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Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Quick Picks Got two albums today: one from my favourite record store, and one from my favourite blogging Ho. One is the new record, Paper Television, from Portland electro-pop duo The Blow; the other is some "hip-hop flava mixed with a little bit of rock n' roll," brought to you by a pimp who refers to himself as the pancake man. One of them is awesomely great, and the other is awesomely hilarious. You figure out which is which.
Reese and Ryan: say it ain't so!
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
1:33 AM
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Double Team Canadian radio-pop super-couple Chantal Kreviazuk and Raine Maida (dude from Our Lady Peace) -- think Whitney and Bobby, but white and Canadian, and with less manual relieving of constipation -- will be playing the River Rock Casino on Friday, Feb. 9th. Tickets go on sale this Friday, though the presale will start at 10am tomorrow (Wednesday, Oct. 25th). The password, creatively, is "CHANTAL". Hmm. This will probably be the first time I get to see a show in Richmond. And maybe I'll get a chance to win my money back at the poker table after the show. Or not.
NP: The Ditty Bops - Aluminum Can
posted by Hanson |
11:51 PM
Sunday, October 22, 2006
The Avalanche, Part Two Quick post before I leave for the second New Pornographers shows in as many days: The Lovely Feathers will be returning to Vancouver on Sunday, Nov. 5th, doing a set at the Media Club. When they opened for Metric here a couple of years ago, I was positively blown away by their energetic live show. Their LP, Hind Hind Legs, was quite good, but it doesn't do their live show any justice. Join me at the Media Club if you're into spastic, angular guitar rock that has the potential of blowing your socks off.
(A week without posting implies a crazy-busy blogger. If you haven't noticed, I haven't posted for a week. Complete the modus ponen yourself.)
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
7:29 PM
Sunday, October 15, 2006
The Avalanche The most hyped show of the year matched all of its pre-show buzz. Sufjan Stevens. In a church with beautiful acoustics. The stage was set. Now, I could bitch about the organization, and how the people who lined up for 2+ hours didn't get the first 4 pews. Those were "reserved" for VIPs, most of whom didn't bother to show up, so during the middle of the brilliant set from My Brightest Diamond, they let the late-comers who deservedly got side-seats take the front rows. WTF, SWAK? I got to the church at 5:30pm, an hour and a half before doors, and there were people there already. Hardcores, obviously, who should've gotten the best seats. Instead, they were relegated to row-5-dom, which were still pretty good. I was pretty happy with the seats we got -- near the front and off to the side -- but I just can't believe people who showed up even earlier got screwed, while those who sauntered in after doors opened, probably drinking or eating instead of sitting their butts numb on the concrete outside, got the best seats in the house. *mutters something about fairness*. OK. I'll stop my non-bitching here.
So, the show. My Bright Diamond, aka Shara Worden, fucking ruled. Besides an arsenal of compelling songs, the blinged out Shara has the range of an opera singer, even rocking some Henry Purcell at the request of Sufjan. She reminds me a lot of Sarah Slean. Besides obvious physical resemblances, her dramatic, moody songs, her vocals in the lower registers, and her quirky, playful onstage antics reminds me a lot of Sarah when she doesn't ham up the theatrics. Never was this more apparent as when she said "awwww sheeeet" before launching into a song on the piano. Her set is probably my favourite opening set I've seen all year.
And then there was Sufjan. Back by /14/ other musicians in butterfly wings, playing violins, cellos, and horns, a masked Suf came on with some big-ass eagle wings. Don't let the allusion to Icarus fool you -- he didn't crash and burn at all. I squealed with uncontrollably excitement when he started into "The Transfiguration" early in the set -- and in that quiet church where you can quite literally hear someone on stage bump into a guitar stand, the yelp was quite audible. My state intense glee didn't end until he wrapped things up with a one-song encore of "The Dress Looks Nice On You," roughly an hour and forty-five minutes after he walked on stage. If you've seen him live before in an appropriate venue, you'll know what I mean; if you haven't, well, it's just really hard to describe how he turns the subtlies of his material into little moments of live music genius.
