Wednesday, January 17th, 2007
The Globe & Mail reveals that a little more of Neil Young’s archives are coming to light in the next couple months. Though still not the capital-A Archives, he will follow up the release of last year’s Live at the Fillmore East
with an audio document of two shows in Toronto some 36 years ago. Touring solo in support of Journey Through The Past, Young played two sold-out shows at Massey Hall on the evening of January 19, 1971 in what would become a legendary and oft-bootlegged concert (under the name Going Back To Canada). It’s sort of a staple of bit torrent sites and live show blog and while I’ve never actually heard it, I don’t doubt it’s worth hearing. There’s no formal title yet (Live At Massey Hall might be a safe bet though) but the article says that the set, possibly with accompanying DVD, is slated for release in March. Update: Billboard to the rescue – Live At Massey Hall will be out March 13 and the 8-CD and 2-DVD Archives Volume 1 will be out this Fall.
Also just seeing the light of day are the two tracks recorded by Young’s old outfit The Mynah Birds, famous for bringing together Young and the once and future Superfreak Rick James. The band recorded an album’s worth of material for Motown but all but one 7″ single were shelved when James was arrested for deserting the US Navy and for the most part, that era in Young’s career has gone unheard. The two tracks have finally seen the light of day, however, as part of the limited edition Complete Motown Singles box sets – Volume 6, disc 29 to be precise (though I’ve also heard that Young has bought the tracks from Motown for inclusion in his Archives release). The two songs – “It’s My Time” and “Go On And Cry” are really both excellent, the former a classically upbeat Motown pop number and the latter a slow, soulful ballad. It really makes you wonder what might have happened if James had been able to stick around? The seven-year deal they’d signed with Motown certainly showed the label had faith in them.
I’ve actually got MP3s of both Mynah Bird tracks but am reluctant to post them because, well, I obviously don’t have permission and I suspect that they’re the sort of thing that might attract the attention of a much higher-paid class of lawyer than a typical uncleared MP3 normally would. Which is a shame, because currently the only way to hear the songs otherwise is via a $100 box set or by waiting for Neil Young to finally release his own oft-delayed expansive (and expensive) box set. Or if you’re American you can access it via Rhapsody, however that works.
Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous tells The AV Club that “I hate live performances so much” because “I hate the sound of my own voice”. Which obviously bodes well for their show at the Mod Club on February 23.
AOL’s Spinner 3×3 features three live videos of Neko Case taken from her just-released Austin City Limits CD and DVD.
How’s this for an eclectic bill? Portland’s Menomena, Sunderland UK’s Field Music and Montreal’s Land Of Talk, all at the El Mocambo on March 23. Menomena release Friend And Foe on January 23, Field Music’s Tones Of Town is out February 20 in North America and Land Of Talk will give Applause Cheer Boo Hiss an official US release on March 20.
Say Hi To Your Mom are at Sneaky Dee’s on April 3.
Drowned In Sound has a two–part interview with James Mercer of The Shins. Wincing The Night Away is out next Tuesday.
The Star-Ledger salutes the poster boys of keeping the rock’n’roll dream alive, The Wrens.
Tuesday, January 16th, 2007
Merge Records had a very solid 2006 and they start of ’07 with on a good foot with the January 23 release of I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On, the debut full-length from the Los Angeles outfit formerly known as The Brokedown but now handing out business cards reading The Broken West.
These days, the term “power-pop” brings to mind – for me, at least – tunes that are as smart alecky as they are hooky, possibly with unnecessarily clean production. Not an inherently bad thing, but it can get a little samey after a while. Thankfully, The Broken West recall a time when the term meant big, ragged and swaggering sounds – huge debts are owed to Big Star and The Kinks and the eras they represent. These are names that get dropped a lot, but in this case the influence is true and paid proper respect. Guitars jangle and harmonies are stacked high and it all comes with a appealing amount of roughness and blue-collar grit. Some of the rootsiness more evident in their earlier incarnation still comes through, but mostly this is a fine, no frills rock album of the sort you don’t get enough of these days. Always welcome in my house.
Their Spring tour doesn’t bring them any closer to Toronto than Cleveland (which is to say not very close at all) but I’m sure they’ll make their way up here at some point. The New Pollution has an interview with Broken Westerner Dan Iead about how they ended up on one of the most respected indie labels in America.
