zero

I'm going to have to listen to this album closely. Dr. Dog is definitely more on my out list than my in list. It's funny to me that buddies like Weirdness give Fruit Bats (which I think are the bee's knees) a glancing acknowledgement but defend Dr. Dog who strike me as fairly generic (particularly in concert). It may be that I hate their fucking frat boy audience that wandered in from an OAR concert. Definitely found at their last show that anyone actually in the know was far more impressed with the openers The Cave Singers. My two cents.

... oh and everyone from Graeme (drummer, producer) to the audience was commenting how good the front of house sound was. Turns out it was done by a guy named Brian McCullough who had some interesting ideas (concurring with my notion that a recording engineer needs to be a musician as well) about intention and intuition and how being a musician helps you anticipate changes in dynamics (here meant as a shift in amplitude not overall playing interactions). It makes such a big difference having a pro mix a pro band.

My bad I wrote down Tegucigalpa (which is clearly a 'jam' on record and stretched out hard in performance) from Eric's shorthand i.e. Goosey. I would suspect - well this is almost the end of their tour so that was likely a strong show by all measures but they had a couple of great meals (including at Caplansky's deli) and were rested and in great spirits. I would LOVE to see these guys on a festival bill where they could stretch out a bit more and collaborate with other musicians. Hillside anyone?

I don't think any of you are considering if you had to get head at a Dead show would you rather it was from Ann 'my beautiful Gazelle' Coulter or Glen 'fucking' Beck. Seriously go run all over another antelope.

I'm obviously deeply attached to the Fruit Bats repertoire, having not connected with a band on that level since the Hold Steady, and likely the Slip and Phish respectively. Not without reason though, Eric D. Johnson is a pre-eminent songwriter with the rare gift of being a virtuoso on all instruments possessed of a beautiful preening singing voice. To this end he reminds me of a poorer man's Jeff Lynne (ELO, Travelling Wilburys) for the distinctive high warble of his voice and his studio wizardry. Seeing a band of musicians that could all trade instruments on a dime 'jamming' all night is fascinating. It's not to say that they weren't full out improvising and just hammering away at points but their listening skills are so top notch and their ability to toss around harmonic and rhythmic conceits so effortless that the entire listening experience is wonderfully full. Imagine a drummer (Graeme Gibson) who can engineer, produce, play keys, drums- what does someone like this bring in terms of melodic sensibilities to the kit. Variously how does a monster bass player (and as it turns out monster keys player) like Ron Lewis bring the strength of his rhythm to his left hand on the organ. Bassist Chris Sherman was a deep bottom lock that kept a pulse throughout the night and guitar slinger and total dude Sam Wagster kept the lead guitar lines hot and tasty all night. It's one thing to noodle away all night and lay on a ridiculous wash of effects and play more notes than you have decent ideas to follow through on - it's another to be a pre-eminent bunch of tasteful musicians playing intensely psychedelic music with far better chops, comraderie and dynamics. The setlist was: Flamingos Feather Bed Tegucigalpa The Wind That Blew My Heart Away Magic Hour Blessed Breeze Union Blanket Little Acorn Revolution Blues Singing Joy To The World (Eric solo) When U Love Somebody Primitive Man (breaks string) Beautiful Morning Light (Eric solo) Ruminant Band enc: Canyon Girl You Ain't Goin' Nowhere

Eric uses this expression choogle, like 'we're gonna choogle for you' which is totally true of the Ruminant Band as a live commodity. There will be a lot of choogling.

Seriously it's a beautiful beautiful album that digs deep into AM Gold in a completely new light brushing on dark and light strokes.

This version of Teen Town is much closer to what they played last night... 4y_KzTUwpwU&NR=1

Sorry kids... possibly the single sickest night or at least set of Sisters I've seen either in ages or ever.... Came in right at the end of the first set and they were DEEP in the funkiest jam ever that turned out to be Teen Town (yes, Weather Report and Jaco's signature Teen Town)- I'm shaking my head just thinking about it. Plus I'm listening to the original now and it's in four but they were playing it in 3 or 6. They always do that sort of shit but seriously I asked Gary on the break if that was in their book and he said they'd played it once or twice. So Lalama's never played it, the bands played it twice and they lay down this monster tune with a rejigged time signature like it's no big deal or nobody's business. wDQlSSOXU6A I've got the setlist figured out but it's sitting at home I'll post it later. The second set was one of those 4 song deals where the song titles just don't capture what was going on in the room. Jealousy whoa!

