Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Canadian Music’ Category

Douglas Coupland–Player One: What Is to Become of Us: A Novel in Five Hours (2010)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Cars, CBC Radio 1, Death, Douglas Coupland, End of the World, Environmentalism, Technology, The Future, The Tragically Hip, Violence on May 16, 2013| Leave a Comment »

PlayerOne_Coupland

SOUNDTRACK: THE TRAGICALLY HIP-Now for Plan A (2012).

hip man

This is the latest Tragically Hip record and it bounces back from the more country feel of We Are the Same and provides eleven solid rocking songs (two of which are actually ballads and not rocking at all but are still good).  “At Transformation” starts with a big bass notes and some feedback, like an alternative indie rocker, but as soon as Gord Downie’s voice comes in it is unmistakably Hip.  This is one of their rockier songs and shows that they are back in fine form.

I recently wrote about “Man Machine” and “Now for Plan A” but I think they both work better in the context of the record.  “Man Machine” contrasts nicely with “At Transformation” and “Plan A” gives the album a chance to relax before the more rocking second half.  “The Lookahead” is the other duet with Sarah Harmer, although I fear she may be a little underutilized here.  It’s a great big chorused song that The Hip do so well.

“We Want To Be It” has a recurring “drip drip” section that I find mesmerizing.  I like the way drip drip turns into click click and then cricket and how it is alternately whispered and screamed.  I’ve never really heard a song where words were used in this way before.

I love the way “About This Map” starts slow but adds a great bridge/chorus that adds a lot of tension.  Take Forever” is a straightforward rocker which along with “The Modern Spirit” and “Streets Ahead” really exemplify the modern sound of the Tragically Hip–simple rockers with big choruses and thoughtful lyrics.  On the other end of the spectrum, “Done and Done” is a simple ballad that works nicely as the song before the closer.  “Goodnight Attawapiskat” (an aboriginal settlement in Northern Ontario) is the kind of amazing minor key, could-be-an epic that Hip fans always love.  It’s scaled down to 4 minutes, but it lets us know that they still have this kind of song in them.

The Hip will never release another record like Fully Completely or Day for Night and while there is something sad about that, it’s nice to see a band evolving and modifying their sound.  This album isn’t going to blow anyone away, but it is a solid collection of great songs.

[READ: May 15, 2013] Player One

I didn’t really understand what a CBC Massey Lecture was.  It was kind of explained, but I was confused how his lecture would have been a full length novel.  And while it is described as a novel in five hours, I doubt his lecture lasted five hours (the story takes place in real time over five hours, but surely no one would have listened to him read for five hours).  Well, thanks to Wikipedia: Each of the book’s five chapters was delivered as a one hour lecture in a different Canadian city: Vancouver on October 12, Regina on October 14, Charlottetown on October 19, Ottawa on October 25 and ending in Toronto on October 29. The lectures were broadcast on CBC Radio One’s Ideas, November 8–12.   Coupland felt that “a narrative seemed like the most efficient and accessible way of putting forth a large number of propositions about life in the year 2010.”

So this turns out to be a story that takes place over five hours, although like many stories with this conceit there are flashbacks (how could there not be).  There are five main characters: Karen, Luke, Rick, Rachel, and Player One.  Although Player One is a confusing character who may or may not really exist.

Karen is a divorced mom and has decided to travel across the country (from Winnipeg to Toronto) to meet a man in an airport bar for a possible fling.  She’s not proud of it but she thinks, why the hell not–she still feels good about herself.  In fact, on the airplane a boy takes some pictures of her with his phone, because she looks pretty hot.  And in the last one she gives him the finger.  (The whole reality of that–that someone may take a picture of you anywhere for any reason is pretty bizarre).  She arrives in the airport bar where she meets Rick, the bartender. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Joshua Ferris –“Fragments” (New Yorker, April 29, 2013)

Posted in Canadian Music, Gord Downie, Joshua Ferris, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Sarah Harmer, Sex, Short Story, The Tragically Hip on May 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_04_29_13Drooker.inddSOUNDTRACK: THE TRAGICALLY HIP-“Now for Plan A” (2012).

hip manWhile I was enjoying the Hip’s new album, I recognized a voice in a couple of duets.  That voice is Sarah Harmer’s!  I love Harmer and realized that I haven’t heard much from her lately (her last album was three years ago).  I looked up to see what she’s been up to and it appears she’s been on some human rights trips, which is quite cool.  But it’s nice to hear her voice again.

