Lab Mixtapes: Episode 25

It occurs to me that recent episodes of this podcast have been slightly soft. Fear not. Prepare yourself, for it is time to be rocked and/or rolled. I'm talking about putting a brick through the other guy's windshield. I'm talking about taking it out and chopping it up. In the land of the Northern Lights and the Canadian Tuxedo we do things loudly. With licks hot enough to burn your fingers and hooks sharp enough to hang meat, I give you The Besnard Lakes, The Constantines, and Black Mountain. These bands can't hold a grudge because they're too busy grinding their axes.

Episode 25: You Will Be Rocked and/or Rolled
plays 12:25 mins

Links Open the iTunes Music Store
1. Devastation - The Besnard Lakes
2. Hotline Operator - The Constantines
3. Evil Ways - Black Mountain

It has not gone unnoticed that this is not just the last podcast of the year, but also the 25^th LAB Mixtape showcasing over 80 songs. Please join with us as we plan an international celebration of this very special podcast (which may happen to coincide with some other year end event). So pop a cork and indulge in the whimsy of trying to somehow commemorate a year or a decade. Remember what Abe Lincoln said, "It's not the years in the life that counts. It's the life in the years that count."

Lab Mixtapes: Episode 24 

The holiday season brings with it an unbearable amount of seasonal music, which we promptly forget on December 26th. It's fair to say that winter does not receive the same kind of musical treatment that the other three seasons enjoy. With that in mind, these are three songs that bring winter and the end of the year to mind without the sentiment nor the nostalgia usually brought to forefront in December. They speak of remembrances, isolation and loneliness or the stillness of a snow-covered field.

Episode 24: Winter Solstice
plays 11:35 mins

links open the iTunes Music Store
1. Little Girl Blue - Nina Simone
2. White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes
3. The Last Laughter of the Laughter - Travis

Lab Mixtapes: Episode 23 

The lineage of Black American music is simply too deep and broad to discuss here, yet recently I was struck by similarities heretofore unseen, that now seem obvious. I suppose they were always obvious but humor me. These are the small epiphanies one receives after three hours on a bicycle, while listening to music served randomly and serendipitously by an unbiased iPod. I present to you, Prince, Michael Jackson and the masterful Curtis Mayfield. No explanations required.

Episode 23: The Undeniable Blackness of American Music
plays 18:47 mins — officially the longest running Mixtape thanks to the over 9 minute Mayfield track (which still leaves you wanting more).

links open the iTunes Music Store
1. Black Sweat - Prince
2. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' - Michael Jackson
3. Move On Up - Curtis Mayfield

PS. Apologies for the extremely poor down sampling on the Prince track.

Lab Mixtapes: Episode 22 

Sometimes you hear a particular instrument and it strikes you as so odd and wonderful you wonder why you don't hear it more often. The banjo comes to mind, and, yes, the harp. I know what you're thinking. "Aren't harps played by fat people dressed as angels in cheese commercials?" Yes - also by that strange woman seen playing with classical quartets who knows too much about Wiccan Rice Krispie recipes. But they also create a window to some far off magical place. Be it in your mind, your heart, or as in the cheese commercials, your gut. All I'm saying is give the harp a chance.

Episode 22: The Harp Will Rock You
plays 11:16 mins

Links open the iTunes Music Store:
1. Like Someone in Love - Bjork
2. Exploration - Bruno Coulais, Mathilde Pellegrini, Hélène Breschand
3. The Sprout and the Bean - Joanna Newsom

LAB Mixtapes: Episode 21 

A stretch of rainy weather and cloudy skies reminded me of Seattle, home to many pop/rock phenomenon, and the spiritual starting point for this mixtape. I came to know these three bands at around the same time thanks to sources like CBC Radio 3, NPR's All Songs Considered, KEXP from Seattle and surprisingly, Believer Magazine which publishes an annual collection of loosely curated musical selections.

Intelligent lyrics (they use some big words), simple, personal stories performed to ruckus folk-rock melodies and a sort of anti-glamour touch of bittersweetness are hallmarks of Death Cab for Cutie, The Decemberists and The Shins. Is that what the kids-too-old-to-be-kids call "Emo" or are we in "Twee' territory here? Hmm, no, me thinks we'll preserve "Twee" for the Belle & Sebastian Mixtape. From that description, these guys are a set of bright t-shirts away from being the Wiggles. Yet there's a propensity for wearing geeky eyewear and getting the "indie" chick from the record store (or Zoe Deschanel in the case of Death Cab for Cutie's front man). Each of these bands have found a healthy audience while maintaining that unknowable metric known in this bureau as "indie cred". Enjoy and remember, grey skies are going to clear up. Eventually.

Episode 21
Runs 10:10 mins

Links below open the iTunes Music Store:
1. I WIll Follow You Into The Dark – Death Cab For Cutie
2. We Will Become Silhouettes – The Shins
3. The Rake's Song - The Decemberists

LAB Mixtapes: Episode 20 

This week I've become nostalgic for the coming end of summer, so I thought I'd lay these summer tracks at your feet as a sacrifice to please the Gods of Autumn. What makes a song a summer song? I have no idea. Breezy melodies that carry through the warm evening air or that are heard coming from car stereos or out on the street. Maybe? Who Knows? Enjoy with an SPF of no less than 30.

These three songs have been playing over and over in my head so much that they've become my de facto summer soundtrack. Oddly, these tracks represent a cavalcade of the animal kingdom, featuring Sparklehorse and Danger Mouse, Caribou and Grizzly Bear. I guess summer is more about the fauna than the flora?

