holidays I'll post some standout tracks from this list. Until then be well, party safe and dance dance dance.

Assessment.

2008-07-28T17:00:00.000-07:00

I am having an excellent summer.

That's my only excuse for not writing for the last, er, 8 months. Either way, here's WHY things are pretty rad right about now.

I'm getting married in less than 5 weeks. The project of the wedding is unlike anything I've undertaken in my life, ever. I know that in the end it'll be rewarding, but in the meantime, balancing the needs of family, friends, florists and rabbis is an intense challenge. It goes without saying (but I'll do it anyways) that I'm immensely excited about the prospect of spending my life with a certain Ms Leah Rajesky. We have plans. Lots of them. Big ones that will dwarf the effort of getting married...but for now, eye on the prize. The day(s) (because there's never just ONE), the party, the crying my eyes out in front of everyone I love for hours and hours. I'm a sensitive type.

Photo by News46.

This summer has also reminded me how much I love my new(est) home. Toronto never ceases to impress upon me how diverse and open minded and beautiful it can be. It's fast and crazy and up all night and doesn't stop all day. I plow through traffic on my bike every day, weaving in and out, sucking in smog and exhaust and I don't wish I was anywhere else. I've spent afternoons on islands, nights on beaches, early mornings in misty ravines - and I'm never more than 30 minutes from my front door.

My feet have led the way, literally. Little did you (or I, before 6 months ago) know that in me lies a sleepy athlete. It's slowly awakening, and I've started to love exercise. It's insane. I bike to work every single day, rain or shine. I've been running upwards of 20km a week for the last 3 months. For a while before it got nice out, the gym was the place I'd go first thing in the morning and love watching the collective effort of feeling just as good as I did about sweating my ass off. The last of my teenage baggage (the physical, that is. The emotional took flight a while back, thank god.) is falling off of me. I feel amazing.

My job is also ruling. It's like getting to hang out with all your friends and talk music all day, and then you get to go hang with them, at gigs or parties or whatever...five days a week. The festival season has brought good times too...Edgefest was the same it was when I was 17. Full of sweaty teenagers and 90s rock. An admittedly fun timewarp. The Picnic at Fort York (aka) was a massive step up and forward from last year. Mega kudos for great shows in shite weather. Hillside was as it was last year, mellow vibes and full of stunning performances.

Speaking of...Toronto also keeps bringing the jams. I've seen some amazing shows this summer...10 shows that stood out, in no order:

-Nomo @ The Elmo: WTF is post-afrobeat? Nomo knows. I learned. You should too.
-The Bug @ The Drake: Heaviest dub/reggae throwdown in recent memory. The walls were sweating.
-Bon Iver @ Lee's: I've never seen a crowd hang on every note like that night. It was moving.
-Arkells @ NXNE/Horseshoe: This band will force itself into your ears in 2009 if not sooner.
-Leonard Cohen @ Hummingbird Centre: Still reeling, 3 months later. The legend did not disappoint.
-Propagandhi @ The Phoenix: 15 years of being a fanboy and they kill me every single time.
-Danton Eeprom @ MUTEK: I'd never heard of him and his techno tore my mind in half.
-Municipal Waste @ Opera House: Thrash is reborn, and it's about bloody time.
-Lee "Scratch" Perry @ Harbourfront: Another legend who did no wrong. People lost their shit.
-Gonzales @ St. Lawrence Centre: Weird dude puts on a weird (brilliant, eclectic, bizzare) show. Immense enjoyment ensues.

That's my summer in a nutshell. Wedding. Running. Rocking. It's been the best in years. Travel to see friends in Vancouver and Montreal, cottage weekends, rooftop tall cans, lazy beach Sundays...I'll do my best to try to write more, but I can't help the delays. I'm drowning in how good life is.

The top 30, part two.

2008-01-08T22:31:00.000-08:00

...and so it continues.

15) Matthew Dear: Asa Breed - Ghostly International
Following the release of Backstroke in 2005, I had an opportunity to put on a Matthew Dear gig, and afterwards he told me of his plan to get a full band together for his next record. Live, it was to be called The Matthew Dear Big Hands Band, and on record, it was going to be called Asa Breed. Apparently, he succeeded. This is some of the most lively and forward-thinking techno I've ever heard. From the funk shuffle of "Pom Pom" the minimal shake-shake of "Don & Sherri", this album is the perfect step ahead for Dear. I say this in consideration of past releases and the general direction of electronic music in 2007 - embracing lyricism, organic songwriting and discovering full studio production, rather than locking oneself to a laptop and machines.

14)Feist: The Reminder - Arts & Crafts
Feist opens this record by saying "I'm sorry"...almost warning you that what follows WILL BLOW YOUR MIND. There was no better vocal pop record release this year - I don't have to remind you about her increasing ubiquity in pop culture, her FOUR Grammy nominations, or the fact that she did this all without losing a shred of indie cred...but if you have written this off without hearing it because "its so popular"...give yourself a shake. The cover of Nina Simone's "Sea Line Woman" (reworked here as "Sealion Woman") is the standout track here for me, as it boldly confronts the structures we consider 'pop' by giving it a chanty cadence, a tribal groove full of falsettos and handclaps. This track stands out as a testament to what is destined to become a timeless classic of an album.

13) Menomena: Friend And Foe - Barsuk Records
It's true, I'm sucker for saxophone rock. In the 90s I was obsessed with Morphine, and have loved the resurgence of horns in rock arrangements in bands like Beirut and TV On The Radio...and now in Menomena, this embracing of jazz arrangements in indie rock is seeing genuine life. Songs like "Muscle n' Flo" deliver beautiful harmonies over snapping snare drums and cacophonous guitar melodies, while "Evil Bee" drops a funky sax line over slamming cymbals. If there is one band to 'discover' this year, it's Menomena.

12) Two Hours Traffic: Little Jabs - Bumstead
Read my (internet) lips: this is the best powerpop record in the last 10 years, maybe since Weezer broke the scene open with their Blue Album. Every track is single-worthy, every track is a summer anthem, a fall breakup hit, a winter rockout. Pitch-perfect ooohs and lalalas cruise over "Nighthawks", with The Beach Boys conjured up on tracks like "Jezebel". This band delivers live as well, in a way that indie-pop acts like The New Pornographers cannot - jadedness is drowned out by enthusiasm and earnest songwriting, with results ranging from completely infectious hooks to lyrics that won't leave your head for days. LISTEN to this band already, wouldja?

11) Digitalism: Idealism - Kitsuné Music
In a year where everyone and their dog claimed to play 'electro rock' (or is it 'rock electro' in this case?), Digitalism actually did it. Angular guitar jangles ride over wide-load bass wobble, with the high ends sitting perfectly between a digital and acoustic hi-hat. Rock song structures dominate on tracks like "Pogo" and "Anything New", while full-on dancefloor assaults like "Digitalism in Cairo" send bass lines deep into your gut. 2008 is going to be an interesting year now that the rock-dance crossover has been fully realized - Erol Alkan has produced the forthcoming Mystery Jets album, and the sound of French touch is simply obligated to evolve in a post-Justice environment. Digitalism will help carry that torch far into the future, starting with Idealism. An apt name, nes pas?

10) MIA: Kala - XL Recordings
This one takes the cake for the most creative release, in that everything about this album was NEW. New rhythms, new song structures, and hip-hop tropes spun into world beat with laser-quick rhymes and clever word play. "I put people on the map that never seen a map/I show 'em something they ain't never seen/And hope they make it back", MIA raps on the track "20 Dollar", noting her past, her plan for the future, and perhaps a promise of further exploration. The shape of tracks like "Bird Flu" nod to the favellas, ghettos and shanty towns of the third world, while the second single, "Paper Planes" samples The Clash and raps about what rap is often about: M O N E Y.

9) Okkervil River: The Stage Names - Jagjaguwar Records
The lead single off The Stage Names is called "Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe", a telling name for a record that blurs fictitious characters and real-life scenarios, as Will Sheff's lyrics draw vivid pictures for us. Among the dozens of bands the Springsteen reference was thrown at this year, Okkervil River are the band that's stopping one step short of tributing The Boss, but rather giving a nod, keeping an eye ahead. This disc has full, mature production efforts, highlighted by brilliant horn arrangements. This is a full step forward from Black Sheep Boy, and proves the band to be one to watch in '08.

8) Of Montreal:Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?: Polyvinyl
I had NO idea what to make of this when I first heard it. I admit, I was slow getting on the Of Montreal bandwagon, and this was this record that finally got me on board. It's nearly perfect in that it achieves what it sets out to be: a great pop record. Harmonies soar over funk bass on "Gronlandic Edit" and perfectly delivered keyboard punches through on the 12-minute "The Past is a Grotesque Animal". In it, Kevin Barnes describes said beast, as reflective of the darkness in all of us, while the band coos and wails on synthesizers, creating a perfect psychedelic pop moment. This whole album is streaming on their Myspace, check it out.

7) Burial: Untrue - Hyperdub
2007 saw dubstep reach new heights, as the South London scene exploded worldwide, and breakthrough artists like Skream and Vex'd caught the worlds feet and ears by surprise. The dark horse in the race was Burial, the anonymous champion who introduced many to the genre this year. With a nod to early trip-hop, 2-step and garage, this album is rooted in slow broken beat, HEAVY basslines and thin, wispy high end. The minimalism here rarely fails to sound full and warm, keeping a steady bounce in the dub, always conscious of making you shake, just a bit. This is truly beautiful dance music.

6) Electrelane: No Shouts, No Calls - Too Pure/Beggars' Banquet
Speaking of beautiful, the latest from Electrelane blew me away. I've been a fan of the band since their debut Rock it to the Moon broke the instrumental post-rock mold apart, mixing surf guitar and dub bass. Two albums later, which explored more vocal contributions, the ladies of Brighton, UK have assembled a rich and rewarding listen for their fans old and new."To The East" is the stand-out track for me, with Verity Susman's cooing voice lilts over Mia Clarke's guitar shreddage. Their warmth oozes from every song here, and makes their current, indefinite hiatus all the saddening.

5) Radiohead: In Rainbows - XL Recordings
I, like everyone else, was caught off guard by the news that Radiohead was to release a new album...in the following 48 hours, for free. This effort will remain in the history books of the music industry as the signaling of a paradigm shift, where the artist takes charge, despite (or perhaps in spite of) the major label's wishes. Now, if the album SUCKED, it could have been a different story, but people all over the world have embraced the band's warm and ethereal rock vibe. Standout tracks "Faust Arp" and "Bodysnatchers" don't overshadow other strong efforts, but rather are the best illustration of just where the band is at in their songwriting careers - seeking diversity, strength and a future-conscious mindset. Their fans are paramount to they being able to do this how they wanted, and the results are endlessly rewarding for all. Among the best is this fan video for "All I Need", a mashup of the song with imagery from the French documentary Microcosmos. Check it.

4) Spoon:Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga-Merge Records
One of my favorite things about music in 2007 is that the revisionist desires of the listening audience became less about content rather than context. Think back to '05 or '06 when discopunk was the hot shit; it wasn't about paying tribute, it was about THE BEAT (ie: the content). In the case of Spoon (and Amy Winehouse, Sharon Jones, Vampire Weekend, etc), the effort now is to reflect production trends of the 50s and 60s to make a music which sounds much more...organic, if you will (ie: the context). The live-off-the-floor feel of "Don't You Evah" harkens back to James Brown coaching his band through opening riffs, while songs like "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb" showcase a fat-bottom sax line and reverb-ed tambourine, reminding us that in this, "the future", the past will always exist. Spoon are at a point in their career where this kind of album isn't made without a certain degree of risk, but in 2007 the listeners were ready to have old tastes rekindled. Lucky for them.

3) Justice : Cross - Vice/Ed Banger
Cross is an instant classic. If you didn't hear "D.A.N.C.E." in almost every DJ set(/clothing store/mobile phone ad/grandma's garage sale) this summer, you were living under a rock. The lead purveyors of French touch were everywhere, from magazine covers to late-night TV, and in the ears of every clubber in the world. This album absolutely KILLS, from the first string blast of "Genesis" to the fade-out beat of "One Minute To Midnight", every track is a new thrust towards the future of dance music. The vocal funk of "DVNO" collapsing into "Stress" is one of those moments where you could sit around for hours, listening to the break drop over and over again. The classicism here will be regarded for years to come alongside Daft Punk's Homework as important contributions to moden music. Hopefully Justice's longevity will be as strong as their French house forefathers.

2) Les Savy Fav: Let's Stay Friends - Frenchkiss Records
Les Savy Fav has crafted their angular post-hardcore to a precise art, and the evidence is within every track. From the storytelling meander of "Pots & Pans" to the party jam "Rage In The Plague Age", the diversity LSF have matured into is astonishing. Vocalist Tim Harrington has struck a perfect balance between the growl and the croon, the shout and the melody, evident in the roughness of "The Equestrian", which slides smoothly into the falsetto of "The Year Before The Year 2000". Syd Butler's bassline beefs up "Scotchguard the Credit Card", one of the best tracks on the record, helping close off one of the best rock albums of the last 5 years. This album is the sound of your own ass getting kicked. Get used to it.

and finally...#1:

1) LCD Soundsystem: Sound Of Silver - DFA
The first words spoken on Sound of Silver are "Get innocuous" - an instruction to lose one's presuppositions of what might follow. This is a dance record, a pop record, and a rock album all in one, with every track different from the next. The themes are clear: politics (in the self-conscious "Noth American Scum", and the ballad "New York I Love You") and what it means to grow older. "All My Friends" is a gorgeous song, an epic melding of piano and highhat, while James Murphy waxes poetic, "It comes apart/the way it does in bad films/the except the part/where the moral kicks in". Aging also plays a part in "Watch The Tapes", a raucous MC5-esque rock jam where gang vocals shout the title between jittery lyrics about being in your midtwenties and being just a little terrified of the future. I think I can relate. Murphy never loses sight their mission to BE a dance band, and every single song achieves that end. This release is not just the best album of 2007, or the best LCD Soundsystem album yet, its also a vitally important record in the evolving relationship between dance rhythm and rock music.

Honorable mentions, in no order...

HEALTH : S/T - Lovepump United
Sea Wolf: Leaves in the Winter - Dangerbird Records
White Williams: Smoke - Tiger Beat6
Battles: Mirrored - Warp
Miracle Fortress: Five Roses - Secret City/Rough Trade
Cobblestone Jazz: 23 Seconds - !K7 Records
Tussle:Warning EP - Smalltown Supersound
Beirut: Lon Gisland EP - Ba Da Bing Records

phew. done.

The top 30, part one.

2007-12-10T17:25:00.001-08:00

Holy crap, why do I put myself to the painful and arduous task of making this list year after year? Part of it is for myself to remember what's what, to recollect what made my booty shake and my head nod...unlike last year's lists, what's below and to follow is oddly lacking in hip-hop and acoustic jams (last year, discs from Quantic and M. Ward ruled my ears), while this year's list is a bit heavy, a bit minimal, a bit...eclectic. It's in that spirit that instead of breaking it down by genre, I've assembled what I think are the best 30 records released in 2007...here we go.

30) Pela: Anytown Graffiti - Great Society Records
This record had me from the first second, with its railcar snare drum, chugging along beneath finger-picked guitar...and then came the yelp, "I had a sideways stare like a signal flare!". Ballads, rockers, jams, anthems - this record is chock-full of the new brand of sprawling Americana-meets-indie-cool championed currently by Pela tourmates The National, and previously by XTC and Wilco. This record is hard to find, but is available online at emusic.com and via mail through the band's myspace.

29) Municipal Waste: The Art of Partying - Earache Records
This might be the funnest metal album of all time. This is not a rip-off of 80s thrash, it's a tribute, a homage to the bloodline that carries Suicidal Tendencies and Anthrax, but here its played without a shred of revisionism. It's honest in its aim; this is, as the title suggests, jams to get wasted and wreck shit to. It's fast and heavy, complete with monster riffs, face-melting solos and epic drunk chants, resulting in a dozen excuses to do totally awesome hair whips. As the chant says, "MUNICIPAL WASTE IS GONNA FUCK! YOU! UP!"...they really will.

28) The Locust: New Erections - Epitaph
If I had never heard The Locust before hearing this record, I'm not sure what I'd think, but as an old fan, I'm fascinated to see that some of their songs have managed to cross the 3-minute mark. The spastic pummeling that makes up most of their frantic noise often clocks in at just over a minute, but here sees new life as fuller songs, with lyrics throughout. The snotty tone of past releases feels angrier now - less desperate, more focused. One of the standout tracks, "We Have Reached an Official Verdict: Nobody Gives a Shit", is streaming on their myspace. This is a fantastic release that none of your friends will want to listen to with you. Bummer.

27) Baroness: The Red Album - Relapse Records
Like the mythical dark places this album's lyrics describe, the music is vast, sweeping and mysterious. It's prog-conscious but not noodley and self-indulgent, while remaining full, dense and mean. The anthemic riffs of "The Birthing" show an tip of the hat to the sound of Rollins Band, Megadeth-size guitar solos and southern US muscle rock. Metal in 2007 should sound like Baroness. Destructive, forward thinking, and oh-so-heavy.

26) Bumps: Bumps - Stones Throw
Dan Bitney and the Johns, McIntire & Herndon, set out to make an album of straight rhythms, and so they did. If you were already a fan of their experimental post-rock in projects like Tortoise, A Grape Dope, & Brokeback, this disc strips away all the niceties of those groups and delivers raw, crunchy beats built for loops and raps. The concept is simple - no track over 2:00 in length, touch on as many drum break shapes as you can, and keep it slamming. Latin, funk, afrobeat, samba and jazz beats are deconstructed and reconsidered over 24 tracks; "Can You See?" is a logical extention of Tortoise's "Seneca" (from Standards), while "Tryplmeade Gorsmatch" is new ground broken, yet again, not to mention an excellent opportunity to tap those toes.

25) Patrick Wolf: The Magic Position - Loog Records
Of course an epic orchestral pop record should begin with an overture, and of course you should crank it up off the top with a catchy-as-hell title track, and obviously the key to left-of-centre, gay, showoff-y music is to have a loud, insane live show and costumes to match. Its a good thing that Patrick Wolf knows all the rules, and how to break them. His music has never sounded so big and bold as it does on this disc, with showstoppers like "Accident & Emergency" and the spooky ballad "Bluebells". Fans of Final Fantasy, Morrissey, Rufus Wainwright and New Order take note, Patrick Wolf is coming for your heart and mind. Lock up your sons.

24) New Young Pony Club: Fantastic Playroom - Universal/Island
23) Klaxons: Myths Of The Near Future - Polydor
I'm going to write about these two discs together - two shades of the unfortunately-named "nu-rave" genre that emerged in 2007...it's both sad and humorous to me that hype will eventually kill off these bands, as new wave before it (A-Ha? Split Enz anyone?)...that said, these albums are fulfilling listens, full of catchy hooks, singalongs and tunes to inspire shaking...but for different reasons. Klaxon's remix-ready indie rock was marketed to be more about what the band WORE rather than what they PLAYED. On the other hand, NYPC were thrown at the dance crowd as one of their own, to be thrashed about to in clubs and open-format DJ throwdowns. Unfortunately, I didn't hear much of either on the dancefloor this year, aside from the 9 billion "Atlantis to Interzone" remixes with that piercing 1990s rave horn and the cut "DJ! DJ!". Fantastic Playroom was, to be sure, the dancier of the two records, with snappy house basslines and sample-worthy lyrics ("I can give you what you want/I can make your heart beat short", from "Ice Cream"), made jagged with post-punk guitar stabs not unlike those heard on records by Gang of Four and The Slits. We can only hope that the bands' sophomore releases will stand up as well as these impressive debuts.

22) Modeselektor: Happy Birthday! - Bpitch Control
If stand-up comedy could be danced to, this would be the soundtrack. It's not often that dance records actually make you LAUGH (though the horn tweaks on any release by Crackhaus are enough to inspire giggles), but this totally silly record takes its' aim seriously - a set of tracks aimed at the dancefloor. "Hyper Hyper" builds up from echoey, dubstep-inspired snare crashes giving way to heavy trance horns and a throbbing 4/4, while "The Black Book" is the duo's tribute to the the heyday of acid techno. Thom Yorke guests on "The White Flash", a surprising place to find the giant of melancholy, awash in subfrequencies and gleeful chimes. Could this be the funnest electronic record ever? I say YES.

21) Boys Noize: Oi Oi Oi - Last Gang/Turbo
If the image of a disco ball in the shape of a skull isn't indicative enough of what lies within, a scan through the tracks on Oi Oi Oi show you a side of techno that is distinctly UNfunny. Taking cues from hard-edged French touch, German techno and the sounds of computers themselves, Alexander Ridha delivers an album of moods, and none of them good. The anger of "The Battery", the uneasy Kraut bass of "Frau" make for an album you shouldn't listen to unless you want to be taken down the rabbit hole of punked out heavy rhythm. Nonetheless, this is an excellent record, the icing on the cake of which is his flawless remix of Feist's "My Moon My Man", which caps off the disc.

20) Clipd Beaks: Horse Lords - Lovepump United
I can't and won't claim to know much of anything about the LA noise scene - I know of an all ages venue called The Smell, where bands like No Age, HEALTH, The Mae Shi and Abe Vigoda, along with Clipd Beaks, have made an absurd racket this year, both musically and critically. This record stands out among all for its complete lack of restraint. Tribal drums thump below arcing, screeching guitar and gut-wrenching wails, all with a pace and momentum akin to Suicide or This Heat. "Melter", the opening track sees the band trading keyboard and guitar distortion aside a rolling crash cymbal and waddling bassline. The vocals are almost indistinguishable from the mechanical chaos, and its a good thing. A really, really good thing.

19) The Weakerthans: Reunion Tour - Epitaph/Anti
I admit that this may only be on the list because I feel like The Weakerthans can do no wrong. Their brand of poetry-positive Canadiana is unmistakable and timeless, and this record expands on John K. Samson's innate ability to tell stories. In this case, they are about busdrivers and professional curlers and a cat named Virtue. "Relative Surplus Value" tells the story of a hungover victim of middle management who notes that "the graphs in the boardroom show/by the time that the market opens in Tokyo/I'll be worthless..." Even in capitalism there is poetic melancholy, and Samson knows exactly how to channel it.

18) Stars: In Our Bedroom After The War - Arts & Crafts
It's impossible talk about this band and not mention these words:
1) Romantic
2) Grandiose
3) Dramatic
This album has all three in spades, delivered through 13 songs of soaring pop gems, drenched in synthesizers and monumental drum lines. The lead single, "Take Me To The Riot"(video) delivers on the title by building up slowly toward chaos, as Toquil Campbell and Amy Millan harmonize as they know best to - romantically, dramatically and in a grandiose manner...

17) Apparat: Walls - Shitkatapult/Finetunes
In my opinon, forward-thinking music is SO important, and this album is so ahead of its time, its mindblowing. If you were a fan of his Orchestra of Bubbles project with Ellen Allien, this gorgeously textured album will only drag you further into his complex and layered soundscapes. From the dubstep of "Limelight" to the gritty drone of "Fractales *(Pt 2)", this collection breathes diversity. There are places where xylophones and strings form the low end of the beat, while wispy rhythms shimmer around them, leading one to see that there's an unspoken theme here - futurism. To match this theme, the album cover depicts organic streams of color, perhaps an imagining of what this music would look like, the shape of pop sensibilities and lush electronic spaciousness.

16) Attack In Black: Marriage - Dine Alone Records
Mark my words, this band is going to be fucking huge. They have all the right elements from the perfect 'na-na-nana-nas' and handclaps to Springsteen-inspired pop tropes, resulting in a total gem of a record. One of the key ingredients is Ian Blurton's production, who puts the finishing touches of what is already surprisingly mature songwriting. "Young Leaves" is an apt title for the lead single, the story of band on the road, as they answer their call, "there's a void / begging desperate as a lie / for us to make it feel alive". With bands like Sparta, The Weakerthans and Built To Spill singing their praises, its only a matter of time before Attack In Black explode.

