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Archive for the ‘Radio’ Category

SOUNDTRACK: THE RUSSIAN FUTURISTS -“Paul Simon” (2010).

Continuing my march through CBC Radio 3: I love the name of this band, but I’m sadly underwhelmed by this track.

This is a horn (synth) heavy track which has a somewhat lo-fi quality in the verses.  I have to assume that the horns are a nod to Paul Simon, but I can’t be sure of that.  It has an orchestral feel and it’s kind of fun.  But while I wouldn’t turn it off if I heard it again, even after two listens I didn’t think of it so much as a song as a catchy horn blast repeated over and over.

[READ: June 14, 2010] “The Kit Bag”

Now this seems like a quintessential Canadian story to me.

This is the story of a young boy, soon to be a man, saying goodbye to his father as he heads off for the mines of Flin Flon. (more…)

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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.  (more…)

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SOUNDTRACK: Philadelphia Radio Stations (circa 1990 and 2010)

There’s a Dead Milkmen song called “The Big Sleazy” in which the chorus is

“I hate MMR I hate YSP/You know that classic rock/Does not interest me.”

I’ve always been amused by the song, especially when I travel to Philly and hear these stations.  That song is from 1990, so 20 years later I’m not sure what the band would think of their new playlists.

But one thing I never really noticed before is the middle verse which is about one of my favorite Philly stations WXPN.  The verse is:

I hate what they’ve done to XPN
Those folk Nazis ruined my favorite station
I hate what they’ve done to XPN
If you hear it now it’s just a pale imitation.

Now, I have no idea what XPN was like before, but, yea, I can see that he folk Nazis are in charge.  Of course, I rather like that.  However, XPN also plays a bunch of artists who are broader than the folk label, so I wonder if they have changed even more since 1990.

History is fascinating, innit?

[READ: April 3, 2010] Trinity

Collins Gibson is a patron at our library.  He has been working on this book for a few years now.  The first time I looked at a bit of it, it was a novel.  I hadn’t seen him for a while and now he has brought the book back as a screenplay.

I didn’t read enough of the original novel to know whether this works better as a novel or a screenplay, but given the very visual nature of the story, it seems like screenplay fits the story better. And so, since Collins is a good guy, I’m going to do my part to get the word out about the story. (more…)

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SOUNDTRACK: THE ZOLAS (3 Tracks on CBC 3 Radio) (2009).

I must have heard “The Great Collapse” on CBC 3 a few weeks ago because I heard it today and it was so catchy I was sure that I knew the band.  And yet, when I saw the artist, I’d never heard of them before.

But it was so catchy I had to investigate.

The Zolas are from Vancouver, BC and must be the least self-promoting band ever.  They have a Myspace and a Facebook site, but man it was hard to find anything about their CD. It’s available at Amazon (.ca and .com) but it’s for sale at a much more reasonable price here. (Ah, except that it’s $11 shipping to the States, which is more than the disc itself.)

The band list says there’s only two member and that they were previously (or concurrently) in a band called Lotus Children.  But that this incarnation of their songwriting chops is a bit more dramatic, baroque even.

And these three songs have instantly made me want to get their disc.  They are poppy, with wonderful choruses, and yet there are tempo changes and falsettos and surprise twists and turns.

“You’re Too Cool” has about three completely different songs in it, starting as a rollicking rock song, having a rousing chorus, and then, in the middle rather than a bridge we get almost a completely new, mellow song.  “The Great Collapse” is a piano fueled romper with the real catch being the unexpected minor chord at the end of the verses.  The third song “Marlaina Kamikaze” alters the style from the other two with a magnificent guitar intro.  Although it also shifts at the midpoint to include more piano marching type music.  And another killer chorus.  The bridge then comes from out of nowhere (or perhaps from the circus) with a great piano breakdown section, slowly building up to the chanting chorus once more.

Thanks, CBC, for this band.

[READ: January-February 2010] Anonyponymous

This is the third book that Sarah gave me for Christmas.  I thought I’d read it more quickly, but I got caught up in other books.

So, we’d read a summary of this book in The Week.  This book is a collection of word origins that come from a person’s name (eponymous).  The twist is that for the most part, the people are forgotten or unknown (hence anonymous).  Anon-eponymous, aha!

There are tons of etymological books out there, but this one is very deliberately designed as a casual reader’s book.  In fact, when a book lists itself in the definition of “crapper” then you can tell the tone of th ebook?  What?  Yes:

Crapper: A toilet; also, in phr. “crapper material,” a book or magazine meant to be read in the bathroom, e.g., this one. (more…)

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SOUNDTRACK:CBC Radio 3

I listened to CBC Radio 3 briefly when I had Sirius Radio, but I just learned that I could listen streaming online.  In addition to playing (as they say) Independent Canadian Music, they also have a really multifunctional website where you can input any band’s name, read about them and listen to bands’ tracks.  And of course, you can also listen to their live streaming station as it happens (you can even play recently played and even upcoming songs).

