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Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Hot Smoothee Update So, I doubled up on Sunday night after curling -- I had both a Raspberry and a Butter Caramel. By far, the Butter Carmel was the most disgusting out of the 4, and surprisingly, the Raspberry was the best. Not that it wasn't gross; it just wasn't /as/ gross as the puke-inducing Hazelnut, the awful-when-cold Orange, and the aforementioned Vomit Butter Caramel. Good thing my ordeal is over. If they come out with more flavours in January, I'm going to kill someone.
I'll see Pretty Girls Make Graves and You Say Party! We Say Die! tomorrow at the Red Room. I've missed PGMG the last few times they were in town for one reason or another, so I'm really looking forward to hearing their new material. And I hope the sound's going to be good. The last couple times I've seen them, I could barely hear Andrea Zollo's vocals. Lets hope the guy who did the sound for The Organ on Friday isn't doing the sound for this show too....
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
12:10 AM
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Whole Lot of Rilo Over the last few days, all the popular music blogs have been posting tracks from Jenny Lewis' solo album, Rabbit Fur Coat. After listening to the leaked album over the last couple days at work, I give it two enthusiastic thumbs up. The first thing that struck me about the album -- aside from how great Jenny's voice sounds -- is that it is clearly not a Rilo Kiley record. Whereas RK dabbled with the twang, Jenny's solo effort, supported by The Watson Twins -- revel in all its unpolished glory. With those lyrics sung that way over that kind of instrumentation, she's a long way from Silverlake. And I like it.
So, it seems January 24th, 2006 will be Rilo Kiley Day. Due out on that day -- along with Rabbit Fur Coat -- is the sophomore effort from The Elected, the side-project of the other singer and songwriter in Rilo Kiley, Blake Sennet. Titled Sun, Sun, Sun, this record will hope to build on the critical success of 2004's Me First, my 20th favourite record of last year. The last one was released on Sub Pop, so there's a good chance that this will be too. Blake and company will be touring this record starting in January, but I doubt they'll come up to Vancouver...
NP: Jenny Lewis - You Are What You Love
posted by Hanson |
12:54 AM
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Belle Bella So, I finally got to see local pop heroes Bella tonight, doing a short opening set for another band of local heroes, The Organ. Despite some technical difficulties caused by an inept sound guy, they were excellent. Upbeat vibes, instrument rotations, awkward banter, and keyboard-heavy pop hooks were abundant in their set. They sound like a new-wavy kid who just graduated from pop finishing school, taking the gloom out of the Ladytron-esque electro-tinged sound while adding in a bucket load of sunshine. Tonight, they mixed in some of the best songs off their debut, Pretty Mess, like "Go" and "Crystal Tears" with some new material, presumably earmarked for their next record, whenever that may be. From listening to Pretty Mess, I had an inkling that they're a local band to watch for in the coming years. After seeing their live show, that much is confirmed. I can't wait to see them again.
It's been a bad month for Manchester United. First, Roy Keane, United's captain and midfield rock, decides to leave the team. Then, a string of bad results have pushed them to the brink of elimination in the European Cup. And now, team legend George Best, perhaps the greatest player to have ever come out of Britain, dies of organ failure at the age of 59. Man, lets hope things improve in December.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
12:46 AM
Friday, November 25, 2005
Name Game On Wednesday, My Indie World celebrated its third year since re-opening. And for that occasion, I'd just like to explain its name once for those who don't know the story. No, it's neither haterade on major label bands, nor a declaration that I only listen to indie stuff. I actually just ripped off the semi-well-known -- in the indie circle -- Mary Lou Lord song, "His Indie World". So there you go.
The Organ are playing Richard's tomorrow, with Endurance and Bella opening. It's been more than a year and a half since I've seen them, the first since their line-up change, so I'm pretty excited. New material? Probably. And I *might* have an extra ticket, so let me know if you can get down there by 7pm.
What's with all these Hottest Bands of *blank* polls popping up all over the blogosphere? I'd parody it, but my parodies usually fall pretty flat. And I'd do a Hottest Band in Vancouver poll too if only there were more Vancouver music-heavy blogs...