Song after song, Sufjan milked his backing band for all they had, enveloping his simple songs with lush, orhestral sounds. This is what I call leveraging your assets. If I had one complaint, it would be that he used his band a little too much -- if it weren't for the extended outtros, he could've squeezed at least two or three more songs, anything to make time for "Casmir Pulaski Day." But no, the Sufjan likes his musical wankery, and he's built up enough indie cachet to do whatever he damn well pleases. Oh well. After playing "The Transfiguration," he could do no wrong that night in my eyes.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
11:55 PM
Thursday, October 12, 2006
I Wouldn't Rather Hide 
Backed by a full band -- which included a rather hot bassist -- a totally wasted Joseph Arthur played an entertaining two-hour set at the Red Room tonight. Not surprisingly, he did a lot of material from his new record, Nuclear Daydream, including the excellent "Black Lexus." I think this was the first time I've seen him with a backing band, and although I liked the beefed-up sound as well as the backing vocals, I still prefer him playing solo, rocking the looping pedals and doing everything by himself. While not the best show I've seen from him, it was still a more-than-good way of spending a Wednesday night. (It would've been even better though if he played more of my favourites like "Tattoo," "Blue Lips," and "Ashes Everywhere."). But the 7/8-song encore was a pleasant surprise, especially given the smallish and quiet-ish crowd. I suppose all the loud people were screaming at Dylan or the Killers
Opener Annie Stela [STEE-lah] will undoubtedly be compared to Fiona Apple: waifish white girl on a major label, playing piano and singing with a huskier-than-normal voice. To me, she's more of a poor man's Charlotte Martin: piano-playing sandy-blonde with a big voice -- cute but not as cute, good but not as good. Her songs weren't terribly convincing either. That said, I liked her enough to get her EP. If I like the four songs on it, maybe I'll blog about her some more.
Mindy Smith released Long Island Shores on Tuesday, and I only found out about it yesterday? Blogosphere: you've let me down.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
2:01 AM
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Right On 
I come back from (winning at) curling to some very exciting new over at the SWAK website: Joanna Newsom is coming to Vancouver! WOOHOO! Yes, on December 5th, at the St. Andrews Wesley Church, -- the same venue Sufjan will be playing this Saturday -- Ms. Hottie Harpist herself will be making her Vancouver debut with "a large ensemble." Tickets will go on sale at the usual places on Oct. 20th. Get them early, because when reviews of Ys start hitting the interweb, hipsters will snap them up like limited edition 7-inches.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
11:30 PM
You Say Party! We Say Thunderbirds Are Now! I would've enjoyed the National on Thursday night a lot more if I weren't so tired. A week of getting five hours of sleep a night can do quite a bit to knock down the enthusiasm and energy of a show junkie. That said, the band played an enjoyable set, though I preferred their show at the Sonar last year with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. A large part of that can be attributed to my fatigue, as the band seemed to be in top form.
But enough about the National -- I want to talk about the Vancouver debut of Detroit's Thunderbirds Are Now, who opened for local heroes You Say Party! We Say Die! on Saturday night. They played an energetic set, pounding away hard at their instruments to replicate their up-tempo, angular, Les Savy Fav/early-Pretty Girls Make Graves-ish sound. Despite the relative mellow-ness of their new record, Make History, their live show brought out the rawer elements of the songs, making them sound more in line with the band's previous disc, the excellent Justamustache, rather than their newest release. This is, of course, a good thing. While their first full-length, Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief, was a bit too all-over-the-place for my taste, Justamustache found the perfect balance between their punk-leaning aggression and synth-infused pop sound -- a bit like Ted Leo but more synth-y.
And a wasn't the only one who dug the shit out of their set. Several people up front tried to bang out a lil' mosh pit. Aggressive as they were, most of the people there just backed away. I'll say this -- though I'm not a fan of people elbowing each other in the face while loud music plays, if you're going to mosh, Thunderbirds Are Now is the type of band you'd do it do.
Obligatory reference to the headliners: what more can I say about You Say Party! We Say Die!? I love them. You love them. All of Vancouver loves them. On Saturday, they debuted a bunch of new songs, most of which will probably make it into their next album. They also played with the new drummer too -- at least new to me. The last time I saw them, they had a tall, skinny kid banging the skins, and unless he had cut all his hair and miraculously aged 10 years these last few months, the guy behind the kit on Saturday was a different dude. Not that it matter though. These guys just keep getting better and better, particularly with regards to their playing. I can't wait to hear what the new record will sound like!
In some sadder news, YSP!WSD! were forced to cancel the rest of their west coast tour with Thunderbirds Are Now. Apparently, they were denied entry into the US because they didn't have proper work visas (and they were caught trying to get into the country by fibbing). WTF? I had no idea you needed a work visa to play a gig in the states! As well, their bass player has been banned for /five/ years from entering the US. Again, WTF? As it stands, it seems You Say Party! We Say Die! can't play in the US for five years (with the current bass player) unless they can appeal the ban. The situation just seems pretty fucked up. Check out their message board for more details.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
12:23 AM
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Drop the Damn Puck I'm looking for a couple more hockey fans to fill out my Yahoo rotisserie fantasy league. The live, online draft will be this Sunday, 1pm PST. The scoring is pretty fair -- no bullshit categories like Game Tying Goals -- so it should be fun. If you're interested, here are the details:
League Name: QB Hockey
League ID: 77158
Password: trash
Click sign up and then join a custom league, entering the league ID and password as listed above.
