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Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Beautiful Garbage Garbage was fucking awesome tonight! I expected a 7, but got an 8 -- maybe even an 8.5. Shirley Manson, wearing fishnets under cut-off jean shorts, completely ruled the stage, bouncing up and down and back and forth. I'd write more, but I've got training early tomorrow. Photos here.
Bought Plans today. I love how little Barsuk could still be found on the back of the CD. An average of 63 from Metacritic means that the backlash has begun. But fuck'em. "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" matches up to anything they've ever done, and "Soul Meets Body" is an excellent single. When "Crooked Teeth" makes them bigger than Jesus, they'll have the last laugh.
I have a white wristband on right now, and I won't be able to take it off until Tuesday. That is if I want to see Our Lady Peace do an acoustic set before their show at the Commodore. Oh, the things I'll do for music.
David Boreanaz /and/ Caroline Dhavernas? Hells yeah I need to see this! And it's got cute lil' Amanda Walsh as well. I hope it makes it to the VIFF.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
1:45 AM
Monday, August 29, 2005
Plans Get Complex (That's the last time I'll pun off that album name. I promise. Maybe.)
With the release of Plans tomorrow, Death Cab officially hits the mainstream -- not that they were very obscure before, with at least 3 magazine covers this month (yes, I own them all). All the best, boys!
Damn. That Kanye/Sufjan mash-up is wicked. Thanks, Stereogum.
Architecture in Helsinki comes back to Vancouver on Sept. 24th, playing a room called "Artspace." I've never heard of it until now, but I guess I'll find out what it's like in a few weeks.
I'm seeing Garbage tomorrow and Oasis in a week or so. Wow. It's like I'm re-living junior high all over again!
NP: Grandaddy - Pull the Curtains
posted by Hanson |
11:39 PM
Friday, August 26, 2005
Just Let Your Body Do the Rest I was going to write a long thing about how great the new Orenda Fink album is, but then I looked at the clock and realized what time it was. Let me just say this: it has surpassed my expectations by a big margin. I mean, I like Orenda's songs with Azure Ray, but Maria Taylor was my girl. She /made/ Azure Ray for me. And while Orenda's Invisible Ones may not be quite as good as Maria's 11:11, it comes pretty darn close. And I didn't expect it to be. If it weren't for all these leaks in the past week, I'd be spinning that like crazy.
Bumbershoot just got better. The line-up's still the same, but Matt will be coming up from the Bay Area for it as well, so there'll be at least one person there that I'll know.
Broken Social Scene: November 13th. Commodore. Oh yeeeeah!
NP: Orenda Fink - Bloodlines
posted by Hanson |
12:31 AM
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Confession At first, I approached "Since U Been Gone" as a freaky anomaly, enjoying it pseudo-hipster-ironically. I mean, Ted Leo liked it too! But then, "Behind These Hazel Eyes" got me humming, and I looked forward to hearing it whenever I was flipping through radio stations in my car. Now, I can deny it no more -- I like Kelly Clarkson. Wow. It's hard even to admit it to myself.
I suppose it's not that big of a stretch for me. Besides the Idol thing, her newer stuff isn't too different from the kind of mainstream chick-pop that I'm into. Music's music, right? Right. And who needs cred anyways...
NP: Orenda Fink - Dirty South
posted by Hanson |
12:34 AM
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
More Than I Can Handle The good news is that I got the new Orenda Fink album at A&B Sound today (and it sounds fantastic). The bad news is that the new Laura Veirs' was nowhere to be found. Luckily, the internet is my friend, and I'm currently "getting" that, along with the new, yet-to-be-released Broken Social Scene and Fiery Furnaces discs. Leaks, baby, leaks.
And speaking of the Fiery Furnaces, from the one song I've heard off Rehearsing My Choir, their new album, it makes Blueberry Boat sound conventional. The Friedbergers' grandmother sounds like a dude.
Metacritic gives Twin Cinema a weighted score of 92. Good job, boys (and girl).
I used to have a pretty decent version of Ben Gibbard's cover of "The Saddest Story Ever Told" by the Magnetic Fields. For some reason, I can't find it anymore. If anybody has it, don't hesitate to hooks me up.
