As many of you know, I went to see Bright Eyes last night at Massey Hall. Gruff Rhys was a great opener, but I won’t say anything more about him right now becasue I will dedicate a post to him and his record. (look for that very soon) Anyways, the Bright Eyes performance was pretty good overall... although I wished he was drunk… he didn’t even fall or trip over things, what a rip-off! However, I think he was high or something, especially near the end as he kept saying something about a soft penis???… very strange! Anyways, I recorded the opening song (a new song!!!) using my cellphone... you can watch that below... unfortunately, both the video and sound qualities are pretty poor.
...and you can see pictures from the show here. Again, the quality of the pictures are pretty poor. Btw, I don't know why, but some of them are really tiny!
Thursday, June 15, 2006
the truth is that i'm overrated
I first heard of Less Than Jake in my first year at U of T. Although I can’t say that I am a big fan, I did enjoy Hello Rockview and Borders And Boundaries. However, I don’t remember the last time I played those records. Their new album, In With the Out Crowd came out about three weeks ago, but I have just started listening to it a few days ago. Well, at first I did not really care for it – I wasn’t even going to listen to the album, but I decided to give it a chance and I must say, it is a pretty damn good release! All the songs sound solid. Unlike other LTJ records, In With the Out Crowd features less of the ska sounds and ultimately, it is more like a pop rock record... or should I dare say... an emo-ska record. Don’t be put off loyal LTJ fans, there are still some of that pure ska elements which clearly can be heard on tracks such as "A Still Life Franchise" and "Let Her Go". I don’t know what the lasting value for In With the Out Crowd will be, but for now, I am enjoying it!A Still Life Franchise
Overrated (Everything Is)
Don't Fall Asleep on the Subway
Rest of My Life
Mostly Memories
Hopeless Case
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buy In With the Out Crowd here
invasion!
This blog has officially been taken over by Ø...
Writing On The Walls [wicked-cool song]
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Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Patrick Wolf singles
For those of you who can't find the Patrick Wolf singles in your local record stores:
from The Libertine
Penzance
Wind in the Wires (Clifftop Demo)
Afraid
from Wind In The Wires
Souvenirs
Godrevy Point
from Tristan
The Hazelwood
Idumea
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you can buy all of the singles and other releases by Patrick Wolf at Tomlab
from The LibertineWind in the Wires (Clifftop Demo)
Afraid
from Wind In The WiresGodrevy Point
from TristanIdumea
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you can buy all of the singles and other releases by Patrick Wolf at Tomlab
untitled (aka i can't think of anything to write for the title)
Wow, another good hardcore album out: Birthing The Giant by Cancer Bats. If you did not enjoy my pervious post on This Is Hell, don’t bother reading the rest of this. Cancer Bats are as loud and as aggressive as This Is Hell. Although I like Sundowning more, Birthing The Giant is still an extremely solid release. These guys are from Toronto, so go buy thier album and support the local scene! Cancer Bats are opening for Moneen tonight at the Opera House. If I wasn’t already going to see Bright Eyes, I would definitely check out this show. The Red Tree by Moneen is one of the best releases of 2006 so far!French Immersion
Diamond Mine
Bonus Track
Demo 2005
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buy Birthing The Giant here
go to the official Cancer Bats website here
go check out their myspace page here
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Conor Oberst A to Z
I am seeing Bright Eyes at the Massey Hall in in less than 24 hours. It will be my first time seeing a concert there... I can’t wait as I’ve heard many great things about that venue! So anyways, this is just another excuse for me to create another A to Z list, so enjoy.A is for Amos House Volume II, a compilation disc released by Wishing Tree Records which features the track "Entry Way Song" by Bright Eyes.
A is also for "Amy in the White Coat", a track from the 12" version of There is No Beginning to the Story EP.
[download: Amy in the White Coat]
B is for Bright Eyes, Oberst’s current project.
B is also "Burn Rubber", a b-side from the Take it Easy (Love Nothing) single.
C is for Commander Venus, a band Oberst was in from 1995-1997. Members consisted of Tim Kasher (Cursive/Good Life), Todd Baechle (The Faint), and Robb Nansel (co-founder of Saddle Creek Records).
D is for Desaparecidos, Oberst's side-project. They released Read Music/Speak Spanish on Saddle Creek Records in 2002.
E is for the Every Day and Every Night EP, released in 2000 between Letting Off The Happiness and Fevers and Mirrors.
F is for February 15, 1980, Oberst’s birthday.
F is also for Fevers and Mirrors, Bright Eyes second full-length which give both the band and their label (Saddle Creek) national as well as world-wide attentions. Oberst dropped out of school shortly after the release of Fevers and Mirrors to go on tours.
G is for "Going for the Gold" from Oh Holy Fools split with Son, Ambulance. A live version of the song was also featured on a compilation entitled Future Soundtrack for America released in 2004 by Barsuk Records.
[download: Going for the Gold (live)]
H is for Home Volume IV, a split with Spoon’s Britt Daniel. The two songs by Bright Eyes were "Spent On Rainy Days" and "Southern State".
[download: Southern State]
I is for I'm Wide Awake It's Morning, one of two albums released by Bright Eyes in January 2006.
J is for "Jetsabel Removes the Undesireables", a track from the Japanese import of Fevers and Mirrors.
