I don’t know why I have never posted these up… even though there are so many of you out there who love the Metric. I got these songs from Emily Haines’ solo show at the church a few years ago… or last year, I don’t really remember. Anyways, they are completely different than Metric, so enjoy!
Holy crap, I’ve been in Japan for almost a week! Let’s see, I actually don’t have too much to tell... I stayed over at Jesse’s mom hotel at Yodoyabashi for the past two nights... which was in the middle of nowhere! We did the whole tourist thing yesterday: went to Osaka Castle and a traditional Japanese restaurant.
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Let’s see, what have I been doing in Osaka so far? The first day, I went to this mall called Hep-Five. Omg, what an experience! There were absolutely no old people at the mall... just a bunch of crazy-fashion young kids. Oh, and the place was freaking huge, it had like ten floors or something! Sure, there is some really cheap stuff here, but most of the clothes I saw were pretty expensive. There’s a Virgin Mega Store there... I got the Japanese version of Sigur Rós’ Sæglópur EP for about $15... I was pretty happy about that, but damn, most of the CDs there are soooooo expensive!!! 
I also went to a shopping arcade at Shinsaibashi. That place was amazing! There were like billboards/advertisements everywhere and again, thousands of shops and foodstands. I got a black blazer and a pair of red Converse All Star, the former was $19 and the latter was $28. I know, I still can’t believe that I got a blazer for $19!!!!!!! So I eventually wonder out of the shopping arcade and started walking around the side streets, etc., where there were more stores and I even found an American Apparel! I got majorly lost and I actually got some guy at a store to draw me a map on how to get to the nearest station. I did not understand his directions at all, but lucky, I ran into a train station shortly after.
The second day (yesterday), I went to Uemachi Daichi Historical Site Promenade near the Shitennoji-mae Yuhigaoka station. That place was gorgeous! There were so many temples and cemeteries. It felt really good because the area was extremely quiet, and I think I was the only tourist there. I talked to this monk for a little at one temple, he was extremely nice... he asked me what I was from, what I was talking in school, etc. 
Anyways, after that, I hopped back onto the train and went to Den-Den Town. Den-Den Town is this area full of electronic, used CDs and DVDs, Manga, toys, and random porno stores. Liam, I will probably be able to find your CDs here for cheaper, but I forgot the list at home that day. Don’t worry, I am hitting up Tokyo soon... I am sure there’ll be used CD stores there, and if not, I am planning to go back to Den-Den Town later, so I’ll get them then. So again, I got pretty lost there and ended up asking for directions at a police station. Anyways, I think that’s about up to date on my adventures in Japan, see you kids later!
Hey kids, I am in the foreign land, aka Japan, aka Osaka right now. It is hot as hell as and I am actually kind of used to it already. I arrived a couple of days ago in Osaka, but went straight to Kyoto to meet Jesse’s Mom. The first night, we just walked around a little and went out for dinner. I had my first "problematic" Japanese restaurant experience: I ordered a dish called Vegetable Spaghetti, but when the waitress brought me my meal, there were bacons in it. WTF!?!?!? After a short discussion with the waitress, she showed me the menu and pointed to a very small print below Vegetable Spaghetti that said "with or without bacons". Anyways, I ended up picking all the bacons off my spaghetti, I was kind of disgusted and it was not fun!
During the second day in Kyoto, Jesse and I went to check out some temples in the morning and just walked around residential areas. We then meet Jesse’s mom at Starbucks (btw, I am in so love with Shaken Lemon Green Tea). We took the train to the Shijo-dori and Kawaramachi-dori area, where the shopping arcade is located. Shopping arcades are freaking crazy in Japan, they are these outdoor malls that extend to about the length of a thousand football fields... well, maybe not a thousand, but you get the idea. But seriously, there are like thousands of stores at the shopping arcade in Kyoto! It was totally overwhelming!!! We also checked out the Kamo-gawa river and old old temple at night: both were very beautiful.
