Friday, August 6th, 2004
R.E.M are touring this Fall in support of their new record Around The Sun and will two nights at the Hummingbird Centre in Toronto on November 10 and 11. I’m curious who the openers will be – they’ve had a habit of bringing very good openers with them on tour, so good that it makes going to the show worthwhile. Not that R.E.M. on their own aren’t worthwhile, it’s just that their ticket prices will no doubt be fairly steep. More than the last time I saw them, anyway – their free show on Yonge St. in Toronto back in May 2001. 10,000 people in a canyon of glass, stone and steel, it was fantastic.
REM and I go back a long ways. I first started getting interested in music back in 1991, and when everyone else was singing the praises of Nevermind, I was wearing out copies of Out Of Time and Document (literally – I borrowed the Out Of Time CD from a friend at school for months on end, making more than a few cassette copies on better and better quality tapes. In hindsight, I shoulda just bought the damn thing). It should be telling that while most others were unleashing their suburban angst to “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, I was ruminating to “Country Feedback” and “Texarkana”. Yeah, even then I was a freak. They probably weren’t very cool thirteen years ago and almost certainly less so now, but REM were the first outfit that could unequivically lay claim to being my favourite band. I read every news article, bought every magazine, caught every television appearance. I stole a copy of Musician from the public library with Peter Buck and Neil Young on the cover and read it over and over again (two very very large guitar influences for me, it should be noted. And I still play “Driver 8” when I’m just messing around). It was my first experience with pure, unabashed fandom and while my tastes and scope of music listened-to have expanded exponentially since then, the band remains a watershed for the evolution of my musical tastes.
Through the 90s, my interest in them held for a while, but inevitably began to wane as my musical spectrum grew. Automatic For The People cemented my devotion to the band (and pegged me as a sucker for slow, sad songs) while Monster was and still is a disappointment (guys, you’re not a rawk band). My faith was renewed with New Adventures In Hi-Fi but that would but prove to be the last hurrah. Maybe it was to do with Bill Berry leaving the band but I just lost interest after that. Up and Reveal had a couple decent songs a piece but couldn’t compete for rotation time with the stuff I’d discovered more recently. The first time I got to see them live was in August of 1999 at the Molson Amphitheatre. It was a big fancy stage show in support of Up and while I’m sure I enjoyed the concert, I couldn’t really connect with the arena rock show laid before me. But the openers that night? Wilco. Call it a passing of the torch, perhaps. I’ll no doubt be picking up Around The Sun eventually, completist that I am (though I still don’t have Dead Letter Office on CD. Even if I don’t listen to them much anymore at all, they’ll always be an incredibly important band to me. And yeah, I’ve only talked about their Warner Bros output. Of course critically speaking the IRS stuff was much better, but I wasn’t there for that, I was there for this. But now I do want to go listen to Murmur again.
Oh, and have you noticed yet that when I get on extended tangents about things not topical at all, like bands I listened to religiously in 11th grade, it means that I can’t find any other content for the day? Think of it as one of those ‘clips’ episodes TV shows do to fill up episodes. Except it’s nostalgic to me and me only.
Everyone’s favourite musical soap opera The Libertines are going to try their damndest to be at the Opera House on October 15. I don’t really follow the band so I don’t know if that Pete fellow is technically in the band or not, but I wouldn’t put money on him being there, either way. It sounds like the boy has some issues.
ESPN has the answer to why the Blue Jays’ season has been such utter crap this year – their at-bat music sucks. Creed? Someone trade Chris Woodward now. From LHB.
Spent about four hours last night recording a 25-second passage for our slowly yet steadily forthcoming record. I’m not the most efficient player when the tape is rolling to begin with, but this time the excuse was that we tried three or four wholly distinct ideas before settling on something. And technically, it was 50-seconds of music – we double tracked. Either way, I’m just thankful we’re doing this digitally. It would have cost about $500,000 (give or take) in blown takes if we had done this to tape.
np – Bob Dylan / Bringing It All Back Home
Thursday, August 5th, 2004
I apologize for my site going AWOL for about four hours yesterday afternoon. I think a server in Pennsylvania blew up.
