Monday, October 20, 2008

RIP Levi Stubbs

The world lost quite a voice this weekend with the death of Levi Stubbs, original lead singer of The Four Tops. Stubbs had battled cancer for several years and had a stroke a few years ago.

Stubbs had a booming voice. "Bernadette." "Standing In The Shadows Of Love." And especially, ESPECIALLY, "Reach Out I'll Be There." The urgency in his voice is stunning, particularly in the "I know what you're thinking/you're alone now/ no love of your own... just look over your shoulder!" lines. The timing is interesting--just over a month after my first trip to Detroit and a wonderful visit to the Motown Museum/Hitsville, USA.

Here's another great one --> "It's The Same Old Song"


In other news, the Canadian general election happened last week... and it was pretty uneventful. Parliamentary elections happen quickly (this one was 6 weeks after it was called), so there're no years and years of campaigning. Ultimately, Prime Minister Stephen Harper got the election called because he didn't feel like he could move forward after 2+ years of his minority government. So he was rewarded with... another minority government. Though his party, the Conservatives, picked up some seats, they're still 12 or so seats short of a majority--thanks mostly to the nationalist Bloc Quebecois, who got (as usual) 2/3 of the seats in Quebec (a big province). The left wing NDP made some gains (and held my own riding of Trinity-Spadina), while the usually strong Liberal Party struggled (particularly out west) thanks in no small part to a leader with the personality of a dish towel--Stephane Dion. That his English is worse than that of the Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe did not play very well out west.

Canadians seem to be far more interested in the US election, for which I recently sent in my absentee ballot...

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Sunday, August 24, 2008

the groop

New Stereolab + 70s Sesame Street footage = YES.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

even further north

Hej hej från Uppsala, Sverige.

Winding up my trip after good days here, in Göteborg and in Stockholm despite more RAIN than I've had on any of my trips.

Sounds like I missed a giant explosion in the Great White North.

OK, Icelandair, get me back safely...

Sunday, April 6, 2008

food for thought

Is it appropriate for a restaurant called Tortilla Flats to play a song by renowned Dutch singer Taco for its patrons? Apparently so. I heard Taco's "Puttin' On The Ritz" while eating a quesadilla at Tortilla Flats...

Nez

The Beatles are my favourite band (with The Charlatans and Doves safely ensconced at 2 and 3), and I agree with the somewhat harsh depiction of The Monkees as the "prefab" four. They were, in fact, put together by executives for the purpose of playing a band on TV, and then becoming a band themselves. That said, they were also musicians (well, Davy was just a singer) who wanted to play on their own records and had multiple fights with management until being allowed to do so.

Mike Nesmith was already a songwriter before the Monkees gig, and the 1-2 songs per record he was allowed hold up well today. (He also wrote Linda Ronstadt's first hit, "Different Drum.") His Texas background helped foster a sound that blended folk and country with rock, at the same time the late period Byrds with Gram Parsons were making similar moves. "Mary, Mary" and "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" are his best known Monkees songs, and I think this one ("You Just May Be The One") is underrated. Judge for yourself:



One current artist quick to acknowledge the influence of Nesmith's songs is Stevie Jackson of Belle & Sebastian. Although Stuart Murdoch is the acknowledged genius of B&S and the writer of most of their songs, I usually prefer Stevie's 1-2 per album. He's written some of their best B-sides, too, such as "Mr. Richard" and "I Believe In Travellin' Light."

Here's one of Stevie's best, "To Be Myself Completely." Enjoy!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

greetings

It's been a while, hasn't it?

Let's see... how to catch you up?

Well, I've been to Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City on a road trip, I've been to New York City for a conference (and a performance by my favourite comedian, Mr. Izzard), and last but certainly not least I've been to the old homestead for none other than my sister's wedding. All good fun, with the latter essentially perfect.

Last night I made my first visit to the Opera House, a cool old venue that's quite a bit east of Yonge Street (most of my life takes place west of Yonge Street). My friend and I were there to see the best band from the Kingdom of Denmark, The Raveonettes. Their new record is fantastic, and they sounded great as always (was the fourth time I've seen them). I still prefer them as a five-piece touring oufit (they were three last night), but that's OK... Also made my first trek to the nearby Dangerous Dan's, a great local haunt unless you're vegetarian (I'm not).

Here's a new one from The Raveonettes--"You Want The Candy" -->


Otherwise I'm enjoying another holiday weekend. We had an offsite meeting at the Royal Ontario Museum on Thursday, and no work again until Monday.

Switching gears rather abruptly, I've been reading a lot about the ongoing political stalemate in Belgium. A coalition government is finally in the works, but many believe the differences between the Dutch-speaking Flemish in the north and the French-speaking Walloons in the south will soon be too much to sustain a united country. The new Prime Minister is from Flanders and wants more autonomy for his region, though it has an incredible amount already for a region of a country. As always, the BBC is collecting thoughts on the matter. This quotation from a Belgian really stuck out to me:

We live in a small country and we also have a small mentality. We host the capital of Europe and sadly we do not see beyond the language boundaries of Flemish and Walloon in our own country. Welcome to Belgium. Come visit us before there's no more Belgium.
Catherine, Brussels, Belgium


More details are here.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Happiness is...

a new video from The Charlatans! So lucky for me that they've always been a favourite and they're still around. You can download this single,"Oh! Vanity," for free on xfm.co.uk starting on the 25th February.



It was a nice clear day today, after a wild snowstorm yesterday. We got half a foot or so, and I had some interesting views of snow flying every which way from my 20th floor work perch. The boots I snagged a few weeks ago were just in the nick of time. I actually managed to get on a streetcar this morning, but was stuck on the first step for the duration of my fairly short journey...

A big shout out to A&A, who are in Siberia right now (somewhat colder than Canada, even) on the most meaningful trip they will ever take. Sounds like all is well so far, which is fantastic...

Sunday, February 10, 2008

From The Jam & Jones of the Stones

First of all, it's bloody cold. 7 degrees F, with the wind chill -16 F. Winds 25-35 mph. I thought my nose was going to fall off on my six-block walk back from lunch. And the high tomorrow is 16 F...

Had a good work week, and followed that quickly with dinner/drinks with a friend on Friday. Later that night I went to a weekly event at Lee's Palace called Biff! Bang! Pow! OK, it's named after a song by The Creation, that's promising. And it's described as mod/soul/indie rock. Even better, I thought. And... they played tunes such as "Don't You Want Me" by Human League and "Play That Funky Music" by whichever band graced this earth with that tune. Not exactly what I was expecting. I was there a little over an hour, and the only song really fit for a mod/soul night was "Heat Wave" by Martha & the Vandellas. Ah well, maybe I can DJ again somewhere.

On Wednesday, after a basketball victory (finally) and in the midst of a snowstorm, I went to said Lee's Palace to see From The Jam, which consists of 2/3 of The Jam, AKA the 2/3 not named Paul Weller--Rick Buckler and Bruce Foxton. They're on top form, as are their hired gun guitarists/singers. They opened with "In The City" and "This Is The Modern World," and went on to play a fantastic set. Besides obvious choices like "Town Called Malice" and "Eton Rifles," they also played covers by The Kinks ("David Watts") and The Who ("So Sad About Us"). Alas, no "Beat Surrender." The crowd loved the set, too, and it made for a great night.

Here's The Jam near the end of their existence with a different cover, "Move On Up" by the late, great Curtis Mayfield:



I dug out my DVD of The Rolling Stones Rock 'N' Roll Circus this weekend, which was filmed in 1968 but not released until the 90s. It has some interesting performances, but it's painful to watch an out-of-it Brian Jones in his last public appearance with the Stones. I was reminded of this promo clip (from when only a few bands were starting to do promo clips) of "We Love You," reflecting the drug arrests that Mick, Keef and Brian had recently experienced. Brian was fast drugging and alienating his way out of the band he'd formed and named, which is pretty obvious considering the clips of him that Mick and Keef put in the video. He was off his head on quaaludes, a downer. It's a quirky song that features Brian with a weirdo Mellotron part and a great piano riff from session man Nicky Hopkins. Notice Marianne Faithfull's appearance as well:



I've always liked Brian Jones, for a bunch of reasons. First and foremost, of course, he founded The Rolling Stones. Also, I admire versatility in others, especially musicians, and Jones could play almost anything. He was a great slide guitar player, and taught Mick how to play harmonica. When he got bored with guitar, he'd find new things to play. This would grow to include sitar ("Paint It, Black"), marimba ("Under My Thumb"), dulcimer and harpsichord ("Lady Jane"), recorder ("Ruby Tuesday"), and the list goes on. He managed to play a saxophone part on a Beatles B side. Now, he was known for being a bit of a jerk, which got worse as he became a hopeless drug addict, but I must admit that another factor in my appreciation of him is that he's the only well-known musician to whom I bear some resemblance, according to others. Mind you, I hope that's based more on the mid-60s Brian Jones than on the version in the video above! Last but not least, the odd but intriguing modern band The Brian Jonestown Massacre combine his name with the final act of the Jim Jones-led death cult...

Photobucket

Photobucket

Saturday, February 2, 2008

should I take this as a sign?

From an Icelandair press release, late 2007:

Icelandair will shift the focus of its North Atlantic operations next year. Scheduled flights to Toronto will start in May, while Baltimore/Washington will be taken out of the network this winter. The morning flights to Boston and New York out of Keflavik during the summer will continue this year and capacity to London will be increased slightly. Icelandair will terminate the Baltimore/Washington service effective January 13, 2008, while Toronto flights will begin May 2, 2008.

