I’m not sure what to make of this Soundscapes article from the Globe & Mail, though this, er FAN blog for the author of the piece does help put things into some perspective. This chick is clueless. From Les Yper Sound.

Neil Gaiman will be at the Chapters in the Paramount on Saturday, August 30 at 1pm to sign copies of his new book, The Wolves In The Wall.

Apparently Tiny Ninja Theater will make it’s Canadian debut this weekend at Harbourfront with its production of Macbeth. Shows are August 15 (7 p.m. and 10 p.m.), August 16 (4:30 p.m. & 10 p.m.), August 17 (2 p.m.). More info here. This looks way cool.

np – The Posies / Amazing Disgrace

I rented The Quiet American last night. A fictional account of Saigon during the last days of French rule and the start of US ‘intervention’, this film was one of the many artistic casualties of September 11, as its portrayal of American foreign policy wasn’t necessarily sterling. I didn’t think it was overtly critical either, but you can’t help but be a little bit cynical at the idealism and naivete of Brendan Fraser’s titular character – representing America itself, natch – given how history played itself out in Southeast Asia. Michael Caine is excellent as the British reporter who becomes entangled in Fraser’s mission as well as a love triangle involving Fraser and Caine’s young Vietnamese mistress. The film operates on many different levels – as a romance, political thriller, war film – that it stretches itself a little thin and while satisfactory, none of these levels is realized as well as they could be. Still, worth seeing. I particularly enjoyed the Viet Nam timeline offered as a bonus feature on the DVD – a good capsule history of the Viet Nam conflict from the 1940s through the 1970s.

Nada Surf and The Tyde will be playing a venue to be announced in Toronto on October 16. Both bands put out very good pop records this year, and it should be a good show. The Tyde did some serious damage to my hearing when they opened for Pernice Brothers last month, but I’ll travel prepared this time. I’m trying very hard to come up with some kind of ‘surf’ and ‘tide’ joke, but am drawing a blank. Tiny Mix Tapes had the pithy “Nada Surf Is Rolling In With The Tyde” for their headline. Man, talk about your missed opportunities. I will blame it on Monday morning.

Stop Canadian Change – truly a cause worth supporting. The FAQ is particularly inspiring.

np – Steve Earle / Jerusalem

Steve Earle will be releaseing a double live album on the 23rd of September as a companion to the forthcoming documentary on the man. Just An American Boy, The Audio Documentary will feature “some of Steve’s best loved songs along with some new favorites”.

As they promised in the Spring, Calexico are coming back to Toronto for a two-night stand at Lee’s Palace October 3 and 4 with Ireland’s The Frames as support. Feast Of Wire has become one of my favorite albums of 2003 and they’re supposed to put on a fantastic show, so I’ll be going to that… Did I say a little while back that my concert sked was awful sparse? Yeah, never mind.

Beggars USA has a track off the new Mojave 3 album for download. Listen to “Billoddity” here. Spoon And Rafter is out September 9.

The secret life of movie trailers. Interesting reading.

RIP to Gregory Hines. Running Scared was a great movie, and 57 is too young.

Since I donated my Traynor home guitar amp to the Lake Holiday cause, I’ve been amp-less at home. While I’m sure my brother and neighbours have been thankful, it’s been a little annoying for me, having to play through the amp simulator on my BR-532 multitracker using headphones. I’ve been resisting the temptation to go out and just buy another amp, since I still don’t have a bead on how much moving next month is going to cost me and I’d rather postpone any unnecessary purchases. Turns out a decent temporary solution had been staring me in the face all along. My BR-532 sits atop a little Fender bass amp, which doesn’t really do much of anything besides act as a stand. Well it just dawned on me that the Boss has a line out, and the bass amp has an input jack and pretty flat frequency response – wouldn’t that be just the thing for a fully-emulated guitar signal? Why yes it would. One cable hook up later, I’m audible again, at reasonable volumes! It doesn’t sound *great* – it doesn’t have much depth and is definitely not a tube amp, but it sounds pretty reasonable considering how jury-rigged it is, and it’s certainly good enough to get me through the next couple months until I can sort out my finances. Yeah, I know no one cares, but I’m pretty pleased with myself.

np – Metric / Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?

There’s been a copy of The Count Of Monte Cristo sitting in the apartment for a few months now, I don’t know where it came from. Kinda like the movie itself – I don’t remember taking note of it at all when it came out last year. There’s no real star power in it, the biggest name being an extra foppish Guy Pearce as the villain on the piece, but it’s actually alright. Very standard boy’s own Saturday afternoon adventure flick, but pretty well done and entertaining. Good enough to get me through an otherwise dull Saturday night, anyway.

I found a used copy of an album I’d been digging for for a while – Newness Ends, by The New Year, which is essentially the dearly departed Bedhead with a little bounce in their step. It’s so good, and you have to love a band fronted by a guy named Bubba Kadane. You just have to.

I’ve finally stared reading A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius, which had been sitting on my nightstand for about a month now. It took me a good long while to get through the stack of magazines and comics piled on top of it, but I’m down to it now. I’ve just started, and while the forward was almost unbearably smug and self-congratulatory, the book itself isn’t so bad. In related news, author Dave Eggers lists his favorite music of the moment. He gives Beulah props, so he’s okay with me.

np – The New Year / Newness Ends

Identity is like a really smart, smug kid who needs a good smacking. Ooh, yeah, you’re so clever. Look at you, Mr Smarty-Pants. Get over here. WHACK!

I had the same reaction to this film as the detractors of Adaptation (which I loved) had. And that’s really all I have to say about that.

I picked up Echoes, the debut solo album from Gene Clark. Clark penned some of my favourite early Byrds tunes and his stuff if frequently covered by some of my favorite artists (Velvet Crush, Yo La Tengo among others). An excellent example of a ‘cult artist’, there’s little chance his profile will expand the way that Gram Parsons’ did – his output was not nearly as influentual nor his story as romantically tragic – but he’s still underappreciated, usually relegated to footnote status in Byrds history.

Nerve has a chat with Travis Morrison on the occasion of The Dismemberment Plan’s dismembering.

And a fun link to come out of that article is this: Buddyhead’s Rules Of Rock – For Everyone In A Band Or Who Wants To Be In A Band.

np – Superdrag / Last Call For Vitriol