This is the title track to the album.  It starts slow with a wah wah’d guitar.  The sounds slowly build as more layers are added and after a minute Gord starts singing.  By the second verse Harmer sings along with Downie–their voices complement each other very nicely, although it’s funny that in this song neither one of them is really showing of his or her chops–their vocals are mostly quiet.  Although I like when it seems like Harmer is taking over in the final verse.

I don’t love Hip ballads as a rule, but this is a good one.

[READ: May 9, 2013] “Fragments”

This story is indeed about fragments.

It opens with a conversation. And it’s a pretty interesting one–about flying a helicopter over midtown Manhattan.  But then that conversation ends–the protagonist was just overhearing it.  We see that he is at work.  And then his phone rings.  His wife has butt-dialed him and he is able to hear fragments of her conversation.  Although we hear only snippets, it is enough for him (although not necessarily for me) to think that she is planning on having an affair with whomever she is talking to.

This fear is not helped by the fact that she is working extra late hours on a case.  She is out until very late often until he is asleep.  Although in one instance he only pretends to sleep to see what she will do.  She goes to sleep without waking him, which he takes as a bad sign (although honestly, what is she supposed to do wake him up to say she is going to bed?) (more…)

Read Full Post »

Sarah Braunstein–“Marjorie Lemke” (New Yorker, April 1, 2013)

Posted in Babies, Canadian Music, Drugs, Funny (ha ha), Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Pregnancy, Sarah Braunstein, Sex, Short Story, The Tragically Hip on May 9, 2013| 3 Comments »

CV1_TNY_04_01_13Gutierez.inddSOUNDTRACK: TRAGICALLY HIP-“Man Machine Poem” (2012).

hip manI received the new Tragically Hip album Now for Plan A a while back. I’ve listened to it a few times, but it got lost in the shuffle.  Then I put this song on and it really blew me away.

It’s a very typical Hip song–guitars that build but then retreat to let Gord Downie’s voice soar above the quiet verses.  There’s something agonizingly beautiful about the way he sings the verses, which almost feel like they are a capella, the music is so minimal.  Then for the second verse, the band kicks in and builds the song even more.

The chorus, which is very simple and is barely a chorus at all, punctuates the verses perfectly, with Downie’s voice being a great anchor.  The song doesn’t rock as hard as some Hip songs, nor is it as ballady as others, but it’s a perfect example of what the Hip do so well–a middle tempo song that is both passionate and also rocks.  (Although I could do without those weird little keyboard notes that dot the end).

[READ: May 8, 2013] “Marjorie Lemke”

At first I was unhappy about this story—it seemed like it would be another story of a young girl who gets pregnant and has a shitty life.  Especially when I found out the father is a junkie who has run off and that she herself was a huffer of chemical fumes.  Oh boy. And for some reason I thought the story was Irish (I guess there’s lots of down on your luck Irish girl stories out there–cheeky!)

But Braunstein transcends that story but giving Marjorie a support system.  Her aunt, who is very helpful (but doesn’t remove her responsibilities), and a job as a maid at a nice (but not too nice) hotel.  Her daughter, Della, is small for her age, but she seems mostly healthy.  And the hotel allows Marjorie to bring Della along on her cleaning cart (tucked into the clean towels).  Della pretty much sleeps all day (which is good for work, but not so good for nighttime), and no one has complained about her cooing or drinking a bottle when she does wake up.

Then Marjorie knocks on a door and a man is in there—he didn’t say anything when she knocked.  At first Marjorie thinks he’s masturbating, but he’s not, he’s just absorbed in the newspaper on his lap.  He tells her to just go about her work, don’t mind him.  So she does.  He’s not cold exactly just absorbed in what he’s doing.

The next time she goes to the room, he is there again, but this time his wife is there too. She is brusque and tells Marjorie that they will be in the room for about 4 weeks—she is an inspector and has several jobs in the area.  She asks that Marjorie come every two days to clean and says there will be a large tip waiting for her.

The story then jumps forward a bit.  In a way that is impressionistic more than telling, we learn that Marjorie and the man, Gabe, are getting close—talking, holding hands, comforting each other.  (more…)

Read Full Post »

Roddy Doyle–”Teaching” (New Yorker, April 2, 2007)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Canadian Music, Depression, Drinking, Dublin, Ireland, Haim, Humiliation, Irish Writer, Metz, New Yorker, Roddy Doyle, Set at School, Short Story on March 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

2007_04_02_p139SOUNDTRACK: METZ-“Wet Blanket” (Live at SXSW, March 20, 2013).

metzIt’s amazing how much different two bands can sound (comparing Haim from yesterday to Metz from today).  Obviously, they play very different styles of music, but Metz is just three guys and they are loud and bass heavy and raucous. Whereas Haim, with their four members, have practically no low end at all.  It’s an amazing look at how different bands can be while playing basically the same instruments.

