Okay, this sort of falls under the “blatent self-promotion” category, but I don’t do that much so you’ll forgive the indulgence. I’ve begun playing with a local space-rock/shoegaze outfit called Bluescreen and we’ve been rehearsing for the past month or so in preparation for a CD release show at the Horseshoe on January 13 in honour of their (our?) second album A Survival Guide To Mishaps And Losses. Also on the bill are Fjord Rowboat, Raised By Swans and In Support Of Living, and collectively there could very well be several hundred delay pedals at work. I’m rather excited about this as it will be my first time on stage in well over a year. So since I’m sort of in the band, I don’t feel right about offering up any sort of musical review or whatnot, so I’ll just direct you to their/our MySpace page and audio page with streaming samples and cordially invite anyone and everyone to come down to the ‘Shoe next Friday and enjoy the show. Thanks. And I’ll get my pronouns sorted out.

It used to be that a band would wait a proper amount of time after disbanding before reuniting – now, like so many things in this word, that process is hyper-accelerated. Nottingham’s Six By Seven called it a day back in June, but have now announced a new album, Club Sandwich At The Peveril Hotel, to be released in March and with touring to follow. Their website calls the release “unofficial” and it may well turn out to be a companion to Left Luggage At The Peveril Hotel, which collected studio non-album cuts, but either way, I don’t care if they call themselves defunct or whatever, if new music keeps coming, I’m happy. There is also word of a DVD release and hopefully the double-disc b-sides collection the band was assembling in conjunction with Mantra Records is still on the calendar. Just because the corpse is walking around again doesn’t mean you can’t have a wake.

Thanks to suckingalemon for confirming details of The Sadies’ shows at Lee’s Palace on February 3 and 4. They’ll be recording a live album and some of the guests slated to be in attendance in some capacity include Neko Case, Blue Rodeo (all of them? Probably Greg at least), Gary Louris and Steve Albini. Check out her comment in yesterday’s post for a longer list. No ticket info yet, but that will be an insanely twang-tacular show.

Stream four tracks from Cat Power’s new album The Greatest, due out January 24.

Being There got a shiny new makeover for Christmas! And they lead off the new year with one of those features which shall not be named, but involve various things from a certain period of time ranked numerically. Ahem.

The 2006 Bloggie nominations are open. I see they’ve insisted on keeping the “entertainment” category, but somehow feel that “teens” need their own category. Come on, no one cares what teenagers have to say. Seen and not heard and all that. Anyway, if you want to nominate me and set me up for a third straight year of crushing defeat and humiliation in March, have at it.

So I will admit, I have a bit of a gadget fetish. Maybe it’s the one thing that remains after deprogramming myself of my mechanical engineering degree, or maybe it’s just a guy thing. Anyway, one of my Christmas gifts to myself was this Harmony 659 universal remote. I love this thing. Like many, my coffee table had become a remote control farm, with anywhere from three to six remotes grazing the ttabletop at any given time depending on my activities. Enter the Harmony, which has whittled it down to one shapely unit. It took a little fine-tuning of the programming to get it working properly, but I think I’ve got it now. It’s like the Sword of Greyskull, I feel so empowered with it.

And so with that bit of technology taken care of, I’m contemplating my digital camera. The G3 still takes great pics, but considering advances in digicam technology, I wouldn’t mind getting cleaner high ISOs or even a higher resolution. 4MP is acceptable, but barely. I’ve had my eye on a DSLR for a while now, and had even come up with a clever financing plan, but have backed off that for the time being. Fact is, I don’t really know how to use my point-and-shoot all that well. I mean, I can point it and shoot it, but when it comes to the nuances of photography, I’m still sort of in the caveman stage. So with that in mind, I’ve decided to start a low-key photoblog over at my Flickr page. I’m going to take/post (not sure which yet) one photo a day, of whatever. I just need to get using my camera somewhere besides concerts, and maybe by pushing myself to really learn how to use it, I can justify the expense of a DSLR in the near future. And if the prices come down a little more in the meantime, hey. Bonus. I don’t know if Flickr is necessarily the best interface to try and run a photoblog dealie, but I am paying for it (yeah, I upgraded the account for whatever reason). So there.

And I’ve been looking to upgrade my PDA to something colour and backlit. Being able to take notes somewhere besides broad daylight would be a real treat. I’m looking for a deal on a Tungsten E on eBay, but would settle for a simple Zire 31 if I had to.

CES 2006 is coming up, isn’t it? Time to camp out at Engadget and Gizmodo.

What? I like toys. Sue me.

np – American Music Club / A Toast To You

Stereogum has gotten around to compiling the XY-chromosonal edition of his 2005 indie hotties of 2005 poll. I understand it took longer than the female one because, well, every other submission was for “that guy” or “that dude”. The results prove what I’ve always suspected, and that the ladies love the sensitive, banjo-plucking Christian boys with a lisp because Sufjan Stevens ran away with half the votes. So combine this honour with the fact that agree or disagree, Sufjan’s Illinois was pretty much the concensus pick as top album of the year and it’s pretty much safe to say that 2005 was the year of the Sufjan. I’m pretty sure he took the title for most posts and links in my blog for last year anyway (and I think 2004 was the year of Wilco… I should keep track of this stuff). And with that in mind, I declare that this will be the first – and last – Sufjan Stevens-led post I make in 2006. Unless he does something especially noteworthy, like bring peace to the Middle East, eat a school busload of babies or release another album. Go on vacation, Sufjan. Go to Deleware, or Wyoming or something (or maybe California, as most Stereogum readers recommend).

