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Concert-going in Kelowna

Oct 4th, 2009
by Gillian.
1 comment

Living in a new town much different than and far away from my friends, and working for a company that is a complete 180 from what I’m used to, is continuing to be difficult. Now that it’s not summer anymore, the near-constant sun isn’t enough to keep up my spirits; and I’ve come to realize just how ridiculous it is to not have a car here, even if the commute is 3 km and I live right next door to downtown.

This week, however, I discovered one of the best things to happen from me moving here, and to have picked this apartment building (as if I had a choice, nowhere else would allow cats): I’m 3 blocks from the local indie venue. I’ve been laughing at how I now have little excuse not to see a show, what with it being right there, tickets being $10-15 and the place serves food until about 11. There were 4 concerts this week I would’ve liked to have seen, but what with my having a job and needing to sleep I only made it to half of them.

Last night’s was the Vancouver singer-songwriter Dan Mangan, of whom I’ve been a fan for a couple years after I first heard “Journal of a Narcoleptic”, which according to iTunes is my 3rd most played song since I got my Macbook 2 years ago:

I’d never seen him live, so it was a real treat to catch him at a small, intimate venue like The Habitat and I recommend you check him out should he play in your town. He ended last night’s set (or tried to, before he got heckled into doing an encore) with “Robots”, which is off his new album. He got a few audience members to play percussion and the rest of us to sing along to the chorus at the end, which was a sweet way to end the night. He hasn’t made a video for the song yet, but here’s a fan version:

On Tuesday I was there to check out Grand Archives opening for The Most Serene Republic. I really went for the former band, though I have albums from both groups because I have albums from everyone you’ve never heard of. I felt obliged to buy merchandise because it seemed like stealing to see them both for $13 or whatever I paid for the ticket online. Luckily you can’t have too many band t-shirts (it’s true).

Grand Archives captured my attention instantly with their unison mandolin playing to the first song off their new album (song: “Topsy’s Revenge”; album: “Keep In Mind Frankenstein”), which sadly I can’t link to online but you should check them out if you like quieter stuff a la Iron & Wine. Here’s “Sleepdriving” off of their earlier album:

I’d lazily describe The Most Serene Republic as “chamber pop” because I’m too tired to come up with anything better for this Ontario band with a penchant for lush instrumentation:

I’ve been nagged into doing a music recommendations post so this is what you get for now.

Trippy packaging

Aug 16th, 2009
by Gillian.
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My friend Thompson is in the band Splitting Adam, maybe best known for their song in the EA game “Need for Speed – Undercover”. They’re about to release their first full-length album, and here’s a look at its intense CD packaging:

I find this kind of cool, because in my life CDs have become rather archaic; everything I listen to comes out of a computer or iPod, and I tend to buy mp3s online and probably wouldn’t recognize the newer album covers of most of my favourite artists anymore. I applaud anyone trying to bring CD art back into prominence, especially in such an out-there way.

You can read a bit more about the design and see stills of the packaging here, but the gist of it is about

…a fictitious character named Adam and his internal struggle with an audio triggered bipolar disorder. The cover splits Adam to reveal inside his head, a 3D animated hologram which morphs from a passive lamb into an agressive ape. The CD and insert artwork documents Adam’s mental state along with vital statistics and final prognosis.

That’s deep, yo.

Unfortunately I’ve only heard a song or two of theirs previously so I can’t say much about their sound (will have to wait until I get a copy of the album), but Thompson is an awesome musician and I have fond memories of watching him perform at various UBC beer gardens back when we were in music school. I believe he plays guitar and sings backing vocals with these guys, and would ignore me if I were to scream “play El Scorcho!” (perhaps the early 2000′s cover band’s “Free Bird”) at one of his concerts now. Le sigh.

Inappropriate video embedding

Aug 8th, 2009
by Gillian.
3 comments

I just realized it’s been well over a week since I saw any of my friends and I’m jonesing for my own personality to come out (unlike the quiet, shy, polite me that New Job is currently seeing). I miss my friends. I like you so much more now that you’re not available.