The money I won from being first-loser at poker tonight ought to pay for all my shows this month. Nice.
NP: The Organ - Brother
posted by Hanson |
12:19 AM
Thursday, November 24, 2005
The Only Way Out I've been missing too many nights of curling on Sundays, and Sarah's pissed. As of now, I've committed myself to a short list of seven bands I'm allowed to miss curling for. So far, the list includes Mary Lou Lord, The Fiery Furnaces, Tilly and the Wall, Rilo Kiley, The Decemberists, Annie, and a band to be determined later. Although I also get to see solo sets or side projects of members of said bands, this is still a pretty damn small list. Sticking to it will be fucking hard...
There was one cool thing I forgot to mention about the Stars show. During the instrument-wank outro to one of their songs (I can't remember which one), Amy Millan broke into the intro to Metric's "Empty" -- There's no way out / the only way out / is to give in. Hehe. That amused me.
Dude, a video game is too much. Fiddy, you is overexposed.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
12:07 AM
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Stars Are Out Since I've praised their live show enough times, I'm not sorry there's nothing to say about my seeing Stars last night. Suffice it to say, they were as good as always. Bontempi were cool too -- a bit subdued compared to the headliners -- but I dig chick bands, so I was all over them. As for The Thurston Revival, they were interesting, but kitschy rockabilly just isn't my thing.
Speaking of chick bands, over the next few weeks, I'll be seeing a several local, female-fronted acts that I've been dying to check out. Quite unexpectedly too, since they're all going to be opening shows that I was going to anyway. First, there's You Say Party! We Say Die! opening for Pretty Girls Make Graves. Then, Bella pops up as a second opener for the Organ, while Catlow will be warming the crowd up for The Like and Giant Drag. Adding to that is Cadeaux doing the honours for You Say Party! We Say Die! at Richard's on Dec. 13th. It's kind of weird that I haven't seen any of these guys yet, but the fact that I'll be seeing all of them in the span of three weeks is probably even weirder. Whatevs. More music is cool with me!
NP: Sarah Harmer - I'm A Mountain
posted by Hanson |
11:40 PM
Monday, November 21, 2005
Slain by Slean It was the summer of 1999. I was studying for an exam, and I needed some music to help dull the pain. I remember picking an EP a few months ago that I haven't really listened to that much. It was bought based on the recommendation of fellow fans of Emm Gryner, Tara MacLean, and Sarah McLachlan. Upon the first couple of listens, it didn't strike me as being something that I could get into, so I filed it away along with the Julia Darlings and Jen Trynins, never expecting to pull it out again. Just another piano-playing girl who listened to a bit too much Tori Amos, I thought. But on that day in the summer of '99, I popped that record into my CD boom box and gave it another whirl, simply because I was looking for something new to listen to. That record was Sarah Slean's Universe.
For whatever reason, something changed in the time between the two listens. On that summer day, I was mesmerized right from the first few bars of "Weight," completely captivated by the piano intro. And then I hear her whispery, mumbly voice, evocative and powerful, yet understated and almost blurring into the background. Holy shit, I thought to myself. How the fuck did I miss this the first time around? That was the day I fell completely head over heels for Sarah Slean. It was a good thing I gave that record another chance. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had the experience I've had to night.
Now, I think it's understood that I go a fair number of shows. This year so far, I think the tally is 50+. So when I say tonight's was probably the best show of the year for me, it should carry a bit of weight (pun totally intended). November 20th, 2005. Sarah Slean at the Van East Cultural Centre. Easily the best I've seen her, it completely blew my mind to shreds.
Yes. I know I'm a gusher. I get flustered easily, and I get way too excited about things way too much. But good god it was ridiculously good tonight. Ridiculously good. Of the previous five times I've seen her, three were at Richard's, once was at the Commodore, and another time, it was at the Arts Club Revue Stage on Granville Island. The venues themselves, while sufficient, did not bring out the best in Sarah. People were chatty, and the environment just didn't feel right.