K is for Tim Kasher, who was in Commander Venus with Oberst.
K is also for "Kathy with a K's Song", a song from Oh Holy Fools split with Son, Ambulance.
L is for Lumberjack Records (1993-1995) (not to be confused with Lumberjack Distribution), the label was founded by a group of friends in Nebraska including Justin Oberst, Robb Nansel, and Mike Mogis which would eventually become Saddle Creek Records in 1996.
L is also for Letting Off The Happiness (1998), the first Bright Eyes record.
L is also for Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground (2002), Oberst’s and Saddle Creek’s first 100K records sales.
M is for Mike Mogis, a co-founder of Saddle Creek Records. He also engineered/produced many Saddle Creek releases including albums by Bright Eyes, The Faint, Jenny Lewis, etc. He is currently a member of Bright Eyes.
N is for Nebraska (Omaha), Oberst’s birthplace.
O is for Oh Holy Fools, a split with Son, Ambulance released in 2001.
P is for Park Ave. Oberst played drums for them from 1996-1998. Their only full-length, When Jamie Went to London, We Broke Up, was released on Urinine Records in 1999. It was repressed by Team Love last year. Park Ave. also featured current members of Tilly and The Wall.
P is also for "Padraic My Prince", my favorite Bright Eyes song.
Q is for nothing.
R is for "Road to Joy". A song from Bright Eyes' I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning. Oberst borrowed the melodies from the forth movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.
[download: Sym. no. 9 by Beethoven (Ode to Joy)]
S is for Saddle Creek Records.
S is also for Spend An Evening With Saddle Creek, an excellent documentary on the label.
T is for Team Love, Oberst’s record label, an imprint of Saddle Creek.
U is for an "Untitled" track from the Insound Tour Support EP released in 2000.
V is for Vote For Change Tour. Bright Eyes were involved in this tour, which took place in October of 2004 and its aim was to encourage people to vote against George W. Bush in the 2004 Presidential Election.
W is for Water, Oberst’s first cassette (1993) recorded by Ted Stevens (Cursive) on a 4-track in Oberst’s parents’ house. It is also Lumberjack Records’ first release.
X is for nothing.
Y is for "You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will." from Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground.
Z is for... I can never think of anything for Z... damnit!
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buy Bright Eyes releases here
visit Saddle Creek here and Team Love here
new regina spektor video!
Get this video and more at MySpace.com
Regina Spektor's new album, Begin to Hope is out today, go buy it right now! (Well, I guess not right now since it is like 1:40 am and nothing's open. So... go buy Begin to Hope first thing in the morning!) You can read my Begin to Hope review here.
Fidelity [wicked-cool song]
On The Radio
20 Years Of Snow
That Time
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Monday, June 12, 2006
brain running down along spear from the wound in the eye hole
The Drift by Scott Walker sounds like a lot of things: ranging from a soundtrack to a David Lynch movie to an opera by Schoenberg. However, if one had to describe the musical style of The Drift, it would be either avant-garde or expressionism. The songs are strangely composed and the music is extremely abstract: it is randomly structured. Walker plays with the idea of time as he stretches, broadens, speeds up and slows down various stages of his songs. In addition, Walker employs a speech-voice singing style, very similar to Suicide or Xiu Xiu’s freakout vocal style, creating the feeling of hysteria. Indeed, this feeling of hysteria upraises as Walker sings "I’m the only one left alive, I’m the only one left alive..." repeatedly at the end of "Jesse"; making the ending section absolutely chilling! The Drift continues with "Jolson and Jones", which middle jazz fusion section sounds like something out of the Lost Highway soundtrack. Again, this jazz fusion sound appears at the seven-minute mark of "Cue". The lyrics cannot get any more abstract than "Hand Me Ups", what the hell is Walker singing about?? Nevertheless, I love the song! The second last track, "The Escape", despites multi-levels of fear and horror. The listener gets a surprise shock when freakout vocals and music enters at the 2:44 mark. This terrifying excerpt of "you and me against the world... world’s about to end..." eventually ends as the vocal and music soften. That is until the 4:10 mark, where a mutated voice appears and it is backed up by the strumming of the minor chords. Musically, The Drift by Scott Walker is not for everyone. It is very avant-garde and at times, seems very pretentious. You will either like it right from the beginning or hate it forever. If you dislike it after the first listen, don't waste your time as this album will not grow on you after several listens. For me, perhaps one of the appeals to The Drift is Walker’s unexpected directions in treating each of his songs as every track is a surprise!Jolson and Jones
Hand Me Ups
Psoriatic
The Escape
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check out The Drift's mini-site here
buy The Drift here
who has tried this ad?
BBDO, an advertising agency based in Toronto has created a subway poster for Pepsi that lets you hear exclusive tracks by plugging your headphones into the ad. For more details, go here to read the full article.I think this is an absolutely brilliant idea:
We see thousands of ads everyday, and we spend an average of less than a second seeing each ad. So, when you plug your headphones into this ad, you are forced to stare at it for longer than usual... as a result, you may actually read the ad.
In my opinion, I think this is a groundbreaking ad as almost all types (print and multimedia) of advertisings are one-sided. That is, you do not get to interact with most ads, aside from the fragrance ads find in various magazines. However, with this new Pepsi ad, people get to play with and enjoy the ad.
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