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Archive for the ‘Canadian Music’ Category

30,000

Posted in Against Me!, Alex Stone, Art Spiegelman, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Chynna Clugston-Major, David Goldberg, Deb Olin Unferth, Dropkick Murphys, Evan Goldberg, Flight of the Conchords, Gordon Korman, Gordon Lightfoot, Harper's, Jeff Kinney, Jens Lekman, Magic, Magicians, Marisha Pessl, McSweeney's, Paul F. Tompkins, Pseudonymous Bosch, Richard Thompson, Roddy Doyle, Seth Rogen, Stephen King, Supernatural, The Airborne Toxic Event, The Weakerthans, Wells Tower, YA Books on March 18, 2009| Leave a Comment »

3000030,000 views may not be a milestone for many blogs. But, for a blog like this which was intended mostly as a record of what I’ve read, the fact that I’ve had 30,000 views is pretty exciting. And it seems appropriate to let you, the readers know what you the other readers have been reading here. So, here is the top ten most read posts on I Just Read About That… with a director’s commentary tacked on.

1. 819 views
Gordon Korman–Son of the Mob (2002)
SOUNDTRACK: GORDON LIGHTFOOT-The Complete Greatest Hits
I’m pretty much 100% certain that Gordon Lightfoot is NOT the attraction that made this post my highest one. Son of the Mob is usually a summer reading book. However, I get hits on this throughout the year.  I’m guessing it’s just a popular book.

(more…)

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The 2009 Edmonton Folk Festival

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Edmonton Folk Festival, Loudon Wainwright III on March 4, 2009| Leave a Comment »

efolk
Back in November, I promised a faithful reader that I would provide updates about the upcoming Edmonton Folk Festival. I secretly hope I can go to it although realistically, getting to Edmonton from New Jersey for a concert seems pretty unlikely.

The festival is August 6-9th.

And, just to make myself jealous, here’s the first batch of confirmations:

The Steeldrivers
Rodney Crowell
Alex Cuba
Kathleen Edwards (whom I love on John Doe’s “The Golden State”)
Pavlo
Pine Leaf Boys
Loudon Wainwright III (yes!)
Sam Baker (from Lambchop) with Gurf Morlix
Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir
Fred Eaglesmith

These are just some of the bands appearing.  And I so wish I could go.

You can find more information about the Festival here.

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J.K. Rowling–The Tales of Beedle the Bard (2008)

Posted in Canadian Music, Children's Books, City and Colour, Entertainment Weekly, Fables, Fantasy, Harry Potter, Illusion, J.K. Rowling, Magic, Meta, Short Books, Supernatural, Technology on December 26, 2008| Leave a Comment »

beedleSOUNDTRACK: CITY AND COLOUR-Live (2007).

ccliveCity and Colour is the solo project of Alexisonfire singer Dallas Green (get it?).  I was really impressed by Dallas’ voice within the noisy metalcore of AOF.  And I wondered what his solo stuff would sound like without the dissonance of the rest of the band.  I saw this disc was available from Maplemusic and it was considerably cheaper than on Amazon.  A live record isn’t always the best venue to check out an artist but in this case, I figured his solo stuff probably translated fine live as well.  (Still haven’t actually heard a solo record so I can’t say).  The set is also not entirely solo, as he calls out an accompanist for a few tracks (the DVD gives more information about who he is).

In AOF, Dallas’s voice is strong and powerful and yet totally catchy.  His voice is the reason that I like AOF so much.  So I was a  little disappointed in the live release because he seems to be holding back.  As I said, I haven’t heard the original discs, so I don’t know how it compares.  But on some of the songs, he seems too restrained.

The songs are all very catchy, and the between-song banter is fun (it was excised from the CD but is available on the DVD) .  But as I said for some of the songs it’s almost as if he’s inhaling rather than exhaling when he sings.  I guess I find it weird for a punk rocker to be so restrained.  Despite that, several songs do stand out as excellent.  “Comin’ Home” (there are two versions on the disc), “Save Your Scissors” (the second version on the disc is especially fun because the crowd sings along).  And lyrically Green is very interesting.  “Comin’ Home” has some nice name-checking of cities around North America (poor fans in Lincoln, Nebraska, though).