Anyhow, Metz are a noise rock trio from Canada.  I’d never heard of them before this song.  There’s a lot of noise as the song opens, but once the groove starts, it’s fast and heavy with pounding drums and a persistent, fast bass.  The band, who are dressed nicely (the singer guitarist has a button down shirt open over his T-shirt), are really abrasive and punky.  And the singer/screamer is a wild man–climbing on the bass drum to wail his solo, feedbacking the guitar from the amps and not even playing the guitar as he screams into the microphone (but there is noise, so I wonder if he has an echo effect on).  At one point someone in the audience even holds the microphone closer to him while he screams as he seems to be having trouble with it.

It’s an intense set and I’d like to hear more from them.  Their debut came out last year (on Sub Pop).

You can watch this song here.

[READ: March 26, 2013] “Teaching”

Another story from Doyle, this one is a dark story about being an old and near-retirement teacher (Doyle was himself a teacher).

The story opens with a girl saying that he, the teacher, knew her mother.  This has been happening more and more now that the students he taught when he was young have had children who are now as old as they were.  The girl says her mom fancied him and he makes a poor joke wondering if the girl can believe it, but he’s just made uncomfortable by the exchange.

In fact, he mostly just seems to want to try to get through the day.  It’s only September and he has a whole school year ahead of him.  He never drinks at school, that is a rule he will always abide by, but that doesn’t mean he won’t drink after school.   Which he does.  Although to describe him as an alcoholic (which I guess he is) kind of takes something away from the thrust of the story.  The alcohol is a part of who he is but it doesn’t impact the story, exactly. (more…)

Read Full Post »

César Aira–The Seamstress and the Wind (1994) [translated 2011]

Posted in Adventure, Books about writers, Canadian Music, César Aira, Constellation Records, Elfin Saddle, Fables, Fantasy, Foreign Books, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Poker, Rosalie Knecht, Short Books, Supernatural, Surreal, Translation, Travel on January 15, 2013| Leave a Comment »

seamSOUNDTRACK: ELFIN SADDLE-Devastates [CST087] (2012).

elfinElfin Saddle continues their streak of oddly juxtaposed music that works very well.   The band specializes in a kind of Middle Eastern folk music (there’s a lot of Jewish-style singing), but with Emi Honda singing Japanese-style vocals it really alters the overall sound.  They also use a lot of raw sounding “instruments” many of which are found or quite simply, junk.  Check out the instrumentation list: Jordan McKenzie: voice, guitar, half-accordion, drums, varied percussion, membrane pipes, organs, piano, pvc processing, tapes, phonographs, speakers, etc.  Emi Honda: voice, ukulele, drums, half-accordion, musical saw, extra percussion.  It’s that extra percussion and etc. that you hear a lot, rattling around in the background of these songs.

They play complex rhythms (with lots of low end drumming) underneath ethereal noises (music boxes and the like).  And all the while, Honda and McKenzie trade off their unusual vocals.  It’s mesmerizing.  When the band really starts rocking, like in “The Changing Wind” you hear how well it all works together, and how well the two play off each other.  The slower pieces, like “Boats” are very cinematic, probably because everything sounds so real–you can see the items that are making these odd sounds.

The music is definitely not pop, but with just a listen or two, you can really appreciate what they’re doing.  If you like your folk a little noisy or your rock a little experimental, this is a great record to check out.

[READ: January 13, 2013] The Seamstress and the Wind

Things that I have said about every book of Aira’s that I have read: they are all short, he writes a lot of books (according to Wikipedia he has written at least 45 books since this one came out about twenty years ago), and they are all nonlinear.

And so it is with this 130 page book.

As the book opens, a young boy named César Aira is playing with his friend in the back of their neighbor Chiquito’s truck.  They are playing a game of ghosts when suddenly, César finds himself walking in a trance back to his house.  Turns out his friend Omar couldn’t find him for hours (and when César snaps out of it, indeed hours have passed).  And yet, despite this story, it turns out that really Omar is missing (what? who knows?).  Omar is the son of the local seamstress, Delia Siffoni.  She is sewing a wedding dress for the art teacher, Silvia, who is (scandalously) pregnant.  When she hears that her son is missing, she freaks out and calls out a search party.

