vanmega.com

may mixtape = come get it...

2008-05-04T22:09:00.000-07:00

Was it me, or was this weekend the first warm spring weekend of the year? Either way, I spent a lot of time on patios with drinks, listening to tunes. Warm weather just calls for new stuff... so here's some new stuff for yr walkman.

click here to access this month's mixtape

As always it's a limited time thing. Download asap.

elsewhere

the helio sequence went on tour in europe and have some things to show you about

adventures in fake dj'ing: fake dj battle edition...

2008-05-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

Carpet flew in to visit us a few weeks ago. Not surprizingly, a sizable strip was torn off Vancouver and things were generally bonkers. One afternoon, the girls went out and did some wedding related shopping, leaving me and Carpet back at the apartment... we did the only sane thing we could think of: opened a couple bottles of wine, and started to collaboratively fake dj on the laptop. The premise was that we'd take turns mixing... one of us would select the record for the other to play, and then we'd rotate. This started out all well and good with some old school hip hop, but then we started trying to make things challenging for each other by introducing some sickly sweet pop music. After realizing we were yelling at each other about which Britney Spears track was most appropriate for our mix, we agreed to class up/round out the later half of the set with some delicious French house. The result, shockingly, is a pretty solid please-all party mix, (fake) battle scars be dammed.

Whoomp, here's the set list:

Wrecks-N-Effect - New Jack Swing
Armand Van Helden - Hot Butter
The Beatnuts - Watch Out Now
M.I.A. - Come Around
Janet Jackson - So Much Better
De La Soul - A Rollerskating Jam Named Saturdays
Alan Braxe and Fred Falke - Intro
Crystal Waters - 100% Pure Love
Rihanna - Please Don't Stop the Music
Britney Spears - Piece Of Me
Ready For The World - Oh Sheila (T-Wrecks Remix)
Count & Sinden - Beeper (A-Trak remix)
The Knish Hit Squad - Modjo vs 90210

*Download the mp3 here* [54MB, right click & save-as]

Or better yet, subscribe to the fake dj set podcast here. (full details can be found here).

elsewhere

dustinland: now in blog format | it's nice to know

oh hello, embeddable guitar hero

2008-05-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

This is kinda awesome, in a lo-fi sorta way. Note: you've got to hit the ENTER to pick - and - hit the number keys at the same time to play notes. Kinda frustrating if you don't.

How ~~retarded~~ meta would it be if I played the tiny this version of Guitar Hero on the Wii web browser?

elsewhere

an idea

stop the hype machine, I want to get off

2008-04-30T22:50:00.000-07:00

Whoa... whoa... whoa, internet tastemakerz. Can we please stop with all the comparisons of Santogold to M.I.A? Aside from collaborating with the same group of musicians/producers and their mutual love of bad, ill-fitting, 80's inspired neon fashions, they're nothing a like. It's a lazy comparison and it's gotta end. Especially considering how not so great M.I.A's last disk was.

If anything, Santogold's sound is reminiscent of Karen O with hints of No Doubt-era Gwen Stefani (weird, I know). The dancehall/electo stuff that everyone fixates on is fairly limited on her brand new s/t disk. So please get over it, and actually start listening to the album... because it's really good.

Santogold - You'll Find A Way [mp3]

elsewhere

bands i won't listen to because their name is too stupid

state of the nation...

2008-04-27T15:48:00.000-07:00

Hi, I'm not dead, just exhausted... thus, the temporary lack of posting.

Not sure what's killed me, either JWC 2008 (7 courses of food!), or this nasty flu I'm battling (not being able to hear at all in one ear = awesomeville). Either way, I've got a few mixes, a new mixtape, and bunch of poorly edited musings to post, but for now I nap and you watch Radiohead on Conan earlier this week. I realize that since this clip is over 24 hours old THE ENTIRE INTERNET has seen it 5 times, but I can get over how wonderfully sublime the performance is. Choice.

elsewhere

illegal leak of the week: my entire hard drive

answering blog...