And using that as a leaping off point, I’m going to make a bit of a New Year’s declaration/resolution here – I will endeavour to include more coverage of new/up-and-coming artists in this here site. That means listening to more of the stuff I’m sent out of the blue (which isn’t necessarily a solicitation for more stuff to be sent to me out of the blue, but whatever). One consequence of this could be an increase in the snark quotient of my Sunday Cleaning columns, since the stuff I actually like will probably be getting regular posts of their own. We’ll see, I haven’t decided yet. That said, my overriding mandate will still be to simply write about the stuff I like or find interesting. I subscribe to the philosophy The Big Takeover’s Jack Rabid puts forth in an interview in their latest issue – “If I’m going to stay in this business, I have to have time to listen to the stuff that I like. I can’t be kept from listening to the stuff that I like out of some sense of requirement. And I can’t ignore and punish people because I’ve written about them before”. Which means that when Wilco releases their new album later this year, expect the full court press… but I will try to balance that out with other stuff. Really.

I don’t know how you spent your New Year’s Eve, but I would think the Fox Theater in Boulder, Colorado would have been a damn fine place to be, ringing in 2006 with Drive-By Truckers and Centro-Matic. Both have new albums out this year – DBT’s A Blessing And A Curse is due out in April-ish and CM’s Fort Recovery is out March 7 – and the first preview MP3s are now online.

MP3: Drive-By Truckers – “Feb 14”
MP3: Centro-Matic – “Triggers And Trash Heaps”

The Centro-Matic song is also the title track from a teaser EP coming out February 7. And I said I was done with year-end lists, but Patterson Hood wants to share. And you can’t say no to Patterson.

And since I’ve already backslid on my “no lists” policy, I want to point out News OK’s list of the best graphic novels of 2005. Pleased to see local comic Scott Pilgrim Vs The World rocking the top spot. The third volume, Scott Pilgrim & The Infinite Sadness, was supposed to be out at the end of December but has been pushed back until January 25. Book four, Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together, is also slated to come out in 2006. Link via Largehearted Boy.

Oh look, I lost another awards poll thingee. Congrats to fellow covers fetishist Copy, Right? on the win. You know, when I made this post almost two years ago, I had no idea how prescient I was being…

I’m trying to write up my submission for eye’s 2005 music critics poll, for which I’m honoured to finally be included, but am finding I’m fresh out of ways to talk about why I liked the albums I did last year. The horse is beaten.

np – Six By Seven / :04

Once a year, The New Year becomes the most topically-named band in the world. Formed from the ashes of Bedhead and based from no fixed address (though the Kadane brothers still call Texas home), those who didn’t know otherwise could be forgiven for thinking they were still the same band because, well, sonically they pretty much are. You can argue the production on The New Year records is a little fuller (The End Is Near even incorporates piano!) or the songwriting a little more lively, but in truth it just follows the same path of growth that Bedhead was on between WhatFunLifeWas and Transaction De Novo. They combine slow, languid tempos and narcoleptic vocals with hypnotic, interweaving guitar lines and occasional bursts of rapidly-strummed fury and if you’re in the right mood, it’s the best thing ever. Which I am, but since I spun both New Year records yesterday, it’ll probably be a Bedhead kind of day today.

While they promise touring in 2006, there’s no mention of a new record on the horizon and any shows will have to come after February, since drummer Chris Brokaw has his own European tour scheduled to promote his solo album Incredible Love. Maybe they’ll find some time for a SxSW appearance? Seeing as how they never come to Canada, I would stand in line to see them play. There’s no shortage of stuff to download off their website, and their MySpace page has one more song streaming for your approval.

MP3: The New Year – “Chinese Handcuffs”
MP3: The New Year – “Disease”
MP3: The New Year – “Gasoline”
MP3: The New Year – “Great Expectations” (live)
MP3: The New Year – “Half A Day” (live)
Video: The New Year – “Disease” (MOV)

Happy New Year. Regular programming will re-commence tomorrow.

np – Sufjan Stevens / Michigan

Is it cinematically correct to describe a film as both noir AND black? Because Kiss Kiss Bang Bang certainly qualifies as both, an engaging and occasionally quite grim modern film noir detective tale, and a wickedly black comedy. Robert Downey Jr, reminding everyone that he’s a hell of an actor when he’s not in rehab, plays a small-time crook who stumbles his way into a gig as an actor and then a private investigator, training alongside Val Kilmer and ending up neck-deep in a multiple-murder mystery involving an old flame (the smoking hot Michelle Monaghan). In the process, a lot of people get killed, a lot of wickedly sharp jokes about grammar and rudiementary mathematics are tossed around and a lot of smart-ass, fourth-wall-ignoring narration courtesy of Downey. This last point might turn some people off as it can be a little too smug, meta or self-aware for some tastes, but if you just go along for the ride, it’s a hell of a lot of fun.

