I have a not-so-secret admirer at work. He's a patient of ours and he's got a thing for me. It's flattering, creepy and sad all at the same time. Flattering because, honestly, who wouldn't like to be told that you're a "beautiful specimen of a woman" or that someone wants to "wrap his arms around you and squeeze you"? Even if it's coming from someone old enough to be your father who uses a walker and doesn't bathe regularly--it's kind of an ego boost. On the [...]
Okay, I don't actually have a new Broken Social Scene song for you, but I have most excellent news: BSS is coming out with a new album May 4th! I cannot tell you how happy this makes me. I've been waiting a loooooooooong time for this, as have the rest of you. The last album they released was Broken Social Scene and that was in 2005. They've put out various solo works (Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning) but they haven't recorded a proper one [...]
I'm a big fan of Australia's Sally Seltmann , otherwise known as New Buffalo . Her last album, Somewhere, Anywhere , was my number 4 album of 2007. It was utterly unpredictable, full of lovely melodies, moving lyrics and intricate touches that surprised me at every turn. I've been waiting patiently for her to come out with something new ever since. Well, according to Arts and Crafts records , we can expect her new [...]
Get this--I heard that there is so little snow in Vancouver, BC, that they're going to have to truck it in for the Olympics. Not only is there no snow forecast before the games begin, but it's also too warm to make snow. What a huge job that's going to be, eh? The Books -- "Getting the Done Job" mp3 off Thought for Food ( buy ) [...]
I was listening to The World on PRI the other night and they were talking about the dire situation in Haiti. One of the major problems has been communications--phones, both landline and cell, were knocked out, as were internet, blackberry service, even satellites--making it very difficult to relay information and direct people to where help was most needed. There was one thing that remained viable, however, and that was the radio. Plain old regular terrestrial radio. The main station in Port-au-Prince has been on the air [...]
My boss is too funny. She likes to make up sayings in hopes that they will someday become famous and everyone will use them. One of my current favorites of hers is "I'm not gonna lie." She claims to have created "that's hot," but we're not sure about that one. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago she came up with "good stuff" and I promised her I would start using it and give her the credit. So here you go, I'm here to tell you about some really "good stuff" that's shown up in my inbox lately. [...]
Wow, where to start. I wish I were the kind of blogger who could break new bands and declare them "the next big thing." If I were, I'd be all about The Society Islands . So let's just pretend I have such influence and now the whole world knows about this band and this wonderful record. Technically, it's not a band but one extremely talented young man from Cologne, Germany. According to his website , Boris Rogowski recorded Last Hero of [...]
Seems like Canada's got some terrific bands roaming around the great white north. Martha and the Muffins is one of them. If you're old like me, you might remember them as a new wave outfit from back in the late 70s, early 80s. Delicate is their first album in 18 years, so if you don't recall them from their previous incarnation, don't feel bad. This album is really good. I loved in on first listen. The promo single, "Mess," is funky and rhythmic and [...]
I mentioned the other day that I "had" to make a mixtape because I lost a bet and I put up a few songs from it. After thinking about it (and asking a few friends), I decided to go ahead and post the whole thing. So here it is in its entirety. I call it "Snow Mix." How original is that? It's not got much to do with snow, actually, but I didn't know what else to call it! The Sweet Serenades -- "Mona Lee" [...]
I don't know what it is about this song, but I can't stop listening to it. The tenderness, the chords, her voice--they're gripping my heart and won't let go. Naturally, this means I have to share it with you. Haley Bonar -- "Us" mp3 off Lure the Fox ( buy ) Leave Comment
A couple of weeks ago we had a major snowstorm. I'm talking over a foot of snow. That doesn't happen very often where I live. In fact, usually the weather people get so hyped up about an impending storm that they way overestimate the snowfall amount and sometimes they even get the entire thing wrong. For the past 15 years or so I've become quite the skeptic and my motto regarding snow has been "I'll believe it when I see it." So at the start of the storm, a friend and I made [...]
I think I've said this before, but I'm not big on New Year's resolutions--at least not your typical ones--and I don't usually make them. This year is different, though, and I've come up with one I really want to do. I've realized that I waste a lot of brain power thinking about useless crap and I want to change that. See, a couple of years ago when I was so depressed, I was pretty much unable to think about anything other than myself. My problems were all-consuming and I had [...]
I'm not doing a "best of" or "top ten" list this year. Not only am I not up to it, but about half way through the year I stopped listening to as much music as I had been and as a result, I simply don't have ten albums that I listened to straight through on a regular basis. I don't feel like I can recommend an album as an album if I haven't really listened to and loved the whole thing, so according to my own standards, I simply can't do it this year. [...]
I sure hope Santa wasn't watching, because I was a bad girl at the grocery store today. After waiting in line nearly ten minutes for the elderly, scooter-confined person in front of me to figure out how the fuck to use the debit card thingy, I nearly lost it on the bag-boy. He was standing there in a stupor, not putting any stuff in the bags and I said to him, "Dude, you're gonna have to pick up the pace here." He looked at me kind of cross-eyed and said, "I'm off in [...]
Hello at long last! Without going into too many details, I've been experiencing technical difficulties and haven't been able to access my computer in 11 days. It was driving me crazy. My troubles have since been resolved, however, and now I am back in business. Plus I got a lovely new monitor (even though we realized that wasn't the problem after all), so I'm not complaining any more! Actually, I've been dying to put up some Christmas music, for whatever reason. Probably because I couldn't! Doesn't really matter, I suppose. What [...]
I used to be able to manage faking it 'til you make it or acting "as if" until I could feel whatever it was that I was "supposed" to be feeling. But that's gotten harder to do over the years. In this context I guess I'm really talking about the advent of Christmas. For the past several years I find I've gone through the same thing: I push my way through Thanksgiving and then cross my fingers in the hopes that the festive seasonal trappings will inspire me to feel the joy and [...]
I know I've heard a couple of El Perro Del Mar 's songs before, probably over at the torture garden , but until now none of them spoke to me like this one does. It's haunting and slightly dancy at the same time and her voice is so lovely. She has a new album out called Love Is Not Pop and this tune appears on it, as well as on Scandinavian Gold . El Perro Del Mar -- [...]
My husband just installed a new microwave and a couple of weeks ago he fixed the oven, so I haven't got any more excuses for not cooking. I don't like to cook. I don't hate it (well, maybe a little), but it certainly doesn't bring me much pleasure. I know there are a lot of you who really enjoy it. It relaxes you, it gives you a creative outlet, you do it to show others you love them. Intellectually I know that it can provide these wonderful feelings, but not for me. [...]
I've figured out part of my current problem and come to the conclusion that one reason I'm not able to listen to much new music these days (and hence am not writing much about it) is because my iPod is way too small. I only have a Nano, which barely holds 400 songs, and so I'm constantly listening to the same stuff over and over. I feel like my musical field of vision is getting progressively narrower and I don't like it. Now, it's not that I don't put new music on it [...]
I know I've been seriously negligent here at the blog and I apologize for my neglect. My only excuse is that I'm too busy. Too busy to listen to much new music, let alone write about it. I'm even too busy to think of non-music-related stuff to post. And it's not like I have anything interesting going on that's keeping me so tied up. It's just work. Work and life. In the past, no matter how busy I was, in the back of my head I was always formulating something to say. But [...]
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KNIFE PARTY – RAGE VALLEY EP
