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Archive for the ‘Rheostatics’ Category

Kathy Page–“The Last Cut” (The Walrus, September 2015)

Posted in Black Widow, Canadian Content, Cancer as plot device, Deep Purple, Ford Pier, Frank Bonner, Hibakusha, Kathy Page, Neil Young, Paul McLeod, Rheostatics, Short Story, The Walrus, WKRP in Cincinnati, tagged on September 12, 2015| Leave a Comment »

  uberSOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-The Casbah, Hamilton, ON (November 12, 2005).

casbahThis is the first show of their’s that I’ve heard open with a kind of jazzy instrumental.  MPW is playing a jazzy beat on drums and Martin seems to be noodling on mellow chords (or is that Tim?).

And then they kick into a mellow version of “Bad Time to Be Poor” which I feel doesn’t sound quite right.  It may be the recording levels (the quality is crystal clear), but it feels very sharp and not very relaxed.

For “Aliens,” Martin forgot the words a bit.  And when he starts “The Tarleks” Dave interrupts after the first line to say that Frank Bonner (Herb Tarlek from WKRP in Cincinnati) emailed him and said that he’s on an internet soap opera now.  Then they start talking about Green Day (who Martin describes as “chicken little punk”–the sky is falling but I’m drinking bottled water.  But he is mostly upset because instead of holding up lighters people are holding up their fucking cell phones.

Once again the “Song of the Garden” is punky–fast and fun.  They also have a ton of fun with “Four Little Songs.”  Ford Pier is playing keys again, and his contribution is an old song called “Nanaimo.”  He had asked if they should do “Mustang Sally” and Dave said that if they play that it will automatically be the worst gig ever.  And they throw in the (I believe intentionally) worst rendition of “Smoke on the Water” I’ve ever heard.  Later on, Martin throws in the riff from “Hey Hey My My” into “Feed Yourself” and as that song ends he starts singing the Neil Young song, but he’s got the words all wrong too.  It’s pretty funny, especially when he sings “It’s better to burn out than it is to fuck up.”

“Power Ballad for Ozzy Osbourne” has a lengthy intro about Billy Joe Rent–I have to wonder if this and the middle part of “Feed Yourself” about the dead body are impromptu things Dave makes up and then maybe sticks with.

“Satan is the Whistler” i sloppy but good.  Until they get to the fast section which totally falls apart.  Then they count off 1,2 ,3 4 and speed through it much better.

Martin talks about his CBC movie Black Widow, which I’d love to see.  Is it available for viewing anywhere?

Paul McLeod (his band Hibakusha opened, I believe) sings a great version of “Jesus was Once a Teenager Too.”  They follow it with a great version of “Stolen Car” (with some amazing backing vocals in the “marijuana” section.

In the previous show, “Try to Praise his Mutilated World” was amazing, but this one falls a little flat I’m afraid.  But it is all made up for by the hilarious synth “Record Body Count, Now!” done to the tune of “Everybody Dance Now.”

As the show comes to an end they play “Legal Age Life” and someone shouts “Take it, Ford,” and he seems stunned and then plays an incredibly lame (again, I believe intentionally) solo.

It’s a sloppy but fun show and comes up to their multi-night run at the Horseshoe.

[READ: September 10, 2015] “The Last Cut”

This is a very short story and an emotionally draining one at that.

The premise is fairly simple.  Eric, a hairdresser, is happily cutting his new client’s hair.  She is pretty and is willing to try a dramatic new cut, which he believes will really accentuate her looks.  He is mid-way through the cut when he gets a phone call.

It is Mrs. Swenson.  She is Renee’s client, but Renee is out for a couple of days.  Mrs. Swenson says that she needs to have her hair cut tonight.  And then there’s this dramatic line: “His throat and eyes ached. His chest, too. He wished he had found a way to say no to Mrs. Swenson.” (more…)

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Kevin Hardcastle–“Montana Border” (The Walrus, June 2015)

Posted in Bidiniband, Canadian Content, Cheap Trick, Dave Bidini music, Kevin Hardcastle, Rheostatics, Short Story, The Walrus, Violence, tagged on September 11, 2015| Leave a Comment »

walrus jun SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Starlight Club, Waterloo, ON (November 5, 2005).

starlightAfter a summer tour, the Rheostatics live site picks up again in November with this, the first of the last few shows the site has until 2007.

