This day is just bleh. Cold, rainy and bleh. I'm so over all this gross sogginess, even though there hasn't been any of the s-word in awhile. Dang, I really need to skip spring and get to summer already. I need this:
In the mind-bogglingly cross-purpose tradition of Al Gore's 2007 Live Earth initiative, Toronto's contribution to the global Earth Hour observations will be a concert in Nathan Phillips Square featuring Nelly Furtado.
Granted, the concert will take place in the half- hour before the official 8pm city-wide "lights out" and Furtado's performance will be acoustic which, presumably, expends less energy. I guess I just don't understand how we promote conservation by holding an event that wouldn't normally take place and, thus, unnecessarily waste energy.
The city's carbon footprint would be greatly lessened if the hundreds of people who are estimated to attend would simply stay home and have dinner by candlelight, go for a sunset walk around their neighbourhood, meditate or even have a frickin' nap. All of these concert-goers have to get to the downtown core somehow and I doubt they'll all be biking it.
Maybe I'm being overly cynical but that's the way I feel and I think a have a valid point. Anyway, I'm not really feeling Nelly right now so, instead, I bring you an oldie but goodie: the 1993 track Emergency on Planet Earth by Jamiroquai.
I was watching The L Word last night and I noticed that the character of actress Nikki Stevens (who is dating Jenny Schecter, the director of the film that she's in where she plays Jesse, a character based on Jenny from her semi-autobiographical book Lez Girls) is wearing a dress which I also own. It's an item from the Kate Moss for TopShop line - I believe it was originally released as part of the S/S 2007 collection but I only purchased mine recently.
Yeah, that's pretty much all I've got today. You can fast forward to the 2 minute mark in the video below to see the dress of which I speak.
Actually, I did have a few more thoughts about the ep that weren't directly related to me and my life.
First off: all hail Adele, the new HBIC! Yes, I know, she totally screwed Jenny over but I can't say I feel bad about it. Jenny is such a self-righteous, self-involved c**t in general and the fact that she couldn't see Adele's Single White Female agenda from the get-go makes me a lot less inclined to feel sorry for her.
Also, "Hello and good to see you!" to Melanie Lynskey, who began a two episode arc as fashion designer and potential Alice-stalker, Clea Mason. Lynskey is probably best known for her role as Pauline Rieper opposite Kate Winslet in the murderous love story Heavenly Creatures.
Finally, I totally thought Kit Porter (played by the fabulous Pam Grier) was going to go all Foxy Brown on those two Miami restaurant-owner skanks. However, a convenient phone call and near-tragic incident with her niece allowed Kit to avert disaster and helped us all learn a lesson about insidious nature of vengeance and the dangers of handguns. Yeah, that's right.
Here's the new video for L'incendie, the latest single from Vanessa Paradis off her most recent album Divinidylle.
Paradis' long-time love and baby-daddy, Johnny Depp, is credited as the director for the clip and, apparently, makes a cameo appearance though he pretty much remains undetected through clever use of costume and shadow.
The initial lineup for the Toronto stop of the2008 Virgin Music Festival was announced yesterday and, so far, it's shaping up to be pretty good.
Among the big name acts are Oasis, Spritualized, Bloc Party and Paul Weller. Also on the bill are Candian favourites The Contantines, Wintersleep and The Weakerthans as well as Stereophonics and Pigeon Detectives.
While I am looking forward to seeing most of the acts, it's sort of looking like a white bread & sausage factory at the moment. There's still plenty of time until the big weekend (September 6 & 7) though, so I'm sure we'll see some more diversity added.
Tickets are $87 for single day tickets, $159 for a 2-day pass and go on sale starting this Saturday, March 29 via Ticketbastards, Rotate This and Future Shop (who waive the normal service charge).
