Category: Music

Because it's that time

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

December means best-of lists. I’m starting with what I considered to be the best albums of 2007. In past years I’ve pussied out and not ranked them; not so this year. While 2007 lacked a clear and classic winner like The Woods or Funeral, the top three are all quite good.

  1. Kings Of Leon . Because Of The Times
  2. Arcade Fire . Neon Bible
  3. The Besnard Lakes . The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse
  4. Radiohead . In Rainbows
  5. Spoon . Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
  6. Raising The Fawn . Sleight Of Hand
  7. Explosions In The Sky . All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone
  8. Band Of Horses . Cease To Begin
  9. Okkervil River . The Stage Names
  10. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club . Baby 81

Neko Case‘s Live From Austin, Texas was among the best I bought all year, but I don’t feel right including a live/compilation album on that list. Other good ones included Ongiara by Great Lake Swimmers, The Kissaway Trail‘s eponymous debut and Let’s Stay Friends by Les Savy Fav. My two biggest disappointments were Challengers by The New Pornographers and Icky Thump by The White Stripes; both were good, but not of the killer quality I’m accustomed to hearing with those two bands.

Over the next few days I’ll be doing my best films (so far) and best songs list.

[tags]best albums of 2007, best music of 2007[/tags]

Happy holidays, everybody!

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

A work day that was supposed to end at noon actually didn’t end until after 3:00, but that’s ok. It wasn’t exactly a tough one. I had one little errand to do in Yorkville, and it took about 15x longer than it should have, but I pretty much expected that.

.:.

Ah, the Liquor Dome. Craptacular then (by which I mean my university years), craptacular now.

.:.

R.I.P., Oscar Peterson, a true Canadian music legend.

[tags]liquor dome, oscar peterson[/tags]

"That's right, preacher, get me drunk so I don't stick my foot up your ass."

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I just watched Black Snake Moan (imdb | rotten tomatoes). Here’s my over-analytical review:

Good: Samuel L. Jackson, Samuel L. Jackson’s mutton chops, Christina Ricci, Christina Ricci’s persistent nakedness, Christina Ricci’s acting & the way the premise worked out better than I would have suspected.

Bad: Justin Timberlake. What the bow-legged hell was he doing in this film?

Awesome: the music. I’d heard the soundtrack before, but the film gives it all context. Hearing Sam Jackson play “Stack-O-Lee” and seeing him play it in a sweaty blues joint are two different things.

Something else I’m noticing since we got TMN: movies are just better in hi-def. You’d think I could have made that leap since I’ve been watching hi-def TV for over a year now, but I guess my brain was still saying “movies: bad; old tv: bad; new tv: bitchin’.” Now I might have to speed up my plan for a hi-def DVD player. There might not be any waiting for the format war to end; I might just have to pick a side.

[tags]black snake moan, samuel jackson, christina ricci, blues, hi-def dvd[/tags]

"It's just like the 60's. Only with less hope."

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Been home sick the last couple of days. Nothing too bad — just a low level nausea and complete lack of energy — but there’s no particular reason why I need to be in the office today, so I’ve stayed home. My boss is leaving on vacation tomorrow and the last thing I want is to infect her before she leaves.

The worst part about being moderately ill like this is that I can’t focus. Yesterday I tried to do some work, but it took me about 3 hours to do what would normally take me 30 minutes. I just couldn’t concentrate and focus on the screen. I’m blogging right now ’cause I know that by noon my brain will be mush again.

.:.

I would’ve paid a great deal of money to see Led Zeppelin last night, but I hope they don’t tour. It kills me to say that — I consider them one of the greatest bands of all time, and regret that they effectively broke up when I was still in diapers — but I hope they don’t go after the carrot that must surely be dangling in front of them.

.:.

Couple of movies we watched on the weekend (when I could still focus on the TV):

Shortbus (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was as weird and explicit as I’d heard…and that was about it.OK, it was mildly funny in places too, but I think the shock of the film is what would have made it remarkable if I wasn’t already hyper-aware of the film’s racier content following last year’s film festival.

