Funny you should mention them, Derek. I'm working on my own mashup of 'Follow Your Heart' and 'Jive Talkin''. Should be awesome.

The Jam, Nirvana, Husker Du and Dinosaur Jr. Power trios all and nary a naff self-indulgence amongst them.

Now if your talking Triumph...

And while I'm here - put me down for "both" when it comes to the number of people on a stage. I really like large configurations because of the arrangement options they provide. The E Street band would not have been nearly as interesting as a 4 piece. And I thought the arrangements of Leonard Cohen's songs on his Live in London DVD were excellent, as I believe I've said before. His was certainly a crowded stage. On the other hand, I've always thought that the truest test of a songwriter was the ability of the song to be played in a solo configuration, with just one voice and one instrument. Some of my favorite concerts have been solo shows. I think the format I like the least is the power trio. It seems self indulgent - as if to say, "See how much sound we can generate with only 3 of us!".

It's impressive to see what can be done with modern video editing tools. If only they'd used their powers for goodness instead of evil.

I've got no great insights to share on a busy Wednesday morning but of course, love to share all kinds of useful musical treats when I can so I give you this unholy mix as a midweek treat:

while you ponder my mind-bending question, some friday afternoon fun.

No love for a crowded stage? There is something to be said for stripped down efficiency, and the Wye Oak one girl, one guy knocking it out as the opening act for Barlow is another example of a great show performed without a lot of fanfare. Billy Bragg just plugs his guitar into an amp and can be completely compelling and varied for well over two hours.

Some acts require more bodies on stage, though and I'd argue that a B&S show without string instruments isn't as interesting as one with. The BSS show at Harbourfront last year, featuring homecoming performances by Feist, Haynes, and others (which I did not see live but mentioned enjoying in the concert film This Movie is Broken) was probably a superior show to one without, regardless of the visual clutter onstage.

Suppose there's a time and a place for both but I'm wondering if the rest of you prefer a more streamlined or a more fulsome (for lack of a better word) live music experience?

I'm fucked if I can remember 3 songs the Thermals played on Saturday night never mind the sequence or the obscure cover version they did for their encore. Oh yeah there was no encore. Great show though. Pretty cool to see a revved up kick-ass two-man, one-woman attack. Makes a refreshingly streamlined change from those bands that feel the need to welcome all their old high school mates on tour with them. Yes, I'm looking at you B&S, Arcade Fire & BSS.

i'm stunned, absolutely stunned, that you cannot recall every song played at a concert you attended only 4 years ago. it's not as if i'm asking you to recall the exact song order, though a real fan would have done so without question or complaint. and derek's silence on the matter thus far suggests that he's either unwilling or unable to recreate this list either. shocking. i thought you guys were fans. clearly, you don't care about the band or about music. sad.

yes Kyle I have had a look at your setlist (and I can easily recall every song played at the show I saw w Yvette and Derek 4 years ago ), the only difference is you missed a Lhasa cover tune which made the night..
in terms of the 49 cent fee, i did not get that emusic change, but I am paying 12 bucks for 30 tunes so perhaps they are only going after you hardcore older members, who likely never forget to do the monthly download.
I agree w Kyle that the fee of 50 c is still very reasonable, no question, also i have noticed that they have many more larger acts now as well as many more old classics so it is better value then 10 years ago by far....
I can honestly say 30 tracks is my limit if i want to give each disc 5 or 6 spins, which I am able to do....cant see needing more ever...

tasty nugget from last's night's fab Belle and Sebastian concert at Massey Hall (video not by me, seats were a little farther back, but still good).



setlist here. stuart and derek, any ditties they played for you last time around but not for me?

i'm cool with .49 per track. i'm also okay with the 99 cents per song pricing of itunes, which is less than the price of a chocolate bar for something i'll hopefully enjoy a little longer, though many songs i download a la carte are precisely those consumable bits of pop candy that aren't really going to last the test of time. would prefer albums at around the $7-8 instead of the $10 price point, though, as not all songs on the album are worth the a la carte pricing.

as for emusic, i guess it's a bit of a wait and see. i was a little alarmed at the initial email and figured that it would ultimately mean halving the number of albums i'd purchase in a year. seeing the bonus that tops me back up to my total downloads was reassuring. you're right in that the 'bonus' will probably eventually expire but i wouldn't be surprised if they kept providing it for another year or so. i've been a member since 2004 and have been able to keep my 90 tracks for $24 plan that hasn't been offered for years. when i saw the email, i kind of figured they'd finally gotten around to transitioning me to a smaller plan. even if/when it does go away, i'm still looking at between $6-8 per album, which seems reasonable.

philosophically, and to a question stuart posed to me several months ago, maybe buying less but spending more time with what i do purchase (qual>quan) isn't such a bad thing. being forced to listen to less may therefore be a good thing.

on a more practical level, if the new system increases the number of labels and artists then i'll be very happy indeed. should be interesting to see.

Did all of you Canadian emusic susbscribers just get the same message I got? The one that informed me that all of their songs will henceforth be priced at 49 cents, and all albums will be priced as the sum of their tracks? It assured me that my monthly fees will not change, and that I will get as much music, if not more, as before.

In my case, my original fee of $11.99 will remain the same, but will be supplemented by a "bonus" of $12.51, which will enable me to continue to download 50 tracks. But it seems inevitable to me that the explicit introduction of the "bonus" foretells the end of my admittedly long stretch of very cheap on-line music purchases. It's only a matter of time before my bonus will expire, and I'll be left with the $.49 per track fee instead of the $.24 that I've enjoyed these last few years. It's understandable that they need to ensure that their business model is profitable, but it's very disappointing nonetheless.

So the question is - is $.49 per track an appropriate price? I certainly felt that $.25 was fair, and I always thought that the iTunes $.99 was exorbitant. On the other hand, I do appreciate the fact that the cost of an album on iTunes is slightly discounted from the sum of the tracks. That seems appropriate to me.

Also prefer the 25th as I will definitely not be travelling that day (US Thanksgiving) so let's go ahead and book it. We can play some recent faves as well as best of the year. Perhaps Mike, others can join us at times via Skype.

Hey Stu good thought. The 25th works better for me - V is having her gall bladder out on the 8th, which she's been advised will have a two week recovery time.

