I used to be a daily reader of Pitchfork’s record reviews. But hell’s bells… 5 records a day was a lot to read. Not to mention the damage it was doing to my poor credit card downloading all these random hipster tracks and albums.
A combination of greater work/family responsibility and increased call-volumes during the radio show means I seem to have less time to read album reviews.
I tend now to focus on their forkcast section as its A) shorter and B) comes with free downloads. Plus they have lots of chillwave which I like right now.
Tuesday, I randomly read the reviews and found a band that I am now loving. I could tell from their album artwork they were likely some degree of Brooklyn, bedroom electo heroes… and low and behold, Small Black is!
I guess that goes to show how important album artwork is, I judged that book by its cover.
I downloaded their new record New Chain and also found a free download for you if you want to check out their song “Despicable Dogs.” Its so super-duper 2009… but who didn’t love the summer of ’09? I challenge you to say you didn’t!
This afternoon, Coral and Madelyn came to visit me at the radio station. They came with coffee and they came just as it was time for me to hop in the studio to jam out today’s Modern Rock Inbox. Mads loves going on the radio, so I dragged her into the Production B studio and hit record.
Have a listen.
The finished product: The Modern Rock Inbox on The Zone @ 91-3.
and if you’re interested in the recording session, here is the raw audio that I chopped up for the inbox.
I have only met Katie Schaan one time. I was walking down Johnson Street and I bumped into Steph MacPherson.
Steph doesn’t even remember this day… so it wasn’t that much of a meeting. Steph had a young lovely walking with her and it turned out to be Katie Schaan!
I said, “Holy fuck! Katie Schaan… you’re famous on the internet.”
And so it is… Katie Schaan is famous on the internet.
Katie’s MySpace page says that her music is like reading her journal entries. Sure.
Friday night, during the request hour at 6PM…. I had to urinate so badly, but the phones was ringing off the hook. What is a frazzled Zone @ 91-3 radio DJ to do?
Hell yes, I was excited to read the other day that coffee counts towards that water I need to put in my body everyday.
The amount of fluid gained is far greater than anything you piss out from the caffeine.
AND coffee helps fight off the debilitating effects of gout. Not that I plan on being a medieval King of England anytime soon or anything… BUT the point is… I feel secure in my coffee consumption each and everyday.
Now, if only I could find the study that says coffee isn’t exasperating my anxiety, we’re gold.
Jimmy Eat World – “Coffee and Cigarettes”
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In other news… I am pretty much obsessed with National Geographic magazine and also want to find out how I can get a job recreating famous exploration voyages.
There must be a way to get paid, and handsomely, to hop in an olden tyme sailing vessel and make for the New World.
My reasoning is simple. I thought it was fucked that people get paid to talk on the radio… and well, someone pays me to do that, so why not get paid to sail around in a replica “Matthew” and rediscover Newfoundland?
Maybe its silly to get paid to be a gloried pirate, but perhaps there is hope for me?
I read this story about the most ancient history of White Canadianna… turns out there were secret exploration missions to Canada around the time of John Cabot. Evidence destroyed? International Italian Bank syndicates? secret Christian missions in Canada? A historian on the case… but just before she was going to release a book on the subject, she destroys all her notes and conveniently dies. What did she discover?
Dan Brown… Paging Dan Brown….
Here’s what I think… Cabot found the Vikings… and the secret mission of Weston was to exterminate the Vikings so England could make claim. The Beothuks were then hunted and exterminated later because they knew of the Vikings… whoa.
Everyday that I watch the CBC and don’t see these intriguing stories of Canadian History made into HBO styled mini-series is an affront to entertainment.
Heartland? Seriously…. I love the Tudors and have picked up on that series. It shows the CBC is capable, but come on guys, pick a story that is at least kinda related to Canada.
OK, I’ll add the mysteries of John Cabot to my list of Canadian Historical mini-series(es?) I need to write.
01) World War War epic 02) the story of John Jewitt, white slave of Maquinna 03) The Viking Settlement of Canada 04) The Mysteries of John Cabot
If you’re a writer that stumbles on my blog, don’t steal my ideas or I’ll stab you. Unless of course, you actually steal and make it, then I’ll be happy and watch it!
Aegis Fang are great guys. I met them many moons ago when they were just getting started as a professional(ish) rock band and hungry to build a following.
They offered to help in anyway they could and it happened to be 24 Hour Relay for The Kids season… so they became part of the Amalgamated Team Zone.
The style of Aegis Fang might be described as a grungey blues? sure.
I immediately gravitated to a few songs I am familiar with, “Ghetto Man” and “Foot Down.”
