Sunday, May 25, 2008

I filled in for Gumdrops and Lollipops this week as Andrea could not make it. Being an indie-pop show, I tried to play some indie-pop in the hour. Usually when I fill in for Andrea I end up playing a Beat Happening song, a Belle & Sebastian song, a Tullycraft song and a Magnetic Fields song. I like doing that. I feel like I can diverge a little from my usual program where I try to play "newer" stuff and just play some tried and true hits. Smash hits.

In the hour we talked a bit about the Sub Pop 20th anniversary. The Vaselines are reuniting to play this event, after over 15 years of inactivity. This will also be their first ever American gig. The festival takes place just outside Seattle on July 12th and 13th. Wolf Parade, No Age and Eric's Trip are also playing, amongst many others. More info can be found here.

I also talked about a festival happening the following weekend in Anacortes, called What the Heck Fest. From their site: "What The Heck Fest will be an assortment of musical performances, meals, movies, accidental happenings, lake swimmings, friend makings, and etc." Some acts playing are Ô Paon (Genevieve Castre / Wolev), Mount Eerie, Calvin Johnson, the Blow, D+, Karl Blau, and a bunch of other names I don't recognize, but I'm sure are fantastic. I think this will be my festival visit for the summer. The whole go outside in a big hot field with thousands of people to watch hundreds of bands on multiple stages play twenty-minute sets kind of festival doesn't really appeal to me. I think the organizers of festivals like Track & Field in Guelph, Over the Top in Toronto and What the Heck have a good thing going by focusing on smaller scale events. This is what I envision for Victoria one day. Maybe next summer's project...

Gumdrops and Lollipops Playlist:

Artist - Album - Song
Think About Life - s/t - Fireworks
The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs - The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side
The Vaselines - The Way of the Vaselines: A Complete History - Molly's Lips
Saturday Looks Good to Me - Fill Up the Room - Even if you Die on the Ocean
Beat Happening - You Turn Me On - Noise
Tullycraft - Every Scene Needs a Centre - Georgette Plays a Goth
Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress - I'm a Cuckoo
Greenbelt Collective - Our Homes - Car Planet
Ok Vancouver Ok - I Get So Drunk About Songs About Love - Canchor Anchor
The Weird Weeds - I Miss This - Red
Shapes and Sizes - Split Lips, Winning Hips, A Shiner - Victory in War
Vincat - Inner Space EP - Rocketship Construction

...

I think I broke my record for most songs played in one hour on Carload of Whatever this week. This was partially from me feeling talked-out after the first hour, but the second half of the show was made up of quick 2-minute songs which also helped.

dd/mm/yyyy are playing in Victoria on June 5 opening for Crystal Castles. That will be crazy.

The second half of the show probably would have worked better as a whole hour. I ran out of time at the end, but the idea was to play two songs each from bands with two members who make similar sounding noisy songs. With the exception of Speical Noise, all these bands know each other and have played and toured together. Some of these artists frequently find spots on Carload of Whatever playlists, but playing a whole bunch of these songs in a row was really fun and I think made for a good show. Plus, the new No Age record is really, really good. Two-person bands!

Carload of Whatever Playlist:

Artist - Album - Song
Lake Country - Second Old Life Records Compilation - Hard Days Hard Nights
The Macadamia Brothers - Second Old Life Records Compilation - Kingdom 5KR
Deerhunter - Fluorescent Grey EP - Fluorescent Grey
Animal Collective - Water Curses - Water Curses
dd/mm/yyyy - Are They Masks? - White Lines

Two-person-bands-making-similar-noise-set:
High Places - Ancient Almanac 7" - Head Spins
High Places - Demo - Golden
Japanther - s/t 7" - 1 to 10
Japanther - Skuffed up my Huffy - River Phoenix
No Age - Nouns - Miner
No Age - Nouns - Eraser
Video Hippos - Unbeast the Leash - Narwhals
Video Hippos - Unbeast the Leash - Downfall
Special Noise - The Year EP - Fun Died


...also, I won't be here next week. Andrea will be there in my place.