Despite my reservations about his singing, his voice still sounds great.  I’m interested in checking out a studio release to see how it compares.

[READ: December 18, 2008] The Tales of Beedle the Bard

There’s two funny stories about this book:

1) At my library, we received a notice from Scholastic Books that this book COULD NOT be put out before the release date of December 4.  We had to sign a release form promising it would not go out any sooner.  We all laughed about that because, while we knew that Book 7 of the Harry Potter series was going to be HUGE (and we had the same release form to sign for that book) we also knew that this was, at best, an esoteric addendum to the series for die-hard fans only.  (As of this writing our copies haven’t even arrived yet, and there are only eleven holds in our entire system). (more…)

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12 musical things I (we) like about Christmas

Posted in Barenaked Ladies, Brian Wilson, Canadian Music, Christmas Album, Comedy Album, Consumerism, David Bowie, Dreams, Funny (ha ha), Holidays, It's a Wonderful Life, Magic, Marriage (Happy), Military, Paul Debraski, Radio, Religion, South Park, Supernatural, War on December 22, 2008| 3 Comments »

After getting the dislikes out of my system, it’s time to bring in the positivity.  Now that I have a lot of different Christmas discs to choose from, I don’t get inundated with the same songs over and over.  This has really allowed me to appreciate the old songs for what they are.

So, here’s 12 things I like about the holiday tune season (in no particular order)

1. “O Holy Night”
oholyI feel like I never really knew this song until I heard Cartman getting cattle-prodded for not knowing the words.   I listened to that version all the time (but I can’t tell if I like that version or the one on Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics better [“Fall on your knees, and hear the angels… something” “VOICES!”]), and what it did was give me a real appreciation for what a cool song this is.  The chord changes are very satisfying without being really obvious.  And, it’s not an easy song to sing.  But I have liked every tooversion I’ve heard: from Cartman to Avril Lavigne (whose first two verses on Maybe This Christmas, Too are the most vibrato-free singing I have ever heard.  I’m quite certain she’s flat all the way through, and yet her voice is so unaffected it’s totally disconcerting.  Tell me what you think…it’s available here).

Sarah: This truly is a beautiful song and I love all its versions as well, from Cartman to Tracy Chapman. I’m not a religious person but I always feel a little holy when I sing this. (more…)

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12 musical things I (we) dislike about Christmas

Posted in Beck, Brian Wilson, Canadian Music, Christmas Album, David Sedaris, Eartha Kitt, Holidays, Johnny Cash, Paul Debraski, Radio, Religion, The Beach Boys, The Flaming Lips, Wikipedia on December 22, 2008| 2 Comments »

Last year I listed my 12 favorite Christmas discs.  This year I figured I’d do 12 gripes and 12 raves about Christmas music in general.  Of course, I’ll start with my gripes.

Note: This list only includes songs that we personally own (mostly on compilations we’ve bought over the years).   This is why “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” and Paul McCartney’s “A Wonderful Christmas Time” are not included here, because I don’t own them, so I don’t have to hear them.

This is Sarah here, chiming in as the co-owner of all this Christmas music and lover of Christmas music and person who makes us listen to it all December long.  I felt compelled to butt in, so you’ll see my comments below.

In no particular order…

1. “Santa Baby”
earthaBoy I can’t stand this song.  I know it’s supposed to be cute and racy and risque or whatever, but I simply can’t stand how crassly materialistic it is.  And I’m not one who thinks Christmas is all about, like, Jesus’ birth or being good or anything.  I know it’s all about the presents; however, this song is just….so…wrong.  And if the Eartha Kitt version (the one you hear most of the time) veryspecialweren’t bad enough, the Madonna version (on A Very Special Christmas) is just abysmal.  She sounds like a sexually deranged Betty Boop (which I suppose is not unusual for her circa this release, but still).  Stop trying to seduce Santa!  Make it go away!

Sarah: I concur. (more…)

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Kerry Colburn & Rob Sorensen–So You Want to Be Canadian: All About the Most fascinating People in the World and the Magical Place They Call Home (2004)

Posted in Books about music, Burt Bacharach, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Corner Gas, Funny (ha ha), History, Hockey Night in Canada, Holidays, Ian Ferguson, Johnny Cash, Kerry Colburn, Mike Ford, Moxy Fruvous, Nanaimo Bar, Poutine, Rob Sorensen, Short Books, Will Ferguson, Woody Guthrie on December 7, 2008| Leave a Comment »

so-youSOUNDTRACK: MIKE FORD-Canada Needs You volume two (2008).

fordThis is the long awaited follow up to Mike Ford’s first Canada Needs You CD.  Volume Two covers Canada’s history in the 20th Century.

The album is more fun than the first because there are several tracks where Ford uses a stylistically appropriate music to go with the songs: “Talkin’ Ten Lost Years” uses a Woody Guthrie-inspired “talking blues” to go along with the Depression-era lyrics.  “Let’s Mobilize” is done in a great swing style for a 1940s/50s era song.  “Joey Smallwood” uses a near-perfect Johnny Cash style (it may not be time-appropriate since Cash is timeless, but it works great for the song).  “Maurice Richard” is a perfect Dylanesque folk song.  And finally, the pièce de résistance is “Expo 67!” It is so wonderfully Burt Bacharach-y, so perfectly late sixties it gets stuck in your head for days! C’est Magnifique!

The rest of the album, especially the first three songs do not try to match a song style to the time it discusses.  Rather, he sings about Canadian history in a folk/rock style ala Moxy Fruvous (“Creeping Barrage” and “In Winnipeg”) or in a great R&B/girl group style–with actual female singers, not himself in a falsetto (“Tea Party”) or reggae on “I’m Gonna Roam Again.”

The songs are all great.  And, yes, it’s a great way to learn some history (I’ve already Googled Joey Smallwood, just to see who he was.  I’m trying to get all of the lyrics down, but it’s not always easy, especially if you don’t know the details of what he’s singing about.  Which leads to my only gripe.

My gripe is that the disc packaging doesn’t include much information.  And, since he is essentially teaching people about the history of Canada, I’d think that some details should be included in the packaging.  I realize of course, that he says that the he’ll have the information on his website, but since we’re carrying the disc with us (not the website), it’d be nice to have at least a summary like on Volume One.  Because frankly, I don’t know enough about Canadian history to know what he’s talking about on most of the tracks.

The only problem is that as of this writing he hasn’t put the information on his website yet.  D’oh!

[READ: Christmas 2007] So You Want to Be Canadian

iamcI am Canadian.  Okay, I’m not, but I’ve had the beer, and I’ve seen the commercial (hilarious) and I’ve been there several times. I even have Canadian satellite broadcast into my home (long story).  So, I’ve seen Rick Mercer’s Talking to Americans, and I’ve been a fan of Corner Gas long before it was broadcast down here. (more…)

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Eoin Colfer–Artemis Fowl And The Time Paradox (2008)

Posted in Adventure, Broken Social Scene, Canadian Music, Eoin Colfer, Fantasy, Feist, Magic, Supernatural, Technology, Threats, Time Travel, YA Books on November 27, 2008| Leave a Comment »

fowlSOUNDTRACK–BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE-Bee Hives (2004).

bssB-side collections come in a couple of forms: the awesome collection of fantastic rare tracks, the self indulgent crap that only true fans would like, and the middle road.

This collection fits nicely into the middle road.  I’ve enjoyed Broken Social Scene’s two later discs (I haven’t heard their first one).  This collection comes between the second and third.  And it contains remixes of songs from the first two, as well as some instrumental tracks.

The tracks are all dreamy and sort of atmospheric.  It’s definitely the kind of disc that requires the right mood, as the instrumentals are pretty but not exactly pulse-racing.  The highlights are Feist’s rendition of “Lover’s Spit” which is ghostly and haunting.  And “Backyards,” a wonderfully catchy, beautifully sung song that could easily be one of their best.

This collection is not for the casual fan, but if you really like BSS, it’s a worthy addition to their catalog.

[READ: November 1, 2008] Artemis Fowl And The Time Paradox.

fowl2Just another example of how the British cover, while not drastically different, is still much cooler than the US cover.

This is the sixth book in the Artemis Fowl series.  Sarah asked me if you could read any of them without having read the previous ones.  Aside from the first, which you should read just for background information (and because it’s a great story), it doesn’t REALLY matter which you read next.  Although references to previous events do crop up in the subsequent stories, the plot events of each book are not dependent on previous knowledge. (more…)

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Roddy Doyle–“Sleep” (New Yorker, October 20, 2008)

Posted in Canadian Music, Marriage (Happy), New Yorker, Roddy Doyle, Short Story, The Go! Team, Tokyo Police Club on November 18, 2008| Leave a Comment »

ny1020SOUNDTRACK: TOKYO POLICE CLUB: A Lesson in Crime EP (2006).

tokyoWhen Toronto’s Tokyo Police Club released their album Elephant Shell, there were quite a lot of rave reviews for it, but almost all of the reviews talked about how great this EP was.  So, I opted to check out their EP first.  And how can you go wrong with a seven song EP that totals about 16 minutes?  Even though I am fond of the long digressive progressive rock style, I also really love really short songs.  And these are short, and very good.

Despite the speed of the EP, and the shortness of the songs, the band isn’t hardcore, and is sort of barely even punk.  Rather, they play high energy, no frills rock.  Their sound is more high end with guitar lines playing melodies and the bass taking a back seat.  The start of the album is a little misleading what with the singer screaming “Operator. Get me the President of the World” suggesting that chaos is forthcoming.  But rather, the songs are very fun, with spazzy guitar lines and really catchy choruses.

“If It Works” even has a break for a second of silence (unexpected in a song that’s only 2 minutes long). “Citizens of Tomorrow” has a few softer moments in it (followed by a chorus that reminds me of The Go! Team). They fit in nicely with the rock revival bands that have been making the rounds lately.  I’m very interested in their full length.

[READ: November 12, 2008] “Sleep”

This is a short, affectionate story by Roddy Doyle.  I enjoyed it very much.  It concerns a long-married couple and how much the husband enjoys watching his wife sleep.  There’s some flashbacks, including the time she slept from Friday night until Sunday morning, as well as some medical revelations that are scary but which he believes they can get through.  It’s nice to read a short, sweet story that, despite the difficulties, ends happily.

It’s available here, and if you’ve not read anythign of Doyle’s (or anything since his earlier funnier works) this is a good story to get a feel for his more mature stories.

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Mary Gaitskill–“Don’t Cry” (New Yorker, June 9 & June 16, 2008)

Posted in Canadian Music, Chuck, Mary Gaitskill, Missile Command, New Yorker, Pregnancy, Rush, Short Story on November 12, 2008| 4 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: RUSH-Moving Pictures (1980).

movingpicturesThe other night on the show Chuck, Rush was described as “the music of the universe” (which enabled our hero to defeat Missile Command and get secret codes–thereby saving the lives of millions.  I have taken this as a sign that geeks have totally taken over the world.  They played “Tom Sawyer” 3 times during the show.  It was pretty awesome.  And my 13 year-old self would have been so excited, it might have been too much for me.

Since about 8th grade, I’ve been a huge Rush fan. And, yes, I do play bass guitar, thank you for asking.  I’m still a fan, although not nearly as rabid as I was back in the day.  Nevertheless, it’s pretty exciting to see these guys making inroads into pop culture, and it has only taken some thirty-four years after their first record.

Having said that, everyone knows Side A of this record (“Tom Sawyer”, “Red Barchetta”, “YYZ” and “Limelight”).  So, I’m not even going to mention it.  Rather, I’ll focus on Side B (how quaint am I with this terminology?).  I think the overexposure of Side A led me to really investigate Side B.  And, for my money, Side B is the more enjoyable side.

“The Camera Eye” starts it out with a wondrous eleven-minute epic.  It has different sections, it has repeating motifs, and it’s probably the most overlooked song in their catalog (their other epic tracks were usually A sides which meant more notice).  It doesn’t have a lot of the drama of Rush’ other ten-minute-plus songs, rather, it’s a meditative look at life in the city.  And yet, all of the parts are essential, with a few minutes of little bits and pieces throughout the track.  And then suddenly you’re eight or so minutes in and totally hooked.  I’ve always has a soft spot for this song.

