The Real Shaq, Shawn Marion, Fired Up!, Metric, The Acorn on Daytrotter

• A hilarious (and nice) story about Shaq in a diner, and twitter... which is why I've got a twitter account now

• ... bear with me here ... my buddy Cam sent me a message saying that a friend of his spotted Shawn Marion doing groceries on Sunday after the Raps win over NYK. For anyone interested in what he bought:

- Fiji Bottled Water (2 x 12 packs)
- Fruité Brand Fruit Drink (1 x Fruit Punch, 1 x Grape - I'm pretty sure)
- Kraft Singles
- Doritos (Original Nacho Cheese)
- Mr. Noodles (4 packs)
- Kraft Smooth Peanut Butter
- Cashmere Brand Toilet Paper (12 pack Double Roll - *sale item*)
- Pizza Pops

.... the odds of Shawn Marion putting on 30lbs immediately after he retires? I'm going to guess pretty good...

• Liz and I saw Fired Up! on Sunday night. And yes, that's the one with the Cheerleaders. I went into thinking that I would like it in the same way that I like Bromance, The Hills, The Real World, etc., but it was actually legitimately funny... plus its hard to beat the $10 student deal (movie, drink, popcorn) at the North York Centre.

• I don't normally spend a lot of time trolling around Pitchfork, but they have a really cool interview with Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw of Metric.

• (via Herohill) The Acorn on Daytrotter

[mp3] The Acorn - Glory (live, Daytrotter session)

Listening Log #1

So, I've got a compromise between scrapping the weekly countdown and doing a bi-weekly (and likely hopefully un-funny Top 10 list) that I'm going to just do a weekly post of what I've been listening to with some comments (or not).

Monday
My top-10 songs of '09.
Gentleman Husbands (Unknown Title)

Tuesday
Destroyer Destroyer's Rubies - by far, I think, Dan Bejar (of the New Pornographers)'s best solo album

Wednesday
M. Ward Hold Time

Thursday
Ohbijou Swift Feet for Troubling Times
Matt Pond PA Several Arrows Later

Friday
Blitzen Trapper Furr
Cut Copy In Ghost Colours

Saturday
Art Brut Bang Bang Rock 'n' Roll
Ben Folds Ben Folds Live
Blitzen Trapper Furr

... and you should feel free to view this as the opportunity to recommend some new stuff...

Blitzen Trapper w/ Alela Diane @ The Horseshoe Tavern Feb. 21.2009.

(Blitzen Trapper ft. bizzaro Dirk Nowitzki and bizzaro Seth Rogan)

There were a crowd of us that went out to the (Legendary) Horseshoe Tavern last night... and I've come to conclusion that people from northern Ontario should not be allowed to drink. Kudos to Mr. G for organizing the tickets, etc. for last night.

Alela Diane (pronounced A-Leila) went on first and I wasn't really sure what to expect from her. What I heard on her myspace was pretty underwhelming, but her latest album, To Be Still (out now) got an 82 on Metacritic, which is pretty impressive. So, myspace - meh, new album reviews - good, either way I was interested to see her set and went in with an open mind.

She was really impressive... to the point where I would put her in the same league as Jenny Lewis, Neko Case, and Lurlene! She has this really cool Sarah McLauglin(sp? - I'm not looking this up)esque flourish to her voice, which provided a nice contrast with the kind of plodding sound of the band (which featured her dad!). And, while I'm there, who tours with their dad? Really? Doesn't that defeat the entire purpose of being in a band?

Great set. Really looking forward to hearing To Be Still.

------------------------------------------------------------

Things heated up for Blitzen Trapper. Literally. In a after-3-songs-I-was-drenched-in-sweat kind of way. At one point I seriously considered taking my shirt off, but I didn't want to distract people from the band... it would've been rude.