The Neko Case live album recorded back in March and April in Chicago and Toronto (the pic is from the first Toronto show) whilst backed by The Sadies will be coming out November 9. It’s entitled The Tigers Have Spoken and Billboard has details while Pitchfork reports the tracklist as follows:
01 If You Knew
02 Soulful Shade of Blue (Buffy Sainte-Marie)
03 Hex (Catherine Ann Irwin)
04 Train From Kansas City (Shangri-La’s)
05 The Tigers Have Spoken
06 Blacklisted
07 Loretta (Townes Van Zandt)
08 Favorite
09 Rated X (Loretta Lynn)
10 This Little Light (Traditional)
11 Wayfaring Stranger (Traditional)
These were amazing shows, this will be a great record. They were also shooting video footage ostensibly for a DVD but there’s been no word on that coming out yet. Hope it comes to pass. There will also be new studio album due out in the Spring.
Exclaim’s cover boy for this month is Joel Gibb of The Hidden Cameras. The piece talks about the history of the Cameras and new album Mississauga Goddam.
NOW profiles Rogue Wave, in town Sunday opening for AC Newman at Lee’s Palace.
Death Cab are putting out an iTunes-only EP comprising tracks from a ‘Studio X Session’. Bummer that it’s iTunes only, but I expect the tracks will be available on your friendly neighbourhood P2P network within, oh, 12 seconds of release.
Everyone’s favorite Nebraskan disco-new wave outfit The Faint are going to be at Lee’s Palace October 10 to promote their new album Wet From Birth, out September 14. New Yorkers TV On The Radio and some group called Beep Beep (YOU do a google search on “beep beep”) support. I suspect there will be much dancing that night.
That French Kicks show at the Guvernment on September 21 isn’t theirs – they’re opening for Keane. Ah.
If you’ve got a lot of time on your hands and feel like reading some Wilco press, this site has gone to the trouble of transcribing as many magazine articles on the band into HTML as possible, including pictures. Whoa. The Globe & Mail, The Toronto Sun and The Toronto Star all have reviews of Tuesday night’s show. And The Montreal Gazette has a profile (from LHB).
The Star also has a piece on Montreal’s Arcade Fire, in town Saturday to play the Olympic Island concert. I heard a couple tracks off of Funeral, out September 14. They were good.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinal talks to Old 97’s frontman Rhett Miller about their new album Drag It Up and the band reaching the decade mark in age.
Low Morale has a lovely and sad Flash video for an acoustic recording of Radiohead’s “Creep”. While it’s fan-made, it could easily fit in with any of the Radiohead’s more recent videos. From Morecowbell.net.
Whew.
np – The Sleepy Jackson / Lovers
Wednesday, August 4th, 2004
I’m not really one given to hyperbole, so you’ll appreciate that I mean it when I say Wilco is the best fucking band on the planet. And that that was the best show I have ever seen. Swear. To. God. I don’t even know where to begin. Okay, we’ll start with pre-show. I had intended to get in line right early, like before 7pm for 8pm doors. Unfortunately, the worst restaurant service in the world (it was a night for all-time records) kept me from getting to the Mod Club until about 20 after 7. There wasn’t a huge lineup ahead of us by that point but enough that hopes of getting right up front were dashed – I spent the night about three rows back. Not the best, but a good enough view.
Opener Jim White took the stage promptly at 9:15 with his five-piece band. I’d been told that he was really good, but I hadn’t gotten around to listening to any of his stuff beforehand, so I was going in a complete tabula rasa as far as his work was concerned. So what’s the verdict? Pretty damn good, I say. An entertaining and engagin performer, his songs ranged from raw gutbucket country to hypnotically quiet folk songs. Some of the more deliberately quirky numbers seemed a little too forced, but there was a lot of quality material in the man’s repetoire. His between-song banter was priceless, too. “I know you’re all here to see Wilco. I raised those boys myself, you know. Found them with a basket of kittens”. He had to cancel a local headlining date for tonight to swing the opening gigs for Wilco through Canada, so hopefully that means he’ll be back sooner than later to make it up to those who missed out. I’m going to be seeking out more of his stuff.