Episode 20
Runs 12:10 mins

1. Just War – Sparklehorse & Danger Mouse
Links below open the iTunes Music Store:
2. She's The One – Caribou
3. Two Weeks - Grizzly Bear

LAB Mixtapes: Episode 19

For once, this opening music from Champion out of Montreal isn't just an intro, it's the first track in this mix. The Canadian music scene is a strangely fertile place for electronic artists who plug in, tune in and drop the needle in the most inventive ways. Even if you've never listened to DJ driven tracks before, such as those by The Chemical Brothers or Daft Punk, I hope you'll find something to like in this trio. I will say that the last track by Holy F**k powered me through an eighty kilometer bike ride and continues to be my "motivation" soundtrack.

Episode 19
Runs 11:38mins

Links below open the iTunes Music Store:
1. Sergio's Trio - Champion
2. Melody Day - Caribou
3. Lovely Allen - Holy F**k

LAB Mixtapes: Episode 18

Covering Radiohead songs is nothing new but the song, "Creep" is special and has been covered by so many other artists, it's hard to keep track (people such as Beck, Moby, and Korn, have all performed it live). Even Radiohead has recorded a pared-down sparse acoustic version. It's a remarkably versatile number and lends itself to instrumental arrangements. While the song remains the same it's curious how it seems to speak to so many different song writers. Listen for yourself and see if it speaks to you.

Note: This song drops the F-bomb at least once so you're likely to hear it three or four times in this podcast. If you're offended by such language I recommend firing a shot gun near your ears so as to cause deafness, because that's really the only way you'll be able to avoid hearing this particular word in the 21st century, media-drenched world.

Episode 18
Runs 15:16 mins

Links below open the iTunes Music Store:
1. Creep - Edmund Welles
2. Creep - Pretenders
3. Creep - Anni Rossi
4. Creep (acoustic) - Radiohead

LAB Mixtapes: Episode 17

I dreamt a dream of walking along a thunderstorm soaked¹ New York City street. I found a CBGB's way bill. Tonight's show would highlight only ass-kicking New York City Rocker Chicks. including the Yeah Yeah Yeahs with Karen O, Blondie with Debbie Harry and the inimitable Patti Smith headlining. Alas, CBGB's is no more, though the music remains and as always, – dreaming is free.

Episode 17
Runs 11:27 mins

Links below open the iTunes Music Store:
1. Maps - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2. Dreaming - Blondie
3. Gimme Shelter - Patti Smith

FN1. As I write this Toronto is being sparked by shocks of lightning brighter than any paparazzi's flare so I can say this mix fits well with a rainy night.

Show Time

via kristiecat's Flickr stream

For someone like me, who is anything but musical, watching people making music is a little like magic. Last night we saw Neko Case and friends make a little more magic. We're not the types that see a lot of live shows, but I think what we lose in quantity, we make up for in quality. This was only the third show I've seen at Massey Hall yet those three shows have been great and memorable (Elvis Costello in '99, Herbie Hancock in '06). Neko Case is really just one of a handful of artists that I have multiple albums of and can recognize most of her songs. Songs that, in many ways, are perfect three or four minute gems.

You might not get to see her in concert but here are a couple of ersatz substitutions (not really the same as being there but close as you can get).

NPR's All Songs Considered posted a Neko Case show from April 9^th, 2009 (1hr 32mins).

Neko Case also recorded a live session with the CBC (NOTE: the link opens in iTunes) earlier this year (36 mins).

Enjoy

So tonight I found out where all the cool kids go...The Bowery Ballroom is where I heard (CDN) indie darling The Handsome Furs play. It was a great though short set. Then again it was a Tuesday night. When I left around 11 more cool kids were arriving. I cordially bid goodnight to the door man who asked increduosly, "You leavin'?" to which I answered "Yes, because someone spiked my beer - which made me 40-years-old" He replied, "I hear you" though I seriously doubt he did.

It's been a long day and a rare one when I left my glasses on all day because there was just too much to see.

LAB Mixtapes: Episode 16

I'll always associate Elvis Costello with a group of artists, many from the UK, that broke through the grip of top forty play lists in the 80s. Perhaps mis-labelled "New Wave", bands like Elvis Costello & the Attractions, The Jam, The Squeeze, Talking Heads, Blondie and Joe Jackson crackled and spat through mainstream radio and made college stations worth listening to. What powered these acts wasn't just a newfound intensity but great songwriting. The Jam's Paul Weller and Elvis Costello have few successors today but one band that reminds me of those earlier acts is the New Pornographers and their main songsmith A.C. Newman. Newman might be one of Canada's best songwriters at the moment and no other band can match the New Pornographers output of consistent quality pop songs. Viewers of CBC's The Hour may be too familiar with this Newman tune, "Use It" but it reminds me so much of the Costello Classic "What's so funny" it was hard not to include in this mix.¹

Episode 16
Runs 11:27 mins

Links below open the iTunes Music Store
1. That's Entertainment - The Jam
2. What's So Funny 'bout Peace, Love and Understanding - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3. Use It - The New Pornographers

FN 1. I had originally planned A.C. Newman's newest single "Ten or Twelve Things" in this mix but there was no denying the drum break being so similar to the "What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love and Understanding" so I gave in. Plus Twin Cinema is an album that, if it were an ultimate fighter were slay any and all comers.

LAB Mixtapes: Episode 15

After my first listen of the Strokes debut album, I had the feeling I had heard this lo-fi sound before. To my mind it seemed very much like the Velvet Underground but to other ears the music sounded more like the Buzzcocks. The influences in this mix run pretty deep. Artists like Bowie and Iggy Pop followed the Velvet Underground, who in turn collaborated with the likes of Brian Eno. Whether the Strokes were paying homage or borrowing it's clear they are (to borrow a phrase myself) standing on the shoulders of giants. Enjoy. Sunglasses and leather jackets may be required.