Since it’s a CBC station there are no commercials.  And since they are from the CBC they focus exclusively on Canadian bands.  I’m not sure how literally to take the Independent part; however, they don’t include Neil Young, Rush or The Tragically Hip.  But you can get City And Colour (and even AlexisonFire) and even Vancouver’s own 3 Inches of Blood!.

So let’s say you want to hear some tracks from Metric, a band you’ve heard good things about.  Type in their name, get to their page, and play away.  As far as I can tell, the band uploads songs and videos for you to stream.  And, unlike other streaming sites, you can listen to the same tracks multiple times.

If you like your music Canadian and independent, this is the place to be.  Check it out!

[READ: January 29, 2010] Festering Romance

Recently I complained that the Oni graphic novel Wet Moon had the worst title I have ever heard.  And then I found out that “wet moon” is actually an astronomical phenomenon, and I retracted that complaint.  Regardless, this graphic novel now replaces that one as the single worst title in the history of books.  Festering Romance?  Surely not.

Merriam Webster gives us this: 1. To generate pus  2. Putrefy, rot  3. To cause increasing poisoning, irritation, bitterness.

So, okay, the 3rd definition might work, but you have to overlook those first two really radically inappropriate definitions first. (And if you’re afraid to read a book with that title, rest assured, there is no festering pus of any kind in the book).

This terrible title does a huge disservice to what is a really, really great comic, and apparently the first self penned releases by Renee Lott. The artwork is fantastic (more on that in a moment) and the plot was really moving.  I enjoyed it enough to have already passed it along to someone else. (more…)

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SOUNDTRACK: DO MAKE SAY THINK-Other Truths [CST062] (2009).

I’ve always enjoyed Do Make Say Think’s CDs.  They play instrumentals that are always intriguing and which never get dull.

But this CD far exceeds anything they have done so far (and  they’ve done some great work).   There are only four tracks, and they range from 8 to 12 minutes long.  Each track is named for a word in the band’s name: Do, Make, Say, Think.  And each one is a fully realized mini epic.

“Do” sounds like a gorgeous Mogwai track.  While “Make” has wonderfully diverse elements: a cool percussion midsection and a horn-fueled end section that works perfectly with the maniacal drumming.  “Say” is another Mogwai-like exploration, although it is nicely complemented by horns.  It also ends with a slow jazzy section that works in context but is somewhat unexpected. Finally, “Think” closes the disc with a delightful denouement.  It’s the slowest (and shortest) track, and it shows that even slowing down their instrumentals doesn’t make them dull.

It’s a fantastic record from start to finish.  This is hands down my favorite Constellation release in quite some time.

[READ: December 2009 – January 13, 2010] McSweeney’s #33.

The ever-evolving McSweeney’s has set out to do the unlikely: they printed Issue #33 as a Sunday Newspaper.  It is called The San Francisco Panorama and, indeed, it is just like a huge Sunday newspaper. It has real news in (it is meant to be current as of December 7, 2009).  As well as a Sports section, a magazine section and even comics!

[DIGRESSION] I stopped reading newspapers quite some time ago.  I worked for one in college and have long been aware that the news is just something to fill the space between ads.  I do like newspapers in theory, and certainly hope they don’t all go away but print issues are a dying breed.  When I think about the waste that accompanies a newspaper, I’m horrified.  Sarah and I even did a Sunday New York Times subscription for a while, but there were half a dozen sections that we would simply discard unopened.  And, realistically that’s understandable.  Given how long it took me  to read all of the Panorama, if you actually tried to read the whole Sunday paper, you’d be finished the following Sunday (or even two Sundays later).

Their lofty goal here was to show what print journalism can still do. And with that I concur heartily.  Even if I don’t read the newspaper, the newspapers as entities are worth saving.  Because it is pretty much only print journalism that finds real, honest to God, worthy news stories.  TV news is a joke.  There is virtually nothing of value on network TV.  Fox News is beyond a joke.  CNBC is sad (although Rachel Maddow is awesome!) and even CNN, the originator of all of this 24 hour news nonsense still can’t fill their airtime with non-sensationalized news.

Obviously, there are some decent internet sites, but for the most part they don’t have the budget to support real news investigation.  You either get sensationalized crap like Drudge or rebroadcasts of real news.

So, print is the last bastion of news.  And you can see that in journalistic pieces in The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Walrus, Prospect and, yes, in newspapers.

But enough.  What about THIS newspaper?  Oh and unlike other McSweeney’s reviews I’ve done, there is NO WAY that I am writing a thorough comment on everything in here.  There’s just way too much.  Plus, there are many sections that are just news blurbs.  Larger articles and familiar authors will be addressed, however.  [UPDATE: January 18]: If, however, like Alia Malek below, you bring it to my attention that I’ve left you out (or gotten something wrong!) drop me a line, and I’ll correct things.

