Happy Halloween from Bruce S

Thanks to Matt Charlton for bringing this to my attention.

A much higher quality version can be found here:

"Jersey Devil"

10 x 10 Interviews

A few weeks ago Norwood Cheek called and asked me to do an interview to use in the 10x10 music video competition at the Atlantic Film Festival. I said ok. I was nervous though as i've never done an interview. He said it was ok, and that other people I knew around here would be participating also. So we went up to the studio and I talked for a bit...



Other pieces:

Tara:


Campbell:


Yo Rodeo:


Charles:


All! http://www.youtube.com/user/polavision

Good Week of Shows...

I had the pleasure of attending Daniel Lanois, The Inbreds and tonight, Boxer The Horse (TONIGHT - Oct 23 at Coconut Grove) all in the same week. How lucky am I? Tired, yes. But lucky also.

This post is really a ploy to remind you that Boxer is great and that you should go see them. 10pm. $8. Jian Ghomeshi called today. He's going to try and make it. So, if you like Jian, or Boxer, or coconuts or groves... come out!

The Coast's write up (one of 10 picks out of the 125 bands playing popex this year):
Boxer The Horse
Coconut Grove, (1567 Grafton), 10pm, $8
Four barely legal PEI boys, Boxer The Horse have been on a slope of success ever since their first demo CD sold out at a Battle of the Bands show put on for Quebec exchange students last summer at UPEI's campus pub. "The prize was beer, which we couldn't even accept," says drummer Andrew Woods. "It was one of the funnest shows we've ever played…it gave us the incentive to make a new CD so people from PEI could hear." Since then, they've opened for acts like Jason Collett, Dog Day, Two Hours Traffic and The Museum Pieces, to name a few. Working classic rock and folk influences in with an upbeat contemporary indie rock sound, it's not bad for a few young musicians playing together for under a year and a half. Woods claims much of the band's music is inspired by "characters, weird people on the street," and chats excitedly about strange encounters on a trip to Montreal he and guitarist Jeremy Gaudet took by bus this past summer. The band is enthusiastic about Charlottetown's music scene and plans to stick around. "There are some nights now when you're like, 'Oh, there are two
options!'" says Woods. (LK)

BONUS: More Lanois.

I've been waiting 14 YEARS to say....

...TONIGHT, I'M GOING TO AN INBREDS SHOW. The real inbreds! mike and dave at the marquee! i can hardly believe it myself. they play at midnight.
The best thing about having to wait the 14 years to see them play is that i'm now old enough to decide for myself that going out for a midnight show on a wednesday (a 'school' night) isn't going to stop me from going out. no matter what my mom might say. and i'm allowed to drink beer now. beer AND the inbreds. yay.

Sorry office, but you will be hearing me play all of my inbreds records very loudly for the rest of the day. the rest of you - catch up with some of these:

You Will Know:


Interview from 1995:


Amelia Earhart vid:


BONUS - A nice Oneill solo song:

Lala Lanois

On Saturday afternoon and evening I had the pleasure of attending two Daniel Lanois events. The first, an interview / question and answer session lead by our friend Bob Mersereau. The second, a live show at The Marquee.

It was during these two events on Saturday, between the hours of 5PM and 11:30PM that I became slightly obsessed with Daniel Lanois. I would marry him tomorrow if he so asked. I'll leave that there...

A fan-in-the-crowd video of the messenger. More for me than for you. 2 minute mark on is my favourite...

"I'm in love with that song"

How long has it been since you've listened to The Replacements' "Alex Chilton". An hour? A Day? A year? Never? ... no matter the answer, here's your chance to do it again (or for the first time). We all know the quality of you tube videos, so if you really want to do yourself a favour, do listen to your CD/ ipod / mp3/ tape / vinyl copy of Pleased To Meet Me really really loud. It's track 2, incase you lost the sleeve/case/digital track names. Happy Friday. And whether it be for the reminder or the introduction... you're welcome.

Best sound quality:


The video:


BONUS - P.W. Live:
"I Will Dare"


"Can't Hardly Wait"

Lay Low

There's a girl from Iceland who has a band called Lay Low. The new album "Farewell Good Night's Sleep" is so good. She's sometimes poppy sometimes folk sometimes country and sometimes that adorable kind of soundscapey weird / pretty that only true Icelanders can be. While the latter sound isn't really represented on her myspace, you can check her out at http://www.myspace.com/baralovisa. There is a nice cover of Dolly's "Jolene" there as well.

live - in a living room with the flu (so youtube says)


live - full band


older video

Vote Ryan Cook

Choose: Ryan Cook for 2008 Nova Scotia Music Week New Artsit of the Year. Love his country tunes, but really, the video below is reason enough.



Also: Vote for the next Hockey Night in Canada theme song. Guest stars on certain themes include members of Rush, The Hip and BNL.

AND: Vote for your next Prime Minister. The pickin's may be slim, but you should still take part.

Drive With Buck 65

Troy, our new Concerts guy, said he was on a drive with Buck 65 through the US and was more than happy to let Rich play DJ because he'd play great stuff. Now we all get to drive with him; every week day from 3 to 6 pm Atlantic on the new CBC Radio 2. He plays a lot of cool artists and tons of Canadian and Nova Scotian stuff. He plays rock and hip hop and soul and blues and folk tunes...and tells some good stories.

