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Monday, October 31, 2005
I Like the Like Finally a gigs scoop pour moi! LA popsters The Like are touring with Giant Drag, and they're stopping by Richard's on December 7th. Girly pop played by waif-y white girls -- you know I'm so there.
NP: The Lovely Feathers - Pope John Paul
posted by Hanson |
1:12 PM
The Lovely Fedora I had my K-Fed costume all ready -- Fedora, 'beater, baggy jeans, and even a baby (doll) to neglect. And yet, when I got home on Saturday, I was way too tired to go out again. I almost fell asleep on several occasions during the drive home, and my head was a-pounding. I suppose that's one way for my body to rest up; drinking until the wee hours of the night certainly won't accomplish that. Next Halloween, I suppose.
I'll try to post more about tonight's Metric show tomorrow, but if I don't, I just want to say that the Lovely Feathers were fucking amazing. They completely blew me away with their frantic take on power-pop. Why have just one time signature in a song when you can have four? One minute, it's crunchy, melodic, guitar rock, and the next, it's Unicorns-esque craziness and wacked-out speed-ups and slow-downs, all the transitions done flawlessly in a coherent, tuneful, and compelling manner, i.e. not just random spastic jamming of instruments. I went totally fan-boy at the merch table, babbling on about how awesome they were as I handed one of the co-lead-singers a fiver in exchange for an EP. Their debut album comes out next year, and if they could replicate their live sound onto record, I predict some seriously awesome reviews for them -- I'm talking about Arcade Fire, Unicorns, and Wolf Parade levels here. I can't wait.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
2:02 AM
Friday, October 28, 2005
Yay Show I missed Okkervil River to go see Controller.Controller tonight, and they didn't disappoint. This was my first time seeing them, and they fucking ripped it up, showing top-notch stage presence, incredible energy, and mega chops. The set drew mostly from the new album, though they did throw in a few from the History EP, including the title track. Just seeing them once has convinced me that they are one of the best live bands in Canada today. It's a pity they come out west so rarely.
Openers Magneta Lane were very good as well, perhaps even better than when I saw them in May. Before they started playing, they were joking and laughing, but once the music started, they -- especially the bassist -- put on their ice queen faces. And it completely worked for them. I asked the bassist after the show why their new full length is out in Japan already but not here. She said something about a label scheduling thing. Doh! Now I have to wait an extra four months to hear new Magneta Lane...
I didn't see any familiar faces at the show tonight, probably because they were at either Okkervl River or Deerhoof. I want to hear how those went, especially Okkervil River. Damn I wish I could've gone.
Oh, and Elizabeth opened the show. I must've seen them 4 or 5 times now without really going to see them. They seem to open a lot of shows around town.
And to the drunk asshole whole kept pushing over monitors and "moshing": fuck you. Yelling "no more love songs faggot" at Controller.Controller won't score you any points, nor would ripping up and throwing pieces of paper on stage. If you can't hold your liquor, don't drink so much. Ass.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
1:56 AM
Thursday, October 27, 2005
All By Myself Tomorrow's Controller.Controller and Magneta Lane show should be good, even if I'm doing my jerky-dance all by myself. I've forgotten why I missed Controller.Controller last time -- I remember getting the ticket, and then selling it to Peter, but I don't remember why. This time, nothing will be in my way.
Instead of seeing Saul Williams open for My Morning Jacket on November 3rd, I might just go play poker instead (and head to the show late). This will likely depend if I'm going solo or not.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
1:02 AM
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Gaining by Losing Watford crashed out of the League Cup in the Third Round today. This was unlike the last couple of years, when they had some pretty deep runs into the competition. That said, they were battling relegation at the end of those years too, so does this mean they'll comfortably avoid the drop this year? Only time will tell.
I picked up This Bird Has Flown (the Rubber Soul cover/tribute), Rehearsing My Choir, and the Stubbs the Zombie soundtrack today. I wanted to find Annie's entry into the DJ Kicks series too, but nobody had it. To tell you the truth, I don't even know if it's released in Canada yet. That might be another entry into the download queue for me.