Just wanted to remind folks that Fruit Bats are playing at the Horseshoe and I can assure you that many of you would be seriously into this band and show. The folks at jambands.ca are cooking up an interview with bandleader Eric D. Johnson that should be up soon to whet your appetite, but I would highly recommend people at very least give their newest album Rumninant Band a close listen (it's one of the most important records of 2009). Also their previous outings Spelled In Bones and the sprawling Mouthfuls are the sort of 4-track experiments run amok in a studio with multi-instrumentalists who all double as recording engineers. It's truly going to be a stellar night.

WoW! So fucking unimaginative it's not even funny.

This should be a great night I'm gonna try and get there for the second set when I get off work. Lalama the new keyboardist is really so solid in the group now...

Radio David Byrne

I'm figuring that the odds of this album disappointing NewRider seem incredibly odd and that I'm taking a perverse pleasure in that.

I've got to catch one of these shows. I wish I had some connection to P'brough or Ktown as I'd rather see the very end of the tour.

As usual I completely disagree with you haters. I totally understand the everyman quality that Tom Papa has- his standup has been quite consistently good over the years and his stints in films like The Informant are pronounced- and why Jerry Seinfeld as a producer would want to bring him into people's living rooms. It's a strong premise for a show- you're fucking kidding me right? You think that it doesn't make for good television when Larry fucking David, Madonna (in a rare unguarded mode) and Ricky Gervais shoot from the hip about how fucked up it is that some wife keeps her dead ex-husbands prosthetic leg (with an athletic sock still on) in the closet. It's not that all your criticisms aren't valid it just happens also to be quite good television, full of water cooler moments that rarely happen in network these days, and only someone of Jerry's clout could pull these people together. Fuck I left out Alec Baldwin in a previous episode talking about how inappropriate it was to have a stripper pole in the bedroom (then making the pinocchio nose gesture). Priceless. Basically it could and is so much worse that oddly this seems like a grim speck on an already grim horizon, the unexpected beneficiary of the law of diminished expectations.

That was the first night of the tour it already had a loose shambolic feel. It's only gonna get huger from here.

Not really sure where to start with this. Presumed that it would follow a more zeus, bahamas, collett flow but it was dribs and drabs from everyone all night then short sets from each artist smattered in. Alot like the collaboration at the Monsters of Folk show at Massey if anyone saw that. There was a really nice gilded edge to the evening's sound like a peyote button that's been washing around in the bottom of the evening's whiskey. Bahamas was way less Al Tuck and way more balls to the wall that's for sure, he joked at one point that when 'zeus backs jason people think they sound like the Band, when they back me I like to think they sound like Crazy Horse'. Just a really melifluous night of music undercut somewhat by the nattering nay bob festival goers and their summer camp for grownups shit chat. Nice bunch of CanRock Titans in the audience too from my main man Dave Azzolini and wife Jessica Grassi (Golden Dogs), Julie Penner (Turkey Bags!!!), Brendan Canning, Jeremy 'JerBro' Little (Burt Neilson Band) the fifth member of Zeus was working the boards and playing some washes of synth from the board. Unfortunately didn't grab the setlist or see the end of the set as running into alot of my old heroes/friends who I hadn't seen since the dark times really tapped me out and I had to slip off into the night. I'm hoping I can piece together the setlist though such a superlative show.

That's pretty fucking dire, I'm presuming that was in Vancouver. I've heard similar stories from waitresses he ran out on bills on. This is indeed very sad but not as sad as Koenig who seemed to have taken a greater measure of control over his life and just 'wasn't made for these times'. I am however not looking forward to Feldman's cringe worthy eulogy and glory-hogging spotlight hounding trying to resurrect his defunct career around his former co-stars fatality. Tell me all of that isn't going to happen or has already begun. It'll be all about his hurt and pain at losing his friend - I Corey Feldman.

I can't quite tell what they're planning on doing with the Sisters yet... This summer will probably be busy for everyone touring wise, and unless you're going to the BC interior or NYC I don't think you're seeing Supergenerous Kev.

stab it in the skulls and roses

That's some of the Dap Kings crew, non?