She concludes that Omar was hiding in Chiquito’s truck when he left for Patagonia.  So she takes a taxi to chase after Chiquito.  Since the dress is due to be finished right away, she takes it and her supplies with her in hopes of finishing it on the road.  When Ramón, Delia’s husband realizes what she has done, he chases after her.  And when Silvia realizes that her dress is driving away in a taxi she follows Ramón.  And so it becomes a road novel in which none of the characters are together.

By the end of the story there has been a terrible accident with a taxi crashing into a truck.  There has been a poker game where one of the two women has been lost in a bet (unbeknownst to her) and we have met The Wind (Sir Ventarrón) who helps the seamstress with her problems.  Indeed, Sir Ventarrón becomes an integral part of the story, including a flashback when Sir Ventarrón assisted a snowman in his quest for eternal life (yes). (more…)

Read Full Post »

Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer–“Seal” (The Walrus, January/February 2013)

Posted in 19th Century, Anachronisms, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Fishing, Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, Short Story, The Walrus on January 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »

2013-01SOUNDTRACK: NEIL YOUNG WITH CRAZY HORSE-Americana (2012).

amercancaThe reuniting of Crazy Horse after a time is always cause for excitement.  In this case, they released this strange album, which seems like it should be an EP but is almost an hour long.  It’s basically the band jamming on traditional Americana songs (for the most part).  And it is totally a jam–you can hear them talking about what they just played after a number of tracks.  Critics have complained that Young hasn’t really been writing any thing new in the last few years, and this would bear that out to a certain extent.  But here’s the thing–the music is really good (for the most part), but the lyrics–the traditional lyrics–are sometimes really off-putting, almost feeling like a joke.

The one real standout is Clementine  which the band totally disassembles and make into a sloppy rocker that bears almost no resemblance to the original.  Young even plays around with lyrics, making it a much different story–with a dark, twisted ending.  There’s something a little fun about “Oh Susannah” ( I like the b-a-n-j-o part) although it sounds a little half baked.  “Travel On” also feels less successful.  I think the problem with these songs is that the fast pace doesn’t allow for the band to stretch out much–Crazy Horse works best with slow big open (sloppy) chords rather than these martial type beats.

“Tom Dula” (which is “Tom Dooley”) is almost 9 minutes  long.  This song feel like a murder ballad-a slow meandering song that rather works.  The same is true for “Gallows Pole” which has the same feel.  For me the least successful is “Get a Job,” a song I dislike at the best of times, but this is just a goofy cover.

“Jesus’ Chariot” successfully straddles the line of changing the original (“She’ll be Comin’ Round the Mountain”) with a cool minor key workout and noisy solo.  The singing is so different from the original that it doesn’t really sound like the traditional song.  They give “This Land is Your Land” a kind of country feel.  It works pretty well.  As does “Wayfarin’ Stranger” which is a very low key affair.  The album ends strangely with “God Save the Queen” which he slides into “My Country Tis of Thee.”

So this album is kind of a mess.  It probably would have made a great EP.  But it also works as a fun document of what the guys were up to before they released their “proper” album Psychedelic Pill a little later in the year.  It’s not essential by any means, but it’s an interesting item.  Interestingly, the liner notes explain the lyrical changes are actually the original lyrics–lyrics that have been lost or removed over the years.  I rather like that.

[READ: January 5, 2013] “Seal”

Kuitenbrouwer also had a story in the January/February Walrus last year.  Hmm.  But Kuitenbrouwer writes about such diverse subjects that, aside from a certain harshness in her characters, it wouldn’t be obvious that it was the same author.

I love that in this story the narrator distances himself from the story before even beginning it: “I never had another story but this one, and even it is not mine.”

And what we get is the story of a fishmonger.  He and his wife live above the fish store.  The narrator, a young boy named Ivan, lives above them on the third floor.  He is strangely obsessive about the fishmonger and his wife. He plays fishmonger every day with his parents.  And he pays a girl to go in and ask the man a question (do you like fish?).  The answer is yes and that he eats it for every meal.

The fishmonger, Kieran, is also the fisherman, walking out the back of his shop and into the sea to fish–he even gets special orders right from the sea if he doesn’t have any in the shop.  Kieran is a loud but jolly man. He knows that Ivan paid the girl to ask the question and he teases him about it.  He tells Ivan it’s cheaper to just ask him directly. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Elfin Saddle–Wurld [DVD] (2010)

Posted in Art, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Constellation Records, Elfin Saddle, Environmentalism on November 24, 2012| Leave a Comment »

[WATCHED: 2011 and November 24, 2012] Wurld [CST069] (2010).

