Category: Music

An apology in point form

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Sorry, I’ve been too busy to blog anything terribly interesting because:

  • The course I’m doing right now is killer. I was talking to a classmate today, and he concurred: the workload for this one is much, much heavier than anything else we’ve done. It’s interesting, but it’s time-consuming. I guess I was due for one of these; too many so far have been crazy easy.
  • It’s the summer. Days that aren’t hotter than the hubs of hell draw me outside.
  • Family’s been visiting, and family trumps blogging.
  • I seem to be reading (for fun, in addition to for school; I finally finished Cluetrain, Planet Simpson and No War: America’s Read Business In Iraq) again, not to mention finally putting a dent in our Zip queue.
  • Work is busy…not so much because I have impending deadlines, but because I feel a bit rejuvenated. It’s just as frustrating and bureaucratic as ever, but I seem more determined than ever to kick bureaucracy’s ass. I’ll let you know how that goes.

However, I can report some things that grabbed my eye today, but only in point-form:

Music:

  • I’m going to miss Asobi Seksu at the Horseshoe in September as I’ll be away on course. Frig.
  • There’ll be a new Trail Of Dead album in October.
  • The Mercury Prize shortlist has been announced, and I couldn’t give a toss about any of the finalists. The only one I liked at all is the Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan album, and even that wasn’t great.
  • The Weeds theme song next season will be sung by a different artist every week. Lined up so far: Death Cab For Cutie, Regina Spektor, Elvis Costello and Jenny Lewis. Cool. “Little boxes…”
  • The new Johnny Cash disc, American V…magnifique.

Movies:

Sports:

  • Bill Simmons has picked a favourite English Premiership League team. He settled on Tottenham Hotspur, because “If London was the Corleone family, Manchester United was Sonny and Arsenal was Michael, then the Spurs would be Fredo with a little more street smarts.” Brilliant.

Right, that’s it. Back to work for me.

[tags]cluetrain, planet simpson, no war, asobi seksu, trail of dead, mercury prize, isobel campbell, mark lanegan, weeds, johnny cash, clerks ii, lady in the water, arrested development movie, all your snakes are belong to us, bill simmons, tottenham hotspur[/tags]

Queasy

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Well, we’re an unhealthy bunch here at the Dickinson ranch. I felt a little wonky all day; around 3:30 I felt fully wonky and left work, came home and laid on the couch until Nellie arrived. We had a summerlicious dinner tonight with some friends and I didn’t want to miss it, but didn’t really feel up to eating. I was actually a little dizzy until we got to the restaurant (Goldfish) and I had some bread and water. Now that I’ve eaten (it was pretty good, but not great) I feel better, but still just a little off. Nellie, on the other hand, started feeling nauseous toward the end of dinner and got progressively worse. I’ll just be happy if we can make it through the day sans vomit.

.:.

A phrase I never thought I’d type: Mogwai will be on the Miami Vice soundtrack.

.:.

More than 200 dead in Lebanon now, including several Canadians. The Guardian seems surprised that western powers haven’t intervened, but they shouldn’t be. The US has always back Israel very heavily; they won’t move to stop any Israeli attacks (within reason), and no other western or european country will do anything unless America makes a move first. Or perhaps what seemed in the Guardian like surprise was just veiled criticism?

I just bought a copy of Munich yesterday and began watching it today. I wonder if Ehud Olmert struggled with the moral justification of his reciprocal response as much as Golda Meir struggled with hers? I’m amazed anyone runs for political office in the middle east, knowing that you could — and probably will — have to make decisions like that.
[tags]goldfish, mogwai, miami vice, lebanon, canadians, israel, ehud olmert, golda meir[/tags]

The best music of the year (so far)

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In no particular order:

  • amy millan . honey from the tombs
  • asobi seksu . citrus
  • band of horses . everything all the time
  • neko case . fox confessor brings the flood
  • regina spektor . begin to hope

Wait…shit. That was alphabetic.

And, to a leser extent:

  • cat power . the greatest
  • jolie holland . springtime can kill you
  • mogwai . mr. beast
  • raising the fawn . the maginot line
  • the yeah yeah yeahs . show your bones

[tags]amy millan, asobi seksu, band of horses, neko case, regina spektor, cat power, jolie holland, mogwai, raising the fawn, yeah yeah yeahs[/tags]

Be afraid of the old; they'll inherit your soul

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I’m plowing through my music “inbox” now. Here’s the latest poop:

  • Danny Michel – Valhalla: not impressed. Not bad, but it’s a little wimpy for me.
  • The Pipettes – We Are The Pipettes: ptoo. I wasted a good 15 minutes skipping through this album.
  • John Frusciante – Sphere In The Heart Of Darkness: three good songs out of seven, but one of those songs (which was highly recommended by my brother) called “Walls” is amazing. If you’re into screaming, that is.
  • Primal Scream – Riot City Blues: again, couple of good songs and the rest was unremarkable.
  • Tilly & The Wall – Bottoms Of Barrels: see above. After the first couple of songs, you think, “OK, we get it, your percussion section is a tap dancer. Tell them to go take a break or somethin’…”
  • Jose Gonzalez – Veneer: excellent. Stark & lovely, just one guy and his guitar. It’s mellow but fiery.

I also keep listening to the new Regina Spektor album Begin To Hope over and over. It’s broader than her earlier stuff; “Bettter” sounds almost radio-friendly, “That Time” sounds PJ Harvey sans bass, and “Apres Moi” sounds like Fiona Beethoven. Or Ludwig von Apple. Your pick.
[tags]danny michel, the pipettes, john frusciante, primal scream, tilly & the wall, jose gonzalez, regina spektor[/tags]

Hell all

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

That subject line is a lot funnier if you worked at Delano.

