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Wednesday, November 30, 2005
quickie video download: the Arcade Fire + U2 cover Joy Division...
Bloggers appear to be going on and going off about the recent string of U2 shows in Montreal where the Arcade Fire opened up for them. Someone out there captured video footage of the pair of bands collectively covering Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart". Needless to say, the internet nerds started freaking out (well, more so).
I'm hosting the video clip simply because the only other way to get the file (as far as I can tell) is via Megaupload... and let's face it, Megaupload, yousendit, et al are totally shitty ways of sharing files (yes, they are... delays, ads, capped download speeds, queues, and potentially... spyware).
So if you wanna see the video, whoomp there it is here it is:
Strangely, for some reason the more I see Regine play accordion in quasi-bizarre outfits, the more attractive I find her. Gofig.
While the cover is good... I still think my favorite take on the Joy Division track is the version Calexico did:
Obviously, it sounds nothing like JD... and, interestingly, not even that much like Calexico.
elsewhere
holiday girlfriend for a day | why gangsta rappers need nappers
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Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Prison Break recap: now with liberal use of ALL CAPS for emphasis...
WHAT KIND OF A "FINALE" WAS THAT?!?! NOTHING WAS FINALIZED!
I NEED CLOSURE, AND I NEED TO SAVE MY TV DRAMA VIEWING ENERGY FOR THE UPCOMING *4 HOUR* PREMIER OF THE 5TH SEASON OF 24, BITCHES!!!
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For serious, the notion of a "fall finale" indicates that FOX is grasping at straws when it comes to programming planning. I assume that the show has been wrapped up because the collective number of eyeballs watching TV during the Christmas season drops dramatically. The tricky thing is that in January that Monday night spot will be used by American Idol (UPDATE: actually, House) and 24... so I assume that Prison Break won't be back until the Spring (at least 4 months?). Way to totally kill all momentum you've generated with a successful new program offering.
This isn't the first time FOX has confused the crap out of their audiences. I can recall that ratings dropped for season 4 season 3 of 24 because the program's time slot kept changing due to schedule conflicts with American Idol and baseball. Plus, they took an equally frustrating stance with the on again/off again status of Arrested Development (which, apparently, sent some people into fits of hysterics).
Confusion = decreased viewers = decreased ad revenue.
I have reason to believe that the folks at FOX have no formal business training what-so-ever. But hey... they did manage to keep Married... With Children on the air consistently for 10 years... maybe they're still resting on their laurels.
Either way, I didn't see that stuff with John Abruzzi coming.
elsewhere
idleTunes is cool | so is paint.net | literally, a web log
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Sunday, November 27, 2005
quickie: tail-end of the weekend...
Weekend was a good one, highlights included catching Rob Wilson, The Be Good Tanyas, et al. perform lazy-Sunday jam session style at the Radha Centre, sleeping/not working, and laughing at the 6 million fat, middle-aged, publicly drunken, homophobic, hyper-aggressive Rough-Rider fans in town for the Grey Cup. Seriously, do these guys realize that their team didn't make it to the finals?
Anyhoo, here are some very hyperlinks:
- Adam Riff kinda nails all this music blog nonsense about publishing the best of lists. While I don't share his absolute dislike for the lists, I think the problem is that people are getting way to0 bloated about it. 99 bloggers - who pretty much all listen to the same type of music done by the same pool of artists - putting out massive lists of "the best" 30 - 50 artists of 2005 isn't really of value. Are we simply supposed to take these lists at face value? Are we supposed to run cross-tab analysis on all these lists? Should I worry if one blog considers Broken Social Scene to be the 7th best band of 2005, while another considers them to be the 9th best band? Perhaps a better approach to these lists in 2006 would be (1) take a reductionist approach make them short - 5 bands tops - force the writer to really think it out, and (2) don't judge bands based quantifiable criteria (e.g. sales, albums), but rather on random qualitative criteria (e.g. favorite song for a road trip, best use of an accordion, etc). This way, the lists aren't all exactly the same, and each one comes off as unique and interesting... not just hacky attempts at being Pitchfork Jr.
- Speaking of Pitchfork, they have a pretty exhaustive interview with Broken Social Scene.
- Album download de jour: Dj Shadow vs Cut Chemist - Brainfreeze.