This recording was recently added by Soundmann.  The quality is excellent, and the show is fantastic.

It opens with a tremendous version of “Saskatchewan.”  Then Dave throws in some banter about driving through town and that Ottawa Street exit.  He also comments that Kitchener has really let itself go.

We also find out that Martin is getting shocked by his microphone, which will happen periodically.

They play a really fun version of “Me and Stupid” with a rocking ending.  Later the crowd is really into the “Hey hey ho ho” ending of “Polar Bears and Trees.”

It also turns out that Ford Pier is helping out on keyboards tonight (although he seems kind of shy about it).

Tim seems to be having a slightly off night, though.  His vocals on “Marginalized” make him sound a little under the weather, and he is really creaking on “Here Comes the Image.”  And in “P.I.N.” he forgets to play the opening bass note after Martin’s guitar, and they all kind of lose it for a bit.  They seem to be laughing and there’s no words until the second verse.

At the end of “Image” someone in the band asks “Michael” to tell us a story about the end of the world (he doesn’t).

At the end of “Jesus was Once a teenager Too” Martin gets a shock and walks off.  Someone comments that in the past “every time we gave Martin an  electric shock we’d give him a cigarette.”

Despite Tim’s poorer vocals earlier, they sound great for “Claire” and it is one of the best versions of this song ever.

“Stolen Car” is also great (Martin gets shocked again) it’s a long version with a lengthy jammy section and a noodly keyboard solo.  There’s even a really aggressive punky “drive away” section.

“Power Ballad for Ozzy Osbourne” features Tim on drums (!) and Ford on keyboards.

Then they bust into a lengthy version of “Feed Yourself” with Trevor (whoever that is) on lead vocals.  It sounds weird with someone very unlike Dave singing.  But I like when he modifies the line “Like a box a chocolates and a Beatles song. These are the things you can count on” to “Like a box a chocolates and a Rheos song. These are the things you can count on.”  There’s a long jam in this song too. And the end of the song sort of morphs into “Record Body Count” with Martin singing the new song while the old song is still in place.  The band doesn’t really catch up until the 2nd verse.

Before the encore they talk about their upcoming ten night run at the Horseshoe.  But don’t come on Tuesdays since Tuesdays are free the band only gives 65%.  The encore features “This Song Ain’t Any Good” which Bidiniband will record later.  “Self Serve Gas Station also has an interesting jam at the end.

For the last few songs, they play a really punky version of  “Rock Death America”with a verse of Surrender thrown in for good measure.   And they end with “Four Little Songs” Paul McLeod comes out for a little song and winds up singing the Rheos’ old song “Crescent Moon.”

What a great show.

[READ: September 7, 2015] “Montana Border”

I don’t often read stories about fighters, but I find that when I do, I rather like them.

This story was really interesting in its timelessness and almost placelessness.  It could start anywhere, although it ends bear the Montana/Canada border.

Daniel earns his living by beating people up.  He travels from town to town and gets into cage matches.  They are a no holds barred, winner by knockout kind of deal.  And he is really good at it.  He’s not that big, but he is scrappy and he has only lost one fight.  Well, he is 12-1 in official fights but he has won many other, less official ones.

Hardcastle has a great vocabulary for the fights.  I like when Daniel hit his opponent who had “gone down like someone hit the off button and now he lay there limbstretched on the mat.” (more…)

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Laura Legge–“Prends Donc Courage” (The Walrus, July/August 2015)

Posted in Adam Zagajewski, Canadian Content, Cleoma Falcon, Huh?, Ken Babstock, Laura Legge, Pinball, Poetry, Rheostatics, Rush, Short Story, The Walrus, tagged on September 10, 2015| Leave a Comment »

2015-07 SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Babylon, Ottawa, ON (July 15, 2005).

babylonContinuing their summer run, the Rheos returned to Ottawa for this show. The recording is a bit muddy and kind of low.  But the crowd is really into it, shouting out requests all through the set (which seem especially loud, given the recording).  One guy wants to hear “Queer” really badly (and he gets to).

Perhaps it’s the recording, but the usually angry sounding “Marginalized” feels a but muted here.  On the plus side, during the short drum break in “I Dig Music” MPW is able to get the “Lakeside Park” fill in perfectly.

I learned that “Night of the Shooting Stars” is an actual Italian holiday (known as The Night of San Lorenzo).

