Monday, October 13th, 2003
Things that should have occurred to me: if I have today off on account of it being a holiday, it stands to reason that other folks like, say, supermarket workers, would also have the day off. It would have been more useful if I’d realized this yesterday, when the stores were open, than today, when the stores were already closed. Anyway, I managed to scrounge up the basics I needed for dinner tonight from the 7-11 and corner vegetable stand, so I’m okay.
As with many others today, I bid Miss Modernage a fond farewell from blog-land. Thank goodness Whatevs.org has stepped up and volunteered to be the new source of all things prurient and Britney.
Here’s an bit of news that I haven’t seen picked up anywhere else – Gillian Gilbert has left New Order. The band is recording their new album with an unspecified guest guitarist and according to a source, “It is much more like Joy Division again”. Interesting interesting.
There are some official shots available of Keanu Reeves in character as John Constantine. Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance is contributing to the soundtrack. Gavin Rossdale of Bush has been cast as a character called “Balthazar”. None of this does anything to sway me from my initial opinion that this will be a truly awful film.
Nostalgia – Sugar’s File Under: Easy Listening was the first album I bought in university. I think I picked it up during frosh week. That was almost ten years ago. TEN YEARS. Holy friggaroo.
Happy Thanksgiving!
np – New Order / Substance
Sunday, October 12th, 2003
If someone asks me how I spent my weeks vacation, I’m going to start with, “Discovered Queen Video. Rented movies. Lost track of time”. The main reason I went out and got a DVD player was so I could raid Queen Video’s expansive stock of cool movies.
First up tonight was Grave Of The Fireflies, a historical wartime anime from Studio Ghibli, home to Hiyao Miyazaki’s oeuvre. While most of Miyazaki’s films are fantasies, Fireflies – directed by Isao Takahata and based on the semi-autobiographical book by Akiyuki Nosaka – is set very much in the real world. Taking place at the tail end of World War II, it details the effects of the American firebombing campaign on a 14-year old boy and his 4-year old sister in Kobe, Japan. Orphaned and homeless, the two try to survive in the ruins of their town.
While the interaction between the two is heartwarming and the love and devotion of the siblings is well demonstrated, the tragedy and horror of their circumstances is just so much greater. This movie was truly heartbreaking. It’s a war movie that really has nothing to do with the combatants, only the civilians and its effects on them. The ‘enemy’ is never identified as the Americans, and is only represented by the bombers flying overhead dropping their firebombs. While the events depicted may be almost 60 years old, the themes and truths portrayed are still sadly relevant. A devastatingly effective commentary on the human cost of war.
np – Neko Case / Blacklisted
Sunday, October 12th, 2003
One of my favorite musical discoveries of the past year was Los Angeles’ Rilo Kiley. Signed to indie label du jour Saddle Creek, RK trade in indie-pop with a distinct country feel, anchored by singer Jenny Lewis’ sweet elastic voice. Their first record, Take-Offs And Landings was more countrified than last years The Execution Of All Things, which upped the rock quotient a few notches and was easily one of the best albums of 2002 that I didn’t find out about until 2003, from a profile in Magnet. If you haven’t heard their stuff before, there’s a whole slew of live and rare mp3s available here and here. A selection of album tracks are available here. The studio stuff is tighter and more polished than the live stuff, but it’s all worth checking out. Finally, click here to see some live concert footage and their too-cute one and only video for “The Frug”, from the 1998 film Desert Blue, starring Christina Ricci. “The Frug” originally appeared on their super-rare debut EP/minialbum, The Initial Friend.
SubPop has put together a little minisite for the release of the new Shins album Chutes Too Narrow in a couple weeks. From Catbirdseat.