MP3: The Broken West – “Down In The Valley”
MySpace: The Broken West
There’s a new video for M Ward’s “Requiem”, taken from Post-War. and intended to accompany the release of the EP for said song next month. An EP for “To Go Home”, also from Post-War, is due out next month and Ward is at the Mod Club next Saturday.
Video: M Ward – “Requiem” (YouTube)
The Washington Times talks to Matthew I Heart Music in its piece about how government funding helps/affects independent musicians in Canada. And speaking of I Heart Music, Matt’s got a recent Asobi Seksu radio session ripped for your listening pleasure.
Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post show My Morning Jacket some love, Colorado-style.
The Globe & Mail and The Gateway discuss the solo life with Emily Haines.
Seattle’s one-man studio project Aqueduct will be rounding up a full band when they stop in town on April 3 for a free show at the Horseshoe. Their/his new album Or Give Me Death is out February 20. Check out a couple songs from it below.
MP3: Aqueduct – “Living A Lie”
MP3: Aqueduct – “As You Wish”
24: First the small bits – when Morris and Milo go head to head, I just stare at their facial hair, trying to decide whose is more dubious. I think Milo wins, though considering that they were fighting over Chloe, they both sort of lose. I love how Jack’s learning to get his badass side back by manhandling yuppies. Maybe by hour eight he’ll be ready to handle a girl scout troop. And you know, you could give dress him up like some Alien/Predator hybrid with Darth Vader’s voicebox, but Kumar’s not threatening. He’s just not. A moot point now, though.
Like I mentioned yesterday, a lot of today’s two hours were standard 24 convention, but more like a whole season’s worth of the usual crammed into the first sixth of the season, almost like they were forcing themselves to get their usual fallbacks out of the way so they could (hopefully) spend the rest of the season trying something new. Like the shock ending which wasn’t really a shock – it was really the only thing they could do, right? It’s like one of the producers suddenly realized, “hey – these aren’t REAL people we’re killing. Let’s take em all out”. But the extra threat of the fallout certainly makes the rest of this season more interesting, though I dunno about those four other bombs. Look at all the hassle they went through to get this one hooked up, and everyone involved is now dust. Are we supposed to believe that a) the other four are in Los Angeles and b) they’re all plug-and-play? But Jack’s having to take down Curtis was definitely pretty rough. And nice touch with the vomit. That’s going the extra mile. And some bonus content – Cracked lists off four thisngs that 24 would have you believe (only four? Via Largehearted Boy) while the Jack Bauer Kill Count is dutifully logging every kill Jack makes this season (as they did the past five).
Monday, January 15th, 2007
For the past three seasons, I’ve done a weekly commentary on each episode of 24. Why? I’ve really no idea. Just something to do, I guess. And even when the show got ridiculous, I stuck it out because, well, I’m compulsive like that. But every season, I wonder if I’m going to start it up again – it’d really make my life easier if I just stopped… and yet, here I am again. Damn you, Jack Bauer! Damn you! So here we go again, in SpoilerVision:
Random observations from the first two hours – Is it me or is this the first time they’ve come right out and called the terrorists “Muslims”, and not the slightly vaguer and less inflammatory “Arabs”? Hmm. We’ve also got Chloe in a suit with quite the neckline for a day at the office. I get the impression that the President paid a high price for Jack’s release. Just a hunch. And man, Jack’s looking all “Passion of the Bauer”. Though apparently he only grew that beard for one scene. What a waste. Somehow the idea of Bill and Karen bumping uglies just… unsettles me. But not as much as the fact that Jack buttoned his shirt up to the top button. Man, what’d the Chinese do to him? It’s kind of nice to see Kal Penn isn’t being typecast as “Indian guy”. He can do all types of “brown-skinned guy”. And “evil henchman”. I have to think that telling Jack “You will die for nothing” is probably the wrong thing to say… and he’s going to regret not cutting off his shootin’ finger when he had the chance. And that new sneak-vampire attack thing has to go down as Jack’s most gruesome kill in the past five/six years. For now anyways.
I found the second hour kind of settled into a standard 24 routine – Jack working against the government, scheming government toadie undermining the President, Jack teaming up with an unlikely ally, the drama unfolding in the suburbs. Honestly, the thing that struck me the most was on the subway – is that really how the LA Metro checks tickets? Seems really inefficient. Also, the bomber boarded from the middle of the platform and yet he and Jack were on the last car… hmm. I do like the fact that as all this going down, that terror attacks are happening all over the US. Definitely adds some tension and pressure right out of the gate, and really – why should LA have all the fun? I’m definitely curious to see what the huge twist that they’ve got planned for tonight is. It’s going to have to be something pretty spectacular to shock your typically jaded veteran 24 watcher. But I’ll be watching.