So, while BT isn't necessarily my scene, I had a great time (hooray for friends and not going to see a show alone!) and I def. understand why the party people in the 'shoe last night were really into the band. I mean, BT was a band that pretty clearly understood how to put on a show and put together a set-list. They spread out their most popular songs, they knew when to slow things down and amp things up, and they jammed, but it wasn't like we were at a Greatful Dead concert (although, there was at least one teacher candidate in the crowd that would've been really into that).

... apollo-geez for spelling/grammar mistake this morning, the Real World: Brooklyn has been really compelling this morning...

[mp3] Alela Diane - My Brambles (live @ the Horseshoe)
[mp3] Blitzen Trapper - Big Black Bird (live @ the Horseshoe)
[mp3] Blitzen Trapper - Stolen Shoes & a Rifle (live @ the Horseshoe)
... thanks Scott!

Adele Diane (and friends)


(Let's hear it for Mike Commodore on the drums!)




Blitzen Trapper

Let's Book Club! Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Outliers, I think, is best viewed as a series of New Yorker/New York Times articles rather than a serious attempt to understand success, since, as a whole, the book doesn't really make a coherent point from start to finish. I mean, the book's thesis is essentially that our conceptions about living in a meritocracy are false, that we don't live in one, and he doesn't attempt to connect each chapter of the book through his idea. So, in that sense the book is a failure. If, on the other hand, you're willing to look past that and view the book as a bunch of typically snappy magazine articles then I think you're going to enjoy the book a heck of a lot more...

Grade: C+ (and yes, this is the first book to not receive an 'A'...)


Also: I recently finished reading Bifocal for school. If you've got a son/daughter, niece/nephew, etc. who's roughly in the Grade 8 age range it's worth picking up for them.

Next up: Slam by Nick Hornby... somebody really needs to loan me a book...

Pick of the Week #7: Ohbijou - Swift Feet for Troubling Times

I've been really torn about what to do with my pick of the week this week. On the one hand, I like to try and keep things current - in the sense that my entire blog is basically just a record of stuff that I like at the moment; on the other, its also nice to use it as a platform to promote bands that I like that other people may not be so familiar with. This week, I've opted to go with the latter, and as this is being posted on AWmusic also, its a chance to (hopefully) turn a few people on to one of Toronto's best bands, Ohbijou.

A pre-emptive apology to readers of the Burgeoning Metropolis for, what I'm sure will be, some extremely repetitive comments given that I've written about Ohbijou probably more than any other band over the last year and a half.

Now that that's out of the way...

I first came across Ohbijou entirely by accident when they opened for Great Lake Swimmers (new album, Lost Channels Mar. 31) at Aoelian Hall (what must've been two years ago) and they absolutely stunned the building. It was a perfect crowd (slightly older) and venue (sit down, great acoustics - where the GLS recorded Oniagara) for the band and their sweet vocals, beautifully orchestrated strings, and quiet/shy/impish demeanor won everyone over. It took me approx. 7 seconds to get out of my seat and buy their album. So good in fact that I can't, very honestly, remember what the GLSs set was like... and they are typically very, very, good live... I mean, I'm sure they were good, but the surprise that was Ohbijou completely overshadowed anything that they could've done...

Thankfully, that performance translated very well onto the album. And not only did it translate well enough to land at #8 on my Best Albums '07, but it has worn extraordinarily well for an album that has got so much play around the apartment. In fact, and I think Liz liking it so much has a good deal to do with it, but its probably the most played album on, what is (I think), a shockingly good list of albums in 2007.

The best news of all, is that in addition to releasing a joint EP with the Acorn earlier this year, they've got a new album, Beacons, that is slated to be released in April this year. And, if people will shut their fat yaps and listen I suspect they'll do some serious damage at SXSW this year....

The executive summary:
If you like Stars (without the electronic business) or Feist (with a strings behind her) then its an absolute lock that you'll like Ohbijou.

[mp3] Ohbijou - Raccoons
[mp3] Ohbijou - The Woods

Partnergy.com, O'Neal-Marion, Battier, Obama, Notes to Self... When Bears Attack!... seriously...