NP: The Fiery Furnaces - Seven Silver Curses
posted by Hanson |
12:30 AM
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Something New Tomorrow, Orenda Fink's solo record, Invisible Ones, comes out. Unlike Maria Taylor's solo debut, I didn't download it months in advance. In fact, I've only heard one song off of it, which makes its release even more exciting. I hope Scratch has it, though I seriously doubt it since they don't have it listed in their weekly email. A&B Sound? Unlikely. Chances are, I'll have to order it through Saddle Creek. Boo.
The New Buffalo record is out tomorrow too, as is The New Pornographer's latest pop masterpiece, Twin Cinema. And don't forget Laura Veirs' Year of Meteors and John Vanderslice's Pixel Revolt! Tomorrow's going to be a good CD Tuesday.
I heard Feist's "Inside and Out" and Nada Surf's "Always Love" on the radio today. Commercial radio. Sweet.
Wankers are selling Our Lady Peace tickets at 70 bucks a piece! Good thing I've got mine for less than $20.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
12:51 AM
Sunday, August 21, 2005
"We're *So* Going to Party" One of the highlight of this past weekend was the Chuck Klosterman reading at Chapters on Saturday. He's an amusing fellow with an interesting and engaging personality. He read a passage out of his new book, Killing Yourself to Live, but mostly just talked about his life, his work, and how the book came about. FYI, the title of this post was apparently a catch phrase amongst high school kids in Missoula during the summer of 2003.
The style in which he spoke was much like the way he wrote -- humourous, snappy, and self-absorbed (but in a good way). In fact, he'd be an excellent blogger, if he weren't so "nervous" about the medium. During the Q&A, I ask him what he thought of blogs. He answered by saying it made him nervous that people whom he didn't know now have a medium to tell /truths/ about him. He wasn't worried about people telling lies about him in print or whatever, but when a girl he politely brushed off at a bar could accurately detail their encounter /and/ let the world know about his tipping habits, it freaked him out a little. When he signed my book, I told him I was going to blog about this. He smiled and said he kind of knew; people who ask about blogs usually blog. Guilty as charged. And now I've accurately detailed my brief encounter with him, just like I said I would. The pictures are here.
My only regret about the whole thing was that I didn't get him to sign something cool, like box of Cocoa Puffs, as Carlos suggested. Emily got him to write down his favourite cereals, but all I got was "Blog forever", which I guess was cool too. But had I brought in the aforementioned cereal, some Tylenol, and a box of condoms, it would've been even better. Next time, I suppose.
Before the reading, I saw The Aristocrats with Ricardo. Fucking awesome. If you're into dirrty humour and are not easily offended, I urge you to see it. Bob Saget's reputation as the anti-Danny Tanner is cemented by his telling of the titular joke. Sarah Silverman's bit is brilliant, as is Kevin Pollak's impression of Chris Walken. Cartman's telling of the joke is probably my favourite, and the Billy the Mime was indescribably funny. Go see it, I beg you.
One movie I didn't get to see this weekend was Steve Carrell's The 40 Year-old Virgin. Alicja and I were suppose to catch it after record store hopping, but we ran out of time. I'm definitely going to catch it next week, so if any of you who wants to see it but haven't yet (e.g. Carlos), holla.
And I bought so much crap this weekend. By crap, I mean awesome stuff, like magazines with Death Cab on the cover (Paste and Under the Radar), cheap CDs (Morrissey, PJ Harvey, Sleater-Kinney, Alex Chilton, and Phantom Planet), regular-priced CDs (Maria Taylor and Ariel Pink), comic books (Serenity #1 and #2), a Catatonia biography, and the new Klosterman book. Yes, capitalism is alive and well in me.
Yay. This was a perfect ending to a fantastic week. It will be hard for next week to top it, even if there's poker and copious amounts of drinking.
One last thing: Okkervil River, Media Club, Oct. 27th. Nice.
NP: John Vanderslice - Exodus Damage
posted by Hanson |
7:46 PM
Friday, August 19, 2005
Tripping I'm doing Bumbershoot alone this year! First it was one. Then it was two. Now, three pull-outs have left me solo for the weekend and off by myself to see The Decemberists, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Ted Leo, Earlimart, Garbage, Smoosh, The Donnas, Okkervil River, Math and Physics Club, Elvis Costello, Tift Merritt, Visqueen, Harvey Danger, Devotchka, The Posies, Juana Molina, The Headphones, The Be Good Tanyas, and Keren Ann, among others. This should be interesting. I've done show-trips to Seattle by myself before, but never for Bumbershoot. And this year, I'll have an extra day, seeing as I'm going down a day early to see Mary Lou Lord. One way or another, this should prove interesting.