2008-04-16T11:26:00.000-07:00

ZOMG... the first non-cryptic post from Ryan Adams' tumble blog! And, if you happen to be into Mr. Adams' work and the associated folklore, it's real interesting. The post in question offers full disclosure on pretty much all of the gossip that's haunted him over the last half decade or so. Some choice learnings:

he never kicked anyone out of a show! (huh?)

he never took drugs/booze when he wrote! (huh?)

he hates country music! (huh?)

Lots, lots, lots more here.

I'm kinda fascinated by his blog, it's such a free-form mess of random content that borders on the edge of being an unreadable livejournal. But following it on tumblr is too easy and so even if you're not really paying attention to him, you're paying attention to him. It's actually really good from a (viral?) marketing perspective, though I doubt that's his intent. The few snippets of actual demos for his new solo and Cardinals albums (which are posted for about a day and then removed) sound promising.

elsewhere

the only talent required to get on gossip girl

road trip anyone?

2008-04-15T13:34:00.000-07:00

Good Lord! Seattle's 2008 Capitol Hill Block Party line up just got announced and it's insane. Already confirmed:

Vampire Weekend, Les Savy Fav, The Hold Steady, Girl Talk, Chromeo, Kimya Dawson, The Dodos, U.S.E., Jay Reatard, Darker My Love, Akimbo, The Hands, Pwrfl Power, The Builders & The Butchers, Velella Velella, Past Lives, Black Eyes And Neckties, The Physics, Man Plus, Little Party and Bad Business, Champagne Champagne, + a bunch more acts TBA.

Compounding the insanity - ticket's are $18 for one day, or $34 for a 2 day pass. So to put this in perspective that's just as much insanity as the Pemberton Festival, but at 1/5th the daily cost. VALUE IN THE HOUSE!

Things go down July 25 & July 26th. Full details here. I'm pumped.

elsewhere

video montage: the slow-to-fast clap

thickfreakness...

2008-04-09T16:18:00.000-07:00

Me and Tk have all kinds of funny jokes. For example, we joke that we're gonna have kids (LOLZ, right?!). Sometimes the joke is teased out... Tk thinks that if we were to have these magical kids, we would have daughters. The idea of raising a girl, of course, scares the crap out of me because (1) I don't get them (women, none of them) at all, and (2) karma. I'm 99% sure our daughter would be hotter than hell and have an affinity to making out with everyone she meets. Super.

Anyhoots, the fear might be gone after seeing this Led Zeppelin cover video. No one told me the energy of a young daughter could be funneled into guitar throw downs that make Dan Auerbach look lazy. I thought it was all pink bows, ballet practice, and trips to the mall. Hahaha, jokes on you now, Tk.

Uh, maybe.

elsewhere

teenage music purchases: anyone seen my $4.2 billion?

april mixtape = actually ready on time (sorta)...

2008-04-07T00:17:00.000-07:00

Note to self: stop compiling these tapes on a 4 year old laptop with a +90% full hard drive, you're missing out on a lot of sleep by working on a slow, clunky POS.

Here's this month's tape... starts out heavy with the guitars, then briefly veers off into sublime electro territory, finally ending with some more acoustic stuff. Well rounded and good to go. Sidebar: I'm really enjoying that new Black Keys album.

click here to access this month's mixtape

elsewhere

pitchfork.tv is up and running

quickie: REM, National, Modest Mouse at Deer Lake Park presale

2008-04-02T22:21:00.000-07:00

Oh, hello. If you're wanting to get in to the REM, National & Modest Mouse at Deer Lake Park presale that starts today head over to ticketmaster and punch in the password "straight" (for the Georgia Straight presale, obvvvs).

I'm not the biggest REM fan (although they were good on Colbert tonight), but I am a sucker for a strong bill and an outdoor venue that's nothing short of paradise on a sunny day.

elsewhere

the quarterly report: best albums of 2008 thus far

prairie province soweto...