(note: I think if I were to synergize and synthesize partnergy into photographic form this is what it would look like)

• I've just discovered that my cousin Chris has this website called "Partnergy.com", which is probably the truthiest thing I've read in a long, long, time...

• Thankfully, the O'Neal-Marion trade went through... although maybe not. The Raps get some cap space this off season, yes, but they don't get that much (since Marcus Banks is on the books for around $4.5mil). I mean, I like the Blarney-Bosh-Marion front court, but it doesn't exactly look like its a team that's going to strike fear into the hearts of... anyone... even, and especially, my alma mater's basketball team...

• Michael "Moneyball" Lewis on Shane Battier, Rockets GM Daryl Morey, and why stats make it difficult to tell how good Battier actually is. What's funny (but not ha-ha funny) is that Battier kind of seems like the antithesis of Chris Bosh. Also, if you have my copy of Moneyball I'd like it back...
  

• And another reason why Barack Obama couldn't be more different than W.
  

• This is more an actual note to myself than anything else... listen to Arabesque again.

• Courtesy of Liz's Dad another note to self: avoid 1600 lb. bears... they will eat you (rated 14A for the photos)

Top 10 Songs of 2009... w/ commentary

(Yes, that is Robbie Williams ... thank you for asking...)

So, that whole weekly music chart thing fizzled out pretty quickly didn't it? I think I'm going to scrap that in favour of trying to do a monthly round-up (like I did last month) and then doing the odd top-10 kind of list (like I'm doing now).

If you're just stopping by for the first time I'll apologize for the spelling mistakes and my taste in music (as evidenced by this list) being absolutely all over the place.

As always, mp3s can be downloaded by right-clicking and "saving-as", or, by doing whatever it is you do if you own a Mac.


10. "Oberkampf" by Woodpigeon from Houndsooth Europa
A really pretty singer-songwriter type song from a band that is loved (and I mean LOVED) by a couple folk music loving bloggers. Some version of this album was available for free (legally) somewhere at some point... so if someone wants to chime in on that....

***

9. "Electric Avenue" (yes, that Electric Avenue) by Woodhands
Thanks to Jen for the heads up. On a completely unrelated note, Liz and I saw Woodhands on one of those pre-movie-psuedo-commercials at the thee-ater last week. So, it looks like things are going well for the Torontoian Electro-Dance-Rockers... awesome. Also, if they ever become famous, this girl is going to be the next internet sensation...
[mp3] Woodhands - Electric Avenue

***

8. "Blood Bank" by Bon Iver from Blood Bank EP
Good, but not great, EP... and I hate to say it, but I think the best thing for Justin Vernon's music career would be to get his heart ripped out by another girl....
[mp3] Bon Iver - Blood Bank

***

7. "My Girls" by Animal Collective from Merriweather Post-Pavilion

***

6. "Still Crazy After All These Years" (Paul Simon cover) by Deer Tick
... which should not take away from the hilarious and awesome Sean Kingston cover they did last year... still never heard an album by these guys...
[mp3] Deer Tick - Still Crazy After All These Years

***

5. "Kettering" by The Antlers from Hospice (to be released 3/3)
My pick of the week #5.

***

4. "Help I'm Alive" by Metric from Fantasies (to be released 4/19)
In exchange for your email address you can download an acoustic version (which I think is vastly superior to the studio version posted here) of "Help I'm Alive" and see this very introspective interview/confessional from Emily Haines.
[mp3] Metric - Help I'm Alive

***

3. "Geraldine" by Glasvegas from Glasvegas
Pick of the week #3.

***

2. "Steamroller" by Bruce Peninsula from A Mountain is a Mouth
Depends on your 'steez', but for me, this is the front runner for album of the year and a serious contender for the Polaris Prize this year. Pick of the week #4, and a spectacular live show.
[mp3] Bruce Peninsula - Steamroller

***

1. "Brooklyn Go Hard" by Jay-Z ft. Faith Evans/Santogold from the Notorious Soundtrack
Production like this is why I love hip-hop...