Episode 15
Runs 11:23 mins

Links below open the iTunes Music Store
1. Take It Or Leave It - The Strokes
2. Everybody's Happy Nowadays - Buzzcocks
3. I'm Waiting For The Man - The Velvet Underground

LAB Mixtapes: Episode 14

Guy Maddin made a film called The Saddest Music in the World. Did he have this music in mind? Christine Fellows sings about loss and memory, while Cat Power, sings of regret, pain and forgiveness. The Weakerthans quietly ruminate on a simple prayer in a hospital room. Sarah Harmer may be the odd one out in this mix but this particular song, Lodestar, is to me, beautifully sad but finishes on more of an up note. I just couldn't bring myself to swallow that many downers in a row¹.

Episode 14
Runs 14:49 mins

Links below open the iTunes Music Store
1. I Don't Blame You - Cat Power
2. Verterbrae - Christine Fellows
3. (hospital vespers) - The Weakerthans
4. Lodestar - Sarah Harmer

FN 1. That was actually an unintentional pun on suicide. Only one of these artists have attempted suicide that I know of. I've been reading a lot of David Foster Wallace lately and of course have read about his suicide and struggle with depression. Then I found myself reading about Ludwig Wittgenstein's brilliant family. Two of his brothers committed suicide as did another relative. Ludwig thought of it often and as early as the age of ten. It occurred to me that maybe "genius" as we know it, really is a type of damaged brain. A mind swirling with too many things at once, going into dark places where it may not return. We revere the brilliant, the genius, yet is there a kind of intelligence so severe it casts the mind into constantly thinking of ending itself? At any rate, it makes being average seem a little more salable.

LAB Mixtapes: Episode 12

There's a pretty clear bloodline between Sonic Youth, the Pixies and The Breeders, so I won't really elaborate. Recently, iTunes made this Julie Doiron song the free download of the week and I was struck by how much it reminded me of The Breeders album Last Splash. I see other iTunes Listeners bought Cat Power, but maybe that's because they already have Last Splash and Dirty in old fashioned CD format. Enjoy the distortion, it's there for a reason.

PS. I realize having "Gigantic" from The Pixies may be redundant but that song kicks ass, so if I want it in there - it goes in there.

Episode 12
Runs 12:14 mins

Links open the iTunes Music Store
1. Gigantic - The Pixies
2. JC - Sonic Youth
3. Saints - The Breeders
4. Consolation Prize - Julie Doiron

PS. I'm actually writing this two days before Good Friday and I can't help but wonder if there's not a hidden Christian theme of redemption, revelation and forgiveness in this mixtape. Probably not. Right? Nah? JC doesn't mean Jesus Christ and Saints well that's just, um, about a summer carnival thing. Right.

LAB Mixtapes: Episode 13

I never really imagined having a Coldplay song in one of these sets. Yet, here it is - with a twist of lime. Each song in the mixtape this week is culturally displaced and remixed. British power pop performed as Cuban Big Band. Irish Art Rock fashioned as a Reggae tune and finally a reggae classic sounding like a piece of rootsy Americana. Nothing is as it seems through the looking glass.

It's proof of the strength of these songs that they are so successfully re-imagined. "Radiodread" wins for best pun and is probably the best example. Radiohead songs all performed as reggae? It works brilliantly. Radiohead are just one of those bands whose influence is seen merely by the number of artists covering their songs working in completely different genres: reggae, jazz, classical. Another great collaboration is Johnny Cash and Joe Strummer singing Bob Marley's Redemption Song. These two older artists interpreting Marley is sublime and inspired.

Episode 13
Runs 11:56 mins

Links below open the iTunes Music Store
1. Clocks - Rhythms Del Mundo
2. No Surprises - Easy Star All-Stars
3. Redemption Song - Johnny Cash and Joe Strummer

Urban Spiritual

Image via Flickr

It's difficult to describe my experience tonight other than "near spiritual".

Some context. On a whim I decided to go to an ersatz book launch as part of Pages Books' TINAR event (This Is Not A Reading Series) to hear designer/author Reif Larsen talk about his book "The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet". I was a little more mobile because I'd ridden my bike to work so I wasn't too worried about getting to the event, which was at the Steam Whistle Brewery. The brewery is housed in the old rail yard round house South of, what we all know as, the Skydome, as such it offers some remarkable views of Toronto's skyline. While I was enjoying the event, I decided to leave early as it was getting dark and I thought it was best to hit the road. Stepping out into the twilight, I was struck by Toronto's illuminated high rises standing before a big purple blue sky. All the clichés were there. Ribbons of clouds, shredding through a darkening sky. Pin lights from buildings punctuated shadowy buildings that defined the city. Garish neon seemed luxuriant and the asphalt streets seemed more like murky still rivers. They don't call it the magic hour for nothing. Maybe they should call it the "insipid romanticism hour".

I shook off the awe and started my ride home. The first portion of the route is beneath the Gardiner and West bound on Queens Quay. This would be treacherous in full daylight but is even more terrifying in the fading light of early evening. Despite several lane changes and many (MANY) cars stopped or parked in the bike lane, I eventually made my way to the safer ground of the bike path. The idea being it would be so much safer to ride on a bike path without any car traffic to contend with. Of course, I didn't realize there wasn't any light at all on the path and my tiny LED wasn't really helping much. Then something special happened. My eyes adjusted and I turned a corner where for the next five kilometers I was riding only meters away from Lake Ontario on my left and Toronto's tremulous city scape on my right. One of my favourite pieces of music came through my ear buds and for the next eleven minutes I floated over black tarmac and swooped through the trees while the lake's shoreline sparkled beside me, the city lights lay out before me and the night sky's giant inky-dark sheet billowed above me.

I was probably only going 40KM/hr at the fastest downhill section but it felt like flying at 30,000 ft and for those few moments I was falling through Toronto's pavement-black night and slicing the atmosphere. By the time the song ended I had been delivered to Roncesvalles and was only a few moments from home.

That music I was listening to is from Animal Collective called Pride & Fight. Here's that song:

Click here to hear.

You can buy the song in iTunes.