SpiritualizedStop Your Crying
Bloc PartyThe Prayer
So, V Fest is all well and good but I think I'm way more excited by today's announcement of a North American (mini) tour by Swedish pop princess Robyn. The 10-date tour kicks off April 26 in Boston and winds up May 17 in Los Angeles with two Canadian dates: May 4 in Montreal and May 5 in Toronto (yippee!).
Konichiwa Bitches!
If she does Show Me Love, I may faint from happiness.
The current issue of Eye Weekly (March 20 - 26) has a great feature articleon some of Toronto's rising chef superstars. When I picked up my copy last Thursday, the face one of the four profiled chefs who appeared on the cover immediately caught my eye. Roger Mooking, co-owner of Kultura and Nyood, was once better known by the moniker MC Mystik when he was 1/3 of Toronto R&B group Bass is Base.
In the Eye article, Mooking recounts how his eventual distaste for the music industry combined with his childhood love of Chinese and Caribbean cooking led him to culinary school and his current status as entrepreneur chef.
I used to love Bass is Base. I was lucky enough to catch a few of their amazing live shows and I'm sure I still have one of their CDs somewhere among my vast collection. I continue to follow the career of vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Ivana Santilli, one of the other former members. I haven't heard much from BiB lead man, Chin Injeti, but I understand he's made a name for himself as a music producer.
As for Mooking, I'm glad he's been able to find success and happiness in this new phase of his life. Although he doesn't seem to have left the spotlight behind entirely: according to the Eye article, Mooking has teamed up with the Food Network for an as-yet-undisclosed TV project and he's working on his own personal music/food fusion thing.
If we could get all early 90s for a moment, let's take a ride to back in the day in this Funkmobile with the kids from Bass Is Base.
I'm going to be taking a break from blogging over the next few days. I know you'll miss me but you'll have to fine some way to cope. I have a lot of grown-up things I need to take care of like getting my taxes done, finding things with which to adorn my newly-purchased vintage sideboard with matching hutch, going to The Raveonettes' concert and staring into my extra bedroom while desperately wishing that all the random stuff I dumped in there when I moved last summer would somehow organize itself.
Here's the official video for Machine Gun, the first single off the long-awaited third album by Portishead.
Kind of looks like the live performance of the same song that I posted here about a month back - except with worse production values. Ah well, at least we can be reasonably assured that things are still trucking along nicely in the Portishead camp.
The ingeniously named album Third is due for release on April 28.
Coldplay, Jay-Z and Nine Inch Nails are just some of the big names headlining the 2008 Pemberton Festival.
Yeah, that's right. Pemberton. As in somewhere in the mountain region of British Columbia. Undoubtedly beautiful country but not exactly the first place that comes to mind when you think of an A-list music festival.
Let's all take a moment to watch this video for 99Problems and imagine Hova spitting this tune from atop a snowy peak, shall we?
(Explicit version NSFW)
Ah yes, I can just see it now.
The inaugural bash takes place July 25 - 27 and tickets are on sale now. Aside from the above mentioned acts, others included on the bill are Metric, Vampire Weekend, MGMT, The Tragically Hip, Flaming Lips, Interpol, Black Mountain and Death Cab For Cutie.
Yes, I know technically the band is from Manchester, England but you can't get more Irish a name than Gallagher. You just know Liam and Noel are downing a few pints in celebration today. Plus, there's lots of green in the video. So there.
As the the last of the snow (hopefully) finally starts to melt away for good (fingers crossed), it would seem to herald the beginning of the live music season in the city. From this point on until about mid-October-ish, Toronto will see hundreds of musical acts from around the world descend upon the many and varied venues that dot our fine metropolis.
I'm a big fan of live music and hope to attend many concerts over the next few months - you can check out my gig list below. What I'm not a fan of is the some of the other people that I encounter at said shows, moronic twits quite oblivious to the fact that their deplorable behaviour is a nuisance to others who are trying to enjoy the performance on stage. So, I figured now might be a good time to refer you back to a post I did about a year ago, which identified some of these aforementioned twits and their inexcusable actions. I've also got a couple to add.