Wurld is an art installation.  It was created by Emi Honda and Jordan McKenzie, the co-founders of Elfin Saddle.   As the Constellation Records website explains it:

Wurld is a year-long installation piece constructed, tended and developed in their Montreal apartment, using stop-motion video to document the evolution of the sculptural elements of the work as well as to enact various animated sequences as part of a larger narrative arc for the piece. The resulting 23 minute film Wurld premiered at the Vienna Film Festival in 2009.

The film is indeed, a stop motion film of the daily growth of the plant life in the garden.  It’s got several awesome sequences where you can watch the vines spin around looking for something to grab onto.  But beyond that, they have also created an entire world in this little world.  Things move along train tracks, smoke (cotton) comes out of chimneys, objects exit caves and construct sculptures of themselves.  There’s even an occasional live snail (how did they get it to go where they wanted?  It’s very cool.

Accompanying the video is a soundtrack by Elfin Saddle.  Elfin Saddle plays a kind of world music–accordion, bells, bowed saws and Japanese-style melodies from Honda.  Although in the case of the soundtrack, there are no vocals, and the music is much more soundtracky–not really any style, just a kind of ambient soundscape.  Some of the music is very dark, which comes across especially with some of the found instrumentation (the percussion sounds more like found metal than cymbals or bells).  And some of the other percussive sounds seem to be more like blocks of found wood.  It’s interesting that the music by itself is kind of dark since the video is not dark at all, it is filled with wonder and delight.  Until the end bit which is very mechanized and seems to show a definite downturn in the society of their world.

The DVD comes with a whole bunch of extras: (more…)

Read Full Post »

Kurt Vonnegut–“Chore List of Champions” (Harper’s September 2012)

Posted in Canadian Music, Destroyer, Funny (ha ha), Harper's, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Kurt Vonnegut, Letters, Marriage (Happy) on November 17, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: DESTROYER-Live on KEXP, March 19, 2011 (2011).

I enjoyed Destroyer’s Rubies album quite a bit.  And when Kaputt came out it was heralded as a masterpiece.  But I have to admit it’s a little two smooth jazz for my tastes.  The DJ in this interview describes it as being like George Michael (well, really, Wham), but George Michael knew howto write pop hits which made the smoothness more palatable.  This is kind of like extended jams of smooth jazz, which is…disconcerting.

They play two songs from Kaputt, “Downtown,” and “Song for America.” “Downtown” has a ton of cheesey sounding sax (and instrument I am growing to dislike more and more).  “Song for America” eschews much of the sax and is catchy with its pulsing bass line.  They also play “Certain Things You Ought to Know,” from Your Blues, an album I don’t know very well.  The song is kind of slow, but it tones down the cheese somewhat.  And “Painter in Your Pocket” from Rubies, a song I like very much gets a new treatment here.  It’s much more sparse, and I think I like it a little less.  Maybe Destroyer should just remain one album for me.

You can hear it here.

[READ: November 15, 2012] “Chore List of Champions”

Even though I said I was going to put off Vonnegut for a little while (there was certainly some burn out by the end), this letter appeared in Harper’s (and is in his newly released book Letters).

As the intro explains, this is a contract that Vonnegut signed with his then pregnant wife Jane, in 1947.

I think of marriage contracts these days as being crazily offensive and mercenary, as being things that would embarrass right-thinking people.  And geez, in 1947, what could he possibly have been asking.

Well, Vonnegut proves that he was a cool dude all along.  And all of the points in the contract are things that he pledges that will do, couched in his own hilarious manner.

Some examples: (more…)

Read Full Post »

Matt Lennox–“A Speaking Engagement” (The Walrus, November 2012)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Drinking, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Marriage Trouble, Matt Lennox, Short Story, Stars, The Walrus, Violence, War on October 23, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: STARS-Live at the Triple Door, July 8, 2010 (2010).

KEXP broadcast this concert from the Triple Door in Seattle  (they have a free feed of all of these great concerts from the Triple Door).  Stars are a great Montreal alternapop band.  They sing songs that are kind of downbeat and sad lyrically and yet gorgeous and poppy musically.