This is the first time I’ve heard them play “”Try To Praise This Mutilated World” which is based on the poem by Adam Zagajewski.  Th recording has a poem within the song (“The Expected” by Ken Babstock) read here by Andy Creeggan.

After this, the band loosens up some.  They start “Four Little Songs” and then invite two guys from the mailing list who came all the way from NYC up on stage.  Rather than making up a little song, the guys sing “Legal Age Life” (and quite well).  The song resumes with one little song and throw in a bit of The Doors’ “The End.”  And they follow that with “P.I.N.” which has a bit of “My Humps” in it!

There was another guy who was calling for “Satan is the Whistler” all night.  And when they finally played it, it was outstanding.  Then the crowd cheers for “Shaved Head” and they absolutely kill on that one too–I wish the recording quality was a little better because the show is great.

[READ: September 7, 2015] “Prends Donc Courage”

This story bugged me right from the get go.

It seemed like the author was trying to write a story about a defiantly nontraditional group.  There’s a washed up former TV star, there’s a guy with a phantom limb, a guy who is collecting pinball machines, and they are all more or less destitute.

And that can be interesting, but I felt like the story was pushing me away the more I tried to read it.

The main character is a guy named Blue.  He is the former TV star.  His friend Mitchum is amassing old pinball machines in a garage that is dilapidated (so how did he gets these expensive machines?).  The “arcade” is to be called Sick Bay (in honor of Blue’s act–although that’s not really explained).

Blue doesn’t speak, and hasn’t spoken for some time–mostly he’s afraid to find out that his voice doesn’t work anymore. (more…)

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Naben Ruthnum–“Working Clean” (The Walrus, July/August 2015)

Posted in Canadian Content, Chucky Danger Band, Comedians, Drinking, Hank Fisher, Jill Barber, Led Zeppelin, Naben Ruthnum, Paper Lions, Rheostatics, Short Story, Suzie Vinnick, The Walrus, tagged on September 9, 2015| Leave a Comment »

2015-07 SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Stan Rogers Folk Festival Canso NS (July 2, 2005).

stanBack in 2005, the Rheostatics played two days at the Stan Rogers Folk Festival. The first day’s show was a kind of mash up of the Rheostatics and other bands.  Indeed, the recording includes some other artists along with the Rheos.

The sound quality of the recording is okay, but there are some really loud gusts of wind that seem to mar the sound.

They talk about how they are there to represent the excellence that is Toronto.

The second song is by The Chucky Danger Band (who later changed their name to Paper Lions). It is called “Hola” and is pretty fun (there’s a story about them being in a foreign country and writing a song with these simple words in Spanish.

Then the Rheos come back and they are joined by Suzie Vinick and Jill Barber.

Suzie sings a folky, unusual cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock n Roll.”  Then Jill sings her own “Nothing on Me” a nice folk song.  Then they do a super fun version of “Red Dog Ray” by Hank Fisher.

It’s back to Suzie with her cool song “A 7 minor.”  Then a folky rendition of “Bad Time to Be Poor” with great backing vocals

Suzie gets one more song, this time, her own “Happy Here.”  The last track is a fun rendition of “Claire” with a kazoo solo!  It seems like a perfect folk festival setting.

[READ: September 7, 2015] “Working Clean”

This is the first story I’ve read by Ruthnum.  It went in a direction I totally did not expect.

I enjoyed the way it opened: “I got my break and found my wife on the same day.  The wife part happened by coincidence, but the break–getting in with Jeev–that was a coincidence I made happen.”

So this story is about stand up comics on the comedy set.  The narrator, Ed Brooks, and his friend Richie Hagen are struggling as standups.  In fact, they both got in trouble at work for calling in sick when his boss heard them on the radio.  But Jeev is doing great.  And they agree that they hate him.

Jeev was in town because he needed clean material for his upcoming appearance on The tonight Show.  So he was working in small clubs to prefect his act.   The audience didn’t know who he was, but he still killed.  He was on the same bill as Richie and the narrator, but he seemed oblivious to them. (more…)

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Pasha Malla–“One Hundred Knives in the Air” (The Walrus, July/August 2015)

Posted in Canadian Content, Grand Theft Bus, Knives, Pasha Malla, Rheostatics, Set at School, Short Story, The Walrus, tagged on September 8, 2015| Leave a Comment »

2015-07 SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Fredericton, NB (April 8, 2005).

fredAfter a night of seeing the Rheostatics, how could I not go and revisit some more shows.  This time from 2005.

