Sunday, March 1, 2009


Essay season makes for irregular blog posts.

dd/mm/yyyy were on MTV! It was strange to see them sandwiched between commentary on The Hills, however it was also very cool that a band like dd/mm/yyyy could find themselves performing on national television (MTV Canada that is). Their new record Black Square just might be the most 'normal' thing this band has ever released. The songs generally follow pretty basic ideas of song structure, with relatively consistent tempos and time signatures. The jagged schizophrenia of the band is still there, however it just seems a little more palatable this time around. The best thing about this record is that they stripped it down to 35 minutes and just 12 tracks, as opposed to Are They Masks? and The Blue Screen of Death, both of which have 20+ tracks and come close to the hour mark. The band are in the middle of another massive tour right now, a mode they seem to constantly be in. They are certainly one of the harder working bands in Toronto in their consistent break out of the Southern Ontario bubble. I've tried to bring them here a few times, but schedules never lined up. Hopefully someone can make that happen in the near future. Thumbs up for the new record!

Black Square comes out on March 17 through We Are Busy Bodies.

Who is going to Leonard Cohen? I played Chelsea Hotel No. 2 as Andrea and I lamented the $70 shitty seats we couldn't justify paying for. I know I will regret not going.

Playlists:

Sunday, (*The First of March, The Holiday*), 2009

Artist - Album - Song
The Blankket – Pegatively Nositive – Independence is no Solution
Ponytail – Ice Cream Spiritual – G Shock
Abe Vigoda – Reviver – Wild Heart
The Memories Attack – Memories Attack – Collapso
The Memories Attack – Memories Attack – Peaks and Valleys
Shotgun & Jaybird – Trying to Get Somewhere – Writing on Our Arms
Pavement – Brighten the Corners – Shady Lane / J Vs. S
Sloan – 4 Nights at the Palais Royale 1999 – The Good In Everyone (Live)
Shearing Pinx – Ultra Snake – Smarts
Nu Sensae – 12” – Peter Tripp
Nu Sensae – 12” – Graceland
Jerkward – All Your Ears Can Hear Compilation – Flesh and Bones
Nels Cline – Coward – Epiphyllum
Asobi Seksu – Hush – Glacially
Yo La Tengo – Dark Was the Night – Gentle Hour
Leonard Cohen – The Best of – Chelsea Hotel No. 2
Dd/mm/yyyy – Black Squares – They
Dd/mm/yyyy – Black Squares – Sirius
Japanther – Skuffed Up My Huffy – Um Like Your Smile Is Totally Ruling Me

Sunday, February 22, 2009:

Artist - Album - Song
Abe Vigoda - Reviver - Don't Lie
Abe Vigoda - Reviver - House
dd/mm/yyyy - Black Square - Bronze Age
dd/mm/yyyy - Black Square - Bronze Age
Jon Rae Fletcher - Oh, Maria - Maria
Bach Cottage - The Homestead - Grocery Bills
Ok Vancouver Ok - I Get So Drunk About Songs About Love - When You Get Home
Almonds, Cohen - Travel a Fair Distance - Two Friends, Old Friends
Shearing Pinx - Ultra Snake - Called the Wrong Name
Nu Sensae - 12" - The Witch
Apollo Ghosts - Hastings Sunrise - Dobermans
Apollo Ghosts - Hastings Sunrise - Land of the Morning Calm
The New Pornographers - Dark Was the Night Compilation - Hey, Snow White
Dirty Projectors & David Byrne - Dark Was the Night Compilation - Knotty Pine
Deerhunter - Weird Era, Cont. - Operation
Emeralds - Solar Bridge - Magic
Blank Dogs - On Two Sides - Blaring Speeches
Charles Spearin - The Happiness Project - Mr. Gowrie ****

**** Marks Requests

Sunday, February 8, 2009


When I first heard about Charles Spearin's record The Happiness Project I just sort of ignored it. I assumed it would be in the same vein as the two recent 'Broken Social Scene Presents' records. While Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning's records in the BSS Presents series were good, I think they lost the power of the sprawling collective by not utilizing the diverse songwriting amongst them. I was concerned that a Charles Spearin record would continue the trend of Broken Social Scene acting as a backing band, signaling a slow move away from what made records like You Forgot It In People so good. I was pleasantly surprised to find The Happiness Project to be something completely new.