There is in fact a Panorama Information Pamphlet which answers a lot of basic questions, like why, how and how often (just this once, they promise!). There’s also a Numbers section which details the size, scope and cost of making this (it shows that with an initial start up, anyone could make a newspaper if they talked enough about what the readers were interested in). (more…)

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SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-The Nightline Sessions (1998).

This is a fascinating document for any Rheostatics fan.  I wound up buying it at the same time as Double Live, even though I couldn’t tell exactly what it was because it was really cheap.

And what it is is a night of the Rheostatics playing on the final night of the CBC Radio show Nightlines.  The notes state that the host of the show had been a huge fan for years and had tried to get the band on a few times.  He ultimately decided that they would be the prefect guest for the final show of the series.

It opens fairly seriously with some very simply orchestrated (guitars, bass, drums) versions of Rheos songs: “The Junction Foil Ball” would be recorded officially on Night of the Shooting Stars.  And “Stolen Car” only otherwise available on Double Live, absolutely kicks in this version.

The bulk of the disc is the Rheos fooling around in the studio. There’s some improv, there’s some tape manipulation, there’s a lengthy rap (“Trans Jam”), there’s Bidini being silly on the mike (“This is Nightlines”) and even a quaint little ditty, “Henry’s Musical Beard.”

I’m not sure if an album has ever been released that was so specifically just for fans of a band.  And not even casual fans, but die-hards who would enjoy hearing the band goofing off.  The “proper” tracks are definitely enjoyable, but there’s a lot of nonsense here (okay, yes, some of it is quite funny).

[READ: December 24, 2009] Love the Way You Love: Side A

I’ve always liked Jamie Rich’s stories.  He’s written some full-on fiction in addition to his comics.  And they’re both solid, romantic works.  Ellerby’s drawing style is rather cartoony (big eyes and often outlandish hair, but it works in context).  This is especially so since this story is about teens/post-teens and rock bands.

This book collects the first three (of six) volumes of this series.

The plot is fairly straightforward: Tristan is lead singer of the band Like a Dog.  The band is on the verge of breaking big and the labels guys are on the prowl. One particular label guy is drooling to get his hands on Like a Dog.

At about the same time, Tristan saw the woman of his dreams at the airport. She then showed up at that evening’s Like a Dog gig.  Tristan is blissed until he learns that Isobel, for that is her name, is engaged to the same awful label guy.  Boo.  (more…)

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walrus1I found out about The Walrus while watching an interview with Noah Richler on Book Television (back when I had Canadian satellite).  During the interview, they mentioned that the first issue of this cool new magazine, The Walrus, had just come out.  I was very intrigued; amazingly, the local Barnes & Noble had a copy!  I was delighted.  And since then The Walrus has become one of my favorite magazines.

In fact, in comparison to similar magazines (Harper’s, maybe The New Yorker) it is the only magazine that I read cover to cover.  I’m not sure why I insist on this (it’s probably got to do with it being an import from Canada, but really it’s just so well written that I enjoy everything), but I never regret reading every piece.

The magazine has recently had a face lift, a new cover design and, what seems to me to be a little more white space…it feels like each issue is a little less text-heavy.  Which is obviously a little disappointing, and yet when you have a lack of free time, as I do, it makes it a bit easier. (more…)

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ij9SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH: A Thousand Leaves (1998).

1000This CD actually ties to the book because the crossed out title on the CD is “mille feuille” and the first song is called “Contre le Sexism.”

This opening song is weird and lets you know that this disc is not going to be a friendly listen.  Over some feedback and scratchy noise, Kim whispers and hollers, most notably that “it’s just a kitten.”  But just when you think that the disc is going to be a crazy noise experiment, the next track “Sunday” proves to be another one of Thurston’s supremely catchy singles.

The back and forth continues with Kim’s abrasive “Female Mechanic Now on Duty” and Thurston’s delicate “Wildflower Soul.”  But the pattern is broken with Lee’s spoken-word over simple guitar lines piece, “Hoarfrost.”  It lacks Lee’s usual catchiness, although his later song “Karen Koltrane” more than makes up for it.  Then Kim surprises us by giving us the catchy “French Tickler.”

To me, “Hits of Sunshine” is the centerpiece (literally and metaphorically) of the disc.  It’s 11 minutes long and ranges through the main stylistic feelings of the disc.

The whole disc is over 70 minutes long and it feels meandering.  This is not to say that it has no focus, it’s just not full of pop gems.  And yet for all of its wandering, it hasn’t lost the tunes.  Mixed reviews abound for this disc with everything from 1 to 4 stars coming from the pros.  And, I think depending on my mood, my overall rating could be just as diverse.

