February 28, 2004

• AAAARGH! Alanis! Trv, you bastard! You know about my phobia ... ! ... Nice post :)
• I'm rooting for Sarah McLachlan. I feel bad for Nickelback, they are obviously talented and Chad has a good voice, but I think they are continuously grouped with the wrong bands. I've heard lot's of people lamenting about them here in the States. I do like their latest "Figured You Out", but it's true, they lack edge. I guess they're laughing all the way to the bank, though.
• I miss the days of Ministry's "Filth Pig". Not Canadian, I know, I'm just sayin'.
• I like how Nickelback is cloning itself, sending sound-alike, look-alikes into the Canadian airwaves. For good music reading on the Canadian scene, see exclaim magazine. For a good run-down of the glory daze, there's always Have Not Been the Same. Sigh. Remember when Sloan didn't suck?
• BTW, Tragically Hip will be forever very cool. JMHO.
• Ah yes, the Tragically Hip, and of course, Sloan. Two fancy little Canadian groups. I don't know about Sloan, but I know the Hip get little to no attention outside of the cold north. From what I hear in their interviews, they really don't care anymore. Nickelback has cloned itself twice that I know of, with "Theory of a Deadman" and "Default". When the first Theory single came out, I thought it was Nickelback. Then I saw the video. (By cloned, I mean Chad actually discovered these bands and put them on his label, and then, uh, gave them "advice".) The few bands I linked though, are being hyped in some circles as potential worldwide hits--as far as critics are concerned, at least. Canada doesn't really have any acts like Radiohead or Coldplay that everyone obsesses over these days. Hope for the future of Canadian alt-rock, so to speak. For the record, I only liked Alanis' "You Oughta Know". And I dug Sarah's older stuff. We share the same last name, but mine's spelt "McLoughlin". ;)
• Of course, the Grammies and the Brits are hardly bastions of innovative, risk-taking underdog-supporting. Take the Brits: What was the best British rock album of last year? Radiohead - Hail to the Thief? Mogwai - Happy Songs for Happy People? Arab Strap - Monday At the Hug and Pint? Franz Ferdinand - s/t? No. The Fucking Darkness - Permission to Cunting Land. Of course, the very best of Canadian alternative music comes out of Montreal - on the Constellation Records label, home of the heavenly Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
• Constellation has some brilliant bands, thats for sure. Do Make Say Think's most recent album was probably their best yet, as was Silver Mount Zion's last one, too. (I saw Silver Mount Zion play in London on Wednesday, and they were very fucking good. Now I'm just desperate to get hold of some live bootlegs of their shows)
• the hip? i'm here in kingston where they came from. they haven't played a public concert here since '96.....they because there is no suitable stadium for their show. i don't think they care much about any fans anymore. i see the baker boy around all the time. ( i know his father professionally, a local judge.) but he's the only one i would recognise on sight...for obvious reasons. which is a whole different story...father is quite a large, rather 'tough justice' type, known for his rather 'abrupt' style in the courtroom. i've always had trouble reconciling the two in my mind, she says, puzzled. they did, however, recently meet with the city council, to discuss the prospective needs for the local planning of a new facility to be built. otherwise, they are low key and rarely habituate their old stomping grounds and buddies.
• Interesting stuff, dxlifer. I guess Ryan Malcolm is your big star, now, eh? Haha. (Canadian Idol winner, for you non-Canucks.) And I can't believe I forgot to mention Constellation people. I'm not totally down with Godspeed, mainly due to the lack of vocals, but I'll use it for background noise sometimes. Montreal does have a lot of class. They put out the Stills, as well, who I simply adore. As for the Brits, I have to say that I love Franz Ferdinand and Radiohead to death. But there is something magical about the Darkness, really. See, I wouldn't buy their album even, which is the funny thing, while I have the other guys. Still... they just kill me. It's like a disease. A GOOD DISEASE!
