The Life Of David Gale posits some interesting moral and philosophical points, but buries them in massive plot holes underneath some horrid melodrama. Kevin Spacey and Laura Linney do their best with their parts, only occasionally slipping into overacting, but Kate Winslet is pretty awful. And her character’s name is Bitsy. What the hell is that?

Such a time choosing what to get at Soundscapes yesterday afternoon. The new Superchunk compilation got the nod. Cup Of Sand trots out two discs of b-sides, demos and live material from Foolish through Here’s To Shutting Up, picking up right where Incidental Music left off. There’s nothing really essential here but I love it when bands see fit to make their non-album tracks available, trainspotting completist that I am. More ‘Chunk is always a good thing – I’m quite happy with the choice. I figure the new Sloan will be easy to find second-hand within a week or two.

Matador Records has taken out a banner ad atop Friendster, shilling for Mogwai, Stephen Malkmus and Pretty Girls Make Graves. I guess they know their target market.

It’s going to get hotter before it gets cooler. We’ve been flirting with rolling blackouts the last two days. For God’s sake, get those nuclear reactors online!!! It’s just stifling at work. Stifling, I say.

np – Superchunk / Cup Of Sand

JAM! talks to Sloan about Action Pact. I’m on a Sloan kick right now. Hell, I’m on a power-pop kick right now. Turn it UP!

As I mentioned yesterday, Death Cab For Cutie, Nada Surf and The Long Winters will be coming to a venue to be announced in Toronto on October 16 and Montreal on October 17. I will guess the Opera House for the T.O. show. Barsuk loves Canada.

Sub Pop has retracted a bunch of the announced Shins tour dates, saying they’re still unconfirmed. Yeah, you forgot the Toronto date! I better get some satisfaction when the dates are announced again. Or else.

I’m looking around for some more interesting news to post, but coming up empty. Sorry.

It’s damn hot in the office. We’re being good corporate citizens and keeping the A/C off, save for periodic blasts of the cold stuff to lower the room temperature. I want to nap.

np – Nada Surf / Let Go

Epitaph has been taking out massive subway station ads to promote the release of The Weakerthans’ new album Reconstruction Site next Tuesday. Quite an odd thing to see on the subway.

Lemmings! All in DHTML! I have no idea how they did this, but it’s cool.

I’ve noticed a lot of hits on my site from people looking for information on Gregory Hines’ burial here in Toronto – my hometown of Oakville, to be exact. I don’t have any particular information, it came as a pretty big surprise to me as well, but there was an article in The Star about it over the weekend.

I bought a new lock for my bike, cost me a cool $120. I don’t know if it’s going to make a big difference, but it offers a little more piece of mind, considering that the next cheapest one was the one I had when my last bike got stolen and was on display behind the counter, all bent and warped, as an example of how easy it was to break them open. It didn’t really inspire confidence. So I got the more expensive one, will register it for the warranty and put a big tag on the lock that says, “If you are intending to steal this bike, please at least leave me the pieces of the lock so I can collect on the warranty. PS – YOU BASTARD”. I will be keeping the bike in the office from now on while I’m at work, though. I think the key to keeping my bike, along with the big-ass lock, will be NOT leaving it sitting outside for 9 hours a day.

First band practice in a fortnight tonight. A little sloppy, just running through the old stuff to get the rust off. We’re going to be adding new material to the set, build up what they call ‘a repetoire’. Crazy, that. It felt good to plug in and crank it again – it’s been a little while.

Radiohead have tenatively rescheduled their Toronto show for September 6. Official confirmation still forthcoming.

The Tyde are no longer joining Nada Surf on their Fall tour. It’s entirely possible, however, that there could be one ass-kicking bill of Barsuk bands for Toronto and Montreal in the third week of October. The Nada Surf website reports, “Also, info on the Toronto/Montreal shows will be updated soon and if things work out like we’re expecting, our neighbors up north will be privvy to an exceptional evening of tunes.” Hmm, wonder if this has anything to do with with Death Cab For Cutie/Long Winters tour that was rumoured to be coming to town around the same time…? It would be irresponsible of me to speculate.

Big new release day tomorrow… new Sloan, new Guided By Voices, new Superchunk (well, a double-disc comp anyway) and the reissue of Neil Young’s On The Beach, for the first time on CD. Three other old Neil albums as well his new one, Greendale, are also out tomorrow, but I’m not so interested in those. On The Beach, though. Gimme.

np – Sloan / Pretty Together

Check it out – satellite photos before and after the blackout. CRAAAAZY.

They made us wait more than two weeks, but Strong Bad makes it up to us. All is forgiven, Strong Bad. After all, your muscles can beat us up.

I’ve been informed that I don’t get to move into the new place till the 1st of September. I’d initially hoped that I’d be able to get in there the weekend previous, as it’d be easier to conscript help, but I don’t think that’s happening. Will should still be able to assist me with his parents’ van, though. The van is key.

np – Teenage Fanclub / Grand Prix

I went home yesterday and retrieved my old racing bike – it still needs some work, but is in better shape than I thought. It’s a totally different beast from my mountain bike, though. It’s so small! The frame feels absolutely dinky, but the bike is remarkably light. The seat is too low and I don’t have the proper tools to adjust it. My rims need to be trued something fierce. I think the biggest adjustment for me will be the suspension, or complete lack of. This thing is stiff, and I am going to feel the road, yessir. Not really looking forward to discovering just how good Toronto’s road maintenance is. This thing will get me through the Fall but I think next year I’ll have to get something else, better suited to the rigours of city riding. While I’d like to spend the afternoon riding around, I think it’d be more prudent to just bring it into the shop ASAP so I can get it back that much sooner. The brakes aren’t in terrific shape.

Tiny Mix Tapes has dates for the Autumn Shins tour, and there is no Toronto date. There are a couple slots where a T.O. date would concievably fit, but they’d also be logical travel days. Umm, that’s not right. Not at all. And the closest date – Detroit – is on a Monday. Again, not right at all. Didn’t we show you guys love last time you were here? Sure we did. Come to Toronto, Shins. I will buy you a pizza pie. According to the Shins website, Chutes Too Narrow will be released two weeks later than initially reported on October 21. Why don’t you guys just come over and punch me in the kidneys, already? Yer killing me.

The tracklisting for the Doves b-sides comp, Lost Sides, has been announced:

‘Break Me Gently (Incidental)’

‘Darker’

‘Your Shadow Lay Across My Life’

‘Meet Me At The Pier’

‘Down To Sea’

‘Crunch’

‘Zither’

‘Valley’

‘Northenden’

‘Hit The Ground Running’

‘Willow’s Song’

‘Far From Grace’

It contains 7 of the 11 tracks from the original promo-only version of Lost Sides from 2001, with the five new tracks being The Last Broadcast-era material. It’s coming out on the 29th of September in the UK, and while it will be released domestically in North America, I haven’t found a verifiable release date yet.

np – The New Year / Newness Ends