I Just Saw Leonard Cohen

(photo from Halifax Herald)

Leonard Cohen. May 12. Rebecca Cohn Auditorium. Halifax, NS. 8-11pm.

Brilliant and beautiful, last night's show was all that I was hoping it would be and more. Spectacular band, lighting, sound, voice, crowd... I've loved Len for years, but now I just might be obsessed. Maybe obsessed isn't the right word. But...either way, whatever I am, that show was UNbelievable. One of the top 3 best concerts I've ever seen. And I've danced on stage with Pearl Jam, watched Radiohead in a soft seat theatre on their last tour, saw the legendary BB King, the White Stripes in a small pool hall with about 60 other people, Wilco on the Waterfront, Do Make Say Think outside in a field at sunset, and my first big show was Bob Dylan in the 1990s.

Set List:
1. Dance Me to the End of Love

2. The Future

3. There Ain't No Cure for Love

4. Bird on the Wire

5. Everybody Knows

6. In My Secret Life

7. Who By Fire

8. Anthem (Ring the Bells)

INTERMISSION

9. Tower of Song

10. Suzanne

11. Gypsy Wife

12. Boogie Street

13. Hallelujah

14. Democracy

15. I'm Your Man

16. Take This Waltz

ENCORE

17. Heart With No Companion

18. So Long Marianne

19. First We Take Manhattan

ENCORE 2

20. Closing Time

ENCORE 3

21. I Tried to Leave You

ObliVideo

Wintersleep - Oblivion (By Darren Pasemko)

Little Radio

Although I sometimes forget about it, I recently rediscovered littleradio.com. For someone who is as terrible at finding new bands these days as I am... it's a great way to discover new things. It's the best streaming 'radio' station online. A sample playlist is below.

Annuals - Around Your Neck / Hayden - Worthy of Your Esteem / Sonic Youth - Do You Believe In Rapture? / Red House Painters Grace Cathedral Park / The Cave Singers - Seeds Of Night / Muse - Citizen Erased / Radiohead - Reckoner /The Hives - Puppet On A String / Holy Fuck -The Pulse / White Stripes - Jolene / Preston School Of Industry - Get Your Crayons Out! / The Detroit Cobras - On A Monday / Pavement - Soul Food /Carbon/silicon - Tell It Like It Is / Gruff Rhys - Beacon In The Darkness / Dinosaur Jr - Back To Your Heart / Grizzly Bear - Knife (coverd By Css) / Califone - 3legged Animals / Andrew Bird - Dark Matter / Neko Case - Blacklisted / The Little Ones - Lovers Who Uncover / The Pink Snowflakes - Our Electric Hair /Yo La Tengo - The Room Got Heavy / Afghan Whigs - Turn On The Water / Pink Mountaintops -Cold Criminals /Band Of Horses - Lamb Of The Lam (in The City) / The Von Bondies - Save My Life / Camera Obscura - Let's Go Bowling / Grizzly Bear - Deep Blue Sea (daniel Rossen Home Recording) / Animal Collective - Cuckoo Cuckoo / The Flaming Lips Free Radicals [the Bird And The Bee Mix]

Annnnnnnnnnnd in other news... new Beginners album on its way!

The Almighty Roots Crew

It's official. The Roots just released my favourite album of 2008.
Guests include Common, DJ Jazzy Jeff, mos def and more. soooooooo sooooooooo good. the perfect addition to your spring and summer. If you like The Roots...even a little bit...go get this now. Buy older albums that you don't have while you're at it.
Choice tracks upon first listen (ok after 3 times through): "Criminal", "I Can't Help It", "Singing Man", ... whatever, screw it, they're all good.


More vids + stuff here: http://www.myspace.com/theroots

"Tall Trees Hangin' Over The Road..."

New Matt Mays & El Torpedo song is up at www.myspace.com/mattmayseltorpedo
New tour dates coming up as well. With Kid Rock. No lie.

Soup and New Stuff

I was all set to "appreciation post" about my love for Blind Melon's Soup (It's easily one of my favourite albums of the mid-late nineties... i don't care what you say Mike G...) - but I got completely distracted by Nick Rose. You see, Danny G (that's 'Dan Griffin' for those of you who don't speak in JB uber fan language)'s touring drummer stopped in today. While talking music, he suggested that I check out Rose on Myspace. And I did. And I love it. Pretty folk/country/indie niceness. If you like Paul Simon, Blue Rodeo, pedal steel... you should really take a spin through the 4 songs on myspace. Thank you Rich Knox (who I see also plays in the band... how sneaky ;) ).

And also... listen to Soup.

SONIC CONCERTS Announcement: MM&ET Return

So I heard some songs off of the new record coming from Mike's office. There's some good stuff about to come out from these guys... Debuting songs from the new album, Terminal Romance... Matt Mays & El Torpedo. Marquee. June 6. Tix at mattmays.com.

Juno Weekend Wrap Up

Highlights:

- Tim "Squirly D" D'Eon scoring a goal for the Rockers against the NHLers team in the JunoCup game. And also watching his fight (resulting in a penalty shot) with Macoun.

From The Calgary Herald: Tim D'Eon of The Rockers gets hit by Jamie Macoun.
Photograph by : Todd Korol, Reuters

- Watching Jim Cuddy and Lanny MacDonald in a sing-off at centre ice

- Staying in the hotel that claims to have created the Caesar (the drink, not the salad...and yes, I had a few). Wikipedia article here.

"The cocktail was invented by bartender Walter Chell at the Owl's Nest Bar in the Calgary Inn (now Calgary Westin Hotel) in Calgary, Alberta in 1969, to accompany the opening of a new restaurant, Marco's."

- Being in the building to see the guys accept a Juno.