2008-03-31T22:56:00.000-07:00

LeftNutt - Five Count [mp3]

New stuff from LeftNutt, hooray!

Jay and the guys did an afternoon session at some studio in Alberta last fall, this was one of the resulting songs. Straight-forward punk rock a la NOFX, etc. Real tight, real fun, real liberal usage of cuss words for choruses.

If the rowdy punk stuff is your cup of tea, you can donwload the entire session in mp3 format here. If you only have time to grab a couple of the songs, grab the one posted above and "Fat Cunt" [mp3].

I don't need to tell you that no LeftNutt track is actually safe for work, right?

elsewhere

canadian mixtape project:: new brunswick

hrefs to the max...

2008-03-30T23:10:00.000-07:00

It's the weekend, I'm exhausted, you get the links...

Daft Punk mix sets or just get them from the opendir here (via pndr)

Why do people buy records? - a really nice post over at Matador Records

From zero to book deal in 3 months - the Stuff White People Like guys just announced they've got a book deal. Wow. That's gotta be the quickest move from obscurity to payoff ever
Failsafe: history of a song - as always, CBC radio 3 does it up real good

Douchebaggary on high, or what happened at vampire weekend - Richard's on Richards was rough this week

Who doesn't want to download a copy of Wreckx-N-Effect 1992 album Hard or Smooth?

exciting news: local mall puts sign up!

2008-03-26T17:07:00.001-07:00

Apple Store Pacific Centre - Under Construction by GregEh

Actually, who am I kidding? I'm pretty ~~siked~~ pumped to see an Apple Store in Pacific Centre. Also, I'm excited to look at lots and lots of innovative things I can't afford. But really, this is kinda cool.

elsewhere

my id vs. ego on the subject of new amerykah

i am enjoying muxtape...

2008-03-25T15:28:00.000-07:00

Muxtape launched today. It seems like a super simple way to host and stream your own personal mixtape for the masses (uh, yr pals) to consume*. Quick, easy, no clutter, no adds, etc.

If you listen to some of the kids (really, they're kids) over on tumblr you'd think this launch is the second coming of Christ and that all issues associated with music online are forever resolved. I'd disagree, this is simply a tool that's kinda neat and has lots of potential for those who don't blog etc to provide context and share whatever songs they happen to love (that week). This app is ripe for incorporation of some sort of search/recommend function between users. Some sort of rss/share type capabilities would make sense too. Just don't add so much stuff that it becomes as cluttered as Last.FM.

Either way, this could be sweet. For shits & giggles I've posted this month's mixtape as a muxtape here.

* in no way would this ever replace the current fully downloadable ipod-ready method of posting the vanmega mixtape. We heart mpthreeves.

elsewhere

cosmo baker's role model of the week

gas, honk, breakbeats...

2008-03-20T15:41:00.000-07:00

I'm about to hop in my car and drive for, liiiiike, ever into the interior of BC for some long weekend tomfoolery (sitting on a couch and knocking back a bottle of red wine counts as tomfoolery, right?). I whipped up a fake DJ mix to keep me awake behind the wheel. Figured I might as well share because everyone loves free mp3s. Everyone.

rob vanmega - april long drive [mp3]

It's essentially a 45 minute beat-mixed set of electro-esque bands that are hot on the hype machine right now (lazy, I know), with a couple of pop songs thrown in to balance things out. It features stuff by PNAU, A-Trak, Roxy Music, Yelle, Santogold, etc. I've opted not to add this to the fake dj series as there's no real theme to the set. With that said it still bumps, enjoy!

elsewhere

i HEART 90's rnb junkie

level...

2008-03-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

Damn you, collective writers on the Internet and your never ending need to excessively analyze every music happening the second it goes to press!