Happy Valiumtines Day

I've Cooked You a Recession-Friendly Valentine's Day Dinner... so, no matter how badly you've screwed up Hallmark's favourite holiday just remind your sweetie that things could be worse...

Pick of the Week #6: The Darcys

Looking at my picks of the week over the past 5 weeks I feel like I've unfairly been discriminating against bands of the rock/pop genre. There's been a couple of big collective type bands (Rah Rah, Bruce Peninsula), a couple of more ambient-atmospheric types (Animal Collective, The Antlers), but I suppose there was Ketch Harbour Wolves... nevermind...

... although this album, Endless Water by the Darcys stands out in my mind as being very different from KHWs, and here's why.... I think....

I had heard the Darcys myspace songs before I went to go check them out opening for Bruce Peninsula/Tom Fun Orchestra and they blew me away live. I just was not expecting them to be that good, and they were that good. Maybe part of my, admittedly low, expectations was that I was listening through my computer speakers (which are terrible), but part of it has to be that the Darcys are a live band recorded. And that's not to say that Endless Water is not worth hearing, because it absolutely is; but more that I expect that EW is an album that isn't going to grab you right away.

I mean, half the reason that the Darcys aren't going to grab you (and I think the reason it didn't grab me) is because the Darcys just kind of sound like a band. I mean, imagine a bunch of people you know started a band... they'd sound like the Darcys. But I think what makes the band worth listening to is the way they are able to build songs, layer their instruments, and hit you with those moments where the vocal harmonies sound like Thom Yorke's take on the Beach Boys.

In contrast, KHW's (free) debut EP, Dead Calm Horizon, is album that from the first minute its easy to see what they're doing and you'll either love them (which is likely) or you won't (far less likely).

The take home message:
The Darcys and their album Endless Water are Toronto's answer to Montreal's Plants and Animals Parc Avenue. I'm not sure the album really captures how good they were/are live, but its certainly worth your time...

[mp3] The Darcys - Strange Fits
[mp3] The Darcys - Ultra

and just for comparison's sake:

[mp3] Ketch Harbour Wolves - Letters
[mp3] Plants and Animals - Bye Bye Bye

What's wrong with the Raptors?

Ummm.... a lot? But I think there are probably three big things that jump out at me.

• They can't play defence. They start three bad defenders: Calderon, who can't keep a point gaurd in front of him to save his life; Moon, who looks a lot better than he is because he gets one huge-looking weak side block a game; and Chris "I haven't blocked a shot in 3 years" Bosh; and two mediocre defenders: Anthony Parker, who is reasonably athletic, but definitely not a lock-down guy; and Bargnani, while still inconsistent, is improving and is much more fundamentally sound than he was even at the beginning of the year (remember the game he shut down D-Howard at the beginning of the year?), but let's be honest Blarney is never going to be DPOTY.
  

• Chris Bosh doesn't "own" the team. Chris Bosh is a good guy, a great face for the franchise, and a good basketball player... but he isn't a winner. Since he was in high school he's played on two "winning" teams: the 16-15 GT Yellow Jackets, and the 2006-2007 Raptors that won 47 games. CB4 can score, but as the 'franchise' he's not going to win games for the team where he takes over the game with his scoring, or his defence, or by inspiring his teammates. Basically, Bosh is incapable of recognizing what the team needs on a given night and doing it to win, which is basically what every good player in the league can do. When Parker and Ginobli were out at the beginning of the year TD filled the void to keep the Spurs a float, LBJ has been doing it virtually every night with the Cavs this year, and this is where guys like James Posey, Robert Horry, Scottie Pippen help teams win championships. Chris Bosh isn't that guy, and none of the Raps are those guys.

• Jay Triano is over thinking things. In the book that many people, including and especially me, refer to as the tennis bible (Winning Ugly) Brad Gilbert describes the most basic sports strategy is to match up your strength against an opponents weakness. It seems like, the Raptors haven't developed a way that they're going to beat you. Two seasons ago, when they won the (admittedly terrible) Atlantic Division they were going to beat you with their bench. The starters would hold the line, and then Calderon, Delfino, Garbo/Bargnani, would run the other team's bench into the ground. Now, the Raptors just kind of ... play...
  

