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The view from Machinery Hall

July 7, 2010 by morningaftershow

I wrote last week about those records that at some time in your life, you loved. Capital ‘L’ LOVED…. but now, maybe you don’t listen to them all that much.

A record that did that to me was Sufjan Steven’s 2005 masterpiece, Illinois.

This record came out in the summer and at a time when I smoked a lot of pot.  I worked nights at the Zone and when I got home after a radio show Alex would be in bed or maybe still at work.

I’d pack the bong and plug my headphones into the stereo amp and hit play on this compact disc.

By the winter, Alex had moved back to Vancouver and I was all by myself.  My obsession with this album intensified.  I listened to it almost every night and thought it was a religious revelation.

But then something funny happened.  Well two funny somethings….

Alex and I broke up; and I stopped smoking pot.

Maybe it was the haze (or lack there of…), or time, or new music coming in…. but Sufjan got pushed aside and I really haven’t punched it up much at all in the past??? three years?  Damn, I’m getting old.

Today I am reading about chili.  Did you know that chili… the delicious meaty treat that many of enjoy from Tim Hortons or cooked at home… was first introduced outside of San Antonio to mainstream audiences at the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893? (so was the hamburger, rag time music and neon lights)

Then I start reading about the Expo ’93… as I’m sure that is what the Industrial Age kids of the time called it.

Its an interesting story about this fair that made use of electricity and gave the world the Ferris Wheel.

I wondered about the music of the time and my wandering brain took me to discover ragtime. One of the great ragtime performers of the era played a show at the exposition and ragtime would go on to be the dominate music style in North America till jazz would develop after World War One.

This is fascinating because the Veneto Lounge styles many of their cocktails on this late 19th century culture and maybe ragtime would be the perfect musical accompaniment?

Right, Sufjan Stevens… there really isn’t a point to this rambling… as I am flying though the internet and iTunes, listening to ragtime and exploring the wonders of American exceptionalism.  The internet wants me to listen to Sufjan.  My searches and hyperlinks keep saying, “Do You Mean Illinios (album)?”

Um, no… but ok internet, I’ll bite.  I punch up the record and the music washes right over me. It feels good.  I remember all these songs.  I can’t listen to it loud enough! (though back in the day, one of my favourite things to do was put it on as quiet as possible and try to have the songs tickle my little ear hair things as lightly as I could make out sounds… like I said, I smoked a ton of pot).

Illinois is such an amazing record.  Its like an audio epic adventure.  After reading about chili, Chicago, ragtime and The World’s Columbian Exposition… I couldn’t imagine or have predicted a better soundtrack.

Go with yourself.

Posted in food, history 101, music | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments »

SpinTBD 45s: your money or your life

July 5, 2010 by morningaftershow

Coral and I did some record shopping on the weekend. We hit the new Talk’s Cheap store on Pandora at Government Street. In the old Regalia Store space.

He has tons of great 45s.  Coral and I are always looking for some more dance party hits for our vinyl sets so I loaded up on some UK chart toppers of the early 80s.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to my music.

Click to Listen >> Mixcloud: your money or your life

DJ Notes

a-sides

01) The Police – “So Lonely”
02) Squeeze – “Another Nail in My Heart”
03) The Jam – “Going Underground”
04) Adam and the Ants – “Stand and Deliver”

b-sides

05) The Police – “No Time This Time”
06) Squeeze – “Pretty Thing”
07) The Jam – “The Dreams of Children”
08) Adam and the Ants – “Beat My Guest”

A whole bunch of great hits of the late 70s and early 80s.  The Police cut is the original 1978 single which went nowhere at the time.  The Police released their album Outlandos d’Amour.  When this record dropped it went nowhere.  The BBC didn’t get it.  A song about a prostitute? (Roxanne), suicide (Can’t Stand Losing You), loneliness (So Lonely).

But they soldiered on, toured, came to America and through hard work they were able to push through.  They ended up re-releasing many of these future hits in 1980 and the second time around, The Police began to chart. To this day, so many of the most endearing Police songs are these early singles.  Silly 1970s radio DJs.

Go with yourself.