This show takes place on the day that their 2010 release, The Five Ghosts, came out.  I really like Stars although I wasn’t that excited by this disc, so I never picked it up.  And yet most of this set is from this album and I think the set is great, so maybe it’s time to pick up the album after all.

Torquil and Amy sing beautiful harmonies (and Amy’s voice is gorgeous on th e song she sings solo).

What’s a little confusing about this set is that they play 7 songs.  So it’s a short set.  And yet the Triple Door is a rock club and they say they’re playing later on that night as well.  So, maybe this is a n album release party?  Or a KEXP show?  Whatever, it’s still a good set.

The band has a relaxed and chatty attitude onstage, with Torquil claiming that the DJs at KEXP having “Serious taste” for playing their music.  The two singers have a disagreement about which song they’re going to play (Oh, it isn’t called “Fixed”?).  And there’s a funny moment when Amy says she was thinking about George Jones and his career being over and Torquil saying “Does anyone know what Amy is talking about”).  And Torquil, who has the gentlest voice (and is the most polite front man ever) curses during the last segment and then says, “I just swore on public radio.  That’s okay, Republicans don’t listen to it anyway they’re too but filling their hearts with hatred.”

Love it.

[READ: October 8, 2009] “A Speaking Engagement”

This story was fascinating to me because it was about a Canadian military lieutenant on leave. I can’t think of too many stories about the Canadian military (I’m sure there are many, I’ve just haven’t encountered them).

Paulie is home for six weeks on leave.  As part of his time home he gives speaking engagements to high schools and (on this date) to a senior center.  He has a slide show in which he shows the audience what they were doing in overseas–in this case helping the citizens with infrastructure.  He says the high school students and seniors react mostly the same way (respectfully) and ask a lot of the same questions, although the seniors never ask if he killed anyone.

On his way to the senior center (in full uniform) he runs into Amy, a girl from his high school class.  He always felt she was out of his league, but she seem genuinely excited to see him.  They chat briefly in the convenience store and make plans for later.

They have dinner later that week and catch up.  Amy tells what she’s been up to since school–not going to med school, having a baby by herself (with her mom’s help), starting her own care business and generally running around like crazy.  Paul talks a little about the army experience, but defers what he actually did there for “another date.”

That other date doesn’t come though because they go back to Amy’s house (her daughter is at her mother’s) for a nightcap.  Which leads to Paul staying the night.   (more…)

Read Full Post »

Douglas Coupland–Marshall McLuhan: You Know Nothing of My Work! (2010)

Posted in Annie Hall, Biography, Books about writers, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, CBC Radio 3, Consumerism, Death, Depression, Douglas Coupland, Extraordinary Canadians, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Marshall McLuhan, Short Books, Silversun Pickups, Smashing Pumpkins, Technology, The Future on October 20, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SILVERSUN PICKUPS-Live on KEXP, May 11, 2012 (2012).

Following the other day’s review of Silversun Pickups, I have this more recent show.  In this one, only two members of the band are here–singer/guitarist Brian Aubert and bassist Nikki Monninger for a stripped down acoustic show.

This set is much more enjoyable than the older set.  The songs are certainly stronger, especially “Bloody Mary” and “The Pit.”  But there’s also something refreshing about hearing this band who is usually so fuzzed out sounding clean and simple.  I wouldn’t want an entire acoustic album from these guys, but it’s so dynamic in this version.  You can really hear the construction of the songs in this simple setting.

And the rapport between Brian and DJ Cheryl Waters is relaxed (they are very funny) and engaging–I really want to like these guys.

It’s interesting that in the five years from the previous set the Billy Corganisms have not gone away at all, but I guess one can’t help what one’s voice sounds like.  It’s kind of hard to get past that, but it’s not impossible, and the songs are so good, you can overlook it.  This makes me want to check out their latest album.  You can hear it here.

And for  those who watch TV, Silversun Pickups were on Up All Night this week (in a very weird mash up of pop culture).  Is that how lesser known bands get publicity, or was that meant to be a draw for the show (I don’t know how popular they are–Sarah had never heard of them).

[READ: October 18, 2012] Marshall McLuhan: You Know Nothing of My Work!

I had not heard of this book until I saw it in my local library.  I wasn’t prepared to read another biography of Marshall McLuhan, and indeed, this isn’t one.  This is the American edition of Extraordinary Canadians: Marshall McLuhan with a spiffy new title.  And it is virtually identical.

There are several things that were in the Canadian edition that were left out of the American edition (although they did leave in all of the “u”s in words like “colour”).

The things that were left out are: (more…)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »