You know that old, ungraceful adage that when you don’t plan to have a boss time, boss times are to be had? Well, let’s just add another tale from the centre of the universe to support that thesis. Another brutal workweek was blown completely to smithereens thanks to the stars aligning, chance meetings, random gods smiling & off-the-cuff-iness all around.
Firstly, shout outs to Jason R, Chester the Crow to grade 7 nerdery Meegs, who’s on the road across the States right now & should hopefully make his way to play a gig in TO next month. It was such a pleasant surprise to hear from you, J-dog. I wish you & your band mates all the luck & love in the world as you guys trek on your tour. I wish again for the merch goddess & free drink buyin’ Buddha to bless you & yours on another fateful trip. & Oren from O-town that is keeping the faith in the SOCS legacy & hopefully keepin’ a light on for when the OLIPpers travel to our nation’s capital.
Speaking of two fateful, Odyssian trips (brutal segue: Ed.), I met my absolute favourite undergrad prof at Hart House yesterday when I went to campus for a coffee with Rob after work before meeting Allison after her school work. It is no understatement to say that this Prof completely changed the way I read & interpret texts. His class was the hugest & most daunting challenge of my first year, bar-none & he did not cut any of us keeners any brakes…i almost flunked his world lit midterm & pulled masself up by my frosh-fifteen chunky bootstraps & got my reading & writing shiat together (tho you can’t tell by the brutal prose herein). Of course I was my usual blubbering fool when I re-intro’d myself to him (& he surprisingly remembered me! WTF?) He asked if my MA was in English & I bashfully said, no Cult Pol…but no hard feelings were had…I still do check out his reading list & shake my head at how much brilliant work he immersed us in…There’s no way I would’ve had the courage to tackle Proust last year if it wasn’t for him & I do hope U of T keeps hiring charismatic, brilliant & thoughtful profs instead of research-manufacturing machines for the next batch of undergrads to study under….
The beau encouraged me to continue a good-fortuned day & took me out to the Chelsea Room & the Drake Underground. @ CS we bid adieu to Adam, who’s shuttling between San Diego, TO & Morocco to work on that ‘untitled history project’ - which sounds like a huge budget ABC/Disney/Touchstone affair….talk about resume building…this is huge. We packed it in early there, despite the amazing company & banter & eclectic badass playlists to head’er to the Drake for what were two equally great but SO different MTL-based acts - People for Audio & We Are Wolves.
Impossible to compare the two, PfA was kind of like the Acorn - tho the Beau disagrees & I might be just flashin’ back because of the video collage in the background throughout the set….so let’s say that they’re more akin to domakesaythink….They are a mainly instrumental band, with a heavily textured sound - their percussionist is more jazzy than indie-jam-band-y, relying on brushes, tams & way more cymbals & snares that the norm….Keyboards were understated & did little melodic heavy-lifting, the sound mostly relied on the interplay between the two guitarists, who switched up between playing slide, bass & straight up electric styles…while shadowing it all over with heavy effects pedals & massive echo….& did I mention the brilliant samples & perfectly synched video accompaniment? Just a sensory overload - in a good way, a very trippy & lush experience that wasn’t as low-beat as I’m making it sound….ugh. Download some already.
We are Wolves was an entirely different kettle of fish - Imagine Adam Horowitz from Paul’s Boutique, rollin’ his r’s & sneering & dippin into the hardcore/punk tunes finally marrying LeTigre-ess Hanna & making a sassy bouncing baby 3-piece that listens to the Ramones, punk classics, !!! (chk chk chk), B52’s & refuses to let their drummer sit down in their fun lovin’ bilingual bastion of danceable electroclash disco rock. I tried. They were the most danceable outfit that I have seen in AGES & turned what can be a frigid, vapid, self-conscious, too cool for school, shoegazers’ paradise into a raucous, good time, sweatin to the newbies, dance party. Download some already.
On that note, I should sign off & face the world on my day off….a grey GTA day & we can’t blame it on smog, so it must be cold…ugh.
Peace
Meegs