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Sure, it’ll do :: The Junior Danzo Cocktail

July 4, 2010 by morningaftershow

At the Veneto Lounge, bar manager Solomon invented a style of the gin and tonic named after the owner of the Hotel and Lounge Mr. Danzo.  Its called … the Danzo.

Basically it’s some fine Hendricks Gin, Q tonic, Bitter Truth celery bitters…. with some sliced cucumbers served on the side with Pink Himalayan Salt sprinkled on top.

Head bartender Simon says Q tonic is the best tonic you can get to mix with your gin.  So if you’re a G&T person and you’ve spent a few bucks on your bottle of gin… you would be wise to spend well on the tonic too.

They serve up the Danzo all pretty.  The presentation is fantastic. Your glass comes on a plate with a single cube of ice and the bitters.  A serving of gin is in a little glass to the side and you have your bottle of Q tonic as well.  Cucumbers are on the plate.  You then get to pour the gin and splash of tonic into the cup to your liking.  Take a bite of the salted cucumber then dive into the smooth gin and tonic.  It is for sure one of… if not THEE best gin and tonic I’ve ever had.  Then Simon drops this bomb last night… “oh, I can make you a better gin and tonic than that…”

SWA?

Tracking all this stuff stuff down in Victoria is a mega challenge.  It would be wise to just enjoy one in the lounge.  I wanted to make something similar at home, but like I said… hard to find the stuff.  So I created the junior Danzo.

+ Whatever Gin you can find in your cupboard. (I had Victoria Gin and Tanqueray… and opted for the London Dry Gin… Tanqueray).
+Western Family Tonic Water (hey, its a Pattison Company… he owns the Zone… and its just a buck for 2 litres.)
+ cucumbers (super duper on sale with my Save-On card)
+ aromatic bitters (I went with Angostura Bitters from Trinidad.  The most common bitters you can find in a grocery store)
+ celery salt (it wasn’t very pink, but it served)

result: well hmmm… I drank it.

Go with yourself.

Posted in food | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

Unfunny Clowns

July 2, 2010 by morningaftershow

ACTING! on Skit For Brains.

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Ho! Wetaskwin! (reprise)

June 30, 2010 by morningaftershow

Summer time and in our little family that means road trip time!

Coral and I have done a few and this summer is no exception.

We haven’t hammered out all the details and founds beds to sleep in every night but so far the plan has us cutting through the hills and mountains on a mighty trek around lakes and beyond the horizon to scenic Alberta.  We are thinking of starting in Banff.  Coral hasn’t been there since she was a kid and the last time I can remember being the birthplace of the National Park is when Bob, Paul and I cut through there on our Cross-Canada Adventure in 1998.

I think we might also check out Calgary before pushing North to Edmonton.  The largest northern city (outside of Santa’s workshop) in North America.

And since used cars cost less there, I am sure we’ll at least pass into Wetaskwin.  We’ll see.  I think I’ll need to do the West Edmonton Waterpark and we’re thinking of bringing our bikes… so a river bike ride?

Then we’ll swing back into friendly territory after sacking Edmonton (BC Total WAR!) and head to Kelowna.  If it times out right, we’ll be there for the long weekend and might get a chance to see Acres of Lions who will be there too! They are playing the Center of Gravity Festival and it would be so cool to hook up with my man Tyson in his old hometown and see his band.

Plus! some desert bike riding will be in order and we might actually check out one of these wineries that everyone speaks of. hmm?  Maybe.  For sure, the Kelowna Waterpark will be on the itinerary.

The adventure ends on Vancouver Island where we’ll be joining my folks camping somewhere beyond civilization (like basically anywhere north of Nanaimo).

Can’t wait!  We just got to track down a bike rack.  Do you have one we could borrow?

Go with yourself.

Posted in life or something like it | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

we fuck in sadness / a cold frustration / then we’re fine for awhile

June 28, 2010 by morningaftershow

A monthly article I never miss is Resonant Frequency.

Its written by one of the editors at Pitchfork, Mark Richardson, and he waxes on about his personal relationship to music and what it means and all this 30-year-old white guy non-sense.  His tastes are were far more eclectic than mine ever were, or will ever be.

But his themes are so interesting.

He talks this week about about the albums that were our favourites at a time.  And when this record meant so much to you; you thought, “I will always love this record.”

