Huckdoll was lifting a line from the most excellent Baths‘ song “Maximalist.” I am sure I blogged a cut from this kid before… BUT, today during this weekend’s adventure to Ditch Record with Madelyn, I happened to come across Baths’ record Cerulean. It was just what? $22.99. Still has the sticker on it, I haven’t dropped the needle. Had to have it. Which also reminds me… I gotta bug Smiths Pub to let me DJ another vinyl set on a Wednesday… if they’ll have me.
OK… took a break from this post to message Smiths, did you miss me?
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The other gem I bought from Ditch is not a record at all, but rather a book. I was talking to Jeremy (hey! same name as me!) and my love of the Replacements. He recommended “The Replacements: All over but the shouting.”
I love books about war… and I love books about music. Bah, but the only issue is I am still working my way through “Our Band Could Be Your Life.” I hate getting two books I wanna read because sometimes I start the new one before the old one is done. Not this time, no sir… Imma read my books in due time, cover-to-cover like a grownup.
As I slowly meander through the book Our Band Could Be Your Life, I’ve been revisiting my collection of 1980s alt rock.
The book profiles a bunch a indie rockers of the late 70s/early 80s including many of my personal favourites… like Mission of Burma.
What’s neat about the book so far is that many of the bands’ stories share common threads, inspiration and hardships.
I have noticed that more than one of the bands found some inspiration in an artistic movement of the early 1900s called Dada.
Mission of Burma was definitely the “arty” of the early alt. rock bands and their first single “Academy Fight Song” was backed with “Max Ernst.”
The real Max Ernst was a German painter who was part of the Dada movement of the 1920s when we left the trenches of the World War One.
A lot of Dada art was a reaction to nationalism, war and capitalism. The picture at the top of this blog post is called “Murdering Airplane” and Max painted it in 1919.
Mission of Burma must have been into the art and expressions of Max Ernst as they would later revisit Max with their 2002 song “Max Ernst’s Dream.”
“Weapon” has that nice, very modern indie-rock, harmony sound thing going on.
I think Ryan Guldemond has something to do with these guys… maybe produced or helped record them? A couple members of the group also spend time as Tegan and Sara’s band. Good times.
I get a pang from time-to-time where I think it would be good to create or make something tangible. Live in the tropics and grow stuff.
But sadly, I have no idea how to be a farmer or where I’d live.
I love coffee, so growing coffee might be fun. But how do you even begin to become a coffee farmer? Can I go to coffee farmer school, get a piece of paper that makes me legit then walk over to Coffee Farms R Us and use on-site financing to get a coffee farm? Nope.
It seems to be the domain of working poor people in third-world countries or retired wealthy folks in Hawaii.
If I had to pick to be one of the two, I’d saddle up to be and be wealthy retired folk.
A quick search on the internet found that coffee farms aren’t overly expensive all things considered (I thought they’d be way more). But still outta my price range. So maybe it’ll be my retirement goal.
But before I retire… I could take a holiday and be a coffee farmer. My interneting took me to a website for a group called World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, or WWOOF. You volunteer your labour on a farm, and the farmer provides a place to lay your head and some food.
AND they have a ton of WWOOF hosts on the Big Island of Hawaii. Maybe I don’t have to sell all my processions and move my little family to Hawaii… I can just take a couple weeks off around the harvest and be mercenary farmer!
I’ll just have to keep plugging my pennies in my RRSP fund and get a little more serious about retirement saving. Yeesh, is there anything worse than thinking about retirement? But if there is one thing I take away from Krystal’s blog, its that if you can take some abstract thoughts (like retirement) and apply practical steps today, things can happen for you. At least now the $000s taken from my pay-cheque every two-weeks that go to some faceless account now have a purpose.
Tracked down a super fun song from NYC hipster electro party rockers Holy Ghost!
I love the single art. When I win that million (or I guess earn it, whatever) I am going to have a room that looks just like this… complete with young lovely that just wants to listen to vinyl records and make-out and substitute Knicks stuff for Canucks.
I’ve had a spell of inspiration lately trying to bust through the general malaise which has settled over my life for past few. It is starting to feel kinda good welling up somewhere deep in there and I think I owe a bit of it to reading. Weird. And listening to music. Especially music I don’t normally listen to like old 80s hardcore punk.
