I was planning on getting back into the bling of things now that "summer" is over, but I have to leave in a day or two for a month or two. Excitable but not excited. Although after PBS's 8 discs of NYC doc glory, I am itchnz to put my new found knwldg 2 use. The Big App in Oct better not dsspnt.
I'll try to think of something important to say before I go. Or some gimmicky way of making it seem more important than it is. Tubular.
From the ashes of the dusty basement, repaired with the most emergency of surgeries, it lives, it spins, it woos. Its still a little tinny, lacking a healthy low end that I feel should be there. Maybe I need some sort of preamp. Or a better output than crummy RCAs running into my computer. Either way, it still sounds lovely. I've christened it with the these:
"We are happily moving on after 6 good years. Our lives and our wives have called us in different directions. Thanks to anyone who has come out to a show, had words to say, or bought a cd to help us fill the tank."
I was just starting to love this band. Harsh. Pirate Blues and Errand Rum are below. Two great tracks off the new record.
Captured Tracks is killing it right now. Besides thrusting Woods and Dum Dum Girls from the alleys of New York lo-fi to the lower echelons of national indie rock attention, they're keeping it DIY as you know what with a huge emphasis on vinyl and cassette production and distribution. Its a no brainer that they would team up with Woodsist for a Woodsist/Captured Tracks festival, since Woodsist is the only label doing the same thing better than they are. Who? Woodsist. Ganglians, Woods, Wavves, Crystal Stilts, Vivian Girls, Blank Dogs...yeah. I get the feeling that the two labels are basically intertwined. Confirm? Deny?
What was the point of this post. OH! The Mayfair Set. Go listen to the Mayfair Set or forever hold your peace. They can be found HERE, and will make your summer better. Also order some de-vinyl from Captured Tracks, and Woodsist. Most of my favourite cover art ATM is coming from Woodsist. Amore.
Part 1 in our ongoing search for signs of life in Saskatoon.
Art, life, culture, food, character, espresso, local colour and love. This town aint so bad.
Proof. The new Souleio Foods on 3rd Ave S. Birthed by the pwners of (arguably) Saskatoon's best restaurant, Calories (once named one of Canada's 100 best).
Yet to eat here, but hear the food is delizzle. Fresh atmosphere, small local organic market, really good espresso w nice crema (see below), and a possible huge shot of culture botox to what could easily become a decrepit block of downtown.
"Knock knock/who's there/the party album of summer '09/oh okay come on in then/sure thanks can you take my coat?/for sure make yourself at home/word" @ 5:02 AM
Image is nothing, except everything. Obey your thirst. And your passion. PASSION PIT! My new jam uh-tha summa "Secret Things" lies directly below your eyes under this trendy azz faux-to Seriously though, this ess is effing dope. Get all up ons yesternow btchz.
I was delayed in writing about the Polaris Shortlist announcement, primarily because of its unsurprising nature. Except of course for the snubbing of Women and the inclusion of Elliot Brood. Heresy. I remember being hella undawhelmed by Elliot Brood when they opened for Wilco in Edmonton. Someone said "yeah, but who else in Canada would be better at it?" Good point I guess, if you've never heard Blue Rodeo, Sarah Harmer, Great Lake Swimmers, Joel Plaskett, the Acorn, Luke Doucet, the Deep Dark Woods, Two Hours Traffic, Kathleen Edwards, the Weakerthans, Patrick Watson, Andy Shauf, Hey Rosetta, the Besnard Lakes, Julie Doiron, Sloan, Cuff the Duke, Sam Roberts, Arkells, the Tragically Hip, Wintersleep, Hayden, Jason Collett, the Meligrove Band, Ohbijou, Attack In Black, Corb Lund, the Stills, Paper Moon, Malajube, Stars.....sigh....and so on.
Metric did step up on Fantasies, but by no means deserves this. Their victory would be anti climatic to say the least. Hey Rosetta are growing on me like fungus, but are a little green to take it just yet. Realistically its down to Chad Vangaalen and Joel Plaskett. Soft Airplane is a brilliant record, but if you scroll down even at all you'll see which way I lean.
Also Patrick Watson totally deserves it again. Wooden Arms is incredible. But I don't want to live in a country where he wins two in three years (one of which edged out Neon fuggin' Bible), whilst Plaskett, arguably the country's best songwriter, misses out again. Anything else, despite its quality, would be a pretty big upset.
