Saigon Sunday

Awesome dance moves from the vocalist of Toronto band Blue Peter:



These guys did a reunion show with fellow T.O. band The Spoons a couple years ago. I was there, it wasn't too bad.



Now if all three of these bands got together, that would be about all of the 1980s that one venue could handle. There might be a nostaliga explosion...



Interestingly, the drummer for IIV also played drums for Skinny Puppy... which is interesting, because it reminds you that the gap between a new wave band and an industrial band is a lot slimmer than you think. Throw in some minor keys, a few tweaks of a keyboard, distorted vocals, poignant sampling, ba-da-bing. Industrial band. Don't remind hardcore industrial heads about this fact though, they will deny it, and say there's a lot more too it than that.

Macy Parade balloon reviews

Via Hipster Runoff

Kool Aid Bro: 9.4
Really solid effort skate boarding on chillwaves, living a kool ass lifestyle.

Great French Canadian rock song, or Greatest?

Malajube, Montreal -40°C

Allmusic Kesha review

Taking a cue from Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster, Kesha's Cannibal is a mini-LP released on its own and also tacked onto her debut Animal, which has been squeezed dry of hits. Cannibal is expressly designed to rectify that situation, amplifying every annoying element of Kesha’s persona -- the sing-song hooks, the relentless Dr. Luke loops, the squeaked sleazy rhymes, the defiantly transparent Auto-Tune slathered on every track, the cheerful bragging about the dingy film left behind after hookups with douche bags.

Ha. Hilarious.

Review

For fans of My Bloody Valentine

I've been listening to this track a lot lately:

Saigon Sunday

From the video description on the 'Tuber: Classic song from the pioners [sic] of the industrial rock.



Call me late to the party, but the usual morons commenting on the video seem to forget that Trent Reznor/NIN often cites this group as a major influence, among many other "pioners" of industrial rock. Pop and rock simply doesn't exist without influences and "pioners", so it's ridiculous to make comments saying that one is valid and the other is not, especially considering the attention that NIN brought to all of the groups that were influences on their sound.

I'm pretty biased though, being a bit of a NIN-superfan... I also love this commenter's remark: stop whining on youtube and listen to the album vivi sect vi by skinny puppy and anything by killing joke or the first album by the human league. they all did what your hero trent reznor does but did it first and did it better.

Buddy here is doing the same whining on youtube and giving grief to others for doing the same. The main difference here is that Trent Reznor took elements of these bands and created something new out of the pieces. It doesn't necessarily make his work "better", but he definitely did a better job at bringing the sound to the masses. I've listened to the entire Skinny Puppy catalog (because I am a fan), and while there's a lot of brilliant, cutting edge stuff in there, there's also a lot of unlistenable shit. Unlistenable shit that was repeated album after album. I'm not sure how many times I can listen to Nivek Ogre scream through pure distortion about death and decay, but I'd say two or three albums worth of that stuff is plenty (I think that was the point though).

Say what you will about NIN, but the sound evolved between every album. Each album took a different approach, different concept, different theme. Skinny Puppy, Cabaret Voltaire, they did too, but they mostly worked within the ground-breaking spaces they created. Human League? Well, I think this track here speaks for itself. Haven't heard the soft rock turn of any of the other bands I've mentioned in this post, so yeah. Food for thought. Who's the real sellout?

Loving the new Girl Talk

How can you not?

This new album feels more organic than the previous two, but somehow he's managed to cram more samples into the album. Could be that it's like 20 minutes longer than either Feed the Animals or Night Ripper.

I also find that this one takes its time, allowing you to enjoy the interesting juxtapositions for almost a whole minute at a time, whereas the last two the best parts would last at most maybe thirty seconds. It's been pretty fun to see this guy's evolution of the past few years. If you haven't seen RIP: A Remix Manifesto, you should definitely check that out. Highly recommended.



It'll be interesting to see where Gillis goes from here... I'm starting to hear stuff he's sampled before. But maybe that's just his style, much the same way we expect Keith Richards to have a distinct style to his guitar playing. As the film above describes, we could be entering into an entirely new way to look at creativity... that is, unless those in power have their way.

Hat tip to Angry Robot (who has been supplying me with lots of bloggable bits lately) for sending me this site that lists all the samples on All Day in real time. Cool stuff.

Bruce & Neil cover Willow

Mr. Angry Robot sends me this video from Jimmy Fallon... At first, I thought I would hate it but it's actually hilarious. Check it out.

A note on productivity apps

As I mentioned recently, I've been tackling a novel project this month (so far so good... must stop trying to edit as I go), and I've been using a productivity app called Pomodoro to help me keep my focus. These types of apps are only worth what you put into them, but I've made it work for me and found it to be quite helpful. 24,000 words helpful.

Here's a quick vid that explains what the app does:



Gotta run, my back to work timer just went off.

New Girl Talk album today

Check it out... if you can. I still haven't been able to access the server.

Thanks to all my homies for the tip.

Apple gets the Beatles?

Big announcement tomorrow from Apple. Wall Street Journal via Daily Swarm says Beatles finally added to iTunes... maybe.

Saigon Sunday

Here's a track from when Robert Smith was briefly a member of The Banshees:



Pretty awful video, but what a great track. I guess this was from that awkward phase when people were still figuring out what the hell to do with the medium of music videos.

See also: The time Robert Smith was briefly a member of Crystal Castles

Check out this podcast

Here's a podcast I heard recently with a bunch of awesome tunes. It's from CBC Radio 3, and the guest host was Owen Pallet, fka Final Fantasy. A few excellent tunes here, worth checking out... at least the first half anyway.

The music starts right away so check yer speakers before clicking the link!

Saigon Sunday

Very few cuts can handle the title of 'Pure Saigon Sunday', but this one definitely qualifies.

That iconic synth-line could come from no era but the 1980s. This video holds true to its roots as well for sure... A major plus for this track getting weekly retro radio play is its CanCon status.



And apparently the dude is still making music.

Advance apologies for potential lack of bloggage

I'm participating in National Novel Writing Month, where entrants attempt to write a first draft of a novel in just 30 days.

My progress: So far so good. About a day behind, but hopefully I can make up for it with some serious weekend mashing. But apologies in advance if the blog isn't updated as much as usual this month.

I'm looking forward to the flurry of year-end lists that will beseige us in December... I always find gems that I may have overlooked throughout the year, so it's an exciting time coming up.

First listen to Rap with a book critic

Listening to the Anthology of Rap

[via Angry Robot]

Smooth Saturday

So smooth...

It is the night
My body's weak
I'm on the run
No time to sleep
I've got to ride
Ride like the wind... to be free again

MJ and the Illuminati?

Vigilant Citizen reports on the symbolism on the forthcoming Michael Jackson compilation/cash-in, Michael.

It's complicated, but it's not...

The Real and ONLY Reasons Why Fans File-Share Music

“People stopped buying albums because they wanted the fucking money. It’s complicated, but it’s not.”

Interesting read here.