Rather than acting as another solo record from a member of Broken Social Scene, The Happiness Project rejects the concept of conventional songwriting, instead using the intonation of conversation to map out melodies. In essence the songs on the record are written by the cadence of individual conversations about happiness. The result is a complex and beautiful record that successfully draws attention to the artistic value of daily life and conversation. Perhaps a little trying at times, the record on the whole is dense while being surprisingly listenable. The track Mr. Gowrie seems to fully realize the power of this strange songwriting mode. The record employs the musical talents of quite a few Broken Social Scene members and is being released on Kevin Drew's Arts and Crafts Records, but don't be mislead...this is not a Broken Social Scene release. This is weird. In a good way.

The record comes on on Tuesday, February 10th. You stream some tracks and find more info here.

See you in two weeks.

Playlist:

Artist - Album - Song
Japanther - Dump the Body in Rikki Lake - Dump the Body in Rikki Lake
The Sticks - Split w/ Hands on Heads - The Floor, The Ground
The Sticks - Split w/ Hands on Heads - On the Sea
Blank Dogs - On Two Sides - Twenty Two
Vivian Girls - s/t - Never See Me Again
Fennesz - Black Sea - The Colour of Three
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion - Guys Eyes
Charles Spearin - The Happiness Project - Anna
Lucky Dragons - Dream Island Laughing Language - Givers
High Places - s/t - The Storm
Growing - The Soul of the Rainbow and the Harmony of Light - Onement
Growing - The Soul of the Rainbow and the Harmony of Light - Anaheim II
Growing - The Soul of the Rainbow and the Harmony of Light - Epochal Reminiscence
Liars - Drum's Not Dead - Be Quiet Mt Heart Attack!
Liars - Drum's Not Dead - Let's Not Wrestle Mt Heart Attack
Jerkward - All Your Ears Can Hear Compilation - Millions of Dead BMXers
Jerkward - All Your Ears Can Hear Compilation - Flesh and Bones
Jerkward - All Your Ears Can Hear Compilation - UFO
Deerhunter - Weird Era Cont. - Backspace Century
Railcars - Cities vs Submarines - There is Ice; It is Blue
Hank - The Land of the Singers - Never Have Another Boy in my Life
Bach Cottage - The Homestead - Been a Long Damned Time

Sunday, February 1, 2009


New Blocks releases.

Defektors 7" is pretty good.

Wavves are pretty noisy.

Future Islands are from Baltimore.

Playlist:

Artist - Album - Song
The Blankket - Pegatively Nositive - Independence Is No Solution
$100 - Forest of Tears - 14th Floor
Hank - The Luck of Singers - Distraction
A.C. Newman - Get Guilty - The Heartbreak Rides
Defektors - 7" - Torn to Pieces
Hey Everyone - Broken Horse - Rotten Little Buggers
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion - In the Flowers
Fennesz - The Black Sea - Perfume For Winter
BARR - Beyond Reinforced Jewel Case - Is All For Updated
Wavves - s/t - California Goth
Wavves - s/t - Space Raider
Future Islands - Wave Like Home - Old Friend
Lake Country - Tape - Memory Lane
Think About Life - Demo - Track 7
Xiu Xiu - Fabulous Muscles - I Luv the Valley OH
Gowns - Red State - White Like Heaven
The Metic - s/t - Happens That I'm Tired
Pavement - Brighten the Corners - Shady Lane / J vs. S
Belle & Sebastian - Live in Belfast 2001 - Dirty Dream # 2
Belle & Sebastian - Live in Belfast 2001 - Boy With the Arab Strap