Going to see Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan on opening night is probably the sort of thing you’d expect a hardened Sascha Baron Cohen/Ali G/Borat fan to do, not someone who would have to confess to never having seen Da Ali G Show and whose only experience with Cohen was Talladega Nights (which I thought he was great in). And yet, there I was last night at a midnight screening no less (as the earlier ones were all sold out).

But with all the press around the film and the almost frighteningly positive reviews, I was pretty well briefed on the schtick and on what to expect. And that was a pretty funny movie. While I’m sure the filmmakers would like you to believe that the film is entirely built on Borat’s interactions with unsuspecting Americans, I find it highly unbelievable that significant portions of the film – in particular the ones that actually drive the narrative along – were not scripted. This doesn’t take much away from the movie and I doubt that total suspension of disbelief is very high on their list of priorities. Instead, they concentrate on the funny and outrageous and there, they succeed. Borat is still uproarious and more than offensive enough to those looking to be offended. And even the offensiveness isn’t that over the top – Borat takes many sideways swipes at things but rarely is there a full-on frontal assault on anyone or anything (unless you’re Kazakh). In fact, many of the funniest scenes have nothing to do with satire, but are instead lowbrow gross-out humour. And that’s okay.

Is Borat, as some are claiming, the funniest movie ever made? No, probably not, but it is damned funny and I cannot believe you could see it and now leave with at least a few stitches in your side. And it’s okay if you feel guilty about it.

And a contest: Courtesy of Atlantic Records, I’ve got three Borat prize packs to give away consisting of a copy of the film’s soundtrack and the promotional poster for said soundtrack. The CD contains much of the actual music from the film as well as some songs that weren’t (“Throw The Jew Down The Well”, “You Be My Wife”) as well as some clips of dialogue and some video clips and unreleased stuff from the film. Whether this is something you’ll actually listen to more than once… well, that’s between you and the people you live with. The poster is either dull or grotesque depending on what side you have facing out, but I’m sure more than a few of you would love to have that second image pinned up in your cubicle at work. Hey, that’s okay. I’m not judging.

Anyway, to win said Borat goodness, leave me a comment with your favourite line of Borat dialogue. That’s it, that’s all. The contest closes at midnight, November 11.

Video: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan soundtrack commercial (MOV)

Radio Free Canuckistan offers the complete version of his interview with Devastations which appeared in this week’s eye. And if you missed the item directly below this one, the show at the El Mocambo for tonight has been canceled.

Exclaim! recounts the long and storied history of REM, timeline-style.

Stylus has completed their countdown of their 50 best live albums of all time. Live At Leeds and Live Rust are both represented, I am satisfied.

Grizzly Bear recently stopped in at AOL’s Interface to record a session. And maul an intern.

What Would Jesus Blog offers some tips on how to make a mix tape to impress Chuck Klosterman. I am currently reading Klosterman’s latest, IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas. It amuses me.

np – Johan / THX JHN

While doing a little cleaning recently, I came across a CD-R that a friend of mine in Richmond, Virginia sent me a number of years ago. It’s a collection of 8-track demos by a local band called Salt Chunk Mary circa 1992/1993 which isn’t especially remarkable in and of itself save for the fact that it was fronted by one Mark Linkous, who would go on to create the singularly sad and beautiful Sparklehorse. Information on the band is nigh impossible to find since they didn’t really do much before morphing into the ‘Horse and they generally predate the internet – however the notes indicate the lineup on the recordings included Mark Linkous, his brother Matt on guitar, Chip Jones on bass and Steve Schick on drums. I also found this fifteen-year old article from the Richmond Times Dispatch that talked to the band about their fledgling project.