- Finally, Damian Kulash of the band OK Go wrote a pretty good article about the retardedness of DRM. What makes this piece interesting is that it's written very candidly from an artists point of view. In the past I haven't really seen a signed artist actually take a stance on the issue that was this clear (or at least this thought through). However, I'm not sure I agree with his belief that the more an album is listened to, the more successful it is. I believe that the more an album is listened to, the more popular it is. A successful record - in the case of a signed band - would be one which generates revenue, covers the labels fiscal interests and creates enough of an ROI that the entire band can afford matching full length mink coats... or something to that effect.
Anyhoo...
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Tuesday, November 22, 2005
the november mixtape is hot go...
Whoomp, there here it is, kids... your monthly fix of the latest and greatest beats. While this mix has some new & uptempo tracks from The Futureheads, Datarock, the much ballyhoo'ed Strokes, and more... it's also got a series of more chilled out jams (note: chilled out does not = boring). A perfect mix for your downtime on the evening and weekends, when you're bundled up at home avoiding the snow... or whatever.
I should point out that this will be the last mixtape offered in 2005. As the longer-term readers know, in December I'll be offering up the "vanmega.com best of 2005" annual... which is an actual real mixed CD, which I happily snail mail to you as a Christmas gift. Details and sign up on that to come in early December, for now...
- Click here for the November mixtape.
As always, this is a very limited time offer and your feedback is always welcome.
elsewhere
brooklyn vegan | "represent, represent"
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reviewed: Stars at the Commodore Ballroom...
Last night was a first for me and Tk... we...(gasp)... watched a show from the balcony of the Commodore Ballroom. You'll have to forgive us, we've seen 10 bands over the last 8 days, at this point we chose not to muster up the strength to go the front of the venue and deal with all the 6'7" dudes who love to freak out in crowded spaces, nor the over-kill flash-happy wanna-be photo bloggers who feel it's essential to constantly fire off their low-end $150 digi-cams to painfully document every_single_moment of the show in order to create content for their live journal blog (which has an audience of 6 friends, who were also at the show).
Actually, the balcony spot was pretty kick ass - totally unspoiled views, great sound. This is even further compounded if you can wrangle up a chair or a leaning space. Highly recommended.
Anyways - on to the show... Stars' "Set yourself On Fire" is one of my favorite disks of 2005, thus, I was happy just to see it delivered live. While the musical performance of the songs was expectedly solid, what was most awesome was the posturing and carrying on that the band indulged in on the stage. The entire time every one on stage seemed to be swept up in some sort of theatrical re-enactment of whatever lyrical sentiment they were trying to express... be it overly staged swooning, or crouching to the ground as if to seek shelter. While this might sound a bit... uhhh... retarded, the thing that made all this work was the context. These theatrics were all tongue in cheek, and clearly done in jest... but done very purposefully, and done very well. This whole drama queen take on their work acted as the perfect balance between their indie-pop sound and their generally sophisticated, mannered, bittersweet subject matter.
The other cool thing about the performance was the fact that vocalist Torquil Campbell - and not Amy Millan - totally stole the show... not just with the theatrics, but also with vocal delivery... despite the fact he downed a couple of bottles of champagne during the performance (what is he... Lil Jon in training?!), he nailed every note, and rocked twice as hard as any other band member on stage. Nice one, Torquil... oh, and nice trumpet playing, yo... way to totally make band geekery (and velour jackets) look cool.
elsewhere
quinn was there too | green day gets the mashup treatment
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Sunday, November 20, 2005
reviewed: Rogue Wave at the Media Club...
Based entirely on the fact that they're on the Sub Pop label, and because I read some where that they sounded a bit like The Shins (apparently, I'll fall for the most basic of marketing copy), we checked out Rogue Wave perform at the Media Club.
My half-assed heuristic worked... these guys were absolutely wonderful. Completely entertaining, completely fun indie-rock. But, to say that these guys sound like The Shins is a bit misleading. I suppose there are minor similarities in the vocal (sound, not lyrics... at times) but that's about it. But you could easily argue that they parallel Nada Surf's delivery (but they don't indulge in the power-pop stuff), but have traces of http://goldenfiddle.com/'s pension for dramatics (but they don't stink of the O.C.'s endorsement).
In addition to these influences, these guys bring their own sensibilities to their songs... and this makes Rogue Wave genuine and important... and not just another accessible indie-band de jour. There were two elements I liked the best about the band; the use of 2 - 4 part harmonies... but not harmonies of words and lyrics, rather harmonies of more abstract sounds, making it almost percussive at times. Also, I loved their liberal use of synth/keys. I'm a sucker for a rock songs with a good synth part.
