Wednesday, June 4th, 2003
Another soaker on the way home tonight. I took refuge in the pub downstairs for an hour after work hoping the unexpected thunderstorm would blow over before I went to get my bike and ride home, but I had to settle for a steady moderate shower instead. But I was still drenched head to toe, and isn’t that really the important part?
The two Posies albums I won on ebay a couple weeks ago showed up. I am acquiring new music faster than I can listen to it!
The rain seems to have finally tapered off – the question is, will it stay away long enough for me to ride to the Bloor to see The Pianist, or will I have the honour of getting soaked twice in a day? Decisions, decisions. Of course, staying home and hiding under the covers is a reasonable option as well.
Well this is interesting – The secret history of Apple Records and Apple Computers. From Done Waiting.
Some Ryan Adams news – the on-again/off-again four-disc box set and forthcoming and oft-delayed Love Is Hell album appear to be one and the same. The box will contain the four albums The Suicide handbook, 48 hours, Pinkhearts and Love is Hell from which Demolition was culled. Now when it will be released depends on how Ryan feels about the material he’s currently recording with Ethan Johns – if that’s stronger, then that will be the new album and the box will come out later. If not, the box will be released and a new proper album whenever it’s ready. The box will be discounted – for a 4-disc set, anyway – so as to cost around the same as an album and an EP. Not a bad deal if you can digest that much RA in one swoop. And to top it all off, he’s talking about a new Whiskeytown record. Time will tell how much of this comes to pass, but it’s nice to see the man concentating on music again instead of being a media whore.
np – Posies / Dear 23
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2003
So the news at the bike shop wasn’t as bad as all that. I didn’t have to bust any heads, they’ll have the chain replaced by tomorrow after work. Turns out there wasn’t anything wrong with the sprocket – the teeth are deliberately cut oddly (they showed me some new sprockets cut the same way), something to do with being able to shift gears while off-road. Anyway, I only have to transit it one more morning.
One good thing that did come out of having to go down to Queen St was finding the new Magnet and Ted Leo & The Pharmacists’ The Tyranny Of Distance for $9. I was feeling happier after that. Oh, and my copy of Brighten The Corners arrived in the mail. That was good too.
Also watched You Can Count On Me on Kyle’s insistance, and it was a very good, small-scale character driven film. Quite a switch from my recent viewing material, which has been mostly big dumb action films.
News courtesy of Catbirdseat – the Ben Gibbard (DCFC)/Andrew Kenney(AmAnSet) split album, Home: Volume 5 is out now, and is proving to be quite the hot commodity. I am hoping there will be copies still available when AmAnSet roll into town at the end of the month, but I doubt it. Also, there will be a new Postal Service EP released on July 8 for The District Sleeps Tonight, featuring two mixes of the title track, a remix of “Such Great Heights” and a cover of The Flaming Lips’ “Suddenly, Everything Has Changed”. Yippee.
There’s an interview with Luna’s Britta Phillips here, where she talks about Jem, The Belltower, Satisfaction, Justine Bateman, Julia Roberts and the new album L’Avventura with Dean Wareham, out today.
And just in case you needed to be reminded of your insignificance, marvel at these panaromic photos from the top of Mount Everest.
np – Ted Leo & The Pharmacists / The Tyranny Of Distance
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2003
Phil Selway talks about the recording of Hail To The Thief to JAM!. Unconfirmed reports say Radiohead play the Molson Amphitheatre on August 16. While that’s exponentially more convenient and intimate than Molson Park in Barrie, it also means that it will be total law of the jungle when it comes to getting tickets. It won’t be pretty.
The Los Angeles edition of All Tomorrow’s Parties, to be curated by Matt Groening, has been postponed from June till September. But… the NY one was supposed to be in September? Would they run two ATPs within one month? Will the NY one be postponed? Damnation.
My apartment hunt has taken a rather frustrating turn – I had said that I wouldn’t mind a basement if it didn’t feel like a basement, but I’m thinking that the odds of finding one of those is pretty damn slim, and anything above ground in the areas I’m looking at are too expensive. Larger places would probably be ideal but the roommate scenario is still not one I am very enthusiastic about – it runs sorta contrary to my stated goal of living on my own. Hmm hmm hmm.
np – Lucinda Williams / World Without Tears
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2003
“The chain that fell off my bike last night
Is now wrapped round my heart
Sometimes I think that
Fate has been against us from the start”
— Billy Bragg, “The Only One”
I hear ya, Billy. Testify.
A haiku:
I walk down King St
See all the bikes with their chains
And then I am sad
np – Teenage Fanclub / Thirteen
Monday, June 2nd, 2003
The apartment I was going to see tomorrow – I decide that since it sounds promising and there’s an open house sort of showing tonight, that I should go and take a look in case someone snatches it up between today and tomorrow. The neighbourhood itself is quite nice – quiet, kids playing on the street, great big trees providing shade and aesthetics. Nice. Never mind that it’s much closer to Dundas than to College, that’s hardly a deal-killer. However, when the property manager arrives and lets me in, well… the ad said “high ceilings” – high if you’re lying down, maybe. I’m not even 6′ and I had to duck to get through doorways. Give me a break. “Lots of light” – certainly not natural light. The windows were almost non-existant. To be fair, the place was in remarkably good shape and a good size (if not vertically). But definitely not something I was sorry about crossing off my list. The hunt continues.
Rehearsal was alright, mostly trying to get Kate and her cello integrated into things. Being heard was a bit of an issue since we couldn’t mic her up (feedback issues), but I think things sounded alright despite none of us really having any idea how to arrange strings. And now we have a week off while Brad returns to Chicago to visit the folks.
Someone really doesn’t want me to ride my bike. After yesterday’s excursions, I wanted to keep the cycling at a minimum so as not to utterly destroy my leg muscles. So what do I do? Cycle to work. Cycle home from work. Cycle over to Dundas and Beatrice to look at the apartment. Cycle to Front and Sherbourne for rehearsal. Cycle to Yonge and College (for non-Torontonians, this is a fair bit of distance to be covering in a short amount of time). Why did I stop at Yonge and College? BECAUSE MY GODDAMN BIKE CHAIN BROKE. Snapped right off. Not even a month old. I am fucking annoyed. Thankfully this didn’t happen yesterday, and I was only two blocks from home so walking it back wasn’t a big deal, but still. And to make things even better, when I got down to see if I could get it back together myself, I find that some of the outer teeth on the sprocket are either worn down or broken off completely. What the hell? I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect a bike that’s not even a month old to NOT fall apart like this. I mean, this isn’t a cheap-ass K-Mart bicycle. Anyway, I will not be cycling to work for a few days till I get the shop to repair this, and you are damn skippy that it will be covered under warranty.
I am in a foul mood. Now is not the time to piss me off.
np – Velvet Crush / A Single Odessey
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