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Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Quickie...
It appears that every blog and their dog are posting "best album of 2004" type lists. Some are well thought out but excessively analytical, others are clueless and read back totally fucking retarded. The rest fall somewhere in between. I won't spend hours writing a post detailing my exhaustive beliefs on what composed the best and worst music of 2004... I mean, hey, I already push my musical judgments on you all year round. (Ha!) But I will say this, the self-titled debut disk by The Futureheads was tops in my books, and honorable mention could go to both The Walkmen and Green Day.
Also, those of you who signed up for a vanmega.com audio almanac will be happy to know that the disks are now heading to the mail and should be reaching your door within the week. Or so.
And now, the vanmega-massive is road tripping out to the mountains for our annual new years snowboard / hot tubbing drink-a-thon. See you(s) in 2005.
elsewhere
previous new years mountain parties: '04, '03, '02, '01
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Thursday, December 23, 2004
Here's your Christmas gift (more mp3's)...
Ummm... while other blogs are taking the holiday season off, the vanmega team is working 24/7 (sorta... well, not really). With that said, here's a little holiday treat for your asses...
As you may or may not know, a few years back The Arcade Fire recorded a couple Christmas tunes and then handed out those tunes on CD's to their friends. These tracks got leaked to the web this month.
Here they are, for download:
01. Chestnuts Roasting [mp3]
02. Oh Holy Night [mp3]
03. Jinglebell Rock [mp3]
04. A Very Arcade Xmas [mp3]
Keep in mind, that the AF team made these songs very tongue in cheek (from what I can tell). These tracks lean more on the band's eccentric weirdness than, say, their indie rock awesumness.
Anyhoots, merry Christmas, y'all(s).
elsewhere
catch the break | lubo guide to drinking alone
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Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Dropping science...
Do Crest Whitestrips work? Do they brighten your teeth? How the hell would I know? I tried the slightly cheaper Oral-B whitening strips, simply because the packaging promised me whiter goddamed teeth in 5 days (as opposed to Crest's promise of whiter teeth in 7 days).
Because I'm a huge nerd, I took a photo of my teeth everyday to track the results. From what I can tell, the strips did change the appearance of my teeth... I seem to have moved from a coffee brown stained set of teeth, to a more elegant smoker yellow stained set of teeth. Uhhh... Awesome. And yeah, sources of error in this little experiment might include, lighting, camera angle, and me not really giving a fuck.
Anyways, if you need me, I'll be busy running around and smiling with my mouth closed.
elsewhere
bob schneider music | beastie boys vs the beatles mash up
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Monday, December 20, 2004
It's really fucking good to be home.
Carpet, I'm sorry we brought a rambunctiously drunken festive mob back to your place whilst you were studying. Mom and Dad, I'm sorry that I literally collapsed on the couch right after I my first home cooked meal in 6 months. Tee. Hee. Hee.
elsewhere
Merry Krimmas from Cord Mag | the shoe photo journal
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Friday, December 17, 2004
Quicke de jour…
Greetings interweb! I’m writing you with only seconds to spare as I run around doing 9 million tedious errands and take on little tasks like, oh, moving house.
For the record, I am finished semester 1 of school. For those of you who still may be battling pre-Christmas break final exams or work, may I suggest using my official motivational wallpaper on your PC. Lord knows, my productivity went up upwards of two percent.
Since I’m done school, and now beginning my cross Canada tour… which really consists of 2 weeks in Calgary, and one week in Montreal, I’ve whipped up a quick photo journal kinda detailing the school experience (hey, people have been asking about that) and how fucking bananas I’m going to go during the break (ok, no ones been asking about this).
Go!: the grad school photo journal
See you(s) in Calgary.
elsewhere
new signature iPods | this grows old fast | WTF?!?
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Monday, December 13, 2004
Wouldn’t it be refreshing if this were last time a hipster indie band was mentioned on this website???
Ok… ok… ok… last night we saw The Arcade Fire perform at The Commodore Ballroom. I wrote a massive post about the show, and while the content is rich in sentiment, it reads back like cheese. Here are my thoughts, in a quasi-abridged format.
- I heart the power of the interweb. There were nearly one thousand of us packed into the venue last night, there was a noticeable and tangible buzz in the air, everyone was amped up and ready to freak out for a little band from Montréal which in a period of 12 weeks has gone from being relatively obscure to the unanimous “IT band” of the year within the context of the North American indie music scene (which is amazing, considering the sheer amount of excessively picky / snobbish / pompous judgements and opinions the indie set pride themselves on).
- The Arcade Fire were brilliant. Fucking brilliant. I’ve never seen a stage show like that before. The band’s composition is of seven guys and girls, playing 10+ instruments, all of whom are these unique nerdy-hipster characters and clearly are too excited about what they’re doing to stand still. When I first started listening to the CD I got a sense that the music had a bit of a morbid theme to it. I was dead wrong. Their music and the delivery of it is pure celebration, every single person on stage it constantly moving screaming, singing, dancing, as if fully possessed – in a genuine and positive way - by every note they play from their setlist of acoustic-meets-disco-meets-rock-meets-classical-strings-meets-accordian-jams.
- They have this fantastic policy that everyone on stage who has a free hand has to play some form of percussion. Be it a tambourine against the side of a keyboard, a drumstick against a motorcycle helmet they might be wearing (really). It creates this sharp percussive wall of sound effect. Most awesome.