Reading that Pitchfork article on twee has inspired me to dig out my old Heavenly, Softies, and Sundays records. Gosh I really love that stuff. You can have your arty post-punk that the cool kids find cool -- I'll stick to my All Girl Summer Fun Band and That Dog, thank you.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
12:21 AM
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Weird As Fuck Bizarre and beautiful at the same time, The Fiery Furnaces' latest, Rehearsing My Choir, makes Blueberry Boat seem like breezy pop record. It's difficult as fuck -- that's not in dispute -- but I still love it to bits. Grandma Friedberger's narration backbones a proggy, operatic tale set to some pretty compelling music, even for these guys. For instance, "Seven Silver Curses" is absolutely ace, though probably way too long for my year-end compilation. It's like a David Lynch movie -- those who hate it will hate it a lot; those who like it will like it a lot. I happen to be in the latter group.
Are you twee as fuck? Pitchfork does pop. Looks like I have a lot of records to pick up this week.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
12:15 AM
Monday, October 24, 2005
Late Digestion The recurring theme of the weekend was eating late. It started on Friday night when I went over to Danica's. I was late because of work, and shopping took us even later. We made pizza (from scratch), and by the time we were done and eating, it was well past 10pm. Saturday morning, we stayed in bed until 12. We got up to make crepes (from scratch) and ended up eating our "breakfast" at 2pm. At Val's birthday dinner that night, we waited for people until 7:30pm, and we weren't done until close to 10pm. And on Sunday, I didn't get up until 12:30pm because I didn't get home until 3:30am -- karaoke is a hell of a drug -- so I didn't eat lunch until close to 2pm.
Wow. That was an incredibly "bloggy" post. I aim to be a little less self-absorbed next week. No promises though.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
12:58 AM
Friday, October 21, 2005
Old Is the New New The only exciting release (that I know of) this week was the soundtrack to the video game Stubbs the Zombie. It features contemporary bands covering classic tunes from the days of yore. Death Cab doing "Earth Angel"? Hells yeah! Too bad I can't find the thing in any of the local record stores this week. It looks like I might have to go the d/l route for this...
Got my ticket for controller.controller/Magneta Lane on Thursday, Oct 27th. Anybody else?
NP: Metric - Too Little Too Late
posted by Hanson |
12:16 AM
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Surf's Up In their Vancouver debut tonight, Nada Surf were in fine form, playing a tight set in front of a mostly-full Richard's. Two encores and nearly two hours later, they did almost everything off their last two albums -- The Weight Is a Gift and Let Go -- plus a handful of track from The Proximity Effect. I'd write more, but I've got a long day tomorrow. Right now, though, I leave you with a video I shot tonight of them doing their kids song, "Meow Meow Lullaby." Yeah, you heard me. If you ever want to hear Matthew Caws meowing, here's your chance:
Nada Surf - Meow Meow Lullaby
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
1:54 AM
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
She Didn't Steal Your Boyfriend Modest Mouse selling cars. Mainstream radio playing Bright Eyes. Hollywood movies featuring The Shins. The OC. What's next, the New York Times running reviews by Tiny Mix Tape contributors? Most of the current buzz about the merging of the indie scene with the pop mainstream has been focused on how our underground heroes are getting national exposure and slowly migrating to greener major-label pastures. What is often missed in such coverage is the flipside -- how the pop mainstream has taken cues from the indie scene. Exhibit #1: Ashlee Simpson's new single, "Boyfriend."
Say what you will about Ashlee. Is she's a moderately attractive girl with a wholly unremarkable voice who rode her sister's fame to a career in music? Yup. Can you put a thousand other American teens in her position and get the same result? Probably. Will she be selling out arenas in twenty years? Unlikely. But does that change the fact that her new song is only a few steps away from being a dance-y indie-rock hit destined for a 6.4 from Pitchfork? Na uh. Imagine this song with new lyrics, looser production, perhaps a new synth line, sung by a dude in a nice suit or with a big whitey-fro', and it's virtually indistinguishable from the dozens of interchangeable mp3s that permeate the music blogosphere.
