The Kickdrums....

So, I'm sitting around this afternoon (yesterday) trying to find something to write about for tomorrow (today) and I'm feeling like many of you will probably not want to hear about my NBA '09 team (NYK w/ LeBron James and a 37 yr old Steve Nash who is past his prime but can still pass and hit the 3) or my thoughts on UFC 100 (watching people get hurt is fun!), but I'm thinking you may want to hear about this band, The Kickdrums.

Actually, I'm not so sure they're a band as, from what I can gather from their press-release/myspace stuff they are two guys, one DJ/Producer, one guitarist/singer-songwriter. Their album/EP, Just A Game, kind of has the feel of that collaboration that Jay-Z and Chris Martin did "Beach Chair" on Jay's Kingdom Come (you know, the first album he did after he retired). Their songs are hip-hop production with a sort of atmospheric vibe, but they have this kind of Brit-rock sensibility the way the guitars and drums are overlayed on the beats... if that makes any sense whatsoever...

I'm not sure whether the Kickdrums have the potential to have as broad an appeal as someone, like, say, Mark Ronson (producer of Lily Allen's first album) or Mike 'The Streets' Skinner, but listening to the beats on tracks like "Impatient (Slow Down)" and "Things Work Out" you gotta think there's a chance.

[mp3] The Kickdrums - Just a Game
[mp3] The Kickdrums - Things Work Out

We're only human, this at least we've learned...

This is too good not to pass along. That, and I think I may have grown up playing tennis with the guy who directed this video, I'm not sure.

You may remember the Bowerbirds from snagging the #6 spot on my best of 2008 list with their folky, Americana sound, but their video - and when I say 'their' I mean, a video a fan 'Allan Poon' made - for "In Our Talons" is some really next level shit. I'm not really sure how to describe it, so you really ought to just watch it...



Best of all, bumping into this video has reminded me that the 'birds have a new album out called Upper Air, which I'm really looking forward to throwing in the car tomorrow... also, I'm strongly considering seeing them - even though its a school night - at Sneaky Dee's on Tuesday night...

Beirut w/ the Dodos @ the Phoenix - July 9. 2009.

To give you an idea of my general impression of the show last night, I changed my facebook/twitter status to this last night: Beirut (the band) = impressive, people @ Beirut (the band)... less than impressive...

So, Mr. G and I bought tickets to the show ages ago - at least a couple of months ago - and, of course, I completely forgot that we had them, so when he texted me on Monday to ask when he thought we should leave I said "For what?". But, after he explained, I got excited since I think Beirut is terrific (and is responsible for one of my favourite albums of the 00s, Gulag Orkestar), and it felt like it was free (since we paid so long ago). I got even more excited when Mr. G informed me that the Dodos were opening.

Some thoughts, point form, on the Dodos & the Dodos' set:

• I feel like their last album, Visiter, had a lot of really great moments (songs) but was probably a little too "jammy" in spots.
  
• Their live performance, which, somehow, included only three dudes (or Dodos) was surprisingly dynamic considering there were only three of them. The percussion - a drum kit, and sometimes a cymballist(?) - was pretty spectacular, and somehow reminiscent of one my favourite Ottawan bands, The Acorn.
  
• The lead singer, who's name I'm not going to pretend to know, was really on point with his vocals. Also, he looks a shock amount like Joseph Gordon-Levitt (the kid from 3rd Rock from the Sun).
• The sum total of these points is that I will be, in all likelihood, paying attention to the next Dodos release Time to Die (Aug. 31 - UK, Sept. 15 - US) - or, as Mr. G pointed out, available now via the internet.
  

And Beirut:

• The show made me remember on the way home that my first blog post ever was on Beirut's Flying Cup Club videos (note: these may be some of the first Blogotheque videos) and they are outstanding.
• Mr. G comments to me almost immediately after Zach Condon + band walk on stage... "this is the nerdiest band I have ever seen", and I reply "what do you think the odds are that any one of these guys ever got laid before they were in this band?"
• Despite their general nerdiness, the band sounds insanely, insanely, good. They are incredibly tight, and I'm shocked at how the horns 'popped' and sounded so clean, crisp (I think they really stand out in the audio - below)... the live show is definitely a step up from their recorded material, which, after hearing The Flying Club Cup and March of the Zapotec stuff live, I don't think I've been giving it enough love...
  