You and your boyfriend/girlfriend can fuck right off.
Love is a wonderful thing...except when it's on display right in front of me and blocking my view of the stage. If you're really so in lust that you can't keep from molesting each other for 1 - 3 hours you should stay home.
Also, if your significant other isn't a fan of the band, the two of you need to make a choice: either both of you should move to the back of the venue so that the non-fan has plenty of space in which to appear disinterested and, perhaps, catch up on some reading or; you'll have to make the supreme sacrifice and actually not stand together for the duration of the concert. I know that second option seems near impossible, but I'm sure if you send each other plenty of reassuring texts and meet up for a quick cuddle in between sets it will only serve to strengthen your great love. In any case, your bored (and, most likely, whiny and chatty) soul-mate is occupying prime viewing space. Not cool.
Youth does not impress me.
I don't care that you're 12 and this is your first concert: if you're taller than me you can't stand in front of me. Having your dad passive-aggressively suggest that it might be OK to do so is, well, not OK. I've denied tweens before and I will do it again. One might make the argument that a thirty-something gal like myself should probably not be encountering such awkward social situations at this point in her life but that's a discussion for another post.
My Gig Wish List * indicates concerts for which I already have tickets
Actually, the title of the sequel to the 1987 cult classic is Lost Boys 2: The Tribe. My version simply reflects my reaction after having seen the recently released trailer.
Where do I begin?
There's been talk of a sequel for the 20+ years since the original was released and this straight-to-DVD mess was the best they could come up with. It's pretty much just a rehash of it's predecessor, but this time it's a girl child of the Emerson clan who falls in with the local vampires and must be saved by her straight-laced brother. Hmmm, banal and unoriginal - well done.
When original director Joel Shumacher was still attached to this project oh-so-many years ago, I believe he'd wanted the new vampires to be all-female and had names like Rachel Leigh Cook and Aaliyah lined up for roles. I also recall hearing that the plot revolved around David (played by Kiefer Sutherland, of course) actually having survived his impalement (!) at the end of the first film and attempting to join with his bloodthirsty sisters to continue to wreak havoc on an unsuspecting community. The Emerson boys (played by Corey Haim and Jason Patric) and the vampire-hunting Frog brothers (Corey Feldman and Jamieson Newlander) give chase in an attempt to stop the deadly family reunion.
Now, all that "info" was compiled from bits and pieces of rumours and tidbits I've heard about this sequel over the past several years so clearly it's not that reliable and may be just plain inaccurate. Still, I think my version is way more interesting than what the LB2 filmmakers seem to have eventually produced.
Yet, there is hope. Though most of the original cast is MIA, the two Coreys have returned: Feldman reprises his role as Edgar Frog while Haim (originally left out of the film entirely) shows up as his character, Sam Emerson, in what (I've heard) amounts to an extended cameo. Interestingly, the "main vampire" Shane (in the clip, he's the one with the shaggy blond hair, red leather jacket and, um, safety goggles) is played by Angus Sutherland*, youngest child of Donald and half-brother to Kiefer.
Having said all that, I will definitely be seeing LB2 and I'm going to do my best to go in with an open mind. I know I just spent this entire post talking shit about it based on the 1-minute trailer but I do really want to like it. However, if it turns out to be a complete embarrassment and an insult to the spirit of the original, I will have to stake a bitch.
*Here's a random, possibly fabricated (the aging mind is a terrible thing) anecdote about wee Angus. Though father Donald clearly had no trouble naming his eldest son the rather bewildering Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland, he didn't seem to be quite so creative with the last of his progeny. Apparently, neither the elder Sutherland nor the boy's mother, Francine Racette, were particularly inspired and so, for the few months of the child's life, he was simply know as Bonbon. Again, I can't be entirely sure I've got this story right but it's so cute that I really want it to be true.