Listen online. Learn some new musical things. Dance, groove and / or rock out. Now we can all be cool like Troy...

APPRECIATION POST: Keep It Like A Secret

Built to Spill has released some good songs, true. but album-wise, I really believe that no complete work of theirs is stronger than this one, released in 1999. Pitchfork gave it a 9.3 which is probably the only thing that Pitchfork and I have ever agreed on. That's probably a higher rating than they give their moms and dads. or music in general. In fact, it's the same rating given to In Rainbows, so .... there you go.

It seems that until recently the band never made a video, so see below for another lovely 'video' of a song playing in the background while nothing interesting happens on the screen. While i do make fun, we should probably thank the creator of the 'video' below. without him / her, i'd have nothing to post.

"Carry The Zero"

I'm TOTALLY going to see neil young + cool youtube vid

Seems I haven't blogged since July. Oops. Fortunately I'm back with a piece of exciting personal news. after november i will be able to say that i've finally made it to a neil young show. so cool. even better - wilco is opening. wilco and neil young in one night in my own city. after also seeing leonard cohen, bob dylan and daniel lanois here in the same year. and people say no one ever comes to halifax...

as an apology for being away for so long, I present you with Wilco / Fleet Foxes covering "I Shall Be Released". i like it. yes i do.



And how about some Neil for good measure. And because i'm feeling lucky to be able to see him in 2 months. Don't Let It Bring You Down:

It's A Shame About Ray

I found this sitting on my CD shelf at work. It was exactly what I was looking for.



It's also a shame that early 90s johnny depp can't be in EVERY music video...

Horse, Foxes

The Boxer The Horse EP, The Late Show is now available at Zunior.com! The write up pretty much says it all:

"The new Sloan? The new Pavement? Boxer The Horse! - Tuesday 15 July, 2008
Okay, so we may be laying it on bit thick but we really like a new band from Canada's East Coast called Boxer The Horse. The new ep is like Pavement fronted by Bob Dylan with Jay Ferguson on tambourine. A great band that you can see for yourself right here on Zunior.tv. Their new EP is only $5.55 on Zunior."

I also really love this quote from a review on the Wolves, Hawks and Kites blog: "Simply put, with its six diverse tracks The Late Show exhibits more potential and vivacious know-how than most bands can fathom. " Not. Too. Shabby.

Other than just loving Boxer in general and spreading the good word where ever i go, i've also been listening to the Fleet Foxes Tunes on myspace. They're so pretty...

Best Video of the 90s

Happy Friday. Have Coffee & TV!

Preview The New Matt Mays & El Torpedo Album

Terminal Romance, due out next Tuesday, is streaming in its entirety on the MuchMusic site. If you're curious... http://www.muchmusic.com/music/firstspin/mattmays/

PEI Pop Explosion

I don't know what's in the water over 'on' PEI these days, but there are some fantastic pop / rock bands coming from there as of late. Two Hours Traffic seem to have started the trend, then along came the Danks, Smothered In Hugs and my very very favourite band in years, Boxer The Horse (who I've blogged about before).

Smothered In Hugs - If you like a good indie pop 80s vibe. The songs on myspace aren't my favourite on the record, but you get the idea.
Boxer The Horse* - If you like The Kinks, Pavement, Bob Dylan, music in general, or if you still want to be my friend...
The Danks (see vid below) - If you like cute Strokes-like indie rock.

*More about Boxer The Horse. Since I already blogged about them the day I heard their first demo, I was going to try and refrain from going to crazy on Boxer posts... but I can't help it. I LOVE this band. Their EP, The Late Show will soon be available on Zunior.com. Buy it.

A few of us recently took an overnight road trip to see them play live in Charlottetown and it was WELL worth the trip. The show was great, the guys are so sweet, and finding out that they were only 19 & 20 years old impressed me even more. The band is barely a year old, and they really have nowhere to go but up. Seriously... keep an eye on them. Herohill blogged about them today as well, so it's not just me. Although I do feel like I am slightly obsessed with this band of youngin's, I make no apologies. I am a Boxer cheerleader. And I won't stop until the country takes notice. or until they politely ask me to quit with the crazy...

Concerts Announcement: Summersonic Festival

We're excited about this! I, personally, am excited for Wintersleep to come home and to see Black Keys again. For two dudes, they can certainly make themselves heard. I saw them twice before while opening up for Radiohead in a Montreal theatre and thought they were pretty fun... You?

Black Keys:

Sonic Concerts Announcement: Bloc Party

Sept 14 & 15. Info and tickets: http://www.sonicconcerts.com/

And tonight... The Sadies!
Watch this video of them backing GORD DOWNIE, singing one of my very favourite Iggy & The Stooges songs. This is almost too much goodness. Be prepared... (just pretend the sound was better).

So You Think You Can Do This?

I have a guilty Reality TV pleasure (ok, quite a few - but this one's my favourite) in "So You Think You Can Dance". Although it's still in the kind-of-boring audition stage, THIS was on last night and I can't stop watching it. I honestly have trouble doing a full sit up, and I can't (and never could) bend over and touch my toes. I never ever felt bad about that until now. Check this guy out:

"So Wonderfully Wonderfully Wonderfully Wonderfully Pretty..."

THE LOVECATS