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Friday, September 29, 2006
YouTubing: Just Beat It This week, I've been mad-spinning the two new Emm Gryner records I received in the mail on Monday. The first is her latest proper album, The Summer of High Hopes, while the second is titled PVT (pronounced "private"), a stripped-down re-recording of her only major label release, 1998's Public. The former I had pre-ordered ages ago, while the latter came free with the pre-order. Both are excellent, but I'll talk about them in detail in a later post. Right now, I'll leave you with Emm doing a cover of "Beat It" -- perhaps you've heard of the song? She's already released two proper cover albums, neither of which contained this nice rendering of the Jacko mega-hit. It just makes one wonder how many awesome covers Emm has up her sleeves.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
1:07 AM
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Last Week This Week So, last week's post-Final Fantasy triple header went something like this:
Wednesday: Amy Millan was good if not spectacular, and comparing her to the band she plays in wouldn't really be fair. While Torquil Campbell showing up was a nice bonus, I can't say his singing back up on an acoustic "cover" of "Look Up" was a must-see moment. That honour would have to go to some drunk-ass British guy who dropped a pint of beer towards the end of the set, the glass making a big smashing sound as it became gravity's bitch. Wait, that wasn't a must-see either...
Thursday: Snow Patrol was merely average, no thanks to the sound at the Forum which famously blows donkey balls. Perhaps my enjoyment was also dampened by the fact that I had been kayaking that day, which left my barely-active musics rather sore and my whole body rather fatigued. The one big surprise about the show: they didn't play the lead single off their latest album, the radio hit "Hands Open." What the hey?
Friday: Let me clear something up first -- I don't hate John Mayer. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't pay 80 bucks a pop to see him, but I'd take him over the any of the Mayer-esque and Dave Matthews-esque clones any day. That said, I fell asleep during his guitar-wanking set, mainly because I averaged about 5 hours of sleep a night last week. Dude's got chops, no doubt, but I don't think any of the screaming 17 year-old girls in attendance could care less. But you've got to hand it to him: to not play arguably his two biggest hits -- "Your Body Is A Wonderland" and "No Such Thing" -- that was a bit of a ballsy shocker. And while we're clearing things up, I have to say I quite enjoy most of Sheryl Crow's singles prior to the dreadful "Soak Up the Sun." With that in mind, her hits-laden set went down quite well with that henious tube of "meat" the concession stand called a bratwurst. Bad food aside, it was an enjoyable -- albeit expensive -- night in which I helped fulfill a good friend's 13-year wish of seeing a certain ex-St. Louis music teacher. That alone was worthy the price of admission.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
12:29 AM
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Sweet, Sweet Fantasy The only imperfection at tonight's Final Fantasy show (besides my 3-cookie dinner) was that the word "Necromancy" never came on the projector during the multimedia, old-school-overhead presentation of "Final Fantasy and the 8 Schools of Magic." I suppose the overheads that went with "The CN Tower Belongs to the Dead" were a de facto musical representation of necromancy, but after seeing Transmutation, Conjuration, Divination, Abjuration, Evocation, Illusion, and Enchantment (in that order), my inner D&D geek was expecting some necromantic action. But alas, no dice.
That said, we still got a freaking brilliant show, with newly-crowned Polaris Prize winner Owen rocking it solo on the violin, keys, and pedals. On stage with him was a overhead projector, the kind you see at lecture halls on which profs scribble illegible notes while talking. He had a friend put up overheads during the set, moving them around so as to make a movie-like projection on the big screen on stage. The images were supposed to comprise the multimedia piece called "Final Fantasy and the 8 Schools of Magic" I was alluding to before, the lack of Necromancy notwithstanding. It was pretty awesome to see what overheads can do with a little creativity, especially since they went so well with the music.
And oh, the music. Really, seeing him perform the songs live with as much vigour and intensity as one man and his violin can muster makes the albums almost seem blasé. Highlights for me include my two favourite tracks off Has A Good Home, "This is the Dream of Regine and Win" and the aforementioned "The CN Tower Belongs to the Dead," the (unexpected) cover of Joanna Newsom's "Peach, Plum, Pear," and the (expected) cover of Mariah Carey's "Fantasy." It took me a couple of verses to figure out "Peach, Plum, and Pear," but when I realized what I was hearing, I was grinning like dopey fool.
Openers Bob Wiseman and Magali Meagher (of the Phonemes) were hilarious and enchanting, respectively. Overall, this will probably go into the books as one of my top-five shows of the year, if not top-three. I leave you with some YouTube action of Owen doing "Peach, Plum, Pear."
NP: Final Fantasy - Peach, Plum, Pear
posted by Hanson |
12:49 AM
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Hot Shit In a bit of an upset, Final Fantasy wins the inaugural Polaris Prize as the best Canadian album released between June 1st, 2005 and May 31st, 2006 (according to an 11-member, Toronto-heavy jury). I like the album a lot, but if Owen were not from Toronto (or maybe Montreal), there was no way in hell he would've walked away with the prize. Whatever though. Not only will I get to see said winning Torontonian perform tomorrow, I'll get to see the words "He Poos Clouds" all over the mainstream Canadian press tomorrow too. Hehe. Poo.
I doubt any Pitchforkers read my blog, so it's quite a coincidence that I posted about MSTRKRFT's video for "Easy Love" just a day before Pitchfork did. And I'll bet anyone a shiny (Canadian) quarter that they'll talk about the Polaris Prize tomorrow. Yeah, I'm really going out on a limb here.
