While at Magic Pony yesterday buying a print of Kozyndan’s “The Household”, I was excited to learn that the artists were going to be in town at the end of September at the store doing and exhibition. I hope they bring some more artwork to sell – I would love to have “DC Sleeps Alone Tonight” as well. Actually, I’d like to have copies of all their work… perhaps I’ll just have to settle for the book.

And speaking of The Postal Service, they’ve made a video for their cover of Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds” which you can watch in asx or ram format, link from Stereogum. It’s basically four minutes of things disappearing and Josh Hartnett looking sad – don’t be sad Josh Hartnett, you’re rich. You can afford to buy another bed. While the track has been kicking around online for some time now, it’s finally getting a formal release on the soundtrack to the film Wicker Park starring the aforementioned Hartnett. I don’t know what it’s about but it looks like Josh has to choose between two, maybe three, beautiful women. Poor bastard.

Brainwashed has a feature-length (okay, 21 minutes, but that’s epic-length in internet attention span terms) video feature on Rachel Goswell comprising live and interview footage taken from her recent jaunt across America promoting Waves Are Universal. She offers a capsule history of Slowdive and Mojave 3 including some insider info heretofore unknown (at least to me). Good stuff.

Low In Europe is a documentary film that follows Duluth, Minnesota’s favourite sons (and daughter) Low on tour in Europe over 2002 and 2003 to promote their last album Trust. It will be coming out on DVD this Fall but is limited to 1000 pieces. Damn, that is limited. From Slatch.

Macha will be at Lee’s to rock the zither, vibraphone and other traditional Indonesian instrumentation on September 20, tickets $10. It’s much better than it sounds, trust me. They just released Forget Tomorrow on August 3, their first proper record in five years. Chicago’s Mahjongg support.

Montreal popsters Arcade Fire will be fleeing Pop Montreal to come play for us at Lee’s Palace on October 1, tickets $8 in advance. I have missed something like their last three or four shows in Toronto – I won’t be missing this one, word is they put on an annihilative (is that a word? Is now.) live show. In fact, there is very significant “next big thing” buzz around this band. Justified? You decide – see them live or get their debut long-player Funeral when it comes out September 14 on Merge.

Offering further proof that this is the Summer for reunions, Helmet are strapping it back on and hitting the road to support thier first new album in five years, Size Matters (out September 14). The tour will bring them to Lee’s Palace on October 2.

It makes me happy when The Horseshoe and Lee’s Palace update their websites. My October concert sched is getting kinda full – seven shows in a month including two back-to-back-to-back (or just about) weekends? Woot. I may have to work some vacation days into the mix just to stay alive (but that’s okay, as I have vacation days I have to use up by the end of October anyway).

Three words (and two little words): Freddy vs Jason vs Ash. You know, ASH. From The Evil Dead films? Chainsaws, knives, machetes… New Line is talking to Sam Raimi about the rights, if not to direct (Spider-Man 3 will probably keep him busy). Do it, Sam. It’ll be a humdinger of a good time. “Shop smart. Shop S-Mart.”

np – American Music Club / San Francisco

Presenting: my new camera. A Canon PowerShot G3. I really hadn’t intended to get one so soon, but the opportunity to get one of these slightly older but still top-quality cameras presented itself via Craigslist and I couldn’t pass it up. It’s used but really, it’s showroom condition. The guy never used it. It’s not a small camera by any means – we’re talking film camera size, no ultra-miniaturization at work here – and it has more features and flexibility than I know what to do with. Literally – I have no idea how to work this thing. I’ve got manuals upon manuals to read through before I start to make heads or tails of this. I also need a new Compact Flash card – playing with the RAW settings on this and the supplied 32 MB card fills up lickety-split. When I get this all sorted out, I may start up a photoblog to justify the purchase. Any theme suggestions?

The Stone Roses will be the subject of a double-DVD coming out on October 5 in the US (it was released in the UK in June and I just saw it in Soundscapes yesterday, so it’s out up here as well) entitled simply, The Stone Roses. It will feature a live show from Blackpool, all their videos, a slew of television appearances and some interview footage, all done up in Dolby 5.1. Full details and contents listing here. But even though Ian Brown has started performing Roses tunes live again, don’t expect them to jump on the reunion bandwagon. In an interview with NME he said,

“I think that everything’s of its time. I get as many kids coming up asking me not to reform the Roses as reform. They say, ‘Please don’t spoil it for us’. They don’t want to see grey haired pot bellied geezers. It was all about the spirit of the thing. We’d finish a rehearsal and go straight to each other’s houses and hang out until midnight, then meet at 10am the next day. If that’s not there, I don’t see how we could do it. Because it wouldn’t be real.”

Cheers to you, King Monkey – that’s the attitude. Of couse, if they DID reunite and come over here to play, you know I’d be camping out for tickets. That is, if people camped out for tickets anymore.

The Strokes’ Live In London album documenting the December 5, 2003 show at the Alexandra Palace will be out October 12. Now you can listen to the New York’s poutiest sound utterly bored in the comfort of your own home. The first 1000 pressings will feature a bonus track of the band counting their money backstage while their actress/model girlfriends have a pillow fight in the background.

