I saw Chan-wook Park’s Old Boy at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, and it was easily one of the most unsettling films I’d seen in a long time. I wouldn’t have believed it if you’d told me then that Old Boy was not only the second part of what was being called “The Vengeance Trilogy”, but that it was also a helluva lot tamer than the first one, Sympathy For Mr Vengeance. Well, now that I’ve seen Mr Vengeance, I’d take it all back and simply nod in dumbfounded agreement.

There’s only so much of the plot I can get into without giving stuff away, so I’ll just give the basic premise – a deaf dumb factory worker is laid off while trying to secure a new kidney for his gravely ill sister. Out of desperation, he gets involved with an organ smuggling ring which leads to a botched kidnapping which leads to what is plainly stated an incredibly crafted film that’s almost unbearable to watch. I don’t even know what the proper word to describe the experience is – sufficed to say that it makes Old Boy feel like a Disney cartoon. That film was intense, but it was wrapped in an action movie/comic book-ish fury that made the shocking moments somehow easier to stomach.

Mr Vengeance, on the other hand, is so slow and the setting so mundane that when the grimness begins creeping in at the edges, it’s that much more disturbing, and unrelentingly so. I initially thought he was including unnecessarily graphic details of various plot points simply for style, but it turns out he was just priming me for what was to come. By the end of it all, I had witnessed more dispassionately executed violence than I ever would have knowingly signed up for. Compounding the discomfort is the fact that there are no real heroes or villains in the film. Everyone’s motivation is understandable – sympathetic even – but their actions are no less reprehensible. There is one to root for or against, just tragedy after tragedy. And considering the English title of the film, that’s probably exactly the unsettling balance that Park was going for.

The final installment in the trilogy, Sympathy For Lady Vengeance, was released in Korea this year but hasn’t made an appearance on these shores. If Park wants to go out with a bang, I really don’t know if I can handle seeing it. Part of me wants to, but that’s the part of me that thinks sticking my tongue in a live electrical outlet sounds like a good idea. I’m learning not to listen to that part of me.

After a full two days of nail-biting suspense, Belle & Sebastian have revealed what their “mystery” album will be – their live performance of If You’re Feeling Sinister in it’s entirety at the Barbican in London, taken from this past September’s “Don’t Look Back” series of concerts. It’ll be available as an iTunes exclusive on December 6 and all proceeds donated to charity. Not quite as exciting as the Aphex Twin remix album I’d hoped for, but it’ll be cool nonetheless. Thanks to Gary for the info.

eye chats briefly with Will Sargent of Echo & The Bunnymen, who are at the Carlu on November 23.

Unfinished chat with Zach of Rogue Wave, who are at the Horseshoe on Sunday, November 27.

Joey Burns of Calexico talks to PopMatters about the art of collaboration. After hearing some live recordings from Calexico/Iron & Wine shows, I am very excited about their December 9 show in Toronto, Docks or no Docks.

Econoculture has an interview with ex-Low bass slinger Zak Sally about his comics work and leaving Low. His former bandmates are at Lee’s Palace January 31.

Scottish singer KT Tunstall has been added to the bill for Jason Collett’s show at Lee’s Palace on December 10. Paso Mino and Al Tuck will also be playing.

Paste gets master album artist Storm Thorgerson to offer comments on some of his well-known sleeve designs.

Billboard talks to Elbow about the wide release of Leaders Of The Free World State-side next February 7.

Ted Leo talks “I’m Looking Through You” and Rubber Soul in the context of the This Bird Has Flown tribute album. It’s a video clip (WMV) and whoever cut that video needs to be shot. Repeatedly. Stretching like two minutes of interview footage out over five plus minutes? Gads. Via Prefix.

Update: Sorry about the server issues this morning. Hopefully they’re all sorted out now.