Now You Know

I'm off to Juno weekend in Calgary. First, a present from 1990 for you before I go:

"Never trust a big butt and a smile..."

Ryan Cook & Sunny Acres Vs. Wintersleep

Ryan Cook and I went to high school together. He is from Yarmouth like me and Paul and Tim are. Today is his birthday.

Ryan used to sing in a hardcore band. Is that what I call it? Hardcore? Metal?... either way, now he sings awesome old school County & Western songs. WhileI was searching for a facebook wall on which to post some birthday wishes, I came upon a player that allowed me to stream some of the above mentioned awesome old school Country & Western songs, and which also offered up a Ryan Cook & Sunny Acres version of Wintersleep's "Orca". Hear it here. Listen to the other songs also!

More songs, dates, photos @ http://www.myspace.com/ryankcook

Nude Remix

Radiohead are issuing a challenge: http://www.radioheadremix.com/information/
So far Holy Fuck is in the lead. Check it out: http://www.radioheadremix.com

"If I Could Give You Anything..."

...I'd give you these vids of Wintersleep in Tokyo (compiled and edited by mr. L Campbell) and Sonic Youth's "Cinderella's Big Score". Both are posted below.
Now that I have your attention, I also feel compelled to let you know that SNAILHOUSE will be playing at Gus' Pub this Thursday, April 3. Aaaand DAN GRIFFIN will return to the city on Wed., April 9 for a full band set at The Seahorse. yay and yay.

Travels in Tokyo:


Classic SY:

Songs For A Sunday

Will Cookson of Edinburgh requested that I add him as a friend on myspace. Because I think he songs are pretty, I think I just might. Another good myspace find. What have YOU done for me lately, Facebook?

Check out songs on myspace or click on "Listen to some songs..." on his website.

Song of the Week: Come Clean

"10 lbs" is great, "Karate Man" is a classic, but this song is where it's AT. From The Super Friendz' Mock Up, Scale Down (1995)... i give you "Come Clean" (choose from the menu on NMC). As good today as it was 13 years ago...

Friday Songs

I find that on Fridays, I tend to listen to loud hip hop or Bruce Springsteen at least once throughout the day. Today I've been into both. In honour of Friday, coming out of a long week, I give you Jay-Z and a song Springsteen supposedly originally wrote for Elvis Presley (yet ended up being a hit for The Pointer Sisters)...

FIRE



(Holy hell I want to see Bruce live)

DIRT OFF YOUR SHOULDER

Cohen At The Cohn!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"One by one the guests arrive /The guests are coming through /The open-hearted many / The broken-hearted few

And those who dance begin to dance / And those who weep begin / Welcome, welcome, cries a voice / Let all my guests come in..."

- L. Cohen

Just saw a press release saying that Leonard Cohen will play the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium - May 12 and 13. Tickets are expensive but I will pay top dollar to be as close to him as possible. Some brilliance:
"Suzanne" - Isle of Wight (1970)


Cohen Interview clip + Rufus Wainright singing "Chelsea Hotel"

"You told me again you prefered handsome men, but for me you would make an exception..."

"So Long Marianne" - Live (1979)


Reciting "A Thousand Kisses Deep"


Lyrics:

"IF IT BE YOUR WILL"

If it be your will
That I speak no more
And my voice be still
As it was before
I will speak no more
I shall abide until
I am spoken for
If it be your will
If it be your will
That a voice be true
From this broken hill
I will sing to you
From this broken hill
All your praises they shall ring
If it be your will
To let me sing
From this broken hill
All your praises they shall ring
If it be your will
To let me sing (MORE)

"HALLELUJAH"

Now I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
HallelujahHallelujahHallelujahHallelujah (MORE)

Tokyo Eye

A few photos from our trip to Tokyo:

1) Upon landing at Narita...happy to be on the ground after the 10 hour flight from Vancouver.



2) Getting off the bus from the airport in Shibuya...




3) Tomoko at Shibuya Crossing. My first look at the world's busiest intersection. I explored while the guys ate Shushi.



4) Shushi...the aftermath

5) Sake barrels on the way to Meiji Shrine

6) Le Shrine

7) Back at Shibuya Crossing - hanging out with Hachikō


8) Exploring...

Happy Monday

Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays

Appreciation Post: Boxer The Horse

This is a new type of appreciation post for me... usually I wax poetic about records or artists that i've been listening to in high rotation for at least 3 years or more. But today, I will tell you of a band, about whom i know nothing - not even if they HAVE a record. All i know is that they are a band from PEI and that they have 4 GREAT songs on their myspace that upon first and second listen remind me all at once of: Cuff the Duke, Pavement, Shotgun Jimmie, Violent Femmes with a little bit of blur / uk indie pop thrown in on the song "Boneyard". You might totally disagree, and that is more than fine with me... (i'm not a real music critic), but take a listen... just to be sure.... www.myspace.com/boxerthehorse.

SONIC CONCERTS Update / Album of the Week

We're home from Japan, which is both nice and sad. Always good to be home, but Tokyo was amazing. I still can't believe how clean it was in Shibuya. This district boasts the world's busiest intersection and is the entertainment district of Tokyo and despite all of that, it was STILL cleaner than any city (or town for that matter) that I've ever visited. I saw exactly two pieces of garbage the entire time. I'll post some photos when I get a chance to upload them...

On to new things:

More info on this Halifax show and other sonic concerts around Atlantic Canada, as always, can be found at: http://www.sonicconcerts.com/ . (***UPDATE*** This show is now sold out...)

Album of the Week:
Do you like Greg Dulli / Afghan Whigs? Do you like Mark Lanegan? I sure do, and as a result, I can't stop listening to The Gutter Twins.