Here’s a video I discovered a week or two ago, a cover of Talking Heads’ “This Must Be The Place”, but where the music video is an homage to American Psycho. Miles Fisher does have an uncanny resemblance to Christian Bale in this video, though I haven’t seen the movie (I don’t like horror, gore or chick flicks for that matter, not that it is one but it does star Christian Bale) so I can’t make a comparison there.

Yeah, so, like, don’t watch this if you’re at work, or if there are little kids around, or anyone who’s easily disturbed.

This is my favourite Talking Heads song but I consider it so joyful that combining it with images of sex, violence and 1980s narcissism is really incongruous to me. Well, maybe not on the last point, the song is from 1983. In case you feel the same way I do, here’s the unicorn chaser of the live Talking Heads version:

Music for the move, Part 1

Jul 25th, 2009
by Gillian.
4 comments

When my father drove me up to Kelowna a few weeks ago he brought along some CDs in his car that he thought I’d like to listen to on the road. One just happened to be a greatest hits compilation of Simon & Garfunkel (well, just the second CD, because Dad is about as organized with his media as I am with my stuff) and from that he somehow made the latter hits of S&G the de facto soundtrack for my move. It helps, I guess, that you can easily sing along to Mrs. Robinson and Cecilia better than you can to Dad’s other greatest hits he brought along, those of Bob Dylan. It’s hard to sing along to someone who’s not technically singing himself.

We did discuss that The Byrds‘s Dylan covers (like Mr. Tambourine Man) would have been better for this; I prefer harmony to unison because the combined sound gives me more pleasure, and The Byrds were all about the complex harmonies (I think from David Crosby‘s influence, but I don’t know for sure).

Oh dear God, there’s even a William Shatner version.

A Youtube search has just informed me that we’re not the first people to document Simon & Garfunkel as Okanagan road trip music:

I wonder why it is. Maybe the summer desert climate matches their sound? Disregarding this song, of course.

I recently read an article in Scientific American Mind called Why Music Moves Us that I recommend; I’m fascinated by how music affects people, or specifically me. It seems that music “hijack[s] brain systems built for other purposes such as language, emotion and movement”. Now I have an explanation for my own stupidity!

I’ve been lax in my music recommendations lately, as friends have nagged, so I will get to that soon. There isn’t really anything else to talk about at the moment, as I’m still in the midst of organizing and cleaning and you deserve better than to listen to me talk about that. Thank God for good music to keep me from falling asleep at the mop!

Music for a bad economy, part two

Jun 6th, 2009
by Gillian.
5 comments

I was recently asked at the end of an interview what music I listened to (this was in regards to the very-strange-in-an-IT-worker music degree I have). I was asked this after I was dismissed for not being a jazz fan (in retrospect I wish I’d asked the guy which sub-genre he was referring to and try to outdo him on jazz knowledge). Anyways, I responded to the question with “indie rock”. The guy then said something along the lines of, “I know you were in college for quite a while, but it’s time to move on.”

Ouch.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, and I said this to him too: having a music degree means nobody can insult your musical tastes. I truly believe this: you don’t have to like what I listen to, but most likely if you’re questioning my taste you have less music education than I do. In essence, I’m more qualified to bug you for what’s on your iPod; but I think the only bad taste is that which isn’t open to new types of music. Or if your favourite band is Nickelback.

(Sorry, couldn’t help myself.)

I’ve been relaying the interview story to friends, particularly those who take a similar liking to up-and-coming, independent music artists. It’s a bit silly to dismiss indie music outright as being a “phase” one goes through in early adulthood, since by definition it really just means any band or artist who isn’t signed to a major record label, regardless of what genre they play. But, of course, if you’re not on a major label then it’s because you suck, right?

Sheesh.

Back in January I wrote about the correlation between recessions and fixed-meter hits on the radio, the example for nowadays being Beyonce’s “Single Ladies”. I said then that I found myself listening to a lot more pop music, perhaps to compensate for feeling crappy about being unemployed. That trend has continued, along with my lack of a regular paycheck, and I’ve recently realized that I seem to be listening almost exclusively to indie pop. Man, has my life sucked.

I haven’t recommended any music in a long time, so let me point out a few of the songs and artists on my current happy-making playlist:

  1. Tiga: Shoes

    I saw this video a few weeks ago on The Wedge, the only show left on Muchmusic that doesn’t make me feel old. I really hated it at first, but the song’s an earworm and I have to admit the retro design and video effects are a big win.