Can anyone advise what’s the best (read: cheapest) avenue of ordering a CD from the UK? I want the new Charlotte Hatherley record but don’t want to pay the $30+ it would cost me to order it from Amazon.co.uk. I can’t justify paying that much for a breezy summer pop record. And I could download it but then I wouldn’t have the artwork… and pictures…

np – Old 97’s / Drag It Up

Having now seen The Hudsucker Proxy, I can now saw I’ve seen every Coen Brothers film. The (fictional) story about the invention of the hula hoop, it was considered a bomb by commercial standards as it only made back $3 million of its $25 million budget and for that reason, it doesn’t seem to be as highly regarded as their other films. That’s a damn shame because despite the meagre box office take, The Hudsucker Proxy is an unqualified artistic success. For my money, it’s the most lively, fantastical and outrageous of all the Coen Brothers films – and when you look at their filmography, that’s saying something. Seemingly set in its own universe, there’s countless amazing visuals from the mailroom and the clock room of Hudsucker Industries and the sequence where the children of America discover the joys of the hula hoop is priceless. Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Paul Newman and the entire cast do marvelously with the rapid-fire dialogue and really get into the spirit of the picture and seem like they’re having a lot of fun with it. I probably need to see Fargo and The Big Lebowski again before I crown this my favourite Coen flick, but it’s damn close.

And while on the subject of shady corporations – though this story is a lot less funny – Rolling Stone of all places explains just why Clear Channel is evil. Now would be a good opportunity to put on the Smug Canadian hat and boast about how our radio isn’t controlled by one monolithic corporation, but the truth is our playlists are pretty much the same as the US’ and we don’t even have the excuse of it being mandated from above. We just mimic everything our American cousins do and throw in the occasional Tea Party song to satisfy the Cancon requirements. And that’s just sadder. From Donewaiting.

As rumoured, as promised – Wilco are coming back. October 9, Massey Hall. More info to come. And while they’re playing a venue five times the size of the Mod Club, you’ll still have to scramble to get tickets – reserved seating, dontcha know. Still, with two shows in two months – this one at a hall with the best acoustics in the city and on a Saturday night no less – can life get any better? Maybe if I had some Nutella.

The Big Ticket reveals what looks like the artwork for the new Ted Leo & The Pharmacists record, Shake The Sheets (yes, “Sheets” – not “Streets” as originally reported). Look for the CD that looks like this in stores October 19.

It’s worth periodically posting a link to The Jenville Show because it’s just such a fun site. It features indie rockers offering their favourite recipes, complete with video footage. The latest installment has Beulah’s (or maybe that should be EX-Beulah?) singer Miles Krukowsky’s recipe to make a steak dinner for two. Veggie types will be interested in the next interview featuring Ben Gibbard telling us how to make tofu the of Death Cab way. Incredibly lazy types will appreciated Jack Black’s no-nonsense Dorito burrito recipe. From Stereogum.

More Omahans coming to town! Cursive side-project The Good Life will be at the Horseshoe October 18 with Neva Dinova.

Oh… and just to do my part in irresponsible rumour-mongering, there is some buzz going around the web-o-sphere that The Smiths are in early discussions about a reunion. Apparently Frank Black phoned up Johnny Marr while on the European leg of the Pixies’ reunion tour and told him about the five humvees that he was able to buy with the profits from their reunion. If you want to blame someone for starting this rumour, blame Popbitch.

My bike got a flat tire last night. Big “BANG” and everything. How deflating.

np – Broken Social Scene / Bee Hives

The Forests Have Feelings Too show at Magic Pony was pretty dang cool. Showcasing the work of Nathan Jurevicius, almost the entire shop was filled with figurines large and small, original artwork, prints and sketches from his Scarygirl comic strip. There was also a collection of figurines decorated by local folks (including Graig and Carla), some fantastic, some disturbing. His work definitely has a Tim Burton influence, but with a more whimsy and less creepiness and a definite Japanese flavour. I like his stuff a lot. I bought a little figurine thingee that you assemble yourself in grand Mr Potatohead fashion. Some pics from the exhibition, which runs through September 18, here.

Magic Pony is a neat shop – I am definitely going back to pick up some of the Kozyndan prints they have for sale (and very reasonably priced, too). I’ve loved their work since they designed the artwork for the two Postal Service singles (The District Sleeps Alone Tonight and Such Great Heights) but didn’t know that the prints would be available locally. Yay. This one, titled “The Household”, is the one I want, though I wouldn’t be surprised if I got this one as well – just look at the detail on them. Amazing. I’m not sure where I’d put them up yet, the walls in my apartment are weirdly-shaped and not necessarily conducive to hanging artwork, but I’ll find somewhere.

After the show we headed over to the Horseshoe to catch some local music. There were four bands on the bill but we were only collectively interested in two of them, The Frontier Index and The Parkas. There’ll be no comment on the other two bands – Supergarage I didn’t stick around for and Stirling… Well, if you can’t say anything nice (and I could say a lot not nice), then we’ll leave it at that.