Update 2: What a day. I got hacked by Los Brazilian Boys, but have got backups going and am slowly coming back. Should be back to normal by later this afternoon. Bear with me.

np – Crooked Fingers / Dignity & Shame

If there’s one thing the end of the year means, it’s lists. Lists lists lists. Everyone loves em, hates em, loves to hate em. They’ll be coming fast and furious for the next couple of months to be sure, and while most will be of the “albums of the year” variety, there’ll be some interesting exceptions. Information Leafblower has, for the third year, polled a range of music bloggers for their nominations for the Top 40 Bands in America, 2005. I interpreted this criteria as simply what American bands have I enjoyed the most in 2005? This isn’t an all-time thing, just a past 300 days or so thing. My list was as follows (and knocked off very quickly since I completely forgot about the deadline till the last minute), and their overall rank in the ILB poll in brackets:

1. The National (2)

2. Okkervil River (24)

3. Wilco (36)

4. Crooked Fingers (20)

5. The Mountain Goats (11)

6. My Morning Jacket (12)

7. Sufjan Stevens (1)

8. The Decemberists (9)

9. Explosions In The Sky (40)

10. Spoon (10)

There shouldn’t be any surprises there. The final tally over at ILB does raise some eyebrows (if you’re the eyebrow raising type). I didn’t expect Sufjan to be ranked so high, I figured that there’d been plenty of time for the media saturation backlash to kick in and maybe take him down a few notches. And Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin at 29? Been stuffing the ballot box, Ryan? Naturally, there’s some good-natured debate in the comments section about the “long-term importance” versus “what have you done lately?” angle, but I favour the latter (which, incidentally, is what Kyle asked for in the first place) because it makes for a more varied and interesting list. And if you open it up to career achievements, then you can argue where is Nirvana? Or CCR? Or The Monkees? No, I think keeping it to the here and now not only gives some newer artists a shot at some exposure, but it’s also in keeping with the capricious and ADD-addled nature of most music bloggers… Ooh, shiny new buzz band! Gimme! The comments are also amusing for demonstrating that some people simply have no concept of geography, and what is and is not part of America. If you like a good old fashioned bitch session, check out the respective sites of each of the contributers, whom Leafblower has graciously linked in the post. Most have blogged their nominations (as I have), and their own follow-up comments are just as entertaining.

One Billboard scribe ponders the pressures of the music writer’s year-end list. I empathize. My own process is as follows, I keep a running list of everything I get for a calendar year, and every few months when I’m bored, I’ll take a look at the list and identify what have been my favourite records of the year to that point, knowing full well that in a couple months I could totally be burned out on it. And so by this point in the year, when most of the albums I plan on get this year have been released, it’s usually pretty obvious what my top records are. I’ve avoided ranking records in the past because that seems like a silly thing to try and quantify, but I’m thinking about it if just to properly highlight my absolute favourites – after the first three or four, however, it becomes pretty much an even playing field. I’m aiming to have it all done and wrapped up by mid-December, though you don’t have to be a MENSA member to look at my list above and figure what my album list is going to look like.

And speaking of year-end kudos, Billboard reports that this year’s Shortlist Of Music prize will not be awarded, but a Shortlist-alike prize called the New Pantheon based on similar criteria will be happening sometime soon. Pitchfork has details on the new award for bands that don’t sell many records.

NME directs us this Coca-Cola promotional site to hear a new Flaming Lips from their upcoming album At War With The Mystics. It’s not really the whole song, just an exerpt that’s used to soundtrack some cool animation of a robot party. But everyone likes a robot party.

EachNoteSecure has the b-sides from Spoon’s Sister Jack single – every time I see “John McEntire remix”, I think “John McEnroe remix”. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t want to hear that. Also, the West Coast gives spoon some media love – The East Bay Express and San Diego City Beat both have features.

Supergrass’ North American Road To Rouen tour starts off right here in Toronto on February 6 at the Kool Haus, tickets $23.50. Full dates and thoughts from Gaz at Billboard.