Then, one day, years later you wake up and its not your favourite.  In fact, you haven’t listened to it in years and if you did now… heck you might not really care for it all that much.

He then talks about a group called Piano Magic.  I wanted to check it out to try and hear what he might have back in 1999 when Mark thought Low Birth Weight was destined to be a great record.  Wow, it is spooky.  Wikipedia called it ghost rock and I think, listening I might have found my perfect Steam Punk sound!

He then goes on to think about the internet and how stuff lives forever.  I found Piano Magic’s music pretty easy on Youtube.  <– This song was crazy real.  Reminded me of this old British movie I watched years ago with some of the most awkward and authentic sex scenes I have ever seen in a movie.  I wish I could remember the title.

Music lives on forever with the internet.  Last night I was telling Coral about my dream to press a 7 inch single of my old band, Smut Peddling Sam.  She didn’t get it.  Said it was silly and childish and that no-one would care.

Maybe she is right… maybe not?  I’d care, so that is at least one.  I googled Smut Peddling Sam.  Everything lives on the internet, even Smut Peddling Sam!

Our old friends were in a group called Triple Word Score and they got signed by a record label called Long Beach records outta California. They mentioned us in their bio and that bio still takes up a few bits of internet code.

SPS used to play at the Cobalt in the early days of that old punk rock bar… and I found an old page of WENDYTHIRTEEN that mentions us.

My brother Matt’s Myspace mentions us. (remember MySpace awww).

WHAT? the original Smut Peddling Sam website?

Crazy… silly internet has a long memory!

***if you care to hear some of our uhhh, unique? style on speed punk, click on my –> MixCloud page. ***

Go with yourself.

Posted in history 101, music | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Hold on, I’m counting

June 25, 2010 by morningaftershow

Getting ready to roll into another weekend and that means another Modern Rock Countdown.

The Modern Rock Countdown (MRC) is a show that has been on The Zone… I think since the beginning of the radio station back in June 0f 2001.

I inherited the show from Layne Mitchel (or maybe Rick Lee; I don’t even remember) when those guys took off to Edmonton in 2006 and I’ve been doing it since.

Basically, its a countdown show.  I base it loosely on the Sirius Hits 1 Weekend Countdown.  The first summer Coral and I got our Jeep, it came with a year of Sirius satellite.   It was also a time before Madelyn was born, so that summer Coral and I did a ton of road trips.

The next summer was Pemberton and Coral and I did a ton of driving that summer with our new baby.  The soundtrack through most of the hinterlands of BC and Alberta was Sirius Hits 1 (and Howard Stern).

At the time, I wasn’t too happy with the style of the countdown and I loved the Hits 1 countdown (even though it was top 40, had a great style and flow).

So I took a few ideas from that show (playing last week’s number one song at the beginning of the countdown the following week before song 20), tighter breaks between songs, playing the number one song from last year just before the current number 1.

The show has also evolved a few music interludes.

I have always begun the show with Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower.”  I don’t remember I time when that song hasn’t opened up the show.

The music before I play the #1 Song, One Year Ago is Sam and Dave’s “Hold On, I’m Coming.”

The show’s closing theme is Ennio Morricone’s “Ecstasy of Gold.”

Go with yourself.

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a Pol Plastino moment in the washroom

June 24, 2010 by morningaftershow

I don’t want to get all Pol Plastino on you here… but I was sitting on the toilet this afternoon… dreaming as I do when I do… and I looked down at my boxer shorts/ginch/underwear and noticed that they have both maple leaves and skulls on them.

What a fucked up print.  Is this what nationalist goths wear?  I think this underwear is from Old Navy… some sort of Canada Day, national spirit series.  Some pride to wrap my balls in.  But what about the skulls?  Why?  Why did I buy this?  Why am I wearing it still to this day? (probably because most my underwear is even more tragic and holy… or hole-y… as in riddles with holes, not religious)

I’ll have to chalk this up to; something my mom would buy me.

Go with yourself.

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Good name, but now what?

June 22, 2010 by morningaftershow

Numark NSFX for the NS7.

made a little/big capital investment for my DJ rig today.

The Numark NSFX.  It is an effects controller for my NS7 Serato Itch DJ rig.  They discontinued this thing because they now integrate the effects in all new NS7s (as they always should have!).  Since I’m a loser and bought mine last year before the change, I’d need this add on if I want to try and do some interesting mixes and blends and noises.