My solution
With the team as it is now:
They ought to be running some type of version of the Orlando bang the ball inside and shoot some threes offense. They don't quite have the personnel to do this since they are playing Jamario Moon, Roko Ukic, and Joey Graham a fair bit which means that opposing defenses don't, or shouldn't have to, guard those guys on the perimeter. Or, alternatively, just exploiting mismatches with their big men who, at least offensively, are probably the best three in the league. Seriously, I'd be curious to hear if anyone though there were a collection of three better offensive big men in the league.

Blow Up the Team:
In an ideal world they get rid of O'Neal for Marion/Banks, and, brace yourself, Bosh for LaMarcus Aldridge, Travis Outlaw (and maybe if they throw in Anthony Parker and hopefully Moon) Jared Bayless. Then the starting line-up looks like:
Bargnani - C
Aldridge - PF
Marion - SF
Kapono - SG
Calderon - PG

w/ Outlaw, Bayless, Graham and Jake Voshkul (who I really like just because he plays hard, is a great cheerleader on the bench, and you should note was a +11 last night) coming off the bench.

Is this a playoff team? Borderline, probably, but they're certainly more athletic and better equipped to play some exciting basketball and with a pick (say, Steph Curry) they might be a solid playoff team next year. All that said, there's approx. a zero percent chance that the Raps build a contender since they're going to be competeing against LBJ, Brandon Roy, and Dwayne Wade for the next 6-7 years...

The Worst Album Ever, Album Art Rip-off, Great Canadian Mixtape, Flight of the Conchords/Crazy Dogggz, Kyle, A-Stod, Defiance

• Matthew has a review of an album which he thinks might be the worst ever.

• Amid some controversy about U2 ripping off the album art for its up coming album Bonoisagiantdouche (or at least that's what I assume its called) Music for Kids Who Can't Read Good posted a bunch of album look-a-likes.

• The guys at Herohill put out the Saskatchewan edition of their Great Canadian Mixtape "Elgaard Your Grill". And, for those of you who are thinking to yourselves are there really that many bands from Saskatchewan that are worth listening to!?! I'd reply, I don't know, but I can tell you that Rah Rah (pick of the week #2) definitely is. But I would say you ought to click on the link if only to see the album art (actually pictured above), if not to download the Mixtape for free.

• Its official, Liz is the best ever... we got tickets to the Crazy Dogggz, Flute of the Commadores, or whatever they're called at Massey Hall, April ____. Sweet.

• Kyle posted his Best Albums of '08.

• There've been rumours floating around about Amare Stoudamire is on the trading block. A Bulls fan urges Bulls GM J-Pax to "just say no"... and let me be the first to say the same to BC... we already have one PF who doesn't play any defence...

• Liz and I saw Defiance last night and, despite receiving 50-odd % on Rotten Tomatoes, I thought it was a really interesting vinette in the larger story of WWII. I don't think it was a cinematic masterpiece or anything, but it was a good movie.
  

Let's Book Club! The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I think this might be the fastest I've got through a book since I read High Fidelity in a day while I was in Thailand a couple years ago. What I meant to say was that I really liked it... although I've said that about every book I've read so far this year, so, take that as you will.

The book is this incredibly hypnotizing, plodding, story about a father and son - who remain nameless - and their attempt to survive in a post-apocalyptic, burnt to the ground, kind of world. The writing is short, simple, and very post-modern (very little punctuation: no quotation marks, no?few? apostrophes), but after I got over that and got into the story I was absolutely mesmerized.

Grade: A+
So, basically I've become the Rolling Stone of book "reviewers"...

Up next:
Outliers, unless someone has something else they want to loan me.

Pick of the Week #5: The Antlers

Unfortunately, a quick one this week.