It doesn't seem to take a lot to become a Canadian indie buzz band. If you make a beautiful, unassuming retro pop record and hang out with Chad VanGaalen. Referred to as "sunny Beach Boys pop dragged into a dark alley and gleefully mutilated", as well as "the hardest band to Google", Women cap off a great year by quietly thrashing their way onto the Polaris longlist. A likely shortlister, and possible dark horse winner, but probably not.
A bottomless pool of prolific East coast folk-rock alt-country talent. Able to win over 40 awards this decade, sell out clubs around the country, and still remain under the greater public radar. His new three disc record (!) "Three" is cohesive and ambitious and effortless. One of indie rock's best lyricists. A definite Polaris shortlister, and possible winner.
Catchy two piece garage rock from Vancouver. Their debut LP just got picked up by Polyvinyl, but at 8 tracks, is really more like their 3rd EP. Short and sweet. Summer fun. Bloc Party - thick accent + Canadiana - two members. Possible shortlisters, but impossible winners. Fabulous album title.
An “explosion” of potential violations added up to a bad year for privacy rights in Saskatchewan, the province’s information and privacy commissioner said Tuesday.
In his annual report, Gary Dickson called 2008-2009 “the year of the privacy breach in Saskatchewan.”
The commissioner’s office opened 62 privacy investigations in 2008-2009. In comparison, the office conducted only two investigations four years ago.
Dickson said in a news release that the situation was “serious and troubling” and noted the cases “undermine public confidence in our public institutions.”
Among the commissioners cases were 14 investigations into abandoned patient files; the City of Regina mistakenly sending personal information on 2,000 employees and citizens to a researcher; inappropriate sharing of personal health information by health professionals; and unsecured personnel and inmate records at a correctional centre.
Dickson did note that his office oversees 3,000 organizations and that many cases are self-reported by the institution.
But many organizations lack a clearly-defined privacy policy, he said, and there is a “gaping hole” in provincial legislation because there is no provision requiring a public body to take reasonable steps to safeguard personal information.
The commissioner said Saskatchewan is an anomaly in that local police services are not covered by access to information and protection of privacy legislation.
That is a significant oversight since such legislation “is an important feature in ensuring that police services meet high standards of accountability and transparency to ensure high levels of public trust.”
Dickson also noted that unlike British Columbia and Alberta, private sector employees are “essentially unprotected when it comes to abuse of their information privacy rights” and the government should move to change that.
He also urged the government to change the practice of the Workers Compensation Board where it denies applicants access to their own personal information.
The privacy commissioner is an independent officer of the legislature. The Saskatchewan Party government is expected to respond Tuesday.
"Pundits Pick a Pack of Polaris Prize People Pleasers" @ 3:46 AM
With exactly a week to go until the Polaris Prize shortlist is announced, we thought we'd take a little look at the 40 longlisters and make our call on who should and shouldn't make the cut. Join us this week as we separate the wheat from the chaff. Hopefully that's literal.
* Arkells, Jackson Square * Jill Barber, Chances * Beast, Beast * Bell Orchestre, As Seen Through Windows * Bison B.C., Quiet Earth * Bruce Peninsula, A Mountain Is a Mouth * Coeur de pirate, Coeur de pirate * Leonard Cohen, Live in London * D-Sisive, Let the Children Die * Elephant Stone, The Seven Seas * Elliott Brood, Mountain Meadows * Fucked Up, The Chemistry of Common Life * Great Lake Swimmers, Lost Channels * Handsome Furs, Face Control * Tim Hecker, An Imaginary Country * Hey Rosetta!, Into Your Lungs * Japandroids, Post-Nothing * Junior Boys, Begone Dull Care * K'naan, Troubadour * k-os, Yes! * La patère rose, La patère rose * Land of Talk, Some Are Lakes * Lhasa, Lhasa * Malajube, Labyrinthes * Metric, Fantasies * $100, Forest of Tears * Pink Mountaintops, Outside Love * Joel Plaskett, Three * Snailhouse, Lies on the Prize * Charles Spearin, The Happiness Project * Rae Spoon, superioryouareinferior * The Stills, Oceans Will Rise * Think About Life, Family * Timber Timbre, Timber Timbre * Chad VanGaalen, Soft Airplane * Martha Wainwright, I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too * Patrick Watson, Wooden Arms * Wolf Parade, At Mount Zoomer * Women, Women * Woodpigeon, Treasury Library Canada
Srsly, if Beast wins I'll gouge my eyes out with a wooden spoon. My butt could make a better record than that with a butt tied behind its butt. Cheers to Women though. The band and the gender.