As for the headliners… man, words fail. This is the fifth time I’ve seen Wilco live, so you’d think that I’d have a pretty good idea of what to expect from their shows, and I thought I did. Maybe it was the new lineup – the fourth different one I’ve seen – the high-on-life Jeff Tweedy or the electricity in the sold-out, (relatively) tiny venue, but last night they absolutely killed. From the fingerpicked acoustic guitar that opened “Muzzle Of Bees”, the band was in another zone completely. Highlights included the synchronized guitar leads between Nels Cline and Jeff Tweedy in “Hell Is Chrome”, the thunderous breakdown in “At Least That’s What You Said”, Pat Sansone (who looks a helluva lot like Beck) striking every rock star pose in the book on “I’m A Wheel”, Jeff’s dance moves in “Hummingbird”, his sub-orbital soloing through “I’m The Man Who Loves You”, the wall of sound that closed out “Poor Places” giving way to the unbelievable rock stomp of set closer “Spiders (Kidsmoke)”. Anyone who complained about the Krautrock arrangement of that tune on the album has to see it performed live to understand how perfect it is. In fact, almost all the A Ghost Is Born material takes on a whole new dimension when heard live – it gave me a whole new appreciation for the record which I was coming to quite like anyway. They played two encores – the first was the rock encore with Nels and Jeff partaking in ritual Jazzmaster abuse through “I’m A Wheel”, “Kicking Television” and “The Late Greats”, while the second encore was the acoustic encore, featuring older numbers “Far, Far Away”, “Via Chicago”, “California Stars” and “The Lonely 1”.
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Tuesday, August 3rd, 2004
Is it troubling that I was able to relate a little too well with Harvey Pekar in American Splendor? Sure, I have better posture, a fuller head of hair and aren’t nearly as smooth with the ladies, but seeing this cranky, obsessive-compulsive, socially maladjusted character chronicling his day-to-day life for the consumption of total strangers hit a little close to home. But besides being a bit of a cautionary tale (yo Letterman, call me!) it was pretty damned entertaining as well. For those unfamiliar with the film, it’s basically a biopic of Mr Pekar, creator and writer of American Splendor, a long-running independent comic that chronicles his life as a file clerk and professional curmudgeon and illustrated by a rotating stable of artists. I’ve never read the comic myself – I have always preferred the more conventional mainstream comics – but have always been very aware of the esteem with which the book was regarded.
The movie is an interesting mix of live action dramatization with actors, some animation and documentary-style interviews with the real Harvey Pekar and his cast of characters. Paul Giamatti does a terrific job in recreating Pekar on-screen, more impressive when you consider that you get to contrast his portrayal with the genuine article over the course of the film. Using the original Letterman footage in the context of the film was also an inspired touch. It’s odd to consider this a comic book adaptation but I suppose it can’t be all costumed crimefighters and such. The balding social misfits need their day in the sun, too.
Stylus has gotten a facelift. It looks nicer now but the usability is still pretty crap, unfortunately. For example, their lead piece is The Producers, Part 2 wherein they profile some of the legendary (and not so legendary but still important) figures behind the scenes. Great idea, nice read. Where’s part one? No fucking idea. (Actually, I did find it here, but it wasn’t easy. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to link it off of part two of the article instead of having me dig through the entirety of the 2004 archives? I certainly think so).
I’ve been commenting on The Toronto Star’s series about growing up in various regions around Toronto, and for the third week in a row I have some connection to the city in question – this week, Scarborough. Scarberia. Land of strip malls and inspiration for Wayne’s World. I lived there from age three to ten and I moved away just before it began its ‘decline’ and earned its rough reputation, so I really don’t have any memories to speak of. I did move back for a four-month stint in 1995, though, and it wasn’t quite as I’d remembered it – hell, I remembered half of the city as it is now being farmland. I used to watch Breakfast Television before I left for work and make a mental note of where all the shootings and stabbings from the night before were in relation to my route to work. Okay, that’s an exaggeration – Scarborough isn’t that bad, I don’t think, though in relation to the rest of Toronto I suppose its earned it’s reputation as “the hood” of the city. Either way, I’m glad I got out when I did. If I was going to be bored out of my mind as an adolescent, I’d choose Oakville over Scarborough.
I spent much of yesterday afternoon playing with a couple of dogs at my brother’s fiancee’s sister’s house, one a corgi-lab mix and the other a hyperactive Jack Russel-chihuahua sorta thing. Talk about your pet therapy – there’s something immensely relaxing about just petting a dog for a while.