The record plays like a gritty chill. I have it on while doing my work. Not too many highs or lows. That might not translate to pop stardom or a track showing up in a crucial scene of Grey’s Anatomy, but allows the record to be more a working class soundtrack to the day’s chores.
A song I really enjoyed comes late on the disc, “Island Life.” Hey, I live on the Island too!
I’d say this is a hard record for me to review because I’ve met Nat and Mike and Colin many times in the past and they carry themselves like such rockstars. I can’t help but smile while enjoying their passion.
Take a second and hit their MySpace and have a listen if you like a gritty, Island-hazed style of Blues music.
Jean-Paul Maurice of the band that bares his name, Maurice, sent me their (his?) new single to share with you on my blog. Check it out, a cover of a song you’ve maybe never heard of… “Robin” originally from Topless Gay Love Techno Party.
Whaddya think about my single cover art? I made it myself.
“Robin” will likely make it on the new Maurice EP due in November. The song is about the awkwardness of a threesome.
Jumping jigawatts, last Saturday night at The Veneto Lounge, I had one hell of a spooky encounter.
Now, I have no idea what Madelyn will look like when she gets older. I reckon some sort of wonderous mash-up of Coral and … someone.
I had no idea what she’d look like, till she was born, then I saw her and thought, “huh, yeah that is what she is supposed to look like.”
But when it comes to future 30-something Madelyn… being all hipster in the year 2038… well my brain has a hard time computing that time-line of events.
Until last Saturday night!
I was DJing at the lounge and a couple lovelies saddled up to the bar. One of the ladies appeared to be in her 30s. Attractive like so many people in the Capital of British Columbia, but something about her struck me as odd. I didn’t want to stare or creep her out but it then dawned on me…
The lady at the bar was Madelyn, from the future, back in the year 2010 to visit her old Dad.
Great right? Who wouldn’t want to visit with their future daughter. But is it really?
Why would Madelyn risk fucking with the space-time continuum unless it was very serious? Dire?
Do I die? Does she know of some sort of catastrophic event in my near future that she has come back to set right? Does she grow up, not knowing of her father… and so motivated by this great loss… studies the mysteries of time… invents a time-machine and travels back to 2010 to learn about me?
Perhaps she is on another mission and thought, “hey, well I am in Victoria, circa 2010, might as well drop in on my old Dad to see what he was up to?”
I just couldn’t imagine I’d raise a daughter so inconsiderate of the perils of time travel that she’d just “stop by” and risk me finding out facts about the future. That’s just dumb.
Kings of Leon‘s 5th studio LP, Come Around Sundown, explodes onto the realm of men this Tuesday… but you can win it on Monday. What sort of black magic is this?
Not witchcraft… New Music Monday!
The first listen… I thought it was boring. Turns out I had my CD player on repeat so I kept hearing “The End” over and over. derrrrrr.
So I fixed that problem… but then I heard some spooky version of “Closer” and went… WTF?
Turns out the record comes with a remix bonus disc featuring, “The End,” “Radioactive” and “Closer.”
Jeeze Louise, its one of those days today.
I’ve just kind of skimmed the record as I get ready for my radio show. I am trying to hear a “Use Somebody” type song. I haven’t heard it yet… but I am not all the way through the record.
First impression is that the record sounds more refined compared to previous KOL albums. Less songs about teen pregnancy and ripping it.
We’ll see, I hope the record has the depth to be a grower, not a show-er.
Turns out… sometimes people actually do read my blog and Jordan sent in this great email.
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Hey man, saw on your blog you were confused about what Human’s going on about in the middle of the new USS song “Mavericks”. So I’m going to drop some surfer knowledge on you….as it is my theory behind that part of the song. You might want to double check my facts on the net, this is just what I know being an avid surfer.
First, Mavericks is a crazy surf spot in California. Look up some pictures, it’s amazing (picture at top is a shot of a surf competition stolen from the internet). It’s typically a winter spot, with huge waves. Second, Jeff Clark is a surfer that was born down in Cali. I think he was around the Half Moon Bay area where Mavericks is located. He’s retired from competitions now, but he was one of the first (some people say he was the first) to ride Mavericks back before people used it as a hot spot. I figure humans doing the breakdown in the sports broadcasting style. When he’s yelling “Mavericks loses” he probably means Jeff Clark beat waves that people were too afraid to even look at for his time. That’s what I figure anyways. The surf picture of them made me put the pieces together. Hope that helps!
I used to be a daily reader of Pitchfork’s record reviews. But hell’s bells… 5 records a day was a lot to read. Not to mention the damage it was doing to my poor credit card downloading all these random hipster tracks and albums.
The Morning After 