Brian, cant say i like the new disc... i am a big fan of both Lanois and neil of course, but Neil has once again ventured off into the ditch far as I can see...This is routine as far as he is concerned..but I do admire him for not playing it safe , especiall;y at his age now...
s

Pretty certain that either of those dates work for me.

CD club time.....
Its been a while , thought I would host the next one at our place on a thursday night in November...Not sure when the book club is....
How are you for the 18th or 25th of novenber, both thursday nights?

Hey boys just catching up on the blog after a week's absence. Stu,loved the story about midlake, though I'm shocked and even a little skeptical that they haven't listened to early seventies folk stuff - the implication would be that they invented this sound based only on espers (which I've listened to a bunch of bit never really warmed up to - we'll have to have a convo about them). I love that Courage of Others record to death, just to say. Gloomy great.

Listened to the new Sufjan yesterday, and it's very different. Largely electronic and huge and bombastic in places. Some beautiful quieter pieces as well. Ambitious and brave, but less likely to please people. Makes sense now why he did the other release as an EP, as it is out of keeping with the new album.

Anyone listening to the new Neil Young? Early reviews? Stu? Mike?

Still not a big fan of the new Sufjan ep. Maybe the album will be better. Full stream of it here for those looking for something to listen to on a Friday afternoon.

New Deerhunter disc is getting a lot of positive reviews. Deservedly so, imo. Builds on Microcastles but adds a tighter poppier style without sounding too overproduced or polished. Only two listens in, mind, but catchy stuff.

Interesting list but I'd probably only cry at half of these and then only if there were no way for me to turn them off.

Figured one of you would be on here making a case for early Max Webster...at which point, your posting priviledges would have been indefinitely suspended. Also applies if you vote for Mr. Ford.

You had to ask didn't you. So enjoy

Thanks, Stu. I figured if I couldn't be at the show and enjoy a meaningful exchange with a set of talented musicians then I could at least crap on you for having had the chance to do so. I'm wondering, though, when HH became the placeholder for middle age-itude? Trying to think of another a tv show that screams 'middle age' but can't think of one; the first thought that came to mind was 'Matlock', but that's really more closely associated with the blue-haired set (and Grandpa Simpson).

Btw...was trolling through Toronto election thoughts last night on twitter and came across a tweet that used a musical analogy to describe the paucity of choices facing the electorate next month: "It's like being asked to pick your favourite Kim Mitchell song". Shudder. Indeed.

This really is nifty, golly its such a good show..

well ummm thanks Kyle........that has to be the most professionally delivered insult I have had in some time....I have to admire the style...well done...I will go back to my uninspired middle aged life watching reruns of Hogans Hero's now...

I believe your story, Stu, but I'm wondering what it says about rock and roll these days. Not the part about the music and the change of style but the lack of grand debauchery and distant hero worship of concerts past. At last month's Lou Barlow show, the former Sebadoh/Folk Implosion frontman was selling t-shirts and cds during the opening act. Now a band like Midlake, who at one time may have dreamed of post-concert coke and groupie romps, instead face half-empty venues and questions about their musical influences from Stuart. Hope I don't become a rock star when I grow up.

Went to see Midlake and Rogue Wave last Friday night at the opera house with some friends ...and no Derek was not with us as some members of the book club suspected...

Midlake was fantastic, thoroughly enjoyed the show...Rogue wave was not very exciting,
kind of mid tempo indie rock without a interesting sound or decent hooks, perhaps they are better on disc..

After the show we went to a bar nearby and met the lead members of Midlake..I realise that most of you will not believe me due to my earlier Don henley prank, but I have witnesses to prove it and lets face it Midlake is not exactly at the superstar level)..

It was great because I find the change of songwriting from the Fleetwood Mac-escque 2nd album, to the fairport convention-esque 3rd album quite abrupt and not exactly a great comercially driven decision because aside from myself and a few other deluded fellow lovers of british folk rock , this is unlikely to light a fire with todays youth. This was evident in the only half full house in attendance.

So I put it as politley as I could to the lead songwriter; as to why the abrupt change is sound between the albums.. I was expecting that he would say someone introduced him to the sounds of fairport cionvention or the solo carrers of denny or thompson, or steeleye span / pentangle etc....hoping to get into a great discussion on the severly neglected merits of this era.

His response was that they toured with Espers last year.... Espers is a band I also logically love and have many discs of because they too are heavily indebted to this era of music,( well worth checking out if you dont know them) but they are a very youing band too...
I got the sense that the Midlake dude has still not really checked out these old masters...
perhaps this is best as the Midlake take is less a clone of this sound due to its subsequent filtering through Espers ...

interesting never the less...

For those of you who are hoping for Pandora and similiar streaming services to come to Canada, keep holding your breath. Apparently, "Canadians have no appetite for a legal marketplace" when it comes to music. Certainly news to me, considering the hundreds I spend yearly on legal music, concerts, etc.

Yeah that's me. I am one of those types that get's excited by new "tools"... but soon after, the novelty wears off. This excitement seems particularly fleeting, after about 4 days I am done.

I'm on the Ping network in Itunes but haven't found it to be all that useful or engaging, at least at this point. The only person I'm 'following' (ironic how much social media nomenclature is creepy, sinister and downright anti-social) is an LA-based dj that was suggested when I first created my profile. Though I buy the odd song or album from Itunes, I don't really look to it as a tool to connect to other people, at least not in its current form. I'm not sure what the maximum of 10 songs that I'm allowed to identify in my profile as examples of what I like actually do for me in terms of trying to make those connections. Of the 100 odd (in both senses of the word) artists that I can follow, I've specified a handful but again, not much has come from it, at least yet. Early days, perhaps or maybe completely useless. Time will tell. Also, are you the Adam from Mississauga, ON that appeared when I did a search in Ping? Should I follow you? Or am I level-jumping our blog relationship?

Btw...for those wondering what the hell we're talking about, you'll need to d/l the latest version of Itunes (version 10).

Afraid I am with you Kyle, to me they are less Superchunk and more MediocreIota. Sorry to pile on Brian.

Any of you tried Ping on Itunes? I have joined although I seem to be lurking on that just as well as I have done on this blog. Clearly I need to expand my personal bubble. Oh goodness, I've said too much. Back to lurking.