I had a good day. If you see posters downtown advertising John Vanderslice's new album, Pixel Revolt, that was mine handiwork.
NP: Nada Surf - Inside of Love
posted by Hanson |
1:46 AM
Thursday, August 18, 2005
The Calendar Filling Itself Bright Eyes is touring again, but the nearest date is in Bellingham on Nov. 3rd, which, coincidentally, will be when My Morning Jacket plays the Commodore. One of them I want to see more, while the other one will be easier. I'll let you guess which is which.
Vienna Teng is Nov. 8th at the Media Club. Pitchfork will not be reporting this.
I'm afraid I won't like the new Liz Phair record, but regardless, I'm seeing her Nov. 11th.
Like I need another show in early September, but Our Lady Peace is playing the Commodore on Sept. 6th for super cheap, and I just can't say no to that. Depending on how things shake out, I might have some extra tickets. Let me know if you want to see Raine Maida's rock star pose up close.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
12:10 AM
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Party All the Time It feels a bit weird that my quarter-century is coming up in only three and a half weeks. This year, I think I'm going to try something different and actually do something for my birthday. It's a Friday, which means I can go the distance without having to wake up early the next morning. Now I just have to figure out /what/ I want to do. I'm thinking something that involves people-interaction -- preferably in a place with booze -- that most of my friends would be into. Well, that rules out the Weakerthans show.
From Blown Speakers reports that Feist is doing the Commodore on Oct. 5th. Goddamn. Five non-festival shows in six nights is a record even for me!
Kevin Smith guest-stars on Veronica Mars! I love it when two of my favourite things gets mashed into one.
NP: The Fiery Furnaces - Norwegian Wood
posted by Hanson |
12:08 AM
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Brand New Sounds Two records that I'm really looking forward to hearing are Laura Veirs' Year Of Meteors -- out next week -- and the new Pretty Girls Make Graves, due out early next year. Stereogum loves the Veirs record, and judging from her previous work, I'll probably like it as well. It's too bad so few people know about her, even those into that off-kilter, rock-folk sound that she's got going. Hopefully, her stint opening up for Sufjan Stevens will win her some new fans. Check out some of her stuff here.
Meanwhile Chart reports that PGMG have completely revamped their sound. Faster songs than on The New Romance /and/ people other than Andrea Zollo singing? Now this I have to hear.
NP: Joanna Newsom - Cassiopeia
posted by Hanson |
12:05 AM
Monday, August 15, 2005
I Didn't Start the Fire A busy weekend ended with karaoke at The Arch. (Finally, somebody's got "Losing My Religion"). Before that, I BBQ'd Korean style with the Ohio-bound Sarah, crashed a wedding, went to Alexis' birthday party, drank on the patio at work, hung out at The Cambie, and (quickly) scurried out of a dancey-dance club after realizing I wasn't drunk enough to stay.
And now I have "We Didn't Start the Fire" stuck in my head. Great. Back to the grind tomorrow.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
2:10 AM
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Local Action My favourite radio show, Cute Band Alert!, is going off the air. Its host Zena -- who has the hottest-sounding voice on radio -- plays all sorts of great indie stuff, and I've been listening to her CJSF show since I started listening to college radio, first online, then on FM. Unfortunately, she's going to back school in the fall to do her PhD, which means no more radio -- at least for now. I'm saddened by the news. First, it was Out for Kicks on CiTR, and now this. When will the carnage stop?
There aren't a lot of good Vancouver-based music blogs, but recently, I've been reading one of the more interesting ones, From Blown Speakers. Check it out, if only because of the New Pornographers reference.
In addition to their Commodore show on Oct. 30th, Metric will be playing at the Pit Pub on Sept. 10th for UBC's frosh week. Luckily, I know someone on the inside (i.e. a UBC student) who can get me in. Otherwise, I might've had to trade sexual favours for another chance to see Emily's robot dance at a small venue again. And I would've, you know. But I'm sure you knew. I mean, I /am/ a Ho.
NP: (poker on tv)
posted by Hanson |
8:25 PM
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
My Indie Yuppie World I'm not getting very far into Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing, the Elliott Smith biography. I don't know. Maybe it's like watching a movie and knowing that it'll all end badly.
I wanted to write more about the Wedding Crashers, but all I can think about is that they played "Aside" from The Weakerthans during the credits. That's pretty cool, though I suppose indie soundtracks are all the rage.
