Think About Life -Sweet Sixteen

BSS

Kevin Drew vs. Brendan Canning


=Canadian Version of...


John Lennon vs. Paul McCartney


It's the truth kids...

Think About Life @ 59 Argyle

February 28th may be the last show for Ottawa's 59 Argyle. But don't worry, they've made it a good one. Think About Life (Montreal), Wax Attic (Montreal), and Fucked Corpse (Ottawa). Tickets are only $5, and are available at Endhits, but get there quick, cause there's only a limited amount of tickets, and this show will sell out like the past two Think About Life shows at 59 Argyle.


VIDEO: Tauno

My life has been overtaken by this. It's terrible...yet fun...maybe it's terribly fun? Needless to say, it hurts the wallet.

AIDS Wolf Live @ Emo's

HEALTH

Just got HEALTH's self-titled album in the mail today. I hadn't listened to them ever before, bought it on a whim. I am so glad I got this, such a great album. If you are a fan of Dan Deacon, Crystal Castles, or Videohippos, you have to check this album out. And if you like to collect records, this would be a nice one to add to the collection, it's limited to 500 copies, hand silkscreened sleeve, and it's on see-through red vinyl. Check it.

Myspace
Store

The '89 Cubs

Has anyone else listened to this band yet? I've had their album There Are Giants in the Earth for just under a year now, and it doesn't seem to get old. I just started getting back into it again last week, and I decided to look them up on the interwebs, mainly myspace, and realized that this band is relatively unknown, unless that is to say myspace is deceiving me. They only have 787 friends, which seems to be not a lot, at all. Especially for a band that's had members from the Saddle Creek establishment, ie. Bright Eyes, Desaparecidos, and The Good Life (which I haven't listened to yet, but there's a chance they are decent if they're on Saddle Creek). This album has been out for two years now, so I don't know if their fan base is hidden, or just non-existant, but everyone should try to find this album if they are a fan of post-rock, indie in general, or Saddle Creek.

The '89 Cubs Myspace

Eventualism.

Fucked Corpse @ Babylon June 25th

Video courtesy of Tauno.

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone is playing the basement of EndHits in a week. Anyone else out there as eager as I am to see this show? Twinkly Echo was one of my best musical discoveries this year, and I've been listening to it non-stop for the past 5 months. I missed CFTPA last time they played Ottawa, but I'm making it a point to see this show no matter what. Nothing can stop me, NOTHING.

Can Akron/Family do no wrong?

RUINS, AIDS WOLF, SMOKE JUDO: ZAPHOD'S

What a night. Smoke Judo's 'last' show ever, AIDS Wolf last show IN Ottawa for a while, and Ruins' first and maybe(?) last show in Ottawa. The magnificent Pierre Richardson was on site, taking pictures galore. And what pictures indeed!

SMOKE JUDO (with special guest Amir, all the way from Calgary) delivered an amazing set, solid from start to finish--as per the usual. Their brand of lo-fi rock was fresh and exciting, and it's sad to see these two parting ways. Hopefully one day they will make it back to Ottawa to play again.



AIDS WOLF are one of the most fascinating bands to watch live. There is absolutely no comparison from listening to their record to witnessing them live. They play as loud and hard as possible from start to finish, with so much raw emotion and energy put in, and so many decibels pumped out, that the crowd either stands in awe, or goes nuts. And being an Ottawa crowd, the majority of people stood in awe (while a few went nuts).





RUINS is quite possibly the craziest drummer in the modern era. I had no clue what to expect walking in, and was completely blown away by the end. Simply being just a drummer, with a pre-recorded band backing him up, Ruins is diffenently a spectacle to be seen. And it never gets repetitive. He had the crowds heads bopping, but barely gave time between songs for the crowd to absorb everything they had just witnessed, or even to applaud his amazing skills. And at the end, gave a small 'Thank you', and walked off stage like he didn't just play the shit out of his drums.