It's not you, baby. It's Superchunk. And band's like them. Honest.

Kyle, I've feel like we've been drifting apart these last few months. You come home late, we never find time to talk or even watch our favourite TV shows any more, and when I come downstairs in the morning I find phrases like "What does it mean when a band doesn't grow or evolve?" on crumpled bits of paper.

Can't get excited about it, Bri. Sounds like pretty much all their other records, which I liked but...I dunno. What does it mean when a band doesn't grow or evolve? If Radiohead had kept releasing 'The Bends', would we even be talking about them 15 years later.

Hurrah hurray, the new record by The Chunk is here, and it sounds bloody good.

I'm digging the Wild Nothing as well...love the name Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.....I'm guessing they're all about deep house?

Btw....though I've only seen one film so far this film fest (will see five over the next two days), I did see get to see This Movie is Broken on an air canada flight this week. As someone who has been less than thrilled with BSS' last two releases, I'm now more inclined to go back to them after seeing this film. Weaving together footage from their free concert at Harbourfront last summer with a love story that loosely follows three characters before, during, and after the show, it does a wonderful job of expressing the energy of the music and the city. Highly recommend.

Yeah well it's only four for me: Best Coast (gotta be the most well known of the bunch, but a bit overrated imo), Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr (quite like it), Wild Nothing (sounds like a melange of 80's UK bands, very pleasant), and Perfume Genius, which I like, thought it might be even more precious than my man Sufjan.

I got 4 bands of the 40 Kyle so you're one up on me you hipster. I wonder if my 4 are a subset of your 5. Like Brian I know of Best Coast and Perfume Genius and also know and own some Glasser and Tame Impala.

Talk to me about any of these bands 5 years from now and we'll see how well they've chosen.

40 best new bands of 2010, according to music blog stereogum. i own or recognize 5. so much for being with it.

ok this may be the dumbest question ever asked on this blogsite, but sinse you all think I am an idiot anyways, I have nothing to lose.
At our office we just switched to playing our music through itunes so we can access my entire 120gb library, rather then through my 80gb ipod.
However I am a novice at itunes since I tend to use my ipod at home as my interface.
How do you select just 1 album..?

I dont want to hit albums first and then select the album, because usually I search 1st fior the artist and then after that i pick the record...

I also cant highlite the entire album and then select play selection as that option does not come up...

If i go to artist it will play that persons entire catalogue rather then stopping at the end of the single album

I googled and It seems I am not alone in this...

Even though I love 'Illinoise', I've always been of the opinion that it could use some editing. I've only heard the new EP and the track mentioned once, and with that one listen, would tend to agree that the prettier, far more interesting part of the song begins at about the 13 minute mark. Repeated listens will always tell the full story, though. I wasn't sure what to make of "Kid A" after first listen, for example, and so I'll give Sufjan another half dozen listens before rendering a verdict.

As for the new Interpol and Clientele, I may be past my 'need to buy their new record' with these two bands. "Antics" and "Strange Geometry" were the high water marks for both these bands, respectively, and anything since then has just sounded like material that couldn't quite make those previous albums. Always willing to consider a change of heart if one of you makes a case for either of these discs. Thermals will be d/led shortly, along with Les Savvy Fav, an example of where i'm trying to be open to suggestions of their greatness from others here, so i'll give this new one a whirl.

On another, not Kim Carnes or Juice Newton like note, this is a pretty sweet day on e-music. The new Interpol, Thermals and Clientele disc all up for grabs.

On the other hand about 2 weeks ago I rather peremptorily purchased for a whopping $5 the new Sufjan Stevens "EP" possibly 10 minutes before it became available on e-music. I know many of you are fans but I haven't heard anyone chiming in on this one. I haven't given it enough listens to comment yet but I completely agree with this review of the closing track:

And all this before we even get to the 17-minute 'Djohariah', a tribute to Sufjan’s oddly-named sister. Hidden in its endless dirge, somewhere, is a song. But listeners must endure no less than ten minutes of truly awful 'challenging' guitar solos before they get there. That a musician capable of such artistry should submit such a risible piece of fret-wank nonsense to tape is a baffling thing indeed.

I suppose my thought process was, 'really, i'm contemplating/actually downloading a kim carnes song? how did i get to this place? what's going on in my life? what meaning does it hold?' but i like what you've laid out as well, bri.

"And she'll tease you...she'll unease you..."

OK Kylie let me make sure I've got this straight. From an existential perspective, would I download BDE if I had one d/l left? To be clear, not a rhetorical question (cause who needs those), and not a practical question (where the answer would clearly be a negatory), but an in-the-big-scheme-of things-ummmm-what-is-the-value-of-pop-music-in-life question?? (I'm thinking big here....)!!!!!!


No.


Not a bad little song though.

Riddle me this fellow metabeaters(beatians?)/emusic enthusiasts: If you only had one download remaining in your monthly allotment, would you d/l this? It's less of a practical and more of an existential question. But it's not rhetorical so pipe in.

No better example of the contrarian hipster impulse I mentioned in Wednesday's comment and link than the top 20 songs of the 90s, as chosen by PF. "'Smells Like Teen Spirit'"? Yeah, that was good and all, but it's no 'Are You that Somebody' by Aliyah or Aphex Twin's 'Windowlicker'".

Also, though we've covered this ground ad naseum, I'm always a sucker for lists like these. This being Pitchfork, there's a painful striving for uberhipness by selecting obscure tracks when a popular and far better song will more than suffice (see: superchunk and stereolab representations) but for the most part, it's just fun to see and hear some of these again.

There's a long convoluted answer to that Brian but the short answer is: I'm awesome.

Even more awesome is this handy compendium of ridiculous rap lyrics..

Kyle, that is an amazing video experience....where do you come up with this stuff?

cooler than the timed artwork that wouldn't open up for mike on his arcade fire download, is this cool video using a song from their latest disc.

Admittedly not music related but surely good news to all here.

Boys, thanks for the thoughts on Roland Kirk. For my two cents he's one of the most interesting jazz musicians in the pantheon, which doesn't necessarily make him the most appealing or the easiest listen. He was inconsistent and mercurial, and at times pushed the boundaries of what most people look for in jazz.