But tonight at the Cultch, a converted church that may or may not be haunted, the setting was just perfect. Imagine a small, intimate, theatre-like space with amazing acoustics, an audience enthralled by the performer, not yakking away while sipping their gin and tonics. Sarah, wearing a beautiful blue dress, shoeless, walking on stage with a twinkle in her eyes, ready to dazzle us with her array of songs. I couldn't have picked a better setting to see her.
The short, hour-and-a-quarter performance consisted mainly of songs from her four official releases, the only exception being "Ogoni Star." She was onstage alone with a grand piano, her voice soaring and unhindered by extraneous instrumentation. Accompanying her lovely soprano and her theatrical persona was Sasha, her alter ego from Good Morning, Midnight. She came out for a bit during "Book Smart, Street Stupid," and it was brilliant. The vamp Sarah showed her face a couple times when necessary, but mostly, it was just plain o' Sarah, sweet as honey, beckoning us to hum the trumpet solo during "Bank Accounts" and sing back up during "Sweet Ones." We obliged, of course.
To say that her performance was moving would be an understatement. This is precisely the reason why I go to so many live shows, to find those moments of transcendence when everything melts away and goodness is distilled. I had several tonight. I'm not going to say who, but /somebody/ was brought to tears on three separate occasions. No, it wasn't me, but it was definitely an auralgasm type of night for me. Those of you who missed the show because you've already seen her earlier this year, you missed something really special.
NP: Sarah Slean - Your Wish is My Wish
posted by Hanson |
12:39 AM
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Out of Vogue The Vogue Theatre, one of Vancouver's few non-gigantic, all-ages show venue, will be closing its doors on January 1st, 2006. The reason? Its new owners want to turn it into a supper club. I feel bad for the kids, as they now only have the Mesa Luna and The Croatian Cultural Centre to see live music and not have to sit down. Well, there's Seylynn Hall too, I suppose, but it's all the way up in North Van, and they mostly do shows for local bands. At least Sonar might revert back to its old Town Pump roots of being a venue that caters primarily to live music. Now, if they could only bring back the Starfish Room...
Sarah Slean's tomorrow! It's been over a year since I've seen her, so this is going to be pretty cool.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
1:26 AM
Friday, November 18, 2005
Tomahawked My 2005 "re-listen" today was Alaska!'s Rescue Through Tomahawk, a record that I couldn't find in any of the local record stores. The revisiting confirmed my previous assessment of it being a similar–sounding record as their debut, Emotions, though I can't say I like it as much. Gone are the obvious nods to Elliott Smith, so perhaps the record is a stepping stone towards something greater in the future. Still, as a collection of songs, it didn't really stick to me like their first record. I enjoyed listening to it, but I didn't feel a compulsive need to put it on repeat. Status of not making my Top 37, confirmed.
I don't usually re-post what one of the "big" blogs have reported, but this Lindsay Lohan encounter from Stereogum is just too good.
So Veronica Mars digs the Big Lebowski. Perhaps I should actually watch it in full...
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
12:11 AM
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Crippling Ho I remember buying Devendra Banhart's Cripple Crow when it came out earlier this year. However, I was ass-deep in new music around that time, which meant that I only gave it a couple listens before moving on to something else. It was probably the lack of spins that pushed it down on my initial ranking of 2005 records; after having it on repeat at work today, I can tell you that it certainly didn't miss the initial Top 37 due to a lack of quality.
This begs the question: have any other records "slipped" by me this past year that I would've liked a lot more had I given them more listens? I bet there are a few, and I'm going to try to rectify that over the next few weeks -- just in time for my final Top 37 list.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
1:18 AM
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Love and Hate At curling tonight, we played against a woman who kept screaming at her husband every time he screwed up. This was almost as bad as the passive-aggressive father we played a few weeks ago who kept saying shit to his daughters every time they did something wrong. Some people are just asses, even to people whom they are supposed to care for.
So I went to Future Shop to pick up the musical remake of Reefer Madness starring one Kristen Bell, but alas, they didn't have it. Bastards.
Hufu: so how do they know this stuff actually /tastes/ like human flesh?
My Buffy complete-series box set shipped today. Woohoo!