Toronto celebrates the culture of a certain Nordic country with A Taste of Iceland, taking place March 10 - 16, 2008. Yes, I realize it's already the 13th but I can't keep on top of everything for you. Anyway, you've still got the whole weekend to make like an Icelander with some cured ram scrota and the 100 proof alcoholic beverage of your choice.
You might also want to check out Ghostigital, the latest creative outlet from Einar Orn, once a member of the influential band the Sugarcubes with Iceland's unofficial cultural spokesperson, Bjork. The "experimental electronica" outfit from Rekyavik plays the second show of a two-night stint (again, I know I'm late) tonight at The Drake Hotel.
The 2008 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place this past Monday (March 12), honouring the 5 most recent artists to be welcomed into the fold.
The only one I care about is Leonard Cohen.
With a prolific career spanning more than 40 years (50 plus if you include all of his literary work) and rarely, if ever, an artistic misstep, this recognition was long overdue. Damn, sometimes I wish we could make Cohen King of Canada so he could spend all his time at 22 Sussex Drive, making podcasts of himself reciting poems in that sexy raspy voice of his and just looking pimp as hell. Excuse me for a moment, I feel faint.
OK I'm back.
Here's video from Cohen's segment of the ceremony which includes words of praise by presenter Lou Reed as well as Cohen's acceptance speech.
The first and last time I saw Leonard Cohen in concert was at that same venue about 15 years ago when it was still called the O'Keefe Centre. It was a pretty surreal experience, with an audience that ranged from fluorescent-haired teenagers to bohemian senior citizens. My most vivid memory of that night is of my friends and I sitting way back in the second last row, listening to the middle-aged women behind us weep with emotion during the entire concert.
Actually, if we could just have all you self-righteous, hypocritical politicians save the following speeches of contrition for future reference, you'll certainly find that they come in handy in the event of your inevitable skeevy downfall.
You know, there was a time in my misspent youth when I could take on a multi-venue, weekend music festival without even blinking an eye. Literally - sleep be damned! Now, you throw in the switch to daylight savings time and an earlier than normal work start and my body is in full revolt.
Thus, I am not currently able to properly recap my CMW Festival experience in full. Instead, allow me to relay these tidbits.
The Hives/CMW wristband promo was actually legit. Well, I'll be...
I'm this close to being to old to stand by the speakers near the stage at the Kool Haus.
Dev Hynes (Lightspeed Champion) needs to not work the Badly Drawn Boy look and take of the damn hat already. Otherwise, great set.
Someone needs to gently point out to the CMW promoters that, while the climate in Austin, TX is ideal for a music festival in March, the same cannot be said for Toronto. Might I suggest August?
Brazilians speak Portuguese, Mexicans speak Spanish, Cambodians speak Khmer. Let's try to keep it straight people.
Torontonians are a (fool)hardy folk. Most of the venues I went to on Saturday night were at capacity or near to it. Snow - what snow?
The Breeders set at the Phoenix was tight. You heard me. My hats off to the Deals.
The BreedersBang On (Live at the Phoenix)
FYI the dark blur on the immediate right would be Kelly Deal, the one second from left is Kim. More videos at the source.
Two of my favourite men, singer/songwriter John Legend and satirical political pundit Stephen Colbert, went head to head on the latter's eponymous Report this past Thursday (March 6), each trying to prove a greater love for and loyalty to the good old US of A. The worthy opponents chose not to come to fisticuffs but, instead, went the time-honoured route of "duet duel". Colbert and Legend performed the classic Michael Jackson/Paul McCartney ballad The Girl is Mine which, I believe, is definitely the best way to settle these sorts of disputes.
If you watched to the very end of the video, it certainly seems as if Colbert came out on top so to speak. Or, at least, that he was able to "hit it and quit it".
OK, the title is a bit misleading but I knew it would get your attention and Coolio is, indeed, involved.Stay with me here.
The Last Shadow Puppets just released the video for the title track to their debut album, The Age of the Understatement.