He's known more for his remarkable musicianship than his writing / arranging, but I believe his extraordinary playing hampered his rep as a writer. All of his great records - I would include "The Inflated Tear", "Don't Cry My Beautiful Edith", "I Talk With the Spirits", "Rip Rag and Panic", and "Left and Right" - are filled with Kirk's compositions - nothing in the way of "standards" playing here....and generally speaking, his music plays against the traditional stodginess of jazz (though not as radically as the free movement) to yield an almost uncontainable love of life, soulfulness, and blackness. To my ears he produced some of the best jazz music of the sixties. But if you're concerned that much of the sixties jazz is too cacophonic for your tastes, Kirk has tons of melody, unique and memorable compared to the free and post bop players of that decade.

I would start with The Inflated Tear - "A Handful of Fives" and the title track - and then move onto Rip Rag and Panic's "No Tonic Pres". and I Talk With the Spirits' "Serenade to a Cuckoo" (this is an all-flute record FYI) If those tracks don't do it for you, Rahsaan may not be your guy.

Incidentally Stu, Bright Moments is a great record, but very different from Kirk's sixties music. As you say, it's a seventies groove record, a real artifact from its time. Give some of those great sixties records a chance and you may be pleasantly surprised.

Mike - in terms of David Gray, I have to confess I don't know his music well, and have always avoided him just based on his reputation for blandness. Sounds like there's more to it than I had given him credit for, and I've taken a quick listen to White Ladder in the last couple of days, which has at the very least earned more listens.

So I'll throw it over to one of y'all to suggest another artist - and I would support keeping them on the (relatively) obscure side.

I'm with Stuart on David Gray. The man has no soul. Musically it's fine and he has a decent enough voice but did he check the passion at the door. I own White Ladder and it's a fairly damning indictment that he covers Soft Cell's "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" with less fervour than the original electro-pop classic. I'd put him in the same category as Damien Rice. Eminently forgettable.

As for the obscure?? Roland Kirk I have to say that as much as I want to love this guy I just haven't been able to. There are moments when his records reach the perfect blend of Ornette Coleman / Albert Ayler insanity with the best of the post-bop jazz by Dolphy, Henderson and Shorter.

The problem with Kirk is that these moments are too infrequent. There's just too much interference. It's like cruising the highways of northern ontario in the 1970s while CHUM FM spins side A of the new Flash and the Pan record and with each rise in the road you lose a little bit of the song, driving you mental. He also seems to be trying to cover too much ground, almost like the anti-Weezer, which may in theory be a good thing but can be very trying on the listener.

Some of Kirk's later stuff like "The Inflated Tear" and Stuart's previously mentioned disc, the live "Bright Moments" is especially guilty of this meandering. I'm much more enamoured of some earlier material such as 1961's "Kirk's Work" and "We Free Kings" (a jazz entry point for me), and 1965's "Rip, Rig and Panic". One thing I would never accuse him of though is being sleep-inducing.

Roland Kirk.... I have just one album which is called something like Bright Moments...its a live double album and it ias on vinyl, which means it does not get enough rotation as I cant play it at work or in the car... I bought it only 3 years ago and quite liked its crazy 70's sound which as you know, I really dig baby.... I would say if you are not into that very 70's jazz meets funk soul shit, then pass , because thats it man, groovy stuff - so to speak. I wonder if that technical treatise would be good enough for pitchfork?
David Gray: I loved white ladder and have a few others but I find it a little toooo, I donnknow, sort of not up to repeated listens, for me anyways, I cant really say its too striaght forwards because I love some roots and folk stuff like that but he leaves me a little cold somehow..perhaps its because there is not much range in the 3 albums I have listened too..

On another note, I saw a dinosaur exhibit at the ACC last night, due to ticckets that ended up in my hands unexpectedly....said exhibt-
CSN opening for Tom Petty (which is a statement about our times too)
CSN - Steven Stlls has not much if any voice left wso the harmonies are really onloy Nash and Crosby, but his guitar work id pretty great, he has been worjking that I suspect since his voice is shot..
Nash- Too damned sweet, no edge, his songs date worst of all the members and his live show doesnt help
Crosby' Biggest surprise of the night, he anchored the show, with outstanding singing still and his "Almost cut my haior was the highlight of the night by a country mile... He provided the "one song you hope to hear " that can shine a window into how a band must have sounded in their prime

Tom Petty, Remarkable great show, I guess his being ten years younger then CSN proves significant, Mike campbell and the rest of the heartbreakers in top form as they ran thru a mix of classics with a few off the new album... I still cant figure out how a bar band can keep putting out such good songs for so many decades without doing a new sound....it means he has to keep writing memorable hooks and that cant be easy....

I like the idea - our recent discussion about Arcade Fire was an example of this kind of thing. I think that picking really obscure artists won't work, though. Here's one I'm interested in - David Gray. I think he's written some very nice music with good hooks, interesting arrangements and memorable melodies. I met one of my wife's colleagues the other day who is a massive fan of his and claims that if you get past his best known songs he has a ton of really great and not all that well known music. I think she may be giving him more credit than he is due. Anybody else have any strong opinions?

Kyle, I'm impressed! You know the dude cold.

OK, perhaps he's too underground. Then again, let's wait and see what our slightly more jazzophile friends think about the choice (Stu and Derek for sure, and Adam I know you're out there). I'm not expecting too much from Mike Gaines on this one...but then, hey that's kind of the point. Some bloggers contribute and others listen in. Who knows, next time it could be some (shudder) really important hip hop artist. DJ such and such.

By Rahsaan Roland Kirk I assume you mean the multi-instrumentalist who played tenor saxophone, flute and many other instruments, renowned for his onstage vitality, during which virtuoso improvisation was accompanied by comic banter, political ranting, and the ability to play several instruments simultaneously? I think about him all the time. Mostly when googling and then cutting and pasting from his wiki page.

I kind of like the game but you should pick someone less well known next time.

Here's a new idea for a blog post. A blogger throws out an artist (perhaps more of an underground artist, or one about whom there may not be a popular / consenus view) and the rest of us offer opinions, favourite (or least fav) musical moments, etc.