.:.

Word of advice: if you should find yourself drinking a chocolate chiller from Second Cup (or any other similar frozen drinky thing), restrain yourself from sucking it all back in one or two gulps. Today I inhaled so much ice in one go that I temporarily incapacitated myself. I’d hate to see it happen to you too.

.:.

My music “inbox” is getting out of hand again: Be Your Own Pet, Danielson, Danny Michel, Jesu, John Frusciante, Jolie Holland, Primal Scream, Thom Yorke, Tilly & The Wall and a few others that wouldn’t fit on my memory key. Is there some part of my music habit that I can outsource? Perhaps my evaluation of new music can be offshored?

[tags]delano, second cup, enjoyment outsourcing[/tags]

The best albums of 2005, now that I've had some time to think about it.

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment
  1. sleater-kinney . the woods
  2. heartless bastards . stairs and elevators
  3. duke spirit, the . cuts across the land
  4. the dandy warhols . odditorium or the warlords of mars
  5. low . the great destroyer
  6. the constantines . tournament of hearts
  7. the new pornographers . twin cinema
  8. spoon . gimme fiction
  9. wolf parade . apologies to the queen mary
  10. …and you will know us by the trail of dead . worlds apart

…….aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand the rest of the best. Or best of rest. Gaadshgihsoghhwhatever.

  • black mountain . black mountain
  • black rebel motorcycle club . howl
  • bright eyes . i’m wide awake it’s morning
  • death cab for cutie . plans
  • fiery furnaces, the . ep
  • ladytron . witching hour
  • lcd soundsystem . lcd soundsystem
  • living things . ahead of the lions
  • metric . live it out
  • nine inch nails . with teeth
  • pelican . the fire in our throats will beckon the thaw
  • rogue wave . descended like vultures
  • sigur ros . takk…
  • silver mt. zion . horses in the sky
  • sufjan stevens . illinoise

Again, as before, there were three great discs that I didn’t include because they’re compilations or live recordings: Hey! by The Pixies, Government Commisions: BBC Sessions 1996-2003 by Mogwai and Sunday Nights: The Songs Of Junior Kimbrough.

[tags]best music of 2005[/tags]

Canada, O Canada, I've never been your son

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It occurred to me tonight that I bought Horses In The Sky by A Silver Mt. Zion over a year ago and have listened to it only once. I’m listening to it again right now, and I feel as if I’ve betrayed someone for letting it lie fallow for so long. “Teddy Roosevelt’s Guns” is just…an incredible song.

I feel a “best albums of 2005: revised” post coming on.

[tags]a silver mt zion[/tags]

"And like that…[they're] gone"

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The Brits have been seen off back to London. We dropped them at the airport this afternoon after spending the day enjoying Ontario. We wandered around Elora for a while, checking out the gorge and a few shops (including Stÿll, which I think is worth making the trip back for) before jumping in the car and heading to a nearby lake. It wasn’t as impressive as we’d hoped; we just drove along it until we found a spot where we could walk down to the shore. It wasn’t the nicest lake, so we just jumped back in the car (but not before I snagged a chocolate milkshake from a walk-up snack bar) and made for a town. We passed through a little rain — as it turned out, the only rain we encountered; pretty lucky as the forecast had been calling for storms — before reaching Orangeville. We poked our heads into an art gallery, a chocolate shop and a restaurant for lunch (it used to be a pub, or so my pub guide said, but it had been replaced by a restaurant…which I think may have made me sick…anyhoo) before getting back in the car and heading south. We arrived at Pearson in good time, got our guests checked in and on their way, looking for a pub on which to watch the footie match (which Germany lost after Italy scored very late in extra time).

We jumped back into the car once more (after I searched frantically for my Blackberry, which I — whew! — found on the floor) and I fought back post-lunch nausea long enough to return the car to a downtown Hertz, squish onto a subway and get home in time for some prime-time chilling. By the way, I like Toronto a lot less when I have to drive in it.

TimmyD blogged the whole affair on The Plummet Onions. It was great to have them here, great to show them a little more of Toronto, and great to know that it wouldn’t be too much longer before we see them again.

.:.

Recent tidbits:

.:.

Finally, I’m sad to say that Ash, the tiny-but-fierce cat and companion to our friends CBGB passed away this weekend. She was ancient and storied, like all great legends. I’ll miss her padding around CBGB’s place, I’ll always smile when I think about how she fell asleep on my lap on the way to Collingwood, and I’ll always laugh when I think about poor Ed having to pick her up with hockey gloves. Hopefully the smiles & laughter will come as easily to CBGB as missing her will.

R.I.P., Ash.

[tags]elora, styll, orangeville, indietits, philosopher’s walk. polaris prize, tornado, ash cat[/tags]

Tarragon & black pepper

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Stanzi was back in town today, so T-Bone and I got to have lunch with her. We decided to swing by JS Bonbons on the way home. OK, it was completely out of our way, but it was worth it. I’d almost forgotten how tasty the salted caramel and gianduja truffles are.

.:.

More new music that I’m trying to get to: Ships by Danielson, Valhalla by Danny Michel, Ecce Homo by The Hidden Cameras, Bottom Of Barrels by Tilly And The Wall, Eraser by Thom Yorke, and Springtime Can Kill You by Jolie Holland. I’ve already decided to buy Rather Ripped by Sonic Youth, Awoo by The Hidden Cameras (when it’s released) and Begin To Hope by Regina Spektor.

[tags]js bonbons, danielson, danny michel, hidden cameras, tilly and the wall, thom yorke, jolie holland, sonic youth, regina spektor[/tags]