LAB Mixtapes: Episode 11

Pianissimo may mean to play softly but there's nothing too soft about this week's tracks. From the romantic swooning of Royal Wood, to the Prog-rock inspired sounds of Plants and Animals, to the airy and atmospheric Patrick Watson, each of these songs are anchored by the piano and by a kind of bigness. At times they verge on an almost "twee" sound but in the end, the strength of the songwriting comes through and leaves you wanting more.

Perhaps you think this music sounds kitschy and pretentious to your troll-like ears. That's okay. To get through this life you must learn to accept when you are wrong and that you are just being a bit of a jerk. This set starts like a Merlot but finishes like a boiler-maker. If you wind up in AA don't call me unless, as one of your 12 steps, you're calling to apologize about being wrong about this music.

Episode 11
Runs 11 mins

Links open the iTunes music store
1. Mirror Without - Royal Wood
2. Luscious Life- Patrick Watson
3. Bye Bye Bye - Plants and Animals

LAB Mixtapes: Episode 10

What do a Gypsy, a Spaniard and two Brazilian pop stars have in common? No, it's not a joke, it's an instrument. Namely, the guitar. Recently I was watching Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" and Spanish guitar plays a small but important role in the plot which is what brought this music to mind. I mean, my God, even the names of these artists have flair — Django, Paco, Gilberto. Fair warning, if you are walking right now, you may begin to skip, if you're sitting you may begin to stand and if you're standing you may begin to dance. Don't blame me, blame the guitar.

Episode 10
Runs 12:20 mins

Links below open the iTunes Store
Introduction music - Iguazu - Gustavo Santaolalla
1. Honeysuckle Rose - Django Reinhardt
2. La Nina De Puerta Oscura - Paco De Lucía
3. Morre O Burro Fica O Homem - Gilberto Gil & Jorge Ben

LAB Mixtapes: Episode 9

Growing up in Canada, the music of Gordon Lightfoot was as ubiquitous as the Hockey Night in Canada Theme or the Hinterland's Who's Who intro. Along with Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Ian and Sylvia Tyson, and Joni Mitchel his songs form a canon of Canadiana. Some 30 years after the release of "Sundown" you can still hear his influence in bands like Elliot Brood and The Great Lake Swimmers.

Enjoy with a glass of Canadian Rye and a piece of maple-flavored fudge.

Episode 9.
Runs 10:17 mins

Links below will launch the iTunes Music Store.
1. Sundown - Gordon Lightfoot
2. Oh Alberta - Elliot Brood
3. When it Flows - The Great Lake Swimmers

LAB Mixtapes: Episode 8

I'm being a little lazy this week¹. Each of these tracks make regular appearances on several CBC Radio3 Podcasts so really I'm just passing along what I've heard.

I honestly don't have much interest in the sort of macho and misogynistic offerings of Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dog or Fifty Cent. Yet, in the cold climes of Canada we've developed a different, smarter and more upbeat urban sound. Artists like Cadence Weapon, Shad, K'Naan, and Buck65 have developed and cultivated a kind of indie Hip Hop you don't hear often enough from terrestrial radio. Their arrangements and samples are inventive and their lyrics are witty and smart. Please enjoy this gun and ho-free Hip Hop.

Episode 8
Runs 11:20 mins

Links below will launch the iTunes Music Store.
1. In Search of the Youth Crew - Cadence Weapon
2. The Old Prince Still Lives at Home - Shad
3. Rocketship - Mood Ruff

1. This, of course assumes that I am otherwise typically industrious which would be inaccurate. I will also take this opportunity to apologize for the poor quality of this podcast as some rather over zealous compression led to excessive fuzz and distortion.
*Re-recording would probably have corrected this. See FN1.

LAB Mixtapes: Episode 7

The 80's weren't so bad and here's the proof. Bands like Interpol, Bloc Party and Kasabian seem to channel an 80's indie sound - in a good way. Their influences appear to be Joy Division, The Smiths, and The Cure and prove that despite the dreck of mainstream radio (which happens in every era) there was, in fact, a lot of fine music in the Decade of Me. Please enjoy and feel free to don mascara and your Chuck Taylor high-tops.

Episode 7.
Runs 12:06 mins

Links below will launch the iTunes Music Store.
1. Obstacle 1 - Interpol
2. The Reason is Treason - Kasabian
3. Banquet - Bloc Party

For no particular reason, some other bands that appeared on my Radar at the same time as these would The Artic Monkeys, Snow Patrol (snow theme here?), British Sea Power and maybe Franz Ferdinand. Which reminds me that a Manchester Mix with the likes of Stone Roses, Happy Mondays and The Buzzcocks might also be on deck.

LAB Mixtapes: Episode 6

This week I'm shifting gears a little. Philip Glass, popularly mocked in programs like the Simpsons and South Park, is the American grand daddy of a minimalist orchestral sound. Sometimes it seems like he is the sole patent holder on experimental, complex and modern classical music but he is really a descendent of a long line of artists who appear to have heard beauty in mathematics and found popularity through film scores. Lesser known to North Americans is Michael Nyman who has provided evocative music for half a dozen Peter Greenaway films. What reminded me of Nyman and Glass were the string arrangements of Owen Pallett aka Final Fantasy (2006 winner of the Polaris Music Prize). Though their approaches and compositions differ, the stirring strings and keyboards feel like cousins. As challenging as this music may seem to some, you really should hang in there for the whole thing. It's good for you. Suddenly I feel like Clyde Gilmour of Gilmour's Albums. I can almost smell the Sunday roast coming out of the oven*.

Episode 6
Runs 12:54 mins

Links below open in the iTunes Music Store
Track 1. Koyaanisqatsi: Resource - Philip Glass
Track 2. Fish beach (Drowning By Numbers) - Michael Nyman
Track 3. He Poos Clouds - Final Fantasy

*Coincidentally, Owen Pallett was for a time, the music director of Vinyl Café, CBC's anodyne Sunday afternoon program which now fills the spot long held by Clyde Gilmour — consider all dots connected.