The top 15 is to follow...but for now, think ahead to the new year... here are 10 artists (in no order) you won't be able to ignore in 2008:

1) The Ting Tings
2) Vampire Weekend
3) No Age
4) White Williams
5) Kate Nash
6) Gotye
7) O'Death
8) DatA
9) Fuck Buttons
10) Jay Reatard

Hopefully I'll get a chance to post the rest before the end of the year, but if not...have a safe and happy holidays!

This machine kills...?

2007-11-16T07:41:00.001-08:00

I work in the music industry because I support artists and their art. I work with their best interests in mind, and try to remain conscious of what other influences and pressures they are under in regards to their label, manager, agent...how much they have to tour, how many records they are contracted to sell...endorsements, radio play, merchandising - its all part of the mix.

Everyone knows labels are drowning under the weight of P2P file sharing, blogs dropping records eons before the release date - most people don't care...but the labels are scrambling, and have shat out something called a "360 deal". You may have heard about a big one recently.

The NY Times just wrote about it this week...obviously a self-conscious and subjective approach...but it lays out the groundwork.

Of course, Bob Lefetz has something to say about it...and how.

He's livid, and I'm...unsure. Don't get me wrong, I GET IT; I get why the labels are freaking out and why bands are desperate for a sense of security, for some feeling of accomplishment and career-building. I get where the concern for Artists lies - that's my camp...I can't help but feel this is bad news. Why is that? Your 2 cents, please?

-----

I leave you with something I've been loving this week - a band called The Mae Shi, and their track "Eat The Prize". Fitting, nes pas?

Have a good weekend, superfriends.

Ciao, friend.

2007-10-22T05:58:00.000-07:00

Reese Rakleinsky 2003-2007

Reese, our good pal, the clever (yet ineffective) little mouser, the big eater, the cat that ruled, the infamous bitch, best friend to many (and enemy to some), passed away suddenly but quietly almost a week ago. She was the first cat I'd had in my life since Mebs, a black-and-white tabby I grew up with until I was about 10. I wasn't a cat person; dogs still rule the school in my mind - but Reese was different. All sass, no time for bullshit, she always made time for play, and she always made time to headbutt me.

In the photo above, she is nestled in what became her perch, atop a stack of boxes, suitcases and a lampshade, in the back of our car as we drove from Edmonton to Toronto a year ago. During that trip she almost killed us by crawling under the pedals and then jerking the wheel with her paw, sending us into oncoming traffic, when we dragged her out of there. She lived on her own terms. If she wanted to be where it was most inconvenient and dangerous for her to do so...common sense be damned, she was going to get what she wanted. Essentially, she was punk rock, and I loved her for it.

I'll miss you, cat.

I'm not a snob, I just can't forget what I know.

2007-09-03T09:24:00.000-07:00

Nathan Coley, "There Will Be No Miracles Here", 1996
Nominated for the 2007 Turner Prize

I like lists. Lists of lists are better.

Four things my cat does daily:
1. Bite my toes at 5:07 AM
2. Breakdance on the wall
3. Eat
4. Meow

6 Myspace bands I love this week:
1. Yelle
2. The Guest Bedroom
3. HeavyHeavy LowLow
4. Sightings
5. Fracture & Neptune
6. Titan

According to Drew*, 3 facts about ninjas:
1.Ninjas are mammals.
2.Ninjas fight ALL the time.
3.The purpose of the ninja is to flip out and kill people.
*disclaimer: this was stolen.

5 animated gifs that surface when you search "WTF" on photobucket:
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Bradey's list of 21 good times to eat breakfast:
1am, 2am, 3am, 5am, 6am, 7am, 8am, 9am, 10am, 11am, 12am
1pm, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm, 7pm, 9pm, 10pm, 11pm, 12pm

That is all for now.

purr

2007-08-20T20:46:00.000-07:00

My cat's belly is heaving; she's near-comatose but twitching, her tail keeping a lazy beat on the tabletop. She, like the rest of the animals, can tell that the end of summer is creeping. The air feels different, crisper and easier to walk through. My bike seems to ride faster, like it's chilly and wants to get where it's going sooner, not later. There are leaves on the ground.

I'm getting ahead of myself. It's supposed to be +29 the day after next.

I've just discovered Mary Robison, thanks to Leah. She brought home a book of Robison's collected works today and I am blown away by her abilty to say so much with so few words. I sometimes forget just how efficient language can get - or as my friend Greg would say, 'there is much to be said for brevity.'

el oh el.

I don't have much to say. Some amazing bands were seen. Others are yet to come.

Edit: This just in - Amazing photos of said AIDSWolf show.

I leave you with this...

...and a request: I want to hear how everyone's summer has been, WITH a rating on a scale from A to 7.

....and.....GO!

You! Me! Dancing!

2007-08-08T05:57:00.000-07:00

This will be brief. The Welsh kids are forcing me to gush.

Everything you hear about Los Campesinos! is absolutely true. All the good parts, anyways. Let's review the facts:

-7 members - 3 girls, 4 boys? present.

-violin? check. keyboards? check.

-unbridled youthful enthusiasm, joyous live performances, jumping, clapping, shouting? yep, got it.

-two heaping cups of twee, a dash of pop-punk a'la Mint in the 90s, whipped to a froth with the ecstatic energy of Architecture in Helsinki and I'm From Barcelona.

Get it yet? No? Check the myspace. You'll get it then. There's something in the water in Wales, I know it.

I saw the band last night and they blew my fucking mind. I was prepared to have reservations - normally I have thick skin when it comes to highly praised albums, and so-called legendary live shows...but they lived up to every last ounce of hype. Modest, grateful, energetic, HAPPY, FUN, EXCITING - they were everything and more.

Also living up to the hype this week...

BEACHES!
Leah and I went and had a night picnic with some friends last friday at Kew Park beach...it's amazing to me how gigantic this city is, that one can simply hop on a streetcar at the end of the block and be whisked away to sand and sun, with a quick stop for sushi and tall cans of Stella.

CABBAGETOWN!
What a NEAT neighbourhood I live next to! I've heard about it forever since we moved here, but hadn't checked it out until Saturday when we rode bikes in and around it - enormous old houses, their stories gleaming through stained glass windows, intricate crawling vines and hanging basket chairs. Cute AND filled to the brim with history! I love it!

DAFT PUNK!

Photo by Richard Green

Nuff said. It was insane.

See you on the other side of the week!

Filling the gaps

2007-07-30T20:05:00.000-07:00

The problem with my new 'blog every couple of weeks instead of every couple of days' system is that I forget what happened in between entries. Most times it amounts to a list of bands that I've managed to catch in the last dozen days...so lets start with that.

Fucked Up were one of the best bands I've seen all year. They encompass so much of what is right about music here and now, the revisionism that is a tribute, not a ripoff. They don't have a myspace, they have
a blog... and they don't sign major, the go with a major indie. And most importantly, they have something important to say.

I saw them play at an outdoor stage wedged between a parkade and a business tower at St. Catherines Ontario's SCENE Fest. It was a really fun and interesting event - 150 tiny to fairly big bands, over a dozen venues, for 14 hours straight. It was a long, intensely hot day, but it was interesting to get out of town and see what other scenes look like. In this case...a whole lot like other scenes. Other highlights of the fest: The ye olde Constantines were deadly. SO heavy. The opposite of heavy was a rare acoustic show by Moneen, old bros of mine from back in my promoting days. They touched on new and old tunes, took requests...y'know, respectful-like.

The combination of my job and living in Ontario has afforded me the opportunity to check out a lot of different festivals. In fact,just this past weekend Leah and I went north to Guelph for their annual Hillside Festival, a gorgeous little party along a lake with 5 stages, 3000 people and one of the best vibes I've felt at a summer festival in years. I'd heard it referred to as "the best festival in Canada", and I have to say that it really did step up to prove that claim. It was just so well organized, the music is top notch; Do Make Say Think playing at sunset on the main stage was a spectacle of its own, while Apostle of Hustle and The Besnard Lakes in a tent by the beach proved to be a sublime time too.

A 180-degree switch up came the next day when we attended the first annual Rogers Picnic...I won't gush about it, because there is simply less to say. It reminded me of being 14 and going to EDGEFest, seeing an odd balance of old and new acts, some on the verge, some past it, all propped up under gigantic logos, lineups for everything snaking around the site, oh, and Bad Brains scaring the hell out of the crowd.

That part was cool.

That catches us up on the festival front...club-wise I saw some interesting stuff in the last couple of weeks - They Might Be Giants were predictably weird, funny and iconic, all at once. One of the best surprises came on a night when I went to go see my peeps in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and this PHENOMENAL band opened...

Shapes & Sizes are from Victoria, and now housed in Montreal, and are signed to Asthmatic Kitty, Sufjan Stevens' label. The band plays the most delicious combination of post-punk jazz-funk in the vein of the Slits or 23 Skidoo, but with a new-school math/spazz vibe that caught my attention the moment they stepped on stage. The band isn't going to be selling a million records, but they could be coming to yr town...so get into it!

------

I'll leave on a personal note - there are those in my life, and I'm sure in yours, that are hurting inside right now, deeply and truly. Take a moment, as their friend, to reach out. Trying is still just that - an effort to let those people know you're there for them. It could make all the difference.

Take care friends, I'll try to be a more frequent visitor to the blogtron4000.

hug it out.

2007-07-17T20:18:00.000-07:00

I rarely, if ever post news...but this is just TOO good not to share:

Attempted robbery ends in group hug

Fri Jul 13, 4:40 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Police on Capitol Hill are baffled by an attempted robbery that began with a handgun put to the head of a teenager and ended in a group hug.

It started about midnight on June 16 when a group of friends was finishing a dinner of marinated steaks and jumbo shrimp on the back patio of a District of Columbia home. That's when a hooded man slid through an open gate and pointed a handgun at the head of a 14-year-old girl.

"Give me your money, or I'll start shooting," he said, according to D.C. police and witnesses.

Everyone froze, including the girl's parents. Then one guest spoke.

"We were just finishing dinner," Cristina "Cha Cha" Rowan, 43, told the man. "Why don't you have a glass of wine with us?"

The intruder had a sip of their Chateau Malescot St-Exupery and said, "Damn, that's good wine."

The girl's father, Michael Rabdau, 51, told the intruder to take the whole glass, and Rowan offered him the whole bottle.

The robber, with his hood down, took another sip and a bite of Camembert cheese. He put the gun in his sweatpants.

The story then turns even more bizarre.

"I think I may have come to the wrong house," he said before apologizing. "Can I get a hug?"

Rowan, who works at her children's school and lives in Falls Church, Va., stood up and wrapped her arms around the armed man. The four other guests followed.

"Can we have a group hug?" the man asked. The five adults complied.

The man walked away a few moments later with the crystal wine glass in hand. Nothing was stolen, and no one was hurt.

(hold the phone. did he steal something or not?!)

Once he was gone, the group walked into the house, locked the door and stared at each other — speechless. Rabdau called 911, and police came to take a report and dust for fingerprints.

Police classified the case as strange but true. Investigators have not located a suspect. The witnesses thought he might have been high on drugs.

"We've had robbers that apologize and stuff but nothing where they sit down and drink wine. It definitely is strange," said Cmdr. Diane Groomes, adding that the hugs were especially unusual. "The only good thing is they would be able to identify him because they hugged him."

Hug someone you love today.

Monday, Monday...

2007-07-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been MIA. Balls have been rolling, gears working in motion. Y'know.

I moved. I rocked out to Built to Spill 2 nights in a row. I shook it. I biked. I ate. I was visited. I spun out of control, gently, briefly.

Those are the headlines, now the news.

I MOVED! It's true...it was a sweaty ordeal, involving friends, russians, a typewriter, many records, a freaked out cat and, at the end, some serious feelings of relief. It looked like this:

It wasn't my finest (looking) moment.

Shaking, biking, eating...same old same old. What's NOT old is visitors. I'll never get tired of seeing familiar faces pop by. Michelle is a friend from back home who made a point of stopping by the big smoke for a few days as part of an extended vacation, and I'm so glad she did.

We put "food, dancing & drinking" on the agenda and we did all three on the shores of mighty Lake Ontario. "Beats, Breaks & Culture" is a festival hosted by the Harbourfront Centre, and hosted performances by Shout Out Out Out Out, The Cinematic Orchesta, my ol'buddy Vitaminsforyou and the stunning genius of Keiran Hebden & Steve Reid. I've been waiting to see the latter project for years. I love the record. As Michelle pointed out, "there are Four Tet fans and then there is Eli"...it's true. I have a man-sized crush on the dude. His music is so hypnotic and colourful, and with a live drummer, nay...a LEGENDARY drummer, his rhythms come to life with the concentration and ferocity of a lion waiting for the kill.

Speaking of killing - er...what a terrible segue. I offed a few livers on the weekend rocking the fuck out for my birthday. That's right, today I turn 27 and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. I'll let you know after its a 12-oz steak and 2 bottles of wine later. That's how I'll test my age, by how well I enjoy my meal tonight.

Thanks to everyone who made 26 a thoroughly confusing, challenging, exciting, tiring, invigorating, joyous, thrilling, adventurous and needless to say, life-altering year. You know who you are. Maximum hugs.

melting

2007-06-28T00:39:00.000-07:00

Somehow it crept up on me. Like I wasn't paying attention and then BOOM, suddenly it's moving day. Again my life is in boxes around me. Again it's hot out and I'm combing through a lifetime of stuff, organizing, choosing, throwing away. Catharsis is heavy.

On Saturday, Leah, myself, a handful of boys and two hired guns have the astute privilege of bringing said two boxed-up lives up, up, up five stories, into our elevator-less new pad.

It's gonna suck, to be sure...but it's a means to an end. 2007 is already the most cataclysmic year of my life so far, so why not dive headlong into more change? I'm good at it, I think. I take it head on. I'll just be glad to be downtown, in the HEART of the smog, rather than having to ride through the layers of it as I ride downhill from my current abode to work. (insert eyeroll)

If only it would cool off a little. As a result of the heat, I go through about three shirts a day, all completely sweat through; I drank about 3 liters of water today, and my cat is clinging to the bathroom floor, because the lino is SLIGHTLY cooler than the rest of the house. We have no blankets, no air conditioning, no comprehension of what is happening to our bodies as we sweat from every pore.

Have I mentioned that it's hot out? Yeah. My KINGDOM for a sprinkler.

Like the feeling of running through upward streams of ice cold water, I having one of those episodes of musical intake that is making me leap and scream (inside) about NEW, GROUNDBREAKING music.

Like Bumps, a dreamteam of a project brought to you by the Dan and Johns of Tortoise, Herndon and McEntire. It's like they took everything that can be funky and aggro about hiphop breaks and drag it over a razor-wire fence. Imagine the hard snare shuffle on Seneca, (my favorite song from Tortoise's 2001 album Standards,) reconsidered in colorful percussive tones, and over a whole album. A stunning concept, I know. A brilliant delivery, I wasn't confident of. I am now.

Might I also steer you towards Shocking Pinks, who are the newest signing to DFA, and evoke Television and Suicide's darkest moments. It's moody and catchy and I can't wait to hear the full-length.

Then again, I'm really happy with what's out now. What can I say? I love pop music. Especially the power kind.

Have a good weekend, friends. I'll leave you with a funnyish photo...4 AM, west Toronto, 2 Saturdays ago:

Can you spell drukn?

summer in the city

2007-06-16T13:28:00.000-07:00

It was the kind of hot that makes everyone around you glisten. Even the walls were sweating. The lights were left on and the sign at the door read, 'Please be seated. Thanks, the management'. Nobody moved an inch, but quietly sang along for the so-called 'epic chorus fadeout',

they'll beat you with the truth so you won't feel the lies
they'll beat you with the truth so you don't feel the lies.

Ian McKaye and Amy Farina had all eyes on them as they languidly wandered through their set, almost oblivious to the mounting humidity - a result of their own decision to NOT run the AC, lest the soft plucks of his baritone guitar be drowned out by a mechanical whirr. In short, The Evens commanded the room's attention with skill and grace.

Photo by Suzanne Sutherland

It was one of the best shows I've seen so far in Toronto, although it was perhaps the hottest venue I've ever been to in my life, save for Coachella in '04 (52 Celsius in the shade, anyone?). If there's one word to describe this city in the summer, its HOT. Fucking hot. On its own it's not always a bad thing, but its the kind of heat that makes you choke just a little when you step outside.

As as I sat, nay, cooked in the sun today and watched the Blue Jays destroy the DC Nationals, I thought about how much I've learned to love this city, and despite the bumpy road it took to get here, I'm glad and proud to call it home these days. We move into our new place in less than 3 weeks, and Leah's about to start a new job then too. Things are changing and evolving and feeling...progressive. Kinda like Toronto, with its forward thinking transit commission, its futuristic art festivals and non-stop music scene.

And it's beautiful here. Bonus, dude.

Photo by Moss Productions

Speaking of music, NXNE was fun. Drunken, shmoozy fun. It was four straight nights of running from show to show to show seeing everything from booty rap to tight-pants rock; I even got a little DJing in for a friend's party. It takes things like NXNE to remind me just how massive this industry is and how lucky I am to be in one of the great epicentres of it all. Best of all, I'm back to feeling like my opinion of an artist can lend itself to actual action on them, like a project, something to work on. Perhaps working too hard and too long, as you faithful readers may have noticed. I'll work on working on that, too.

workworkworkworkworkworkworkworkworkworkworkworkworkworkworkwork.

francophonix

2007-06-06T07:46:00.001-07:00

Ok, I admit it. I've become a bad blogger. I'm busy, sue me.

I've been killing time in Montreal, just dancing, eating and generally loving life. The best mates were there too, AND my sister, which made it pretty much the best weekend of the summer so far. Leah and I drove into town Friday night, battling traffic and the heat alike, cruising into the belle provence around midnight - an interesting and fantastic fact about Montreal is that the bars serve until 3:00 AM...thank GOD because we showed up at the local pub/dive and got our drink on. An old french man tried to discuss Puppy Yoga with us, and an enamored Mexican man drunkenly proposed to my sister, then clutched his heart as she let him down, as gently as she could.

The picnic on Saturday was a phenomenally good time. We met up with the superfriends and went to Parc Jean Drapeau (pictured above with the dome), where we could hear the steady thump of MyMy emanating from the wall of subwoofers built around the DJ booth. While this video isn't of the day we were there, you get the idea of what it looked like:

The sun shone, kids ran around, beers were drank, crepes were consumed. I sat by the river with my friend Gary and had a funny talk about music, which led me to think about something I hadn't before, and thought I'd share it with you to see your own thoughts on it.

We all grew up listening to our parents' music; Neil Young, The Beatles, and in my case, Todd Rungren...but what happens when MY generation starts having kids? What anthems do we pass on? It won't be The Who, and I'm terrified to think it's Britney Spears or GASP! Hillary Duff (though I think I'd be ok with Mika. So fucking catchy!), but watching all the little kids on the island made me think of the FORTHCOMING anthems of our children. Arcade Fire? Modest Mouse? Perhaps...but what about raver babies? Will they have Percolator as their ringtones, for irony's sake? Will Moby's Everything is Wrong (arguably one of the most important records in the young history of electronic music) be considered 'classic' past our own ears' appreciation? It's almost scary to think that the revisionism of dance punk and electro is likely totally throwing off those who wrote that music 30 years ago! When will Pitchfork be considered passe? When does irony's irony become less ironic?

I smell a thesis brewing.

Thank god for Diesel Sweeties. Always there when I need them to defend my snottiness about music.

Speaking of music, I likely won't be back to you before next week. I've got hands to shake, people to meet and bands to see. I'll let you know the best of it sometime soon.

Kisses.

When in Rome, do as the Ramones do!

2007-05-25T08:04:00.001-07:00

Christian Bök, live at The End Of The Internet, May 23 2007.

I'm beat. Despite the short week, its felt long. So many good shows, so many hot days, so many cups of coffee. Electrelane were stunning. !!! was good too. My bike still rules. The summer is creeping in, and homeostasis has never felt so good.

I also don't have much to say. Watch the vid, enjoy and then read up.

Marathon (and on and on)

2007-05-14T10:07:00.000-07:00

I am in the middle of a live music marathon. Since last Monday I have seen more bands than I can count, in more venues than I can remember, and it continues this week...a brief recap, yes?

Tuesday May 8 - LCD Soundsystem w/YACHT @ Phoenix Concert Theatre

I had been excited about this show for MONTHS. LCD has crawled their way up the list as one of my favorite bands, perhaps ever. The new record, Sound Of Silver IS the best record of 2007 so far, and the second single, All My Friends IS the best summer jam of 2007 so far. Check these totally deadly covers of the song that are B-siding the single. SO. RAD.

The show itself didn't disappoint. YACHT (AKA one 1/2 of The Blow) was super funny and entertaining, flailing about the stage with Napoleon Dynamite-esque dance moves and jittery broken beat pop melodies. When he broke for a question period, the audience shouted random things like, 'Whats your favorite color?' (answer: "teal!") and my personal fave, 'What drives you to create?' (answer: "you, m'am"). His set was short and sweet and then it was dancing time.

And dance we did. LCD played all the hits and then some, before their bass amp blew and they left the stage for 20 mins, leaving us all wondering if they were coming back - they did, briefly, to perform a Joy Division cover ("No Love Lost") and closing with "New York I Love You", the brilliant finish to the new album. Al Doyle of Hot Chip was on guitar and Mr. Murphy was in fine form as his 'semi-grumpy frontman' character, saying little more than "thanks very much" after every song. Modesty is something this band wears on their sleeve, and I couldn't be happier about it. This video kinda proves my point:

Love it.

Wednesday May 9 - Justin Rutledge w/Eleni Mandell @ The Mod Club

Now, I used to work in the management team for Justin, so I'd seen him many times before...but I was especially looking forward to seeing Eleni Mandell, whose voice and songwriting style has intrigued me since I got into her last fall. She's very...Strummer-esque in her delivery, both as a musician and vocalist - punk rock at heart, twangy songstress by voice - not unlike the Nekos and Jennies of the world. Fourteen thumbs up.

Thursday May 10 - Choke - Mod Club / Bovine Sex Club

The night started early as I went to Mod Club to see my homies from Edmo, Choke. That band means more to my past than any other band today, hands down...I should say, they informed my interests and passion about punk rock for years and years. After first seeing them in 1997 in a crammed rugby hall in Leduc, Alberta, I knew that I wanted to work with them - 10 years later I'd produced almost a dozen shows for the band, and so when it came time for the 'last tour ever', my heart cramped up a little. It really was the end of an era, as blogTO points out. The show at the Bovine was, in a word, phenomenal. EVERY album's hits, EVERY amazing sing-along, lots of pumped fists and sweating shoving. The band closed with the last song from the last record, the refrain of which is, "When I fall / When I break / These friends will carry me through..."

The band stopped singing and let the fans flood the stage, shouting the line over and over. Tears started to flow, gigantic sweaty hugs commenced and when it was all said and done, the band stood triumphant among friends, there in support and celebration of 13 years of music. Thanks to them, for everything.

Friday May 11 - Blonde Redhead w/Fields - Opera House

I was pretty stoked about this show, but without dissing the bands, after a week of non-stop rockin, a mellow post-rock show was fairly anticlimactic. Fields were really good - they reminded me of My Bloody Valentine kinda, very wall-of-sound style with droney vocals and intricate melodies, which should have set the stage for an amazing Blonde Redhead show, but something was missing - the band's performance felt really dialed in, like it was just another show for them, nothing special requiring no great effort...which is too bad, but it wasn't a mutual feeling with the rest of the crowd, who went as bonkers as one can go to music of that tempo...aggressive toe tapping? I dunno.

The weekend was kind of a blur - I seem to remember an army of hammered drag queens, tons of bike riding, yummy breakfasts and hot hot weather. It was grand...but the music marathon continues this week. I'll get to reporting on that when the week is up. Take what you've got, discover some new tunes and have a fantastic rest of the week!