I wanted to dig into the whole Raconteurs album release strategy... but everyone else seems to have done that already. The Catbird summed it up real well. However, I don't agree that the "novelty of the 'Secret Instant Album Release' is starting to wear off". Every time another band announces that they're doing something progressive like this I get pumped. Not so much for their respective release, but because business model experimentation is actually happening... repeatedly.

Am I the only guy who for years read article after article by pundits hypothesizing about how the recording industry needs to change? Am I the only guy who read article after article about how the labels refused to even consider changing the way they do business? It got pretty painful. We're no where even close to actually having an evolved business model which all the players agree to... but we're starting to see high profile risks being taken and the initial signs of change.

I don't know about you, but I celebrate this.

elsewhere

cocaine's greatest achievement

it's my blog and I can reblog myself if I want to...

2008-03-18T22:09:00.000-07:00

watch this: Robyn - With Every Heartbeat (live in NYC, about 10 days ago)

This kinda performance was the whole reason why I became addicted to shows/bands/performing so many years ago.

In a period of 3 and a half minutes Robyn* goes from being terrified to being completely fired up and confident and cute and charming (in a Swedish electro-pop kinda way, obviously). You can actually feel the crowd fall in more and more in love with her as each chorus arrives.

* Yes, I realize that me, circa 2005, would be disgusted by the fact that I'm posting something about Robyn. Old me took everything sooooo seriously. Current me sleeps a lot more at night.

elsewhere

ryan adams has a tumble blog

quickie: a perfect storm of crap...

2008-03-17T14:19:00.000-07:00

Snoop Dogg uses Twitter to promote his appearance on The View.

elsewhere

i get the feeling i'm being watched

march mixtape: better late than really late...

2008-03-16T18:46:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's a half month behind schedule, but considering I've been away for most of March, I'm hoping you'll gimme a break of Nell Carter proportions. I look forward to starting to compile the April tape in all of half a week. Anyhoots:

click here to grab this month's mixtape

As always, this is a limited time offer so get on it.

elsewhere

pinder gets name checked in the globe and mail

hello, I love you...

2008-03-14T13:04:00.000-07:00

Why didn't someone create something like ontaptoday.com sooner?

The site lists the bars/restaurants offering cheap drink specials in Kitsilano, by day of the week. I realize these kinda sites exist for other cities, but this is the first I've seen for Vancouver and specifically Kits.

What would be really great is if this thing evolved into some sort of wireless app. I'm a drunk who always fails to plan. Sending a SMS request and getting back an updated listing for the night would be so useful as I walk out the door on a random Friday night.

---

Also, if you haven't seen it yet, the first ever Pemberton Music Festival was announced this week. The 3 day line up is huge and features everyone from those racist vampire weekend guys to black mountain to chromeo to NIN. The event isn't gonna be cheap, it appears you can only get 3 day passes and they cost in the $240 range. I'm really hoping that there will be a lot of trickle down shows in Vancouver (a la Sasquatch). Either way, that's pretty cool.

elsewhere

mp3 playlist "need to stop stressing before I have a stroke"

week recap...

2008-03-13T00:14:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm home now... well rested, well fed, and well tanned.

Soooooooo best. Ferreals.

Would love to go into the details, but it's late and I'm exhausted. I'll post pics on the flickr thingy.

Oh, a couple of music related things from the trip:

One of the first things I saw when leaving the airport was a taxi cab with a huge "Tupac Forever" sticker on the rear windshield. I was saddened by the English/Spanish language barrier I faced, because I really wanted to tell the cabbie that Tupac was sooooo overrated.

Surprizingly, the song that's perma-stuck in my head from the trip is Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone". We saw a random guy with an acoustic guitar cover it... dude nailed it, and he didn't actually speak any English. He learned the song phonetically. So step your game up, hacky buskers on Granville Street.

Thanks to countless hours on a beach with my iPod, I can kinda tolerate Vampire Weekend now. Ok, Internet, you win for now.