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
11:29 PM
Monday, November 14, 2005
Lets Do It Again The Remembrance Day weekend started off with a double-header on Friday night: first, Ben Lee and New Buffalo at Richard's for an early show, and then it was off to the Commodore for Liz Phair. Unfortunately, I was camera-less for the night, so I was unable to capture all the hotness.
Despite what Val says, New Buffalo, aka Sally Seltmann, is not a bore. Sure, she was a little awkward and tense on stage, but I found that endearing, sort of like a child learning to walk for the first time; yeah, she hasn't mastered the whole performance thing yet, but watching her try was almost as fun. I enjoyed her set overall, though she could've probably used a backing band. She gets bonus points for wearing a grandma-style white dress that buttons up to the base of her neck, proving that hotness is independent of attire.
Fellow Aussie Ben Lee followed up New Buffalo with another spectacular set. Listening to him on record, I would only rate his stuff around a "B" -- good, but not brilliant. Live, though, Ben tears the shit out of the place, connecting with the usually-chick-heavy audience like few could. Friday was no different. Back by his usual touring buddies -- with the super-cute Lara on keyboards -- Ben elicited multiple sing-alongs from the all-too-willing audience. Between songs, he threw flowers from the stage and sprinkled white rose pedals on his bandmates. He even took a couple of requests, including "Away with the Pixies," much to the delight of Emily. Coincidentally, Liz Phair did the backing vocals on the original recording of the song, and she happened to be in town as well that night, which brings us to the next part of the post...
Yes. Because of Liz Phair, I quickly took off from Richard's after Ben's encore, which included a song that he played unplugged while standing on the bar. When I got there, no one was playing, which meant that: a) I had missed Missy Higgins; and b) I had time for a detour to the loo. When I came out, there stood Liz on stage, so I scurried to the side near the front, hoping to find an unobstructed angle to see the MILF-cum-Pitchfork's-Most-Hated. Like every Liz show I've been to, the crowd was a mishmash of people: hardcore old fans cheering loudly for any song off Guyville; new fans who just /love/ "Why Can't I" and "Extraordinary"; and creepy old guys with cameras who look completely out of place.
As expected, she played a lot of her classics, including "The Divorce Song", "Supernova," "Stratford-on-Guy," "Mesmerizing", "Flower," and "Fuck and Run." Surprisingly, she only played a few off her new album, Somebody's Miracle, a record that I own but haven't listened to because of that stupid copy-protection thing, which prevented me from ripping it. There were only a handful of songs I didn't recognize, which probably came from the record. But from what I've heard at the show, I probably won't be listing to my downloaded copy any time soon.
Anyway, the best part about the show aside from that tiny little red top she had on was the fact that she used a /real/ mic -- yup, she finally ditched that dreadful Britney headset mic. Yay! Maybe, just maybe...
On Sunday, I went to see Canada's premier supergroup, Broken Social Scene. I'll post more about that tomorrow (maybe), but in the meantime, check out coverage of the show at From Blown Speakers.
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Nada Surf are touring again in the spring, hitting Richard's on February 24th, 2006. They'll be playing the T-Dot on March 11th and Montreal the night before. John Vanderslice will be opening the European shows, though no supporting acts have been announced for the North American leg of the tour. Oh, please let it be the 'Slice...
NP: The Like - What I Say and What I Mean
posted by Hanson |
10:48 PM
Thursday, November 10, 2005
One Liner Fiona Apple is opening up for Coldplay on January 26th at GM Place.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
1:39 AM
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Folking Eh I picked up Sarah Harmer's I'm A Mountain during my abbreviated lunch break today, and I basically played it non-stop until I left for curling. The verdict: wicked cool. On this record, she went back to the folk leanings she showed on You Were Here but left on the sidelines on All of Our Names. What we have this time around is a pretty stripped down record, just her voice and some simple instrumentation, which results is a fucking awesome record. Live, she's most engaging when she's playing solo; this is like her solo show made into a record. Standouts? Too early to tell, but I’m sure digging the opener, "The Ring." I loved it when I first heard it live, and on record, it's a stunner. Mmmmm. Top 10 material.