I got into Jungle hard but a couple years after I got into Phish ('94 -which happened to be an epic year for Phish and Toronto jungle). I got to see all the greats Dr. No, Nicky Blackmarket, Kenny Ken and the greatest DJ Mickey Finn and 'ohmygollygolly gosh' MC GQ. I wasn't into this one particular mixtape we had of Finn and GQ though coming back from the last Gamehenge at Great Woods at breakneck speeds over narrow bridges in a Lincoln town car. I'm like coming down off acid and they've got they've got the whole car cranking with what I called at the time 'machine gun music'. 'Hey com'inon hey com'inon come bad boy Mickey Finn and he's coming on strong. Wicked Mickey Finn!'. Now I know that tape to death and it's one of my favourites but I remember when I totally hated it.

^ Deeps has the best one so far. I'm sure the prof would have great film recommendations otherwise I have a number of audio books that deal with the developments from Duke Ellington and the Big Bands through to the ebullience of Bop and post-Bop in the post-war era, by way of developments in musique concrete via John Cage and Phillip Glass up to our more contemporary improvisational forms. I don't think it'll be very helpful though.

I'm going to take away the good part of that with a seriously necessary correction. Yes this interview was geekish and geared towards an audience heavily invested in music, yes it would likely (as currently cut, but could have been cut a thousand other ways) be passed over for a paycheque by a Canadian publication and yes press credentials are helpful to have but relatively easy to obtain (if you feel you even need them which often you don't if the artist doesn't have a publicist or manages their own affairs). The caveat is that there is a place for this sort of journalism and that word does not belong in quotations. In fact I frequently read pieces (clearly of a much higher calibre) that are just as in depth on artists like Bonnie Prince Billy, Sonic Youth and John Zorn (the latter read like a doctoral thesis on the 'psychogeography of the Downtown NY jazz scene') in the New Yorker for instance. Likewise the NYTimes music critics, in particular jazz critics, are at very least highly versed in music theory and more likely actual players themselves. But these publications draw the best and brightest from around the world, in terms of readership and writers, so this is no surprise. Let me assure you this sort of Journalism definitely doesn't pay. The attitude of most 'writers' (here I would use our own Shain Shapiro as a perfect example) is that they want to make a little extra pocket money and build a portfolio but mainly the money so they shop around ill considered and poor pieces that in the glut for constant content publications pick up (errors and all despite having editorial staff on salary to catch these things). In any case I am essentially writing essays and, yes, happily due to the lack of editorial constraints on this outlet can run them where hopefully someone who cares will read them and more importantly that the artists true fans and the artists themselves will be happy with the end product. That's the thing really is that I have always written for the artist. I feel I have been given a great gift from certain artists and instead of listening to an album 3 times, doing 3 google searches and sitting down to an ill conceived review of an album that may have taken a group of individuals a year or more to produce- I try to repay that favour with hours of unsolicited research and artisinal mulling over specific phrasings, iterations, questions and latent meanings. Fortunately I'm able to deploy the critical vocabulary of modern poetry, music and contemporary philosophical theory but more than anything I just ... wait for it... TALK TO MUSICIANS. You think you know what you're talking about here but you actually don't. Let me take a very plain example that ties in oddly to Sisters Euclid- one band I have been working on lately is Zeus and despite two cover stories (Now and Exclaim! you tell me what's wrong with the latter) nobody has really gotten that story right. Why? Well in Zeus' case again lazy writers and editors are in to much of a rush to jump on a bandwagon and in this case making way too much of very very loose connections to the Broken Social Scene. Exclaim! has scores of editors and fairly high standards and templates for their various features. Their Zeus cover story contains at least one glaring error or ommission. Yet no one asks anymore of them and really they're in the business of selling whatever CD distributor is servicing them that day no matter how hard they deny it. This is obviously already way over involved but let's say the sorts of people who end up as 'music journalists' are likely not the same people who hatchet away at their instruments (for thousands of unpaid hours), nor are they the type of people to dance their asses off 'til 2 in the morning on a weeknight in the basement of the Dakota Tavern. As a result there tends to be a focus on style over substance, appearance over actual significance, personnel connections with other bands that are otherwise largely insignificant and in particular a severe bias against any band (including Zeus, who make up for it with their 'indie cred') that is performance based which is to say their live show is integral to their recorded output. What's the connection to Sisters Euclid? Being the co-founder of the most hyped band in Canada, the new new Kevin Drew, clearly doesn't pay either. Zeus' Carlin Nicholson was mixing the front of house sound.