I should point out that their new disk, Descend Like Vultures, is equally as enjoyable. Go buy it. I have a feeling that it'll be underrated in 2005, but once momentum builds on these guys it'll get lots of press and blog-gushing, it'll make lots of "best of..." lists. Awesome.
Speaking of the new disk, here's an mp3:
- Rogue Wave - Publish My Love [mp3]
elsewhere
think tank | call it a comeback: goldenfiddle
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Thursday, November 17, 2005
A couple of questions about all this leaked new Strokes stuff...
In the last few weeks 4 new tracks and 1 video have leaked from the new Strokes album, set for release in early January 2006. With that said, this raises some comments and questions for me. Specifically:
- At the start of all this leaking non-sense, the album was almost 2 months away from it's release date. CD's aren't sent to most press outlets until a few weeks prior to street date (at this time the inevitable leaking begins). Are we really to believe that this leaking is, in fact, the work of some kid with a press pass and a grudge against the RIAA? Or rather is this the work of RCA's marketing department attempting to create product interest while leveraging the cache of music piracy and credibility of grass roots web buzz?
- If this is, in fact, the work of RCA's marketing & promo team, why did they leak 4 songs, which each sound very different? Are they doing this so consumers quickly realize that the band is changing their sound and, in turn, any initial backlash against this change will have come and gone by the time the January release date hits? Or have they leaked the 4 varied songs to appeal to and create online discussion/buzz across a wider audience than that which was associated with previous Strokes albums? Or have they released the 4 songs to see which one(s) test best with the consumer? If Juicebox gets positive buzz, when they go to press will they play up the idea that the band now brings a more aggressive, louder sound? If You Only Live Once scores well with the kids, will they stress that the band has taken a more playful approach to their (not very) trademarked "New York City sound".
- While pulling stunts (in this case writing up a sleeze-filled casting call memo for the video, and then spreading it across the web) to create buzz for a band's video is common place, has RCA not realized that in order for this to work they also have to deliver with the product? Yeah The Strokes' video for Juicebox is ok... but it's not even remotely as racy as promised/threatened, nor is the concept that original. A quick note to the masterminds behind the video: it's hard for a music video to be "cutting edge" (as you claimed it would be in the casting call) when you include very obvious product placement for the Motorola RAZ
OR cell phone in the finished product. I'mjustsayin.
Anyways, these are my questions. Now someone give me some answers in the comments or something.
(PS: For the record, of the tracks leaked, I totally enjoy Juicebox and You Only Live Once. I'm not feeling the other two... at all.)
Update: Apparently, the total number of leaked tracks is now up to 5. My bad.
elsewhere
why cameras are ruining everything: a manifesto
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Wednesday, November 16, 2005
continued: the quest for the perfect DJ set...
...Previously...
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This is one hell of DJ set nicely and neatly recorded on to one long-play mp3. Check it immediately:
Once you get past the overly morbid mixtape title, you're treated to the most bad-ass blend of beats which theoretically don't belong together but sound absolutely killer together... eg: Africa Bambada Afrika Bambaataa over a Death From Above 1979 riff, Special ED over an Amerie beat, etc. I actually listened to this mix cover to cover and back to back twice.
As far as the DJ's, the Town Jewlerz, go I can't really tell you much about them other than they have a myspace space and like to push phonetic boundaries by spelling the word "jewelers" as "jewelerz". Oh, and they hold PHD's in rockin' the 1200's.
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Here's some other mp3 goodness out and about on the web this week:
elsewhere
the vancouverite | stream david cross on heavy.com radio
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Tuesday, November 15, 2005
reviewed: Jason Mraz at The Commodore Ballroom...
Professionally speaking, Jason Mraz has come along way in the past 3 years. The problem is that, musically speaking, he's kinda de-railed somewhere along the way in the past 3 years.
I refuse to listen to his latest album, Mr. A-Z, as it's total crap (i.e. self-referential, void of all the jazz/fusion/soul musical elements that actually made his work interesting), thus, I only recognized about 50% of the content performed. There was a noticeable step-change in terms of quality, genuine passion, and energy between material from the new album and older material. That's too bad. Regardless, I should point out that Mraz can sing the fuck out of any track he performs, regardless of whether it's actually a good song or not. And so I guess that's kinda cool and commendable.
