Money for Nothing - Still illegal on Canadian airwaves

CBSC Releases Decision on Song "Money for Nothing"

Fun with Googling yourself

I'm on imdb! Fuck yeah!

"Golden Age" song analysis

Hey, it's the song that's in that Heineken commercial!

Asteroids Galaxy Tour "Golden Age" Song Analysis

Also: 'Heinekin' shows up as a spelling error while 'Heineken' does not. I guess Blogger has a brand-spelling dictionary too?

Reading Jay-Z's decoded

I recently picked up a copy of Jay-Z's Decoded, and I'm about halfway through reading it. The book works as a bit of biography, and a bit of hip-hop history, offering some serious insight into his writing process and his mindset while writing songs.
One particular story is about the writing of "Big Pimpin'", and how he was going through some legal issues at the time with an assault charge. The song was a way to triumph when it looked like the deck was stacked against him.



He's a compelling storyteller, and the lyric notes are especially enlightening. These sections are the nitty gritty of the 'decoded' part of the book. I was somewhat worried that the notes would take away some of the mystique of the words, but frankly, I'll be listening to his lyrics, and certainly all hip-hop and rap lyrics, with a different ear after this book.
I'd recommend against getting the e-book version though, it's kind of a pain in the ass to jump back and forth from the lyric to notes on an e-reader.

It works as a broad autobiography, but not strictly a humble-beginnings-to-superstar sort of way. He jumps around a bit in service of grouping songs together thematically.

Here are a couple excerpts from the book in an MTV article published around the time of the book's release.

A good read for hip-hop enthusiasts, great read for Jay-Z fans.

Wire - Ex Lion Tamer

I've been listening to Wire's Pink Flag quite a bit lately... here's a standout track:

Braids - Lemonade

I recently picked up this album by Braids from the Toronto Library. After a couple listens, I definitely like what I hear.
Take a listen. I'll have an album review of Native Speaker and a couple other Polaris Prize albums soon.

25 Best Pharrell Hooks

Link, with samples!

via Daily Swarm

New Weeknd mixtape

Already! The first one, released earlier this year, is easily on my top albums of the year so far. Supposedly there's a third on the way. The Prince comparisons will probably not slow down if he keeps up this pace of output.

Link here

Battle looming over termination rights

Interesting article about termination rights...

“When copyright law was revised in the mid-1970s, musicians, like creators of other works of art, were granted “termination rights,” which allow them to regain control of their work after 35 years, so long as they apply at least two years in advance. Recordings from 1978 are the first to fall under the purview of the law, but in a matter of months, hits from 1979, like “The Long Run” by the Eagles and “Bad Girls” by Donna Summer, will be in the same situation — and then, as the calendar advances, every other master recording once it reaches the 35-year mark.”

In the next few years, the rights to some of the biggest selling albums of all time will revert back to the songwriters... not a promising thought for the major labels.

Summertime social club

I was in Cuba earlier this year, and we'd hear lots of music like this-



From the album Buena Vista Social Club. Great album, great sound, perfect for beating the summertime blues.

30 Harshest Musician on Musician Disses

Total link bait article here... lots of Morrissey hate, which I can totally get behind. For example:

9. Robert Smith on Morrissey “If Morrissey says not to eat meat, then I’ll eat meat — that’s how much I hate Morrissey.”

Edit - Forgot to link to The Daily Swarm

Sunday night blues

Last week I mentioned I saw some posters advertising the Spirit of the Edge... Must have been some extra posters lying around from five years ago, cause I tuned in last night to the usual music I've come to expect from the radio station.

So now, in an effort to distract you from whatever it is you had planned on doing for the next couple hours, I present a link to the awesome CFNY fansite Spirit of Radio. 

Check out their chart lists... the 1989 chart is especially interesting because the station went to a top 40/pop format after being a truly alternative station for most of its existence.  By 1991 they seemed to be back on track, and we probably have Nirvana to thank for that.  Then again, 1997 has Our Lady Peace... Not that I can complain, they were actually one of my favourite bands at the time. 

The Spirit of Radio also has the epic 1002 songs of all time chart from 1999, which is pretty fascinating, as it features a lot of very cool artists, (Bowie, Devo, Tool, NIN, Talking Heads) among other more obvious choices (Pearl Jam, U2, The Hip, U2, Nirvana, U2...) 

It's an interesting document as it shows the way people were viewing alternative rock music at the time, right before Y2K and of course, before Kid A.

This is what MC Hammer has been reduced to

Defeats Juggalos with MESMERIZING Dance Moves

Hat tip Elizabeth

Radiohead to play SNL

Radiohead to perform on "Saturday Night Live"

I wonder what they'll play... King of Limbs isn't exactly prime pop material

Where to find good concerts in Toronto

When looking up concert listings, I usually check a few places:
First, I'll check Rotate This. They have tickets that cover a wide range of events, but don't expect to find the Madonna concert there. Listings are in chronological order.

I also check Soundscapes. Their listings are by artist name, so that's helpful.

A while ago I came across a site that aggregated a bunch of Toronto concert listings, but I can't seem to find the link anywhere, and web searches have been fruitless.

Of course if you really want those Madonna tickets, you can always check with the evil empire.

Great Bowie album, or Greatest?

It's a close, four way tie between Ziggy Stardust, Low, and "Heroes", and Station to Station.



Caught myself singing this in the shower this morning. It's a great way to start your day, I highly recommend it.

Return of Spirit of the Edge?

On Queen Street West there are a bunch of posters on the lamp posts advertising the return of the Spirit of the Edge, aka Saigon Sunday, aka one of my favourite radio programs of all time. 

The Edge-CFNY website doesn't mention the show, and it still lists the Dr Drew radio show as holding the Sunday night slot.  However, the poster says Lori Alan is the host, and she doesn't appear on the host list on the website. 

Going to the live to air show was a university staple for me, and those nights were about the extent of  the "clubbing" I've done.  Part of me wants to check out the event just to see if any of the old crew were there... those nights certainly could draw interesting crowds for damn sure.

I think bringing this show back would also help soften the blow of losing long time personality Alan Cross... but that could just be me, oh so tired of hearing Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, or Nirvana every single waking hour of the broadcast day.  Those are fine, fine bands, but let's cut down on their play, you know... maybe ten percent?

Anyway, back to the point - Sunday night will be exciting for me if I tune in at 9pm and hear a song like this instead of the Foo Fighters....

On repeat: Gui Boratto - Beautiful Life

Highly recommended minimal electronic/techno artist.  Check out the album, it has an amazing 8:31 version of this same track.  The whole album is great actually.  Lots of 4*s and a couple 5*s in my iTunes.

Here are a few mp3 blogs that I follow

Most of these I've discovered pretty recently.  A couple aren't strictly 'mp3' blogs but do supply an interesting stream of music in other formats.

Deleted Scens, Forgotten Dreams (ambient, drone)
Did Y'all Hear That? (electronic, dubstep, techno)
Joy Division Bootlegs (JD and New Order bootlegs)
Potholes In My Blog (electronic, hip hop - thx Angry Robot)
The Unheard Music (rock, pop, lots of Prince, everything else)
we like it lossless! (electronic, ambient, all .flac or .wav)

New Das Racist song

Listen to "Michael Jackson" here.

Not bad... not great.