The film is the directorial debut of Shane Black, but though it’s his first film he’s no novice – he’s the guy who wrote the first Lethal Weapon film and The Last Boy Scout. He also wrote The Last Action Hero, but we’ll not speak of that. Here, he gets some excellent performances from all his principals and though I’m sure there’s some breakdowns in logic and believability as the plot gets twistier and twistier, I didn’t mind one bit – I was having too good a time. It’s smart (enough), sexy and goddamn funny with lines like, “This isn’t good cop, bad cop. This is fag and New Yorker” (Kilmer’s character is name Gay Perry. Because he’s gay and his name is Perry). Highly recommended. Metacritic and Rotten Tomatos also approve.

Mogwai have a track from Mr Beast, “Friend Of The Night”, streaming off their MySpace page. But don’t download or fileshare it, or Mogwai will smack your ass down – just ask Said The Gramophone. Don’t mess with the Scots, man. They’ve got nothing to lose. The band have announced some tour dates for March that take them from Chicago down the eastern seaboard into Austin for SxSW, but nothing up here. The new album is out March 7.

I think Indie For Dummies has surveyed all (or many of) the indie bloggers’ year-end lists and via some mystical mathematical formula, compiled the ultimate aggregate top 100 albums of 2005. If so, I am flummoxed and impressed. And I am also quoted in the entry for The Sunset Tree. Dang, ain’t I eloquent? And John Sakamoto dedicates this week’s Anti-Hit List to his best whatsits of the year. And in case you don’t have any friends who like to email you links to stuff, iFilm lists off the best viral videos of 2005 (via Largehearted Boy). Now let’s officially declare 2005 over and stop with the lists already, okay?

Challenge Of The SouthParkFriends – genius. Mr Garrison IS Lex Luthor. Via The Great Curve.

So that’s another year come and gone… I had thought about doing some sort of personal year in review dealie, but there’s really not too much to say. 2005 has been a good one. Life really does begin at 30. Be safe tonight, and I’ll see you in 2006.

np – The New Year / Newness Ends

Thanks to Matt the other day for tipping me off that Austin’s Voxtrot would finally be touring up through Toronto for a show at Sneaky Dee’s on April 13 with California’s Irving. Voxtrot first appeared on my radar when I was wading through bands to check out at SxSW back in March, and though I didn’t end up catching their performance, I was impressed by their ultra-melodic, just retro enough pop stylings. And then I promptly forgot about them.

They did make inroads in the popular conciousness throughout 2005, though, as I’d see their name appear in blogs and whatnot periodically and be reminded, “hey – I liked them, I should check them out again”… and then I’d promptly forget about them again. But I won’t be making that mistake again – especially not now that Spin named them band of the day (there can only be 365 of those in a year!) and Gorilla Vs Bear named their debut Raised By Wolves EP his top EP of the year, and almost top record, period. They will be issuing a follow-up EP in the Spring which will no doubt fuel the slowly but steadily growing buzz surrounding the band – hell, Indie Interviews has them pegged as one of the Texas bands set to explode in 2006. That’s ALL of Texas. And Texas is big, y’know.

Need evidence? Check out one of the tracks from Raised By Wolves and stream some more at their MySpace page. Also, frontman Ramesh Srivastava keeps a blog, so you KNOW they’re cool. Cause bloggers are cool.

MP3: Voxtrot – “The Start Of Something”

Also appearing at Sneaky Dee’s this Spring – Montreal’s Kiss Me Deadly, playing a show March 23. And Evan Dando will be at the Horseshoe, sans “reunited” Lemonheads for whatever reason, on February 11. Tickets are $17.50.

And thanks to that Indie Interviews piece for the info that Shearwater’s new full-length has a title and a release date. Look for Palo Santo in finer indie-friendly record shops on April 22.

I keep wanting this year to be officially over, but the newspapers won’t let it go… The Globe & Mail and Toronto Star both have 2005 retrospective overview thingees.

Stylus pays tribute to some of the big name artists of 2005 in haiku form.

So SxSW 2006 is officially a go. For me, I mean. I booked my flight, hotel and rental car yesterday, and am working on some arrangements for the actual festival admission and whatnot now. It also means I’ll begin posting interesting schedule and artist appearance info as I come across it, alongside such fine sites as SxSW Baby and Donewaiting (I assume See You In The Pit will be back as we get closer to March as well. Having one festival under my belt means I’ll be better prepared to enjoy the festivities next year – hence the rental car (to make the day shows wherever they may be), hotel with free wireless internet (for easy blogging whilst there) and perhaps most importantly, I’ll know where the hell everything is. Yeah.

np – Jenny Lewis With The Watson Twins / Rabbit Fur Coat