Carla had been telling me about Frontier Index since I missed them (but she hadn’t) opening for Preston School Of Industry earlier this year. The stuff on their website sounded promising so I made a note to try and catch them the next time the opportunity presented itself. They trade in fairly standard ‘cosmic American music’ (read: alt.country) but with some particular attention paid to the ‘cosmic’ part of that. The unconventional spacey and textural lead guitar work was distinctive as well as their glorious three-part harmonies which weren’t used nearly enough. It looks like these guys are on an upward trajectory, if the remarkable attendance in place for their early set is any indication. Furthermore, word is they’re on the verge of signing with Rainbow Quartz though their country-esque sound would probably be more at home on their Turquiose Mountain imprint. Good stuff, and worth watching.

Then Stirling played. I blacked out for about an hour.

I saw Thunder Bay-via-London’s The Parkas last year at an Endearing Records showcase at CMW last year, and while I think I liked them alright, I don’t remember anything about them. They certainly made more of an impression last night, though. Going through some recent lineup flux, they were playing with a couple of ringers to fill in for a departed guitarist/vocalist but if that had put them off their game at all, I certainly couldn’t tell. The guys are a quintissentially Canadian rock band (in the Joel Plaskett vein, not April Wine) and sure know how to throw a party and work a crowd. I didn’t know any of their stuff and still had a great time at the show – that’s not an easy feat. I wouldn’t have wanted to be the band that had to follow them.

I got pics of the Frontier Index and Parkas sets here.

The Rilo Kiley/Now It’s Overhead/Tilly & The Wall show has a venue – you will want to be at the Horseshoe on October 3 to take in the show.

Okay, wait a minute – THIS is the guy who beat me for best music blog this year? Only Moby could make a night out with strippers, cocaine, booze and all-night sex sound utterly lame and pathetic. Bitter? Me? Nah. From 10:51am Toronto.

np – Sonic Youth / Daydream Nation

Roddy Woomble (I still can’t get over that name), frontman for Scottish rock machine Idlewild, talks to Billboard about the long and winding process of writing and recording their fourth album, now slated for an early 2005 release. He promises (or warns?) that there will be a significant “classic rock” influence on this record. Talk is cheap, Roddy, I expect duelling guitar solos, and lots of them. You’ve got two official guitarists now, there’s no excuse. Don’t promise classic rock without bringing the Thin Lizzy guitar solos. They’ve already scrapped almost an entire album’s worth of material and started over, hence the many delays in getting the new record out. I really liked 2000’s 100 Broken Windows but found the follow-up The Remote Part to be a little bombastic and over-produced. There were still some really killer songs on it, but I felt it could have benefitted from a little more variety and a little less full throttle the whole way through. Still – I look forward to the new record, whenever and whatever it may be.

Tobin Sprout’s excellent show at the Horseshoe this past April was recorded for posterity and will be released on Luna Records on September 17 as a nice double-CD set, available only through the label’s website. An album of demos and outtakes entitled Demos & Outtakes II will also be coming out early next year. From LHB.

New Three Gut Records signees Sea Snakes will be opening for The Magnolia Electric Co/Songs: Ohia October 2 at the ‘Shoe.

Nellie McKay is just now being unleashed on the United Kingdom and The Guardian has a piece introducing her to her native land. From Pop (All Love).

Here’s an interesting revelation: Jude Law is a geek. Empire magazine made the discovery whilst interviewing Law about his upcoming geek-friendly film Sky Captain & The World Of Tomorrow – it mentioned that Darren Aranofsky was making the Watchmen film and Law’s response was as follows:

“Darren Aronofsky? I’m on the phone NOW!” said Law, clearly excited. “Adrian Veidt, King of Kings!” And then, as if to show off his Watchmen fanboy credentials, he whispered conspiratorially. “I’m tattooed with Rorschach, did you know that?”

One of us! One of us! One of us! Except prettier.

And as a bonus, The Beat presents “Great Comics Panels In History”. “Where’s my money, honey?”

Comic Book Resources talks to Neil Gaiman about all his ongoing film projects and gets the scoop on what is going on with his multitudes of creations. Death: The High Cost Of Living is definitely happening, will be very faithful to the comic, and will be Gaiman’s directorial debut. They have begun casting and discussions are underway with a specific actress who is nameless at the moment. Speculation anyone? He also has some interesting observations on the upcoming Constantine debacle and why it will fail (and mark my words, it will) and why DC properties in general are so hit-and-miss: Warner Bros have their heads waaaay up their asses.

Tonight I’m going to the Forests Have Feelings Too exhibition at Magic Pony with Graig and Carla. It’s a showing of work by Australian artist/cartoonist Nathan Jurevicius, of whom I knew nothing before last night but now having poked around his website a bit (and this one), I’m looking forward to this – his stuff looks neat. Then it’s off to the Horseshoe to catch some local rock action, The Frontier Index in particular. Full report tomorrow.

np – The Sadies / Stories Often Told