I get a kick out of the shows that are listed in a town but with no club attached.  I wonder how many clubs there are in Fredericton?  Anyhow, this recording is really quiet, but it is quite clear, which is nice.  The opening band was Grand Theft Bus, and one or two of the guys from GTB join on a song or two.

The show begins kind of mellow, with a slow (but really good) version of “King of the Past.”  Dave is uncharacteristically quiet and even says he doesn’t feel like talking much.

Tim reveals that “Bad Time to be Poor” was written about Ontario MP Mike Harris.  Someone is out of key and forgot to use a capo as the song starts.

For the 8 minute “Here Comes the Image,” they mix it up “if you think Dave on the drums is exciting, wait till you hear Tielli on the bass. and MPW plays keyboards and “excess.”  Then they play “Pornography” which is about the pornogrification of the USA by George W. Bush (obviously) with someone stating “Fuck him” before launching into the song.   They were so political that night!

Before “Alomar” some shouts “Adios Roberto Alomar.”

There’s a rather punky version of “Song of the Garden” and “Satan is the Whistler” proves to be sloppy but fun.

“Take Me in Your Hand” is a really delicate version with beautiful harmonies and no ending coda.  Dennis from GTB plays a solo during “Legal Age Life” and the finale of “Fan Letter to Michael Jackson” opens with Tielli’s robotic voice processor and devolves into a rather vulgar version of the song.

All in all, it’s a good show, with the guys having a fun time with the openers.

[READ: September 7, 2015] “One Hundred Knives in the Air”

I enjoy Malla’s stories quite a bit.  They are typically atypical as is this one.

Set in a grade school, the kids are all delighted to witness their guest performer, Jenny Balak, who is a knife juggler.  (I love the idea that a school would bring in anyone whose sole juggling item is knives!).  But more than simply juggling them, Jenny is able to keep one hundred knives in the air at a time.

The knives hover way up in the air like a cloud, as she somehow touches only one or two which seem to keep the entire group aloft.  The children (even Yusuf, the one kid who can never sit still) are transfixed.

And then Jenny starts telling a story. (more…)

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David Silcox–The Group of Seven and Tom Thompson (2011)

Posted in A. J. Casson, A. Y. Jackson, Art, Art Gallery of Ontario, Arthur Lismer, Big Books, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, David Silcox, Edwin Holgate, Emily Carr, Frank Johnston, Franklin Carmichael, Frederick Varley, Group of 7, J. E. H. MacDonald, Lawren Harris, LeMoine FitzGerald, Nature, Rheostatics, Tom Thomson, Trains on September 7, 2015| Leave a Comment »

sicocSOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Music Inspired by the Group of 7 (1995).

go7albumIn music there’s always a… key in which the composition is set…  In painting there’s a mother color that goes through all–it holds the painting together…you might call it the signature of the painting.

And thus opens the Rheostatics Group of 7 record.  I had always been vaguely dismissive of the album because it is mostly instrumental and, while good, I just didn’t listen to it that much.  After seeing it live it’s time for a reappraisal.

The disc opens with “One” a lovely minute-long piano introduction.  It’s followed by “Two” which has a series of piano and guitar trills as they set a bucolic mood. Then the drums kick in.  This song starts slowly with some plucked strings (and a sample from Queen Elizabeth).  What I love about this piece is that after the trills, the song seems to build to a very cool cello riff (provided by drummer Don Kerr).  Then there’s a vocal section (of bah bahs) which was really highlighted when they played it live.

The first highlight of this record for me is “Three,” which is known as the Boxcar song.  Someone shouts “All aboard” as the chugging begins and the cello and drums keep an excellent rhythm with Martin’s amazing guitar melody.  “Five” is another waltz with, to my ears, a vaguely Parisian sound.  Martin sings a few verses (and a chorus of “blue hysteria”).  It’s a lovely, delicate piece.

“Six” is a longer piece which centers around a slowly swirling guitar and cellos motif.  It ends with some noisy moments and more rainfall.  Until a noir sounding coda creeps up with piano and upright bass,.