- Based on previous reviews from others about the live show, I assumed that the band’s overwhelming presence was created by the sheer number of instruments played at once. That’s not true at all; their presence is completely created by their collective choir of voices. All seven of them sing and scream in unison, and when they do so they sing and scream with their mouths as wide open as humanly possible, as if trying to let their voice boxes jump right out of their throats. They seem to understand the power of their baroque vocal attack. Sometimes, they cup their mouths for emphasis as they shout, sometimes they raise their fingers over their mouths to hush themselves as they sing, sometimes they go bonkers and sing with no microphone at all… and you could still hear them with clarity.
- Throughout the night, the crowd went bananas cheering not only for the band, but for themselves. Kinda weird, it was one the more louder audiences I’ve seen in at a show in vancouver. The band fed off it and went nuts. I believe that this was the largest crowd they’ve ever performed for to date. The lighting was effin’ gorgeous.
Anyways… the point of this being… The Arcade Fire oh-so live up to the hype. One of the best shows I’ve seen in my life (for serious). If they come to your town to perform, you must go, or you’re a stinkin’ communist.
elsewhere
other bloggers at the show: pinder, jess | a free cd for you
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Thursday, December 09, 2004
No, really... I'm on study break...
There are two uber-important thangs I have to tell you.
1. I am tickled-fucking-pink by the response to the 2004 vanmega almanac offer thus far. My inbox is full with requests, and people are coming out of the woodwork in the process. I had no idea how many vancouverites read the site (seriously). I had no idea how many Americans read the site. Coolio. Thanks to everyone who's written in... I'll start building the disk next week, and mailing the week follow. And... If you have no idea what I'm talking about, and would like to get your hands on a completely fucking wonderful and completely fucking best of 2004 type CD, just follow the steps detailed here. This is a limited time offer. No dilly-dallying.
2. Ultra-super-fantastic news for those who like the rock and roll AND live in vancouver. This Sunday's Arcade Fire show is no longer SOLD OUT, as the venue has been upgraded from Richards on Richards and moved to The Commodore. Meaning, the show is gonna be even more hot-ass. If you're in vancouver, you must come to the show. The best part about all this is that tickets are $12. Twelve bucks!!! Here's a list of what 12 bucks buys you these days:
- 3 large slurpees, 2 bags of chips
- a bottle of windex, a small tub of gellato
- 2 domestic beers at a shitty bar
or
- A ticket for this Sunday's Arcade Fire show. [buy here]
Clearly, this top-notch economic analysis has sold you. Never mind the fact that the band has a flawless track record of delivering a wonderful live show filled with energetic charming weirdo-rock. Never mind the fact that this may be one of the last chances to see The Arcade Fire during thier "little indie darlings" phase (apparently, the major labels are sniffing and hoping to scoop up the band, and eventually turn them into sonic fodder for a future episode of the OC). And never mind that at the show you'll witness me going off like a school girl, as it'll be my first school stress free day since Aug 31st. Music is totally contextual, it's only gonna feel a certain way once... luckily the stars and moon are starting to align on this one, shit's gonna be hotter than bleached jeans in '84. See you(s) there.
elsewhere
control this guys x-mas lights | here's an AF mp3
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Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Warning: Free Stuff
Ok kids… it’s that time of year again. Time for this interwebsite to start giving until it hurts… or something.
2004 is exhaling its final sighs of productivity, the holidays will be here in moments, and as a gift to you I’m handing out copies of the 2004 vanmega.com almanac CD.
Just like last years shockingly successful almanac, I’m gonna make a best and worst of the year in review CD… but this time, I’m not going to make a lavish CD-Rom, instead I’m gonna make an audio CD featuring only the most wonderful in music released this year (including some sonic goodies which have never been featured on vanmega), PLUS the disk will come with a top secret code which will give you access to an uber-top secret vanmega.com almanac sub-site with all kinds of pictures / articles / video clips etc pertaining to all major goings on of the (vanmega) year.
It’s like a mixtape meets a big-ass blog post.
Do you want a copy?! Of course you do.
Getting a copy is easy and free. All you have to do is send your real name, your real mailing address to me at freestuff@vanmega.com. By Christmas you'll have a copy of the CD-ROM waiting in the mail box for the holidays.
It might just be the best gift you get all year. (unless you get an iPod, I can’t compete with that)
As I've mentioned, this offer is open to anyone who has read vanmega between 1 and 340 times this year. This is not a joke. Just send an email to freestuff@vanmega.com. Please note... regulars of vanmega who I know and love, you still have to use this form to get a copy of the disk too.
elsewhere
listen to the new chemical brothers single | best DUI video ever?
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Sunday, December 05, 2004
mixtapes and such...
Cripes, I’m blogging from a Kinkos… I believe my interweb addiction may have reached an all new low. Glorious!
Anyhoots, I’ve just posted the December mixtape, for your asses. I had to restrain myself this time… I wanted to make a bastardized mixtape featuring all those horribly tacky overplayed Chirstmas songs… you know, Boney M, Wham!, and the like. Instead I settled for making the standard mixtape, but injecting a bunch of tracks with titles (or band names) which had some sort of Krimmas / New Years reference to it. So there’s still some fresh tunes for you to check out, but I also got to cater to my idiotic tendencies. Hey, if Old Navy can make a mockery of the Christmas season, why can’t I?
You can check out the mixtape here.
Oh and, PS: For those of you keeping track from the last post. My MBA-equivalent-of-POEN-591 case team won the whole competition thing on Saturday. We’re most awesome… and theoretically will be heading to Montreal in early January to compete in nationals.
elsewhere
bootmixed has a big-ass mash-up dj set for you to download
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