PODCAST: Is This Thing On? (Feb. 2008)

I didn't realize that I hadn't updated this blog in so long. In light of my neglect and because I'm going to be in Tokyo with the guys until the end of the month, I've decided to provide you with another thrilling episode of "Is This Thing On". My computer mic is angry with me for some reason, so there's only a short introduction and hardly any indication of what songs are featured (see below), but it's a good collection of songs (I think), so check it out. Sayōnara!

1. Sleepless Nights - Got Caught
2. Bonobo - Nitelite
3. Radiohead - Weird Fishes / Arpeggi
4. Wintersleep - Dead Letter & The Infinite Yes
5. Hayden - Worthy of Your Esteem
6. Tom Waits - Big in Japan
7. Sonic Youth - Tokyo Eye
8. The Soft Drugs - Defending the Paint
9. Nathan Lawr & The Minotaurs - Righteous Heart
10. Cuff The Duke - Words (neil young cover)

The Good, The Bad & The Ozzy

The GOOD:
The Soft Drugs - discovered on this blog, who reached out to me re: Wintersleep. The Soft Drugs is brought to you by Pedro The Lion's other half, TW Walsh. Check out the songs on the blog player and read about "why they don't suck" here: http://soundsuck.com/the-soft-drugs/
(Thanks Ryan!)

The BAD:
Finger Eleven's "Paralyzer" - Now I try to use this blog for good. For praise and not for bashing. and NOT that I'm bashing, but I simply can't get over this song. I heard it on the radio on Saturday and couldn't believe the lyrics. It made me really miss rainbow butt monkeys (or maybe I miss 1995?). Come on, Finger... what's going on here? "i should just stay home, if one thing really means one"? what does that even MEAN?

Lyrics:
I hold on so nervously / To me and my drink / I wish it was cooling me / But so far, has not been good / It’s been shitty / And I feel awkward, as I should / This club has got to be / The most pretentious thing / Since I thought you and me / Well I am imagining / A dark lit place /Or your place or my place

Chorus:
Well I’m not paralyzed / But, I seem to be struck by you / I want to make you move / Because you’re standing still / If your body matches / What your eyes can do / You’ll probably move right through / Me on my way to you

I hold out for one more drink / Before I think / I’m looking too desperately / But so far has not been fun / I should just stay home / If one thing really means one / This club will hopefully /
Be closed in three weeks / That would be cool with me / Well I’m still imagining / A dark lit place / Or your place or my place

Song:



Rainbow Butt Monkeys!




The OZZY:
I got some last minute tickets to Ozzy's second, and probably last, Halifax show tonight. I know he's old. I know it's Monday. I know, I know, I know... But it's Ozzy freaking Osbourne. You'd go too and you know it.

CAN I GET A WITNESS

HECK YES.

Constantines. Young Offenders. 2003.

APPRECIATION POST: Baby I'm Bored

Pitchfork might have given it a 3.6 in its 2003 review of Evan Dando's solo effort, Baby I'm Bored... but, really, what the hell do they know?

This is one of the records in my collection that I overplay every once in a while, then shelf for a couple of months. However, when I get back into it, I get WAY back into it. It's sweet and sour - about love and loss and life. It's simple and pretty with lots of tambourines-meet-90s-guitar-distortion and laid back vocals, and I highly recommend that you spend a little time with it while we wait for spring...

Baby Please Don't Bonobo

My friend Chris introduced me to Bonobo. This is my new favourite song:
"Nitelite"

And this one's for you, Mike G. dananananananaaaaaaaaaa....

There Should Be A Radiohead Stamp

You know what I don't really "get"? Stamp collecting. I was just at the post office to mail one letter and was stuck behind a stamp collecter. I stood there for 10 minutes while he went on about stamps, thinking "but WHY stamps? do you use these stamps, ever? do you put them in a binder and flip through daily? why do you need a collection of STAMPS? why stamps?!". The whole thing drove me crazy, so I felt I had to blog about it. Should any of you be stamp collecters, or are close with one, please let me know what's up with that....

On another note: Happy new year, and here's more Radiohead. Note, the yell at 9:32 is my favourite. If it were a stamp, I'd put it on the front page of my stamp collecting book. I'm sure some stamp collecters would find my love of a yell quite odd, or even for Radiohead for that matter. To them, I just have to say...at least it's not stamps.

p.s. This post was not meant to offend any collecters or friends of stamp collecters. it's just something i needed to get off my chest... :)

Happy Holidays...