Panda Canoe has the video for “Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day)”, the first video from Broken Social Scene’s new album. Kevin Drew in tighty-whities was not something I *ever* needed to see. And now that innocence is gone. Alas. Also, JAM! talks to Brendan Canning.

Torontoist week in shows – featuring The Hidden Cameras!

np – Interpol / Turn On The Bright Lights

Last night, Sneaky Dee’s played host to the Loveless Music Group travelling road show. As the name tips off, Loveless is a New York-based co-operative dedicated to creating and promoting shoegaze-a-like music. One of the founders of the community is the Autumn Thieves, whom I reviewed this past Sunday. A quick look at the playlist on the Loveless MySpace page reveals a nice blend of styles that’s pretty much up my alley (and I am reminded that 2/3 of the defunct On!Air!Library! are carrying on in Daylight For The Birds, and sound great).

Anyways, calling it a travelling roadshow is actually inaccurate since Autumn Thieves were the only act on the bill that had actually travelled from anywhere. Bleep and Fjord Rowboat are both local acts (a fourth act, Dictioncanary, was also on the bill but I couldn’t stick around that late). If nothing else, the evening was an interesting exercise in non-traditional band configurations.

Bleep are a three-piece who create almost completely synthetic yet very emotional-sounding music. Most of this is thanks to the remarkable vocals of Robyn Sellman, whose voice reminds very much of Kate Bush or Liz Fraser, and when grafted on top of glitchy IDM sequencer tracks, electronic drums and heavily processed and occasionally abused guitar, it makes for something quite compelling and unique-sounding. It’s a shame not many people arrived early enough to see them play (when they started, I constituted half of the audience) because they were worth hearing.

Fjord Rowboat were the most conventional band in the lineup, both in setup and sound. Boasting zero sequencers or laptops and one drummer (on an acoustic kit!), Fjord Rowboat served up some decidedly Anglophilic rock with overt space-rock overtones. There were moments where the band just clicked and it sounded terrific, but at other points something just seemed off. “Paragon”, the one recorded song they have available to download didn’t come off particularly well which is a shame, because it’s an excellent tune. I’ll certainly give them another chance to make a first impression should I see them again, which seems likely.

As I mentioned in my quick review of Autumn Thieves on Sunday, I felt there was definitely the potential for something cool from this outfit, but it hasn’t been realized yet. Now having seen them live, this opinion is simply reinforced even more. On the plus side, their pre-recorded sequenced tracks were more sophisticated and even had changes and dynamics – very nice. While I still think a live drummer would suit them better, the use of the backing tracks to form a sort of continuous soundscape between songs was fairly effective. On the negative side, however, they were far too loud onstage for a band with no drummer to be heard over nor a huge crowd to reach. All it really accomplished was obscuring Courtney Hutcheson’s vocals, which is unfortunate because they’re really the band’s main strength. Also unfortunate was the band’s almost complete lack of onstage charisma and chemistry – Hutcheson looked petrified onstage and often seemed to be looking to bassist Andy Zuercher for guidance, and all the while guitarist Mike Swanson seemed oblivious to his bandmates and was off in some riff-happy arena rock world. I don’t know, it just didn’t click for me. I still think they could get it together and are on the right path and are fighting the good fight. The more I listen to the tracks on their MySpace page, the more the strengths outshine the weaknesses, but there’s still a ways to go.

All the bands have MySpace pages with tunes to check out – you should do so (Bleep @ MySpace, Fjord Rowboat @ MySpace, Autumn Thives @ MySpace). And there are photos.

Some updated release dates – Trespassers William’s Having will be out Feberuary 28 and Josh Rouse’s Subtotu Lo (I’m pretty sure there’re supposed to be accents in there somewhere) is out March 21. And excitingly, the new Golden Smog disc, still untitled, has been given a March 28 release date. Also, Sarah Harmer’s new one I’m A Mountain gets a US release February 7.