I admit that at the time I was starting to lose my adoration for the band.  These longer, more abstract pieces were less enticing than the noise of yore.  But now that I’m a bit older, I can appreciate what they were doing.

[READ: Week of August 17] Infinite Jest (to page 651)

I was planning on starting this week’s write up with a bit about J.O.I’s filmography, which I delved back into and found some fascinating information.  But this week’s write up is pretty long already, so I’m going to do a mid-week (but still spoiler line approved) retrurn to the filmography shortly.

So until then, let’s get back to the book:

This week’s reading gets off to some detailed viewing of the Incandenza men’s psyches before launching into an adrenaline fueled rush.

Mario is still freaked out about Madame Psychosis not being on the air.  He’s not sleeping well at all, and when the insomnia hits him, he goes for walks (even though he knows, and is worried about, how much it freaks out the Moms).

Mario is slowly turning into the absolute heart of the book.  He absolutely and without question loves Hal, and he is concerned for him because he’s been acting differently lately (Mario himself never changes).  He also prays nightly, and in a serious way, talks to God (although he doesn’t expect any one to answer…he’s not crazy).  And, in a very touching scene, which seems to resonate so well with late 1990s America, he is troubled that no one can talk about things sincerely without it being ironic.  (Pemulis wants to set up a prayer hotline for atheists that would just ring and ring). (more…)

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jesySOUNDTRACK: MORRISSEY-Years of Refusal (2009).

years ofI’ve been a fan of The Smiths for years.  And I think that Morrissey’s debut, Viva Hate, is on par with much of the Smiths’ catalogue.  Over the years his output has been mixed, but with Years of Refusal he comes fighting back with a really solid disc.  The disc is so good that if one had no idea of who he was, one could easily get into it with no preconceived notions of Morrissey, The Smiths or any of that glorious past.

From the start, the disc rocks out. That’s right, Morrissey totally rocks, with a real attitude.  “Something is Squeezing My Skull,” in addition to being quite funny, has one of Moz’s most loudly sung choruses in like, forever.  The martial beat of “Mama Lay Softly on the Riverbed” showcases Moz’s “political” songwriting without ever losing its catchiness.  “I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris” is a pretty classic Morrissey song, complete with a simple picking guitar riff.

“All You Need Is Me” has some great squeaky guitars and recalls Morrissey’s own “I Don’t Mind If You Forget Me”), while “When Last I Spoke to Carol” has a Mexican feel, which is different for him.  And “That’s How People Grow Up,” the single, has one of those classic Morrissey lines in which he subverts expectations with a left-field word choice: “So yes there are things worse in life than never being someone’s sweetie.”

The end of the album is full of longer songs which tends to skew the rollicking feel of the disc. (In the first 8 songs only 3 are over 3 minutes while the last 4 songs are each over 4 minutes).  Nevertheless, “It’s Not Your Birthday Anymore” is a wonderfully caustic song and the album closer, “I’m OK By Myself” is just fantastic, and I find myself singing “I don’t need you, or your morality” because they way he sings it gets stuck in my head for days.

There’s also a bonus disc which includes an interview with Russel Brand which is very funny indeed.

Welcome back Morrissey.  Well done, sir.

[READ: Week of July 6, 2009]  Infinite Jest (to page 227).

While looking for this cover of Infinite Jest (the one that I most associate with the book even though I never owned a copy with this cover), I noticed that Powell’s Books is selling a first edition hardcover copy of IJ for $450. The copy that I am currently reading is also a first edition hardcover.  If anyone wants to send me like $400 for it, just let me know!

On my Week Two post, I had a comment that criticized me for giving out spoilers.  While I disagree, I will preface this and future posts by saying that I will certainly be discussing what has happened in the week’s read (including footnotes endnotes and future footnotes endnotes if they are referred to in current footnotes endnotes), I will not intentionally reveal any spoilers.

On to Week 3 of Infinite Summer.  And at this point I not only feel good about the book, I feel somewhat refreshed. This whole week’s worth of reading has been fairly easy and often very funny.  We’re past the initial shock that you’re running a marathon, and are into that 3rd or 4th mile where you just start to feel good and enjoy the scenery.  I also hate to admit this, but I really want to peek ahead into the next week’s reading.  But no, I am going to pace myself!

I also have a question for faithful readers who are actually trying to map the location of the book.  I lived in Brighton, MA, very close to Boston College as well as in a location nearer to Allston, MA.  I have a vague sense of exactly where Enfield is supposed to be located, but if anyone has used the details in the book to map out where Enfield would be, do pass it along (someone has probably created a Google Map for it, but I haven’t actually checked).

This week’s reading had a lot of lengthy sections that focused on one person/issue for multiple pages which is either great or terrible depending on how you like this book broken up.  And TA DA!  The Chronology is spelled out very clearly! (more…)

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