His band, with exception of Toca Rivera, looked uber-bored while performing... which is kinda strange, because it was a packed house composed mostly of screaming (cute and sassy) fan-girls and (tall and awkward) fan-boys. As a professional touring musician, if that won't lift your spirits and encourage you to rise to the occasion, uhhh, nothing will (save for maybe heroin or yayo, or a combo of both, if that's your scene, I suppose).
Perhaps the highlight of the evening was Mraz's duet with opener, Tristan Prettyman. They performed, Shy That Way (from Prettyman's disk "Twentythree"), as a duo sans band; the result was light-hearted, rich with improvisation, flawless vocals, and interesting acoustic guitar arrangements... which is kinda what Mraz's older, Java Joe's-era material was like. That particular performance was nice, like beans and rice, kids.
So yeah... overall it was a good concert going experience... not great, just good. Which I guess isn't bad for an idle Monday night. With that said, we have Stars tickets for next Monday, and have a sneaking suspicion that it's gonna own. Everything. Ever.
Before I completely digress, there's one last thing I'm complelled to include in this post - an open-letter-style set of pointers to the Mraz fanbase on concert etiquette:
- If you are, in fact, a 6 foot 5 inch tall man-fan, please be conscious of those around you. It is not cool for you to start doing your be-bop jazz shuffle dance while standing directly in front of 20 people all of whom average 5 and a half feet in size. Further, it is TOTALLY NOT COOL for you to hoist your long-haired hippie girlfriend on to your shoulders so she can get a better view of the stage for 20 MINUTES. Collectively, the two of you are over 10 feet tall... and being total douches to those around you.
- Taking photos, etc at show with digi-cams has become common place, and to be honest I think it's cool, I do it myself... but kids, you need to know when and where to draw the line. You don't need to take photos of Mraz performing every single song. You don't need to use the flash either. Further, when you go out with a group of 5 friends and all bring digital cameras to the show, you do not all need to record video footage of the same song at the same time. You know that part of the show when you all got your panties in a knot over Mraz performing an operatic verse and you pushed forward to get a better view? Yeah? We all wanted to see that too, we really didn't want to watch the performance through your pseudo-wall of shitty 100x100 pixel view finders, but we did. In future, how 'bout you and your friends take one camera collectively and exchange the media the following day over a megaupload account or something. K thanks.
Word.
elsewhere
the infant assessment journal | death by caffeine | marathonpacks
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Sunday, November 13, 2005
reviewed: Broken Social Scene w/ The Most Serene Republic...
Note to self: Try to fit at least 12 hours of down-time in between rock shows.
On Saturday night we checked out Canadian punk rock sorta-legends, Knuckle Head. It's important to note that these guys, the audience, and the venue were authentic "punk rock"... none of that watered down mall-punk type stuff that's marketed on the MTV . It totally was a different world/scene... ultra-loud and ultra-intense.
The only tricky thing was that this show wrecked me... my ears, legs and liver were shot when I woke up this morning. Normally, I'd just write the day off, but we had tickets for a bizarrely booked afternoon/matinee Broken Social Scene show at the Commodore Ballroom. When I got out of bed there was less than 90 minutes until the doors opened.
The gig was all ages, and I gotta admit I had serious reservations about this. I figured that the kids would be all teen-angsty, bipolar, and pulling stunts like puking in the corner because they just chugged a stolen shit-mix of liquor in an alley just off Granville Street.
I was way off... the kids were all right. The kids at the all ages show tend to have a very joyful and unbridled enthusiasm for the bands performing, they're just pumped to be out the house and freaking out in the name of all things rock. This actually worked well for the bands' performance... you could tell they were feeding off this energy, the entire show had a very interactive and very happy feeling. Nice work, kids (without passable fake ID).
As far as actual performance goes, Broken Social Scene were fantastic, in top form, and had a very full version of the band on stage. At one point I counted 12 people on stage, complete with 2 drummers on separate drum kits and 5 guitar players. The songs from the new album have taken a nice form in the live environment, and the older up-tempo track from the last album are starting to sound like classics (today's particular performance of Cause=Time was *flawless*).
Perhaps the only area for improvement was the performance of recent addition, Lisa Lobsinger. Yes, she can sing... but that's it. When she's on stage she's drowsy and frozen and has a look on her face like she's just downed a bottle of NyQuil which is starting to kick in. She seems totally disengaged with the band and the crowd. It's baffling, the music that BSS performs is so primal that it nearly forces you to move and grove, and yet she's just standing there. Maybe it's stage fright, maybe its some sort of shtick that I just don't get. Either way, she could be a total talent, but only if she'd just get her act together.