It's not surprising, really. The mainstream has always stolen ideas from outsider culture. Almost everything that's popular now used to be "cool" in one subculture or another. Hell, rap used to be protest music, not the soundtrack to ho's and bling. It's not Ashlee's fault that your precious indie sound is being chewed up and spit out just in time for the Christmas season. That's pop culture -- it's an unstoppable, unending process of finding something at the bleeding edge of culture and flogging it until it becomes as lame as "for shizzle my nizzile." Capital fuels the process for sure, but the mainstream's short attention span has a lot to do with it too.
When frat boy jocks are moshing to the Killers, you know the end is near. So what's next? If "indie" is the new "alternative", where do hipsters go from here? Well, Pitchfork seems to be digging the new t.A.T.u., Robyn, and Rachel Stevens, so...
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
12:57 AM
Monday, October 17, 2005
My Name is Brodie I went on a bit of a buying binge on Saturday, and one of the things I picked up was the tenth-anniversary, special edition of Mallrats. It was one of those cheap, double-sided DVDs featuring a brand-new cut of the film as well as a handful of cool extras, the coolest of which was probably the tenth-anniversary Q&A. Aside from your typical View Askew regulars (Mewes, Mosier, Lee, etc.), they also got Ethan Suplee ("Willam"), Renee Humphrey ("Trish the Dish"), and Jeremy London ("T.S.") -- who, BTW, seemed like a big-time stoner. Highlights of the Q&A included Kevin doing a pretty great impression of Stan Lee, a weird exchange with this French/Texan chick, and the non-stop talk of how poorly the film did at the box office.
Overall, the disc was entertaining -- no big time revelations or gut-busting moments -- though the extended cut didn't really do it for me. It was certainly a lot fewer extras than on the Clerks tenth-anniversary DVD. Still, more View Askew goodness is never a bad thing. And the shot of Affleck as he was being violated from behind alone was probably worth the price of admission. For Kevin Smith fans, it's a no-brainer buy; for those who are only mildly amused by his brand of humour, I'd wait for the tenth-anniversary Chasing Amy DVD.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
12:49 AM
Friday, October 14, 2005
Short and Sweet Sarah Slean on November 20th. That is all.
NP: Metric - Too Little Too Late
posted by Hanson |
1:20 AM
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Crash Credit Card Registered to Ho Pitchfork reports that Bright Eyes is releasing a live record. On it, Conor and company will be covering Elliott Smith's "The Biggest Lie" as well as Feist's "Mushaboom." Conor better do good on the Elliott cover -- I've heard Mary Lou Lord's version, and he'll be hard-pressed to even match it.
iPod video -- I want!
I picked up Birds Make Good Neighbors, the new Rosebuds record, at Zulu today. I hope it's good!
Looks like that extra Nada Surf ticket I had has found its owner.
NP: Nada Surf - Happy Kid
posted by Hanson |
1:16 AM
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Today is Tuesday When I walked into Scratch today, I was pleasantly surprised to find X-Amounts, the debut full-length from Controller.Controller, on the new releases rack. Sweet! I've only listened to it once though -- too many new releases in recent weeks that I'm still working through -- so no verdict from me as of yet.
In case I haven't said it yet, Z -- the new My Morning Jacket -- is wicked good. Chuck Klosterman was right.
Lorelai bonking Turd Riley? Ew. And I never knew Marc Blucas was so old!
Guess who bought Veronica Mars, Season One?
My Tuesday night curling team is 0-3. The slide stops next week!
Since street-teaming for Barsuk has landed me a spot on the guest list, I have an extra ticket for the Nada Surf show on Oct. 18th. Interested parties, you know what to do.