The fab fam

2007-05-07T14:29:00.001-07:00

Family means everything to me. My mom has seven siblings, almost all of whom have children, and I myself have three sisters. My dad’s sister has two of her own, and I’ve always been close with all my cousins from every ‘wing’ of my extended family – I think I can count over 40 first cousins, which is big by any standard. Maybe not this big, but big.

And yet it grows. Leah and I went to her cousin's Bat Mitzvah this past weekend where I was introduced to a whole new family that I’m slowing becoming a part of. We sipped drinks and danced and snacked and watched dozens of tweens bounce and shout and beam and sing along with the semi-obnoxious DJ (maybe you’ve heard of him?), who played ALL their favorite songs. Leah pointed out that it wasn’t so much a Bat Mitzvah, but rather a Debutantes’ Ball, and the diva in question was dressed the part. In fact, the cake matched her dress, both in colour and design. And the tablecloths, balloons, lighting, etc...everything matched. It was a fun time despite getting lost en route in Toronto's labyrinth-like north end, where cities' borders blur together and are cut in half by mammoth freeways. Sure, it's quiet living up there, but its not for me.

That's not where the family ends. I was lucky enough this week to reconnect with someone I had almost forgot about, but he found me and we had dinner on Monday. See, my dad was adopted in 1955 by the Klein family of Viking, Alberta. The aforementioned sister was adopted a year later and they grew up as any normal family does. Sometime in the 80s my dad became curious about where he came from, who his 'real' mother and father were, and how it all...happened. He took out an ad in the Globe & Mail. It read:

Robert Michael Stater, born October 7th 1955 in Calgary, Alberta. Adopted shorty thereafter - do you have any information? Please contact...

Silence followed, until sometime in 1992 when a private detective called my dad and offered to apply for the adoption records - he succeeded, and slow but sure contact was made with the family that gave him up so many years before.

But I digress. My dinner partner was Tony, and he's technically my uncle - my dad's brother that he didn't even know about until he went digging for his adoption story. In fact, Tony has three other brothers, two kids of his own and lives just outside of Toronto. The last time I saw him was in 1994, during the summer after my dad passed away. I remember thinking then how amazing it was that dad found his blood family, and moreover, how much Tony looked like my dad. I admit that I was kinda nervous about meeting him again - that I'd be overwhelmed by the likeness, or that I'd be judged by my often-colourful past (since I was 14, anyways). Turns out, of course, that I had nothing to worry about. Tony is a relaxed, slender and handsome man in his late 30s, teaches music at an elementary school and loves his kids to the max. He still looks like my dad, and as we ate and drank a pint he spun me stories about his own father. A quick aside: when my dad first started looking for his birth parents, he found both of them - alive, in different cities - his mother willingly met him; his father told my dad that he was dying of cancer and that he could more or less fuck off.

Surprise surprise, the father in question - my blood grandfather on my Dad's side - is still alive. Tony told me about his fathers' philandering, how he cheated on his first wife (with whom he had two kids), the result of which was my dad. He then married again and fathered four boys, one of whom was Tony. Following me?

When my dad found his family, he was able to locate Annette, a daughter from my grandfather's first marriage. She was living in Okotoks, just outside of Calgary. Tony himself was living in Vancouver at the time, and my dad had every intention of bringing the three of them together that summer. Unfortunately for all involved, my dad died of a brain aneurysm that spring of 1994. I saw Annette at the funeral, and met Tony that summer and like a plume of smoke they vanished. I never heard from either again, so I kind of wrote off that half of my bloodline as...gone.

Until about a month ago, when I went home for a visit and my step-mom told me that she had heard from Tony - he was living in Oakville and was shocked to hear I was out east too. He dropped me an email last week, and suddenly I found myself sitting across from my dad's almost twin, reeling at the reality of knowing my dad's birth family, knowing where the other half of me came from.

It was like looking into a mirror of the future - what I might look like, how things might have been different if only...

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

Less drama, more music blah blah this weekend. I promise.

Just a band.

2007-04-26T20:03:00.000-07:00

This is amazing.

I found it buried in the Lefsetz letter this week, which, if you are in the music industry and DON'T read, yr missing out. The dude is fearless. Apparently so is Dan Le Sac & Scroobius Pip...what a brilliant bit of slam-dunk electrorap. I love it.

I'm also loving Feist in a huge way this week - the new album drops next Tuesday - don't wait for the hype to catch up with you. BUY IT May 1. I really do predict enormous things for her in the coming years - her voice has this timeless quality to me that evokes Joni Mitchell and Natalie Merchant and many other classic female vocalists that pretty much own. If this record takes off like it should, watch out.

I don't have much to report, unfortunately. I've been broke, but the weather's nice and I went skateboarding TONS last weekend. Leah led the way on two wheels through the windy, just hilly enough streets of Forest Hill, the neighborhood adjacent to ours. Needless to say...it's different there.

$12M homes. No shit.

Toronto has felt like a different place lately. I'm not sure if it's new route to work that plants me in the middle of two million commuters in an endless rush to stand, board, shuffle, run, stop, wait, stumble, run, and walk...or that the sun has shone more days in the last week than it has in the last month. People seem more alive these days, like the city is getting its color back, like the yellow daffodils that appeared overnight in my front yard, or how the last leg of my trip to work is smelling fresher and fresher every day. Last weekend it hit above 20 degrees both days and we had some friends in from out of town, and took advantage of the massive field behind out house for some serious Aerobie sessions.

Yes, my "thrilling game of catch" was totally "super".

I'm looking forward to my weekend...are you? I hope it's great, whatever you do!

Wipeout

2007-04-19T18:50:00.000-07:00

I could talk about how busy I've been with work, or how little rest I feel like I've got this week. The sleeplessness is only bound to continue this weekend.

Or I could tell you about this amazing blog that digs on interface design elements, or this band I totally can't stop listening to, or something that's eating my time for breakfast.

I might talk about The Hood Internet, which is the illest shit this week...or how every day brings us closer to skateboard season, or how the young friend Rollie is ownin' the front page of Pitchfork today!

I could do all that, but you might pull an Arnie.

And then I'd feel bad.

So it goes...

2007-04-12T14:52:00.000-07:00

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
1922 — 2007

I am bummed the fuck out. My dad first introduced me to his work when I was a kid; we read "Sirens of Titan" together. The sheer level of imagination, humor and biting satire hooked me from a really early age, and it's been a life-long addiction to his work. I was shocked and deeply saddened to hear about his passing.

But as Vonnegut himself would say, "When you're dead, you're dead. Make love when you can. It's good for you."

Profound. Rest in peace, friend.

A preponderance of bass

2007-04-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

Ummmm, no.

Much better.

I've had a chest-rattling weekend. The kind of subfrequencies that make your nose hairs stand on end, and make your eyeballs vibrate. 100 hz and lower. Y'know the kind. The kind DJ Craze played last Thursday at Footwork, for his Miami Bass session. I'm not totally familiar with the lingo, but I think the kids these days would call it "totally awesome". Or something like that.

Dancing to his set kind of brought me back to when I was first discovering electronic music, and loving just shaking it to whatever vibrations were pushing out of the speaker boxes - my tastes have refined with age, but I still keep coming back to the root of it all - the warbley backbone, the deep-seated density of a piece of music that gives it shape and texture. They don't call it the RHYTHM section for nothing...but it's what you DO with the bass that counts.

Yeah, funk does it right....

">
...and jazz knows what's up.

But really, my favorite kind of bass is that of the mighty island itself...the roots of dub/reggae/rocksteady/dancehall all have a home in the world of bass, and as with most musics, it has had a chance to grow, mutate and become something completely new.

I've talked about dubstep before - for a fantastic lil'history, watch the vid above. The first interviewee, Loefah made his Canadian debut last night at a party called "Time 2 Bass" thrown by the cats at Curbcrawlers. As Mary-Ann Hobbs has proclaimed, "to be at the flashpoint of an emerging scene" is a thrilling prospect indeed. This is NEW music, this is ORIGINAL thinking and doing and acting and dancing. I love it, and am excited to see how each country's take on the dubstep formula will change its shape for the next set of ears to interpret it. I've put together some of my favorite bass-heavy tunes for your perusal.

The first is by ghettotech guru DJ Funk of Detroit, remixing Justice's soon-to-be-classic "Let There Be Light".

Loefah's track "Ruffage" is already a dubstep anthem, and this is pulled direct from the Hatcha mix, "Dubstep Allstars: Vol 4". Absolute sickness.

Digitalism's remix of The Cure's "Fire in Cairo" is an experiment in depth, while the closing track, "Une Bande De Mecs Sympa" by Modeselektor (feat. TTC) is a choppy take on electro-rap with a sharp edge...load this track onto a system with a quality subwoofer, you'll get what I mean.

A selection of bass-centric tunes, from me to you!
05LetThereBeLightDJFunkRemix.mp3
102Ruffage.mp3
FireInCairoDigitalismRemix.mp3
UneBandeDeMecsSympa.mp3
Provided to you by

Enjoy, learn, tell me what you think! THAT'S AN ORDER!

Pity the (april) fool!

2007-04-05T06:56:00.000-07:00

Ok so I realize I've been totally bad at blogging with ANY regularity lately. My days start a half-hour earlier, and end a full hour later than they did before my unemployment stint, and after staring at a computer for 9 hours a day, its not something I rush home to do...my apologies. Allow me to catch you up.

April 1, 2007, 10:30 AM. I'm lying in bed and I hear Caitlin's door open, and as she goes out into the living room, I hear her gasp and then RUN to our door and bang on it excitedly. I open it and there is FEAR on her face.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Look at out place! It's been ransacked! We've been robbed!"

I start to laugh. And laugh. And laugh.

"Nope," I said, "everything is just on its side. It's April Fools Day!"

I had turned almost EVERYTHING in the house on its end. Bikes, DVD players, the couch, our cat's play structure thingy, everything. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but this might be first time I've ever managed to actually pull off an April Fool's joke. It was too good a feeling, so I had to keep it up. I called my sister and left her a message that just said,

"Rhiannon! Hey call me when you get this! I have crazy news! Kyra is pregnant!"

Kyra is our 17-year old, straight-A student / pro-gymnast little sister. Pregnant is something she won't be for years. But sure enough, Rhiannon called me about 2 hours later in a full-on PANIC. "OH MY GOD ELI I'M FREAKING OUT. ARE YOU SURE?! ARE YOU KIDDING?!"

I said calmly, "Of course I'm kidding. It's April Fools day!"

She said, just as calmly, "Eli, you asshole. I'm going." >click!<

Even Google got into it. Class act, that Google. Class. Act. The last of my (semi-)bad deeds was to call my Mom and tell her that I'd been laid off...again. She was obviously upset, and said, "oh no Eli! What are you going to do?" To which I replied, "Nothing, I'm kidding. April Fools!"

She also called me names and then hung up. Such is my awesome and loving family.

Family is something that's always meant a lot to me - I have 3 little sisters, dozens and dozens of first cousins, an awesome set of aunts & uncles and I'm lucky enough to still have both sets of grandparents alive, even if I don't see them very often. This all said, family has been something I've missed a ton out here - I mean, I live with my cousin Caitlin, and Rhiannon lives in Montreal, but one of the nicest things about being in Toronto has been getting to know Leah's uncle Sheldon. He's in his late 40s, sells high-end carpet in a high-end furniture store, lives with his two cats and is one of the nicest, honest and most gentle men I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. So, when he invited us over for Passover dinner, Leah and I jumped at the chance.

Even though I'm not much of a practicing Jew, it did feel really nice to go and stuff my face in the name of tradition and family - but its WHAT we stuffed our face with that is kinda...odd. Some context, perhaps? Sheldon doesn't like to cook, so the prospect of having a half-dozen people over for a Seder dinner provided an impetus to have a nice catered meal, the crowning feature of which was something I'd never had before, Squab. Sheldon told us it was a small game hen, and we'd get one each. It was delicious, moist and a very...fresh tasting meat, and so when Leah emailed me in a panic the next morning with this link, I almost ran to go puke it up.

Sorry, little guy. I didn't know you'd be so gross and delicious at the same time. As good as it was, never again.

I did manage to catch a fucking A MA ZING band this past week...Battles is signed to Warp, and contains members of Don Caballero, Helmet and the avant-garde genius of Tyondai Braxton. Basically, imagine Four Tet's music played by a band that listens to too much Animal Collective, and yet is SO FUCKING ROCK n ROLL, it's mindblowing. Check their myspace (link above) to check zee tunes.

I think that pretty much catches us up! Life is still good, busy as hell, but keeping afloat. How are all of you? COMMENT, DAGNABIT!

takecare.love,Eli.xoxo.

Welcome to the Gaybourhood

2007-03-31T13:02:00.000-07:00

I know it was a comment made in passing last time, but it's true - Leah and I bought a condo. But not a condo condo, more like a little slice of Toronto history, built in 1908, in the heart of the gay village, one of the best hoods in the city. Wanna see some pics? ok.

Hideous lime green kitchen. The door leads to a tiny (like 4 sq.ft) patio...

Sax not included.

Count the windows!

Huuuuuuuuuuuuggggeeeee!!!!

This pics of the bedroom are kinda blah, so I'll spare you those...BUT NICE HUH? I'm hella stoked. We take posession July 1st. It's old and colorful and full of character and 'good energy', as the current-soon-to-be-former owner told us. I think it'll suit our couple+cat life jes'perfect. It'll cut my commute to work in half, gives Leah a more direct route to her job, and puts us smack-dab in the middle of all the excitement of downtown. I'll miss my current house and roomie Caitlin dearly - it's been so nice to have family around and support when I need it, but growing up means moving ahead, and this is a step I'm happy and excited to take.

Things keep coming up Eli.

Oh Em Gee

2007-03-30T00:26:00.000-07:00

It has been WAY WAY WAY too long, friends! I've been SO busy! It's true!

Lets work backwards, shall we?

I got in late Sunday night from Edmonton, where I spent all weekend rocking the fuck out. I was mostly there for my Mom's 50th birthday, the party of which was a blast. Arriving on Thursday, I beelined to Da De O for amazin' cajun eats, and then straight to the Black Dog for pints. The power of smell never ceases to amaze - it's definitely the most underrated sense. River and I had a great talk about just that - memories can flood back, familiarities intact. It's a beautiful thing to smell a freshly poured Grasshopper and the smell of Black Dog's booze-soaked pub wood. Or the elevator at my old job. Or the (very surprisingly) unique smell of the Edmonton LRT. Scents contain love, bitterness, fondness, excitement...and I'm missing it.

Not overly though - it was amazing to see what (because it wasn't ALL) has changed - some people, some buildings, some parks...otherwise, home was left as I remembered it. I told Edmonton to stay rad, it did. Thanks to everyone who made the weekend what it was. The shaker at kHz on Friday was particularly amazing - solid tunes, sweaty dancing, excessive drinking and yelling at traffic. Y'know, fun. Mega extra special thanks to Greg and Cam for throwing said shindig.

I have lots more to report, but I'll give you this for now. I'm loving my new job, I just bought a condo (!!!!) with Leah tonight, I saw an incredible band last night, and I bought tickets to DAFT PUNK W/THE RAPTURE this morning.

OH, and Justice is playing tomorrow.

Life is good. Smile like you mean it.

the employment diaries: day 3

2007-03-14T05:40:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while. Things have been crazy, it's true. Unfortunately, this is going to be brief for now.

Thanks to BlogTO for the pic

I last time I left you was just over a week ago...since that time I've been working. YES, WORKING. Last weekend I was acting as the stage manager for Lee's Palace, during CMW. 21 bands in 3 nights. It was fucking exhausting to say the least. What kept me going was the thought that starting Monday, I had a brand new job to look forward to, as confirmed in a smokey hotel room the previous Friday. I know, it sounds sketchy, but far from it. I'm the new assistant to Rob Zifarelli at The Agency Group, a job which I didn't know I wanted until I was being interviewed for it. To get a job at an agency is a rare rare thing - in fact, in almost 8 years on being in the industry, I've know TWO people to become agents, and one didn't last longer than 6 months.

So the long of the short is that I'm happy as a clam, in a job that feels progressive and important and like my participation counts and is appreciated. Things with Leah have never been better, and aside from the asshole cat who keeps me up at night with her scratching at my carpet, things are hella swell. I'm going back to Edmonton next week for some reunion time with old friends, pints a'plenty and to shake shake shake it this way and that. Get ready, hometowners. I'm gonna rock you.

Silent majority for peace

2007-03-06T10:11:00.000-08:00

Despite their (and my own) best intentions, The Decemberists have finally won me over.

The last 3 minutes completely fucking rule.

I am beat the hell down. Remember the crazy weekend I told you about? Yeah, it was crazy, as expected. Tiga kicked my ass to the curb, SO4 brought the Edmo Repra to the kids here, and I forgot to mention that I got to see TV On The Radio on Sunday as well...they were somewhat underwhelming, if not a tad boring. Despite excellent musicianship, their presence didn't quite fit the Kool Haus vibe, and it came off as a little forced and exhausted. I forgot that Subtle opened, and I missed all but one of their songs - can't say I'm a fan of this project, though I *love* Dose One's early Anticon stuff, but the label too kinda took a dive when the opted for all the psychy-folkhop bizzarity like Themselves & Why?...it was never bad, just kinda...wack, as the kids say.

What's NOT wack is my man Rollie getting signed to a different Cali imprint all together, Anti. Check his new vid...Shout Out t-shirt, Rampage references...I'm loving it. Edmo Repra indeed.

I have a feeling that my unemployment situation is winding to a close, and thank god. I never knew boredom could be so paralysing. Things are finally, slowly, but surely, falling into place. I think the new few years of my life might be the best yet, if I keep my shit together and work hard at life. I hope I'm good at it.

Leah, in her infinite wisdom and awesomehood, sent me this tonight. How poignant.

Click image to zoom

I wanna hear how YOU'RE ALL DOING. COMMENTS, NOW!

ciao, friends.

ps: Two movies to see before you die - The US Vs. John Lennon, one of the best documentaries I've perhaps ever seen, and the new David Fincher film Zodiac. The latter is a complete kick to the gut, but the slow and painful kind which drags your emotions and fears in every direction. Brilliant suspense, perfect(?) ending...anyone else seen either of these?

Do they speak english in what?

2007-03-01T09:04:00.000-08:00

I read an interview with Samuel L. Jackson recently, and he said he makes movies, "cause (he's) got bills. And when they need to get paid, (he) goes to work". I love the nonchalance.

I wanna see it. The trailer makes me wonder if it's going to raise questions about misogyny in film. Have you ever seen In The Company of Men? Now that's a movie that hates. It's even in the top ten most misogynist movies ever...the time people take to make lists. sigh.

------

120 Days are a band I srsly cannot get enough of these days, and lucky for me they're playing this Saturday w/The Two Koreas and ma boyyees in Tha Shoutset.

It was so good to see some familiar faces when they came out last night to see TTC with me. No, the french rap group, not the transit system.

yeah, those guys. The show was IIILLLLL. The raps were guttural and mean-sounding, throaty and demanding - heavy booty beats spliced with deep bmore breakdown carried it along. Their DJ played out afterwards, and dropped insane 90s shit like Ace of Base, Technotronic (further proof that everything old becomes new again.) and that DJ Funk Remix of Justice that I love so much.

Chillin' tonight.
Tiga tomorrow.
Shoutset on Saturday.

I'm loving my Toronto life. Things keep coming up Eli.

snap snap

2007-02-23T12:26:00.000-08:00

I think I love takemorephotos.com because it makes me feel metropolitain or cosmopolitain or some kind of -politain, anyways.

I also think that CSS is amazing for covering 2 of my favorite riot grrl songs ever, Pretend That We're Dead, by the amazing and tragically underrated L7...and a reworking of "I wanna be your Joey Ramone"...well, I'll let you listen and figure it out.

Of course, Pitchfork gets the cred...actualy, by extension the bro-tisseries over at Gorilla Vs. Bear are the ones responsible for diggin' up these gems.

I dont have much to say today...next week is lining up nicely - a couple of interviews, a few 'chats'...some opportunities, me thinks.

Before you go, sneak on over to Leah's corner of the world and read her latest work. Totally awesome.

Have a nice weekend friends!

Trouble breathing

2007-02-21T07:29:00.000-08:00

The birth of techno has a place, and it is right here:

Detroit, 1982. The public debut of "Sharevari", by Number of Names.

I posted this because I was thinking about this song last weekend when I went to a real techno party for the first time in forever...now, please don't mistake what I'm saying. By 'techno', I mean techno. Hard, relentless, 150+ BPM, slamming, agressive, thrashy, acid-soaked techno, as delivered by one of the oldest and most respected DJs in the genre, Julian Liberator (yes, the same Liberator as Chris and Aaron). Not one drop of electro, ghettotech/booty, hip hop, mashups...which is all I seem to go out dancing to these days.

Unfortunately, going out only proved again that Torontonians only sometimes actually KNOW how to dance...oh well. I should stick to things requiring a whole lotta standing around. I recently picked up tix to SO many shows in the next few weeks...Do Make Say Think, Electrelane w/ The Blow (which is, perhaps, the best lineup in Toronto so far...stunning.), Dean & Britta (of Luna) and to cap it all off...more dancing, with JUSTICE, sebAstien & Busy P! I'm sooooo excited about that last one - I distinctly remember trucking around Brooklyn with Shout Out Out Out Out last November, desperately seeking the venue they were playing with Digitalism & Whitey...to no avail. We ALL HAD TICKETS, TOO!

Now it'll be go time. Those dudes (Justice, that is) are set to blow the fuck up in 2007.

One last thing before I go...

Zachary Rossman is amazing.

That is all.

Ciao, friends.

ps: please don't ask 'how the job hunt is going', because the answer is: it goes.

Day 9: the Valentine edition

2007-02-14T13:25:00.000-08:00

Hey lovers*! This one's for you...

*=self-love is love too!

I srsly fuckin LOVE Matt & Kim! (Myspace). They remind me of Team Boo-era Mates of State, but punkier. Hey Toronto! Matt & Kim are at The Mod Club on May 4th with Meligrove Band and the mighty mighty JAPANTHER, who I've raved about in the past. Their disc Master of Pigeons, on Menlo Park is amazing...they have much newer work though on their myspace.

Punk rock is so much more than music though...it's PHOTOS (Courtesy of my man Jon B!), and WRITING (attn: Banksy fans, read this.) and...well, I'd say that love is pretty punk rock in itself.

Dontcha think?

I spent last weekend in Ottawa with Leah, which was fun if not a bit dull on the city-life part. It's kind of a dead scene, to be honest. Good thing I had such rad company. We went to the Museum of Civilization, across the river in Hull, Quebec one afternoon, which was totally fascinating. We saw 700-year old totem poles and ancient glass vases - amazing.

They also happen to have The Canadian Postal Museum, which leads me to a funny/embarrassing story...we came across a mail-themed karaoke booth which only had two songs we both knew, Signed, Sealed, Delivered by Stevie Wonder and Return to Sender, by Elvis...so we put our headphones and started belting it out, laughing at the sound of our horrible singing in our ears for about 10 minutes, and that's when we noticed the camera. We stepped out of the booth and there was about 30 people WATCHING US on a BIG TV outside of the booth which had projected our performance through the museum. Leah had a mini-humiliation attack and we giggled HARD as ran out of there, quickly.

It made for a fun day on a fun trip with a fun girl. Her blog is linked over to the right...go show her some love while she's trapped in a dorm.

Stay warm, kittens!

ps:

Juanma Grillo is the new pink.

the unemployment diaries: day three/four

2007-02-07T10:48:00.000-08:00

Day 3, 2:45pm:

MSN'd 'til 4 AM.
Slept 'til noon.
Ate some mini wheats.
Discovered this:

Whoah.

Though hardly as 'whoah' as finding ANAL BEADS (WARNING: link NSFW) at GOODWILL this morning. Richard and I freaked out, took a (soon to be posted) picture and left, nay, FLED.