I think one of the reasons I love Sports Night so much -- besides the obvious -- is that for once, the geek gets the girl, at least for a while. Then he moves on to the porn star choreoanimator. There's hope for all of us.
What's with the term "indie yuppie?" It seems every music blog is using it. Those damn indie yuppies...
American Analog Set, Oct. 26th, The Media Club. Sweet. That makes 8 shows in October -- 7 if The Arcade Fire cancels, which is likely.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
11:53 PM
Blonde Ambition I'm a master of self-denial. I can rein in urges with the best of them. But even I can't help myself after hearing that Annie will be opening up for compatriots Royksopp when they hit Seattle on Sept. 16th. Yeah, I know I'll be spending about five days in Seattle just a week and a half before the show, but it's Annie, damn it! "Heartbeat" is my #1 song on Audioscrobbler, and she is probably my biggest musical crush in recent memory. No, I'm not going to let a couple hundred miles stop me. And since stellastarr* -- with Amanda Tannen, the hottest bassist in music today -- will be doing a show in Seattle the day after, I'm thinking of making it a two-day trip. Hehe. I go for the music, but I stay for the cute blondes.
I might go see The Most Serene Republic tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Media Club just because I won't be seeing anything until Garbage at the end of the month. If anybody's thinking of going to the show, give me a call.
NP: Death Cab for Cutie - Crooked Teeth
posted by Hanson |
12:28 AM
Monday, August 08, 2005
Making Plans Some observations/predictions about Plans:
- I like it (shocking, I know)
- Ben sings higher than ever on this one
- Walla sure slicked up the production
- There are a lots more keyboards than before
- There's a lack of loud, pounding songs like "We Laugh Indoors" or "We Looked Like Giants"
- My current favourite is the folky, acoustic number, "I Will Follow You Into the Dark"
- The second single will be "Crooked Teeth"
- Pitchfork will give it 5.x in a review that references The O.C., saying it's too pedestrian/fey/sentimental
- I hope I'm wrong about that last one
- It will debut in the Top 10 of the Billboard album charts
- I hope I'm right about that last noe
NP: Death Cab for Cutie - Different Names for the Same Thing
posted by Hanson |
11:56 PM
Saturday, August 06, 2005
Mann, She's So Vein Last night, while a whole bunch of my co-workers were ripping it up, watching the BC Lions crush the Eskimos of Edmonton, I was chilling to the sounds of Aimee Mann. My partner in crime last night was my newest show buddy, Erin, fresh off the metaphorical boat from (the landlocked) Saskatoon. We bonded over our shared love of depressing music whilst enjoying a refreshing pitcher of Granville Island Hefeweizen. Finally, another person who revels in the beautifully morose!
Opening the show was a local singer-songwriter by the name of Robert Wilson. For some reason, his name sounded familiar to me, even though I'm pretty sure I don't know him or his music. Perhaps it's because the name is so generic, like Joe Smith or Steve Williams. (For you trivia nuts, teh former was a first-overall selection by the NBA's Golden State Warriors while the latter is the birth name of former WWF/E wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin). Anyway, this Wilson fellow sounded like what you would expect from a male singer-songwriter; except for the fact that looked like a mash-up of Moby and Ed Kowalczyk (of the band Live), nothing particular about him or his music really stuck out. Well, I guess he did do the on-stage record-and-loop thing, which was cool. I enjoyed his set overall -- breezy and light, no heavy lifting required. In a city with some pretty crappy bands -- and you know which ones they are -- we could've had much worse.
This was the second time I've seen Aimee Mann. The first was two years ago, also at the Commodore. I've been listening to her new record, The Forgotten Arm, pretty much non-stop for the past week, so I was glad that she played the bulk of the album, including my favourite track, "Little Bombs." Sounding as confident and competent as ever, Aimee and her band played her songs deftly -- and you'll see why that's an "awesome" Aimee Mann pun later -- to a receptive audience. She punctuated the set with little stories behind the new songs, which comprise the story of her concept album about a boxer and his relationship with his lover in 1972. That was a nice touch, much better than the typical "Vancouver's so beautiful" stage banter offered up by most bands.