There are a few jams and sonic experiments that foreshadow the direction that Linkous would head in the future but most of the songs are solid if unremarkable pieces of rootsy jangle pop and bluesy rock. It’s fascinating to hear Linkous sing with volume and authority, considering how he usually sounds like he’s singing via a transistor radio transmission from the far reaches of the galaxy these days. As I said, if that wasn’t Mark Linkous fronting the band, there’d be really no reason to pay much attention to these songs but as the naked baby photos for one of the more unique and eccentric talents on the musical landscape today, they’re pretty interesting. Somewhere, along the way, Mr Horse took a hard left off the highway and into the ditch and has been wandering the wilds of Appalachia ever since.

And there is one familar tune as four songs in we find an early version of “Someday I Will Treat You Good” from Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot – much cleaner and straightforward in production but not far removed from final product. I’ve posted both versions for you to compare and contrast (and the video as well, if you require visual aids). I’ve also posted a couple of the better tunes from the demos – unfortunately, there was no track listing to go along with the disc so I’m left making up names based on the phrase most often repeated in the chorus. Imprecise, but what can you do.

And back in the present day, The Scotsman talks to Linkous about making Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain.

MP3: Salt Chunk Mary – “Rest Your Worried Mind”
MP3: Salt Chunk Mary – “Take Back Everything”
MP3: Salt Chunk Mary – “Someday I Will Treat You Good”
MP3: Sparklehorse – “Someday I Will Treat You Good”
Video: Sparklehorse – “Someday I Will Treat You Good” (YouTube)
MySpace: Sparklehorse

There’s also a tribute album to Sparklehorse in the works where you can almost surely expect another version of “Someday I Will Treat You Good” to turn up. Curated by Slight Record, the lineup of artists who will appear on Sad and Beautiful World is still being kept secret but confirmed are Daniel Johnston and Toronto’s Barzin, whom I just discovered last week.

Primarily the project of Barzin Hosseini though also enlisting talents such as Tony Dekker of Great Lake Swimmers, their slow, sad and spacey country-tinged tunes recall Scotland’s Zephyrs (whose website is down now but hopefully that doesn’t mean anything…) as well as Mojave 3, Low and Red House Painters – in other words, the sort of stuff that I love. I’m a little surprised that I’d never even heard the name before, let alone the music, considering we share an area code but hey – better late than never. Their latest album is My Life In Rooms, released this past Spring domestically and just a couple weeks ago in the US. You can sample a few songs below or stream the whole record via the eCard. Barzin played Toronto last night opening for Stuart Staples and heads out on a European tour later this month.

MP3: Barzin – “Leaving Time”
MP3: Barzin – “Lets Go Driving”
MP3: Barzin – “Won’t You Come”
eCard: Barin / My Life In Rooms
MySpace: Barzin

And to loop back a bit, the Slight Record label is associated with the Slightly Confusing To A Stranger webzine, which currently has a live Sparklehorse track taken from this year’s Austin City Limits festival available to download:

MP3: Sparklehorse – “Sad & Beautiful World” (live at ACL 2006)

eye meets Devastations, playing at the ElMo downstairs tomorrow evening.

Filter has posted their almost unbearably precious yet somehow still insightful recent cover story on Cat Power online. Of course, I’m fairly sure this interview was conducted pre-breakdown/dry-out so any insights the author claims to have divined from his time with Ms Marshall are probably questionable. She plays the Phoenix November 22.

CokeMachineGlow interviews the boys from Grizzly Bear.

np – The Clash / The Story Of The Clash

So on Tuesday I Heart Music unveiled the results of this year’s “33 Hottest Bands In Canada” poll of Canuck bloggers and online media types. The criteria for the poll was simple – the bands had to be Canadian and they had to have had a “really good 2006”. How I chose to interpret those requirements was entirely up to me.

I had to think on the second criteria for a bit – you may recall that I was/am still smarting from my epically lame experience trying to pick nominees for the Polaris Music Prize earlier this year. With this in mind, I decided to ignore who was actually having a good year in terms of things like critical acclaim, record sales, public exposure, whatever, and pick the 10 bands/artists that got me personally excited about cheering for the home team this year. It could have been because of an album, a song, a live performance, whatever – all they had to be, really, was new to me and have gotten my attention.