Rather unexpectedly, the track bears a striking similarity to oldie-but-goodie Gangster's Paradise...
...which, of course, samples the following classic tune.
Stevie WonderPastime Paradise
I wish I could say I made the Coolio/Puppets call all on my own, but that honour falls to this intrepid young reporter. Of course, now I'll never be able to disassociate the two. It's all pretty amusing, especially since I 'm pretty sure the young Brits were actually going for more of a Scott Walker/Jacky sound.
I'm OK with these casting choices as long as a) they get the Jamaican accents right, otherwise me and my relatives will have to administer some old-school, Kingston-style beatdowns and b) Lauryn Hill can tone down the crazy.
The blogosphere has been abuzz since late last week when a rumour emerged that Winona Ryder (full-time actress, part-time bandaid*, occasional felon) might finally be ready to settle down permanently with current boyfriend Blake Sennett (of Rilo Kiley and The Elected). The story first "broke" when Ryder and Sennett turned up together at the fall 2008 Valentino show in Paris where they, apparently, announced their engagement.
Turns out that wasn't the case. While the relationship status of of RySen™ is not entirely clear, the hullabaloo did at least provide the opportunity for Stereogum to come up with this collage of boyfriends past. Nicely done (and a tip of the hat to anyone who can put a name to every face) but I think they left out at least a half-dozen chaps. "Wino Forever", anyone? And you know she was F**king Matt Damon long before Sarah Silverman got her hands on him. Still a rather impressive list. Sincerely. I'm not trying to hate on a player.
*n. 1. a girl, who, like a groupie, hangs out with a certain group of rock stars. however, unlike a groupie she's "there for the music" and is a true inspiration to rock and roll. she also supposedly refuses to sleep with rock stars and claims that groupies only do so to be near someone famous. penny lane from the movie almost famous is the quintessential bandaid
Taking a break from the much lauded Arctic Monkeys, Alex Turner has formed a new band called The Last Shadow Puppets along with his pal Miles Kane of The Rascals. The pair's debut album, The Age of the Understatementis due out on April 21 in the UK, May 6 in North America. I've heard whispers about this project for awhile but didn't really give it much heed. Honestly, much as I like the Arctic Monkeys, I wasn't really that interested in what I thought it might just be Version 2.0 until I heard that Arcade Fire collaborator Owen Pallett (aka Final Fantasy) was involved with the production. Then a couple of teaser trailers (see below) appeared over the last few weeks and my curiosity was definitely piqued.
OK, everybody calm down. Ever since Montreal-based band,Arcade Fire announced that they would be holding two free shows in Ohio last night and tonight (March 2 and 3) to support US presidential hopeful Barack Obama just ahead of that state's Democratic primary elections on March 4, there's been a storm of controversy. Most of it is the typical "Celebrities should stay out of politics" whinging but a lot of it has been aimed at the supposed Canadian citizen status of the indie darlings.
Anyone familiar with the band knows that this isn't the case. The widely known AF lore clearly states that brothers Win and Will Butler are originally from Texas and still retain their US ties. Win's wife Regine was born in Haiti and also (I just learned) has dual US/Canadian citizenship. Obama already has pretty strong base of support among decided youth voters so it's not likely that AF's support will have any real effect on the campaign. In any case, the 450 people who packed the theatre in Nelsonville, OH venue last night seemed to enjoy themselves. Clips of the performance appear below.
If it seem that there are a lot more people walking around wearing tight trousers, sporting intentionally messed hairdos and carting amps and guitars in the city next week, don't worry - you're not imagining things. Canadian Music Week 2008 descends upon Toronto beginning March 2 and the festival portion of the week-long industry convention (there's also a conference, trade show and several other business-related events) boasts approximately 500 musical artists in 40 venues.