Jesse and I took the train back to Osaka that same night. I met his roommate Shane, and we went to a bar near his apartment. Apparently, Shane has gone to a bar for 61 days straight. Oh, and I found out not only do you don’t tip at restaurant in Japan, you don’t need to tip at clubs/bars neither, how great is that! Afterward, we ran into Jesse’s friend, Audrey, and bought some food and alcohol and went to "the river", a popular hangout spot among Jesse and his friends. There, we meet up with Jesse’s Japanese replacement of me, Barry. He is a pretty crazy guy as he showed up with a bag-full of fireworks. We drank and set up explosives... anyways, this post is getting a little too long, so I’ll just have to end it right now... I’ll update again very soon... probably later today... or tomorrow.
I am leaving for Japan in a couple of hours. This will be my last post before I head to the airport. But no need to worry, I will update this blog throughout my three weeks trip... so keep visiting this blog!!!
Here are tracks from Generation 12" EP by The Fucked Up.
This is my 300th post... wooooo... anyways, I am sure you guys don't care about that, so onto the main point of this post... I finally saw Strangers With Candy on Friday night and I have nothing but positive things to say about the film! It is so deliciously racist and immorally hilarious!!! The plot: an elderly (46, although I thought she was much older) ex-con/ex-prostitute/ex-junkie (Amy Sedaris) returns home from spending most of her life in prison. She finds out that her mother has passed away and her father has re-married and is in a coma. In attempt to awake her father from deep sleep, she decides that she needs to start her life over to impress him. She enrolls back to high school and aims to be a great student. I know exactly what you are thinking: what a stupid and outrageous plot! Well, the screenplay is actually pretty brilliant. The movie plays with membership (racial and sexual) categorizations. It creates "spoof" responses to overly-exaggerate popular media amplification of different ethnic groups. Ultimately, audience laugh not because they are racist themselves, but because they are aware of the over-representations of certain categorizations. This kind of humor/satire is very similar to Family Guy, but Strangers With Candy is edgier, nastier, and crazier... warning: the film is meant only for an audience who is not easily offended.
OMG, this movie looks fucking amazing: hot punk rock Siamese twins!!!
I am in such a dancy mood lately... all of a sudden, I want to become a DJ and I am actually thinking of throwing a "dance-party" when I get back from Japan... and if I do, everyone is invited! As a result of my state of mood right now, it is also kind of a perfect time for MSTRKRFT to release their highly anticipated debut. Initially, I felt the album took way too long to make; however, like I said, I am glad it came out now because I really needed a good dance record! The Looks is a non-stop-energetic-disco-dance record... which equals so much freaking fun!
And here are some other awesomely danceable tracks that I have been listening to:
I watched my first movie at the new place the other night. It was a great documentary called Who The Hell Is Pete Doherty? I didn’t even know there was a film on P. Doherty... I was very excited when I discovered it at the video story. For those of you who don’t know who Pete Doherty is... WTF?!?!?! He only fronted one of the greatest bands of our generation: The Libertines! In my opinion, The Libertines’ self-titled disc is one of the greatest and most important records released in 2000s. If you are a fan of The Libertines or Babyshambles, I highly recommend this documentary, it is extremely fascinating... plus, you get to see some great live footages! If you are not a fan of Pete Doherty’s work, I don’t know if the film would interest you at all... maybe it will turn you on to The Libertines or Babyshambles... so maybe non-fans should watch it too... do whatever you want, but if you did/do not listen to The Libertines, you are missing some of the great music… and you are a loser!
I like the titles for the tracks below by The Bronx, but unfortunately, their new album is not nearer as good as their previous releases.
Wow, the new Muse album, Black Holes and Revelations, is surprisingly pretty damn good!! It is full of great instrumental hooks, loud and memorable guitar riffs, and most importantly, catchy keyboards interludes... the first four songs on the album will rock your balls off! If you are looking for a good rock album, check out Black Holes and Revelations, you will not be disappointed. Sure, the lyrics are kind of cheesy at times (actually, they are extremely cheesy and cliché), but it is simply a damn solid rock album... you can’t find many of those now-a-days. Also, make sure you go check out their very amusing video for "Knights of Cydonia".