NP: My Morning Jacket - Wordless Chorus
posted by Hanson |
11:52 PM
Monday, October 10, 2005
I Will Be Waiting for Her After waiting 4 years between the first and second solo records of her own material, Sarah Harmer drops I'm a Mountain on November 8th. Hells yeah! Her father Clem pops in on a couple of songs, and it'll also contain long-time live favourite "Oleander" as well as a Dolly Parton cover ("Will He Be Waiting for Me"). With a new record comes a new tour, and ten bucks says she'll follow the Franz and do the Orpheum.
I forgot to pick up the new Joggers record last week. My bad.
The Long Winter's Ultimatum EP comes out tomorrow on Barsuk. Go get it!
Is it just me, or is there this one part of that Fall Out Boy song in which the singer sounds exactly like Teo Leo -- you know, that word slurring thing that he does? I know it's not just me...
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
11:46 PM
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Three Girls, A Guy, But No Pizza Place Yesterday was much better than the day before. I managed to drag myself out of bed and onto a brother-driven Ho-mobile, which took me downtown for a VIFF screening of These Girls, a.k.a. the "Jangel" movie (Jaye + Angel... get it?). We ran into Alexis at the theatre, which was a nice surprise. I can't remember the last time I ran into a friend at a movie theatre before, which is probably because I see the bulk of my movies in the afternoon in Coquitlam...
So. I went into this movie with very little expectations. I wanted to see David Boreanaz and Caroline Dhavernas on the big screen, and I would've gone even if they were reading the phone book for two hours. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised. Without going too much into the plot -- it'll get distributed across Canada in March -- I'll just say it's dark and delicious. Well, not dark like Sin City dark, but it's no Hilary Duff movie either. Sex: yes. Drugs: yes. Violence: yes. It's a hilarious if you've got the right sense of humour.
Caroline Dhavernas was superb in this. Her character was very similar to Jaye Tyler, her Wonderfalls alter-ego. This might have something to do with the fact that the writer/director changed her character after having cast Caroline. Seeing this movie confirmed in my eyes what a genuine talent she is -- hot, clearly, but a hell of an actress too (but I already knew that). From now on, I'll basically see anything she's in just because she's in it. (Though I suppose that was already the case after Wonderfalls, but now my resolve is even stronger.)
David Boreanaz was great in it too, more Angelus than Angel, and similar to his quirky, real life personae, but warped and jacked up 100-times on the sleazy scale. I laughed almost every time Holly Lewis was on screen; her character was comedy fodder, and she played it perfectly. And then there was Amanda Walsh. Who knew she could actually act? I don't know how big of it stretch it was for her to play a naive teenager, but her portrayal was definitely spot on.
Good movie. Canadian to boot. I'm glad I got out of bed for it. Go see it when it hits theatres for reals.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
10:52 AM
Friday, October 07, 2005
Down With the Sickness *Sigh*
Tonight, instead of doing the crazy-dance to the majestic sounds of The Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade, I'm resting at home, head pounding, bones aching, and throat, um, sore-ing? No, that's not a word. See! Mr. Flu has gotten to me so bad, I'm even off my blogging game. Shit. I'm sitting here with the ticket to the show in my hands, knowing that I'm missing an incredible show. And I /hate/ missing out on stuff. You know it's serious when /I/ miss a band like the Arcade Fire, especially after having shelled out $41.75 for the ticket...
I feel bad that I had to call email in sick to work today, but my body just wouldn't let me go. I wasn't very productive after lunch yesterday -- when the symptoms really began hitting me hard and fast -- and I doubt I'd be any good today either. The fact that I got sick right before the long weekend is both a blessing and a curse; while I get an extra day to recover, it also means the long weekend is shot. Fuck. I hope my body recovers just enough so that I can go see These Girls at the film fest tomorrow, my brother doing the chauffeuring, of course, since I'm in no condition to drive. I may not have the stamina to last the length of a rock show or the energy and concentration to be productive at work, but think I'll be able to sit on my ass while watching David Boreanaz and Caroline Dhavernas on the big screen. I hope.
Ugh. Sick bad. No more sick....
NP:
posted by Hanson |
11:29 PM
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Trying My Luck So, come this November, I'll auditioning for Jeopardy!. After Bruce and Arthur got their invites a few days ago, I thought the random draw gods have left me out. But I got home tonight after Sarah's screening to find that I did in fact get an audition invite. Yay! I don't know how good I'll be since I'm only a passably decent trash player and, admittedly, a pretty bad academic quizbowler. But I got me a quirky demeanour and a easily excitable personality, which should bode well for television. Am I going to study? Hells yeah! A nice run on J! can buy me a lot of CDs!
The new Ladytron is getting some pretty good reviews. To me, they used to be a techno group with rock band tendencies; with the release of The Witching Hour, they've morphed into a rock band with techno tendencies. My favourite track, "Destroy Everything You Touch," isn't quite as catchy as "Seventeen" or "Playgirl", but it will probably be more playable in the long run than their previous -- I don't want to say vacuous -- works. Electroclash? It's just good music, dude.
The Organ plays Richard's on November 26th. I haven't seen them in ages!
NP: The Arcade Fire - Vampire Forest Fire
posted by Hanson |
1:01 AM
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
I Will Follow Them Into the Dark Tonight, I ventured solo to part two of the double dose of Death Cab. They changed the setlist a bit from last night, subbing in older songs for other older songs. The encore ended with "Prove My Hypotheses," which was pretty damn good. I'd say overall, last night was better, as we got "For What Reason", "Expo '86", and "We Laugh Indoors." No "405" or "We Looked Like Giants" on either night though. Hmm.
Looking at the touring schedule for New Buffalo more or less confirmed my suspicions -- Sally Seltmann was at the Death Cab show last night. You see, I saw this blonde woman just off the stage who looked like Emily Haines but wasn't. I came to my conclusion since: a) the Feist/New Buffalo tour had an off day yesterday before hitting Victoria tonight; b) Youth Group are Australian, as is Ms. Seltmann; and c) it totally looks like her. Aussies all know each other. I choose to believe that.
So I bought seven records today, none of which was the new Broken Social Scene. Why, you ask? Apparently there was a fuck-up in the supply chain, as none of the downtown record stores had any copies. That blows.
Liz, why would you do this to me? I bought your album so I can /listen/ to it, and you go and put that copy-protection shit all up in 'dere, rendering it unreadable by iTunes? Damn you.
NP: Franz Ferdinand - Eleanor, Put Your Boots On
posted by Hanson |
1:17 AM
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Death Cab for Geeky Death Cab for Cutie opened their latest tour in Vancouver tonight at the Commodore, complete with flashing lights. Of course, I was there, right up front, just to the left of Ben, bopping along with a goofy grin on my face. They were a bit rusty -- Ben even forgot the lyrics to "Expo 86" -- but as always, they put on a great show. And this time, I even got some good pics of Walla! There were two highlights that stuck out in my mind: "For What Reason" and the whole song sing-along for "I Will Follow You Into the Dark."
Yay. I'll get to see them for the 9th time tomorrow, albeit it solo. All the cool kids saw them tonight and are heading to Franz Ferdinand tomorrow, right Best Ho and Emily? I hope they shake their setlist up a bit, perhaps throwing in "405" or "We Looked Like Giants." Yup. That'd be fantastawesome.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
1:22 AM
Monday, October 03, 2005
Failed Takeoff 10.1m? I'm disappointed. I'll see it again next weekend. If you haven't seen Serenity yet (or even if you have), go next weekend. Please.
The National were great, as were Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. It was a bit awkward that The National ended up /opening/ the show, but the buzz around CYHSY was simply unstoppable (even though Alligator is a better album than Clap Your Hands Say Yeah).
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
1:48 AM
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