LAB Mixtapes: Episode 5

Continuing with a Canadian indie theme, these three acts have so many great tracks amongst them that it's hard to choose just one from each. Again proving the ascendancy of Canadian indie music, not just in the quality but also the sheer breadth of talent, these acts have probably found more success outside of the country than within it. The Dears, with their Smiths inspired sound found an audience in the UK, Metric found fans in New York City night clubs while The New Pornographers played throughout the US and had regular air play on stations like KEXP in Seattle and KCRW in Santa Monica.

These bands also demonstrate that "high-quality Pop" is not an oxy-moron.

Episode 5
Runs 14:18 mins

Note: Links will launch iTunes.
Track 1. Lost in the Plot - The Dears
Track 2. Hardwired - Metric
Track 3. The Bleeding Heart Show - The New Pornographers

LAB Mixtapes: Episode 4

Sometime around the turn of the century, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation launched it's eponymous Web channel CBC Radio3. Simultaneously, Canadian Indie Music became incendiary and explosive. The Radio 3 podcast which began shortly after in 2002 delivered high-powered indie-pop/rock/folk/hip-hop on a weekly basis and has since been the source of much of the new music I listen to. Bands like Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, The New Pornographers, Metric, The Dears, The Weakerthans, The Constantines, Sam Roberts and Hot Hot Heat were typical of this almost impossibly high quality hit parade of Canadian artists that hailed from Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and everywhere in-between.

Unfortunately, Canadians getting air play on mainstream terrestrial radio remain the likes of Nickelback, Avril Lavigne and Sum41. Safe. Insipid. Dull. Predictable. Podcasts such as Radio 3, NPR's All Songs Considered and John Sakamoto's Anti-hit List continue to be the primary source and champions of exciting, intelligent and energetic new Canadian music. In turn, music fans who write their own blogs and hear how little these acts are played on Canadian radio have taken it upon themselves to popularize their favourite artists. While record labels and radio stations might rightly blame the Internet for destroying the core of their businesses they have only themselves to blame for becoming irrelevant by continuing to offer only the dregs of offerings rather than the cream of the talent pool.

Episode 4
Runs 9:51 mins.

Note: Links will launch iTunes.
Track 1. Shine a Light - Wolf Parade
Track 2. Blind Luck - The Constantines
Track 3. Nature of the Experiment - Tokyo Police Club

LAB Mixtapes: Episode 3 

It's only episode 3 and I'm already breaking the rules. This podcast has 4 tracks instead of 3. It's not just that this is an all female, full-on estrogen rock-out, but all of these artists re-define a kind of post-folk-rock-indie labeling that is too small to contain their emotional power and beautiful voices. Somehow I doubt these ladies would all show up on some kind of Lilith Fair tour but when I think of one, I think of the other. And there is something about a strong female voice that knocks me on my ass. Freudian? Jungian? Neither of those guys could sing like this.

Episode 3
Runs 15:08 mins

Links below open in the iTunes Store:
1. Train From Kansas City - Neko Case
2. Light Enough to Travel - The Be Good Tanyas
3. I Feel It All - Feist
4. Call It Off - Tegan and Sara

LAB Mixtapes - Episode 2

This recording includes The Talking Heads, Arcade Fire and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah which I've grouped together mainly for being "like The Talking Heads" (especially The Talking Heads). These bands also share similar musical and lyrical traits. Do I have to explain everything? Perhaps I'm wrong or maybe these songs are proof of such cosmic connectedness it makes String Theory look like a Simple Theory of Nothing and just a big scribble of numbers.


Episode 2
Runs 13:47 mins.

N.B. links open in the iTunes Store
Track 1. This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) - Talking Heads
Track 2. Une Annee Sans Lumiere - The Arcade Fire
Track 3. Underwater (You and Me) - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

LAB Mixtapes: Episode 1

Since I traced my route to the Bon Iver album "For Emma, Forever Ago" (Letterman appearance > New Yorker review > NPR's All Songs Considered) I've been thinking more and more about this kind of personal connections. Not really a "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" but more like a cognitive associative network map. It's just the associative jump your mind makes that is different from everyone else's but in an odd way, may be very similar to the associations your friends make. Or at the very least there's enough of an overlap suggesting similar tastes and sensibilities.

Sometimes this holds true, but sometimes not. Let me try to lead you through one of these rabbit warrens:

I read the New Yorker regularly and enjoyed a David Sedaris piece. Liking that, I listened to David Sedaris read a story on NPR's This American Life with Ira Glass. After listening to This American Life you see an animated episode designed by the artist Chris Ware from the televised version of the program. I've read several Chris Ware comic books and attended a round table discussion with Chris Ware, Charles Burns, Seth and Chip Kidd. All of whom have contributed to The New Yorker magazine, where I read the David Sedaris piece originally and which was included in his new book which has a cover designed by Chip Kidd. Coincidentally, Charles Burns is the artist in residence and designer of every cover of the Believer Magazine, which contains a regular column called "Sedaritives" by Amy Sedaris, the sister of David Sedaris. Oh and Charles Burns did the cover illustration for Chip Kidd's new novel, "The Learners".

I could go on but you see what I mean.

In this spirit I'm going to put together a series of mix tapes of "Connectedness". On the Indigo Web site they call their recommendations - CWBAB - or Customers Who Bought (this) Also Bought but I think I prefer the iTunes version "Listeners Also Bought" (mostly because the acronym is LAB).

Let me now introduce the LAB mixtapes:

Episode One: 10:00 minutes
Episode 1

I won't say too much about these mixes other than the artist and track names because the whole idea is for the listener to form the association/synaptic connection.

