I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: RAH RAH-“Arrows” (2010).

This issue of The Walrus features the Summer Reading Issue, which nine short fictions about Canada.  In concert with that I decided to listen to CBC Radio 3 online and review the first songs that I hear in their entirety.

The first band up is Rah Rah.  I’d never heard of them before.  This track arrows is from their just released 2nd CD.  They sound kind of like they are Regina, Sask’s answer to the Arcade Fire.  Rah Rah have 7 members in the band, and they play a sort of energetic poppy punk with lots of backing vocals. (Some of them are screamed, but from a long way away…a very cool effect). The song is catchy and is only punk in the tempo of the track (and the somewhat shambolic nature of the vocals–which is meant as a complement).

I liked the song enough that I had to listen to it again. The riff is super catchy, and the vocals complement it nicely. I liked it enough to check out more of their stuff.  “Fuck NAFTA” is a wonderful song that is surprisingly delicate and catchy for such a belligerent sentiment. Great stuff.

I suspect that I’ll be picking up their album, if I can find it for sale anywhere.

[READ: June 14, 2010] Walrus Summer Reading, featuring Seth

The Walrus’ July/August issue features a summer reading collection.  Nine authors all answering the call “to write the most Canadian story they could think of.”  Over the next week or so I’ll review them all.  But as an introduction, I wanted to mention the artwork of Seth.

Seth is rapidly becoming my favorite artist whom I know very little about. 

He has appeared in various forms in The Walrus over the years (including an interview) and from what I’ve seen his stuff is gorgeous.

He has a continuing series called Palookaville, which I have never read (It’s available from Drawn & Quarterly).  He also has a series called Claude Fans.  (I’ve also not read it).

Interspersed in this catalog are a number of single books.  One, named after a Tragically Hip song, is called, “It’s a Good Life if You Don’t Weaken.”

Seth seems to employ a number of styles in his different works. Some of his strips have a sort of “ugly” appearance.  Some of them are very nicely drawn.  And still others, like the ones included here, are simply beautiful color pictures.

One of these days I hope to investigate Seth in depth. Until then, I’m just enjoying what I know.