With all that choice, it certainly can be a task trying to decide if it's worth trekking out into the chill of a late winter night to catch any of these shows. I'm still trying to decide but I have come up with a shortlist of sorts. Here's what I've got so far:
The Hives (w/ The Donnas and The Carps - Monday, March 3 @ Kool Haus) - OK, so the general wisdom is that THE Hives hit their peak back around the time when THE Strokes and THE White Stripes and THE place random noun here sat atop the music scene. I'm still miffed at them for ducking out on last summer's V Fest to play the opening slot on the Maroon fucking 5 tour. Still, from what I've heard of their most recent album the suave Swedes sound as kick-ass as ever and their headlining gig at the Phoenix last fall was, apparently, mind-blowing so I feel like giving them another chance. As an added incentive, purchase of a ticket to this concert entitles you to a free CMW wristband.*
Lightspeed Champion (Tuesday, March 4 @ The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern) - AKA Dev Hynes, late of the much-hyped, short-lived UK musical outfit Test Icicles (yeah, I know). Technically, not part of the CMW lineup so much as a preview/send off for the LC showcase gigs at SXSW later this month. Dev's new stuff is just lovely and there's no cover charge as per the Horseshoe's regular new music Tuesdays. Fair warning: though Lightspeed Champion is getting top billing for this show, he's actually the opening act with a set-time scheduled for 9:30pm.
Lightspeed ChampionTell Me What It's Worth
Sloan (Thursday, March 6 @ The Supermarket) - These guys are nearly 20 years into their career and they don't seem remotely in danger of losing their knack for writing gorgeous pop/rock gems or putting on memorable concerts (anyone who saw their balls-out, rawk spectacular at the CNE Bandshell last summer knows what I'm talking about). Plus, I passed Jay "He's the sexy one" Ferguson on Yonge St not two hours ago and I felt as giddy as when I first heard of them back in my teens cough I'm old cough so that's got to be a good sign.
Tin Bangs (Friday, March 7 @ Clinton's) - Kind of trashy, swagger-heavy, very indie rock quartet representing the good old T-Dot since about 2006. The band has opened for the likes of Art Brut, Datarock and Editors and, by all accounts, more than held their own. These guys are known for their high-energy, sweaty, packed gigs so be prepared to dance off about 5 pounds of water weight with 150 of your (soon to be) closest friends.
Tin BangsThe Skinny
The Breeders (Saturday, March 8 @ Phoenix Concert Theatre) - Possibly worth the price of admission just to see if the recently reunited and rehabbed Deal twins have cleaned up enough to make it through an entire song without stopping umpteen times. I keed, I keed. No, actually, I don't.
KRS-One (Saturday, March 8 @ The Opera House) - Do I need a reason?
RZA (Sunday, March 9 @ The Phoenix Concert Theatre) - Ditto.
Other gigs I'm considering:
Deerhoof (March 5 @ The Phoenix)
Jason Collett (March 6 @ Lee's)
The Besnard Lakes (March 6 @ The El Mocombo)
The Russian Futurists (March 6 @ Sneaky Dee's)
Magneta Lane (March 7 @ Sneaky Dee's)
Yeah, there could be some scheduling conflicts.
I'm sad to report that the gig I was most looking forward to is, unfortunately, not to be. The Duke Spirit were scheduled to play Lee's Palace on March 8 but have since dropped out of CMW entirely (probably due to their upcoming opening gig on the US tour of the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Boo! Boo, I say! Headlining duties for the Lee's show now falls to The Pigeon Detectives who I know little about aside from the fact that, I think, they're friends with the Arctic Monkeys.
*Somehow, I always get screwed over with the CMW wristband. Unlike the one that you get for NXNE, it doesn't seem to gain you access to anything. I recall in years past having to wait in the freezing cold, waving my wristband at the oblivious club bouncer as everybody but me is allowed into the gig. Thus, I've sworn it off for the last few years and only relented this time around because of The Hives promotion. However, supposedly you don't get the wrist band until you show up at the venue on Monday. Uh-huh. We'll see how that goes but I'm not optimistic.
