At the end of April, Chris Cornell performed a magical collection of songs at the sold-out Royal Theatre. He played a set that featured a diverse range of hits from his bands, solo creations and covers.
My brother CJ had the ear for the covers and picked them all out. The one that struck a chord with me the most was his take on Bruce Springsteen‘s 1982 song, “State Trooper.” You’ll find that song as cut 1, side 2 off the record Nebraska.
Bruce Springsteen – “State Trooper”
The stripped down, ghostly, folky Boss original is of course a classic… but when Chris Cornell launched into it live at the theatre; he injected it with a much needed shot of anger and desperation. As he yelped “Please don’t stop me…” wow.
I am not sure what exactly the original is about. I think CJ told me it might about being drunk-driving and getting pulled over. But I think it is more about someone needing to get somewhere quickly and the last thing they need right now is some agent of the government getting all righteous and holding them up.
Lately I’ve been pretty much obsessed with the idea of camping.
I used to camp more… but now I almost never do.
I have no time, too many responsibilities, but those are things I have control to manage, so I’ll just make some time and push some work aside.
Not only that, but I can forecast the need for a tent a few times this summer already as I’ll be DJing a couple weddings outside of the Capital region and I think tenting will be a good way to catch some ZzzzZzzzs after a night of the chicken dance. Coral is off to Sasquatch with her girls… and somewhere in there, I plan to try and do a bike camping trip with Dave. Try an easy(ish) 2 day, 1 night hike trip, explore Bamfield, and also jettison off in the car for some Vancouver Island beach camping.
Long term… well there is camping in Hawaii on my to-do list.
I went to Capital Iron and Mountain Equipment co-op and looked at some tent ideas. They have those big family dealio’s that maybe you remember from your childhood.
I don’t know if that is my style. I kinda like these little 3-person tents like this Black Diamond or the Tarn 3.
I’ll need to research more about camping and hiking and hiking/camping to understand what the difference is in all these things. But basically, I want something kinda compact if I go on a solo or bro adventure with Dave or my brother… but big enough if Coral and Madelyn and I need to do some camping. Also, double as our shelter for if/when the earthquake comes.
If you are a modern day adventurer and have some insight into different tent ideas please do leave me a comment. I am some-what price sensitive but will save and buy something more expensive if there is true value in it.
What sort of stuff do I NEED to camp, what kind of stuff is fun to bring?
Whenever the situation seems most dire, I like to turn to my man Coach Taylor for some inspiration. I try to imagine AV says something sorta poetic before the Canucks step onto the ice. But then if he did… would we be headed to game 7?
Tonight, the Vancouver Canucks play one of the most pivotal games in their franchise history. Tonight is game 6 of their first round series against the Chicago Blackhawks. I have always believed that a winning hockey team is a combination of a lot of things. Strong offence, solid defence, coaching, depth, preparation… but let us not discount the all important, black magic.
This whole series, I have done my part crafting powerful audio incantations to try and get inside the heads of the Chicago Blackhawks to kick them in the mind, while simultaneously raise up the spirit of the Canucks.
As of late, my spells have fallen short… and so today I reach deep into my sack of warlock magic. I have created a set to bring some inspiration to all the long suffering Canucks fans out there in the 40 year drought territory.
Fore maximum effect, 30 some-odd minutes before game time, turn your TV to a hockey pre-game. Mute the television and hit play on this.
Stream from my Mixcloud >>Game 6 Download MP3 >>Game6
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DJ Notes
01) Frank Sinatra – “My Kind of Town”
02) Mark Wills – “I Hate Chicago”
03) Adele – “Rumour Has It”
04) Filter – “Hey Man, Nice Shot”
05) U2 – “Where The Streets Have No Name”
06) Megadeth – “Skin O My Teeth”
07) Metallica – “Seek and Destroy”
08) Pantera – “Walk”
09) Explosions in the Sky – “Your Hand in Mine”
10) Ennio Morricone – “Ecstasy of Gold”
The audio feature also contains lots of clips from the movie Slapshot, sports highlights and whatnot from TSN, Sportsnet Connected and ESPN. And I even drop some Coach Taylor wisdom from the NBC TV series Friday Night Lights.
I hope you enjoy the set and never forget…. Patrick Kane sucks.
Fast forward over 10 years, and here it is. The self titled record that picks up from where The Last of the Daydreams left off. It seems without missing a beat.
Principle By A Threader, John Franco, travels back on a historical road trip to find familiar styles and themes of 1999’s first record. When it came to Vancouver post-hardcore or post-punk… By A Thread to me, was the best.
To think back, By A Thread seemed to have a little of the wind at their back when it came to touring and buzz. But for whatever reason… after that first record, the party stopped.
Here I am over a decade later dropping the needle on a marbled grey vinyl platter. The style of this record has that familiar pained howl painted overtop the crashing jangle of the guitar. I wanted to share a couple cuts with you on this blog. It was hard to pick off the disc as many of the songs sound great.