All in all, thanks to the bands and everyone who came out. A special thanks goes out to Calum, Pierre, and Tauno. Video footage should be on the way shortly!

So, today I had the smart idea to go out for a run. Now, I have never felt the need to go out running or jogging (but I used to be able to play a whole game of basketball, which is 32 minutes [this was in highschool under a year ago]), and for whatever reason today, when I woke up, I felt a burning need and desire to go out for a nice run. At the time it seemed like a great idea. I had to get posters printed at the Staples up the road, and what better way to get there then to use my two legs. So on goes 45:33 by LCD Soundsystem, the infamous track James Murphy created for Nike, and off I went. My goal was to run for the whole 45 minutes that the song played, but about 4 minutes in my goal changed to getting to Staples and back in one piece. And about 6 minutes in my goal was to get to Staples and then figure out if I was in good enough shape for the journey home.

So, I get to Staples, in only 10 minutes, completely drained and out of breath, with my sides slightly cramped up. I wait outside for a couple of minutes, sip some water, try and gain my composure so as to not look completely winded when I step inside. I get to the counter, order my prints, get some tape, come back pay for my prints and leave pouring with sweat. I get outside, drink some water, notice that my calves are completely tensed up, something that happens to me often the day after I play a game of basketball, and at this point I realize that I am probably done running for the day.

Done, after only 10 minutes of 45:33. So, after this huge failure of an experiment, I now have a new goal. I want to be able to go out for a jog or a run and last as long as 45:33. My plan is to run every second day and slowly build up my stamina over a few weeks, and hopefully before winter comes, I'll be running to 45:33 like it's nothing. Besides, what else am I going to do with all this free time that I've recently acquired?

The dogs of doom are howling low...

I just read that Zeppelin is reuniting. Bonham's son is drumming.

Comments welcome...

Grrr-umph.

This is not a pretty post. Not at all. What was supposed to be a joyous weekend turned sour the moment I opened my eyes last Friday morning.

We missed our flight to Seattle. We missed our trip to Bumbershoot. But after explaining the mishaps of a week ago, I will spare you the boring, tear wrenching story and leave it at this-we desperately found tedious things to occupy our disposition and keep us from murdering all airport employees.

So, what do I have for you? One of the side-track worthy items of business was a Coliseum, Young Widows and Engineer show. Yeah, I know it's awesome compared to three days of music, arts, theatre and workshops in one of the most amazing cities ever. Really, though...all I wanted was Gogol Bordello (or so I keep telling myself.) And though I ADORE Young Widows, being in Louisville when I wanted to be elsewhere really dampened my mood and my appreciation of the event. The show itself was a Coliseum record release, "No Salvation."
I had never heard Engineer before, and was not expecting much. Much to my surprise they delivered full force the angst I had experienced all day. But looking out into the absent crowd, I was let down by the years that had passed when hardcore commanded this town. I am sorry Syracuse, but Louisville has become the mecca for beards and acoustics. No one truly has time for aggression. If Shellac and Rye Coalition had a gorgeous baby it would be Young Widows. And if wrapped up into one, the trio makes for me the ideal man. They rock, they roll, they are a beautiful set of my opposite gender, and once again failed to throw down a wimpy performance. I hate that the past couple of times I have seen them, the crowd can't enthuse the way I do. Coliseum...I am sorry to say, I have nothing to say. We left after the fourth song. It became a waste of time to put forth any effort in pretending to have a good ol' time. Yeah.

And on a completely different side of the country...I have the an advance copy of PJ Harvey's newest release "White Chalk." I swear, whenever that woman opens her mouth, all things heavenly and winged come swimming out. "The Devil" and "Broken Harp" are closest to my heart at the moment. I know she must see into my life and write about what I most notably can not. It's beyond the boundaries of beautiful. Here's to hoping I will be able to catch her live show this year and watch in amazement as the deities pour down from above and dance around her magnificent existence.

***

I am off to make the most of this weekend, and do my best to let the past week find it's way to the dump.