Watch>> some dude a 1000 times better than me rock the NSFX

Watch>> some guy give a more boring but practical demo of the NSFX

I am excited to try it.  I won’t have it till next week as it had to be brought in from Calgary.  I’ve had some very positive feedback from people interested in my DJing and I’d like to slowly start working toward being a performing DJ instead of just a classic hits pub/lounge guy. Actually my lounge set hopefully will get pretty groovy too with this set up.

I got a very nice email from a DJ in Singapore last night.  he was trolling Mixcloud and found one of my earlier mixes, “One is Not Enough” and liked it!

He is going to feature it on his radio show.  No word of a lie, I blushed a little.

Last weekend Lars Taylor stopped by The Veneto Lounge and asked if I’d ever consider opening a show (like opening opening… like while the bar staff is still counting their floats) for a touring DJ.  Considered it?

well yes… but like, no.

But now its a yes!  I got to get practicing.

The new set I am working on is called “Don’t You Want To Know What’s Out There” (based on the Explorers… right).

Good name… but now I need some good music.  I better get on that tonight.

Go with yourself.

Posted in music | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments »

Don’t you want to know what’s out there?

June 22, 2010 by morningaftershow

Thanks Bud for the graphic! http://www.happydesigns.com/

When I got home late from my first wedding DJ gig on Saturday night I texted David Eleanor to see if the Dodgeball party was still raging.  It was not (the team crushed TWO kegs by 11:30/midnight!).

I was up and still buzzing from the party and felt like watching something that was not internet porn.  I punched up Tool’s AEnima record.  I don’t know what it is about the song “Eulogy” but I started thinking about the 1985 sci-fi classic, Explorers.  The movie stars a young Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix in their first feature film roles!  Plus a young Amanda Peterson (SWA?  we’ll get to her later).

The story is basically about a group of teens who build a spaceship and take off into space to explore.  They meet some aliens and presto-bango-bongo, you got a movie.

When i saw it as a kid, I loved the movie.  iTunes sells films, but it was $10!  Luckily, youtube has a much nicer price-point, free.

Watch>> Explorers part 1/14 (just follow the links after each segment to complete the film)

The movie is pretty great as far as old 80’s films of my youth go.  The film is worth your time strictly on its historical merits of featuring River Phoenix in his debut film role.

The female lead (who isn’t in the film much… girls ewwww!) is an actress named Amanda Peterson.

Amanda is an interesting story of the life and career of likely so many Hollywood actors.  She was on the up during this film.  landed a few good roles, nominated for the odd award then gets the lead in 1987’s Can’t Buy Me Love.  This movie was one of Patrick Dempsey‘s first starring roles and at the time… Amanda and Patrick were a big teen idol deal.

Yet oddly, Amanda would go on to do no other films of note.  Weird?  I wonder why that is?  Wikipedia doesn’t have those answers and doesn’t do speculation.

I had to watch Can’t Buy Me Love… and wouldn’t you know it, youtube has this move too, broken down into a 10 part series.

Watch>> Can’t Buy Me Love 1/10

I might like Can’t Buy Me Love better than Explorers, if only because it is an even greater 80’s film in the traditional sense.

The film hits all my basic 80’s film foundations except one [gratuitous topless shot(s)].

01) Jock vs Nerd Conflict
02) Quest to date the hottest girl in school (cheerleader)
03) Slow clap to end the movie

Patrick Dempsey plays Ronald, a nerd that has a super duper crush on Cindy… the hottest girl in school.  Cindy fucks up and needs $1,000 bad!  Ronald has a grand so they work out a deal where Cindy will “date” Ronald for one month and help him achieve popularity in exchange for the money.  Along the way, they discover a little something about each other and there is some miss-communication, some conflict, some growth and then… yes a slow clap.  Sounds like a pretty epic 80’s comedy to me.

Ask Coral, I actually joined the slow clap myself!  I had too… it was no Lucas slow clap, but it was grand.

If you have the technology, plug your laptop into your TV and invite the kids around this portal into a distant past… one where Jock and Nerds waged a war for Cheerleader supremacy.

Go with yourself.

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