American Gun (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was one of those films with a compelling subject and stellar cast that just never got anywhere. With Forest Whitaker, Donald Sutherland and Marcia Gay Harden starring in a film about America’s obsession with guns, you’d expect more meat on the bone, however the director decided to play it. I have no problem with subtlety, but I do have a problem with melodrama. It was OK, but I couldn’t really recommend it.

[tags]led zeppelin reunion, shortbus, american gun[/tags]

UnZipped

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Here I thought taking some time away from the MBA would be nice and relaxing, but with work being what it is and with Christmas just around the corner, it’s still loopy. Still, anything’s better than reading about the effect of tax shields on corporate financing decisions.

.:.

Do you love yourself? Do you love good music?

If you answered yes to both of those, then ask yourself this: have you listened to Spoon‘s Kill The Moonlight? If you haven’t, then you were probably mistaken about the first two questions. Really, it’s one of the best collections of music I’ve ever heard. If you haven’t heard it, I can’t really give you a good reference point for comparison, even if you’ve heard other Spoon albums. Just do yourself a favour: go download it. At first you’ll only like one or two songs, but soon they’ll all grow on you.

.:.

I have signed up for The Movie Network and am planning to cancel my Zip account. It’s just not cost effective; I’m paying $15/month and not watching any movies. TMN, on the other hand, gives me a lot more immediate variety (as opposed to variety that I have to order) and access to TV shows that we want to see in real-time like The Wire and Dexter. Some day — like when the MBA is finished — we may go back to Zip, but for now it’s going bye-bye.

[tags]spoon, kill the moonlight, tmn, zip.ca, the wire, dexter[/tags]

The ruins of adventure

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A couple of stories of subversive perseverence that are fascinating me today:

1. The decades-long near-total anonymity of the musician called Jandek;

Only a handful of people claim to have contacted Jandek, whose steadfast anonymity is legendary…Some of Jandek’s allure stems from his small but devoted fan base that includes Sonic Youth, Bill Callahan, Mike Watt, John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats, Low, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and Bright Eyes.

2. The year-long infiltration of a Parisien “cultural guerrilla” group to restore an antique clock in the Pantheon.

For a year from September 2005, under the nose of the Panthéon’s unsuspecting security officials, a group of intrepid “illegal restorers” set up a secret workshop and lounge in a cavity under the building’s famous dome. Under the supervision of group member Jean-Baptiste Viot, a professional clockmaker, they pieced apart and repaired the antique clock that had been left to rust in the building since the 1960s. Only when their clandestine revamp of the elaborate timepiece had been completed did they reveal themselves.

Amazing stories, both.

[tags]jandek, untergunther[/tags]

The only day of the hockey season that I don't hate Boston

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I got home from work late and I still have to read 25 pages of corporate finance, so tonight’s a link dump night:

.:.

This story makes me feel good each November: every year the people of Nova Scotia send a giant Christmas tree to the city of Boston. They do this in perpetual thanks to Boston for sending doctors and medical supplies to Halifax after the Halifax explosion in 1917. However, what I didn’t know until today (thanks, Wikipedia) is that this annual gifting didn’t start until 1971. Not sure why it took 54 years for the tradition to begin. Anyway, it just warms the cockles of my heart. Thanks Boston.

Oh, and thanks for beating the Leafs last night too.

[tags]jellyfish, giant scorpions, edgar bronfman, music industry, cristobal huet, chris higgins, nova scotia, boston, christmas tree, halifax explosion, bruins, maple leafs[/tags]

Starter this, you GoDork

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I had my eyes checked today for the first time since I was…I don’t know, maybe 12? I’d probably have to ask my mother.