  2. fun.: At Least I’m Not as Sad (as I Used to Be)

    This is a new band formed by Nate Ruess of the on-haitus The Format along with dudes from Anathallo and Steel Train. The band’s name itself is ironically unironic, in that they’re an indie band that plays fun music. I saw them opening for another band (Manchester Orchestra, who have a name consistent with indie naming rules since they’re neither an orchestra nor from Manchester) at The Biltmore a few weeks ago and enjoyed every second of their performance. Sadly they have only released one song, and their full-length doesn’t come out until August. This was my personal anthem last month.

  3. Passion Pit: Moth’s Wings

    4. I heard these guys were the new It-band at this year’s SXSW. The new album is upbeat, multi-layered electro-pop, but this song stuck out for me because of its lyrics (which are often an afterthought in such genres).

  4. Phoenix: Lisztomania

    I have to admit I like this song just for its title, and for the title of its album (Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix), which I highly recommend if you’re wanting to get in a pick-me-up sort of mood. I can’t understand what the hell they’re singing (they’re French), but who cares?

Is it just me, or can you too no longer differentiate between music videos nowadays and those from the 80s? I mean, hair, clothes, design, effects… I feel like I’m supposed to be starting elementary school on Monday.

Not really a Les Miz fan either, now that you mention it

Apr 19th, 2009
by Gillian.
12 comments

Everyone seems to be blogging about or Facebook-posting about or twittering about Susan Boyle, the middle-aged Scottish chick who sang “I Dreamed a Dream” (snore) on Britain’s Got Talent. It’s so old a story, even my dad’s heard about it, because he brought it up today when I was visiting.

Fine, hurray, dowdy old lady looks like a walking embarrassment, comes onstage, everyone’s laughing at her and then as soon as she starts singing they’re shocked. SHOCKED.

Why the hell are people shocked?

Do people really think that your age, size or otherwise appearance have anything to do with whether or not you can sing? If everyone on Top 40 looked like Beyonce, maybe, but come on. You can’t have heard about the stereotype of the well-padded opera soprano and then be stunned that someone over 25 years and 120 lbs can make happy sounds come out of them.

I shake my head at this, I do. It’s a feel-good story and I’ll admit I was moved when I watched the clip the first time, but while people are surprised at this woman’s singing talent, I’ll remain surprised that they’re so surprised.

Music for a bad economy

Jan 18th, 2009
by Gillian.
1 comment

Here’s something I read a week ago that has haunted me since and I wish I’d never read it: Beyoncé’s new single spells economic doom. I wonder if she feels responsible?

The idea is that (supposedly) whenever there’s been an economic downturn, it’s been preceded by a No. 1 song on the charts that has low “beat variance” (the beat doesn’t change much throughout the song). The economic drop in the early 80s was right after A-Ha’s “Take On Me”, and this time it’s Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”. Sadly they don’t give any other examples in the article.

Of course, all chart hits the rest of the time are entirely unlike these ones. Oh, if I had the energy I’d go find some examples in order to disprove this theory, but it would require listening to Top 40 hits in order to determine their beat variance, and my tastes seem to go against the mainstream now that I’m no longer 12.

Isn’t there some correlation between skirt length and the economy? If so, we’re going to be showing less leg in the coming months or years. But if you watch Beyonce’s video you’ll notice the complete lack of skirt in herself and her two backup dancers. Wouldn’t that suggest a booming economy? Or maybe its swan song. Who knows.

I’ve been feeling a bit disturbed by that video since I saw it a month or so ago. By disturbed I mean, a mix of being turned on plus realizing I really need to get to the gym. That’s a lot of leg in that video. I sort of hope they’ve stretched it vertically and those chicks’ legs aren’t normally that insanely long.

Getting back to music, lately I’ve been trying to find more pop and otherwise cheerful music, to compensate I guess for my worry about money and my future. I can certainly see a post-crash movement towards lively, happy music, but that’s not particularly insightful to assume so; it just makes sense. My latest discovery is Val Emmich (MySpace). Here’s another video that makes me think I need to get back to the gym:

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