No Kyle, it was not Levon Holmes, but rather Levon Helm...no matter, i was wrong. I thought it was the renowned keyboardist for The Band who was accompanying Wilco in the second encore...well i was right on that account, but wrong about who the keyboardist for the band actually was...Garth Hudson. So i think i deserve 1/2 a point for recognizing the distinctive sound of The Band's keyboardist but loose at least 1 full point for not knowing that Levon Helm was actually the drummer of The Band.

Enjoyed Wilco very much, but after the show i could not help think back to a conversation that came up earlier in the evening concerning the price of opera tickets and i came to a conclusion that it was not that bad a deal when you compare it to the cost of a Wilco show.

Let's see...in an opera we get a full orchestra, maybe a couple dozen singers/actors who continually learn new works, a couple of really good singers (the superstars), a bunch of set decorators, designers choreographers, a printed program with lyrics etc. etc. etc.

...at a Wilco show we get a bunch of guys basically regurgitating songs from a couple of their last albums, who are to lazy to show up for a sound check! That for almost $50 bucks...damn right i'm going to stick around and squeeze them for every encore their good for! Definitely think they should have stopped at two. I think they employed a very clever tactic in playing one of the very worst songs every written as their last song in the third encore..."you won't hear this song on the radio"...(taken from the end of their last album)...no shit you won't, 'cause it's crap! Absolute crap!...there was no chance in hell of the crowd calling for yet another encore after that.

...but really...no really, i enjoyed the show!

As for expanding my horizons and challenging myself to think critically about some hard to wrap my head around music..i'm all for it. If it is deemed worth listening to (not necessarily liking) i will gladly go out and buy it do my homework.

m.

metaBeats

I'm glad to be back in the office, where the internet connection is fast and stable, and where I can actually sit down and gather my thoughts for a few minutes.

I'm also glad that the 'Smile' experiment was kiboshed. As much as I like ‘Good Vibrations’, ‘God Only Knows’ and ‘When I grow up to be a man’, I’m not what you’d call a big Beach Boys fan. Some 40 years later, I can’t imagine the songs stand up very well. Plus I've purchased a few interesting discs from bands who are neither Wilco or Radiohead which i'm interested in sharing with the group. The date of that meeting is......?

I really enjoyed the Wilco show and thought their set was very tight. Jeff Tweedy also seemed to be in a pretty upbeat mood and a few early feedback issues aside, they sounded great. I liked his witty rejoinder to the fan who enigmatically shouted ‘St. Louis Cardinals’: ‘Um, thanks. That was very…cryptic’. While some of the distortion bits were a little long for my liking, I was impressed with the way they would rein in the chaotic noise and churn out a straight on pop song.

Marc, not sure if the guy on keyboards/guitar was Levon Holmes as I’m not sure I know who Levon Holmes is. I do know that it wasn’t Livan Hernandez, who was pitched for the New York Yankees the previous night.

Agree with you Derek about the ovation thing. It was good but did I really feel like leaping to my feet and cheering? Not really and so I didn’t, until the end of the regular set, when I needed to stretch my legs (Massey Hall—great acoustics, not so great when it comes to comfortable seating). I also find the whole ‘clap for an encore’ part of the show so incredibly tedious and inauthetic. What, if I don’t cheer, they’re not going to come out again? Unless I clap solidly for ten minutes, they’re heading back to the tour bus? Or is it like a performance of Peter Pan, where I have to clap to save Tinkerbell’s life? Did my lacklustre applause on Saturday night unknowingly put the band in mortal danger? No. They're going to come out anyway and we all know it so enough with the song and dance and bring on the, um, song and dance as it were.

And tell me, because I don’t understand, why do fans feel the need to shout affirmations during any pause in the vocal performance? Its as if the absence of a ‘whoooooo’ during the bridge were a slap in the face to the band.

Since the encores weren’t particularly impressive in terms of song selection and Sarah and I were meeting up with friends later for a birthday-drinks event, we decided to jet midway through the second encore. Just how many encores were there?

Anyhoo, I when I was in Seattle last week I discovered a radio station that I really liked and they have a pretty neat website so check it out here.

Way out of my depth on the classical music suggestions but am more than willing to dive in and purchase the disc that you think will be interesting. ‘Atonal’ is not a big selling point for me but I’m willing to keep an open-mind.