Also, I realize I owe you a March mixtape... that'll be online shortly.

elsewhere

huh? nike usees saul williams tracks in their commercials

adventures in fake dj'ing: vacation mode edition...

2008-03-03T00:27:00.000-08:00

I shall type quick... I'm a few minutes away from heading to the airport and taking a week or so off real life. I'm beyond pumped to be trading in snowpants for board shorts.

Based on this, I've created a DJ set for going braindead to while on a beach. The obvious choice for a mix like this would be some sort of downtempo-ish set of music, but I tend to like other kinds of stuff when I'm working on my tan. The intent isn't to fall asleep but rather keep a good time feeling going. Anyhoo, this is the track list:

Mylo - Zenophile
Robyn - Crash and Burn Girl (Jesper Dahlback Remix)
Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes
Uffie - First Love (Flufftronix Upbeat Mix)
Cut Copy - Lights & Music (Moulinex Remix)
Cadence Weapon - In Search of the Youth Crew
Daft Punk - Technologic (Balboa Remix)
Mylo - Musclecar (Reform Reprise)
Justice - D.A.N.C.E. (Stuart Price Remix)
Daft Punk - Voyager
Armand Van Helden - Flowerz
T-Wrecks - Way I Are (T-Wrecks Remix)
Chromeo - Tenderoni (MSTRKRFT RMX)
Sebastien Tellier - Sexual Sportswear

*Download the mp3 here* [65MB, right click & save-as]

Or better yet, subscribe to the fake dj set podcast here. (full details can be found here).

And on that note, I'm outta here.

elsewhere

vancouver tourism: shit on car

hot pot of nescafe! a new shaun verreault album...

2008-02-27T13:24:00.000-08:00

Next week, Shaun Verreault is releasing a new CD, Two Steel Strings. Those who've been reading the vanmega for a while know that we think Shaun's guitar technique is unstoppable. Seriously, though... he's a guitar player's guitar player. Calling him a virtuoso would be an unjust understatement.

Apparently, the new disk is a bit of a concept album, he recorded the whole thing on a train traveling from Montreal to Vancouver. Clearly, some people like to suffer for their art. Haven't heard the whole disk yet, but what I have heard feels like firey, timeless blues... and if it's anything like his last solo disk it'll be killer.

A sampling of the new stuff:

Shaun Verreault - Two Steel Strings [mp3]

Also, there's a CD Release party next Tuesday night at the Railway club. He'll be performing the disk live. Get on it.

elsewhere

new jamie lidell album details

no redemption song...

2008-02-24T22:50:00.000-08:00

Hey, that new Jason Collett disk, Here's To Being Here comes out this week. I've been living with an advance copy for a couple of weeks, and guess what?! It's the first 5 star CD of 2008!

Whenever I ramble on about Jason Collett I always end up trying to draw parallels between him and Jim Cuddy/Blue Rodeo. Collett's work has always had this *implied* mature Canadiana feel to it (maybe the BSS link muted that?). With Here's To Being Here this maturity moves front and centre. Additionally, he seems to be very bluntly channeling some of his influences - I hear bits of the Stones, Dylan, and the like - and it works. It's almost like he slips into impressions of these guys, only for a second, only for emphasis, only to entertain himself, and the result is kinda cool. Yeah, you might hear pieces of Miss You but there's no mistaking that it's Collett's track... and dude is simply excelling past his inspiration.

The mandatory sampling:

Jason Collett - Charlyn, Angel Of Kensington [mp3]

A classic sounding disk, but don't simply file it under alt-country. There's lots going on here, and I'm super-impressed.

elsewhere

"reflections on a snowy morning" a poem by michael showalter

cut everybody...

2008-02-22T15:20:00.001-08:00

WHAT?! A new Yacht Rock? I thought those guys were done.

This one reveals how the theme to Footloose was written. Also, it features Jason Lee (!) as Kevin Bacon (!). Besteverness is in the house. (via)

elsewhere

bizzarro mp3 de jour: canadian music megamix