• As good as the band was, and they were excellent, I have a few suggestions for Beirut fans and concert goers in general. It is not okay, at least in my books, to: A/ cut in front of someone in a general admission venue and stop so close in front of them that you brush against them ever time you move resulting in - what appears to be some type of dry-hump, b/c of their head-bob-hip-thrust movement to the music; B/ raise your fist like you are Tommie Smith or Juan Carlos at the '68 Olympics in Mexico; C/ risk giving a concussion to those around you everytime you decide to do a extremely douchey kid street clap.... maybe I'm just getting old (I'm not that old) and crabby...
  
• Those videos - the Blogotheque ones - are really, really, spectacular and well worth watching; in fact, I'm ordering the DVD right now...
  

From the show:
[mp3] The Dodos - Unknown #1 (live @ the Phoenix)
[mp3] The Dodos - Unknown #2(live @ the Phoenix)

[mp3] Beirut - Scenic World (live @ the Phoenix)
[mp3] Beirut - After the Curtain (live @ the Phoenix)

... I've got a few more more Beirut songs for anyone interested can send me an email...

The Dodos




Beirut

Pick of the Week #27: Ohbijou - Beacons

I'm leaving to see Beirut @ the Phoenix in about 15 minutes (and I've got to plow through dinner at the same time!), so, some very quick thoughts on an album that deserves much better treatment. That said, I've been a big cheerleader for Ohbijou over the last couple of years, so I don't feel so bad...

Here's the one thing that I don't like about Ohbijou's sophmore album, Beacons: they really could've picked a better lead single... and that's about it. Everything else? Just about as good, possibly better, than expected; which is saying something given that their debut, Swift Feet For Troubling Times (pick of the week #7), charted in at #8 in 2007.

Here's what I do like: everything else. From the intro the album sounds cleaner, more elegantly produced, and the voices of the Mecija sisters, somehow, sound sweeter (note to the sisters: I feel like you could have a bright future singing in Disney movies). What's more, as the album progresses, it gets stronger. With a lot of albums - and maybe this is a testament to my short attention span - I get to track 4/5/6 and get a little tired and switch things up. With Beacons the songs up front are strong enough that I don't want to skip through them, but the album really begins to hit its stride with the stretch beginning with "Thunderlove"-"New Years"-"Make it Gold" which is, for my money, the best 3 song stretch of the year...

... off to the Phoenix! Beirut stuff up sometime Saturday...

[mp3] Ohbijou - Black Ice

Continuing Continued Commentary of the Polaris Process...

As many of you may have gathered the Polaris Jury narrowed down their long list of 40, to a short list of 10 yesterday. The albums that made the cut were:

Artist: Elliott BROOD

Album: Mountain Meadows
From: Toronto
Links: Website | MySpace

Artist: Fucked Up
Album: The Chemistry Of Common Life
From: Toronto
Links: Website | MySpace

Artist: Great Lake Swimmers
Album: Lost Channels
From: Toronto
Links: Website | MySpace

Artist: Hey Rosetta!
Album: Into Your Lungs (and around your heart and on through your blood)
From: St. John's
Links: Website | MySpace

Artist: K'NAAN
Album: Troubadour
From: Toronto
Links: Website | MySpace

Artist: Malajube
Album: Labyrinthes
From: Montréal
Links: Website | MySpace

Artist: Metric
Album: Fantasies
From: Toronto
Links: Website | MySpace

Artist: Joel Plaskett
Album: Three
From: Halifax
Links: Website | MySpace

Artist: Chad VanGaalen
Album: Soft Airplane
From: Calgary
Links: Website | MySpace

Artist: Patrick Watson
Album: Wooden Arms
From: Montréal
Links: Website | MySpace

If I were choosing the list, it would look a lot more like this, than the list above; in fact, I only expressed a preference for one of the albums on the short list (Chad VanGaalen's Soft Airplane). But, the nature of these sort of competitions is finding some sort of common denominator, which is difficult, given the depth and quality of Canadian music in 2009. Its certainly unfortunate that bands like Bruce Peninsula and the Black Hat Brigade didn't make the short (or, in the case of the latter, the long) list, but its certainly understandable that they're not on the radar screens of jury members outside SW Ontario since I'm fairly certain neither band has ever played out East/West.

That said, if I were a betting man both BP and tBHB are going to get their due i.e. make their way onto some sort of Polaris list - even if their next albums aren't as good - since I'm fairly confident that that's what happened with CVG's Skelliconnection, getting retro-active votes for the far superior Infiniheart. And if you scrolled through the albums on the list, Great Lake Swimmers, K'Naan, and Metric, all kind of seem to me like pretty reasonable cases for 'retrovoteitis' for Great Lake Swimmers, The Dusty Foot Philosopher and Old World Underground respectively.

