Without a Yard

The best day for my fav exclaimation - AHH BOO!

Sorry for the poor posting regime - I have taken up some other dropped habits since last update, tho….Started baking again & to coincide with increased caloric intake…started up the weights training plan, too.

Friday’s Kid Koala show surpassed my super-optimistic expectations. He spun a whimsical and magic web of pop-culture references & obscure vinyl finds - turning Arcade Fire hits into trip hop; Tribe Called Quest shoutouts into swirling bass-romps; Jazz solos w/ simultaneous turntable scratches….He understands tone & pitch far better than any ‘real’ musician out there. The accomplished ’solo-ing’ for his clarinet-bug-riffs were brilliant & made you forget it was coming from pre-recorded tunes…

Anywhoo - I wish KK all the best of luck - I know that NinjaTune is a well-recognized & well-respected label around the world & I hope that he rakes it in across North America & overseas! He certainly has invested a huge CHUNK into developing a great line of merch…

The weekend went off without a hitch - despite the poor weather, we moved Robyn & Justin in record time…Good P.S. catching up was had afterwards…& hopefully again this weekend we can do a bigger & better reunion without all the heavy lifting…

Sucks that I missed the Hold Steady gig this weekend, but the move & the cold were too depressing to venture out again. What a brilliant Seger-Springsteen-ish record, tho! In random poli-sci-nerdery-punditry, check out this Hold Steady endorsement here!

So in addition to that disc - I’ve been spinning the too-short Born Ruffians debut, J Mascis’ CBGB’s acoustic set, Pierre LaPointe’s debut (thanks to the L’ADISQ coverage), new Beck (of course - what a great performance on SNL - audience-cam Here!), old re-released Spoon EPs from Merge and Detroit Cobras (new un-cancelled concert date TBA…)

On that music-nerdy note…I’m out…Happy eggin’ Hallowe’en!

BOO!
Meegs

Time to re-book the low-rent studio for those Heritage Minutes. Found out about this through my prog-rock-lovin’ ATX-bud, Ron….Dunno if this makes me proud or sheepish of our cultural policy…check out this link & decide for yasself.

See y’all @ Rhino for Hot Potato?….& if you’re innerested in a tinier, more intimate venue, Anthony’s spinning @ Cloak & Dagger for the monthly Boogaloo appearance…pre-drinks?

Meegs

The release date has been…um…released, for the Stranger Than Fiction movie (trailer link is here).

When I caught the preview w/ Robyn & Justin we were collectively psyched - Ferrel in something a bit more cerebral than that soccer dad movie is promising…& the Emma Thompson effect brings the good-investment-factor up a notch - besides the movie looking great stylistically and conceptually - it will have more than ahandful of new Spoon’n'Britt Daniels tracks on the sound…um…track.

over & out.

I’m at a loss to post a major after-show write-up for Beck’s concert last night. First & foremost - I’m leery of ever attending a gig at the Ricoh Coliseum ever again. SIgh. It’s sad enough going to a show in a hockey arena - sadder still when the place is 2/3rds full. If the Flaming Lips can play the Phoenix…why can’t they book Beck there again? Was this just a very, very poorly promoted show? (It flew under my radar for quite awhile & the lack of adverts/announcements didn’t prompt me to pick up tickets until Saturday…)

There were ticket broker dudes selling seats for $20 & less outside the venue - wtf? I felt less sorry for my sucker-ass purchase than I did for the Beckster himself. How the mighty have fallen - or been poorly managed for the CDN leg of their tour. Damn. I remember lining up at midnight at the HMV on Yonge Street - with a mass of Beck-crazed youngin’s - to scam free tickets to his Sexxx Laws tour stop at the Phoenix in 1999. Even his gig at the Ryerson Theatre sold out in a week-ish & fit well with the great acoustics & soft-seater campus hall.

To continue my nit-pickery…the whole puppet schitck got kind of lame halfway through. I mean, I get it - if you’re looking at a video screen at a concert, you might as well be watching a puppet show - cool. deep. whatever. but meh. The Flaming Lips cover of ‘Do You Realize’ was great - especially since it was solo. I especially liked the Sea Change parts of the show with just Beck & his acoustic guitar….& the ‘Clap Hands’ hootennany with the mass communal percussion breakdown was thisclose to Ozomatli audience-participation-perfection.

Overall - a sold ‘B’ - but I was really expecting much more out of the gig’s atmosphere…& I think that I’d rather blame the Richoh & promoter than let any negative notes fall on Beck’s scrawny shoulders…

Surprised to see a ton of CanCon online today checking the Tuesday reviews - Malajube had a fantastic endorsement (Tho I can’t look at their album title & NOT think about visiting the Alabama state legislature & having the octogenerian tour guide repeatedly yell “Check out the ceiling there, Canada, the painters are trying to trick you…that’s why they call it a trompe d’oeil!)& a somewhat patronizing, but gentle encouraging nudge to Born Ruffians.

I was super-surprised to see Born Ruffians more than hold their own on a blazing early afternoon set the Sunday of V-Fest…The Toronto date for their CD Release is oddly @ Neu+ral in Kensington Market - but what the hey, it’s $5…& worth the trip…

If you’re on or around UofT campus tomorrow night - pop by Hart House for a book launch w/ Sir Martin Gilbert for his newest Churchill release…

& speaking of books…& back to music…this Friday is a vital day to visit the Toronto Public Library @ Yonge & Bloor - It’s the first (maybe last?) day you can pick up tickets for a free gig at the Reference Libary on Saturday, November 18th…Until you open your own swanky indie salon, when else can you check out Elliott Brood & Great Lake Swimmers & The Old Soul in the company of books’n'mags & readers?!

circle of life & all that crap. this abbreviated week was jam-packed with friends visiting & friends’ farewells.

missed martine’s set at o’grady’s due to scheduling snafus in the lineup. still bought t’s like a good lil’fangirl, tho. did manage to catch another surprise performance of kickass sketchersons-affiliates before the music kicked in…the city is richer for having a young & hilarious dynamic duo of femme-comedy in holly & inessa. damn. funnier than last time @ the drake - there is something so refresing about watching comics take a simple premise & launch into bizarre-random-razor-sharp-witted skit heaven.

last night we caught mega band 2’s cd release party -slash- last gig under this configuration. (mega band 3? will have a new drummer.) sadly matt p’s off overseas to manage digi-monetary-systems & other confusing tech mush. he looks like snoopy dancing - head up’n'arms flailing - when he drums with his eyes closed. beautifully packaged, designed, manfactured - whatever’ed - EPs. very lucky’n'happy to have one - congrats to the band for making good tings.

not much else to report - this weekend will hopefully be 80% hibernating & 20% tea-making. too many mid-week events - time to coccoon. with the beck concert on monday…& probably many other mid-week treats coming up…this is an emerging pattern…lame weekends for ‘07 - could be an easy-enough resolution to fulfil.

enough computer time. don’t forget to get kid koala tix. please do come.

peace
meegs