Its roughly about three minutes into Hospice that you hear Peter Silberman's voice on "Kettering" and when you hear the haunting falsetto come in it, sadly, makes me feel like I've been left alone. And left alone like, I'm the last person on earth kind of alone, which is really creepy.

Thankfully, mostly for my own sanity, the CD doesn't retain that feel throughout the other 8 tracks. It goes through a kind of ebb and flow, this rising and falling action with more upbeat moments (see: "Bear", "Two") but all along this back drop of the lonely, sterile kind of feel that is Bon Iver-esque.

The Antlers Hospice isn't out for another month (3/3), but for those that are fans of Bon Iver and Chad VanGaalen (circa-Infiniheart) this is an album release that is probably worth marking on your calendar.

[mp3] The Antlers - Bear
[mp3] The Antlers - Two

Sadly, it doesn't look like there are any trips up to SW Ontario planned, but we can cross our fingers and hope... and possibly send them myspace messages to guilt them into coming up...

Pick of the Week #1: Ketch Harbour Wolves
Pick of the Week #2: Rah Rah
Pick of the Week #3: Glasvegas/Animal Collective
Pick of the Week #4: Bruce Peninsula

Zetterberg & $$$, the RAA, Tradewatch ft. Chris Bosh, The Road, Golden Hands Before Blog

• I'm not a hockey guy so I could be way off on this, but Henrik Zetterberg for 12 years? Really? You're going to pay him $7mil when he's 36-37? Really? I'm just not sure who thinks this is a good idea...

• (Via Jen's FB page) Nice to see the RAA (Rural Alberta Advantage) getting some love from south of the border after their first show in NYC.

• This may be a moo point by the time this gets posted (like a cow's opinion), but its interesting to note that Chris Bosh was included in Chad Ford's "Trade Watch". Glad to know that I'm not the only one who's been milling around with the idea that getting some value for CB4 right now might be a good thing before he takes off to play with Dwayne Wade in Miami...

• On a related note, Michael Grange of the Globe and Mail suggests that a Bosh for Aldridge, Bayless, (and I'd push for Outlaw as well) might be a good move for the Raps. And, I'll also add that if the O'Neal for Marion/Banks deal goes through - which looks less likely with each passing day - the Raps would have a really interesting team: Bargnani, Aldridge, Marion, Parker, Calderon with Bayless, Kapono, (Outlaw) and Graham coming off the bench.

• I've been reading (and am almost finished) Cormac MacCarthy's The Road, which apparently has been turned into a movie. The book is incredbily haunting, but what's more haunting is that the guy they've got to direct the movie basically has nothing in his IMBD profile to suggest that he's going to put out something worth watching; which is to say that directing commercials doesn't really qualify you to produce a feature film of a pulitzer prize winning novel.
  

• Saving the best for last, Jamie Greer of the Golden Hands Before God has a blog entitled "For All Greerkind".

UPDATE: My buddy Andrew just MSNed me and was (outraged?) that I didn't comment on the Aussie Open final, particularly after I said last week that I thought Fed might be the GOAT, to which Andrew replied that the GOAT was on the court, but it wasn't Fed, and then something about Nadal winning #7 in May and only being 23.

Counter-point: Nadal may yet be the GOAT, which is to say, he may become the GOAT, but he definitely isn't yet. He's won 6 majors, one on each surface (but Agassi has done that), which, while impressive, still leaves him 8 behind Sampras and 7 behind Fed. Meanwhile Federer has had a stunning win loss record, has made it to at least the semis of every slam in the last 4?5? years? So, right now, Fed's got to be the guy that, when you get to chose a player to win a tournament to save your life, and you don't know anything about the tournament Feds the guy you pick....

That said, as I MSNed my buddy Andrew back saying that I thought that Nadal is in the MJ-zone right now where he basically goes into "there's no way this guy is going to beat me mode" and puts a Darth Vader-eque mind meld on his opponent until they quit. Simply put, he's playing the best tennis, I think, that anyone has ever played, but still has 3-4-5 majors until he's the GOAT... maybe Colangelo should have him sit down with CB4

One of those... "Oh yeah, I love that song" songs...

