It would be nice, I think, to be able to come to work once in a while and NOT have my head hurt. Ow.

np – Gram Parsons / GP/Grievous Angel

Tangmonkey is a music/culture site introduced to me by Sean, who happened to pass through the chromewaves sphere of influence. It’s a pretty cool site and Canadian, no less. Extra points for having ‘monkey’ in their name. Go visit and say hello. To Sean from Tangmonkey – your email address was getting bounced back to me as undeliverable.

I got my big stack ‘o Wheat EPs today. They’re an online exclusive at the Aware Records store, only $2 a piece. A nice deal till you factor in the $7 shipping to Canada. I won’t mention the fact that the postal meter on the package only said $2.55. I bought 3 for the purpose of spreading the Wheat gospel. Well, one is for Kyle, but the other one I’m saving for someone who needs to see the light. Or eBay, whichever. The EP, Too Much Time is an interesting listen. Wheat’s been essentially out of circulation for about three years now, since Hope & Adams came out on Sugar Free. The new album, Per Second Per Second Every Second has been ready for over a year, but hassles with their old label going belly up and then re-recording tracks for the new one have kept them from releasing it forever. It’s due out this Spring, finally, on Aware – home of John Mayer and Five For Fighting. Curious company for a band that used to have that trademark mid-fi indie pop sound. Operative words, ‘used to’.

The new stuff has a remarkable gloss to it – though the material on the EP is still Fridmann-produced, it’s slick. Like shellacked slick. My first reaction is some disappointment, I’ll admit, because I loved Hope & Adams so much, especially the sonics. By the same token, there’s a re-recorded version of “Don’t I Hold You” on the EP, with the same production as the new material, not to mention additional lyrics and rearrangement. Again, mixed feelings. I don’t like seeing perfection messed with. But – I will give Ricky and the boys the benefit of the doubt. I won’t be one of those who disown a band because they make a grab at that Total Request Live brass ring. The material is still strong, if a lot more ‘pop’. We will see if 2003 is the year of Wheat.

Had one of the best band practices ever tonight. Laura, freshly back from Amsterdam, came out and things really come together when she’s around. Besides the songs actually sounding the way we want with all the keyboard parts, it was good to have some of the raging testosterone of the rest of us diffused a little. Besides having a load of fun playing with the rap/DJ samples on the keyboard, we got a good deal of the arrangements worked out on some of the songs that had been giving us trouble in the past. A few more nights like this and we can seriously start thinking about booking shows.

np – Wheat / Medeiros

Paul Simonon has squelched all the speculation about who would replace Joe Strummer at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremonies this month. The Clash are simply not going to perform. Gotta say, I think it’s for the best. Having them up there without Joe would just be wrong. And as we saw at the Grammies, there’s more than a few high-profile folks who’d be happy to step in for all of them. So instead of picking out dream team replacements for Joe, now the punters can replace all of them! Let’s hear some proposed Clash lineups…

np – Mojave 3 / Out Of Tune

Some movie watching going on today. First, Men With Brooms – a more Canadian film you’ll not find, either in concept (a comedy about curling?) or execution. Sure, it’s a fairly cliche-ridden sports comedy, the likes of which we’ve seen many times over, but the sincerety and enthusiasm of everyone involved in the film is strong enough that you don’t care. This was a fun movie, and a rare example of a domestic film that’s neither period piece nor ponderous psychological drama. Even when someone produces something that would qualify as a high-budget, high-profile film in this country, it still has that small-town feel. A pity about the DVD transfer, though – not only was it not letterboxed, but the print is cropped such that chunks of the credits appear off the screen. So very Canadian.

And at the opposite end of the spectrum, Lilo & Stitch. Though a little slighter than I’d expected (yes, I know it’s a cartoon… okay – I expected more Elvis), it was still riotously funny at times and good fun all around. And best of all, no horrid songs by Phil Collins, Elton John or Sting. Thank goodness for small miracles.

So The Biters are moving out of the rehearsal space come May 1. We’re going to have to find another band to take a couple nights a week and split the rent before then. Hopefully Brad or Seventeen can rustle up someone they know and trust, I’d prefer that to bringing in total strangers and giving them access to all our cool toys.

I don’t think I can play first-person shooters. After about an hour of No One Lives Forever, I feel nauseous. I need to go back to Tetris or something.

4AD is remastering and reissuing all the Pixies albums in May. About time, I say, since the current issues sound fine and are really easy to find. Uh…

np – Pixies / Doolittle

Went to the Endearing showcase at the Silver Dollar last night, part of CMW. Good lineup of bands I’d never heard.

First up – The Parkas. From various points around Ontario, they performed a solid if fairly generic set of country-tinged pop rock. Stellar harmonies, though.

Calgary’s Hot Little Rocket put on a very energetic show of angular post-punk rock. Kevin said they sounded just like Sparta. Having never heard Sparta, I’m in no position to debate. But full points for playing the opening of Television’s “Marquee Moon” for soundcheck.

Next up were Paper Moon from sunny Winnipeg. Formerly twee-poppers B’Ehl, Paper Moon offered up lots of sugary pop goodness with just enough grit to keep from getting a toothache.

By this point the cozy (read: small) Silver Dollar room was filling with scenesters eager to check out the Heavy Blinkers, Endearing’s latest signing from Halifax. If you’ve never been to the Silver Dollar, the stage is small. Smaller than the Horseshoe, which is not big. Well the Heavy Blinkers are a 10-piece band, and we’re not talking small pieces, like kazoos or tambourines. We’re talking keyboards, organs, pedal steels, horn sections… It was a Herculean feat. The Heavy Blinkers’ thing is full-on orch-pop. Bacharach may be an overused reference point, but it’s still an apt one. Really fun, sophisticated and impressive stuff.

By this point I was too bushed to stick around for Vancouver’s Radiogram, which is a shame because some good roots music would have been a good way to wash down the evening. Maybe next time.

I burned my first CD yesterday. I feel mighty. It was the second disc of the Wilco live in Philadelphia set – I had the first one courtesy of 517. It’s so quick and easy. Now I can get to work on making CDs for everyone who’s given me stuff over the years.

I don’t know what this is, but it looks cool. Apparently the shrimp car has kick-ass acceleration.

np – Billy Bragg & Wilco / Mermaid Avenue