The Dirty Projectors released their Domino debut on June 9th called Bitte Orca, and somehow not only did I not get around to listening to it, but I didn't even know it was released. How did I not catch them at SXSW? How has this masterpiece remained under my radar for almost a full month? How are the Dirty Projectors not constantly on everyone's lips all the time? DFSAHGLSDFHGKAHDSFGLKJHA!!!!!!!!GOSHG#IHGOSIJ:GJHSD!!!!!
I randomly came across this picture and instantly fell in love with it. Its from 1973 of two friends from Saranac Lake, NY; James "Rudi" Snyder and Billy Allen. After perusing one of the worst websites in the history of balls, I uncovered the following information about these two beauties...
"DURING THE SENSATIONAL SEVENTIES RUDI SNYDER TOOK UP HIS CAMERA AND CAPTURED THE CHARACTER AND CHARACTERS OF SARANAC LAKE IN HUNDREDS OF IMAGES. WHEN RUDI LEFT TOWN HIS OLD BUDDY, BILLY ALLEN, CONTINUED IN THE VENTURE OF RECORDING THE PEOPLE AND PLACES OF THAT ERA. RUDI HAS SPENT COUNTLESS HOURS OF HIS SPARE TIME SCANNING AND SUBMITTING THOSE EXCELLENT IMAGES TO SHARE WITH YOU. I'M GRATEFUL THAT RUDI AND BILLY CHOSE BUNKSPLACE (the aforementioned shitty webbed site) AS A HOME FOR THESE GREAT MEMORIES OF SARANAC LAKE.
RUDI'S FATHER, ROY SNYDER, TAUGHT AT NCCC DURING IT'S GROWING YEARS AND RUDI HAS INHERITED HIS FATHER'S SKILLS AT TEACHING. RUDI VOLUNTEERS MANY HOURS OF HIS SPARE TIME TUTORING POOR, YOUNG IMMIGRANTS IN NYC. HIS ONLY PAYMENT IS THE SINCERE DEVOTION OF HIS STUDENTS. THE WORLD COULD USE MORE CARING PEOPLE LIKE RUDI SNYDER.
AMAZINGLY, WITH ALL HIS ACTIVITIES, RUDI STILL HAS TIME TO VISIT THE RETIRED NUNS AT THE EMPEROR'S CLUB VIP DOWN THE STREET FROM HIS HOME. THE NUNS LOOK FORWARD TO HIS SUNDAY VISITS AND HIS KIND GIFTS OF FOOD AND TRINKETS. BLESS YOU MR. SNYDER.
In the winter of 1984, Billy Allen made his famous attempt to drive a golf ball from the top of Mount Baker into Moody Pond. His theory was that because the distance from the top of the mountain to the pond was 0.68 miles and the difference in height was 885 feet and the temperature was below 32 degrees then the curvature of the flight would be --- forget it! They're still looking for the ball!
RUDI, WHO IS NOW A RACONTEUR FOR DOCKBUILDERS AND PILE DRIVERS LOCAL UNION 1456 OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY, GETS TO MEET A LOT OF FAMOUS PEOPLE."
These guys sound like absolute gems. I'd be lucky to be half that much of a peach someday. Let me know if you know these best-ies, or anything else about them.
The sheer fact that I am here to transcribe to you the events of tonight prove that I could've in fact partied harder. Adorned with earplugs and flip-flops I thought I could get away with just partying moderately, but Father WK knows no happy medium, only happy hard. He is the farm tractor forever stuck in cheetah. However, the fact that you weren't there at all proves, if you will, that you couldn't have been more of a pussy. Its safe to say we OMG'd ourselves all over that tiny Amigo's stage. For serious. It wuz epic roxorz. Wurdz failllll. (Click to enlarge)