So how about that Friends In Bellwoods CD release show on Friday? Really, how was it? I had no idea that there were advance tickets available at Soundscapes so as a result I, along with a lineup of people stretched around the block from the Tranzac (a small block, but still) were shut out of the festivities when they announced that the show was completely sold out. Disappointing, sure, but at least it undoubtedly succeeded as a fundraiser for the Daily Bread Food Bank. I did pick up a copy of the CD on Saturday and it’s a really fine collection. Radio Free Canuckistan has an interview with Ohbijou’s Casey Mecija.
And also softening the blow is the fact that Ohbijou has been added to the bill with Under Byen and Frida Hyvonen at the Mod Club on March 8. There’s really no way this can’t be an amazing show.
And one to file under “wha?”, The Pipettes – surely one of the buzzier things out of the UK last year – are going to make their Toronto debut on March 10… at the tiny Rivoli which holds around 100 people. Though they’re not the last band on the bill – that’d be fellow Anglos The Smoke Fairies – the midnight slot tends the be the choicest one so I think it’d be fair to call that the Pipettes’ show. But what’s with the venue? Anyway, most of the CMW schedule is now up, save for some of the big venues/shows like at Lee’s, the ‘Shoe, etc. Via For The Records
British Sea Power fans would do well to head over to the band’s MySpace page as they’ve got a cover of Pavement’s “We Dance” a-streaming. Nice. They’ve just returned to Montreal to mix the new record which should be due out in late Spring/early Summer. Via The Tripwire.
This is Simon. He is my new cat. Today is his seven month birthday. Say happy birthday to Simon.
Sunday, January 14th, 2007
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Julie Doiron / Woke Myself Up (Endearing)
I was never a big Eric’s Trip fan back in the day, my ears not being accustomed or attuned to their noisy, lo-fi aesthetic at the time (this was some 12 years ago), so I didn’t really pay much heed when they split up or to any of of Rick White’s Elevator projects or Julie Doiron’s solo career afterwards. I do, however, appreciate that they were and remain one of the most beloved Canadian indie bands of the last decade and a half so the fact that this record reunites the entire original Eric’s Trip lineup is, to many, a big deal.
I don’t know if this is thanks to playing with fellow Maritimers Shotgun & Jaybird recently or getting back together with her old Eric’s Trip compatriots, but it sounds really good on her. Doiron’s songs sound refreshingly bright-eyed and energized, retaining her characteristic delicate, confessional folkiness but bolstering it with a sturdy band, fuller arrangements and a healthy amount of Young-ian electrified guitar skronk. Many of Doiron’s fans are calling this her best album yet, and seeing as how this is the really the first of her records that I’ve not only enjoyed listening to but actually seek to revisit, I’m inclined to agree. Woke Myself Up is out on Tuesday in Canada on Endearing records and next week in the US on Jagjaguwar.
MP3: Julie Doiron – “No More”
Video: Julie Doiron – “Me And My Friend” (MOV)
Video: Julie Doiron – “No More” (youTube)
MySpace: Julie Doiron |
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Ox / American Lo Fi (Weewerk)
I saw Vancouver’s Ox open for The Sadies some three and a half years ago and apparently I found them decent if a bit homogenous-sounding. Having now had the chance to sit down with their second full-length, it seems they’ve still no great desire to stray from their musical comfort zone, but it comes across more as consistency than monotony. There’s a running theme of America, wasted youth, car culture and the mythologies of the road that tie them together, all filtered through Mark Browning’s raspy drawl and the band’s Scud Mountain Boy pacing and Whiskeytown-ish delivery. Though it tries a bit too hard to rustic authenticity at points and as a result comes off insincere, American Lo-Fi has a laid back, casualness about it that’s inviting and probably just the thing for those with an itch for the halcyon days of alt.country.