A song idea came to me the other day and I think I’ll use the ideas of 80s hardcore to make it! Short and sweet…
Huzzah, my Jeep is all fixed. It was bad battery so it ended up costing a little over $200 when it was all said and done.
I got lots of great advice and feedback on my Facebook from everyone the other day in regards to getting a new battery, so thank you if you took the time.
I do love my Jeep. This one is leased and the lease is up at the end of July. I’ll be sad when its gone.
Krystal’s blog is a financial blog and she is pretty hardcore so it was neat to read how she’d splurge but at the same time what a sane, responsible person would do. Since it is my goal to one day “be responsible” I enjoy her blog.
Before I write anything about it… I’d have to really think hard. One of the only things I might buy is a Jeep.
But then I really think about it, and I just like cars period. That’s not very Green party of me, but I do. A Jeep, a motorcycle maybe… and still yet, shit I’d have to invest the money quick… because I’d randomly buy cars!
To think, if this was the 1900s… they would have have just left me for dead. They’d say, “Oh the war didn’t get him? He wasn’t carried away by werewolves? And he’s 31! Well he lived a life longer than any man has a right to.”
God bless modern medicine.
I did venture outside yesterday for the first time in a couple days to take Madelyn for a bike ride. We bought her this little bike in February but I haven’t really had a chance to take her out. I feel so like the Dad from a Harry Chapin song.
She must be riding it out at Nana’s because she was a bit of a wizard on the thing. We went around the track by our condo twice. But in the end, the call of swings and slides were too much. She bailed on the bike to be pushed in a swing.
Today is my first day back to work and already filled with stress. Lame. My Jeep died so I had t take that to the shop. Likely $200 if its a minor repair or covered under warranty and cost to me will be $0 if its major. So I hope its major? Seems weird, but thus is the modern car industrial complex.
I get to the Zone and see I have a missed call from HSBC. I get calls from them all the time. Drives me nuts. I already have a term loan with them and haven’t missed a payment so I always wonder what there is to talk about… yet every month… like my own private period.
Now I get it, if I walk into a bank with my hand out, I am going to get a serious helping of rejection. That’s not lost on me. So I stopped doing it.
But I guess the banks missed me, because every month, HSBC calls me. Then they pull up my file and reject me. Thank you HSBC for the reminder I am failing at capitalism.
Today’s call was a bit of an extra dagger.
HSBC: “Hello Mr. Baker, I am going through your file and see you have a loan with us.”
Me: “yes”
HSBC: “Wow, it is a really terrible loan. a bagillion percent interest rate. Is that a real number? I am embarrassed we even offered it. We’re worse than the worst loan sharks. Really, this should be illegal. We straight up took advantage of your need/ignorance.”
Me: “You did. Its fine, I’ll deal.. its a term, it’ll end in my lifetime. thank you for calling to tell me I’m a retard. I don’t get that enough in my life at home or at work.”
HSBC: “Well I’m calling to tell you we can do better to get that rate down.”
Me: “Fuck eh! then do it.”
HSBC: “OK, well let me punch up your file.”
Me: “you just said you reviewed my file.”
HSBC: “Are you a home owner?”
Me: “oh god.”
HSBC: “I’m sorry sir, you’re still poor and can’t take your business elsewhere. There just isn’t enough equity in your home yet for us to stop fisting your anus. But you know, you can call us in like a year or if you win the lottery and then maybe we can take your winnings or swindle you out of your house then.”
Me: “Why would I phone you when your auto-dialer will just waste my life force next month with another bullshit call?”
HSBC: “OK have a nice day, thank you for using HSBC.”
I love time and I love context. It can help you re-appreciate an old cut.
In late 2009, Bear in Heaven released their critically acclaimed Beast, Rest, Forth, Mouth. I downloaded a couple key cuts as it sounds great during my lounge sets at The Veneto Lounge on the weekends.
Last night, Coral was slamming through some episodes of Skins and during a scene where Michelle and Stanley are hugging on the shores of a lake… a song is raging at the beach party just beyond them. I recognized the song and Michelle said, “hey I love that song.”
Wait-a-minute, I do too Michelle!…. that’s Bear in Heaven! Nice.
The song they featured was “Lovesick Teenagers.” Such a pretty song about that lustful time in all our lives. I like the song because it talks about how those feelings still live in you and out there… long after you think they don’t. Good times and an adorable song.