Kudos to the group that played Fatboy Slim's "Praise You" in class today which caused a group of us to throw our heads back and go, "wow... awesome".

So here is Fatboy Slim's "Praise You" and its a spectacular video/dance choreography (America's Best Dance Crew look out!), along with a couple of others that I wanna hear the next time I go out to the kluub.


Blackstreet "No Diggity"


LL Cool J "Doin' It"


Mathematik "Rhyme Trainin'"
aka. the song that got me into "indie" hip-hop



and the best for last... for me at least...
Rascalz "Dreaded Fist"

Stop#2: Tom Fun Orchestra, Bruce Peninsula, The Darcys @ the Horseshoe Jan.31.2009

Band #1: The Darcys
I'm not sure I have anything really meaningful to say about the Darcys music, which doesn't mean that I thought they were bad, quite the opposite really. Its just that their music is pretty non-discript rock/pop, and its kind of tough for me to pin down exactly what they sound like/who they were really influenced by. The non-descript thing isn't meant to be a dig... if someone wants to chime in here that would be helpful... having never heard them before I'm inclined to check out their new(est?) album Endless Water.

Three songs into the album I'm thinking that I can see people (B. Mr. Grosman, and Eliot if you're reading this) who like "indie rock bands" really digging this album, and loving the live show. The live set was impressive: they were tight, everyone in the band could sing, they rocked out, they had great stage presence and a great co-ordinated jacket-vest-and-tie-thing going.

Thumbs up for The Darcys.

Band #2: Bruce Peninsula
They were absolutely overwhelming.

I think I read somewhere - and I forget where - someone describing them as a force of nature, and that couldn't have been more accurate. There were 12 people on the stage last night each one playing, banging, hollering and creating this enormous wall of sound. So if the record was like being in a haunted country church (as I described it on Thursday) seeing them live was like being trapped in the church with no where to go (only probably less scary)... I really, really dug all the songs when Neil Haverty(?) and his growling Sunparlour-esque vocals were leading the charge... "Inside/Outside", "Shutters" and "Crabapples" might be my three favourite songs this year...

Just awesome. They have a bunch of SW Ontario dates so check their myspace.

Band #3: Tom Fun Orchestra
I missed out on, and I feel kinda bad about that... both Liz and I were absolutely wiped... but from what Bob (It's Not the Band I Hate, It's their Fans) Battams said he thought they were quite good.

I'd expect Bob and/or Jen will have some thoughts posted in the next few days.

EDIT: Bob has his review up now, see it here.

On a somewhat related note:
Also, I've got audio for "Shutters" "Steamroller" and "Weave Myself A Dress/Crabapples" from last night in .WAV format, if you're interested in hearing it I'll email you.
Holla at cha' boyee: londononburgeoningmetropolisATgmailDOTcom

The Darcys:





Bruce Peninsula

Stop #1: Thunderheist @ Nathan Phillips Square Jan.31.2009

The original plan for last night involved Liz and I catching Shad @ Nathan Phillips Square then heading over to the Horseshoe for The Darcys, Bruce Peninsula and Tom Fun Orchestra. Well, turns out we got going late, went for dinner with my sister, and missed Shad, but we did end up catching Thunderheist (although, I suppose that goes without saying based on the title of the post).

Anyways, we caught about 6-7 songs before "we" got too cold, but what we did see was "stupid" as the kids say... or fresh... maybe it was fresh...

The long and the short of it is that they were super energetic, the dance crew - decked out in their 80s/early 90s gear - was awesome, and they generally rocked the party. They play great, great, dance music a la CSS, The Go! Team, and (presumably) Santogold although I've never listened to her before.

Their debut s/ted album comes out Mar.31 and I anticipate I will be picking it up, because at the very least it'll be a great album to run/work out to... probably not going to be my first choice when Mom and Dad come over for dinner...


Thunderheist + the Thunderheist dance crew: