Posted in music, tagged Dan Boekner, Handsome Furs, Sound Kapital on July 13, 2011| 1 Comment »
As I was talking about yesterday, a bunch of new records from SubPop showed up on the Zone music desk.
One of those discs was former Lake Cowichan native Dan Boeckner’s band Handsome Furs.
Now that his previous band Wolf Parade is on the hiatus train, this husband/wife duo scratches that itch nicely. Song 8, “Cheap Music” sounds just like a Wolf Parade cut to me.
Check out the NSFW music video for the single “What About Us?” Trippy good.
Go with yourself.
Posted in music, tagged Rascal Flatts, Washed Out, Withinand Without on July 12, 2011| 1 Comment »
I am a romantic. I listen to way too much Rascal Flatts, more than any red-blooded male should ever admit to.
Coral is into texting and the W network… I wanna sit in the rain and makeout. Fucking weird shit like that.
Its probably why I gravitated to chillwave. Its just a genre dedicated to the makeout jam.
FYI (this Rascal Flatts video is so terrible. Terribly great!)
I was excited yesterday when Dave opened the Zone’s music mail and out tumbled Washed Out’s Within and Without.
I already have and love the ep Life of Leisure. Then I collected what remixes popped up on Pitchfork and now… debut full length! Savage.
Lots of songs to love on this record and I’ve only listened once, quietly on a shitty Zone stereo in an office. Can’t wait to punch it up in the car on a sunny day (or rainy).
First listen, I’ve already started to lean on a couple great songs. I like song three “Amor Fati,” the cello flourishes of number five “Far Away,” and this jam that was hinted at before as a free download.
Washed Out – “You and I”
Download MP3 >> Washed Out – You and I [ft. Caroline Polachek]
This is a lazy weekend record, or the soundtrack to a night that will end with romance.
Go with yourself.
Posted in music, tagged Chris De Burgh, The Lady in Red on July 7, 2011| Leave a Comment »
wow….
Chris De Burgh – “The Lady in Red”
Wipe the tears away and listen to this… trolling Picker’s Consignment Store today for a Zone broadcast I discovered a treasure trove of 45s. I ended up snagging 10 and one was Chris De Burgh’s 1986 number 1 hit… “The Lady in Red.”
Some people think De Burgh wrote the song as an homage to Expo Ernie, but that’s just ignorant. This touching love song was kind of written for or about his own wife Diane. The song was inspired by the time they were in a crowded nightclub and she was looking particularly striking in a red dress. It reminded him that he was married to a hottie and that many people take their wives and longtime girlfriends for granted.
Pretty song and maybe an all-time classic? Sure.
Go with yourself.
Posted in life or something like it, tagged cars, Honda, Honda Civic on July 6, 2011| 2 Comments »
Time for a new automobile. Coral and I have enjoyed a Jeep Patriot since 2007. We leased this car and its time has come.
We decided it was time for something a little different. Our needs in a car have changed a bit and what we use it for and we don’t need a big Jeep. Also we wanted to lower our monthly bills so we don’t end up like Greece.
We looked around at a few cars and had some great experiences with some.
Obviously a Chevy Cruze would work for us. I was fortunate to be able to drive one over the winter and road trip to Vegas in it. My folks recently bought a Mazda 3 and over the Black Keys weekend my Mom let me borrow it to drive people around (Thank you Mommy!). That was a very nice car.
Coral really liked the Honda Civic but it wasn’t till I did a Zone radio broadcast from Campus Honda that I got interested in that car.
As is always the case… I looked at a fairly austere Sedan version… but Coral was more interested in blinking lights and what not. I can’t remember what model we ended up on… but its pretty a decent savings per month on our Jeep (which Madelyn calls Jeepy).
We let Mads pick the colour… black is her current fave so black it is. And she seems to be calling the new car Rosie (like Caillou‘s little sister? weird). So that’s that.