Anyway, it turns out my eyes are still primo quality. I did all the little tests and he told me that, barring any accidents, my vision should be fine for at least another ten years. I was actually a tiny bit surprised; I figured that 28 years of looking at computer screens had probably taken a toll on my eyes. Then again, neither of my brothers wear glasses, and they’re both older than me. I guess we should thank our parents for making us eat all those carrots as a kid…

.:.

Some music-related goodies for you:

  • Download this Rebekah Higgs song. It’s the catchiest thing I’ve heard in weeks. Oh, and…girlfriend du jour. [via Chromewaves]
  • For a while now Carrie Brownstein, of the late lamented Sleater-Kinney (one of the very few great rock bands to go out at their peak) has been blogging for NPR. It’s been a good read so far. She even made with the funny today. Check out the blog.
  • Download this Mogwai cover of The Pixies’ “Gouge Away”. It’s about six different kinds of good. There’s just something sublimely menacing about Black Francis lyrics sung with a Glaswegian accent. [via Stereogum]

.:.

The Toronto Star threw together a very sloppy piece today about the condo boom. The piece is subtitled “As the cost of homes skyrocket, more prospective homebuyers are giving up dreams of bungalows with white picket fences and are seeking alternatives,” but nothing in the piece supports this notion. There are tons of stats about how many condos are being sold, but apart from two anecdotal stories there’s no research to suggest this is why people are buying condos.

I own a condo. I know other people who own condos. I’ve never, ever spoken to someone who really wanted a house but just couldn’t afford one and, in desperation, bought a condo instead. I’m sure lots of people want to own a house and still be downtown, but when that doesn’t work out they don’t sulk and buy a condo. They move to Whitby. The condo owners I know bought one because they want to be downtown. They want ten minutes on the subway instead of 90 minutes on the 401. They don’t want to shovel walks and prune dead branches. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with living way out there (though it’s clearly not for me); the people who really want a house are willing to do it, and good on them. It’s exactly my point.

Condos aren’t low-priced substitutes for expensive houses. The suburbs are. Unfortunately the Star perpetuated that myth without backing it up, which means I’ll have to put up with the occasional condescending remark from a suburbanite (e.g., “Oh, well, everybody needs a starter home!”) when I mention I live in a condo.

[tags]eye test, rebekah higgs, girlfriend du jour, carrie brownstein, mogwai, pixies, gouge away, toronto condos[/tags]

To be fair, everything looks like twaddle under an electron microscope

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I’ve been too busy to blog (or think) much lately, so no sparkling insight or stunning revelations from me right now. Sorry.

.:.

I am shocked — shocked and appalled — that those Q-Ray bracelets I’ve been seeing in late-night infomercials for years are completely worthless. Wendy Mesley, why do you hate America?

.:.

One lesser-known blog I like to read is Laura Bogomolny’s. She’s a former writer at Canadian Business magazine who’s now doing her MBA at Columbia, and occasionally writes about her classes, the program, life in New York, etc. Today she wrote about a negotiation exercise she did side-by-side with law students:

When the law students were asked if it looked like fun to be the business person in the negotiation, over half of the law students raised their hands. When the business school students were asked if it looked like fun to be the lawyer, not a single hand went up.

OK, I’m not shocked by that one.

.:.

The musical inbox is piling up again. The more recent additions:

  • Annuals . Be He Me
  • Jealous Girlfriends . Comfortably, Uncomfortable
  • Puscifer . V Is For Vagina
  • Robert Plant & Alison Krauss . Raising Sand
  • Sigur Ros . Hvarf-Heim
  • Sigur Ros . Svarf
  • Various Artists (Stereogum) . Drive XV
  • Weakerthans . Reunion Tour
  • Yeasayer . All Hour Cymbals

I need to find a way to listen to this stuff. My job doesn’t really allow me time to listen to music at my desk anymore.

[tags]q-ray, cbc, wendy mesley, laura bogomolny, columbia university, mba, jealous girlfriends, puscifer, sigur ros, weakerthans, naysayer[/tags]