Blog: B(oot)log

Photo from Boston, Oct. 17, 2005 by Mike Ritter via The Josh Ritter Fansite . I wasn't sure what I was going to post for you this week but when I saw that all the cool kids are writing about J osh Ritter I figured that I should join the party. Josh Ritter stopped by the Grad Club in Kingston a little over a year ago (he was here at the beginning of the month, too, but I missed him [...]

For such a small place, Kingston has produced and/or nurtured a wide range of extremely talented musicians and bands. Some bands exist only while the members are at the University and then are left behind when the people leave for the real world, others continue to perform and grow as artists. Jill Barber is a wonderful case of the latter. First as part of the indie-rock band Bent Ivy and then as a solo artist, she developed as a musician right here before leaving for Halifax. However, a few times a year she returns, often to the Grad [...]

I missed the better part of the Junos - better meaning both time-wise and performance-wise. Sure, I saw Black Eyed Peas perform but not Broken Social Scene. I did, however, see BSS take home the Juno for Alternative (? do people still use that word to describe music? In this case I guess it still works - alternative to utter crap) Album of the Year. Which was completely deserved, although I would have been happy if the New Pornographers won it as well. Thanks to the wonders of the internet I was able to check out their performance [...]

photo by BusySignals from the Saskatoon show on April 20th. It took me a while to get back around to it, but here is the highly anticipated part 2 of the Rolling Tundra Revue. After being treated to a rather rocking set by The Constantines , The Weakerthans took the stage to entertain and enlighten the gathered crowd. I had seen the Weakerthans previously about a year before in Kingston and in both shows there was a rather distinct lack of engagement with the crowd. There was virtually no banter on either [...]

I have come to the conclusion that I have been screwing around long enough with Rapidshare. It looks like I am going to keep b(oot)log up for the foreseable future so I had better get my shit together, stop making excuses and join the big leagues. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have entered the world of ezarchive and so you can directly access my mp3s without hassle. For this you can thank Casey at Mocking Music for relentlessly badgering me and shaming me until I just couldn't take [...]

I first heard of Harmony Trowbridge through Said the Gramaphone and was immediately enthralled. Her songs are deceptively simple in structure, just a guitar and a voice, but the simplicity is undercut by the fact that Trowbridge's voice is fantastic - clear, powerful, and exceptionally lovely. Trowbridge tells stories of loss, regret and remembering. Her music is melencholic but, through the stength and beauty of her delivery, there is still a feeling of hope. * No Photographs.mp3 * Flat Bottomed Boat.mp3 This Queen's grad [...]

You've waited long enough - here is part two of the Belle & Sebastian show ( part one is here ). It's not that I've been holding out on you, honest, things have just been busybusybusy around b(oot)log basecamp and it takes a while to transfer and edit these files. As before, I am still on rapidshare (this will hopefully the last one - I will be getting some hosting, I promise) so click and follow. Belle & Sebastian, The Docks, Toronto, 25 February 2006 (part 2) [...]

Those guys at Schedule Two are on an amazing roll. Last week it was Tapes 'n Tapes and this week they give you five videos of Jason Collett from his most recent tour. Seriously, these are great. And, as if you needed any more incentive, Ms. Leslie Feist whom you all seem to love so much, comes out for "Hangover Days". Worth the price of admission right there. Buy Jason Collett stuff here . UPDATE : Mr. Collett talks to Drowned in Sound [via LHB [...]

[photo, again, courtesy of theplot ] Following the less-than-ideal situation with the New Pornographers , I expected the worst when Belle & Sebastian took the stage. Thankfully, while it wasn't great, things had improved. The sound was better, there was a lightshow and, more importantly perhaps, the crowd had settled in and were by-and-large quiet and attentive. There were a few exceptions - I'm talking in particular about three harpies from Guelph who moved to the back half way through the show and talked exceptionally loudly and cackled throughout the better part of several songs, including [...]

It's thursday and, as is becoming a habit, I thought I would leave you with a little mid-week something that isn't a bootleg but is interesting and might have escaped your attention. Hell, most of my midweek posts conisist of stuff that I'd never heard before the day I posted about it. Take today's example. I was listenting to my favourite radio station and on comes The Absent Sound . Intrigued, I investigated a bit and decided that they get the b(oot)log stamp of approval. Not that this will probably make a lick of difference to them [...]

I thought I'd leave a quick note to let you know that those fine folks as Schedule Two have posted video of Tapes 'n Tapes (in Quicktime & iPod-ready formats) from their 5 song set at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis on Feb. 27th. Check back for video of the Voxtrot set from the same show. Sorry, I don't have the mp3s made from this performance, but you can check out their SxSW performance courtesy of So Much Silence (and KEXP ).

Wordpress' server was down when I tried to post yesterday (and seems to be acting up again today) so my apologies for the delay. Not much to say (or time to say it) about this post. Jason Collett performed three songs on Minnesota Public Radio's The Current on January 29th (with my thanks to For the 'Records' ...again) and I have the songs plus interviews for you, so here you go. I am still using rapidshare. You know the drill. Jason Collett, MPR: The Current, 29 January 2006 1) [...]

Last Friday I was having a post-workshop beverage at what just might be the best named pub, ever , in London, Ont., and a Toronto band called QR5 was playing. Unfortunatley I didn't see their entire set, or really any of their set because we were at a table in the room beside the room they were playing, but I liked what I heard. Their music has a positive feel, very melodic with excellent arrangements, and it has a great "vibe" (man, that word sounds stupid but I can't think of any thing else at the moment). They [...]

[photo by theplot , since I was "one of the poor souls way at the back" my photos turned out terrible, and for more great photos - visit Chromewaves ] Others (including Belle & Sebastian) have talked about how craptastic The Docks is as a venue and I really won't go into except to second all that has been said before. The show was excellently reviewed by Chromewaves and For the 'Records' , and more eloquently than I could, so I suggest you go to either/both to get a good sense of what [...]