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Let’s be honest, Fearless Records has not really put out many good records and their list of artists is not at all impressive. In reality, the last few (or most of) Fearless releases were below average and have definitely been forgotten. That is why I held back from listening to Waiter: "You Vultures!" by Fearless’s newest, Portugal. The Man. In fact, I would not even have listened to it at all if I didn’t stumble upon their very strange video for "AKA M80 The Wolf" on YouTube. Portugal. The Man is like a less hyper and more structured version of The Blood Brothers. The hyperness is what makes The Blood Brothers great, but Portugal. The Man "watered" that down brilliantly! Ok, let me put it this way, let’s say that The Blood Brothers and Portugal. The Man are the states of an individual, The Blood Brothers is when that individual is on E while Portugal. The Man is when that same person is high on weed or shrooms. For me, led singer John Baldwin Gourley’s vocal is the highlight of Portugal. The Man. For most parts of Waiter: "You Vultures!", Gourley sings in falsetto. In fact, Gourley voice ranges so high at times that it sounds like a female is on vocal instead. In addition, Gourley’s vocal is so soft and echolike sometimes that it sounds ghostly and haunting. Portugal. The Man is signed to a punk label, but they do not make punk music. I think they are more indie rock or psychedelic rock with a hint of experimentation.
Fuse and Warped Tour has launched an amazing looking 2D fighting game called Warped Tour Massacre Game. You have a choice of using one of four characters: Geoff from Thursday, Spencer from Underoath, Justin from Motion City Soundtrack, or Fat Mike from NOFX. I have tried Geoff from Thursday and his flying doves move is freaking sweet!!
Once again, I am beyond ecstatic! I got my hands on Into The Blue Again, the new record by The Album Leaf!!! I have listened to it a few times now and I think fans of In A Safe Place will most likely enjoy this new disc.
I am ecstatic!!! ...Ratatat’s new album, Classics has been leaked. If you are not familiar with Ratatat, they make awesome dancy instrumental rock/electronic songs. Their self-titled release was one of my favorite records of 2004. I have uploaded six songs from Classics, if you want the rest, leave a message in the comments section and I'll see what I can do.
It has been a fantastically lazy day for me today: stayed in my bed for the most part and watched X... I haven’t had such a relaxing day in soooooo long.
Sorry folks, I know I have been slacking with this blog, but I have just be beyond crazy busy this past weekend: Robin’s surprise party, moving (pretty much finished!), etc. I actually stayed at the new place for a couple of days... I love living downtown... I like how I can use the new place as a rest stop like I did the other day because it was just way too hot and I needed a break from shopping (haha). Anyways, that's enough of me for now.
It is no secret that I love the new Format record Dog Problems... but in case you’re a new reader to this blog, it is my favorite album of 2006 so far! Anyways, I have decided to make an on-going and perhaps endless (or until you all go out and buy Dog Problems) feature called 'Random Format Track from Dog Problems'. Cool, eh! Here’s the first random song:
I don’t know what’s in the air, but I’ve been listening to lots of pop punk lately. Ryan’s Hope, Valencia, and now Hit the Lights. This is A Stick Up... Don't Make it A Murder is a very simple record. There’s nothing complex or innovation about the music, you don’t have to think about the lyrics, it is a straight forward fun pop album. I think we all need to listen to something like This is A Stick Up... Don't Make it A Murder to relieve our heads from all the pretentious craps out there.
Defiance, Ohio is a kick-ass band: first, because their new release The Great Depression is an energetic folk-punk album. Second, because you can download the entire thing here. Who said downloading/sharing music is bad for the industry?!?! I have never heard of Defiance, Ohio before, but because of the band’s decision to share their songs, I am now a fan and will most likely buy The Great Depression vinyl from No Idea. If you like The Pogues or folk-punk music, you will definitely dig The Great Depression by Defiance, Ohio!!
Cursive’s single "Dorothy At Forty" comes out tomorrow. It features two b-sides: "The Bitter End" and "The Censor".