The highlight of the show - hands down - was Almost Crimes. Kevin Drew invited "a couple" of the kids on stage to dance. However, what actually happened was 30 kids got on stage and blissfully freaked out as the band tore through the song. It was a cool moment, these kids were losing it (in a surprisingly positive, and respectful way), moving, shaking, and singing twice as loud as the mic'ed up band. The kids went bonkers, and in turn the band went bonkers, and in turn the crowd went bonkers, and in turn the kids on stage went even further bonkers. It was a very unjaded rock and roll moment. So best.
I should also point out, The Most Serene Republic as openers were pretty good. As a live act they sound different from their CD, they sound kinda baroque, with thick layers of guitars and keys and horns... all most like a Broken Social Scene Jr. Here's a track:
- The Most Serene Republic - The Protagonist Suddenly Realizes What He Must Do in the Middle of Downtown Traffic [mp3]
Hey Calgary - Broken Social Scene / The Most Serene Republic play Mac Hall on Tuesday night, you'd be retarded not to go.
elsewhere
pinder was there, maybe he'll blog about it | xmas mixtapes already?
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Wednesday, November 09, 2005
downloadable goodness: Broken Social Scene on KCRW...
What gives?!?! It's been almost a month since I've been out to a proper gig. Luckily this will change in the next few days.
On Saturday, Little J from LeftNutt is attempting to rope me into going to the Knuckle Head show at Pub 340 (where?!). On Sunday, I'll be tagging along with Pinder and his crew to the Broken Social Scene show (note: the all ages afternoon show, stop laughing) at The Commodore. And, on Monday Tk and I will again heading to The Commodore to hitting up the Jason Mraz (note: stop laughing, again) show. You know what I always say... find the deep end and go off it, in a half-ass'ed way. I'm kinda excited to blow out all of what's left of my hearing in less than 72 hours. Yay!
Speaking of Broken Social Scene, they performed live on KCRW a few days back. I wasn't a big enough web nerd to actually listen along in real time, but I was able to track down some mp3's of their performance. It's interesting to note that their performance was a really stripped down and acoustic, a fair cry from the wonderful baroque cosmic-cluster-fuck that BSS normally delivers. Instead of leaning towards loud and experimental, the band tries it's hand at being tender and beautiful. This, of course, is the part of the post where I offer the realted mp3's to you for download:
Broken Social Scene: 2005-11-08, KCRW
In other BSS news: In order to adhere to the blog format, I guess I should piggy-back report that other blogs are reporting that the ladies of Broken Social Scene (Feist, Emily Hanies, Amy Millan) have just done some sort of fashion shoot thinggy for appropriately titled, Fashion Magazine. The only problem is that everyone is linking the Fashion Magazine website, and not the specific BSS-specific content directly, and the website itself is sort of ass-backwards and maze-like. So good luck with that, kids.
Anyways, see you at the all ages show. Tune into this website on Monday when I swear off ever going to an all-ages gig again. Good times.
elsewhere
very nice work, cnn | chuck! norris! | music cherry
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Tuesday, November 08, 2005
OH SNAP, BAKE A CAKE!!!
Oh Gosh! Take a few minutes out of your busy day to pay homage to vanmega.com. This here website turns 5 years old today.
5 years old. (Five!!!)
I am amazed that a website that was set up only to share a handful of galleries of drunken party photos back and fourth with a few friends has lasted this long, and grown like it has. It's gone from being a shitty geocities site to a shitty "real" website that:
- has kept a core group of 40-50 friends from across North America close via the babble board. In addition to mindless gossip about parties and the olsen twins discussed on the sub-site, has also been the means which a boat-load of marrages, promotions, births, events, career changes have been announced/shared.
- has happily become (mis?)labeled as music-related site, and in turn has been quoted in bunch of newspapers and a couple of radio stations. Real ones, no less.
- has allowed us to meet a bunch of wonderful people, be it bloggers, strangers, or friends of friends, allowing our social circle to further grow.
Eitherway, happy 5th birthday, website. Thank you to everyone who contributes, who reads, who comments, who thinks I'm a jackass for writing this post.