Then comes “Seven” a cello based version of the awesome song “Northern Wish.”  I prefer the original because it is so much more intense, but this quieter version is really interesting and subtle.  “Nine” starts slowly with some gentle acoustic guitars.  But it builds and grows more intense (it has the subtitle “Biplanes and bombs”).  As the song progresses (around 3 minutes) Tielli’s guitar comes in and the backing notes grow a little darker.  The last 15 second are sheer noise and chaos (live they stretched this section out for a while, and it was very cool to see Hugh Marsh makes a lot of noise with his violin).

“Ten” uses some nontraditional instruments including what I assume is a didgeridoo and all kinds of samples.  On stage Tim and Kevin were swinging those tubes that whistle to make the noises).

Eleven is a reprise of track one, Kevin’s Waltz, with the vocals sung by Kevin Hearn.

I have really come to appreciate this album a lot more.  It doesn’t have any of my favorite songs on it, but it is a really amusing collection fo songs.

[READ: August 20, 2015] The Group of Seven and Tom Thompson

I have had this book for a number of years.  I’m not even sure where I got it (in hardback no less).  I know that I purchased it because of the Rheostatics, because I had never heard of the Group of Seven before the band made their record inspired by them.  Since I was going to see the paintings live, I decided to read up about the Group a bit more (I liked the paintings a lot, I just hadn’t read much).

Sadly, the Art Gallery of Ontario wasn’t open for viewing when we went to the concert (which makes sense as it was at night) and we didn’t have another opportunity to go to AGO.  Fortunately, we also went to Casa Loma which had a room full of Go7 paintings, so I was delighted to see some of these up close.  (They may have been prints, it was unclear, but it was cool seeing them).

So the Group of Seven were (initially) seven Canadian painters who joined together to create uniquely Canadian works of art from 1920 to 1933.  Their art was meant to celebrate their country which they felt was under-represented in art.  They planned to not follow conventional European styles of painting and often made striking scenes of nature.  They are largely known for their landscapes, although they also painted portraits and other works.

The Group of 7 originally originally consisted of (links are to Wikipedia bios): Franklin Carmichael (1890–1945), Lawren Harris (1885–1970), A. Y. Jackson (1882–1974), Frank Johnston (1888–1949), Arthur Lismer (1885–1969), J. E. H. MacDonald (1873–1932), and Frederick Varley (1881–1969). Later, A. J. Casson (1898–1992) was invited to join in 1926; Edwin Holgate (1892–1977) became a member in 1930; and LeMoine FitzGerald (1890–1956) joined in 1932.

Two artists commonly associated with the group are Tom Thomson (1877–1917) and Emily Carr (1871–1945). (more…)

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Rheostatics (Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON, September 5, 2015)

Posted in Art Gallery of Ontario, Barenaked Ladies, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Dave Bidini music, Hugh Marsh, Kevin Hearn, Martin Tielli, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Rheostatics, Tim Vesely on September 6, 2015| 3 Comments »

[ATTENDED: September 5, 2015] Rheostatics

2015-09-05 22.26.36I am a huge fan of the Rheostatics, but I never saw them live before they broke up.  There was an attempt at a reunion a few years ago but it fell through (apparently do to Martin Tielli’s stage fright).

Then earlier in the spring I saw the incredible news.  The band was going to reunite for three nights at the AGO.  They were celebrating the 20th anniversary of their album Music Inspired by the Group of 7 and they were going to play the entire album.  Now, I’ll admit it’s not my favorite Rheos album.  I like it fine, and there’s some good stuff on it, but it is mostly instrumental, and there’s only really 2 “songs” on it.  But who cared?  It was the Rheostatics!

And who cared if the show was in Toronto, an 8 hour drive away.  I knew the venue was small (it sold out pretty fast).  On the day of tickets sales, I arrived late to work so I could order online.  And after I secured them, I thought….now how in the hell am I going to do this?

Well, we decided to make a vacation out of it.  The show was Saturday night, the kids didn’t start school until Tuesday, so I took some days off of work and we drove up to Niagara Falls on the Wed before the show.  We toured the Falls and then drove to Toronto, where we did so much sightseeing, my legs were tired.  And then, when concert time approached, Sarah and I headed off to the AGO. (more…)

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Maile Meloy–Devotion: A Rat Story (2015)

Posted in Maile Meloy, Mark Atkinson, Parenting, Rats, Rheostatics, Small Books, The Buttless Chaps, tagged on August 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »

devotionSOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Upstairs Cabaret, Victoria, BC (October 26, 2004).

upThis is the final show of 2004 that I’ll be doing.  (The Rheostaticslive site recently add ten shows in a row from a run in Toronto, but I’ll be coming back to that another time).