CUZ SRSLY WHO WOULD DO TAKE ANAL BEADS TO A USED STORE?

------
LOST is back. I'm stoked.

For the fans only...check this piece of genius.

I'm kinda saddened that I've become a person that gets excited to watch TV. That reminds me, I have some Six Feet Under to catch up on...

--------

Day 4, 7:28 pm

It's been a good day. I woke up not abnormally early...for a Saturday, on a Thursday and one by one knocked the fuck down a list of errands needing a whoopin. Car:fixed. Treadmill: demolished. Closure with my old job: satisfied.

But I still don't have a job. I found out yesterday that a job I had excitedly applied for went to an insider. So it goes.

I'm off to Ottawa for the weekend, leaving tomorrow. Gonna visit the lady...she's there for a course. It's leaving me secretly jealous of her short reminder of what it's like be in school. I've been left to ponder the 'what ifs...' of life lately, and I'd be lying to say I haven't thought about going back to school. The process is daunting. So it goes.

I don't care what anybody says, I really love Youth Group.

On the other hand, I also really love Hiretsukan.

Oh crap, I'm also totally into dance music too.

Fuckin' JUNOS!

Give then all a shot, let me know what you decide.

The unemployment diaries: day one

2007-02-05T10:30:00.000-08:00

Being unemployed is reminding me of Odd Todd. Anyone remember him? Click that shit, it's funny.

Also funny and amazing and creative and total gold: ADVENTURE TIME!

mucho thanks to the also awesome threedeeglasses for the knowledge.

I have some questions for you, dear readers...

Have you ever used a job site to FIND work?
Have you ever posted your resume on a job site? If so, were there any results?

I've been all over monster and workopolis and findmeafuckingjobPULEEZE.orgcomnet and I'm not convinced it works. Tell me it does.

Day one. Expect more blogs. Bloggerfall. Blognado. Blogicane. it's gonna be a loooong week.

oh, and music.

Starting with Icarus. I first discovered these guys back in 1998 when I was travelling in Europe, and picked up their 12" "Kamikaze", which was more on the drum n bass/breakcore tip...they mellowed with age, apparently, as their sound now is much more on the broken beat/glitch end of things...delicious, indeed.

Check these two songs from their amazing 2004 record on The Leaf Label, "I Tweet The Birdy Electric".

Essen
&
Gnog.
Enjoy.

You turn 25, yr all outta escapes!

2007-01-31T07:39:00.000-08:00

I have a hoodie that has an all-over print of a puzzle. The pieces interlock over my back, down my arms and over my head. When I wear it, I sometimes feel metaphoric, enveloped in a delicate framework of assembled bits that fit into each other, completing a larger picture.

The larger picture is my life. The pieces are what makes it up. Suddenly they don't seem to fit as well as they used to. Friday will mark my last day of employment at Six Shooter. I know, it seems crazy that I'd move all the way out here, uprooting both Leah and I's life, to work for 4 months and then have it end. It's not my fault, nor theirs. Sometimes circumstance is the boss.

So I have options. Plenty of them. I could travel, work, play, sleep, hang out naked all day, work out till I bleed, anything. Douglas Coupland talks about 'option paralysis', that when faced with a myriad of choice, one loses control of being able to choose fairly and objectively. (Whether objectivity even exists is another question, but I'll leave that up the post-structuralists)

There's a new LCD Soundsystem disc out on March 20 called "Sound of Silver". I got my grubby little hands on an advance copy, and I'll just say this: it's bloody amazing. I'll post a full review once it's released, so it's all...proper and fair-like, but the title of this post is a quote from a song called "Watch the Tapes"...another track, "All My Friends" is stepping into the pantheons of "the best songs ever written"...for reals. There's new music on zee myspace. Check it. Brooklyn Vegan has some neat shots of the video shoot. Check that too.

I'll get my busy mind outta your face for a while. I have a whole week off to do a whole lotta nothing next week. I'll blog your fucking face off.

I'm going to leave you with something that popped up on my iPod this week as I was walking home in a blizzard, traffic whizzing by me and the moon burning a bright light against the street. It was all glittery and warm, like the song Moon, by Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto, from their stunning album "Insen" (emusic). I dunno why it's in m4a format, but you non-iTunes kids will just have to deal. Sorry. Have a good weekend.

Straight out tha trunk

2007-01-24T09:19:00.000-08:00

The EP is an interesting format. Between releases, it's a teaser, leading fans along an audible path of the attention span of the artist. As a debut, it's but a taste, or a test. Like perfume samples in a magazine, though it would be hard to rub an mp3 all over your neck. Give it a shot anyways.

Music crush of the week #1: Lavender Diamond.

First, the music. You Broke My Heart (mp3), from The Cavalry of Light EP, out on Matador.

Becky Stark sings with an earnestness that comes from the depths of sadness, the ecstasy of love and the joy of knowing that life is there for the living. Her band holds her on high, sweetly supporting her lilts and wavers. Steady and plodding, the track builds like a growing parade - quiet and introductory followed by little chimes and hi-hats. A piano shares the rhythm with the percussion, giving it shape and health. This is the kind of song that gets stuck, nay, glued to your head for days. Keep an eye on these guys. They've just been signed to Rough Trade UK, and are set to support Colbert foes The Decemberists on their upcoming UK tour.

------

Music crush of the week #2: Beirut - the new, digital-only EP Lon Gisland. (emusic)(Insound).

The song is called Elephant Gun (mp3), and it serves as an appropriate introduction to the follow-up to the first record, Gulag Orkestar. It's big and brassy and eastern and loud and bombastic and GREAT. Lots has been said of Zach Condon and his ~~stealing~~ adopting of Balkan music for modern pop tropes, so I won't dive into it here. Not everyone loves it; the idea, that is.

"Musical Tourism" isn't new though. Look at the popularity of African sounds in some of the best-selling records of the 80s:

It's true what they say, "everything old becomes new again".
THEY are sure wise, aren't THEY?

--------

Disco D is dead.

Sad but true.

Read about it. Booty.de has a nice tribute. So does Pitchfork.

I'd only recently pieced together his massive contribution to the Ghettotech genre (including possibly NAMING the damn thing), so I'm especially saddened by such a loss. It's one thing to be a contributor, but as a leader, an innovator - it's shocking and disturbing.

You may be more familiar with him that you might think.

Fiddy was all over him before anyone.

But I think Sesame Street got him first. Or he got them. I can't tell.

Enjoy the tunes, friends.
Maybe this Disco D thing is making me worry too much, but if you know someone who you worry about, make the call; you might save their life.

Like a ray gun to the head

2007-01-18T09:18:00.000-08:00

Lets start at the top.

Last Sunday I shook off my two-day hangover long enough to go to Wavelength, a weekly night at Sneaky Dee's featuring various up-and-coming acts that few people have heard of - in fact, some of the first shows by Broken Social Scene & Peaches were performed at Wavelength. I was there to check out two bands I'd heard steady buzz about - Tyvek, from Detroit and an intricately-titled band from NYC called ca-USE co-MOTION. Opening was a member of Montreal weirdos Think About Life!, in a project called Miracle Fortress.

Tyvek were great! They were all jangly and raw and reminded me a bit of Metamatics (no, not THAT Metamatics, the one on Troubleman.) I dug up some Tyvek doing their 'hit' song "Honda". Peep dis!

ca-USE co-MOTION were also dope, though a little underwhelming after the ass-walloping of Tyvek. At least they knew how to rock AND roll. Check their track "Baby, Don't Do It!" from a S/T 7" EP on What's Your Rupture? Records. FUN!

I've spent the week doing a lot of thinking. About friends, the future, what I'm doing here, where it might take me. Things are feeling...unsteady at the very moment, but not in a bad way - just...up in the air, shall we say.

That said, I'm still totally crushing on Toronto - and thinking lots about that too. I've been meaning to put together a list of things I've noticed about Toronto and moreover, Torontonians, since I've moved here. Here goes, in no order:

1. Torontonians litter.
It's true, don't lie. They litter ALL the time, everywhere. And not just like, gum or cigarette butts, but McDonalds bags of styrofoam, cardboard boxes, whatever! And strangely enough, the city remains clean as a whistle...which perhaps explains why people don't care about dropping a thing or two on the ground. Within an hour or two a street cleaner will zip by and clean it up. It's true! They ride these vacuums on wheels like a rider tractor; its so futuristic! Even the mayor helps out!

There are those standing up though.
Check Bigass Superstar's funny story about litterers vs. citizens to see what I mean.

2. Torontonians love to stand in line.
Everywhere! They line up to get ON the bus, OFF the bus, at the bank, in restaurants, outside of clubs, everywhere. It's a totally acceptable circumstance of being SO GADDAM 'URBAN', and people never whine or get fed up about it. It's odd!

3. Torontonians are hot.
I don't know if it's the water or the air or the once-a-week-sushi, but Torontonians are a bunch of HOT people. Seriously, I don't think I've been to a better looking city. I know that people rave about Paris and Montreal and Berlin and Barcelona as having a good looking population, and they may have, but I think it's Toronto's internationalism that has the rest of the world beat.

4. Torontonians smoke.
This is somewhat related to littering, but I sometimes think that there are more smokers than not in this place...everyone smokes, even just a bit. If you're saying "not me", you're probably lying to yourself. Seek help.

5. Torontonians have things you don't.
Like peameal bacon. Corner stores on EVERY corner that all have sign outside that says "Milk - Eggs - Sundries". WTF are sundries? Apparently Torontonians know, and you don't.

They also have BRUNCH, not breakfast.

And you can't buy booze in a store later than 9 PM, unless you look REALLY hard, and then it's only till 11 PM at the very latest.

And they drive stupidly fast, all the time.

And they drink, a lot.

They also tend to appreciate 'the little guy' when it comes to Starbucks VS. Steve's Espresso Stand...there are much fewer franchise locations here than I expected to see, which is nice.

Its been interesting seeing Toronto through western eyes. My cousin and roomie Caitlin is also from Edmonton and has lived here for almost four years, and laughs when I talk about these little differences because she saw them too when she moved eastwards...which makes me think of the ideas I had about Ontario culture before I came out here myself. As an Albertan, we're highly conscious of the "BC Ethic" that exists to the west, where hippies hug trees and people vote left, and to think that in EACH PROVINCE (and by extension, state - hello neighbors!) has its OWN set of words and practices and habitus is kind of mind-boggling.

Just like that.
Before I go, I'll leave you with something that rocked my ears all morning, first during my run (RUNNERS! GET THIS! SRSLY!) and then on my way to work (COMMUTERS! GET THIS! SRSLY!). A two-hour mix from Optimo, Glasgow's finest and perhaps the BEST WORKING DJs TODAY. Yep, I said it. The best. The tracklist for this bad boy is right here. Dig it, and take care. I'll do my best to do the same.

ps: Michelle over at Inter-Office Dance Party is the toughest girl on earth. Click to see why.

wha hah-pen?

2007-01-09T13:55:00.000-08:00

Whoah, how did 9 days disappear? It seems as though we're well into our new year. Neat!

I've heard that many people's New Years parties/happenings were disappointing. Sorry to hear that, friends!

Mine was fucking awesome. Starting off with some deelish eats at Wish with our best boyfriends Keith & Richard, Leah and I headed off to The Social to see Diplo. Wow wow wow wow wow. He was incredible. The bomb of the night: a Scotty B & King Tut remix of Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al". It was stunning to hear that synth line blast through the room and have every person born in the 80s cheer with recognition. He even dropped out the chorus so we all could sing along. What a showman; he dropped Windowlicker, Percolator,and SOOOO much baile funk. It was awe-inspiring, really. We shook it steady till 3 AM then meandered (as we tend to when incapacitated) to an after party simply called "NYE! FUCK YEAH!"(Flyer), where the Dip-meister was to make an appearance on the decks around 6 AM. We waited it out in the parking lot to try to get in, but to no avail. No biggie - we ended up meeting some colorful characters, and some NEW FRIENDS! This was maybe the best part of the evening...being outside, sweaty but warm in the cool air, chatting with strangers about their nights. It reminded me of being a 16-year old raver, doing exactly the same thing...and here I was 10 years later.

Some things never change.

In fact, maybe that'll be a theme for early 2007. The year change becomes...repetitive.

Like...I'm running again. The last time I ran with any level of regularity was when I was 12. Or...uh...there's NO WINTER HERE. Or at least no snow, and the last time that happened was 1986 when I was in Mexico!!

See! See?

Ok, I'm grasping at straws. Fine.

----

I'm reading Leonard Cohen's "The Favorite Game" right now. What an amazing book. Back when I was much more 'up' on my literature, I would marvel at some writers ability to load SO much emotion such few words. My friend Laura used to say of poetry, "Minimum words, maximum impact." She's right. This is the first line in the book:

Breavman knows a girl named Shell whose ears were pierced so she could wear the long filigree earrings.

Of course, context counts - but it's this kind of language that HOOKS you from the get-go, making you itch for more. I like that I'm reading fiction again - it seems like University, with it's big ol'textbooks and mandatory-reading lists turned me off of THE NOVEL, for some reason...whatever it was, it wasn't good enough. I'm back at it, and loving it.

---
Speaking of games (kinda)...Leah bought me the game of Go for Hannukah, and we finally cracked it open the other night. First off, the game is ancient - like, maybe the first real GAME that still exists today. Second, they say that no two games of Go have ever been alike - that every game is completely unique in its opening and closing, and games have been known to continue for days, weeks even. It took us a while to get it rolling, but the game seems like a cross between checkers, chess, backgammon and Risk, where board space is land, and your pieces are guardians, protecting it. I like that idea.

I hope this finds you warm and happy, friends-o-mine.

Oh geez, I almost forgot. Edmonton - I'm coming for a visit. April 5. Get ready.

g'night sweetheart, it's time to go (ba-dum, ba-dum)

2006-12-31T12:16:00.000-08:00

One last image of 2006. The year containing the biggest change of my life so far. Moving to Toronto was something I wouldn't have believed myself doing this time a year ago. the heaters in my 90-year old house have conked out. I'm wearing 2 pairs of socks, long underwear, three top layers, scarf and toque, under a blanket in front of the fireplace, where a firelog is burning blue.

This year has been a little crazy, but amazing and fun and sad and happy and thoughtful and daring at the same time. Allow me some sap for a sec. I spent 2006 relearning what it means to fall in love, to trust someone explicitly, and to take great leaps into the dark with that someone. Her name is Leah, and she rocks my world. Check her blog and show her some love.

It was her birthday a couple of days ago, and we drove to Montreal for it, which was nice... (and drunken and mischevious and still somewhat just a little bit disappointing, somehow.) but brief.

Whatever trouble you get up to tonight, let it be safe, controlled, yet complete recklessness.

MUCH Love.

holla/daze

2006-12-22T08:33:00.000-08:00

I have been away from Alberta for 75 days, today.

What feels like no time at all has in fact been almost 11 weeks - starting at a point where I wouldn't have thought that the holidays were just around the corner. This has always been a bit of an odd time of year for me; being Jewish always kind of complicates things, having to explain over and over that I don't celebrate Christmas, but rather Hannukah, and furthermore, I prefer to celebrate THE HOLIDAYS, which is what this is, no?

This need to explain has led to a series of funny conversations, one of which went like this:

Context: Leah's staff xmas party. Not many people knew that she's Jewish too.

Wife of Leah's co-worker: "So, I heard you say that you don't celebrate Christmas...what's your ethnic background?"

Me: "Um, Polish? Scottish?"

Leah, better understanding what she means: "Oh, we're Jewish."

Wife: "OH, YOU'RE JEWISH?! WOW! Oh, WOW! How..how...INTERESTING. So, you believe in Jesus though still, right?"

Leah: "Um, not in the Christian sense, no."

Me: "Most Jews think he DID exist, we just don't believe he was the son of God."

Wife: "Oh...so if you don't believe in Jesus, who's your God?"

Me & Leah: "Uhm...God?"

----
Tonight I leave this bustling megalopolis for a slice of cozy rural life in Canmore (pictured above), where my parents have a house. I'm soooo excited. Mostly to spend some quality fam time, but also to breathe Alberta air again, to feel the crunch of snow under my feet. To see friends, who are driving all the way down for a visit. To drink and be merry. For years I resented all the cheer and hyperconsumerist mish-mash that seemed inseperable from this 'season', but I realize now in my old(er) age (cough*cough) that I was mostly just bitter about not feeling INCLUDED in the focus of it all...but now I just think, "meh, who cares?" - it's everyone's season.

I'm happier just thinking that everyone else around me is enjoying their own lives and families and presents and meals. (Which, by my own admission is totally fucking Bourgeoisie of me to celebrate. Ick.)

The point I'm not quite making is that...if you have reason to celebrate, perhaps consider those that don't, or can't by reasons out of their control.
Think about it, Edmonton.
Don't forget the Children.
Hey, Canada. Clicky clicky.

Do the right thing.

If you want something more personal...a hero of mine, J. Robbins of the bands Jawbox, Channels and Burning Airlines is having problems of his own, and could use your help. This is where my holiday donation bucks are going. To this lil'guy:

Dag. So cute.

No matter who you are and where you live - take care of you and yours this holiday season, and throughout the year to come. I likely won't blog again until 2007, so have a SAFE and HAPPY next couple o'weeks. I'll be back after travels east and west, to moutains and Montreal and back to see Diplo on NYE. Stoked? Yes, I sure am, thanks for asking.

Peace, friends.

the lion for real

2006-12-18T13:47:00.000-08:00

In the UK they call it "Mobile Clubbing".

In fact, here's Liverpool Station in London, being...well, clubbbed upon:

The idea is that a group of people pick a location, and a time - they spread that word. Just BEFORE that time, a few hundred (or, in the case above, 2000) people show up, all with MP3/CD players of their choice, and at the same time, everyone presses 'play'.

Some shade of mayhem tends to ensue. In the case of Toronto, at 9:09 PM exactly, last Friday, it was about 200 enthusiastic dancers who crowded one end of Union Station and shimmied and shook to their own rhythms. It looked like this:

I really enjoyed being involved involved in some random bit of spatial/visual anarchy - the looks on people's faces who just stumbled across our little impromptu dance party were so...bemused. I loved it. The previous weekend Leah and I had participated in another bit of harmless troublemaking, but she tells it best, so I'll leave that to her. Both events were hosted by Newmindspace, who describe their activities quite simply: Newmindspace is interactive public art, creative cultural interventions and urban bliss dissemination based in New York and Toronto.Peep it.

I think I've talked about my on-again-off-again love affair with cities; that in a big enough population, there is an appeal in anonymity, in disappearing among the masses. On the other hand, standing WAY out of line and embracing your free self is an accepting of your environment (and the judgements within) as superfluous at best. Like dancing in public, or listening to music WAY too loud on your headphones on the streetcar at rush hour.

It makes clear(er) what Fluxus was trying to discuss. Or the the Situationists. That cities, in their rigidity and planning, are inherently organic in their growth and 'nature'. That it's up to the people to create the (lower-case c) city within the (capital-C) City. Y'know, the whole 'breathing life into it' thing.

And so we dance, and throw lights at streetcars, and have parties on the subway.

The City made us do it.

Ginsberg knew what was up.

I'm loving my Toronto life. It hasn't been colder than -10 so far this year, and that was for a day. It was 10 degrees today, even warmer on the weekend. This is December. I don't know whether or not to be thrilled or scared. I think Al Gore might be right.

So, until the near-apocalypse comes closer, I'm making the best of my time. I'm running, believe it or not. Not jogging - that's for losers. Running. Feeling sore legs get sorer. Sweating and breathing in perfect syncopation with the sound of your falling feet. The challenge. I'm eating it up, and I can't explain why, suddenly, now it matters. Maybe I shouldn't seek to.

It's Hanukkah right now, but that OTHER gift-giving thingy is next week. I hope you all get fat on holiday love.

Lechaim.

bring yr harmonica, call yr friend monica...

2006-12-15T08:58:00.000-08:00

...'cuz mothafuckas, it's Hannukah.

Happy Holidays, Goys and not.

The top 30, part two.

2006-12-13T12:57:00.000-08:00

Before I dig into the second half of my list - allow me to respond to some...responses to my first. Why didn't Clipse make it? Because I haven't heard the record, nor have I tried to. What I did hear was derivative and boring, so I didn't make the effort. C'est la vie. I do acknowledge that there is a serious lack of hip-hop on my list, but I also don't feel like there were many UBER-quality releases this year - Dabrye's follow-up Two-Three was too MC-heavy, DJ Shadow's The Outsider tried too hard to be too many things all at once. Quantic is on there. Hu Vibrational is a hip-hop project...kinda. Deal with it. This all said, here's the rest of the best - the pop/rock/punk/metal/dub/what-have-you section...enjoy.

15. Professor Murder - Professor Murder Rides The Subway - Canine Records
My friend Greg likes to say, "there is much to said for brevity", which IS funny - but here on this record, it's real. Yes, it's an EP, but I think I also mean brevity of ideas, brevity of...daringness. This is dancey dub-rock, leaning heavily on the NY post-punk klingklang (not unlike The Jai-Alai Savant or even early Police) with a hip hop attitude that's unbeatable. "The Mountain" might be my favorite track on the disc...it's got that soaring reggae melodica over their cowbell-driven hot hot pop shuffle. Sure, the effort might be, well, brief, but it's taste of more awesome to come.

14. Chad VanGaalen - Skelliconnection - Flemish Eye/Sub Pop
Oh Chad, yr so fucking weird sometimes. You lure us in with your charming falsettos and spaced out, glitch heavy oddities...then slap us around with three-chord powerpop ear-fucks about riding bikes into the lake and telling on-stage (and off-color) jokes about the legendary 'hobo dildo' (frozen poop in a condom. gross, dude). I wonder if people watching Andy Kaufman for the first time thought what people do when they watch Chad play- like they're witnessing a slice of uncomfortable, ill-fitting genius. I wonder.

13. Fucked Up - Hidden World - Jade Tree
Punk's not dead, it just moved to Toronto. And not just the sound, but it brought its old forgotten friends, LYRICS THAT MATTER and COOL NAMES FOR YOURSELVES; Vocals by Pink Eyes. Guitars by 10,000 Marbles and Concentration Camp. Bass by Mustard Gas. Drums by Mr. Jo. How fucking cool is that? This is the best punk album of the last 5 years, hands down. The comparisons to Black Flag come just a little too easily, so I'd prefer to think of it in terms of what they are NOT: cheesy, fake, stupid, untalented, shouty. This band will matter MUCH more than they already do. Pay attention.

12. Califone - Roots & Crowns - Thrill Jockey
I had nearly forgotten about Califone. They were one of those bands that fights for your attention as a campus radio DJ (as I was for almost 10 years), consistently putting out solid releases, but this one perhaps takes the cake. Moody, densely produced but not hiding anything persay, Roots & Crowns is really a showcase for the SONG part of music - y'know, the kind with intros, outros, choruses and proper bridges. Makeout music, perhaps. Considering that this is only their second non-instrumental record, the vocals come through in hushed, yet confident tones - warm, trustable, kind. It's a winner, all around.

11. Brightblack Morning Light - Brightblack Morning Light - Matador
This album is like the all-time best-of soundtrack to every massive bong hit, ever. Slow, tripped-out echo bass, spooky whispered vocals and long, winding progressive guitar harmonies breathe life (and little spots of death) all over this brilliant, colorful record. Nathan Shineywater and Rachael Hughes live in tents in Northern California, which seems overly appropriate for music that sounds like it was made by the kind of people who chain themselves to trees. And take acid. And *feel* the colors, maaaaan.

10. Our Mercury - From Below - Smallman Records
I was lucky enough to get demos of this record before it was mastered, and I knew then that the O.M. boys had unlocked a crate of gold. Never before has punk rock sounded so HONEST, so SOULFUL, so eager to sex you up...it's drenched in organs, and bleeding the catchiest riffs this side of U2's Boy; the relentlessly precise drumming and the bass...ooh, that bass. It sinks into your skin and shakes you right to your toes. Twitch twitch boogie boogie.