Hmmm. Third straight post devoid of music content. I'll break that streak next time around.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
12:23 AM
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Girls Are Back 
Forget what I insinuated last time: the demise of Gilmore Girls was greatly exaggerated. This week's episode, written by the apparently pretty cute Buffy-vet and now Gilmore Girls scribe Rebecca Rand Kirshner, got the show right back on track. There were a couple of what-the moments -- I mean, Lorelai cooking? -- but all the natural snappiness and pop culture references are back, and all the forced snappiness and too-long scenes are happily missing. WWASPD? Get the old writers back, that's what. Good idea, new showrunner!
Along with the best show on TV, Veronica Mars, Gilmore Girls now make up one-half of the strongest two-hour block on any network this season (CW, Tuesday, 8pm to 10pm). And speaking of Veronica Mars, this week's season premiere was just flat-out awesome. Best hour of primetime this fall? I would say so. Despite watching it via a grainy stream from the MSN website, all the Veronica goodness shone through. Like Studio 60, people need to watch this so that it stays around. Please watch Veronica Mars! I'll buy you a donut!
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
1:33 AM
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Sunrise, Sunset 
Fall. To some, it means the start of school. To others, it means days grow shorter and the weather grows colder. But to me, it means the start of a new TV season. This year, my severe lack of time has necessitated cutbacks to my weekly viewing. On the chopping block are the various Law & Orders -- I've given up catching basically the same twelve stories done for the Nth time -- and all the new shows that seem promising, save for one (OK, maybe two, but 30 Rock hasn't aired yet).
That one show is, of course, Aaron Sorkin's glorious return to primetime: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Sorkin is probably my favourite TV writer, no offense to Joss Whedon and Amy Sherman-Palladino, who create better story arcs and craft better characters, respectively. But when it comes to churning out dialogue and putting the pieces together for 22 or 44 minutes of television, Sorkin is unparalleled. I can't even count the number of times I've been struck stupid, utterly paralyzed in awe after watching an episode of Sports Night or The West Wing (the first four seasons). I love Buffy and Gilmore Girls, but Sports Night is the series I can watch again and again. I'm probably up to 5 or 6 times now, rewatching it on DVD. It's brilliant, and probably my favourite show of all time.
Studio 60 is not quite there yet, though it's off to a very promising start. The first two episodes were good, but this week's episode, titled "The Focus Group," hit the mofo out of the park. All the Sorkin idiosyncrasies are there: high-culture references, self-righteous leftist jabs, intra-episode recurring themes in the dialogue, snappy back-and-forths, and of course, the talking-and-walking.
Led by West Wing alumni Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry -- he played Republican lawyer Joe Quincy in a few episodes -- the cast is definitely solid and laden with potential. Rob Corddry's little brother, Nate, is the unsung hero, while token blonde Sarah Paulson provides eye-candy as well as hilarity. Steven Weber -- of Wings Cursed The Weber Show fame is deliciously evil as a network executive, and D.L. Hughley succeeds in not sucking (and is in fact very good). To me, the only question mark is Amanda Peet. That said, she's growing on me with each scene. Later in the season, Lauren Graham will be guest-starring in a couple of episodes. You have no idea how excited I am to see/hear her do Sorkin. With the Palladino-less Gilmore Girls screeching to an end -- watch the first episode and you'll know what I mean -- perhaps a successful guest appearance could be parlayed into a full-time gig? Thinking about it almost makes me wet myself.
In Canada, Studio 60 is on at 10pm on Sundays on CTV. In the states, it's 10pm on Mondays on NBC. The rest of the world, catch it on your favourite BitTorrent site. The Man is back, folks, the Man is back. Watch the damn show so that ratings-wise, it'll be a West Wing and not a Sports Night. The world needs more than two seasons of Studio 60.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
12:42 AM
Sunday, October 01, 2006
In Where? Looks like I'll get to see Rocky Votolato after all! Although his show still conflicts with the National's gig at Richard's on Thursday, Oct. 5th, he, along with Lucero, will be doing an in-store at Scratch on the same day, at 5:30pm. Sweet!
And yes kids, I said Scratch. How they're going set the place up for a live set is beyond me. The space is already pretty crammed as it is with four or five shoppers, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it'll go down. They'll play on the stairs, maybe? Near where they put the 7-inches? I can't wait.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
11:49 PM
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