I has this thought as I was listening to an album by (potentially) one such artist late last night. And the fact that I fell asleep on the couch should not be taken as a judgement against said artist - I just do that all the time.

So I'd like to hear what everything thinks (assuming there is some familiarity) about 60's jazzman.................wait for it......

..............keep waiting.......




......................patience ...................





















Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

Whereas I read the article and just got depressed.

Very funny Kyle, my mirth equally split between the article itself and the reminder that I alone am able to access this very cool site (yay for me).

This will be funny for Brian. For the rest of us, who rely on servers based in Canada, we can't really relate.

It seems as though the Globe and Mail's editors were reading our posts and felt it their duty to come to the defense of the Arcade Fire in Saturday's editorial. I await their pronouncements on the greatness that is Mr. Stuart Watson.

sorry Derek I think Brian makes a valid point here, no bellyaching now...in fact it does seem notable that I seem to be the only one who has a calm rational perspective on things, certainly I am not given to hyperbole, nope , not me.....and that has to be the greatest , most insiteful statement about this debate that has ever been made in the history of this blogsite....
s

Not like me not to point. I must have been sober.

I think I qualified my statement re the Beatles by saying that at that point in my life (30s?, 40s?) it was impossible for me to have an objective opinion on their music as I had been force fed it since I was running around in nappies eating rusks in the rain.

And not just selected songs but an incredible number as you know they had quite a few hits. Unlike say David Bowie who I also got to know quite well from bbc radio 1 and top of the pops. With him however it was maybe Jean Genie, Suffragete City and to a lesser extent Space Oddity and very few others.

Having been given a taste of his genius, but only a taste, it encouraged me while growing up and even now to explore his musical output much further and appreciate it in all its diversity. I have to say I would much rather hear any Bowie track (from his golden period) than almost any Beatles track. My ears n'est-ce pas.

I don't like to miss a party, but I trust my ears (we've been together for a while) - and of course music is a very personal thing - for me they're among the better bands of the period - but not THE band, not the next Radiohead. I know the first record very well (like half of it) the second reasonably well (and don't like it much), and have been playing The Suburbs a bunch (which may be the most consistent of the lot but lacks a great memorable song). There's a humourless overwroughtness to it - particularly Win Butler's delivery - that eventually wears down my fondness for the band and the arrangements. My comment was also pertaining to the potential jeopardy of becoming (or maintaining) IT band status - I think it exaggerates their value and potentially shortens their future. Better to fly a little under the radar it seems to me.

Stu, I remember going through the grief cycle a few years ago when Derek (sober, mind you, and without pointing) announced he didn't think the Beatles were much good. The Beatles, for Pete's sake.

I planned not to comment on the "ARCADE FIRE CRISIS" but alas I am unable to remain mute..
When I first read Brians comments i went through the usual trama phases...
1st-Denial, no its not possible to not love this band,
2nd- Anger... i found myself cursing and kicking innocent people on my way to work.
3rd- Sadness , depression... Crying for hours lying on my bed....
but apparently my therapist tells me I can be cured if he can be cured.....
Now the entire first recoprd reads like a greatest hits record for me , the second record is still quite good and I would pick the aforemention No cars Go ( a rocker ) backed with Ocean of Noise, (introspective number) as two of the standout tracks...So Brian, make a short playlist of these 2 songs and play twice a day until your illness goes away...then please call me immediately thereafter
yours humbly,( from my bed...sniff, sniff)..
s

Hi Mike,
I had some issues with the folder as well, mostly because I didn't properly extract the files the first go-round. Never was prompted for a password, though. When I extracted The Suburbs Digital folder, it opened up a couple of other folders, including another zipped folder w/ the synchronized works, which I then extracted and was able to add these files into itunes. Didn't get to see the artwork change until I clicked on the little down arrow in the box that appears in a set of buttons on the bottom left side of itunes. Imagine you've tried all these things, though.

On a technical note, though - I bought "The Suburbs" from the band's website, and it did indeed include a set of mp4 files with embedded multimedia content. However, when I try to extract those files from the zip file that contains them, I am prompted for a password that I don't have. Has anybody else successfully navigated this process?

I thought that Arcade Fire's first two albums were great, and I haven't cooled on either over time. Although I must admit that I haven't listened to either album all that often. One of the ramifications of the size of my music collection now is that nothing is ever in particularly heavy rotation.

As I write, I'm listening to the new album, and it sounds good to me. Nothing has grabbed me the way that "Neighborhood 2 (Laika)", "Antichrist Television Blues", "Wake Up" or "No Cars Go" did, although I'm not entirely sure that any of those emerged as favorites on the very first listen either. This album seems to offer a nice mix of different sounds and instrumentations, some interesting dynamics, intriguing lyrics, and good melodies. Solid songwriting and a style that is recognizably ArcadeFirean. So far, I am pleased!

Ah the drunken PBO (Post-Betty's Opinion). Good to have it back in the mix. Derek, what about the other two current bands that were being touted (by you) as critical, or at least, pretty damn good - TV on the Radio and New Pornographers?

The rest is noise.

The four most important bands (ie the only bands that matter) in the last quarter century:

Public Enemy, Nirvana, Radiohead, Arcade Fire.

Nuff said.

Yay! A post by someone who isn't me. Cool.

Thanks for the roundup of your recent faves. I'll leave the full affrontery/takedown to Stu or Derek on your misguided assessment of the AF, but I will say that if the music lives up to the hype than it cannot be overhyped. AF are justlyhyped, imo.

Glad you're enjoying the Dean & Britta. I picked it up last week and it has been on heavy rotation on my headphones and in the house. The tracks featuring Britta, like the one channelling Nico (track you identified) and others (Eyes in my Smoke) do more for me than the ones which do not and you're right, it goes on a little too long. But I dig the fact that they're not overly preoccupied with trying to mimic the VU or recreating a Factory party circa '68. Yes, there are psychedelic flourishes, disembodied voices, and one track (Not a Young Man Anymore) that seems very Lou Reed-ish, lyrically and vocally, but even that one manages to go in a different direction musically, with more modern electronic beats overlaying the distorted guitar work. And it's great to hear Wareham's twangy guitar and half nasal-half monotone delivery again, though a lot of the instrumental stuff is very Yo La Tengo.