The closest thing we’re getting to a new Magnetic Fields record before next Spring will be the soundtrack to the new Katie Holmes movie, Pieces Of April. Out on November 4, the soundtrack consists of five previously released Magnetic Fields songs and five new ones, only one of which actually appears in the film. And it’ll be credited to Stephin Merritt, not the Magnetic Fields, in case you’re looking for it. Bradley’s Almanac already has a review of the movie, not out till next Friday.
np – Mojave 3 / Spoon & Rafter
Saturday, October 11th, 2003
God bless Indian summer. It was an amazingly beautiful day out – warm, sunny, not a cloud in the sky. And I spent it in a mall. Well, only part of the afternoon, but a few hours, anyway. I haven’t been in a mall in I don’t know how long, and it was pretty amusing to be reminded of why I avoid them whenever possible. I had to go today on account of it being the best place to deal with the long list of horribly mundane items I needed to get. Twine, tissue, contact lens solution… Pretty exciting. I failed to acquire a phone book but I did get some kitchen stuff – for the first time ever, I am the owner of both a set of matching dishes and cutlery (though the cutlery doesn’t match the dishes, I didn’t have that much foresight). By the end, I was pretty damn glad to get out of there. Note to self – do all Christmas shopping online this year. Gads.
I’ve been in a bit of a panic lately about my well of songs for the MP3 of the week drying up. I’ve raided my CD and MP3 collections for material and think I will have enough interesting selections to get through the rest of the year, at least, but into 2004 things might get iffy. We shall see.
Former Jedi Master Liam Neeson thinks the Star Wars films have “kind of got silly now, haven’t they?” I’m glad someone involved is willing to say it.
MTV has the new Benny Hill-approved video for Belle & Sebastian’s “Step Into My Office, Baby” available to view online. Bottom left, under “Here Today, Hip Tomorrow”.
The Leafs season opener is on right now, and they’re already down 3-0 in the second period. Good to see some things never change.
np – The Wrens / The Meadowlands
Saturday, October 11th, 2003
The Joy Division vs New Order tribute night was a pretty solid success last night. Despite some last-minute lineup changes (two bands bailed, one got added), everything went off without a hitch and the place was packed. As expected, Joy Division material was greatly favoured over New Order, with us being one of I think only three bands to do any material past Low-Life. Amazingly, we were also the only band to bring a keyboard (or a cello or a harmonica, but I’m not as surprised about that). A New Order tribute night without keyboards – who’d have guessed? Most of the covers were rocked-up versions of the originals, aided by a really massive drum sound. It would have been nice if someone had ensured that no bands repeated songs – the first three bands all took a swing at “Ceremony” – there was a good mix of material through the night. I’m a little surprised no one tried “True Faith”, but as I said, everyone seemed to be more about the Joy Division. Either way, it was a lot of fun and great to be a part of.
From LHB: The worst Halloween costumes from the 70s and 80s. Man, they don’t make em like that anymore.
I may have spoke too soon yesterday when I said there was nothing music-related to report?
Ironically-named but still utterly charming Vancouver twee-popsters Young & Sexy hold a CD release party at the Horseshoe December 4. Their sophomore album Life Through One Speaker is already out, but I guess they need to celebrate with Eastern Canada.
The Joel Plaskett Emergency have two nights scheduled at Lee’s Palace – November 20 and 22, the second of which is an all-ages matinee show. Joel’s new album Truthfully, Truthfully is out October 21.
My vacation started off on a pretty sombre note yesterday at work. One of the board of directors at my company passed away in the night. It wasn’t a surprise, he was older and hadn’t been doing too well for a little while, but everyone was still pretty gutted. Mine is a small company and very tightly knit, and this man was like a father/grandfather-figure and mentor to most of my co-workers. I didn’t really know him, but he was immensely respected by everyone who knew him. As I understand, he was something of a giant in the Canadian marketing world and had led a pretty remarkable life, including flying Spitfires for the RAF in World War II. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to know him better or to know the man that my colleagues did, but I mourn him all the same. RIP, Bruce.
np – Tender Trap / Film Molecules
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