9. Erase Errata - Night Life - Kill Rock Stars
Speaking of twitch n' boogie, Erase Errata dropped THE best dancerock album of the year. It's for the kind of dancing best done drunk. The bass is thicker, the voice more confident; Jenny shouts, plays trumpet, shouts some more - "they've got a law in the desert/they've got a law t'protek yo'children! I love it. I wish The Rapture put out a just-as-good third record...but they didn't. San Fran rules, New York.

Eat it.

8. Destroyer - Rubies - Merge
7. M. Ward - Post-War - Merge
These records are un-fucking-real. I chose to group them because they are both the evidence of two great songwriters at a peak of their own creative genius. Dan Bejar's longtime solo project just gets better and better, sacrificing nothing for accessibility, which is what makes this so appealing - it speaks to your senses about what YOU like to hear...Ted Bois shines on the keys all over the disc, giving a jazzy backing shuffle to Bejar's awkwardly-toned phrasing. Whatever fans he lost in releasing the bizarre, synth-heavy Your Blues, he's won back with Rubies' priceless pop gems, huge orchestrations and cynical-slash- romantic lyricism: "I couldn't stand a chance/ I couldn't stand at all/ You looked OK with the other"

Releasing the best album of his still-short and promising career, M(att) Ward has assembled one of the finest bands in the country, who play so loosely and naturally they sound...gifted. Fronting it with a throaty falsetto, he spins questions and answers about the countryside, the government, family and what it means to be American in this millennium. He is already an important artist, but I have a feeling M. Ward is en route to 'legend songwriter' status'. It's almost now a certainty, since Bruce Springsteen and R.E.M. have both requested his support on recent tours. I got a chance to see him play a mesmerizing solo set in Calgary over the summer, and if his talents aren't enough, it turns out that he's a really really nice dude. Vote Bejar/Ward in '08!

6. Mates of State - Bring it Back - Barsuk
1 cup keyboards.
3 heaping tablespoons drums.
1/2 cup harmonies to make your heart melt.
Bake at 325 for 10 minutes.
I've spent too long in other blogs yakking about how Mates of State have written what is perhaps the recipe for a perfect pop record. Production-wise, this release is miles ahead of where they were in the chaotic, treble-heavy Team Boo days; fuller sounds, choice uses of stereo and gorgeous Queen-style harmony layers of voice on voice all contribute to the overall...flavor of the disc. And it doesn't need salt.

5. Converge - No Heroes - Epitaph
A stark contrast from most other releases on this list, Converge's SIXTH full-length shows them at the very top of their metal game. I really do contend that Ben Koller is one of the best drummers in modern music - the guy is just so...sharp. What could have been a more 'natural' progression into more hard, fast chug-heavy hardcore, the band has a wee flash of revisionism, and starts to sound a bit like...themselves, 10 years ago. Still malevolent and brutal as always, Jacob Bannon howls pure poetry on the stunning opener "Heartache": "Every word that you pray makes another slave/ every idol that you build brings another plague/ every cross that you bear grows another grave" Whoah. Chilling.

4. Yo La Tengo - I am not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass - Matador
How fitting that Yo La Tengo's violently-titled music sounds nothing like Converge. Ira Kaplan & Crew join the many on this list who have made the best albums of their careers (so far) with a disc that hits it's stride on "Mr Tough" and keeps rolling. From the first, 11-minute opus to the last string strummed, Yo La Tengo charms us nearly to death on this near-perfect album. After 26 years as band seeking the inner paradigms of pop music (and The Velvet Underground, for that matter), at the end of the day they make music that will make you seek out something warm to drink and someone cuddle with.

3. TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain - 4AD
I can't say anything here that hasn't been said on a billion other blogs. Indie rock has rediscovered its' soul, praise jebus.

2. Pink Mountaintops - Axis of Evol - Jagjaguar
Also chock full o'soul was this sophmore release from Vancouver's gospel-choir-on-acid, led by the devastatingly talented Stephen McBean. Spooky diatribes about sex, drugs and uh, sex are strung together through a mish-mash of whisky-soaked Americana, Miami booty bass and psychedelic rock. A short album overall, it packs a punch while getting you all hot n'bothered. Nothing wrong with that, now is there?

1. The Golden Dogs - Big Eye Little Eye - True North
I had never heard of this band two months ago, and somehow they've captured my mind and my heart and my feet and my ears, holding them all hostage to their completely addictive and ridiculously catchy pop n' rock n ' roll. Check "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five", perhaps the standout track on the disc, with it's spiraling psychedelia and gorgeous harmonies, shouting with earnestness that almost makes your heart sing. There is a true craft to constructing the perfect pop song, and The Golden Dogs have an album brimming with effort towards that very end. On one hand, their exuberance reminds me of early Supergrass, but with an honesty that's 100% Canadian. Lets all raise our glass to unexpected brillance.

Honorable mentions:
-Sonic Youth: Rather Ripped
-Belle & Sebastien: The Life Pursuit
-Islands: Return to the Sea
-Justin Rutledge: The Devil on a Bench in Stanley Park
-Andre Ethier: Pickles & Price
-From Fiction: Bloodwork

And that's that. What I've heard from the first sneak peeks of 2007 are stunners in their own right. Run, don't walk to buy the new Of Montreal, LCD Soundsystem & Bloc Party (when they come out). All are sure to make you love your fuckin' life.

The top 30, part one.

2006-12-06T16:20:00.000-08:00

I tried, I really did, to cram this into a top 10. It just didn't happen. As I did last year, I've broken this into electronic and pop/rock/heavy/whatever. I'll work on the latter soon. This took me a week to assemble and write, so you better enjoy it, dammit.

15. Ratatat - Classics - XL
"Montanita" sweeps into your ears like a twang-heavy Hawaiian cowboy troupe, organs and accordians at a slow n' steady boil. It's a kind and romantic sound, setting the stage for steady funk-hop, guitars squealing in harmony, in reverse. The addictive pop shuffle of "Wildcat" is what sealed this one for me. Another genius album from well, geniuses. Who knew?

14. Girl Talk - Night Ripper - Illegal Art
When I was in New York for CMJ, I had coffee with the publicist for Girl Talk AKA Gregg Gillis, and he told me just how he does it. Dude wrote a PROGRAM that, for every song picked, produces 3 or 4 tracks that his computer 'knows' will jam the fuck out. That blows my mind. Sure, it's like DJing-by-numbers, but who plays the Pixies AND Clipse? Gillis and ONLY Gillis. This record made me smile the most in 2006, easy.

13. Quantic - An Announcement to an Answer - Tru Thoughts/Ubiquity
Chinese strings. Dirty trumpets. Crooners. Divas. Perhaps the most soul a white guy has ever poured onto wax, save perhaps Jamie Lidell. I love how there's no masking Will Holland's influences in a year where people seemed desperate to obscure them. He loves, in this order: the world...women...late-90s hip-hop-heavy jazz breaks. Funk strings bleed all over the dancefloor in "Meet me at the Pomegranete Tree"; it's like a broken beat wet dream. This could be the best record Herbaliser and Up, Bustle & Out never got to make...or had the balls to.

12. Herbert - Scale - !K7
Pardon my french, but this is music for fucking. Seriously, there isn't a sexier album this entire year. Dani Siciliano is back on the vocals, hotting you out with every word that leaves her lips...in fact, I've heard this record called a "true weapon of mass seduction". On the subject of weaponry, Herbert's own politics are front and centre: "I just don't know how to bring about/your downfall, damn fool go figure out/how those christian bones can orchestrate/shock and awe", Sicilliano coos. This is the thinking person's audiophilia, get it while it's hot.

11. Copy - Mobius Beard - Audio Dregs
Among the most abused terms of 2006: Emo. I won't get into my age-old defense of the word, of the genre that started when Panic!At The BlahBlah was still in diapers...but I'll say that the word has loaned itself well to an emerging, lets say, sensitivity, in music this year, especially in electronic music. Copy seems to embody that very sensitivity - this is thoughtful, dense, driving tech-house with a songwriters' touch - bridges, choruses, hooks (OMG A HOOK IN A TECHNO SONG WHATWHAT). This disc hooked me from the first listen, and kept me rockin' all summer and fall. A must-have of 2006.

10. MSTRKRFT - The Looks - Last Gang
So it's NOT all hype after all. On one hand, I could gush about the sheer quality of the production on this, the gorgeous Seripop album art, but what this comes down to is dancing. Clap, sing, shout, boogie, shuffle bob, weave - do whatcha gotta, but you cannot sit still listening to this record. On the other hand, I've seen them live now...4 times in '06, and its, well, boring. C'est la vie.

9. Hu Vibrational - Boonghee Music 2: Universal Mother - Soul Jazz
If there are two things I'm a sucker for, it's album art and Soul Jazz Records. This one caught my eye when I was in NYC, but I didn't pick it up until I was back in Toronto. What a fascinating album. It has one leg firmly planted in the NYC hippy jam world, the other deep in the Konono N°1 camp, playing really rudimentary instruments, live off the floor, while digging deep into the 'vibes of the tribe' (a'la Phil Ranelin) sound of steady rumbles and shoulder-bouncing tranced-out rhythms heard noplace else than in African music.

8. Burnt Friedman & Jaki Liebezeit - Secret Rhythms vol.2 - Nonplace
I was first attracted to the idea of this pairing. I've been a fan of B.Friedman's epic pop soundscapes for a while now, and was curious to see what he and Liebezeit (formerly the drummer for uber-influentialCan) would come up with...in essence, this is a fantastic jazz record, steeped in dub, broken beat and glitch-hop, pushing basslines deeper and IQs higher. I honestly feel smarter after listening to this record, like I've been taught a lesson about life or something.

7. Motor - Klunk - Mute
2006 seemed to be the year of relentless techno. Digitalism tore new assholes. MSTRKRFT cut you wide open on the dancefloor. Motor is like a slow torture (the best kind, right?) of HARD,808 bass in your face, acid-soaked woomph-woomph fatness. Get it? Good. Naming your tracks things like "Botox", "Yak" and "MDXT-A" would normally evoke a clean, clinical feel...which is so far from reality. This is dirty, mean, angry, in-your-face dance music, not for the faint of heart, but SO SO SO good.

6. The Knife - Silent Shout - Mute/Rabid
This one takes the cake for most INTERESTING album of the year. Olof Dreijer and Karin Dreijer Andersson have been blowing minds for several years now, but it took until this past year for them to release anything in the states, let alone tour. I got to see them in NYC, and was mesmerized by their stage/light show, their deep deep bass, their take on vocal electro and whether or not it's HER REAL VOICE. Apparently, it is. The single "We Share our Mother's Health" has been remixed to death this fall, but the original stands strong as their ticket into the hearts, minds and dancefloors of North America. The Knife, we welcome you with open arms.

5. Shout Out Out Out Out -Not Saying/Just Saying - NRMLS WLCM
Call me bias, whatever. This record destroys. Falling under the 'relentless' category is S04, but it's waaaay more...funky. My personal favorite on the record is "Do I Stutter?", a choppy, thoughtful number most DEFINITELY written in tribute to Delia & Gavin; though the only non-danceable track on the record, it's a perfect sealant to a disc full of clicks, pops, beeps, bass shreds, sick keyboard lines, mr.roboto vocoder attack, and of course, sad & mad lyrics about gentrification, debt and missing your loved one. THAT is what dance music should be about: honesty. SO4 pull it off in spades.

4. Tiga - Sexor - Last Gang
Chalk another one up on the 'sensitive' chart. Tiga has assembled a masterpiece of an album with Sexor, his first full-length record. "Far From Home" might be my favorite single of 2006, if not for its oh-so-catchy chorus, "as far as I go/as far as I know/I've always got/a place called home". Sigh. What a romantic, in the literary sense of the word. The well-placed cover of "Burnin' Down the House" is also a choice cut...his vocals seem so natural and effortless, like he's just chillin on his couch as he makes you dance, step, hop & leap. What I think I love most about this record, and Booka Shade's (below) is the tendency of new dancefloor techno to have a really...trancey element to it, minus all the cheese and horns and lame builds/drops. It's the chugging momentum that feels just right when it's 2 AM, way too much vodka and Red Bull are coursing through your system, and your feet ache...but you gotta keep dancing.

3. Booka Shade - Movements - Get Physical
The trancey element of which I speak is on full display on this BRILLIANT album from Frankfurt's Booka Shade. Don't misread me, this is not a trance record, but it IS an exploration of the same repetitive tendencies, re-shaped around nearly every genre in the book, from funky breaks to hard techno. Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier have truly embraced what it means to be 'progressive' without any of the pitfalls of being labelled a 'progressive' act. It means, evolving & growing & changing & moving FORWARD. 'Future thinking' is what I like to call it. Booka is doing plenty of just that. "Body Language" might be the best track on the disc, with it's half-step break just one beat behind it's housier side. It's...lovely, is what it is.

2. Spank Rock - YoYoYoYo - Big Dada
Dirty. Sexy. Hard. Funky. Booty-shaking. Funny? Yes, funny. Those are all perfect words to describe this stunning debut from B-More's finest. Not only does it contain one of the best lyrics of the year ("behind my gameboy/I got game, girl"), but the beats are so ridiculously tight that I almost FEAR watching XXXChange and MC Spank Rock evolve as musicians, for fear that they'll blow everyone else out of the water, raising the bar while at the same time heightening the standard so that all the crap rises to the middle (post-OK Computer brit rock, anyone?). Whatever, I got my dancin' tunes for now.

1. Hot Chip - The Warning - DFA/Astralwerks
There was simply no better record released this year than Hot Chip's The Warning; an almost flawless album from start to finish, they have captured what it means to make ORIGINAL music, by definition. Having had the luck to see them twice this year, in both a supporting (w/ Stereolab) and headlining (w/ GangGang Dance) capacity, it was amazing to see how much they've matured as performers, taking risks and challenging themselves to BE BETTER than they already are. Sing it with me now, "Hot Chip will break your legs/snap off your head/Hot Chip will put you down/into the ground". Brilliant. This is the pinnacle of the sensitive stuff I was on about earlier - thoughtful, intelligent music made by and for booties and brains alike. I can't wait to hear what they'll come up with next.

Compilations/DJ mixes, in no order:

-DFA Remixes Volume 2
-Four Tet: DJ kicks
-Cut Copy: FabricLive28
-Dubstep Allstars Volume 4 (DJs Youngsta & Hatcha)

And that's it. For now. The rest is yet to come.

mondays are for RIDDIM

2006-12-03T14:34:00.001-08:00

chop-chop.

The lists are being born. Have patience, grasshoppers.

whenceforth the sky, distaster

2006-12-01T07:39:00.000-08:00

Holy fuck does the weather suck today.

I have lots on my mind, lots to talk about.

Where did I leave you? Oh, a week ago.

Friday we saw Bassnectar. It was good in that womp-womp-womp- wooooooob-wooooooob kinda way. Similar to the dubstep party on Saturday. That was also kinda wohwohwohWMMMMMPH-dingding-wooobwoob wompwomp kinda way. I hope you understand. It was interesting being at an event, featuring a 'new' music that nobody really knows *how* to dance to. Mary Anne Hobbs, the infamous BBC Radio 1 host of The Breezeblock has referred to 2006 as 'the flashpoint' for dubstep; what does that mean for 2007? Blackdown has a clue. Do some reading, it's good for you.

All this thinking about 'new music' has forced some ideas to flood into my head this week...not 'new' ideas about projects or music, but just thoughts. I miss being in school, and feeling my brain being prodded daily to identify with my surroundings, politics and community on a totally different level. I'm glad that suddenly I'm feeling like that again. Let me explain.

I like to read a blog, linked on the right, called Zoilus, written by Globe & Mail contributor Carl Wilson. He was recently mourning the recent death of Ellen Willis, American culture critic, feminist, self-conscious leftist and writer.

Wilson's passion for her work inspired a search for her book "Beginning to See the Light: Sex, Hope, and Rock-and-Roll"(Amazon link). What a profound piece of work, which I'm kind of ashamed has slipped by me, despite 5 years of schooling in and around her subjects. I'm just starting the book, so I haven't fully flushed out my responses to her critiques, but I feel like it could be one of those books that changes your life. How I see the world, my place in it, my political direction...I feel like I'm shifting, somewhat. Anyways, if anyone feels like bantering about her/this, read up, friends.

I also just learned that Murray Bookchin died this past summer.

Bummer. Back in my...headier days, when I was identifying as anarchist (or more specifically, anarcho-syndicalist), I really enjoyed his early work. He later committed more to the idea of "communalism", but he was an environmental visionary, and it's a loss to the academic community nonetheless.

***

I'm still working on my top-20 list. I'll likely post it next week. And a list of the 10 things I've observed about Toronto/nians since I moved here 6 weeks ago.

6 weeks. How time flies.

Dress warm, take care, have a fun weekend.

Oh, sorry. What's that? You're needing some jams to get your weekend started?

Ok fine. Try this one one for size. The almighty Justice, live at "And Did We Mention Our Disco?". Many many many more killer sets can be found...here.

Scenes from (former) home.

2006-11-24T11:44:00.000-08:00

This is the view today from my friend Alona's apartment in Edmonton:

Here, in Toronto, it's 10 above, going to 15 degrees tomorrow.

I'll feel like an elephant in the womb.

less sticky though. the above image is from here. Neat, huh?

It's Friday again, but I don't have much to say. Maybe I'll let some music speak for me.

I've been thinking lots about my forthcoming top-10 (more like 17-20) of 2006. Some assured spots in the ranks will be held by Hot Chip, The Knife, Yo La Tengo and Converge...but there will be wee gems too.

One of which is The Golden Dogs.

I simply CANNOT get enough of their album "Big Eye Little Eye".(Click to buy!)

Have a wee listen to their gigantic slice of amazing, "1985". Thanks to I (heart) Music for the file host.

I'm also having trouble concealing my raging hard-on for the mighty mighty Hu Vibrational.

Buy/Listen at Souljazz.co.uk, yo!

They play what they call Boonghee Music, and they describe it like this:

Boonghee music is dance. The feeling of the dance
is how the butterfly desires the flower. A thousand crickets give the rhythm.
Birds and wind offer melodies of call and response. The dance is your
imagination. Your movements are freedom.

Check out this video of the band in studio.

That shit gives me chills. So amazing.

Y'know, I could always use some last-minute additions to the list. Has anyone heard anything so mind-blowingly awesome that it's skyrocketed to the top of their list this year? HUH? HUH?

Holla friends. Have a great weekend.

oh, PS: Since moving here, I've developed a new addiction: Aloe Juice.

I know, it sounds gross, but it's fucking amazing. Edmonton - I bet you could find this at T&T or Lucky 97. Seek. Consume. Enjoy.

Don't be shy.

2006-11-22T08:01:00.000-08:00

This is gonna be another one of them RANDOM-type blogs. I'm not feeling too...wordy today.

Spektrum RULES.

That video might be the sexiest thing I've seen in months.

Well, Shortbus came close. Hot. Movie. Whoah.

Alas, this is totally not sexy:

That's right. You're looking at a "Scare-d-Cat", courtesy of the Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermists. Well, to be specific, the cat is made by this fine lady. The things people do with their time, huh?

I mean, you could just write poetry about a fictional redneck trapped on an island. I'm seriously obsessing over LOST lately. I don't know what it is about the show that keeps me so hooked. The degree of that hooked-ness is irrelevant now; the show is on hiatus until February.

What else am I doing with MY time? Well, this Saturday I hope to do some mad dubsteppin' at the Subtrac party. I've been L.O.V.I.N.G. dubstep this year, and so I'm particularly stoked to go hear it like it's meant to be heard. Loud & heavy, stomach-churning basslines that make you wiggle from the inside out. The motto of Subtrac is, "...devoted to paying homage to a frequency register of 100hz and below.
Dead set on transforming the GTA and southern Ontario area into a North American hotbed for Dubstep music."

Yeah, I'm down.

lern 2 reed.

2006-11-17T14:27:00.000-08:00

There's reading to be done, and YOU are just the person to do it.

Archie Archibald's top 5 most painful things ever. Gold.

Michelle the awesome says "fuck Blogger." Wordpress looks pretty nice, I must say.

Derelict is mad about shit, too.

I have two Connors in my life.
One takes pictures.
One listens to music.

Leah really likes this blog.

W.
T.
F.
Palmsout is opening a fuckin' STORE? Rad.

Y'know who's got the best podcast/radio show, perhaps ever? Guess. Sheri spent a long time in NYC bragging about how amazing it was, and how everyone is an instant fan. A brief spat of ego sent me seeking out the Halloween edition where JR & I got interviewed on the patio of Cafe Mogador, and I've been listening to her show all day. It's so fucking good.

I kinda forgot how Sheri escaped to NYC on a bus with nothing but a bag of clothes and $5 and survived in NYC for almost 3 years. She had good stories. Peep her shit if you know what's good.

Y'know what's also good?
The weekend.
Have a good one, friends.

Store Day!

2006-11-15T08:27:00.000-08:00

Despite being tied to a desk for the last 5 or so years, I've held a soft spot in my heart for...brace yourselves...

RETAIL.

It's true. Over the years of my personal work history, I've made lattes and sandwiches, sold t-shirts & ugly accessories, worked as a 'travel expert' in a store selling backpacks and travel guides...and now, inexplicably, I find myself working in another store.

I shouldn't say inexplicable. It's rather easy. Six Shooter has a store. It looks like this:

It's a cozy little place where we sell CDs, vinyl, gifty things like jewelry and Six Shooter whisky flasks, purses and...BOOKS. Music books. Lots of them. I love poking through the biographies of people like Woody Guthrie and Nick Cave, or trying to stuff my feet into these custom-painted cowboy boots we sell here. I don't quite know what it is about helping customers that I find the appeal in this type of work. Maybe it's just that it's a nice break, once a week, to ditch my desk (even though I'm still technically at one, in the store, writing this) and listen to music and feel the sunlight as it pours in through the bay window.

We even have a gallery here. Right now there's a show up by Beverly Hawksley.Yep, the very same Hawksley. Well, it's Momma Hawksley. Look! Look!

Nice, no? The gallery is gonna be radtastic in the coming months. In December we're hosting a show called "Wax & Wood", a collection of art ON vinyl, guitars, egg shakers, whatever makes music of one kind or another. In February I get to curate a photo show! WHOAH! STOKED!

I guess yr looking for some kind of update on my life, perhaps? Well, I've been a little under the weather, to be honest. Comme ca:

But I did shake it off long enough to go to see Jamie Lidell last night. SNAX opened...he's AKA Captain Comatose (Kitsune Records, anyone?)...he was interesting. It was like watching karaoke, but live. Well, the kind of karaoke sang by a dude looking like this:

Except the 'fro was way way way bigger.

I sometimes wish I could have megacurly hair like my Dad, or like Leah.

Hers is really nice. She's really nice. I've really been enjoying living with a girlfriend for the first time ever. Sure, like anything it has it's ups and downs, but the ups have been pouring in lately. We're discovering a warm, healthy middle-ground of patience, love, good food, hang outs, coffee and Scrabble. I don't know if YOU know, but we actually met playing Scrabble back at the ye olde Sugarbowl in Edmonton. That first game we played, when I totally whooped her ass, set a funny precedent for a fierce level of competition between us now, whenever we play...so the other night when we cracked the box for the first time in over a month, both of us were feeling a little wary of the others' skills.

I lost. I'm ok with that. Toronto is making me feel at home, and I'm ok with that too. I think it's been the steady stream of good friends making their way towards our new home, seeing what we've made of ourselves. I think they like it. My comrade from E-town, Kent was recently in town. So was Leah's ever-totally-awesome-and-extremely-fashionable-friend Kim...we had a fun weekend of drinking, dancing, drinking, shopping and er...drinking.

Maybe I'm seeing a connection suddenly. I'm ill. I spent the last 5 nights out, rocking out.

hrmmmmmmmmmmm.