MP3: Ox – “Miss Idaho”
MP3: Ox – “Surrender” (Cheap Trick cover)
MP3: Ox – “Sugar Cane”
MP3: Ox – “747”
MySpace: Ox |
Friday, January 12th, 2007
I’m guessing some of you were wondering why I and a number of commenters were so excited last month when it was discovered that Twitch City was unexpectedly out on DVD. This is reasonable. The show only lasted twelve episodes over two seasons and even those were broadcast two years apart, but in that time managed to establish itself, in my mind at least, as the best Canadian sitcom ever. Of course, this is not a difficult title to win since even though we produce some of the funniest actors and writers on the planet, we paradoxically produce some of the very worst television comedy around.
Created by and starring Don McKellar (Last Night), the show featured a fairly star-studded cast (again, by Canadian standards) with Molly Parker (Deadwood) and Callum Keith Rennie (Battlestar Galactica) along for the ride. It’s set in Toronto’s Kensington Market and documents the life of agoraphobic TV addict Curtis (McKellar), his co-dependent roommate/girlfriend Hope (Parker) and his convenience store clerk/college buddy Newbie (Rennie). Season one is more rooted to the plotline of Curtis’ roommate (and Hope’s boyfriend at the time) being jailed for killing a homeless man with a can of cat food and how that plays out with Curtis and Hope’s burgeoning relationship and roommate search, but season two is the real gem as it plays much faster and looser and gets positively surreal at points. I especially loved their swapping one Kid In The Hall for another (Bruce McCulloch for Mark McKinney) in the role of talk show host Rex Reilly between seasons, a move initially forced by scheduling conflicts but working perfectly in the TV-centric context of the show (shades of Darrin). Seeing Sloan guesting as white supremacists or Jennifer Jason Leigh’s Single White Female-reprising guest turn were also high points.
I never got to see all the episodes when they originally ran in 1998 and 2000, so this DVD set – which I admit I never thought I’d see – was a real treat. Bonus features are slim but the three commentaries by McKellar and some random call-in guests is suitably daffy. For example, Mark McKinney calls in and ends up commenting on an episode he’s not even in. I powered through the whole series over the holidays and I definitely enjoyed them even more than I did the first time around (the eps I had seen, anyways). Probably because I’m now at age closer to the characters in the show and can properly appreciate their level of dysfunction. I’m also particularly fond of it because it’s set in Toronto. There’s actually very few shows, decent or otherwise, that are set here – the CBC seems to prefer setting things in remote northern/prairie/maritime communities because, well, I don’t know really. But Twitch City feels like our own perfect little BBC series, brief but wonderful. The first episode is archived in three parts on YouTube – it’s good but the series gets so much better as it progresses. So worth seeing.
Video: Twitch City pilot – part 1 (YouTube)
Video: Twitch City pilot – part 2 (YouTube)
Video: Twitch City pilot – part 3 (YouTube)
Chart brings word that Ongiara, the third album from Toronto’s Great Lake Swimmers will be out on March 24 via Nettwerk. In the meantime their new 12″ EP, Hands In The Dirty Ground is available at Rotate This, a bit before the formal February 7 release date. It’s limited to 500 copies so move fast if you want one – that’s a note to myself as much as anyone else. And finally, to promote both new releases, the band are touring through March and April (dates on their website) and will wrap things up April 14 with two shows at the Church Of The Redeemer in Toronto.
Paste steps up and reviews eleven of the new albums Ryan Adams was streaming off his website at the time. They get a collective 16.75 stars, if you were wondering.
Emily Haines tells The Winnipeg Sun that she’s a nerd. Really. Also – more interviews with Westender, Vue and The Detroit Metro Times.
PopMatters ponders the mysterious and elusive Mountain Goat, aka John Darnielle.
You may remember my incredulousness that Explosions In The Sky were playing a venue the size of the Opera House. Well it turns out they knew their business better than I – they’ve not only sold it out but added a second show on March 25. Tickets for that one are $15.00.
And adding further to your post-rock diet, Red Sparowes are at the El Mocambo on March 10 for a CMW show. Tickets are $12.50 for the non-wristbanded.
And holding a mini Canadian music week of their own, the double-bill of The Constantines and Jon-Rae & The River are at Lee’s Palace for two nights, March 30 and 31. Tickets are $18.50, on sale next Wednesday. Jon-Rae & The River are also playing Nathan Phillips Square on January 28 as part of the WinterCity concerts. Update: In addition, Shotgun & Jaybird are on the bill for the first night, Ladyhawk the second. Nice. Thanks to Alan for the info.
PopMatters talks Pan’s Labyrinth with director Guillermo del Toro.
Behold – the cutest thing ever.
np – Suede / Dog Man Star
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