Wilco tonight. Am I excited? Yes, I think that I am.
np – Wheat / Hope & Adams
Monday, August 2nd, 2004
I have begun the process of shopping for a new digital camera. I’ve just about outgrown my Fuji Finepix 2600z and am looking for something towards the higher end of point-and-shoots to suit my needs for the next few years at least, if not longer. I’m not prepared to go DSLR because, really, I don’t want to spend that sort of money and time to learn how to work everything. Well, mostly the money. Who knows – maybe by the time I outgrow this next camera I’ll be ready to take that step. Anyway.
I had my choices narrowed down to either the Canon PowerShot A80 ($499 CAN) or the Canon PowerShot S60 ($699 CAN) as Canon seems get far and away the best reviews of the consumer-level P&S digicams. The Fuji came out last week and announced a whole slew of new models, including the FinePix E550 ($599 CAN) and the FinePix F810 ($649 CAN). I can’t tell spec-wise how these two models differ, actually, though the F810 is twice as heavy as the E550. There’s been no reviews of either of these models since they’re not even on the market yet (I heard end of October for the E550).
Anyone want to offer some advice on my purchase decision? Nikon? Minolota? I’m looking for something that will offer decent low-light/indoor performance (for concert pics, natch) and while I’m obviously not going to get professional results, I figure anything in this price range will be a step up from my current camera. I also want a greater than 3x optical zoom or at the very least, a threaded barrel for attachable lenses. Anyone have suggestions on any of the ultra-zoom models out there? Or how to read/compare specs in general? What’s important, what’s not? Other matters like battery type, memory type, etc etc will be considered but won’t likely be deal-breakers either way. Also, if anyone has suggestions on where/how to buy to get the best deal – there has to be a better way than walking into Future Shop and paying sticker price – those recommendations are appreciated as well. I’m not rushing into this, I’m willing to wait till Christmas to take advantage of Boxing Day sales if I have to. I also don’t want to get caught on the wrong side of new product launches. I’m looking to keep the price within the $500-$700 CAN range (around $350-$550 US?) cause I’ll have to be spending on memory cards, a case probably and other ancillary items as well. Thanks!
Jeff Tweedy does some press with The Toronto Sun to promote their sold-out show at the Mod Club tomorrow night. “It all sounds very pretentious, but mostly we just wanted to rock, it’s good for you!”
I did make it to Wavelength last night after all, though it was by no means a sure thing – it’s damned easy to simply not go out by 10:30 on a Sunday night. The lure of a free beer finally won out, however, and was enough to get me on my bike and away to Sneaky Dee’s. I guess they were running behind schedule because when I arrived Jet Project Labs was still rocking the mic with his odd Maritime folk-hop. It was mildly compelling but not really my thing. I was more interested in seeing the other two bands, both fronted by regulars on the 20Hz message boards, which have become sort of the defacto hub for the grassroots Canadian indie scene.
Montreal’s A Vertical Mosaic are a three-piece with a lot of keyboards, but also an old-school guitar and bass to keep things a little rough around the edges. I found their sound to be a bit of a cross between a really mellowed-out Stereolab and early New Order. Some of their material was much better than the other stuff, particularly when the guitar was more to the fore. Granted, I personally like guitar music, but I think the music benefitted from the more organic sound. On the peppier numbers I think they could have really benefitted from a real drummer to put them over the top as opposed to the drum machine sequences they favoured, but I guess that’d be rather contrary to what they’re trying to do. Good musicianship and nice vocal arrangements (when they could hear themselves, at least) and decent enough all in all, anyway.
Locals Femme Generation were the headliners of the evening, as evidenced by a) their going on last and b) everyone actually moving to the front of the bar when they started their set. They trade in the disco-inflected downstroked post-punk sound that’s de rigeur these days, but with a significantly more aggressive approach – you can tell there’s some serious rock in these guys’ background. They had really good stage presence up there but the songs didn’t quite have the hooks to really get my attention. That was just me, however, and the rest of the audience seemed to be having a splendid time and the band’s just-released EP Circle Gets The Square netted a very positive review in this week’s eye.
Late post? Yeah, it’s a long weekend, chumps!
np – Rogue Wave / Out Of The Shadow
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