Tuesday, May 4th, 2004
More Magnetic Fields press – this time Salon takes on Stephin Merritt. Yeah, you need a free day pass but it’s worth it. i is out today. From Neil Gaiman, who also offers some thoughts on the new album and tries to reconcile the Stephin Merritt he knows with the one who seems to show up for all these interviews. And 517 has graciously posted some live mp3s from a Magnetic Fields show in Toronto circa 1998. They’re on my server, of course, so it’s my bandwidth that he’s using up, so really, I’m the one who’s graciously providing them. Anyway. Click here. Now to segue into some news from the band’s old label…
Holy shit with the Merge Records signings. Slatch reports that Montreal art-poppers The Arcade Fire have signed to the legendary North Carolina label (and they will be playing in Toronto at either the ‘Shoe or Lee’s on June 23 – the same day we tenatively have a show scheduled, natch), they’re putting out Lou Barlow’s next couple releases – an EP this Fall and an album next year, and to top it all off, they’ll be putting out American Music Club’s You Better Watch What You Say in October. About five months later than promised, but hopefully with the promotion it deserves and the pockets to fund a proper tour.
Also from Slatch – Bubba Ho-Tep on DVD May 25! Bonus features a-plenty. Hallelujah.
Even before the playoffs started, I was telling everyone – “Look out for Calgary, they’re the real dark horse this year”. But did anyone listen? Noooooo. Bully for Detroit, the Flames are in the conference finals. Go Flames.
Of course, I also predicted an Original 6, Detroit-Toronto final, so I obviously don’t know what I’m talking about.
We once again bid farewell to The Rub – Paul has given up his own blog, but won’t be departing the blogosphere at large entirely. He’ll be doing duty as a writer for both Donewaiting and 75 Or Less.
np – American Music Club / Everclear
Monday, May 3rd, 2004
Whoever has the task of giving albums titles at Lost Highway just doesn’t seem to care anymore. Case in point – the two Jayhawks records coming out on September 28. First off, there’s a live album cleverly titled Live, and then there’s the re-release of their long out-of-print eponymous debut record which originally came out on Bunkhouse Records. You’ll be able to find that on store shelves with the fancy moniker of The Bunkhouse Record. Yessir, someone is earning their porridge money today.
My Morning Jacket are releasing a live acoustic EP to shill on their upcoming tour with M Ward. Acoustic Citsuoca is out May 18, and they’re at the Opera House in Toronto May 28.
Can someone please tell me what kind of a world we live in where you can go to Toys R Us and choose from a selection of hundreds and hundreds of XBox, Playstation2 and GameCube games, but you can’t get a chess set that’s not made of cardboard? I weep for humanity.
And on a related note – PacManhattan. New Yorkers simultaneously manage to be exponentially cooler and dorkier than everyone else at the same time.
I’m confused. Usually the Leafs wait until game 7 before they choke big-time and play like shit. Guess they’re just that keen this year, or they’ve got something even stinkier up their sleeve for game 6. Feh.
np – Bob Dylan / Blood On The Tracks
Sunday, May 2nd, 2004
In hindsight, I should have seen the ‘twist ending’ of The Others coming a mile off… but I didn’t. I don’t think that I really think too heavily on films as I watch them – if you spend the whole thing trying to outsmart the filmmaker, then you’re really just ruining it for yourself. I prefer to just watch them and only consider them critically after the fact. In this case, director Alejandro Amenábar did a pretty good job of keeping me off the scent until the end, and when he did show his hand, it made perfect sense. And for that, I commend him. However, that won’t stop me from ruining the ending for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet… Nicole Kidman? She’s a dude.
Exclaim talks to The Magnetic Fields about i, and manages to extract pretty much nothing new out of Stephin Merritt.
They also have a piece on Leslie Feist about the release of Let It Die on May 18 and the cross-Canada tour which brings her to Toronto for NXNE on June 12, venue TBA. I also linked the article cause it’s got a damn fine pic of Ms Feist.