“Witch Hunt” has such a fantastic drum opening.  My friend Joe was the drummer with whom I jammed to Rush back in the day.  Now, no kidding, Neil Peart is an amazing drummer, but sometimes you have to really listen to a song through the ears of a drummer to hear how amazing he is.  The opening drum motif is so complex, it’s amazing that one man could play it.  And then he throws in a cowbell to boot!  It also has some fantastic lyrics that I find myself singing a lot lately when I think of rabid right-wingers: “Confident their ways are best. The righteous rise with burning eyes, of hatred and ill-will….”  “Those who know what’s best for us, must rise and save us from ourselves….””Ignorance & prejudice and fear walk hand in hand….”

As “Witch Hunt” has a crazy opening drum motif, “Vital Signs” has a great guitar intro.  The guitar chords aren’t terribly complex, but Alex Lifeson plays the chords in a different pattern during alternate lines.  Boy is that fun to play.  This also features one of the great early keyboard workouts for Geddy Lee.  The keyboard riff in “Tom Sawyer” is pretty memorable, but in “Vital Signs” it’s intense.  The two main sections of the song don’t seem like they should fit together, but they segue nicely with drum fills and a smooth and fun bass solo.

It was in listening to the the Snakes and Arrows live CD recently that I was reminded how much I love “Witch Hunt” and what a great song it is.  My only regret is that I never got to see that one live.

[READ: October 31, 2008] “Don’t Cry”

I was introduced to Mary Gaitskill’s writing about a decade ago.  I really liked her short stories.  It’s been a while since I’ve read her work, and I basically forgot what her main themes were.  So it surprised me to find that this story was set in Ethiopia. (more…)

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Charles Burns–Black Hole (2005)

Posted in Altoids, Bad Company, Black Mountain, Black Sabbath, Canadian Music, Charles Burns, Dungen, Fleetwood Mac, Funny (strange), Graphic Novel, Heavy Metal, Jefferson Airplane, Set at School, The Believer, YA Books, Yuck! on November 10, 2008| 1 Comment »

black-holeSOUNDTRACK: BLACK MOUNTAIN–In the Future (2008).

black-mountainAn ironically titled disc, surely.  Black Mountain is a Vancouver-based band that specializes in 70’s era psychedelia with a heavy dose of Black Sabbath.  Yet, like Dungen or other bands that tread this “revivalist” style, they don’t mimic the sound..they definitely sound contemporary, but the vibes of the 70s are constant.

Black Mountain features two singers: Stephen McBean and Amanda Webber.  Webber’s voice in particular harkens back to an amalgamation of Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane, Nancy Wilson and the collective voice of Fleetwood Mac. McBean sounds like several singers of the era too.

“Stormy High” opens the album with the best Black Sabbath riff that Sabbath never wrote.  It sounds like something straight out of Sabotage.  “Angels” slows things down into a kind of Bad Company vibe, complete with trippy 70s keyboards in the middle of the song.  “Wucan” sounds more contemporary (the vocals in particular remind me of something, but I can’t place it) and “Stay Free” is a nice acoustic ballad.  “Queens Will Play” gives Webber the spotlight and the song in particular sounds like a wonderfully creepy take on Fleetwood Mac.

Although some of the songs are longish (6-8 minute), most of them are fairly brief.  Except, of course, for the 16 minute “Bright Lights”.  I think it’s fair to say that 8 minutes could be cut off of this song and it would still be great.  The middle riff-tastic part is really fantastic, but the opening and the noodley keyboard solo could easily be lopped off.

The disc also came with a bonus disc of 3 songs.  Each one adds to the mythos of this fascinating band.  I’m curious about their debut release as well.

[READ: November 8, 2008] Black Hole

My friend Andrew loaned me this book.  I had recently read an interview with Charles Burns in The Believer (and more abou that in a moment), which excerpted this book.  It looked really good, but then I promptly forgot about it.  And Andrew filled in the gap for me.

Charles Burns’ work appears in astonishingly diverse places.  I know him mostly because he is the cover heavy-metalartist for The Believer, (his interview in that magazine is pretty great) and his been since its inception. But I also know him from the early 80s when he was an artist with Heavy Metal magazine–when I did a search for this magazine, this was one of the results, and I distinctly remember it being in my magazine collection (gosh, some 25 years ago?). (more…)

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