Sherlock (Glen)Holmes POSSE REPRAZENT!

phloggin' the grande pomme

2006-11-08T09:11:00.000-08:00

So exhausted, trying to look Laguardia-level-excited.

Helen assumed the position called "The Blackberry", and didn't break the pose for 5 days. I was impressed.

Skylines. Skyscrapes.

Andre the Giant has a bicycle posse.

I once spent Halloween in Prague. That was nothing. NYC was fucking insane. I saw a parade of Borats. Then the Ghostbusters came running through the streets with a steaming box of ectoplasm.

Then a zombie had to make a call.

Then I was attacked by a gay, 6 foot spider wearing ass floss (not pictured).

Times Square, duurrrrrhhhh.

Just incase there was any concern,

Harry Houdini has a posse.

It's illegal to dance in NYC. We broke the law.

Check the gigantic styro gun hanging from the sign.

Shout out out out out played a neat bar called The Annex. Matt fuckin' Webb showed up!

Free beer. Free Vodka. Street with S&M Shops. Add one found aligator head. Stir in a grumpy jack wolfskin:

Hungover. Stuck in traffic. I'd better don a sequined frankenstein mask before I catch a cold.

Fuck traffic. Take the subway.

Even if it's crowded.

And gives John a gasface.

There's always a Sheri Barclay on the other side (COMPLETELY RANDOM MEETING, BTW)

OK fine - Since Sheri interviewed us for her radio show, she gets another pic:

I took a day to myself to see some sights. Sights were saw.

This is the DeutcheBank, across from the WTC. They're DE-Constructing it, floor by floor. it's taken 5 years to take off 10 floors. 40 to go.

Oh yeah, this crazy bitch. She's way smaller than I imagined.

Then I met up with the Shouties again. They tore the Fader party a new asshole. Check it.

They played with a fuckin' AMAZING band from Ohio called This Moment In Black History. They were...sick. Seek, destroy, consume.

What else can I tell you? Shout out played on the smallest stage known to man. They barely fit, but Jacie still had room to pump a fist or several.

Did I mention that we stayed in the asshole of the world AKA North Bergen, New Jersey? Look at the pristine view from my room.

Oh yeah, we also ran into Bryan Kulba's older twin. He turned out to be Michael Hollett, publisher of NOW Magazine, and founder of NXNE. Whoah.

For reals, look at Michael, then look at Bryan:

Then we kidnapped Rollie and tried to find the Justice party. Turns out that John is bad at navigating, awesome at uplighting with a maglight.

Spooky, nes pas?

and that was my trip.

x's and o's from Toronto, friends.

violent playground - NYC pt. 2/3

2006-11-03T09:07:00.000-08:00

Ok I'm back...but I started a blog, which I'm gonna finish sooner or later, with pics. Here's where I left off last Friay:

NYC day 3. Whoah.

The recap: I'm in New York for CMJ with Shout Out Out Out Out, who are playing a bunch o'showcases and parties. It's been hellamadfun. We walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and then walked some more. The day was long, but fun. We went to see Holy Fuck with Beans, and then capped the night off at Webster Hall where The Knife were making their 2-show North American debut. It was, in short, fucking stunning. I'll be posting pics when I get back to T.dizzo. Try this one on for now:

I'm learning, as Johnny has pointed out, that CMJ is basically a networking orgy. Today was just that. Lunch with a publicist. Beers with our US distributor. Hobnobbin' and the like.

But it's adding up to radness. People are eating it up. The band is, in short, the talk of the fest. Which is rad. Again, it feels amazing and indescribable to be part of a growing project that is not only earning accolades, but has such potential for MORE MORE MORE. JR and I were talking about being the 'support staff'; I like that. A lot.

Who else did I get to see?

Oh yeah, HOT CHIP. Wanna know more? Hit it. It was a deadly show...I was pretty impressed by Gang Gang Dance - they sounded like an East Indian Tortoise or something of the like. I was also blown away by the mid-song cover of New Order's "Temptation" that the HC dropped halfway through "No Fit State"...I almost shed a tear. Just one, though.

We went from there to this REALLY NICE CLUB called The Hiro Ballroom. Check this shit out:

There's where we saw MSTRKRFT (yawn), DIGITALISM (audio orgasm), Mr. Juan Maclean (dancedancedance!) and Lazaro Casanova. Save for MSTRKFTDNNR (or MSTRKRFTTHTR as Snarfy and I started to call them), the show was off the chain. I really like their record, but live, it's just too hard, too much the same, too...boring.

After getting back to the hotel at 6 in the fuckin' morning ($75 cab ride later, ouch), we hit the sack.

---
and then it was Friday. Back to where this blog began. The weekend was a blast too, but I don't wanna get into that yet. I want to post pics from the whole week, so take whatcha got here and HOLLA, DAMMIT.

xo, friends. x frickin o.

NYC Day 1.5

2006-11-01T10:18:00.000-08:00

My good friend Greg really has a thing against 'car culture'. New York/Jersey would drive him fucking crazy.

The honking never stops. Ever. 24 hours a day. Everywhere. Cars, everywhere. Sidewalks, limited. I haven't been to a major US city since I went to LA in 2003, so excuse the wee bit of culture shock. New York is pretty damn rad, I must say - people are interesting, buildings are massive, the advertising is overwhelming, and I'm feeling like this place is exactly what I expected it to be - no big surprises yet.

Perhaps they are yet to come. I was hoping to get into the city early this morning to do some exploring, but group inertia has me grounded in the hotel in North Bergen, NJ waiting for los S04 to get off zee hineys and get a move on. I'm loving being here, feeling like I'm on tour again, even if it's in the same city. I like tour vans. I like loading gear. I like feeling like a part of something...happening.

I don't have much time, so I'm hoping to hear from some of you about your favorite places in en y cee - holla, yes?

More to come tomorrow.

Thick Initials

2006-10-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

Has it been a while, or is it just me?

Let's work backwards, shall we?

I'll write about the weekend later. It was fun and crazy and fun and crazy. I'm leaving for NYC tomorrow morning. I can barely contain myself. More on that shortly.

Thursday night, the lovely lady Leah took me out for a delicious meal at Rosebud...it was stellar, and washed it down with a yummy syrah grenache. Yep, that's right, I'm suddenly a wine expert. Maybe...appreciator is the right word. Or perhaps...'drunk'. We followed it up with a visit to a place called "It's Not A Deli" (which it's not.), for a poetry reading, which I haven't been to in many years - I was admittedly skeptical when we walked in and the first guy was ranting about how "God is a romantic scientist"...but he got better, and the night got great. I also have to admit that it made me realize that I've lost touch with the poetic side of myself. I used to write for HOURS, headphones on, intensely focused on making sylables melt into each other, digging through my thesaurus for just the right word. It's been said that poetry is the most efficient form of language, and I used to take that to heart.

Minimum words, maximum impact.

Like "thick initials". That was a line from one of the readers last night and it stuck in my head like glue. I envisioned it to be the name of a band, or the steadfast leader of a verbal army.

Speaking of armies, the night previous I joined the ranks of old fans and new to witness the rarest of performances: Propagandhi. Easily my favorite punk band of all time, and one of the greatest influences over my politics throughout my... more headstrong years. Sigh. I say that with the consideration of everything that I'd written before in this here blog about feeling like I've grown out of my old angry self and become this commuting, complacent adult who eats meat, smokes cigars and is actually considering voting Liberal come springtime. But Prop set me right, if not just in my own head. First off all, the venue SUCKED. But standing in line, I ran into Dallas + Greg, bros from back home who both, incidentally, roomie'd with my sister at one time. It was great to see familiar faces, and have someone to scream lyrics with and to. I thrashed, I pushed, I got pushed back, we pumped fists and pogo'd. It was great.

Tuesday...day 2 of work, which is going swimmingly...more on that in a sec. We had an easy assignment - go to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for a dinner meeting with the agency for one of our artists, Luke Doucet. We hopped in the car around 3, arriving at the border around 4:30...and that's where it ended. Anyone who knows me well knows that I don't like borders, AT ALL. I start to sweat and my heart races and I get all paranoid that I'm going to be arrested for looking at a border cop the wrong way. Anyways, one of my co-workers is a landed immigrant, from the UK, which caused a wee bit of hassle...anyways, long story short, we were there for THREE HOURS, which made us late for dinner, late for the show, late late late. So we turned around and drove straight back. Moral of the story: don't bring anything worth anything over the border.

Last Monday, I started work at my new job at Six Shooter, which totally fucking rules. They are the reason I'm going to CMJ in NYC tomorrow. I'm so stoked my stomach hurts. THAT STOKED.

Anyone got any...tips?

Holla atcha boyee, friends. More from zee big pomme.

todos es buenos

2006-10-17T21:56:00.000-07:00

7 things I'm loving right now, in no real order:

7. The new fall mix from Arveen, an electro/tech DJ from Dublin who randomly drops little bombs of awesome.

Graffe Giraph gets all the credit.

6. My cat, Reese. OUR cat, I should say. She's feisty and stubborn and always hungry...which kinda reminds me of me. Despite almost killing us on the way to Toronto, I'm totally crushed out on the wee thing. I like the idea of caring for something whose entire survival depends on me.

5. The new LCD Soundsystem song, 45:33. It's...really long. 45:33, to be exact. It's only on iTunes. I bought it. Buy it. (Link can be sound on the Myspace. Click above.) It's worth it. I walked home almost in a trance, lost in Ohio Players-style horns, drenched in disco and droney electro warbles. I know, it was commissioned by Nike, but it's a solid piece of art. James Murphy rules, end of story.

4. My new hood. St. Clair Avenue. The old little Italy. The drunk old men. The funny fat ladies who own food stands. The shouts and chants of the teenage boys playing soccer that I can see from my sun room. Louie, the guy who bought an old dress shop and turned it into a cafe, just because he really likes coffee. It's great here.

3. My iPod. Being in Toronto when you don't know anyone means you spend a lot of time alone. My little rectangular black friend never fails to keep me company on the subway, rainy street or cafe window.

2. My new place. It looks SO much different than it does right there; we've painted our bedroom, got things organized...mostly. I like having a quiet little office/sunroom to work in, a big-ish kitchen to cook in, and family around. That's one of the best parts. My mom's coming to visit this weekend. So is the Sis. radtastic.

1. See above. I let myself forget, too often, that love takes work. Here's to patience, on both sides.

nous sommes ici

2006-10-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

we're here.

well, we've been here for a few days now, but amidst the actual moving part of moving, I haven't had a chance to blog about it yet. The drive was...long. I last left you in Thunder Bay at the tail end of a fantastic vegan thanksgiving meal. Heading further east into Ontario led us to discover many things about this fair province, including but not limited to the complete lack of anything other than "chinese", "canadian" or "italian" food in any town or city under 200,000 people. I've had enough fried rice to last me a lifetime. I put quotes around it because of the place in Sault Ste. Marie we ate at where italian loaf was on the same page as hamburgers and chop suey. gross. In fact, "The Sault" (say it with me, "The Sooo") was gross, but hardly as bleak and apocalyptic as...gasp! SUDBURY.

at least they know how to make a good bowl of soup.

We arrived in Toronto in the middle of rush hour, in a rainstorm. Cars whizzed by ours, red brake lights raising and falling like a VU meter, honking randomly and thoroughly freaking out our cat Reese. Driving in Toronto is...challenging. The streets are kind of narrow, streetcars share lanes with vehicles, and pedestrians walk wherever they want. Don't get me wrong, this is the kind of city I LIKE, and will grow to love. I just ended up feeling a little like a prairie mouse in a big town or something.

I almost had forgotten how deep of an impact this town made on me last time I was here. The impact continues.

Much more stories to come.
Are you keeping well, friends?

2071.4

2006-10-10T05:44:00.000-07:00

Door to door, it is 2071.4 km to Andriko's house, from my former home in Edmonton, to where I am now in Thunder Bay. He and his girlfriend Amy live in a beautiful 1950's split-level house that looks like it was furnished by an 80-year old woman. I think it probably was, at some point. It doesn't have a living room, it has a PARLOR. So rad. It's been nice to be able to travel long stretches, get out of the car and see a shining, smiling, FAMILIAR face. I have a feeling those are about to become a lot more few and far between.

The drive from Winnipeg was somewhat hellish. Too many trucks, AND...

the speed limit is 90 in Ontario. What the fuck?

Winnipeg was as lovely as I remember it. Warm people, nice conversation, a city truly stretching its pomo architechture legs. In fact, one of the last times I was there was a few years ago, with Andriko again, but in a different capacity. Time passes, I'm back in the new with a friendly slice of the old.

Today, we truck FAR. At least as far as Sault Ste. Marie, maybe all the way to Sudbury. Ontario is a really nice surprise. Billions of beautiful lakes. Lots of seriously hillarious signage.(I looked online for an example, came up empty.)

I think I'm gonna like it here.

Namaste, friends.

30 minutes.

2006-10-08T05:18:00.000-07:00

Well, this is it. The cat is sedated, the car is packed. 6:10 AM. Ready to roll.

Not goodbye. See you soon.

Edmonton, it's been a slice. After about a million bear hugs, many many many tears and heartfelt outpourings, I'm feeling as ready as I'm ever going to be to make a trip like this. Take care of eachother, yes?

2.

2006-10-06T10:28:00.000-07:00

Bliss is...

...a warm afternoon, Lightning Bolt blasting in the headphones, a long walk by myself across the High Level Bridge, running into a half-dozen friends who I wanted to see before I left, a glass of wine, a pint of beer, a yummy lunch, big hugs, warm smiles, affectionate words, and promises of reunion.

2 days to go. A few more shared meals, tears and the like.

Much love, friends.

ps: This band rules,y'hear?

7, 5.

2006-09-30T23:47:00.000-07:00

7 days left. Stresses are rising and falling. Things are wrapping up. Having one last everything is tiring. I'm having teary goodbyes. Lots of promised visits. One by one, the obstacles are falling and now there is 7.

7 days until my life veers sharply off in another direction. I already have the new haircut and shoes to go along with it.

-----

Suddenly, it's 5 days to go. I cleaned the car today. My life is in about 2 dozen boxes and crates. Leah's life is in...many more than that. It's interesting to pack my life up, which is about one room's worth...Versus Leah, who has an entire condo to pack. It's a decidedly bigger task. If this move didn't seem real yet, it completely does now. There are several 'last' things coming up. One last dinner with the hippies. One last show to work.

Then we pack the truck. Then the truck leaves. Then we leave. Tears and hugs a'plenty.

Sigh.

13.

2006-09-25T23:22:00.000-07:00

I like cigars, I'm not gonna lie to you. I'd like to think that they help me...think. Maybe it's just the time they take to smoke - it forces you to pause and take a second for youself. I know, smoking is gross. Whatever. I like this kind of smoking, and I don't do it often. When I need to. Like tonight.

I am stressed right the fuck out. That's the now. Let's recap the then.

Friday night, I held my last show ever. It was with Faunts, Vailhalen, those crazy cats in Field & Stream, and the best surprise of the evening, Illfit Outfit. What a fantastic band. They're new and young and smart and talented and creative and that combination is exactly what it takes to make it. Good luck, kids.

It was kinda strange to think as I was settling the show that it would be the last time I would risk my own coin, put up my own posters, beg people online to come to my show, despite a billion other rad shows happening the same night. The thrill of promoting has waxed and waned in the last 8 years of doing it - but in my exit, I feel...good, for lack of a better word, about what I did in this town, and how I feel about leaving it. Edmonton, you'll do just fine.

Look at you. Glowing with promise. Growing like a weed. You are beautiful and inspiring and you give and you take and you love back. This is what I needed here, and got here. I'll miss you, Edmonton. Know that.
-----

I marked another occasion on Saturday, that of Leah and I's going away party. Now, I don't mean to brag, but I know how to throw a mean party, and that's just what I did. It was insane, to say the least. Pants were removed, speakers were danced upon. Greg played Funki Porcini. Rollie played fucking sexyback for christsakes. The kids went fucking wild. A massive shout out to all the DJs who played, and a special brodown is deserving of Mr. Hipster Twister himself, DJ Generic AKA Eric the Freshmaker, for helping with the gear, but MOST OF ALL, making me CRY with his shirt. For reals bro, maximum respect is returned.

I feel enormously lucky to have so many good friends, and am stoked at the prospect of seeing them again on eastern turf. Thank you, everyone for coming out.

Sunday was a write off. I ate fantastic food though, and got to visit with the sisters. I'll miss them SO much too. ugh, all this missing, and all the time in the world to do it in. What I DON'T have time for right now is my FUCKING LIFE which is srsly crazy.

13 days. In those days I have to work 3 shows, move out of my place, go to calgary and back, get drunk, eat food, have 2 radio shows, DJ at Blackdog, celebrate this fine town and the people it gave me and kiss it goodbye, for now. It'll be hard.

Thursday. One last kick at the wooftop. See you there?

Strange fascination, fascinating me

2006-09-14T11:39:00.000-07:00

I still don't know what I was waiting for
And my time was running wild
A million dead-end streets
Every time I thought I'd got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But I've never caught a glimpse
Of how the others must see the faker
I'm much too fast to take that test

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Don't want to be a richer man
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Just gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I can't trace time
...

Strange fascination, fascinating me
Changes are taking the pace I'm going through

Dear Friends,

It is with a heavy heart that I start to say goodbye to some of you. In the last few days since I announced our going away party (details below), I've received a slew of emails from people who are unable to attend, who have poured out their thoughts and feelings on my departure, and I have to admit, its choked me up a bit. I'll be getting back to people individually, but allow me, for a minute to speak on general terms about this place I've called home for 20 years.

I love Edmonton. I love the people here, our defiant and proud culture, and our insisting that Calgary sucks. There are so many dozens of people here, who over the course of the last 10 years have taken me under their collective wings, nurtured me and taught me to fly, so to speak. Crossing my fingers and taking the leap I'm about to would never have seemed doable without their guidance. I hope they know who they are.

Admitting that I'm glad to be leaving is one of the hardest confessions I've ever had to make. Don't get me wrong, I'm not fleeing here with the hope NEVER to return; but I just feel like my time in this town is done for now. I've helped who I can, I've done what I've done, and I feel good about it. It's time for new challenges, new projects and time for life and love in a new environment. It feels like a test, one I can't study for. Maybe these past years HAVE been the studying. Between 5 years of University, 9 years doing radio at CJSR, 8 years of promoting shows...I think I have enough training for whatever it is that's coming next.

That, and having a partner at my side is making me feel...able to do this. Allow me to gush and wax poetic for a sec - I'm happier than a pig in shit these days. All around me I seem to see people breaking up, cheating on their lovers, lying to their partners, having...trouble. I, on the other hand am blissfully in love, ready to make a massive leap with someone who I seem to fall even deeper in love with every single day. It's almost overwhelming sometimes to think how random it was that we even MET in the first place; I was defiantly single, focused on my own games and ego...but Leah was patient and thoughtful and knew that in time, if it was meant to be, I'd come around. It was, and I did.

Much love, and more emo waxing to come.

ps: party details:
Saturday Sept. 23 @ The Velvet Underground (10030-102st)
The Eli-and-Leah-go-to-Toronto-so-get-the-fuck-outta-here-already party!
9ish. Lots of drink specials, trashy dancing, drunken emotional hugs and more.

Music by...
-DJ Generic (Hipster Twister)
-Greg Saint (Multipurpose, Music First)
-Glenn Alderson (Beatroute/Rock n'Roll Variety Show, Calgary)
-Mr. Rollie Pemberton, esq. (Weapon, Cadence)
-Marquez El Prodan (CKUA, Prodaniukianor)
-Ms. Sheri Barclay (CJSR, "it" girl [harhar])
-DJ Eli Eli Eli (uh, me.)

come say hi, and goodbye...or at least a 'see you soon'.

bye by buh buy.

2006-09-05T12:31:00.000-07:00

WHAT a weekend. A quick recap. Early Friday night I stayed in to suss out my yard sale, then went to JR's going-away party. I like that there's a party house within crawling distance of my house, because crawl I did, at 5:00AM. Ergo, Saturday was a bit heavy-headed. I went for breaky and did my radio show, then for sushi with Liz and Leah. THAT'S WHEN we got the call. An offer had come through on Leah's condo. We'd been waiting and waiting for this to happen for over a week - it was like pins and needles. We met the realtor back at the pad, papers were signed, counteroffers submitted and accepted, and a deal was made. What a weight to be lifted. The only thing left at that point was...the yard sale.

It went splendidly. Aside from getting drunkstroke and passing out at 9PM for 12 hours, it was SUCH a fun day! So many people came by to say hello and goodbye and bought tons and tons and tons of stuff!

Now it's the real countdown. There is very little left to do but pack, and seeing as though my room is already in complete disarray, it should be kinda easy.

I'm gonna take this opportunity to gripe, albeit briefly.

Back in my idealistic and super-lefty days, I would have bent over backwards to help "the poor". I put that in quotes because I don't even know what that means anymore. I grew up poor, but we always had what we needed, even if it wasn't the BEST stuff, or the NICEST, my parents worked hard to keep us fed and happy. I'm not complaining. What I AM complaining about is the ever-growing number of panhandlers in downtown Edmonton. This city, and this province is in the middle of the single biggest job boom and subsequent labour shortage in our short history, and the amount of able-bodied men* on the street panhandling is simply STAGGERING.

*men=I say men, because it is 90% men. the women that panhandle are the 'usuals', who I don't give money to because I see them day in and day out, and they aren't doing anything to help themselves.

In the 30 minutes I was out for lunch, I was asked for 'spare change' no less than 8 times by the same amount of people. One guy had the sheer audacity to say, "spare a buck for an old drunk from Halifax?"...I was stunned at that. I knew he came here for work, and was simply pissing away whatever money he HAD earned, and now wanted ME to help him out. it's THESE people that piss me off. Sure, I should have my socialist-ascribed tag line ready; "we are all humans, and deserve help, blah blah"...NO. Not anymore. Seriously. I am sick to fucking death of working every single day, earning MY keep...and my politics are trying to tell me that I should just give give give? Bollocks.

I'm not SO cold-hearted. When I lived on the south side, I constantly gave money to a guy I knew who sold Our Voice (cheap street monthly); I never took an issue, so he could sell it and keep my money, but I started to give him less and less when he appeared and smelled drunk at 9:00, or when his girlfriend (who was mentally handicapped) showed up one morning with black eyes. I didn't see him for a long, long time after that...then about a month ago I saw him; or I should say, I shadow of him. He must have lost 75 pounds in 6 months. he was HUGE, and now he was THIN. Nothing but drugs do that. I gave him $5 for a sandwich, and he disappeared and came back all wild-eyed and asked me for $5 more, "cuz that sandwich was SO GOOD (he) wanted another".

What do I look like, a fucking moron?

The other guy I give money to, and still do, is named George. He's genuinely homeless, unable to work due to schizophrenia, and has to give most of his money to pay health premiums for his daily dialysis treatments. I sometimes buy him lunch, I sometimes just give him whatever I've got in my pocket. He never has excuses, or even ASKS for money, he just sits there with his cup and his Our Voice, and he's humble about it. Not these in-your-face-drunk-by-noon-bleeding-on-the-sidewalk ASSHOLES who dominate my peripheral vision every day downtown.

GODDAMMIT. /end rant.

ugh. I don't want to sound so mean, but I'm looking to some of the committed leftists who I respect so much to step up here (Sammers? Zoe?)...tell me what I'm supposed to do or think. Please, I want to feel better about this.

search snorlax on youtube.

2006-08-30T14:46:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention that I've decided that my TRUE calling in life is to be a professional 5-pin bowler. Last friday, Leah and I went on a double date with Gn'R, to Bronx Bowl. The first game was forgettable - I came in 4th of 4 people. Then we went outside for a jazz cigarette, and it srsly filled me with the power of greyskull or something.

I came back inside and bowled 177 points. What the fuck. 4 strikes, 3 spares in 10 frames. I've never bowled so well in my entire life. My posse was as stunned as I.

I mean, I meant to do that.

It got me thinking though...about life, and the decisions we make. Not that I'm seriously entertaining the thought of bowling for cash, but I can't remember ever DECIDING that the music industry is where I wanted to forge my career. I sometimes call my job 'the hobby that went wrong'. I also wonder how different my life would be if I didn't have certain thing happen when they did. My dad passing away for example; it fucked up my adolesence, to be sure - but when I turned 18 I inherited an insurance settlement that paid for all my university, 2 trips to Europe, rent for 4 years, and the startup capital to found Black Dot, my old production company. It was that foundation that got the ball rolling, so to speak. Things changed, hands were shook and deals were made that cemented my 'position' in this industry. First an assistant, now a 'junior', about to be a manager.

The ladder is real. Holy fuck. I think subconciously I've avoided discovering said ladder, or at least trying my hardest to deny I *needed* it. I gladly admit now I want it. My ambition was always directed inwards - not GOAL oriented so much as working towards places in life where I felt happy and satisfied.

But then I tasted blood, and I wanted more.

Ambition is a funny thing. People have told me I'm ambitious, but I don't know if I've ever agreed all that much...Miriam-Webster, WHERE YOU AT?

Main Entry: am·bi·tion
Pronunciation: am-'bi-sh&n
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin ambition-, ambitio, literally, act of soliciting for votes, from ambire
a : an ardent desire for rank, fame, or power
b : desire to achieve a particular end

I don't wanna be famous. Power might be nice. Rank, like in the army? Call me Captain Easychord.

I think I'm just stoked on music. Can it be that easy?

42...41....40...39....38...37...

2006-08-27T23:05:00.000-07:00

you're right, it HAS been a while. I feel like I've been busy doing a whole lotta nothing. Catsitting. Internetting. Beer drinking. Reconnecting with previously missing bros. Trying to ignore certain hard goodbyes. Twiddling my thumbs as things fall into place. I sense Fall falling into place. The nights are cooler. The days are dry and hot.

Plans for the move are progressing - we have the means, the end, and the bits in between are just...there. It's funny to think that all this time in Edmonton, all it took was for me to stop trying for an excuse to move, and it happened. Between now and then, are...dates.

Tomorrow, sister comes to town. Stoked.
Tuesday, DJing on the Wooftop, avec Miss Mannered.
Next weekend, yard sale.
September is looking insane. So much work. So many things to do, parties to throw, friends to say goodbye to. Realizing that I likely wont be back here at xmas bums me out a little, but I'm excited to come back to a city changed.

Maybe it's wishful thinking that things will change when I leave...moving away from Edmonton feels like I'm breaking up with a good friend. I know the ties will be there, but it's hard to wrap my head around calling a different city 'home'. When I was there in the spring, Toronto felt so cold and alien and metropolitan. Now I'll be the alien in the sea of glass and steel, just as winter creeps under my clothes. I'm SO looking forward to the pursuit of an excellent americano on a snowy day, scrabble in kitchen nooks and remembering what it's like to not be a stresscase.

6 more weeks. 42 days today.

I claim to have nothing to do. I have too much to do.

To get me there, I've been crafting a list of things I want to do this fall...it includes:
-starting a music writing/mp3 blog.
-finding spots to DJ in the big smoke.
-learning to run (for the first time in 13 years).
-buying, and riding a nice new bike.
-falling deeper in love, once we shake the stress off.
-feeling like a better Eli.
-make lists like this.

Chins up, friends.
Like this dude.

beware of lazr legs.

2006-08-16T16:39:00.000-07:00

My brain is a bit tapped out. Shambalha hit me in the face like a nerf bat. A good, swift bonk to the head. I'll report on that later.

Linkgasm time.

Everything you ever needed, or wanted to be.

Do it with your hands.

Listen. Learn. Love.

Enjoy.
Ciao for now, friends.

ps: I found a place to live in Toronto! It's at St. Clair & Glenholme...anyone know the area? Check it! MUTHAFUCKIN CHALKBOARD WALL! (yallz have no idea how long I've wanted one of those.)

box of hair

2006-08-01T00:46:00.000-07:00

It's kinda late. I can't sleep.

Tonight I went by an old house I used to live in, the current residents of which graciously allowed me to keep a corner of their basement as storage space when I moved out. I dragged out 7 fucking boxes. There are still 4 crates of records down there.

Leah, the kind and giving soul that she is, helped me unload them from her car onto the back deck of my apartment. A good chunk of my life, heaped into a half-dozen boxes. All my journals & other writing. Almost every photo I ever took, including two trips to Europe, funny things like my high school graduation photos, and my 'memory bag' (which is what it read on the outside), which contained my mortar board and well wishes from my classmates. I scanned over the faces of my graduating class and wondered where they all were, and what they were doing. I only know the fate of 8 or 10 at the most...seeing those pics took me back to an interesting time in my life, when I was meeting dozens of people who would later help me develop and shape the ideas I have and the person I am today. I was punk rock, or at least thought I was, and I can see through my stickers, pins and poster collection, that I was SERIOUS about music. I re-learn through reading notes & diaries and finding doodles that I was, at times, a shameless flirt, an asshole, a coward, a studious teenager, a drug addict, a sexually confused kid, an anti-socialite.

They say hindsight is 20/20; I'm not sure I agree - it's funny (strange, not ha ha) to look back and see both how naive I was and how jaded I've become. I used to care; I used to not give a fuck. I used to think I had it all figured out. I'm here, 10 years later about to make the biggest leap of my life, and I'm feeling...confident as I take it.

It's a matter of shedding some skin. I combed through these boxes and found my sports cards from when I was 11. My bar mitzvah books. The birth of my interest in punk. The birth of my interest in electronic music. Flyers of parties I went to in clubs when I was underage. High diatribes recorded in journals, shaky handwriting n' all. In the end I dumped 2 full garbage bags, another full bag of tshirts for value village, and filled one BIG box with lots of smaller boxes. I never would have thought myself to be a packrat, but apparently I am, and a severe one at that. I'll keep that in mind when I move.

Look at that. Seeking the future through (re)discovering my past. It's funny the difference a day makes. Time for bed.

mind on rewind

2006-07-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

When I last left you, I was beaming inside and out about how rad things are. It keeps getting radder.

My trip to Calgary with Leah for the M. Ward show was super fun. Matt and his wife Carrie were exceptionally nice people, easy to work with, fun to dine with, and an awesome sight to see. Leah's roomie Amy opened the show, followed by Matt, who hypnotized the audience, completely.

Leah and I also broke the news to her parents about us skipping town. When she told them she had news, they assumed we were engaged.
Easy tiger, first things first. The move to Toronto is creeping nearer and nearer. Every day I hear about one more cool and exciting thing happening there in the coming weeks, and I'm reminded that it's cool and exciting ALL YEAR LONG. Leaving is already starting to get hard though - my co-workers' gentle ribbing about my departure is getting more and more sentimental and genuine. Friends who I haven't seen in a while, have heard one way or the other, and are coming up to me with bummed-out faces and big hugs. It's nice, but saddening at the same time. I'm not looking forward to not seeing my closest friends for months, maybe years. I am looking forward to NEW friends, seeing my sister more, living in a new city, and learning a TON at my new job. I'm looking forward without forgetting to look back every once and a while and appreciate those who nurtured me and my growing sense of self. Much love, friends.

Call it a bad segue, but the MSTRKRFT show (not pictured above) was a stunner. Juan Maclean played the sickest in deep Chicago vocal house, NY gay club anthems, bangin' Detroit techno and more. The deadly duo of Keeler&Al-P then stepped up to keep the joint SHAKING IT for almost 3 hours - big ups to those guys, who were ALSO nice and easy to work with.

The night before I played host to your favorite brazillian faith healer and mine, Mr. Fritz Tha Cat, 1/2 of OK Cobra...I got him on a show with locals 30 Nights of Violence, and a band from Vancougar called 1000 Year Plan. Look at these guys:

Amazing. Imagine the Melvins being PWND by the Locust and Yes. FAST prog metal with humor, mathy drums and tempos, heavy heavy heavy vocals. I'm totally crushed out.

Enough for now. Watch this. Dizzee rules.

boom bip beep bop

2006-07-21T12:33:00.000-07:00

The other night we sat on the footbridge, smoked a joint and tried to remember the words to all the musicals we loved when we were kids. My dad was an actor, so theatre and musicals were a big part of my life growing up...we sang from Annie, Sound of Music and Grease...giggling incessantly at our lack of ability to remember any words.

It made me realize something.

I am having what might be the best summer of my life. I'm happy as a clam, so in love it's almost nauseating, enjoying amazing times with good, close friends - old and new. Motion Notion was a fucking blast. I'm SOOOO looking forward to Shambhala. My birthday totally ruled. I got some awesome gifts.

I'm off to Calgary this weekend to work/see the M. Ward show. I'm EXCITED. There is so much to look forward to in the coming months, including but hardly limited to:

-MSTRKRFT w/Juan Maclean!!
-Diplo w/CSS & Bonde De Role!!
-Final Fantasy in September.

Stoked, I am.
How's your summer going, friends?

So far, not bad

2006-07-12T11:15:00.000-07:00

I was talking to a (particularly cynical) friend the other day who said, "NO good records have come out this year. None, except the new King Khan". I don't think it's THAT good, but it made me wonder about what I think the best records of 2006 are...so far. It's true that I have yet to find an LCD Soundsystem or an MIA to freak out about, but what I have below are some records I simply can't stop listening to. I usually would break this out per genre, but I don't feel like it. Here's 5 records that completely slay...a single, a DJ mix, a couple full records...whatever, jes'deal.

In no order, the best records of 2006 so far ARE:

Spank Rock: Yo Yo Yo Yo
I heart Baltimore. This is the best shit outta the northeast since Cex. There's something about the unabashed nerdyness mixed with totaly pervo lyrics that appeal to me; there's nothing more rad than the line, "behind my game boy/I got game, girl". I recently read an interview with MC Spank Rock himself, and he was telling stories about booty shake contests they used to hold in the YMCA to jams he and XXXchange would kick off their laptops. I imagine that this is the music they did it to. hot hot hotter.

Part Chimp: I Am Come
Technically this came out in the UK in 2005, but it's been released domestically on the label that can do no wrong, Monitor Records. Without repeating every fucking music journalist on earth, this really does sound like Mogwai (a member of which produced this bitchin' slice of wax) and Lightning Bolt hitting the bong with David Yow of Jesus Lizard. It's thick and mean and loud as fuck. I love it. War Machine might be the song of the year. Maybe. Listen, opine. Please.

Justice : Waters of Nazareth pt.2
Holy living crap. Justice continues to completely fucking destroy all that is holy and awesome in the world of glitched out techno and house. There's something...foreign, I think, to the French about people like DJ Funk, which is why they included him on this 12". "B-b-bbbb-bbbounce dat aa-aaa-aaassss" is something that just isn't in the average Parisian club vocabulary. Don't believe me? Watch the crowd react to his bomb being dropped. They just don't get it.

Booka Shade : Movements
Records like this make me nervous. It makes me think that everything I know about a genre is about to collapse around me, making me feel like a total noob when I talk to people. I'll be like, "man, that new Booka Shade is sick", and people will say, "dude, that's SO 2005." This is an exciting departure from pretty much EVERYTHING that's coming out right now - and proof positive that dance music is finally moving past its revisionism and post-disco obessions. I'll say right now that I'm harly a fan of trance, but I am LOVING the tendency of NEW dancefloor techno to embrace the driving, throbbing "raver-posi whoop whoop" of the genre, and that people like Tiga, Richie Hawtin & now, Booka Shade are pushing that sound to the edge. As MC Paul Barman would say, they push the envelope so hard it says "excuse me!".

Four Tet : DJ Kicks
If you know me, or listen to my radio show, you should know that I have a mild obsession with Mr. Kieran Hebden. He is seriously MIDAS, and his latest contribution to the DJ Kicks series is no exception whatsoever. Three insane highlights of this record: ANIMAL COLLECTIVE? what the fuck. So Solid Crew mashed into Akufen's Psychometry?!? Insane. His new track "Pockets" makes it's debut on here, in all its 4/4 glory, a definite departure from his normal broken-beat sound. There is his usual free jazz bits and glitchy bits and world-beat bits (The Shona People of Rhodesia make a contribution)...all packaged into a beautiful, chaotic bit of DJ brilliance. DJ Kicks has made the first 15 minutes of the mix available here, including the ridiculously fat bass of Syclops. Dig it!

cat, minus bag.

2006-07-11T00:12:00.000-07:00

Your patience has paid off. Here I am with the news you've been waiting for. Drum roll, please.

I'm moving to Toronto.
With Leah.
I've been offered, and have accepted a job at Six Shooter Records & Management. I'll be working mainly in the latter 1/2 of that equation. They also run a store, above which is the office in which I'll work:

The motto of the company is, "Life is too short to listen to shitty music". I couldn't agree more. Their management roster includes The Weakerthans, Shout Out Out Out Out and Whitey Houston. I'll be working among some of the most respected musicians and music professionals in Canada. I'm thrilled.

In fact, I'm beyond thrilled. I'm ready for this. I should say, I need this. I miss my sister; she lives in Montreal, which puts me miles closer to her. I have a cousin in Toronto who works in the same biz, who I'm super stoked to spend more time with. Keith and Richard, pictured here with me in full thug/drunk mode, also live there and are just as excited for us to come out as we are to be there. It feels...right.

What does this mean for my time left here in Edmonton? I want to see you all, friends. I want to drink and enjoy myself, and your company. Vancouver peeps (yes, especially you, Marie)...fear not. The plan is to come west one last time for a visit in September (Lavender Lodge, get ready. I need to get some beach time in, stat.) before I sail off into the deep blue yonder.

I'll miss you all terribly, I know that.

Details to follow as they emerge. Know this: there will be a party. Oh yes, a party like you've never seen, like I've never thrown. It's going to be an egocentric bash to have a last hurrah, a few great hugs, and a slice of retrospect. I'm looking forward to it.

dashbizzle, futrizzlistic.

2006-07-06T21:18:00.000-07:00

I have a headache. I have a sore back. I have a letter I can't send. I have desire, it falters and falls down, it calls you up drunk at three or four a.m. to wonder when...wonderful. All the cheap tricks I tried too hard not to pull. Pulled along or pulled apart. The diagnosis of a foreign frame of heart.
-jks

It's 10:30 PM. I've been at work since 6:45 AM. Where? Why?

Rexall Place, working for Dashboard Confessional. Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to bitch about him; he was nothing but nice to me all day. In fact, when I went in to drop something off in the band's dressing room, he said, "hey, nice shirt." I'm wearing this one.

the point is that being on one's toes, off them, on again, off again...is fucking tiring. here it is, 10:30 at night, and I'm foolishly drinking coffee, just to get to the end of my shift. It means I'll be up till 3 AM again, and that Leah will probably fall asleep beside me, and I'll lie there and think about the future, about the life I'm living, about the life I'm leaving.

Sigh. Look at me. Emo bullshit, backstage at a dashboard show. Aren't I too old for this?

Soooo tiiiiiiired.
---------------------------

Fast forward. It's July 9th suddenly, and I forgot that I started this blog. I've decided to post it anyways. The night described above ended well, I was leaving and saying goodbye to the crew and band, and I said ciao to Chris Carrabba, and he said, "later, peanut butter." Context? ok.

I was backstage and the bassist asked me if I had been in the old punk band Punchbuggy...I was hella impressed that A) he even knew who they were, and B) that he thought I was old enough to actually have that be possible. I said no, I wasn't, but that I had been a fan at one time or another, and in fact often wore a Punchbuggy shirt that had a "PB" emblazoned on the front, made to look like a British Petroleum logo...long story short, it resulted in this group of girls from my high school that all called me 'Peanut Butter'. Now, note that this was a conversation I was having with the bassist, as Carrabba was eating food and chatting w/another bandmate. I was so impressed that not only was he keeping one ear on what else was going on, but that he made a note of it, and whipped it out when I least expected it. Nice guy, crappy music. Sorry, brah.

My week went by quickly, so did the weekend. I went to see an old friend DJ on Friday, and went to say ciao to a friend leaving for the summer at a house party after that...Saturday I went to see The Kabuki Guns Burlesque troupe, and then went dancing at The Roost...we went with friends who were celebrating their second anniversary. I kept joking, "what does a straight couple do to celebrate their love? They go to the gay bar. hey, it's the 90's!"

Anyways, you don't need a play-by-play of my life. I'll sum it up for you - I'm happy. With everything; the girlfriend, my friends, where I'm headed, where I'm at now. This time last year was the pits, my relationships crumbling and jobs collapsing. It's much much much better now. I'm in love. I'm enjoying life.

Beam beam beam.
Stay tuned for breaking news.

Planes, cranes & automobiles.

2006-07-03T17:13:00.000-07:00

It was late; so late, it was early. We creeped around the site, like we did before, eyes on the prize. It looked as though they had replaced the fence around the scaffold, as it was harder to get over this time, so we kept walking around, looking for an easier way in.

Someone had left the gate open. We walked right in, crouching our way though the ladders and scaffold, following the edge of 15-foot cement walls, likely a loading dock-to-be. It was the border between remaining hidden and safe; the difference between being unseen, and completely exposed. We took deep breaths, and walked into the open, and over to the base of the crane. Anyone walking by could see us, but it was that perfect time of night/morning when nobody is awake. I looked up. It was doable, but halfway up, I had to stop and stay there. I blame a combination of too much coffee, beer and other consumables. I got scared. But we did it. Mostly.

See?

We. It's almost metaphoric to sneak into a new space, exploring gently and together, making sure not to make a stir, but rather learn to anticipate obstacles and learn to adapt and move past them. You get to the base of the crane, the tower which you have to climb to have a clearer view, to see your options and the literal/figurative 'lay of the land'. We did it together, climbing and observing, planning.

I'm being vague and I know it. I'll have big news this week, friends. I promise.

Sit tight. Love love, eli.

Too hot to handle

2006-06-29T00:24:00.000-07:00

It's SO hot out. So hot I can't sleep. It's getting late.

I'm loving summertime. Yesterday I drove all over the city, dropping shit off for work, postering, etc. I managed to get in some longboarding at the brand new skatepark in the northsiiiide, AND at the St. Albert park. Both = fun. I felt old though. have I mentioned it's my birthday soon?

I DJ'd tonight, again at some weird party. It was for this; a national high school film festival. They had me play in the theatre, where it was about 87 degrees celcius. Notice on the site how it's sponsored by milk? it always struck me as odd that a PRODUCT like milk, eggs, meat...all have represetnative organizations, touting their benefit. Wouldn't it be weird to be a 'milk guy', and constantly rad-up milk? Furthermore, whose interest is it in to double up the milk attack? They have CHEESE people and BUTTER people and CREAM people...lines drawn in fat (content), literally. I guess in the end, cows lose. I mean, win. Uh... Weird weird.

Bill Welychka was the host. He was a nice enough guy, but seemed...Unbelievable when he says things like, "boy, it's hot in here. I sure could go for a tall, cold glass of MILK." and, "hey kids, did you get your MILK SMOOTHIES outside? isn't it amazing how easy it is to make MILK smoothies at home?!"

he sounded like he should be on TV. oh, wait.

I'm thirsty.

I'll have some news for you all very soon.
Big tings afoot.

Take care of eachother.

Oh, and Listen to Nouvelle Vague.

Is a hippopotamus a hippopotamus, or just a really cool Opotamus?

2006-06-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I'm reminded about what a tradgedy it is when comedians die young.

Mitch Hedberg (February 24, 1968 – March 29, 2005)

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

2006-06-20T21:46:00.000-07:00

I'm writing 'cause I feel I should. Because I haven't written about my trip yet; because random friends have recently told me that they actually read this, and are disappointed when I don't update; because I have been places and done things I probably should report on, or something.

Before I was hopping fences, becoming a temporary hockey fan and going hippy for the weekend, I was in PEI. What a neat place. I would post photos, but I've lost the cord for my camera. Soon soon. The actual land of PEI is gorgeous - rolling hills, nice ocean/bay views almost everywhere you go. I didn't meet a single person who wasn't exceptionally kind and generous and genuine. The shows I talked about earlier went well, the panels went well, it all ran smooth. Thank Liv. Being there gave me an idea about what it might be like to be somewhere else in work and life, shaking things up, having new...experiences. Not that I'm unhappy, but as Prince Buster once said, "Sometimes I sit back and I wonder"...

what else happened this month? Oh yeah, The Oilers. I must admit that I have a new appreciation for hockey, but I know it won't last. Not that I disrespect it, but unless something is ON THE LINE, I can't get that into sports. It's simply not in my blood. I also went and communed with my inner hippy this past weekend at North Country Fair - I think this makes 5 years straight for me. I like it, but I think I might have overdid the consumption this time. I'm still a wee woozy, and it's Tuesday. Speaking of Tuesday...today I DJ'd at my oddest locale yet. City Hall. It's true. Check it:

yep, I wore pink. I'm so manly.

It was for a reception for The NextGen Task Force Report presentation. The city paid to have this report on the next generation of Edmontonians, and how to make the city a "hip and vibrant" place to WANT to be. I sat on the advisory committee that brainstormed suggestions, some of which actually made it to paper. Check the link above for the official recommendations.

In music/workness, I'm stoked about some things I've been working on. I just confirmed two dates with M.Ward (July 22 - Calgary @ The Ironwood, July 24 - Winnipeg, WECC); I'm also doing a Do Make Say Think show in Calgary on Nov. 21st. There is so much in between now and then. My birthday is coming up, so is Shambhala.

I'm feeling so in love these days its making me dizzy.

Oh look, it's summer. Happy June 21st. I'm beaming, inside and out.

up/down, in/out

2006-06-06T16:37:00.000-07:00

We walked the full perimeter, looking for the best way in. We found it, then went for a walk and talked about it.

We agreed that we needed an exit plan. We agreed to stick together. We were nervous, and agreed to go get a drink first.

We returned just after midnight, nerves fueled by beer & pool. I went over the fence first - it had been way too long since I'd done that. The scaffolding behind provided a stiffness to the fence that I hadn't counted on. It was easier than I expected, but once I was in, my heart started to race. I helped her over the fence, and as we crept around the side of the building, I started to get excited about what lay ahead. The target was an active construction site.

Ninjalicious repeats the Sierra Club mantra: "Take only photographs, leave only footprints."

We entered the building on the first floor and quickly found the half-built staircase, and using my cell phone as a flashlight, we tiptoed up to the second floor. It was SO dark, and it looked unsafe. I needed more light to see where I was going, so we went up further to the third floor. They were just starting to build the roof/4th floor, and the moonlight was creeping in through the slats in the ceiling.

We tiptoed ever-so gently towards the edge. The site splayed out below us, and we finally had a view of the security booth that had us so on-edge. We watched the windows for a good five minutes, and decided that it was a front - there was nobody watching us. Carefully avoiding the gaping elevator shaft, we wandered around, looking at the work-in-progress, avoiding puddles which would track our movement for us.

There was still a floor to explore. We walked slowly and carefully though support beams holding up freshly-built staircases, down, down, down to the basement. The roof was lower near the entrance, but it was the most complete floor by far. Lights hung from the room in long strings, and the walls were beginning to take shape. We walked to the far end where tall walls (of what will likely be a loading dock) towered above us. We'd done it. We'd seen it all.

We hung out in the basement for a while longer before letting ourselves out, in the same way we came in. As we made our hasty exit, we looked at each other with mutual pride, and in ourselves...

I won't look at the building the same way again.

Becephalus bouncing ball

2006-06-05T10:53:00.000-07:00

Note: I wrote this bit last friday, but didn't have internet until today. I'll talk more about the fest itself later this week.
----------

The moon was like a slice of a mandarin orange as it hung low, hiding beneath wispy clouds over the Gulf of St.Lawrence. I listened to her talk about the project, why we’re here in the first place, and what to expect tomorrow. Expect cameras. Expect curious locals. Expect drunk teenagers with nothing better to do. Expect to have to boss dumb band members around (as per usual).

