Busy busy day. Went to Long & McQuade’s Big Basement sale this morning, as not going to a sale at a music store is not something I think I’m physically capable of. There was nothing interesting there, as expected, and I got some strings. Excitement.

Then went to see Lost In Translation. I really enjoyed it – both Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson are wonderful. Murray’s career renaissance continues, as he continues to expand on the “sad, worn out man” role he began in Rushmore, but with even more depth and character. As the young wife feeling lost in life and Tokyo, Johansson proves she’s one of the best young actresses around today. It was also more laugh-out-loud funny than I expected. Bill Murray’s talents as a physical comedian are used to great effect. If I have any reservations, it’s in how the Japan around them is portrayed. While I understand it’s important to show how alien their environments are to them, I had to wonder if it toed the line or even crossed it into mockery once in a while. Still, a very good movie and worth seeing.

Then I hung around with Kyle and Sarah for a while, grabbed some dinner. Got a copy of the new Mojave 3 album three days early from a source who shall remain nameless.

Tonight I’m going to the release party for Shameless magazine, of which Brad’s wife is publisher. I also somehow know a number of other people going, so it should be a good time and for a good cause.

np – Mojave 3 / Spoon And Rafter

I may have complained about the relative tameness of the storm formerly known as Isabel when it rolled through Toronto but I take that back a bit, having seen some of the damage that was wrought. A house in front of the subway station exit had half a very large tree crash down into the front of it, taking down some power lines and smothering a car and the front door beneath it. Pretty dramatic. I saw some other felled trees on the way home, but nothing on that scale. Yes, some damage was done. Looks like it’s blown through and it’s just a matter of drying up now.

The Belle & Sebastian rock’n’roll machine lays waste to Massey Hall on November 8. This will be good – a proper venue for a band that really needs good acoustics. And seats! This will be an expensive one, though. Mark my words. Go on, mark them. Oh shit, that’s the same night as I was going to go to Weakerthans. Hmm…. think think think. And in related B&S news, former cellist and pouter Isobel Campbell will release her third solo album (but first under her own name) Amorino on October 7. Details here.

Wheat come back to Toronto for the first time in over three years opening for Liz Phair at the Guvernment, November 15. Tickets on sale October 9. Per Second Per Second Per Second Every Second will be out October 28, if it doesn’t get pushed back again. Reviews of Liz’s shows in promotion of Liz Phair have not been glowing, but I really want to see Wheat. I will keep my fingers crossed that it’s a) not too expensive and b) not awful.

Best 404 Not Found page ever.

Got the “Expanded and Remastered” Rhino edition of Uncle Tupelo’s Anodyne. On initial listen, I don’t really hear the remastering, but the bonus tracks and expansive liner notes are worth the price of admission. It’ll be with a slightly heavy heart that I sell off my old copy of Anodyne (and inevitably the Rockville albums), they’ve served me well for the past seven years.

np – Uncle Tupelo / Anodyne

…Just doesn’t have the same ring, does it? Isabel has turned out to be less of a chain-smoking, fishnet-wearing, crab-infested dirty hoor than a drab librarian-type with mismatched socks, a slouch and questionable personal hygiene.

I have no idea what I meant by that.

Belle & Sebastian will be releasing a new single to follow-up their fifth proper album, Dear Catastrophe Waitress, out on the 7th of October. They are breaking from form, however, but using an album track as the lead song for the single. One of the best things about B&S was their penchant for releasing EPs of all-new material, often containing some of their best material. I understand the need to have a charting single to promote album sales, but I am still a little disappointed. Thank you, Rough Trade. The Step Into My Office, Baby single should be out on November 4.

Ever wonder what batch of fifth-graders though of Radiohead? An interesting experiment involving 10-year olds, Thom Yorke, pencil and paper. Some fascinating results. From Donewaiting.

Monty Python & The Holy Grail – The Musical? I dunno, sounds dodgy… but if Mike Nichols and Eric Idle are involved, it could have merit. I dunno.

Lead guitarists rank 38 on Nerve.com’s Unsexy List. Well shit. Uh, I don’t think of myself as a lead guitarist so much as a guitarist who plays a lot of, uh, single-note melodic rhythm… yeah… Fuck it. Like I need a list to articulate my ineffable unsexiness.

np – Jay Farrar / Terroir Blues

Woe is he who forgets his earplugs at home on concert night. Woe, I say.

It was an interesting crowd at the ‘Shoe Thursday night for the MIX99.9 presentation of Fountains Of Wayne. Their bona-fide radio hit “Stacy’s Mom” ensured a solid mix of younger indie/power-pop afficianados and older Top-40 listening radio contest winners (and yes, a good portion of the crowd were contest winners). Regardless of demographic, it was a packed house for FOW’s first Toronto appearance in too many years.

After an introduction by a clueless radio personality (I defy you to name the album you say is “soooo great”), FOW took the stage and opened with “Bought For A Song” and followed up with a solid hour of blasting would-have-been-hits-in-a-perfect-world power pop. Singer/guitarist Chris Collingwood was an amiable frontman, with bassist and co-songwriter extraordinaire Adam Schlesinger content to stay in the shadows for the most part (literally – it was nearly impossible to get a properly lit photo). Lead guitarist Jody Porter let rip classic rock-inspired solos and riffing at every opportunity, sometimes at odds with the simpler pop structures of the material but never to the point of derailing them. Second-to-last closer “Radiation Vibe” got a dose of the time-honoured cover song medley arrangement in the outro, including a verse of “How Soon Is Now”. Two encores later, they closed things off for good with Porter throwing his lovely Gibson ES-335 into the drum kit. Ack. Ack.

A very good show, if a little loud for the earplug-less. Props to the band for playing “Stacy’s Mom” in the middle of the set and refusing to acknowledge any one-hit wonder-ness, and props to the audience for mostly sticking around and enjoying the show even after they heard “the hit”. And props to everyone for the early start time and letting me get home by midnight.

Photos were tougher to take last night as I couldn’t get closer than five or six rows back until the encore and one shot looked an awful lot like the other – no one but Jody really moved around too much.

np – The American Analog Set / Know By Heart

Congratulations to Chris and Karen on the birth of Connor Nicholas Salisbury on September 14th.

Another moving eulogy for Johnny Cash.

Cy Young, thy name is Roy Halladay. Once again: Esteban Loaiza, you can suck it.

Got my order from Insound today – the new Beulah disc and the second-to-latest American Analog Set album, Know By Heart. The bonus Beulah disc of rarities is just a 4-disc CDR, though hand-numbered (I have 19 of 200). I was hoping for something a little swankier. This means that if they are selling a properly packaged one on tour, I’ll have to get one of those. I also got some of their 2003 indie rock trading cards – I got a Hidden Cameras, My Morning Jacket, The Locust and The Red Light Sting. I don’t really know who those last two bands are. I am placing another order for the import Spoon EP for That’s The Way We Get By… more trading cards! Trading cards are like crack to me, it’s sad.

np – Beulah / Yoko