And no, I don’t know anything this little tidbit in a recent mailing from Belle & Sebastian that has kids all in a tizzy:

Cryptic last bit: There will actually be another B&S album (of sorts) released before The Life Pursuit. In three weeks in fact. But we can’t say what it is for a couple of days.

But hopefully details will come to light as January 16 (the date in question) draws near. However, consider this:

The album will be preceded by a single, “Funny Little Frog”, on January 16th. Will it be released in a multitude of bizarre formats? Who knows

Perhaps “Funny Little Frog” will come with a slew of b-sides to make it a mini album? I do not know. Grok the album tracklisting here.

Shows – Stars have added a fourth show to their residency at Lee’s Palace (technically, a fifth if you count both Saturday shows). This one’s on the Sunday, December 19 18. Also, Nada Surf are at Lee’s Palace on March 11.

np – British Sea Power / The Decline Of British Sea Power

Because it’s apparently been far too long since Pitchfork offended everyone, this week they’re running a piece on the worst album covers ever. You’d think that truly awful album art is the sort of thing that everyone could agree on, but as this Donewaiting reader shows, not so much. I’m by no means going to defend any of the selections, they’re all pretty gross, but I will express my appreciation that they haven’t used any of the albums in that other “worst album art ever” list that has been blogged and message board-ed ad nauseum. And I will agree that the cover of Jim O’Rourke’s Eureka is truly awful. I don’t mind the album at all, but I’m sort of embaressed to have it in my collection just for the cover.

And if they thought the cover art for that Corey Feldman album was bad, they should have seen his appearance on MuchMusic’s Electric Circus back in 1993. The video clip no longer works, tragically, but trust me – it was the greatest awful thing I’ve ever seen. If anyone at MuchMusic is reading this, I implore you – make that clip available again. The world needs to see this.

Why am I picking on Corey Feldman? I dunno. Why not?

For some GOOD album cover art, I direct you to galleries by Storm Thorgerson, Peter Saville, Vaughan Oliver (maybe he helped out on 4AD’s new website?), William Schaff, Jesse LeDoux… um, who’m I missing? I know these are some of the more obvious ones. If anyone has links to good portfolios from album cover artists, share s’il vous-plait.

And in another tribute to the physicality of records, Stylus has compiled a big long list of b-sides that are worthy of a-side attention. I’m enjoying reading this, as I’m a huge fan of the b-side. Nothing makes me happier than bands with a talent for the flipside compiling their non-album cuts in a single volume, if for no other reason than all those EPs and singles take up a hell of a lot of room on the old shelves. Hell, I’m getting antsy just seeing all these tracks from beloved bands that I’ve never heard. Is there any good online resource for digging up b-sides? I’ll pay for em.

Nellie McKay has realized that releasing her new album Pretty Little Head on December 27 is, well, dumb. So the new release date is a proper January 3 of next year. Billboard has details and the tracklist.

Carl Newman talks to MTV about the difficulties in keeping The New Pornographers a big, happy family.

The San Francisco Chronicle springs a pop quiz on Death Cab’s Ben Gibbard.

PopMatters and Glide interview Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle. But not together. That would have just been weird.

More magazine archive digging has uncovered a couple of pieces from recording mag TapeOp. Check out this piece with Bettie Serveert about recording Log 22 and this one in PDF form with Bob Mould about his recording methods.

Largehearted Birthday Boy asked me the other day what I thought of Mould’s Body Of Song, which I finally got a copy of. I’ve still only listened to it a few times, but I have to say that when people were saying early on that it was a return to the guitar rock of Sugar, that was more wishful thinking on their part. While it is definitely more guitar-y than, say, Modulate, it’s still considerably more measured and polished than his work from 14 years ago. Rather than revisit his past works, Mould has taken elements of that and brought them to his present and created what is probably a pretty accurate snapshot of where he is today, musically speaking. While I will echo the sentiments of those who wish Bob would lose the vocoder and I can’t say that in the long run, Body Of Song will get more spins than Copper Blue or New Day Rising, Body Of Song sounds like Bob is energized again with making music, and that can only be a good thing.

np – The Cardigans / Super Extra Gravity

I used up all my superfluous American Analog Set banter last week, so it’s straight to the show.