• hhmmm, I naturally group Tragically Hip with Radiohead and Coldplay. They obviously haven't been marketed well enough to get the same deserved attention. The rest of the world's loss. BTW, I'm not sure it is possible to relay just how much I fucking HATE The Darkness. It pains me to even type their name!
• The Fucking Darkness - Permission to Cunting Land ...just how much I fucking HATE The Darkness... Oh, come on now, you're being really unfair to the lads. They were mildly amusing. For one song. The first, ooh, ten times you heard it. The Brits are just embarassing, this year especially. Superb sense of timing, giving that frigging band every single award at the exact point (to the very minute) where everybody in the entire country got terminally bored of them. Franz Ferdinand are our new gods though, so it's all okay. Nickelback, they are obviously talented and Chad has a good voice In the "Pearl Jam out-takes being played from the bottom of a swimming pool while a bull sea-lion complains about the fact he's got shingles over the top" sense, you mean? ;-) Broken Social Scene look fascinating, btw. Thankyou for that, our Canadian friends. I may be forced to explore them further. (Also, isn't Avril Lavigne Canadian? I admire her anti-authority attitude and punk stylings.)
• I saw Silver Mount Zion play in London on Wednesday... I was going to, but the train ticket would have cost everything I own plus my firstborn child. Also, I wasn't keen on going down to London on my own. I hear they have murderers and muggers and lesbians there. I'm not sure if it'll sort you out with Silver Mount Zion bootlegs, but Kerm.net has all kinds of bootlegs on offer from Godspeed, Explosions in the Sky, and chaps like that. If you can't find it there, you can look on the forums to somewhere that might have it.
• now ryan malcolm, and this 'idol' thing is a whole different story as well. i recently learned a bit more how that system works....ryan is paying all the costs for his rather dismal concert tour, out of his own money...that's how it's done. however he has no say about how the show itself in terms of the pricing etc. he recently apologised to kingston for the ridiculous cost of tickets for his proposed concert here, and explained the set-up. he thinks he should be able to play his home town for free...or at least at a decent cost, but is not allowed. so those 'winners' are actually victims of their own making. by the time he's done the dollars he brought in by his original win will all go back to the 'idol' people to cover the costs of his concert tour which they control and i assume he'll come back and be a singing waiter again. he's fortunate enough to have the support of a good family and social network so that i don't think he's going to be the type to feel a loser, per se, and will still be content with what life hands him. now avril....she's from a small town, just twenty-five miles from here...and she's very real and a true statement of her origins....quaint and remarkable. don't forget dan akroyd, who is also here for the summers and puts in a lot of work at our annual blues festival and walks the streets and bar scene as a casual local. bryan adams...a long time ago....this is a very creative community here that fosters varied talents to develop and usually return to. but don't tell anyone...we like to keep things subdued.
• Dng: The best I've managed to find is this bootleg, from 2001. I haven't heard it yet, but the quality is said to be "so-so".
• Thanks, Blaise.
• Flashboy, your Canadian friends are quite glad you've discovered Broken Social Scene. :) They're a fancy little band. "Stars and Sons" and "Lover's Spit" are two excellent tunes by them, if you're just looking to Kazaa them for a bit. It's a ten-piece collective, with members from such bands as "By Divine Right" and "Treble Charger". Obviously the less annoying members of Treble Charger. Avril Lavigne's not bad, really. You can tell she's pretty independent of evil corporate control, as far as a girl her age could probably manage, that is. She's the sort that'll be taking complete control of her music once she's old enough, and will likely be pretty interesting when that starts to happen. This Ryan Malcolm thing is a bit depressing, though. He's made it this far, he should at least be allowed to sing for the rest of his life and get paid properly. I'd hate to see him back at that Lone Star. And I really do agree with that Nickelback/Pearl Jam/bottom of the swimming pool statement. P.S. To our British monkeys: I'm really in love with Franz Ferdinand. They're even getting videoplay over here now.
• Anybody remember Triumph? Heh.