I'm off for the holidays / vacation in only 3 more hours. I thought i should leave some sort of parting gift. If you are a Wintersleep fan... this one's for you: https://www.wintersleep.com/audioplayer.htm

And if you're a fan of Refused. Some old school goodness:



And for Radiohead fans:
videos of the band in the studio can be found here.
Featuring:

go on then, make me your friend...

Ah, Snailhouse. Your songs make me happy. Especially this one, these days.

"Don't leave me stranded. Don't leave me hangin' on..."

postsecret

How did I not know Post Secret (http://postsecret.blogspot.com/) had books out?
Although this is not music related, per say, going through these anonymous confessions

on little pieces of art (4X6 post cards) is highly entertaining. Some are funny, some are heartbreaking, some are shocking, some are uplifting... but mostly it's a great way to pass the time and / or allow ourselves to feel normal in our abnormalness...

buy books here. or check out a whole whack of photos of the postcards here.

In A Sentimental Mood

It could be the sudden onset of Winter, the killer cold I feel coming on, or the fact that no matter HOW much I get accomplished this week the time never seems to move ahead quicker than a snail's pace...but I've been starting to (although i'm trying not to) feel pretty sour. So I went in search of something sweet. And I found this:

Ray Lamontagne & Damien Rice - To Love Somebody



Jolene

Top 5 of 2007

Although there were a number of contenders that didn't end up making my Top 5 Albums of the Year List (I'm looking at you Do Make Say Think, Nathan Lawr, Thurston Moore, Kayne, Common, Blonde Redhead, The Acorn, Bruce, Nate...), I had no problem leaving them out in favour of my top picks. I usually debate my year end list and have a hard time committing, but not this year. Based purely on the number of plays each album has received throughout the year, I give you ... my Top 5 of 2007

1. Radiohead - In Rainbows
2. Wintersleep - Welcome To The Night Sky
3. Dan Griffin - Stars and Satellites
4. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
5. Wooden Stars - People Are Different

BAM. Now more lists... because i love making lists...

My top 5 (.5) most anticipated releases of 2008:

1. Constantines
2. Snailhouse
3. Contrived
4. Hayden
5. MM&ET
5.5 Portishead

Top 3 disappointments of 2007:

1. Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight (no dice. superbad.)

2. PJ Harvey - White Chalk (i still love her because she's PJ... and it's not a BAD album... it's just not the PJ that i wanted or needed at the time. I wanted "50 ft. Queenie" PJ. Not PJ plays Cat Power.)

3. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (speaking of sinking...I actually didn't have high hopes for this one... but it still let me down.)

"Before Your Eyes..."

Tom Fun Orchestra - Watchmaker.
This gets stuck in my head. Really stuck. Stuck like almost no other. it's great, but it tends to start driving me nuts when it's still there 5 days later.... that being said, i just found the album version online and have listened to it 4 times. Now you!

What A Wonderful Surprise

Came across this on another blog. Not that i'm the biggest fan of mash-ups usually, but holy crap... i love this:
Radiohead / Louis Armstrong

Wintersleep Board! New MMET! Danny G Video!

Three things that make me happy:
1) The return of the Wintersleep message board. Come talk to me / us / them / others: http://www.wintersleep.com/forums/

2) Dan Griffin - She's a Drug (LIVE)! Thank you stephanie. This will be played a lot...



2.5)Dan Griffin - The Kings (Live)


3) Matty Mays listening to some roughskies in jolly 'ol England. Updates still coming in from Matt at www.myspace.com/mattmayseltorpedo

MMET Recording updates / Dan Griffin - The Day After

Incase you're interested, Matty Mays has been posting little blurbs about the recording on Myspace. See either the comments section or the blog at www.myspace.com/mattmayseltorpedo. My favourite quote from this week's post is:

"I'm getting ready to start singing soon. I'm ready. I have a tendency to loose my voice, so I'm going to really try to sing right. I have a DVD called 'The Zen Of Screaming'. This women teaches all the hardchore guys how to scream, and not loose their voice. If she's good enough for the guy that sings in ' Lamb Of God' she's good enough for me. "

Aaaaaaaaaaand, yesterday was what from now on will be known as "Dan Giffin Day". I finally saw him play live. And at Tribeca no less, which is like watching a show from the comfort of my own home. And it was amazing. I was a big fan of the record. Now i'm an all around uber fan. Is there something more discriptive and bigger than "uber"? because if so, i'm that fan. Honestly. Please. Check him out Saturday at The Seahorse. 10PM. Opening for The Superfantastics and Shotgun Jimmie. Think of it as an early christmas present to yourself. Don't you owe yourself something nice?