N.B. links below will open the iTunes Store.
1. Neil Young: My My Hey Hey
2. Bon Iver: Flume
3. Chad VanGaalen: Mini T.V.'s

Other Neil Young related links:

Embarrassingly bad Neil Young

Thom Yorke talks about Neil Young

Flea on Neil Young

Bon Iver. Bon Idée

It is curious. That whole thing of stuff coming in threes. Recently I was watching a Letterman rerun and was surprised to see a mountain-man figure in a plaid shirt and heavy boots singing a plaintive tune in a near falsetto voice. Once the song was finished, Letterman sauntered forth as he usually does and said, "Nice job. Well done. Bon Iver everybody. What is that? Good Winter?" Typically, I had thought the name of the band to be Bon Hiver (band? Is a guy in winter boots accompanied by 3 drummers - one of which has only a single stick, a band?). Apparently the creative force behind the act dropped the "h" because "hiver" reminded him too much of "liver".

Shortly after seeing the Letterman appearance, my iPod rolled through an "All Songs Considered" podcast from NPR that showcased a Bon Iver track. Then, number 3 if you're keeping track, I flipped to the back of a New Yorker magazine (reading back to front being my habit) to see a profile of the wordsmith of Bon Iver, Justin Vernon. I seemed to be the only person who wasn't on the Bon Iver express flight to indie fame and fortune.

No longer. I've carefully stowed my luggage in the overhead compartment, I've fastened my seatbelt, adjusted my seat back and returned my tray to the upright position.

Hushed as a snowfall but as big as a hymn the music really does sound like it was written and recorded in a hunting shack in Wisconsin.
Click to hear in iTunes.

Hear Bon Iver on NPR
Read about Justin Vernon at the New Yorker

Bad Time to be Poor

This song by the Rheostatics, covered here by the Weakerthans, was originally recorded over a decade ago - it feels like a knock against the Mike Harris government who while screwing over the poor also screwed over everybody else. Then after a thorough screwing, you got a kick in the nuts just for good measure - but don't worry, the idiot Jim Flaherty who did wonders screwing up Ontario's economy will bring his acumen for downloading services and destroying vibrant economies nationally. That's right. The rest of Canada gets to see what this former litigation lawyer can really do - watch him wield a calculator like a clumsy axeman. It was a bad time to be poor in the mid-nineties.

Now here we are, in the pit of one of the worst economic collapses since the 1920's and a lot more people will be finding out what most of the world's population already knows. It's always a bad time to be poor.

Bad Time to be Poor

Saturday Night's All Right

Youssou N'Dour performs with Divine Brown at Yonge-Dundas Square

What a difference a day makes. Last night we were part of a perfectly pluralist crowd on a perfectly September Toronto night attending a free concert by Youssou N'Dour. Today, Toronto is back to a gray rainy Sunday. The concert last night at Yonge-Dundas Square was part of the Toronto International Film Festival and promoted the film "Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love". The weather couldn't have been better. It was a clear, cool end-of-summer night, when darkness drops quicker than a curtain, and the gaudy electronic signs of the square seemed a little more festive than usual. When we first came to Toronto, I would go out of my way to see at least a couple of movies as part of the Festival, but moving to the West end combined with hard-to-come-by tickets have removed us from the thing and it's easy to forget TIFF is on at all. This year, the festival has added more free public events and it helps to fold all that's happening in the city into the feeling that there is actually a festival going on that you can take part in it. It's not just something going on within darkened theatres or behind velvet ropes but in the streets. Last night, adding an air of something different, American director Spike Lee introduced Youssou N'Dour and at other times during the show, the film's director made an appearance as well as the composer of the score. More to the point of this being a Toronto festival, it was fun to look around you and see the mix of the crowd. The audience consisted of parents with their kids, hipsters alighting doobies, plenty of Toronto-based Africans out to see a homeland hero, Asians, whites, Sikhs... well, any ethic group you could define really. Not that I think such a show in NYC or London would have been any different, it was still something to behold.

What brought so many different types of Torontonians together was simply the man and the music. A music that despite my only passing familiarity, was obviously spiritual, joyful and downright kick-ass. To many, N'Dour might only be known as the foreign sounding voice on the Peter Gabriel collaboration "Shaking the Tree" (or on other such ventures with Sting et al), but to many others he is a giant of music (not just African or World Music).

Yet, I still can't turn on a radio and hear his music. Not that it matters to me. Probably most of the "radio" I hear comes over the telephone lines not the air waves anyway. Which is a good thing if you want to hear talent like N'Dour. Commercial radio was in my youth an escape now I do anything to escape it. This point is really just a digression. What went through my mind as we enjoyed the lights, the dancing and the rhythms was who could live in a world without this? Societies that by some inane religiosity ban music (from the Taliban to the Mennonites) are not places I would want to live. What is often thought to be the universal human expression (though sport and art would also figure in that description) music continues to unite and bind us, and help us see a world beyond ourselves. It was fun to see Toronto enjoying itself without pretension, without posers, without cares, and waving to the joyous sounds coming from the stage.

Shirt Not Required

Shirt Not Required

"Bon F***king Soir, Montreal, nous sommes The Stooges", and with that, 61-year old Iggy Pop kicked a hole through the Montreal dusk.

We've just come back from the Osheaga Music Festival and seeing Iggy Pop and the Stooges do their thing (re: create mayhem) was a highlight. We weren't really that interested in the headliner, The Killers, especially after the likes of Iggy, Cat Power, Metric, Plants and Animals, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Booka Shade and Sebastien Grainger. It's been awhile since we've been to such a thing but it was worth the crowds, the muck and urinating into a weirdly public urinal to hear and witness great music. Sometimes it's worth overcoming your worst fears to experience something special. At least this time it was.