Tonight Coral and I will be DJing at Smiths Pub. Maybe you’ll come drink with us?
Go with yourself.
Posted in life or something like it, music, tagged Bon Iver, Calgary, Honda Civic on June 30, 2011| 1 Comment »
Not blogging everyday (or twice) really is a kick to the junk of the old hit counter. Viewership is down.
Being famous on the internet is hard work. Maybe I should just dance awkwardly for 5 seconds in a terrible music video?
Not blogging, doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy. Far from it, that’s why I haven’t been blogging!
Coral and I are hard at work trying to figure out our car situation. God bless me Mom and Dad, they let me use their old mini-van for my DJ business. BUT by the end of this month, the lease on our Jeep is up, and we’ll need to figure something out.
My goal on our next car is to buy or lease a vehicle that has a payment that is less than our current Jeep lease. Looking at Honda Civics the other day… and maybe we found our car. Perfect four door, affordable, easy car for Coral to go to work in and tote our child. While being fun and modern and generally awesome. We’ll see if we can make that work over the next few days/weeks.
DJing lots of weddings and on July 6th… Coral and I will be doing our World Locally Famous Husband/Wife Vinyl DJ sets at Smiths Pub. Fun attack!
Lastly… been jamming out tons of great new music. TONS and T O N S!
One of my faves right now… and likely a future add to the record collection is Bon Iver. His new s/t album is getting major huge buzz and rocked Billboard last week with sales that put it at Number 2!
Have a listen to this!
Bon Iver – “Calgary”
Download MP3 >> Calgary
Posted in ...this is your father speaking, life or something like it, music, tagged Grand Archives, Maurice, Robin, Swan matches, Swan Vesta, Topless Gay Love Tekno Party on June 23, 2011| 5 Comments »
Dear blog,
Whoa… its been a few days and that’s my bad. Summertime and the living has been, well, maybe not easy. Busy?
I got more than one email and bunch of calls on the Zone looking to hear Maurice‘s acoustic take on “Robin.”
JP Maurice had just got off the boat from Vancouver where he had been on the outskirts of the Game 7 riot. He rolled straight into the Zone and laid this song down.
Maurice – “Robin” (live at Zone)
Download MP3>> 20110616 Maurice
Fun fact: “Robin” is a cover of the Vancouver band Topless Gay Love Tekno Party. Neat.
***
I don’t have any tattoos. I know right? I’m that guy. The no tattoo guy. Which is funny, because I went through a punk rock phase and everything.
Today I am broadcasting my radio show from Incendiary Tattoo on Esquimalt Road. I am waiting on a cheque, but if I get some money I might try and get one during my show. But what?
I am thinking some song lyrics from this song.
Grand Archives – “Swan Matches”
I always loved this song. Their s/t album Grand Archives was new back in 2008 when Madelyn was born and became the soundtrack to that part of my life.
The song reminds me of staying awake at weird hours for her birth and later staying up on the couch watching late night TV and maybe a bottle feeding during the witching hours.
Swan Matches are pretty neat. Its an old British brand founded in the late 1800s. They were known as “the smoker’s match.” Obviously, they’ve changed their tag line today… but still… for the classic smoker still jamming out the match stick to light up, Swan’s is apparently the brand. The brand was Britain’s best selling match by the 1930s.
The company is now Swedish but they still operate as Swan.
Sort of a random thing for Grand Archives to find for a song and title.
Beautiful song.
Go with yourself.
Posted in Dave Babych, The Zone @ 91-3, tagged /A\ News Vancouver Island, Bruins, Canucks, Vancouver Island Brewery on June 17, 2011| 1 Comment »
Posted in life or something like it, music, Wedding, tagged Foster The People, Long & McQuade, Ukulele, Wedding DJ on June 17, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Huzzah! Ditch Records has copies of Foster the People on vinyl LP (I forgot to ask if the CDs came in too).