Tell me what to buy. And tell me when to show up to Marc's place. And then put me in a taxi home. And shouldn't we consider adding a bottle of scotch to the mix?

I'm fine with the Honegger, Derek. I actually own it but haven't spend too much time on it as of yet (plus I'm going through a Poulenc stage) so that works great for me. The Holliger looks interesting but I'm a little worried that the non-20th C classical fans in the group might find it a little screechy and strange. Honneger had a reasonably melodic idiom, though it ain't Mozart.

I had narrowed mine down to two suggestions, so may as well throw them out to see if either sounds good to y'all. I was thinking of:

(1) Szymanowski's 2nd symphony - from 1910 or so, an interesting mix of modern and romantic style, very dramatic and listenable. Many recordings available, including a Naxos cheapy. I own it but am just begininng to listen to it.

(2) Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony - From the early 20's - 7 songs without a break, featuring some beautiful orchestral/choral work, again in a transitional modern/romantic idiom.

I also though of Sibelius' 5th, which is generally considered his most important.

Wow, them's fighting words Stuart.

May I be the first to make a suggestion seeing as how I nixed the Brian Wilson experiment.

Two suggestions with respect to 20th century composers. Try and keep them straight as the names are fairly smilar.

The first is Arthur Honegger, a member of the French group of composers known as "Les Six".

Check out the following links:

http://music.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/0003_satie/lessix.shtml

http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/default.asp?pn=SContentQuery&itemcode=&disctitle=&works=&Composer=honegger&Artist=

On the Naxos link click on the first link on the page and then on to the link labelled "about this recording".

I would suggest listening to his 3rd Symphony available as you can see on Naxos or a more inviting double EMI CD for $18.99 which contains all 5 of his symphonies plus his most famous piece "Pacific 231". I have listened to this work and his first symphony but none of the rest of his work.

The other individual, who has only just come to my attention from various recent reviews, is the contemporary composer Heinz Holliger. The violinist Thomas Zehetmair has a new CD out on ECM of his violin concerto which you can check out here:

http://www.ecmrecords.com/Catalogue/New_Series/1800/1890.php?cat=%2FArtists%2FZehetmair+Thomas%23%23Thomas+Zehetmair&we_start=0&lvredir=712

This disc is also available for $18.99 and not hard to track down.

Do we have a date for this thing yet?

ok , and Ill defer to you Brian as you already own all the atonal experimental dreck out there anyway.....
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Sure you are Stu, sometimes. Re 20th C, I was thinking of something that we (me, you, Dahruk, Marc, anyone else who listens to classical) don't already know, or don't know well, just to make it equally novel for all.

Research pending.

apologies, apologies apologies, Derek, I do, in fact, know how to spell your name, I thought I had finished with this last year, but my drink addled brain seems to have had a relapse .
Im with Brian- and a 2oth c classic that is important in terms not just about music but art in general would be "The Rite of Spring" by Stravinsky - . Im open to other suggestions too,
(Damn im a likable guy sometimes)
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Darik....It's officially off? What the hell? Why?? Well there's $13 I'll never get back.

OK, I didn't buy it, but still. I think it's a good choice, 'cause critics loved it and we likely won't, so we can listen to it and try to understand their reference points etc. I think the key will be to find something that we won't all naturally love, but that is being hailed as "important". No Wilco or Radiohead allowed.

I'll suggest a 20th C classical for a similar (more challenging?) exercise if everyone's into it.

Hey first off, the name is Derek. How many different ways can you guys find to spell it?

Secondly Wilco was a good, solid rock show. Nothing more, nothing less. They played pretty much all the songs one would want to hear them play and while they certainly were not played in a perfunctory manner neither were they captivating in a way that would make you think that the live show was giving you so much more than you could get from listening at home to the CDs.

I found myself at several times during the show thinking, how would Radiohead compare? The reason for the comparison being that Wilco and Radiohead are probably the only two bands of their stature that, up until Saturday night, I had never seen live. Purely conjecture on my part but I think Radiohead at Massey would be a much better "show". Judging by the rapturous applause and numerous (how many Stuart?) encores the Toronto crowd obviously thought otherwise.

Which brings me to another point. What the hell is going on with Toronto audiences. Is every single performance these days ovation-worthy? Its getting to the stage where I'm sitting down just to make a point. It's enough to make you cringe.

Note to Bloggers: the Brian Wilson experiment is officially off as unofficially agreed on Saturday night. Still like the idea, just want no part of "Smile". Any other suggestions?

Well Wilco....
I thought the main show was pretty great, the lead song off the new disc had an even better lead solo then on the disc, and generally I thought he pulled all the best songs from the last couple of records. If not the greatest experience of my life, I still thought it worth the investment. The encores, on the other hand (Garth Hudsons help notwithstanding) I thought to be not great selections , except for a few cuts of mermaid ave. Derrick and Kyle & Sarah ... as you lot left early, I take it , you didnt like it as much. Im curious to hear your comments.
CD club, I am avail whenever, What is your final date Marc, are you shifting it again?
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Yeah, frankly, and despite the critical hoopla, the idea of re-recording Smile 37 years after its non-release seems to me to be somewhere between ill advised and idiotic. I've heard a bunch of the outtakes over the years and they were reasonably cool, but i's sure as hell not 1967 anymore, so I'll need to be convinced as to the relevance of its ideas, sounds, and innovations. Keeping an open mind though (?!).

I, like the rest of you, don't see Pet Sounds as one of the great all time records...way too many banal (or puerile) and middle of the road numbers. Three or four great songs mind you - "God Only Knows" probably being my favourite.

Having said that, this is the sort of navel-gazing, mentally masturbatory exercise that I find quite fun, so I will of course shell out the $13 and participate.

And Stu, to counter your little prod, I think doing the same thing for a classical CD would be a great idea.

When's that CD Club again?

Sorry , I was looking for the metabeats blog site not the new hockey news & views blog. You know.... beats... as in music.....ah.....yes....
well Mr Mercer, I will spend my $13.00 if all agree, however I was not a great fan of Beach Boys -pet sounds , which receives even more superfluous rapturous applause, so Im not likely to like my investment, but hey it sure beats being forced to buy something like...say.... Mahlers 1st....Sorry Brian, couldnt resist.
You lovers of magnetic fields should check out a new disc ,which I have heards bits of, called "when I said I wanted to be your dog" by Jens Lekman. It sounded pretty terrific in the -humouous lyrics meets killer melody - sort of way.
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And so back to the real topic of discussion. The music.

It might just be me but I've already heard and read enough about the "new" Brian Wilson album "Smile". Take a look at the following:

Allmusic (4.5/5) - a remarkably unified, irresistible piece of pop music

The Guardian (4/5) - the songs Wilson wrote for Smile still sound like nothing else rock music has ever produced

Pitchfork (9/10) - The end result is a great album

Eye (4.5/5) - Has any pop album ever attained this level of melodic sophistication or invention?

Now (5/5) - Smile turns out to be a deeply considered reflection on what it means to be an American

Stand back, that wave of hyperbole might just be about to engulf you all. So what does it all mean? 5 guys out of 5 billion really, really like this record. What I would like to suggest for the next CD club which should be coming up shortly is that we each go out and buy this record (its available for $13.99 at Sam's so not a huge investment for something so grand) and give it several spins prior to our next get together and discuss the legitimacy of the hype. Sort of like a book club spin on a CD.

I only suggest this as I am a big cynic at heart especially where the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson are concerned and need to hear the input of those that I trust and respect on matters musical.

Any takers?

So you liked the Lovano disk??

Next question....is Kyle dead?

Oh right, hockey.

My point is that, no matter how much the assholes who run the game fuck it up, and I don't deny that they're capable of that, the game itself is still marvellous, and I love the hell out of it. There's no other sport that I feel this way about. I don't know if you've ever played hockey, but that's a big part of the connection that I and so many Canadians have with it. And I do get a little tired of people saying that the game is sick blah blah blah. The fact is the players now play far far better than even half a generation ago. Look at an Oilers game from their classic period in the eighties, or the Islanders before that, and even some of those legends look like ankle skaters. I don't believe that the talent pool has dwindled despite expansion, since twenty to thirty years ago there were very few Europeans and Americans in the game...in fact the talent pool has grown tremendously.

I think the game would benefit from a few minor rule changes, taking the red line out, consistently calling holding, and (yes!) regulating goalie's equipment - again, take a look at what Billy Smith wore when the Isles won four straight. Ridiculously different.

The economics of the game are fucked and I don't give a rat's ass who wins and loses in this negotiation. The owners are moronic but it's their money. Definitely 82 games are too many, but I love to watch it, so would never want it cut it in half? People who don't like pre-Christmas hockey can tune in in January, that's their call. For me, I wouldn't want to wait much longer than the chilly winds of November (so, let's say 70 games). And sure, I'd prefer to see hockey leave places like Nashville, Columbus, Phoenix, etc, and I think it will eventually, the way things are headed. Either way, get it over with and let the boys play hockey.

And, to finish off the rant, I mean, riposte, I thought the World Cup was damn exciting; even the final, which was played a little too defensively for most of us, was still too close to call, and featured some very exciting plays. The Canada-Czech game before that was a classic, played at a very high level.

Very disappointing riposte to my "diatribe" there Mr. Doyle. I think perhaps you've been watching too much Fox TV. Why do I feel like Linda McQuaig to your Bill O'Reilly. Nothing I can say I suppose that will change your thinking in any way. It's the sort of reaction I'd expect from both Bettman and Goodenow who obviously know far more than I do about what's good for the game.

Believe it or not I was a hockey fan for the better part of 20 years and sadly the NHL has gone out of its way to lose me as a spectator. As Damien Cox in a pretty good column last week pointed out:

NHL: "Upon further review, our game sucks right now."

Why pretend? The Stanley Cup final was an artistic disaster, the World Cup wasn't much better and 50-goal scorers are more rare than bona fide big leaguers in the Toronto Blue Jays lineup.
Radical change is needed. Admitting a problem is the first step

Here's the link to the column in its entirety.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1096063811207

I realize that my so-called solution to the problems facing hockey are rather over the top but the brilliant ideas bandied about by the NHL are a joke. (eg limiting the size of the goalie's equipment). If 2-1 and 1-0 continue to be the recurring scorelines I don't expect too many US based teams to thrive given the American fan's penchant for scoring. Remember the NASL? Me neither.

So I leave it in the capable hands of you and the extremely m.i.a. Kyle to offer up something more productive than "nyah, nyah you suck, hockey rules." I promise to say no more on the subject.

Yes indeed, Derek it's very sleepy in BlogLand. Never fear, my man, I am always able to find time to blog when I should be preparing financial forecasts, or some such mind-numbing activity.

First off, I'll mention that I am simply ignoring your hockey diatribe....I'll excuse it as the words of a man who doesn't like hockey (god forbid). You're entitled to your opinion, of course, but since this particular one doesn't mirror my own thoughts, I'll dismiss it. I need hockey, and bah fooey to you.

OK let's focus on music. The fall is all about getting serious. See you later Beach Boys, helloooo Pet Shop Boys...I mean, Brahms, Coltrane, and Sonic Youth.

I liked your list of "Derek spins", particularly the Henderson which I know and love, and the Ives, in whom I'm very interested. I've been tripping on some classical stuff (mentioned in my last blog), plus a few new releases by tried and-true-bands - Bjork, Guided By Voices, and the aforementioned Sonic Oldies. Each of them is very good, with the Bjork likely to be the one I'll keep listening to. As for GBV, their previous (Earthquake Glue) seems to me to have a few more instant classics than this (sadly) final effort. Curious to hear the differences, if any, between a Bob Pollard solo record and GBV.

On the jazz front, I recently resurrected a Joe Lovano record which, in Derek-like fashion, I bought six months ago and never listened to. It's "On this Day at the Vanguard", a live record, and is a wonderful blend of large-band energy and small-group soulfulness.

When's the next CD Club? Sometime in November would suit me.

It's oh so quiet!

Apparently many of you are suffering from a surfeit of blogging during the film festival. Thankfully I suffer from no such affliction so I'll proceed. Just thought I'd weigh in on how much I enjoy this time of the year. My interest in all the art forms gets rejuvenated what with the new seasons in theatre, dance, opera, chamber music etc. Add to that the slate of new releases in literature and pop/rock music and it doesn't get much better than this for a cultural junkie.

I think what makes it even sweeter in 2004 is the absence of our national pastime. And I'm not talking about the Canuck need to whinge about health care, the weather, the price of gas... With no "NHL" hockey to pester us for the forseeable future we may rediscover our love for the outdoors, long forgotten family members and my god "the arts".

Do people really miss the banality that is the NHL regular season anyhow? My suggestion is that hereafter the season start in mid-January and they be handing over Lord Stanley's Cup by the end of May. With the best weather of the year coming in the fall, all the social activities that accompany the new chill in the air and then the move into Christmas festive mode nobody's going to miss hockey until January anyway and then it will come as a perfect antidote to the most miserable part of the calendar. Then when the first warm day of the season arrives in May it's time to wrap it all up and let us get back on to the patios of Toronto. Where is it written in stone that a professional sports season has to last 8-10 months. The NFL seems to thrive quite nicely on a 4 month season leaving their fans in a state of high anticipation during the long off-season.

So cut the number of teams to 16, with 4 groups of 4. Play each team in your division 4 times and the rest of the teams twice. Presto a 36 game season. Enough to get the players in to prime game shape but not so many that they've got nothing left to give in the playoffs. Cut the teams making the playoffs to 8 (quarters, semis and finals) and you're finished by May. People will ask well where's all the foregone cash going to come from.

Well in cities like Toronto in their ilk I don't think we've come anywhere close to the threshold of what people are willing to pay to watch a hockey game. Let the high rollers and corporations pony up even more to watch what will be a vastly improved product with a much reduced playing schedule that leaves much fewer opportunities to schmooze with your clients. That and reduced salaries (only 36 games after all) will go a long way to covering up a revenue shortfall.
Sorry, didn't mean to turn this in to sportsblog.

Currently spinning on the Mercer turntable: "Blue" by Joni Mitchell, Puccini's "Turandot", "Inner Urge" by Joe Henderson, "Destination Out" by Jackie McLean, Bernstein's take on Ive's 2nd & 3rd symphonies, "Funeral" by Arcade Fire and the latest Sadies release. All well worth a listen.

No qualms from BMO Man. Sounds like a good use of the space. My first film is Thursday night, so you can expect long, indulgent, rambling reviews beginning sometime Friday. Incidentally, as a mind-set preparation exercise, I rented Ingmar Bergman's "Persona" a couple of nights ago. To me, Bergman is one of those directors who moved film forward as an art form. This one was eerie, quiet, imponderable, quite sexy, and slightly hysterical. Classic Berman, I s'pose. It'll stay with me for a while.

As for new CD's, well, it's the fall, so I'm back into "serious" music - recent purchases have been 20th century classical (Charles Ives, Elliott Carter, and Harry Somers), plus my fave of all, and technically a jazz recording, Eric Friedlander's "Maldoror" on which he creates solo cello interpretations of Comte De Leautremont's surrealist poetry from the mid 1800's. Sounds impressive, eh? Truth is it's beautiful, even with the pretentious trappings.

Yeah, we certainly nailed that decade though how we failed to appreciate the genius that is R Kelly I'll never know. Any qualms with using this space in the coming two weeks for sharing thoughts on films from the festival?
I could create another blog (sounds complicated but amounts to a series of mouse clicks totalling ten minutes) but it seems easier to use this one. I haven't bought any new music lately other than the Iron & Wine disc, which I really like (great for saturday mornings, coffee and paper accompaniment). I was going to pick up the k-os disc but it has that annoying copyright controlled technology on it, which makes it unplayable in most rental cars, where I listen to a lot of music, and impossible to transfer to my portable music devices!! Very annoying.

Any thoughts re: tiff postings, new discs?

Ok I thought you all covered the best stuff with your selections. I would have to underscore Fake plastic trees as probably my favorite song of the decade, if not period. Since most of us picked this song we must be a pretty pathetic bunch, but there you have it. I would have added Oasis Live forever, from definately maybe. If you dont know it , it is pure unadulterated youth that somehow still rings true to my aged body. Finally I would add Losing my religion - REM.
Theses last 2 picks are mainstream enough that they could have made it. Like Brian I could pick a bunch from Yo la Tango, Red House Painters, Bjork, etc......, but none likely to make the list.
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