Only five of my picks made the final list, which is probably about what I expected. I don’t know why, but I had expected there to be more unfamiliar names on the list – you know, in keeping with my general inability to keep an ear to the ground. But no, I’ve actually heard most of the artists on the final list and even have informed opinions about most of them. How about that? But here’s my list as submitted to Matthew last week along with whatever pithy annotations I could come up with at the time. Most of the others who participated have done the same on their own respective sites so if you want to see their lists and rationales, just click through the participant list in the I Heart Music post. And also note that you can now see the full list of all other nominees, many with linked audio samples. Nice.

1. Land Of Talk – Applause Cheer Boo Hiss is one of the best things I’ve heard by anyone from anywhere in any year.
2. Ohbijou – Fresh-faced and -sounding, yet already incredibly polished, this chamber-pop mini-orchestra has boundless potential.
3. The Airfields – Breaks your heart into little pieces and then breaks those pieces into smaller pieces.
4. Destroyer – I’m a latecomer to this party but I finally get it.
5. My Dad Vs Yours – Thank you, Matt, for the term “post-pop”.
6. The Coast – Their glistening pop is Toronto’s Anglophilia done right.
7. The Acorn – “Blankets”. All you need to hear.
8. Malajube – No idea what they’re saying but sounds great regardless.
9. The Diableros – Sugar-laced soul coated in delicious white noise.
10. Final Fantasy – 100 Canadian music critics can’t be wrong! Still warming to the record but breathtaking live.

And what are my selections up to? Land Of Talk are in town November 16 and 17 opening for The Dears at Lee’s Palace while Ohbijou supports their two November 18 shows (all-ages matinee, licensed evening show). Ohbijou are also at the Boat on November 27. The Airfields are currently… kicking around. Some signs of life but not too much to report. Dan “Destroyer” Bejar is currently occupied with his Swan Lake project, My Dad Vs Yours just wrapped a fairly tour-intensive October and The Coast are rereleasing their excellent self-titled EP on Tuesday and celebrate with a party/show at the Ukula store on November 9. The Acorn will release their new album Tin Fist in late November/early December, Malajube headline a show at Lee’s Palace on November 25, The Diableros are touring across Canada later this month and Final Fantasy performs at the North York Central Library on Saturday as part of the Blocks party.

Just in time for their big-ass party in NYC, CMJ has posted a two-piece article about the differences between indie labels and majors. In part one, they compare and contrast the life lessons of Harvey Danger and Rollerskate Skinny/Favourite Sons. Part two talks to some indie label reps about the current industry landscape and how bands like Be Your Own Pet and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are taking advantage.

One band that’s got a fair bit to say on the above topic are The Decemberists, in town on Monday night at the Kool Haus. Chris Funk talks Capitol expectations to Philadelphia Weekly while Colin Meloy address same (amongst other topics) for NOW and The Toronto Star and Nate Query for MP3.com. eye, on the other hand, skirts the topic completely preferring to talk about Robyn Hitchcock.

One of the great things about the return of zombie WOXY is the return of their Lounge Acts studio sessions – currently up, Frank Black, who incidentally calls rumours of a new Pixies album “Bulls–t”. And he actually pronounced the hyphens – both of them.

np – Daylight’s For The Birds / Trouble Everywhere

Things I know about Shout Out Out Out Out – 1) they’re from Edmonton, 2) they can make even Torontonians dance and 3) they’re playing the Horseshoe next Friday night and courtesy of The Musebox, I’ve got a prize pack to give away that includes a pair of tickets to said show, a copy of their new album Not Saying/Just Saying and a t-shirt, most likely with some sort of band-related slogan or artwork on it. Doesn’t that sound delightful? Sure it does.

To enter, email me at contests@chromewaves.net with “I want to Shout Out Out Out Out” in the subject line and your full name in the body. The contest will close at midnight, November 5 so get crack crack cracking. CONTEST NOW CLOSED. Congrats to Gloria of Toronto.

New Music Canada: Shout Out Out Out Out