Pitchfork has dissed another record I love!!! This time: Thom Yorke’s new disc The Eraser. One of the negative things the reviewer said was that "tracks 3-5 falling particularly flat". How? I don’t think so! Track 3, "The Clock": Yorke’s vocal melody is perfect. His mono, yet dynamically smooth vocal sings some of the most memorable lines on The Eraser: "But you just move your hands upon the clock, Throw coins in the wishing well… For us…" Further, the music is interesting as it features this beatbox-ish sound in the background. The next track, "Black Swan" is easily one of the best songs on The Eraser solely because of the very catchy lines "this is fucked up, fucked up…" or "you are fucked up, fucked up…" In addition, it features clever lyrics like: "People get crushed like biscuit crumbs", "You have tried your best to please everyone, but it just isn't happening", and "You cannot kickstart a dead horse". Then, there’s "Skip Divided". How can anyone not like this track!?!? The music features some great complex beats; it is yet another great display of Yorke’s melodic vocal: there is so much emotion in this song that I actually thought Yorke was going to scream at the top of his lungs! The ending lyrics are again extremely memorable: "When you walk in a room everything disappears, When you walk in a room it's a terrible mess, When you walk in a room I start to melt, When you walk in a room I follow you around, Like a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a lapdog, I'm your lapdog, yeah."WTF, how pretentious, unresourceful, and meaningless is that!!!
The word 'gray' will be used to describe The Eraser, and with good reason-- unless you're predisposed to loving everything Yorke sets his voice against, you mind fight this an oppressively dreary affair. My totally catty suggestion: Don't bother with this unless you've already worn out the grooves on Jonny Greenwood's much less-heralded but completely brilliant Bodysong soundtrack. Or maybe, if you're really jonseing, set up two stereos and play both solo records at once, Zaireeka-style. I wouldn't be surprised at all if that worked.
The second band was Head Automatica; led by God himself, Daryl Palumbo. For me, I think the theme of the show was nostalgia. I first saw Daryl Palumbo performed with the best band ever about four years (I think) ago. That concert was probably my favorite concert of all time, and GlassJaw was a huge part of my life during my second year at U of T. As a result, seeing Daryl Palumbo performed again gave me the chills! He was so different on Wednesday night: he’s all dressed up in a suit and tie rather than just a white t-shirt/topless... nevertheless, he’s entertaining as usual and the thing that really triggered the excitements in me was when he did the whole screaming style vocal thing... granted, he only did that like twice, but it brought me back to the good old GlassJaw days!! Seriously, fuck Head Automatica, stop that shit Mr. Daryl Palumbo, and bring back the best band of all time!
Here’s half the video of "Graduation Day"... it’s only half because security stopped me from videotaping in the middle of it.
On to the first co-headliner: Angels & Airwaves. First, I just have to say that Tom DeLonge has absolutely lost his mind!!! He thinks that he’s God or some powerful special being. It was really annoying that before each song, he would give some sort of cliché moral speech about the track: how it’s going to change lives, how it’s going to strengthen you as a human being... all types of shits like that... WTF... where’s the funny DeLonge??? Actually, there were moments where he couldn’t resist and said a sex joke once or twice (that was what Blink shows were all about, oh how I missed them!) He’s trying way too hard to be this weird motivational speaker/musician. In fact, to top off this shit, the backdrop at the end of their set was huge letters that spelled LOVE, how fucking gay is that?!!! To me, he sounded like a jackass, but I guess it worked for all the innocent little teenagers at the show. With that said, Angels & Airwaves sounded great, Tom’s vocal as well as the instruments all sounded flawless, their set would’ve been amazing if Tom didn’t go all melodramatic on our asses.
As the sun set, the siren music from Kill Bill introduced Taking Back Sunday... I thought that was neat. Perhaps the nostalgic theme was strongest during TBS’s set. As GlassJaw was a big part of my life in second year of university, TBS’s first record, Tell All Your Friends, has been a big part of my life ever since first year at U of T. I think it is safe for me to say that Tell All Your Friends is one of my favorite records off all time... it belongs somewhere in my top three records of all time! Sadly though, I do not enjoy or support anything post John Nolan and Shaun Cooper. Oh shit... I have to stop my TBS rant and focus on the concert. So, Adam Lazzara has officially perfected his mic swinging skills: he can now actually sing and do his crazy mic tricks all at the same time. Musically, I thought they were great, no doubt a huge improvement from pervious TBS shows I attended. In addition, they actually played a handful of songs from TAYF: "Bike Scene", "Cute Without The 'E' (Cut From The Team)", "Timberwolves At New Jersey", and "You're So Last Summer". And I, as well as many old TBS fans went crazy for them... that was extremely cool.
Now ladies and gentlemen, if you are not exhausted from reading this overly long post, you can see more pictures from the show here.
