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.
s

In an non-Jian Ghomeshi-centred entry, props to my cousin Mike for a spirited and rocking show at the shoe hier soir. You can download some tracks at their website.

My personal faves also skew to the early 90s but have a more Mancunian bent. The Charlatons, Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Ride and Inspiral Carpets formed the soundtrack to my university days so they will always resonate a little deeper for me than some of the other music in the decade. Commercial alternative radio was showing promise up to 1994/1995 but quickly embraced whiny, retread grunge-ish acts like Bush, Moist, Matchbox 20, Days of the New, etc. Anytime I hear the words 'Modern Rock' I shudder and spin the dial towards the all dance stations--at least they know they're insipid.

Anyhoo, my list:

-Vapour Trail by Ride, with its swirling, noisy melody and lovely strings to quietly close

-Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead, which gets better and a little sadder each time I hear it

-Not Too Amused by Sebadoh, with its gradual, growling buildup

-Cannonball by the Breeders for that awesome bass line and the little gap in the middle of the song that suggests an abrupt ending but wait…here come those drums and the screaming chorus

-Today by Smashing Pumpkins, for the layered guitar sound that blazes in after the quiet beginning of the track and the fact that the video successfully recreates some of the cool scenes from Antonioni’s ‘Zabriskie Point’

Honourable mentions/Six place ties go to: ‘Moon Palace’ by Luna, ‘Excursions’ by A Tribe Called Quest, ‘Glory Box’ by Portishead, ‘Sunshine State’ by Superchunk, ‘Only Shallow’ by My Bloody Valentine, ‘Obscurity Knocks’ by Trash Can Sinatras, ‘Elevate Me Later’, ‘Goldsoundz’, and ‘Here’ by Pavement, ‘Venus as a Boy’ by Bjork, ‘Laid’ by James, ‘Connection’ by Elastica, ‘Step On’ by Happy Mondays, and ‘Natural One’ by Folk Implosion.

The CBC will choose:

-Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana (obvious)

-You Oughtta Know - Alanis Morissette (cancon, plus big seller)

-Loser – Beck (embodiment of slacker, gen-x angst, with massive airplay in late 1993/early 1994)

-Song 2 – Blur (made the all important step to stadium anthem and beer commercial)

-The Rockafeller Skank - Fatboy Slim (right about now, the funk soul brother, check it out now, the funk soul brother….try to get this out of your head now, i dare you)

I debated adding 'One' by U2 but figured their inclusion in the 80s list negated a second appearance. I like 'Nothing Compares 2 U', which could very well end up in the final list but it was written by Prince, who was already included on the 80s list.

If the Spice Girls, NSync, Backstreet Boys, or Britney Spears are somehow included, I may have to kill.

Best of luck to all.

The 90's, my other favourite decade in music....so much promise in the early years, with the movement of commercial radio towards the truly alternative and avant garde, so much great music, and then finally such a crash and burn as the pendulum swung dramatically back towards the safe, the banal, the saccharine, and worse.

In my mind, the majority if not all of the great songs of the decade, the commercial ones anyway, came from the first half. Of course, as we've seen in my previous choices, I clearly have my pulse on the CBC panels (&*!*^&). Then again, Derek's dire warning of the chick factor in the 90's panel has me nervous (chick music in the 90's?) I'm a big guessing-tub-of-goo.

CBC list (wish me luck. I like beer, and I don't like giving it away).

(1) Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
(2) Smashing Pumpkins - Today
(3) James - Laid (the guy wore a dress the time I saw them, and the chicks all thought that was cool)
(4) Sinead - Nothing Compares 2 U (full-on chick)
(5) Beck - Loser (similar to myself)

If Sarah Mclachlan is on the list I'll be pissed on many levels. I also gave some consideration to the Blind Melon song - the 90's was all about the dead guys. Anyone willing to consider half marks for getting the band right (and the song wrong)?

My 5 fave choices - these are a bit random mind you:

(1) Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit. Sure it's predictable but...come on!

(2) Pavement - Goldsoundz. So brilliant and bang on for me I can't begin to describe.

(3) Sebadoh - Think. Got me way excited about lo fi. This one's for my sensitive side. I also love most of Bakesale, but this song is special.

(4) Yo La Tengo- Sugarcube. Thrilling mix of noise and melody that takes Sonic Youth's poppy instincts and runs with it. From maybe the best album of the 90's (excl. Pavement).

(5) Elliot Smith - Bled White. My favourite song by this saddest of song writers (oh yeah, he's dead too), and actually one of his most accessible. The imagery is wonderful and moving. Extra marks for being one I still listen to a lot.

I guess that's it, though there was actually a twenty-way tie for fifth. That makes twenty-six, Stu. Most sincere regrets to the Posies (Flavour of the Month); Hayden (Trees Lounge); Superchunk (Driveway to Driveway), Sloan (Coax Me), Hole (Violet), Eleventh Dream Day (Motherland), The Breeders (Cannonball); Liz Phair (Never Said); Juliana Hatfield (Feeling Massachussets plus plus); Treble Charger (Red), Pavement (most of the rest of their canon but particularly Grounded, Elevate Me Later, Silence Kit, Summer Babe)...and a whole pile of others.

And, just as importantly, let's list out our own favourites as well.

I'm thinking CD Club compilation disks at this point, plus, considering submitting the lists to CBC. The bastards.

That's a pretty solid list, D-Man. Not only does it include some of the most influential and innovative artists of the decade, the songs are popular enough, and received decent airplay on commercial radio/video ,to garner attention from the panel. Good call too on Ms. Morissette--I'd be shocked if 'You Oughtta Know' is absent from the final list (though if 'Ironic' makes it, I may have to kneecap someone). Perhaps an Oasis song or 'Bittersweet Symphony' by the Verve might make it on there. I'll make my picks later today after much consideration.

Well I see no one has posted their 90's picks so let me bat leadoff. I did happen to catch today's first segment and heard the first two songs selected by the panel. It will come as no surprise to any of you that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has been chosen. It would have made my list anyway so I'll limit my selection to 4 songs. I'm assuming that there's no way in hell that it doesn't make the shortlist of 5 songs. The second song they played today I would never have picked so I'll leave it at that. Word of warning: 2 of the 3 guest judges are women and with Jian coming in at ½ and ½ that means the panel is weighted towards the fairer sex. Alannis anyone?

CBC picks for the 90's:

Beck - Loser
Bjork - Big Time Sensuality
Moby - Porcelain
Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees

Thanks to Brian for pointing out that my REM submission for the 80's (Losing My Religion) was in fact released in the 90's. As you can see I wont be submitting it for the appropriate decade.

Not sure how we got on this topic, but as far as I'm concerned the best Monkees song is a toss up between "I'm a Believer" and "For Pete's Sake", though I know Derek likes the lesser known "You Just May be the One". Didn't realize that, like me, you guys were all such big fans.

Additional Honourable 80's Mentions: The Church - Under the Milky Way; XTC - Senses Working Overtime; That Petrol Emotion - Big Decision and Cellophane. Others to follow.

Nice choices for the CBC list by Derek and Kyle - I should have chosen a Prince and/or an MJ, and will pay for it (like Stuart, whose choices seem to me be long shots) in beer. Goddamn it.

Derek, I trust youwill have your people listening to the CBC tomorrow and will provide the earliest possible update.

I, for one, am looking forward to choosing for the 90's, the decade that I grew up in.

My stab at the CBC picks for the 80's:

Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
Stone Roses - Fools Gold
U2 - I Still Haven't Found...
REM - Losing My Religion
Prince - Little Red Corvette

Here's my pix:

Billie Jean by Michael Jackson
Tainted Love by Soft Cell
How Soon is Now? by the Smiths
Hungry Like the Wolf by Duran Duran
The Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (Sarah told me she thinks they’re going to choose this one)

A mix of what I think will be there and what I want to be there, never a good combination but...

I like it a list for best monkey songs.... Well in first place has to be monkey man off the Stones Let it Bleed
s

Firstly, I liked all your picks. You’re all winners in your own special and unique way. In a more literal way, I am the winner, at least when it comes to guessing what the panel would choose for the 1970s and getting into the mind of Jian Ghomeshi, which, on second thought, may not necessarily make me a winner.

Derek, liked your homily/diatribe on 80s music. Since it was my coming of age music as well, it holds a special place in my heart. As a whole, there is a lot of really shitty mainstream music from the 1980s, and I’m sure we could each come up with a list of at least 30 songs that make us want to kick the snot out of the composer/performer, but I think this is true of mainstream music from any decade.

If I had to come up with a list of five definitive songs (ie. staples at high school dances/clubs, on mixed tapes) of the 80s, it would include:

‘How Soon is Now’ by the Smiths, an anthem to self-pity and self-loathing, which received consistent airplay from its release in 1984 to the end of the decade.

‘She Sells Sanctuary’ by the Cult, with its great buildup at the beginning, simple yet kickass chorus—“The world drags me down”—and staying power (released in ’85 yet played even more in 1989).

‘Tainted Love’ by Soft Cell, to which everyone I’ve ever known including my parents and possibly grandparents know the words.

‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ by New Order, capturing that simultaneous danceable/listenable quality Derek mentioned, with that swirling pre-chorus synth riff that lifts you out of your seat and makes you want to start flailing your arms in an interpretive dance kind of way. What’s that? I’m the only one who does that? And it's not a good look? Okay, but the song stays on the list.

‘Blister in the Sun’ by the Violent Femmes, which is catchy, easy to sing along to, and has one of those pauses-before-final- chorus that always drives the kids crazy.

But…

‘Monkey Gone to Heaven’? It isn’t even the best song about monkees!
Okay, maybe it is. Infinitely superior to the equally nonsensical if somewhat crueler ‘Shock the Monkey’ by the Biko-crooning Peter Gabriel, and far less silly than either the Beatles’ ‘Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey’ or The Specials ‘Monkey Man’, it may have some serious competition from the Beasties’ ‘Brass Monkey’.

I’ve heard ‘Monkey Gone to Heaven’ described as lament on environmental degradation and animal testing but I think this one’s more about the music than the lyrics. I prefer ‘Wave of Mutilation’ on Doolittle and ‘Where is My Mind?’ from ‘Surfer Rosa’ over any other Pixies song but I doubt that any of these will appear on the CBC’s list.

I think the panel is going to go a little more mainstream but I’m not ready to pick just yet. Give me another day. And let the baited breathing commence!

Well I'll step up to the plate for the 80's, probably the most unjustly maligned decade in popular music. Sure it was the decade of the big hair bands and I was a sucker for many of them. Flock of Seagulls, Haircut One Hundred, Dead or Alive, the Thompson Twins etc.. all spent many a day firmly ensconced on my turntable. Am I going to apologize? Hell no. Will I be raked over the coals for the rest of my life for my seeming bad taste? Surely.

Before I proceed to my 5 choices for the decade let me just say that the big attraction for me in the music of the 1980's was its combination of danceability and listenability. God knows the first half of the 1970's produced nary a danceable song (Kansas, Yes, Foghat??). The remainder of that decade went way over the top in attempting to correct that imbalance as evinced by the disco era. But nobody ever accused disco of being something anyone would want to listen to at home alone in their bedroom. Much like the techno/house/jungle/drum n'bass music of the past 10 years its sole purpose was to help you pick up chicks. Some would say that is the sole purpose of all music but I digress.

Some of my favourites of the 80's: Soft Cell's "Tainted Love", the Cult's "She Sells Sanctuary", The Cure's "In Between Days", New Orders "Bizarre Love Triangle" and even the Sisters of Mercy's uber-gothic "Marian" were all tracks that went equally well on the dancefloor and on the walkman. Suffice to say I'll always have a soft spot for the decade in which I came of age.

So on to the 5 choices: (in no particular order)

The Jam - That's Entertainment

Something about the British when it comes to writing songs about the working class stiff. The Yanks always seem to come up with music praising the good life and the joys of monetary success. The British on the other hand come up with songs from the streets by the likes of the Jam, Billy Bragg, the Pogues (OK Irish), and surprisingly the Streets. No song better evokes the numbing routine that is everyday life than this classic.

God knows the Jam never even sniffed success on this side of the pond but they had numerous top 20 hits in the UK and this one at the very beginning of the 80's might have been the best of a very good lot.

Elvis Costello - I Want You

I somehow seemed to miss the whole early period of Elvis and have only caught up over the last 10 years or so. My first Elvis purchase was "Blood and Chocolate" and this song was the standout. Its a far cry from Radio, Radio or Pump it Up but it captured all the fucked up feelings I had when I was 22 where the fairer sex was concerned and too often they weren't.

Much to Brian's delight it might have been the first song where the lyrics meant more to me than the music. We can't discuss the best of the 70's and 80's without having Declan
place somewhere in the list.

The Pixies - Monkey Gone to Heaven

To this day I don't think I have a clue what this song is about and I'm happy to keep it that way. Black Francis has always been off on his own planet of sound anyway. This one came in right at the end of the decade and for those (me included) who'd had enough of the sugary dance happy 80's at this point this was the perfect antidote.

Francis' blood curdling yelp of "then God is 7" still brings a smile to my face. Music is still
looking for someone to pick up their mantle.

Morrissey - Everyday is Like Sunday

I guess this precludes me from picking a Smiths track in my list. So be it. Perhaps like the Beatles I have a hard time judging the Smiths songs from an objective point of view as they were listened to so many times and meant so much in my life at the time. So I cop out and pick this track.

At the time of its release I was just glad that with the demise of the Smiths our boy Morrissey put out a record and it didn't suck. The smalltown / small life ennui that this song evokes made this a keeper, especially having spent much of my early childhood holidaying in dismal places such as Blackpool and Scarborough.

Peter Gabriel - Biko

Back in the land of all that is deep fried in the summer of 1980 and still starry eyed at 16 the lyrics and music in this song were overwhelming. In many ways this track and Kate Bush's "The Dreaming" opened my eyes to music from beyond the UK/US axis. Biko might have been the start of the whole world music movement and it could not have a better progenitor. I didn't know who Steven Biko was when I first heard this song and yet it roused me no less. Politicized songs can often feel tawdry and overdone but when they are as heartfelt as this song you can't help but be moved.

The last line says it all, "And the eyes of the world are watching now".

My apologies to the Stone Roses, the Undertones, Billy Bragg, Lloyd Cole, the Housemartins, Echo and the Bunnymen, and Public Enemy on their absence from my list.