This show is the first show in Victoria for about three years for the band.  And they do not disappoint.  Although, much like the previous show, there are massive technical problems during the recording.  The recorder (Lucky) says that his DAT recorder turned into a brick that night so he had to borrow a friend’s MP3 recorder, which was low on batteries.  It’s unclear how much of the show he missed (and did he really run out to the car during the show to retrieve the machine?).  He mentions being blown away by “Marginalized” and “The Tarleks” (neither one appears here) and that the batteries run out during “Satan is the Whistler” which he says was amazing.

Nevertheless, the show is great and the sound quality (aside from a few weird moments (in an early song for a few minutes you can only hear drums)) is superb.

They dedicate “Power Ballad” to the Buttless Chaps and sing “I wish I was a buttless chap.”

“Legal Age Life” has BC native Mark Atkinson as a guest.  They tell him to come up and rock out–he’s been doing too much of that acoustic stuff.

It’s also the first time we’ve heard the new song “Shack in the Cornfields.”  They have some fun in the middle of the song by making a “hick” joke about Captain Kirk and a variation of his name “Shat’n’er”  It’s vulgar.  I have to say that the 9 minutes of “Shack” coupled with the 8 minutes of “Here Comes the Image” is some pretty mellow chilled out Rheos.  I might have been a little bored since these are both new songs.  They say that “Mike” plays the keyboards.  And that they will have to start calling him “the Wiz.”  He says he would like a cape.  (I’m not sure if this is MPW or someone else).

Then Morgan from The Buttless Chaps comes out (they toured with the Rheos on the entire West Coast) to add some trippiness to the end of a great “Stolen Car.”

Theree’s a quiet rendition of “Little Bird” and then, when Dave is unready they play a bunch of nonsense called “Tarzan Boy in China” which is pretty hilarious.  “Mumbletypeg” is great with some “I Fought the Law” thrown in.  And then we get just the beginning of “Satan is the Whistler” which has a new intro section.  Before the song someone the audience coordinates with others to shout “Lordy” and Dave seems very confused: “What does that mean?  Why would you shout that?”  “Are you Christians?”  It is unresolved as the batteries have died.

[READ: June 13, 2015] Devotion: A Rat Story

This book is tiny!  It’s only 11 cm high.  I’m not really sure why publishers release books like this.  Sure it’s cool looking, but….  So it’s 100 pages, but it’s really just a short story and can be read in no time at all.

But that’s not my concern.  I enjoyed stuffing it in my pocket while I carried it around with me this weekend.

Meloy has written a pretty broad variety of books over her career from realistic family stories to fantasy teen stories.  To this group she adds this story which is a bit of a realistic psychological thriller (with some grossness included).

The story is about Eleanor.  She had a baby without the father’s assistance (her parents are supportive, but smothering and wanted her to sue the father… among other options).  But rather, she ignored the father and raised the baby in her parents’ house.

Now, four years later, Eleanor is ready to move out of her parents’ house with her daughter Hattie. (more…)

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Haruki Murakami–The Strange Library (2014)

Posted in Chip Kidd, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Haruki Murakami, Library Related, Mark Z. Danielewski, Rheostatics, Short Story, Ted Goossen, The Buttless Chaps, The Jam, The Tragically Hip, Translation, tagged on August 16, 2015| Leave a Comment »

murakamiSOUNDTRACK:  RHEOSTATICS–The Media Club, Vancouver, BC, (October 23, 2004).

media clubEvery year, the Rheostatics would perform what they called Green Sprouts Week in Toronto.  In 2004 they did a West Coast version. Five nights in a row at The Media Club (with each show being crazier than the last).  There aren’t always recording available for these shows, but on this leg there are recordings from the third, fourth and fifth nights.

This recording is the best of the 3 available shows.  Although in the notes, Tyson reveals that he had technical difficulties and was only able to record about an hour of the show.  In addition to the songs he missed for technical difficulties, there were also some quieter acoustic songs “Don’t Say Goodnight and “Joey” which he couldn’t get.

And yet, this is an amazing set of music–outstanding by any barometer, with great sound quality (aside from a few drop outs) and an amazing collection of songs. The final night of a run is usually really long, so it’s fun to imagine how much more they would have thrown into this set.