Aimee does her thing with such ease, it's almost like she isn't even trying. But she is. After her regular set, she came back to do a five-song encore, four of which were requests. Erin got hers in -- "Invisible Ink" -- via a Ho-constructed paper airplane. It wasn't pretty, but it did the job, as she played it, along with "Beautiful," "It's Not," and "Deathly." (Haha. Get it now? I'm terrible, I know...). I didn't get to hear her brilliant cover of Coldplay's "The Scientist", but that's my only complaint about the show. It was a great one by all accounts, definitely better than seeing big guys in tights grabbing each other all night in an effort to score.
Oh, and why the subject title, you ask? Well, during portions of the set, the veins on Aimee's right arm just popped right out, like tentacles on flesh. Hehe, I just couldn't let go of that opportunity to pun.
BTW, The Wedding Crashers was great. Will post more later. Now, I'm off to spend the night with my latest capture from Chapters.
NP: Death Cab for Cutie - I Will Follow You Into the Dark
posted by Hanson |
9:22 PM
Plans Always Leak Aimee Mann was great tonight. I'll post more tomorrow because I'm dead tired now. For now, you can see the pics of the show on my Flickr page. And besides, I'm too busy listening to Death Cab's new album right now anyways. Yes, folks, it has FINALLY leaked! From the first listen, it sounds like the second half is better than the first, but I'll need a few more spins to really be sure. Fucking eh. It's about time.
NP: Death Cab for Cutie - Brothers on a Hotel Bed
posted by Hanson |
2:02 AM
Thursday, August 04, 2005
All Up in the Festivals Under the Volcano, the self-described largest art and activism festival in BC, is going down this Sunday in Cates Park up in North Vancouver. It's got a bunch of bands I don't know (except Po' Girl) and a bunch of artists and activists I don't know. Why am I going? It's a day out in the sun filled with music and "interesting" people (activist types are rarely boring), a welcomed change to my normal routine of sitting in front of a computer and typing away. You should go too.
Elvis Costello has been added to the line-up of Bumbershoot, replacing either Devo or Ani DiFranco. Sweet. I've already booked that Friday off from work, so alls I need now is to buy my ticket.
I'm rewatching Sports Night again. Best. Show. Ever.
NP: Aimee Mann - Dear John
posted by Hanson |
11:50 PM
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
DVD'd The Powers That Be are releasing a limited edition Buffy box set that will contain the /entire/ series. It will have all seven seasons on 39 discs, a bonus disc with an all new documentary, a letter signed by Joss, plus other goodies. Each box will be individually numbered too, the perfect bait for overly-eager collectors. In other words, it's a geek's wet dream. November 15 -- or whenever the pre-order date is -- please come soon.
Got the Death Cab DVD, Drive Well, Sleep Carefully, in the mail today. I can't wait to crack it open!
Veronica Mars Season 1 will be out on Oct. 11th. Now that I don't have school anymore (for the time being), I can buy it and re-watch it right when season 2 starts.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
11:28 PM
Return of the E Metric returns to the Commodore the night before Halloween. Exciting! Meanwhile, The Fiery Furnaces are playing Seattle on Oct. 3rd. I'm /so/ tempted to take a half day on Tuesday and just head down for the show.
Pitchfork gave the new Death Cab single two stars. I was just going to predict that, but they beat me to it.
I picked up the new Tracy Bonham today and was pleasantly surprised. I hope she tours this time.
I think I've finally found a couple of favourites in this year's Canadian Idol: Josh and Melissa. You'd think I'd like Suzi too, but as hot as she may be, there's just too much Bif Naked there for me.
NP: Death Cab for Cutie - Soul Meets Body
posted by Hanson |
12:14 AM
Monday, August 01, 2005
Lactose Intolerant So I went to a Chinese-style wedding banquet last night. Actually, it was more of a mash-up between Eastern and Western traditions: tonnes of food, tonnes of people, and tonnes of speeches. But what I want to talk about is the music (I know, big surprise). Throughout the evening, we got The Greatest Wedding Hits. You know the ones -- sappy ballads and overly sentimental cheese. Appropriate, sure, but it got me thinking. If I ever get married, that's not the type of music I'd play.
And that got me thinking even more: what kind of music /would/ I play at my own wedding? Most of the stuff I listen to is entirely inappropriate. I mean, melancholic songs of unrequited love and overly cheery indie pop? Romantic! I tried making a list in my head, but I couldn't get more than a few songs (though Sarah Harmer's "Open Window" definitely makes the cut).
Care to help a brotha out?
NP: The Decemberists - Human Behaviour (Bjork cover)
posted by Hanson |
11:49 PM
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