I thought I should start at track one, side one. “Fashion” seems to be the most fun and maybe the closest to a feature track By A thread will get. Its not like they do singles, videos, radio, record promotors and all the trappings of a modern rock band. If there is a song that best encapsulates this record, “Fashion” would be.
I have a few other faves like “Dive In” or “Reign” and “Line Ups.”
Summer is coming. And to get ready, Coral and I went down to Capital Iron to buy a barbecue.
She said it is pretty funny how guys always like to grill food. But with the weather turning as it is… its hard not to. We’ve had our little Weber Q 200 for two days, and I’ve created two great grilled feasts. I think Easter dinner tomorrow will be on the grill as well (or maybe we’ll do it on Monday).
We ended up getting this little portable beast after our old full sized until gave up the ghost late last summer. My brother and his wife have the same (or similar) model and he loves it. Said it would be so worth the $250.
It has a cast iron grill, which ensure it cooks very well. Its gets nice and hot and sears the meat fantastically. However, cast iron has some cleaning and maintenance challenges. You need to season the grill with oil before and after use. That might take some time to learn and get good at. But the quality of the heat and the small size makes this BBQ ideal for my life as a condo owner and my aspirational life as an adventurer. Now I need a tent and maybe a sleeping bag or mat, and I can finally get back to camping!
At the very least… when Coral starts getting weekends off agin, it will be WEST! to Jordan River for a beach/BBQ day. That I can foresee in my future.
As it stands for those keeping score in my quest to collect The Replacements discography on vinyl:
[ ] Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash
[X] Hootenanny [X] Let It Be
[X] Tim
[X] Please to Meet Me
[X]Don’t Tell a Soul
[ ] All Shook Down
Record Store Day was on Saturday… and yes I took a more than a few text messages from Kirsten to make my way down to Ditch Records at some bizarre hour to line-up.
Blah, I could not get out of bed to save my life Saturday morning, but I still had to take part.
When I finally rolled in around what? noon? Jeremy (hey same name as me!) said he had something special for me. Sure enough, the next and arguable most important treasure on my quest to collect the Replacements discography on vinyl. Their seminal 1984 record Let It Be.
When I first got into the Replacements later in my life, the first song I heard was track one, side one off this album, “I Will Dare.”
The Replacements – “I Will Dare”
This first song I heard on a compilation collection a bunch of years ago opened me up to what would become one of my favourite bands! It makes having this record so special in my collection.
I made a time late last night to make a cup of coffee (I didn’t want to fall asleep!) and drop the needle with my fancy headphones on and have a listen.
One thing that became clear… I need yet another record player and probably a much better amp. There were challenges with sound. People talk a mean game about how much “better vinyl is.” But basically, its work. I like the work, don’t get me wrong… but its not for everyone.
I sat, and listened to the whole record while staring at the cover. There was no liner notes or guts to the record I bought… just the sleeve and the record. But that is fine.
Side one still had flares of the 80s punk/hardcore roots. Especially after “I Will Dare.” I really enjoyed “Favourite Thing.”
The Replacerments – “Favourite Thing” errrr “Favorite Thing.”
Let It Be is ofter considered one of The Replacements better (if not best) albums. Having listened to much of their discography, I personally am not so sure. There are some misses on this record sandwiched between my all-time favourite cuts.
I found on side 2, the record bogged down a bit in the middle. However side 2 also is home to “Unsatisfied” and “Answering Machine.” Both those songs are so emotional, exceptional and powerful.
The Replacements – “Unsatisfied”
Wow right?
So what is the best Replacements’ record?
That is hard one, I think track for track, I might lean to Tim. But I personally enjoy “I Will Dare,” “Unsatisfied” and “Answering Machine.” Those three I’d put at or near the top of any list of “Favourite Songs” in my life.
If you are a Replacements fan, maybe you have some insight or favourite… please do share a comment.
Good times. Jon Middleton (Jon & Roy) sent me his new solo record. Always such a pleasant listen… new Jon Middleton is pretty folky and very Vancouver Island.
I am about half way through the book “Our Band Could Be Your Life” by Michael Azerrad so I thought I’d put down a little mix of some of the bands featured.
The first 7 bands featured on the set are all profiled in the book. The last 3, D.O.A., R.E.M., and Meat Puppets don’t have a profile in the book.. but they get talked about a bunch and I wanted to round out the set.
I hope you like this little 30 minute set of 80s alt. rock.
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DJ Notes
01) The Replacements – “Alex Chilton”
02) Husker Du – “Don’t Want to Know if You Are Lonely”
03) Mission of Burma – “Academy Fight Song”
04) Sonic Youth – “Teen Age Riot”
05) Minor Threat – “Good Guys (Don’t Wear White)”
06) Minutemen – “History Lesson Part 2”
07) Black Flag – “Nervous Breakdown”
08) D.O.A. – “Take A Chance”
09) R.E.M. – “So. Central rain (I’m Sorry)”
10) Meat Puppets – “Plateau”
The Morning After 