Rise Against‘s 6th studio record, Endgame, debuted at #2 on the Billboard Chart. Guitarist Zach Blair also tried to tell me that it was number 1 in Canada and Germany! That’s something right. I like Canada, and Germany, you’re alright.
Zach and I had a little chit-chat over the phone as the band is currently in Berlin.
We talked about all sort of stuff. The record Endgame is kinda of a dark, concept record that is a bit heavier and faster then the previous couple records. There is a savage Grapes of Wrath quote when you open up the compact disc (do people still buy those?). Zach talks about the significance of that then delves into the some communist utopia mumbo-jumbo.
That leads the conversation toward “Help is on the Way” and he talk’s about making small changes in the world and taking care of yourself. because if you wait for someone else or the government you’ll be disappointed.
I gushed a bit about how the video is AWESOME so he explained that a bit.
Then… I dunno, we talk about some other things like Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio being on the record and Bill Stevenson of Black Flag and the Decendents producing it in Colorado and we end by reflecting on the time Rise Against came to Victoria and the guys hung out with the Darth Fiddler on Government Street. Oh the times we shared. Please find our conversation below in its unedited entirety. If that’s of interest to you or you work at another radio station you can download it and use a clip it if you want.
Last night was Victoria Record Club Meeting number 4. It was off to Talk’s Cheap on Pandora for another night of music, friendship and beers.
The first, or second record I put up was the Foo Fighter’s 1996 single, “Big Me.”
I recently bought the UK import (on white marble vinyl!) from Ditch on the weekend and had yet to drop the needle on it.
I remember being a kid in 1996 and “Big Me” being a massive hit. The music video was on Much Music all the time… and it was so clever because it made fun of those old goofy Mentos ads! Oh the 90s.
I love the story about the fans used to pelt the Foos with Mentos when they performed the song live… so the Foo Fighters stopped playing it in their live sets till 2005! Dave Grohl saying, “We did stop playing that song for a while because, honestly, it’s like being stoned. Those little … things are like pebbles – they hurt”
Tiemen is the fine proprietor of Talk’s Cheap and knows so lots about punk rock. I didn’t expect him to care or notice too much about my Foo Fighter’s pop song till he flipped it over to see the b-side was a cut called “Gas Chamber.”
He said, “oh I bet that is an Angry Samoans cover.”
I’ve said before, you can make it in music if you’re one of two things… really good, or really first.
The Angry Samoans appear to be a really first. They were one of the very first bands to put out a record that could be described as hardcore. Their 1982 record Back From Samoa contains the song “Gas Chamber.”
The Samoans were some rock journalists at Creem magazine that formed a punker band.
The first brush with notoriety was a dis song directed at a popular KROQ radio DJ in Los Angelas, Rodney Bingenheimer.
According to his bio, he doesn’t seem like all that bad a guy… but I guess the Samoans didn’t agree with him… or maybe the song was more a strike back against the whole “king-making, music industry industrial complex machine.” Who really knows… but the song “Get Off the Air” didn’t do the Angry Samoans many favours.
Bingenheimer was a LA/Hollywood socialite in the 70s who was very instrumental in helping to network rock stars (and groupies). He owned a club on the Sunset Strip called English Disco, he was dubbed the “Mayor of Sunset Strip”, and was BFF with people like David Bowie and Sonny and Cher.
In the late 70s he was given a show on KROQ which at the time was a little rock radio station that no one cared about playing country-rock. Rodney jammed out punk and British glam/new wave at a time when the whole world in California was into the Eagles.
Rodney helped get some groovy bands out into the mainstream and became a popular guy.
Then backlash, then the Angry Samoans. The song pretty much made sure they didn’t end up on KROQ or get a chance to play any LA clubs for a few years.
They released an EP under a different band name to try and “sneak” onto Rodney’s show… but according to wikipedia, I don’t think it worked. Not sure if it was a gag or the guys are lame… I mean, I would have just apologized and sent my new record, or not given a shit to have my record played if I didn’t care about playing the game. But hey, it was the 80s, what do I know?
The point, I love this radio dis song, I want it to my theme song! I would have never found out about the Samoans if Dave Grohl hadn’t covered their song gas chamber back in the mid 90s and Tiemen had recognized the title. neat.
What was Huck saying the other day? “It takes a lot of courage to go out there and radiate your courage?” Something like that… maybe essence. Courage twice doesn’t even make sense.
The Morning After 