Looks like I'll be heading down for Colin Meloy/Laura Veirs on January 18th. Who wants to come with?
Pretty Girls Make Graves /and/ You Say Party! We Say Die! on November 30th. Oh you bet I'm there!
NP: Sarah Harmer - Oleander
posted by Hanson |
12:02 AM
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Hot Smoothie for the Ho After curling tonight, I had another "hot smoothie" at Tim Horton's. This time, it was Orange; a couple weeks ago, it was the terrible Hazelnut. I'm now two away from trying all four flavours. Now, despite the sound of a "hot smoothie" being completely disgusting, I'm determined to try all four just so I can say that I have. Am I masochistic? No, I just like saying I've done stuff.
We were in bed, drifting off to sleep when a video for Joel Plaskett came on. I turned to Danica and said, "they're going to play Sam Roberts next." Three minutes later, the TV faded out, and when it faded back in, it was a shot of a boat floating on the ocean. Then I heard the first few chords of "Brother Down." Sweet. I'm a fucking psychic.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
11:58 PM
Friday, November 04, 2005
Wordless Chorus and Verse Work had be going until 10:30pm tonight, so I missed the first few songs of My Morning Jacket's set at the Commodore. Not only that, I was stuck in the back of the crowd, which meant I couldn't get any pictures. That blew. Fortunately, the hour or so that I did catch were incredible.
You know those long, extended song endings at live shows that could get a little wankerish when done by the wrong bands? Well, that wasn't the case for MMJ's. In fact, they were the highlight(s) of the set. Jim James and the rest of his scraggly gang of country-fried rockers padded their outros, banging their heads while delighting the crowd. It was one of those moments when you just close your eyes and let the music envelope you. That is precisely why I go to shows.
It isn't February yet, but thanks to Annie and DFA1979, I've got "Black History Month" stuck in my head. And you know what else is stuck there? Fucking K-Fed.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
12:58 AM
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Ya'll Ain't Ready For His Jelly Back / then / they call me K-Fed / but you can call me daddy instead.
Wow.
NP: Heavenly - Shallow
posted by Hanson |
1:20 AM
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Making a List, Checking It a Couple Hundred Times I'm starting to put together my Top 37 records of 2005. Overall, I think this year was stronger than last year, as there were more "pretty darn good" albums cluttering the 25-50 range. My process involves listing all the albums I've listened to a fair bit this year, and rating them from 0.0 to 10.0. Then, I'll break the ties between albums in the top 40 or so by adding another significant digit. So if there are three albums tied at 7.9, I'll look at the three albums side-by-side and see which is first, second, and third. It's a relatively objective system, such that these things can be objective at all.
Now, as I was putting together the preliminary list, there were several surprises. Spoon not cracking the top 20? Wolf Parade on the bubble? Two Fiery Furnaces records in the top 10? Traditional favourites not making the list at all? As always, this should be fun. And this year, I'll finish the damn list. I will not not talk about my favourite two records like I did last year, which, BTW, was Rilo Kiley's More Adventurous and Elliott Smith's From a Basement on a Hill. Yup. Gonna get them all this year, bitches.
NP: The Sinking Ships - Out of Key Harmony
posted by Hanson |
12:27 AM
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Tuesday Comes Early CD shopping came a little early for me this week. After running some mock Jeopardy games at Bruce's, I hopped on over to the HMV Megastore and picked up the Annie DJ Kicks record, stellastarr*'s Harmonies for the Haunted (how appropriate), as well as the Do They Know It's Halloween? charity single. I was going say that the common thread that links together my pick-ups was "hot blondes" -- the double A's of Annie and Amanada Tannen certainly fit the bill -- but none of the women from the all-star cast of DTKIH were blonde (unless you count the tweens in Smoosh, but that's just ick, Law & Order SVU style). Too bad. A perfectly cheesy, tangentially-related connection, wasted.
Looks like I'm going to graduate soon-ish! They are offering the one course I need at night over the summer, which means I can convocate in October of 2006, a full eight years after I started my undergrad. This means I'll get my BSc /before/ my (younger) brother gets his MSc. Yay!
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
12:30 AM
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