I interrupt not blogging for most of August to bring you this.
The Japandroids changed my life for the better Sunday night at Lucky Bar in Victoria.
Japandroids are one of my favourite bands and I have never had the chance to see them live. Always, always… I was either working, found out about show after it was sold out or they cancelled. I was so excited to see that the one little whole I had in my schedule this summer was on the exact day the Japandroids would roll into Victoria.
I met up with Michelle and Lucas Kitchen just in time to see the supporting band, Mississippi’s Bass Drum of Death.
Wow. What a savage fuzzed out rock & roll sound to get amped on the Japandroids too.
I knew was going to get into it when second song in… the Droids drop my favourite song, “Younger Us.”
There is nothing like going to a show to see a band you truly love. I knew the words to almost every song they played… and yeah, they played “Younger Us.” I am a happy cat today. I wore a Japandroids shirt to work.
Somewhere out in the vastness of space… maybe 15 million light years from Earth is the spiral galaxy Messier 83. This galaxy contains six, count ’em, SIX supernovae. That is a party to the 6th power… AND multiple supernovas is spelled supernovae… or something like that. Mental.
Messier 83 gets cut down to M83 for French multi-instrumentaliest Anthony Gonzalez’s dream pop/electro project.
M83 started making music back in 2001… but he didn’t start getting traction till 2005. He got his hands dirty remixing other artist’s work. Check out this epic remix of Bloc Party’s “The Pioneers” from Silent Alarm. Whoa.
Bloc Party – “The Pioneers (M83 Remix)
2008 saw the release of Saturdays = Youth which is a great album. A super duper dreamy 80s electro-pop superset… then years. Now it is time for his 6th album, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming.
The first single is a free download if you’ll throw M83 your email. Small price to pay for a song that is garnering exceptionally high buzz around the internerd.
This disco-hipster romp is living on repeat right now on my MP3 machine. I think if I met Anthony I’d call him Tony and we’d be friends. He says that his new record was inspired by The Smashing Pumpkins 1996 record Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.
Gonzalez says, “I saw when I was a teenager that I could dig into [the album]. It was like a treasure. If I were a teenager nowadays, I would try to find something as creative as this album. They had so much to say in their songs.”
Shut the front door Tony! I really dug into Mellon Collie as a teenager too… and the teenager living in me still wants to tuck into something as epic. With your sexy saxophone fade out at the end of this song (saxophones are so hot right now) I can already tell I’ll love this new record (due out on October 18. Vancouver show on November 12th).
yes, yes and yes. This just another song that inspires me to make-out.
***
Earlier today I posted about how great Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m Going Down” is… and a cover from Vampire Weekend. Remember that? I sure do.
Facebook friend and humanitarian Danika Whatsherface sent me a link to Florence Welch (Florence + The Machine) covering the song.
“We sit in the car outside your house
I can feel the heat coming ’round
I go to put my arm around you
and you give me a look like I’m way out of bounds
well you let out one of your bored sighs
Well lately when I look into your eyes
I’m goin down”
The first verse of the 6th single off Bruce Springsteen mainstream calling card… Born in the USA. The song is “I’m Going Down.”
Bruce Springsteen – “I’m Going Down”
Can you believe this classic tale of the standard relationship experience almost didn’t even make the cut for the album? Granted, it was between this and another Boss jammer, “Pink Cadillac” but still… such a beautiful song.
Born in the USA is such a big and polished record, but my fave songs off this disc are the more melancholy downer cuts. “I’m Going Down” or “I’m On Fire.”
On the Boss song “No Surrender” he sings that “we learned more from a 3 minute record than we ever did in school”… and that sentiment plays out in the melodrama of “I’m Going Down.” It gets all Tarantino where we start at the end of a relationship that is fizzling out then travel back to happier times, passion and excitement. It is such a sad, modern tragedy.
I am kinda glad I did because I read that Vampire Weekend does a cover of “I’m Going Down.”
“It’s one of those classic songs that has very bright music and dark lyrics. Coercing thousands of people into chanting those lyrics is pretty fun.” – Rostam Batmanglij, Vampire Weekend
I had to seek this bomber out… and wouldn’t you know it? They laid this cover down for an iTunes session.
Vampire Weekend – “I’m Going Down”
The cover by no means brings out the same emotion to me as the original. But I like it because it is sounds like a cute, “Vampire Weekend sings Bruce, adorable” kinda song.
I always enjoy VW’s style… and having them cover one of my favourite Born in the USA songs puts a smile on my face this fine Tuesday.
Had the strangest dream last night (yeah, this is a dream blog).
I have been reading tons of fantasy lately as I plug away through George RR Martin’s A Dance With Dragons. Lots of sorcery and shape-shifters and things that go bump in the night.
Watched a bit of True Blood last night… lots of sorcery and shape-shifters and things that go bump in the night… and tits and vampires with perfect abs.
Last night I dreamed that I could change my appearance and I changed into an “Eric The Sexy Vampire” type dude to seduce Coral.
I tried to get her to cheat on me, with me… which she did. It was sexy times. When I had enough, I did the big reveal… “muhahahaha, it is I! Evil Warlock-Husband Jeremy, not a sexy vampire. I can’t believe you cheated on me!”
Coral said, “I didn’t cheat on you… it was you I had sex with…”
wah wah wah…. she’s always so much smarter than me, even in my dreams!
Evil Warlock-Husband Jeremy will continue to plot…
***
Check this rad jam out… it is from the True Blood episode “She’s Not There.”
The Zombies (who are amazing By-the-by) originally dropped this hot #2 single in 1964 and is a highlight of my 60s sets at Veneto Lounge.