On the whole, I can't say that I'm entirely disappointed with the list (at least, there's more representation from the T.Dot.Oh), and its nice to see some representation from east to west (just like the Senate!)... now you'll have to excuse me while I look through my inbox to see if I've got an email from Hey Rosetta! with a copy of their album...

* * *

And a humourous list of reasons "Why Your Album Didn't Make the Polaris..." via CHARTattack

Mr. G's Song of the Week - "Emma Jane"

As I sit sleepily at my desk and contemplate the possible subject matter of another edition of Song of the Week, there are two things very much on my mind. The first: day camp is unbelievably exhausting. The second: what delicious tuneage do I want to close my eyelids to and use to help sail me into the dreamland I so cherish visiting every night? That's right folks - we're talking sleep music.

There is music for every occasion. There are party tunes, walking/jogging/working out tunes, marking tunes (fellow teachers know what I'm talking about), and yes, there are most certainly sleep tunes. Made-up scientists have proven that there is a direct correlation between the quality of music one listens to before sleep and the quality of one's sleep. Feel free to leave a comment below about which band creates your sonic sleep waves, but the one currently at the top of my naptime list is Texas-based band, South San Gabriel.

The track in particular is the first off of their 2008 album (co-created with Centromatic), Dual Hawks, and it is titled "Emma Jane". A gorgeous blend of soothing acoustic guitar, relaxing violin tones and heartfelt vocals, this delicate composition should by no means be used solely for the purposes of drifting off. In fact, it is just as good, if not better, while listened to in a state of total consciousness. But that being said, if you're looking for a serene auditory experience, perhaps one that will lead you into a state of such peacefulness and tranquility that a transition from wakefulness into sleep becomes inevitable, then Emma Jane is the song to take your mind to such a wondrous place. Until next week, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

[mp3] South San Gabriel - Emma Jane

Some thoughts on the NBA Post post-Season

Shaq to the Cavs. In terms of entertainment value - great trade - in terms of their capacity to win the title, I think the Cavs would've been way better suited to try and go get a wing (or two - so LBJ can play the 4) that can defend the Kobes, Pierces, etc. b/c its way too much to ask Delonte West to give up that many inches. That said, if the Cavs may still be able to pick up a Carlos Delfino, Matt Barnes type, if they do, I think they become really tough...

Minnesota picks two PGs. Remember how the Cavs tried to play with two small guards? And I don't need to tell you that Minnesota does not have LeBron James...

Turkoglu to the Raptors. Hedo may be on the decline, although I'm not sure his decline is going to be quite as steep as some simply because he doesn't really rely on 'explosiveness' the way many NBA wings do, but he's definitely "an asset" i.e. a player with some value. Also, as my facebook suggested yesterday morning, I think its an indication that Toronto has started to figure out its competitive advantage in the NBA market place: that Europeans are going to be happy in a Cosmopolitan city. I'm thinking that a Bosh trade to the Blazers for Batum, Fernandez, and Rodriguez is in order, followed by the Raptors changing their name to the Euro-League All-Stars....

Vinsanity to the Magic. Yes, VC is a step-up from Courtney Lee (if he tries), but I'm not sure he's worth losing Turkoglu, Gortat, and Lee -- 3 very solid rotation players. I'm also not sure why nobody is talking about the lack of depth on this team. They've got a great starting 5: Nelson, Carter, (presumably) Peitras, Lewis, Howard; but they have nobody coming off the bench... without that bench is that team really much better than the Raptors? Okay, maybe they are, but not that much better...

The Spurs. A lot of people are talking about the Lakers, Cavs, Magic as the teams to beat, but I'm not sure any of those teams can match the the depth and team play of the Spurs (if healthy). It's hard to say what their starting line-up is going to look like, but they've added some scoring w/ R. Jefferson and the possibility of adding R. Wallace (note: he's now signed on with the C's), and given T. Duncan some help rebounding by adding Dejuan Blair. They've got a bunch of guys to throw at Kobe and Gasol... I dunno, I think they're my early favourite...

Another note: Just while I'm thinking about this, its occurred to me - and its entirely possible that I'm just regurgitating something I've heard/read on ESPN this week - that with the economy as bad as it is, and no one wanting to spend money, the good teams are going to get really good this off-season. Why? Well, if no one is offering to pay big bucks or overpaying, then why would anyone half decent go to a bad team? They wouldn't... that was a rhetorical question...