I raced down during a little lull in my crazy hectic day to snap up a copy for Coral before they went sold out again. (also got me out of the studio/office for 20 minutes and into the city).
Foster the People – “I Would Do Anything For You”
***
Yesterday I talked about buying a Ukulele and got lots of messages from friends with ukulele’s too! Neat.
I also love how WordPress can take your tags and share them with other bloggers on wordpress that might be into what you’re talking. I got a nice comment from a guy that writes about ukulele’s!
***
And the reason I was at L&M was to check on today’s capital purchase for my Wedding DJ business… I bought a two PA speakers, a sub, a wireless mic and all the cables/stands I need to make them go.
It will save me money making the payments vs. renting each wedding. And by next summer… I’ll get to keep a little more profit!
Happy Weekend!
Go with yourself.
Posted in Dave Babych, life or something like it, music, tagged Canucks, Eddie Vedder, Ukulele on June 16, 2011| 5 Comments »
So…. how about that Canucks game the other night?
Right, so it didn’t end the way Disney told me it would… and then the riots downtown.
But here I am, the day after hockey, and I feel pretty good. Canucks had an amazing year, game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final… and come October, we do it again.
I woke up today after a terrible sleep to a wonderful day. I thought, “oh right, its pretty much summer now.”
I watched TV shows about medieval cathedrals in France and a show where they renovate backyards and I glanced up form the TV for a moment and it was day time. Fuck. I managed to sleep for maybe 3 hours. I’ll sleep well tonight. And I am thinking I am getting sick? Summer sick? Lame.
Tomorrow I buy sound equipment for my wedding DJ company. I wanted to head down to Long & McQuade and make sure its all moving forward, and while there… bought a ukulele.
I’ve now owned this beast for about 3 hours as of writing this blog, and I love it. Ryan Awram told me that his friend took a 12 week ukulele course and she is loving it and can play it pretty good now. I wonder….
That’s all I got. Go with yourself.
Posted in history 101, music, radio, tagged Back To The Motor League, CiTR, Propagandhi, The Morning After Show, Today's Empires Tomorrow's Ashes on June 15, 2011| 2 Comments »
I often talk about my days in college radio at CiTR as the host of The Morning After Show. Oh the times… circa 1998-2003, playing Canadian punk, metal and indie rock.
When I started there… I was young and dumb. But it was really fun learning new bands and hanging out with Vancouver’s most groovy folks.
The show before the MAS was called Vengeance is Mine. It was a PUNK show hosted by a guy named Trevor that had a leg dedicated to tattoos of villainous logos… “Decepticons,” The “Empire” from Star Wars, and “Cobra” from G.I. Joe. He dropped out of radio school (hey, I was going to radio school in the fall!) and he was a cook at the Atlantic Trap and Grill back when it was more divey and cool and less touristy and near the arena and stadium (but actually, still a fun place!).
Trevor was very friendly, loved music, was in a band, and was a huge inspiration on 18 and 19 year old Jeremy. One of his favourite bands that quickly became my new favourite band was Winnipeg’s Propagandhi.
Propagandhi made the kind of punk rock that punk rockers talk about making but don’t, or sell out.
In 2001 they released Today’s Empires, Tomorrow’s Ashes. The album very quickly became the most played record on my radio show. In fact, almost every radio show started with “Back to the Motor League.” The times when I couldn’t make the show and Paul flew solo, he played the song first!
Propagandhi – “Back To The Motor League”
Download MP3 >> motorleague
At the time… the song was a party anthem for me. But I was also 21 and stupid. Listening now, the song still gets me fired up, but the message remains. The track talks about the co-opting the punk rock culture by corporations.
Generally Propagandhi are pretty politically charged… so being lectured every song isn’t for everyone… but I find the songs to be a great inspiration, and the energy to be positive. “Back to the Motor League” remains a favourite party rocker and usually a first play before a big night.
Go with yourself.
The Morning After 