But I’m feeling out of my element here, like I’m not sure what’s right outside of my own…world. I’m in Charlottetown, PEI, helping Liv out on a project she and Jeremy have been working on for months called Stand East. Basically, it’s the radio show I’ve been loosely associated with over the last 6 or 7 years, CJSR’s Youth Menace. The event tomorrow kicks off a 2 day, 20-band mini-festival, spliced in with panel discussions surround the UN Conventions on the Rights of the Child. I’m here in two capacities: as a stage manager, and as a delegate on said panels.

Need some context? Ok.

When I was a young and idealistic political science student, I was deeply involved in the protection and promotion of youth rights. Rewinding further, I met Liv back in high school, and she introduced me to (read: an incredibly intelligent, deeply committed, but completely crazy old man) Wallis Kendal, who ran a program called iHuman – in short, it has become a drop-in center/arts program for ‘youth at risk’, by providing art/music/dance/theatre space as a way of keeping kids off the streets, and out of trouble. When the group was founded, Wallis was interested in having us kids write a book about violence as we saw it. To me, son of hippy pacifist parents, victim of minor bullying in elementary school, violence was…unaffecting me. Then I met Regina, who was 16 and just got out of jail for beating a girl within an inch of her life with a baseball bat. I met Adam, a drug addict with a penchant for cutting himself. Barry, a FAS victim with an obsession with painting mountain scenes, despite never actually having been to the Rockies. It was an eye-opening experience, to say the least. We put aside our differences, and brought our experiences together and wrote the storyboard for an art/poetry/photography book working under the title of The Red Tear. Over the years I came to the iHuman studios, the book and project came together, fell apart, came together, fell apart. I left it in 2002, but not before I got involved in another aspect of this ‘youth-defense’ project, founding Youth Menace with the help of producer and youth worker Mark Cherrington.

As the founding host of Youth Menace, I interviewed over 100 youth in various stages of the child welfare or youth justice system. I talked to 12-year old hookers and 16-year old murderers, teenage mothers hooked on meth and bewildered children being charged with throwing a snowball at a passing car. The deal was that they were working off (part of or all of) a community service sentence by ‘volunteering’ to come onto the show and discuss the case (anonymously). Every show, we’d start off the same way, as it still does today. We’d play the clip from the film Network , where Peter Finch says,

“I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up, go to your window, open it, stick your head out and yell, “I’m MAD AS HELL, and I’m not going to take this anymore!””

Now, at risk of repeating myself, I’m often sent running to my blog to gripe about how my getting older is somehow paralyzing my ability to BE mad as hell about anything bigger than my own problems. I used to be such a bitter and angry young man, pissed off at how the government acts undemocratically every fucking day, about how youth are shit on by all levels of society. I went to protests, wrote letters, got involved, read up on the anarchists, the Marxists, took the hardest classes I could, delving into the deepest of political theory and thought. In retrospect, I think I was in search of an answer to the question of what made me care? WHY did I think it was important to stand up for the voiceless, when it was simply easier to ignore them? HOW did I think that reading and talking and reading and talking was going to change anything?

School didn’t give me the answers I was looking for. I think I’m here, now, still seeking out the solution. It’s 2:30 in the morning, I’m thousands of miles from home and I’m sitting up in bed after my walk to the ocean with Liv, my best pal and confidante. We talked about what’s keeping HER involved, why it matters, and where she wants to take it…but I’m still without answers of my own. It’s something I’ve been trying to reconcile this past year of being 25 years old; trying to assemble the pieces of my past into a salient and complete puzzle whereby I have a frame of reference for where I should take my passions and interests into the next 5 or 10 years of my life. Where I’ll live. Who with. Will I be working? Traveling? Writing? Doing radio? Promoting shows? The options are endless, yet I feel…limited, or something.

It reminds me of when I was a child, sitting at the dinner table across from my late dad, at the end of dinner when I still had food on my plate, he’d look at me and say “your eyes are bigger than your stomach”; it meant that my ambition had got the better of me. I fear that happening in my life SO much. I need to keep focused on the future, while never forgetting the past. I’ve learned too much and worked too hard to start fresh, which is suddenly tempting these days.

Is anyone else feeling all tumultuous inside?

Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.

-Shakespeare, The Tempest

Suicide Blonde

2006-05-30T15:30:00.000-07:00

I don't watch TV.

As in, I have one, but the only show I catch with any regularity is The Daily Show/Colbert Report...I make a point to avoid any learning about who's on American Idol or what's happening on Lost. When I heard INXS was going to be starring in their own reality show, I threw up a little in my mouth.

See, when I was a kid, I LOVED INXS. I have this distinct memory of being at choir practice, the night after they played in town...an older kid came in wearing a shirt from the show, and I was GREEN with envy. I asked him how the show was, and he said, "amazing. the opening band, The Soup Dragons, totally smoked a joint ON STAGE."

I remember asking him, "what's a joint?", and he replied, "it's like a cigarette, but with DRUGS in it!"

I was stunned. INXS, the only GOOD rock band I knew of, became GREAT at that instant. The INXS I speak of, is THIS INXS:

Enter Michael Hutchence's suicide by hanging, some post-mortem drama, a few years and the demise of one of the greatest bands of the 1980 and 1990s. Enter CBS. Enter Rock Star:INXS Enter...(shudder) JD Fortune.

What a complete and utter douchemachine. Last night, Leah & I had the...(NON)privelege of seeing INXS last night, for the first time ever. The problem: this Fortune kid.

Despite his COMPLETE lack of stage presence, his TOTALLY overdone stage dramatics, and fucking ridiculous banter, the band themselves were totally good. Their new songs eat some serious turd burgers, but The Farris Brothers were amazing.

but this FUCKING FORTUNE KID RUINED THE WHOLE SHOW. I was pissed! I had good seats, and had been stoked for weeks, but this kid's ego completely overshadowed what this band was trying to do: stay alive. It got SO bad, we left the show 45 minutes in. I couldn't take another second of it.

The REAL kick in the junk came when we were leaving, already disgusted. We stopped by the merch booths and were appalled to discover that while INXS shirts were the usual $30, JDF had HIS OWN SHIRTS, for $40!!!

Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong.

Fuck that little brat.

While I'm stewing over this, check these:

A paintbrush that captures texture and video? What the fuck.

Funny Funny Funny. Sad cuz it's true.

peace, and take my advice: avoid the new INXS.

bounce boing sproing

2006-05-25T15:48:00.000-07:00

I've had WAAAAYYY too much coffee today.

I'll be brief. This is the best news I've got all week...from bitchdork, erm...Pitchfork:

Tortoise Reveal Box Set Details

Kati Llewellyn reports:
Not to go all biblical on your bottoms, but remember that New Testament story where Jesus brings Lazarus back from the dead? Aside from religious beliefs, this tale resulted in the coining of "Lazarus taxon," "the paleontological term for a species that disappears, then reappears in the fossil record," according to a dictionary. OK, we lied, it's according to a press release. Not surprisingly, the name Tortoise have bestowed upon their upcoming rarity-packed box set, due August 22 on Thrill Jockey, is A Lazarus Taxon. Righteous.

Though the collection's title has changed from the previously reported Rhythms, Resolutions, & Clusters, and the set's release date has been pushed back from April, it still centers around 1995's out of print Rhythms, Resolutions, & Clusters. Weighing in at a whopping four discs, the set includes three CDs filled to the brim with rarities, remixes, and bonus tracks, as well as a DVD containing various Tortoise music videos and live performance footage.

I guess I didnt have a blog last summer when I met up with Tortoise in Calgary and did a wee minitour with them for a couple o'days. Some of the nicest guys on earth, and easily one of my favorite bands of all time. In honor of this forthcoming box set, I'm sneaking a track to you from it...my favorite Tortoise song, Why We Fight.

It's only up for 7 days from May 25 - and it's an m4a, so you'll need iTunes.

enjoy!

37. Break it, stretch it, bend it, crush it, crack it, fold it.

2006-05-22T21:47:00.000-07:00

Hey Edmonton. Recognize this view? It's from the INSIDE of the nunnery on Whyte/92 St. I found this photo on a forum about Urban Exploration.

Loosely defined, not in my words, UE is:
.... a hobby shared, to various degrees, by people all over the planet. The common thread seems to be an innate curiosity, which manifests itself in the drive to discover our environment, which happens to be urban. By going places others normally do not go, and seeing things other rarely see, we are able to learn about and gain a deeper knowledge of the world that we've build around ourselves.

Reading sites like Drains Of My City fill me with such...excitement, that I can't believe I hadn't read much about this before. You may have heard of infiltration, a worldwide hub of gentle-break-and-enter information. I stumbled upon it, and followed links until I found the above-mentioned forums and now my heart is racing with the anticipation of exploration. There are certain buildings that have always captured my interest. I lived across the street from an abandoned nunnery, one of two in the neighborhood; the other is pictured above. I would sometimes sit at night and stare at it, and wonder what was inside. On a couple of occasions I would go walking around on the grounds, looking in the windows and imagine the lives lived within. The idea of poking around, trying out door handles to see if they were open, breathing musty air of a dark boiler room - these things actually appeal to me.

I think I can relate it back to a sociology class I took at uni called Built Environments, taught by a fascinating woman named Yoke-Sum Wong.. (Yep, that's her site.) In the class we discussed the walls (artificial and physical, imagined and real) that we as citizens build and tear down around ourselves in the course of our lives. We raise some to keep others out, some to keep ourselves in. I could rant about the (north) American system of exclusionary (read: classist) building systems, but this is about getting into places we shouldn't be. An assignment in that class was to go in pairs to showhomes in 'gated' communities, posing as young, educated, interested couples with money...and watch and learn as they tried to sell us a crappy, purpose-built home with no individuality or character, and examine why people want that.

This class often linked architecture and desire - our WANT to have our environments reflect a certain (and as I learned, assumed) quality...perhaps better described as taste. Taste is stores engineered for 'easier consumption'; it's what feeds our battle between perceptions of want vs. need.

[a quick aside: for those that have seen Massive Change, Bruce Mau has a well laid-out manifesto on the subject of want vs. need in design...interesting ideas; I'm not sure if I agree with some of them.]

Says I: I want to explore abandoned buildings, with the hope of reconnecting with the lives experienced inside. To understand what changed, and why the buildings are past their..."expiry date". To feel like a rebel. To experience the rush I used to get when tagging at night.

Says the security guard, armed with night-vision cameras and dogs: I need to protect this space. My income depends on it. I know nothing of the desire of my (real and/or imagined) enemies.

I don't know where this is going. In my mind there is a clear connection between design-human space-neighborhoods-capitalism-infiltration-exploration and...joy. I hope I've made that connection for you...better yet, I hope you've made that connection yourself, and want to join me sometime while we explore somewhere...dark.

speaking of dark:

I am a matchflare
you are another
Together
for an instant
we pierce the surrounding
dark

Two matchspurts
I'd have us be
Not wicks
that flicker
to extinction
and black silence

I love all passing things:
roses and dust
Their brief stay,
like your smile, instructs me
to embrace the world
with irony and joy.

- Irving Layton

beautiful, non?

take care, friends. explore...safely.

Can you visualize smell?

2006-05-19T15:37:00.000-07:00

smells like summer.

Another week, another 12 grande americanos.

2006-05-16T14:23:00.000-07:00

I haven't much to say this past week. Work is...work.
It's hot out, but I wouldn't know, as I have no windows anymore, and an AC vent above me blowing sub-freezing temps on me all.fucking.day. I guess I could always do the right thing and off myself. Just kidding.

And then, there is Daily Dancer. This guy has made my week, if not my month. I discovered him on the day he did a video for "Pour Some Sugar On Me" by Def Leppard. When I was in 5th grade, James and I used to jump on his bed in our matching Batman t-shirts, belting that song at the top of our lungs.

Being a kid was fun. I remember that same year my friend Matt and I entertained ourselves for hours, nay, weeks...playing inside, on-top-of and around a gigantic cardboard tube used for making concrete pillars. We'd emerge all sweaty, dusty and giggling over having no stress, no jobs, no worries.

How things change.

I've been struck by the magnitude of these changes recently as I have been becoming closer with an old friend again, a girl I knew in elementary school. She was 2 years behind me; Helen must be...23 or 24 now, and as much as this makes me feel old to say, it's so nice to have seen her grow up into a mature & accomplished adult. You can experience the radness yourself on her blog.

On the same note, the aforementioned James and I met in 3rd grade, which makes him pretty much one of my three oldest friends...I don't know if it qualifies as serendipity, but at the same time as I went to elementary with him, I lived in an apartment one floor above the aforementioned Matt (yes, a word so nice I used it twice), the 2nd of my oldest mates. I left that school and neighborhood just before grade 6, and lost touch with both of them until high school...J&M then MET in junior high, became BEST friends, and now both play in what is likely my favorite local band of all time, The Last Deal. Both are stellar fuckin' dudes.

The third of my oldest bros is Leon. I moved in across the street from him in that summer after 5th grade, and we've been friends since. He's a good shit, in the Irish sense of the term. All my stories about Leon may or may not involve: ridiculously packed house parties where he insists on the biggest entrance with a posse of a dozen; bike races through active intersections; unicorns; summers on blackdog patio.

The point is that I'm feeling...older. Like I'm finding my way in life, in love, and in friends that keep me conscious of where I've come from, and help me keep a grounded approach to where I'm headed. I turn 26 in 8 weeks. Is that old?

I've leave you with these:
Something to read.
Something to listen to.
Something to look at for a loooong time.

p.s: I'm DJing this thursday on the wooftop. Yep, that one.

once, twice, 12 times an asshole.

2006-05-08T16:03:00.000-07:00

Remember Paul?

He's back with a fucking vengence, shitting and pissing all over one of only two stalls in the washroom on my floor. The icing on the cake: he did it twice, in one day. As in, he went to wreck it once, then came BACK, and sat and wallowed in his OWN shit and piss, then shit and piss AGAIN, ALL OVER THE PLACE!! What do you do with a guy who is SO disrespectful that he can't keep his shit together, LITERALLY?!

Too Old.
jee-zus.

I have lots on my mind today.

I've been working like a powerhouse, confirming shows left right and gaddam center.
Like...this guy:

with...these dudes:

neat, huh?

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

Tonight I saw a fascinating and saddening film: Why We Fight.

I haven't quite got my thoughts together on it. I just got back from seeing it, and my mind is swirling with anger, doubt and...well honestly, shock. I knew the US government and the private sector were incestuous to the highest degree, but holy fuck. Go see it. Really.

Sorry if this post lacked substance...it's been a challenging day.
Read this, and you'll understand where the movie starts and ends.

ouch.

2006-05-05T20:09:00.001-07:00

I'm typing awkwardly and gingerly. My right hand and elbow are wrapped in gauze; they both got friendly with some neighborhood gravel last night, the drunk bastards. Seems I was riding the longboard home, and got the idea that I could outrun this van on my board, and when he came too close, I swung into the shoulder, into a pile of sand.

wham bam boom.

fastforward 8 hours. I'm at the doctor's office, just having had gravel scraped out of an open wound on my hand with a RAZOR BLADE, and about to get a tetanus shot and for SOME fucking reason, I bring up the whole Russian Torture thing. I must have been delusional from too many Advils, or too much endorphins. The doc, totally wide-eyed and kinda weirded out about my rant, opens her mouth to comment on how young boys are beaten into submission, and I think to myself,

Yes, you're still kinda afraid of doctors. Run for your life.

I bolt from the room, grab Leah and we ditch.

---
Now it's night, and I'm somewhat numbed on Tylenol and Lucky, an excellent combo for curing minor pain, and I've stumbled across this, where I find THESE:

Impressive, huh? Now THAT's pain.
I'm more and more impressed by the lengths I see people going to to modify their bodies. Don't get me wrong - I got mad respect for body art, but whoah; sometimes, I just gotta say whoah.

but I digress.

my cellphone also met its' bitter end last night, as it was in my front pocket when it became the middle of a road-and-thigh sandwich. I have a new one now
it's got some kinda wacked out inset keyboard thingy for speed-texting. great.

meanwhile...

Aw, I don't mean to bum you out.
here, listen to this. It'll make you feel better.

Weekend, friends. Weekend.

3:45 am

2006-05-01T01:58:00.001-07:00

I can't sleep. It's 3:03 in the morning. I got home from work two hours ago, and I settled in to read the new issue of Vice, called simply "the Russian issue". Holy fuckin'shit, Russia seems is a messed-up place. Most of the issue is available at the link above, but I blame this bit for my current state of insomnia.

The thought of torture is so shocking to our 'western' sensibilities, yet it's regular-ass life for a good chunk of the world - that is wrong. I know I'm hardly the first to bring this up, but I'm learning to distrust the 'protectors'. There seems to be too much...Interest (self- or otherwise) going on.

My thoughts of torture now turn to those of interest, and looking out for the best of one's own - why do you think some people simply abandon that choice? Allow me to rewind this into some context.

I work downtown. Every single day I am approached by panhandlers, every excuse and character more colorful than the one previous. I choose to give my change to one guy only, who sits outside my building almost everyday, selling Our Voice magazine. His name is George, and he's nice. I'm happy to see that he's made it through the winter. I always keep it in mind that people like him have their reasons for being there, but I'm often left curious about HOW they got there.

I came out of the Starlite tonight and was approached by a younger guy who I've seen probably a dozen or so times on Jasper ave, starting about 2 months ago, when I remember seeing this fairly well-dressed homie kid panhandling - I remember thinking that he didn't look the type - but over the last 8 weeks, I've watched this guy decay into a shadow of himself. I noticed about 2 weeks ago, when he came up out of the subway, mouth bleeding, a deep-looking cut under his eye, and stumbled towards me mumbling something about "needing a bus to BC".

Tonight, his line was asking people for 'money for food'. The kid looked like shit. His teeth were jagged and blackened, and you could tell his jaw was in serious pain, if not broken. His forehead sported a massive goose egg and scabbed-over cut, and all around his lips, spreading onto his chin and cheeks, were cracked, bleeding sores.

He asked me for change, and in my shocked arrogance, said 'dude, you ask me almost every day for money. I've never given you any, and I'm not going to start."
"whatever," he replied.
I went into the pizza place next door to grab a slice - and the decided to order 2, and walked outside and handed one to him.
"I'm going to give you this, but I want to ask you a couple of questions. Is that ok? I'm not here to harass you, I just wanna know some things."
"yeah, ok man. what do you wanna know?"
"what happened to you? Like, where you are from?" I asked.
"over there," he said, and gestured to the east side.
"so you're from Edmonton."
"yup."
"and why are you...still here?" I said, motioning to the streets around us.
"cause I don't fucking care. I just don't. fuck it."

He was being honest. There he stood, vacant expression, sleep and food deprived, totally fucked up, and he was levelling with me. He really didn't care. I felt so sad.

Now I'm sitting here, it's nearly 4AM and I'm connecting the idea torture to this kid. This is what I mean by the abandonment of self-interest. He epitomizes it. He's torturing himself, and there is nothing anybody can do about it.

How completely humbling.

Count your blessings, friends. This is a crazy goddamn world.

happy monday(s).

2006-04-24T18:26:00.000-07:00

I've worked for 14 days in a row. I'm tired. I don't even know what to write about... is it WORTH it to update you all? do you even care?

Leah and I have been playing house. We're house-sitting in the north end, being all domestic-like. We share a car, a bike, a skateboard (I must say I'm particularly impressed by her seemingly-natural skateboarding skills), dog-walking duties and dinner making. We tolerate eachother's music (though I have yet to reveal my secret love of Malefaction. In due time.) It's nice. I've tried living with girlfriends before, with mixed results...this feels good though, like it's something...I could get used to. This house is nice - friends of ours live here, and are vacationing in the Domincan. It feels well lived in, built up how they like, with fine lines between shared spaces and personal; even the dog has its own areas.

The point is, I like it.

holy crap.

Jesse Sherburne gets mad props.

Mods VS. Rockers By Jesse Sherburne.

Ah, that's what this can be. A props blog.

Props to...the Ladytron kids, Mira & Reuben, who were super cool and nice and fun to hang out with yesterday afternoon. They played good...songs. I'll leave it at that. And how about props to Keith Muthafuckin King, who I miss, but is making my day today with funny multiblogs. Talking about Keith is reminding me of this art show:

We went to go see it at this toy store called Magic Pony. Here's a couple of pieces from the show...

cool huh?
Y'know what else is gets props?

This great BLOG.
These amazing SCULPTURES.
This crazy ARTICLE.
This insane VISION OF THE FUTURE.
This fascinating FLICKR SEARCH THINGY!
and finally...
This amazing BAND.
thanks for tuning in.

bite the tounge, stop the fingers

2006-04-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

regret is a bitter pill.

eat it for breakfast.

2006-04-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

ok..first, this is a repost from my Myspace Blog.

I'm here to tell you about 4 albums/artists that are currently tearing my head apart. These are discs I can't get enough of, and I'm warning you now - this shit is addictive.

Black Moth Super Rainbow : Start a People
Site.

Whoah. Imagine, if you will, that Acid Mothers Temple lived in a hash factory and only listened to Boards of Canada and woke up one morning with a vocoder in their pants, and were like, "hey man...let's, y'know...rock n shit." Then they called up the ghosts of Frank Zappa & Mary Hansen (stereolab) and got all hippy jammin'. This album is surreal, uplifiting, briliiant and then some. They have a new split CD coming out with The Octopus Project, which should be NUTZ.

Mates of State : Bring it Back
Site.

Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel are married. and hot. and make the most sweet, uplifting, harmonic and delicious pop this side of Belle & Sebastien. I've been a big fan of the 'Mates for years, and thought they would have trouble emerging from a sound they built from their first record and solidified with "Team Boo", a crashy & cacaphonous pop attack...but they've cleaned it up, put the vocals through weird 'can' filters and discovered the use of..gasp! STEREO. get it. soon. You won't regret it.

Drosstik Records / DJ C64
Label site

Now, I know people's taste for breakcore is limited at best - people think of Venetian Snares or Hrvatski or early Kid606 and get thrown off...too noisy, too brash, too loud, too violent. Hate the haters, I suppose.
But then there is DJ C64, a kid from Toronto with MAD FUCKING SKILLS. Click HERE for a set of live mixes...might i reccomend the first mix, live in Bristol last year...at about 40:00 minutes, he drops a massively sped-up version of "Chittagong Chill" by State Of Bengal...IN-fucking-SANE.

TV On The Radio : Untitled
Band Blog. Band Site.

OK, I admit it. I have a copy of the unreleased, untitled, unmastered, NEW TV On The Radio album. It's brilliant, and David Bowie is on it. Since the last disc, Tunde Adebimpe and friends have been working with Prefuse 73, producing for Celebration and generally working on growing more, awesome hair. The new record is more...focused and dark than their previous effort, "Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babies"...less oompah, more oomph. Less goofy, more...thoughtful. It's good. When it comes out, get it...

...and that's it. Thanks for your attention span. if you love these too, holla!

Eulogy

2006-04-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

Kitski Klein-Barnes-MacKay
November 1993 - April 17, 2006

The dog I spent most of my teenage years with died yesterday. She woke up yesterday after losing 10 pounds in 10 days. She hadn't eaten in a week, and was unable to stand. The vet said a tumor was growing inside of her, and she was likely in a lot of pain. My parents made the call, and let me know last night. She was VERY old for her breed - she was a Samoyed/Wolf Shepard cross, neither of which live beyond 8 or 9 years - Kitski was 12, and lived a full, fun and energetic life. My stepdad was the closest to her, walking her almost every single night for those 12 years, but I had a special closeness to her, after teaching her many tricks, including hi-5s with all 4 paws, and a patience game where I'd balance a cookie on her nose, and she'd wait for me to say it was ok to drop it and eat it.

She was a good dog. I'll miss her. She's being cremated, and my parents and I are going to Cougar Creek in Canmore, where the above photo was taken, to spread her ashes. I'm bummed out by this all, but I knew it was coming. Atleast there is no more pain.