NSMW

It's Wednesday and I'm finally recovered from Nova Scotia Music Week(end), held again this year at White Point Beach Lodge in Liverpool, NS. It snowed a lot which was no fun... And it wasn't just snow, but the wettest of wet snow, which resulted in a cold heavy slush that made walking next to impossible and brought down powerlines, blacking out most of downtown. My pink converse sneakers (complete with holes in the soles) did not enjoy this weather event, but after getting back to the lodge on Saturday night, a couple of drinks by the fire and an incredible set by The Tom Fun Orchestra picked me right up... They were definitely the highlight of the weekend. That, and the fact that David Myles won a few awards (Male Artist of the Year, and a tie for Folk/Roots Artist). Here's a photo of he and his lovely fiance at the Industry Awards Brunch.



I stole that from Grant Lawrence's blog. You can read his account of weekend (better written, but pretty much the same story) and see his photos here: http://radio3.cbc.ca/blogs/2007/11/Nova-Scotia-Music-Week-2007-Beauty-Beaches-Blizzards-and-Blackouts

MM&ET Photos / Dan Griffin is Coming!

If you've been reading this blog for more than a few weeks, or if you know me at all, then you've heard about Dan Griffin. I gush about this kid as much as I gush to people about David Myles, the new Wintersleep record, Mike O'Neil and / or Snailhouse (which, put together equals a hell of a lot of gushing these days). Well, i'm happy... nay, ecstatic, to report that Dan will be IN HALIFAX NEXT WEEK! He's at Tribeca on Wed., November 14 and at the Seahorse on Sat., Novemeber 17th for Shotgun Jimmie's CD release show. I've been waiting to see him play live for a year, and am litterally counting down the days, so I thought it best that I let you know he's on his way.

There are a few other dates around the Maritimes, which you can find on the Dan Griffin myspace page, along with songs. go now. you might also want to check out Shotgun Jimmie (site also contains a receipe for Blueberry pancakes), and The Superfantastics while you're at it.

In other news, I just got some cool pics of the Matt Mays & El Torpedo show at Cunard Centre from a few weeks ago (Halifax Pop Explosion weekend). Thank you Chris Smith of funkfactor.com! More photos from the weekend can be found on his website.

Jivin' w/ Wintersleep on CBC Radio 3

Hear the interview here.

Weighty Video

(Wintersleep vs. Children)

and then there's:

(Liars vs. kittens)

Let's Get Baked / News

While searching for the "Welcome to the night pie" episode of the indie radio show "Let's Get Baked With Matt and Dave"; and thought about what news updates I should blog about on this long birthday weekend (yeah, I stretch it out over 4 whole days, so what? I'm allowed... it's my birthday). In the end, I decided to run artist news and include a link to their individual LGBWMAD episodes for your perusal. This show has had everyone on from Alicia Silverstone to Buck 65, Joel Plaskett, The Golden Dogs, Holy Fuck, Camouflage Nights, Ok Go and so on. Good music and good receipes by some favourite local / Canadian (and beyond) artists. What else do you want!?

Wintersleep: (Welcome to the Night Pie)

Wintersleep is out on the road, starting the western leg of their tour in support of Welcome To The Night Sky (now you get it, right? sky... pie...). They're in Edmonton on Sunday, Oct. 28 (ahem...BIRTHDAY!), and will be out until the show in Halifax on November 24th at the Cunard Centre. Can't wait for them to come home. Not only for the show, but with all of them out at once, 50% of my birthday party party is absent. I will make them celebrate again. All dates and complete ticket information is up at http://www.wintersleep.com/.

Matty Mays: (Tamale Pie)

Matt Mays & El Torpedo has left the continent... The guys are currently in the UK working on new songs the producer responsible for The Tragically Hip's Fully Completely record. He also worked with Ozzy and Judas Preist. bam.

David Myles: (David Myles' Mega Chocolate Cheesecake)

David has a show tonight at Ginger's. He's so great. And funny. I'm listening this episode right now. I just learned a little about tubers. mmmmmmm... .tubers.

Mike Oneill: (Nanaimo Bars With Mike Oneill)

I don't have any news about Mike O. I was just really excited to find this episode. HUGE fan right here. HUGE. If you know me, you already know this, but it's always worth reiterating.