There was a much larger crowd in attendance than their last time through, perhaps a sign of their larger fanbase, perhaps a sign of people curious about the latest act to bear the Arts & Crafts seal of approval. Either way, it was a good sized audience for what would almost surely be the Analog Set’s last Toronto show. It’s often said that all of AmAnSet’s albums sound the same (which I contest – I say the band’s first three albums sound the same, and the last three albums sound the same, but the two eras sound quite different), but no one would deny that there’s really no other band that sounds like them.

Their final setlist drew almost exclusively from their last three records, and it was executed flawlessly. The hum and whirr of the Rhodes and organ, the insistent yet understated drumming, ghostly vibraphone (and accompanying dancing from Sean Ripple), spare, echoing guitar and Andrew Kenny’s hushed voice all combined to create something gorgeous and hypnotic. The hour-long set went by like a whisper and while there was no persuading them to come back for an encore this time out, it was just as well – the finale of “Fuck This… I’m Leaving” and the closing epilogue of “Continuous Hit Music” was really the perfect sign-off for this band. At the end of it all, Kenny gave the crowd a heartfelt thanks for their support and bid them farewell. And just like last time, the crowd made a bee-line for the merch table, hopefully a sign of many new converts to the band. It’s really quite sad that AmAnSet are giving up the touring life – they’re really an amazing live band. Perhaps a live album culled from this final jaunt out on the road is in the works?

Because of the dim (read: non-existant) lighting, my photos are in much more forgiving black and white. The actually turned out better than I expected. Seriously, there was almost no light whatsoever. Perfect for mood, ass for photography.

Extra linkage – The Daily News finds out what the boys of AmAnSet are going to do after the final tour is over.

The Stranger, The Straight and FFWD preview Broken Social Scene shows in Seattle, Vancouver and Calgary by talking to Brendan Dave Newfeld, Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, respectively. And the Scene have added a second show at the Kool Haus on January 20.

Metric links – The Houston Press consider’s the band’s politics, The St Petersburg Times needs a tutorial on how to properly transcribe an interview for the web (hint – write the questions in a different typeface from the replies) and LAist has an interview with the James “Jimmy” Shaw.

Thanks to For The Records for digging up some of the above links.

New Zealand’s Stuff has a completely context-free conversation with Steve Earle about the state of America post-election (that’s the 2004 election) and The Revolution Starts… Now (which also came out in 2004). You know, this piece could have run a year ago and they wouldn’t hardly have had to change a word. Weird. Via Largehearted Boy.

Intersting – though they’re still signed to Rough Trade worldwide, Belle & Sebastian will be releasing The Life Pursuit on February 7 in North America through Matador, which was their home on these shores for the all their albums up until Dear Catastrophe Waitress. I wonder if this means that the singles/EPs will be imports again – one of the nice things about them being on Rough Trade was that all the Catastrophe-era singles still got domestic releases. Either way, North American tour dates are coming – they’ll be here in March.

With seven weeks left in 2005, Amazon.com is first out of the gates with their year-end lists. This’ll be just the start of the deluge – I figure everyone and their grandma will be posting their lists by about the first week of December. I figure mine’ll be about ready by then as well.

Guitar Player talks shop with Britt Daniel of Spoon and misspells their album title. Nice. Also from the GP archives – a final conversation with Sean and Dean of Luna from last Winter, just before the band’s official dissolution, and an interview with Neko Case and The Sadies about recording last year’s live The Tigers Have Spoken.

np – Centro-Matic / Navigational