YAY! INTERNET!
elsewhere
new, live, white stripes mp3s | wtf?!? no!!! | the house, m.d. drinking game
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Monday, November 07, 2005
Calgary and DCFC... [link fixed]
I've kinda slept on the new Death Cab For Cutie CD... it hasn't really stood out or grabbed my interest like Transatlanticism did. I'm not sure why this is the case, it could have been the O.C.-ification of the band, or maybe it's because I've spent so much time listening to the new Nada Surf disk... which in my opinion sounds like the album that DCFC should have made. Kinda.
Either way, I've added the new DCFC disk into rotation. It's still growing on me, but I had to do an insta-double-take-rewind when the track I Will Follow You Into The Dark played. The lyrics which caused said double take are as follows:
"You and me have seen everything to see
From Bangkok to Calgary
And the soles of your shoes are all worn down"
HUH?! WHAT!? Why on earth is DCFC name-checking Calgary in the song? I'm pretty sure that their touring travels have never brought them through Calgary. Does DCFC have a soft spot for cities with endless neat and tidy suburbs, or former Olympic hosting locations, or places with big wide roads that lead nowhere? Or, is this simply some sort of ironic inside joke that I don't get? Someone play like Craig David and fill me in.
Regardless, because of the relatively obscure reference to my old stomping grounds, I'm now hearting the song endlessly... and it's not just because I get this pointlessly smug feeling knowing that I've spent time in both Calgary and Bangkok, as per the song's lyric.
Anyways, download / check the song for yourself:
- Death Cab For Cutie - I Will Follow You Into The Dark [mp3]
And to think, I got all giddy when the Beastie Boys name-checked Regina last year.
elsewhere
The love triangle is The O.C.'s "Marge kicks Homer out of the house."...
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Sunday, November 06, 2005
weekend recap (or lack there of)...
This weekend was a weekend of low-key-ish behavior. With that said Doran came through this weekend for an impromptu visit and we did go out for drinks... although the drinks were of the slow slipping bourbon variety at Abigail's Moustache. While we were teetering on the brink of lame, others were out and about, getting down on the good foot.
For example:
So yeah, everyone else = out and about, us = cocooning, Faith Popcorn style. So shameful.
Anyways, let's move on to some music content, here's a mpthreve from the above mentioned Dios Malos:
Super. No?
elsewhere
this picture rules | this picture rules more | pumping irony
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Friday, November 04, 2005
regarding: the comedy network, the colbert report...
After nearly a month of broadcast in the US, the Comedy Network in Canada is finally picking up and broadcasting the Colbert Report, the ultra-hillarious Daily Show spin off. Needless to say, many Canadian bloggers are raving/freaking out about this. But most bloggers won't tell you the reason for the Comedy Network picking up the Colbert Report.
The reason is me.
In a rare fit of taking action beyond writing on this-here website, I actually sent an email to the Comedy Network. Behold:
From : soy
Sent : October 19, 2005 7:40:14 PM
To : The Comedy Network
Subject : Colbert Report, whatup?!
Dear The Comedy Network,
I belive you should broadcast the Colbert Report. As someone who fits your target demographic profile, I cannot stress this enough. It is my understanding that in the time slot which would be allotted for the Colbert Report, you currently broadcast “Everybody Loves Raymond”. Let me this very clear; nobody watches that show, in fact, Everybody Hates Raymond. I’m sure that whatever number of eyeballs you currently attract and whatever ad revenue you generate during the 11:30pm timeslot could be significantly increased with more compelling programming.
As a supplement to the arguments I’ve presented above, it’s interesting to note that since the onset of the Colbert Report being broadcast in the US, 100% of the Daily Show 1.1M lead-in viewers have kept the TV’s on and watched the Colbert Report (and in turn the advertising associated). I’m not trying to tell you how to run your business, but… seriously, WTF?!
Yours,
Soy
Needless to say, now realizing the power of letter writing is not just for angry old ladies and bored hippies with too much free time, I'm a changed man... I'm gonna use my letter composing powers for good, and... oh fuck it, here's a full episode of the Colbert Report for you to download and watch, prior to the premier Canadian broadcast:
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Colbert Report - Episode #2 [mov, 71MB]
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elsewhere
the adventures of Dr. McNinja | iPod war | deftone updates
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Wednesday, November 02, 2005
regarding: all this jack & meg covering tegan & sara chatter...