Avi Buffalo has been on my saved list for at least a month but for some reason I hadn't pulled the trigger. I like the thick guitar strumming on the sample for the album's first track but the too-similar-to-Issac Brock-of-Modest-Mouse-and-aren't-I-kind-of-tired-of that-jarringly-high-pitched-slightly-perverse vocals put me off a bit. Given yours and Adams strong recommendations, Bri, I'll give it a go. If anything, you gotta love a song titled, "Five Little Sluts".

Hey Kylie - thanks for the post. Some good pop there, and in particular I like the Whitefield Brothers. Great mix of jazz and soul stylings with a mild hip hoppy thing. Yes, that's right, the kind of hip hop that I can enjoy.

For the rest of you, get the frig off the schneid and start writing about music. For the love of Christ. I know you're reading this.

I've got to say (and this won't come as a big surprise to most of you) that I am not caught in the Arcade Fire thrall. They are perhaps the most overhyped band of the past decade - and hype is a BD killer...hmm, perhaps Derek's not the only contrarian in the group. To me it speaks of a generation desperate for a band they can believe in, and there aren't enough of 'em right now. I'll have to give the Suburbs a few spins over the next couple of weeks to see if it gets my blood moving...the single didn't move me much.

Some of the music I've picked up on recently is:

Port O'Brien - Threadbare. Not that new, this one came out in October of last year, but I just found it a coupla months ago. I would describe it as nice morose roots pop. An amalgam of influences without a dominant one, you don't necessarily want an entire album of POB, but it's well done and immediately likeable. Start with "My Will is Good", then try "Threadbare".

The Thermals - Now We Can See Also a year old or so, but this is great post punk with lots of energy, humour and a unique straightforwardness in its delivery that separates them from the pack. They have a new record coming soon.

Young Rival - Hamilton power poppers have some panache on their first two records. We should check these guys out sometime. Definitely a strong sixties ethos here but it doesn't necessarily detract from the fun - I may prefer last year's 7 song EP (linked here) to the more recent album that arrived a few weeks ago. Start with "Your Island".

Dean and Britta - 13 Most Beautiful Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests FInally a brand spankin' new one. Interesting story behind this one, as the Andy Warhol Museum commissioned our favourite 90's mood popper to write a soundtrack for thirteen short films made between 1964 and 1966. This is an ambitious and perhaps overlong record, but it really connects with me. It ranges from trad (and wonderful) Luna-style medium tempo drive-alongs, to ultra-trippy acoustic and found-sound musings (at times making me realize that Dean was a perhaps a bit of a Church fan...see next review). Doesn't hurt that it starts (well,song two) with a bitching version of one of my favourite Nico songs, "I'll Keep it with Mine". Have I mentioned recently that I'm a Nico fan? Great Sunday listen - Dean Wareham lives! Start with "Knives of Bavaria" and "Herringbone Tweed" (and the Nico song).

Steve Kilbey - Dabble. Lead singer and bassist for the Church is an occasional solo artist and has been a long-time hero of mine His ability to deliver a song with a sense of the dreamy, wearying mystery of life gets me every time. This record, which was apparently recorded in 2001 and released in Australia a number of years ago (but only 2006), oddly just showed up in NA this year. It's very strong Kilbey / Church material, and if that interests I would seek it out - start with "Keeper" and/or "Blessed One".

Couple more in brief. Look 'em up on emusic if you want to hear more. A highly enjoyable blowing session with staunch jazz bassist Wilbur Ware in a rare (perhaps only) role as leader "The Chicago Sound" has been getting lots of air time chez Doyle.
And the modern classical work of Giacinto Scelsi has held my interest in the past couple of weeks. They have a number of his collections on emusic but it's volume 2 that I've been hooked on. And not to steal anything from blog hermit Adam, but Avi Buffalo on first couple of listens sounds very promising (and thanks for the recommendation).

And on the topic of Arcade Fire (what, no one else was going to talk about the new album), I note that emusic is restricted from selling it in Canada, a disappointment to be sure, but not the end of the world. The cheapest alternative place to get it is directly from the band's own website, for $7.99, which is also the only place where you can get some interesting digital bonus material. Think that's where I'll get mine.

A favourable review of the new Arcade Fire in The Guardian raises a good point, much discussed here, about the effect of time on the perceived importance or greatness of any rock album. Looking back to say, the year 2000, are there any albums that you once pronounced as 'genius' or 'the greatest' but would in retrospect, you'd like to take back, or at least maybe withdraw some of the hyperbole? And yes, I'm looking first at you, Mr. Watson.

A decade on, I'm probably a lot less bullish now about Lauryn Hill's debut solo disc or Moby's Play or Fatboy Slim or Buena Vista Social Club or even the second Oasis album, Morning Glory, which I listened to a lot in 95 and 96 and now don't really have any interest in hearing. In 2000, they probably would have been on my top 100 list, if not of all time, then at least of the previous twenty years.

Though a fan of music, I've been there.

Cool bands covering cool bands.


Superchunk covers The Cure

Ah, for anything that could be described as 'languid'. Alas, my lack of posting is not due to any long and peaceful sojourns at a cottage but for the fact that my work schedule has not slowed down one lick. I'm eyeing the second week of August for a few days of needed downtime but until then, the pace should continue. And while internet access is available wherever I roam, often the last thing I want to do at the end of the day is type more words into the laptop. Okay, enough with the pity party....

One of the actual perks of business travel is having the time to actually listen to music that I've purchased or, like yesterday, listen to some interesting stuff on satellite radio's Sirius XMU while driving between Austin and Dallas. Back in the office today and with those tunes and the tunes I listened to on the three hour plane ride home, some good finds for me of late, most emusicable:

Tame Impala - Inner Speaker - seems a little too derivative at first--Beatles-esque is an understatement at times--but repeated listens reward with interesting forays into summery psychelia; tracks to check out: It is Not Meant to Be, Why Won't You Make Up Your Mind

Zeus - Say Us - Beatles, Strokes, others but quite good; tracks to check out: Fever of the Time, Kindergarten

Wild Nothing - Gemini - sweet summery pop; tracks to check out: Summer Holiday, Chinatown

The Whitefield Brothers - Earthology - ostensibly a Hip-Hop album, there's very little hip hop and lots of afro-jazz flourishes; tracks to check out: Safari Strut, Sad Nile

Also finally sucumbed to the new LCD Soundsystem, which worked its way into my wheelhouse with repeated listens and cranked up volume, its mix synth pop and distortion creating a kind of nice summery happy groove. Previous releases featured some hit and misses for me but this album pretty much works in its entirety.