By the People, For the People

By the People, For the People

In honour of Mr. Bo Diddley, I would like to draw your attention to this article by Burkhard Bilger from the New Yorker about field recordings of American Folk music. I'm not talking about Pete Seager or the Kingston Trio or Bob Dylan, this is music by folks; just regular folks. While some say this tradition of people creating their own music to be passed down through generations is dying, it's also been said that we're witnessing a new YouTube/MySpace tradition of "amateur field recordings". Still, this story and the recordings mentioned are more about the often elusive "authentic". More and more, "authenticity" is what we seek. I'm sure it's one of the reasons so many people travel to destinations like Newfoundland. The only way to eschew packaged tours where thousands of other tourists flock to buy tchotchke made expressly for them is to take a packaged tour where no one cares to make tchotchke (though woolen sweaters can be purchased at the gift shop).

Listen to Burkhard Bilger discuss his article: Click here.

Great Lake Swimmers

Great Lake Swimmers

There's obviously a million better things to be doing right at this moment (Current Conditions: Partly Cloudy, 23°C): getting groceries, tuning up my bike, going for a bike ride, getting my skates sharpened, cutting up that large log that landed on our lawn, planting something? Instead, I'm inside writing this. Why? Because a recent series of Boston Pizza ads have been driving me nuts. They use this great snippet music in these advertisements that are meant to serve up a little piece of a Canadiana along with some pizza. I recognized the music – but from where?

It occurred to me when discussing Angela's Fishnet Project and I mentioned she should invite the Great Lake Swimmers to the opening. The Great Lake Swimmers isn't as the name suggests, a group of swimming enthusiasts dedicated to propelling themselves through Lake Ontario et al, but are an indie Folk trio from Ontario. Upon uttering their name I realized it was a Great Lake Swimmers' tune used in the ads. A little iTunes sniffing and I found the song which I've posted in its entirety. The song is "Imaginary Bars" from the album "Bodies and Minds". Listen by clicking below. Enjoy.

Listen Here

Mentioned in this post:
The Great Lakes Swimmers
Boston Pizza Ads
Project Fishnet: the Great Craft and Release Project

My Cousin Has a Grey Cup Ring

Let the Yanks have their turkey and College games. We've got the Varsity championship and the Grey Cup (like they say, real men drink from cups not bowls). To get you in the mood for the Grey Cup on Sunday, here's a little ditty from Donovan Woods called My Cousin Has a Grey Cup Ring (apparently as big as a tire swing).

Ok so Morgan won a writing contest, and Mom has had two stories read on CBC radio in St. John's but now it is time for MY 2 minutes 03 seconds of fame (at latest count that leaves 12 minutes and 57 seconds on the Warhol Indicator). Alright, so it's just a podcast, and it was just a song request but still, it's a song request with a story. Listen to the throaty timbre of CBC host Craig Norris as he reads my inter-species "Long Range Request".
listen here

By the Way...

By the Way...

That line, "Batten Down the Hatches, Becky" which was rolling through my head all day Saturday, comes from this track by the Joel Plaskett Emergency, who, like any good Easterner thinks far too often of the natural calamities of weather systems.

Listen to Natural Disaster

Apple VooDoo


You do something to me - something that simply mystifies me.
Tell me, why should it be, that you have the power to hypnotize me?

The Great Outdoors
Not just a great place to pee - The Great Outdoors is another great indie Canadian band getting good buzz Stateside and on CBCradio3.

The Great Outdoors – If I Were a Car

If that 30 second clip gets you craving for more (I doubt it will, it took me repeated listening to think to myself - "who is that?") but you can hear the entire track here or at the band's MySpace page.

Is it just me, or are the kids today too damn lazy to learn some basic HTML so they flock to crappy sites like MySpace for their self-expression? While their slightly older peers were inventing things like "MySpace" this generation is happy to use the template provided. I don't get MySpace or Facebook but I guess that just makes me Old Skool.

Track o' the Day

Track o' the Day

Compliments of CBC Radio3 this Wintersleep tune feels strangely appropriate for me today. It's Jaws of Life click here. Three days after my bleomycin injection and my tongue is holding pretty steady, without much swelling or discomfort (yet). The basic side-effects are already evident: dry mouth, nausea, light-headedness (perhaps from not eating), but the strangest one that I know is from the procedure is the persistent pressure in my ears and a sore aching jaw (which could just be from having my mouth held open for an hour or so). Enjoy the track and take pleasure in your own fully functioning jaws.

peter

Track of the Day

Track of the Day

If you know me, you know I subscribe to an annoyingly long list of podcasts. One of which is CBC Radio3's Track of the Day, wherein a staff member pitches a song that has recently caught their attention. It's not a new idea - NPR's All Songs Considered has a similar podcast. Well, not one to re-invent the spork, I too give you my track of the day. Normally, I could just point you to the CBC3 podcast where I first heard this, but it seems it is rather embedded in a Flash player, so I've had to do the same thing.

Suspense be damned, you've waited long enough...this is Royal Wood (not, as you might think his Porn Name, but his given name), the track is Mirror Without (as in "what good's a mirror without a face..." If a mirror breaks in the bathroom but no one is there, does anyone get bad luck?) from the album A Good Enough Day. I think I read somewhere that Wood's music runs a lineage of Randy Newman, Jeff Buckley, to Tom Waits. As I only know a couple songs, I don't hear it. Personally, it reminds me of a young Billy Joel... okay, I'm no good at this 'musical heritage' game - and maybe what I've said doesn't bode well for the young man. Decide for yourself (Note: this track probably won't appeal to those who like their Rock to Roll, or their Punk to spit - but may be enjoyed by kinder, gentler, Rufus Wainwrighty types)

Wildcat

Wildcat

I am mesmerized by this track by Ratatat (from the album Classics), called appropriately, "Wildcat".
Wildcat

I'm like the guy on Seinfeld who pauses whenever hearing "Desperado" or like Owen Wilson's mescaline meltdown in The Royal Tenenbaums, when he whispers softly, "...wildcat, -rrrrarrr..." there's just something about that guitar hook sharp enough to hang meat from, and the whirling synth (and is that a cell phone?) that makes the mind think of how, "The crickets and the rust-beetles scuttled among the nettles of the sage thicket. "Vámonos, amigos," he whispered, and threw the busted leather flintcraw over the loose weave of the saddlecock. And they rode on in the friscalating dusklight."