The 7 songs included are “Shaved Head” which is slow and amazing.  A raw and raging “Feed Yourself” with a dash of The Jam’s “Eton Rifles” and The Tragically Hip’s “Bobcaygeon” thown in.  “Saskatchewan” is broody but also great.  “Horses” is intense and goofy at the same time, with someone on the voice modulator doing a computerized “Play that funky music, white boy” recitation.

Torben Wilson from the Buttless Chaps plays drums on “Claire.”  “A Midwinter Night’s Dream” is one of those rare songs that the band throws out once in a while, and it sounds great here.  They invited the crowd on stage to sit around campfire style.

And “Fan Letter to Michael Jackson” is great here too.

It’s a fantastic collection of songs, leading me to think the entire show must have been amazing.

[READ: May 11, 2015] The Strange Library

I saw this book when we were in a bookstore in Denver.  I mentioned it to Sarah and she clearly bought it then and gave it to me for my birthday.

It wasn’t exactly risky because it is by Murakami with art direction and design by Chip Kidd (how could you go wrong?) but the book was shrink wrapped in the store, so you couldn’t flip through it.

Imagine my surprise when the slipcase proved to be not a slipcase at all, but a double flip cover that does not get removed but opens up like a secret document.  And every (or every other) page is chock full of art from Kidd.  My guess is that all of the art is found (rather than created) by Kidd as it appears to be old Japanese pictures and designs.  And they reflect (more or less) the action of the story.

The story itself is one of Murakami’s more surreal ones. (more…)

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Aziz Ansari–Modern Romance (2015)

Posted in Aziz Ansari, Eric Klinenberg, Paul Myers, Rheostatics, Sting, Technology, The Clash, XTC, tagged on August 15, 2015| Leave a Comment »

modernSOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-The Media Club, Vancouver, BC (October 22, 2004).

media clubEvery year, the Rheostatics would perform what they called Green Sprouts Week in Toronto.  In 2004 they did a West Coast version. Five nights in a row at The Media Club.  This recording is from the fourth night.

Once again, the recording quality isn’t great (although it’s better than the previous night’s).  And once again the show is edited down (it’s barely 90 minutes–just long enough for a cassette).

It feels like perhaps Martin’s voice was hurting by this night.  As an introduction he says, “I’m going to try to sing a song called ‘P.I.N.'”  Even though most of the banter has been removed, there is a funny part with Dave talking via the cymbals (being very silly indeed).

They play the first version I’ve heard of “Here Comes the Image” with a very long synth solo.

They cover XTC’s “Radios in Motion” with vocals by local musician Paul Myers.  They also play The Clash’s “London Calling” and while Myers vocals are great, Tim can’t seem to get the notes on the bass right.

Strangely, for an edited show, it accidentally repeats “Aliens” twice and leaves off “Fan Letter.”

The intro to “Stolen Car” gives Dave a chance to throw in an “obligatory Beatles reference” when he starts singing the words to “Norwegian Wood.”  And the end is scorchingly good.

The final song is a fun version of “Legal Age Life.”  It starts with him asking someone to blow into his beer bottle for notes.  The song ends with a twist contest.  And the prize is the new Sting CD, which they love mocking.  They even joke that Sting has a song called “Stolen Car” but it has a parenthetical “(Take Me Dancing)” which makes it an entirely different song.

It’s another great fun night of Rheos music

[READ: July 14, 2015] Modern Romance

I was really excited to see this book in the bookstore.  Although I like to keep up with new books, I had no idea Aziz had a book out.  And since he is hilarious and other recent Parks and Rec folks have had hilarious books out I was prepared for a lot of laughing.

Well, it turns out that this book isn’t exactly funny. I mean it’s funny because Aziz wrote it, but it’s actually a sociological book about modern romance.  Really.  He has enlisted the help of NYU sociologist Eric Klinenberg and they have compiled and studied all sorts of data.  They have sponsored panels and had discussions and really tried to discover how romance has changed in the last 50 or so years.

It sounds like it might be dry, but again, Aziz throws his snark and wit all over it so just as you get a little tired of statistics, there’s a funny joke about a rapper or some such. I mean any book that opens with “OH Shit!  Thanks for buying my book!” has got to be funny right? (especially if you imagine Aziz saying it). (more…)

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