When the credits rolled on True Blood and this song came up… I instantly recognized it and Coral was jiving on it too… but what is this cover?
“The truth/ is you could slit my throat/and with my one last grasping breath/ I’d apologize for bleeding on your shirt.”
and that my friends is how you write one of the greatest emo songs of all time.
Back in 2002, the kids from Long Island called Taking Back Sunday put out their record Tell All Your Friends. A record that to me, might go down as a 2000s post-harcore (see: emo) masterpiece.
I can’t remember what summer it was, but we headed down for a snazzy quadruple bill of the hottest emo bands of the time, all headlined by The Used. When we got there, there was a sign on the door that said 3 of the 4 bands couldn’t make it over the border. FUCK. We came to see TBS!
Turns out, the one band that got to Vancouver, was Taking Back Sunday. They offered a refund at the door (sweet) then TBS played as the only band that night. They played an “extended set” which was their whole first album. and that was it. One of the best shows I’ve been to (if I remember it right, maybe Matt can fill in the blanks).
Poor little mouse. Bike riding last night on her Runners Bike and off she tumbled during a particularly death-defying stunt down a gravelly hill-path.
It was her first real big fall and cut her up pretty good.
She howled fiercely when she came off. I rushed over to sweep her up and said, “we better go home and clean this up!”
“No!” she wailed. She wanted to get back and keep riding. But then I saw the blood puddling on the dirt and thought… nope, you need a princess band-aid stat.
Today is the day I had to bring our leased Jeep back to the dealership.
I was not prepared for the emotional weight of the situation. They should have have warned me when I signed the papers that I’d take on a love for my car.
Also you have to pay a bunch of money if you have any deferred maintenance. Zoinks. That said, the folks at Willie Dodge made it pretty easy and affordable.
Coral and I got this Jeep when we found out she was pregnant. Before the Jeep I had a scooter and a Mazda Pickup Truck I got from my Aunt Brenda.
The pickup was pretty rad and Coral’s Mom drives it to this day! Coral and I probably only had the pickup for like… a few months? Three maybe? Wow. In that time we took some adventures. I remember that we drove from Victoria to Port Hardy and back in a day. That was pretty fun. It rained a ton, we saw bears and Eagles, got a flat tire in Woss. Good times like that.
Coral thought it would be best if we had a ride that had four doors and was a little more substantial for carting around soon-to-be-born Madelyn.
I love Jeeps, so Coral found a Jeep Patriot and that was a our car for the past 4 years.
Our car seat we got to match the interior. We were so into that!
ta-da! Coral did it all by herself. And it totally matches! Actually… it would match our new Honda too… you know, if we ever needed to bust this baby seat outta storage.
Humility is not a virtue of Kanye West or Britpop bands… the latest floppy haired four piece and angular guitar stabbers is a group called Viva Brother.
The buzz machine is operating at 100% for the latest foray into the lad-rock arena. Viva Brother are from an area of England called Slough… famous for being dreary and the home of the original British Office.
The boys began performing in barn they had purchased and honing their skills. They played a show in London, and one month later they had a record deal. They grow up fast in the UK!
If their Spin article is an indicator, they could be the re-incarnated Oasis? or maybe just brash 20-somethings that have been told their “special” by their parents too much.
Will they be remembered as “(…)as important as the Clash” hmmm… not from this debut record, but damn, the singles are catchy and the style is fun. Damn you Viva Brother… your personal style is such a turn off, but your musical is so fun!
Coral and I watched Sucker Punch last night. What a strange little film. A misogynistic geek film where a hot blond in a short skirt almost gets raped a bunch and fights German Trench zombies with a machine gun and samurai sword.
It was fun to look at and the music was great. The story was bizarre and weak and I felt like my IQ dropped a few points trying to rationalize why its cool that a girl in a school girl outfit its fighting Orcs in a machine gun spraying orgy… well I mean I get that its cool. The movie is basically porn… but PG 13 Porn? C’mon man, at this point just show tits, no one is buying that a male comic book nerd is trying to make a “point” about female empowerment. You like school girl outfits, rape scenarios, strippers, machine guns and historical anachronisms.
Fun fact: I kinda also liked the historical anachronisms. I dug the World War 1 Steam Powered German Trench Zombies and bi-planes. The dragon bit was savage as well.
Coral and I both agreed that the music was fun and added to the film. I loved the cover songs!
A song featured a ton was this jammer.
Emily Browning – “Sweet Dream (Are Made of This)”
Zach Snyder (god bless him) dreamed up this fantasy and according to Wikipedia said he was trying for an Alice in Wonderland with Machine Guns vibe.
So this next song makes a whole lotta sense!
Emiliana Torrini – “White Rabbit”
The final song that really stood out from the film is a cover of the Pixies. Lyrically the song touches on a lot of the themes of the film and is used to effect in the film.
Yoav and Emily Browning – “Where is My Mind”
Emily Browning also plays the star, Baby Doll. neat.
Growing up, I loved Tom Petty. I remember being in like grade 6 and going on the weekly Elementary ski trip up to Cypress (yeah I grew up in a well-to-do-middle-class-suburb) and on the bus ride home, “Free Falling” would come on and the whole bus of grade 6 and 7 kids would belt it out!
One of my favourite records is Tom Petty’s movie soundtrack for 1996’s RomCom She’s The One.
I must have bought that record at a young age, because to this day the song “Walls” gets jammed in my head.
I was feeling the vibe of this song during a rather hectic and stressful weekend and I found the song to be very soothing. When I punched it up, I was surprised to find I remembered all the words and I sang along at the top of my lungs in the Jeep.
I met up with Michelle and Lucas Kitchen just in time to see the supporting band, Mississippi’s Bass Drum of Death.
The Morning After 