Those of you who have browsed the bigger music blogs over the last week might have noticed a studio version of The White Stripes covering Tegan & Sara's "Walking With A Ghost".
It's interesting to note that at first the mp3 was everywhere, then all of a sudden music blogs hosting the track instantly pulled it (at the demand of V2, perhaps). A few days later streaming version of the cover appeared. But apparently no one loves streaming versions of music over downloading, music fiends started scouring the web for traces of the mp3, some going as far as to bitch and moan on various sites about not being able to get a downloadable copy of the track anywhere online.
Ahem.
The White Stripes cover works (maybe because Jack and the twins sing in the same range), however, when the song gets all the loose blues and bam-bam drum treatment, some of the wonderful pop sensibilities that Tegan & Sara (and Rob and Chris) bring to it disappear.
A better more interesting cover (uhh... interpretation) of Walking With A Ghost was the mash-up done by Party Ben:
Tegan & Sara vs. Mylo - Walking with a Ghost in Paris [mp3]
I've actually rocked out this mash-up so many times that, when I listen to the original version, I get confused when the electro-drums don't kick in.
Perhaps the most inspired Tegan & Sara cover to date was the one done by Matt Sharp & Maya Rudolph (yes, from SNL):
Matt Sharp & Maya Rudolph - Not Tonight [mp3]
And now to bring this post full circle (sorta), let's return focus to The White Stripes covering other bands. Hands down, the band performs the best covers when they actually dig into the old blues material. Consider this Son House cover, which has Jack going bonkers with the slide work on an open-tuned guitar is bad-ass:
The White Stripes - Death Letter (Live) [mp3]
And with that, I promise this website will not cover any more cover songs for a month. Maybe.
elsewhere
bla bla bla | stuff | bla
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Tuesday, November 01, 2005
download this dj's mix immediately... [updated]
I love that with the proliferation of affordable DJ gear, software like ACID DJ & Garage Band, and the notion of bastard-pop/mash-ups, DJ sets are no longer restrained by genre, rather they're driven by a desire to build mood and atmospherics... for crowds that more commonly than not listen to a large number of varied styles of music (As a teenager, it seemed that everyone I knew listened to *one* style of music, and that in turn, defined them).
In this day and age, I say fuck the DJ who chooses beat juggle "Microphone Fiend" for 12 minutes, I'm gonna whig-out for the DJ that lays out a pitched down LCD Soundsystem beat, with a looped piano line from an Arcade Fire track over top, and then fiercly scratches a vocal line from "Microphone Fiend" overtop. Heck yes.
With all that said, I think I want to get back into Dj'ing... from my mid-teens to my early 20's, I spent a solid 7 years doing the cut and scratch thing. I sold mix tapes, spun at parties/bars, and even held down a residency on the Friday night hip hop show on the local college radio station. I spent countless hours and countless dollars perfecting my craft. Make no mistake, I DO NOT want to relive that portion of my DJ days, this time round here's what I want to do:
- Spin 1 night a week, or every other week. 9pm - 1am.
- Spin at Kits-based bar / lounge WITHOUT a dancefloor, not be the centre of attention, but rather be tucked in the corner.
- Spin a purposefully eclectic playlist of music (i.e much like the music-related content featured on this website) appropriate for the room, no single genre would play for more than 15 - 20 minutes. Ideally the mix would be so well sequenced and diverse that you wouldn't even notice what genre was playing.
- Spin without a microphone plugged into the PA. Meaning no painful shout-outs to anyone. EVER.
- Spin and receive no monetary payment. I would however get a complementary dinner and and endless I.V. drip of vodka-sodas.
- Spin with Tk as my partner in crime. That way those approaching with requests, etc, could deal with either of us, plus Tk would bring her own sensibilities to the set, plus... you know... free vodka-soda I.V. drips.
So come on, local watering hole owners conveniently located in Kitsilano and surrounding areas, what do you say? You bring the speakers, and I'll bring the decks and a deep catalogue of music and a "can-do" attitude. We did this tag-team DJ thing one night in the East Village in New York and we were a hit (at least that's what we thought). This offer is a lot like TV's Parker Lewis... you can't lose. So hit me up with an email, and let's get things started. Remember, if it works for Hell's Kitchen, it can work for you.
Don't even get me started about my idea for an indie-rock cover band.
UPDATE: The Kits Blog set have fully endorsed my bid to be your local DJ. Bless 'em.
elsewhere
elbo.ws rob wilson has a podcast
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