Some others but that's a good start for now. Back to the grind....

The blog has a distinctly languid summery feel to it.

By which I mean, nobody is contributing anything. Have we all stopped listening to music? Have we begun cheating on the blogsters - joining other blogs with way cooler, younger guys (I'll rule out girls for this crowd)? Or is it deeper....is music no longer providing you with the outlet for angst, euphoria, and melancholy that it did when you wre younger? Are you depressed? Do you find yourself drinking alone, in the afternoon a lot?

So what has everyone been purchasing of late? Some potentially good new releases out there - new Stars, new Teenage Fanclub, Band of Horses, New Pornographers, LCD Soundsystem, Pernice Bros, countless more.

Had a great time in NYC, managed to find a day to go record shopping, and found my favourite shop yet, up on the 8th floor of an old building on 26th street in Chelsea. Ended up buying about 15 releases, a mix of vinyl and CD, 50-70's jazz, all for $140. Awesome.

Noticed this new mag reviewed in the Globe on the weekend and thought the concept was intriguing: Music We Hate, wherein writers wax angry on cherished indie and not so indie-bands. Also figured that someone harshing on Pavement (Brian, me) Belle and Seb (Derek, Stuart) would prompt some cries of outrage. After you all get back from vacay, that is.

Update: Having read the first few, I'm not necessarily compelled to go and grab the magazine, though I would like to check Carl Wilson's take on Radiohead.

disturbing video by david lynch ...song from Mobys last album, sounds pretty great to me... anyone pick up that disc?

Stuart, I confess I left the party w/out the disc but very much wanted to listen to it. I'm probably the least familiar with, and possibly most averse to (though Derek's post may contest this), country music as a genre so I'm really interested in listening to your hand-picked songs to see if it sways me. I suspect it will, at least with some of them so whenever one of you can loan me a copy I can rip that would be great.

I believe the high school boys to whom Derek and Brian were reading poetry were fulfilling a court-ordered community service order.

Jazz > Country each and every time. Nothing to do with pretentious coffee shops or the white man's attitude to music they don't understand.

Over the last few days I've listened to Bill Evans' "You Must Believe in Spring", Pharoah Sanders' "The Impulse Story" and the Marcin Wasilewski Trio's "January". All great stuff and much more in touch with the modern world we live in than the best that country music has to offer.

England plays Germany in the round of 16 on Sunday morning if anyone cares.

Oh that's right 4 billion people care except Woody and Arlo. My neglect has been far from intentional and I certainly haven't been hanging out at urinal sized coffee shops. For 99.9% of my life music trumps all. For the next few weeks bollocks to that. If it brings tears to your eyes then suck it up.

actually I saw Brian and Derek reading poetry in a park to a group of rapt high school boys as I was driving home so yes I think you have them summed up quit well...

The intent was to give a huge range from honky tonk to teardrop but I may have erred a little on the teardrop as you say...

Joanne mackell is interesting as a storyline... she was revered as equal to Bonnioe rait in the early sventies and they both got there first big record deals synultaneously.... Joanne drank her way through the huge advance in a matter of weeks and diddnt get around to recording her record...the label dropped her and now she is a regular at queen west bars , often free cover... terrific live show for a truly hidden talent...

Useless desires is patty griffin, her last 3 albums all consistently great...

Lawrence County is a relatively new nand the felice brothers who also have consisemntly put ourt great records...

They just released Guy Clark's - Old .No 1 his first record w LA freeway on it... if you like Towns van zant and Jerry jeff (and that Texas scene which basically set the template for alt country in the mid 70's)...as you do, this is a 5 star record, also a bit of a cult classic so to speak...
s

Forget the rest of these guys, Stuart. They're too busy listening to obscure jazz songs in pretentious little cafes to get immersed in some good old country blues. I was only too happy to give this a good listen. I was able to build a playlist on grooveshark with all of your songs except for the Joanne Mackell cut. Also, I used the Jerry Jeff Walker version of LA Freeway because they didn't have the Guy Clark version - but you really can't go wrong with Jerry Jeff Walker.

Lots of this music is already in my collection, but there were some nice ones that I didn't know, such as the Boy from Lawrence County, Wheels and Useless Desires. All very good. I have an album by the "Notting Hillbillies" (which is a side project of Mark Knopfler's) that includes "I Feel Like Going Home" with a slightly bluesier arrangement. That album is certainly worth picking up if you like this sort of thing.

Some of the tunes were a little too weepy for me - always a danger with country - but overall I really enjoyed the playlist. Thanks!

Well I can tell from the deafening silence that the country cd I mixed went over about as well as skunky Jack Daniels on a dusty cotton field but as Derek (and earlier Mike) had requested a tracklist ,here it is:

1 Relief is just a swallow away- george jones
2 Move it on over; hank williams
3 the bottle let me down - Merle haggard
4 Just one more - George jones
5 Last nights Waltz - joanne Mackell
6 The Virgin- Gene Clark
7 Carmelita-Fred Eaglesmith
8 Useless Desires - patty griffin
9 More Than I can do- Steve Earle
10 The L & N dont stop here anymore- michelle Schocked
11 leavin On your Mind- patsy Cline
12 Boy from lawrence County- The felice Brothers
13 Wheels - Flying Burrito Brothers
14 Sunday Morning Comin Down - Johnny
15 Stand By your man- tammy wynette
16 L.A. Freeway- Guy Clark
17 Hurt - johnny cash
18 Ventura- Lucinda Williams
19 Feel Like Goin Home - Charlie Rich

below is a link to a video from you tube...damned if I can download it to here though...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdcvTgJqK2U

Some good sounding releases coming up in the next couple of months, for those among us into white-boy indy guitar rock.