Today’s as good a time as any (read: slow news day) to draw your attention to some new blogs that have found their way onto my blogroll of late:
And a farewell to some blogs who seem to have closed up shop, whether temporarily or permenantly – Ypersound.com, Flotationdevice.org and Thrownaskew.com. Hmm, all Canadians. Hmm.
np – Johnny Cash / The Essential Johnny Cash
Saturday, May 1st, 2004
Your first look at Christian Bale in the new Batman outfit. Little horns? Check. No nipples? Check. It’s hard to get a feel for how much padding/armour is involved but hopefully it’s at a minimum. It’s very Year One – no yellow oval around the bat-symbol, even. The Batman Begins website has a couple more pics and Entertainment Weekly is also running some exclusive first looks in their new issue. See a scan from the magazine here.
Rachel Goswell’s website is finally live, though some content is still to be populated. Lovely pictures.
The new Drive-By Truckers album will be called The Dirty South and be in stores August 24.
Aaron Sorkin has finally put down the shrooms and started work on a new project. He and West Wing co-conspirator Tommy Schlamme have begun working on a new feature film, The Farnsworth Invention, which deals with Philo Farnsworth – one of the inventors of television in the 1920s. I’m laughing already. Thanks to Soaring With Eagles for reminding me that Sorking and Schlamme already paid Farnsworth a tribute on Sports Night.
I’m pleased as punch to see that the Leafs team I’m not embaressed to cheer for has finally showed up in the last two games against Philly. They’re hitting and finally figured out what ‘forecheck’ means – if they can keep this up and get Nieuwendyk and Nolan back, I think they can take Philly and Tampa. I will not, however, ever walk down the street bellowing, “Go Leafs Go!”. I went to a pub last night to get some dinner and watch the game, and had to leave after the first – the patrons were so goddamn annoying. Hey stupid screechy-voiced guy – no one gives a rat’s ass what you think, so shut the hell up.
np – The Mountain Goats / We Shall All Be Healed
Friday, April 30th, 2004
You know how yesterday I was saying that day 2 of Lollapalooza would have been perfectly convenient for me to go to if only there more bands in the lineup that I wanted to see? Well the overpriced corporate music festival gods have heard my plea and responded – I will absolutely be hauling ass to Lollapalooza to attend the second day of the festival as Wilco has been added to the bill for the Toronto, Detroit and Cleveland shows. Damn right I’m going to see them and The Flaming Lips. Everyone else is just gravy. Assuming tickets are around $40-$50, that’s a deal, or at least reasonable. Hell, maybe I’ll even get a reserved seat. But if they think this gets them out of coming back this Fall for a proper show of their own, they’ve got another thing coming. Thanks to Morecowbell.net for the tip-off.
I may, however, need to get vaccinated before the show. The Center For Disease Control has confirmed what I’ve always suspected – jam band fans are dirty dirty hippies.
Slatch brings you details on the Daniel Johnston tribute album, Discovered, Covered – The Late Great Daniel Johnston. Even if you don’t quite “get” Mr Johnston, and I admit that includes me, you can’t argue with the lineup of contributers. Teenage Fanclub, Sparklehorse with The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, Tom Waits, Death Cab For Cutie among others… It don’t get much better than that. Look for it in August.
The Cure’s new album, due out June 29, will be imaginatively titled The Cure. Sez Fat Bob: “I think it’s the best thing we’ve ever done… If you don’t like it, then you don’t like us.” Oh Fat Bob, you’re such a stitch. Billboard has specifics and a tracklisting.
Something Awful’s Top 10 Top 10 lists.
They were shooting an episode of Degrassi: The Next Generation on my street last night. They had a frat house dressed up as a, uh, frat house – A frat house hosting a KEG PARTY, no less. My goodness, one can only imagine what sort of invaluable life lessons those kids of Degrassi will be learning there.
np – Steve Earle & The Dukes / Shut Up And Die Like An Aviator
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