September 19th is Talk Like A Pirate Day. If I see you tomorrow and you don't use pirate slang, I will beat you with my hook.
NP: Final Fantasy - This is the Dream of Regine and Win
posted by Hanson |
12:03 AM
Sunday, September 17, 2006
YouTubing: hipsterpr0n
I know I'm getting on it half a year late, but I just saw this, the video for MSTRKRFT's "Easy Love," on Ethnosonic today. If this is hipster erotica, then this video is hipster pr0n. From the oversized pink lips to the exaggerated, slo-mo straw-sucking, it doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out what the director was trying to get at. And when that liquid-y stuff starting raining down on the girls -- who welcomed it with open mouths -- all I could do was smirk.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
1:13 PM
Saturday, September 16, 2006
PBR == teh sex? Brooklyn Vegan pointed me to the awesomest thing I've seen all week: hipsterotica. Yeah, it's exactly what you think it is.
I just realized I have 4 straight nights of shows next week starting Tuesday: Final Fantasy, Amy Millan, Snow Patrol, and Sheryl Crow. (That last one is only because I'm a really good friend.) Woah. That four-on-the-trot sure snuck up on me.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
5:53 PM
Friday, September 15, 2006
Whattaweek Whitney and Bobby calls it quits. Britderline #2 is out. Anna Nicole Smith's son dies mysteriously. Damn, it looks like I'm not the only one having a crazy week!
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
1:39 AM
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Come Sail Away 
Some bands will release a new record and I know I'll like it even before listening to it. But then there are other bands that I might not have liked before, who put out a record that makes me go, "Woah. That's pretty good." You could count Maritime in the latter category, whose latest release We, the Vehicles made me go "woah" a little.
It all started with Matt, who said it might be his favourite record of the year so far. To which I asked -- and I paraphrase -- "Those dudes from the Promise Ring and that one guy from the D-Plan? But their first one was unspectacular. I mean, it wasn't bad, but all I could muster was a shoulder-shrug." He assured me the new record was much better, so I took the plunge and included it in my 17-CD mega-purchase down at Easy Street Records over the Labour Day weekend.
True enough, it was pretty good. I don't quite rate it as highly as Matt does, but it's got a good chance of making it into my top 37 this year. Stylistically, both Maritime records tread similar paths -- indie pop with a slight tinge of emo. But compared to Glass Floor, their debut, We, the Vehicles is just better in every way. The best complement I can give it is that I want to keep listening to it again and again despite the fact that I have an unopened stack of CDs at my desk at work that is literally two feet tall. Yes, I have a huge backlog of new music, and I just kept spinning this. My Brightest Diamond got a few plays, as did Rachael Cantu. But last week, it was all about the Maritime (and the new Joanna Newsom).
Check this shit out, yo:
Download: Maritime - Tearing Up The Oxygen
Download: Maritime - People, The Vehicles
In other news, Rocky Votolato is at the Red Room on October 5th. Another conflict when Rocky's in town? (I'm seeing the National.) Well fuck me sideways...
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
12:39 AM
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
YouTubing: Killer Vid
OK. So the song itself is pretty uneven, and Sam's Town is probably not going to be one of the best albums in the last 20 years. But you have to give The Killers some props for the video they made for "When You Were Young," the lead single from their sophomore effort. Widescreen. A minute-and-a-half-long music-less lead-in. Cinematic and beautifully shot, but gritty and unglamourous. Unattractive and rather dirty characters, and relatively few full-on shots of Mr. Flowers. And a full-blown story to boot. Totally wankerishly-arty. Totally uncommercial. Totally cool.
Coming off a commercial smash loved by frat boys across the continent, they could've easily gone the safe route when it came to this video. It would've been so easy to solidify their fan-base with a hit-making video director shooting a glitzy/schmaltzy video filled with hot women, playing up the 80s glammy shtick once again. I was expecting the album to be similar, a mediocre and derivative effort that tried to redo Hot Fuss all over again. After seeing this video, though, I think I'll have to revisit those assumptions.
Bravo. I'm actually looking forward to Sam's Town now.
NP: The Killers - When You Were Young
posted by Hanson |
1:19 AM
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Overload? I'm nursing a birthday hang over whilst getting some work done. In my usual perusal of the interwebs, I found that while the new Jenny Lewis tour will be skipping our fine city, the other half of the creative duo behind Rilo Kiley won't be. Rejoice, kids, as Blake Sennett and his band The Elected will be making their Vancouver debut at the Media Club on Oct. 18th. Sweet! Also, Sloan's at the Commodore on Oct. 24th and Love Is All is rocking the vee-dot on Halloween. I love going to show, but this October almost seems like too much...
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
9:49 PM
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Doh Fuck! Carlos is right -- Ladytron/CSS /is/ the same day as Sufjan! All these October shows together with my crazy schedule have me all confused. Me, sad now.
So, this means I have a ticket for the Ladytron/CSS show at the Commodore on October 14th. Interested parties, holla.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
1:45 AM
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Everything Hits At Once 
Bumbershoot 2006 was another fine weekend. Expected highlights include The New Pornographers, Feist, Laura Veirs, Spoon, Trapped in the Closet, corn, and copious amounts of drinking. Unexpected highlights include Metric playing "Soft Rock Star" (!!), Nouvelle Vague, line-dancing, and David Cross' hairy ass. Photos and details will be posted later, which in blog-speak means there's a 50-50 chance they won't be posted at all.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
12:34 AM
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