A Perfect Assassin Toronto, Ontario on February 5, 2011 Full Photo Set (13 photos) Back in February, I joined in on a small team of people that put together a short promotional trailer for Tyin Krysset, a writer that has an unpublished novel and is seeking representation. For me, it was an opportunity to work with Theresa Joy again, as well as getting to be on a set again , even if only for a small [...]
Sticky Magazine Update - March 28, 2010 When I started Sticky Magazine , I knew that it would take up a lot of my time, but my plan was to continue to update this blog regulary with a combination of music and photography entries. That is still my plan — I am hoping to produce articles about concert photography, provide some insight into the portraits I shoot for the 52TO project, share some of my other photography, and even include music content here that I don't publish on [...]
The Bridge - Aaron Douglas August 13, 2009 Full Photo Set (7 photos) The Bridge is a new series coming to CTV that looks at the inner working of the police force. Inspired by the insights of former Toronto police union head Craig Bromell , the new CTV series stars Aaron Douglas (of Battlestar Galactica). The series debuted Friday, March 5 at 9:00pm on CTV with a special two-hour premiere, before moving to its regular slot on [...]
Gentlemen Husbands Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, Ontario on February 17, 2010 Full Photo Set (9 photos) There's often a discrepancy between expectations and reality. In some cases, the discrepancy can cause disappointment and in others it can result in satisfaction. At Gentlemen Husbands , I got most what I expected, and a little that I didn't. Read my review and see my photos of the Gentlemen Husbands on Sticky Magazine . <a href=" [...]
The Balconies, Gentleman Reg By Divine Right The Drake Underground in Toronto, Ontario on Feburary 10, 2009 Full Photo Set (19 photos) My first official Sticky Magazine gig was actually for Woodhands on January 28th. I photographed the show and Jo Vos wrote up the review. After publishing that article , I didn't get out again until [...]
I've been absent. My last post on here was over three weeks ago now. There's a reason for that, and that reason is that I've been working hard on a new project. I've actually been working on it for many months, but for the past month it has consumed all of my available time. The project is a new online music magazine called Sticky Magazine . It's organized differently than a blog, and has more contributors than just me. So, what's going to happen to this blog? Well, everything I've published over the past four [...]
Down With Webster Inward Eye, We Are The Take Sound Academy in Toronto, Ontario on January 15, 2009 Full Photo Set (28 photos) I was a little surprised to see that two amazing indie rock bands, We Are The Take and Inward Eye , were going to be opening for Down With Webster . In some ways it makes sense, since Down With Webster incorporates some [...]
The Balconies Supermarket in Toronto, Ontario on January 11, 2009 Full Photo Set (15 photos) I should let you know that I'm relatively indifferent toward The Balconies ' self-titled album. It's not that I don't want to listen to it, but there's something about the sound that makes it only good in small doses. However, it turns out there is something about their live performance that just didn't transfer to the recording. It's a combination of stage energy, [...]
Since I only included full-length albums in my Top 10 Albums of 2009 article, I decided to compensate for my unfairness by bringing a attention to these seven great EPs that were added to my collection 2009. I've included downloads where I can, so take advantage and grab the free music that is available. For the others, check out the band's website or MySpace to give a listen. As always, if you like what you hear, be sure to show support by adding the band on MySpace, Facebook, and/or Twitter, and consider purchasing the whole EP to help [...]
I still have two more lists about 2009 coming up, but now it's time for my top ten favourite shows from last year. I like to write this article early in January after the holiday break away from the shows so that I have time to go back and relive the past year through my blog entries. After looking through my photos from last year, I estimate that I photographed about 160 different bands, which is down about 30 from last year. However, out of those 160, I photographed a handful of them many times over. It was difficult to [...]
So here it is 2010, the beginning of another year, and time for me to put together a few more lists. For the record, I added 190 albums to my collection in 2009. I guess by including a few 2009 albums in my Top 50 Albums of the Decade articles ( 50-41 , 40-31 , 30-21 , 20-11 , 10-1 ), I was exposing a few hints toward my Top 10 Albums of 2009. But what you might not know (or remember) is that when I create my Top 10 Albums list, I include albums from [...]
Rebel Emergency Street Pharmacy Sound Academy in Toronto, Ontario on December 23, 2009 Full Photo Set (20 photos) I've run into Geoff Star (guitar) and Roddy Soul (vocals) from Rebel Emergency more times off stage than on, but even so, I have seen them perform once at an Artist Sanctuary event and once when they opened for illScarlett . [...]
It turns out a decade is a long time. So many things can change over those ten years, and with so many advances in technology and adjustments in everyday living, our perceptions change while culture reshapes. Did the creation of the MP3 player change the way I listen to music? Absolutely, but it also changed the way in which I discover music, and ultimately changed the type of music I listen to. Podcasts provided me with musical options, and the plethora of recommendation machines out there now allow me to follow musical paths far more easily. Looking at my top [...]
I'm down to the top 20 albums of the decade, and so here are numbers 20 through 11. I have a feeling that this part of the list might start to deviate from what people were expecting (if it hasn't already). Either way, I hope you're checking out any albums that you were previously unfamiliar with, even if that means just listening to a 30 second sample to see if it's something you think you might like. 20 [...]
Hollerado, Arkells The Order Of Good Cheer Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, Ontario on December 22, 2009 Full Photo Set (24 photos) Just about the time I started putting together my list of Top 50 Albums Of The Decade, I found out that Hollerado was going to be playing Bookie's Nu Music Nite at the Horseshoe Tavern. I missed them the last time they were in Toronto, and since then they've [...]
Ten more albums for my Top 50 of The Decade. This group of ten falls into the middle of the pack, but this is not like a classroom. There's no bell curve here. Every album in this list of my Top 50 means something to me. 30 Hey Rosetta! / Into Your Lungs (2008) From "who [...]
The Verge XM - Thank God It's Not Another Xmas Party Dinosaur Bones, Still Life Still, Meligrove Band, The Junction Velvet Underground in Toronto, Ontario on December 18, 2009 Full Photo Set (40 photos) For the second year in a row, I headed out to The Verge XM holiday party. Last year was a pretty wild party at the Tattoo Rock Parlour with Moneen headlining, and this [...]
The next set of ten in my top 50 albums of the decade, here are my picks for the 40-31 spots. 40 Wilco / Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002) This excellent album became even more amazing once I learned about the story behind it. A good friend of mine recommended I watch the 2002 documentary I [...]
Creating this Top 50 Albums of the Decade list was more of a personal activity than anything else. I have lots of listening statistics on last.fm and iTunes, but those didn't start until late 2003, and even then, making lists like this has to include a certain amount of emotional input as well. I actually thought it would be difficult to come up with 50 albums, but after my first pass through the decade of music I had almost 100 albums that I considered among my favourites. Scaling it back to just 50 turned out to [...]
Die Mannequin Hardball Cafe in Toronto, Ontario on December 9, 2009 Full Photo Set (19 photos) Since I couldn't make it out to the Toronto show Die Mannequin had scheduled to finish up their current tour, I decided to drive out to see their show at the Hardball Cafe in Milton to catch a performance before the tour was done. Backstage Before the show, I visited with Care F. (vocals, guitar) and Anthony Bleed [...]
PETE NEMA
First Aid Kit – Emmylou
Childish Gambino - "Heartbeat" (Official Music Video)
James Blake – Live Album
Mux Mool