“Our schedule for 2008 will be similar to our 2007 schedule but we are changing our North Atlantic operations by moving to Toronto in Canada from Baltimore/Washington. We have expanded considerably over the past few years, so the focus in 2008 is on making adjustments to our network. We have a strong focus on serving our domestic Icelandic market and visitors to Iceland and we are fine-tuning the Icelandair network and our capacity in order to increase its profitability,” says Jón Karl Ólafsson, CEO of Icelandair.

Toronto is Canada's largest city and transportation center. “This city has the potential to become a very popular destination for Icelanders as it's a thriving multicultural city. It also offers possibilities for inbound tourism to Iceland as Toronto is the key Canadian transportation hub for millions of people. Last year we started flying again to Halifax, so we have a strong focus on Canada at the moment,” says Jon Karl. “We say goodbye to Baltimore/Washington now after flying to the city for years. Unfortunately the route became less profitable recently, following the departure of thousands of U.S. citizens from the U.S. military base in Iceland.”


Lots of snow in Toronto at the moment, and the city looks fantastic.

I've been listening quite a bit to the long-dormant southern Swedish band Eggstone. Here's one of their top tunes, "Never Been A Better Day":

Sunday, January 27, 2008

odds and sods

Did you know?
There was no such thing as a Canadian passport until 1946. Prior to that, Canadians were still considered British subjects and carried British passports. There's your random fact for the day.

I'm signing up for e-news updates from my MP, Olivia Chow of the NDP. While I can't vote, I'm still interested in keeping tabs on events in my riding, Trinity-Spadina.

Because I've been here a few months, I'm now able to compile a list of In Canada/Not In Canada for those from the US. In case you're curious:

In Canada
Orange Crush
Best Buy
Vault
surprisingly good Mexican food (and even some Taco Bells)
Arby's (I've seen one)

Not In Canada
Mountain Dew with caffeine (!!)
Target
cheddar and sour cream chips (usually--I've seen them once)
Mello Yello
biscuits (as in Southern bread-type biscuits, not British biscuits)
hockey (just kidding)

Switching to music, congrats to SITGWN faves Sahara Hotnights for winning the Rockbjörnen award for best group of the year in Sweden. Check out this cool interview from the website of the Aftonbladet to hear the Swedish language in action.

I hadn't listened to Liverpool band The Coral in quite a while, but got their newest record and like it a lot. Going back one album, this is one of their best tunes, "In The Morning":

Thursday, January 24, 2008

yes, yes, yes!

Just back from another night at La Hacienda, this time with my friends K and S. S went with my recommendation (whiskey sour!), while K went with amaretto sours. The food was great as always, and this time they played Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra on vinyl (last time it was The Byrds). Love that place...

What else has been happening? I made my first trip to the US Consulate last week, for passport renewal (delayed from last year because of waiting for my Ontario driver's license). Pretty easy process for US citizens; visa-seekers have a looooong wait.

My basketball team got crushed again last night, but I actually had a really good game and made a bunch of baskets. I could tell the other team didn't think I was any good, so I got pretty motivated and scored a bunch of points before they picked someone good to guard me. Ah well.

We've had some SERIOUSLY cold days of late, but I managed to run outside on Saturday. It's snowed some this week, which is good--the city looks much better with snow in the wintertime. Otherwise it's a bit on the grey side.

Concert season has cranked back up, thankfully. I saw the Von Bondies last week, and earlier this week caught Editors and Hot Hot Heat. Editors are absolutely fantastic. Soon I'll see Bob Mould, as well as The Hives and The Donnas together.

Check out this clip from 60s legends the Sir Douglas Quintet, live on Hugh Hefner's old show!

Thursday, January 3, 2008

bliadhna mhath ur

First and foremost, Happy New Year to one and all. I hope everyone had a relaxing and safe holiday season--I definitely did. I got to spend lots of time with family, some time with friends, do a little bit of skiing (weather permitting) and watch the Crimson Tide hold on for a victory in our bowl game.

Being back at work in sub-arctic temperatures was like enjoying a bucket of freezing water over the head in more ways than one. But, as Ringo Starr once said, "you know it don't come easy."

Next, can I wish a hearty congratulations to The Lionheart Brothers, a fantastic Norwegian band I've listened to for years, reviewed several times, and finally saw at the Slottsfjell Festival this summer. The group's album Dizzy Kiss has been nominated in the rock category for the Spellemann Prisen, the Norwegian Grammys. The album hasn't been released in North America, but TLB are touring the UK later this month and building some buzz.

If you've never seen or heard them, check out the video for their song "50 Souls and a Discobowl":



While we're on the subject of videos, enjoy one more while you're at it. My compadre RV is a sucka for MIA's "Paper Planes," so here's the equally dazzling follow-up, "Boyz." Sri Lanka meets Jamaica!



It is seriously cold here in the Great White North, although all signs point to a much warmer spell (50 F or so) next week, at least in the GTA.

Over and out!