Holy crap, in writing this I've listened to 'Wildcat' on loop 3 times and have wasted 45 minutes! Definitely not music to work to.

Spreading the Good Word on the Good Foot

Spreading the Good Word on the Good Foot

I can't help it. Today I just feel like spreading the love across the land. Check out The Apostle of Hustle.
Hear it
This song is getting plenty of, if not "air play", perhaps "pod play" - I've heard it in about 3 different podcasts. It's a great album from Andrew Whiteman, another alum of that Toronto version of the Buena Vista Social Club, Broken Social Scene. Though you may also remember him from the Bourbon Tabernacle Choir (at the very least, this guy has had a hand in some well named troupes). The Apostle will get yer toes tapping and if I'm not mistaken, and I probably am, won the Grammy for best name of a new musical group or act. You can download the track here from Arts & Crafts Records.

TV on the Radio on the Internet

TV on the Radio on the Internet

TV On The Radio 09

Thanks to Bernice and Andy (and Angela as backup), as part of my birthday, I got to hear/see the Brooklyn based band, "TV on the Radio" at Koolhaus Sunday night. Needless to say they (adult alternatively) rocked the joint. I have to admit - for me, this band proves the power of the Internet and blogs - I would have never really heard of them unless I hadn't noticed their appearance and listened to them on Hype Machine. It's where I found this little gem of theirs: it's an alternate version of their song Wolf Like Me - it's a stripped down, sort of 3/4 time kind of version that you could almost imagine Johnny Cash playing
Download it here

My Fear of Phones - part 1

My Fear of Phones - part 1

I was just listening to a song just now when through it's modulated robotic voice I realized the lyrics were, "I'm working on your project - it won't be done on time - please don't call me anymore.." a more apt musical interlude could not possibly exist for me right now. It can be heard here. The song, "Nobody Calls Me Unless..." by Shout Out Out Out Out, sounds as though it could have been written by a designer working to a deadline.

Lately, I've felt unusually busy and pressed for time. I think too many freebie projects in a row will do that to you. What I can't figure out is why I let a low priority favour become so stressful. I really feel like saying, "I'm working on it - stop calling me." If I knew how, I'd install this song as my hold music. It takes a lot of energy trying not to let someone else's projects take over my life, or even ruin my day.

When I'm especially busy, I find the sound of the phone ringing like fingernails on a chalkboard. I don't want to talk to someone wondering where their project is. Man, I've got paying customers to bug me about that crap - I don't need it when I volunteer. It only worsens the expectation that on the other end of the line will be a request for a market survey, donation to worthy causes, discussions of life insurance or battle hardened sales agents (sheesh, it's even creepier when a Toronto cop calls wanting to sell tickets to some crazed charity event - talk about your pressure tactics). It's bad enough making calls. To me there is absolutely nothing harden than picking up the phone and asking somebody for something. I have no idea what it is but I'd rather choke on suspicious spinach downed with rancid carrot juice than make a call to someone to ask for a favour.

I think this all began when I was kid. Using the phone in our house was a difficult proposition. Mom and Dad would always be listening and giving you the eye if they felt you were on too long. Their excuse for such telephonic vigilance? Somebody might be trying to call! Pardon me, but we didn't exactly have a red phone with a direct connection to the Kremlin sitting in the kitchen. It created a fervor in the house whenever the phone rang. That must be it! The call that we've been keeping the line open for! Inevitably it would just be a neighbour asking about some church function. How did my parents end the call? "Well, I should go, I want to keep the line free." Again, with keeping the line free? Free for what? Who was going to call? The Queen, the Prime Minister? Joey Smallwood?

Needless to say, it was from this environment of phone totalitarianism that I ran, nay - raced into e-mail's lovin' embrace. Predictably, until I'm finished these next couple of projects, you will find me hiding behind voice mail, e-mail and any other modern obstacle to communication, without fear of tying up the line or missing that all important call I'm expecting.

They made a Believer out of me

They made a Believer out of me

Last year I spent an unusually large amount of cash buying The Believer Magazine's music compilation and a funky Charles Burns t-shirt. I don't claim to understand the weird wonderful world of publishing giant, Timothy McSweeny (giant? I think I meant gnat, no? umm…cipher? Broadly based media concern?), but I was sucked into their beautifully designed, illustrated and written magazine, The Believer, then their quarterly publication Issue 13 edited by Chris Ware and finally, their DVD magazine Wholpin, Issue 1. Their music compilation of last year was an ode to cover tunes (this year's issue celebrated "live recordings"). This isn't like any other covers album you've ever heard. It's not Sid Vicious singing/yelling "My Way" or Johnny Cash doing Nine Inch Nails (though it is closer to that). This is a collection of hardly known acts covering hardly known tunes of their contemporaries. You've got Jim Gutherie (ok, he sang that annoying "Hands in my Pocket" tune - but he's much better here) covering the Constantines and the Constantines covering Elevator to Hell, and The Mountain Goats covering the Silver Jews.

Now you can listen to and download the entire playlist from this blog, called SixEyes, just scroll down until you see "Under the Indie Covers. So, get before you get got, I say.

By the way, it was this Believer CD that opened my eyes to Wolf Parade and that there might be more to them than that sort of drunken intensity I was familiar with.
listen to this fine fine cover of Frog Eyes' "Claxxon's Lament" by Montreal's Wolf Parade...


I hope you discover something you like. By the way, if you can't seem to play the tunes or don't even see the little "Audio" icon ()then you either need to allow javascript in your Web browser or update your Flash Player Plug-in.

Enjoy,
Peter