Agree w/ many of the song and albums listed but why mention the Billy Ray and Tom Cochrane tracks without noting them as exceptions which prove the rule? Are we to infer that the author believes these particular pieces (no, not of music) serve as examples of 1992's sonic bounty? If so, then I scream, "Bullshit" and declare the thesis to have failed. Realize this is a harsh baby out with the bathwater approach but....in fact, you may have to serve some sort of penalty for not reading through the fine print. Really unfortunate, because the other examples were really dead on.

Good article (well, list of albums and songs from 1992) on Allmusic, very appropos of our recent CD night.

I think of the flawed early 70's Michelangelo Antonioni film (which I love, for the record) Zabriskie Point as a film that was greatly improved by its soundtrack - including Pink Floyd, Jerry Garcia, and numerous others. Interesting film, considered a bit of an embarrassment when released for the golden boy of Italian cinema (Blow Up is another touchstone sixties film of his with a great soundtrack), but I've always thought it worked very well, and I can't help but think its reputation will revive over coming generations.

Recently watched 'The Darjeeling Limited', an (often too) cute if somewhat underwhelming film by Wes Anderson (Rushmore). One of its more laudable aspects--and this always seems to be the case with his films--was its choice and use of music, from 60s Stones classics like 'Play with Fire' to Debussy, in background and foreground, as part of scenes or as still frame captures. Of course, this made me want to try to recall other fair-to-mediocre films with either kickass soundtracks or just incredible uses of music throughout. Tarantino is an obvious contemporary touchstone, even when his choices are jarringly anachronistic (i.e. David Bowie's song from Cat People in 'Inglourious Basterds'), though I'd say his films more succeed than fail for the most part so perhaps he doesn't count.

Gents, with apologies for a problematic technology evening last Friday, attached is the list of songs that were played. I suspect I'm missing some, especially from Derek, so feel free to add on. Definitely some good music here, but lots of it was untapped due to no (effin') iPod cord, and rather amazingly, wireless router and turntable problems! Turntable played perfectly all weekend, incidentally. Ah well. We'll get it right next time. I've listed albums (rather than songs) where I know them, feel free to improve upon that as well.

Brian (1) Squirrel - Niagara (2) Tinker - Soft Shell Friend (3) Big Dipper - Heavens (4) Cracker - Kerosene Hat (5) Haden - Trees Lounge (song) (6) Camper Van Beethoven - Key Lime Pie (7)Siouxsie and the Banshees - Peep Show (8) Superchunk - from Foolish (1993), and Heres Where the Strings Come in (1995) (9) Rain Parade - Explosions in the Glass Palace

Derek (1) Sebadoh - Bakesale (2) Orange Juice - The Glasgow School (compilation) (3) Pooh Sticks - The Great White Wonder (4) Guided by Voices - Mah Earwig!

Kyle - where no albums, please add (1) Prefab Sprout (2) Robert Palmer - Clues (3) Aztec Camera (4) The The - Soul Mining (5) Northside (6) The Real People - Window Pane (7) Electronic - self-titled (8) Grandaddy - Under the Wester Freeway

Marc - (1) Catherine Wheel - Happy Days (2) Lou Reed - New York (3) Tom Waits - Rain Dogs (4) Leonard Cohen - The Future (5) Buffalo Tom - Sleepy Eyed

Stuart (1) Spirit of the West - Labour Day (2) Neil Young - Harvet Moon

My head's still spinning from reading your description of the fix, Mike, but I 'm glad you got it sorted out...eventually...as is always the case with these types of issues. Luckily you didn't have to reformat the entire drive. As for the pied piper across the street, I sympathize. The only thing worse than bad flautists are serial whistlers, who I have come close to pushing off subway platforms on many occassions.

But onto something more fun, in honour of the world cup, starting friday:

That's exactly what happened - I wasted most of the day struggling with this. I checked the anti-virus log (nothing), and I ran spyware and adware checkers (which removed a few things, to no avail). And I did a bunch of searching for solutions, which eventually turned up something useful. I found an article that was very technical that claims that MS Windows systems occasionally fall into a trap whereby the ATA and SATA drives have their DMA disabled, which forces them to revert to the less efficient PIO. Nuff said. I only recognized this as significant because one of the symptoms matched the behaviour that I was seeing. The site offered a little script that would reset the ATA devices, thereby re-enabling DMA. With some trepidation I tried it, and it seems to have worked! As I type, I am listening to music that is not skipping or stuttering (R.E.M. at the moment). The little kid across the road is quiet so far today, but I'm ready for him...

Arrgh! Hate it when the computer behaves that way, not just because it's irritating that it won't work but because finding the solution can easily suck hours out of a day, with little progress.

-do you have antivirus software running? if you temporarily disable it, does the problem persist?
-if you turn off the router or internet, does it still happen?

My first thought was that you have some sort of adware or malware running constantly in the background, which is tying up the cpu, thus causing skipping or jolting of other programs, but you indicate that the cpu usage is okay? Are the rest of the programs you're running slow as well (ie. lag time between text typed and when it appears)?

This morning the little kid across the road spent well over an hour tunelessly blowing on a penny whistle or a recorder or some such instrument of torture. My first thought was to put some music on and drown the little bastard out, but my computer picked this moment to fail me. Playing music on the computer has always worked before, but suddenly today it isn't working. At first I thought it was noisy - some kind of static. Upon closer listening, thought, I think that it is stuttering very rapidly on brief sections of the music and then moving on. The effect is most unpleasant. Have any of you encountered such a problem before? More importantly, have any of you come up with a solution to a similar problem before?

Technical details:

- Running XP

- The machine has plenty of memory, CPU power etc. - it's always worked before

- I'm not running out of disk space

- The problem shows up with Windows media player, itunes and one other media player I tried. I suppose this means that the problem is at a lower level (codec? driver?)

- It gets worse when the computer is busy (searching, opening a document, etc), but it is there to some extent even when the computer is doing nothing else.

- I've checked all of the physical connections, and they appear fine

Thanks for any help you can offer - the kid's not playing his pipe at the moment, but he could start again at any time, so this is an urgent request...

yes, was also upset to hear of his rather sad and untimely death. was a big fan of sparklehorse, particularly those releases from about a decade ago. for the unitiated, the best of the bunch, imo, is 'good morning, spider'.

here's a track from the followup disc (titled, with cruel irony in retrospect, 'it's a wonderful life'):